Of course, these facilities were not oil drilling platforms. The Ark Foundation probably did not need and could not use oil to earn a "resistance fund". However, Li Yao could not figure out what they were for. He only saw dozens of similar facilities surrounding the entire Ark Island, and most of them seemed to be incomplete. There were scaffolding all around, and many workers were working hard on it. Sparks from welding flashed everywhere, and the sound of steel striking rang out one after another.
Li Yao narrowed his eyes and looked carefully. He found that most of the workers had strange appearances. They either had wings on their ribs, or they had strong backs and bear waists. Some of their limbs were deformed and swollen, and their fists could be used as hammers. They did not even rely on any external force to float in the void. They were all Awakened.
Lady Grey Fog confirmed Li Yao's guess. She told Li Yao that there were more than 10,000 Awakened gathered on the entire Ark Island. It was like a world of superpowers. These people had dazzling spells and abilities. The law of gravity in the "space folds" was slightly different from the outside world. In addition, the Red Pole Star controlled the entire sea around the island, so the workers were temporarily free from the shackles of gravity and increased the efficiency of their work.
However, Lady Grey Fog did not know what they were building. This was a secret that only the Red Pole Star knew. It was said to be a decisive weapon in the Ultimate War.
The Lucky Star slowly approached the dock. After a strict search and testing, Li Yao and Daniel Zhang were finally allowed to go to the command room of the Red Pole Star after half a day.
It was a group of fortress-like buildings half-underground. The arc-shaped roofs of the buildings were like skulls scattered on the ground, emitting a gray luster. Lady Grey Fog told Li Yao that the roofs of these buildings were poured with a thick layer of lead, mainly to prevent the brainwaves of the Red Pole Star from leaking out and being sensed by the Apocalypse Organization and the Earth's will.
This level of caution was the reason why the Red Pole Star and the Earth's will were not targeted and destroyed even after dozens of reincarnations.
The underground passage leading to the command room was blocked by an iron wall that was as thick as the gate of a vault. Li Yao stood in front of the gate and felt that at least seven different kinds of rays passed through his body. Then, a dull mechanical sound came from deep inside the gate, and a gap slowly opened.
Lady Grey Fog gestured for Li Yao and Daniel Zhang to go in alone. She could only follow them up to this point. After the two squeezed in with some difficulty, the door immediately closed, leaving them in the darkness.
For a moment, Li Yao's heart tightened. He wondered if everything was a scam. Were the so-called "Ark" and "Apocalypse" the same thing? Were they both traps set by the Earth's will to catch them all in one fell swoop?
However, a series of arrowheads lit up on the ground in front of them, guiding them through many twists and turns. As they walked deeper and deeper, they finally arrived at a relatively spacious underground space.
The space was enshrouded in a cluster of hazy light. The intense light stimulated Li Yao's pupils, making it difficult for him to open his eyes when he was groping in the darkness just now. After a brief daze, he finally realized that it was the screens that surrounded the walls and the ceiling.
Screens of various sizes displayed the current situation of disasters all over the world, as well as all sorts of complicated numbers and reports. Astronomical amounts of information surged along with the light fog, and a lot of information directly floated in midair, giving people a feeling that this place was at least several decades ahead of the current era.
Other than the screens, the spacious room was empty except for an ergonomic computer chair whose back was facing the two of them. They could not see the person sitting on the chair clearly. They could only see that he was wearing a hilarious helmet that seemed to be made of lead, too.
Chiliu! Chiliu! Chiliu!
At this time, a strange sound came from the front of the computer chair, followed by "Kacha Kacha, Kacha Kacha".
"Is that the Red Pole Star, the leader of the Ark Foundation and the most dangerous prison-breaker in the past ten reincarnations?"
Li Yao and Daniel Zhang looked at each other and saw the confusion in each other's eyes.
Hearing their footsteps, the "chiliu" and "kacha" sounds came to an abrupt end, and the computer chair slowly turned around.
Li Yao and Daniel Zhang held their breath and stared at the leader of the prison-breakers in front of them.
However, the appearance and style of the Red Pole Star greatly surprised the two of them.
The man looked like an Asian. He had a baby face that made it impossible to guess his age. His facial features were decent, but there was a lingering sense of mischief in his eyes. The most eye-catching thing was the star-shaped birthmark on his left eye. Li Yao had never seen a birthmark with such a clear edge, such a regular shape, and such a bright red color. It really looked like a red star branded on his face.
Come to think of it, the nickname "Red Pole Star" must have come from this birthmark.
His face gave Li Yao an extremely familiar and weird feeling. The same feeling appeared when he saw "Mr. Zhang Jiashu" a few days ago, but the feeling now was a hundred times stronger than that time.
However, what surprised Li Yao the most was not his appearance, but his style. The upper part of his body was a T-shirt printed with coconut trees, beaches, and blue sky. The lower part of his body was loose and comfortable beach pants made of cotton and linen. There was also a pair of cheap flip-flops on his feet. In his left hand was a cup of tropical fruit juice that was almost finished, and in his right hand was a bag of cucumber-flavored potato chips.
Seeing this, Li Yao finally understood that the "chiliu" was the sound of him drinking the juice with a straw, and the "kacha" was the sound of him eating the potato chips!
"No way!"
Li Yao asked himself in his heart, "The leader of the resistance organization who has persisted in the struggle for countless reincarnations is like this? Is there some kind of mistake?! "
However, deep down in his heart, he vaguely had an urge to drink juice and eat potato chips too!
At the same time, Zhang Daniu made a sound of surprise.
Li Yao was back to himself and immediately understood what Daniel Zhang meant. No wonder he found the guy's style so familiar. It was exactly the style of Boss Bai, the "Pirate Potentate", in the novel "Forty Thousand Years of Cultivation"!
No, the flowery T-shirt, beach pants, flip-flops, and tropical fruit juice were indeed Boss Bai's unique and classic style in the beginning. However, "Cultivator Li Yao" in the novel was so envious of it that he copied the style shamelessly in the later part of the novel!
Right now, the same style had appeared on Red Pole Star again. Also, he was dressed so … perfectly that it fit his vibe perfectly. He was almost like a character who walked out of the novel.
So, who was he exactly, and who was he exactly?
Li Yao was completely confused.
Li Yao, Red Pole Star, and Daniel Zhang stared at each other for a long time. The more they looked at each other, the more familiar they were to each other. The more they looked at each other, the more awkward they felt.
Eventually, it was Red Pole Star who broke the silence.
"Do you want some juice?"
The leader of the Ark Foundation asked with a smile.
His voice was hoarse and sounded completely different from Li Yao's and Daniel Zhang's. But for some reason, Li Yao found it very familiar, as if he had heard his own voice from a recorder.
With everything coming to this point, there was no need to be shocked even the weirdest thing. Li Yao and Daniel Zhang looked at each other and nodded.
Behind the few screens in the corner was a tiny fridge. Red Pole Star took out three cans of iced tropical fruit juice and tossed two of them over. He unscrewed one of the cans and had a mouthful of the juice. Then, he remarked in satisfaction, "This is the only enjoyment I have left after staying on this island all day without being able to go anywhere. Give it a try. It's not bad."
Li Yao took a deep breath, unscrewed the cap, and drank half of the bottle in one breath.
How should he describe it? The sour, sweet, and cold feeling opened up his entire neural network. He seemed to have not tasted such a feeling in … hundreds of years!
"Isn't it? It's not bad, right?"
Red Pole Star looked at them with a smile and opened his hands. "How about it? What do you want to ask? Let's hurry. I promise that I'll tell you everything I know."
"You …"
Looking at Daniel Zhang, Li Yao took the initiative to ask Red Pole Star, "Who are you exactly? Why do I feel that you are very familiar to me when we have never met before? We are so familiar that we seem to be twins. I even feel that I am looking at myself in the mirror. Our appearance and voice are so different from each other. This — this is too weird!"
"Good question."
Red Pole Star tilted his head and thought for a moment. The expression on his face was exactly the same as Li Yao's. "What if I say that my name is also 'Li Yao'? What do you think?"
"Well —"
Li Yao was even more confused.
"A name is just a code. There are too many people with the same name and surname in the world. Among the six billion people, there are at least a few thousand who are named 'Li Yao', right?"
Red Pole Star continued, "In order to distinguish you from me, just call me 'Red Pole Star'. Besides, even if I am really named 'Li Yao', it doesn't mean anything. I know that you are suspecting that you have a certain mysterious connection with the novel 'Forty Thousand Years of Cultivation', and that the protagonist of the novel, 'Cultivator Li Yao', has even traveled to Earth. Congratulations. Your speculation is very close to the truth, but it is still not enough to say that you are '100% Li Yao, the Cultivator'. You are not even '50% Li Yao, the Cultivator'."
"50% Li Yao, the Cultivator?"
Li Yao was even more confused. "Yes means yes, and no means no. What does percentage mean?"
"It's very simple. You have met Master Zhang Jiashu and taken something from his soul, haven't you?"
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