Chapter 295 Island Base

“Your Majesty,” Lin Sui said, “more and more people along the river and border of Ze Kingdom have responded to Li He’s call to revolt. He has now built a rebel army of about 10,000 people, which seems to have attracted the attention of the King of Ze Kingdom.”

Xiao Qidi smiled and said, "Good lad, you've made quite a stir so quickly."

One minister suggested, "If we attract the attention of the King of Ze, he will surely send troops to suppress us. Although Li He is brave and resourceful, he is still young and may lack the experience to fight back. Could we secretly provide some support?"

Some people agree with this proposal, while others are still considering it.

On the surface, it does make some sense.

The country is far from peaceful these days.

There have been many natural and man-made disasters, especially in remote areas where people are suffering greatly.

Lord Xing and his son, General Xing, attempted to emulate the Great Xuan dynasty in their efforts to eliminate the aristocratic class in order to fight for the interests of the people of Ze Kingdom. Although they gained the support and approval of the people, they failed to win the support of the Ze Kingdom's king because they threatened the interests of the royal family and nobles. As a result, their entire family was wiped out.

This incident caused a great sensation among the people of Zeguo, adding fuel to the fire in a country that was already in turmoil.

In response, the nobles urged their king to use silencing and suppression tactics.

Anyone who dared to speak out for the Xing family would be imprisoned at best, exiled to the army at worst, or even beheaded. Such measures seemed effective, but in reality, they only fueled the resentment of the people.

Life has become even more difficult for the people of Zeguo.

Otherwise, the rebel army launched by Li He would not have developed so rapidly.

However, Ze Kingdom is already very powerful. Its army is not only large in number but also very strong in combat. If the king of Ze Kingdom were to send a large army to attack the rebels, it would definitely pose a great threat to Lihe, and might even be wiped out.

Just as many ministers were considering and preparing to agree to support the proposal.

Lin Sui slowly uttered four words, "Absolutely not."

"Oh? Why?" Xiao Qidi asked.

Lin Sui explained, “The king once told us that Lin Sui is no ordinary person with extraordinary abilities and will be entrusted with important responsibilities in the future. If he needs our support when facing the Ze Kingdom’s army at the beginning, then he cannot live up to the king’s expectations. Let’s just consider it a test. If he really can’t hold on, then it’s not too late for us to help.”

A minister nearby joked, "Lord Lin, is it because you suffered a lot when you went on your mission to You Kingdom alone and failed to gain our trust? Do you want to make that kid Li He suffer too?"

Lin Sui didn't take the joke to heart and said frankly, "True gold must be refined in a raging fire."

Xiao Qidi smiled and nodded.

Lin Sui added, "Moreover, Li He has also received assistance from Fairy Jinli, so his supplies, weapons, and tools should not be lacking. If he still cannot command 10,000 rebel troops, manage the territory he occupies, or withstand an attack from Zeguo's army, which is several times larger than his own, then he is not exceptional, but rather utterly useless. What do you think, colleagues?"

The ministers all agreed that Lord Lin was right.

When Xiao Qidi heard the words "Fairy Jinli," a sudden pang of pain welled up in his heart.

These days, he tried his best to keep himself busy, filling his mind with national affairs so that he wouldn't have time to think about her. But he still couldn't stop the ministers from bringing it up from time to time. After all, the situation between him and Ning Jinli couldn't be known by everyone.

He couldn't be angry with the ministers because of these things, so he kept his feelings bottled up and had to hide them from everyone.

Being a monarch is no easy task...

"You've all worked hard," Xiao Qidi said calmly, secretly clenching his palm. "It's late, you may all leave."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The ministers bowed and took their leave one after another.

Lin Sui was the last to move. After his colleagues had left, he suddenly turned back and said, "Your Majesty, it seems like it's been a while since I've seen Fairy Jinli."

Xiao Qidi feigned composure and simply hummed in agreement.

Lin Sui then said, "When we were studying the governance strategies that the Fairy entrusted to the cabinet, we encountered some parts that we didn't understand. We would like to ask the Fairy for guidance, but we don't know... when the Fairy will be available?"

Xiao Qidi narrowed his eyes slightly. "Is it that you really don't understand, or are you just making excuses? With your intelligence, plus all the detailed information and annotations she gave you, including even the relevant historical data from her world, how could you not understand?"

Lin Sui scratched his head and chuckled, "Hehe, sometimes you can understand things more deeply when you communicate with a fairy face to face."

Xiao Qidi slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, "You're thinking that since she hasn't come for over a month, there might be some problem between us, right?"

Lin Sui said, "To be honest, Your Majesty, I do have concerns in this regard. Firstly, it is for the sake of Da Xuan, and secondly, it is also for Your Majesty's sake."

Xiao Qidi rubbed his forehead. "What do you mean by 'thinking of me'?"

Lin Sui smiled and said, "Does Your Majesty not want to marry her? Your Majesty has directly ordered the cabinet to amend the laws of the Great Xuan regarding marriage, setting an example by yourself and implementing a monogamous system. Doesn't this also contain Your Majesty's affection for her?"

Xiao Qidi felt another indescribable pain in his heart. He lowered his eyes and said calmly, "The world is not yet unified, so let's put my personal matters aside for now. Don't worry unnecessarily. The reason why Fairy Jinli didn't come to the royal city is because... because she is in Linxian City."

"I see. I'm relieved. Your Majesty, farewell." Lin Sui then departed.

Seeing him leave, Xiao Qidi felt a great weight lifted from his shoulders.

In any case, he managed to keep his situation with Ning Jinli a secret.

As for when we'll have to tell everyone the truth, we'll see then.

"Marry her... Ha, affection... In the end, it was all just wishful thinking on my part." Xiao Qidi's knuckles cracked as he clenched his fists, his face turning incredibly gloomy, and a look of painful self-mockery surfaced in his eyes.

That night, after Xiao Qidi returned to his bedroom in the palace and washed up, he lay in bed tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

The eunuch brought him a calming soup, but it had no effect whatsoever.

“In my opinion, Your Majesty has been too busy lately, so much so that you can’t relax your mind and body,” the attending eunuch suggested. “Why don’t you take a good rest, Your Majesty?”

Xiao Qidi sat on the bed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "How do I relax? You know I don't like listening to music or watching dancing, nor do I like traveling or handling rare treasures."

The eunuch bowed his head and said, "This royal city is not as prosperous as Linxian City, and the food is not as good as that in Linxian City. This old servant thinks that Your Majesty may want to eat something better. Perhaps you could go to Linxian City and take a look at the situation there."

Xiao Qidi couldn't help but swallow.

Indeed, Linxian City is now much larger, with a permanent population of over 500,000. Its overall development is approaching that of a typical county town in modern China, with its industry, agriculture, and daily necessities becoming increasingly complete.

Take food as an example. Many modern crops and poultry farming were first scaled up in Linxian City before the technology was promoted to other pilot areas. This means that only Linxian City has the most variety of food.

Now that he has broken up with Ning Jinli, Xiao Qidi naturally doesn't expect her to bring him food. The only way is for him to go to Linxian City himself.

Thinking about this, another thought popped into my head uncontrollably.

That is...

The spacetime passage from the royal palace to Ning Jinli's location was sealed off at both ends by him and Ning Jinli, but the spacetime gates in other places were not yet sealed.

For example, the Fairy Temple in Linxian City.

Ning Jinli needs to transport oil, coal, iron ore, and the like from Linxian City to her factory.

Therefore, she definitely still has to go to Linxian City.

This means... I might run into her.

Yes, the vow I made back then was that if I ever set foot in her place again, I would be a dog.

However, if he goes to Linxian City and Ning Jinli happens to come by, and he meets her there, it wouldn't be considered a breach of his oath.

“No, no…” Xiao Qidi suddenly came to his senses, frowned and muttered, “I don’t want to see her at all.”

"Your Majesty, who do you not wish to see?" the attending eunuch asked.

Xiao Qidi coughed lightly, "It's nothing. Go arrange the carriage and guards. I'll set off for Linxian City tonight and bring you some food from there."

The attending eunuch beamed with delight, "Yes, Your Majesty!"

——

A few days later.

Ning Jinli followed a top-tier special forces rescue team into the heart of the northwestern desert, driving along a secretly constructed highway straight to the large-scale comprehensive experimental base.

Under normal circumstances, the researchers at the comprehensive experimental base can evacuate on their own.

However, as the abnormal energy interference became more frequent, some equipment in the base became inoperable, causing some personnel to be trapped in the laboratory. Many modern instruments malfunctioned, and electronic signals such as satellite communication and positioning were frequently interrupted.

In this situation, it would be difficult for the researchers and the armed protection team at the base to save themselves. If they were to leave the base rashly, they would likely get lost in the desert.

The sun was blazing in the sky.

Dozens of rescue vehicles traveled along the sweltering highway, surrounded by endless yellow sand. The interiors of the vehicles were unbearably hot, and the scenery outside was dull and monotonous.

No normal person could stand being in such an environment for even a minute longer.

Ning Jinli sat in a rescue vehicle, resting with her eyes closed.

Suddenly, she sensed an indescribable energy fluctuation, so subtle that she wondered if she was hallucinating.

But the next second, the voice of the navigator in the lead vehicle came through the intercom: "Attention all units, the positioning and navigation system has been interrupted, a sandstorm is ahead, all vehicles must stop moving forward."

The convoy then stopped, and the special forces soldiers quickly used specialized tools to reinforce all the vehicles in place.

Ning Jinli also got out of the car and looked up. Several hundred meters ahead of her on the road was already submerged by a layer of yellow sand more than half a meter high. Further away, there was a yellowish-gray "wall" of smoke, with no end in sight on either side.

That was a sandstorm hurtling towards this side.

She walked over to the lead vehicle and asked the navigator, "Has contact with the base also been lost?"

The navigator, looking grave, replied, "Yes, it's down. Our satellite communication capabilities were originally very strong, and even the increasingly frequent anomalous energy had little effect on us. However... that energy can cause resonance in certain nuclear energy materials in our base, leading to all sorts of strange problems we've never encountered before. Our rescue team is now not only cut off from the base, but the closer we get to the base, the more our electronic devices malfunction and become unusable."

Whoosh—

A strong, hot wind blew over.

The air already had a pungent, dusty smell.

Ning Jinli then returned to the car and patiently waited for the sandstorm to pass.

In less than half an hour, the sky darkened rapidly, and a sandstorm that blotted out the sun swept in. The specially made, sturdy rescue vehicle was blown around and shook violently. Outside the vehicle, there was the sound of flying sand and stones scraping against each other and the howling wind like the wailing of ghosts and wolves. It felt like the end of the world was coming...

...

at the same time.

In the central Pacific Ocean, an island with no homeland, far removed from any land, is completely shrouded in dark clouds filled with eerie, electric-like energy.

As the energy of light surged, even visible shockwaves spread outwards from the island in all directions, causing the surrounding space to appear distorted.

Meanwhile, in the deep ocean surrounding the island, the originally cold seawater began to boil, with countless dense bubbles interspersed with eerie energy lights.

Today, the entire interior of the island has been hollowed out.

Inside is the new base for the time travel project built by Country M, to replace the original experimental base. The original base has been transformed into a super-large vocational school warehouse that uses the time portal to transport personnel, supplies and energy to the new base.

Because the energy required to maintain the portal was too great, the original base was limited by the environment and could not be expanded. In addition, heat dissipation became a major problem. Therefore, at Ning Hai's request, the base was built in the Pacific Ocean, where the endless cold ocean currents perfectly solved the heat dissipation problem on land.

Ninghai has adopted the most advanced nuclear fuel supply technology in the United States. With the support of this technology, the terrifying energy generated every minute and every second even exceeds the entire United States' annual consumption.

Although it comes with extremely high risks, the rewards are also enormous.

The portal to time and space that has been opened at this island base now receives a large amount of various resources from the ancient Americas every day. The amount collected in a month is equivalent to the total amount of domestic mining and global imports in the United States in the previous year.

boom!

Suddenly, an explosion occurred out of nowhere near the island.

The already chaotic energy fluctuations collided with each other, tearing open a strange black crack several meters long at the location of the explosion.

Countless dark clouds and electric-like energy were then swallowed up by the crack.

A piercing alarm sounded from the base inside the island.

Tens of thousands of researchers were immediately on high alert.

"Mr. Ning! This is the third time a spacetime rift has appeared today!" Someone rushed into Ning Hai's studio, panting.

Ning Hai stared intently at the huge screen on the wall in front of him.

The screen was filled with a dense array of various data.

With a snap.

The electronic screen was pulsating with electricity, and much of the data turned into gibberish.

Ning Hai frowned and muttered, "It seems the anti-interference equipment needs to be strengthened..."

"Mr. Ning!" the person who came to report the situation shouted anxiously.

Ning Hai snapped out of his daze and calmly took a sip of coffee. "It's alright. It's only been three spacetime rifts. It's within a controllable range. As long as our deep-sea nuclear power station at this island base doesn't malfunction, there's nothing to worry about."

As soon as he finished speaking, the alarm light on the studio ceiling lit up with a blinding red light, and the alarm sounded even sharper and more urgent than before.

Ning Hai was shocked and jumped to his feet. "The underwater nuclear power station is in trouble?!"