"Report: Everything is normal in the shutdown area; there have been no further energy fluctuations since the shutdown began."
Outside the cordon in the West China Region, a large number of military officers, under the command of experts, began collecting data and strictly preventing people from approaching.
A large number of journalists protested on the periphery against the government's overbearing behavior, shouting that the public should have the right to know.
Under the cover of officers clearing the way, a middle-aged man pushed through the massive crowd and entered the cordon to inquire about the data collection process.
The man was exceptionally tall, and judging from the changes in his appearance, he was clearly born in the virtual world and held a high position. If there were any high-ranking people present, they would quickly recognize that this man was probably from the Wu Family.
One drawback of using genetic algorithms to generate appearances is that individuals with the same genes will appear remarkably similar.
"No trace of any fluctuations?" The middle-aged man looked seriously at the soldier who reported the news and carefully confirmed it.
"General, we've already checked three times, and there are indeed no traces left. There are reporters everywhere here now, and your personal presence will only attract more reports from those with ulterior motives. Perhaps you should head back soon?" an adjutant whispered a reminder.
"Hmm, let me take a look first." The middle-aged man paid no attention to his adjutant's reminder, but instead opened the data panel and carefully looked at the information reported by the experts.
Based on reports from all sides, it is indeed as the soldier said: once the West China Region was shut down, all surrounding data was normal, and there was no leakage. In fact, this should be the case; with the power off, even the most powerful digital lifeform couldn't do anything, right?
If there were anything else that could be done, it would defy the laws of physics.
But
The man recalled the intelligence he had received not long ago—an internal family report—that his niece had used a unique family key to access the network!
In the Data City, everyone leaves a trace when they go online, but there is an exception: people from aristocratic families like theirs. Their children have special channels and special IDs to browse the internet without leaving any official trace.
However, the family needs to keep track of its members' whereabouts, so once this key is activated, the family's internal network will know.
Each disciple receives a unique special ID, which is sealed away even after death. He remembered that Wu Xiaoli's ID had already been sealed away yesterday.
However, tests within the family revealed that Wu Xiaoli's ID showed signs of being restarted!
The family's initial assessment was that the data had been stolen, possibly by some extreme hacker group. Of course, there was an even more terrifying possibility that no one in the family dared to mention, not even he himself, but he still couldn't help but come to the scene to see for himself.
I'm probably overthinking it.
The man comforted himself, thinking that his niece's ID had indeed been hacked. Damn it, these blind fools are getting bolder and bolder. If he catches them, he'll definitely send them to the mental torture chamber and let them experience what consequences are like!
"Data collection must continue, don't slack off, there can't be any mistakes here!" the middle-aged man said sternly.
"Yes"
The man nodded, about to say something, when suddenly his personal AI alerted him that traces of Wu Xiaoli's online activity had appeared!
This caused his expression to change slightly. What was going on? Was it a trap?
Even a legitimate hacker wouldn't dare to use their niece's ID so boldly, would they?
"Have everyone continue investigating, don't overlook any details," the middle-aged man ordered. Just as he was about to leave, a voice suddenly came from behind him. "Is this the Wu Family's general?"
The man tensed instantly. The voice was unfamiliar, definitely not that of any of his soldiers. How could he have been so oblivious to such a stranger appearing behind him? Why were his soldiers completely silent?
He knew almost without thinking that the soldiers behind him had been killed.
How could someone wipe out a group of elite soldiers right under my nose without me even realizing it?
Are you kidding me? Even if Zhang Zhengyuan came in person, he couldn't have done this. What deadly thing is behind this?
With his head stiff, the middle-aged man slowly turned around and saw two figures in ancient costumes. His heart skipped a beat. They were indeed people from the Virtual Realm. What chilled him even more was that all the soldiers behind him had vanished without a trace!
What kind of method was used? How could hundreds of elite soldiers vanish without a trace at such close range?
Who are you people?
"My name is Wang Ye," the young man in black bowed and said, "Given the urgency of the situation, you were the first person I could find. Please forgive my intrusion."
Heavenly Secrets behind him glanced at Wang Ye with a complicated expression. This young man had really figured it out. No wonder Chen Qing always said this guy was smart; he was even smarter than he had imagined.
An ancient person, after only giving a brief explanation of the situation, was able to deduce the King of Qin's general objective!
Wang Ye speculated that the King of Qin intentionally created panic to provoke external pressure and draw the remaining domestic defense forces to the front lines. Then, taking advantage of the weakened internal defenses, he would find the only thing that posed a threat to him!
Yes, that's the final command post!
The ability to shut down a region's command center is the best way to restrain such a powerful digital life form. Judging from the King of Qin's personality, he would never leave such a hidden danger. Therefore, his first goal is actually very simple: to destroy the thing in the Central China Region that poses the greatest threat to him.
From the very beginning, his high-profile massacre of high-ranking officials caused panic and triggered a top-level alert, which subsequently forced the command center to shut down West China. All of these were his objectives in destroying the command center.
The command post had done something so significant that it would inevitably lead to accountability, regardless of whether it met the expectations of those high-ranking families. According to Heavenly Secrets, the command post was usually located in a hidden and encrypted location, and its coordinates could only be found through layers of approval, which would also allow contact with the general who was stationed there.
The higher-ups will definitely contact the command center afterward, which will be his best chance to reach the command center!
The series of deductions left Heavenly Secrets utterly astonished. He himself hadn't anticipated the King of Qin of Qin's purpose, yet Wang Ye, an outsider who had only just begun to understand the rules, was able to pinpoint the King of King of Qin's objective so quickly?
For the first time, Heavenly Secrets seriously examined this young man. Before, he only thought that the other party's Evening Elephant ability was very useful, but this time...
Such incredible adaptability, such exaggerated thinking ability—this guy is more than just intelligent.
"Where are my soldiers?" The middle-aged man suppressed his shock and asked coldly.
"They're all safe," Wang Ye said calmly. "I just sent them to a distant place; you'll be able to contact them soon."
"Send it to a distant place?" The middle-aged man was taken aback. Before he could ask any more questions, he saw his intelligent assistant contacting him.
Startled, I connected to the link, and immediately a familiar voice came through.
"General, where are you?"
"Where are you?" the middle-aged man asked coldly.
"We don't know either. It just happened so suddenly. A group of us suddenly found ourselves in the square outside, causing a commotion. We're surrounded by reporters now, and the scene is chaotic. General, what about you? Did you encounter anything strange?"
"It's nothing." The middle-aged man calmed down and said in a low voice, "Don't panic. There's nothing wrong here. You don't need to come over. Just calm things down."
"This"
"Um?"
"Yes, General."
After hanging up the call, the middle-aged man looked at Wang Ye in front of him, his eyes softening slightly. The other party had such terrifying methods, yet he hadn't killed anyone, so he probably didn't come with malicious intent.
"Who are you? Why have you come all this way to see me?"
"We come from there," Wang Ye pointed behind the middle-aged man, which made him tense up again. But he could guess that there was no one as powerful as the person in front of him, since all the characters in the virtual world were registered.
The other party's origin can only be from an unrecorded new world.
"May I ask, General, why have you come here so suddenly? Has a member of your family contacted you?"
Middle-aged man. "."