Forty Millenniums of Cultivation

Hearing what Han Baling said, Jin Xinyue suddenly covered her mouth and said in a shivering voice, “According to Lei Yuqin, the director of Deep Blue Super Brain Hospital, my father’s brain was highly unstable and still prone to outbreaks of ‘cerebral sclerosis’ and the sequela of his hibernation. Special medical liquids needed to be injected every day, and remote surveillance and treatment via the Spiritual Nexus were also necessary. Meanwhile, he had to be sent back to Deep Blue Super Brain Hospital every three months for a full physical examination and to replace the dead and pathologic parts of the brain with the synthesized brain tissue that was 3D printed molecularly! Was—Was it—”

Everybody was greatly alarmed.

Had they not known Lei Yuqin’s real identity and the secrets about Deep Blue Super Brain Hospital, all those measures would have passed as normal medical approaches.

But since Lei Yuqin had been possessed by the extraterrestrial devils, and Deep Blue Super Brain Hospital was their greatest lair, the purpose behind all those measures was blatant.

“That’s right,” Han Baling said. “Through the remote surveillance and treatment every day, the extraterrestrial devils would be able to grasp most of what was on your father’s mind and everything that he saw, heard, and said. His conversation with you was the most critical thing of all. The extraterrestrial devils wouldn’t have left out half a second of the memory.

“The full physical examination every three months was perhaps meant to check if the ‘barriers’ set up deep inside your father’s brain were holding steady and if he was still completely under their control.

“Or maybe they injected new viruses into his brain.

“Control and communication are always bidirectional. While the extraterrestrial devils manipulated your father, your father must’ve known that he was manipulated by some sort of evil and creepy force.

“But he couldn’t tell you the truth. Even a hint the size of the tip of a needle would likely have been discovered by the extraterrestrial devils, which would lead to brainwashing, sealing, and controlling of a deeper level. Or even worse, just like what you feared just now, his self-awareness would’ve been wiped out, and an enormous, complicated database would assume his place, building an artificial intelligence that was very similar to your father!

“Caught in such desperation that had absolutely no escape, your father could barely resist, but as the one who drafted and implemented the Red Tide Plan and fixed the chasm between humans of demons solely on his own, he would absolutely resist in his own way and make the extraterrestrial devils who manipulated him pay a terrible price!

“Imagine it yourself. How would you have resisted if you were Jin Tuyi under such circumstances?”

Everybody was deep in thought. When standing in the shoes of Jin Tuyi, they all felt the chilling, overwhelming horror.

Li Yao swallowed hard.

If he were Jin Tuyi, this would have been the fate that he was faced with…

Because of brain sclerosis and hibernation, he gradually lost his clear mind and willpower. His soul slowly sank in a sunless swamp, and he lived in ignorance for decades.

One day, he was suddenly more awake, only to discover that his limbs and body were gone. The only thing left was a highly-degenerated, half-broken brain.

But even the brain had fallen to the hands of the extraterrestrial devils, which had implanted many kinds of barriers, seals, and viruses into it while they repaired it through the technology of 3D molecular printing. Almost every brain cell was now under their control.

He knew that the extraterrestrial devils had a scheme, one that would destroy his lifelong efforts, the mutual hope of humans and demons, and above all… his daughter!

But he could not talk. He could not even think about it because the extraterrestrial devils would perform a full physical examination on his brain and soul periodically. He could not allow the extraterrestrial devils to discover that he had the slightest will and ability to resist. Otherwise, even the slightest resistance would have been blown up like the soap bubbles in sunlight.

Then, was it possible to tell his daughter the truth without considering anything else and persuade her to abandon the Dim Moon Plan immediately?

It was not an option, either.

First of all, the invasion of the Black Wind Fleet was unavoidable. If the main force of the Black Wind Fleet was not destroyed cleanly and neatly in a space battle, the Star Glory Federation would have been dragged into a prolonged war. It would have been destroyed by a second or third expedition army from the Imperium of True Human Beings even if it were not destroyed by the Black Wind Fleet.

Seemingly catching his last breath for another few decades was certainly not the ending that Jin Tuyi wished to see.

Secondly, the extraterrestrial devils were mysterious, unpredictable, and unsubstantial. Even if their scheme was revealed, as long as they were not fundamentally hurt, they could have lurked for several more decades before they instigated trouble again when the federation was about to be destroyed.

Faced with the dual threats of the Imperium of True Human Beings and the extraterrestrial devils, not just one Vulture Li Yao, even a hundred would not be enough to save the day.

So…

Hard. Hard. This is too hard!

Li Yao realized that Jin Tuyi was like a prisoner caged in a dark, iron cell that had no doors or windows after his limbs were cut off. There was nothing he could do and nowhere he could run to. He could neither live nor die!

No. Jin Tuyi’s real situation was a hundred times more upsetting and painful than that.

If he were put into a dungeon after his limbs were chopped him, it would only be himself who suffered.

However, Jin Tuyi had to watch his daughter step into the trap when he knew the existence of the scheme. He even became part of the ‘trap’ beyond his control.

When Jin Xinyue talked about the Dim Moon Plan delightedly before him, depicting the dream and the vision in pride and looking forward to the rise of the demons and the federation, as a father who clearly knew that his daughter was doomed to fail if not die and that she would go down in history as a symbol of infamy henceforth, how many surging waves must have been flooding inside his soul and what magnificent willpower he must have used to suppress the tides of emotions without letting the extraterrestrial devils sense any of it!

Li Yao covered his face with both hands and rubbed it hard. Still, he felt that the great horror was haunting and burning him.

It was true hell.

Just picturing it was enough to freeze his heart and stop his breath.

Glancing at the people around him, he discovered that Ding Lingdang, Bai Kaixin, and Long Yangjun were deep in thought, too, in expressions of fright and shock.

Two lines of tears even dropped from Jin Xinyue’s red eyes after she was dazed for a long time, which turned her delicate makeup into a mess.

After a sigh, Han Baling observed in amazement, “Had I not seen the files and evidence in person, I would never have believed that there could be such a vicious trap in the world or such an iron-boned and visionary man!

“Later, the man’s struggles and resistance in boundless darkness and loneliness were finally paid back by the best present, a most distinguished ‘comrade’. It was Boss Bai, who had been reincarnated through possession and swallowed the remaining soul of Yan Xinjian, the strongest expert at the edge of the cosmos in the past five hundred years, which allowed him to ascend to the ultimate level!

“Everybody only had limited capabilities. If Jin Tuyi had been fighting on his own, no matter how determined, wise, and tenacious he was, it wouldn’t have helped. The best he could expect was to delay the scheme of the extraterrestrial devils by several decades at the cost of his own death.

“But right then, he noticed the anomaly of Boss Bai.

“Nominally, Boss Bai was Jin Xinyue’s most trusted general in her faction. The Big Bai Fleet was only established and expanded under the support of the funds from her, too. Under both the identity of Jin Xinyue’s father and the identity of ‘spy for the extraterrestrial devils’, it was certain that he paid some attention to Boss Bai and the Big Bai Fleet.

“Normal people might not be enough to see through Boss Bai’s disguise, but he was Jin Tuyi, who concocted the Red Tide Plan. He must’ve noticed some loopholes more or less.

“I think that the extraterrestrial devils’ surveillance on Jin Tuyi couldn’t have been constant. They might’ve been able to do that, but incessant surveillance could’ve caught Jin Xinyue’s attention easily, which would render their attempts futile.

“There’s another possibility. The extraterrestrial devils’ surveillance was indeed thorough and flawless, but Jin Tuyi escaped from the surveillance for a while skillfully through certain secret techniques. For example, he might have ‘earned’ five to ten minutes of absolute freedom for himself every day.

“He couldn’t use the time to contact his daughter because his daughter was monitored from different angles by other people. He couldn’t have been the only ‘spy’ near her.

“Then, wasn’t Boss Bai, who had a whole fleet and was unbelievably strong with his mysterious background, the best target of communication for Jin Tuyi?

“As for exactly how they communicated, what they talked about, and what kind of deal they reached, we certainly can’t find out such details now.

“But based on the eventual outcome, the two of them must’ve had some sort of pact. Jin Tuyi convinced Boss Bai of the evil force that could control the Spiritual Nexus. More importantly, he made Boss Bai believe that as long as Boss Bai joined the battlefield out of nowhere, he would be able to crush the force!

“Right. You mentioned just now that Boss Bai jumped to the center of the cosmos, didn’t he?

“I don’t know much about the technology involved in space jumps, but I do know that it requires tremendous spiritual energy and fuel. A lot of supplies are needed on the starship, and the sailing routes as well as the coordinates of the destination at the center of the cosmos must be learned in advance, right?

“It would’ve been barely possible for Boss Bai to finish all the preparations of the space jump after just finishing a fierce, exhausting battle.

“But what if Jin Tuyi was involved?

“Jin Tuyi was not only the commander-in-chief of the coalition army of demons in the past but also the leader of the programs of space exploration in the Blood Demon Sector for decades. Eye of Blood Demon, the most powerful teleportation array in the Blood Demon Sector, was developed under the supervision of Jin Tuyi, right? Most of the world fragments near the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector were discovered under the command of Jin Tuyi, right?

“It isn’t too preposterous to assume that Jin Tuyi accumulated tremendous experience in space jumps during the process and even hid one or two unknown world fragments as his last trump cards, is it?

“Please imagine this, everybody. If Jin Tuyi reached out to Boss Bai in a very clandestine way, pointing out his real identity and convincing him of the existence of the extraterrestrial devils, and offered him a few world fragments that contained abundant resources as his gifts and the offer for the deal, would Boss Bai believe him or not?”