"Not very good."
After carefully observing the distribution of troops and the defense system in the underground space, Long Yangjun rejected Li Yao's proposal.
First of all, at least one reinforced legion had been deployed in the underground space. Also, crystal cannons and fixed fortresses had been established on every platform from high to low in the entire space, forming an impenetrable crossfire net that was ten times more rigorous than the defense of the Great Iron Plants.
Even if their two Colossi could charge down like a tornado and go on a killing spree, they would certainly be stuck in the crossfire net and consume tremendous fuel and ammunition. By the way, the Colossi would be riddled with holes.
Of course, assuming that the enemy did not have a leading general above Yuanying who was also equipped with a Colossus, they would indeed have a chance to crush the entire legion. The Imperial Guards were not the most determined warriors. It was even possible that they would completely collapse the moment they saw the two Colossi.
However, so what?
To some extent, both the Imperial Guards and the shield tunneling machines were out-and-out "consumables". Even if they could annihilate all the Imperial Guards and destroy all the shield tunneling machines, Wuying Qi and Li Linghai, who had occupied the entire capital and controlled 99% of the resources in the Empyreal Terminus Sector, could throw in more "consumables" at any time.
Even though the super enormous shield tunneling machines were rather tricky to produce and maintain, the regular shield tunneling machines could be delivered incessantly.
Other than delaying Wuying Qi's excavation, their reckless attacks would be absolutely meaningless. Instead, they would alert the enemy and make Wuying Qi and Li Linghai discover them and know that their trump cards had been exposed.
Once Wuying Qi realized that his trump card had been exposed, he would certainly change his way of dealing with it. He might even speed up the excavation at the cost of the blood sacrifice of millions of people under the stimulation.
Right now, the greatest advantage for Li Yao and his team was that the enemy was in the open while they were in the dark. Wuying Qi and Li Linghai knew nothing about their latest movements. Naturally, they would not jump to the enemy easily.
Unless they could completely destroy the underground space.
But it was certainly not easy!
The underground space was an empty black hole in the first place. How could it be destroyed? Even if they could collapse the rocks in all directions to fill in the gaps, the loose rocks could easily be penetrated by the tunnel boring machines and the penetrators again.
What was even more critical was that the underground space was probably in a vulnerable earthquake zone. The Supreme Emperor and the Blood God's exploration ten thousand years ago had already caused drastic changes to the crust of the entire capital planet. Hundreds of gaps had been ripped apart on the boundless continent. Too many people had been killed in the catastrophe.
The population of the Empyreal Terminus Sector today was multiple times higher than in the age of the Star Ocean Imperium. Even the enormous gaps that had been torn apart in the past were full of underground towns where tens of billions of people lived.
If they insisted on destroying this underground space, the catastrophe from ten thousand years ago would happen again. Countless cities would be swallowed by the rock stratum, countless people would fall into darkness forever, and tens of billions of people would be implicated.
Blackstar the Great might not have cared. Billions of people were just a string of numbers.
But Li Yao definitely couldn't do that.
"Be careful. There have been frequent earthquakes in this area for a long time," Long Yangjun said in a low voice.
"Do you remember the war between the Night Wings, the Black Armors, and the Red Rings when I went to the underground world to eliminate the wildlings? The wildlings were fighting each other exactly because their habitats were destroyed in the continuous small-scale earthquakes. Such earthquakes have been breaking out all the time in the past half a year, but they were unheard of a few years ago.
"I suspect that it was Blackstar the Great's business that triggered the chain reactions in the thousand square kilometers nearby.
"He can be unscrupulous and not be afraid of paying any price. Can you?"
After a long silence, Li Yao mumbled, "What is Blackstar the Great up to exactly? If he continues his crazy activities in the highly sensitive earthquake zone, it's possible that the entire Empyreal Terminus Sector will fall apart!
"Although 'blowing up the planet' is a bit of an exaggeration, the possibility that the tectonic plates are highly active, the continents are sinking to the bottom of the ocean, the oceans are rising, the ecosphere and even the atmosphere are shattered, and the planets that are habitable become desolate and uninhabitable … is indeed possible, and it is quite high!
"Is he so crazy that he doesn't even want his own capital?"
"Don't forget the most splendid battle on Blackstar the Great's rise."
Long Yangjun said, "When he was still a general at the border of the Star Ocean Republic, faced with the fleet of the Holy League, he once abandoned 'Karan', his command center, and deployed powerful crystal bombs below the ground of Karan, luring the Holy League to occupy Karan so that he could destroy the planet as well as the enemy's fleet!
"Therefore, the guy has a history of destroying his own planet. Right now, the four Kurfürst families combined are obviously stronger than him on paper. If we want to finish the battle quickly, who knows whether or not he will play the same trick again?"
Taking a deep breath, Li Yao said softly, "In order to excavate the primeval treasures deeply buried below the ground and defeat the four Kurfürst families, has Blackstar the Great been prepared to ask the hundreds of billions of residents in the capital to 'sacrifice'? As expected of the ancestor of the Immortal Cultivators!
"Right now, the capital has been controlled by him. We have to bring everything we see out of the capital and let anyone who opposes Blackstar the Great know it. Only in such a way can his craziest real face be revealed!"
Long Yangjun said, "We have captured all the pictures."
Li Yao shook his head and said, "It's not enough to take a picture from a distance. Such a 3D video can be easily falsified. Besides, taking a picture from a distance in secret doesn't mean much.
"We have to get the work log of a super enormous shield tunneling machine, which will be more convincing evidence. Let me see what we should do … Hey, if your 'clones' can approach the super enormous shield tunneling machine, how long will it take for you to copy its work log?"
Li Yao turned around and asked the two little fellows.
"It depends on how long its work log is and whether or not it is encrypted and defended."
Li Wenwen said, "However, it shouldn't take too long. After all, it is just a piece of clumsy civil magical equipment. Blackstar the Great can't have installed the most advanced super crystal processors on every shield tunneling machine, can he?"
"Ten seconds!"
Li Xiaoming, on the other hand, patted his chest and promised, "Give us ten seconds, and it will be enough to copy a complete work log!"
"Very good. Then …"
Li Yao narrowed his eyes and observed for a while longer before he said, "The No. 2 super enormous shield tunneling machine on the left, judging from the wear and the cooldown time, should be the one that has been in use for the longest time. So, its work log must be the most abundant, too!"
The team observed in secret for a long time and determined the work that the few super enormous shield tunneling machines were going to do next. Then, Li Yao activated Neltharion again and bypassed one of the machines. In the rock stratum that the No. 2 super enormous shield tunneling machine was about to dig, he found the most vulnerable point of the structure and buried a super tiny crystal bomb in it.
When the No. 2 super enormous shield tunneling machine rotated the working surface to the maximum, and all the vibration teeth and the drill bit uttered deafening noises, Li Yao triggered the explosion of the mini crystal bomb remotely with his telepathic thoughts, raising a chain reaction in the rock stratum and collapsing the cave that the No. 2 super enormous shield tunneling machine had just dug!
The explosion of the crystal bomb was completely drowned by the noises when the shield tunneling machine was activated.
Also, during the excavation of the shield tunneling machine, such small-scale collapses were not unusual at all. The shield tunneling machine could not be hurt at all.
Immediately, all kinds of rescue vehicles and spiritual puppets rushed forward and injected the liquid metal and buffer foam into the collapsed loose rock stratum to reinforce the structure around. Then, more than ten heavy tractors were running at full speed at the same time, dragging out the shield tunneling machine that was buried in the broken stones by brute force.
Similar accidents happened almost every day. None of the Immortal Cultivators found it strange.
After the mini crystal bombs exploded, the metal scraps that remained had long been mixed in the collapsed rock stratum. It was impossible for anybody to find them.
However, during the few minutes that the super enormous shield tunneling machine was buried in the broken stones, countless tiny 'ants' crawled into the gaps of the super enormous shield tunneling machine without alarming anyone. They hacked the mainframe crystal processor of the machine and scanned and copied tremendous information.
Before the heavy tractors were in position, all the 'clones' of Xiaoming and Wenwen had retreated safely without leaving any trace.
The work log was now in their hands!
"Let's retreat!"
Li Yao raised his thumb at the two little fellows, who were smiling as brilliantly as flowers.
They were about to retreat when deafening noises echoed from the other end of the tunnel again. Even the earth began to tremble. A team of engineers that was loaded with assets, tractors, and shield tunneling machines had come to reinforce them.
It took more than half an hour for the overwhelming team to finish their journey.
The crazy excavation in the underground space was even more heated than before.
Everybody looked at each other and felt that time was burning like a fuse on a barrel of dynamite.
Li Yao thought of something and suddenly asked, "Where do you think the beginning of the tunnel is? We are about twenty thousand meters below the ground right now. The tunnel can't spiral upward for twenty thousand meters to the surface, can it? "
It did make sense.
If the tunnel did spiral upward for twenty thousand meters, considering the angle of inclination, the total length of the tunnel would be at least a hundred thousand meters. It would be too much work.
Li Yao and his team simply traced upward and searched for the beginning of the tunnel.
It did not take them a hundred thousand meters. After only ten kilometers, they reached the beginning of the tunnel, which was another enormous military camp and forward base.
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