159: Node Construction and the "Broken Chicken" Counterattack Plan

The commotion in 'Liuyun Market' did not last long.

Under Wang Wu's skillful operation (spreading rumors about 'thieves preying on thieves' or 'enemies seeking revenge'), combined with the disappearance of the strange sandalwood scent and Mental Energy fluctuations, the market soon returned to its usual noise and chaos, as if the 'Jingxin Studio' had never existed.

Only a few Cultivators who had regained consciousness felt that something was amiss, but they couldn't quite put their finger on it.

In the cleaned-up secret underground chamber, Ying's work was proceeding intensely.

She first utilized the brought Materials, combined with the structure of the secret chamber itself, to set up a small 'Concealment Formation' and 'Reinforcement Formation'.

The core of the Formation was cleverly connected to the faint underground Spiritual Qi, allowing the Formation to operate autonomously for a long time, minimizing the presence of the secret chamber while possessing a certain level of defensive capability.

Next, she took out the key to this trip—a palm-sized, complex component made from scraps of 'star iron' and several jade stones with good Spiritual Qi conductivity.

This was the first-generation 'Star Network' relay that she and Senior Brother Zhang had tinkered with, based on the 'energy information relay' principle from ancient knowledge and combined with the Artifact Refining techniques of the Immortal Realm.

Embedded in the center of the relay was a grain-sized star core fragment that Wen Youyi had carefully separated from the complete Star Core.

This was both the energy source and the core that resonated with the main node (the ark altar).

Ying carefully placed the relay in the center of the secret chamber, formed hand seals with both hands, and guided the underground Spiritual Qi to slowly inject into it.

At the same time, she contacted Senior Brother Zhang, who was far away in the Silent Zone, through an encrypted channel of the 'Star Network'.

[Main node, this is sub-node 'Liuyun No. 1', requesting the first connection test.]

[Main node received, energy path is ready, starting to inject identification code... 3... 2... 1... Connect!]

Hum—

Inside the secret chamber, the palm-sized relay vibrated slightly, and the grain-sized star core fragment in the center emitted a soft and stable light.

An invisible, encrypted fluctuation, using the underground Spiritual Qi as cover, penetrated layers of obstacles and established a connection with the 'ark' altar in the distant rift of rules!

[Connection successful! Signal strength is good, latency is extremely low!] Senior Brother Zhang's excited voice came through. [Data channel is stable, basic information transmission and energy coordination can be performed!]

It was a success! The first sub-node of the 'Star Network' was officially online!

Wen Youyi could clearly feel that through this small relay, the 'vision' of the Shelter's main node seemed to extend here.

Although the transmission capacity was still limited and could not perform large-scale energy transmission or complex calculations, it was more than enough for transmitting information and issuing simple remote instructions.

This meant that they no longer needed to risk sending people to be stationed here to remotely monitor and maintain this node.

They could even use this node to scatter 'spirit awakening stardust' to the surrounding areas more safely and efficiently!

'Well done!' Wen Youyi patted Ying on the shoulder, not stinting on his praise.

Zhao Iron Pillar looked at the glowing little gadget and scratched his head, 'That's it? I thought it would be a bigger deal.'

'It needs to be silent to be effective.' Wen Youyi smiled. 'Should we beat drums and gongs to tell others we buried a network cable here?'

He walked over to the 'old man' who had been knocked out by Zhao Iron Pillar and was currently restrained.

Wang Wu had already conducted a preliminary interrogation; this guy was indeed an peripheral member of the 'Creation Heavenly Court,' responsible for testing a new type of 'Heart Demon induction device' here and collecting data.

'Besides here, are there other deployment points for this 'Soul-Calming Incense'?' Wen Youyi asked.

The 'old man' (who was actually not old, just using an illusion) turned pale and trembled as he replied, 'I... I don't know, I was only ordered to guard and record here...'

Wen Youyi stared at him, and suddenly a flash of inspiration struck, and a more daring plan emerged in his mind.

He contacted Senior Brother Zhang through the 'Star Network': [Old Zhang, we caught a 'bot' (a controlled computer), the guy who set the trap. You say, can we... 'reformat' him, and then 'release' him?]

['Reformat'? Release?] Senior Brother Zhang was stunned for a moment, then immediately understood. [You mean, remove the control on him, implant our program, and let him go back as an undercover agent?]

[Exactly!] A calculating light flickered in Wen Youyi's eyes. [This guy's level is not high, and his sudden disappearance might arouse suspicion. But what if he returns 'normally' and brings back some information we want them to know? For example... the 'Liuyun Market' test point was accidentally destroyed for unknown reasons, data was lost, and it is suspected to be caused by a conflict between local Loose Cultivators?]

[We can even have him bring back some fake data that we have 'processed' to mislead their research direction!]

This idea was truly audacious! Directly attacking the peripheral members of the 'Creation Heavenly Court' and playing a game of internal affairs!

[Technically... it's difficult, but not impossible.] Senior Brother Zhang pondered. [There are rough methods about mental suggestion and memory weaving in ancient knowledge. We can try to combine the principles of 'Star Language' and 'spirit awakening stardust' to deeply influence him. But the risk is high; once discovered by the other party, they might follow the trail...]

[Risk and reward coexist.] Wen Youyi had made up his mind. [Let's do it! Ying, you assist me, let's give this guy a proper 'System reinstall'!]

The next few hours were a nightmare for the prisoner.

Wen Youyi and Ying joined forces, using Star Core Power as a guide, like the most precise surgery, carefully erasing his memory of being captured and the secret chamber being raided, and implanting a 'fact' into his mind that 'a conflict between Loose Cultivators affected the Jingxin Studio, and the device was accidentally destroyed.'

At the same time, they also intercepted some of the real data he had recorded, and cleverly mixed in some insignificant but misleading 'noise'—for example, disguising data on cases that had slight resistance to the 'Soul-Calming Incense' as an accidental phenomenon caused by the 'special geomagnetic environment of Liuyun Market.'

The whole process had to be extremely careful, leaving no traces of forced modification, making it look like the person's own memory and judgment.

When the work was completed, both Wen Youyi and Ying were exhausted, and their Mental Energy was severely depleted.

'Alright, wake him up and find a suitable place to 'release' him.' Wen Youyi wiped the sweat from his forehead. 'Whether it succeeds or not depends on heaven's will.'

Wang Wu was responsible for the aftermath. He took the still somewhat dazed prisoner away from Liuyun Market and dumped him in a wilderness far from the market before he woke up.

Wen Youyi finally checked the 'Liuyun No. 1' node again, confirming that it was running normally and well-concealed.

'Let's go, it's time for us to go back. Let it quietly do its job here.'

The four of them left quietly, as if they had never appeared.

A few days later, they returned safely to the 'ark'.

And through the information sent back by the 'Liuyun No. 1' node, it was confirmed that the 'reformatted' prisoner did not arouse too much suspicion, but was only reprimanded by his superior for his incompetence and transferred to another post.

The 'fake data' he brought back was also like a stone thrown into a lake; whether it could cause ripples remained to be seen.

But regardless, the 'Star Network' plan had taken a solid first step.

They not only cleared out a tumor and established the first sub-node, but also audaciously performed a reverse operation on the 'sheepdog' of the 'Ranch owner.'

'How do you feel?' Wen Youyi looked at the Star Core on the altar, its light becoming increasingly warm, and asked everyone with a smile.

Zhao Iron Pillar waved his new heavy sword: 'Refreshing! It's just that the fight wasn't satisfying enough!'

Wang Wu said steadily: 'The intelligence network has one more fulcrum.'

Ying said softly: 'The technical verification is successful, and we can start planning the next node.'

Wen Youyi nodded, his gaze seemingly piercing through the barriers of the 'ark,' looking at the endless world.

'The net must be spread little by little. The nails must be driven in one by one.'

'When our network coverage is wide enough, and when we have driven enough nails...'

The corners of his mouth curled up into an arc.

'By then, it won't be us hiding from them, but we should consider how to give them a 'total network disconnection' gift package!'

(End of chapter)