Chapter 512 Adam's True Purpose, the Empire's Great Enemy
In the spacious office of the Empire's capital, Adam sat behind a large desk, his fingers sliding lightly across the holographic report.
Dozens of data windows floated above the desk, each displaying a different stream of information—from interstellar trade data to military deployment maps.
The quantum clock on the wall displays the time in different star fields, and its ticking sound is particularly clear in the silent office.
Adam's brows were slightly furrowed, and rapidly scrolling text and pictures were reflected in his pupils. This was the latest report from the Streamer Star Gate Node.
"…We discovered traces of a series of blockade traps, including dimensional blockade, spatial stripping, quantum interference, and super plasma fields…"
"Hmm...why's there such a big commotion?"
Adam was quite surprised. The incident happened half a day ago. He had marked a series of star gate nodes including the Flowing Light Star Gate Node.
Therefore, the imperial intelligence personnel summarized the intelligence as soon as possible.
Because of the scale of the attack, the federal government has sent people to investigate.
"An ambush of this scale is not something that ordinary people can prepare for. Someone is secretly attacking Li Ming." Adam rubbed his fingers, his eyes flashing.
He has reached the end of the report, and currently only has this information. He has no idea what Li Ming's current situation is.
Just as I was thinking about it, a communication request popped up on the window in front of me. It was Costat.
Adam's expression was slightly tense. He quickly answered the call and asked in a deep voice, "What's wrong? Is there something wrong in the deep dimensional world?"
"No..." Costat shook his head and explained, "Qinglong just contacted me and asked to speak to you directly, and... his attitude was extremely tough."
"Hmm?" Adam's heart moved slightly, "What's going on?"
"I asked him, but he refused to say anything and just asked to talk to you directly. What do you think..." Costat was unsure.
If it were in the past, he would definitely not agree, and he could even refuse it himself.
Can Adam just meet him whenever he wants? Even if he is an X-class life form, it is impossible.
But after returning from the Red River Star Stream, Qinglong's standards had been raised very high, and he couldn't make a decision.
"Transfer it over and use the encrypted channel." Adam thought for a moment and nodded.
"Understood." Costat nodded, and Adam's expression became restrained. The screen in front of him changed, and the signal began to be transferred and decrypted.
Soon, Qinglong's cold face appeared, and the light from the screen cast a shadow on his face, making his expression even more eerie and terrifying.
"Your Excellency the Holy Emperor..." Qinglong spoke first, and there was almost no emotion in his voice.
"Your Excellency Qinglong." Adam nodded, his expression gentle. "I heard from Prince Costat that you have something urgent to discuss with me. What is it?"
"The Holy Emperor doesn't know?" Qinglong asked bluntly.
"Hmm..." Adam couldn't help but frown, "I should know something. Your Excellency, could you please explain it more clearly?"
"Seven hours ago, my student Li Ming was ambushed at the Liuguang Star Gate node and his whereabouts are now unknown!" Qinglong's voice was cold and blunt.
There was no restraint because of Adam's identity.
"Li Ming was arrested?" Adam couldn't help but be surprised when Costat said this.
He had an estimate in his mind, and when he saw Qinglong's expression, he was almost certain.
But when Qinglong said it himself, he still felt surprised.
Heckler is so decisive this time?
He immediately thought of Heckler, but he was a little uncertain because he had not received any information about the mobilization of large-scale blockade equipment.
Unless it was Heckler's personal property, would he be willing to give it up?
Adam was thinking about it, but his reaction was not slow. He immediately frowned and asked, "Your Excellency Qinglong, are you saying that this was done by the Empire?"
"Otherwise, it seems the Empire has always coveted those under my command." Qinglong's attitude was extremely tough, staring at the Holy Emperor of the Empire: "I have never proactively provoked the Empire. Everything that happened before was a passive counterattack, including the Ryan incident."
"If the Empire dares to attack my students, I will retaliate at all costs!"
Adam's heart trembled slightly. It seemed... this time he had really touched the Azure Dragon's reverse scale.
But then he thought again that Qinglong was complaining about others. It was his fault that he always let Li Ming take risks.
Adam's face became expressionless, no matter what he was thinking.
But now someone has threatened the empire, and he cannot show any weakness. His expression is solemn:
"The Empire is not afraid of any threats or challenges. If Your Excellency Qinglong believes that this incident was committed by the Empire, then you can launch any revenge you want."
After Adam finished speaking, he added, "But I want to emphasize that no one in the Empire, under my instructions, would attack or kidnap your students in any form."
This guy… Li Ming frowned slightly upon hearing this, automatically ignoring the first half of the sentence. He then said in a low voice, “You didn’t give any instructions, but did anyone else give any instructions?”
Adam's tone softened slightly, even with a hint of helplessness: "This is beyond my control. The empire is too big, even I can't fully control it."
"What do you mean?" Qinglong frowned. "Your Excellency could have been more explicit."
"You should be aware of the Scarlet Wolf from a while ago." Adam hinted at something, but was vague. "Does Your Excellency Qinglong really think that I sent them? I'm not that stupid."
"Scarlet Wolf..." Li Ming narrowed his eyes slightly. It seemed that this Holy Emperor was not omniscient.
At least, he didn't know his son was dealing with me, and he thought I didn't know anything about Heckler.
"Not only that, I also refuted some people who intended to hold people accountable in parliament." Adam said helplessly.
"Someone?" Li Ming agreed with a tense expression. "Who is it?"
"Alas..." Adam sighed, looking even more helpless. "After all, we are all from the Empire. To the outside world, we are one and the same."
"Please do not ask who it is, but I will investigate this matter carefully. If it is indeed someone within the empire who did it, I will give you an explanation."
Give me an explanation?
Li Ming's heart moved slightly, he was evasive and vague, clearly pointing to Heckler, but he didn't say it clearly.
Li Ming pretended to be displeased, but Adam said, "This is my final bottom line."
Li Ming stared at him and said in a cold voice, "Since His Excellency the Holy Emperor has made such a promise, you should not mind cooperating with me in issuing an announcement."
"Announcement?" Adam immediately reacted and thought for a moment before saying, "If it's targeting the attackers, then the Empire is willing to cooperate with you, Your Excellency."
At this time, Li Ming's expression softened. "Your Excellency the Holy Emperor, my attitude just now may have been a little inappropriate. I hope you can forgive me."
"I understand." Adam nodded without caring.
After the screen went out, he was silent for a long time before he let out a breath with a hint of a smile on his face, which he quickly restrained.
"Heckler, you gave me a surprise this time. I thought you didn't dare to make a move, but it turned out that I had an extra trick up my sleeve. But it shouldn't be a big problem."
Adam couldn't help feeling a little happy. It was difficult to stir up conflict between Qinglong and Heckler.
Even with the natural conflict of the Holy Castle, Heckler was still quite cautious and reluctant to face the Azure Dragon directly.
As Qinglong was concerned about the empire, he was reluctant to break up with the Scarlet Wolf even though he had already come to his door. The most he could do was to detain the person and make him look disgusted.
But he blocked Heckler's channels to find other chosen ones and repeatedly provoked him with the corpses of the Terrans.
Even in recent parliamentary sessions, he has been ridiculed openly and covertly, putting pressure on him.
But he wasn't sure whether Heckler would accelerate on his own initiative.
He simply took action secretly, mobilized his own people, and gave instructions to Heckler's men, hoping to further intensify the conflict.
He knew that Qinglong was very powerful and unfathomable, and it was impossible for him to swallow his anger forever.
However, he didn't expect that it was a unnecessary move. Heckler was much more decisive than he imagined.
"Now, Azure Dragon's gaze will have to shift away from the Star of Eternal Silence." Adam was in a good mood, his plan back on track. His eyes flickered.
"When the conflict between the two further intensifies, I will simply pin down the empire's top combat power and let them fight."
…
"This Adam actually hinted that Heckler did it to me?" Li Ming couldn't help but feel confused after ending the communication.
He thought Adam would at most pretend not to know and then act with him.
But he didn't expect that not only did she leave a hint, she also made a promise to give him an explanation.
Adam seemed afraid he wouldn't be able to find Heckler.
He had a vague idea in his mind, and according to this guess, if Heckler really succeeded in capturing Li Ming.
Then Adam would certainly say helplessly that he could not control this person and the forces he represented, and that they were acting on their own.
If I had a stronger attitude, Adam might have said something like, "I don't care."
Moreover, he mobilized Heckler's men to deliberately sow discord and intensify conflicts.
"Are you going to use me as a knife?" Li Ming couldn't help but mutter, "But is it really necessary to go to such trouble?"
"They also gave me a significant voice among the pioneers, and even nominated me as one of the ten founding members of the Higher Life Forms United Organization..."
"It's just to guide me to deal with Heckler, not to this extent."
"Although they belong to two different factions, Heckler is still a force of the Empire. It's not like the Ryan incident, which can't be covered up."
"Besides, Heckler is only a representative figure on the surface, just like Ryan. Even if he is eliminated, the impact will not be as great as Ryan. It will not be so easy for him to use this as an excuse to take action against the House of Commons..."
Just as he was thinking, a guess suddenly emerged in his mind, and his face changed: "No, he is not just using me as a knife."
Li Ming only felt a flash of lightning in his mind, and all the past events were ignited like a snake in the grass.
Suddenly, he felt enlightened and finally understood what Adam wanted him to do.
"This is to turn me into an enemy of the Empire."
It was a powerful enemy, not a knife. Li Ming's face was gloomy and uncertain. The two were completely different.
The pioneers can be regarded as knives that can poke the rotten flesh of the empire.
But the limitations are too great. First of all, the qualifications of pioneers are not enough. The titles of navigators, guides, and creators are all secretive and cannot accomplish anything great.
Even if Adam acts as an insider, as long as their identities are exposed, their combined strength will not be enough to defeat the empire, and they are destined to only be effective temporarily.
In the initial tense situation, some of the empire's strength can be united, but once the true nature of the pioneers is understood, it will suddenly collapse.
Adam also needed a strong figure to act as the mastermind behind the pioneers.
In the end, this knife cannot be held in Adam's hand, but requires a real knife wielder.
If he had not used the Star of Eternal Silence to lead the Pioneers to the deep dimensional world, the Pioneers would still be causing trouble in the main universe.
The House of Lords represented by Ryan has fallen, and next is the House of Commons represented by Heckler.
If Heckler fell again, Adam would definitely not be greeted with submission.
Rather, it was a final attack launched by all the dormant forces in the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
Adam might not be able to solve this problem, and still need a powerful external enemy to force them together.
Adam has turned him into the person with the most say among the Pioneers. Once the Pioneers fall, Qinglong will naturally surface.
And what other identity does Qinglong have?
One of the ten founding members of the United Organization of Higher Life Forms and one of the three great masters of the Mechanics Association, he is extremely mysterious and powerful.
Killed Ryan, and maybe also killed Heckler, and many Imperial X-class life forms.
The portrait perfectly fits the kind of big boss who secretly stirs up trouble, and is a perfect outlet for internal conflicts.
Li Ming made deductions from a God's perspective.
Of course, the general process is definitely not as simple as he thought.
Adam's operation must be more meticulous in order to strike this balance and avoid a real implosion and lack of more details.
But he guessed that this was Adam's general plan, and there was even a final step -
"Kill the enemy, and all glory and power will be yours."
"But his plan was definitely not like this at the beginning. As things developed, he should have found that Qinglong's identity was simply too perfect." Li Ming paused.
As a fabricated identity, he certainly knew how useful Qinglong was. He could infinitely elevate and make it infinitely mysterious.
Adam didn't know that Qinglong was fabricated, but that didn't stop him from going with the flow.
After realizing this, Li Ming's first reaction wasn't anger, but rather an indescribable emotion, "Why make it so complicated? If you want me to act, just pay me."
"...Give me some Class X gene-seed and I'll kill anyone I want..."
Li Ming muttered something, then shook his head, knowing that this was a fairy tale.
There was no basis of trust between the two of them, and even if Adam really gave him an X-level gene seed, he wouldn't dare to use it.
"Take me as your big boss, you must hold on in the end." After figuring out Adam's purpose, Li Ming felt much more at ease.
In the short term, this guy poses no threat. Not only is he not a threat, but he can also provide a lot of support from him.
Restraining the thoughts in his mind, Li Ming did not open the smart terminal again, but switched the control object.
The next moment, he descended upon the Divine Craftsman Joint Experimental Center in the form of a virtual projection.
(End of this chapter)
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