Li Yao drifted in the deep, dark universe in silence. Having turned off all the power rune arrays and most of the life-support systems on the Crystal Suit, he was like a cold iron meteorite.
Looking at the hundreds of silver ball-shaped space stations that constituted Hundred Flowers City not far away and the colorful waves left after the space jumps on the sailing routes further away, he sensed that his cells, bones, muscles, and soul were gradually condensing, stabilizing, and smoothing out. All the traces were gathered together, outlining the general picture of the whole layout.
Li Yao licked the blood on his lips that leaked out when he escaped from the space ripples by brute force and chuckled.
"Monster Li, are you covering your embarrassment with laughter?" Long Yangjun asked.
"No. It's just that the weird feeling that has been accumulating in my heart is gone after I figured out my master's layout.
Li Yao stared at Hundred Flowers City not far away, his eyes glittering brighter and brighter. Savoring the heat and sweetness of the blood, the mist that had been troubling his mind was gradually replaced by flames. "It's like … everything is back to the rhythm that I'm most familiar with!"
Long Yangjun sniffed. "Exchanging the life and death of ten experts at the peak of the Yuanying Realm and even in the Divinity Transformation Stage for the rhythm that you're familiar with, Monster Li is truly extravagant."
"There's no need to worry about Yan Liren and the rest of them for now."
Li Yao thought quickly. His computational ability was boosted to the maximum, and his brain cells were exploding like popcorn. "With the intensity of their souls and their computational ability, they wouldn't have been completely lost so quickly even if they were caught in a certain Grand Illusionary Land that Professor Mo Xuan set up in advance, right? The best that they would've been teleported to an unknown place and wouldn't be able to return for a while.
"Also, however precise my master's layout is, he has definitely underestimated the capability of 'Team Red Lotus'. If he wants to corrupt or kill Yan Liren and the rest of them, he will definitely have to pay a high price. It is very likely that this will be his fatal wound and lead to his total failure!
"For my master, Team Red Lotus is just an unimportant factor that is beyond his calculation in the first place. The more critical question is what my master is up to exactly. What is his real target?
"And when I was almost torn apart by the space vortex just now, I already figured it out!"
Long Yangjun was rather surprised. "Don't you mean 'completely annihilate the war and save all mankind'?"
"That's a strategic goal. It's too far away, so there's no meaning in guiding you."
Li Yao said quickly, "Both the total annihilation of the war and the 'virtualization' of everybody are too ambitious and too far away. How can we succeed in less than five hundred years? We don't need to be distracted by these illusory long-term goals. We just need to figure out what Teacher's first step is!
"Assuming that Professor Mo Xuan really wants to realize the great goal of 'virtualizing all mankind', the first thing that he has to do in the Xing Yao Federation right now is to control the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus and then the government of the Federation, right?" Long Yangjun pondered for a moment.
Long Yangjun pondered for a moment and nodded. "Exactly. However magnificent the subsequent plans and blueprints are, we have to control the federal government first in order to carry out our beliefs and realize our great ambitions. With Professor Mo Xuan's identity and the resources at his disposal, controlling the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus first is the most feasible approach!
"The Federation and the Imperium today are highly dependent on the technology of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus. Controlling the Spiritual Nexus means controlling almost everything!"
"That's right!"
Li Yao licked his lips in excitement. "The Hundred Flowers Space Zone is the transportation hub of the seven Sectors of the Federation. Hundred Flowers City is also the central data exchange and control center of the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus. It is also the center of the game 'Civilization'. Billions of players are online at the same time!
"One of the three most powerful 'Gai' -level super crystal processors of the Federation and more than half of the 'Jing' -level super crystal processors are here. As long as we control the Hundred Flowers Space Zone, hack the 'Gai' -level super crystal processors, and then control half of the 'Jing' -level super crystal processors in the Federation, will it be possible for us to control the entire grand-unified Spiritual Nexus?
"Ever since my teacher was transformed into the 'star spirit', an amazing life form that is half human and half liquid metal, he has been given the powerful abilities to hack the crystal processors and absorb the computational ability of the star children freely. In the rebellion of the Immortal Cultivators in the Flying Star Sector, it was thanks to him that we were able to launch a counterattack and secure our victory by hacking the 'star brain' and swallowing the computational ability of the star children!
"After a hundred years of training, his techniques to hack the crystal processors and absorb the computational ability of the crystal processors must be even more powerful, stealthier, faster, and more capricious!
"I've read a lot of files about the crystal processors of the Federation. Everybody says that there are 'three and a half' super crystal processors in the Federation right now. The 'half' refers to my teacher!
"If he can control all the super crystal processors in the Hundred Flowers Space Zone first and absorb their computational ability for his own use, he can attack the second 'Gai' -level super crystal processor in the Tian Yuan Realm with the enormous computational ability. Then, he can attack the third one on Spider Den … When all the super crystal processors are remotely controlled by him, it seems that people will have no choice but to compromise no matter what he demands!
"After all, my teacher was quite right. People in this era cannot return to a world without the Spiritual Nexus at all!"
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. The super crystal processors of the Xing Yao Federation can't be so weak that he can hack them so easily, right? Are all the other crystal processor specialists dead? Are they all idiots? Do they not know how to set up tremendous barriers, firewalls, and virtual arrays on the super crystal processors that are of paramount importance? However high his computational ability is, can it be higher than all the super crystal processors of the Federation combined? "
"Yes. That is a big problem. Under normal circumstances, it is impossible for my teacher to hack so many super crystal processors by force. I'm afraid that he would've been discovered when he hacked the one in the Hundred Flowers Space Zone, and a lot of special agents of the Secret Sword Bureau and the Union Army would've come to hunt him down!"
Li Yao narrowed his eyes. The silver universe fortress that was reflected in his black eyes was like a brilliant silver fire. "However, if a certain special circumstance causes all the super crystal processors to overload, causing them to consume tremendous computational ability for nothing, and their barriers and firewalls to be riddled with holes and on the verge of collapse …"
"Is there such a possibility?" Long Yangjun asked.
"Listen. It suddenly occurred to me that …"
Li Yao waved his hands and feet in the vacuum and said quickly, "Years ago, when we were dealing with the star child in the Flying Star Sector, my teacher was no match for the star child in the beginning, either. Not to mention corrupting the enemy, he was almost swallowed by the enemy!
"However, because I had a fierce battle with the star child in the virtual space created by him and consumed a lot of his computational ability, my teacher was able to take advantage of his weakness. In the end, we attacked the enemy from both inside and outside and annihilated him!
"If my teacher can create a certain situation right now where all the super crystal processors of the Federation are overloaded and suffer large-scale saturation attacks and their firewalls are riddled with holes …"
Long Yangjun frowned. "All the super crystal processors are overloaded and subject to large-scale saturation attacks? Under what circumstances can such a thing happen? "
While she was talking, Long Yangjun shuddered violently and exclaimed at the same time as Li Yao, "The expedition army of the Imperium is invading!"
"Yes," Li Yao said. "As long as the main force of the Black Wind Fleet suddenly emerges and performs a fatal strike on a certain core Sector of the Federation, and the two parties engage in a great battle, all the super crystal processors of the Federation will be mobilized, including the one in the capital for the command center, the one here for the planning of sailing routes and the guidance of reinforcements, and the one on Spider Den that detects the enemy's real situation!"
"In a modern war, the competition of the Spiritual Nexus and information is paramount," Long Yangjun said. "The first thing the Black Wind Fleet will do after they arrive will certainly be a destructive strike on the grand-unified Spiritual Nexus of the Federation. The technologies of the Spiritual Nexus of the Imperium and the Federation have their own advantages. To a large extent, the Imperium's technology is more destructive. In a real battle, not only will the super crystal processors of the Federation be overloaded and crash at any moment, their barriers and firewalls will also be riddled with holes and ripped apart by the Imperium!"
"By then, my teacher won't need to hack at all," Li Yao said. "As a 'human-shaped super crystal processor' with the highest computational ability in the Federation, he will certainly be the main force in the 'competition of the Spiritual Nexus'. Once the battle begins, he will be able to retrieve all the data of most of the super crystal processors easily. In the perilous moment, he will even be authorized by the military to connect to the most confidential super crystal processors to increase the combat ability of the Federation!"
"Fair enough," Long Yangjun said. "But there is still a critical problem. Is your teacher not scared that the Federation will collapse if he plays such tricks when the Black Wind Fleet is invading? If he is truly a 'good man' and a patriot, there is no reason for him to do that. "
"… Unless," Li Yao said, "my teacher is so greedy that he wants to swallow the mainframe crystal processors of the Black Wind Fleet!"
Long Yangjun: "What?"
"Think about it," Li Yao said. "A competition of the Spiritual Nexus is a two-way battle. Everybody will launch destructive strikes on the other side. When the super crystal processors of the Federation are overloaded and on the brink of collapse, the mainframe crystal processors of the Black Wind Fleet will certainly reach their limits, too. It will be the best opportunity to hack and control them!"
"Is your teacher so capable that he can remotely hack the mainframe crystal processors of the Black Wind Fleet? No matter how overloaded and on the brink of collapse they are, it will be fine! "
"I don't know."
Li Yao mumbled, "I'm not good at hacking crystal processors. Logically speaking, it shouldn't be possible. But if my teacher has a way to send a 'chicken' to the Black Wind Fleet first …"
"Chicken?"
"Chicken is a special term in the field of attack and defense of crystal processors," Li Yao explained. "It is a crystal processor or something else that is filled with viruses under the control of certain experts. Once my teacher can send a 'chicken' to the starships of the Black Wind Fleet, the viruses will likely explode instantly, or he can use the 'chicken' as a 'springboard' to launch the most direct, fatal strike on the Spiritual Nexus and the crystal processors of the Black Wind Fleet!"
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