Journey to the Base City

"Join the Extreme Martial Arts Hall now?" Chen Hao pondered as he watched Jiang Nian make a call.

Whether he joined the Martial Hall or not was secondary. What he needed now was to become a Martial Artist immediately. Only by becoming a Martial Artist could he openly improve his strength.

A moment later, a figure appeared on Jiang Nian's phone screen.

"Jiang Nian, what is it?" An elderly man with graying hair appeared on the screen.

"Uncle Bai, we discovered a genius Martial Artist in Yi'an District. The first time he cultivated Gene Energy, his punching strength increased by over 3,000 kilograms, his speed reached 71 m/s, and in the neural response test, he scored full marks for Advanced Warrior and excellent for Junior Warlord. He's absolutely a monstrous genius. More importantly, he's also a Spiritual Thought Master." Jiang Nian was clearly very respectful toward the old man, but he grew increasingly excited as he introduced Chen Hao.

"Are you sure?" The gray-haired elder sprang from his chair in shock. "Are you sure he's a Spiritual Thought Master? How old is he?"

"I'm sure, and he's the most gifted kind. His Mental Power is at the Intermediate Warlord level, and he's only nineteen years old. I personally recruited him into the Martial Hall a few days ago. The Main Hall mustn't let him slip away. I'm counting on him now." Jiang Nian quickly guaranteed that everything was true and reported Chen Hao's actual situation.

"Nineteen? Bring him to headquarters immediately. I'll arrange an assessment for him right now. If it's true, I'll report it to the Chief in advance. Don't you dare lie to me!"

"Alright, I'll bring him over immediately." Jiang Nian hung up and turned to Chen Hao. "Come on, we're going to headquarters at once."

"Old Li, cancel my class tonight. Let them know!" After giving the instruction, he swiftly left with Chen Hao.

Long-distance travel by car was troublesome for ordinary people, but it was a trivial matter for Jiang Nian, who possessed a Martial Artist's privileges. They did not even buy tickets, simply boarding a train bound for the main urban district of Jiangnan City.

Jiangnan Base City was divided into the main urban district and eight major satellite cities. The satellite city where Chen Hao lived was Yangzhou City. Together, the main district and the eight satellite cities held a population of two hundred million.

"Chen Hao, can you feel the difference between the main urban district and our Yangzhou City?" Jiang Nian asked with a laugh as they walked along the sidewalk and saw Chen Hao looking around like a curious child.

It took the two of them over an hour to reach the main urban district. Along the way, Jiang Nian also explained the contents of the Genius Contract to Chen Hao.

"More or less. Other than having more people and more cars, it seems pretty ordinary." Chen Hao was not merely talking nonsense.

After all, two hundred million people were packed into these cramped cities. The living conditions and transportation situation inside were easy enough to imagine.

The traffic congestion of his previous life would have counted as completely clear roads compared to the current Base Cities.

"Haha, you sure talk big." Jiang Nian then took out his phone. "Hello? Uncle Bai, we're almost there. We'll arrive within ten minutes."

"Mm. I've already reported the matter to the Chief. Don't make any mistakes. The Chief has already arrived."

"The Chief came too?" Jiang Nian was startled, but on second thought, he was not surprised. A genius like Chen Hao truly warranted the Chief's personal appearance.

As the two continued talking, an enormous compound came into view, with an exceptionally tall dark-blue skyscraper standing within it. Four gleaming characters shone on the building's exterior—Extreme Martial Arts Hall.

"This is the Extreme Martial Arts Main Hall of Jiangnan Base City." Jiang Nian had already ended his call with Uncle Bai and introduced it to Chen Hao.

"There are so many soldiers?" As Chen Hao looked at the fully armed soldiers standing guard outside the Main Hall's walls, an indescribable feeling rose within him.

He had never had much of a concept of Martial Artists' privileges before, but seeing the Extreme Martial Arts Hall openly making use of the nation's machinery made him realize how different this world was. This was the glory of Martial Artists, but also the misfortune of the nation.

"These are the Extreme Martial Arts Hall's internal troops. We have the authority to establish our own security forces." Seeing Chen Hao staring at the soldiers, Jiang Nian explained from the side.

"Come on, let's go in." Jiang Nian led Chen Hao toward the main entrance.

"Let them through." At the main gate, a scar-faced, one-armed middle-aged man waved a hand. All the soldiers immediately stepped back. "Old Jiang, you haven't visited headquarters in a long time. Come see me before you leave, and we brothers can have a drink."

"No problem! Chen Hao, he's your senior. You can call him Uncle Lu." Jiang Nian nodded with a smile, then glanced at Chen Hao as he introduced him.

"Hello, Uncle Lu!" Chen Hao greeted him respectfully. He naturally held respect for Martial Artists who had been injured for humanity's sake.

"Not bad, kid." The one-armed middle-aged Martial Artist nodded with a smile.

"The Chief is waiting, so I won't chat with you anymore. See you later." Jiang Nian did not continue exchanging pleasantries. After saying goodbye to the one-armed man, he led Chen Hao into the Extreme Martial Arts Hall.

Inside the compound was a massive park-like area. People hurried back and forth within it. If Chen Hao was not mistaken, they were all Martial Artists.

As Jiang Nian and Chen Hao walked along, Jiang Nian could not help but sigh. "That Uncle Lu you just addressed..."

Actually, Jiang Nian did not need to explain. Having read the original novel, Chen Hao naturally knew that the middle-aged one-armed man had lost his arm to a Black Fur Iron Ape. He even had the strange déjà vu feeling that he was the protagonist.

"The Martial Artists of our Extreme Martial Arts Hall are very united. Most people on the first floor gather to drink and chat. Floors two through nine are places where Warrior Rank Martial Artists often train. Floors ten through nineteen are where War General Rank Martial Artists train. As for above the twentieth floor, those are places for group meetings."

"Martial Artists are divided into Warrior Rank, War General Rank, and the extremely rare War God Rank. Among them, Warrior Rank Martial Artists are the most numerous..."

As they walked, Jiang Nian taught Chen Hao some basic knowledge about Martial Artist advancement. "Warrior Rank Martial Artists can still be killed with firearms, but ordinary firearms are not very effective against War General Rank Martial Artists. As for War God Rank Martial Artists, other than certain large-scale destructive missiles, most firearms pose virtually no threat to them."

"Is there anything above War God Rank?" Chen Hao wanted to learn about Councilor Rank experts.

"Of course. Such beings exist above War God Rank in this world. Their strength is incredibly powerful, and it's difficult to say much more specifically. You only need to know that even nations treat such experts with caution. Unfortunately, there are too few of them. Our Huaguo government has only two or three." Jiang Nian's face was filled with reverence when he mentioned Councilor Rank experts.