Forty millenniums of cul.., p.668
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 668
The silver-blood demon's face turned from pale to green and from green to purple, and he gritted his teeth harder and harder.
They found no issues after overturning four trash tanks that the gray sandworms pulled. But every one of them had already been contaminated by lingering smell, and their demeanor a moment ago was entire gone.
Seeing that twenty more trash tanks were still waiting to be examined, the silver-blood noble's face could not have been gloomier.
Right then—
Hum!
From the corner of the fourth trash tank, a large swarm of big-headed green flies, which were dirty, sweaty, and carrying suspicious liquids, dashed out and charged at the silver-blood noble like a visible plague!
BOOM!
The silver-blood demon shrieked and unleashed his demonic energy, blowing up all the flies.
But out of his expectations, the green flies were like the juiciest grapes. After they were blown up, the bright green liquids spluttered everywhere and almost kissed his face.
The silver-blood demon could not have been more disgusted. He jumped out of the trash tank, staggering. His eyelids were bouncing nonstop as he glanced at the twenty trash tanks behind him again. Gravely, he shouted, "Let them through!"
Twenty minutes later, the garbage cleaners arrived at the garbage field in the suburbs of Demon Lake City.
Huala! Huala! Huala!
Many insect-type demon beasts, which looked like flies, only thousands of times larger, with eight long limbs extending out, were flapping their transparent wings, snatching the garbage that was as high as a hill, and throwing it into the trash tanks.
The ninth trash tank had been half filled by the new garbage.
Li Yao and the Fire Ant King crawled out of the garbage silently.
They were both wearing fully-enclosed membrane suits that made them look like two slippery loaches. Even their eyes had been covered by glasses carved out of black crystals to ensure that there was not any gap.
They were breathing the air from the compressed airbags that Li Yao had devised to make sure that they would not be corrupted by the smell.
It was not because they were scared of the stench but because the stench was very difficult to get rid of and would be a nuisance for their infiltration.
Shua!
Like two shadows, they glided down from the trash tanks and moved quickly, covered by the garbage hills.
With their capabilities in the superlative height of the Core Formation Stage and the demon emperor stage, they were absolutely unstoppable in such a place.
The fifth alert area and the fourth alert area were successfully infiltrated!
Next, they were about to break out of the fourth alert area into the third!
Five minutes later, the two of them appeared in the downtown area of Demon Lake City, twelve kilometers away from the garbage field.
The smelly membrane suits were returned to their Cosmos Rings to make sure that no traces would be left.
Pretending to be two treasure merchants who could be seen everywhere in Demon Lake City, they searched quickly according to the map of the city and the structural design of the Eye of Blood Demon provided by Jin Xinyue. Very soon, they located the entrance of the secondary ventilation tubes.
As it turned out, the place was a prohibited military zone guarded by a team of soldiers.
Other than the secondary ventilation tubes, there were also dozens of secondary teleportation arrays, three emergency channels, and five transmission tubes of assets.
Apparently, the designing purpose of such a place was for the specialists working below the lake to escape to the surface through the teleportation arrays and the emergency channels in case of accidents such as an earthquake or explosion in the Eye of Blood Demon.
If they could not even escape, the ventilation tubes and the transmission tubes of assets could deliver food, water, and food into the base so that the workers below the lake would be able to survive longer.
One kilometer away from the prohibited military zone, Li Yao and the Fire Ant King pretended to be negotiating about a deal.
But in fact, Li Yao was observing the entire prohibited military zone from a high stance through Neltharion.
The Fire Ant King had his tricks, too. He released hundreds of bugs and sensed the situation inside the prohibited military zone in every corner.
"Two patrol teams in total. Patrolling in fixed routes." The Fire Ant King narrowed his eyes and remarked, "But they are not elites. They are not very vigilant, either. Perhaps they never thought that somebody would invade the Eye of Blood Demon and are just pretending to do their job!"
"The secondary ventilation tubes have four entrances in total. According to Jin Xinyue's structural design, the No. 2 tube is closest to the hospital in the third alert zone. Its exit is almost right above the hospital." Li Yao calculated quickly. "If we take action when the two patrol teams are furthest from the entrance of the No. 2 tube, I should have 26 seconds.
"The entrance of the ventilation tube is covered by a highly dense gauze. It has been welded there since the ventilation tube was built. It is already rusty now after such a long time. But it is not a problem for me. The real problem is that I have also observed a rapidly-revolving fan half a meter into the ventilate tube. The fan must've been designed to block intruders.
"The three fins are like three sharp blades. Any creature will be cut into pieces when they crawl in.
"I cannot deal with both the gauze and the fan in only 26 seconds."
The Fire Ant King pondered for a moment and asked, "According to my observation, the speed of the fan is around 1,500 rpm. If I can reduce it to around 1,000 rpm, can you crawl into it through the gaps?"
Li Yao thought for a moment and replied, "As long as the speed is below 1,150 rpm, I will be able to crawl through the fan unharmed!"
"Alright. Let's check our time. We will take action in thirty seconds!"
The Fire Ant King paused for a moment and suddenly extended his hand toward Li Yao.
Li Yao was dazed for a moment. Then he realized what he meant. Smiling, he extended his hand out, too.
The two of them firmly shook hands.
Sneaking into the Eye of Blood Demon right under the nose of the best troops and experts of the Blood Demon Sector and destroying the greatest teleportation array in the history of the world!
The impossible mission would be completed by the two of them!
Chapter 1012: Infiltration in Public! |
Twenty-five seconds to go!
Neltharion had captured the pictures of the restricted military zone from various angles, including the fixed routes of the two patrol teams, and transmitted the data back to Li Yao's brain for modelling.
Li Yao's biggest concern was what to do if the patrol team suddenly changed their route half way.
Jin Xinyue had mentioned that, according to the standard military tutorial of the coalition army of demons, every patrol team would have three to four different routes, and they would choose a random one every half hour or so.
If Li Yao and the Fire Ant King had more time to observe, they would probably have been able to see through the pattern.
However, they only had several minutes to prepare. They could only try their luck.
In case the patrol teams really changed their routes, Li Yao had to prepare backup plans.
Based on the terrain inside the prohibited military zone, Li Yao calculated twenty-three new routes that the patrol team could possibly chose in advance and made sure that it would take him seven seconds at best to pass through them.
Fifteen seconds to go!
The Fire Ant King took out a delicate cylinder from his pocket and turned it open. From the cylinder flew out two black beetles with a green, vertical stripe on their back.
Under the Fire Ant King's manipulation, the two beetles flew higher and higher. They passed the high wall out of the prohibited military zone and reached the entrance of the No. 2 ventilation tube.
Five seconds to go!
Li Yao took off the clothes of the treasure merchant and put on a new membrane suit.
The new suit was truly as thin as any clothes could ever be. It stuck to his body like a second skin without leaving the tiniest gap, highlighting the trace of his every muscle.
Shua!
Li Yao touched a rune on the waist of the suit. Ripples spread out on the surface of the bright gray suit as it gradually turned translucent. In the end it had almost completely blended into the air. He was now invisible!
It was a cellular invisibility cloak that the specialists of the Blade of Chaos had created by retrieving the cells of multiple kinds of demon beasts that boasted discoloration and mimesis abilities, such as chameleon.
When the wearer was absolutely still, they would be hardly able to be discovered, like an ice block that was tossed into water.
The only drawback was that the constituents of the cellular invisibility cloak were all highly active. They had to be preserved in special culture solution. If they were brought out and exposed to the air, their longevity was no more than five minutes.
Generally speaking, the invisibility cloak would gradually lose effectiveness after four minutes and a half.
Furthermore, the invisibility cloak worked best when it was still. If the wearer was moving at a high speed, they would still leave blurred shadows behind them, making the air unusually twisted.
Zero seconds to go!
Li Yao flew out like a stream of smoke.
Shua!
He keenly sensed the net of high-heat rays on the high wall of the prohibited military zone. However, he simply constricted his bones and muscles to the minimum before he crawled through the gaps of the net in a size no larger than a cat!
Two patrol teams were moving away from the No. 2 ventilation tube. Li Yao calculated the estimated time of their return while he observed the angle of a few biochemical surveillance eyes on the high wall. He moved fast between the blind angles no larger than the tip of a needle and approached the target quickly.
Right then—
One of the patrol teams returned earlier than expected before they reached to the end of the prohibited military zone, switching to a new route!
Damn it!
They had a second patrol plan!
Li Yao stopped his movements instantly. His heartbeat and breathing were suppressed to the minimum. Even his pores were entirely locked, not giving out the slightest heat or scent. He watched the patrol team walking right toward him while doing nothing.
As long as he remained perfectly still, the invisibility cloak would function perfectly for five minutes, which should be enough for him!
The patrol team brushed past Li Yao. The soldier closest to him would have touched Li Yao's head if he had stretched out his arms.
Thankfully, they did not notice that the air so close to them was slightly warped compared to usual.
Li Yao remained still for another half a minute. With the help of Neltharion, he observed their new patrol route.
After switching to the second patrol route, the blind angles of the two patrol teams were completely different. Everything had to be recalculated.
After calculating for one minute and two seconds, Li Yao took action again!
Deep inside his brain, the biochemical eyes over his head and the eyes of the soldiers of the two patrol teams seemed to be shooting out crimson rays and formed interconnected lines of death in front of his face.
The death rays were changing all the time, and he danced forward. While sometimes moving quickly, sometimes slowly, it took him more than three minutes before he struggled his way to the entrance of the No. 2 ventilation tube.
In order to send air into the main body of the enormous Eye of Blood Demon, every ventilation tube was more than half a meter in diameter, which was spacious enough for a middle-sized adult to crawl in.
However, the entrance of the ventilation tube was covered in an extremely dense iron gauze, surrounded by anti-cutting alert rune arrays.
Li Yao glanced quickly and recognized the mechanism of the alert rune arrays. They would send out warnings when they perceived vibrations.
Once the iron gauze was broken by brute force, there would certainly be unusual vibrations. Alarms would ring the moment such vibrations were detected.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
Inside the iron gauze, half a meter into the tube, three enormous fins were spinning at 1,500 rpm. Aggressive rune arrays of the wind class had been carved on the fins, too, raising unstoppable stormy blades that turned the part of the tube into an invisible mincer.
There were forty-five seconds to go before the invisibility cloak completely lost its effect.
Zi. Zi. Zi. Zi!
Li Yao sensed that the invisibility cloak was turning stiff.
It was a sign that the stealth cells were about to wither.
At this moment, the two patrol teams had reached the point where they were furthest from him, and all the biochemical eyes happened to be scanning other areas.
However, after the change of routes, the time left for Li Yao was only eleven seconds!
Good enough!
Li Yao's hands turned into two clusters of gray mist instantly. He stuck four pieces of magical equipment that looked like magnets to the alert rune arrays softly at first, establishing a temporary circuit that guided the alert rune arrays into a wrong path. As a result, they would neglect the minor vibrations on the iron gauze.
Then, Li Yao rubbed off a huge amount of rust from the iron gauze with a sharp dagger and carefully stored the rust.
It only took Li Yao three seconds to finish the preparations.
Then, he drew a circle on the iron gauze and cut it open, crawling into the ventilation tube!
It was not difficult to break the iron gauze. What was really tricky was how to restore it!
The two patrol teams far away were already turning around, and the two biochemical eyes were slowly shifting to the entrance of the No. 2 ventilation tube, too.
Li Yao's ten fingers were like boneless snakes, with a tiny needle between every two of them.
The needles were in fact hollow, with a tiny sac behind them in which a tiny amount of natural glue was stored. They were originally tools to fix the components of super-mini magical equipment.
Manipulating the tiny muscles on his fingers, Li Yao squeezed out the glue through the needles and stitched the iron gauze again. He intentionally left some additional glue at the edge of the fracture before he blew the rust that he had rubbed off earlier back.
Eventually, he took out an aerosol can and sprayed on the iron gauze.
The next second, a thin layer of dust appeared on the 'rusty' iron gauzed. There were even broken threads that seemed to be remnants of a spider web.
At first glance, it was utterly immaculate. There was no trace that the iron gauze had been broken through at all.
It was not until then that Li Yao attracted the four 'magnets' through the gaps of the iron gauze with his spiritual energy, restoring the alert rune arrays to their original state.
Shua!
The biochemical eye glanced past the entrance of the No. 2 ventilation tube, noticing nothing wrong.
But the invisibility cloak on Li Yao's body had reached its limits, too. Twisted spots of light were already appearing.
Had the patrol team been any closer, they would certainly discover the fuzzy, gray shadow behind the iron gauze.
The Fire Ant King's two black beetles, on the other hand, had crawled into the tube together with Li Yao and crashed toward the rapidly-revolving fan!
Because of the high speed and the strong attraction force, the fan often absorbed small bugs.
The two black beetles, on the other hand, were the 'Green Oil Fire Bugs' that the Fire Ant King had carefully refined. After they crashed into the fins, they exploded into two tiny fireballs!
The two fireballs jammed the rune arrays of the wind class on the fins. The fan's self-protection measures were activated. The speed of the fan was lowered as it prepared to discharge the foreign object.
Li Yao took the opportunity to observe every detail of the spinning fan while his eyes were bulging and his pupils were shivering. He also perceived the wind blades, which were invisible to human eyes.
Shua!
He successfully crawled through the fan in the gaps of the fins whose speed was 780 rpm!
Three wind blades cut into his body brutally. But he had tensed the muscles all over his body and did not shed a drop of blood.
Half a second later, the speed of the fan returned to 1,500 rpm, and the patrol team walked past the entrance of the No. 2 ventilation tube.
Attracted by the sound of the exploding bugs, they looked at the inside of the No. 2 ventilation tube through the iron gauze suspiciously.
The fan was running stably. Except for the quickly spinning fins, they saw absolutely nothing.
The vague smell of something being burnt, however, made them realize that a few bugs had just been sucked into the fan.
The rust, dust, and spider threads on the iron gauze all eased their suspicion, which was not too high in the first place. The patrol team returned to their normal route and left the insignificant incident behind.
Behind the fan, Li Yao wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead and grinned.
The infiltration from the fourth alert area to the third had half succeeded!
In front of him was a dark ventilation tube that led underground. All kinds of lethal bugs were the guardians of the sunless world!
Chapter 1013: Three Bugs! |
Of course, none of them were actually a problem with the Fire Ant King's assistance.
Li Yao lurked for half an hour behind the fan patiently so that the Fire Ant King would have enough time to find a suitable shelter.
Half an hour later, a tiny chip that Li Yao had stuck on his left ear vibrated feebly.
According to the signals that the Fire Ant King and he had agreed on, three short vibrations indicated that the Fire Ant King had found a shelter smoothly.
