by <unknown>
Long Yangjun and Li Jialing looked at each other. They were about to persuade Li Yao to try other approaches when Li Yao's portable crystal processor suddenly shivered.
Li Yao raised his wrist, only to look even more awful.
"Many people just came from the teleportation array at the end of the tunnel. No, not the heavy tractors that ship crystals, but the abundant Exos as well as fully-armed crystal tanks and battle puppets. Judging from their emblems and epaulets, they are the best troop in the Imperial Guards. It is possible that Wuying Qi is leading them in person.
"It appears that he has learned that we snuck into the base, and he is about to activate his… crazy plan of brainwashing with the sun in advance!
"There's no time for any hesitation. Just listen to me on this one. Trust me, no matter how idiotic I usually pretended to be, I never let you down at critical moments, did I? So, trust me. We will succeed! We will!"
Looking at Li Yao's eyes, which seemed to be spurting magma, Long Yangjun sighed and said helplessly, "How are you going in?"
"There's no time for a prudent sneak-in."
Li Yao's chest moved fast. "Let's resort to the emergency plan!"
Long Yangjun's eyelids twitched fast. She bit her lips hard and said, "I swear that this is the last time that I will ever team up with you. The last time!"
"If we fail, there won't be a next time."
Li Yao chuckled and turned to Li Jialing. He hesitated for a moment but still asked, "Jialing, you are the target that Wuying Qi is determined to capture. Regarding the plan we discussed last time, are you… ready?"
Li Jialing nodded in silence and declared resolutely, "I will figure out the queen's real stance. If she did have understandable reasons, or if she was completely controlled by Wuying Qi, I will return my life to her by dying together with Wuying Qi!"
"You are my only brother, so I will not let you die today."
Li Yao grimaced, baring his pure and sharp teeth. "Somebody is going to die today, but not us. Let's move!"
…
In the meantime, on the massive teleportation array at the end of the tunnel, rows of Imperial Guards that looked like iron woods showed up and gathered into aggressive battle formations.
Very soon, Li Linghai appeared at the center of the teleportation array too, and she gradually drifted to the midair. The transparent white hair behind her head turned deep dark.
"I can smell rats."
She… He sniffed, as if he could directly sense the feeble spiritual waves spreading in the air. He suddenly extended his hand. A tide of waves spread out, raising earsplitting noises, as he snatched a few crystal cameras in the stealth state.
Those crystal cameras were deployed by Li Yao earlier to monitor the movements of the troops.
The crystal cameras turned into flames in Li Linghai—or Wuying Qi's hands. In infinite fury, he tossed the broken pieces of the crystal cameras to the ground heavily and rushed into the tunnel.
…
In the space battlefield, on the No. 5 planet not far away from the capital planet, the main warriors of the four families' ace fleets had already finished the final refilling and loading. The warriors had examined their crystal suits, space shuttles, and Colossi again and filled their stomachs with all kinds of Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Like sweating and excited horses, they boarded on their starships in a hurry. Very soon, the starships spurted out brilliant torrents of fire and soared to the sky.
In terms of number, the four families' ace fleets were slightly less impressive than the "grand alliance of million starships" that marched to the Seven Seas Space Zone earlier.
However, different from the untrained mobsters in that coalition fleet, all the warriors here were the sharpest sabers of the nobles.
It could be seen by the fact that the starships kept a safe distance from each other when thousands of them were launched at the same time. It was as if countless scalpels were cutting the cosmos at the same time.
It was the sunrise of the No. 5 planet.
The magnificent brilliance of the sun was turned into a colorful, dreamy halo when it was reflected on the spiritual shield and the mirrored armor of the main-force warriors. The emblems of the sour families looked even more splendid and invincible.
The warriors of the four families were all deeply attracted by the sunrise. They couldn't help but lean against the virtual window and observed without blinking.
Was the glamor in space a symbol that the four families were rising unstoppably like the sun in the morning?
"For the glory of the family!"
"Victory! Victory!"
"Get the capital planet! Capture Li Linghai!"
The noble warriors opened their arms and howled desperately under the glorious sunlight.
…
"Halt! Halt! All starships of the Deep Sea Fleet and the Imperial Guards, turn off the main power units and only keep the anti-gravity rune arrays running at the minimum efficiency to offset the gravity of the capital planet!"
Dongfang Sheng, the reformists' commander in the frontier and the highest commander of the Deep Sea Fleet, also instructed all the soldiers that had retreated to the orbit of the capital planet to further retreat. "All starships that are capable of flying within the atmosphere, retreat into the atmosphere. Yes, all of them! The massive motherships that cannot fly in the high-gravity environment will return to the back of space fortresses and space towns to avoid the sunlight!
"This is an order. Move according to the latest map of defense now!
"After the latest deployment, all starships will adjust their spiritual shields to a certain frequency. The specific frequency is as follows—
"In the meantime, all starships will open their public communication channels and the interfaces to accept external messages. Lord Regent will speak to the devoted soldiers of the Imperium who have fought to the last moment!
"Trust me, no matter how aggressive and unstoppable the enemy might be, the final victory will be ours. It will belong to the strongest experts who truly believe in the civilization of mankind!"
…
Inside the underground hole, Neltharion had entered the stealth mode and snuck into the purification and activation factory that powered the Gold Crystal Pyramid next to it.
Due to the lack of knowledge on the internal structure of the energy center, it could only move forward slowly following the heavy tractor. In the meantime, under the delicate control of the mental devil, it tossed one Cosmos Ring after another into the bucket of the tractor.
The tactic was similar to the remote explosion tactic that Li Yao adopted in the Seven Seas Grand Market.
However, thanks to the resource support of the Business Alliance of Ten Thousand Sectors, Li Yao had more Cosmos Rings to squander now.
In the meantime, the energy center was clearly ten times better defended than the Seven Seas Grand Market too.
A sentry post had been set up after every few steps. Anti-stealth scanning rays were activated now and then. Even though the mental devil was moving and dodging agilely the whole time, it was still caught by the mystic rays after throwing down almost ten Cosmos Rings.
Devastating alarms immediately echoed deep inside the energy center!
Chapter 2612: Inside the Gold Crystal Tower! |
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Almost at the same time as when the alarms echoed, the mental devil activated the crystal bombs that had been released from the Cosmos Rings without any hesitation. A series of gigantic fireballs were immediately ignited at the edge of the energy center.
The fireballs expanded nonstop like colorful, abnormal tumors that spread out tentacles nonstop, swallowing up the oxygen, the most precious thing in the underground space, and unleashing abundant smoke that was as dark as ink.
"Enemy incoming! Enemy incoming!"
The positions of the Imperial Guards stationed below the ground immediately fell into chaos. Officers were shouting desperately everywhere
. Countless battle puppets and crystal suits rose to the midair at the same time. Mystic rays that were sharp enough to pierce through the black smoke scanned back and forth like gold daggers. Seven Colossi even leaped to the central area of the energy center. However, the mischievous mental devil and Neltharion were nowhere to be found at all.
While the Imperial Guards were in a flurry, an overwhelming vibe descended from the sky and arrived before them abruptly.
It was Li Linghai!
"Li Linghai" still had a headful of white hair that looked like a waterfall. Surrounded by the most dominating purple fire, and with a thick shell of ice frozen on her face, she roared hysterically, "It's Li Yao! It's Li Yao, that shameless thief, who has snuck in! Were you all blind to allow him to cause such huge damage? Capture him! Capture him now!"
The Imperial Guards looked at each other in bewilderment and vaguely felt that something was not right. But in the haste, they could not figure out where exactly the problem was.
"This is the moment that the destiny of the Imperium and even the civilization of mankind will be decided. His Majesty's enterprise depends on each of us!"
"Li Linghai" bugled her eyes and gnashed her teeth as she spoke, "His Majesty is resting and preparing for the last strike. Do you really need His Majesty to attack in person in order to finish that thief Li Yao? Hurry and disperse. Find him out even if you have to dig into the ground. I'm going to mince and burn him up in person!
"Right there. I can tell that he's up there. What is he trying to do? Is he going to blow up the rock stratum above our heads in advance?"
"Li Linghai" pointed at the rocks above everyone and shouted.
The Imperial Guards couldn't help but get distracted by her finger, and they did sense a weak wave flashing in the direction she pointed at.
Immediately, countless battle puppets and crystal suits flew toward the rocks. The three Colossi also rose to the midair. All the honeycomb-launchers around were opened and locked onto the rocks up above.
Right when everybody was distracted by the exasperated "Li Linghai" in the midair and the weird scent that was lurking in the darkness among the rocks high above, Li Yao had changed into a regular suit of the Imperial Guards and concealed most of his aura until it was similar to most Imperial Guards. He quietly approached the Gold Crystal Pyramid under the cover of the dark fog.
It was a mess everywhere. Many people were shooting at the sky, and many others were in a hurry to extinguish the fire in the energy center so that the central area, particularly the warehouse where abundant crystals were stored, would not be affected. A lot of soldiers who were weak were already blushing and feeling dizzy due to the lack of oxygen. None of them noticed Li Yao.
Li Yao snuck into the back of the tractor that shipped the Meditation Healers more than easily.
The team of Imperial Guards escorting the Meditation Healers was in a dilemma. They wondered whether they should enter the Gold Crystal Pyramid immediately or wait for further instructions where they were.
Their commander was looking at "Li Linghai" in the midair, as if he were waiting for a clearer order.
Sparks spurted out of Li Yao's eyes, and cracks echoed from his skull. He instantly analyzed the positions, visions, and biophysical parameters of the few soldiers and established twelve plans.
Three, two, one!
Li Yao counted in his heart silently. As the countdown reached zero, the mental devil happened to charge out of the fog with Neltharion and tossed the last Cosmos Ring not far away from the soldiers, detonating the dozens of crystal bombs that spurted out of the Cosmos Ring.
The battle puppets and the Imperial Guards were all knocked over. While the team of soldiers was outside of the range of explosion, they were attracted by the fire and the airwave too, and they all backed off to take shelter.
The moment the fire rose, Li Yao lunged out like a stealthy leopard, snatching the soldier at the end of the row and dragging him to the bottom of the tractor.
He knocked out the soldier, took off his suit, put the suit on, and stuck the soldier to the chassis of the tractor with a type of special natural glue. The whole job took Li Yao only one second.
By the time the rest of the soldiers looked back, they saw that Li Yao was shivering next to the tractor in their suit, with his head lowered.
When Li Yao stood up again holding onto the tractor, he already looked similar to the poor soldier.
Although they were not entirely identical, nobody would bother to check it carefully at such a time.
"What are you waiting for?"
At this moment, "Li Linghai" happened to lower her head and roar at the soldiers who were escorting the Meditation Healers, "Hurry and send them in. Don't delay His Majesty's moment of victory!"
The officer responsible for escorting the Meditation Healers trembled. In cold sweat because of Li Linghai's roar, he hurried to ask his subordinates to drag the unconscious Meditation Healers into the Gold Crystal Pyramid.
Just like that, Li Yao passed a massive bronze gate at the pedestal of the Gold Crystal Pyramid at the end of the line, entering the "stellar-level magical equipment"!
They passed through a cold and deep pathway, whose wall was as smooth as a mirror and showed no joint. However, a mist that could swallow the sounds and spiritual waves of the outside world was spreading out of nowhere. Very soon, the noises outside couldn't be heard again, and the intense battle was beyond reach. They seemed to have entered an independent world.
Most of the species in the Pangu civilizations' alliance were multiple times greater than human beings. Therefore, the pathways and the rooms were also as huge as empty palaces. The density and hardness of the building materials were also far higher than the specifications of the strengthened armor that were used by the human beings.
Li Yao had once seen similar materials in the Kunlun relic and ran tremendous experiments on the materials. They were extremely difficult to break. While they were extremely tough, they also boasted the effect of energy absorption, similar to "Super Bendable Steel", which made it hard to burn or detonate them.
In other words, even if he were to summon his Colossus and bombard the Gold Crystal Pyramid from inside, the best he could achieve was to leave a few minor holes on it. It would be difficult for him to trigger a serial explosion that could completely ruin the Gold Crystal Pyramid.
The part of the Gold Crystal Pyramid above the rocks was already hundreds of meters high. Like an iceberg floating on an ocean, nine out of tens of the buildings were buried below. Judging from the length of this pathway, its size was beyond estimation.
Li Yao was not confident that he could blow up the core of the Gold Crystal Pyramid in one attack. He did not even know where the core of this thing was!
"If this Gold Crystal Pyramid was truly the last trump card of the zealots of the Houyi Clan, they must've imposed unprecedented defense on the Gold Crystal Pyramid in case of the sabotages from the Pangu Clan and the Nuwa Clan. Even a Colossus might not be able to destroy it easily."
Li Yao thought to himself calmly, "Therefore, I have to get closer to its heart…"
Neltharion and the mental devil that had entered the stealth state floated above his head and scanned everything around.
Suddenly, Li Yao heard feeble squeaks from both ears.
It was the noises when some sort of ubiquitous magnetic field was attempting to invade his brain.
He was not wrong. Wuying Qi had indeed deployed very powerful mental attack weapons at the center of the Gold Crystal Pyramid, regarding brainwashing as the most brilliant defense.
No wonder Wuying Qi did not set up any other traps in this place but simply allowed the soldiers to walk in.
If it were common warriors, they would've been captivated by illusions as they reached the place, wouldn't they?
Li Yao's soul was unique, and it had generated a powerful mental devil. Also, he had resisted Wuying Qi's mental attack once in the Seven Seas Grand Market, which granted him some
sort of an "immunity". Such petty tricks could not affect him.
The soldiers ahead of him, however, started to walk slowly and heavily. Their movements were more and more rigid too, as if they were pulled by a certain mysterious force.
Li Yao learned after them and dragged the unconscious Meditation Healers to move forward mechanically.
After the mist ahead was cleared, however, he was astounded by the weird picture unfolded before his eyes.
It was a black temple. On the floor whose edge was beyond his eyesight, massive, mysterious patterns had been carved. The center seemed to be a star that had grown thousands of tentacles, surrounded by countless tiny round spots that also had flagella or tentacles. There was no telling whether they represented planets or the beetles, the origin of the Houyi Clan who liked to dart at fire.
Among the patterns, however, countless black pillars rose all the way to the dome that was also filled with mysterious patterns. The pillars were also connected by horizontals beams, making the place look like a huge, complicated city.
Li Yao knew that the black, cubic city was an array of super crystal processors of the primeval age.
He once saw similar things in the cockpit of the Nuwa warship. Long Yangjun once taught him some ways to activate and utilize them too. Xiaoming and Wenwen had also analyzed and studied part of the secrets of the primeval crystal processors before.
Although the Pangu civilization was thousands of years more advanced than the civilization of mankind, the gap of the two parties in terms of crystal processor technologies was not so huge.
It was because the Pangu civilization was scared that advanced crystal processors and cyber technologies would give birth to the virtual information lives like Xiaoming and Wenwen. Therefore, they restrained, castrated, and even destroyed most of the technologies of crystal processors and Spiritual Nexus that they had, making them several hundred years more advanced than mankind at most.
What surprised Li Yao, however, was not the super crystal processors of the Pangu civilization, but the things around them!