"Dignity"

Inside Elevator No. 7, which rose steadily.

After resting for a while, Zhou Zhengde got up and paced back and forth.

Wang Jixuan absentmindedly fiddled with the detector he had borrowed from the female officer, contemplating a major question.

Crystal cores.

The crystal cores of low-level Blade Beasts. The Spirit Gathering Array.

Those words kept flashing through Wang Jixuan's mind, and his exhilarated Dao heart gradually calmed.

For several moments, he had wanted to rush out, hunt Blade Beasts, and extract their crystal cores.

According to the rules of the Cultivation World, such deeds were always publicly declared to be slaying demons and defending the Dao.

But reason told him that he still knew far too little about the world outside the fortress. After witnessing Ling Tong's combat capabilities, Wang Jixuan had gained an indirect glimpse of the Blade Beasts' strength.

Moreover, in the previous introductions of Ling Tong, he had repeatedly heard one term:

Terror Mech.

Ling Tong's greatest value was that she was a candidate pilot for a Terror Mech. What Wang Jixuan had seen was not even the full extent of her strength.

Furthermore, through a few casual touches, Wang Jixuan had already realized that Ling Tong's method of becoming stronger involved draining herself dry.

Could I find a way to hunt Blade Beasts for crystal cores while using this world's technology to protect myself through the most vulnerable Foundation Establishment stage?

Wang Jixuan continued pondering.

This new discovery stirred his Dao heart, suddenly giving him a much clearer goal.

His initiative in offering to capture Kong Nu below had actually been motivated by his desire to use the opportunity to enter the Psionicist compound and search for those crystal cores.

—Crystal cores were used to infuse materials and produce Psionicists. This Psionicist compound had a set of basic equipment, so there was a strong possibility that it contained crystal cores whose spiritual energy had not yet been completely drained!

Daoist Wang looked up at Zhou Zhengde and advised, "Captain Zhou, get some rest. Save your strength."

"Mu Liang, I've been thinking about a few things!"

Zhou Zhengde glanced at the surveillance camera in the corner of the elevator and spoke sternly in a breathy voice.

"Don't take out those paper talismans of yours again. Try to use them only on yourself."

"Hm?"

"The situation is already out of control. More accurately, it's no longer under our control."

Zhou Zhengde said quietly.

"I didn't think things through. I never expected Professor Zhuang and Kong Nu to have set up a secret laboratory beneath the Black Fire Gang. This will definitely get tangled up in power struggles at the war zone level.

"If the Psionic Capital at 13th Institute Headquarters gets its eyes on your alien secrets, you're finished. We'd better study them slowly and in secret.

"What Zheng Shiduo explained earlier probably wasn't fake. I investigated and found plenty of fragmented information, all of which matched what he said.

"The Psionicist rebellion more than sixty years ago, the Psionic Council formed by SS-Class Psionicists... Ling Tong, the vast amount of information Zheng Shiduo possesses—none of it was known to us before.

"The Psionic Capital at 13th Institute Headquarters is a powerful force my maternal grandfather cannot fight alone."

Wang Jixuan slowly nodded.

If he could successfully cultivate under the fortress's protection for a while, that would naturally be the best choice.

If it truly came to it, he could also leave the fortress on his own and enter Blade Beast territory.

Though that would be extremely dangerous, and he might become a target for both the Blade Beasts and the human military.

That was his last retreat, one he did not want to take lightly.

After pacing for a while longer, Zhou Zhengde said softly, "I need to contact my mother and the Fortress Governor. We can't just get rid of Kong Nu."

Wang Jixuan asked in confusion, "Then what else do we need to do?"

"How about we fake your death?"

Zhou Zhengde lowered his voice to the barest whisper.

"Give me a name right now. I'll arrange a new identity for you and have your face altered directly in the Upper City. Only you and I will know about this. We'll have to keep it from Wei Na too."

"But scent can't be changed. Neither can biological wave patterns or biometric data."

Wang Jixuan shook his head.

"No plastic surgery, no faked death. Just alter Mu Liang's records. Change the name to Wang Zheng—the Zheng from expedition."

Wang Zheng was his mortal name.

Ji Xuan was his Daoist name, bestowed by his master because he enjoyed refining artifacts.

Wang Jixuan added, "If I decide this place is dangerous, I'll leave Fortress No. 76 myself."

Zhou Zhengde froze. "Leave? Where else could you go? The fortress is our last home."

"Hide in another fortress. As I recall, there are routes for transporting supplies between fortresses."

Wang Jixuan smiled calmly.

"Don't worry about me. Captain Zhou, you've already helped me a great deal. I'll repay you.

"Captain Zhou, are we heading directly into the Upper City now?"

Zhou Zhengde did not pay much attention to the word "repay."

He quickly said, "I need time to make arrangements in the Upper City. Besides, these elevators can only reach the Seventh Floor. To get from the Seventh Floor to the Sixth Floor, we need to pass a checkpoint."

"Fine. Then I'll go back and change clothes. I should at least put on my Combat Suit and helmet. Can you get me that Sniper Rifle?"

"Uh..."

Zhou Zhengde hesitated slightly.

"The Upper City is a training base for soldiers. We can't start a fight there lightly; it would be nearly impossible to cover up.

"I'll try my way first. If it doesn't work, I'll support you in taking out Kong Nu.

"And Mu Liang, if my method can't deal with him, let me fire the final shot that kills Kong Nu.

"The auxiliary chips on those Senior Researchers will capture images through their optic nerves and automatically upload footage of the killer to the Psionic Capital. It's also a method of intimidating Psionicists and everyone else."

Wang Jixuan nodded lightly.

He looked at the outstretched right hand before him, chuckled softly, and clasped Zhou Zhengde's hand firmly.

One hour later.

Third Floor of the Fortress, Psionicist's Home.

Kong Nu's fingers trembled slightly. He had to repeat the motion of removing his glasses twice before he barely managed it.

Over the past week, he seemed to have aged more than ten years.

Psionicist's Home was the collective name for the fortress's Psionicist compound. It was located in the northwestern district of the Third Floor of the Fortress, where a large restricted area barred Upper City residents from approaching. Yet no defensive fortifications were permitted there, making it look like a beautiful villa district.

Although the Third Floor of the Fortress was still more than a hundred meters below the surface.

Thanks to the sunlight-conduction devices spread throughout the Upper City, this place still received ample daylight.

The large office villa where Kong Nu currently sat was bathed in warm sunlight.

More than a dozen Psionicists stood or sat around outside the office, their lips pressed tightly together. Quite a few of them were injured.

The hundred-plus guards illegally recruited by Psionicist's Home were now lying in ambush throughout the area with loaded weapons, closely watching every movement.

The entire area was suffocatingly oppressive.

First, the Combat Machine that had suddenly appeared in the Lower City had obliterated every arrangement they had made.

Now, more than twenty armored vehicles sealed off every visible entrance and exit around Psionicist's Home.

Fully armed soldiers wore Exoskeleton Armor and carried powerful Electromagnetic Guns. They had set up sniper positions at every high point. Although no heavy weaponry was visible, this crisscrossing firepower could easily eliminate these D-Class and E-Class Psionicists.

This was the combat force mobilized by the Fortress Governor.

The method Zhou Zhengde had mentioned.

Right now, Zhou Zhengde was doing his best to persuade the Fortress Governor to issue an immediate attack order, while the governor and ministers were still waiting for instructions from the war zone.

The atmosphere inside Kong Nu's office had become terrifyingly heavy.

Ye Zi, now wearing a red dress, was being held by a plump middle-aged woman as she sat on the sofa in the corner of the office. Two older young women sat beside them.

They were Kong Nu's family.

Or rather, the new family Kong Nu had accepted.

Ring!

Kong Nu snatched up the telephone at the corner of his desk, and the Psionicists outside the office all looked in at once.

A weary elderly voice sounded from the receiver.

"Ling Tong has already found it. The people I sent were subdued by Ling Tong. You're ridiculous, Kong Nu. You didn't even install a self-destruct device in a laboratory like that!"

Kong Nu's Adam's apple trembled several times. "The lowest-level self-destruct mechanism might have damaged the fortress's outer protective structure... Professor Zhuang... And I did install one, but the signal was lost a few months ago..."

"Wonderful, excellent work! They now have perfect control over my weakness. I just handed over control of the Psionicists in War Zone D5! Now I'm just a useless old man doing pure research!"

The old man on the other end sighed.

"I admit that the experiments I conducted were immoral and carried some risk, but those were costs that had to be borne for psionic science to advance.

"But you went too far, Kong Nu.

"Was an E-Class Psionicist worth paying such a steep price? You actually went and threatened the Commander-in-Chief's grandson.

"I'm truly baffled, Kong Nu. It's understandable that an old man like me on the front lines didn't know where the Commander-in-Chief had settled his family, but you were inside Fortress 76 and still didn't know where that mother and son were! Have you never even shared a drink with your Fortress Governor?"

Kong Nu laughed bitterly. "So, Professor, after striving for more than thirty years, I, Kong Nu, still lost to those powerful elites?"

"Interpret it however you like. Do you think the Commander-in-Chief is merely one of the elite? He has saved this one-twentieth of humanity many times."

The old man said helplessly.

"I understand your desire to enter the Psionic Capital. That is your ideal, though it is an ideal born after you were brainwashed.

"For the sake of our friendship over so many years... I'll give you one more warning.

"Don't board the aircraft you called in. The war zone has already prepared to kill you in the air. That aircraft has been locked on.

"An air crash is the simplest way to erase every trace of a Senior Researcher, and the Psionic Capital would have a hard time investigating it.

"Go hide in Fortress No. 82 first, with your old lover. Those Psionicists from Fortress No. 82 are waiting for you at Fortress Gate 9. You have a way to get there, don't you? The intelligence I received says you've been surrounded. I'm helping you stall them, but I don't dare talk too much now. I can't delay them for long.

"The Commander-in-Chief will really shoot me dead!

"As for that E-Class Psionicist—the Mu Liang you named Black Storm—what else do you know?"

Kong Nu said quietly, "Professor, all I know is that he is definitely not a Psionicist from our 13th Institute sequence."

"Interesting. Has the military broken through the infusion technology? Then we're all finished."

The old man gave a bitter laugh.

"The Psionic Capital is planning to express strong dissatisfaction over the Psionicist massacre at Fortress 76.

"They will probably make an example of that E-Class Psionicist, but it no longer has anything to do with me... I'm honestly impressed!

"Kong Nu, just how much of the funding I gave you did you embezzle? You even cut corners on the laboratory's self-destruct mechanism? You're far too greedy, my student! I suddenly have nothing left! Nothing!

"Forget it. I wish you safety. Your academic standards are still quite good."

The other side hung up.

Kong Nu lowered his head and rubbed his brow, squeezing his eyes shut hard before looking toward the corner.

"Wife, take the children to Gate 9. Go now. Someone will take you to Fortress No. 82."

"Old Kong," the middle-aged woman asked softly, "what about you?"

"I'll wait for that aircraft locked onto by missiles."

Kong Nu spoke quietly.

"Where else can I hide? Without Professor Zhuang's secrets, what value do I have left?

"I originally wanted to use those places below to threaten Professor Zhuang and make him secure our entry into the Psionic Capital. It's useless now.

"The Biological Affairs Minister of Fortress No. 76 should have a final shred of dignity."

He looked at Ye Zi, whose little face was full of confusion, and sighed softly.

"I'm sorry, Ye Zi. I can't take care of you anymore."

The middle-aged woman gathered Ye Zi and her two daughters into her arms, sobbing quietly.

Ye Zi's eyes reddened slightly.

There was no prolonged farewell. Kong Nu pressed a button, and several Psionicists entered from outside, swiftly leading his family away through a hidden door.

Kong Nu added, "Everyone, return to your residences. Don't worry about what comes next. I ordered you all to do everything. Don't resist the searches... We've worked together all these years. You've had it hard."

The Psionicists outside the office said nothing more and silently dispersed.

"Ah..."

Kong Nu sighed, opened a drawer, and took out a treasured cigar. He lit it with practiced movements, then set a photograph before himself. It showed an elderly woman in a red sweater.

He silently smoked the cigar, his eyes carrying a trace of nostalgia.

Ding, ding!

A Text Exchanger kept vibrating.

[Old Li: Everything is in place. Come quickly.]

Kong Nu narrowed his eyes at it, set the cigar by the desk to smolder slowly, and then broke into a grin.

He grabbed the briefcase hidden beneath his chair and quickly stood up. Walking to the bookshelf beside him, he pushed it aside to reveal a narrow passage slanting downward, connected behind it to a ventilation duct slanting upward.

"To hell with dignity."

Kong Nu rushed inside in quick strides, swiftly stripping off his suit.