Chapter 2699: Chapter 1826: The Assault Begins
Duanmu Huai casually observed the Emperor. He clearly understood the Emperor’s current mood. Unlike those foolish idiots in the forgotten worlds, most Imperial governors do not wish for the Tribunal to appear in their territories. Their arrival does not suggest suspicion; it confirms that there are indeed problems.
Doctors may reach a conclusion after examination, but the Tribunal only considers treatment or amputation, or simply euthanizing you.
"We need a detailed and comprehensive investigation, from top to bottom. Do you understand what I mean, Great Governor?"
"This... of course, I understand..."
The Emperor was really not accustomed to Duanmu Huai’s subtly threatening tone, but he had no choice—because the Tribunal could even kill him on the spot for not cooperating with them, under suspicion of being corrupted by Chaos. Of course, generally, Judges would not do this, and if they did, they wouldn’t have anything good coming their way afterward.
Yet for any normal person, anyone who could pull out a gun anytime and everywhere without any mental burden to execute you was already very dangerous.
"Very well, first I need a large-scale search. Any suspect must be investigated."
Duanmu Huai clearly understood how much effort it would take to conduct such an investigation in a Hive City of millions, but that was not his problem. In fact, it was like catching rabbits while scything grass, because any sensible Chaos Believer would hide away rather than charge straight into the gun’s muzzle.
But that wouldn’t work for Evil Gods, since they desperately needed strength to fight against themselves. So even if Duanmu Huai launched a large-scale search, they also had to confront him. And for Duanmu Huai, that was a very good beginning.
"I need to investigate the intelligence data of this Hive City over the years... Where is your Secretary?"
"I’m here, My Lord."
A man in robes hurriedly came out. From his expression, he seemed very reluctant to draw Duanmu Huai’s attention, but sadly, he had to do so now. Duanmu Huai just glanced at him once, then withdrew his gaze.
"Take us to the database."
"Of, of course... Please follow me."
The Secretary wiped the cold sweat off his forehead, turned around, and led Duanmu Huai and others deep into the corridor, with the Emperor accompanying them. The group said nothing until they walked through the long corridor to the other side of the database. At this point, Duanmu Huai saw a Mechanical Priest in red robes standing beside a large Contemplator, swinging the censer in his hand incessantly, trying to appease the Mecha Spirit in front.
And beside this Contemplator, many Mecha Servants and attendants were bustling about, and from their flustered appearance, it was clear the situation was abnormal.
"What is going on?"
Seeing this, the Emperor frowned and asked. Anyone could see that the situation of this large Contemplator was not good. Its screen was filled with frantically swirling scarlet warning code, the binary clamor turning piercingly sharp. By no means did it look like a normal situation.
"The Mecha Spirit is becoming violent and restless."
The Mechanical Priest did not turn back, responding vaguely to the command.
"Some accursed trash code has mixed into the data path being read, causing the Mecha Spirit to wail and scream..."
"Lumiaire."
Duanmu Huai nodded towards Lumiaire, and the girl quickly understood his meaning. She walked to the large Contemplator, reaching out her hand to place on the machine.
At that moment, the Contemplator emitted an ear-splitting scream, and the Mechanical Priest made an annoyed complaint.
"The Mecha Spirit is becoming extremely unstable, stop stimulating it. The entire Hive City’s intelligence data relies on this for transmission, as a corporeal form, you cannot......."
However, the Mechanical Priest’s words were not finished, because at this moment Lumiaire’s hands had already landed on the keyboard, with a beam resembling a circuit diagram emerging from the girl’s fingers, penetrating the interior of the Contemplator. Following this, everyone saw the once wildly surging scarlet code on the screens gradually disappear. Soon, the screens once dominated by the scarlet returned to their original green.
And the furious roar from the Contemplator gradually weakened.
Upon seeing this, the face of the nearby Mechanical Priest, almost entirely transformed, showed extreme shock and surprise.
"By the Omnissia, what did I see... the data repository is being purified, the cursed blasphemous trash code is disappearing... real data is returning... may Omnissia have mercy on our souls..."
Hearing the Mechanical Priest’s murmur, Duanmu Huai rolled his eyes.
Who said these oil men have no sense of art, to describe killing a virus so sacred and inviolable, who else could achieve such a thing but them?
"Great Judge, it’s coming!"
Right then, Lumiaire shouted urgently, quickly stepping back. Almost simultaneously, a Subspace Demon, resembling a flying Batfish in the air, suddenly crawled out of the Contemplator’s screen like Sadako. It opened its bloody maw, attempting to unleash a piercing scream.
However, in the next moment, Duanmu Huai’s large hand directly grabbed the demon’s head and pulled the Electronic Demon out before it could fully emerge from the screen. Then he clenched his fist and squeezed. Accompanied by a heart-wrenching scream, the Electronic Demon was completely decapitated by Duanmu Huai and subsequently swallowed by black flames.
By this time, both the Mechanical Priest and the Emperor had already retreated in fear, their eyes wide with disbelief as they watched the unbelievable scene before them---although in this era, any Imperial citizen has surely heard of demons. But not the Chaos Believers... Even among Chaos Believers, few have actually seen a demon.
Clearly, they were quite lucky.
"Hmph."
Duanmu Huai glanced at the demon ashes disappearing in his hand and snorted coldly. He knew what it was. When Duanmu returned to the Five Hundred Worlds, the Whisperer had once used this trick against the Limit Warriors, employing a large amount of virus code to attack and disrupt the network system of the Limit Warriors, cutting off control and communication.
Back then, it was also Lumiaire who handled the matter, forcing those virus codes into a corner and making the Electronic Demon reveal itself.
Wasn’t it Kiriman who eliminated those Electronic Demons back then?
And now they’re attacking the main database of this Hive City... Well, it’s clear it’s because of my arrival.
"Gather intelligence, continue."
Duanmu Huai issued the command, and upon hearing it, the Mechanical Priest, who was stunned beside him, finally came back to reality.
"Wait a moment, the Mecha Spirit is already overwhelmed. It won’t assist us without offering enough sacrifices for appeasement..."
While speaking, the Mechanical Priest looked again at the Contemplator before him. As a maintainer, he knew all too well how volatile this Mecha Spirit’s temper was. Not to mention it had just been attacked by desecrated junk code. At this moment, the Mecha Spirit could quit at any time, and according to protocol, one should strictly follow the ritual to offer pure data as tribute and humbly ask for its forgiveness.
Of course, Duanmu Huai could somewhat understand this procedure, much like running a program and hoping for a smooth operation by lighting incense and praying. You might not know what effect it has, but if you follow this, the experiment runs smoothly. If you don’t follow, it won’t run no matter what you do.
Though the principle is unknown, if burning incense and praying gets the program to run smoothly, then burn incense and pray... despite how foolish it might seem.
Yet in the next moment, the Mechanical Priest saw an unbelievable scene. Under the hands of the girl, the previously volatile Mecha Spirit was as docile as a lamb, obeying orders tamely unlike how he had to coax and coddle it. Lumiaire merely had to move her fingers lightly, and the Mecha Spirit obediently complied.
How could this be? She’s not even mechanized, just a mortal!
Just as the external logic circuits of the Mechanical Priest were about to short-circuit from this shocking scene, Lumiaire’s voice rang out.
"I have completely taken over the data library. Sir, which aspect do you want to investigate?"
"First, trace the route of the junk code attack to find the location of the assault."
Duanmu Huai was certain this incident was related to his arrival. Clearly, some shady individuals within the Hive City were already aware of his arrival and knew what he intended to do, so they decided to act first by erasing the Hive City’s data library to throw him into chaos. One must admit, it’s a good move; if Duanmu Huai didn’t have Lumiaire with him, anyone else would be powerless against this virus attack by the Electronic Demons.
But unfortunately, it’s not Lumiaire’s first encounter with such Electronic Demons.
"Alright."
Lumiaire’s fingers danced like playing a piano and then stopped.
"In the Hive City, district 326, Contemplator number 4891."
Duanmu Huai turned his head towards the Emperor, who also understood Duanmu Huai’s intention and hastily explained.
"I remember that’s a large workshop... mainly for producing corpse starch..."
"Mary, Satori, let’s go."
For Duanmu Huai, hearing this was enough.
"Ling’Nu, stay here and assist Lumiaire. Contact us if anything comes up."
"Okay."
Ling’Nu cheerfully nodded, made a V sign to Duanmu Huai, who then turned directly and strode towards the door.
"Emperor, please show us the way there."
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