Worth a Lot

Sometimes Li Fan felt that among the aquaculture associations jointly run by the natives, transmigrators, and the system in Lijia Village, he was the most reliable, cautious, and prudent in handling affairs.

Leaving aside Xuan Tian and Kun, just look at these two carp. They're clearly illegal immigrants, smugglers who steal crops from other companies' fields, yet they're both capable of causing more trouble than the other.

They just destroyed a parade float at an amusement park, which was bad enough, but now they're even moving police cars that came to investigate? Are they addicted to destroying ships? Or is this how the "gate" side handles problems? They can't solve the problem, so they deal with the people who created it? And...

"Didn't you just say that if you destroyed three ships, there would be cruisers jumping in...?"

Li Gan (Ya): "Don't worry, the situation has changed, and if that ship really comes, we will take action."

"... What? They've already set off such huge fireworks, and you guys aren't considered to have made a move?"

Li Gan (Ya): "Of course not. That was using the accounts of previous clients to forge smuggling transaction records, buying two cruise missiles from the lobby manager through shady channels, with 144 nuclear warheads as a bonus. Then they used the company's mothership, the one in solar orbit, to fire them out and deliver the goods."

As for the mines being hacked and having their coordinates changed, that's not our fault. 'Night Curtain's' shield was neutralized for half a second by an unknown ECM directional jamming, resulting in a nuclear warhead hitting and instantly destroying it. What does that have to do with us?"

"Wow, a nuclear bomb is a freebie... No, it's that simple?"

Li Kun (Crow) screamed, spitting out blood, "Crack! Crack! Crack!" "This is not simple at all! I'm so overloaded I'm having a brain hemorrhage!"

Li Gan (Ya): "Ahem, in short, the complete annihilation of the support team will definitely alarm the Third Division and the company. I told you to be more cautious before to avoid fighting both the company and the Security Bureau at the same time, but now the situation has changed."

Although it's unclear how it managed to do it, Qiongqi did indeed pull the souls—well, the main consciousness—of these agents from the virtual network and trapped them inside this sub-network, locking them in prosthetic chips. Now, the agents' physical bodies are all in a vegetative state, and the servers on 'Night Curtain' have been destroyed. The security department certainly doesn't know what exactly happened in this dimension.

Moreover, this support team conducted a covert operation, hacking into the company's private property through back channels—they were the ones who broke the law. Now that something has happened, the company can completely shirk responsibility. Furthermore, if the company conducts an internal investigation and discovers that it was their own smuggled prohibited weapons system that shot down the security department's frigate, they'd have to cover for us immediately, even just to avoid being implicated. Otherwise, who knows how many other things the Security Bureau will uncover? These days, companies that strictly abide by the law would have gone bankrupt long ago!

Of course, our presence will be exposed to the company's system to some extent this time, but it doesn't matter. We're using customers' virtual currency accounts anyway, and after all, a company is a business, so we can negotiate! At worst, we'll just make purchases ourselves! They want to develop online games, right? We can just spend money on them, can't we?"

Holy crap? This problem can be solved like this? Use the company's nuclear bomb to blow up the Security Bureau's ship, and then do business with the company in return? But then again, the company isn't running a charity, nor is it about protecting love and justice or maintaining peace in the multiverse. As long as there's money to be made, the Security Bureau is nothing to them.

And the hacker build sounds pretty awesome, right? Stealing nuclear bombs and building starships is so easy. Should I seriously start leveling up my Guiche account...?

"Awooooo--!"

At this moment, the Qiongqi above their heads emitted a coded signal. "Stop chatting while watching the fireworks! I'm still getting beaten up, come help me!"

Li Fan looked up and saw that the battle was still raging on.

Although the 'Night Curtain' was destroyed and the entire special agent team fell silent, temporarily losing system command, the eight combat mechs in the sky still had dedicated clone pilots who could still make autonomous judgments and engage in combat while offline. Even though they were no longer authorized to use weapons like plasma cannons for long-range sniping, they still had 'melee weapons' like plasma blade lightsabers for close combat.

In the short time that followed, Xiqu and Chongming, those two useless bastards, had been blown to bits. Their heads were severed by the mechs and carried by one of them, meaning the safety of the two agents' prosthetic bodies had been 'secured'.

There are now six mechs surrounding and launching wave after wave of attacks, ganging up on Qiongqi. Putting aside these specialized combat mechs, their physical capabilities are absolutely at the level of a war god or martial Martial God capable of tearing apart demons.

Those clone pilots, for example, have been undergoing simulated experiments in the virtual network since birth. They've long been accustomed to combat in various gravity environments. Their movement patterns and combat styles are beyond human; they've practically reached the level of "I am B-B-D-D!" They can wipe out the entire screen, slice through people like sticks, and destroy fleets with a flick of their wrists—the kind of ACEs they are!

Even with its steel-like body, Qiongqi's defenses would be shattered by a plasma lightsaber, and its ability to teleport using the Tai Xuan Gong would be useless. Against level four drones, cybernetic bodies, or chimera hybrids, Qiongqi could easily one-shot them with a single punch, achieving instant kill. However, these level five combat cybernetic bodies possessed reaction speeds, bio-radar capabilities, thermal tracking, maximum output, electric rotor limits, and mobility far exceeding their limits. They almost completely ignored the elusive Qiongqi, drawing their swords and slashing at it the instant it reappeared!

Conversely, while Qiongqi could charge in first and punch the mechs a couple of times, the alloy armor of these mechs was specifically designed to defend against naval cannons. You know what naval cannons are, right? Not counting those projectile cannons used to destroy satellites, even the worst ones are magnetic rail blast point defense systems designed to defend against nuclear warheads. A single projectile hitting one of those can destroy a meteorite; a couple of punches would be nothing to them!

As a result, Qiongqi could hardly tear through the opponent's armor without going all out. Even in a one-on-one fight, its claws were numb, let alone now being attacked by a group of people, it was also caught in a fierce battle. If the mechs hadn't been trying to cut open its belly to rescue another agent, it would probably have been torn to pieces by the swords long ago.

Six mechs were basically enough to solve the problem, so the other two mechs, carrying the bird's head, were protecting the agent and approaching the area where 'Heluo' lost signal to scan the ground for rescue. Ironically, the 'optical camouflage radar stealth infiltrator's special rubber-coated bodysuit' that 'Heluo' wore for self-protection had become the biggest obstacle to her rescue...

"So what do we do now? Should we take the hostages and run?"

Li Kun (the crow) cried out, "Slippery, slippery! Aren't you going to leave before the feast begins?! Ah! The company's counterintelligence department and security action team have hacked in together! I can't take it anymore! I can't hold on any longer! I've bought you thirty minutes! Ah! My eyes are blurry! I'm logging off now!"

Then Li Kun (the crow) fell to the ground with a thud and died.

Thirty minutes is quite a long time... Well, today's mental workload is a bit heavy. Although Li Fan can still hold on, Guiche is already struggling. Many of the nine heads that were split off have died, and the rest can only be left to Qiongqi to handle.

Of course, Li Fan had confidence in Qiongqi. So what if it was just eight level-five technologically advanced combat mechs capable of instantly killing demon gods? He believed in himself; Qiongqi, you can do it! If you can't win, can't you at least run away?

So Qingxu's primordial spirit encouraged him telepathically, "It's rare for an operation to go almost exactly as planned, and you've caused so much trouble. I'm giving you a chance to clean up your own mess, and then you'll have to burn an incense stick for a while! Otherwise, just wait and see how I deal with you when I have the time..."

Qiongqi let out a bloodcurdling scream to indicate that it had received the message, and went berserk again! The fiercely battling mech responded to Li Fan's earnest expectations!

Li Gan (Ya): "Wait a minute! This prosthetic body is covered in implants with location tracking. I can't block all signals and run around with it!"

"Open the skull first! Just remove the system chip separately and take it with you! This prosthetic body was specially made for hacking missions. The prosthetic brain implant should be installed in the posterior parietal lobe region. Pry it in along the tubing in the parietal groove! Be careful! Try to remove it intact! She's using a Level 5 network access pod called 'Heluo,' which is very valuable!"

Damn it! Looting corpses before the battle is even over?!

However, Li Fan now understands the importance of money on the other side of the "door." Yes, money can't buy sincerity, money can't buy happiness, money can only make people feel empty. But in critical moments, money can also buy two cruise missiles with 144 nuclear warheads, or even directly use in-game purchases to save the world, right?

Following Li Gan's (Ya's) instructions, he simultaneously manipulated Heluo and Zhang Xiang to cut open the prosthetic scalp and skull, reaching into the brain to rummage and pull out a chip the size of a little fingernail. It had a protective film on the outside and felt like some kind of silicone grease.

Li Fan switched to Blood Raven's perspective and took a look. "This thing is the system chip?"

Li Gan (Ya): "No, this is just a brain implant, a brain implant slot in the prosthetic vehicle. It's like a socket interface for prosthetic enhancement plug-ins. Different types of prosthetic enhancement plug-ins can be installed, replaced, or upgraded through surgery, such as network access pods, neuronal strong information processing links, drug enhancer injectors, and so on."

The network access module of 'Heluo' is located inside this brain implant, which requires more sophisticated equipment to open. Various chips are installed inside the network access module, with the system processing chip being just one of them.

You can think of the complete network access module as a monk's divine court, a personal terminal host, an information processing unit that integrates a supercomputer and a virtual gateway server, with personal memory, system chips, and processors all inside the access module. It can only be extracted and analyzed after our ship arrives.

I think that apart from the 'Ear Mouse' whose soul has already been bound by Qiongqi, the consciousnesses of the others should be temporarily stored in the subnet channel of 'Heluo's' access pod. After all, the memory and firewall of the Level 5 access pod are far superior to those of those low-quality prosthetic bodies. The hackers from the security department are so careful, even buying a monthly security system service for a small task, they must have written an emergency script to preserve the memories of the fallen team...

Alright, alright, stop touching it! The rest of the rotten flesh is useless! Swallow the chip and run! If you drag this out any longer, the security department and company executives will arrive and you won't be able to leave!"

"It wasn't me touching him! It was this kid's subconscious behavior! Fine, if you want it so badly, you can have it!"

So Li Fan stopped wasting words. He swallowed the brainspin with one of the crows, and the flock of crows flapped their wings and scattered into the air. At the same time, he gave Zhang Xiang two Blood Crow buffs, pecked at his head, drew a teleportation talisman, and made Zhang Xiang carry the 'rotten flesh' on his shoulder as bait and frantically teleport away.

Upon detecting the 'Heluo' signal and its rapid movement, the two mechs approaching from the sky were indeed lured away and pursued Zhang Xiang. With the remaining flesh of 'Heluo' serving as a human shield, and its movement underground making it difficult to observe, the mechs dared not use their lightsabers to cut through, lest they injure the hostage.

Although Qiongqi was left behind to cover the retreat, it wasn't fighting alone anymore, because after all the commotion, the Divine Cult had recovered.

"It's the Shangfang Divine Weapon of the Immortal Palace!" "I never imagined they could still produce such a divine artifact even now! The Immortal Palace! They are not to be underestimated!" "Set up the formation! Aid Qingyang Altar Master!"

Although they couldn't gain much advantage over the Xuanmen, when it came to attacking the Immortal Palace, the Divine Sect was truly formidable. Upon seeing so many "Shangfang Divine Weapon," they didn't retreat but instead turned their demons into a bloody storm to gain merit!

It must be said that the Divine Lord's Daoist techniques are truly a natural counter to the Immortal Palace Company system. Not only can his primordial spirit techniques inflict massive damage on the human soul, but the Blood God Child's body is also not something that a mere lightsaber can destroy. At most, some essence blood might be lost, but as long as a single Blood God Child can penetrate the cockpit, it can directly possess the clone pilot and shoot down the mech! Moreover, the various formations of the Divine Sect's Ten Absolute Techniques, once set up, are also incredibly powerful! Even if they can't directly destroy the armor of this combat mech, they can at least alter the surface environment and interfere with the mech's radar detectors!

Of course! These combat mechs are level five technology! They all cost money! How could mere natives handle them? Besides, the specialized clone mech pilots are no ordinary people! Seeing two mechs being enveloped and destroyed by the Blood Demon, they immediately changed tactics, moving at mid-range, analyzing and scanning the composition of the Blood God Child Particles, and firing a large number of smoke grenades.

These smoke clouds are specially formulated gel gas designed to obstruct optical aiming and deflect ion beams. The gas clouds also contain nano-signal interference particles that can deflect and attract smart projectiles!

The Blood God Child, rushing too fast, was caught off guard and crashed into these strange chemical products. His essence and blood were contaminated, and he could no longer condense and change form!

Meanwhile, the mechs hiding in the clouds seized the opportunity, changing the frequency of their plasma beam output—no longer lightsabers, but flamethrowers! Instantly igniting the dense blood clouds! Even if they couldn't completely annihilate the Blood God Child, this was more than enough to deplete their essence and severely damage their primordial spirit!

"Aaaaaah!"

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

Qiongqi, of course, wouldn't just stand by and watch the entire cult be wiped out, only to be surrounded and beaten up himself! He charged straight at the mechs, engaging them in a fierce and chaotic battle amidst lasers and flames!

It must be said that Qiongqi's physique is incredibly resilient. He fought the entire battle, remaining energetic and even growing stronger with each fight! Although he was grazed and torn by various plasma missiles and lightsabers, his muscles and body repaired themselves instantly, becoming even more refined the longer the battle went on! In the end, there wasn't a trace of blood or excess fat; his entire body was tempered to resemble transparent ice crystals and shimmering white jade. The scratches and battle damage became increasingly negligible, and even the scorching heat of plasma beams could hardly damage his skin!

"Aww! That's it! I can do that too! Azure Sun Great Transformation!"

Finally! Qiongqi seized the opportunity, leaping forward and using the smoke grenade as cover, burst into close combat with a mech! Grabbing the mech's legs, his hands erupted with bluish-white flames! He mimicked the mech, unleashing bluish-white sunlight swords from his hands! Piercing through the mech's joints! With a final, all-out rip, he tore the mech and its armor into four pieces! He achieved the achievement, 'Tearing a B-Bot Apart!'

"Hohoho hahaha! Awesome! Great transformation! Great transformation! Qingyang Great Transformation!"

Yes! Qiongqi also had an epiphany during the battle! It used the Tai Xuan Gang Feng to attack! It used the Qing Yang Guang sword to break through armor! And it used its demonic strength to utterly destroy the structure!

The remaining three combat mechs were clearly losing ground in the battle! They went from chasing and attacking Qiongqi to it launching a counterattack, tearing off one arm and another leg! They needed to support each other to avoid being shot down!

Meanwhile, the rampaging demonic beasts were suppressed Fourth Department, and the Blood God Child, who were coming to reinforce, were gathering in ever-growing numbers! They were actually setting up layers of formations, stirring up blood winds and seas of blood! They actually intended to finish the job in one battle! To capture all these Shangfang Divine Weapons who had caused such heavy casualties to their side and turn them into their own!

The Qiongqi's threat level only increases with each battle! Its strength, defense, speed, and combat skills all improve exponentially! The combat mechs, through calculations, have determined the ultimate solution to eliminate the target given the current weapon access restrictions: unlock the ultimate protocol!

Three machines attack simultaneously!

"That's it! That's it! Die!!"

Qiongqi unleashed a punch! Enveloped in the flames of Qingyang! It pierced through the enemy's defenses, obliterating a machine! Instantly reducing the pilot inside to ashes!

But the order had already been given! The mech grabbed Qiongqi's wings!

A second machine suddenly appeared! An assassination attempt from behind! A lightsaber strike pierced through the front machine and the Qiongqi!

A large hole was pierced in Qiongqi's chest! It instantly transformed into the wind and dodged away! The wound healed once more!

"Ugh!! What's the point?!"

A third machine suddenly appeared! But it wasn't aimed at Qiongqi! Instead, it pierced through the two machines in front of it with its sword! It even rammed its own cockpit into the lightsaber without any regard for anything! It seemed as if it still thought Qiongqi was being controlled!

Qiongqi: "Hahaha! Did you idiot?! I'm right here! Didn't hit it, didn't hit it!"

Then a blue aura spread out from the cores of the three mechs that had 'died in each other'.

Well, these days combat mechs use cold fusion reactor batteries. The advantage is that low-temperature fusion is stable and safe, but the disadvantage is that it's more complicated to operate when they need to self-destruct and go down with the enemy.

For example, in this scenario, Unit 1 would shut down the reactor shield, Unit 2 would stab the core with a plasma sword to disrupt the confinement field and break the core's equilibrium, and then Unit 3 would use a high-energy ion beam as a torch to ignite it.

Let the dazzling radiation do the rest.

Qiongqi exclaimed, "Damn, that's so dazzling..."

Boom--!

"Croak--!!!"

Li Fan was flying fast enough, but he was still swept away by the shockwave and almost crashed into a tree.

Turning my head, I saw a magnificent ring-shaped mushroom cloud rising slowly over Juelong Ridge. No, rather than a mushroom, from this distance, the golden column of smoke, reaching the sky and rising from the ground, dozens of miles high, looked more like a golden tree of boundless glory.

The hot wind filled the sky with leaves, scattering golden dust; after the ear-piercing bangs, heaven and earth were exceptionally quiet.

It was as if all the smoke, blood, storms, ambitions, grudges, and feuds had been swept away, vanishing like smoke under the heat and the swaying waves of the golden trees, disappearing into the distance, disappearing into the horizon.