Chapter 294 Special Energy Interference

Su Qinglan shook her head. "No, it was a short-haired woman wearing sunglasses who came. She said her name was Shangguan Ying and that she was Xiao Li's old friend."

“So it’s Sister Ying…” Ning Jinli smiled. “She must have something important to tell me.”

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

Ye Zhi Qiu and Su Qing Lan deliberately avoided the situation.

Shangguan Ying got straight to the point with Ning Jinli: "Jinli, there's something I need your help with. You'll have to come with me. We can discuss the details once we get there."

Ning Jinli asked, "Where are we going? How long will it take?"

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

"Is it okay if I let my mom and the others know?"

"No problem, I'll wait for you outside."

"Okay, Sister Ying."

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

Ning Jinli gave Ye Zhi Qiu and Su Qing Lan a brief explanation, but could only tell them that she had to leave for a while, and could not say where she was going or what she was going to do.

Su Qinglan immediately tensed up upon hearing this. "Xiao Li, I've heard you mention this person before. I just saw her, and she didn't seem like a bad person, but... all this secrecy, isn't it dangerous...?"

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

After all, Ning Jinli had told Shangguan Ying about her and Ning Shan's time travel, and the two had met many times. Shangguan Ying had also participated in a series of projects that Ning Jinli received national support to help Xuan Kingdom.

"Sister Qinglan, don't worry," Ye Zhiqiu comforted her, "Our Xiaoli is very capable, and Shangguan Ying is an absolutely reliable person. Nothing will happen."

Seeing how confident she was, Su Qinglan felt somewhat reassured.

Su Qinglan immediately added, "I don't know how long it will take... Xiao Li, your mom and I will pack some things for you, like clothes, shoes, daily necessities, and oh right, some food too, so you can eat on the way..."

Ning Jinli recalled that when she was in school, Su Qinglan would do her best to arrange things for her whenever it was time to go back to school after a holiday.

Even when they were struggling financially and barely had enough to eat, he would secretly slip a few boiled eggs into her pocket.

“Godmother…” Ning Jinli’s eyes welled up with tears as she held Su Qinglan’s rough hands. “It’s alright, I won’t lack anything. Just wait for me to come back. Take care of yourself. I’m leaving now.”

"Then... then be careful, Xiao Li," Su Qinglan instructed.

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

Su Qinglan and Ye Zhiqi stood at the door, watching the car disappear from sight.

Shangguan Ying drove away from the city center, accompanied by several black cars. Two hours later, she arrived at a military airport on the outskirts of Xinghan City.

Without any rest time, Shangguan Ying took Ning Jinli onto a private plane.

Wait until the plane reaches high altitude.

Shangguan Ying showed Ning Jinli a long list.

Ning Jinli glanced at the crowd and saw that there were several hundred people, most of whom had Chinese names, while more than forty of them were clearly foreigners.

The name is followed by gender, age, identity, and the project one is involved in.

It mainly focuses on science and medicine, but also includes some social and humanities categories. There are many subcategories within it, and Ning Jinli had never even heard of them before.

“These people are all very important researchers of various kinds,” Shangguan Ying said solemnly. “Especially those in scientific research, most of them are students of our country’s top scientific research leaders. They have been conducting the most cutting-edge research and experiments in our country. To put it simply, the scientific knowledge and abilities they possess are at least fifty years ahead of our current era.”

Ning Jinli's eyes widened in surprise. "Could it be... that something happened to them?"

Shangguan Ying nodded. "It's safe for now, but we can't let anything happen to these top talents, so the higher-ups and I have decided to ask you to come and help us directly."

"Then what should I do?" Ning Jinli asked.

Shangguan Ying took out a map.

The map does not indicate specific locations, but only provides a general layout of the buildings.

"This is where they are currently located, a super-large comprehensive experimental base, located in the deepest part of the desert no-man's land in our country," Shangguan Ying said, pointing to the map. "Because it is top secret, all I can show you is this simple map of the main buildings. After you are taken there, a special forces team will assist you and escort a total of 617 researchers away."

"The highest levels of government, as well as the top living scientists, are very concerned about their safety. Even if one of them were to meet with misfortune, it would be a huge loss for our country..."

Hearing this, Ning Jinli gasped.

She recalled the previous rescue operation that went deep into the ruins of the Kutcherberg nuclear power plant, and it was clear that this rescue was far more important than that one.

"Sister Ying, could you tell me... what kind of trouble they might be facing?" Ning Jinli asked cautiously.

Shangguan Ying sat down in front of Ning Jinli, and said cautiously while thinking, "We don't know the specific reasons yet, we only suspect that it is related to the United States."

Ning Jinli complained, "It's not surprising at all that it's related to the United States. The United States has always tried every means to target us, and they're capable of all sorts of big and small moves. Could they be sending someone to assassinate us? That's something the United States would definitely pull off."

Shangguan Ying continued, "In the past, there have been various assassination attempts, all of which we have dealt with. In addition, in recent decades, my country's technological, military and other capabilities have made great strides. The United States has become much more restrained in its actions against my country and dares not do so easily anymore."

"Huh? So this time it's..."

"This time, some kind of energy interference has occurred, causing repeated unexpected malfunctions at our comprehensive experimental base. The more precise the experimental equipment, the more severe the interference, and it may even cause a disaster. I am not a scientist, so I can't explain this to you. In short, we have reason to suspect that the energy interference is related to some kind of secret experiment being conducted by the United States. We don't know yet whether they are deliberately targeting us or whether an accident has also occurred on their end."

Where is the United States conducting its secret experiments?

"A few months ago, the energy source of this interference was suspected to be in the western desert of the United States. Recently, the special energy from this source has weakened considerably. However, a second source has appeared in the central Pacific Ocean. The special energy it releases is dozens of times stronger than the first source and is still increasing. It is suspected that they have moved the location of some kind of secret experiment to the Pacific Ocean."

"Have you found out what kind of experiment it was?"

Ning Jinli became more and more curious as she listened, and couldn't help but ask more questions.

Shangguan Ying looked helpless. "We haven't found out yet. We can only make a rough guess based on the intelligence data we've collected from various sources. What we can be sure of is that it was the highest-level, largest-scale, and most heavily invested research experiment ever conducted by the United States. The United States even secretly used most of its military budget for it, stopped many military projects that had been underway for more than ten or even several decades, and used almost all available military forces and as much energy as possible to concentrate and transport it to the central Pacific region."

Ning Jinli felt a chill run down her spine and had a bad feeling. She subconsciously said, "Could it be that they're working on something even more powerful than nuclear weapons...?"

Shangguan Ying said, "We cannot rule out this possibility. Moreover, based on the fluctuations of that special energy, our scientists have analyzed that even if they are not developing more powerful weapons of mass destruction, if an accident occurs at the secret base that the United States has set up in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, such as an explosion, the destructive energy generated could very likely lead to an unprecedented catastrophe in human history. At that time, all countries along the Pacific coast will be swept away by super earthquakes and tsunamis. Conservatively speaking, all island nations will be swallowed up, and our country's east and south coasts and the west coast of the United States will also cease to exist."

Ning Jinli felt a chill run down her spine and hurriedly said, "If something unexpected happens, even the US itself won't be spared. Don't they care?"

Shangguan Ying sneered, "Country M is different from our country. This country is a federation controlled by extremely powerful and wealthy groups. As long as the interests are big enough, the losses they suffer will not threaten their top groups. Even if they push the entire people of Country M or other countries in the world into the abyss, those groups will not blink an eye. History has proven the greed and cruelty of these people countless times."

Ning Jinli fell silent and turned to look out the window.

The sunlight gilded the clouds with a brilliant gold, and below, the city's skyscrapers stretched across the land. Although the people in the city were not clearly visible, at this moment, all ordinary people were living their lives and busy making a living.

None of these ordinary people know that the world is facing such a terrible crisis.

Xinghan City is a southern city, located in a province that is only one or two provinces away from the southeastern coast.

According to what Shangguan Ying said, if the secret experiment that the United States was conducting in the Pacific Ocean were to explode, even Xinghan City would be swallowed by the ocean.

At this moment, what lies beneath the plane will also become part of the Pacific Ocean...

Just thinking about it for a moment made Ning Jinli feel terrified.

"Jinli, you don't need to worry too much," Shangguan Ying said, softening her tone to comfort her, thinking that she might have frightened her. "The concerns about the secret experimental base in the Pacific Ocean of the United States are just the analysis and speculation of our scientists at present. It doesn't mean that it will really happen. Just focus on doing what you need to do this time. We still have a few hours to go before we reach our destination. You can rest for a while."

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

Shangguan Ying smiled and said, "Okay, I believe you. Go to the rest pod and get a good night's sleep."

Ning Jinli got up and left the seating cabin, going to the rest cabin.

Shangguan Ying took out her phone, opened the photo album, found a picture, and stared at it, lost in thought.

This is an old photo taken with a mobile phone. Judging from the blurry background, it must have been taken decades ago. In the center of the photo, there is a woman holding the hand of a little girl.

The little girl had short hair, was covered in dirt, and had big, stubborn eyes.

Strangely, the young woman holding her hand wore clothes that showed no signs of age, and her face, apart from being much more mature than Ning Jinli's, looked exactly the same...

...

Night deepened.

The Great Xuan King's Palace.

Xiao Qidi is having a meeting with a group of ministers.

Recently, various new measures modeled after Linxian City have been progressing smoothly, and multiple reform pilot projects have sprung up like mushrooms after rain within the Great Xuan territory. Although the people still have some difficulty accepting various new things, they are generally cooperating actively because they have felt the tangible benefits of development. The whole country is showing unprecedented vitality.

The court officials were exhausted, but seeing the rapid changes, they became even more motivated.

"Report! Urgent military situation at the border!" Suddenly, a soldier rushed into the main hall.

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

The ministers looked at him silently.

Xiao Qidi's eyes swept over the contents of the letter, his gaze suddenly turning cold. "Since the You Kingdom is so treacherous, then let them be destroyed. Heh, I've been looking for a reason to take action against them!"

The ministers looked surprised.

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

After everyone saw it, they understood what had happened.

It turns out that after the destruction of An Kingdom, Da Xuan and You Kingdom agreed in advance that An Kingdom's capital and river would be the boundary, with each country occupying half of An Kingdom's territory.

Although the destruction of Anguo was mainly carried out by Daxuan, with Youguo providing support through small-scale harassment, Xiao Qidi did not care about this division of the spoils.

Furthermore, considering that the area north of You Kingdom is an important border for the Central Plains to deal with nomadic tribes, if You Kingdom performs well, it may not be necessary to annex it in the future, and it can even help it resist invasions by nomadic tribes.

Unexpectedly, the You Kingdom couldn't sit still any longer and began to send their troops across the boundary of the royal city's river channel to camp on the territory belonging to the Great Xuan.

Out of consideration for the fact that the two countries had joined forces to destroy Anguo, and in order to avoid causing unrest and harming the local people, the border troops of Daxuan took the initiative to retreat dozens of miles away.

However, the You Kingdom's army pressed its advantage, occupying as much territory as the Da Xuan army retreated.

Therefore, the border general ordered his subordinates to urgently report the situation back to the capital of Da Xuan to the king.

"Fight! We must fight!" a minister roared. "The You Kingdom is ungrateful and courting its own destruction!"

The other ministers echoed this sentiment, all advocating for war.

Cabinet Chief Minister Lin Sui said, “Your Majesty, I will draft a proclamation tonight to launch a campaign, which will be announced to the world tomorrow morning. Within three days, we can prepare enough grain and supplies to send to support our border troops. In addition, the latest batch of complete sets of iron armor and weapons, as well as gunpowder and bombs, was sent earlier and should be in their hands soon. I believe General Qi and General Mu, who are stationed in the area, will be very satisfied.”

“Hmm, very good, let’s do it that way,” Xiao Qidi said with approval in his eyes, then asked, “What is the current situation of the Zeguo territory in the Jiangnan area?”