Along the way they came, it took Chen Jian and his group over two hours to return to Tongling City.
When they exited the restricted zone, everyone looked at them with sympathetic eyes, seemingly thinking they were another group of overconfident explorers about to lose their lives.
But in actuality, according to Chen Jian’s calculations, the total radiation dose they suffered during this exploration would not exceed 1500 roentgens. Although it has surpassed the standard for mild damage, it is still some distance from moderate damage.
Short-term discomfort is normal, and there might even be some hair loss, but in the long run, it won’t have too much of an impact.
After returning to the lodging house, Chen Jian immediately organized the compilation of the clues at hand.
".... Now we can confirm that the Fu Xi project should be a super-large comprehensive project, rather than a standalone project of a single technology or single achievement."
"It requires massive energy support, but most likely, the original energy for this project came from city power, and after the cataclysm occurred, the higher-ups decided to use a micro fusion reactor to power the project to keep it running."
"So, there was the task of using large transport aircraft to transfer the fusion reactor."
"Following this train of thought, knowing that the cataclysm had already occurred, the higher-ups still decided to continue the project, so the project must have two characteristics at the same time."
"First, the project is important and may play an essential role in the continuation of humanity."
"Second, the project must have powerful self-sustaining capabilities, possibly involving technologies such as large-scale IoT and strong AI."
"Only in such a case would the higher-ups potentially decide to let the project enter an operational state rather than directly shelving the related equipment..."
"Not necessarily in operational state."
Lei Jie interrupted Chen Jian, then said:
"Perhaps in a semi-operational state, such as using limited equipment and limited energy to maintain the environmental system operation, ensuring the stability of the internal environment to preserve as much useful material as possible."
"In this situation, the so-called ’treasure’ of Jinling is likely a large underground disaster preparedness vault—which is why its location information would be displayed alongside the 7025 facilities."
Chen Jian nodded thoughtfully and then said:
"If that’s the case, then we don’t need to go to Lu Zhou anymore."
"Whatever we find there will only be a component of the Fu Xi project located in Jinling."
"It doesn’t make much sense to look for parts before finding the main body, just like we found the fusion reactor in advance but couldn’t restore it."
"We should head directly to Jinling, enter the ruins, identify the target location as quickly as possible, gather the necessary information, and infer the required conditions."
"If we lack energy, we find energy; if we lack weapons, we find weapons. In short, our goal is to find the ’key’ Ji Xing mentioned, and if this key is locked in another safe....."
"Then we have to figure out how to break open the safe!"
Chen Jian’s firm words gained approval from Shen Yue and the others.
But right across from Chen Jian, Ji Xing’s expression suddenly changed.
"Are you planning to head to the Jinling Ruins just like that?"
"Is there a problem?"
Chen Jian looked at Ji Xing with a bit of confusion. Ji Xing took a deep breath and said:
"Do you not know anything about the Jinling Ruins? Don’t you know there are monsters in there?"
Chen Jian nodded and replied:
"Before deciding to go to Jinling, we had already gathered enough relevant information."
"We know there’s a second-level monster there, and we also know the Mechanical God Sect suffered significant losses there."
"But that’s not a reason to give up—we can take down a third-level monster, so we can take down a second-level monster."
"There’s no essential difference between the two, just a difference in strength, right?"
Ji Xing exhaled lightly, then spoke with a somewhat heavy tone:
"According to your theory, all monsters in this world have no essential differences."
"But the problem is, there are indeed differences between monsters."
"Not to mention the difference between Level 2 and Level 3 monsters, even among Level 3 monsters, there are various differences."
"A Level 4 monster that the Mechanical God Sect can easily kill can be a troublesome enemy for the Holy Blood Temple."
"Conversely, it’s the same."
"However, Level 2 monsters are Level 2 monsters precisely because they don’t have distinct specializations."
"To all the different factions, they are equal."
"The armor that the Mechanical God Sect’s giant cannon can’t penetrate, the Holy Blood Temple’s potions can’t corrode either."
"And you guys... although you are indeed strong, in terms of pure strength, you can’t compare to the two big factions."
"Maybe you can gain an advantage on local battlefields with your tactics and special weapons."
"But when the scale of battle rises to a certain level, do you really think you can handle it?"
"Unless you use that kind of ’nuke’ in your hands."
"Obviously, that kind of weapon isn’t something you can use casually, right?"
Chen Jian didn’t deny it but answered honestly:
"We don’t intend to use nukes in this battle. It hasn’t reached that level yet."