by <unknown>
"Competition for rightfulness still looms between the six tribes of Iron Plateau and the six sects of Heavenly Saints City. Their relationship is sensitive. As the 'best warrior of six tribes of Iron Plateau', you must be careful about what you say and do.
"Besides…
"What if you are wrong?
"What if the Mist Plan and poison that can kill countless people does exist and the operation to stop the plan is disrupted by you?"
Li Yao shuddered and cursed.
He had once thought that Yan Xibei was the greatest schemer in the world.
But based on what is happening right now, if his guess was correct, this flawless 'overt plot' was much more neatly-made than Yan Xibei's plan!
Li Yao suddenly burst into laughter. Tears were almost flowing out of his eyes.
Mo Xuan was curious. "What are you laughing for?"
"I'm laughing at Yan Xibei, who thought himself a hero but was in fact yet another chess piece on someone else's board."
His face red in excitement, Li Yao rubbed his abdomen and said, "Yan Xibei thought that the army of Iron Plateau strengthened by the Blood Stripe Virus could swallow the Temple of Immortals. But he did not know that the Temple of Immortals was but a disguise for another force!
"I don't know whether or not the real schemer saw through Yan Xibei's trick, but they would not have cared about it even if they did.
"If Yan Xibei's plan did work out someday and he entered the space with thousands of blood-striped warriors or even took control over the Temple of Immortals as he planned, he would have been dumbfounded to find out that there were billions of Grand Illusionary Soldiers that he was faced with!
"Blood-striped warriors versus the Grand Illusionary Soldiers. Tsk. Tsk. The picture is too gory for me to imagine. Haha. Hahahaha!"
Sparks in the bottom of Mo Xuan's eyes were shining again, as he said, "Laugh as you will, but I need to remind you that the Mist Clearing Operation will be put into action in 49 minutes and 21 seconds. Whether it is a trap or not, it is now already underway.
"Not you, nor anybody else, will be able to stop it!"
"That's right!"
Li Yao covered his face with his hands and buried his head in his arms. Frustrated voice came through the gaps of his fingers as he said, "Nobody's going to stop it. Then…
"Professor, even if the Grand Illusionary Soldier Project is activated right now, it will take five years or so for the project to yield satisfactory results. Can the five Star Spirits, including yourself, find the possible loopholes inside the star brain and block them in five years?"
"That's impossible!" Professor Mo Xuan asserted. "You can be a thief for a thousand days, but you can't be braced for burglary forever. Although we can hack most crystal processors, we are definitely not almighty gods!
"Such an arduous endeavor far exceeds the limits of our computational ability. However hard we train ourselves and level up, we won't be able to do it!"
"You won't—"
Li Yao's voice turned from frustrated into desperate, but his words stopped half way through the sentence. His fingers suddenly splayed, and from the gaps between his fingers beamed out crazy brilliance that could be found on the gambler who had lost all the games until he had the last bargaining chip. He was ready to take the risk right now!
"Professor! What did you say? Can you repeat it?"
"I said that we will not be able to locate the loophole however hard we increase our computational ability."
"No. Not that. The sentence before it. You said that one can be a thief for a thousand days but cannot be braced for burglary forever."
"That's what I said. Is there a problem?"
"No problem! Absolutely no problem! So, it is much more difficult to keep an eye on a thief than to be a thief, isn't it?"
"Well, I guess. What do you mean?"
"I mean—"
Li Yao suddenly leapt up, like a butterfly that had struggled out of its invisible cocoon. His face was beaming with joy while he gazed at the light beam with his bloodshot eyes and said, "With the ability of the five Star Spirits, it is impossible to stop the thieves from visiting. But what if you are thieves?"
Chapter 686: Brain Concussion Plan |
"We are thieves?" Mo Xuan fell silently briefly. Then his voice suddenly turned high and sharp. "You want us to hack the star brain?"
Li Yao nodded. "Is it possible?"
"Very difficult," said Mo Xuan. "We don't even know what the 'star brain' is right now. How can we prepare to hack it?"
"It is not going to be a problem," Li Yao replied confidently. "Don't forget that the Grand Illusionary Group will share all the original data and source code before the Grand Illusionary Soldier Project is fully implemented as a sign of their sincerity, so everybody will be clear on the mechanism of the star brain.
"Although the span of examination might be only three months or even shorter, which is not enough for you to discover all the loopholes in it, it should be more than enough for you to figure out the weakness of the star brain or even stuff some 'toys' into it, shouldn't it?
"After that, you will have several years to come up with a solution to crack, infiltrate, and control the defense system based on the star brain!"
Mo Xuan thought for a moment, before he replied slowly. "Although the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Flying Star Sector both originated from the Star Ocean Imperium, the two worlds have been developing separately for almost ten thousand years. The crystal processor technology in the two worlds are similar but definitely have slight differences.
"There are indeed some network viruses and approaches to hacking crystal processors in the Heaven's Origin Sector that we have never seen in the Flying Star Sector.
"However, has it ever occurred to you that, even if we take control over the star brain, the Spiritual Nexus will still be out of our reach? If our enemy just cuts off the network, we will be screwed.
"Which means that the best outcome we can get is that we will have control of the Grand Illusionary Soldiers of a space zone, if not a planet, for a very short amount of time."
"This is our only option right now," Li Yao said helplessly. "Whatever the outcome turns out to be, let's make do with it for now!
"Our time is limited, Professor. The operation I'm going to take part in will possibly have three results.
"The first one. Nothing weird happens during the operation, and the Mist Plan is sabotaged smoothly as we planned. Everybody is happy. If so, the discussion we had just now will have been meaningless. We can all go to bed and have a nice sleep.
"The second result. Something unexpected takes place in the Mist Clearing Operation, but I am still alive after the accident. If so, we will settle what we are going to do next based on the real situation.
"Thirdly, if I 'die' in the Mist Clearing Operation—"
Mo Xuan raised his voice. "Say what?"
Li Yao frowned and said, "Listen to me first. If I 'die', I want to you to do two things.
"Firstly, cut off the point-to-point communication from the Cross Wind Space Zone to Heavenly Saints City immediately, keep our own Spiritual Towers silent, and ready the self-destruction magical equipment in them.
"Once anybody draws near to the Spiritual Towers, detonate them instantly. Nobody is to discover our secrets no matter what!
"Besides, whoever sends a message to you in my name, whether through the Spiritual Nexus or through our private route, no matter how much they know about me and how similar they are to me, that won't be me!
"According to our security protocol, when you see 35 threads with certain titles appearing in 27 forums at the same time, the one who reaches out to you between 7:34 p.m. to 7:41 p.m. in the standard time of the Flying Star Sector will be the real me!"
Li Yao and Mo Xuan had their own secret code.
Mo Xuan would browse through 27 heated online forums every day. If a certain thread appeared in a certain board at a certain time, it might have been posted by Li Yao.
35 special threads appearing in 27 special forums at a special time. The odds of a coincidence would be close to zero!
"Alright. This is our defense. Let's talk about attack now.
"If I really 'die' or go missing, most of my shares in the Glorious Sunlight Group will be transferred to the fund of the Glorious Sunlight Refining Center and supervised by you. You will have sufficient resources to conduct research and training.
"Then, the five star spirits will shift the focus of your training to the invasion of the Spiritual Nexus and the technology to hack crystal processors!
"Your life form is a combination of spectral Cultivators and crystal processors in the first place. Breaking into crystal processors is as natural as breathing for you. I believe that you will definitely become the best experts in the field after a few years of training.
"When the Grand Illusionary Group shares its original data and source code of the star brain, make a judgement yourself. If you are confident, stuff some toys into it. If you are not, it won't be a big deal. But you must try your best to analyze it with all your computational ability!
"You see where I'm going at, don't you?"
Mo Xuan listened attentively and said, "Everything else is fine. But you are going to 'die'?"
Li Yao smiled bitterly. "It's not like I want to die. However, I fear that some Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators want me to.
"Think about it. I sabotaged the first scheme of the Temple of Immortals on Iron Plateau, which proved their grueling endeavors a waste of time. I'm afraid that they've been gnashing their teeth for a long time waiting to drink wine out of my skull!
"If the real schemer behind everything is a super expert similar to Xiao Xuance and he is thinking hard to kill me, I have to be prepared for the worst!"
"You can choose not to participate in the Mist Clearing Operation," Mo Xuan said.
Li Yao blinked and said, "The Mist Clearing Operation is not the only time when they can kill me. I can dodge once or twice, but I cannot dodge forever. I'm afraid that a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator wants my head right now.
"Oh. There seems to be more than one.
"Fengyu Zhong, whose only son was killed by me, has recently advanced into the Nascent Soul Stage, too. Well. Well. Well. Two Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators are lining up to kill me!
"I can at least be prepared in the Mist Clearing Operation. Also, many other Cultivators will be with me. Even if a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator means to harm me, they might not be bold enough to act under the watch of witnesses.
"But God only knows how they will plan their next trap. I cannot be wary of assassination twenty-four hours a day, can I? I won't have time to do training at all if so!
"Fortunately, the business of the Glorious Sunlight Group has been set on track. You have stable sources of income for your research and training. Moreover, you have legal identities right now, and it is no longer necessary to hide.
"The value of 'Sand Scorpion, the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau' has been fully exploited. More and more restraints are coming with the identity.
"You see, because of the subtle relationship between the six tribes of Iron Plateau and the six sects of Heavenly Saints City, if I were Sand Scorpion, there would be many things I could not say nor do, and I would be a center of attention wherever I went!
"Therefore, when we were speaking of the Mist Clearing Operation, it suddenly occurred to me that, if I absolutely had no other options and I was running to a dead end in every direction, would it not be an excellent choice to just die?
"Sand Scorpion, the best warrior of the six tribes of Iron Plateau, cannot make irresponsible accusations. But a Mr. Nobody will be free to say whatever is on his mind.
"If the words of a Mr. Nobody are not convincing, then…" Li Yao smiled. "If they come from the mouth of the big hero, Li Yao, who was the first to reveal the scheme of the Temple of Immortals, somebody is definitely going to believe it!
"Alright. Time is precious. The Mist Clearing Operation is about to begin. Let's stop talking and do our job separately!
"The great devil we are going to deal with this time is probably Xiao Xuance, the crownless king of the Flying Star Sector. Allow me to give a code name for our operation. Let's call it the 'Xuan Extinguishing Plan', shall we?"
Mo Xuan did not know how he should respond.
Li Yao scratched his neck and said, "My bad, Professor. I forgot that 'Xuan' was in your name, too. Then…
"Since the purpose of our operation is to breach into the star brain, let's just call it the 'Brain Concussion Plan'!"
Li Yao cut off the communication and retreated the crystal processor into his Cosmos Ring.
Then, he reached out to Wu Mayan with the mini crystal processor on his wrist.
"Master, you look well today. Anything particular that you're happy about?"
Wu Mayan immediately started exclaiming when he saw Li Yao.
"Do I?"
Li Yao scratched his face and felt that he was ecstatic, too. No. He had become increasingly ecstatic ever since he heard about the Grand Illusionary Soldier Project, the Mist Plan, and the Mist Clearing Operation.
Untamable flames were jumping out of his every cell, as if something that had slept for more than half a year deep inside his bones was gradually waking up.
"You do!" Wu Mayan nodded carefully. "Over the past half year when we were in Flying Star University, I always felt that there was some sort of… laziness, for the lack of a better word, in you. You did not seem energetic enough whatever you did. Even when you were fighting, the fearlessness and the burning fighting will when you confronted Yan Xibei on Iron Plateau never showed up again.
"But right now, it's as if you're back on Iron Plateau again, Master!"
"Maybe." Li Yao grinned, feeling that his every cell was moaning. He mumbled to himself, "Maybe you're right. The recent half year in Flying Star University has been comfortable, steady, and carefree.
"However…
"It seemed to get more boring as days went on.
"Perhaps I am not born for a comfortable life. A different way of living is more suitable for the real me!
"Listen up, I'm going to be part of an event shortly. You will know what it is in the news tomorrow. I need you to do three things for me.
"Firstly, in the safe inside my training room, there are two jade chips and two Cosmos Rings that I prepared for you and Anan. The password for the safe is the sixth variation of the Flying Spirit Seven Star Array.
"If I don't come back in three days, you should open the safe, take out the jade chips and the Cosmos Rings, and share them with Anan. The two of you will motivate each other and train yourselves according to the arts inside the Cosmos Rings.
"Secondly, Master Mo, a spectral refiner of the Glorious Sunlight Refining Center, is a good friend of mine. You can trust him completely. Talk to him if you run into any trouble.
"Thirdly, have you read the news regarding the Grand Illusionary Soldier Project?"
Wu Mayan nodded. "The news says that it is one of the two proposals of planetary-level magical equipment."
"I think the project is really good and promising. If anyone questions it, you will be the first to root for the project as a representative of the Glorious Sunlight Group. Do not in the world speak ill of the project. Do you understand?"
Wu Mayan was confused. "Master, I'm not getting your point."
"The bird in the lead always gets shot down first. You don't need to understand now. You will know it when you know it."
Li Yao thought for a moment and asked again, "Right. You didn't tell anybody that I know how to use a crystal suit, did you?"
"Why would I?"
Wu Mayan almost jumped to his feet. Blushing, he replied, "After I was beaten up by you last time, you made me swore to keep it a secret. A real man never goes back on his word. Why would I tell it to anybody? I didn't even tell Father Xiong!"
"Then keep it for a while longer, real man
. Remember…"
Staring at the light beam, Li Yao said solemnly one word after another, "I will be back."
Chapter 687: The Real Game! |
At 7:58:36 p.m. in the standard time of the Flying Star Sector, in the central area of the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting in the first ring of Heavenly Saints City, a deep, dark night sky gradually manifested in the artificial dome. The lamps brought brightness to the city. The tourists, who did not know what was going on, were still coming and going amid lively laughter.
Many product release conferences and magical equipment tests were carried out as planned.
In every refining room, countless refiners were talking and communicating with each other without a care in the world.
Everything seemed the same as yesterday.
But an impenetrable dragnet had been tossed over 27 coordinates in the central area silently.
Hospital, supermarket, intersection, luxury hotel, ragged motel, air cleaning station, temporary space sport for the Edge Sharpeners' Meeting…
Danger was lurking in the ostensible peace. The final tranquility before the earthquake was so protracted that it was almost breathtaking.
The Mist Clearing Operation was about to be put into action.
In the entrance of the No.55 examination tube at the outskirt of the city, Li Yao was crouching behind the complicated wires and hid himself in the darkness, like a viper that had snuck into a swamp.
The muscles all over his body were shivering and making his armor utter clattering noises.
Participants of the Mist Clearing Operation were divided into three groups.
The first group was the strike team. They were in charge of the thunderous attack toward the Black King and the Eight Blades of Black Spider, who had been locked onto long ago.
Members of the strike team were mostly the super experts of the six sects of Heavenly Saints City, including several battle-type Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators. They had done hundreds of rehearsals in the virtual Heavenly Saints City built by the Grand Illusionary Land and prepared for every contingency.