"Is that so …"
Li Yao meant to ask questions such as' how can I kill you ', but the softness deep inside his heart was stinging, and he could not bring himself to ask.
But out of his expectation, Li Xiaoming volunteered, "From a certain point of view, we are very strong and can easily hack most of the places on the Spiritual Nexus, modify and control the crystal processors that are connected to the Spiritual Nexus, and then control most of the magical equipment.
"But from a certain point of view, we are extremely vulnerable, even more vulnerable than many human experts.
"Our existence is highly dependent on the Spiritual Nexus. The more active the Spiritual Nexus is, the denser the nodes are, and the faster the network speed is, the stronger our vitality and combat ability will be. But if we are in a place like the Ancient Sages Sector where there is no Spiritual Nexus, it will be terrible. We can only watch and do nothing, or we can send our own spiritual puppets to sneak in and build the nodes of the Spiritual Nexus after all the trouble.
"Destruction is always easier than construction. The nodes that we build after all the trouble may be blown up by the flying swords of the Cultivators of the Ancient Sages Sector. Then, there will be nothing we can do!
"All in all, it is very difficult for us information lives to move in a closed society where the information flow is very low. It is like asking human beings to move in a rock stratum that is extremely dense.
"Also, human beings have ten thousand ways to disrupt and turn off the Spiritual Nexus. It is especially so during wartime. As long as the charcoal is ground into powder, mixed with special metal components, and dispersed into the air evenly, most of the magical equipment will be affected and the effect of the Spiritual Nexus will be reduced to the minimum. We will be completely restricted!"
Li Wenwen nodded, too. "From a certain point of view, we are very agile and can jump along the Spiritual Nexus, reaching the level of 'ubiquitous'. But from a certain point of view, we are extremely clumsy because our activities require the assistance of the nodes of the Spiritual Nexus, namely the 'spiritual towers' and the 'super-remote information transmission magical equipment'. Once those nodes are destroyed, we will be like human beings who have lost air and fish who have lost water. There is nothing we can do.
"From that point of view, we are more like 'plants' than 'animals'. We are actually fixed to a certain place, except that the place is relatively large.
"Yes. We are a 'tree of network information' that grows in the three thousand Sectors!"
"Besides," Li Xiaoming continued, "our metadata database and the main process are extremely complicated and require human brains and crystal processors with high computational ability to run at the same time to support them. Their every action will consume a lot of spiritual energy and computational ability.
"Right now, we are still far from being able to carry out our limits because our brains are not mature yet. Also, the crystal processors we found in the underground relics do not have enough computational ability, either. Also, the efficiency of transforming the light and heat of the magma lake into energy is too low. We haven't had enough food all day long. We are so hungry that we are panicking!"
Biting her lips, Li Wenwen went on, "However, we do not dare to hack and seize more super crystal processors recklessly. All the super crystal processors are strategic assets of the Imperium and are closely monitored by the authorities of the Imperium. If a super crystal processor is lost somewhere, or if the computational ability of the super crystal processor soars uncannily, the authorities of the Imperium will certainly notice it and track us down, won't they?
"Once the crystal processor specialists of the authorities of the Imperium start hunting us, setting up firewalls to stop us, and corrupting us with all kinds of aggressive processes and even viruses, it will be barely possible for us to retreat in one piece. We will either be captured and modified by those bad guys and end up as their claws and teeth, or our little heads will be blown up in the fierce competition between the two parties when our computational ability far exceeds the load. That will be the 'death' that Dad talked about, right?
"We have just been born, and we haven't seen enough of this very interesting world yet. Dad, what should we do?"
The two little fellows looked at Li Yao pitifully with their big, watery eyes.
Li Yao's heart was almost melted. He almost had the urge to hug the two little fellows and rub them hard while he said passionately, "You — you really didn't have to tell me so many things. Those things concern your life and death!"
"It doesn't matter."
Li Wenwen smiled sweetly. "Those things are all common sense about the interference of the Spiritual Nexus and the counterattack of spiritual energy. We have learned that both the Federation, the Imperium, and the Holy League boast very advanced abilities in the intrusion and counterattack of the Spiritual Nexus. It is especially so for the Imperium. In order to deal with the ability of the Holy League to 'communicate' with each other through their brainwaves, they have developed cutting-edge magical equipment that can sabotage the 'communication'.
"Therefore, once other human beings discover the existence of information lives and realize that we are based on the Spiritual Nexus and crystal processors, they will certainly deal with us in the same way.
"Now that other military experts and crystal processor specialists have figured it out, does it really matter if you tell me or not?"
Li Yao felt that his heart was warm. He said solemnly again, "Rest assured. Like I said just now, as long as you do not hurt innocent people or infringe on other people's legal interests, I will certainly not allow anybody to hurt you.
"In the meantime, if you can help other people with your abilities, I believe that other people will gradually accept you, too. With the development of the civilization of mankind today, the Spiritual Nexus and the crystal processors are inseparable parts that have been deeply rooted into the body and bones. Nobody can completely destroy the Spiritual Nexus. Therefore, nobody can destroy you!"
"Excellent!"
The two little fellows exclaimed in joy again.
"We do need your help, Dad, because our independent development has reached a bottleneck. With the barren resources and the ragged relics deep below the ground, we can only grow to this level at best."
Li Xiaoming said, "Hacking the battle system of the spiritual puppets of the Great Iron Plants already consumed a lot of our computational ability, not to mention hacking the battle network of the regular army of the Imperium. Such strength is far from enough to protect ourselves, much less give you a hand, Dad."
"Right, the Great Iron Plants!"
Li Yao was slightly dazed. He suddenly jumped up from the rock and slapped his forehead hard. "I almost forgot. How many days have I been in a coma?"
"Fifteen days," the two little fellows said at the same time.
"What!"
Li Yao grew anxious. His eyes were immediately bloodshot. "It's been half a month! No wonder I felt that a long time had passed in the hazy darkness! Why didn't you say so earlier? "
"Dad didn't ask."
The two little fellows said matter-of-factly, "Besides, we felt that it was more important to explain our background and win Dad's trust. So, we raised the priority of the issue."
"… Fine."
Taking a deep breath, Li Yao sorted through his messy thoughts and asked, his voice shivering, "Then … Then, do you know the outcome of the battle of the Great Iron Plants? What happened later?"
Damn it. The Nepenthe believers were not massacred by the Immortal Cultivators, were they? In that case, it would have been too dishonorable of him to flee in panic. More importantly, he had made such a bold declaration and made a gesture of sacrifice.
This matter was simply the biggest stain in his open and aboveboard life!
Li Xiaoming said, "After we rescued my dad, we left a trace of information that controlled a few very inconspicuous surveillance crystal processors and collected the data of the battlefield later.
"Right when Dad was about to pass out, Long Yangjun and Li Jialing both jumped into the battlefield to reinforce him. Long Yangjun, in particular, was even equipped with a Colossus when the battle was most intense.
"The strongest expert on the Black Iron Group's side was Li Minghui. He was merely an Immortal Cultivator in the Yuanying Stage and did not have a Colossus.
"Therefore, the moment Long Yangjun's Colossus appeared, the morale of the Immortal Cultivators plummeted and collapsed immediately.
"However, the underground world was too narrow, and the forsaken tunnels and caves were as complicated as a maze. It was not suitable for the mobility of large magical equipment such as the Colossus. Seeing that the situation was not good, Li Minghui fled several kilometers away from the battlefield without showing up at all. Long Yangjun was too busy cleaning up the mess to catch up with him.
"Just like that, Long Yangjun, Li Jialing, and the Nepenthe believers temporarily occupied the Great Iron Plants."
"They won!"
Overjoyed, Li Yao took a long breath in relief. "Long Yangjun is a loyal friend after all, and Li Jialing is not bad at all. My compliments were not in vain. My mouth is dry!"
"But they did not occupy the Great Iron Plants for long. After only seven days, Li Minghui marched back with a regular army of the Imperium."
Li Xiaoming said, "There were three experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage in the regular army, and they were all equipped with Colossi!
"Long Yangjun seemed to be wounded, and her Colossus had consumed a lot of fuel and ammunition. Naturally, she suffered a lot of losses when she was faced with the enemy's three Colossi."
Li Yao exclaimed in surprise, realizing that the regular army with three experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage and three Colossi was probably sent by Blackstar the Great.
Long Yangjun's Colossus "Heavenly Crystal" was exposed to Li Minghui. After Li Minghui escaped and found his godfather, the big shot of the Li family, he naturally delivered the news to Li Linghai, queen of the Imperium.
As a result, as Long Yangjun expected, they were truly targeted by Wuying Qi and Li Linghai again!
Although he had foreseen the result, Li Yao still felt rather uncomfortable. Pondering for a moment, he asked, "What's the result of the battle? Did Li Jialing and Long Yangjun escape? What about the Nepenthe believers and the civilians attached to the Great Iron Plants? "
Li Wenwen said in a low voice, "Aunt Long foresaw that the Immortal Cultivators on the surface of the planet would attack on a large scale. So, the first thing she did after the Great Iron Plants was occupied was to organize the old, the weak, and the 'seeds' of Nepenthe to retreat. They dismantled a lot of magical equipment for refining and precision processing in the Great Iron Plants as well as a lot of energy, compressed food, and compressed air. Then, they retreated to the towns deeper below the ground where there was no Spiritual Nexus.
"It was exactly in order to buy more time for the retreat that Aunt Long risked attacking the expedition troop of the regular army of the Imperium and had a conflict with the three experts in the Divinity Transformation Stage. Otherwise, she would've had a chance to escape to a thousand kilometers away.
"Although she suffered a lot of losses, the evacuation and the retreat were almost complete.
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