Night’s Nomenclature

Midnight, Qing Chen opened his eyes.

Beside him were baskets of Eternal Heaven Fruit.

Little Seven and the others were sitting cross-legged beside him, holding Purple Orchid Star leaves, cultivating and protecting him.

"Dean, you're awake!"

Qing Chen looked towards the source of the voice and saw Xiaoyu squatting on the ground playing with mud, while Zard was watching him with a smile.

Little Seven and the others opened their eyes, and Qing Chen said, "Continue your cultivation."

Little Seven closed his eyes again.

"Why are you all here in the middle of the night? And you even brought Xiaoyu?" Qing Chen asked Zard, unsure where the mud came from.

Xiaoyu said innocently, "Brother Dean, Brother Zard said you overexerted yourself today, so you must be guarded. There are dangerous people on the island."

Zard chuckled, "Actually, there aren't any dangerous people. I just told Xiaoyu that to make it easier for him to understand."

"Who are you guarding against?" Qing Chen asked, smiling, "Little Seven and the others are guarding me in the war fortress; ordinary people can't get in."

"I'm guarding against He Jinqiu. With your status, anyone daring to kill you won't be ordinary. Little Seven and the others are still too weak!" Zard scratched his head.

Little Seven and the others twitched their mouths, but since Zard, a top expert, said they were weak, there was no problem. They simply ignored it.

Qing Chen asked, "Why do you think He Jinqiu is dangerous?"

Zard: "Last night, you were finding a way out for the Time Travelers, but he was on the island and didn't offer help. It was the same on the battlefield; Boss Zheng fought for us until the end, but He Jinqiu left early. I don't like him."

Qing Chen knew that Zard's thinking was unconventional, but he wasn't stupid.

Behind that unconventional thinking lay his own logic and code of conduct.

And now, Zard was incredibly clear-headed.

Crystal clear.

Yesterday, Qing Chen had spent a lot of mental energy recreating City 10 and planning 99 routes. These tasks seemed easy during planning, but the amount of information to organize was enormous.

Zard seemed to know he had overexerted himself, so he brought Xiaoyu to stay here and guard him overnight to prevent assassination.

After all, the power Qing Chen now wielded was taking shape. Whether it was the plants in the Agricultural Academy or the organizations under his command, they were incredibly impressive.

Taking precautions against malice wasn't excessive.

In the Agricultural Academy at midnight, Qing Chen softly said, "Thank you."

"It's nothing; just admit I'm the cutest soul," Zard chuckled.

Qing Chen was puzzled, "You and Ding Dong can't communicate. How did he praise you?"

"Expressions!" Zard said confidently, "I can understand his meaning from his expressions."

Qing Chen lay back in his chair, "There'll be an episode of "Closer Science" about you someday."

Zard was surprised, "Really?"

"By the way, when is Dayu coming out next?" Qing Chen asked, "You should persuade him not to cause trouble in the wilderness settlement."

"Dayu also overexerted himself last time. I estimate it'll be at least ten days before he comes out again," Zard said.

Qing Chen was puzzled, "They three share one body. Don't they share mental will?"

"No, each has their own," Zard said, "Xiaoyu is the weakest."

"Who is the strongest?"

Zard was silent for a moment, "Zhong Yu is the strongest."

"I understand. No wonder Dayu said that if he's ever pushed to the limit, he'll let himself out and drag the whole world down to hell," Qing Chen said, "Go back and rest."

Strictly speaking, the mental will of the mentally ill is likely stronger than that of normal people.

Since Xiaoyu is weak, it means Zhong Yu is exceptionally strong.

As for Dayu, he's a normal person from the Inner World. Although his talent is slightly better, it's still not as good as a mentally ill person.

Zard asked, "Boss, aren't you going to sleep some more?"

Actually, Qing Chen had only slept for four hours.

After returning to the Agricultural Academy, although he lay in his chair, he had been thinking about one thing: If he were Shendai Qianchi, having done such a heinous act, how would he maximize his profits?

Or rather, why did Shendai Qianchi dare to do this?!

This was a very disgusting direction to think.

Because to understand the opponent's thoughts, Qing Chen had to corrupt his own thinking and think from Shendai Qianchi's perspective to get the answer.

Qing Chen was reluctant to do this, but only in this way could he know what Shendai Qianchi was trying to do.

Qing Chen shook his head, "No, there's still a lot to do. I can't sleep peacefully until it's done."

He had too much to do.

Qing Chen called Zheng Yuandong, "Principal Zheng, have Little Eagle and the others transport the Eternal Heaven Fruit. Also, assemble all the Time Travelers. I need a backup plan."

Zheng Yuandong: "Backup plan?"

"Yes," Qing Chen said, "I have a bad feeling."

He hung up and continued to think.

Now, the Agricultural Academy had completely become a war academy. Its purpose was to make the most thorough preparations for the upcoming Inner World war.

Which plant in the Agricultural Academy is most helpful to the next group of Time Travelers?

It's not the early summer plant that enhances reaction speed, nor the winter plant that enhances cold resistance; it's the Eternal Heaven Fruit.

The daily output of Eternal Heaven Fruit isn't high. Even with two more transplants, the average per 4811 Time Travelers isn't enough for one each.

That 0.6 jin to 1 jin increase in strength might allow someone to survive in a chaotic disaster.

But the problem is that among the 4811 Time Travelers, there are 158 children under the age of one. One or two fruits are definitely not enough for them; they won't be able to protect themselves in a chaotic world.

Those children are Qing Chen's biggest concern.

After a while, Little Eagle knocked on the door and they moved several baskets of Eternal Heaven Fruit to the square outside the dormitory area.

Little Seven stood before everyone, "To increase your survival rate, the Academy has decided to distribute Eternal Heaven Fruit. Don't rush; according to the planting plan, we can guarantee one fruit per person before the next crossing."

The Time Travelers looked at each other in astonishment. Was there such a good thing?

But then they thought, the Academy would only do this in a dangerous situation, right?

But the next second, Little Seven continued, "However, this Eternal Heaven Fruit isn't free. It's an advance payment. Everyone, the Academy's annual interest rate is very favorable, only 0.57%, with installment plans: 6 months, 1 month. In other words, if you don't have enough points now, it's okay; you can eat it first and pay later."

As soon as he said this, everyone in the square looked at each other in astonishment.

What the hell? The Academy is even doing installment loans now?

Can even an Eternal Heaven Fruit be paid in installments?

While everyone was uncertain, Little Seven continued shouting, "Your points aren't consumed; they're just changing form. The power is real. The sooner you eat, the better. Hurry up and apply for installment loans; raise your hand when you're done, and I'll distribute the Eternal Heaven Fruit. Today's quota is limited; first come, first served."

The Time Travelers were amused and cried; they were doing sales tactics now.

Lu Yuan looked at this scene and complained to Boss Zheng, "This is something only Daybreak can do. They've even incorporated consumer traps into the Academy. I never expected this. But I understand; it's kind of them. It would be painful for Qing Chen, a frugal person, to suddenly take out so much Eternal Heaven Fruit. They also have to go to the island tomorrow; those people haven't eaten Eternal Heaven Fruit yet."

An annual interest rate of 0.57% means that even if you owe for a year, it's only 0.57 points, which is nothing. You can earn it back with any task.

In other words, Qing Chen temporarily gave the Guardians' Union's quota to the Academy just to help the Time Travelers survive.

So Lu Yuan complained, but he knew what Qing Chen had chosen.

The Time Travelers also appreciated it. They knew what it meant to get an Eternal Heaven Fruit quota at this time.

Zheng Yuandong said, "This time, he didn't even give the cliff challenge participants special privileges but treated everyone equally. Qing Chen is truly different."

He thought for a moment and whispered something to Little Seven.

Then, Little Seven told Hu Jingyi and Chen Zhuoqu, "The Principal Zheng granted you an extra Eternal Heaven Fruit each in City 10, interest-free; you can deduct it from your challenge rewards."

Chen Zhuoqu understood; this was a favor from the Agricultural Academy to successful challengers. Although they still had to spend points, the problem was that even one Eternal Heaven Fruit per person might not be enough; getting a second one was already good.

Normally, an extra fruit might not be a big deal. But now, with disaster looming, an extra fruit could increase the chances of survival.

She knew the Academy wanted them to survive.

The Agricultural Academy made a concession, so the Academy would naturally give preferential treatment to students favored by the Agricultural Academy.

However, Chen Zhuoqu shook her head. She looked at the panicked children in the night, the children who hadn't even finished primary school.

She suddenly said, "Although I like money, wealth, grabbing, and competition, I only take what I deserve. Thank you, Dean and Principal, for your kindness. Give these priorities to the children. But there are more than five days until the crossing, enough for me to complete several challenges. I won't miss a single reward that belongs to me."

She then turned to the huge city sand table and continued memorizing her evacuation route.

Little Seven watched her resolute back.

Hu Jingyi and the others said, "Give the Eternal Heaven Fruit to the children first; we have our ways of getting Eternal Heaven Fruit."

At that moment, among the 4811 Time Travelers, someone stood up, "I'm already a Gene Soldier; give my quota to the children."

Another person stood up, "I'm also a Gene Soldier; give mine to the children too."

Those children were the weaklings in the Academy who ran points. Many projects had nothing to do with them, and they couldn't win against others.

Once a disaster really broke out, 158 children, with strength and endurance at most one-third of an adult's, would be lucky to survive one-tenth.

Children's eyes turned red, "Thank you, seniors!"

Someone in the square smiled, "What are you thanking us for? We wouldn't compete with children. Dean, give the children two fruits first, then prioritize junior high Time Travelers. We've been exercising in the Academy lately, so our physical condition is good."

At this moment, facing the disaster, everyone realized how important the Academy's encouragement to exercise was.

"Raise your hand to vote; those who agree to give the Eternal Heaven Fruit priority to these juniors, raise your hands!"

The Time Travelers in the square raised their hands like a cloud.

Zheng Yuandong silently watched this scene.

Perhaps, this was the meaning of establishing the Time Traveler Academy.

At this moment, Qing Chen also came to the huge sand table model. He didn't care about the distribution of the Eternal Heaven Fruit, but calmly said, "All captains and deputy captains, step forward. Tonight, I'll plan a second route for you."

"A second route?" Little Eagle was puzzled, "What for? Will yesterday's route be scrapped?"

"No, the second route is a backup," Qing Chen said, pointing to Chen Zhuoqu, "If you find it impossible to evacuate through the southern border checkpoint, I want you to immediately head east along Zhongzhou Avenue to the lower three districts and find the Community Association. Someone will be there to help you. I want you to completely obey their orders, hide, and even assist them in battle."

The Time Travelers suddenly panicked.

Previously, they thought that as long as they remembered the route, they would have a chance to leave City 10 before things got worse.

After all, City 10 was still normal before the return; only 16 out of 4811 Time Travelers died. This mortality rate showed that the real threat hadn't yet approached.

But now it seemed that things weren't that simple!

Qing Chen's apprehension made them realize a problem: they might not be able to escape!

"Dean," a girl timidly asked, "Can't we escape?"

"I don't know. I'm just making the worst preparations. I can't confirm some things yet, but things aren't that simple," Qing Chen said.

Zheng Yuandong was silent for two seconds and suddenly said, "I understand what you're thinking. Since this disaster was meticulously planned by Shendai Qianchi, this Demi-God, and since he might have the Forbidden Artifact Ant Queen ACE, the greatest benefit for him is to have all the residents die in the city to nourish the Rat Tide."

Qing Chen looked at Boss Zheng in astonishment. In the Time Traveler Academy, only Boss Zheng could keep up with his thinking speed.

Yes, this was the result of Qing Chen's six-hour contemplation.

He set himself a problem and came up with a terrifying answer: if he were Shendai Qianchi, he would definitely try to have all the city's residents die in the city.

He chose the boxing match finals and the Qinghe recruitment, the times when City 10 had the most people.

Why do this?

Shendai Qianchi, the unrecovered Demi-God body, and the Forbidden Artifact Ant Queen ACE. When these clues are linked, Qing Chen understands.

First, Shendai Qianchi, the cunning Demi-God.

In this process, only the Forbidden Artifact ACE09Beyond the Three Realms can help Shendai Qianchi escape the Forbidden Artifact Tribunal's judgment; otherwise, his body would have been recovered long ago.

This shows that Shendai Qianchi had been planning for a long time.

This Demi-God was nearing the end of his lifespan and urgently needed a Neural Link to seize control and extend his life, yet he went to that extremely dangerous battle.

How could a person who has survived for two centuries through seizing control suddenly act recklessly and die suddenly?

It's illogical and unreasonable.

So Qing Chen guesses that Shendai Qianchi is still alive!

Qing Chen speculates: Before participating in the battle, he had already chosen his target for seizing control and began planning to use his body as a vessel.

After faking his death and escaping, he uses his body to nourish the Rat Tide; this is his true plan.

Then, since Qing Chen concludes that Shendai Qianchi is not dead, let's think about Shendai Qianchi's situation: If he has successfully seized control, this is when he is weakest.

Shendai Qianchi is already at odds with the Shendai family head. After seizing control and being demoted, he must use extreme measures to protect himself.

Otherwise, if the Shendai family head finds an opportunity, he'll really be doomed.

So, Shendai Qianchi's means of protecting himself would certainly not be to cultivate urgently. Even if he tried hard, it would take a long time to return to being a Demi-God.

Shendai Qianchi can't wait that long, and the Shendai family head wouldn't wait that long to discover the situation.

Shendai Qianchi is short on time.

Therefore, creating the world's largest Rat Tide and controlling it with the Forbidden Artifact Ant Queen ACE is enough to make him stand tall again.

That's a Rat Tide capable of destroying a city, a force more terrifying than a Demi-God.

The Forbidden Artifact Ant Queen ACE allows all gregarious creatures to regard the host as the leader of the group, including but not limited to rats, lions, hyenas, ants, bees, and termites.

The usage is unknown.

The current Rat Tide completely fits this Forbidden Artifact's rules.

Once the Rat Tide forms and is controlled by Shendai Qianchi, the terrifying disaster will not only be a disaster for City 10 but will also become a disaster for all of humanity.

It would be difficult to kill Shendai Qianchi then.

Plus, the Shendai Consortium is colluding with foreign forces on the West Coast to create chaos and subvert the Federation's structure.

When the plan progresses to this point, Shendai Qianchi's plan forms a closed loop.

And the Rat Tide is the most important part of Shendai Qianchi regaining his capital and cards.

Such a cunning person would never allow the residents of City 10 to escape before his plan succeeds. So Shendai Qianchi must have a backup.

This is why Qing Chen wants to make a backup route; he's afraid the Time Travelers won't be able to escape! He's afraid the residents of the entire city won't be able to escape!

City 10 is blocked by high walls, and there is Metal Storm on the walls. To enter or leave, you must rely on the border checkpoints. He suspects that Shendai Qianchi has people there.

If you can't evacuate from the border checkpoints, then everyone must flee to the lower three districts, relying on the Guardians' Union's strength to organize defenses and waiting for the support of the Li Clan and Qing Corporation's army.

Qing Chen originally thought that the other party might choose to start during the boxing finals, using the 100,000 people in that venue to feed the Rat Tide.

This guess was already bold enough.

But now Qing Chen thinks that venue is just the beginning; Shendai Qianchi's target is the entire city!

If this is true, then as soon as Shendai Qianchi notices someone trying to escape, he will take even more extreme measures.

Qing Chen sighed; it's a dead end again.

It's not that he isn't smart enough; it's that the other party planned for too long, starting before the century battle.

Qing Chen is hastily responding and can only make passive choices.

He looked at Zheng Yuandong, "How many Kunlun members are in City 10 now? Are you there, Boss Zheng?"

Zheng Yuandong sighed, "There are more than 600 Kunlun members in City 10, but I'm not."

He was in the northern city with Lu Yuan, leading the Home Families to expand their territory and preparing to seize the lower three districts of City 0.

Qing Chen said, "I want to take over command of these 600-plus people."

This sentence suddenly tore people's emotions apart, even the noisy Time Travelers stopped discussing.

Lu Yuan subconsciously looked at Zheng Yuandong; Qing Chen wanted to seize power?

However, Zheng Yuandong didn't mind; he only asked Qing Chen, "Have you thought it through? The person who takes over command at this time suffers the most. The choices you have to make may not be understood."

Qing Chen nodded, "I know what I'm doing."

Zheng Yuandong turned around and called a young man, "Dianfu, come here; from now on, all your actions will be under Qing Chen's command."

The young man, Dianfu, nodded solemnly, "I understand. I'll fully cooperate."

As a result, Qing Chen, having just taken command, calmly said, "I need all Kunlun members in City 10 to rush to the power plant immediately and protect it. Someone will try to destroy it, even at the cost of their lives. If I can still command the Qing Clan Secret Intelligence Agency after we cross over, someone will reinforce you. But if communication is immediately cut off after the crossing, you'll be isolated and helpless. But even if you die, you must die at the power plant."

Everyone was astonished; Dianfu couldn't answer for a while.

Ni Ergou was shocked to hear Qing Chen's words; he didn't expect Qing Chen's first action after taking command would be to send the Kunlun members to their deaths.

He asked blankly, "Why not send your Guardians' Union?"

Qing Chen looked at him, "In the first plan, the Guardians' Union assists the Secret Spy Agency in evacuating the residents of the entire city. In the backup plan, if everyone cannot leave the city, the Guardians' Union must stay in the lower three districts, defend a piece of pure land for everyone, and help those who want to escape to the lower three districts open a gap in the Rat Tide. Everyone can retreat, but I guarantee they won't retreat."

Actually, Ni Ergou, Lu Yuan, and Zheng Yuandong now understand Qing Chen. This time, Qing Chen definitely has no selfish thoughts. Every decision he makes is based on the goal of "letting more people survive."

Can the Guardians' Union stay in the lower three districts unscathed? No.

Their escort mission is equally cruel.

Or even crueler.

As Zheng Yuandong said, there will be sacrifices in this disaster, and the person who commands others to sacrifice is the one who suffers the most.

The commander must use the clearest mind to make the most correct decisions and then endure the long-term blame and self-blame.

Ni Ergou sighed, "I'm sorry. I misunderstood. I promise I won't question your decisions again."

"It's okay. Your questions are reasonable. Since I've taken command, I've prepared myself to be questioned," Qing Chen responded. He looked at Dianfu and said coldly, "Any questions?"

Dianfu stood up straight, "No questions!"

The city's lights cannot be extinguished.

Once the lights go out and the city falls into darkness, the huge city will become a playground for the Rat Tide.

Zheng Yuandong looked at the young man in front of the city sand table. He was gradually growing into a towering tree, like the world tree in Forbidden Zone 00 that shelters living beings.