40: Chapter 40 I'm Going to Exploit the Bug

If the suspects for the 'Anomaly' could be narrowed down to three, using the [Revelation Mirror] to shine on them directly would work; even if it didn't reveal anything, using two [Revelation Mirror]s to eliminate two would leave the remaining suspect as the definite 'Anomaly'.

The problem now is how to narrow down the suspects in the Imperial Capital to three.

"I only just locked in my own identity, 'Imperial Censor'."

"If I hadn't locked in my identity, perhaps I could have gone over to your side to help you."

Chen Aoyun entered the plot as a [Strategist]; his identity was originally undetermined: whoever he followed was implicitly considered that person's 'lackey'.

On the first day, Chen Aoyun followed Zhao Hongxiu, so the plot defaulted to him being Zhao Hongxiu's personal attendant.

The act of 'sleeping' was not only a way for Raiders in two different locations to exchange information but also an opportunity for [Strategist]s from various countries to switch identities at any time.

Unfortunately, this opportunity became invalid after Chen Aoyun confirmed his identity as 'Imperial Censor'.

"You coming over wouldn't help much, and the problem at the West Mountain Camp hasn't been solved either, so it doesn't really matter where you stay." Fan Ling sighed and continued, "There are only two key tasks in this plot: one is to find the 'Anomaly', and the other is to 'transfer troops to the capital'. We're struggling with both tasks…"

The token for 'transferring troops to the capital' might be in the hands of a commander with a strength of level six, which is hard to deal with.

Finding the 'Anomaly' is even harder; there are ten suspects, and Fan Ling only has two [Revelation Mirror]s in his hands.

Fan Ling was right, it's tough!

If these two tasks aren't completed, the plot cannot be resolved. If the plot cannot be resolved, according to the rules, they will end up at the bottom. Not only will they fail to earn national luck, but everyone participating in the plot raid, including Chen Aoyun himself, will be unable to escape death.

The atmosphere in the 'Dream Space' became somewhat depressed for a moment.

Fan Ling also realized that his previous words were too discouraging, so he hurriedly remedied the situation by taking three gleaming fragments out of his bosom and handing them to Chen Aoyun,

"This is a reward I got from completing the plot on my side after finding out the truth about the fire in the imperial palace: three [glory fragments]. These things can summon a divine dragon when you collect ten… ah no, they can summon heroic spirits. You guys should have them too."

Chen Aoyun took the [glory fragments] handed over by Fan Ling.

"We got three [glory fragments] on our side when dealing with the ambush; bringing the bodies back to the military camp rewarded us with two; plus your three, that's seven in total. Just two more and we'll have enough to summon a heroic spirit."

"We haven't been going through the plot very smoothly, perhaps we can make up for it by summoning a heroic spirit!"

Summoning a heroic spirit can serve as a fallback when raiding the plot.

Both tasks can be solved by summoning a heroic spirit:

If the token can't be obtained, summon a heroic spirit; summoning a heroic spirit with charisma who logically, or in historical allusion, has the capacity to 'clear the emperor's side' can force the transfer of troops to the capital without needing the token.

The same goes for not being able to find the 'Anomaly'; find a heroic spirit capable of 'distinguishing the loyal from the traitorous', and perhaps you can bypass the [Revelation Mirror] to point out the 'Anomaly' directly.

Zhao Hongxiu said, "Heroic spirits can generate rules. Summoning a heroic spirit can indeed bypass the token and the [Revelation Mirror] to complete the plot directly, but the two tasks require two heroic spirits. Right now, we don't even have enough [glory fragments] to summon one heroic spirit, so we can't pin all our hopes on heroic spirits!"

When Zhao Hongxiu said this, Fan Ling's eyes clearly lit up. He looked at Chen Aoyun and asked tentatively,

"Brother Strategist, listening to Sister Hongxiu's tone, it seems that as long as there are enough [glory fragments], you can summon a heroic spirit? And you can even summon a suitable heroic spirit?"

They were all from the Dragon Kingdom, so there was no need to hide their skills, especially since failing the plot meant death. Chen Aoyun nodded very frankly,

"I can!"

"And I already have a suitable heroic spirit candidate in mind, even…"

Chen Aoyun paused. In his mind, he actually had a bold idea:

The theme of this plot seems to be 'clearing the emperor's side', but is it absolutely necessary to follow that process of "subduing the West Mountain Camp - transferring troops to the capital - finding the villain (Anomaly) - clearing out the villain (Anomaly)"?

Not necessarily, right!

The plot summary given before the start of the plot didn't set it in stone.

The plot summary Chen Aoyun received at the start was like this:

['Actual Power Emperor' plot content: Your emperor has been controlled by those around him (the disguised 'Anomaly'), the palace (Home Base) is no longer under your (Strategist) control, the divine tree containing great power cannot take root, and corruption is about to spread here...]

The plot didn't stipulate that one must follow the 'clear the emperor's side' routine, nor did it say that one must use the token, nor did it say that one must clear out the 'Anomaly'.

So, is it okay not to clear out the 'Anomaly'?!

"I'm not going to summon some heroic spirit with a 'clear the emperor's side' allusion."

"I'll directly summon a heroic spirit whose identity is an emperor!"

"Can a heroic spirit whose identity is an emperor mobilize the West Mountain Camp? Yes! It fits the logic."

"Do I still need to find the villain, find the 'Anomaly' if I summon an 'Emperor-type heroic spirit'?"

"I don't need to anymore!"

"The 'Heroic Spirit Emperor' will directly kill his way to the capital, kill the old emperor, and all the villains, 'Anomaly's, will become remnants of the previous dynasty, and can just be buried!"

"Emperor?"

"The heroic spirit is the emperor!"

"If the imperial edicts come from the authority of the heroic spirit, doesn't that also satisfy the requirement in [Plot Content] that [the palace (Home Base) is under your (Strategist) control]?"

"In this way, for the two tasks, I only need to summon one 'Emperor-type' heroic spirit. Why go to the trouble of summoning two, one to 'clear the emperor's side' and one to 'distinguish the loyal from the traitorous'? Why not let one heroic spirit handle both tasks? After all, collecting ten [glory fragments] is much simpler than collecting twenty [glory fragments]!"

Chen Aoyun laid out his thoughts, leaving everyone dumbfounded.

Zhao Hongxiu stroked her beautiful chin and nodded in agreement,

"Summoning an emperor heroic spirit directly? Letting one heroic spirit solve two tasks, this is indeed a good idea!"

"According to my experience, don't be fooled by the fact that we obtained eight [glory fragments] all at once on the first day; it shouldn't be easy to obtain new fragments later. Mr. Strategist… no, Chen Aoyun's idea is very good. Think outside the box, directly use one heroic spirit to solve all problems. This way, we only need to collect ten [glory fragments] to have a chance to complete the plot, and the pressure and difficulty will be much smaller!"

Just as the three people at the 'West Mountain Camp' had bright eyes, thinking they had found a reasonable bug, Fan Ling sighed,

"Sigh, why do I always have to be the bad guy… Everyone, sorry, I have to pour cold water on you all again."

"I wanted to say it just now, but one thing led to another, and I didn't get a chance to mention it. Everyone, I found a few hidden rules at the imperial palace, and these hidden rules might shatter your dream of exploiting this bug…"