Chapter 150: FX0962045 Project Fuxi

Chapter 150: Project FX0962045 Fuxi

Chen Jian's premonition was not baseless; compared with Ji Xing's pure instinct, his reasoning was actually a shade clearer.

He at least had a few grounds for it.

First, the whole city of Anqing had been stripped clean; the vast majority of useful supplies had been carted away. If anything remained, it meant that, in the eyes of the Mechanical Cult, it was of little use.

Second, given the nature of the Ring Trade Guild, they pursued what truly qualified as “high‑tech products,” things prized for their theoretical advancement.

Such items, in any era, are of paramount importance.

This air‑force base could be called the safest subterranean installation within the Anqing ruins; if such an object existed, storing it here would be entirely sensible.

Yet Chen Jian could not fathom what it might be.

Perhaps it did not even belong to the era he knew.

To locate it, experience and deduction were no longer enough.

He needed to unearth concrete records, to see what truly transpired here on the day the Great Cataclysm erupted.

With that in mind, Chen Jian asked:

“He Shuo, do you know where the archives of the Tenth Air Division are kept?”

Hearing this, He Shuo furrowed his brow, thought a moment, then replied:

“In theory, the Tenth Air Division’s files are overseen by an independent archive office. Around 2020, the division established a readiness‑records office specifically for training and preparedness documents.”

“However, I doubt we could retrieve anything from the paper archives of the Tenth Air Division.”

“The cataclysm erupted so swiftly that there was no chance to convert electronic files into paper copies.”

“Useful data should still reside in the system, but the whole network has collapsed; extracting anything may prove harder than re‑activating a nuclear warhead.”

“That’s not certain either.”

Chen Jian shook his head and said:

“We’re not after the records of that day, but those from the days preceding the cataclysm.”

“If any top‑secret material was shipped in, it would have been filed.”

“Operational files are archived within three days; the transport and storage of critical equipment falls under the same mission, so there must be a record.”

“Makes sense, but it’s of little consequence.”

Beside them, Lei Jie interjected:

“The archives probably exist, but after three centuries, how much could have survived?”

“The archive room is on the second level; we inspected it while passing, and everything inside has essentially turned to rot.”

“Don’t even think about leafing through them; I’d wager a single touch would turn them to ash.”

“At least have a look. Let’s go.”

Chen Jian made a swift decision, and the others fell in step.

Leaving the third underground level, they entered the archive chamber on the second level, its condition even worse than Lei Jie had described.

All paper documents had long since decayed, reduced to a handful of dust.

Almost no textual information remained; the few legible characters on some scraps were meaningless.

Chen Jian sighed in disappointment, about to speak, when Shen Yue, who had been searching deep within the archive room, suddenly called out.

“Captain! Over here!”

Chen Jian moved to his side, looked up, and saw on the front of a filing cabinet a metallicly engraved label still crisp.

“FX0962045”.

Chen Jian furrowed his brow and said:

“2045 denotes the year, 096 likely the institute’s number, and FX the project’s code name.”

“Records of the FX project led by Institute 096 in the year 2045?”

“What lies within?”

“…air.”

Shen Yue pointed to the opened cabinet door and continued:

“The bad news: every file was either pre‑emptively moved or destroyed.”

“The good news: we’ve found the right one.”

“At least now we know the project code of that vanished thing.”

“We can no longer discover exactly what it was, but perhaps the Ring Trade Guild knows?”

“Indeed.”

Chen Jian nodded slowly.

“This is our sole clue—find a way to question them and get answers.”

“Now we must strip this ground clean.”

“Set aside distant concerns; first secure what’s right before us.”

“What shall we do with these nuclear warheads? Ship them out, or seal the entrance and reactivate later?”

“I suggest sealing the entrance.”

He Shuo raised his hand and said:

“We lack the capacity to move all of this; handing it to any third party is unsafe, and we have no immediate use for it, so better to lock it away for now.”

“Makes sense.”

Chen Jian nodded again, then turned to Lei Jie.

“Is there a way to seal this underground space completely while still leaving us a passage?”

“The simplest method: find a guardian, perhaps a monster.”

“A monster?”

Chen Jian felt a stir in his mind, a sudden notion flashing through.

There had indeed once been a monster here, and a formidable one at that.

Could that very beast be the so‑called “gatekeeper”?

If so, the secrets of this place would grow ever more enigmatic.

Chen Jian shook his head gently, dispelling the tangled thoughts, and said:

“Unrealistic; even if we found one, the delay would be far too great.”

“Then let’s go for a physical seal—any means?”

“There is a way, but it would consume a great deal of explosives, and our stock isn’t abundant.”

“Use what we have first.”

Chen Jian gave the order decisively, then with a sweeping gesture led everyone out of the underground works.

Before leaving, Zeng Yi lingered, turning his head back several times.

He couldn't understand why, having discovered such vital equipment, Chen Jian chose to take nothing away.

Even if those “nuclear bombs” that could forge a sun were left behind, would the “fighter jets” be abandoned as well?

They were indeed beyond use, yet if you can repair the exosuits on your bodies, why not a “plane”?

While Lei Jie was setting explosives, preparing to collapse the overlying soil and seal the tunnel entrance, Zeng Yi raised his doubts.

Chen Jian answered with a mixture of helpless laughter:

“Repairing a fighter jet is no simple task—moreover, the damage to these jets is beyond what a mere ‘repair’ can restore.”

“To make them move again we need an entire system; in theory it’s hardly any simpler than building a new one.”

“But why are you so fascinated by aircraft? Do you want to fly?”

Chen Jian had just finished speaking, and before Zeng Yi could answer, Xie Liu interjected:

“Actually, I also want to see what it feels like to take to the skies.”

As his words faded, Chen Jian instinctively turned to Ji Xing and Li Shi, one nodding, the other shaking his head.

The one who nodded was Ji Xing, who immediately continued to explain:

“For us blood‑sacred ones, many have dreamed of truly soaring.”

“We can leap high, but it’s never genuine flight.”

“Honestly, there have been attempts before—mixing the blood of winged monsters with holy blood to breed a flying generation.”

“Yet without exception, they all failed.”

“If they don’t fail, there must be a ghost; your direction is completely wrong.”

Chen Jian threw up his hands in resignation, and at that moment Lei Jie detonated the blasting charge.

“Boom!”

“Boom!”

With a few muffled explosions, the massive heap of humus above the tunnel collapsed, sealing the entrance deep within.

From the surface it is hard to see the tunnel hidden beneath the loose soil.

It is far from a perfect solution, but reaching this point was already the limit of the few of them.

“Let’s go.”

Chen Jian spoke:

“We’ve gathered all the information here, but our business isn’t finished yet.”

“The blood skeletons haven’t been cleared, and the gear they left behind is still valuable.”

“The real looting time has arrived.”

“We must strip this ruin clean, every last scrap!”

“Understood!”

In the following days Chen Jian’s squad shuttled between the Anqing ruins and Anqing City no fewer than twenty times.

Like ants moving a nest, they combed the entire Anqing ruin.

Whenever they encountered a terror‑demon squad, none were spared; any terror‑demon camp they saw was left with nothing. The whole unit’s style was to take everything, and the equipment they hauled back to Anqing City was a veritable menagerie.

Black powder, single‑shot rifles, cheap bullets, scrap steel, useless electronics, cables, batteries, expired food

Apart from the massive stockpiles of mysterious meat jerky in the demon camps that were burned to ash, they essentially carted away everything they could.

To move more efficiently, they even hired a twenty‑person freight team dedicated to clearing junk and loading.

The representative of the Ring Trade Guild was the one to meet them for handover, and upon witnessing their almost “greedy‑beyond‑measure” hauling, the normally stern, unsmiling envoy stationed at the warehouse finally managed a wry smile.

“If possible, would you dismantle every building inside the Anqing ruin and sell the whole lot to us?”

Hearing this, Chen Jian, busy selecting high‑value items from the junk pile that he didn’t intend to sell, nodded his head,

“If we have the capability, we would indeed do that.”

“After all, this is a one‑of‑a‑kind treasure.”

“Aside from us, no other faction near the Anqing ruins has the means to delve into this still‑unstable site without paying a steep price.”

“For them, looting is inherently inefficient and low‑yield.”

“But we are different; this is exactly what we excel at.”

“Do you know what this is called? It’s an industry barrier.”

“Lesson learned.”

The representative nodded appreciatively and then said:

“What you don’t realize is that the biggest obstacle to your plundering isn’t the demons, but the Flower City.”

“Since that conflict, tension between the Mechanical Cult, the Holy Blood Hall, and Flower City has reached its peak.”

“They train daily, preparing for a possible assault from Flower City.”

“They have no time to worry about these petty gains; what lies before them are matters of life and death.”

“Enough of that.”

Chen Jian waved his hand indifferently and said:

“Flower City poses no threat to us— they are too far away, their delivery capacity is weak.”

“Any short‑term offensive they could muster would rely on so‑called mercenaries, whose combat power couldn’t even breach the defenses of Huangshi City, let alone ours.”

“You are quite arrogant.”

The representative sighed deeply, then said:

“But you do have the capital to be reckless.”

“Alright, this is the last shipment, right?”

“Its total value is 14,200 grams of gold. Do you want the gold, or the goods?”

“My advice is to take the gold.”

“Because after this great war, you’re severely short of basic supplies— ammunition, shells, and the like.”

“Purchasing those on the open market is far more economical than buying them from us.”

“Understood. Then we’ll take the gold.”

Chen Jian nodded decisively and said:

“But we have another condition.”

“What condition?”

The representative asked curiously, and Chen Jian shook his head, replying:

"I will talk to Wang Lizi. Give us our gold first."

".So you mean that condition won't be deducted from the price of this trade?"

"Of course, that's an additional clause."

Chen Jian answered as if it were only natural.

".Fine. I am only responsible for doing my part."

The representative did not hesitate for long, finally nodding in agreement.

Chen Jian, fully satisfied, accepted the carefully weighed gold, loading the selected supplies onto the cat-cart dragging its rear trailer.

These items were not actually rare.

It was mostly ammunition—just over a thousand rounds of 7.62mm caliber bullets, forty-one mortar shells, two rounds of 30mm automatic grenade shells, six rocket launchers, and a dozen or so 35mm grenades.

The only somewhat "special" weapon was that ultra-large caliber single-shot rifle modified from an aircraft cannon barrel.

Chen Jian had originally wanted to sell the thing, but after careful thought, it seemed better to haul it back to Yellowstone City to use as a stationary turret.

Thus, he placed a transit order with the Ring Chamber of Commerce, turning this "jingal" over to Huang Yu's control.

With all preparations complete, the group departed from Anqing City.

Another scheduled stop on their route should have been Tongling City, but Chen Jian was in no hurry to set out.

They made a show of leaving, then quietly circled back to the Anqing Ruins.

After waiting there for twelve hours, Chen Jian finally got what he was waiting for.

It was a squad obviously carrying automatic firepower, equipped well enough to be considered elite in this post-apocalyptic world.

A squad that appeared inside the base of the 10th Air Division.

In that moment, his hypothesis was confirmed.

The Ring Chamber of Commerce's target was never the Anqing Ruins, nor was it the fear-demons within them.

What they were looking for was the very thing inside the 10th Air Division base!

They were indeed using his team.

Unfortunately for them, he had beaten them to the punch after all.

Chen Jian gave Shen Yue a look; understanding immediately, the latter began calling Wang Lizi over the radio on a specific frequency.

After a brief silence, Wang Lizi's voice came through his headset in reply.

"Mr. Chen, I'm here."

"Calling me at a time like this, I take it you've already seen us."

"Perhaps your drone is hovering right above our heads, yes?"

"Congratulations, you've learned to jump the gun."

Chen Jian did not deny it in the slightest, following up immediately:

"The fear-demon was a smoke screen, and the Huadu plan. can only be said to be their bad luck for bumping into it."

"They just happened to be standing in your way."

"So, what exactly are you trying to find there?"

".That information is not within the scope of our trade."

Wang Lizi's tone was somewhat cold, but then, as if suddenly realizing he was the one in the passive position, his tone softened right away as he continued:

".I mean, there won't be anything here that interests you."

"You should know we have strictly carried out the contract, and even provided extra help."

"Regarding this trade, we have a clear conscience."

".Then your bar for a clear conscience is low enough to be appalling."

Chen Jian clicked his tongue twice, shaking his head:

"Cut the nonsense."

"I'm going to ask you just one question right now."

"What is FX0962045?"

Silence.

After a long silence, Wang Lizi's reply suddenly came over the radio once more.

He spoke in a grave tone:

"You've already been underground, haven't you?"

"The passage here was collapsed by you."

"We won't hold you accountable, but I hope that whatever information you obtained, you will share with us."

"You want to know what this code stands for. actually, we want to know too."

"This is why we had to enter the underground; I have no need to hide this from you."

"I hope you won't either—"

"Cut the nonsense."

Chen Jian interrupted Wang Lizi, asking once again:

"What does FX0962045 represent?"

This time, Wang Lizi did not keep Chen Jian waiting long.

He answered:

"We don't know what 096 stands for, but we know 2045 represents time."

"And FX stands for 'Fuxi'."

"Project Fuxi."

(End of Chapter)