140: Stealing a moment of leisure from a busy schedule

On the holographic screen, the deep red area, which originally represented hostility, was fading circle by circle from the Anvil Base as its center, as if being erased by an invisible rubber, transforming into light blue, which represented neutrality or control.

The high-tier life command simulated by Spirit Eye was like a stone thrown into a pond; the ripples it created continued to spread, and the effect far exceeded expectations.

"Command coverage has expanded to an 800-kilometer radius. Within this range, 94.7% of enemy units have entered a permanent standby or low-power patrol state and no longer respond to previous attack commands. 3.1% of units experienced system crashes, and the remaining units' behavior patterns are chaotic, no longer posing an effective threat."

Spirit Eye calmly reported:

"Geomantic energy diversion has returned to normal, and the Abyss Bloom Tower wreckage has been marked, awaiting recovery and research."

Brian nodded with satisfaction.

Disintegrating millions of square kilometers of defense without shedding a drop of blood felt quite peculiar.

"It seems their reliance on this permission system is deeper than we imagined."

Eric's figure appeared on the communication screen; he was looking with great interest at a preliminary report on the compatibility of life source essence and elemental energy:

"This is equivalent to putting the entire civilization's life and death in the same basket!"

"The more precise a system, the more likely it is to have a fatal single point of failure," Brian said in a relaxed and calm tone, "We just happened to find that failure point."

He turned to Spirit Eye:

"Spirit Eye, what's the cracking progress? Can you find a deeper protocol, like one that directly connects and controls the core of the life network?"

"I'm trying, Master!"

Spirit Eye responded playfully.

"The currently simulated command belongs to regional pacification and management authority, which is like getting the seal of a provincial governor. But to directly command the emperor, a more core permission key, bound to the root of the life network, is needed. The information contained in that concentrated life source essence is undergoing deep analysis, but the encryption level is increasing exponentially, so it will take some time!"

"It's fine! No rush!"

Brian immediately ordered: "Dispatch sky patrollers to emit permission signals with the base as the center! Utilize existing permissions to steadily advance the control zone! I want to explore the map!"

"Yes, Master!"

Spirit Eye's War Room Clone responded excitedly, the blood butterfly on her wrist brightening a few shades.

Her small hands swiftly operated the control panel with the excitement of a child receiving a new toy.

"All standby sky patrollers, heed my command! Permission command broadcast mode, full frequency band, full power, activate!"

Upon command, thousands of sky patrollers hovering above the Anvil Base and at the edges of the control zone simultaneously lit up with a faint blue light.

Their Wide Area Reconnaissance Magic Formation was used in reverse, no longer receiving information.

Instead, it propagated the special fluctuation, containing the high-tier life command simulated by Spirit Eye, outwards in ripples like water.

The fog of war, which represented the unknown and danger, was rapidly dispelled on the tactical sandbox.

The light blue control zone spread rapidly in all directions, like ink dripping into clear water.

Eight hundred kilometers.

Sixteen hundred kilometers.

Three thousand two hundred kilometers.

Large areas of terrain, resource points, and even the distribution of enemy units in standby mode were clearly marked.

"Wow! Master, look! Such a large metal ore vein! And this energy reaction... it's a high-purity life source essence condensation pool!"

Spirit Eye pointed at several newly lit dots on the sandbox, her eyes sparkling, "These will all be ours later!"

Brian looked at the rapidly expanding territory on the sandbox, a smile also appearing on his lips.

This feeling of revealing the entire map was indeed exhilarating.

Especially achieving such results without shedding a drop of blood, relying solely on information-level suppression.

"Well done, Spirit Eye."

He nodded approvingly: "Mark all high-value resource points, prioritize dispatching engineering units for protection and preliminary development."

"Mhm mhm! Already marked!"

Spirit Eye nodded vigorously, then tilted her head slightly, showing a hint of distress:

"But Master, about 3,500 kilometers to the east, the signal coverage seems to have encountered some resistance, and the expansion speed has slowed down a lot. That area seems to be hiding something big, interfering with our command broadcast."

Brian's gaze turned to the eastern part of the sandbox, which was still slightly blurry.

"It seems the East is the core?"

After stating his guess, he asked, "Can you analyze the nature of the interference source?"

"It's a bit like... many, many small nodes simultaneously emitting chaotic signals, canceling out our commands."

Spirit Eye tried to describe it: "It's like a large swarm of bees buzzing; although individual sounds aren't loud, together they're very noisy."

"Swarm intelligence? Distributed network backup?"

Brian pondered.

If the core of the life network adopted a distributed architecture, it would indeed be more difficult to deal with than a single core.

Destroying one node would still allow other nodes to maintain network operation.

"Continue to maintain the command broadcast and keep absolute control over the already controlled areas."

Brian instructed:

"Additionally, dispatch three elite reconnaissance squads, mixed with annihilators and sky patrollers with advanced optical camouflage, to infiltrate that interference zone. Do not engage in active combat; focus on stealth and information gathering, specifically investigating the distribution of network nodes and energy flow patterns."

"Understood! I'll arrange it right away!" Spirit Eye immediately began deploying troops.

Just as Brian and Spirit Eye were busy exploring the map and claiming territory, Spirit Eye's clone at the teleportation array was leisurely lying on a soft energy-woven lounge chair.

The silver lightning bracelet pattern on her right wrist was vivid in the soft light. At this moment, a dozen holographic screens floated before her, displaying various latest fashion styles, sparkling jewelry, and lists of specialty snacks from different planes.

"Mmm~ This nebula tassel skirt is so pretty, it matches Master's Mage Tower's starlight dome so well~! It's just a bit expensive."

She mumbled softly, her slender finger swiping across the screen, adding the skirt to her shopping cart.

She then clicked on a page labeled "Lava Heart Plane Specialty," and looking at the candy that resembled burning crystals, she licked her lips:

"This looks so delicious! I wonder if it's spicy? I'll buy some to try!"

She was completely immersed in the joy of shopping; although inter-plane teleportation wasn't possible yet, she could at least browse!

When she was done with her tasks, she would clear her shopping cart.

Although she could synchronously perceive everything happening with the Main Clone's plane conquest, she did not directly participate.

Her core mission was to guard the teleportation array, so she was usually the most idle.

Especially in this foreign world, so the other clones had given her the task of shopping.

After all, in her words: "Fighting is for Master and the clone sisters; Spirit Eye Number 5 is responsible for being cute and enjoying herself!"

Of course, when it was her turn to contribute, she would never hesitate.