by <unknown>
"I don't need any reinforcements for now," Li Yao replied, "but you'd better abort your previous plan and wait for my updates. If I can handle it properly, we will be saved of the trouble of robbing, faking our identities, and sneaking into the federation in fear. Chances are that we will be able to walk on the red carpet openly! Also, help me search for the term 'Dim Moon Squad'. I need everything relevant to the term.
"But do not look for the information on the Spiritual Nexus!
"The Dim Moon Squad cannot be a top secret, or I wouldn't have heard it spoken by somebody so casually in the first place. However, if you do search for 'Dim Moon Squad' on the Spiritual Nexus, even though you may find something useful eventually, it is very possible that you will be noticed by certain alert programs!
"Unless you are a real expert of the Spiritual Nexus, it is best that we should avoid the risk. Speaking of which, do we have an expert of the Spiritual Nexus on our side?"
"… What do you think?"
"There seems to be none," Li Yao said. "Alright, this is what you are going to do. Now that such an intimidating team made of more than ten Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators has gathered and is preparing to do something clandestine and illegal, I believe that you must've locked onto a batch of local gangsters of the Chamber of Commerce, the periphery members of the CIFA, or even the secret agents of the Secret Sword Bureau, right?"
"Of course, but most of them are merely lackeys and secondary members. The real core figures would never show up so easily, would they?"
"It doesn't matter. You can find some lackeys and secondary members who are relatively old and try to hypnotize them. Then, you can ask them the information about the 'Dim Moon Squad'. Since it is not a top secret, you will certainly find something useful after interrogating a few people.
"The most critical thing about the issue is confidentiality. Is there a certain art of hypotonization that can make the hypnotized unaware that they have been hypnotized at all?"
"There is," Long Yangjun said. "But it depends on the Cultivation of the hypnotized. If they are low-level Cultivators in the Building Foundation Stage or the Refinement Stage, it shouldn't be a problem. However, if they are above the Core Formation Stage with a powerful soul, it will be extremely difficult to hypnotize them without being discovered or leaving any trace inside their brain. Even the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and the Divinity Transformation Stage Cultivators might not be able to do that."
"That will do. There's no requirement on the accuracy of the intelligence. As long as I can have a general understanding about the 'Dim Moon Squad', it will be fine," Li Yao said. "The key is speed. It will be best if you can tell me all the relevant files in fifteen minutes, because by my estimation, I will meet… the Dim Moon Squad in fifteen minutes!"
Li Yao cut off the communication.
Exactly at that second, the local gangsters that were still lingering in the slum all happened to move their eyes away from Li Yao's shelter.
Like a black lizard that was slithering in the darkness, Li Yao leapt up from where he was hiding and went toward the direction in which Tang Xiaoxing had been taken.
Now high and now low, now left and now right. He avoided all the eyes and the crystal cameras effortlessly.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
The map of Fish Dragon City popped up in his head as he analyzed the most likely route of escape.
More than twenty rushing Exos were certainly not as inconspicuous as Li Yao's cockroach. Li Yao did not need to trace them personally. The local gangsters of Fish Dragon City would find the mysterious 'Dim Moon Squad' in his place.
Li Yao's judgement was correct.
In fact, the Dim Moon Squad never completely got rid of the double block of the secret police and the local gangsters.
All Li Yao needed to do was follow the local gangsters who were marching blatantly. After only ten minutes, he felt that he smelled the aggressive and yet unpredictable smell of the Dim Moon Squad again.
Long Yangjun's voice echoed inside his ears at the perfect time. "We've got the files on the Dim Moon Squad."
Raising his eyebrows, Li Yao looked at the downtown area up ahead. "What do they say?"
"Decades ago, the Dim Moon Squad was a professional combat squad under the 'Secret Sword Bureau', the intelligence and investigation agency of the federation. You can also regard it as a new division in the agency, if you will.
"First of all, the thing about the 'Secret Sword Bureau' is that it has been focused on defense instead of attack since the day it was founded. I believe that you know about it very well, right, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture? So, I won't waste our time."
"Yes. Keep going."
Of course, Li Yao understood what Long Yangjun meant.
When the Secret Sword Bureau was established, the Star Glory Federation had only had one enemy, which was the Blood Demon Sector.
At that time, the Blood Demon Sector had been more powerful than the Heaven's Origin Sector, and it had taken the initiative in attacks. It had also sent countless spies into the federation.
The Secret Sword Bureau, which had been founded under such circumstances, was a defensive agency that focused on homeland security in the first place. The main job of Guo Chunfeng as the leader of the Demon Execution Division of the Secret Sword Bureau was to arrest and suppress the demon spies who had snuck into the federation.
Although a batch of agents of the Secret Sword Bureau had also snuck into the Blood Demon Sector, their mission was to steal the intelligence concerning the Heaven's Origin Sector but not to prepare for the attacks toward the Blood Demon Sector.
In fact, until Lu Zui and Zhou Hengdao threw out their insane Patriots Plan, the Star Glory Federation had neither the intention to march into the Blood Demon Sector nor the capability of sending agents into the Blood Demon Sector.
The Secret Sword Bureau was born a defensive agency. The genes had been carved deep into the bones.
Long Yangjun went on. "In the system of the Old Federation, the Secret Sword Bureau was a defensive intelligence agency that focused on homeland security. However, in the time of the New Federation, having altogether three Sectors, the Star Glory Federation is much more powerful than before and has embarked on the path of expansion—well, 'assimilation of multiple Sectors', in case you find the word 'expansion' uncomfortable.
"After the four new worlds were discovered one after another, the main focus of the Secret Sword Bureau has shifted from homeland security to… accelerating the assimilation. It has changed from defense to attack. Therefore, a lot of 'dirty work', if we put it as the professionals would, has presented itself.
"Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture, I am trying to put it as subtly as possible. It is not going to shake your belief, right?"
"Of course not!" Li Yao frowned. "I am not idiotic enough to believe that the secret intelligence agency is a harmless child. You think that my nickname 'Vulture' was given for nothing? Get to the point!"
"Alright. The point is that the Dim Moon Squad is a special troop that is dedicated to 'dirty work', particularly the 'dirty work' in the four new words, in the Secret Sword Bureau. Of course, their name on the surface is not the 'Dim Moon Squad' but the fourth division of the Secret Sword Bureau."
"The fourth division? What's its name?" Li Yao asked.
"Division of Logistics and Cleaning, which is responsible for cleaning the dirt and foul things in the Star Glory Federation's way," Long Yangjun said.
"… What else?"
"The 'Cleaning Division' made great contributions in the decades when the four new Sectors integrated into the federation. One might even say that they accelerated the process by more than thirty years. However, as sort of a special agent myself, I know the difficulties and dilemmas of the 'dirty work' very clearly. It is often a gray area between black and white. We are sometimes contaminated by blood that cannot be washed away. Then, we will decay and stink…"
"So?"
"So, doubts and disagreements on certain practices of the Dim Moon Squad gradually appeared within the Secret Sword Bureau. Other divisions grew more and more dissatisfied about the 'Cleaning Division'. After the four new worlds joined the federation, the previously 'external contradiction' became 'internal contradiction'. Now that everybody was a federal citizen, the Dim Moon Squad's style was naturally outdated.
"When all the cunning hares are dead, the hound will be useless. After the assimilation of the seven Sectors, less and less 'dirty work' needed to be done. Even if there was 'dirty work', other departments could take care of it in a gentler way. The 'Cleaning Division', or the Dim Moon Squad, had accomplished their destiny perfectly. They were faced with the problem of being reshuffled or even eliminated."
Chapter 1597: Dark Side of the Moon |
Li Yao's lips twitched. "The federation will not wrong any hero that has made contributions to her, especially the anonymous heroes on the secret frontline!"
Long Yangjun chuckled. "Maybe. However, most of the 'cleaners' of the Dim Moon Squad had been engaged in the most clandestine and the dirtiest intelligence work during the decades when the federation and the four new Sectors were integrating. Most of them were heavily wounded and left with a lot of diseases, both physically and mentally. They had been turned into machines of slaughter and destruction in the black war. Even if such people were true heroes, it was impossible for them to go back to society and live a normal life like normal veterans, right?"
Li Yao nodded. "What became of the 'cleaners' of the Dim Moon Squad eventually?"
"Opinions were greatly divided within the Secret Sword Bureau as to the arrangement for the Dim Moon Squad or the 'Cleaning Division'," Long Yangjun said. "It is said that even the leadership of the Secret Sword Bureau had quite a huge argument. But eventually, all the cleaners of the Dim Moon Squad were still relieved of their duty. A special 'Dim Moon Fund' was established to take care of their lives after retirement, ensuring that they would not worry about their income. It would be absolutely fine even if they spent the subsidies in the most extravagant way."
Li Yao was relieved. "Isn't that good?"
"No. Not at all," Long Yangjun said. "We are all high-level Cultivators. Try to stand in their shoes. Is extravagancy enough to satisfy you, Fellow Cultivator Spiritual Vulture?"
Li Yao was slightly dazed. He gradually frowned and mumbled, "You do have a point. For those above the Core Formation Stage, materialistic needs are basically no longer a problem. What they need is the sense of gratification and the acknowledgement of the general public. Or rather, they desire to carry out their beliefs and expand their ideology to the entire sea of stars!
"However, speaking of which, what was the belief or the ideology of the Dim Moon Squad?"
"We have yet to find out such specific details," Long Yangjun said. "All in all, soon after the Dim Moon Fund was founded, it was taken in by another department of the government and continued carrying out the missions that were inappropriate for the government, the federal army, or the Secret Sword Bureau to be involved in. Many of the powerful sects chose to maintain their interests in the new worlds through the Dim Moon Fund, too.
"You may understand it this way. Right now, the Star Glory Federation has two intelligence agencies, one in daylight and the other in the dark. The one in daylight is the Secret Sword Bureau, an open, public agency that focuses on defense and homeland security. You can find the headquarters of the Secret Sword Bureau in the capital city of the federation. Guo Chunfeng, the director of the Secret Sword Bureau, is among the leadership of the federation and often show up in the media. As time passes by, the files and archives of the secret operations of the Secret Sword Bureau in the past decades have gradually been unclassified and released to the public.
"Open, bright, with a focus on security and defense. What a perfect and flawless intelligence agency!
"But in the dark, there is also a 'nonexistent intelligence agency', which is the Dim Moon Fund. It is a mysterious and cold organization that focuses on attack. You can never find its name on the list of the departments in the federal government. It is a taboo for civil funds, too. The leadership of the federation will never acknowledge the existence of such an organization or endorse any of the operations that the organization conducts. But it exists in reality nonetheless and has infiltrated to the dark and bloody corners that the federal army and the Secret Sword Bureau cannot reach!"
Li Yao was silent for a moment. "Alright. I understand it now."
"No, you don't." Long Yangjun chuckled again. "Do you want to know who the founder and first commander of the Dim Moon Squad and who the biggest supporter of the Dim Moon Fund is? Do you have any idea why your good disciple Jin Xinyue has been nicknamed the 'Venomous Witch'?"
Li Yao blinked quickly. "It can't be true."
"What? Are you questioning the capabilities of the true disciple of the 'dominator of the three Sectors'?" Long Yangjun said quickly. "A hundred years ago, when the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector were still at war, there was a secret agency named 'Saintess Palace' under the 'Pantheon of Demons', which was essentially the government of the Blood Demon Sector. It was responsible for raising the saintesses for the Pantheon of Demons. I believe that you are well aware of that, right?"
"Of course."
When he and Jin Xinyue first met, Jin Xinyue had been one of the 'saintesses' of the Pantheon of Demons. She had been sent to the 'Saintess Palace' by her father, Jin Tuyi, to receive the harshest and most professional training for a saintess, which was a combination of a female assassin, a female spy, and a female special agent.
During the two hundred years after the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven's Origin Sector discovered each other, the Blood Demon Sector had been at an advantage in the battlefield and suppressed the Heaven's Origin Sector. Therefore, the 'Saintess Palace' was fundamentally different from the 'Secret Sword Bureau' even though it was also an intelligence agency.
The Saintess Palace focused more on attack. Its purpose was to send more demon agents into the federation for all kinds of sabotage missions as preparation for the Blood Demon Sector's overwhelming suppression and even invasion into the Heaven's Origin Sector.
The Secret Sword Bureau focused on defense. Its main work was to find the demon spies who had snuck into the country and caused great trouble.
If the Secret Sword Bureau could be compared to the solidest shield of the federation, the Saintess Palace would be the sharpest spear that the Blood Demon Sector thrust at the Heaven's Origin Sector brutally!
"Because the Blood Demon Sector's surrender was conditional and Jin Tuyi, Jin Xinyue's father and the former commander of the coalition army of demons, took most responsibility for the war crimes, and considering the imminent threat of the expedition army of the Imperium, the system of the Blood Demon Sector was not changed drastically, at least not until Jin Xinyue raised her cleavers toward her own people," Long Yangjun said. "The Saintess Palace, as a training camp for the intelligence personnel of the demons, was also kept under a different name and fell into Jin Xinyue's hands.
"Jin Xinyue was herself a 'saintess' in the beginning. Naturally, she knew every detail about the 'Saintess Palace'. On one hand, she implemented reforms on the surface with Skyfire as her reliance. On the other hand, she established the first batch of personal soldiers who were absolutely loyal to her through the 'Saintess Palace'. Based on the personal soldiers, she eradicated any dissidents within the demon race in the most coldhearted and ruthless way. In the decades that followed, she changed the Blood Demon Sector in an unprecedented way!
"While the Blood Demon Sector was completely integrated into the federation, she also achieved what even her father, Jin Tuyi, failed to achieve—the absolute control over the Blood Demon Sector!"
Li Yao took a deep breath in relief, not knowing how he should comment.
Long Yangjun smiled and said, "I actually like this Jin Xinyue very much. Do introduce her to me in the futu
re! Let's keep going. While Jin Xinyue reformed the Blood Demon Sector mercilessly, she also slowly marched to the center of power of the federation. She traded some interests of the Blood Demon Sector for the appreciation of many big shots in the federation. Finally, she entered the Secret Sword Bureau.
"It was because the main focus of the Secret Sword Bureau was to resolve problems that had occurred during the unification of the three Sectors, especially the unification of the Heaven's Origin Sector and the Blood Demon Sector. Most of the problems were actually caused by the disobedient demons. Therefore, Jin Xinyue, as a saintess from the demon race, was the perfect person to address the issues.
"Jin Xinyue did an excellent job. She soon rose to power in the Secret Sword Bureau and became the commander in charge of the field operations after only twenty years.
"At that time, the first new Sector was discovered, and in the foreseeable future, more Sectors would be discovered, too. The focus of the Secret Sword Bureau needed to shift from interior to exterior, from defense to attack, which was a situation that the traditional agents of the Secret Sword Bureau had never run into before."
Li Yao thought for a moment and realized that Long Yangjun did have a point.
For example, Guo Chunfeng was the most distinguished Secret Sword Agent of the Secret Sword Bureau who had competed with him multiple times a hundred years ago and resolved the 'Riot of Patriots' together with him in the end.
At that time, Guo Chunfeng, known as 'the strongest Core Formation Stage Cultivator' with quadruple talents, would not necessarily have been on the losing side even if he encountered a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator. He also almost caught Li Yao's tail many times during the hunting operation.
But it was also true that Guo Chunfeng was better at defense than attack. He worked better as a cat that caught rats than as a rat that snuck into a place and sabotaged it in secret. His character, which was relatively conservative and reliable, made him the best candidate to defend the homeland security of the federation. However, it was not entirely suitable for the brand-new strategy of the federation… 'expansion' in the universe!
