Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 714
He had considered how he should refuse the public speech when he was back home. Never had he expected that he would be chased after by the federal army and the Secret Sword Bureau!
Rationally, Li Yao knew that it was because the Children of the Nether World and Abyss had fooled most of the ordinary people, federal soldiers, Secret Sword Agents, and Cultivators.
But emotionally…
Gloom, frustration, and anger—all kinds of negative feelings were building up.
Li Yao vaguely felt that the capability of the mental devil was almost doubled after only a couple of days.
It meant that the dark side in his heart was getting stronger.
But at this moment, hearing the innocent children shouting his name, for some reason, Li Yao felt that the dark cloud looming over his head suddenly split apart, revealing the golden sunlight. He was given a new strength!
Ultra-Level Federal Hero…
It was such an awkward and embarrassing title.
He blushed every time he thought of it.
Li Yao had never wanted to be a hero.
Even at that moment, he did not consider himself to be a real Ultra-Level Federal Hero.
In his opinion, the title should only belong to the formal, solemn pictures in textbooks.
He was not qualified, nor did he intend, to be listed next to the heroes.
However…
At dusk, the ocean was glittering like golden dragon scales. In the peaceful port, the laughter of the little kids was soaring to the sky like wind chime, which was occasionally interrupted by the angry exclamation of their parents who snatched the muddy monkeys' ears and dragged them home for dinner.
It was such a beautiful picture that Li Yao could not bear to imagine it being destroyed by war and virus at all.
He did not want to be a hero. Being a hero was exhausting, annoying, and stupid, not to mention that a hero could be wronged.
However, if the little kids considered him to be a hero, how could he disappoint them and even watch them be killed?
Rest assured!
Seeing the kids jumping up and down and disappearing in the alley, Li Yao clenched his fists and said to himself, No matter who is behind all this, I am going to unveil every one of them!
I will not let you be consumed by a meaningless war!
Definitely not!
He spent the night in a wasted boat near the ocean.
This place was more than a thousand kilometers away from the capital city. The investigation of the Secret Sword Bureau had yet to include the area. It was peaceful all night. Nobody went close to the wasted boat.
At two o'clock in the morning, he assembled the magical equipment to be used in the capital city.
His devices mainly included an artificial body for a special Cultivators as well as a very powerful spotlight. The appearance of the artificial body was the same as before, but its interior had been completely remodeled.
The spotlight could shoot out colorful mystic rays and project 'I am Li Yao. I am still alive' into the sky a thousand meters from the ground. Every word would be dozens of square meters in diameter, which would be perfectly clear for everyone on the ground.
As long as he shot the eight words at the sky, preferably on the stomach of Burning Prairie, right in front of the Speaker, the Iron Commander, the director of the Bureau of Intelligence, and the rest of the audience, everything would be settled!
The Children of the Nether World and Abyss could do nothing except to watch. How could they stop him? Interrogate him into a confession right in front of everyone? Nobody would agree!
At three o'clock in the morning, Li Yao snuck into the processing boat of the White Sea Sect, a local sect of East Seagull Port.
The White Sea Sect was an insignificant sect with few Cultivators. Such regular processing of seafood did not require the supervision of Cultivators, either.
After all, who would bother to steal a few fish or sea snails?
All the workers on the boat were ordinary people. There was only one non-battle-type Cultivator on board who was responsible for maneuvering and maintaining the magical equipment on board. He was not very wary, or rather, he was not wary at all.
The processing boat had a large quick-freezing cabin that could freeze seawater in half a second through a specially-made solution while ensuring the intactness of the cells of the seafood inside so that the meat would be kept fresh.
After being classified and selected by the workers, the seafood would be frozen into a huge ice block and stored in special refrigerators.
The solution was blue in the first place. After the water was frozen, everything was deep blue. The visibility was quite low. It was impossible to tell what was inside at all.
Different refrigerators were delivered to different hotels and seafood markets. The batch of seafood of the highest qualified would be shipped directly to the Junhao Hotel of the capital city through the dedicated quick crystal airship and unfrozen in the warehouse of the hotel.
Li Yao knew that such urgent refrigerators were usually exempt from inspection. Even if there was a check, they would only open the refrigerator and look inside. Then, the check would be considered done.
At 4:09 a.m., Li Yao played a tricked in the engine compartment on the boat.
At 4:21 a.m., a minor fire took place in the engine compartment.
The only Cultivator on board mumbled in discontent and crawled into the engine cabin.
It was a simple accident of overloading because of the aging of the crystal wires.
But it happened that several key stabilizing units were ruined, which would be quite troublesome to repair.
The quick-freezing hour was about to come. If the fault was not dealt with in time, hundreds of tons of fish could rot.
Having no choice, the Cultivator squatted in the engine compartment and performed repair work for more than half an hour.
During the period, there was not a single Cultivator in the quick-freezing cabin. The workers were all yawning fishermen.
An hour later, the Cultivator finally addressed the problem and returned to the quick-freezing cabin.
At this moment, several refrigerators were already prepared, including the one about to be delivered to the Junhao Hotel in the capital city.
At 6:33 a.m., the refrigerator was loaded on the crystal airship. The mark of 'Junhao' was glittering under the morning sun.
The airship flew toward the capital city.
At 7:25 a.m., the investigation in Green Plateau City finally produced a result. The abandoned shuttle that Li Yao had stolen from the old neighborhood had been found. The surveillance picture of him leaving Green Plateau City in the shuttle was located, too.
However, there were no further leads when they reached the suburbs of Green Plateau City. The shuttle had disappeared like a piece of ice melted in water.
At 8:55 a.m., the alert at the periphery of the capital city was further increased.
Nine perimeters had been established. All the pedestrians, shuttles, short-distance buses, crystal trains, and civil carriers were examined in the strictest way!
The problem was that the Secret Sword Agents were made of flesh and blood, too. They were not omnipotent gods. The resources at the Secret Sword Bureau's disposal were not infinite, either.
When the dedicated all their manpower to the investigation and search of the vehicles, naturally, they did not have time to bother about a cargo airship from a minor place such as East Seagull Port.
At 9:45 a.m., two Secret Sword Agents boarded the airship. They were very close to victory.
However, after scanning every gap on the airship and making sure that no suspects were hiding on board, they looked at the sign of the Junhao Hotel, scratched their noses, and let the victory slide through their fingers.
At ten o'clock in the morning, right above the Junhao Hotel in the downtown area, the airship slowly landed.
There was one day to go before the hundred-day memorial ceremony.
He was zero kilometers away from the capital city.
Vulture Li Yao had snuck into the capital city.
Chapter 1085: Human or Ghost? |
At 10:50 a.m., Li Yao slithered into the ventilation tube of the kitchen of the Junhao Hotel like an enormous lizard.
Over the past ten years, he had snuck into the most dangerous ventilation tubes in the Heaven's Origin Sector, the Flying Star Sector, and the Blood Demon Sector countless times. Right now, the ventilation tube of the regular hotel was not even a piece of cake for him; it was the cream on the cake at best.
As the lunch time drew near, the ventilation tube was gradually filled with burning smoke. Together with the oil and dirt that had accumulated over years, it would definitely have been as harsh as a volcano for other people.
However, in Li Yao's eyes, it was much more comfortable than any of the tubes that he had snuck into before. The scenery here could almost be called beautiful!
The hundred-day memorial ceremony was to be held the following morning. To participate in the grand ceremony and to witness the debut of Burning Prairie, there would be an unprecedented number of people in the capital city. The security measures would definitely be the most thorough, too.
If he walked about on the street, he would be scanned by dozens of surveillance cameras. He would run into a lot of problems whether he checked in a hotel at night or wandered on the street.
Therefore, Li Yao decided to simply lurk in the ventilation tube for one day and get out next day in the morning.
For a moment, Li Yao had an urge to jump out to the center of the capital city right now and shoot 'I am Li Yao. I am still alive' into the sky. At least tens of thousands of residents of the capital city would see it.
It was unlikely that the Children of the Nether World and Abyss were going to block such a piece of breaking news.
But right now, the Secret Sword Agents would be everywhere outside. If he did it, they would certainly be the first to arrive.
If he resisted, he would risk injuring the Secret Sword Agents who were fooled and the innocent passers-by
If he did not resist, he would be tied up and lose the ability to counterattack. It was possible that he would fall into the control of Abyss.
Li Yao thought for a moment. If the Secret Sword Agents put on a Venomous Scorpion Bone Biting Shackle on him, he was not confident that he could crack it safely again.
Yes, the Speaker, the Iron Commander, Ding Lingdang, Professor Mo Xuan, and the leaders of the major sects in the capital city would certainly learn of the matter, but how long would it take before they reacted? An hour? Two hours?
After all, the Secret Sword Bureau was not a pure intelligence agency. It was also a security agency that aimed to prevent the federation from internal destruction. It had its own armed forces and secret bases, and it was even more independent than the federal army!
Throughout history, the Secret Sword Bureau had arrested evil Cultivators who committed felony as fast as lightning many times at the risk of head-on confrontations with a lot of Cultivation sects. However, every single time, the undeniable evidence had proved that the seemingly innocent suspects were guilty of unpardonable crimes later.
After hundreds of years of development, all the Cultivators of the Heaven's Origin Sector acknowledged the tradition, which was that Cultivators, given their strong personal ability, must be checked by a certain power.
The federal army was part of that power, and the Secret Sword Bureau was another part. Only the check and balance could make the federation more stable!
Therefore, the Secret Sword Bureau definitely had the ability and the reasoning to lock him up for a few hours against pressure from all sides.
Losing the ability to counterattack in the hands of Abyss for a few hours?
Li Yao believed that, with the interrogative methods of Abyss, in three to five hours, even his darkest secrets would be dug out, not to mention the evidence in his hand!
So, just hold it for another day!
It's useless to rush out and show up in public right now. I must wait until ten o'clock in the morning tomorrow and reveal myself right in front of the Speaker, the Iron Commander, the director of the Secret Sword Bureau, the leaders of the major sects, and billions of spectators. Only such a piece of super shocking news can break the plot of Abyss!
Li Yao closed his eyes and rested in the suffocating smoke, waiting for the arrival of tomorrow.
With Black Wing as his guard, he had a great sleep and did not wake up again until five o'clock in the morning next day.
There were five hours to go before the hundred-day memorial ceremony.
When he opened his eyes in the dark ventilation tube, Li Yao's physical energy and thinking ability soared to the maximum!
It's time to warm up a little bit.
Back in North Tranquility City, he had observed three citizens of the capital city at a close distance and collected their facial features, voiceprints, and fingerprints. Based on the information, he made three flawless false identities.
However, had the Secret Sword Bureau found out the false identities or not?
He only needed to run a minor test.
Li Yao took out a secondhand crystal processor that he had purchased from the magical equipment store in East Seagull Port and searched for the free network in the Junhao Hotel.
Such luxury hotels all boasted fast, free coverage for the customers. Soon, he was connected to the Spiritual Nexus, and the signal was not bad.
At the railway station in North Tranquility City, when he picked his prey, he did not select them randomly but specifically chose passengers who seemed to be bad-tempered. He had also managed to get their numbers while he was tailing them.
Li Yao dialed the number of one of the passengers.
At this moment, it was 5:10 in the morning, the time when most people were enjoying their dreams.
Beep… Beep… Beep… Beep…
Nobody picked it up. It was perhaps set in the do-not-disturb mode.
Li Yao was not frustrated. He dialed the number of the second passenger. This time, after more than ten seconds of beeping, somebody finally picked it up.
"Hello!"
The voice was low and brimming with anger.
"Hello. Is this Mr. Wan Ziang? I am Officer Zhao Zhiwen from the police station of the East District. My police ID is 334245. I want to confirm with you whether my colleague…"
There was indifference in Li Yao's courtesy.
As he expected, the speaker was infuriated and bellowed, "Are you ever done? What time is it? Your colleagues have asked me like twenty times! I am not going anywhere today. I'll just be at home. Does that sound okay to you!"
"Well, it certainly does. Perhaps they didn't make it clear to me earlier. Thank you for your cooperation, and sorry for the trouble. Goodbye."
Pa!
Li Yao cut off the Spiritual Nexus and crushed the second-hand crystal processor, throwing all the scraps into his Cosmos Ring.
His eyes were cold.
The police had asked the guy almost twenty times?
Fine. The three carefully-prepared false identities could be thrown into a dustbin.
Guo Chunfeng was indeed the most terrifying demon hunter in the federation. He was so close to capturing him!
Li Yao smiled and activated his final backup plan. He brought the components of the secondhand artificial body that he had bought in East Seagull Port out of his Cosmos Ring.
Theoretically speaking, the invisible spectral Cultivators could be attached to artificial bodies in all kinds of shapes.
However, most spectral Cultivators and the ghosts transformed from ordinary people preferred to keep the shape of a human being, which often made them feel that they were still sort of connected to their life in the past and that they were still a human being.
Besides, the parts of the human-shaped artificial body were replaceable with the artificial limbs designed for the disabled. Therefore, the cost could be reduced. Artificial bodies were much cheaper in price, so they were more economical for most ghosts.
It was exactly so for the artificial body in Li Yao's hand. The artificial body was approximately two meters tall with limbs, a head, and everything. It looked like a mechanical puppet.
However, the inside of the artificial body had been emptied by Li Yao. All the unnecessary components had been thrown away, and only the parts on the surface were kept.
Taking a deep breath, Li Yao summoned his spiritual energy in silence and compressed his muscles, veins, and nerves to the minimum. The thick arms slowly shriveled into dry firewood that could fit into the arms of the artificial body.
The face of a living person boasts all kinds of features. It was impossible to find two identical people even if there were a million candidates.
Therefore, by the scanning of the surveillance cameras, it was very convenient to find out their identity in the database after the facial features were determined.
However, ghosts did not have real bodies. The artificial bodies that they used were all manufactured.
Since they were manufactured, artificial bodies of the same model would naturally have identical faces.
Many spectral Cultivators liked to modify their metal faces, but such modifications were not always recorded.
Therefore, if Li Yao pretended to be a spectral Cultivator, how was the Secret Sword Bureau going to find him?
At 7:25 a.m., a spectral Cultivator staggered out of the alley behind the Junhao Hotel.
His artificial body had apparently been used for quite a few years. It was covered in a green cloak that was full of patches. His hands and feet were enveloped in thick rubber as protection, but the body parts exposed to the air all had bright green rust.
In case the solar radiation affected his soul, he was wearing a huge hat. Below the hat was a face made of vegetable glue that was dull and emotionless.
He was walking like a cripple in a rigid posture. Weird noises were echoing from his knees, suggesting that the joints inside needed to be replaced.
Judging from the appearance, it was not difficult to guess his identity. He was certainly a poor ghost who had transformed from an ordinary person.
