Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 724
The first one said, "Trust me! I have evidence for you!"
The other three pieces of information were all a location with a time. It appeared that Blood Devil Li Yao was arranging a meeting with Ding Lingdang at a certain time in a certain location.
However, the first two appointments had long passed. The Blood Devil must have changed the time and location of their meeting three times when Ding Lingdang did not show up.
There were only five minutes to go before the third appointment.
"Damn it!" Guo Chunfeng slapped his thigh and breathed hard. "Had we found it earlier, we might've captured him already!
"Everyone near the thirteenth district, move to the Star River Community. It is very possible that Blood Devil Li Yao will show up there in five minutes!
"Crystal processor specialists, analyze the data immediately and trace the source!
"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Let's get moving!"
Encouraged by Guo Chunfeng, all the Secret Sword Agents were rushing toward the Star River Community on the minus thirteenth floor like wild bees. They blocked all the entrances and exits of the minus thirteenth floor.
The hundred crystal processor specialists were analyzing the information quickly with the help of the super crystal processor.
Three minutes later, the result was out.
Blood Devil Li Yao was very prudent. He sent the shortest text every time and made sure that the information sent out was minimal. Also, he would completely turn off the crystal processor after a message was sent.
Therefore, it was impossible to lock onto the position of the Blood Devil for now.
Five minutes later, the Star River Community was peaceful. There was no sign of the Blood Devil at all.
The terrible Blood Devil had natural instincts about danger. It had perhaps smelt something mysterious from the unusual mobilization of the Secret Sword Agents. He escaped into the crowd again.
Very soon, another message was sent.
"A lot of Secret Sword Agents are in the Star River Community. Not a good place for meeting. In twenty minutes, at the door of the Red Lightning Arena on the minus sixteenth floor. See you there!"
The message was sent to the crystal processor in the command center through the invisible Spiritual Nexus in less than 0.1 seconds. Blood Devil Li Yao turned off the crystal processor at exactly the same time, too.
But it would never occur to the Blood Devil that the hundred crystal processor specialists of the Secret Sword Bureau had controlled the network chip and deployed a very inconspicuous virus on it.
The function of the virus was that, as long as anybody transmitted information via the network chip, an unpredictable telepathic thought would immediately be fed back.
The telepathic thought would hack into the other crystal processor. Even if the crystal processor was completely turned off, it would still activate the network chip deep inside the crystal processor in its silent mode!
"Got 'em!"
Exclamations echoed in the command center.
Li Yao was a master of refining but not a specialist of the Spiritual Nexus. His understanding of crystal processor viruses was very shallow. How could he be match for a hundred best experts of the trade?
The Blood Devil was rushing quickly from the minus thirteenth floor to the minus sixteenth floor. He even took a turn in a warehouse of abandoned magical equipment on the minus fifteenth floor to get rid of the potential followers. Then, after dashing to the minus twenty-first floor through a drainage tube, he went back to the minus sixteenth floor. The Blood Devil could not have been more prudent.
But it never occurred to the Blood Devil that the portable crystal processor, which he was wearing on the wrist but had completely turned off, had already betrayed him.
"Group One, Group Two, and Group Three, prepare ambushes near the Red Lightning Arena. The coordinates of the target have been sent to your crystal processor. Focus on driving him away and try to avoid a fierce fight. Also, ask the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators at the entrance and exits on the ground to be ready!"
Guo Chunfeng wiped away his greasy sweat, clenched his fists, and stared at the shining red spot on the 3D map.
The red spot was Blood Devil Li Yao!
The red spot would enter the Secret Sword Bureau's siege in another several seconds.
Right then—
The red spot retreated at an astonishing speed and crawled into the interconnecting drainage channels again!
The storm earlier made every drainage channel in the underground district a surging river. In the flooding rainwater, the red spot accelerated to the maximum speed and travelled deeper than the minus thirtieth floor in the blink of an eye!
"We've been discovered!" Guo Chunfeng jumped to his feet in fury. "All members, surround him and try to force him to the surface!
"Analyze the information of the terrain nearby and the tube network, and calculate the most likely coordinates where he will appear on the ground. Ask the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators around to move over. Be wary and prepare for battle!"
A moment later, a line of angry words popped up on the light beam. "Why? Why? Why can't you just trust me?"
Then, the red spot was gone.
"The Blood Devil has discovered the anomaly of the crystal processor. It has likely been crushed right now," one of the crystal processor specialists said helplessly. "After all, the activated chip will still spread out feeble spiritual waves even if it is in the silence mode."
"This is already enough!" Guo Chunfeng narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "This time, the Blood Devil has been exposed for too long. We are too close to it for it to get away again. Block the Blood Devil from three sides and leave one side empty. It can only be pushed to the ground according to our pace!"
…
In sky above the capital city, a medical airship was floating quietly.
On the surface, it was a plain-looking medical airship, but below the ragged shell were actually dozens of powerful attack rune arrays.
'Death Ray' Ye Changkong, the best expert of guns in the federation and a Cultivator in the Nascent Soul Stage, as well as his elite hunting group, was now hiding inside the 'medical airship'.
'Death Ray' Ye Changkong was more than a hundred and sixty years old, but his hair was black, and his teeth were still strong—he looked like an energetic middle-aged man. He was short and as light as a falling leaf, covered in an imitative disguise suit that could change appearance according to the environment, and holding the sniper rifle named Herald. Leaning against the seat, he was resting with his eyes closed.
The tough members of the team, on the other hand, were talking, laughing, and even horsing around. Their expressions and muscles were all very relaxed.
Only the best veterans who had survived more than a hundred battles could be so calm before a great battle.
Ye Changkong was an expert of shooting. He knew his advantages and disadvantages best. Never in the world would he sneak into such a chaotic place as the underground district in order to hunt such a dreadful opponent as Li Yao!
It was the most idiotic approach, which would turn him from the predator into the prey instantly.
Standing on the well-disguised, highly-powerful hunting airship, he could see every corner of the capital city. Wherever the target popped up, he would be able to rush close within a breath, set up traps, and shoot the target unhurriedly!
Zi! Zi! Zi!
Ye Changkong's crystal processor suddenly buzzed. The latest information in the command center was sent over, including the updates of the siege, Li Yao's most likely escape route, and the progress of the Secret Sword Agents. Even Guo Chunfeng's every word had been recorded.
The hunting group led by Ye Changkong was under the direct command of Lu Zui. It was of a higher level than the hunting group commanded by Guo Chunfeng.
Lu Zui had opened all clearances to him so that he could receive all the information on Guo Chunfeng's side in real time.
On the other hand, Ye Changkong's progress was blocked from the outside world. It was highly classified and reported to Lu Zui alone.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
Endless information flashed in front of Ye Changkong, only to be devoured by his eyes that looked like black holes.
He blinked and pressed his ears softly. Lu Zui's voice immediately came over. "Li Yao will likely escape to the ground. Some Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators not under our control are coming at him. Do not let him be captured alive, or we might be in trouble.
"To avoid trouble and to make sure that our plan goes smoothly, kill him as soon as possible!"
Ye Changkong moved his fingers away and cut off the communication. Brilliance beamed out of his eyes. The information that he had just devoured popped up on his retina again as he analyzed and calculated at a speed close to that of a mainframe crystal processor.
His nickname was 'Death Ray'.
It meant that, wherever he went and however many targets there were, if he was determined to go on a killing a spree, all the targets would be wiped out at the speed of light!
Chapter 1101: Death Ray's Trap! |
Ye Changkong set his crystal processor into the stealth-and-sniper mode. He then put two lenses of data into his eyes. Glamorous colors immediately appeared in front of his eyes, which turned out to be a translucent city where Li Yao was surrounded.
Other than the structural designs of the dozens of floors into the underground, there was also the most detailed map about their corresponding parts on the ground. Every pathway and every window in every skyscraper was clear to him so that he could study the most promising plan of shooting unhurriedly.
Although Li Yao's coordinates were gone, the coordinates of all the Secret Sword Agents were still scattered on the map in the form of bluish colors.
It was not hard to analyze Li Yao's approximate location from the movement of the hunters. He was like a whale that was surrounded and being chased by countless tiger sharks. There was nowhere that he could run to!
Ye Changkong tapped his temples unhurriedly. He commanded the hunting airship to fly toward the location where Li Yao would likely rush out while his soul turned into spiritual threads and dived into the complicated map.
Shua!
He constructed a vivid underground maze deep inside his brain, assuming the role of 'Li Yao' and speculating his most likely route of escape in his place.
As the best sniper of the Heaven's Origin Sector, Ye Changkong was a top assassin, too. To some extent, Li Yao and he were the same type of person.
Stealth, infiltration, assassination from the shadows, escape from ambushes that nobody could get away from… All those subjects were Li Yao's best moves. They were also Ye Changkong's routine work in his hundred years of battles.
The snipers in the military were often divided into groups of two, with one shooter and one observer.
However, after he advanced into the Nascent Soul Stage, Ye Changkong no longer needed an observer, nor could he ever find a partner that was suitable for himself. Even the most well-trained would be a burden instead of help for him when they worked as his observer.
For the past forty years, he had always been a lone wolf, just like Li Yao did.
After receiving the task to shoot Li Yao, Ye Changkong had collected all the known files about Li Yao and studied them for a whole weak. He had paid special attention to Li Yao's successful and classical cases.
He had even asked Lu Zui to hypnotize him with the techniques of the Meditation Healer so that he would think himself Vulture Li Yao. He trained, drilled, and lived in the hypnotized state.
In such a way, he developed a deep understanding about Li Yao's state of mind, habits, and thinking pattern.
Ye Changkong was amazed by the guy of the same trade as himself who was more than a hundred years younger. He even had the feeling that the two of them could be good friends. He often thought that, if it were Li Yao, perhaps he would consider changing his habits for decades and bringing an observer.
It was a pity that his mission was to destroy his 'good friend' whom he had never met before.
My young friend, you are immature after all. You are idiotic enough to trust a woman whom you haven't met for ten years, who is filled with jealousy and anger!
If you had the chance to live to my age, you would certainly realize that it is better to trust a demon beast that has been injected with excessive exhilarant than to trust an infuriated woman because the behavior of the latter is even more unpredictable!
But it is a pity that you won't survive today.
Your pattern has been completely scrutinized by me. You are trying to run away from here, right?
The maze in the brain of 'Death Ray' Ye Changkong was enlarged and enlarged until it stopped in a rusted, abandoned area in the southwest part of the capital city.
It was a factory area that was about to be demolished and reconstructed.
Tremendous forsaken factories of magical equipment, where all kinds of rusted tubes and black furnaces were piled up, made the place looked like a tomb of iron.
There was not an entrance or exit to the underground district here. Therefore, it was not a focus of the defense on the ground. There was not a second Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator in the five square kilometers nearby, either.
The terrain there was too complicated. Nobody knew where the jumbled tubes led to eventually. Also, as the city developed rapidly, the areas nearby had been built into a business district that was packed with people and vehicles.
Once the target snuck into the business district, it would be easy for him to get away.
Most of the Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators are guarding the entrances and exits, but their number is too small after all, and they cannot watch over every weakly defended part of the capital city.
You will certainly not choose to run away from the main entrances and exits. In those forsaken factories of magical equipment, countless tubes extend into the ground, such as the discharge tubes of cooling liquids for metal refinement, the discharge tubes of dirty water, and those of the poisonous gas.
Pick a random tube, dig a hole, and you will crawl into one of the factories without anybody knowing anything.
You don't even need to drill through the tubes. You are an explosion expert. As long as you calculate the precise location and angle, one tiny oriented crystal bomb is enough to blow your way up to the ground. With your speed, a few seconds is more than enough for you to dash into the business district that is teeming with people!
Come on. Don't disappoint me. Do your best. Let's see whether my bullets are faster than your body and your saber or the other way around! I'm going to remember the competition for the rest of my life!
Ye Changkong sent the battle plan that he had drafted in that moment to the crystal processors of all the members of the hunting group.
Three seconds later, everybody was in their crystal suit. They jumped off the airship and rushed to the forsaken factories of magical equipment not far away, like leaf butterflies that were landing on the forests of steel softly.
Judging from the information on Guo Chunfeng's side, the hunt below the ground was getting more and more intense. Li Yao was about to flee to the underground space right below the factory area.
A second Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator that was closest to them was staying at an exit of the underground district seven kilometers away.
Ye Changkong pondered for a moment and decided not to tell his judgement to the ally in case there was trouble.
He had locked onto the location of Li Yao's appearance. Also, he was in the company of almost twenty partners who trained day and night for their teamwork. As long as they could stall Li Yao for 0.1 seconds, it would be good enough!
Shua!
While he was still in midair, twelve small balls ejected out the back of Ye Changkong's crystal suit. They exploded into twelve sparrows and entered stealth mode after flashing briefly.
The twelve stealthy sparrows flew in every direction around the factory area and had every corner under control.
The hunting group landed on the ground quietly. Everybody's crystal suit was added with stealth units for the mission. They melted into the steel forest like chameleons that had grown venomous fangs. Then, they concealed the emittance of heat and spiritual waves and compressed their breath and heartbeat to the minimum while lurking in the middle of the dark debris.
The fatal trap was ready. Whichever part of the factory area Li Yao was going to jump out from, they would be able to bite him instantly—for at least 0.1 seconds!
Ye Changkong, on the other hand, climbed to the top of an enormous chimney hundreds of meters tall at the southeast corner of the factor area.
It was the commanding height of the area, without any obstacles in the several square kilometers nearby, which made it the perfect location for a sniper. Also, the wall of the chimney was very thick, and there was a circular platform on the top. It was very comfortable to either kneel or crouch there.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
Through the data and information that was bouncing on the lenses on his retina, Ye Changkong quickly figured out twenty-nine coordinates where Li Yao was most likely to erupt out. In five seconds, he set the gun's parameters according to the coordinates.
He also changed his crystal suit into stealth mode before he wrapped a disguise cloak around his crystal suit, which could prevent the spiritual energy inside from dispersing. The sniper rifle Herald, which had also entered stealth mode, slightly protruded out through a gap on the disguise cloth.
While the marrow crystals were getting hotter and hotter in Herald, his head was calmer and calmer. His mind was empty, and he entered the indescribable state of transcendence!
In a moment, all the buildings nearby and the earth were melted in his eyes and turned transparent. He could vaguely 'see' that countless Secret Sword Agents were running and roaring. He also sensed that a streak of brightness was fleeing in a hurry to the nineteenth coordinates that he had estimated earlier!
It was a shooting skill of 'Death Ray' Ye Changkong's own invention. By sharpening his senses to the maximum, he was able to perceive the target by the ripples and the feedback of the telepathic thoughts. All the barriers and obstacles would be nonexistent in his eyes!
