Forty millenniums of cul.., p.669
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 669
Although they could have brought more convenient magical equipment for communication, such tools would certainly release intense spiritual waves when complicated information was transmitted.
Therefore, they still chose vibration chips that could be stuck to the ears and the tongue. They had made a deal on hundreds of different code names for different situations. The spiritual waves they released would be minimal if they contacted each other through such feeble vibrations.
Five seconds later, Li Yao took out a sealed metal can and opened the upper half of it softly.
A scarlet mist immediately flowed toward the depths of the ventilation tube as if it were alive.
The scarlet mist would cast most of the insect-type demon beasts in the ventilation tube into a slight sleep state.
Then, Li Yao opened the lower half of the metal can and released three dark red insects.
The first insect had a thick, greasy shell and long antennae.
The second insect was like a spider, except for the twelve colorful, hairy legs.
The third insect appeared to be an enormous dragonfly. The swirl-like stripes on its translucent wings looked like four crimson eyes.
Under the Fire Ant King's remote control, the three insects crawled forward in the ventilation tube majestically as if they were the kings of insects.
Very soon, rattling noises were echoing deep inside the ventilation tube.
Soon, vibrations were coming over on Li Yao's ears again, which was a signal that all the insects inside the ventilation tube had been overwhelmed by the Fire Ant King's 'insect kings'!
Li Yao crouched and scrambled forward in the ventilation tube. As he expected, he saw thousands of insects lying next to him, not moving at all.
The dense horde of insects, which looked like moss, made Li Yao feel that his head was dizzy. He realized that it would have been impossible for him to break in without the Fire Ant King's help.
From the fourth alert area on the ground to the third alert area deep underground, the length of the ventilation tube was twelve and a half kilometers.
Li Yao did not hurry to move forward. Instead, he took out another metal cylinder and, holding his breath, unleashed three new flying bugs.
The three bugs were very small, only one third the size of a mosquito, but they were in fact Li Yao and the Fire Ant King's masterpieces—perfect combinations of biochemistry and the studies of spiritual energy!
Not only were the three bugs under the Fire Ant King's remote control and sharing their vision with him, a small metal vesicle had been embedded to their stomachs in which one drop of different yet equally 'marvelous' venom had been preserved.
They were the keys to the mission.
Li Yao dispatched Neltharion to lead the way for the three bugs while they flew forward in the ventilation tube. After more than half an hour, they infiltrated the third alert area, which was at the bottom of the Eye of Blood Demon.
It was 7:22 a.m.
The third alert area was the living area for the workers of the Eye of Blood Demon, with quite a few spacious cafeterias.
Li Yao and the Fire Ant King did not know which room Jin Zhenyi would be resting in, nor did they have the time to look for him in every room.
However, the cafeterias here were highly distinctive from each other. They were designed for different species of demons. Normally speaking, the Feather Clan would enjoy their food in the No. 3 cafeteria.
That was where Li Yao and the Fire Ant King put their wagers on.
They had bet that Jin Zhenyi had returned to the living area for rest last night and that he would go to the cafeteria in the morning.
The reason was simple. For both the Cultivators and the expert demons, 'eating' and 'sleeping' were not only the biological needs but also the foundations of their training and work.
A sound sleep and the best food were all the more important now that the big day when the Red Tide Plan was to be activated was coming close so that all the workers would be in their best state.
Jin Zhenyi was a maintainer of the infrastructure. The infrastructure must have been done debugging half a month ago. It was impossible that he would still be catching up to his work right now.
Also, the three satellites were not in a straight line yet. So, the tidal force imposed upon the Eye of Blood Demon was not very strong. Logically speaking, the stabilization system was not likely to crash at this moment.
Therefore, as a maintainer of the infrastructure, Jin Zhenyi should be relatively free right now. The most important thing for him right now was to take a good rest so that he could do his job well tomorrow.
At this moment, it was unlikely that he would have stayed in his workplace and worked twenty-four hours a day. If so, he certainly would have been too exhausted to grit through the real test when the three satellites got into a straight line.
The cafeterias in the Eye of Blood Demon were far from general cafeterias, too. They were advanced restaurants specially prepared for the specialists in all kinds of fields. The best ingredients of food that stored the most abundant spiritual energy made sure that the brains of all the specialists were kept at the most active state.
Based on the files about Jin Zhenyi that Skyfire had collected, the guy was quite fond of having breakfast. When he was teaching in the Thousand Feathers Institute, he would have his breakfast between 7:30 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. every day.
There seemed to be no reason he would change his habit after he arrived at the Eye of Blood Demon.
Li Yao and the Fire Ant King held their breath and waited.
The No. 3 cafeteria was decorated into a primitive forest with the vines of the Gold Crow Woods. All the tables and seats were cages that were hanged on the vines.
The three bugs hid themselves in the middle of the branches and leaves.
At 7:38 a.m., when Jin Zhenyi walked into the cafeteria, Li Yao and the Fire Ant King immediately recognized the old man who had a hawk nose, a gloomy face, and a slightly hunched back.
The two of them were greatly relieved.
However, their target was followed by another member of the Feather Clan, who was tall, muscular, and handsome, with a longsword dangling from his waist. He looked rather tough and seemed to be Jin Zhenyi's bodyguard.
"Try to eavesdrop Jin Zhenyi and his bodyguard's conversation. See how he addresses the bodyguard and his attitude toward him!"
At 7:41, Jin Zhenyi and his bodyguard sat down in one of the cages.
The three bugs moved to the vines above their heads without anybody knowing.
Seven kilometers above their heads, Li Yao was rushing forward in the ventilation tube like a giant loach.
At 7:45, Jin Zhenyi connected a biochemical brain to his temples. He read the files in the biochemical brain while he enjoyed his food.
Over their heads, the first of the three bugs quietly pushed out the drop of venom in its stomach.
Transformed by the special rune arrays, the drop of venom was vaporized into vague mist and was breathed in by Jin Zhenyi and his bodyguard.
"Achiu!"
The two of them sneezed at the same time.
While the two of them were sneezing, the second bug and the third bug landed on their hair as quickly as a lightning. Both of them were distracted by their sneezes and did not notice the two bugs at all.
At 7:58, Li Yao reached the end of the ventilation tube.
Right below him was the exit of the ventilation tube—the hospital's entrance. Compared to the entrance of the ventilation tube, the defense here was much more sluggish. It was just the simplest iron gauze with nothing else.
Li Yao took a deep breath in relief. He slightly adjusted his facial muscles, putting on all kinds of hilarious expressions.
He took out a plethora of treasures from his Cosmos Rings and his backpack.
At first, he sprayed liquids that could change his skin color and body smell. Then, he stuck the fingerprint membranes in which a tiny blood vesicle was stored to his fingers. Following that, he stuck the voice-changing rune arrays to his throat, which could change his voiceprint. Eventually, he put on the simulation lens that would change his iris.
Li Yao's muscles and bones were gradually turning into Jin Zhenyi's appearance, too. The bulging muscles gradually withered. Wrinkles showed up on the corners of his eyes. He even boosted the hair follicles inside his body to grow out authentic whiskers before he dyed them iron gray.
The trickiest part was the wings.
Jin Zhenyi had a pair of tiny wings on his back, which was the greatest feature for the Feather Clan.
Although they could not fly with the wings in the underground world, they were able to express their subtle emotions with the opening, closing, and shivering of their wings, just like other demons with their ears or tails.
Li Yao had crafted two hollowed bones with super light metal. Then, he extended dozens of tiny branches from the bones. All the branches could be connected to the muscles on his back through crystal wires.
Then, the specialists of Skyfire covered a layer of flesh cells and skin cells on the metal bones before they implanted the natural feathers on the false wings one by one by comparing the counterfeit to Jin Zhenyi's picture. They were confident that the wings would not be seen through quickly.
By adjustments to his lats, traps, and triceps, Li Yao would be able to pull the crystal wires neatly and make the artificial wings perform vivid actions.
Thanks to Jin Xinyue, who was a princess of the Feather Clan, Li Yao managed to master the subtle ways of communication with wings among the silver-blood demons in the Feather Clan.
At 8:05, the disguise was done.
At this moment, Jin Zhenyi had finished his breakfast and walked to the gate of the cafeteria with his bodyguard.
"Bug No. 2, inject the venom!"
The second bug, which was crouching inside Jin Zhenyi's hair, stung into the back of Jin Zhenyi's head like a mosquito, injecting the drop of venom in its stomach!
The next instant, Jin Zhenyi's cerebral vessels exploded on a large scale because of the corrosion of the poison!
His eyes bulging, Jin Zhenyi exclaimed and threw up all the breakfast that he had a moment ago before falling over!
His bodyguard reacted quickly enough to catch Jin Zhenyi before he fell to the ground. He examined Jin Zhenyi's pupils and tested his pulse. Then, he took out a silver syringe from his pocket and injected the drugs into Jin Zhenyi's carotid artery before he raised his voice and shouted, "Master Jin Zhenyi has been mentally deranged. Somebody call an ambulance!"
Chapter 1014: Swap |
For the specialists with high computational abilities, this place was their battlefield. Because of the prolonged overloading, it was nothing unusual for their cerebral vessels to explode, for their nerves to constrict, and for serious brain death.
It was especially so when the Red Tide Plan had reached the most critical point. In order to change the teleportation mode of the Eye of Blood Demon, thousands of workers were working day and night, burning their life and soul every day.
Over the past half year, almost a hundred workers had been heavily wounded or even killed.
Mental derangement and explosions of several cerebral vessels were the most common phenomena.
It was also exactly the effect of the Fire Ant King's venom.
The venom was slightly corrosive, allowing it to cut off some of the cerebral vessels and deactivate part of the brain nerves. The symptoms were identical to the mental derangement when one overused their brain.
Mental derangement was a common illness in the Eye of Blood Demon. Medical staff had been standing by in the No. 3 cafeteria in the first place. The moment Jin Zhenyi fell over, a doctor and a nurse already rushed to him before his bodyguard started yelling.
After examining his pupils, the doctor said, "It is indeed mental derangement but not a serious case. Send him to the hospital, let him rest a moment, and everything will be good!"
Together, they placed Jin Zhenyi on a portable biochemical medical cabin and left the cafeteria in a hurry.
The incident did not attract much attention in the cafeteria.
Over the past few months, patients of sudden mental derangement were too many. There were even cases where a specialist's head suddenly exploded, his brains spluttering everywhere, while he was debating with his colleague about a certain technique issue.
Compared to them, Jin Zhenyi's illness could not have been more insignificant.
He was moved to the hospital of the third alert area.
As the three satellites were about to align and the brand-new Eye of Blood Demon was to be activated, more and more specialists were on the verge of collapse.
Even if they were not mentally deranged, they were also asked to undergo full physical examinations in the hospital and prescribed with appropriate drugs to make sure that their brain was steady at the critical moment.
As the only hospital in the third alert zone, the place was quite lively and packed with patients. All the doctors were occupied.
Thankfully, with Jin Zhenyi's rank and his condition, he was placed in a double ward as soon as he was admitted. A doctor came to examine him very soon.
"It's a typical explosion of cerebral vessels because he overexerted his brain. Fortunately, the main vessels were not hurt. The duration of the explosion was not long, either. The blood clot was neither frozen nor suppressing the central nerves.
"Master Jin's soul power is immense. His braincells are very healthy, too, and are already repairing themselves right now. The blood clot is quickly melting. The broken vessels are being reconnected, too.
"In a moment, I will prescribe a few drugs that will stimulate the activity of the braincells and nutrition drugs that contain abundant spiritual energy for you. Everything will be normal again after Master Jin takes a few hours' rest in the medical cabin."
A doctor, with gray hair all over his body and as magnificent as a yak, gave him instructions after performing a thorough examination on Jin Zhenyi.
Like Cultivators, the expert demons had a far more developed brain than the regular ones. For them, the explosion of cerebral vessels was not too serious an ailment. It was almost like sunstroke, anemia, or malnutrition for ordinary people.
As long as the main vessels and central nerves were not affected, they would gradually recover after a while even if they did not take any medication.
At this moment, Jin Zhenyi was slowly back to himself again. With a gloomy face, he nodded and said to his bodyguard, "Little Guan, tell those inside that I will be late!"
After helping Jin Zhenyi into the medical cabin and setting the treatment length to three hours, the doctor left the ward.
There were too many patients waiting to be examined and treated today. Naturally, the doctor would not stand there and idle by for three hours.
There were two medical cabins and three demons in the ward, including Jin Zhenyi, his bodyguard Little Guan, and another worker who was in the middle of treatment.
However, the worker was apparently not as important as Jin Zhenyi. He was not followed by a bodyguard.
Because of the opiate constituents in the biochemical drugs, the guy was already sound asleep. According to the panel in front of the medical cabin, there was more than an hour to go before his treatment finished.
"Master Jin, you can take a rest now. I'll be on alert," his bodyguard, Little Guan, said respectfully.
"Alright." Jin Zhenyi was indeed not entirely relieved of the dizziness resulting from the explosion of his cerebral vessels yet. Also, because of the opiate constituents, he closed his eyes very soon, and his breath became long and deep.
His bodyguard sat down in a chair next to him, straight and absolutely still. He widened his eyes and gazed at Jin Zhenyi without even blinking his eyes.
Right at this moment—
Chi!
The third bug which was lurking in the hair of the bodyguard sent a drop of venom into his veins softly.
The drop of venom, as it turned out, was entirely different from the one that had been injected into Jin Zhenyi's body. Instead of causing an explosion of cerebral vessels, the venom stimulated the central nerves and triggered a strong feeling of…
Gulu! Gulu! Gulu!
The bodyguard's stomach was uttering boiling sounds, and his face gradually turned from pale to green.
Pu—Pu pu pu pu pu—
The bodyguard farted nonstop, and he could not have looked more awful.
Holding his breath, he extended his wings and flapped quickly while he observed the surroundings. Thankfully, Jin Zhenyi and the other patient were both sleeping in the medical cabins.
Gulu! Gulu! Gulu! Gulu! Gulu!
The sound in his stomach was even louder. Holding his belly hard, the bodyguard's eyebrows were almost standing up as he gritted his teeth to suppress the feeling.
After putting up with it for five minutes, he could not hold back any longer and suddenly rose up.
The ward was a large suite with an independent toilet. Therefore, he did not have to leave the ward.
The bodyguard took out a furry, brown sparrow that looked like a chicken from his pocket and tossed it out.
The brown sparrow immediately hovered around Jin Zhenyi's medical cabin.
The sparrow was also a demon beast that had been refined. Its eyes were connected to the bodyguard's brain wirelessly through the feeble brainwaves so that the bodyguard would be able to see what was going on outside while he was in the toilet.
The bodyguard felt safe now. Finally, he rushed into the toilet, holding his stomach.
The moment the bodyguard closed the door of the toilet, a bug the size of a lice jumped out of the ventilation tube on the ceiling of the ward and landed on the head of the brown sparrow precisely!
Chi!
A sting protruded out of the 'lice' and pierced into the brown sparrow's head, releasing a tiny portion of venom and hypnotization drugs that would jam its retina and optical nerves.
Such surveillance sparrows were one of the most commonly-used demon beasts in the Feather Clan. As the princess of the Gold Crow Kingdom, naturally, Jin Xinyue knew everything about its advantages and shortcomings.
