61: Chapter 61 Luring the Enemy

"Besides that, regarding Shuang'er's assassination back then, I recently uncovered some new clues, and these clues all point to one person…"

Standing to the side, Fang Mu kept silent, lowering his gaze to his nose and his heart, looking down at the tips of his shoes as if there were flowers blooming on them.

Yet at this moment, his inner turmoil was far from as calm as he appeared on the surface, with turbulent waves surging in his heart.

The assassination event that shocked Yuxiu Star back then had caused a massive uproar across the entire Molan Star Domain.

The uncrowned king of the Western Territory, the Fang Family, had its matriarch Bai Shuang'er assassinated, while all the experts of the Fang Family were intercepted by deities from beyond the realm.

Two eighth-order alien deities had sneaked into Yuxiu Star and launched a suicide attack on Bai Shuang'er.

Although the two assassins were captured immediately, they committed suicide right after succeeding in the assassination, their bodies and souls completely destroyed, and to this day the mastermind remains unidentified.

"Master, didn't you say the mastermind hasn't been found yet…"

Marshal Fang Qing opened his eyes, a grim, bone-chilling light flashing in the depths of his eyes.

"No, they've been found!"

Fang Mu's breath hitched.

"Master…"

Marshal Fang Qing did not answer, only slowly saying:

"Fifteen years, a full fifteen years, and I've been investigating all along."

"The surface-level evidence was cleaned up long ago."

"Yet it's impossible for someone who has done something to leave no trace at all."

"Back then, the itinerary of Shuang'er and my outing was top secret, known only to a handful of people within the family. Ultimately, all the clues pointed to the interior of the Fang Family."

Fang Mu's expression gradually grew solemn: "Could it be…"

Marshal Fang Qing did not say the name, but in both of their hearts, the exact same answer surfaced.

Fang Chengtian, Marshal Fang Qing's eldest brother.

"They thought I didn't know."

Marshal Fang Qing chuckled lightly: "They thought that because I've stayed stationed on the Western Front all these years, caring only about the Zerg and the Undead, and because I cared about family stability, I wouldn't dare to move against them."

At this, the killing intent in Marshal Fang Qing's eyes boiled over.

"Yet they forgot that I was able to become the commander of the Western Territory and sit in the position of the head of the Fang Family—"

"—was never by relying on our father's favoritism."

At this moment, the tyrannical aura emanating from Marshal Fang Qing was somewhat unbearable even for Fang Mu, who had experienced countless wars.

Fang Mu asked in a low voice: "Then what do you plan to do?"

Marshal Fang Qing was silent for a moment, then picked up his communicator, looking at Fang Yun's name on it, his gaze calm as an ancient well.

"It's very simple. I've notified Yun'er to come home next Monday."

Fang Mu was stunned: "But there are still people within the Fang Family staring at the young master. If they find out the young master is coming back, I'm afraid they will…"

"They will make a move."

Marshal Fang Qing took over the words, his gaze icy.

Hearing this, Fang Mu's breath hitched. He knew the temperament of this big brother of his; once he made a decision, he would never waver.

It's just that the master only has this one child, the young master… sigh.

"What I'm waiting for is for them to make a move. All these years, they've hidden too well. Without an opportunity, I had no reason either."

"I've already spread the news inside the family that Fang Yun has awakened an SS-grade top-tier talent."

"Just think about it: a young Divine Lord who might succeed my position in the future—how could they possibly sit still?"

"After all, their purpose in assassinating Shuang'er and Yun'er back then was precisely for the very seat beneath me."

Fang Mu fell silent.

"As all these years have passed, they all thought I had let this matter go. This time is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; they definitely won't give it up."

"On Yun'er's side, I've already arranged for a few experts from the Star God Guard to secretly meet and protect him, and I will also personally hold down the fort. I'd like to see how many people they have left to kill."

"The eighteen stars of the Western Front will be temporarily left in your charge, Mutou."

"Yes, Master."

After making the arrangements, Marshal Fang Qing stood by the window without moving for a long time. He didn't want to take risks with Fang Yun either, but if these cancerous tumors within the Fang Family were not cleared out as early as possible, Fang Yun would sooner or later fall victim to their ruthless hands.

It was impossible to let him hide outside for the rest of his life. Fang Yun would sooner or later have to return to take over the Fang Family, so he could only do his best to make preparations and protect Fang Yun well.

Nanheng Star was one of the eighteen border planets on the Western Front, and the planet contained rich mineral resources.

Standing by the window, the distant sky revealed the special spectacle of Nanheng Star—the Nebula Rainbow Light, a colorful, cloud-like rainbow light that was extremely beautiful.

Unfortunately, Marshal Fang Qing's mood at this moment was not as beautiful as the rainbow light in the sky.

Over the years, the Federation had enjoyed peace for too long. Factions grew rampantly among the major forces such as the Four Major Conglomerates, the Six Major Factions, and the Military. The Federal Council existed only in name, and outer races were eyeing them covetously from the outside.

Marshal Fang Qing suspected that if not for the immense pressure currently exerted by the outer races, the Federation might have already disintegrated.

Although the Fang Family drifted outside the center of power of the Federation, as the uncrowned king of the Western Front, its status was pivotal. If the Federation fell into chaos in the future, even though the Fang Family was on the Western Front, it would still find it difficult to stay out of it.

The Western Front, Northern Territory, Nanhe, and Far East—these four major defense lines were the most solid iron walls within the territory ruled by the Human Alliance, firmly blocking all alien outer deities outside the borderlines.

...

[Marshal Fang Qing has transferred 10 billion Faith Value to you. Please verify your identity and collect it.]

"Holy ten-billion-subsidy…"

Upon seeing the transfer, Fang Yun was overjoyed. Even if his five-month subsidy had been swallowed up, it was only 5 billion Faith Value; this old man of his had actually given him a double compensation!

Old Fang, well done. Once your son rises up, I'll directly carry you to fly.

Fang Yun felt extremely happy, humming a little tune while checking his account balance.

[Your current account balance is 10,267,890,000 Faith Value.]

The next second, Fang Yun arrived at the west of the Divine Kingdom's core area, looking at the mechanical city before him.

Although after several days of construction by the Mechanical Pioneer Race, a city of steel had already appeared in the western part of the Divine Kingdom, in his eyes, this was still far from enough.

Factories, production lines, and basic mechanical equipment—these things could only be called the rudiments of an industrial civilization and were meaningless to him. What he needed was stronger mechanical manufacturing capabilities and a mechanical legion.

"001, come here."

Upon hearing Fang Yun's summon, 001, the leader of the Mechanical Pioneer Race, immediately came over.

Now that he had resources in hand, Fang Yun wanted to quickly push his mechanical civilization to Level 2 as soon as possible and convert the resources into combat power.

In his vision, all basic affairs within the Divine Kingdom in the future would be completely handed over to intelligent mechanical lives to complete.

Planting, breeding, material gathering, transportation, and so on—the complete operation of the Divine Kingdom would be entirely in the charge of intelligent mechanical lives.

Arranged uniformly by the Mechanical Pioneer Race, the heads of some key nodes would be assigned by 001 to members of the Pioneer Race.

In this way, the entire Divine Kingdom would form a system maintained by mechanical lives in operation, while all other believers only needed to be responsible for cultivating and enhancing their combat power. Consequently, this would greatly increase the development speed of the entire Divine Kingdom.

But the premise of all this was that he first had to establish a Level 2 mechanical civilization, so that he could begin producing a large number of intelligent mechanical lives in a scaled and intensive manner.

Only a sufficient number of intelligent mechanical lives could concurrently handle all affairs in the Divine Kingdom.

"What resources are still lacking to develop to Level 2 civilization? What is the estimated cost? Give me a list, and I'll provide you with the materials."

Fang Yun didn't talk nonsense, directly asking 001 what resources were still missing, intending to purchase them all directly.

"As you command, Divine Lord."

The light of 001's mechanical core flickered, and a massive data stream unfolded in the air.

Soon, 001 compiled a resource list and presented it before Fang Yun.

Fang Yun casually browsed through it: mysterious iron ore, spiritual copper ore, obsidian crystal rock, star-patterned alloy, spiritual energy crystals, smart crystals…

Most of them were D-rank and C-rank resource ores, metals, energy crystals, and similar items, except that the quantities were much greater than those purchased previously.

Every category was purchased in quantities of thousands of tons, and some crystals and smart bodies numbered in the tens of thousands.

The total estimated cost was 9.85 billion Faith Value.