by <unknown>
"I didn't have a choice. They are all loyal soldiers of the federation who are carrying out an order. They are my comrades!" Li Yao opened his hands, not offended at all. "I cannot reveal my trump card, and I cannot kill them. What else could I do if not run away?
"Besides, the most important thing in a battle is to do what you are best at and avoid your shortcomings. What I am best at is escaping and disrupting the enemy's scheme while I'm escaping! Therefore, I must start running away first in order to find my pace to overcome the enemy!"
Taking a deep breath, Long Yangjun asked, one word after another, "Then, if I may ask, Your Excellency Monster Li, after being bombarded more than a thousand times for nothing, have you found your pace or not? You must know that Professor Mo Xuan and the soldiers are not idiots. It won't take long before they catch up to our bait and realize that they are fake!
"The universe is a vast place, but we cannot just run toward the outside world aimlessly. We will have to return to Hundred Flowers City.
"How do you expect to sneak into Hundred Flowers City in only half an hour? Don't tell me that we can sneak in through the spaceport. I assure you that all sixteen spaceports in Hundred Flowers City must've been thoroughly blocked. All the starships coming and leaving will be scanned carefully. Even a flea will be discovered by them!"
Li Yao smiled and looked at the glittering silver metropolis in space, like a fly that was staring at an egg that was emitting pleasant smell from the crack on its surface. He confidently said, "Don't be hasty. I have certainly found my pace!"
Five minutes passed, and the two of them adjusted their trajectory in space with feeble spiritual energy and slowly reached the other side of Hundred Flowers City.
From their perspective, they could see that a tiny crack as thin as a hair was opened on the smooth shell of an enormous ball-shaped town at the edge of Hundred Flowers City.
A series of dark cubes that looked like super-compressed garbage was spurted out of the gap and darted toward the star far away under the push of the massive momentum.
If one observed it more carefully, one would find countless similar cubes from Hundred Flowers City and the star, which constituted a narrow and long chain.
On one end of the chain was the gap, and the other end of the chain extended into the depths of the star. It was too fuzzy to see clearly what was there.
"This is the garbage processing center of Hundred Flowers City," Li Yao explained to Long Yangjun through the communication of telepathic thoughts. "Hundred Flowers City has a population of almost a hundred million. It is one of the largest cities even on the surface of a planet. The life and training garbage generated every day is astronomical.
"Also, the city is established in a fully-enclosed structure in space. There is no room to burn or bury the garbage.
"For other space towns, they might pack the garbage up and launch it into space. After all, the universe is too vast a place to be filled with garbage.
"But Hundred Flowers City happens to be a transportation hub of the seven Sectors of the federation. It is surrounded by dense sailing routes. Countless starships jump to this place for transfer every day. If the garbage simply floats in space randomly, it will very likely lead to accidents.
"Therefore, the garbage processing center of Hundred Flowers City compresses the garbage that cannot be recycled in anyway and reduces its size by ninety-nine percent. Then, after the garbage is compressed into a cube that is as hard as metal, it will be launched into the star with a special 'cannon' so that the star will burn the garbage up!
"Hundred Flowers City is too huge with a large population. The garbage processing center here works day and night. Occasions are rare when it shuts down!
"Let's go!"
Li Yao dragged Long Yangjun. Pushed by the invisible spiritual energy, the two of them darted toward the spurts of the garbage processing center like two broken remnants in space.
When the soldiers of the federal army who thought that they were chasing spies of the Imperium reached the edge of the Hundred Flowers Space Zone, they discovered that the two wretched 'crystal suits' had simply perished. Even the magical equipment that built the illusions exploded, not leaving them anything for investigation.
In the meantime, Li Yao and Long Yangjun, two unusual Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, snuck back into Hundred Flowers City!
Chapter 1728: Lord of Ventilation Tubes! |
The stinky garbage processing center not only had to deal with the daily life garbage of more than a hundred million people but also needed to process a lot of industrial and training garbage after it was sealed, packed up, and delivered there.
The air standard of the center was vastly different from any other space town in Hundred Flowers City. It was a smelly, venomous space that no citizens would visit without good reason.
Even the workers there had to wear air-filtration and circulation masks every day.
Li Yao and Long Yangjun, on the other hand, were like two unsubstantial ghosts who blinked among the hills of garbage swiftly, dodging the eyes of all the workers and surveillance cameras.
Naturally, no Core Formation Stage Cultivators or Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators were guarding such a place. There were barely any Cultivators in the Refinement Stage or the Building Foundation Stage. With Li Yao's and Long Yangjun's Cultivation at the peak of the Nascent Soul Stage, it would be the most hilarious joke if they were caught by the workers in the garbage station.
Behind them, on the dome above the garbage processing centers, ear-splitting alarms suddenly began to ring. The red-and-white lights were flashing quickly, brightening and dimming. The 'garbage cannons' that were functioning amid deafening noises just now slowly stopped, too.
Confused, a lot of workers left their posts and asked each other what was going on.
Li Yao did not need to turn back to know that the gap through which they had snuck in must have been closed.
The garrison must have discovered the trick that he played and figured out that they would likely sneak back into Hundred Flowers City through the garbage spurt.
It meant that many soldiers would arrive soon.
Besides, after being teased by Li Yao multiple times, they would certainly send the elites of the garrison. Chances were that they would even be Professor Mo Xuan's trusted troop that he had secretly developed for decades!
In any case, Li Yao did not want to attack the soldiers on his side when the Black Wind Fleet might assault the federation at any point.
However, instead of running to the central area of Hundred Flowers City outside of the garbage processing center, he simply dragged Long Yangjun to enter the control base of the garbage processing center.
"Why aren't we leaving?" Long Yangjun frowned. "We will only be relatively safe in the downtown area when we are covered by millions of people. It is the only way we can get rid of the chasers and start our own operation."
"Wait a moment. There's some important information that I have to look up!"
Li Yao kicked the solid, super-alloy gate of the control base and rushed forward, having no time to dodge the workers on his way at all. Everybody merely sensed that two hurricanes blew past them before they collapsed to the ground uncannily and fell unconscious.
"Trust me. I am an absolute expert in terms of escape and infiltration!" Li Yao's voice was calm and brimming with confidence. "I chose the 'garbage processing point' as a starting point because it is a stone that kills two birds!
"It must be noted that the greatest headaches for super metropolises built in the vacuum of space like Hundred Flowers City are air circulation and garbage disposal.
"For cities on the surface of a planet, if something goes wrong with the garbage cleaning work, the city may be dirty and smelly for a couple days at worst, but in a fully-sealed environment, people will get killed if the mountains of garbage are not disposed of in time!
"Therefore, Hundred Flowers City that is made of hundreds of interconnected, ball-shaped towns mus
t have a system of precise, complicated, and all-encompassing garbage transmission tubes that lead to every corner of the city. Naturally, the Tinder Base must be within its reach, too!
"Besides, based on my years of experience in crawling through ventilation tubes, the ventilation tubes, spiritual energy tubes, and garbage transmission tubes are often kept together in a bundled system when they are designed so that the maintenance and security checks are easier.
"Even if they are not kept together, the distance among the tubes cannot be very far!
"After all, to build a space metropolis, everything must be precisely planned in advance. Once the planning is completed, the following modification and expansion will be quite difficult. The tubes cannot just be deployed randomly, which will add to the trouble of reconstruction!"
Long Yangjun was greatly enlightened. "Therefore, as long as we figure out the distribution of the garbage transmission tubes in Hundred Flowers City, we will know the distribution of the ventilation tubes and then sneak into the Tinder Base through the ventilation tubes, right?"
"Exactly!" Li Yao smiled confidently, baring his sharp, white teeth. "The Tinder Plan on the surface is not a top-secret project for military purposes. Professor Mo Xuan couldn't have reconstructed the base either, which would certainly have raised suspicion. In conclusion, the ventilation facilities of the Tinder Base must be civil level!
"Hehe. Professor, now that you have pushed me to this point, I am left with no choice except to demonstrate the power of the Lord of Ventilation Tubes!"
Li Yao left like a tornado and knocked down most of the people in the control center in less than twenty seconds. The stationmaster of the garbage processing center was the only one left standing.
Since he was responsible for astronomical garbage every day, the stationmaster was actually of quite a high level. He was an admin-type Cultivator in the Core Formation Stage.
However, under the dual mental attacks from Li Yao and Long Yangjun, naturally, he was unable to fight back at all and was soon hypnotized. He confessed everything that he knew and volunteered to retrieve the most detailed distribution map of tubes from the crystal processors in the control center.
To this moment, Li Yao and Long Yangjun finally understood why the soldiers of the federation had attacked them ruthlessly the moment they appeared.
"A brutal squad of spies from the Imperium is trying to sabotage the friendship between the Star Glory Federation and the Star Ocean Republic. They have snuck into the starship that the delegation from the Star Ocean Republic boarded and sabotaged the starship, disrupting the course of the starship and making the starship disappear in the turbulence of four-dimensional space!
"At this moment, two spies of the Imperium are still lingering in the Hundred Flowers Space Zone. It is very possible that they snuck into Hundred Flowers City during the chaos!
"The two of them are equipped with powerful crystal suits. They are both cunning, treacherous, and dangerous. All units must report to the temporary command center immediately after they discover the suspects and block the suspects at all costs. They must not be allowed to sneak into the city, where they may jeopardize the lives of a hundred million citizens!"
It was an order that the garbage processing center had just received. That was why they had shut the garbage spurts down in a hurry.
The order was issued by the garrison of Hundred Flowers City and the local branch of the Secret Sword Bureau together.
Another elite tactic squad was now reinforcing the garbage processing center to build up the defense of the area.
"We have to speed up!" Long Yangjun furrowed her eyebrow harder and harder. "It appears that Professor Mo Xuan has finished the infiltration and control on the military and the Secret Sword Bureau of the Hundred Flowers Space Zone. If we are delayed by the tactic squad, the main troops may be attracted to this place. Then, we can barely get away!"
"Monster Li, have you found the distribution map of the garbage transmission tubes and the ventilation tubes?"
"Nailed it!" Li Yao exclaimed, his eyes beaming with joy. He laughed like a weasel that had just stolen a hen. "Just as I expected. Everything is under my control. The tubes here have adopted the most classic design. The garbage transmission tubes, the spiritual energy tubes, the crystal cables, and the ventilation tubes are all bundled together. If we locate one of them, we will locate all of them. Also, the distribution and direction of the tubes in the block of Tinder Base are all clearly marked here with the most detailed data. It wouldn't be any trouble…"
Li Yao's voice became more and more rigid, and his face turned more and more awful, as if the hen that he had caught had suddenly pecked him brutally.
Long Yangjun raised her eyebrows. "What's the problem now?"
"Uncle…" Taking a deep breath, Li Yao tried to ask the stationmaster who had turned on the most confidential interface and retrieved the whole distribution map while hypnotized. "Why are most of the ventilation tubes in Hundred Flowers City designed like a honeycomb? Every seemingly large tube is actually made of hundreds of narrower tubes inside that are only as wide as a finger? Not only have you adopted a honeycomb design, the critical turns of the ventilation tubes are also made of transparent materials. Everybody on the outside can see clearly what is inside! How much did you spend on that? That's such a great waste!"
Still half hypnotized, the stationmaster put on a confused and yet proud expression. He held his chest high and said, "We must thank Senior Vulture Li Yao for his enlightenment!
"Senior Li Yao was himself an expert who was adept at infiltration. He snuck into the enemy's center to perform decapitation strategies many times!
"His every case of infiltration has been included in the classic textbooks of the major military academies in the federation. As for himself, he also held a lot of lectures on the defense and breakthrough of tubes in those schools in person before he left the federation!
"Therefore, based on Senior Li Yao's personal experience and earnest tutelage, the defense of tubes, especially ventilation tubes, is given great importance in the federation today! The best defense possible is definitely a honeycomb design before the tubes are built so that it is impossible for a human to sneak in!"
"…" Li Yao.
"Is that so? Senior Li Yao does sound very visionary!"
"Not just visionary. He was absolutely meticulous! Guided by Senior Li Yao's spirit, the tube defense technology in the federation has made remarkable progress in the federation in the past hundred years. Right now, even a mosquito can't fly into most of the tubes in Hundred Flowers City!"
Long Yangjun turned back and glared at Li Yao.
Li Yao coughed and touched the back of the stationmaster's head, releasing spiritual energy to put him into sleep.
"…Fellow Cultivator Long, look, I was one of the celebrities in the federation a hundred years who had a lot of business to attend to every day. I really don't remember holding a few lectures in some colleges!"
"Stop talking. I just want to be alone for a moment."
"Wait. Don't just give up hope already. This is not the time for desperation yet. Perhaps there's some other way… Some other… Ah!"
Long Yangjun almost jumped to her feet because of his exclamation. "What the heck are you doing?"
"I was wrong. We were both almost wrong! The Tinder Base can't be Professor Mo Xuan's nest! His nest must be somewhere else!"
Li Yao stored the distribution map of all the tubes into his jade chip and began running. "The Tinder Base is a public place for his studies, which has been closely monitored by parliament, the military, and the Secret Sword Bureau for decades. A lot of personnel from the outside world are in the base, too. So, even if he has any schemes, he will not carry them out in the Tinder Base! We might not necessarily find anything even if we sneak into the Tinder Base. He must have a second base, which is his real nest that has never surfaced until this moment!"
Chapter 1729: Lock onto the Target! |
"
Hu… Hu… Hu… Hu…"
"Hyena has entered the second workplace in the garbage processing center. No anomaly has been detected. Continuing searching. Over."
"Hawkeye One is in position and ready to shoot. Over."
"Hawkeye Two is in position. Scanning all workers in the visible range. No suspects detected. Over."
"Hawkeye Three is in position and about to search the wall through No. 89 mystic rays to scan the buildings and obstacles in the first workplace. Over."
"Sandhog is scanning all the tubes. Progress: 15%. No foreign objects have been detected in the tubes. Over."
"All teams, stay alert and don't take action recklessly. Our targets are highly dangerous spies from the Imperium who are probably above the Core Formation Stage. There is still one minute and thirty seconds to go before the main troops arrive at the garbage processing center. Not a fly is to leave the place in the next ninety seconds. Over."
"Hyena copies."
"Hawkeye copies."
"Leopard copies."
"Sandhog cop—what's that?!"
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Hyena, Hawkeye, Leopard, Sandhog! Report in! What happened? Is that cannon fire? What are the things captured by your crystal cameras?"
"Sir, somebody has just activated the 'garbage cannon', but it is garbage that has not been highly compressed, with soup and everything. Also, the dome above the garbage cannon was not opened at all. The garbage was blown back into the room. Every corner of the center is now an utter mess… Cr*p… Cr*p!"
"What's going on? Stabilize your crystal cameras and scan the entire battlefield quickly!"
"Somebody turned off the gravity control rune arrays of this place. We have lost gravity! All the garbage has lost gravity! The garbage is flying. The mountains of garbage are flying!"
"Intruders! We're under attack!"
BAM! BAM! BAM!
"Ahhh!"
"Hyena! Leopard! Sandhog! Hawkeye! Damn it! Shut down all the channels between the garbage processing center and the nearby ball-shaped towns. Now!"
