by <unknown>
Li Yao pondered and said in his head, "Yes. Xiao Xuance was a hardcore Immortal Cultivator. There was no reason for him to reach out to the extraterrestrial devils or have absolute trust in the extraterrestrial devils to allow them to savage Heavenly Saints City, his base. Once the fire was set, who could guarantee that the extraterrestrial devils would not rampage all the way to the center of Heavenly Saints City?"
"Unless it was not Xiao Xuance, but somebody who was of a higher level than Xiao Xuance, absolutely trusted by Xiao Xuance, and who could even manipulate Xiao Xuance, that established a deep cooperation with the extraterrestrial devils!" the mental devil said.
"The star child!" Li Yao said solemnly. "Xiao Xuance was just a puppet on the table. The star child, who pretended to be his foster son, was the real mastermind of the scheme!"
"Well," the mental devil said, "there is something that I have to say. In fact, the Imperium of True Human Beings' way of exploring the universe, or specifically speaking, retrieving the souls of high-level Immortal Cultivators, crafting them into pure energy entities—star children—and sending them to places far away through the four-dimensional space, can be quite dangerous, although it saves both spiritual energy and time.
"It is because a lot of weird beings utterly unimaginable for mankind exist in both the third dimension and the fourth dimension, and even higher dimensions. For example, the 'extraterrestrial' in extraterrestrial devils does not necessarily imply that they live in a space zone far, far away from the three thousand Sectors. It merely means that they are probably predators who lurk in the fourth dimension most of the time and only arrive at the third dimension for hunting now and then.
"When the creatures in three-dimensional space break the void and perform a space jump, they will be entering an unknown realm. Souls of human beings are easily infiltrated in the first place. Half a day ago, it was exactly during a space jump that Professor Mo Xuan intended to invade our soul.
"Such scourge is barely resistible even with the protection of the fleshly body, not to mention that the star child was just a defenseless soul. When he travelled through the four-dimensional space naked, he was like a fragrant roasted chicken that was swaggering under the gazes of wolves and tigers!
"So, I felt that it was quite odd a long time ago that the Imperium of True Human Beings was so lucky that the star children who barely had any 'four-dimensional defense' were never locked onto by the extraterrestrial devils or other energy life forms when they travelled in the universe. They were truly bold, or maybe they were only fearless because they were ignorant!"
Li Yao took a deep, deep breath. Even his voice was almost trembling. "Are—are you suggesting that Xiao Tianbao, the star child who arrived in the Flying Star Sector, was probably already corrupted by the extraterrestrial devils during the journey and that he was not just a star child from the Imperium of True Human Beings but also mixed with parts of the extraterrestrial devils?"
"I am not very sure about that," the mental devil said. "But just think about it. Do you remember that the star child once said that he encountered a catastrophic cosmic storm when he arrived in the Flying Star Sector, which blew apart his soul and made him feebler than ever? That was why he lurked for a hundred years and chose Xiao Xuance as his representative in order to establish the space gate and summon the fleets from the Imperium.
"All I want to say is that the star child who was just devastated by a cosmic storm was certainly the best target of corruption. Even I could've corrupted him without any trouble.
"The Flying Star Sector was a paradise for energy life forms in the first place. There was the Blood Stripe Virus on Iron Plateau and the extraterrestrial devils in space. Chances were that other uncanny existences lived in the four-dimensional space, too. I wouldn't be surprised at all if the star child was corrupted a long time ago."
A drop of sweat that was as cold as ice leaked out of Li Yao's forehead. Then he grew suspicious again. "What's the relationship among different energy live forms? Why do I feel that you want me to destroy the extraterrestrial devils? Aren't you supposed to help each other since you're the same kind?"
"People of the federation and people of the Imperium are the same kind, as are the people of the Imperium and the people of the Covenant Alliance. Don't you have a lot of fun killing each other when you are all human beings?" The mental devil cackled. "It's only natural that you hate your own kind because your own kind needs similar resources. That's the best motive for you to fight each other! Sometimes, it's easier for different kinds to live in peace!
"As for the Blood Stripe Virus and the extraterrestrial devils, or perhaps plus the mysterious Chaos, well, their relationship is probably the same as that between you and a cockroach. Except that you are both carbon-based live forms and you probably share the same origin, you have nothing in common at all."
"Is that so?" Li Yao frowned, feeling that he needed to know more about energy life forms.
"Of course," the mental devil said matter-of-factly. "Did you know that there are more than three hundred million carbon-based lives on your home planet in the Heaven's Origin Sector? Most of them have nothing to do with you, right? Why do you think that all the energy live forms in the universe are next-of-kin to each other?
"For me, the whole significance of extraterrestrial devils is food. I am a wolf, and the extraterrestrial devils are lambs. The more extraterrestrial devils you kill, the stronger I will be, and I will have a greater chance of suppressing you one day! So, just rest assured. Everything I said just now is true because I want to swallow more extraterrestrial devils. Hahaha!"
Chapter 1744: The Last Competition, Begin! |
"Rest assured my ass. You are grimacing in such a cunning way. Who would feel relieved?" Li Yao gritted his teeth hard. "If that was the case, assuming that the star child had long been corrupted by the extraterrestrial devils, the arrival in the tenth space ring would make perfect sense. The star child and the extraterrestrial devils are the same in the first place. They were in a master-slave relationship, not simple cooperation!
"Besides, the star child now had two reasons to establish an enormous space gate to summon the fleets of the Imperium to the Flying Star Sector. Other than allowing the Imperium to conquer the Flying Star Sector, he could also—"
The mental devil took over. "He could also return to the center of the cosmos together with the fleets of the Imperium, to the homeland of the Imperium of True Human Beings, the real prosperous land in the universe."
Li Yao was silent for a moment before saying, "However, his scheme was disrupted by us in the end. The star child was also…"
"Basically," the mental devil said, "he was swallowed by Professor Mo Xuan."
Li Yao bulged his eyes and stared at the mental devil.
The mental devil opened its hands innocently, "Don't look at me like that. At that time, I was not truly born yet. It was all your own experience. You and a few other Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators of the Flying Star Sector were caught in the illusionary space created by the star child, and your souls were almost corrupted by him. At the perilous moment, the few star spirits including Professor Mo Xuan swallowed more than half of the 'star brain' in order to save you without considering anything else. They must've swallowed a lot of the star child's soul. That created the best opportunity for your last strike.
"If certain things like germs, viruses, or parasites were residing inside the star child's soul, they must've been devoured by Professor Mo Xuan, too, right?"
Li Yao was silent for a long time. Then he softly cursed, "Fu*k!"
He sat up abruptly in the cold darkness and breathed fast. His cold sweat sprayed onto the ground along his trembling lips with sounds as clear as his heartbeat.
Long Yangjun was rather surprised. "What's wrong? Have you found anything?"
"Listen, I've basically figured out what has happened." Li Yao's teeth seemed to have turned into two rows of icy pitons, and his every word sounded as freezing as a blizzard. "
A hundred years ago, the Flying Star Sector was a paradise for the extraterrestrial devils. They might be the offspring of the Chaos that you mentioned, or maybe they originated from the Blood Stripe Virus, an energy life that is even more ancient. But it is not important!
"What is important is that a hundred years ago, when the star child, a vanguard of the Imperium of True Human Beings, was extremely feeble after going through an unprecedented cosmic storm that almost tore apart his soul after he just arrived in the Flying Star Sector, it is very possible that one of the extraterrestrial devils took advantage of his weakness, corrupting, infecting, and controlling him!
"He might have known it, but he could've been fooled and really thought that he was serving the Imperium of True Human Beings. In fact, once the 'space gate' was opened, the communication would be bidirectional. While the army of the Imperium could reach the Flying Star Sector through the space gate, they could also bring certain weird beings of the Flying Star Sector back to the center of the cosmos to infect more people after they won the war!
"However, the star child, as well as the extraterrestrial devil who corrupted him, failed. The space gate was not opened. The extraterrestrial devil was heavily wounded, too!
"Yes. The six Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and the five star spirits must have caused a severe blow to the star child and the extraterrestrial devil in his soul when we joined our hands, forcing it to fall into a certain 'hibernation' state. It was possibly even swallowed by Professor Mo Xuan together with the star brain and entered Professor Mo Xuan's body!
"In other words, Professor Mo Xuan already contracted an extraterrestrial devil back them, but he did not show any symptoms. It's like how healthy people also have a lot of viruses inside their bodies but can still suppress them. Professor Mo Xuan was just a 'carrier'!
"Also, I assume that Professor Mo Xuan's unique body structure, which was purely made of liquid metal, must've caused great trouble for the corruption of the extraterrestrial devil, too. Perhaps, it had never seen such a weird life form before, and there was no place to begin with at all. Therefore, during the decades after Professor Mo Xuan returned from the Flying Star Sector, it had always been obedient and never revealed its existence!
"The extraterrestrial devil was resting, recovering, and looking for the best opportunity.
"Then, the opportunity finally came. The collapse of the Virtual Spirits Sector!
"The past hundred years can be divided into two phases from the collapse of the Virtual Spirits Sector. In the first phase, Professor Mo Xuan was very normal. Despite his ambitions to create virtual life, his attempts were within the reasonable range and all pure theoretical studies.
"However, after he 'recovered' from the accident of the Virtual Spirits Sector, he acquired the Tinder Plan immediately and somehow recruited Lei Yuqin to establish Deep Blue Super Brain Hospital, causing so much trouble!
"Don't forget that the collapse of the Virtual Spirits Sector led to the brain death of Su Changfa, a Nascent Soul Stage expert. Even though Professor Mo Xuan's soul was more powerful than Su Changfa's, he must've been heavily wounded, too. Wasn't it the best opportunity for the extraterrestrial devils?
"If that's the case, everything makes sense. Why Professor Mo Xuan's personality changed greatly, why he's determined to create the third form of mankind, and how he grasped technology that is even more advanced than the federation's and the expedition army of the Imperium's!
"The extraterrestrial devils are an energy life in the first place. Energy lives are all sensitive about technology concerning online transmission, virtual space, and brain hypnotization. Besides, the extraterrestrial devils were deeply involved with the Star Ocean Imperium ten thousand years ago and even led to the downfall of it. Assuming that some of the extraterrestrial devils retrieved the technology of the Star Ocean Imperium and passed on the knowledge by carving it into the ripples of spiritual energy similar to genes, it is not unlikely that the extraterrestrial devil who infected Professor Mo Xuan in the Flying Star Sector got the knowledge in the end!
"All in all, this is a plan that was implemented a hundred years ago, except that it was disrupted by me, Professor Mo Xuan, and thousands of warriors of the Flying Star Sector together. Today, after a hundred years, it has been reactivated and even takes the Star Glory Federation and the Black Wind Fleet into consideration!"
Long Yangjun was stunned at what he said. She pondered for a long time but did not find too many loopholes. Although some of the details were still questionable, the theory did make sense as a whole!
"What are you going to do?" Long Yangjun asked.
"Stop it, of course!" Li Yao rose to his feet quickly and picked out dozens of doses of high-nutrition liquids from his Cosmos Ring. Like a giant whale absorbing water, he drank up all of them. Without having the time to wipe his lips, he announced, "Years ago, in order to save me and all the people of the Flying Star Sector, Professor Mo Xuan swallowed the 'star brain' and fought the star child to the end without considering the consequences! When I came back to the Heaven's Origin Sector, everybody thought I had completely turned into a Blood Devil. It was Ding Lingdang and Professor Mo Xuan who trusted me first again!
"Now that I know that Professor Mo Xuan is likely possessed by an extraterrestrial devil, of course, I am going to find out the truth and drag out the extraterrestrial devil that is lurking deep inside Professor Mo Xuan's soul!"
"Yes!" The mental devil shook its fists hard inside Li Yao's brain, declaring solemnly, "And then eat it!"
"Then, we must hurry," Long Yangjun said gloomily. "We've spent more than two hours in this place!"
"What? Such a long time?" Li Yao was slightly dazed. He raised his wrist, only to discover that Long Yangjun was speaking the truth.
Mental attacks had the side effect of disrupting the brain's sense of time. He had thought that the extraterrestrial devil lurking inside Lei Yuqin's brain only launched a brief attack, but in fact, it had actually lasted quite a long time.
Professor Mo Xuan's plan should have been immaculate. Even if somebody located his nest and explored all the way to this place, they would certainly have gone mad, if not died instantly, after suffering such intense mental corruption in such a sealed space. This place was a fatal trap that was designed to lure them in from the beginning!
Although Li Yao and Long Yangjun were both unusual Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, their souls were still greatly shaken, and they suffered terrible headaches. It was not until more than two hours of rest that they finally came back to themselves and regained their normal thinking ability.
"If… Professor Mo Xuan really has a plan, it must've been fully activated already!" Taking a deep breath, Li Yao struggled to his feet and shook his swollen head. "We must go to the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus Information Processing Center at the center of Hundred Flowers City to stop him—it!"
Boom!
Boom! Boom!
Right then, deafening explosions echoed outside of the giant gate above them. After a few explosions, rumbling thunder seemed to be condensing outside, until the entire gate was blown into the wall behind them!
"Don't move!"
"Lay down your magical equipment and raise your hands!"
"Stop summoning your spiritual energy, or we will open fire!"
"We are the federal army. Identity yourselves. Don't move. Don't move. Stay where you are!"
Almost a hundred pillars of light ripped apart the dull darkness like the sharpest blades. The glittering crystal cameras on the crystal suits were particularly dazzling in the darkness. Dozens of crystal suits marched in at the same time, locking onto Li Yao and Long Yangjun tightly.
In the meantime, a lot of soldiers of the federal army had blocked the channel outside. There was not even a gap for a cockroach to pass through.
It seemed that the federal army had taken care of whatever was left of the 'battle shells' and controlled the entire Deep Blue Super Brain Hospital.
Li Yao glanced at Lon
g Yangjun and asked in a low voice, "How much have you recovered?"
"Not entirely," Long Yangjun said in a soft voice. "We were too careless just now and did not expect that the extraterrestrial devils were behind everything. How can you recover the severe wounds of the brain after only two hours of rest?
"Besides, look at how determined they are. Are you hoping to leave this place without killing each and every one of them?"
"Understood." Narrowing his eyes, Li Yao slowly raised his hands high under the hundred crossed pillars of light. The broken crystal suit on his body was falling apart. Raising his voice, he said softly but firmly, "Where is your highest commander? I would like to speak to him!"
Chapter 1745: Even Though I'm Alone! |
"Don't move!"
"Raise your hands and surrender! Remove all your magical equipment! Stop summoning your spiritual energy! You have three seconds! We will open fire in three seconds! Three! Two!"
Noisy shouts echoed in the darkness behind the strong light.
Li Yao raised his hands high and opened his fingers, implying that he did not bring any magical equipment with him. His eyes after he took off the crystal suit were even more dazzling than the strong light that was darting from up above. He roared, "I have removed all the magical equipment, but I will not stop the circulation of spiritual energy. I want to meet your commander, right now!"
"This is the last warning. You have been surrounded. Stop the circulation of your spiritual energy immediately, or we will open fire!"
"No. I have to meet your commander. You have controlled the hospital. Have you not noticed anything wrong? This hospital is terrifyingly defended. A lot of vegetative patients, who used to be high-level Cultivators with amazing combat ability before they fell into comas, have gone missing! There's also the cerebral laboratory that you just passed. Look at this place. Look around. Look at all the weird new crystal processors! Haven't any of them raised your suspicion? We have fallen into a trap. The federation is in danger, not just from the Imperium of True Human Beings, but also from a more dreadful enemy—the extraterrestrial devils!"