Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 715
The hundred-day memorial ceremony was to be held in the Federal Square several kilometers away very soon. Although it was only seven o'clock in the morning, the entire capital city was already teeming with people. Everybody was crowding to the Federal Square.
The spectral Cultivator was apparently also going to participate in the gala. However, since he walked too slowly, he soon fell behind the crowd.
Above the street, hundreds of cute puji critters were flying everywhere. Their eyes were glittering crystal cameras that were scanning the blocks with countless invisible mystic rays.
The puji critters scanned the spectral Cultivator dozens of times.
But according to their instructions, they had been asked to search for three citizens of the capital city with more than 70% of their analysis ability.
A spectral Cultivator was not their target.
The mystic rays passed Li Yao and went to the flooding crowd behind him without pause.
Chapter 1086: A Mourning Army Is a Winning Army! |
The capital city of the Star Glory Federation had not yet completely recovered from the unexpected assault a hundred days ago. A lot of deep claw traces and dents were still left on the surface of many skyscrapers at the downtown area.
The place where Heavenly Sword Plaza, one of the landmarks of the capital city, was located was now bare. The empty sky felt particularly odd.
Although every street and alley was packed with people, there was not much joy in the atmosphere. Instead, it was solemn and depressed. The main color of the Federal Square today was white. Many citizens who joined the gala were wearing a white flower on their chests, too.
White was the color of mourning in the Star Glory Federation.
In the entire capital city, from the ordinary people to the soldiers to the Cultivators, everybody looked like a half-frozen volcano. They reminded Li Yao of an ancient saying.
An army burning with righteous indignation is bound to win!
Traffic control had been implemented in the sky of the capital city. There were not any shuttles except for the armed shuttles of the military and the Secret Sword Bureau. A lot of light beams were floating in the sky.
Every light beam was displaying the spontaneous gatherings of the citizens of the major cities in the federation where they prayed for the victims.
Some of the light beams were displaying the bloody battles of the federal army and the Cultivators as well as the latest political news.
Li Yao stared at the political news.
According to the news, the three parliaments of the federation had a special meeting yesterday. The motion to attack the Blood Demon Sector had still not been passed.
Other than the firm attitude of Speaker Jiang Hailiu, the allies from the Flying Star Sector were very prudent, too.
Luo Xingzi, leader of the Cultivators from the Flying Star Sector, stated in the meeting that Burning Prairie and the two hundred thousand Grand Illusionary Soldiers were sent to the Heaven's Origin Sector to protect the homeland of the human compatriots. They would not consider joining the expedition to the Blood Demon Sector for now.
If the expedition proceeded, they would need more files of the Blood Demon Sector to make clear the real situation there, and they would make a decision after discussing with the locals of the Flying Star Sector.
That was the situation right now. Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao, Director Lu Zui, and two thirds of the representatives were in favor of the expedition.
Speaker Jiang Hailiu and the allies of the Flying Star Sector who boasted the super warship, on the other hand, were the more cautious ones.
The two sides were equal for now, and their debate was still ongoing.
Li Yao was finally relieved after reading the news.
The Speaker deserved to be the Speaker. His head was so clear. After Li Yao delivered all the evidence, all the advocates of the expedition would certainly be silenced.
Li Yao secretly raised his wariness and slowly moved forward in the crowd.
He did not expect to get into the Federal Square, but the Federal Square must be on high alert.
He only needed to be within one or two kilometers from the square so that he could shoot a beam of super-focused mystic rays to the sky above the leadership of the federation and thousands of citizens.
In the meantime, he had made backup plans.
Should the Secret Sword Agents appear around him, he would shoot the mystic rays to the sky without caring about anything.
At this moment, there was only half an hour to go before the memorial ceremony began. The leadership of the Star Glory Federation were gradually appearing in the square. It was very difficult for the Children of the Nether World and Abyss to capture him now!
Right then, Li Yao heard the exclamations of the crowd, and he sensed tremendous pressure coming at him from the sky.
He raised his head, only to discover that a silver, giant sword had just pierced through the atmosphere and was moving close to the square in the blue, cloudless sky.
It was Burning Prairie, the strongest warship of the Heaven's Origin Sector, the Blood Demon Sector, and the Flying Star Sector!
…
In a high building next to the Federal Square, Guo Chunfeng looked down at the square with a gloomy face through the big window.
It was the field command center of the Demon Execution Division of the Secret Sword Bureau today.
Behind him, countless light beams were glittering in midair, changing into thousands of pictures that were the folks near the Federal Square.
At this point, several million people were crowding in the ten square kilometers nearby.
Millions of heads next to each other were an out-and-out catastrophe for any intelligence worker.
"Where is he exactly?"
After only a few days, Guo Chunfeng had lost almost ten kilograms of weight. His eyes were hollowed, and his body was dry. His hair was yellow as if it had been burnt.
He paced back and forth like a zombie through the complicated light beams while talking to himself nervously.
"He is right here. He must be. I can feel it. He is right under my nose!
"But he isn't using any of the three fake identities. He has changed to… a seventh identity!
"Loophole. Loophole. There is bound to be a loophole. There must be!"
Suddenly, Guo Chunfeng came to an abrupt halt. Terrible brilliance beamed out of his eyes which looked like searchlights. "Mosquito, come here! I've figured it out!
"Hasn't the third division prepared a team of almost a hundred specialists of crystal processors and the Spiritual Nexus trying to capture the signals that Li Yao sent out?
"Wrong. Wrong. It was a wrong approach!
"Li Yao is too prudent to send out a signal at the critical moment!
"But that's his weakness!
"At this moment, perhaps millions of people are gathered in the ten square kilometers around the Federal Square, but I dare say that 99% of them are carrying portable crystal processors that are connected to the Spiritual Nexus wirelessly!
"As long as they are connected to the Spiritual Nexus, even if they are not doing anything, the devices will still receive and send feeble signals, which will make them tiny 'hotspots'.
"Li Yao is the only one that is not!
"So, let's try to find everyone in the crowd who is neither sending nor receiving signals from the Spiritual Nexus!
"They will be like the dead 'black holes' in the dense hotspots around them. It will be very easy to find them!
"Hurry up and pass on the idea to the specialists of the third division. Investigate now!"
…
At 9:55 a.m., the hundred-day memorial ceremony was about to begin. The number of the people around the Federal Square broke the record. The whole city turned into a white ocean!
The Speaker of the Star Glory Federation, the Chief of Staff of the federal army, the director of the Secret Sword Bureau, the leadership of the major sects, the friends from the Flying Star Sector… everybody was gathered in the Federal Square!
The splendid Burning Prairie had stopped right above the capital city, too, like a boundless, silver floating mountain, raising rounds of exclamations and sounds of snapshots.
Around Burning Prairie, light beams were floating, too, which were the workers of thousands of media outlets that were live-streaming.
The cameras slowly passed Speaker Jiang Hailiu and other leaders of the federation.
Li Yao saw Ding Lingdang, Professor Mo Xuan, Wu Mayan, and Xie Anan in a corner of one of the pictures.
He smiled below the cold mask. Narrowing his eyes, he calculated the distance between himself and Burning Prairie and how he could enlarge the viewership of his mystic rays later.
Very soon, he would be reunited with his friends.
At this point, nobody could stop him!
…
At ten o'clock sharp, the memorial ceremony for the victims in the assault to the capital city a hundred days ago had officially begun.
At first, the national anthem of the Star Glory Federation was played, and the Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars flag was raised.
The vast capital city and thousands of other towns in the federation fell quiet. All the citizens of the federation were paying respect to the flag accompanied by the soul-stirring national anthem.
A thunderous roar echoed in the field command center of the Demon Execution Division.
"We've got him!"
"It's a spectral Cultivator. He is pretending to be a spectral Cultivator!"
"Attention, all the Secret Sword Agents in the operation group. Move to the Weiguo Road on the east side of the square and prepare to capture him!"
Guo Chunfeng jumped to his feet, turning instantly from a dry skeleton into an energetic athlete. He gnashed his teeth and waved his fist. "I'll lead the team. He's not getting away this time!"
…
At 10:05 a.m., the flag-raising ceremony was done. Speaker Jiang Hailiu walked to the podium.
Every light beam in the sky was occupied by his slender body in a white suit.
"Citizens, compatriots, comrades from a different world, we gather here today in memory of the 3,444 innocent victims in the disaster!"
Jiang Hailiu began his speech. Behind him was Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao and Director Lu Zui. The three most powerful men of the Star Glory Federation were all present.
On the VIP seat not far away were the important Cultivators such as Ding Lingdang, Professor Mo Xuan, and Luo Xingzi among other people.
Li Yao could not pretend anymore.
He shoved his way through the gapless crowd in such an agile way that it was utterly unbefitting of his appearance while he tried to get a better angle and a closer distance.
He sensed clearly that hundreds of sharp auras were rushing toward him from various directions!
Guo Chunfeng had discovered him. The fastest Secret Sword Agents would surround him in only half a minute.
But so what?
The game was over. He was the winner!
"… I know that many compatriots are consumed by fury right now and can't wait to attack the Blood Demon Sector and destroy the Pantheon of Demons immediately!"
Speaker Jiang Hailiu's sad and yet calm voice echoed in the entire capital city and was broadcast to the billions of citizens of the Star Glory Federation through the live stream of the media. "All our compatriots are my brothers and sisters. Right now, my heart is as heavy, miserable, and infuriated as any one of yours!"
Li Yao took a deep breath. He glanced at Burning Prairie in midair and finally determined his angle.
He triggered his spiritual energy and made an empty space of around one square meter around him by force so that he could retrieve the spotlight more conveniently.
Li Yao planned to fly into the firing range of Burning Prairie immediately after he shot out the eight words. Were the Children of the Nether World and Abyss bold enough to capture him right below the Heavenly Might Cannons of Burning Prairie?
Abyss, you are screwed! Li Yao sneered in his heart.
"However, do not let pain corrode our brain, do not let anger drown our soul, and do not let the hot Blood Sparrow our body—that is exactly what our enemy wants us to do!"
Faced with millions of residents of the capital city and billions of the people of the Heaven's Origin Sector who were watching the live-stream, Speaker Jiang Hailiu called, "Compatriots—"
That was the last word he spoke.
BOOM!
A deep purple fireball suddenly erupted out right below the feet of Jiang Hailiu, the Speaker of the Star Glory Federation, and blew him into the sky. His spiritual shield did not work at all, and he was immediately entangled by flames and riddled with holes!
Chapter 1087: Sniper! |
While Speaker Jiang Hailiu was struggling in the furious flames, the blast along with thousands sharp shrapnel swept across everything like a tide!
Standing right behind Speaker Jiang Hailiu were the government officials including Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao and Director Lu Zui.
Other than Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao, most of them worked in the office, not on the battlefield.
Although they were all high-level Cultivators, and some of them were in the Core Formation Stage and the Nascent Soul Stage, they were mostly admin-type or research-type ones just like Speaker Jiang Hailiu. They could not even protect themselves!
At the critical moment, Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao demonstrated the unparalleled abilities of a seasoned warrior. The moment that the blast expanded, hundreds of hexagonal super-alloy armored plates unfolded right in front of his face. Together with his thick spiritual shield, they constituted a wall of steel and resisted all the blast!
BOOM!
The blast crashed into Zhou Hengdao's spiritual shield and raised the second explosion. Zhou Hengdao was thrown far away, too.
Seventy percent of his organs were artificial and could not endure such an intense impact. They broke apart while he was still in midair!
Thankfully, because of Iron Commander Zhou Hengdao's valiance, the blast and the shrapnel were mostly subdued. The civil officials such as Director Lu Zui behind him were not seriously injured!
It was not until this moment that their bodyguards realized what was going on. They lunged close in a hurry and activated all their defensive magical equipment, blocking the government officials. The Speaker, soaked in blood with no signs of life, was grabbed by a few bodyguards in midair, too.
The scene was delivered to billions of citizens of the federation through the media.
It was perhaps the most silent second on the entire planet since the Star Glory Federation was founded.
Even Li Yao was stunned for a moment.
Before he resumed the ability of thinking, as a bomb expert, he had already analyzed the level of the crystal bomb through its fire and the distribution of its shrapnel with his instincts!
It was a super bomb made of several demon cores and marrow crystals of the highest quality!
Judging from the color and the bouncing of the fire, the crystal bomb adopted at least a hundred and thirty complicated rune arrays to restrain the power of explosion so that all the damage of the marrow crystals and the demon cores would be focused on one point!
Even a battle-type Cultivator in the Nascent Soul Stage might have been heavily wounded if he was not prepared, not to mention Speaker Jiang Hailiu who was merely an admin-type Cultivator!
The one who manufactured the crystal bomb was definitely the best of the best. Also, the bomb was unlikely to have been made in a small workshop. Only an enormous center of magical equipment could make such a terrible product!
That was only the first bomb.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Only half a second after the first bomb exploded, before everybody came back to themselves from shock, another four bombs were detonated around the square.
This time, it was not just the government officials and the Cultivators who were involved, but also the ordinary citizens that were joining the ceremony!
For a moment, the Federal Square was consumed by surging smoke. The Rising Dragon of the Nine Stars flag, which had been flapping in midair previously, was burnt and blackened, too.
The millions of civilians were in chaos!
Cries, screams, and moans!
They were pushing and stomping on each other while fleeing in a hurry!
Panic was spreading out crazily just like the blast of the crystal bombs, raising a tsunami of terror!
Li Yao's pupils constricted into two shining needle tips. He felt that he had fallen into a deep, cold cave of ice, but he did not have time to curse or moan. Thinking quickly, he squatted deeply and was about to fly to Burning Prairie!
It was a trap!
With everything coming to this point, explanation would be meaningless. The only way to resolve the ruse was to break out of the siege and fly to Burning Prairie.
If he had to be captured, he needed to give himself to the Cultivators from the Flying Star Sector. Only in such a way would he have a chance to explain everything!
However—
The moment before he jumped up, his heart seemed to be dug out and pinched hard. He was in such excruciating pain that he almost cried out.
It was the omen of danger of the highest degree!
There was a sniper!
His heart had been locked onto!
The trigger had been pulled!
It was definitely a top-tier expert, perhaps someone who deserve to be called 'gun god'. The man was likely to be in the Nascent Soul Stage because his ability to manipulate the bullet was too incredible!
Li Yao could not hear the sound of the bullet, nor could he see the glimmer when the bullet was rubbing the air. Therefore, he could not predict the trajectory of the bullet. He did not even know where the sniper was hiding!
The only thing that he could feel was that the scent of death was piercing through his heart brutally!
Li Yao was about to dodge out of natural instinct.
But he was surrounded by panicked, innocent civilians. Right behind him, a helpless mother was holding her two daughters!
