Big Data Cultivation

The Hummingbird drone is exceptionally small, roughly the size of a thumb nail, and is the military’s top reconnaissance drone on Xingzheng Star.

The military does have smaller drones, but their performance is much worse, with a smaller reconnaissance radius and poor imaging capabilities.

In this rain, the Hummingbird’s performance is greatly affected, but if it flies too close and is discovered by Hesheng, they could lodge a complaint with the military—they could openly visit, but sneaking around easily arouses suspicion about their motives!

"Missed again!" The young Major received the news and angrily slammed his right fist into his left palm, "Lucky you!"

In the next moment, his brows furrowed slightly, "Investigate the climate around the production base thoroughly, it’s strange... Can a mere Hesheng develop a meteorological weapon?"

The Human Federation does have meteorological weapons, but they were occasionally used in the past during internal conflicts within the Human Race, and when facing the Insect Race, these weapons were not very effective and often interfered with the Federation’s precision instruments. They’ve been used less frequently in recent years.

Soon, a subordinate came to report, "The climate there is hard to observe... too many insects in the surrounding area; if we want the details, we’ll have to consult the locals."

Hearing this, the young Major disgruntledly smirked, "That’s how it is."

The next day, rain was still pouring down, but the Left Jing district of the Expansion Bank organized a formidable convoy.

Seven or eight armored hover battle vehicles led the way, accompanied by dozens of heavy ground mecha, with a dozen high-energy bulletproof hover cars in the center, and armored communication vehicles at the rear, majestically heading to Hesheng’s production base.

In the convoy was Deputy President Rosen, who was temporarily presiding over district affairs, while President Bell’s position had been suspended as the headquarters was investigating him after he clashed with a broker.

Everyone actually knew President Bell was concerned not about his position but how to escape Xingzheng Star alive, facing enemies not only among the Insect Race but also from a mysterious brokering organization eyeing him.

Rosen was now acting as the "Deputy President" of Left Jing district, logically he shouldn’t be taking this risk, but he knew clearly that to remove the "Deputy" title, he’d need a suitable display.

Thus, he gathered the security team and led the charge, wanting to see the supporting materials from the affiliated units.

The Insect Race outside the city was rather dispersed, so they were somewhat caught off guard by Rosen’s aggressive charge. Although they tried hard to block him, before the main forces of the Insect Race could arrive, the convoy bravely made it into the production base without incident.

Trailing behind, the Insect Race army clashed once more with the base, but the base’s defenses far exceeded that of the convoy’s, having struggled for days without much success, the Insect Race dispersed in frustration after some attacks.

Hesheng took the opportunity to counter-attack—this was the usual routine for both sides—but this time, luck was on the base’s side, killing three Colonel-level insects, with only two minor injuries sustained.

He Runxian witnessed all of this from the underground combat room and nodded slightly, "Finally, we didn’t disgrace Hesheng."

After saying this, he turned to look at Rosen beside him and casually greeted, "President Rosen, don’t be so impulsive next time. You should use heavily armored vehicles. This small convoy can’t carry much cargo and is very dangerous."

Although he was only Hesheng’s second-in-command, he wasn’t intimidated by Bell; facing the not-yet-promoted Rosen, he naturally spoke with the authority of a superior.

Rosen was much more polite, "Director He is right, but I’ve only come to sign off on the goods this time, and to rent a warehouse, not intending to take much cargo away."

"Renting?" He Runxian was stunned, "Are you kidding? My place is only a temporary reception area."

"No mistake," Rosen shook his head, responding earnestly, "If I recall correctly, Hesheng’s base does offer warehouse rental services. I’m paying to rent a warehouse so you can store and look after the items, isn’t it?"

"No," He Runxian firmly rejected, "You should quickly transport them out in batches. We are able to receive goods on your behalf and are already extending considerable goodwill. Our production base is merely a lone outpost outside the city and can’t withstand a siege!"

When he spoke of a siege, it wasn’t just from the Insect Race but also from the scrutiny of Human society.

——What a joke, if the Expansion Bank frequently came over to collect goods, it wouldn’t matter whether they could handle the losses. Just saying the production base would turn into the focal point of societal interest, and Hesheng absolutely couldn’t bear such pressure.

If it were to garner the Insect Race’s attention and consolidate their strength for a massive assault, the base would be obliterated.

The reason the production base is safe and sound now is not only due to their fierce protective measures but also because of their humble operations; knowing how to "endure" at crucial times proves vital.

"But... we don’t have such a large storage area," Rosen spread both hands, answering helplessly, "Director He, you know we’re a bank, we don’t need that much warehouse space. While we do own some collateral buildings, they don’t fall under our use."

"You’ve got so many districts..." He Runxian began to say but halfway through he realized something wasn’t right. Then he thought, what does your difficulty have to do with us? "Why not store a little bit separately in every district? Is it that hard?"

Sure enough, Rosen started to complain, "But the problem is, it’s wartime now, yes, wartime..."

Their dispute had nothing to do with Feng Jun, who had already gone to the Big Planet, seizing the time to translate production line documents while watching those True Immortals familiarize themselves with various warships and mecha.

By the tenth day, he went to the passage to greet others. This time a considerable number arrived, thirty True Immortals, five hundred True Men, and five hundred Emergence Stage disciples.

The True Men and Emergence Stage disciples were from the Two Sects. The True Immortals were not limited to this; they came from seven sects and eighteen paths. Although there wasn’t a True Immortal from the Lingmu Sect, there was a Nascent Soul Initial Stage from the Chess Sect.

The Two Sects knew Feng Jun didn’t get along with the Chess Sect. An Elder True Immortal from the Xuanhuang explained specifically, saying this Chess Sect True Immortal could help deduce fortune and calamity. The combat strength of the second battlefield was somewhat lacking; having someone like this benefitted everyone.

But Feng Jun refused outright—if you want him to go, I don’t have the power to oppose, but hoping for me to take him along, that’s out of the question, let him fly there himself.

Fortunately, these words were said privately, so the Two Sects had to send an additional True Immortal from the Way of Painting.

However, the True Immortal from the Chess Sect, realizing he couldn’t go, naturally understood Feng Jun’s attitude. He said nothing, left expressionless, but just from his aura, it could be sensed that his heart wasn’t as calm as his exterior.

In any case, he was a True Immortal of the eighteen paths, an old sect at that, and being refused by a mere Golden Core Fourth Layer, not harboring resentment would be strange.

Nevertheless, Feng Jun was not bothered at all. Although this might cause some hidden problems for him, since he had taken the Cultivation Path, he had to confront his true feelings and felt it necessary to show others some principles.

If you’ve provoked me, don’t think you can sneak by—I’m the kind to hold grudges!

After taking everyone over, Yue Qing and others saw it firsthand and felt a bit unbalanced, so they found Feng Jun—our Kunhao Realm doesn’t lack Emergence Stage practitioners, why not consider giving them a chance?

Feng Jun got another headache. If he brought more Emergence Stage practitioners over, he’d definitely have to discuss it with the old fisherman again. That guy was quite impatient last time, so adding more people would likely result in another ticking off.

Yet this wasn’t the worst. The biggest problem was that the hundred and fifty True Men from White Pebble Beach belonged to different factions—some were from the Four Sects and Wutai, others from the seven sects and eighteen paths, and even many clan practitioners and loose cultivators.

Let’s not forget, the eight hundred True Men successively arriving at the passage were all from the Two Sects.

Usually against the Insect Race, the risk for Nascent Soul True Immortals isn’t very high, as long as the Insect Race Emergence Stage doesn’t show up. But when True Men team up and encounter some Insect Race Nascent Souls, it becomes troublesome.

If they’re True Men from the same sect, the collaboration result tends to be better; those mixed squads can be challenging. Under equal numbers and cultivation levels, a team composed of True Men from the same sect has combat strength at least double.

In mismatched squads, encountering teammates with grudges might even lead to secret sabotaging.

Yet, if True Men were allowed to independently form hunting squads, coordination among teams would also become a major issue.

Expressing his concerns, Yue Qing felt disturbed too. "This really is... scattered troops are hard to trust."

However, Xia Nichang offered, "If you trust me, I can help you supervise the military."

Feng Jun looked at her in surprise, "When did you take interest in this?"

"It’s not like I want to," Xia Nichang sighed gloomily, then cast a sidelong glance at their True Men, lowered her voice, "But others are in Emergence Stage mining, while we have all Golden Core... I’m from Kunhao too."

This is starting to compare! Feng Jun shook his head, sighed helplessly, at this point he couldn’t insist anymore, otherwise, others would suspect his feelings for Kunhao. So he sighed, "Alright, I’ll go find the old fisherman once more."

To his surprise, the True Sage fisherman agreed without hesitation after hearing his reasoning, "You can also find three hundred more Emergence Stage practitioners. Since we’ve decided to open up a second battlefield, it’s necessary to solidify the foundation."

In the end, True Sage is True Sage; though actions are capricious, they’re never ambiguous about major issues.

The fisherman didn’t know what "island-hopping tactics" were, but he understood that not only was there an Energy Stone Mine in the Big Planet area, there was also a tendency to become a forward base. In such circumstances, arranging some lower-level cultivators to provide auxiliary support was quite necessary.