Book 3, Chapter 329: Lockdown
After a brief period of silence, Chen Bitong said, “I suppose it’s time for us to have a proper conversation. This happens to be the perfect place for that.”
Since they were currently at the border between the two sides, they didn’t have to worry about anyone interrupting or listening in to their conversation.
“I’m listening,” Chen Chuan said.
“Captain Chen, you have a bright future ahead of you, so I didn’t want to drag you into this, but you’ve changed my mind with your strength,” Chen Bitong said as he looked at Chen Chuan seriously.
He leaned against the spear and stared at the area ahead.
“I’ve defended the World Ring for twenty years, and I can no longer remember how many invasions I’ve fended against. I didn’t have a good temper when I was younger, but I’ve always believed myself to be a man of principle. I was strict with my subordinates and refused to make connections with the powerful or superior officials. I didn’t have good ties with my colleagues either.
“Back then, I stubbornly thought that as a soldier, all I needed was to do my duty.
“My first two children idolized me, so they enrolled into military school. They had great talent, and they reached the Third Limit at eighteen and nineteen years old, respectively. They graduated ahead of time to join the World Ring Defense System so that they could defend the World Ring with me.
“But in the end, they lost their lives.”
“I’ve heard about that,” Chen Chuan said carefully.
Chen Bitong searched through his pockets and took out a swallow and tiger carved from wood. “They gave these to me when they were five years old. Their names are carved on them.”
Chen Chuan took a look. Two small rows of words were carved on the wooden animals. One was Chen Xiaohu, and the other was Chen Xiaoyan. [1] There was a childlike charm to the wooden carvings. It was clear that two young pairs of hands had carved them.
Chen Bitong brushed his thumb over the carvings and said, “They didn’t actually get hurt, but had been corrupted by some existence from the other world. After hearing about it, I rushed to the rear.
“The commanding officer told me that the people corrupted by this existence would be inevitably controlled by it. There was no way to get rid of the corruption. They might even end up corrupting other people, so the commanding officer hoped that I could think of a way to solve this problem as soon as possible. If I can’t kill my own children, I can ask the World Ring Defense System to help me.
“After learning about this, Xiaoyan and Xiaohu didn’t want to make things hard for me, so by the time I returned to their side, I only found a letter. They told me that they had returned to the battlefield.”
Chen Chuan didn’t say anything. He only listened in silence.
“They said that I was their hero. They admired me and were proud of me. That’s why they hoped that I could be proud of them too.”
Chen Bitong’s eyes turned moist, but after taking a deep breath, he gingerly put the wooden carvings back into his pocket and pushed them down gently so that they would not fall out. Even when the fighting had been at its most intense and after he seemed to have turned into someone else, the two wooden carvings did not get damaged.
As he leaned against the spear, he mumbled, “After I went back, I changed Xiaojin’s name. It originally meant Little Whale, but now, it means tiny weight.”
He paused to take a breath and changed the topic. “While defending the World Ring, I encountered similar cases. Many of them were comrades who had fought by my side for years. The rear always suggested that they be killed as soon as possible or have someone else kill them while the rear supervised.
“That’s why most of the corrupted soldiers rushed back to the battlefield after asking their comrades to take care of their families.
“We’ve always believed that this was the right way to deal with this situation, until one time, a young military officer who came with a commanding officer to the frontlines for an inspection was corrupted. The higher-ups didn’t ask to kill him. Instead, he was sent to the rear for treatment.
“Two months later, I saw him during a celebration party. He was laughing and joking around. He had even been promoted.
“I had someone look into his file, and we found that his ‘achievement’ was getting corrupted and nearly dying when he fought at the frontlines. In truth, he stayed for less than three hours at the frontline, and he never even left his vehicle.
“I only learned later that he’s the son of some high-ranking officer in the World Ring Defense System, and his mother has a high position in her family.
“I did some digging around. Through multiple channels, I learned that it isn’t impossible to get treated after getting corrupted, but you need medicine specially granted by the higher-ups. This medicine is monopolized by a certain group and isn’t known to those ranked under them. It is only used to treat those they believe need to be treated.”
“Are you doing all this to take revenge for your comrades and your children?” Chen Chuan asked.
Chen Bitong shook his head. “I’ve been a soldier all my life, and I have to carry out my duty. Xiaoyan and Xiaohu were also soldiers. Once they set foot on the battlefield, they had to be prepared for all sorts of situations. That’s why I don’t hate or want revenge on anyone for this.
“Besides, even if I take revenge, I won’t actually be able to solve the problem.
“I could kill those people keeping the truth hidden. I might be able to take down all of them with me in a suicide attack, but what would that achieve?
“After I die with them, nothing will change. What happened in the past will continue happening, because it’s inevitable.”
At this point, his voice grew firm. “It’s only when I bring about a change so great that it will affect the entirety of Central City and the Great Shun Republic or even the entire world that it would be meaningful.”
Chen Bitong was trying to do something grand.
“Some things should belong to everyone, but some people keep a tight leash over them through power so that they can have total ownership over them.”
Chen Bitong looked up and said, “Captain Chen, you’re standing in front of the door leading to a greater limit. You’re no longer far away from crossing it. If you want to break the barrier stopping you from taking that step, aside from purifying yourself with the power from the other world, you’ll need something else.
“In the past, when the two worlds were attracted to each other, it wasn’t hard for martial artists to find this thing, regardless of whether it was the era of change or the era of dormancy.
“But things are different now.
“This thing has been tightly controlled. Aside from powerful countries and mega corporations, no individual can get it.”
Chen Chuan raised an eyebrow at that and asked, “Is it like special medicine?”
Chen Bitong shook his head. “While special medicine is also under strict regulation, as long as martial arts factions have access to a gap, they can get it. Special medicine is also considered hard currency among the Third Limit martial artists and is circulated in public.
“What I’m talking about has long since been seized by the powerful countries and mega corporations using the World Ring. Not a single bit has been leaked to the public.
“Right now, unless they have legacies passed down by their predecessors or the governments or mega corporations in their areas gave them permission, no one has access to this thing.
“The only thing they can do is to bypass the World Ring in secret, but that poses a great risk, because there’s a squad made of elites from various groups in the World Ring specializing in killing such people.”
After some thinking, Chen Chuan came to the conclusion that it was relevant to himself and asked, “Why have the countries and mega corporations decided to keep this thing under their control?”
“It started during the age of the mega alliance. Back then, they decided that martial arts masters were highly destructive, so they needed to be observed and limited in their movements. Then, no major upheaval would happen in the world, and they could make all martial arts masters join the fight against the other world.
“That may have been the original goal of the mega alliance, but years have passed, and a small group has come to seize control of the supply channel for this thing. They’ve formed a huge net, and if you’re not part of their interest group, you can only get a trickle of their generosity after signing a strict agreement with them.
“This cannot continue.”
Chen Bitong looked at the exit leading to their world and said, “What I did today is to destroy that control, or at the very least, make a hole in that net of theirs so that the thing can spill out. Then, more people will have the chance to get it.”
Chen Chuan pondered over it before asking, “Via a gap?”
Chen Bitong nodded. “Precisely. But that’s not all. The propagated offspring played a part as well. It allows us to pass through the now torn World Ring to connect to the place where the thing is. If I carry out my plan, many people will no longer be under restriction, and things will change.”
Chen Chuan didn’t know how strong martial artists of higher limits were, but based on the tiny bit of strength Chen Bitong had displayed, he could imagine just how destructive such martial artists could be.
If there were just one or two more of them in the world, they might be able to change the political situation of an entire area.
But he had a feeling that Chen Bitong hadn’t told him everything. He was going to ask questions, but he sensed something and looked outside one of the gaps. Someone was coming, and that someone was dangerous.
It seemed like this time, the enemy wasn’t going to be an easy one.
Chen Chuan cast his gaze away and saw Frost King Saber. The expanded rift had dragged his saber in as well.
He went over, grabbed the hilt, and pulled the blade out. While the saber hadn’t woken up, it should be enough for him to deal with the current situation.
Chen Chuan cast another glance at Chen Bitong. “Were you the one who tore open a gap in the World Ring?”
Chen Bitong was silent for a while before replying, “I wouldn’t have been able to do it on my own, but I will admit that I chose not to stop it.”
With his saber in hand, Chen Chuan stared at the gap and stood still. “What’s that thing called, by the way?”
“Right now, we call it pure essence. I don’t know what it was called in the past, because its real name has been removed from the files and most records,” Chen Bitong answered.
1. Chen Xiaohu = Little Tiger, Chen Xiaoyan = Little Swallow. ☜
