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墨書 Inktalez
The ordinary cultivators who came with Ye Wen were clearly people involved in management work. When Ye Wen looked at him, he understood the message and handed over the briefcase. Ye Wen opened the briefcase and took out four maps, laying them out on the table: "Sharon City, the first major nation of the Fire Cult, is not peaceful. They have a hidden danger, which is also a concern for all Fire Religion Nations: the conflict between Theocracy and Regime. In other countries, the Regime generally surpasses the Theocracy but does not contradict it. However, in Sharon City, the highest leader is the Pope, who has the authority to replace the nation's ruler. Their leaders are all nominated by the Pope."
"You are concerned about cultivators infiltrating the Fire Cult Nation," Ye Wenda said. "Looking at the map, this is the territory of Sharon City. In various intelligence gathered by our spies, we found that all Half-Beast cultivators are active in Sharon City. The Serpent Woman has appeared multiple times in this area, with no sightings elsewhere. The Lion Dog is here, and the Centaur is here..."
The spies were from Twilight City and might also be agents dispatched by the Ye Family. The alliance's response to the Fire Cult was slow, while Twilight City, as an old rival of both Sharon City and the Fire Cult, had already begun to gather comprehensive intelligence.
Ye Wenda continued, "They live in places with distinct personal characteristics. The Leopard Woman is in the south, in the jungle; her public identity is that of a photographer capturing rare flora and fauna of the jungle. The Lion Dog is in an industrial city where there are many abandoned factories; I believe he has used these buildings for extensive assassination training."
Cui Ming asked, "So all Fire Cult Practitioners originate from Sharon City?"
"Yes," Ye Wenda confirmed. "We were also very surprised. In other Fire Religion Nations, we have discovered cultivators, but none exhibited Half-Beast characteristics. To the north of Sharon City lies Starfire Desert, the second-largest desert in the world. Our people discovered Cat's Paw in this area; earlier we suspected that the Fire Cult might be hiding and researching some advanced weapons there. After several months of reconnaissance focused on cultivators, we deduced that there is likely a gathering place for Fire Cult Practitioners within Starfire Desert."
"To verify this hypothesis," Ye Wenda explained further, "our people rented an airship under civilian identities from Nordo City. They altered their flight path and spent thirty-six hours over Starfire Desert. We discovered a location."
Ye Wen pulled out a dozen photographs: "I was planning to go to the Ministry of Defense later; since you need these now, I can share them with you, but I hope you keep this confidential—even from the Force Alliance."
"Of course," Cui Ming nodded and glanced at Beiyue. "No problem."
"Take a look at these photos. They appear no different from any part of the desert."
Cui Ming examined the photos closely; their clarity suggested that Twilight City's military had been collaborating significantly with Nordo City's technology sector on military matters. Cui Ming remarked, "There are shadows here—shadows of pillars?"
"Yes," Ye Wenda replied. "From above, nothing seems to indicate any structures. However, based on our analysis of the shadows, this appears to be a flat building covering about half a square kilometer. Approximately five kilometers outside this building are three Golden Mines. The desert is rich in gold; it’s no secret that Sharon City is affluent. These three mines form a triangular perimeter around this building to prevent outsiders from entering. Because of these mines, there are makeshift roads connecting them. Five kilometers away from the mines lies a desert road leading to an Oasis camp where supplies needed for mining operations are unloaded and gold is transported out. Given that it involves gold, this camp is guarded by soldiers."
"We initially noticed and suspected that this might be an advanced weapons development site for Fire Cult Nation because their supply logistics seemed off," Ye Wenda elaborated. "What comes out of the mines isn't gold but only sand; conversely, what gets transported into the mines consists of high-quality food supplies. The operational costs for these mines are substantial—firstly due to this Highway built specifically for them stretching sixty kilometers just to service three mines; secondly due to power sources set up along this Highway leading to the mines. Unless there’s an unimaginable amount of gold in these mines, such an investment would be excessive. However, Sharon City indeed has considerable wealth; such an investment could only be considered minor by their standards. Near the oasis, a small thermal power plant is under construction—this kind of development raises our suspicions."
"That's strange. We must rule out the possibility of spies investigating. Spies can't infiltrate the mining area because their workers are actually members of the Papal Guard. Our people took an unconventional route, sneaking into the desert with three expert spies who are very familiar with it, but they disappeared when they got close to the mining site."
This doesn't add up. If this area is merely a training ground for practitioners, there wouldn't be such a large-scale operation needed. It would suffice to send soldiers to camp and prevent outsiders from approaching, perhaps setting up a few high towers as watchtowers.
Cui Ming asked, "Why do you think it has something to do with weapons?"
"No, it's not about weapons; it's about weapon research. Our people discovered that a lot of supplies were being transported to the mining site, including many research materials like glass test tubes, microscopes, anesthetics, and lab mice. We're concerned that they might be researching and producing toxic gas."
This is a bit chaotic. What would practitioners need these for? Suddenly, Cui Ming's eyes lit up as he asked, "Could this be a Breeding Room?"
"Breeding Room?" Ye Wen questioned. "But it's said that Fire Cult Practitioners have their own wives—many wives. An ordinary practitioner can have dozens of them. The Fire Cult has practitioners, but they are quite average. During the Second World War, one of our Ye Family practitioners was surrounded by seven of them and not only emerged unscathed but also killed four in retaliation. According to the professor's research, ordinary Fire Cult practitioners are generally mediocre due to religious reasons—like Ramadan or excessive sexual activity—combined with the interference of religious thoughts during meditation, making it rare for them to produce a master-level human practitioner."
Cui Ming replied, "But Half-Beast practitioners have overturned this understanding. Each one of them is strong; it's almost safe to say they have few rivals in one-on-one situations."
Ye Wen nodded, lightly tapping his fingers on the table. "A Breeding Room... that's an interesting idea... but..."
"But what?"
"But is there such advanced medical knowledge?" Ye Wen countered. "We have a good relationship with Nordo City and have never heard of any research focused on human genetic modification. Over a hundred years ago, humanity already understood genes and chromosomes. Now we recognize that genetic mutations can lead to many untreatable diseases. However, this research is all based on theoretical studies of genetics and is far from practical application. I'm not looking down on the Fire Cult; why would the Fire Religion Nation have advanced genetic research compared to other countries? Moreover, I must say that all such research requires theoretical support. If the Fire Cult had any scientific theories regarding technology, our Ye Family would definitely know about it. As the head of the family, I may not handle specific tasks, but I must be aware of all information."
Cui Ming pondered; Ye Wen's points were quite reasonable.
Beiyue interjected, "So they can only study Half-Beasts—Leopard Women—and Liu... The only one with human features resembling Liu Meier." Beiyue felt a cold sweat; he nearly let slip something about Liu Meier that could have been disastrous. He realized he wasn't suited for conversations with outsiders; if his attention wavered even slightly, he would forget crucial details.
Although describing Liu's figure sounded awkward, Ye Wen didn't mind these verbal nuances and said, "There must be institutions that have been researching this topic for at least ten years. Ten years... ten years might not even be enough."
Cui Ming asked, "Do you think we might know how to solve the key issues? For example, the reproduction problem, which could just be a small detail."
Ye Wen thought for a while and replied, "I don't know. I don't think that's the case, but I haven't studied medicine. How about this? I'll consult an expert in that field, and I'll let you know if I find anything. For now, you need to go find someone in the Fire Cult. I believe you're interested in the Starfire Desert."
Cui Ming responded, "I'm not sure if he’s in the Starfire Desert. If this is a breeding ground, I don’t think it should be here." After all, blacksmithing and breeding are completely different industries.
Ye Wen asked, "Should we look for Master Bei?"
"Um..." Cui Ming was not used to such directness; sometimes conversations with smart people were not very pleasant.
Ye Wenda said, "It's very likely he’s here. Because on the supply list, there are many rare ores that often appear as additives in crafting Force Weapons."
Ha! This is interesting. Although I think it would be quite fun to fight against the Fire Cult, this place seems too difficult. Even five Cui Mings might not have one come out alive. But is this really a Breeding Room or a crafting site? The two cannot coexist. As a backup plan, Cui Ming said, "Ye Wen, let me be straightforward. I need a very important person. What kind of leverage do I need to exchange with the Fire Cult for this person? For example, a Sacred Relic."
Without thinking much, Ye Wen replied, "The Fire Cult firmly opposes idol worship; therefore, they don’t have sacred relics like prayer beads or crosses. It would be difficult to blackmail them... even if it’s under conditions set by Holy Mountain, it wouldn’t work. I'm sorry; I can't think of anything. However, everyone has value. If you can find someone more valuable than the person you’re looking for, then an exchange might be possible."
For instance, an important researcher from the Breeding Room? Damn it, this brings me back to Plan A. Cui Ming pondered for a moment: "The Breeding Room is in the desert, with the best resource supply and soldier defense. That means there must be an important figure on the periphery. Right?" A blacksmith wouldn’t warrant such a large operation; thus, the Breeding Room makes more sense.
Ye Wen thought for a moment and said, "Exactly. There must be someone loyal and knowledgeable coordinating from the outside. He also needs to be responsible for liaising with the mining area. I believe the leader of the Fire Cult practitioners won’t be in the desert; like the Lion Dogs, they spend part of the year in the Starfire Desert for research purposes. If their leader were in such an inconvenient location for communication and transportation, they wouldn't be able to respond if something happened."
Right! During the Competition Match, Leopard Woman had contacted some leader from the Fire Cult. The signal was good; that Fire Cult leader might even be on Divine Island. After all, I've experienced how terrible the call quality is when routed through a buoy. I need to dig out this behind-the-scenes figure. (To be continued.)
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