Chapter 294: Special Energy Interference

Su Qinglan shook her head, "No, the one who came is a short-haired woman wearing sunglasses; she said her name is Shangguan Ying, an old friend of Xiao Li."

"So it's Sister Ying..." Ning Jinli smiled, "She must have something important to ask me."

Afterwards, Ning Jinli invited Shangguan Ying to the backyard of the villa.

Ye Zhiqiu and Su Qinglan voluntarily stepped aside.

Shangguan Ying got straight to the point with Ning Jinli: "Jinli, I need your help with something; you have to go with me. The details will be explained once we arrive."

Ning Jinli asked, "Where to? How long will it take?"

Shangguan Ying said, "The address is confidential, the time uncertain."

"Then I need to let my mom and them know, okay?"

"No problem, I'll wait outside."

"Okay, Sister Ying."

After the brief conversation, Shangguan Ying left the villa first.

Ning Jinli then briefly explained to Ye Zhiqiu and Su Qinglan, but could only tell them that she would be away for a while; where she was going and what she would do, etc., could not be disclosed.

Upon hearing this, Su Qinglan became nervous: "Xiao Li, I had heard you mention this person before; seeing her just now, she doesn't seem like a bad person, but... being so secretive, could there be danger?"

Compared to Su Qinglan, Ye Zhiqiu naturally knows more about Shangguan Ying's identity.

After all, Ning Jinli had told Shangguan Ying about her and Ning Shan's time-travel incident, and they had met several times, including the project where Ning Jinli received state support to aid Xuan Guo, in which Shangguan Ying also participated.

"Sister Qinglan, don't worry," Ye Zhiqiu reassured, "Our Xiao Li is formidable, and Shangguan Ying is absolutely reliable; nothing will happen."

Seeing her speak so confidently, Su Qinglan felt somewhat reassured.

Su Qinglan then immediately said, "We don't know how long you'll be gone... Xiao Li, I'll pack some things for you and your mom—clothes, shoes, daily necessities, and oh right, some food to eat on the way..."

Ning Jinli recalled that whenever school terms ended and she had to return to school, Su Qinglan would always do her best to prepare things for her.

Even when times were so tight they could barely afford a meal, she would secretly slip a few boiled eggs into her pocket.

"Foster mother..." Ning Jinli's eyes welled up as she gripped Su Qinglan's rough hands, "It's fine, I won't lack food; just wait for me to come back, take care of your health, I'm off now."

"Then... be careful, Xiao Li." Su Qinglan urged.

Ning Jinli then left the villa and got into Shangguan Ying's car.

Su Qinglan and Ye Zhiqiu stood at the gate, watching the car until it disappeared from sight.

Shangguan Ying drove out of the city center, and along the way some black sedans joined as escort; two hours later they arrived at a military airfield on the outskirts of Xinghan City.

Without any rest, Shangguan Ying brought Ning Jinli aboard a dedicated aircraft.

Once the plane reached high altitude.

Shangguan Ying showed Ning Jinli a long list.

Ning Jinli glanced at it; there were several hundred people, most of them Chinese names, with over forty clearly foreigners.

After each name were listed gender, age, identity, and the project they were engaged in.

The list mainly covered scientific and medical fields, also including some social humanities, with many subdivided categories that Ning Jinli had never even heard of.

"These people are important researchers of various kinds," Shangguan Ying said solemnly, "Especially the scientific researchers, most of them are students of our nation's top scientific leaders; they have been conducting our country's most cutting-edge research and experiments. To put it simply, the scientific knowledge and skills they possess are at least fifty years ahead of our current era."

Ning Jinli's eyes widened gradually, "Could it be... they encountered some accident?"

Shangguan Ying nodded, "For now they're still safe, but we can't let this batch of top talent suffer any mishap, so I and the higher-ups have unanimously decided to directly ask you for help."

"What should I do then?" Ning Jinli asked.

Shangguan Ying took out a map.

The map had no specific location marked, only a rough layout of the buildings.

"This is where they are currently located, an ultra-large comprehensive experimental base deep in our nation's uninhabited desert," Shangguan Ying said, pointing at the map, "Because it's top-secret, the only thing I can show you is this simplest schematic of the main building layout; once you're delivered to the site, a specialized special forces unit will assist you in escorting out a total of 617 researchers."

"The nation's highest leadership, as well as the surviving top scientific leaders, place great importance on their safety; even if one person meets with misfortune, it would be a huge loss for our country..."

Hearing this, Ning Jinli sucked in a breath of cold air.

She recalled the previous rescue operation deep into the ruins of the Kuchiboge Nuclear Power Station; obviously, this rescue's importance far surpasses that one.

"Sister Ying, may I ask... what kind of trouble might they have encountered?" Ning Jinli inquired cautiously.

Shangguan Ying sat opposite Ning Jinli, pondering and speaking solemnly: "We don't yet know the exact cause; we merely suspect it's related to M Guo."

Ning Jinli remarked, "It's no surprise at all that it's related to M Guo; M Guo is always trying every means to target us, pulling off big and small moves. They might even have sent people to assassinate—this is exactly the sort of thing M Guo could pull off."

Shangguan Ying continued, "In the past there have been various assassination attempts, all of which we resolved; moreover, over the past few decades our nation's technological and military capabilities have advanced by leaps and bounds, so M Guo has become restrained in such actions and dare not lightly attempt them."

"Ah? Then what is it this time..."

"This time, some kind of energy interference has caused repeated accidental malfunctions at our comprehensive experimental base; the higher the precision of the equipment, the worse the interference, possibly even leading to disaster. I'm not a scientist, so I can't explain this to you; in short, we have reason to suspect that this energy interference is connected to a secret experiment M Guo is covertly conducting, and we don't yet know whether they are deliberately targeting us or if they too have suffered an accident."

"Where is M Guo conducting the secret experiment?"

"A few months ago, the source of this interference energy was suspected to have appeared in the western desert of M Guo; recently, that source's special energy has weakened considerably, but a second source has emerged in the central Pacific, releasing special energy tens of times stronger than the first and still growing, suggesting they have moved the site of some secret experiment to the Pacific."

"Have you found out what experiment it is?"

Ning Jinli grew more curious the more she heard, and couldn't help but press further.

Shangguan Ying wore a helpless expression, "We haven't ascertained it yet; we can only make a rough estimate based on the multifaceted intelligence data we've gathered. What is certain is that it is absolutely the highest-level, largest-scale, most heavily invested research experiment M Guo has ever undertaken; they have even secretly funneled half of their military budget into it, not hesitating to shelve many military projects that had been underway for over a decade or even several decades, and mobilizing nearly all available military force and as much energy as possible, concentrating shipments to the central Pacific."

Ning Jinli inexplicably felt a chilling premonition and blurted, "Could they be tinkering with something even more formidable than nuclear weapons?"

Shangguan Ying said, "I cannot rule that out. Moreover, according to the fluctuations of that special energy, our scientists have analyzed that even if they are not developing a more powerful large-scale destructive weapon, if M Guo's secret base in the middle of the Pacific suffers an accident, say an explosion, the resulting destructive energy would very likely cause an unprecedented catastrophe in human history; at that time, all nations along the Pacific coast would be ravaged by super-strong earthquakes and tsunamis, conservatively estimating that all island nations would be submerged, and our country's eastern to southern coasts, as well as M Guo's western coast, would cease to exist."

Ning Jinli's hairs stood on end as she hurriedly said, "If an accident occurs, M Guo itself wouldn't be spared either; do they really not care?"

Shangguan Ying gave a cold smile, "M Guo is different from our country; it is a federal state controlled by an extreme power-money clique. As long as the profits are big enough, the losses they suffer won't threaten their top echelon; even if they push the entire M Guo or the peoples of other nations into the abyss, that clique won't blink. History has repeatedly proven such people's greed and cruelty."

Ning Jinli fell silent, turning her head to look out the window.

Sunlight gilded the clouds with a brilliant gold; below, the land was covered with city skyscrapers. Although we couldn't see the people in the cities, at this moment ordinary folk everywhere were living their lives, busy making a living.

Among these myriad beings, no one knows that the world is facing such a terrifying crisis.

Xinghan City is a southern city, its province lying only one or two provinces away from the southeastern coast.

According to what Shangguan Ying said, if the secret experiment that M Guo is conducting in the Pacific Ocean were to explode, even Xinghan City would be swallowed by the sea.

Then, the area beneath the plane right now would also become part of the Pacific Ocean…

Just the mere thought makes Ning Jinli feel terrified.

"Jinli, you don't need to worry too much," Shangguan Ying thought she might have scared her, so softened her tone to comfort, "The concerns about M Guo's secret Pacific experiment base are only the current analysis and speculation of our scientists; they don't mean it will actually happen. Just focus on doing the task you have to do well. We're still a few hours away from our destination, so rest for a while."

Ning Jinli exhaled slowly, "Ying sister, don't worry. I will definitely complete the mission successfully and ensure that everyone on the list is safely escorted out."

Shangguan Ying smiled, "Alright, I trust you. Go to the rest cabin and get a good sleep."

Ning Jinli got up, left the seat cabin, and went into the rest cabin.

Shangguan Ying took out her phone, opened the photo album, flipped to a picture, and stared at it, falling into thought.

It was an old photo taken with a phone; judging from the blurry background, it must have been taken decades ago. In the center of the picture, a woman was holding the hand of a little girl.

The little girl had short hair, was filthy all over, and her big eyes were full of stubbornness.

Strangely, the young woman holding her hand wore clothes that showed no hint of the era, and her face, aside from being much more mature than Ning Jinli, was exactly identical…

……

The night grew deeper.

Great Mystic Palace.

Xiao Qidi was holding a meeting with a group of ministers.

Recently, various new policies modeled after Lin Xian Cheng have been progressing smoothly, and multiple reform pilots have sprung up across the Daxuan Realm like bamboo shoots after rain. Although the common folk still face some difficulties in embracing the new things, they have felt tangible benefits of development, so they are basically cooperating actively; the whole nation is radiating unprecedented vigor.

The ministers at court are indeed weary, but seeing the daily changes, their spirits become ever more invigorated.

"Report! Urgent border army intelligence!" a soldier suddenly rushed into the main hall.

The eunuch immediately stepped forward, took the document, and presented it to Xiao Qidi.

The ministers quietly looked at him.

Xiao Qidi's eyes scanned the contents of the letter, and his gaze suddenly turned cold, "Since You Guo has betrayed us so completely, then let them be destroyed. Ha, I was just worried there was no reason to act against them!"

The assembled ministers showed surprised expressions.

Xiao Qidi then passed the letter around for them to read.

After reading it, everyone finally understood what was happening.

It turned out that after the destruction of An Country, Daxuan and You Guo, according to a prior agreement, used the Royal City of An Country and its river as the boundary, each occupying half of An Country's territory.

Although Daxuan was the main force in destroying An Country and You Guo only provided minor harassment, Xiao Qidi was not concerned about this division.

He even considered that north of You Guo lies Zhong Yuan, an important frontier for dealing with nomadic tribes; if You Guo performed well, perhaps it would not need to be annexed in the future and could help resist nomadic incursions.

But unexpectedly, You Guo could not stay still for long; they already began moving their troops across the Royal City river boundary and stationed them on Daxuan's territory.

The Daxuan border troops, recalling that they had jointly destroyed An Country with You Guo, and to avoid causing unrest that would harm the local populace, voluntarily withdrew dozens of li.

However, the You Guo army kept pressing forward; whatever distance the Daxuan forces retreated, they immediately occupied the same ground.

Thus, the border commander ordered his subordinates to urgently report the situation back to the Great Mystic City to inform the monarch.

"Fight! Must fight!" a minister shouted angrily, "This is You Guo's ingratitude, leading them to their own destruction!"

The other ministers responded in kind, all advocating war.

Cabinet Minister Lin Sui Dao said, "His Majesty, I will draft a proclamation of expedition tonight and announce it to the world tomorrow morning. Within three days, we can prepare grain and supplies to send to support our border troops. Moreover, the latest batch of iron full‑set armor and weapons, as well as gunpowder bombs, were dispatched earlier and should soon be in their hands; I imagine Generals Qi and Mu, who are stationed locally, will be very pleased."

"Hmm, very good, let's do it that way," Xiao Qidi's eyes showed approval, and he then asked, "What is the current situation of the Ze Country territories in the Jiangnan region?"