by <unknown>
"The federation is too weak to impose influence on the center of the cosmos except right now! Now, you can play a critical role. It's a great opportunity for you. So—"
"Your Majesty, you do not have to be so yearning."
Lei Chenghu coldly interrupted Li Jialing and said, "Do the Immortal Cultivators really have to beg for the Cultivators for help? We can still defeat the rebels of the four families and the Cultivators without the Star Glory Federation! Even if the primeval experts are woken up, so what? We'll teach those people who should've died a lesson that we're no longer the slaves we used to be hundreds of thousands of years ago!"
"General Lei Chenghu, we should stop arguing between ourselves."
Li Yao clenched his fists and made a decision. "I cannot make a decision for the parliament of the federation. To be honest, I'm wavering too whether or not the soldiers of the federation should shed their blood at the center of the cosmos.
"However, I do have a solution about sneaking into the Covenant Alliance and acquiring critical intelligence.
"General Lei Chenghu, if I can get intelligence from the Covenant Alliance or even disrupt their pace of attack so that they will be slowed down for a couple of months, will you be able to finish off the four families in the meantime?"
"Why, of course!"
With dazzling brilliance in his eyes, Lei Chenghu snorted. "The main forces and the elites of the four families have been destroyed in the Battle of Seven Seas and the battle in the capital. The remainder of them is absolutely worthless. I can finish them easily as long as I have enough time!"
"But Brother Yao, how are you going to do it?"
Li Jialing asked earnestly, "Are you trying to resort to the Sunspot Plan that Wuying Qi 3.0 left?"
"Exactly."
Li Yao murmured, "It's highly risky, but we don't have a choice. Only if we get tremendous intelligence on the leadership of the Covenant Alliance, find out their plan, and even raise a riot within the Covenant Alliance, can we save the precious lives of the soldiers of the Imperium and the federation.
"To prevent the soldiers from dying miserably like the garrison of the Thick Soil Sector did, the plan is worth a try however risky it is!"
Li Yao smashed his fist on the table, leaving a deep dent on it.
The special meeting lasted a whole night. Lei Chenghu, Boss Bai, and other leaders of the military discussed the details of their march. Li Linghai and Li Yao exchanged more secrets on the Supreme Emperor's mausoleum, whereas the Fist King offered his input to the automatic defense system of the capital. When the meeting was over, the sun was already rising in the east.
Everybody left the royal palace with a heavy heart. Long Yangjun, however, invited Li Yao to her shuttle, claiming that she would take him to somewhere special.
"To the Association of Demon Hunters?"
Frowning, Li Yao said in the cold wind, "Forget it. I prefer to explore the secrets of the Gold Crystal Pyramid and figure out the details of the Sunspot Plan in the next couple of days.
"The sooner I get the intelligence on the leadership of the Covenant Alliance, the sooner I will grasp the pace of the Covenant Alliance's attack. Countless people will be saved!"
"If you're going to sneak into the Covenant Alliance to obtain intelligence and stir trouble, shouldn't you get a deeper understanding of the Covenant Alliance first?"
Long Yangjun said with a smile, "Come on. It won't be a waste of your time."
Li Yao knew that Long Yangjun was fond of making jokes, but she was trustworthy on critical matters. He pondered for a moment and got into Long Yangjun's shuttle.
The shuttle flew agilely in the early morning mist. Soon, it left the downtown area that was full of skyscrapers and moved all the way to the ocean, before it slowly landed on an island that was not far away from the shore.
Looking down at the island, Li Yao realized that the island was quite huge with many white buildings on it.
Li Yao had thought that it was some sort of oceanography institute, but when he noticed the high-voltage defense towers and the barbed wire fences, he thought it was a prison. However, when the shuttle finally landed, he saw "The Third Research Institute of the No. 7 Hospital of Imperial Medical University".
Li Yao knew that the Third Research Institute of the No. 7 Hospital of Imperial Medical University was one of the best hospitals in the country specializing in mental diseases.
Why had Long Yangjun brought him here?
"You know the No. 7 Hospital, right?"
Noticing his confusion, Long Yangjun smiled and said, "The Third Research Institute is a place that studies violent patients, but since a hundred years ago, it has also been studying the people of the Covenant Alliance. This is one of the best research centers on Covenant Alliance.
"You've seen a lot of people in Godly Might Prison, but they were all common people who were not worth studying. The senior commanders of the Covenant Alliance, as well as the captives whose brains are abnormal, have all been sent to places like the Third Research Institute.
"Actually, the Association of Demon Hunters has a similar research center, but our research level is not high, and we do not have the best specimen. So, I often come to the Third Research Institute to discuss with the specialists here and to elicit intelligence from the Covenant Alliance captives.
"Zhuge Jinglun, the director of this place, is my old friend. He's not only one of the best specialists on mental diseases in the Imperium but also an awesome Meditation Healer. Besides, he's a legitimate heir of the Ring-Tu School. You can ask him anything about the Covenant Alliance."
"An awesome Meditation Healer?"
Li Yao was briefly stunned. He knew about the Ring-Tu School, which was an organization of scholars who came up with a test to distinguish the people of the Covenant Alliance from normal people. "He still lives in the capital? Why was he not captured by Wuying Qi as fuel for the Next Sun Plan?"
"Hahahaha. Wuying Qi was not crazy. He did not catch all the Meditation Healers!"
Long Yangjun said with a smile, "Director Zhuge is a pure scholar, and his research is of paramount importance. Think about it, whoever assumes the power—Wuying Qi, the four families, the reformists, or even the Cultivators—has to deal with the Cultivators next, don't they? Specialists like Director Zhuge are indispensable in the war against the Cultivator, so no matter what happens in the capital, he's always safe. Even Wuying Qi never thought to harm him."
"It does make sense."
Li Yao thought for a moment and remarked, "You do have a lot of connections. Such a specialist is your 'old friend'?"
"Well, Director Zhuge's research institute has been half official and half private. It couldn't have been sustained without the donations from the four families."
Long Yangjun explained, "Dongfang Renxin, the former prime minister's elder brother, was interested in Director Zhuge's research. He even became a great sponsor for Director Zhuge after their academic discussion.
"At that time, I was appointed as the president of the Association of Demon Hunters, and I got to know Director Zhuge.
"A lot of violent patients were kept in Director Zhuge's place. Many of them had strong desires to kill because of their active demonic genes. In other words, the targets of the Association of Demon Hunters were the objects that Director Zhuge studied. Therefore, we communicated a lot.
"Also, I was personally interested in Director Zhuge's studies too. You know that I'm from the primeval age. Maybe Director Zhuge's studies on the Covenant Alliance will unravel more secrets in my brain? For that purpose, I maintained my contact with him and even advised him on the side he should take in the political conflicts in the capital. Otherwise, an unworldly scholar like him could've been killed!
"As time went on, Director Zhuge and I became good friends, and he always shared with me the results of his latest studies. Of course, most of them are purely academic and cannot be applied to real battles. But I think they might come in handy for your Sunspot Plan.
"So, let's go. I'll introduce you to Director Zhuge."
Chapter 2700: The Ring-Tu Test |
They passed a square that was blocked by barbed wires. In the square, many patients wearing gowns of blue stripes were enjoying the sunlight. They all had metal rings on their ankles and their necks. There were also sensors on their heads that outputted the data on their brainwaves all the time.
Most of the patients were calm. Basked in the warm sunlight, they stared at the ocean far away.
But some of the patients, whose eyes were hollow and bloodshot, paced back and forth and looked at the people around them maliciously. Such patients were all separated by barbed wires so that they would be alone in their space.
When Li Yao and Long Yangjun passed by, some patients kept watching the ocean, some mumbled something to the strangers, and some were laughing and howling at them while crouching next to the barbed wires like beasts.
Li Yao and Long Yangjun seemed to be passing through a discredited zoo that was full of hungry beasts.
"Are they all from the Covenant Alliance?" Li Yao asked Long Yangjun in a low voice.
"Not really. Those are regular psychopaths."
Long Yangjun was amused by what she said. "However, the psychopaths that have been sent to Director Zhuge are hardly 'regular'. They are mostly nefarious criminals and murderers. Only those who murdered dozens of people consecutively, killed their whole families, or poisoned all the children in a school without feeling guilty are qualified to be caged here. They are the real scumbags, demons in human skin, and more like apes than humans. All in all, don't feel sorry for them at all. If you have read the files on the crimes that they committed, you would treat them ten times more cruelly than Director Zhuge does.
"Speaking of which, I kind of like those psychopaths. Normal people, bound by morals and society, often have to hide and even twist their real selves. The Cultivators have the Cultivators' morals, and the Immortal Cultivators have their own. Everybody's heart wears a mask, although the masks might have different appearances.
"Only those psychopaths, whose brains have been corrupted by extraterritorial devils and whose hearts have been liberated, can unleash their purest side without caring about anything. If Cultivation means finding out one's real self, those people would probably be great Cultivators.
"Did you know that when the solar storm Wuying Qi raised swept across the whole Empyreal Terminus Sector, few people in the Third Research Institute—both the patients and the doctors—were hardly affected? Some of the severest patients had no reaction even though they were directly exposed to the brainwashing waves.
"A person cannot die twice, and a collapsed building cannot collapse again. A patient whose mind has completely collapsed can't be brainwashed, can he?
"Comparing those psychopaths with the people of the Covenant Alliance is the greatest feature of the Third Research Institute. We always say that the people of the Covenant Alliance are inhumane lunatics, but we can hardly study them directly. We can only find another bunch of inhumane lunatics who are easier to find and study. By juxtaposing the two groups of lunatics and studying their similarities and differences, we can explore the mysteries of the Covenant Alliance with the psychopaths as a frame of reference. That's Director Zhuge's approach."
Led by Long Yangjun, Li Yao finally found Zhuge Jinglun, the mental specialist who had been staying away from politics.
Zhuge Jinglun was a typical devoted researcher. His hair was even messier than Li Yao's, and his filthy gown was stained with suspicious stains and fluids. There was no telling when he last washed his face because the wrinkles on his face were laden with dirt. He looked absolutely no different from the targets that he researched on outside.
Apparently, he was one of the researchers who were interested in nothing except their studies. No matter what happened outside or who became their boss, they wouldn't even bother to bat an eye.
Vulture Li Yao, the Black Wind King, was one of the most awe-inspiring names in the Imperium, but when Long Yangjun introduced Li Yao to him, he greeted Li Yao simply and rubbed his hands, not knowing what to say.
He was closer to Long Yangjun, probably because Long Yangjun had been offering him funding and specimens since she held the power of the Association of Demon Hunters again. His eyes glowed the moment he saw Long Yangjun. Ignoring Li Yao, he asked, "President Dongfang, you've come at the best moment. We've just improved the Ring-Tu Test, and the accuracy has been increased by more than 2.5%. Would you like to take a look?"
He talked so proudly as if he were a big boy who just invented a new game.
"A new-generation Ring-Tu Test? Of course I would."
Long Yangjun coughed and looked at Li Yao. "However, Director Zhuge, as I told you last time, 'Dongfang Mingyue' was a fake name that I used when I worked as a spy. My real name is Long Yangjun. You'd better call me 'President Long'."
"Of course, President Dongfang. Your name is Long Yangjun, right? Got it, President Dongfang!"
Zhuge Jinglun rubbed his hands in excitement. "This way please, President Dongfang and Black Wind King!"
Li Yao and Long Yangjun looked at each other before they followed Zhuge Jinglun into the test area on the third floor underground.
Bound by the Path of Ultimate Benevolence, the people of the Covenant Alliance did not have feelings, but to sneak into the Imperium, they could simulate feelings vividly.
The Ring-Tu Test was exactly a method in mental studies to distinguish real feelings from simulated feelings. It was also the last defense line for the Imperium to resist the spies of the Covenant Alliance.
For hundreds of years, the Covenant Alliance had been revising their simulation techniques and deceiving the Ring-Tu Test for generations.
The Imperium, on the other hand, had been upgrading the Ring-Tu Test too, trying to make it keener and more accurate, so that it could distinguish the spies of the Covenant Alliance that were hiding among the normal people.
Zhuge Jinglun brought Li Yao and Long Yangjun to a mirror whose back was transparent. On the other side of the mirror was a test room where the researcher and the test-taker were seated.
The researcher was a young man who was wearing a gentle smile.
The test-taker, on the other hand, was a ferocious middle-aged man who had a beer belly.
The researcher typed on his mini crystal processor and smiled at the test-taker now and then, indicating that he was well-trained.
The test-taker, however, was bound to his seat by metal ropes, agitated and uneasy. His hollow eyes emitted beastly light now and then while he growled.
The desk between the two of them was an enormous tablet where abstract patterns that looked like colorful swirls were changing splendidly all the time.
Illuminated by the colorful tablet, the cold wall and the white ceiling looked like the brain of a psychopath.
Those colorful patterns were exactly Ring-Tu.
"Sorry, but I cannot cancel those messy spots of light."
The researcher finally finished typing the last rune on his mini crystal processor. He rubbed his neck and smiled at the test-taker apologetically. "You're not dazzled, are you? Tell me, what do they look like?"
"What the f*ck is the meaning of this?"
Like a trapped beast, the test-taker asked warily, "Has the test begun? Is this part of the test and I have to say it? Huh?"
"No, no, no. Don't be anxious. Relax. Just relax. This is—"
The researcher opened his hands and said, "This is just a regular examination. You know that this is the best asylum of the Imperium, and you're lucky to be sent here with all the crimes you committed. However, we have to ensure that you do not harm other people. Therefore…
"Look, I don't know what those light spots and patterns are either. It's the work of the obnoxious people above me who think they're smart. My job is to turn on the switch and ask whoever sits before me questions every day. Then, you'll enjoy the sunlight and the ocean, and I'll go home aft
er work. Simple as that. This is just my duty. Let's just get it over with, alright? Relax. Take a deep breath and be ready to answer questions. Okay?"
The test-taker murmured again and nodded unwillingly.
The researcher smiled and turned on another piece of mini magic equipment on the desk that looked like a combination of a magnifier and a telescopic sight. Through the device, the test-taker's eyeballs, as well as the reflections in them, could be clearly seen.
"What's that? What the f*ck is that?"
The test-taker grew anxious again.
"Relax. Relax. It's just an… unimportant gadget. I've been working in this room for three years, and I never care what it is exactly. Let's just ignore it and get going, shall we?"
Clearing his throat, the researcher asked, "The first question. Imagine that you see a green wasp on the back of your hand when you unintentionally raise your arm, what will you do?"
Chapter 2701: Humane Reaction |
"Wait, a green wasp? How can a wasp be green? Should it be yellow?"
The test-taker frowned. "If it's green, it can't be a wasp. What's this question? A linguistic trap?"
"No, no, no. Don't be anxious. Relax. It's just a common question. Nobody cares whether a wasp is yellow or green. It could've been a typo."
The researcher waved his hands and said, "Don't care about the details. Just follow your guts and tell me your first reaction."
"I will… slap it and kill it."
The test-taker craned his head and stared at the researcher. "Is it the correct answer?"
The researcher smiled.
"There is no correct answer in this place. You can answer however you want to."
The researcher said, "It's just a routine personality test so that the doctors and nurses will know what kind of person you are, how to take care of you, and what roommates you should have.
