Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 646 Jin Qunhou

After thinking for a moment, Lu Chongming told Zhou Yinzhu about the system he had.

“I see…” Zhou Yinzhu said softly in a hoarse voice.

There seems to be some hidden story behind this.

"Chief Zhou Yinzhu, do you know the Golden Iron Pot and Jin Qunhou?" Unexpectedly, I ran into someone who seemed to be an old acquaintance of Jin Qunhou here. Lu Chongming had asked Lin Yilin to investigate the relevant information, but even Lin Yilin hadn't found anything yet. She only mentioned that if it was a spaceship, we could go to the Dadu Wave Factory, which was Dadu's largest military factory and laboratory, and all the super spaceships currently in service were made there.

The true location of this military factory is in the Black World, but it has a connecting passage to the Central District. Its exact location is well hidden. Without personally investigating the site, Lin Yilin could only narrow down the target based on clues and lock onto a few possible coordinates.

Besides Lin Yilin, Lu Chongming also asked Zhang Xue to investigate, but they also came up empty-handed.

According to Lu Chongming, if the Golden Iron Pot was indeed a large vessel of the same specifications as the other super spaceships, then if it were truly gone, there would definitely be a significant internal reaction. At the very least, the higher-ups would certainly order the Disposal Bureau to investigate.

So Lu Chongming put it aside for the time being. As a result, at the headquarters of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics, without him actively investigating, what he was looking for seemed to find him instead.

“He’s an old friend,” Zhou Yinzhu said succinctly.

"Uh, what kind of person is he?" Lu Chongming had originally hoped that Zhou Yinzhu would say more, but she only said one sentence and then stopped. Since he had a rare clue, he still wanted to ask.

Zhou Yinzhu raised her head: "A talented but very stubborn person. Have you investigated him within the Bureau?"

"Yes, but we didn't find anything."

“That’s normal. The news was immediately blocked when it happened. The fact that a super spaceship was taken away by one person is a huge scandal for Dadu. The incident happened quickly and the impact did not spread. For the higher-ups, burying this as a black history forever is the best outcome,” Zhou Yinzhu said.

"So, the Golden Iron Pot really was one of the super spaceships built in Dadu, but it was taken away by this Marquis Jin Qun?"

"That's the gist of it. But it's a little different when you look into the details," Zhou Yinzhu said. "Jin Qunhou is a member of the Wave Society. You should know about this society. It's one of the branches of the Pure White Society. It was the first society that the Pure White Society split off to specialize in researching foreign engineering projects in order to better apply for funding."

Lu Chongming nodded.

"Jin Qunhou is not only a member of the Wave Society, but also a top designer and architect at the Wave Factory in Dadu. He improved the frame of the super spaceship, and the number of weapons and equipment he designed, built, or improved for Dadu is countless. He even participated in the optimization design of the Lighthouse. He initially became famous for this, and the people of the Pure White Lighthouse once wanted to recruit him, but it is clear that his ambitions were never on this land from the beginning." Zhou Yinzhu rested her chin on one hand, seemingly savoring the relevant memories.

"So he's such a remarkable person," Lu Chongming sighed.

While it's already an incredible feat for someone to pilot a super spaceship straight into the depths of the dark world, discussing it in detail now will allow us to better understand just how remarkable this person is on a human scale.

"Then why did he take a super spaceship and leave alone?"

"Because the capital cannot give him what he wants. His ideal is to explore the source of the dark world, which is meaningless and requires a lot of resources. Naturally, the capital cannot agree to this."

Why explore?
Lu Chongming instinctively wanted to ask that question. But recalling the man he had seen in his dreams recently, he kept his mouth shut. For someone like that, ideals are just guiding principles; one should simply use their talents to pursue them. Why ask so many questions?
"So, he secretly built a super spaceship with simplified weapons and protection systems, focusing all his efforts on long-distance travel, and left in the spaceship before anyone could react."

Why simplify the weapons and protection systems? Lu Chongming actually knew the answer to that.

Besides conserving limited resources, the main reason is that Jin Qunhou is not just a designer and architect. His strength, which was already enough to contend with top-tier lamplighters with only a little over 60% of its original power, has now reached 80%, giving Lu Chongming the confidence to one-on-one defeat of Deville. One can only imagine the level he would reach when combined with Jin Qunhou's own experience and knowledge at 100%.

He is a top-tier expert.

Not to mention, according to what Lu Chongming saw in his dream, Jin Qunhou actually brought quite a few autonomous weapons on his spaceship. Although they were far inferior to regular shipborne weapons, they were more than enough for him. At the same time, during the long voyage, Jin Qunhou also managed to recreate and replenish some of his weapons and equipment by collecting resources in other worlds.

The central cannon in that pot lid was added later.

This world is just so "unfair"—some people are not only exceptionally talented, but also incredibly capable in combat.

"Building a super spaceship of that scale all by himself... And upon closer examination, it's quite an exaggeration."

“Even within the Wave Academy, his status is undeniably high. Over a long period of time, he gradually created the minimum necessary conditions and resources for himself, and then, relying on his special abilities, he managed to design and create a finished product on his own with these limited resources. I’m not surprised,” Zhou Yinzhu said calmly.

"No, no, no, this is quite unexpected, okay?" Zheng Fan, who had just returned from a stroll nearby, couldn't help but speak up upon hearing this.

What's the difference between saying that and someone trying to build an aircraft carrier by hand?
Moreover, this super spaceship is hundreds of times more outrageous than an aircraft carrier. Although Jin Qunhou himself is also extraordinary, conversely, only such an extraordinary person could accomplish such a thing.

After hearing Jin Qunhou's story, Lu Chongming fell silent.

He knew Jin Qunhou's fate.

Now all of these things have become systems.

After finally seeing the thing deep in the dark world, he also met his end. In the end, everything he had was salvaged by another being and turned into a system, which eventually ended up in Lu Chongming's hands after several twists and turns.

"Chief Zhou Yinzhu, do you want to... inquire about Captain Jin Qunhou's whereabouts?" Lu Chongming had unconsciously started referring to Jin Qunhou as "Captain," full of admiration.

Zhou Yinzhu's already hoarse voice sounded somewhat gloomy: "When I saw you, I pretty much knew what would happen to him. It was expected. Going alone into the depths of the dark world, even Luo Ye wouldn't fare well, let alone him."

“He saw it,” Lu Chongming said. “He saw what he wanted to see.”

Zhou Yinzhu glanced sideways.

"Although his story has ended, it should be a satisfactory story for him."

(End of this chapter)