Chapter 392 - 334: Heaven-Ascending Ladder! C Company Headquarters

"That’s the Heaven-Ascending Ladder!"

"Deep analysis. Initiating explanation... The special structure on the left is a space elevator constructed by C Company! It also serves as C Company’s headquarters... The special structure on the right is also a space elevator, the headquarters of Shen Zhou Space Co., Ltd.!"

Hu Kaikang and Hive spoke at almost the exact same time.

Hu Kaikang: "???"

Hu Kaikang stared at Hive in astonishment. ’What are you talking about?’ Then, filled with suspicion and uncertainty, he glanced at Chu Bamboo... He hadn’t understood a word! But he quickly realized it was the Divine Language...

Under normal circumstances, Hive communicated with Chu Bamboo exclusively in Chinese. Only when Chu Bamboo specifically configured it to do so would it speak the Dream Language...

As for why Hive knew the Dream Language, it had naturally learned it on the fly... This spoke to the powerful, almost terrifying, learning ability of an AI.

Chu Bamboo’s expression was complicated. ’So that’s what they are... Unexpected, yet it makes a certain kind of sense, I suppose?’

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Chu Bamboo quickly found another point of confusion. "Hive, when I went to the Imperial Capital before, why didn’t I see any special structures... All right, never mind, you don’t have to answer!"

Chu Bamboo realized he had asked a stupid question. The Imperial Capital might have them, just not structures that so obviously connected to outer space... so they wouldn’t be visible from the surface.

After a moment’s thought, Chu Bamboo’s expression became unreadable. He actually suspected that the Grand Ancestral Temple, where Nuwa was located, might be some kind of wondrous structure built with the last vestiges of the United Government’s power.

"Hive!" Chu Bamboo took a deep breath. "Can you contact C Company right now?"

"Initiating contact!" After a brief silence, Hive coldly stated, "Contact failed!"

"Even with my authorization?" Chu Bamboo’s brow furrowed even deeper.

"C Company headquarters has entered war mode! All external information intrusions are blocked."

"...Huh?" Chu Bamboo sensed something was wrong. ’Did my good buddy not leave a final message? Uh, well, thinking back on this dream journey, I realize that before it started, I never would have guessed I’d be heading to the Celestial Capital this quickly.’

Of course...

’They must have run into some special circumstances!’ Chu Bamboo narrowed his eyes. ’If they’re in a war mode that blocks all external information, it means C Company believes the war isn’t over yet. And cutting off outside info means they’ve been burned by it before.’

’This is getting tricky. I wonder if I can get into C Company headquarters just by showing my face?’

’If not, I’ll just have to have my buddy make better preparations for me next time I go back...’

As he mulled it over, Chu Bamboo turned to Hu Kaikang. "What were you about to say just now? Wait... you said Heaven-Ascending Ladder? Does that mean... you can get inside?"

Although Chu Bamboo had been to the Celestial Capital before, and even prided himself on knowing about thirty percent of its secrets, it was obvious these two buildings were recent creations, a butterfly effect of the changes he had made in the real world... which was why he had no memory of them...

"...No, no, no!" Hu Kaikang shook his head and gave Chu Bamboo a strange look. "That’s how you get to the Outer Heaven... Hmmph!"

"?" Chu Bamboo was momentarily stunned. He tried to sort out his thoughts. "Hold on. How can you get to the Outer Heaven if you can’t get inside? And... can’t get in? Impossible. With the Pope’s power..."

Hu Kaikang replied in a very frank manner, "You just climb it directly."

Chu Bamboo: "..."

’Okay, okay, fine. What a ridiculously stupid method, leaving me speechless! But I guess it would work for climbing to outer space without getting inside...’

’Hmm...’ Chu Bamboo suddenly recalled the special method for reaching outer space that Zhang Hai had mentioned. Could it be... ’Ugh, that building probably didn’t exist back then, right? But in the current timeline, the special method for getting to space is probably just a brute-force climb...’

"As for the issue of power..." Hu Kaikang gave Chu Bamboo’s phone a puzzled look.

"? Please, speak freely." Chu Bamboo was completely baffled.

"Because... the Heaven-Ascending Ladder is also one of the restricted zones designated by the ’Great Goddess Nuwa’!" Huo Qiming suddenly spoke up. "Not to mention, even the Pope is unwilling to defy the Great Goddess Nuwa’s decree... And even if the Pope really wanted to, he probably couldn’t break through the arrangements set by the Great Goddess Nuwa!"

Chu Bamboo was stunned for a moment, then felt a mix of melancholy and relief. ’That’s right. If even nuclear facilities have Nuwa’s arrangements... there’s no reason such an obvious ’relic of an ancient civilization’ wouldn’t!’

And even... Chu Bamboo’s thoughts began to spiral into broader speculation. ’Could it be that the war C Company’s headquarters experienced... was actually the so-called War in the Celestial Court?’

After a few moments of silence, "...Let’s put that aside for now!" Chu Bamboo looked at Huo Qiming, shoving the chaotic thoughts from his mind. Then, he gently tapped his phone screen. Hive took the cue and instantly projected a light-screen map—a detailed map of the Celestial Capital’s interior.

It had been loaded from the Donglin Military Camp’s internal database... with perfectly military-grade precision!

"First, mark the locations of the Great Goddess Nuwa’s bases in the Celestial Capital!"

Giving Chu Bamboo a deep look, Huo Qiming studied the map for a moment before gently tapping four circles onto it.

Chu Bamboo wasn’t too surprised. After all, Jinghai City also had more than one Nuwa Base... Or rather, all these Nuwa Bases were connected to the one and only Nuwa No. 17 host server! The separate bases were actually a measure to prevent any single one from being completely destroyed...

"The one closest to us is... Holy cow! It’s that close...?" Chu Bamboo stared at a Nuwa Base just twenty kilometers from their current position, but he trailed off mid-sentence...

Because...

"ZZZT!" Hive suddenly let out a series of urgent beeps. "Radar lock detected! Warning! Warning!"

"The Celestial Capital has them too?" Astonishment flashed in Chu Bamboo’s eyes, but having been through this in the Imperial Capital, he quickly calmed down.

He organized his thoughts while issuing a precise command, enunciating every word, "Scramble all civilian drones, all small drones... then, initiate collisions! Intercept all missiles."

This time, when Chu Bamboo left, aside from the drones needed to keep watch, he had brought all of his assets with him—

All sorts of unmanned machines—those from inside Hive... those equipped for the Third Corps... those from the various Police Chief Bureaus, and even civilian drones!

Compared to having medium-sized drones crash into missiles, using these civilian drones was far more cost-effective...

Instantly, thousands of smaller drones flew out in a dense swarm. Under the control of the two AIs, they artfully constructed a defensive screen in mid-air, precisely detonating every single incoming missile...

Onboard the carrier, the crowd watched this scene with varying expressions—some were shocked, some bewildered, and some trembled slightly under the sheer awe of the display.

"The Celestial Capital doesn’t have lasers too, does it?" Chu Bamboo’s eye twitched, but as they got closer, he detected no anomalies.

Chu Bamboo breathed a sigh of relief. "Right. Even though they both have ’Capital’ in their names, it’s reasonable that the Imperial Capital’s defenses would be more stringent!"

"?" Eunuch Huang stared at Chu Bamboo in confusion. ’What’s with that tone, like you’ve fought the Imperial Capital before? Why are you critiquing it?’

’Wait!’ Eunuch Huang was startled. ’The Imperial Capital... does it have a similar situation? Then why have fiery projectiles like these never appeared before? Or perhaps... only a Divine Envoy of the Great Goddess Nuwa could trigger such a mechanism...’

’No...’ The man before him was, after all, the suspected Founding Grand Ancestor. Maybe he really had attacked the Imperial Capital during the nation-founding wars... Eunuch Huang’s imagination ran wild. However, he didn’t say anything. He was a prisoner, after all. He was even confused as to why Chu Bamboo, after attacking his territory, would bring him along... although he was bound by an Extraordinary Chain that suppressed the Blessing Power in his body...

"...Now then!" After a moment of deliberation, Chu Bamboo gave the command. "Nuwa No. 17, Hive, execute my preset Directive Seven! Prepare... for a precision bombing of the First, Second, and Third Brigades of the Third Celestial Capital Division!"

"Roger!"

"Beginning strategic simulation!" Hive fell silent for a moment, then continued, "Initiating forced intrusion... Successfully infiltrated one hundred thirty-two civilian drones... Successfully infiltrated seventeen maglev vehicles, successfully infiltrated one hundred thirty-two electric vehicles... Continuing to scan the vicinity! DING! Official-series maglev vehicle detected, bypassing intrusion... Resuming scan... Civilian drone detected, beginning intrusion..."

Chu Bamboo: "..."

’I almost forgot!’ Although commandeering various official-series vehicles would require him to link up with a Nuwa Base... Hive could directly force its way into ordinary civilian equipment using its war mode...

However...

Chu Bamboo glanced at Hive, which was still verbally reporting its search. Perhaps it was because this wasn’t its home base of Jinghai. Even with the support of Nuwa’s official map, the efficiency Hive demonstrated now was significantly lower than before, when it could hack into everything almost instantly.

Shaking his head, Chu Bamboo continued to study the map, focusing on the Celestial Capital Military Camp area.

Compared to Jinghai City, which only had three regiments stationed there—as the undisputed core of the Jiangnan Region, the Celestial Capital had three brigades stationed, numbering as high as thirty thousand troops...

Although their numbers were indeed much smaller than the Imperial Guard, and the quality of the troops wasn’t as high... they were not to be underestimated!

As for why he was only *preparing* to bomb them...

Chu Bamboo shifted his gaze back to the Great Goddess Nuwa’s base, which was getting closer and closer. The reason was, naturally, that he first had to go to the base and get his authority certified. That would grant him... the authority to control all the unmanned machinery of the Third Celestial Capital Division—

At that point, he could naturally reenact what happened with the Third Corps: achieve the greatest results... with the minimal number of casualties!