by <unknown>
Similar ideas were rolling over inside the eyes of almost every elder and leader of the six major sects.
When they looked at each other, they felt that other people's eyes were filled with electricity and hooks. Shivering, they thought of a new problem.
"Even if I don't surrender, and other people do not want to surrender in the beginning, how will they know what I am thinking, and how can they be certain that I will fight to the end?"
"There are only twenty Cloud Qin Gold Statues. The earlier you surrender, the more benefits you will have. As long as the number of traitors reaches a certain threshold, the resistance will be meaningless."
"Then, when we can't trust each other, the best option for them is to surrender earlier than I do!"
"I don't know whether or not they will surrender, and they do not know whether or not I will surrender. Even if we do not want to surrender in the beginning, as soon as we believe that there is a decent likelihood that other people will surrender, we will have no other options except to surrender in advance in order to get the Cloud Qin Gold Statues and the techniques to break into the Divinity Transformation Stage!"
Such thoughts were popping up in the heads of the hundred high-level Cultivators from six major sects at the same time.
The locals of the Ancient Sages Sector were caught in a classic prisoner's dilemma. Their eyes were all glimmering.
The ambience grew weirder than ever for a moment.
The room looked like a vulnerable high tower that had just been burnt by fire and already reached the brink of collapse. The burnt wood was caught in a weird silence after creaking for a moment.
One tiny breeze at this moment, or even nothing except a wait of one to two seconds, and the high tower would completely collapse!
Boom!
Qi Zhongdao knew the nature of the people of the six major sects. Any words would be useless. Without saying anything, he summoned his spiritual energy and boosted the Heaven Flipping Seal to smash the black-skeleton-like Colossus!
"Heaven Flipping Seal? Hahahaha!"
Deity Raincloud chuckled in amusement. Crimson tides of spiritual energy surged on the surface of the Colossus, and dozens of tentacles extended out of the waves toward the Heaven Flipping Seal, showing absolutely no sign that they were under the influence of the Heaven Flipping Seal!
In the meantime, the thirty-meter-tall Colossus stepped forward heavily. While the world was shaking, the blood red crystal veins wrapped around the slender arms dashed out like hundreds of vipers and darted toward the critical parts all over Qi Zhongdao's body!
Qi Zhongdao had focused almost all his spiritual energy and soul power on the Heaven Flipping Soul. It was impossible for him to dodge in time.
Yan Liren, however, blinked out from the back. His sword auras spread out into hundreds of electric arcs and slashed toward the blood red crystal veins of the black-skeleton-like Colossus. After a series of crisp collisions, Yan Liren's sword exploded into the finest powder!
Shua!
The moment when the secret sword exploded, something deep inside Yan Liren's pupils seemed to have exploded, too, as if his soul had been severely wounded!
The Sword Maniac was still expressionless, but he was biting his lip harder and harder.
"And you, Han Baling. Come on together. Let's see if I can go on a killing spree today!"
Deity Raincloud grinned hideously. The crimson whips scattered in midair like a hundred vipers drawing dozens of weird curves and arcing behind the round shield where Han Baling was hiding, interweaving into a fatal web instantly!
Despite his enormous body size, Han Baling was not slow at all. The moment that the whips connected with each other, he turned into a gray shadow and jumped out!
The whips did not halt at all after missing the target during the first attack. They took a weird turn and continue darting toward his back.
"Watch out, my lord!"
Seeing that all the space around Han Baling had been locked onto, a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator from Ghost Qin was greatly shocked. He lunged forward without caring about anything and was stabbed precisely by the sharp thorns at the front ends of the whips.
The spiritual shield of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator was as fragile as a piece of paper, and the Cultivator from Ghost Qin was immediately riddled with almost ten holes!
[ol][li data-annotation-id="1b9d7c3f-c38a-4f1a-bd3a-69f9e6c8fe45"]The prisoner's dilemma is a standard example of a game analyzed in game theory that shows why two completely 'rational' individuals might not cooperate, even if it appears that it is in their best interests to do so. It was originally framed by Merrill Flood and Melvin Dresher working at RAND in 1950. See more details on Wikipedia.[/ol]
Chapter 1497: Li Yao Is Here! |
"Wu Lihan!"
Han Baling's eyes were almost bulging out as he shouted desperately.
Wu Lihan was a seasoned Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator who had been famous for a hundred years on the Dark Cloud Prairies. He was also Han Baling's subordinate who had followed Han Baling since the beginning of his rise. The two of them were lifelong comrades!
At this moment, the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator from the prairies best known for his toughness and cruelty had been pierced through brutally by almost ten blood red whips, which tied him up and strangled him like a bunch of boas!
Wu Lihan bulged his eyes. His spiritual energy surged out crazily as he tried to destroy the blood red whips.
However, from every cluster of sharp-edged, gnarled crystals, a weird power was released incessantly, suppressing his spiritual energy until there was nothing left!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Exploding noises of bone fractures echoed inside Wu Lihan's body. As the blood red whips tightened, his hands, feet, and head all gradually twisted into extremely unnatural postures.
Wu Lihan's face became more and more twisted, but dazzling brilliance was still beaming out of his bull eyes as he stared at Han Baling, apparently giving all his hope to the magnificent monarch on the prairies.
"My… lord…"
Wu Lihan's throat moved with difficulty. After he had just squeezed out those two words, the blood red whips that had long been buried in his flesh and blood suddenly constricted brutally. After a bam, he was crushed into a cluster of broken, bloody mist by the extreme force!
The bloody mist spurted out and fell to the ground into the fuzzy pattern of an enormous human being.
It seemed to be falling upon the heart of every local of the Ancient Sages Sector, too, casting a bloody shadow over their soul and their determination.
A seasoned Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator who had been famous for a long time had been strangled by Deity Raincloud as easily as if he were an ant!
"Ahh!" Han Baling's eyes were bloodshot. He roared in the most painful and infuriated way.
However, behind him, Qi Changsheng and Wan Mingzhu, a few experts from the Ghost Qin, the Heaven Battering Army, and the White Lotus Cult were slightly trembling after looking at each other in bewilderment for a while.
The appalling techniques that Deity Raincloud had demonstrated subdued many of the subordinates of the three rapscallions.
The always-ready-to-bend, selfish guys from the six major sects were even more wicked than them.
The quick-minded and shameless ones among them had already coughed and kneeled down quickly.
"Please accept your junior's sincere respect, Deity Raincloud!"
Inside the bridge, Li Yao smashed the picture in midair brutally, blowing the elder of the six major sects who kneeled first into broken ripples.
"Damn it. The guy has almost got everything under his control. When exactly can we take action?" Li Yao felt so anxious that he was almost choking, yet there was nothing that he could do except pace around the room.
"It's working!" Long Yangjun exclaimed in a low voice, her eyes glittering. A new Grand Illusionary Land was blossoming slowly next to the surveillance picture of the temple of the Colossi like a
translucent flower.
"This is the teleportation array on the Nuwa warship." Long Yangjun furrowed her eyebrows, as if she had picked up something from her memories. "The Nuwa warship has adopted a very advanced teleportation paradigm. There are not fixed teleportation arrays. The surveillance picture, the Grand Illusionary Land, and the teleportation arrays have been integrated into a whole. As long as the corresponding technique is activated, and you are completely enshrouded by the Grand Illusionary Land, you will be teleported into the cabin displayed in the Grand Illusionary Land!"
"So advanced?" Li Yao raised an eyebrow. After pondering for a moment, he took off one of his boots and threw it into the center of the Grand Illusionary Land.
Teleporting the body wasn't a joke. He certainly needed to run an experiment first.
Long Yangjun played with part of the threads of light shot out from the crystal processors with her small finger. Then, after a flash of light, Li Yao's boot appeared to be unpredictable and illusionary although it seemed to be on exactly the same spot.
Li Yao extended his hand to snatch it, only to pass through the middle of his boot and catch nothing.
The boot had indeed been teleported to the cabin as displayed in the Grand Illusionary Land!
"Fantastic!"
Li Yao waved his fist in excitement. He extended his hand to Long Yangjun. "Let's go now!"
Long Yangjun looked at his hand carefully and frowned. "What's the meaning of this?"
"We're going together, of course," Li Yao said matter-of-factly. "It's not like I'm going to fight a life-and-death battle in the warehouse of the Colossi while you watch the fight enjoying a cup of tea here, right?"
"I'm aware of that," Long Yangjun replied casually. "What I'm asking is, why are you extending your hand to me?"
"It means that I'm going to hold your hand so that we will pass through the teleportation array simultaneously," Li Yao said straightforwardly. "You aren't so childish as to believe that I completely trust you, are you? If you and I are to be teleported separately, what if you are wicked enough to teleport yourself to an inconspicuous cabin next door while teleporting me directly in front of this black-skeleton-like Colossus? Wouldn't I be caught in a very awkward situation?
"But there won't be any problem if we are teleported hand in hand. If you have any ill intentions during the teleportation process and something goes wrong, our bodies might be melded, and we will simply die together!"
Long Yangjun stared at Li Yao coldly.
Li Yao looked back at her without any guilt.
Long Yangjun took a deep breath. "… Fine!"
Cracking noises were echoing inside her body again as it shivered slightly. Weird spiritual energy in a helical form spread out of her pores and danced around her.
Li Yao blinked. "What are you doing now?"
"I do not like to show in public with my real look. It will be better if I transform myself into what I always looked like."
"Alright then. As your wish, but can you change your body after we are teleported over?"
"Why?"
"Because I'm not comfortable holding the hand of a man. It feels weird."
"…"
The clock was ticking. In the surveillance picture of the warehouse of the Colossi—except for the Three Saints, the three rapscallions, Emperor Phoenix, and Master Bitter Cicada—more and more locals of the Ancient Sages Sector were kneeling down before Deity Raincloud as a gesture of obedience.
Long Yangjun glared at Li Yao and, having no time to argue with him, set up the teleportation parameters without saying anything. She then adjusted all the crystal processors in the bridge to the hibernation state again. In the end, she grabbed Li Yao's hand and stood at the center of the Grand Illusionary Land.
Dull noises were echoing in Li Yao's eyes. The picture in front of his eyes blurred and became unpredictable. He felt like he was at the bottom of an ocean, with bubbles exploding right next to his ears nonstop.
He was about to ask Long Yangjun when the teleportation would begin, when he blinked and suddenly felt that it was weird. He found himself in a dark, narrow cabin, and the glittering forest of pillar-shaped crystal processors had entirely vanished.
He had truly 'walked into the picture' and been teleported from the bridge to the room next to the warehouse of the Colossi!
Sticking his ear to the wall of the cabin, Li Yao could even sense the surging spiritual ripples from the black-skeleton-like Colossus that were crushing the cabin wall like furious tides in humming noises!
Such a teleportation method was too amazing!
Li Yao went to Long Yangjun's ears and asked in a voice as feeble as that of a mosquito, "Hey, do you know how to pilot a Colossus?"
Since a special agent of the Imperium was right next to them, they could not be too prudent. If their voices were a bit louder, they might be caught by the enemy through the Colossus.
"Since you are obviously deeply connected to the Nuwa Clan, and you look like a decent warrior, there is no reason for you not to know how to manipulate the Colossus, which was the best magical equipment for the elite human beings in the primeval wars, right?
"Theoretically speaking, you should be an expert when it comes to Colossi. Try to think. Are any of your mottled memory pieces about you launching an ultimate skill yelling and shouting while you were sitting in the middle of a giant iron shell?"
"Well…" Long Yangjun furrowed her brows so hard that water was almost dripping off. She shook her head after a moment of hesitation and said, "I can't tell. My memories are too chaotic. In many cases, I don't know if I am capable of doing something until I try it! It's like how I didn't know that I remembered so many complicated passwords and the operations of the crystal processors until I saw the mainframe crystal processor on the Nuwa warship!
"I think that I will only know whether or not I can pilot a Colossus when I crawl into one and have a try!"
"Then let's get one!" Li Yao gnashed his teeth. "We will sneak into the warehouse of the Colossi together and go our separate ways, each looking for one Colossus. If one of us is unfortunately noticed by Deity Raincloud, we will help distract the enemy for the other guy!
"Don't be intimidated by the guy. He may look awesome right now, but this must be the first time that he has ever used a Colossus in such a form. It is impossible for him to parse the advanced techniques entailed in the Colossus, and the best that he can do is unleash some fundamental skills! As long as we each find one Colossus, there is a great chance for us to make a comeback!"
Long Yangjun pondered for a moment and said, "But in such a case, our identities will be very suspicious."
"There are no other options right now!" Li Yao made the decision instantly. "As long as we can truly control two Colossi, we will be taking the absolute initiative. We may be doubted, but so what? By then, whatever we say will be the truth! In any case, it will be better than watching 'Deity Raincloud' controlling the situation and even your warship later while doing nothing, right?"
Long Yangjun snorted. It was precisely what she did not want to happen.
She transformed into the appearance of 'Wang Xi' without a sound. Glimpsing at Li Yao, she said coldly, "You will crawl through the tubes up above, and I will walk through the main gate from the side!"
Li Yao was dazed for a moment. "Why?"
"The situation is more complicated than we anticipated. Chances are that still more unexpected changes are going to happen later. It will be best if we do not unveil the cooperation between us so early. We might be able to gain more benefits if we pretend to be hostile to each other!"
After saying that, instead of waiting for Li Yao to reply, Long Yangjun opened the door of the cabin softly and disappeared around the turn of a pathway as agilely as a cat.
Li Yao pondered for a moment and realized that Long Yangjun's words did make a lot of sense.
He spat toward the center of his palms and dashed up to the tubes, crawling over to the warehouse of the Colossi that
was one wall away.
Chapter 1498: Refusing Generosity Means Punishment! |
The sharpest crystals and minerals that had consolidated after a drought of hundreds of thousands of years in the energy transmission tube were everywhere.
Li Yao constricted the bones and the flesh all over his body to the minimum, slowly wriggling forward like a boa. He carefully controlled his skin and his muscles and tried to prevent them from being cut by the sharp edges of the residues.
It was not the pain or the poison in the residues that he was scared of. He was merely fearing that the stench of blood from his injury might be perceived by Deity Raincloud.
After stopping at a narrow turn that was almost a right-angle and squeezing himself into the other end almost one bone after the other, Li Yao successfully entered the warehouse of the Colossi.
Feeble light and raucous noises were coming over from the end of the energy transmission tube up ahead.
Theoretically speaking, the tube should have been connected to the Colossi to provide external spiritual energy for them while they were under maintenance.
However, Long Yangjun had carefully observed and analyzed the situation from the Grand Illusionary Land just now. This particular tube had been ripped apart from the middle and was dangling like a boa that had been cut in half. That must have been caused by the destructive battle hundreds of thousands of years ago.
Therefore, Li Yao needed only to crawl forward for a while longer before he had the chance to jump off from the fracture of the tube.
The key was timing.
Lying on his back near the fracture of the tube, Li Yao retrieved a probe camera that could be twisted to any angle from his Cosmos Ring. He extended part of the probe camera out of the fracture and stuck his eyes to the other end of the tube, observing the situation in the outside world.