"I wonder what the reward is."
Han Xiao was curious.
The mission requirement was to catch the 'culprit', not the 'real culprit'. He felt that there was room for manipulation, and it depended on whether the logic of the mission was based on facts or from the dynasty's perspective.
If it was the latter, did it mean that the mission would be completed as long as he successfully proved to the dynasty that someone was the culprit?
If that was the case, there was still a chance for him to complete the mission.
There was no way he would turn himself in, not in this lifetime. Werewolves did not know how to commit suicide, so he could only shift the blame to someone else to maintain his current lifestyle.
Han Xiao shook his head. He did not have the obsessive-compulsive disorder to clear all the missions. The way he saw it, it would be best if he could complete this mission, but if he could not, he would just forget about it.
Based on the nature of the mission, the reward would most likely be in the form of dynasty Contribution Points. In the past, he would still need such things to exchange for some of the dynasty's technological blueprints, but now that he had Jayz's treasure, he no longer cared about the dynasty's Contribution Points.
…
The next day, Han Xiao rested and entered the dynasty task force's online channel. His remote projection appeared in a conference room.
As soon as he entered the room, he saw projections appearing one after another, sizing each other up.
There were acquaintances and strangers among them. Han Xiao saw Clottey, Kant, Ravenlaude, and the others.
Before anyone could start chatting, Tarrokov appeared and attracted everyone's attention. He then said solemnly,
He then said solemnly, "Everyone here is a member of the dynasty's task force, so I won't say anything unnecessary. Everyone knows what you need to do. This team has gathered professionals from various fields, and all the dynasty's resources in the Flickering World are available for you to use. The dynasty only has one request, which is to find the culprit and Gaud's whereabouts."
The next moment, Clottey said calmly, "I will temporarily be the team leader of this task force. You can tell me if you need to use any resources. As for the specific arrangements, the deputy team leader will make the decision."
This time, a tall and skinny male dynasty officer stepped out, looked back at everyone, and greeted them with the dynasty's greeting.
"You can call me Sherlock Dillman. I work in the dynasty's intelligence department. Forgive me for not being able to reveal the details, but the upper echelons have transferred me here as the deputy team leader to be in charge of the investigation. My strength alone is limited, so I need everyone to work together."
Han Xiao raised his brows.
Sherlock? This name sounded like a detective. This person was definitely not simple. He should be a special talent in the field of solving cases in the empire.
The task force did not require martial strength, only professional abilities. Therefore, Sherlock became the deputy team leader, and the Beyond Grade As were experts in different fields. Simply put, they were tools.
Everyone introduced themselves one after another. There were a total of three experts in charge of searching the quantum network: himself, Kant, and Judith, a direct descendant of the empire.
Sherlock assigned different tasks to different specialists. Soon, he arrived in front of the three of them and quickly explained the requirements.
"… That's the situation. The Virtual Domain is the focus of the search. Please be sure to find clues. I'll leave it to the three of you."
Sherlock bowed respectfully. After he finished speaking, he turned around and left to instruct the others.
Seeing them walk away, Kant scratched his head helplessly. "The two of you are enough. I'm not a virtual mechanic. Why did the empire pull me here?"
"The empire is probably just being polite to you and not expecting you to agree. I didn't expect you to be so shameless," Han Xiao teased.
"… Black Star, you'll lose me as a friend if you do this."
Kant's mouth twitched.
"Ahem, Your Excellencies, the authority has been reached. Let's get to work as soon as possible," Judith said.
Han Xiao calmed himself down and received the quantum network authority shared by the other party.
Naturally, the dynasty did not gather these specialists to let them fight alone. The dynasty had opened up almost all the resources in the Flickering World.
Take the three of them for example. They could mobilize all the Virtual Mechanics of the dynasty in the Flickering World with just one sentence. At the same time, the quantum network base stations set up by the dynasty in the Flickering World were all opened to the three of them, allowing them to directly log into the quantum network of the Flickering World as administrators.
Even part of the authority of the dynasty's main artificial intelligence was temporarily opened to Han Xiao and Kant, the two 'outsiders'. Other than investigating the case, Judith's mission was to prevent the two of them from messing around after obtaining such high authority.
Han Xiao logged into the backend authority, sank his consciousness into the quantum network, and felt enlightened.
More than half of the Flickering World's network was under his control. It was as if he had become the processing center, able to read any data stream that passed through the base station at any time. He even had the illusion of being omniscient.
"How comfortable." Han Xiao enjoyed it quite a bit.
No matter how good his Virtual Intrusion was, he was still a burglar. Now, it was as if the owner of the house had directly lent him the entire house, and he could do whatever he wanted.
Although Judith and Kant were monitoring each other, with his ability, he should be able to do something without them knowing. However, it was better to wait and see for now.
More importantly, with this authority, he could take the initiative to erase any flaws that he might have, further removing evidence, and confirm his alibi.
Since the dynasty had given him such an opportunity, he would naturally 'cherish' it.
In the next few days, Han Xiao stayed in the quantum network, cross-searching with Judith and Kant.
Han Xiao originally thought that there would not be any clues, but in the past few days, he did find something. He realized that there was a subtle change in the situation.
Without him needing to do anything, the Supercluster and Manison took the initiative to trip each other up, trying to fabricate clues to confirm each other's crimes.
Both sides were quite secretive. If not for him having the backend authority of the Flickering World's quantum network, Han Xiao would not have discovered their actions.
Now that he had the authority, coupled with his amazing Virtual Technology, the small actions of both sides did not escape his eyes.
"Tsk, you guys clearly didn't do it, but you can't wait to shift the blame …"
Han Xiao's mouth twitched.
If other people saw this, it would be fine, but he was the real murderer. From his point of view, this situation was like two villagers accusing each other of being a werewolf. They were fighting each other in the wolf pit, but no one cared about the real werewolf. He was afraid that they would laugh their heads off.
However, after thinking about it, he understood what both sides were thinking.
The Supercluster was afraid that the three Universal Civilizations would make a 'groundless' accusation against them, so they took the initiative to gain the upper hand. Manison was aware of this and had taken countermeasures. Therefore, both sides immediately discovered that the other party was up to no good and immediately started fighting.
This is my purpose for stirring up trouble.
The plan worked!
"Both sides are trying to frame each other, so both sides are suspects. Because it's impossible to find the real culprit, one side will definitely be targeted by the dynasty …"
Han Xiao rolled his eyes.
Now that both sides were attacking and defending, and neither side could confirm the other's responsibility, there was room for him to operate.
With the way things were developing, it was much easier for him to shift the blame than he expected.
With his current authority, he only needed to do a little to influence the dynasty's judgment and help one side suppress the other. It was equivalent to having the initiative in his hands.
"Who should I help …"
Han Xiao thought to himself and made up his mind.
He had always been at odds with Manison, but on this matter, he planned to help him.
After all, Manison was the current president of the Beyond Grade A Association. If he became the scapegoat, although it would affect his personal prestige, the Beyond Grade A Association would also be affected quite a bit. If the president secretly attacked the new members, many association members would feel threatened and become more vigilant. This would not be beneficial to the development of the association.
On the other hand, letting the Supercluster take the blame could create another effect. It would make the Beyond Grade As think that Gaud was in trouble because he was involved in the faction war, so they would think that they would not have encountered such a thing if they did not join the faction. This would instead increase the recognition of some Beyond Grade As toward the association, which would be beneficial to the association's development.
Most importantly, the three Universal Civilizations and the Supercluster Alliance were already at war. If they became the scapegoat, no more people would be affected.
Although the dynasty would not stop searching for the real culprit in the future, for now, letting the Supercluster be unlucky and taking the risk would reduce the impact of him taking the risk very much.
"Humph, old Manison, I'm not helping you. I'm just thinking about the association."
Han Xiao curled his lips.
He mumbled in his mind and immediately got to work.
No matter how much two good people fight, the result will still be decided by me, the wolf cop.
…
"Why do I feel like there's a mysterious force helping me …"
In the Mecha Empire's secret base, Manison's expression was a little strange.
Over the past few days, he had noticed that the Supercluster was indeed plotting something against him, so he took countermeasures and attacked the Supercluster.
Originally, both sides only had suspicions and no evidence, but now, both sides had added a lot of 'flaws' to the other side.
In this silent attack and defense, Manison was actually at a disadvantage. After all, his opponent was the entire Supercluster Alliance. Although his Virtual Technology was strong, it was difficult for him to deal with them alone.
However, not long ago, he noticed something strange. Some of the evidence forged by the Supercluster Alliance had disappeared for no reason. It seemed like someone was helping him resist the other party's methods of framing him.
"To be able to discover the battle between me and the Supercluster and have the ability to intervene … Could it be that the three Universal Civilizations are secretly involved?"
Manison's thoughts turned quickly.
The reason the three Universal Civilizations did this should be because they confirmed that the Supercluster was the culprit, so they did not want the other party to successfully frame them and get rid of the responsibility. Thinking deeper, if the dynasty could not tell who the real culprit was, this action was out of strategic considerations. They would give the Supercluster a 'groundless' accusation and take revenge in the future.
If he were to think about it further …
Manison pondered and fell into a cycle of Matryoshka dolls.
…
Seven or eight days later, on the mother planet of the Red Empire, in the Ruler's office.
Uranril browsed through the report of the task force and could not help but rub her eyebrows.
"After the investigation over the past few days, you've found a seemingly complete chain of evidence that points all the suspicion to the Supercluster Alliance … but this is not the dynasty's original intention."
In front of her was the remote projection of an upper echelon of the dynasty's intelligence department. He said helplessly, "Whether it's true or not isn't important now. As long as this chain of evidence is enough to make the outside world believe it, it's enough."
"What I want is the whereabouts of the real culprit and Gaud. Otherwise, why would I need a task force?"
"But time waits for no one. The real culprit did not leave any traces behind. If we continue to investigate step by step, the truth will be nowhere in sight. The outside world is already doubting whether the dynasty can find the culprit. Some people on the internet are even starting to worship this culprit who angered the dynasty but is still at large … We can take our time to find the real culprit in the future. Right now, the dynasty is in urgent need of results."
Hearing this, Uranril frowned.
Through Han Xiao's various tricks, the task force had dug out a complete chain of evidence that pointed to the Supercluster. However, after careful consideration, the task force knew that this was fake and was most likely done by Manison. This act of both sides blaming each other did not escape the dynasty's eyes.
However, even so, after the discussion, the task force still submitted this result to the upper echelons. The upper echelons of the level one dynasty knew this, but they still handed this report to Uranril.
Right now, all kinds of rumors were spreading in the outside world. What the dynasty needed the most was a 'result', regardless of whether it was true or not. The target of this chain of evidence was in line with the dynasty's strategy. The Supercluster was the best target.
Furthermore, the Supercluster wanted to create a 'culprit' themselves. The one who started this was the Supercluster Alliance. If they dragged this out for too long, they would succeed. The dynasty did not want to see them succeed.
Uranril hesitated for a few seconds and did not agree immediately. She sighed and said, "Call Clottey and Sherlock over. I want to hear their opinions …"
This time, she paused and added, "Call them over.
Also, call Black Star. "
—
PS: (The moderator has organized a new event and called me over to promote it. One is the fourth book review event. This time, other than fanfiction, there will also be fanart. The other is the fifth book review event. If you're interested, please go to the book review section to read the related posts. There's a detailed introduction.)
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