by <unknown>
"Hehe. That's exactly what Jin Xinyue wants.
"Ding Lingdang is the second big shot in Li Yao's group, and Jin Xinyue, with most of the demons in her back, can be considered as the third big shot. If the two big shots join hands, who can compete with Jin Xinyue? In the next hundred years, her place as the 'helmsman of Li Yao's group' will be as steady and unshakable as a mountain.
"This is Jin Xinyue's whole plan. What she abandons is the title of 'Speaker of the Federation', which is vain and of no actual use, and the traditional conglomerates in the old core worlds, which are not the real source of her power at all. But what she gains will be the whole of Li Yao's group and the entire Star Glory Federation!
"From the beginning to the end, she has never wanted to be a common 'Supreme Speaker of the Star Glory Federation'. What she dreams, like her father Jin Tuyi whose Red Tide Plan influences the Star Glory Federation even today, is to control the federation for the next hundred years as a queen of darkness, who will truly lead the New Federation to rise in the sea of stars!'
Chapter 1688: Flaws and Boundaries |
Li Yao listened to Long Yangjun's analysis quietly, but a vague shadow popped up in front of his eyes—not Jin Xinyue, but her father Jin Tuyi.
Both the father and the daughter were quite a headache!
"This is how Jin Xinyue's plan goes. I'm certain of it without checking your face. But there's one thing that has been troubling me, which I can't figure out.
"Jin Xinyue's scheme is too huge for her to prepare alone. Judging from the thunderous strikes that the Secret Sword Bureau performed on her in the past two weeks, the operations seem to have been long set.
"Also, about the girl who claimed to be Moonfall's sister, however professional the training of her soul is, since she failed to deceive us, there is no reason she could've fooled the leadership of the Secret Sword Bureau, especially Guo Chunfeng who is a seasoned agent himself.
"Guo Chunfeng is known as the Omnipotent Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, with quadruple talents in all four fields. He has managed the intelligence frontline of the federation for a hundred years. Is it possible for such a shrew old fox to be tricked by one 'Moonfall's sister' or Jin Xinyue?
"But as it happened, the Secret Sword Bureau did not raise any suspicions about the confession of Moonfall's sister at all, simply starting a superstorm. Then, the only logical explanation is that Jin Xinyue and Guo Chunfeng have been working with each other!
"Is it possible?
"On the surface, Jin Xinyue was once responsible for the 'dirty jobs' in the Secret Sword Bureau after the Blood Demon Sector joined the federation a hundred years ago. She was later promoted to be Guo Chunfeng's deputy and the second most powerful person in the Secret Sword Bureau.
"But the two of them soon ended on bad terms. It was said that they could not meet each other without fighting. In the end, Jin Xinyue led her team to break up with the Secret Sword Bureau and established the 'Dim Moon Fund'. Not only was the Secret Sword Bureau greatly weakened, it even had a great competitor.
"Therefore, everybody in the federation knows that Jin Xinyue and Guo Chunfeng are as incompatible as fire and water. Neither of them will hesitate to hit the other person when they are down.
"But could it be an illusion? Is it possible that everything is just a trap that Guo Chunfeng and Jin Xinyue laid together decades ago? But there seems to be no reason. The Secret Sword Bureau's sole job was to resist the demons before. Guo Chunfeng, as the director of the Secret Sword Bureau, should have even more alert and harbored more prejudice toward the demons than Ding Lingdang. How could he have trusted Jin Xinyue and the demons without reserve? Is there really a certain… foundation between them for their cooperation?"
Li Yao took a deep breath and did not hide his appreciation for Long Yangjun at all.
Jin Xinyue's marvelous performance was already far beyond his expectations as her master. However, Long Yangjun's ability to run deductions based on the few traces were even more shocking and chilly.
Yes. In the entire Star Glory Federation, other than themselves, Li Yao was the only one who knew—
Guo Chunfeng and Jin Xinyue, the heads of two intelligence agencies who seemed incompatible, were actually the same type of person.
They were neither pure human beings nor pure demons. They were both transformed from demons into human beings after absorbing tremendous 'Divine Water of Chaos'.
Jin Xinyue was a saintess of demons, while Guo Chunfeng was Abyss. The former's real identity was known by the entire world, but none other than Li Yao was aware of the latter's identity. It was enough as the foundation for their in-depth cooperation.
Long Yangjun read something from Li Yao's eyes and said, "Alright. I don't need to know everything. It's enough to know that it is possible for them to cooperate.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. The two intelligence agencies of the federation seem to be at loggerheads, but they are actually the same gang and controlled by 'Li Yao's group'. How can the rotten traditional conglomerates escape from Li Yao's group when the plans have been ongoing for decades in secret?
"For me, the mysteries of the entire event have been resolved now. The feeling of gratification is so rewarding. Thank you for your honesty. I am more determined to cling to your thigh now, too!
"But in the end, there's still something that I'm curious about. Monster Li, what's your feeling after raising such a terrifying disciple? Will you…"
Blinking, Li Yao extended two fingers and said, "Did you know? There are two kinds of people in the world. Some of them make pies, and some sell pies."
Long Yangjun was dazed. "What do you mean?"
"Assuming that I am a guy named Wang Mazi who can make the most delicious pies in the world and has fun making them, it doesn't mean that I am necessarily good at selling pies, or that I can open the largest, the most popular and the most enduring pie stores in the world, right?
"Besides, even if I can open branches of my pie store everywhere and earn loads of money, and even if I can decorate my restaurant into the most extravagant hotel and become a king of the food industry, I will have absolutely no time to make the pies that I like making best. In fact, their flavor will definitely be off even if I do find the time.
"Perhaps, I did not want to open a 'Wang Mazi Chain Pie Store' at all in the first place. I only wanted to make the most delicious pies in the world and watch the customers devour them one bite after another until oil is flowing out of their mouth. I would be as delighted as they were.
"Therefore, if a person who is good at selling pies has come to operate the 'Wang Mazi Pie Store', she is free to be the CEO of the pie store, because I will have more time to be focused on making my pies. Isn't it very good?
"You may grow a deep understanding about Jin Xinyue through her personal biographies and the videos of her speeches, but you can't know her as well as I do, and you can't know me as well as she does.
"I know her, and I know that she will not betray me. She knows me, too, and she knows that, like Ding Lingdang, I don't like operating a pie store but only like making pies. Therefore, as long as she is cautious enough to not cross the lines, I will not doubt or restrict her at all. She can totally do whatever she wants the way she wants. That is the mutual trust between me and her."
"Lines? What lines?" Long Yangjun queried.
Li Yao smiled. He turned on a mini crystal processor fluently and summoned many light beams, which displayed complicated formulas, charts, and statistical data.
"In the past half month, all of you have been inferring everything with the best of your wisdom. For the experts of the Ancient Sages Sector who are unaware of the inside information of the federation, it was indeed difficult for you.
"But for me, who has a deep understanding about Jin Xinyue, Ding Lingdang, Guo Chunfeng, and the other people involved, it was not troublesome to figure out Jin Xinyue's scheme from the familiar methods. However, that was not the focus of my attention.
"I don't care who
runs 'Wang Mazi Pie Store', or if it can grow huge and make money. Compared to the schemes and power struggles on the surface, I am more interested in one organization and one person—the CFIA and Lu Qingchen."
Narrowing her eyes, Long Yangjun mumbled, "He is just Jin Xinyue's chess piece, an unimportant character."
"No, he is very important."
Pointing at a few pieces of news on the light beam, Li Yao said, "42,722 victims were killed in the explosion of the Jade Dust Mines. It was the first attack of the CFIA, the evil organization of Immortal Cultivators, after it surfaced. Lu Qingchen became the most wanted criminal and the most notorious Immortal Cultivator nationwide because of the case, too.
"After the explosion in the Jade Dust Mines, he launched quite a few terror attacks against resource planets in only ten years, which caused serious damage. The total number of the victims surpassed a hundred thousand.
"Then, the Secret Sword Bureau and the Dim Moon Fund both spared no efforts striking the CFIA. Lu Qingchen was forced to lie low, and the CFIA never committed any atrocious acts for a long time. But they had already established their brand as the most infamous organizations of the Immortal Cultivators."
Long Yangjun was deep in thought. "If Jin Xinyue asked Lu Qingchen to perform the terror attacks, or if she had simply kept the information to herself, it would cross your lines, and you will do what you have to do.
"But you have met neither Jin Xinyue nor Lu Qingchen. How can you know the truth?"
"I calculated things," Li Yao explained to Long Yangjun. "The federation developed countless resource planets in the past hundred years and established millions of mines, most of which are in harsh, dangerous places.
"Accidents in the mines are unavoidable however many precautions we take. Here are the statistics of all the public mine accidents in the past century. All the irrelevant interference has been removed.
"Look at the curve. Do you notice anything?" Li Yao pointed at a descending curve.
Long Yangjun pondered for a moment and said, "There doesn't seem to be anything wrong. As the mining crystal processors are applied on a large scale and the infrastructure is perfected, the accident rate has been dropping every year. It is a very smooth curve, isn't it?"
"Something's wrong. Very wrong," Li Yao said. "Look at the average accident rate before Lu Qingchen showed up, the ten years during which Lu Qingchen was on a rampage, and the dozen years after he disappeared and went underground. It is smooth. Too smooth!
"What does it say? Lu Qingchen launched appalling terror attacks on the major resource planets of the federation insanely and repetitively. However, judging from the big data in the past hundred years, during the ten years when he was most active, the average accident rate in the mines is almost identical to the years before and the years after. Were his attempts all in vain?
"Now, we remove all the terror attacks that the CFIA claim to be responsible for. Take another look."
Li Yao tapped on the light beam, and a huge collapse immediately appeared at the middle of the curve, as if somebody had bitten a chunk out.
"During the ten years when Lu Qingchen was most active, the average accident rate in the mines actually plummeted uncannily, and after Lu Qingchen went underground, the accident rate resumed normal quickly?"
Long Yangjun examined the data carefully. A moment later, glamorous brilliance beamed out of her eyes.
"Do you see it now? There are only two possibilities for such weird data," Li Yao said. "Either the heavens were watching over the federation, and when Lu Qingchen was busy launching his terror attacks, other resource planets were all unbelievably lucky without having any serious mine accidents.
"Or, there were no 'terror attacks' at all. The Secret Sword Bureau and the Dim Moon Fund simply decorated the common mine accidents first, and the CFIA and Lu Qingchen stood up to claim them as terror attacks. In such a way, the CFIA was built into a 'highly evil organization of the Immortal Cultivators lurking within the federation'!"
Long Yangjun blinked quickly. "If that's the case, the terror attacks are all fake, and Lu Qingchen never killed a hundred thousand victims. There is nothing wrong at all even if he works for Jin Xinyue. It is just acting within a reasonable range, right?
"However, other people can certainly reach the same conclusion with the data. This is perhaps the greatest flaw of Jin Xinyue's entire plan."
"No. This isn't Jin Xinyue's flaw." Softness finally shone on Li Yao's face. His eyes were completely open, like ponds that were unfrozen in the early spring with ripples spreading out. "It is my disciple's boundaries."
Chapter 1689: Rejection Reaction |
Holding the bowl of noodles that Li Yao had made for her just now, Long Yangjun gazed at Li Yao for a long time. Then she suddenly burst into such laughter that she could barely catch her breath.
"So, you've seen through everything since the beginning. Why didn't you tell me earlier? I was worried for nothing."
She eyed Li Yao, somewhat in dissatisfaction. "I was concerned at first that you and your disciple were going to turn against each other, and the federation would also fall apart under the scourge of the expedition army of the Imperium!
"I didn't know that everything was within your calculations. Han Baling and I must've looked like idiots to you. As expected of Monster Li. This nickname came as a joke, but it seems more and more fitting!
"I might have been joking just now, but I'm seriously considering if I should cling to your thigh for the rest of the trip!"
Li Yao chuckled and devoured the bowl of noodles that were all swollen because they had soaked for too long. He then raised the bowl and drank the soup. In the end, he burped and patted his belly in great satisfaction.
His face was glowing. Every pore on his body was opened, releasing a daunting aura to the outside world. The demeanor of 'Monster Li' was fully revealed.
"Well, I didn't mean to be pretentious," Li Yao explained dutifully. "It was not until last night that I finally calculated everything. When the data and charts are listed here, it is certainly easy to reach the conclusion, but I had nothing in the beginning, and I didn't intend to raise any suspicion by asking for someone to retrieve the relevant files. Therefore, I had to find the pieces of information myself, sometimes even by searching for the news decades ago, in order to slowly complete the puzzle.
"The job alone took me more than half a month.
"Thankfully, the result is not bad at all. Despite the lack of conclusive proof, the data is enough for me to prove that the 'CFIA' is not really an evil organization. It does make sense, too. Jin Xinyue is a smart person. Even if I don't trust her integrity, I should at least trust her wisdom. If she intends to control the federation forever, how could she do such insane things and turn herself into a 'second Lu Zui', offering a weakness for her opponents to attack her?
"Since she never crossed the lines, and she made such great contributions and sacrifices for 'Li Yao's group', I might as well be generous as her master now that she has proved her loyalty. Is it a big deal at all to let her run 'Li Yao's group'?
"Disciples should cater to their master's needs. With my reputation and influence today, isn't it too cheap for me if I deal with the trivia in the group myself? Isn't this what we recruit disciples for?"
Seeing that Li Yao talked and laughed casually, Long Yangjun put on a bitter smile for real. She shook her head and said, "You are such a puzzle. Sometimes, you make me think that the one hiding in the magnificent statue of 'dominator of three Sectors, Vulture Li Yao' is an idiot, but sometimes, I feel that the idiot is ten times more horrifying than what Han Baling described. What kind of person is the real Vulture Li Yao, and what is he planning to do?"
Pausing for a moment, instead of waiting for Li Yao to reply, she smiled, "Ha. But forget it. It will be a happy ending after all. Jin Xinyue appears to be taking full control of the situation. So, the guests from the Ancient Sages Sector can just enjoy the drama jovially."
Weird brilliance fla
shed in Li Yao's eyes, as he shook his head and said, "No, I don't think you can."
Long Yangjun was slightly dazed. "How so?"
"So far, everything has been going on too well," Li Yao said solemnly. "But things shouldn't go so well where I am involved."
Long Yangjun chuckled. "There, you are starting again. What kind of bizarre theory is that? Do you really believe in 'destiny' or 'luck'?"
"Not destiny, and not luck. It is some sort of law that exists in reality." Li Yao frowned, his eyes deep and dark. His mind seemed to have drifted to a long, long time ago, and his voice sounded like the moans in his uncanny dreams. "I don't know how I should explain it to you. Even I haven't entirely figured it out yet. But you may consider me as a person, or a foreign object, that is rejected by the whole world, like a thorn that has stabbed into the flesh.
"When a thorn impales the flesh, the body will react out of natural instincts, trying to squeeze it out. Chances are that my body and soul have gone through subtle mutations during the many space jumps in which they are torn apart and re-condensed between the third dimension and the fourth dimension. Therefore, this world regards me as a certain foreign object and has a 'rejection reaction'. It is not going to allow me to enjoy the fruit comfortably without doing anything."
Long Yangjun was amused. "Too many people have performed space jumps repetitively, but I've never heard of any of them having such weird mutations. Since you are so certain about the uncertainties in the future, I believe that you must've found something more than the so-called 'rejection reaction'?"
"Yes." Li Yao nodded. "Since Jin Xinyue has planned for a hundred years, her whole plan can't be just what we are seeing right now. She must have calculated everything to help Li Yao's group rise unstoppably and to make herself grasp the power of Li Yao's group and the Star Glory Federation someday.
