As soon as Manison finished speaking, the air in the conference room fell silent.
All eyes turned to Manison, their expressions filled with a "Holy crap!" kind of excitement.
Listen to this! Is that even human language you're speaking?
Han Xiao almost gasped, and couldn't help but look Manison up and down with a strange gaze.
"You really have fifty million carriers for the Dominion's avatars?"
"Perhaps I exaggerated a bit; it's just a figurative number," Manison chuckled.
That makes sense. These aren't mechanical soldiers, so how could so many be made? I don't even have five thousand... cough, fifty thousand of my backup Dominion clones.
Han Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief and subconsciously asked:
"How many exactly?"
"Forty-eight million one thousand and fifty-two... Oh, fifty-four now. There are two more 'm•hetushu•com•com' now."
"..."
The world fell silent.
Han Xiao's lips twitched; he was somewhat confused and couldn't understand it at all.
"No, I can understand you building a lot of mechanical soldiers, but what's the point of building so many Dominion clones? Only one can descend at a time, so it's a waste to have more. Will you even be able to use them all?"
Manison: "Oh, I lack a sense of security; it's better to build more just in case."
The world fell silent once again.
You, a mighty Mechanic Emperor, lack a sense of security? I fucking... fine, that's a very strong reason.
Aside from calling him shameless, no one present had anything to say.
Han Xiao just wanted to smash Manison's head in.
Is this showing off wealth? This must be showing off wealth!
Nearly fifty million Dominion clones? Are you even human? How rich do you have to be to dare to burn money like that?!
This is like they're trying to buy up all the ambush sites! Does having money make them invincible?!
Sensing the barely concealed resentment emanating from Black Star, Manison gave him a knowing look with a faint smile.
--Yeah, having money is amazing, thanks for the help, bro.
Han Xiao gritted his teeth and sent a private message to Manison.
"Stop trying to fool me! Creating tens of millions of Dominion clones is nothing but a waste!"
"Hehe, you're still too young. The Machine Race may lack other things, but they certainly don't lack machinery..." Manison smiled and stroked his beard, then added after a moment's thought, "And money."
Damn, I almost forgot you're a second-generation tech geek!
Big spender!
Han Xiao felt as if he had eaten ten lemons, and he gritted his teeth in anger.
"After all, it was my idea for this plan, shouldn't you at least show some appreciation? How about giving me ten million Dominion clones?"
"My clone is my size, and you can't use it, so what do you need it for?" Manison raised an eyebrow.
"I can rebuild from scratch; ten million Dominion clones wouldn't be a small amount of money for materials."
"Sure, you can trade it for the Space-Time Amber."
"Climb!"
Han Xiao's face darkened, and he decisively ended the private chat.
That old devil is always eyeing my Space-Time Amber, what a scoundrel!
As the two exchanged glances, the leaders of the Three Universal Civilizations beside them scanned back and forth between them, their eyes revealing strong suspicion.
One is the president of the Beyond Grade A Development Federation, and the other is the vice president...
--Are these two probably in cahoots, putting on an act?
Sidrun coughed, suppressing the urge to eat something delicious, and forced a smile:
"We are very grateful for Your Mechanic Emperor's generosity, but the battle plan hasn't been finalized yet, so there's no need to rush..."
"That's true."
Manison nodded, casually raising his hand to indicate that he was just saying it offhand, and that they could continue their conversation.
Sidrun then turned to look at Han Xiao and said in a deep voice:
"Lord Black Star, your idea seems good, but its feasibility is still debatable. First, we must ensure that the virus core returns to the quantum network before we can shut down the network on a large scale to control the other party's exit range. But how do we determine when it logs onto the network? You know, those virus packets do not have a unified time for sending feedback data, so we cannot determine the cycle of the virus core going online."
Secondly, we can't even pinpoint the core data form of the virus yet, making it difficult to track online. If it resides in a quantum network, might we be unable to find it at all?
"So this is just a rough idea, and we still need to refine the details, but the general approach should be feasible," Han Xiao said.
"These problems can all be solved. Now that we know the core of the virus is a life form, and we have its detailed information, we can use that as an anchor point to find out the time of its landing using prophetic magic," Kant chimed in.
Manison: "Regarding the core data pattern of the virus, I can provide some details. Although I haven't caught it, I've recorded the data traces it left during its activity on the quantum network. These are characteristic clues of the other party. By scanning and matching them, we should be able to pinpoint its data pattern."
After some discussion, the group refined the details and concluded that the battle plan was worth trying.
At this point, Sidrun made his final condition:
"I have one last question. Participation in this operation doesn't necessarily require mastery of the Supreme Virtual. Every Beyond Grade A mechanic should be capable of grasping the virus's core. With all the Beyond Grade A here participating together, the chances of success are even greater."
He didn't believe Han Xiao's nonsense. Beyond Grade A mechanics all have the ability to capture, so how could they necessarily need to master the Supreme Virtual Reality? It must be a conspiracy between Black Star and the Mechanic Emperor to monopolize it.
"We have no objection and are happy to help." The others present all gave their thumbs up.
Of course you have no objections. You have a chance to compete for the core position, what objections could you possibly have... Han Xiao thought to himself.
"Then it's settled for now."
Sidrun made the decision and said seriously:
"This plan still needs higher-level approval. The two responsible persons and I need to report to them. We should have results soon, and it should go smoothly. This operation will rely on the capabilities of all of you Beyond Grade A, so I hope you are all well-prepared. The safety of the universe is in your hands."
After deactivating the remote projection, Han Xiao's gaze returned to the office.
He bent his fingers and tapped them casually on the table, lost in thought.
All the Beyond Grade A mechanics are working together to capture the virus core. Everyone wants to seize the core, so choosing the ambush location is of paramount importance.
This is a matter of probability. The more clones you have, the greater the chance of ambushing the core of the virus. No one can compare to the Mechanic Emperor in this regard.
In contrast, Han Xiao has very few spare Dominion clones. It's not that he's short of money, but rather that making too many of these is useless to him. Only one clone can descend at a time, and they're basically used to guard the base.
Old Manison created so many clones; his intentions were clearly malicious. He probably wanted to one day rule over countless planets.
Hmph! Their wolfish ambitions are blatantly obvious!
"Manison's number of Dominion clones is probably more than the number of trap nodes. He's guaranteed to encounter the virus core and be invincible, while I can only rely on luck, and the others are in a similar situation..."
Han Xiao rubbed his temples.
There's no limit to the number of ambushers in the same location; Manison are everywhere, and you can't avoid them no matter where you go. It's just too difficult.
Once the Three Universal Civilizations have finalized the star map of the trap nodes, I'll have Harrison help me choose the ambush locations...
If trying to get lucky fails and you don't hit the core of the virus, then so be it.
But if we run into each other, Manison's clone will most likely be nearby, and I'll have to compete with him, which will inevitably lead to a situation where we fight rather than talk.
"We'll just have to see how things go when the time comes..." Han Xiao sighed.
If there's any advantage they have, it's that they don't need to worry about the survival of the virus's core.
Everyone else wants to capture him alive to analyze the complete technology of the Domino Virus, but I have the [Intelligence Plague] mission, and personally destroying the virus core will grant me a related feat... Given the characteristics of the Domino Virus, the related feat will probably be a virtual-level ability.
Although this would mean losing the opportunity to obtain the complete technology, upon closer examination, it might not be a good thing if this incredibly threatening virtual virus technology were deciphered by the Three Universal Civilizations or other Beyond Grade A. Moreover, even if he succeeded, it would be a hot potato, with countless people, including the Three Universal Civilizations, watching him closely.
However... Domino Virus technology could also become one of the weapons used to deal with the World Tree Civilization.
Han Xiao was torn between the two options.
"Forget it, it's too early to think about that now. I need to make sure I encounter the virus first, only then will I be qualified to compete with Manison..."
He composed himself.
Anyway, this will be a large-scale operation with a long preparation period, so I have plenty of time. I can set up more production lines and create as many Dominion clones as possible to place in more ambush locations, increasing the probability of encountering the core of the virus.
"Is this Black Star's intelligence?"
Meanwhile, the remote projections of the leaders of the Three Universal Civilizations gathered together to listen to the report from Sidrun and others.
Immediately after the meeting held on Black Star, the three Observers leaders briefed the three leaders on the operational plan through the only officially encrypted external communication channel, hoping to obtain their permission.
After hearing the whole story, Urranrell clasped his hands together in front of his chest and slowly began to speak:
"If Black Star's intelligence is accurate, he is a great hero in Explored Universe, saving us from disaster. Without his foresight, we would have paid a bloody price to discover the true nature of the Virtual Mutiny Virus."
"Yes, he was the one who came up with the initial idea for this plan. If we can capture the core of the virus because of this, Black Star will be a hero of the entire universe, changing the future of devastation he foresaw." Bader also expressed his appreciation.
"Black Star has indeed made contributions," the leader of the Arcane Sect said calmly.
Putting aside past grievances, the Federation of Light and the Arcane Church greatly appreciated Han Xiao's performance in the Intelligence Plague, considering him highly reliable and making significant contributions.
With that in mind, the three exchanged glances and nodded in agreement.
"We have approved this operation, authorizing you to mobilize resources from the Ancient Star Desert to execute this plan. Don't let us down."
"Understood," Sidrun quickly replied.
At this moment, the leader of the Arcane Sect suddenly said:
"There's one more thing: we must ensure that the core of the virus is ultimately under our control, and that no other non-direct descendant Beyond Grade A gets it."
"Indeed, Virtual Mutiny Virus technology is a weapon of war, far too dangerous. This technology must absolutely not be allowed to spread, or the cosmic order will be threatened."
Bader chimed in, adding, "Especially for Black Star and the Mechanic Emperor, if a Peak Beyond Grade A virtual mechanic were to acquire and improve this technology, it could potentially evolve into a more terrifying threat than the Intelligence Plague."
Even though Manison was an ally of the Federation of Light, Bader showed no favoritism.
Although all three wanted to acquire the technology, they understood even more clearly that preventing a fourth party from gaining control of the virus technology was a more important task.
From the perspective of the Three Universal Civilizations, such strategically deterrent weapons of war would only benefit the entire universe if they were monopolized by them.
In a Ancient Star Desert, a barren planet welcomes a small civilian transport fleet.
This is a legitimate interstellar transport company, small in scale and unknown, operating only a few fixed routes, with its business limited to several star sectors within the same galaxy. There is a small, Desolate Universe Belt here, and because of its small size, advanced civilizations have not established stargates, which has led to the emergence of many long-distance transport companies specializing in crossing this Desolate Universe Belt.
At this moment, the transport fleet slowly came to a stop in the outer space of the planet.
"Let's resupply here. This planet has fuel resources; let's go up and collect some."
On the main ship, a veteran captain who had worked for the transport company for many years was issuing orders.
At that moment, one of the explorers suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
"Captain, radar detection indicates that this planet is shrouded in a strange electromagnetic storm."
The captain was taken aback. He went to the porthole and saw that the atmosphere of this barren planet was constantly flashing with pale blue plasma arcs, looking like a faint electromagnetic shell.
"That's strange. I've been running this transport route for decades and I don't know how many times it has stopped on this planet. When did electromagnetic storms start appearing here?"
The captain muttered to himself, then leaned closer to the radar to check the detection results.
The energy structure of the electromagnetic field was displayed on the screen, and the more he looked at it, the more familiar it seemed.
"This electromagnetic field model..." one of the researchers hesitated, "Doesn't it look a bit like the bioelectrical network of neurons in the brain of a living organism?"
The captain was startled. Upon closer inspection, the structure of this electromagnetic field resembled a brain magnified countless times.
"Could it be alive? Could it be an electromagnetic life form?"
The captain was pleasantly surprised. This type of field life form has always been a rare life form, and it can be sold to collectors with special tastes for a considerable price.
With this in mind, the captain hurriedly gave the order.
"Quick, quick, find a way to catch it! This is an unexpected bonus!"
However, as soon as he finished speaking, the electromagnetic storm that enveloped the planet suddenly dissipated, vanished into thin air, and disappeared from radar, as if it had never existed at all.
The crew members inside the cabin were all taken aback.
Am I seeing things?!
The captain rubbed his eyes, looking surprised.