Chapter 245: Flaw

Chapter 245 – Flaw

The reason Chen Jian wanted the Ring Chamber of Commerce to fetch rocket fuel instead of doing it himself was simply that the task was far too arduous and unrewarding.

In truth, rocket fuel is not as simple as one might imagine.

Though in his era a certain short‑video platform was rife with videos of a prodigious elementary‑schooler hand‑crafting plum‑candy, that spectacle was to genuine solid propellant what a handful of scraped‑off, fluffy nitrate and black powder from a latrine wall is to real fuel.

If one does not factor in preparation speed, a liquid‑fuel rocket surpasses a solid‑fuel one in stability and storage endurance by an incalculable multiple.

Chen Jian doubted why the rocket he found was solid‑fuel; perhaps the Rocket Force had deliberately left a margin of uncertainty in its decision‑making.

After all, no one possessed omniscience in the face of the circumstances then.

For a strategist of a strategic force, the foremost consideration in any decision is always “where is the enemy?”

Though the great cataclysm unfolded in a bizarre, inexplicable manner, who can guarantee it was not a premeditated strike?

With only five hours to decide, even if the world had risen from its eerie slumber, the decision‑maker must treat it as a hyper‑intense surprise assault.

That is likely why they opted for a solid‑fuel rocket.

They could not know how long the sealed caches would remain dormant; if the interval were short, a solid rocket was the optimal choice.

If the interval stretched long, even strategic missiles would scarcely be of any use.

Weighing these two factors, storing solid rockets proved the more cautious course.

——

Of course, one cannot deny that other bases might have liquid rockets preserved in the same manner, yet until they are found, Chen Jian makes no such assumption.

He simply assigns the task to the Ring Chamber of Commerce.

If they can locate it, they will; if not,

He will order Fuxi to mobilize every piece of equipment, even if it means hand‑crafting the fuel.

Thus, on the following day, after seeing off the merchants of the Jiangnan Chamber, Chen Jian promptly “summoned” Wang Lizhi, who happened to be in Jinling.

By the time the latter hurried—sometimes fast, sometimes slow—to Base 011, the clock read a little past two in the afternoon.

At that moment Chen Jian was conferring with Fuxi on the design and construction of a first‑layer defensive bastion, while Wang Lizhi stood at a distance, his expression stripped of the earlier rebellious swagger.

When Chen Jian finished his plan and approached him, Wang Lizhi turned toward Chen Jian, his demeanor respectful, and said:

“Mr. Chen, I have arrived.”

“I see.”

Chen Jian gestured for Wang Lizhi to sit at the small table set just outside the main corridor; an ant‑swarm of robots poured tea for the two of them, and Chen Jian took a sip, then, with a casual air, asked:

“How have you been lately? Where have you struck it rich?”

“Struck it rich.”

Wang

Chen Jian was not worried about what uncontrollable consequences might follow from revealing the exact location of the Rocket Force base.

"Nonsense," he thought. The Rocket Force base houses only rockets; even if they found a nuclear warhead, they lacked the means to employ it.

It could not be more fitting to have them take on this job.

Upon hearing him, Wang Lizhi promptly gave his decisive approval.

The task was smoothly subcontracted, and Chen Jian immediately instructed Fuxi to retrieve the spinal‑link brain‑machine that Shen Yue had uncovered on the monster’s corpse.

When the device was placed before Wang Lizhi, the puzzled expression on his face plainly revealed that this was his first time laying eyes on such a thing.

"Do you recognize it?"

To be safe, Chen Jian asked once more.

"I don’t."

Wang Lizhi shook his head.

"This is the device that controls those monsters? Found inside their bodies?"

"Yes."

As Chen Jian’s words faded, Wang Lizhi’s brow furrowed abruptly.

"That makes no sense."

"Humans have hunted countless monsters before, yet never uncovered anything like this."

"It could only have emerged in the past decade or so, perhaps even more recently."

"Or perhaps such a thing only surfaces on the eve of a Beast Tide."

"Then who is the one who deployed this device?"

"That, too, is the question we seek to answer."

Chen Jian exhaled softly, then said:

"In this world, there likely exists a power of unimaginable magnitude, one that none of you are even aware of."

"It’s possible. Yet another problem remains."

After a moment of careful contemplation, Wang Lizhi replied:

"One hundred and fifty years ago, the Beast Tide occurred in exactly the same manner."

"Which means those monsters were likely controlled in the same way."

"Then why, in Chang’an City, among the monsters’ corpses, did we find no such devices?"

"Not a single one."

"Someone must have taken them away—or destroyed them."

"Yet we have never seen the hand that would destroy them."

"So, are we simply blind to them"

"Or are they among us?"

(End of Chapter)