With powerful backers and vast resources, the Cosmic Watchers of the Three Universal Civilizations could easily find a group of lowly scavengers.
The process went smoothly. To summarize the process, it can be summarized as follows: identity record matching - location tracking - cross-province arrival - opening the door to check the water meter - everyone clasp your hands together and squat against the wall.
The operation was performed flawlessly, demonstrating exceptional skill; it was clear that the person had done it hundreds or even thousands of times.
Inside the scavengers' small spaceship, Harrison and his group huddled against the wall, trembling and barely daring to breathe. The Federation of Light uniforms worn by these Cosmic Watchers had extinguished any desire for resistance in them.
At the bottom of interstellar society, even a small pawn of the Three Universal Civilizations is an existence that absolutely cannot be provoked—without the scale of a top-level power, daring to offend the Three Universal Civilizations is simply asking for trouble.
"What... what are you trying to do? We... we are law-abiding interstellar citizens."
The diminutive explorer's lips trembled, the rhythm like a fast-paced clapper.
The Federation of Light Observers pulled up a chair, sat in front of the group, leaned forward, exuding an aura of oppression, and said coldly, "Don't you know what crimes you've committed?"
What crime did we commit?
Everyone looked bewildered, racking their brains to recall if they had ever committed any illegal acts, feeling anxious and uneasy.
The short explorer suddenly shuddered and hurriedly blurted out, "I... I confess!"
"Oh?" The Federation of Light Observers turned to look at him, narrowing his eyes. "Tell me, what crime is it?"
"I... I anonymously hacked into the paid database of a local adult entertainment channel yesterday and secretly downloaded thousands of pornographic... cough cough, those kinds of movies, I'm guilty! I confess!" the short detective stammered.
The captain suddenly realized, "No wonder you stayed in your room all day yesterday..."
He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence. Everyone turned to look at the short explorer's unwashed clothes, their nostrils twitched, and they immediately showed disgust, taking a few steps away from him.
"..."
The Federation of Light Observers's facial features were as hard as steel, but upon closer inspection, one could see a faint twitching at the corner of his mouth.
Be serious, I'm interrogating you!
"Are you provoking me? Do you think I'm joking?!"
His eyes widened, and he drew his gun, pressing it against the short surveyor's head, intending to teach him a lesson and intimidate him. However, he paused, pulling the muzzle back slightly, not daring to touch the surveyor's skin for fear of contaminating the weapon.
"No, no, no, no—" The short explorer was both psychologically and physically exhausted, his whole body trembling like a leaf, and he went limp.
Harrison, also frightened, quickly said, "Your Excellency Observers, we are law-abiding and peace-loving. We never kill or set fires. We've only been excavating unclaimed ruins. We really don't know what crime we've committed."
"Hmph." The Federation of Light Observers didn't intend to make things difficult for this group. He sheathed his weapon, released the virtual projection of the triangular device, and solemnly said, "You unearthed this artifact of an unknown civilization not long ago and put it up for auction, but it was intercepted by space pirates. Those Stars opened this safe device, which caused a cosmic-level energy burst. That's why I'm here."
Harrison's heart skipped a beat.
Something really happened!
My intuition was right; this thing was no ordinary object, and it brought me further trouble!
But instead of being annoyed, he felt a surge of excitement and stimulation, a strong curiosity welling up within him, and he couldn't help but ask:
What's in there?
"The situation is still unclear; a thorough investigation is underway to determine the specific impact."
At this moment, the captain couldn't help but ask, "Wait, we've already sold this item, and we didn't open the device. What crime did we commit?"
"That's right, we're innocent!"
"You can't frame innocent people!"
The crowd immediately began to shout and gesticulate, expressing their righteous indignation.
"Shut up."
The Federation of Light Observers said coldly:
"The items you unearthed from the ruins pose a significant risk. Because of you, a new catastrophe could very well occur in the universe. Putting aside everything else, convicting you of endangering public safety would be perfectly justified, enough to send you to jail for life!"
Upon hearing this, the group of people immediately cowered, lowering their heads and focusing intently on counting the ants on the ground... even though there were no such creatures on the spaceship.
The Federation of Light Observers scoffed, "However, if you cooperate with our work, we can overlook your unintentional mistake. We need to investigate the ruins site, and we'll need you to lead the way and check your flight logs. Any objections?"
"No objections, no objections. It's an honor to work for the Federation of Light! I'm the ship's mechanical expert. If there's anything I can help with, please don't hesitate to ask. Don't treat me like a human being!"
Seeing that the situation wasn't as serious as he had imagined, the diminutive explorer breathed a sigh of relief and quickly put to use the skills honed over countless days and nights, beginning to lick skillfully, striving to provide excellent service.
"This..." the captain hesitated, "Should we leave a criminal record this time?"
The Federation of Light Observers dismissed it, saying, "That's for sure, but don't worry about it. As long as you hand over what you dig up to the state, there won't be any problems."
Everyone: "..."
Hand it over to the state? Are we really going to have to switch careers and become an archaeological team?!
This is outrageous! They're practically using this as leverage to blackmail us, trying to force us to compromise? Dream on! We absolutely will not accept their offer of amnesty!
--Unless the Federation of Light pays us a salary.
After reaching a physical consensus, the group led the way and soon brought the Federation of Light Observers to the desolate planet where the triangular device had been excavated, where they found the previous coordinates.
Harrison pointed to the detection footage on the screen and said, "This is it. There used to be an unknown civilization's ruins here, similar to a military base, but it collapsed when we left. There's also footage of the previous drilling operations here..."
The Federation of Light Observers nodded, dismissed his subordinates, and fiddled with more advanced detection equipment for a while, but his expression changed slightly.
To his surprise, the detection results showed that there was nothing unusual in the rock strata; it was all soil.
This doesn't make sense. Even if the ruins collapsed and were buried underground, there should still be traces. However, in the images from these advanced detection instruments, there were no ruins at all in the rock layers below.
"Are you sure this is the place?" The Federation of Light Observers frowned.
"That's right, you've seen the flight logs too, it's right here." Harrison also looked surprised.
This incredible scene reignited his curiosity; he couldn't understand how the ruins could have vanished into thin air.
Could it be that their digging was just a dream? But the unearthed device is a real thing, and everything about it seems suspicious.
Just as he was lost in thought, the Federation of Light Observers beside him seemed to realize something, his expression changed, and he muttered to himself:
"Could this phenomenon be the interference of High-Dimensional Information State with reality...?"
Harrison was about to turn around and ask a question when he saw the Federation of Light Observers abandon a few people, run to the side, and hurriedly report to their superiors.
Seeing the other person's extremely serious expression, Harrison had a bad feeling; it seemed that the seriousness of the problem was beyond his imagination.
On the other side, at the Sanctum Organization headquarters.
Luo and Fei received the notification and returned to the dimly lit palace to meet the Oathkeeper.
"You've arrived?"
In mid-air, the figure of the Oathkeeper floated, head bowed, speaking softly with a chilling tone.
The voice carried a powerful, oppressive mental energy, causing Luo and Fei to pause in surprise.
The two had known the Oathkeeper for a long time and were quite familiar with his behavior. This behavior clearly indicated that he was angry, something that hadn't happened in a long time.
The two couldn't help but exchange a glance, communicating with their eyes.
Luo (with a puzzled look): Boss seems a bit off?
Fei (winks): Maybe they didn't reach a deal with Black Star.
Luo (frowning): This shouldn't be enough to make the boss angry; there must be another reason.
Fei (with a curious look): What's the reason?
Luo (rolling his eyes):... Do you think eyes can convey such complex information?
Fei (squinting): That makes sense.
The two exchanged glances before bowing to the Oathkeeper and asking, "Chief, is there anything I can help you with?"
"Black Star knows our secrets!" The Oathkeeper's angry voice echoed.
"What?!" The two were shocked and immediately panicked.
Could it be because Black Star found clues during the last sneak attack, leading to the leak of the organization's intelligence?
If that's the case, then the two of us are guilty of failing in our duties!
The boss specifically called us over; is he going to punish us? That's probably it!
Thinking they had figured out their boss's attitude, the two panicked. Without daring to hesitate, they bowed their heads in trepidation and readily admitted their mistake. "This is all our fault. We made a grave error, causing the organization to be compromised. Please punish us!"
The Oathkeeper glanced at the two of them, softened his tone, and said in a deep voice:
"Don't misunderstand, your actions have nothing to do with this matter. Black Star has known about our organization's existence for a long time."
Upon hearing this, the two exchanged puzzled glances.
If we didn't leak the information, then who could it be? That was clearly our first encounter with Black Star; had we dealt with each other before?
At that moment, the Oathkeeper's chilling voice rang out.
"Stop guessing, there's a mole within the organization!"
"That's impossible!"
Luo was jolted, his face filled with disbelief, and exclaimed, "The one who leaked the information will inevitably suffer the backlash of the Soul Flame! Who can withstand that?!"
The Soul Flame is also a Primordial Esper Ability Entity. As the name suggests, its abilities are related to the soul and spirit, and the Oathkeeper is the host.
This ability is that of a master of manipulating souls, extremely dangerous, and ranked on the list of the most dangerous abilities. One of its abilities is the ability to prevent a target from revealing specified information. The Oathkeeper uses this ability to prevent anyone within the organization from leaking secrets. If anyone tries to forcibly leak relevant information, they will not only suffer a backlash but will also be immediately discovered by the Oathkeeper. This is why the Sanctum Organization has been able to keep this secret until today.
He used his Peak Beyond Grade A- level abilities to activate the Soul Flame, and the effect was extremely terrifying. Even Luo and Fei, two powerful individuals who had entered the Beyond Grade A realm, could not bypass the Soul Flame's surveillance, and leaking information would also result in a backlash.
Therefore, neither of them believed that anyone could betray the organization.
"Whether you believe it or not, the facts are the facts. Black Star exposed my identity right away, and I was foolish enough to think that the other party did not know about the existence of the Sanctum Organization. This matter must be thoroughly investigated!"
The Oathkeeper spoke sternly, shouting:
"Someone must have used special methods to bypass the Soul Flame's blockade and transmit intelligence to the outside world. Moreover, this person is of high status and must be a high-ranking member of the organization. We don't yet know if they are a core member."
Their expressions turned serious; this matter concerned the survival of the organization and could not be taken lightly.
"Chief, what do we need to do?"
"You two are my trusted confidants, and I trust you in principle. However, stability is paramount. I need to access your memories. Are you willing?"
Luo and Fei were immediately in a dilemma. Although the two had not betrayed each other, any superhuman would instinctively reject others invading their minds.
However, sensing the increasingly unstable mental fluctuations around them, the two swallowed hard and, to show that they had a clear conscience, had no choice but to nod in agreement with difficulty.
The next moment, the Oathkeeper slightly raised his hand, and two flames, as colorful as the starry sky, shot out and landed on the two people.
The two immediately sensed a unique mental fluctuation entering their brains. They exchanged a glance, gritted their teeth, and voluntarily released their mental barriers, leaving them completely unguarded and allowing the Oathkeeper to easily intrude.
Their memories were quickly flipped through by outsiders, scenes from childhood to adulthood flashing before their eyes, causing a slight stinging pain in their brains. The two gritted their teeth and endured the mental probe of the Oathkeeper churning inside their minds.
After a while, the Oathkeeper finally withdrew the mental probe from his body with satisfaction.
"Very good, you have not let me down." The Oathkeeper nodded and said in a deep voice, "The task of finding the mole is entrusted to you. I authorize you to thoroughly investigate all organization cadres. Report any suspicious persons to me, and I will read their memories. Until the mole is found, we will temporarily suspend all activities and go into hiding."
The two remained silent, nodding to indicate their acceptance of the mission. Their brains, still throbbing from the ordeal, throbbed with pain, and they couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
It seems the leader is truly enraged this time. If even trusted confidants like us are treated this way, what about the other officers...?
The two could foresee that this operation to catch the mole would definitely cause chaos within the organization.
The burst of cosmic-level energy could not escape the cosmic monitoring buoys set up by advanced civilizations. These buoys were like cameras spread throughout the universe, used by advanced civilizations to monitor the situation in their jurisdictions, with eyes everywhere.
The qualification to set up monitoring buoys generally belongs to civilized entities, and private organizations are rarely granted permission.
In the Ancient Star Desert, the Black Star Army's branch had little power and naturally did not have the right to set up monitoring buoys. Han Xiao, being far away, could not immediately detect the sudden phenomenon of cosmic-level energy surge.
The Observers of the advanced civilization reacted quickly, taking covert action to investigate the source and impact of the phenomenon, but they found little to no results and were unaware of what changes this energy outburst would cause.
Meanwhile, in the unseen world of quantum networks, information packets released from the triangular device are spreading rapidly through the Ancient Star Desert desert region.
This information packet possesses incredible camouflage capabilities, bypassing most intelligent firewalls and silently infecting one quantum network node after another, spreading like a virus, but without showing any abnormal reactions for the time being; it simply lies dormant.
Only a very few extremely powerful intelligent firewalls can detect information packets, such as the main intelligences of some advanced civilizations. Once detected, the information packet immediately initiates a self-destruct program, self-destructing and deleting itself, while simultaneously marking the impenetrable firewall. Other information packets will no longer risk coming over, as if a program to avoid strong attacks has already been set up.
As the infection spreads, the efficiency of transmission increases exponentially. In quantum networks, transmission is not limited by distance, and without anyone knowing, a vast number of quantum network nodes in Ancient Star Desert are infected.
At a certain moment, the information packet propagated to a quantum node and encountered the most powerful intelligent firewall ever encountered. As soon as it entered the outer perimeter of the node, it was scanned and detected, and the information packet immediately self-destructed.
However, at that moment, a surging stream of data burst forth from the node, enveloping the information packet. Just as it had self-destructed by six or seven tenths, the remaining fragmented information was intercepted in a flash.
The next moment, these data streams converged into a human figure.
Manison's Virtual Soul examined the floating fragments of the information packet before him with curiosity.
"Hmm, I've never seen this data structure before... What is this thing that's managed to infiltrate my branch base?"