As soon as Manison finished speaking, the entire conference room went silent.

Everyone turned to Manison simultaneously.

You pulling our legs?

Han Xiao almost forgot to breathe. He sized Manison up with a suspicious look.

“You really have fifty million Lord’s Avatars?”

“Maybe I exaggerated it a little,” Manison joked.

Now that makes sense. Lord’s Avatars are not mechanical soldiers. How can you build that many? I don’t even have five thousa… ahem, fifty thousand spare Lord’s Avatars.

Secretly relieved, Han Xiao asked subconsciously, “So, how many do you really have?”

“48,001,052… Oh, it’s 48,001,054 now. Just built two more while we spoke.”

The world went silent.

Han Xiao’s mouth twitched. He was a little lost and completely did not understand why.

“Wait, I can understand no matter how many mechanical soldiers you’ve built, but what’s the point of building so many Lord’s Avatars? You can only descend on one at a time. How are you going to utilize all of them?”

“Oh, I lack a sense of security,” Manison replied. “No harm building more.”

The world went silent once again. You’re the damn Mechanic Emperor, lack a sense of security? I f*… okay, that’s an indisputable reason.

Other than the word shameless, the people present could not find any other word to think of.

All Han Xiao wanted to do was blast off Manison’s head.

You’re showing off your wealth, right? You must be showing off your wealth!

Close to fifty million Lord’s Avatars, are you an animal? How wealthy can you get?

You’re trying to take over all the ambush locations, aren’t you? You think you’re mighty just because you’re rich?

Noticing Black Star’s almost overflowing resentment, Manison calmly smiled and gave him a look. That’s right. I’m mighty because I’m rich. Thanks for the assist.

Han Xiao clenched his teeth and sent Manison a private message. “Stop messing around. There’s no point in building tens of millions of Lord’s Avatars other than it being a waste!”

“Hehe, you’re too young. The Mechanical Race doesn’t have much, but it never lacked machinery…” Manison smiled and softly stroked his beard before adding, “And money.”

F*ck, almost forgot you were born rich! Damn rich people!

Han Xiao ground his teeth secretly.

“I came up with this plan. Shouldn’t you show some sincerity at least? How about giving me ten million Lord’s Avatars.”

“My avatars are my size, not like you can use them. What do you want them for?” Manison raised his brows.

“I can melt and rebuild them. The material cost for ten million Lord’s Avatars isn’t low.”

“Sure, exchange them for some Spacetime Amber.”

“F*ck off!”

Han Xiao instantly cut off the private conversation.

This old man is always trying to get my Spacetime Amber. Bad!

While the two of them made faces at each other, the person in charge from the three Universal Civilizations also looked back and forth between them with strong suspicion.

One of you is the president of the Beyond Grade A development union, and the other is the vice president…

Are the two of you putting on an act together?

Sidreun coughed, forced out a smile, and said, “We appreciate Your Excellency Mechanic Emperor’s generosity, but the plan has yet to be finalized. You don’t have to be in such a hurry…”

“You’re right.” Manison nodded. He casually waved his hand, signaling that he was just casually making a suggestion and that they could continue their previous conversation.

Sidreun then turned to Han Xiao and said with a deep voice, “Your Excellency Black Star, your idea does indeed seem good, but its feasibility still requires more discussion. Firstly, we have to make sure that the virus core has returned to the quantum network for us to cut off network connections on a large scale and limit the range of its exits. But how will we know when it has logged on to the network? You must know, those viruses don’t have a fixed time for sending feedback data. We have no way of knowing when the virus core will be online.

“Secondly, as of now, we can’t even lock onto the virus core’s data pattern and aren’t able to trace it on the network. If it remains in the quantum network, will we just not be able to find it?”

“Hence, this was just a rough idea. The details still need to be decided. However, it should be feasible,” Han Xiao said.

“These problems all have a way of being solved. Since we know that the virus core is a life form and have its details, we can use that as an anchor and use prophecy spells to search the time it will log on to the network,” Kant added.

“As for the data pattern of the virus core, I can provide some details,” Manison said. “Although I didn’t catch it, I recorded the traces it left behind when it was in the quantum network. With that as the clue, we can do cross-referencing, and we should be able to lock onto its data pattern.”

The people present discussed ideas for a while and gradually filled in the details. They all felt that this plan was worth trying. This time, Sidreun brought up the last issue. “I have one last question. The participants of this operation might not have to know Virtual Paramount. Every Beyond Grade A should have the ability to capture the virus core, and the chances will be higher if all the Beyond Grade As here take part in it.”

He did not believe the nonsense Han Xiao said at all. Beyond Grade As should all have the ability to capture the virus core. There was no way Virtual Paramount was a requirement. That certainly had to be Black Star and the Mechanic Emperor’s conspiracy. “I have no objections. I’m glad to be of help.” The rest of the people present all agreed.

Of course you have no objections. What objections will you have since you will have an opportunity to obtain the core… Han Xiao complained in his mind.

“Then it’s decided,” Sidreun said with a serious tone. “This plan still requires approval from the upper echelons. The three of us all have to report it. The results should come very soon, and it’ll most likely go smoothly. This operation still needs you guys, the Beyond Grade As, so I hope you’re all well prepared. The safety of the universe depends on you.”

Deactivating the remote projection, Han Xiao’s vision returned to his office.

He casually knocked on the table and pondered.

All the Beyond Grade As would be working together to capture the virus core, and every single one of them wanted to get their hands on the core. Hence, choosing the ambush location was the top priority. This was a matter of probability. The more avatars one had, the higher the chances of meeting the virus core. In this respect, no one could compare with the Mechanic Emperor.

Comparatively, Han Xiao’s spare Lord’s Avatars were very few. It was not because he lacked money, but to him, there was not much of a point building too many of them. He would only be able to descend on one avatar at a time no matter what.

It was clear old man Manison had ulterior motives for building so many avatars. He was probably planning to take over countless planets one day.

Humph! What an ambitious b*stard!

Manison probably has more Lord’s Avatars than the number of trap nodes. He will definitely come into contact with the virus core, so he’s basically unbeatable. While the rest of us can only rely on luck…

Han Xiao massaged the bridge of his nose.

The number of people stationed at each location was not limited. Manison would basically be everywhere, so there was no way of dodging him.

When the three Universal Civilizations have decided on the trap nodes, I’d better let Harrison help choose the ambush locations…

If my luck fails me and I don’t end up meeting the virus core, I’ll just live with it.

However, if I do meet the virus core, Manison’s avatar will most likely be around too. I’ll have to compete with him, and it definitely won’t be just a verbal negotiation.

I’ll just have to improvise…

If he had any advantages at all, it was that he did not have to care about whether the virus core was dead or not. The others all wanted to capture it alive and parse it for the full Domino Virus technology, while he had the [Intelligent Plague) mission, which would give him a related talent if he eliminated the virus core personally. Given the specialty of the Domino Virus, the related talent would most likely have something to do with Virtual Technology.

Although he would lose the opportunity to obtain the full technology this way, thinking about it, if the three Universal Civilizations or other Beyond Grade As obtained such a powerful virtual virus, it might not be a good thing. Furthermore, even if he obtained it, it would be a hot potato. Countless people, including the three Universal Civilizations, would have their eyes on him at all times.

However, the Domino Virus technology could also become a powerful weapon against the World Tree Civilization.

Han Xiao was stuck in a dilemma.

Never mind, it’s too early to think of all this. I’ll first have to make sure I meet the virus. Only then will I have the chance to compete with Manison…

He focused his thoughts.

Anyway, this would be a huge operation, so the preparation stage would last quite some time, meaning he had sufficient time. He could add some production lines and produce as many Lord’s Avatars as possible to be stationed at more locations, increasing the chance of him meeting the virus core.

“This information is from Black Star?”

Meanwhile, the remote projections of the three Universal Civilizations’ leaders gathered and listened to the report from Sidreun and the other two.

Right after the meeting hosted by Black Star ended, the three monitors contacted their three leaders through the one and only coded channel that was connected to the outside world to explain the operation plan, hoping to get approval.

After hearing it, Urranrell crossed her hands before her chest and slowly said, “If what Black Star said is true, he’ll be a great hero of the explored universe who saved it from a disaster. Without his prophecy, we’d all have to pay a bloody price to discover the truth of the Virtual Mutiny Virus.”

“Hmm, the brief structure of this plan came from him too. If we catch the virus core because of it, Black Star will indeed be a hero to the entire universe who changed the disaster of a future he saw in the prophecy.” Bader expressed his compliments too.

“Black Star is indeed worthy of merit.” The church’s pope agreed too.

Ie

Putting aside their beef in the past, both the Federation of Light and the Arcane Church recognized and appreciated what Han Xiao did in the battle against the Intelligent Plague. He acted very reliably and contributed a lot. Having thought of that, the three of them looked at each other and nodded.

“We shall approve of this operation. We allow you to deploy the resources in the Ancient Star Desert to execute this plan. Don’t disappoint

us.”

“Understood,” Sidreun quickly replied.

The church’s pope suddenly said, “One more thing, do make sure that the virus core ends up in our control in the end. We can’t let any non-direct members obtain it.”

“That’s right. The Virtual Mutiny Virus is a weapon of war. It’s too dangerous. We must not let this technology get leaked, or the order of the universe will be threatened.”

Bader agreed and added, “Especially Black Star and Mechanic Emperor. If a peak Beyond Grade A Virtual Mechanic gets this technology and improves it, it might become something even more dangerous than the Intelligent Plague.”

Even though Manison was the Federation of Light’s ally, Bader knew what was more important.

Although they all wanted this technology, the three of them clearly understood that preventing a fourth party from obtaining this virus technology was more important.

In the eyes of the three Universal Civilizations, they had to have a monopoly on this kind of extremely powerful weapon of war. Only then would it be beneficial for the entire universe.

Somewhere in the Ancient Star Desert, a small civilian transport fleet had arrived at a desolate planet.

This was a legitimate galactic transportation company. It was not large and did not have much of a name for itself. It only operated on a few fixed routes. Its business range was limited to between several Star Zones of the same Star System. There was a small desolate universe belt there. Due to its size, the advanced civilizations did not set up any stargates. Hence, there were quite a number of long-distance transport companies that filled this gap.

The transport fleet slowly came to a stop in this planet’s orbit.

“Let’s resupply here. There are fuel resources on this planet. We’re going to collect some.”

Inside the main ship, the senior captain, who had worked in this transport company for many years, gave the order.

Suddenly, an observation officer said, “Captain, the radar shows that this planet is shrouded by a strange electromagnetic storm.”

The captain was surprised. He moved to the porthole and saw that the atmosphere of this desolate planet was filled with flickering light-blue electrical sparks. It looked like a looming electromagnetic shell.

“That’s weird. I’ve run this transportation route for decades and stopped god knows how many times on this planet. When did this appear here?” the captain murmured and looked at the radar again.

The more he looked at the electromagnetic field structure, the more he felt it looked familiar.

“The structure of this electromagnetic field…” the observation officer said with hesitation. “Why does it look somewhat like the bio-electrical network of the neurons’ movements in the brain of a living life form?”

The captain was startled. When he looked at it more carefully again, the structure of this electromagnetic field totally looked like a brain that was enlarged countless times.

“Could it be alive? Is it an electromagnetic field life form?”

The captain was surprised. This kind of life form had always been rare. They could be sold to collectors with special tastes at quite a high price.

Having thought of that, the captain immediately ordered, “Quickly, try to capture it!”

However, as soon as he said that, the electromagnetic storm shrouding the planet suddenly dissipated into thin air like it had never appeared. There were no signs of it on the radar too.

The members inside the cabin were all startled.

“Am I tripping?”

The captain rubbed his eyes with shock.