by <unknown>
If he had stayed in the Blood Demon Sector, he would have been a fish in a water tank that would be caught sooner or later. Having no other options, he had swallowed the last dose of the Divine Blood of Chaos and snuck into the Heaven's Origin Sector as a human being, hoping to have the last laugh by instigating the war through the Children of the Nether World and Abyss!
However, Elder Nether Spring had never considered the attitude of the Children of the Nether World!
When the Spore Stratagem was still hopeful, the Children of the Nether World would not betray him, but it did not mean that they would still be on his side when the Spore Stratagem proved to be a fiasco and he lost everything, ending up as a stray dog.
What if Lu Zui went to those Children of the Nether World and offered a deal?
"Before, you worked for Elder Nether Spring, but Elder Nether Spring has failed. Right now, you can work for me and help me catch Elder Nether Spring. I guarantee that your life will remain unchanged, if not taking a step up!"
If Lu Zui had thrown out such conditions, some of the desperate Children of the Nether World would certainly have defected, wouldn't they?
As long as some of them defected, they would confess more names. In the end, the snowball would become bigger and bigger. Li Yao had no doubt that most of the Children of the Nether World would submit themselves to Lu Zui and the Patriots Partnership after hesitating for a few seconds or even without any hesitation!
Then, it was very simple.
Elder Nether Spring had just transformed into a human being. Although he was in the Nascent Soul Stage, he was a beginner in the way that Cultivators utilized their strength. He was definitely the weakest Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator in the Heaven's Origin Sector.
Also, he could not have kept too much Divine Blood of Chaos before. For the sake of confidentiality, he could not have brought many soldiers of the Nether World Watch with him, either.
It was very possible that he had come alone.
After he arrived in the Heaven's Origin Sector, to raise a war, naturally, he could only go to the Children of the Nether World, his subordinates.
Moreover, Li Yao was even suspicious that, with Elder Nether Spring's cunningness, he could have intentionally exposed himself to Lu Zui and pretended to surrender.
But the guy never realized that Lu Zui was even more cunning than him, and all the Children of the Nether World had been compromised. When he met his subordinate, he had been captured and sent to the undersea secret base for interrogation. All the secrets in his head had then been dug out!
Li Yao took a long breath. He sorted through the whole timeline and reflected on every detail. Finally, he was certain that this was the answer closest to the truth.
If so, Lu Zui's knowledge about the Blood Demon Sector, his precise prediction about Li Yao's actions, and a lot of other suspicions could be explained.
When he saw Elder Nether Spring just now, Li Yao had been so surprised that he even felt it was abrupt.
But now that he thought of it, that was the most reasonable ending.
Elder Nether Spring was a stray dog in the first place. He had fled to the Heaven's Origin Sector, an unfamiliar place, and was trying to grasp an utterly strange strength system. Faced with opponents lurking in the darkness such as the Patriots Partnership, was it odd that he was end up being a prisoner?
If Elder Nether Spring had other thorough plans when Spore Stratagem, to which he dedicated all his efforts and resources, had failed, that would have been really unreasonable!
If Elder Nether Spring had such wisdom, he would have seen through Jin Tuyi's real purpose a long time ago and killed him. How could he watch Jin Tuyi sabotage his Spore Stratagem?
Getting to the bottom of it, Elder Nether Spring was still slightly away from the top-tier players.
Perhaps, in the great collision of the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector, the real competitors in the game had always been Lu Zui and Jin Tuyi!
Chapter 1110: Nonexistent Abyss! |
In the sterile room, the interrogation was still going on. The scar-faced man smiled. "Excellent. Elder Nether Spring, you are very cooperative. If we work like this a little while longer, you will never suffer such torment again. The last question. Who is Abyss? Tell me the answer, and you may die."
Elder Nether Spring's brainwaves were suddenly irritated on the dozens of light beams. He roared, "There is no Abyss. There isn't one! Why do you never believe it?!"
The scar-faced man eyed him coldly for a while and said to his assistant, "Inject 'Brain Exciter' into his head at three time the normal dose to magnify his senses. Also, inject the venom of the Gold Jellyfish at five times the normal dose. Ensure his brain cell activity with electric shock."
Zi! Z! Zi! Zi!
On Elder Nether Spring's bald head, the crystal wires and the drug tubes were tightened one by one. His gray eyeballs almost burst out of the head. Bloody tears were even dripping down from the corner of his eyes.
On the monitoring light beam, the curves of his brainwaves were jumping up and down abruptly as if crazy!
"Ahhh! Ahhh! I'll tell you! I'll tell you! It is Ling Yu, supervisor of the Classified Documents Department in the headquarters of the General Staff of the federal army!" Elder Nether Spring screamed miserably. The high-pitched shrieks almost tore the broadcast rune arrays apart!
The scar-faced man and his assistant analyzed the light beams for a moment. A Meditation Healer shook his head and said, "The brainwave is not right. He is lying."
The scar-faced man slightly frowned. He gestured his assistant to use more drugs. As a virtual button on the light beam was slowly pushed to the highest degree, Elder Nether Spring's eyeballs were shuddering crazily, and he was foaming hard. Even his body, which was several meters away, was cramping like a frog suffering from an electric shock.
"Why, Elder Nether Spring? You are a preeminent figure. We don't wish to see you end like this." The scar-faced man sighed. "You have failed with no chance of a comeback. Why are you still protecting Abyss? All the Children of the Nether World have been fished up. What can an Abyss do on his own?
"Just say it. You've already given up more than a hundred Children of the Nether World. It doesn't matter if you give one more name, does it? Speak. Save everyone some trouble and free yourself from the humiliation and misery forever. Isn't that much better?
"Moreover, all the Children of the Nether World have betrayed you. Why wouldn't Abyss? Chances are that he has abandoned you and is hoping that you will be killed soon. You are suffering here, and he is enjoying himself outside. I feel sorry for you!"
On the light beam, Elder Nether Spring looked like a block of ice that was about to melt. Dying, he said, "It is Di Mingxin, the minister of the Department of National Defense's secretary… No. It is Guo Chunfeng, the supervisor of the first division of the Secret Sword Bureau… No. It is…"
The scar-faced man looked his assistant. His assistant was shaking his head the whole time.
The scar-faced man's voice grew tough and cold. "Elder Nether Spring, we showed you some respect because we admired you as a senior from the Blood Demon Sector. If you don't change your attitude, don't blame us for our ruthlessness!"
"It is you who are forcing me to lie!" Elder Nether Spring completely crashed and roared, "No Abyss! No Abyss! There has never been an Abyss! What do you want me to confess?
"It is impossible for Abyss to exist. Do you not understand? His loyalty cannot be guaranteed at all!
"The Children of the Nether World were sent out decades ago. At that time, I didn't have much expertise in the gene technology. How could I have absolute control over them?
"The normal Children of the Nether World often sent intelligence back to me. In return, I told them the situation of their family in the Blood Demon Sector. Their loyalty to the demon race and to me was maintained only in such a way! Hehe. Even so, they still betrayed me in the end. All of them did!
"If there is really an Abyss
who doesn't know that he is a demon and hasn't done anything wrong to the federation, I will not be able to prove that he is a demon even if I 'activate' him!
"Then, how am I supposed to control him? How am I going to persuade him to pledge his loyalty to me instead of the federation, where he has lived for decades?"
The scar-faced man and his assistant listened casually. It appeared that this was not the first time that they had heard such words.
Maybe because the 'Brain Exciter' was taking effect, Elder Nether Spring's mind was becoming clearer and clearer. He roared, "Abyss is just a disguise to cover the Children of the Nether World!
"My original thought was that, once you noticed the Children of the Nether World, I would release the news of Abyss, the nonexistent ultimate Child of the Nether World so that you would be suspicious about each other, and your investigation would be disrupted. Also, the Children of the Nether World could also jump out and accuse somebody who was a threat to them of being Abyss!
"As a result, after all the accusations were investigated and no Abyss was found, the investigations on the Children of the Nether World would be seriously weakened, too. There would be plenty of time for them to deal with the situation!
"In short, Abyss is just a 'protective shell' for the Children of the Nether World. There is no Abyss at all!"
The scar-faced man glanced at his assistants. This time, all the assistants nodded after carefully studying Elder Nether Spring's brainwaves on the display.
"This is about it." Shou Yuxuan observed coldly from the side and could not help but say, "You've asked the same question more than ten times, and you've gotten the same answer every single time.
"Under such intense stimulation, he will feel like the whole of hell was bashing against his head hard every second. How strong must his willpower be to lie right now without being seen through? It is impossible!
"He does have a point. Since the Children of the Nether World can betray him, it is even more possible for Abyss to betray him, too. Just like you said, Abyss will only want him to die as quickly as possible because nobody can reveal his identity after he is dead!
"If there is really an Abyss who considers himself a human being, how can Elder Nether Spring control him even if Abyss is activated? There is no way at all!
"The only conclusion is that Abyss doesn't exist. It is just a 'protective shell' for the Children of the Nether World."
Staring at Elder Nether Spring's soul, which was gradually spreading out on the light beam, the scar-faced man was deep in thought for a long time. "However, a tiny part of his brain has always been covered in gray fog. There is no way that we can crack it."
Shou Yuxuan did not think much of it. "That's typical for any brain. Although the soul searching technique can find 99% of his secrets, 1% of the brain is always too unpredictable for us to grasp. It is perhaps the memories of a long, long time ago and has nothing to do with our plan. Stop wasting time on it."
The scar-faced man discussed with his assistants for a while. Then, he stood straight and nodded. "Alright. The results of the previous nine interrogations are the same. We can finally draw the conclusion that Abyss doesn't exist!
"Director Shou, our questions have mostly been resolved. This brain is all yours now."
The scar-faced man extended a finger and flicked the center of Elder Nether Spring's brow on the light beam. "Thank you for your cooperation, Elder Nether Spring. The Abyss you came up with was truly an incredibly creative idea. It could've caused serious interferences for us.
"But it is a pity that [chance contrives better than we ourselves](T/N: In other words, the best-laid schemes oft go astray.). Eventually, it has caused you to suffer more. Haha. That's not our fault. You only have yourself to blame."
Elder Nether Spring had completely lost the strength to argue. Lethargically, he said, "I've said everything. Let me die. Let me die…"
"I have no questions now," the scar-faced man said, "but Director Shou still has a lot of subjects that he wants to talk with you about."
"You promised that you would kill me after I told you the truth of Abyss!" Elder Nether Spring roared. "You lied! You lied!"
The scar-faced man sneered, "Everybody must not hesitate to slay evil. Is it necessary for me to keep my words for a monster like you?"
"Ahhhh! Ahhhh! Ahhhh!"
Elder Nether Spring was outraged. For a moment, his brainwaves surpassed the limits. They seemed to be struggling out of the light beam and erupting like a volcano!
The head that was placed inside a transparent box and the body that was fixated to the surgical bed were both trembling violently, unleashing overwhelming spiritual waves!
"Not good!" an assistant shouted. "There are signs of the stimulation of seven times the normal dose of 'Brain Exciter' deep inside his brain!"
"What!" The scar-faced man was shocked.
"He must've controlled his head and found a way to conceal part of the 'Brain Exciter'!" another Meditation Healer shrieked. "Now, he has activated all the 'Brain Exciter' that he hid before and aroused his brainwaves to a new height!"
Duo! Duo! Duo!
Under the surging force caused by Elder Nether Spring's brain, the barriers nailed into his body were expelled one by one and pierced into the ceiling deeply!
His hands and feet were waving crazily. Caught unprepared, several Meditation Healers were thrown to the wall with broken bones!
"Suppress him!" the scar-faced man roared crazily. Dozens of interrogative devices that looked like iron tusks immediately ejected out of the metal surgical bed and pierced deeply into Elder Nether Spring's body, holding him down on the bed and making it unable for him to move.
The three Core Formation Stage Cultivators in the corner quickly jumped out. Three storm bolters that had been modified stabbed into Elder Nether Spring's body brutally. The high-voltage electric arcs spurting out of the barrels almost burned the body into ashes after lightning chains!
The transparent box that contained the head was also injected with a certain bluish liquid. The head was immediately frozen.
Elder Nether Spring's body had been suppressed, and his head was completely frozen. His resistance seemed to have ended in failure!
BOOM!
Right then, the sterile room shook violently. The spiritual energy inputted into all the magical equipment soared significantly.
Probably because the critical part of the defense rune array was affected in the fierce fight between the Cultivators and the Nine-Headed Ocean Monster, all the magical equipment in the secret base was overloaded!
Shua!
On the enormous light beam, there was a hint of mockery on Elder Nether Spring's illusionary face, which was under serious interferences, before it gradually dispersed in ripples.
After soaring into the peak, Elder Nether Spring's brainwaves fell down straight into the eternal abyss.
Chapter 1111: Tough Drugs for Tough Men! |
"He is going to die!"
"Inject 'Brain Exhilarant' and 'Revitalization Polypeptide Protein'. Try to slow down his brain death!"
"Activate the emergency plan. Try to confine his soul now and see if it is possible to transform him into a spectral Cultivator. If he can't, try to extract all the information in his brain into the crystal processor. Keep as much data as possible!"
The sterile room was in a complete mess. The hands of all the specialists turned into gray mist as they typed fast on the control light beams.
Very soon, Elder Nether Spring's face on the enormous light beam twisted into a giant swirl. It seemed he was being absorbed into the crystal processor by a weird force!
However, before his brainwaves completely fell into peace, Li Yao felt that he saw… a glimmer of hope from the depths of the swirl of his soul.
Was it my imagination? Li Yao frowned.
Elder Nether Spring was a great figure after all. Eventually, he still managed to get out of his enemy's control and give himself a quick death!
; However, had he really left nothing?
A minute later, Elder Nether Spring's brainwaves were completely gone. All the light beams turned blank.
"He is dead. His soul has entirely perished. There is no chance that he has transformed into a spectral Cultivator."
Several Meditation Healers made the same conclusion after examining Elder Nether Spring's head carefully.
"Thankfully, we've collected enough data in the last couple of months, and we managed to extract most of the data and memory pieces in his brain the moment before he died."
A Meditation Healer tapped softly on the control light beam for a moment. Then, a metal cube the size of a fist popped up from the inside of the mainframe crystal processor.
Dense spiritual stripes, which were soul-stirring colors, had been carved on the surface of the 'cube'.
Shou Yuxuan extended his hand and held the 'cube' in his hand with his spiritual energy. With a telepathic thought, the 'cube' was immediately unfolded.
It was made of almost a thousand metal slices that were as thin as the wing of a cicada. Every slice had been carved with tremendous information. After they dispersed, the size of the cube was hundreds of times larger than before. Astronomical information had been stored inside.
Shou Yuxuan extended his telepathic thoughts into the cube and checked it for a while. Then, he sighed and said, "It's not bad. Exploiting so much from Elder Nether Spring's brain before his death was beyond our expectations. With this Jade Crystal Disc, a lot of research can still proceed."
Li Yao held his breath, his eyes glittering.
The so-called Jade Crystal Disc was in fact the most advanced jade chip.
It was made of thousands of thin record chips, each of which had a storage of a regular jade chip.
When thousands of jade chips were piled up, the storage space could be as vast as an ocean.
At this moment, most of Elder Nether Spring's memories, including his research projects and his training techniques, were stored inside the Jade Crystal Disc.