by <unknown>
Cold sweat was running out from the deepest part of Li Yao's soul. Professor Mo Xuan deserved to be called a human-shaped crystal processor. His computational ability was too unbelievable!
"It doesn't matter now." Professor Mo Xuan suddenly smiled casually. Before the entire world was ripped apart and collapsed, he remarked, "The infiltration and control has long begun. There are two enormous troops in the Heaven's Origin Sector right now. Both of them feel good about themselves because they believe that their enemy has been deceived by them, but they do not know that they are just two animals that have fallen into traps without them knowing it. They are just bait for each other—bait that I threw out. After they maul each other and get exhausted by each other, it will be time for me to fish them up!
"After I control the two most powerful troops at the edge of the cosmos, I will boast the sharpest blades in the ten thousand lightyears around, which will allow me to realize my dream the way I want—to turn swords into ploughs and embrace a new world of absolute peace!
"I once told you that such an action was like pulling up seedlings to help them grow. Hehe. Maybe I am indeed too hasty. But in some cases, evolution is not linear but requires a leap. Just like when hideous caterpillars turn into beautiful butterflies, it needs a moment of sublimation!
"Open your arms and embrace the new world because you can do nothing other than that!"
With ear-splitting laughter that did not sound like Professor Mo Xuan at all, the whole world collapsed all of a sudden. Darkness and fire replaced each other and brought Li Yao to…
…
In the command center of the Defense Counsel of the Star Glory Federation in the Star Glory Federation, more and more parliamentary, military, and major sect leaders had been summoned to the place by Wan Guqing, the Speaker of the Federation. A lot of independent experts had arrived, too, to listen to the commands of the Defense Counsel together.
When those leaders and experts stepped into the command center, the very first sound they heard was the ever-ringing alarms.
"Such—such powerful gravitational waves!"
"Countless massive objects are breaking the barrier of the three-dimensional space and creating an enormous, temporary wormhole. They are about to show up in the Heaven's Origin Sector!
"By—by preliminary estimation, the objects passing through the wormhole weigh more than two hundred million tons. What a huge mass. It must be the Black Wind Fleet's second attack group!
"Based on the intelligence of the captives and the deduction of our experts, after the second batch of starships jump over, more than half of the combat units of the Black Wind Fleet will have been gathered in the Heaven's Origin Sector!
"What about the No. 1 space gate? Have we still not reclaimed it? Damn it!"
The urgent military news made the leadership of the federation either worried, furious, or grit their teeth. The air in the command center was so intense that it seemed as if it would explode at any point.
Wan Guqing, the Speaker of the Federation, was as calm as ever, however. He seemed not concerned by the agitating battle at all.
But when he noticed that the time on the light beam had reached a certain number, he slightly turned his head and looked at the gate of the command center.
DUM! DUM! DUM! DUM!
Heavy footsteps of crystal suits stomping on the ground echoed from outside of the gate. A team of elite, fully-armed Exos, wearing the cloud-and-moon emblem of the Secret Sword Bureau, suddenly barged in. Gawked at by the astonished leadership of the federation, they were regrouped into four squads. While one squad stayed on alert, the other three squads walked to three leaders in the room. Before their targets realized what was going on, they had already captured the targets like wolves and tigers.
"Excuse me, Representative Li, Leader Ouyang, and Deputy Advisor Zhao, you can save the expressions of disbelief. You are now under arrest for treason and espionage!"
Guo Chunfeng, the director of the Secret Sword Bureau, the guardian god of the dark frontline of the federation, known as the almighty super Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, slowly walked into the command center.
Chapter 1771: Fish Them All! |
The unexpected arrest surprised the leaders of the federation who were present. They all looked at Guo Chunfeng's unattractive face.
At this point, even the bleeding battlefield in space on the 3D light beams was no longer the focus of everyone's attention.
Some of the quick-minded fellows had quickly figured out something from the subtle atmosphere between Guo Chunfeng and Wan Guqing. Associating the anomaly with the chaos a moment ago, Jin Xinyue's rebellion, and the Black Wind Fleet's assault, they felt that they were seeing a great game.
"Representative Li, Leader Ouyang, and Deputy Advisor Zhao."
Wearing an old jacket that had been washed so many times that it had lost all color, Guo Chunfeng walked up to the three captives, whose expressions could not have been more twisted because of the barriers that suppressed them. He glanced around with his sharp eyes before he took out three piles of documents from his backpack and threw them at the captives' faces.
"The three of you have been accused of cooperating with the expedition army of the Imperium. In the past seven years, more than 12,520 entries of information regarding the deployment of the federal army; the details of the defense systems of the Heaven's Origin Sector, the Flying Star Sector, the Uranian Ring Sector, and the other worlds; and the habits and weaknesses of most of the Cultivators in the federation above the Nascent Soul Stage have been transmitted to our most dangerous enemy by the likes of you! The evidence is conclusive. You do not need to say a word to defend yourselves. Just shut up and wait for the trial!"
The files were scattered apart in front of them. The three big shots who were quite influential in parliament, the military, and the Association of Cultivators stared at the blood-freezing descriptions on the files, so devastated that their faces were as colorless as the dead people.
Had it not been for the seven or so crystal suits that were grabbing them, they would not have been able to stand on their feet at all.
Whispers were echoing in the room. Now that more than 1,500 pieces of leaked intelligence had been grasped, such a sudden arrest was obviously not improvised but prepared in advance. Everything was under the Secret Sword Bureau's control!
Soon, Guo Chunfeng's eyes returned to everyone else in the face. He said calmly and expressionlessly, "Everyone, allow me to report to you the result of 'Operation Scorching Sun' in the past half an hour. During the past half an hour, the 125 special arrest groups that we've deployed in the critical locations in the Heaven's Origin Sector, the Flying Star Sector, the Uranian Ring Sector, the Burning Prairie Fleet, and other places took action at the same time and destroyed the enormous spy network that the expedition army of the Imperium has secretly unfolded in the federation over the past ten years. In total, thirty-four spies have been captured, 157 have been killed, 1,355 defectors on our side have been detained, and 2,532 have been killed. Six secret communication bases that can directly send intelligence to the Black Wind Fleet have been demolished. Nine state-of-the-art communication devices from the Imperium of True Human Beings have been looted.
"In case you're interested, the nearest secret communication base to us is in Representative Li's private ranch in the west suburb of the capital city. Fifteen minutes ago, the secret communication base sent tremendous information to the outside world.
"Representative Li, you spoke to your private ranch fifteen minutes ago, didn't you? I'm sure that you were not checking on your livestock, right?"
After hearing that his nest had been demolished, Representative Li lost all his vigor. He did not even have the strength to moan.
The leadership of the federation all looked at each other in bewilderment. They had known that the Imperium's infiltration was rather severe, but they did not expect it to be so severe.
Thousands—thousands of people had been corrupted by the
Imperium?
Of course, they did not see it coming, either, that the Secret Sword Bureau's efficiency would be so high. Judging from the abruptness and enormity of the operation, the Secret Sword Bureau must have counter-infiltrated the spy network that the Imperium deployed in the federation and did not fish up all the suspects until right at the most critical moment.
"This is just the beginning," Guo Chunfeng said casually, his eyes as mysterious as an abyss. "While we are having this conversation, still more traitors are being hunted and imprisoned, and they will get what they deserve. The rampant enemies in space above the Heaven's Origin Sector are nothing but tortoises in a tank, too. They will be annihilated in no time.
"So—"
He looked at Wan Guqing, the Speaker of the Federation.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
Everybody moved their eyes to Wan Guqing. The arrest operation of such a scale that involved so many giants of the federation could never have been carried out without the consent, or at least the connivance, from Wan Guqing.
Wan Guqing was still as dutiful and sluggish as before, like a camel in the desert.
However, the brown colors that were flashing inside his eyes gave the impression that he was actually another creature in the desert at times—the fox.
"Everyone, I'm going to introduce to you the 'Dim Moon Plan'." Wu Guqing coughed lightly. He waved his hands and said lethargically, "Due to time constraints, we will just skip the cause, background, and process of the plan and jump to the conclusion.
"Jin Xinyue, the leader of the Ministry of Equality and Development and president of the Dim Moon Fund, who, according to the intelligence you just received, has betrayed the federation and created large-scale turmoil by seizing and sabotaging three space gates, did not really betray the federation. Everything was just our plan, a show that we performed for the real traitors so that they would send the wrong information to the Black Wind Fleet. Then, we would be able to lure the snake out of its hideout.
"Jin Xinyue did not defect. Both the space jump center on the ground and the No. 1 space gate in the sky are still under our control. The No. 2 and No. 3 space gates that were claimed to have been destroyed are undamaged, too, and can bring our main force here anytime!"
The unexpected news was like a rumbling thunder in the room. Even the gravest leaders of the federation almost jumped to their feet.
"The Imperium's infiltration was too serious. We did not really have a choice." Struggling to keep his eyes open, Wan Guqing went on unhurriedly. "The Imperium has hundreds of Sectors, and we only have seven, which have been gathered in a hurry in the last hundred years, with a lot of internal disagreement and conflicting interests. A few hundred versus seven, the gap between the enemy and ourselves is too shockingly big. It is perfectly normal that some lost hope in the federation.
"Some of the guys with ill intentions were banished to the Dragon Snake Space Zone and monitored, but more dangerous defectors changed their appearance and lurked deep inside the federation. Together with the spies of the Imperium that snuck into our land, they constituted an enormous espionage network.
"It was impossible to eradicate such a huge network. Even if one or two nodes were wiped out, still more nodes would pop up later.
"Therefore, our colleagues in the Secret Sword Bureau and the Dim Moon Fund simply chose the opposite approach. They established our own organization of defectors, known as the CFIA, through which they sent tremendous half-true-half-false intelligence to the Black Wind Fleet. Eventually, this trap for the Black Wind Fleet was prepared!"
Even the arrival of the Black Wind Fleet was part of the plan!
Even the admin-type Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators more than two hundred years old who usually hid their emotions very well were beaming with joy.
"Please take a look, everyone." Wan Guqing made a gesture and enlarged the light beam that displayed the overview of the battlefield. "Right now, the Black Wind Fleet is unaware of the real Dim Moon Plan. They still think that Jin Xinyue and her demon troops have really betrayed the federation. Therefore, they are bold enough to perform the second space jump.
"Judging from the intensity of the space ripples and the gravitational waves, half of the forces of the Black Wind Fleet will be gathered in the Heaven's Origin Sector after the jump.
"Then, when their follow-up troops perform the third space jump, if we adjust the navigation coordinates of the No. 1 space gate in time, we will be able to cut off the connection between the enemy's troops in the front and those in the rear. There is even a chance that we will annihilate the enemy's third attack groups in the violent turbulence of the four-dimensional space!
"If only fifty percent of the forces of the Black Wind Fleet are teleported to the Heaven's Origin Sector, we will have an opportunity to devour all of them by combining the Burning Prairie Fleet, the Big Bai Fleet, the Heaven's Origin Fleet, and the orbit defense system of the home planet!
"After half of the forces of the Black Wind Fleet, including the flagship, are swallowed and twenty to thirty percent of the forces are completely lost in the space turbulence, all that will be left is the vulnerable supply starships, residence starships, and resource collection starships. The Black Wind Fleet will completely lose their ability to attack and defend. The federation will secure the final victory easily!"
Before Wan Guqing finished his sentence, stripes flashed on the 3D light beams nearby that were connected to two secret communication channels. One at the front and the other at the back, two images gradually took shape.
The first image was Jin Xinyue.
Her pure white robe had been stained with blood. There was even a red poppy flower blossoming on the corner of her lips, which made her smile even more sordid and cruel.
She seemed to be in the middle of a chaotic battle where smoke and fire were rising nonstop. The most desperate screams were echoing now and then.
"What's going on? Aren't you—"
"Jin Xinyue, Jin Xinyue, you lied to us. We will not let you go even after we die. Ah!"
"We would like to surrender! We were all deceived. She—she…"
Despite all the background noises, Jin Xinyue put on a charming smile. Licking the poppy flower of blood on her lips, she said, "Reporting to the Defense Counsel, ten thousand defectors that launched insurgencies in various places in the capital city have been suppressed, and more than thirty nests of defectors have been dug out and destroyed. The No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 space gates are all functioning normally. The jump points and sailing routes around the No. 2 and No. 3 space gates have been cleared. They are ready for the jump of main troops."
Pausing for a moment, the queen of demons moved her eyes to the leadership of the federation. With an even more satisfied smile, she held her chest high and declared firmly, "Long live the federation!"
Wan Guqing looked at the woman on the light beam who was far younger than him but who was a hundred times more ambitious with mixed feelings. He nodded and said, "Very good. Let's proceed with our plan!"
It took a while longer for the other light beam to take shape because the communication was from another world dozens of lightyears away.
It was Bai Kaixin, the Chief of Staff of the Burning Prairie Fleet, who was wearing a white uniform with a fire-like epaulette on his shoulder.
"Reporting to the Defense Counsel!" Bai Kaixin declared, his eyes brimming with confidence. "The first mixed fleet, with Burning Prairie, Light Chaser, Mountain Breaker, and the other four super main-force warships as the core, has been gathered and completed its preparations. We are ready to carry out a space jump anytime!"
Chapter 1772: Crush the Big Bai Fleet First! |
"Let's begin!" Wan Guqing's eyes stopped on the raging Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars emblem on Bai Kaixin's chest. A long while later, he said gravely and solemnly, "The federation will win!"
"The federation will win!" Bai Kaixin on the light beam saluted and left. The picture of the bridge behind was soon twisted, with
mottled rainbow swirls popping up, which was an amazing scene when the long-distance, real-time communication was seriously affected by the twisting space ripples.
In that moment, the information streams that contained boundless important data went one step forward. They rippled the stars and rushed at the highest speed in the four-dimensional space. Transferring and being accelerated at the Grand-Unified Spiritual Nexus Information Processing Center, they smoothly arrived in the Flying Star Sector where the main force of the Burning Prairie was.
That data established an invisible bridge of wormholes among the Flying Star Sector, Hundred Flowers City, and the Heaven's Origin Sector. Countless coordinates, directions, and sailing route and space gate measurements were transmitted, recorded, and processed within the moment.
Deep inside the Flying Star Sector, the first mixed team of the Burning Prairie Fleet, including a thousand state-of-the-art starships including the flagship, was immediately covered in hazy light mists. The mists grew brighter and brighter, almost devouring every starship, before they were lengthened into sharp arrows of light that were about to be shot into the most important field at the life-and-death moment!
Compared with the splendid No. 1 space gate, the other two space gates around the main planet of the Heaven's Origin Sector were relatively small and of a lower scale. The number of starships that they could navigate at one time was smaller, too.
Moreover, in order to deceive the spy network established by the Imperium that was everywhere in the federation, the Burning Prairie Fleet could not have gathered all the troops beforehand.
Therefore, the first mixed fleet to be teleported was all the elites of the branch fleets. They were the essence of the essence.
Their mission was the same as the Big Bai Fleet's, which was to defend the space gates and cover the following troops while they were performing the space jump.