Atlas of Heaven and Man

With arrangements made by Old Qi, Chen Chuan returned to the academy dormitory and drafted a report for the Bureau.

Although he was certain that the secret materials he used were not problematic, the same could not be said for those that Hao Zhu sold to others.

The reason they traced it back to Old Qi was likely because Old Qi was a frequent patron, not only a regular but also an acquaintance, providing a clear lead.

However, there was no guarantee that the materials sold by others were safe, especially considering the involvement of the Plague Gang, an organization linked to cults, which could potentially trigger incidents.

After sending the report, he continued to prepare for his departure, making sure to pack some special medications, as he couldn't neglect his combat training even while on a mission. Ordinary medications should be provided there, or at least there should be channels to purchase them, but he still brought some of his own.

As for equipment, he prepared to bring several sets of his usual clothing. His firearms, both long and short blades, were all maintained and wiped clean before being placed in their cases, and he also brought a can of tea.

Just as he was preparing, a notification sound rang. He glanced at it and saw a voice message from Qingnang Jade Workshop.

Because he had been a test subject for medications, they still sent advertisements for pharmaceutical products every so often and continued to extend invitations.

Initially, it was Manager Fan who tried to recruit him, but after seeing that he didn't respond several times, the person sending messages was changed to a lower-level employee.

He hadn't set it to reject messages, as there might be opportunities for cooperation with such a large company in the future, but he wasn't interested at the moment, so he casually swiped it away.

After another day of rest, Secretary Ji finally came with a notification in the afternoon: "Executor Chen, if you are ready, please come to the Bureau now."

Chen Chuan said, "I'll be there right away." He packed all his belongings into a box and left the dormitory, driving all the way to the Bureau.

Secretary Ji was waiting for him there. He led him into the same conference hall as before, where a man in uniform with a small mustache and a kind expression was waiting for him, along with someone who seemed to be an assistant behind him.

Secretary Ji introduced, "This is Counselor Pei from the Jibei Road Command of the Defense Department."

Counselor Pei enthusiastically stepped forward and shook hands with Chen Chuan, "Welcome, Executor Chen. We are very happy to have a young talent like you join our defense force."

Chen Chuan greeted him, "Hello, Counselor Pei."

After exchanging greetings, Counselor Pei's expression turned serious, and he said, "Executor Chen, in light of your joining, according to the regulations of our command, your rank will be automatically raised by one level. So, I officially inform you that you are now a Level One Executor under our command. Your uniform, sidearm, and sword will be issued to you upon arrival at our command's affiliated military base."

Chen Chuan saw his information pop up on the Realm Token and quickly update, with the label below changing from Level Two to Level One Executor, and said, "Thank you, Commander Pei."

His level was equivalent to the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau in a local area. If he were in the administrative system, he could be directly transferred to such a powerful law enforcement agency.

But that was only in theory. In reality, very few Third Threshold Fighters were willing to go to local areas, as they lacked resources and were subject to control.

Here at the command, his level already allowed him to lead a team independently, and the main force of the team would have at least two Third Threshold Fighters. As for going higher, that would be the level of an execution team leader, who could command two to three teams.

Counselor Pei looked at the Realm Token and said, "It will take some time to reach the defense zone, Executor Chen. Let's talk as we go."

He took the lead and walked forward, Chen Chuan followed along with the assistant, and they went outside to take an elevator. The assistant pressed two numbers, and the elevator began to descend.

Chen Chuan's mind raced. The conference room was already underground, and now they were continuing to descend. Were they going to the Lower District?

But then he thought again, although the Lower District was not small, it was actually a collection of independent and dispersed spaces, with tunnels connecting the various areas. It wasn't just hollowed out. In fact, most of the undeveloped underground space should still be controlled by the Upper District.

Not only the government, but also the major companies were probably the same.

The elevator did not display specific floor numbers as it descended, but it stopped after about half a minute. The elevator doors opened to both sides, and the assistant stepped aside, allowing Counselor Pei and Chen Chuan to walk out together.

What appeared in front of them was an underground train station, with a train of only three cars parked there. Under the illumination of the tunnel lights, the tracks could be seen extending into the unreachable depths on both ends.

There were also several guards here, who all lowered their guns and saluted with a rustling sound when they saw them coming.

Commander Pei looked at the time again and said, "Just in time." He turned back and said, "Executor Chen, follow me."

Chen Chuan glanced around and nodded, following him into the first car.

Chen Chuan glanced outside. Was this… outside the Central City?

No!

He looked back and saw an endless plain behind him. In the distance, there seemed to be shadows of mountains, but there was no sign of the Central City. Even the terrain was completely different.

At this moment, the train was traveling on long tracks. The immediate surroundings were fine, but looking out from the side window, the sky was filled with dark clouds, with occasional flashes of lightning.

Counselor Pei smiled and said, "We have entered the Convergence Zone."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Secretary Ji should have discussed this with Executive Chen, right?

Every Central City is the forefront of the convergence of two worlds. Through these convergence points, one can enter the Convergence Zone, which is the intermediate zone between the two worlds.

This is a vast area, and we have yet to find its boundaries. There have been many theories proposed about this place…"

He picked up his teacup and gestured outwards. "The most common theory is that it was naturally formed by the collision of two worlds. But some people believe that it was formed from land and space that the other world seized from us during the past period of change."

At this point, he took a sip of tea, smiled, and said, "There's also a bolder theory that the collision of worlds isn't just limited to these two, but that there are many worlds converging towards one place, eventually forming a brand-new world, including our own, which will be swallowed up."

He became slightly more serious and said, "Regardless of which is correct, that's for the theorists and technicians to verify. What we need to do is to eliminate unstable factors before anything happens and ensure the stability of the World Ring barrier."

Chen Chuan nodded slightly.

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Counselor Pei put down his teacup and said, "There are only two short time periods each day when we can reach the Convergence Zone. It is closed off at other times to minimize the penetration of our world. Because every time we pass through, we come over, but it also causes certain things to go to our side."

Chen Chuan glanced outside. He didn't know when, but fog had risen behind them, and the end of the tracks they had come from was shrouded in thick fog, as if obscuring the way back.

He asked, "Is it those entities?"

Counselor Pei shook his head. "Not entirely. We still haven't been able to fully figure out what might slip through, but there are definitely things."

He said solemnly, "So we must minimize frequent travel. Therefore, some troops and personnel from the command are stationed here permanently. And for such stationed personnel, we have higher benefits."

He smiled again and said, "However, Executive Chen has just arrived, so you can familiarize yourself with the situation here first and then decide what to do."

Chen Chuan looked at his Realm Token and saw that it still seemed to maintain communication functions, but he couldn't contact anyone in the Central City. He asked, "Can the Realm Token still be used here?"

Counselor Pei said, "We have buried field-generating creature connection points nearby. Although there isn't a large field like the Foumu, the connection points are enough to maintain basic communication functions within their range."

As he spoke, he reached out and tapped, and Chen Chuan immediately received a contact request, so he added the other party to his contact list.

Just then, he glanced unintentionally and saw that a mountain on the horizon seemed to move slightly. But when he looked again, it was perfectly normal, as if he had just imagined it.

But he knew that he wouldn't experience such a thing.

Perhaps it was because this place was close to the other world, so such anomalies were occurring again?

He stared at the outside for a long time. This place was desolate and strange, seeming to hide many unfathomable things.

After the train had been traveling for more than an hour, snowflakes began to fall from the sky. Heavy dark clouds piled up above, making the vast sky even darker.

Counselor Pei said at this moment, "We've arrived."

Chen Chuan could see a fortress built along a hillside. In the exposed areas, he could see the beams of searchlights shining through the wind and snow on the heavy watchtowers.

After the two got off the train, a gust of wind blew with snowflakes. Counselor Pei looked well-prepared, wearing thick clothes.

Chen Chuan only felt a slight chill, like opening a window after being cooped up indoors for too long and taking a breath of fresh air, which invigorated him.

Counselor Pei tightened his clothes and said jokingly, "No matter how many times I see it, I still feel a bit envious. Let's go in first."

After going through strict entry procedures, the three entered the fortress as the metal gate in front of them rose.

Chen Chuan asked, "Counselor Pei, what are we defending against here?"

Counselor Pei said, "Do you remember the theories I mentioned to Executive Chen earlier?"

Chen Chuan nodded.

"This area isn't just ours. There are other creatures as well. According to one theory, they might be things from other ancient worlds, or they might be entities from our world's past. Well, there's no conclusion for now."

Counselor Pei looked outside. The heavy fortress gate was slowly descending from above. He said slowly, "They aren't very friendly to us."

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