"At this stage, our main focus is still to secure Mountain City."

"What's the plan from the captain's side?"

"Network infiltration."

Lei Jie answered:

"It's estimated that something similar to a shockwave virus will be implanted to break through the physical isolation set up by Lingxi, paralyzing the entire computational core."

"Fu Xi is already making plans, but the specifics have to wait until the next negotiation."

"Similarly, in the next negotiation, we will also try to gather more information about the Ring."

"This thing... how should I put it..."

Lei Jie paused for a moment, then said after a few seconds of silence:

"It might be very useful, or it might be completely useless."

"However, it is indeed the closest solution we currently have to resolving the apocalyptic crisis."

"Understood."

Shen Yue nodded thoughtfully and then asked:

"Can you guess what it's used for?"

"The most core part is monitoring instruments, now it's confirmed."

Lei Jie answered:

"It's used in conjunction with other similar, or nearly similar, devices distributed worldwide."

"It has a very strict chronological monitoring system and is likely only to be activated at a special point in time—only when all parameters in the universe reach a certain threshold can it be used."

"But more specifically, we still don't know."

"Lingxi in Mountain City... it should know."

Shen Yue quietly listened to Lei Jie's narrative and suddenly asked:

"What about the Ring Chamber of Commerce?"

"They..."

Lei Jie was about to answer when suddenly Fu Xi's voice came through his radio.

"Commander."

"We've just received a message from Jin Zan."

"Wang Lizhi has already arrived in Guangshen and has completed communication with the leader of the Ring Chamber of Commerce."

"The Ring Chamber of Commerce has formally invited us to Guangshen to inspect their 'miniature ring device'."

As the words fell, Lei Jie sat up straight.

He looked at Shen Yue and asked:

"Shall we go?"

Shen Yue was silent for a moment, then replied:

"Go!"

...

It was another long-distance flight, but fortunately this time, there was no need to parachute out.

The transport aircraft covered a distance of over a thousand kilometers, refueled overnight at Chuansha City which had been cleared by merchants, and then took off for Guangshen again.

After landing in a pre-leveled area, Lei Jie led an elite squad from the Penetration Company off the plane, while the transport aircraft waited on the spot, ready to return at any time.

Not far from the airport, Wang Lizhi had already gathered with the Ring Chamber of Commerce representatives, and upon seeing Lei Jie and his team, he immediately came forward and respectfully bowed to Lei Jie.

"Mr. Lei Jie, you've had a hard time."

He no longer addressed Lei Jie as "Commander," probably because on his own turf, he wanted to maintain a bit of composure.

"Indeed, it was tiresome."

Lei Jie nodded slightly.

"Where's the ring?"

"It's underground."

Wang Lizhi immediately replied, then asked:

"Would you like to rest a while first? We've arranged accommodations for you, and you can have a meal before we..."

"No need."

Lei Jie waved off, then said:

"I'm really pressed for time."

"No need for those formalities, take me to see your leader, then after that, we're going to test the ring."

"Understood."

Faced with Lei Jie's decisive style, Wang Lizhi immediately adjusted his strategy.

He wasted no time and led Lei Jie straight to the convoy waiting behind him.

It was only then that Lei Jie noticed that, in addition to the steam-powered vehicles carrying armed personnel, the Ring Chamber of Commerce still had an internal combustion vehicle.

However, this contraption had long been modified into a Frankenstein's monster through repeated repairs and even reconstructions, not much different from the internal combustion vehicles used by the Mechanical God Sect.

Led by Wang Lizhi, the group boarded the vehicle and headed straight towards the Ring Chamber of Commerce's "headquarters."

Lei Jie, noticing the roads with apparent repair and reconstruction traces, commented to Wang Lizhi beside him:

"Your operations here are quite impressive — I mean, your utilization of roads and facilities is much better than that of other factions."

Wang Lizhi nodded at the remark, then humbly replied:

"Because we have always been a commerce-based organization, we need to rely on external communication and exchange to strengthen ourselves."

"Thus, such facilities are necessary."

"Understood."

Lei Jie nodded first, then keenly asked:

"So your headquarters' location is not a secret?"

"It is a secret."

Wang Lizhi replied:

"Even our closest partners only know our headquarters is in Guangshen."

"But as you know, 'Guangshen' is not just a city, but a rather vast area."

"Our headquarters is not within the Guangshen City formed by commercial exchanges."

"We're heading to another place."

"A place not exactly close to Guangshen City."

Not close to Guangshen City...

Lei Jie had previously looked over the map around Guangshen City and had a general understanding of the distribution of human settlements nearby.

He really couldn't think of any location surrounding Guangshen that would meet the requirements for the Ring Chamber of Commerce headquarters.

To drive the ring device, they must have sufficient energy supplies.

To preserve such a device, they must have a comprehensive facility system.

There were no disaster recovery structures around.

So what could it be?

A thought flashed in Lei Jie's mind.

Daya Bay??

But that's not right.

The Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station had already been shut down when the disaster occurred, with most facilities damaged and surrounding power equipment destroyed, making it nearly impossible to restart the power station.

Moreover, there are no corresponding research institutions or facilities near Daya Bay.

Logically, the Ring Chamber of Commerce couldn't have originated from there.

Lei Jie frowned, looking at the map display of the inertial navigation on his smart goggles, noting that the convoy was heading continuously northeast.

The convoy was moving away from Guangshen and Daya Bay.

So that rules it out.

"Can you now say where exactly it is located?"

Lei Jie asked Wang Lizhi.

Wang Lizhi slowly shook his head, his tone gentle but firm:

"We cannot disclose the specific location of the headquarters to anyone."

"But rest assured, the journey will be safe."

"And after you enter the headquarters, there will be no more secrets from you."

"You only need to wait... 4 more hours."

"After 4 hours, our leader will explain everything to you."

Seeing Wang Lizhi's resolute attitude, Lei Jie had nothing more to say.

What to do next?

Shoot him in the head or just shoot him dead?

Doing so would have no meaning other than venting a bit of personal frustration.

As the saying goes, since you're already here...

Since I've come, I might as well follow them to the end and see what's so unique about this "headquarters" of theirs.

Thinking this, Lei Jie took a light breath, leaned back in the uncomfortable seat, and closed his eyes to rest.

At this moment, the squad's network connection with Fu Xi had been severed, and any communication could only be done inefficiently via radio.

Lei Jie didn't plan to ask anything extra from Fu Xi—like Wang Lizhi said, in any case, it's just four hours...

Wait a minute.

Lei Jie suddenly opened his eyes.

He once again looked at the navigation system, noting that according to the inertial navigation trajectory, the convoy was moving at a speed close to 15 kilometers per hour.

Four hours... that's about 60 kilometers?

60 kilometers northwest from the landing position...

Lei Jie suddenly had an answer in his mind.

He looked at Wang Lizhi and asked:

"Are we going to Jiangmen?"

As the words fell, Wang Lizhi was dumbfounded.

Lei Jie exhaled lightly and continued:

"I know where your headquarters is now."

"Damn, I should have guessed it earlier."

"Indeed, there's no other place more suitable for deploying the ring device than there."

"Because it's originally the facility with the strongest anti-interference capability."

"Jiangmen Neutrino Experiment Center!"

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