Chapter 214: Disaster in the Distance: Astute Asmara
"Do you think they will clear out the Land of Stars in advance?" Ulrich couldn't help but ask when he saw Li Ming's thoughts.
"It's just a sudden thought." Li Ming did not deny it.
"That's not impossible." Theo suddenly said, and the reckless Sandro's eyes became more serious. "Gray Eyes, if you know something, just say it directly. Don't be so secretive."
Theo shook his head and pinched out a virtual screen. It was a news report with a black circular logo in the upper left corner - Xingyuan Times.
"…At 7:13 AM, Grand Duke Guyar, who was on an inspection tour of the Empire's Semosla star cluster, the Baprol system, on the planet Klint, was assassinated."
"An ultra-long-range orbital-class sniper bullet pierced Grand Duke Guyar's shoulder. At 1:00 PM, the Empire issued a statement stating that Grand Duke Guyar's life was not in danger and that the assassin would be pursued vigorously."
"A big shot from the Xingyuan Empire was assassinated?" Sandro was surprised, then grinned: "He deserved it. I wonder who was so bold as to assassinate him."
"That means he wasn't killed. If he was, wouldn't the Xingyuan Empire go crazy?"
Ulrich frowned and looked at the news on the screen. He had been busy with the aftermath work these past two days and had no time to pay attention to news from the outside world.
It was also because Huo Tan was dead, otherwise such big news would definitely be reported to him. Thinking of this, he felt a little depressed again.
"Not dead yet, but almost dead." Theo turned off the screen and said lightly.
Ulrich came back to his senses. "What do you mean?"
Li Ming also looked over.
"That bullet was coated with informational poison. Even if it only slightly penetrated his body, the poison would have spread and wiped him from the universe," Theo explained. "The Xingyuan Empire temporarily constructed an informational stabilization device to keep him in a state of neither death nor life."
"Is the Xingyuan Empire just trying to show off its wealth?" Sandro sneered. "It's an established empire, but it's not that great."
"This is because the Xingyuan Empire has not yet figured out who is behind the attackers and is unsure how to deal with them, so it is temporarily suppressing public opinion." Theo explained casually.
Li Mingze asked, "What does this have to do with the Land of Stars?"
Theo was rather helpless. "The Xingyuan Empire issued a joint investigation notice, and many star clusters responded. According to the information I received, the attacker seems to be fleeing along the Red River Star Stream."
"The Yitlan civilization may respond to the Xingyuan Empire's call and deploy defenses in advance."
"Fuck!" Sandro cursed. "Won't he be hanged all the way to escape?"
"It's an unexpected disaster." Ulrich shook his head, feeling more and more unlucky that he could encounter such a thing.
Li Ming was also quite speechless. "I hope the Torch Organization won't make us wait too long."
However, Theo explained, "I'm just speculating. Although the Xingyuan Empire issued a large-scale joint investigation notice, it didn't require these civilizations to respond."
"The Itlan civilization will probably still follow their own battle plan. There are so many people in the Silver Star Cluster watching them. With such a large scale, even if they wanted to launch a surprise attack, it would be impossible. Don't worry."
Sandro breathed a sigh of relief and said nonchalantly, "The worst that can happen is we can just run away early."
"If you ask me, we should hide in the Red River Star Stream now."
Theo shook his head: "Once we enter the Red River Star Stream, all external communications will be cut off, and we will be in a passive position."
Sandro just said it casually and continued the previous topic, "Who is this attacker? Do you have any information?"
Theo pondered and said, "Not yet. It is said that the Xingyuan Empire wanted to retrieve information from the black hole network, but was rejected."
While the few of them were talking, Li Ming's eyes were distracted, and he was thinking about another thing. He wanted to build more main ship-class gun turrets.
Although the number of shots is limited and needs to be charged in advance, it is indeed very powerful.
No matter what, we have to stockpile enough to kill A-level life forms in one go, so that we can feel more secure.
However, main ship-class turrets are not easy to build. He checked on the Black Hole Network and found that including miscellaneous transportation costs, one gun would cost 400 to 500 million star coins.
And his current balance is less than 10 million.
"Ulrich's fleet consists of transport ships, with a few armed frigates at best, and the main guns on them are not up to standard at all."
"I heard that Sandro has a large battleship, but it's too far from here. Theo also has one... but..." Li Ming thought, and it seemed that there was nowhere to steal.
“tnnd!”
Suddenly, Sandro roared, his eyes nearly popping out of his head, and he gnashed his teeth and said, "Damn Alphonse, how dare you take my floating island while I'm away!"
Li Ming looked over and saw Alphonse, one of the other two A-level life forms in the Land of Stars. He came from the Lasos Cluster and was mainly engaged in human trade.
"You're tired of living! Do you think I have no one under my command?" Sandro snorted coldly. "Guys, we're all in the same boat now. How can we let him bully us?"
Ulrich looked at him indifferently. "This is your business. What does it have to do with us? If you want to go back and get your revenge, no one will stop you."
Theo remained silent, his attitude was very clear. They were just tied together temporarily. Did they really think they were good friends who helped each other?
"Forget it, I have something else to do, so I'll go back first." Li Ming stood up and went upstairs leisurely.
His top priority is to become a Class B life form as quickly as possible, and he has no interest in doing this thankless job.
Following Sandro, it might be possible to steal the main gun, but the obstacles are also great. There are several A-level life forms watching, which is not very convenient and not worth it.
"You..." Sandro's face looked ugly. He turned around suddenly, but didn't even walk out of the door. He snorted coldly and turned back.
He really didn't dare to leave casually, for fear that these three guys would abandon him as soon as he left.
Li Ming noticed Sandro's little movement out of the corner of his eye and couldn't help shaking his head. He returned to the room and continued to develop the gene seeds.
Without any other distractions, Li Ming continued to develop gene seeds. Even after exceeding 60%, the development speed slowed down.
But the time spent makes up for it, and it still maintains a terrifying speed of more than 1% development progress per day.
Three days later, his development progress reached 82%. Looking at the screen in front of him, his eyes flickered. Ford contacted him again.
However, the conversation message sent to him surprised him.
"Fuck, what did Asmara talk to you about last time? Did you let anything slip?"
Li Ming stroked his chin and typed a "?"
"My smart terminal was confiscated a few days ago. I thought it must be because of you. Didn't she try to trick you?"
"Or did you not see it? Impossible?"
"Tsk..." Li Ming was quite surprised and a little puzzled. "He did talk to me. There was something strange in his words, but I didn't talk much."
"I knew it!" Ford seemed very angry. "It's a good thing you noticed it."
"Why did I return the smart terminal to you?" Li Ming asked.
"After all, I'm the son of Prince Baijan. My father and Asmara haven't been at odds for a long time. I haven't committed any crime. How dare she confiscate my smart phone and hold me like a prisoner? How could my father let this go so easily?"
It seemed reasonable, Li Ming looked at the response, but he and Ford had a relationship of mutual benefit, and there was no trust to speak of.
In other words, as long as you can benefit from this Ford, does it matter whether the other party is Ford or not?
Ford continued, "The confiscation of my smart terminal has a lot to do with you. Is the prototype of the nano armor your teacher wears from the Ascendant civilization? Does your teacher have a way to enter the Ascendant ruins?"
Li Ming didn't respond immediately, and then received another message.
"I'm keeping a close eye on this. I have to let my father see the value. What do you want?"
Li Ming's lips curled up slightly, this tasted a little familiar.
On the other side of the screen, Asmara, Prince Baijan, and even Ford, who was sweating profusely, were all looking at the big screen.
In the intelligence studio, everyone held their breath until a message popped up on Li Ming's side. "I want to know if Asmara has been investigating Isius's death?"
Ford felt numb all over and looked dazed. He could only hear a series of discussions coming from his ears.
“Assessment of the confidentiality level of the issue…”
"Preliminary analysis indicates an 85% probability that this is not the first time the two have exchanged information. Given the confidentiality of the other party's questions, there is a 70% probability that previous information transactions have infringed upon relevant civilizational interests."
"As expected..." Asmara chuckled, "What close friends? It's just an exchange of interests. Baijiang..."
Prince Baijan had an unpleasant expression on his face, and his cold eyes swept across Ford, who looked dazed.
Ford gritted his teeth secretly. Asmara was such a vicious woman. After the last time her "best friend" had a personality conflict, she directly turned it into an "exchange of interests".
The key point is that she guessed it almost right.
"As far as I know, Asmara has indeed been secretly investigating this matter. Also, someone from the Xingyuan Empire is suspected of being involved, but I'm not sure."
Li Ming looked at Ford and responded, "People from the Xingyuan Empire?"
Why is Isius so highly regarded?
He pondered for a moment and replied, "Yes, that armor was indeed obtained by my teacher from the ruins of an Ascendant civilization, and then repaired and transformed into nano armor."
"As for whether there is a way to enter the Ascended Ruins, I'm not sure either."
"uncertain?"
"Your answer is too ambiguous."
Ford was roaring in his heart. This was obviously not my tone.
To be more precise, this was not the tone he used when talking to Li Ming. Although he didn't want to admit it, he and the other party were in a weaker position in the conversation.
Can't this guy see it?
"The answer you gave me was equally ambiguous." A message popped up on the screen.
Asmara thought for a moment, a look of complete control on her face, then raised her hand and gestured, "Tell him about Scenario One."
"Never mind. I have a message for you. Professor Wu Yanqing has escaped, and Asmara is now hunting him. He seems to have taken away something precious, something related to the Ascended Ruins."
Li Ming raised his eyebrows slightly, swiped sideways to open the friend page, and found Wu Yanqing's account. There were several unanswered messages, mainly asking where he was.
The most recent one was from more than a month ago.
Old Wu defected?
Li Ming frowned slightly and squinted his eyes: "Then I will also give you a message. My teacher has found out who is standing behind Theo from the Xingyuan Empire."
Ford's heart suddenly jumped, and Prince Baijan's face changed slightly. He had known the news for a long time, but did not tell Asmara, and even asked Ford to keep it secret.
As expected, when Asmara saw this line of words, her control over everything was broken. She frowned, looking shocked and doubtful, and then looked coldly at Prince Baijan.
"What's going on?" she asked in a cold voice.
Prince Baijian hesitated, but he knew that since Li Ming had exposed him, he could no longer hide it, so he said, "Theo, the gray eye of the power of the stars, lost something not long ago. It is the [Flower of Casablanca]."
"What!?" Asmara's pupils suddenly lit up with a quiet light, and she understood many things in an instant.
The strange look was quickly concealed, but his expression became even colder.
"Found out? Who is it?"
Ford asked impatiently.
Li Ming smiled slightly, "I want a main battleship-class gun turret, including a complete energy generator, without too much damage."
"What do you want that for? What else is that turret good for besides being on a warship?"
"Don't worry about that. Do you agree to this deal?"
Everyone looked at Asmara. Ford vaguely felt that something was wrong. It seemed that he had not asked Li Ming to check the information about the person behind Theo.
"Ask him where to send him?" Asmara said in a deep voice.
"I'll find a way. Where should I send it to you?"
"The Land of the Stars."
Asmara's sharp eyes flashed, and the conversation continued.
"You are also in the Land of Stars?"
"Don't worry about that. The items have been delivered, and I've given you the news. I don't have much time to wait. I want it within fifteen days."
"Fifteen days is too short. It's not enough time. Including planning, it will take at least a month."
"Friendly reminder, the Black Hole Network is available for purchase."
"Promise him!" Asmara suddenly spoke. Many intelligence personnel were stunned for a moment, and then acted quickly.
"I understand. Give me the detailed address."
Prince Baijan couldn't help but remind Asmara, you are too anxious.
"What you should be concerned about now is your son's treason." Asmara's voice was cold.
Ford's eyelids twitched wildly, and he couldn't help but say, "Commander, this is an accusation without any basis."
He now seriously suspected that Li Ming had noticed something was wrong and was using Asmara to make some money.
The mimicry personality imitated him perfectly, but the problem was that he had more than one or two handles on Li Ming.
The leak of the Evolution Theory and the Liberation Records, and the video pledging allegiance to the Torch Organization.
All these things made him feel less confident when facing Li Ming, and the two sides were not on equal footing at all.
But he couldn't explain this.
Asmara ignored him, her expression uncertain. "Where's Wu Yanqing?"
"There is no information yet." The subordinate reported.
(End of this chapter)
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