However, as Li Yao reflected on the star map that was etched into the deepest part of his brain, he realized that it was complicated and barely understandable, like a ball of thread that had been burnt.
Everybody had their specialties. Li Yao was not good at analyzing star maps, and he could not infer the specific coordinates of the so-called ‘Kunlun’ or find the method to reach the place.
It seems that I’ll have to hand over the star map to the ‘Occult Orbs Fellowship’ or Professor Mo Xuan when I’m back in the Heaven’s Origin Sector and ask them to analyze it with the central crystal processors, Li Yao thought to himself.
Since Elder Nether Spring knew about such a mysterious item as the star map of Kunlun, he certainly knew a lot of other secrets.
Maybe, Elder Nether Spring was related to the Ultimate One Demons. At the very least, he must have received some of the legacies of the Ultimate One Demons.
I have to find a way to elicit more information from Elder Nether Spring!
Li Yao snapped his finger and summoned Black Wing. He rushed toward the Mausoleum of Chaos at the highest speed.
In case the enemy detected him, when he was still hundreds of kilometers away from the Mausoleum of Chaos, Li Yao hid Black Wing and took out an optical camouflage cape that could completely conceal one’s scent. He covered himself up without leaving the smallest gap and blended into the desert while crawling forward against the ground.
It took him three hours to slowly move to the side of the Star Swallowing Sea, but the view in the lake gave him quite a surprise.
In the vast Star Swallowing Sea, dozens of enormous floating islands supported by airbags were connected to each other by iron chains, constituting what seemed to be a castle on the water.
Countless relics and treasures gradually surfaced inside much smaller airbags. They were fished up by the chains and piled up in the floating island. Following which, they were delivered to the devilish warship in midair.
Countless soldiers of the Nether World Watch were busy going about their work in order, like ants who were moving their home.
Elder Nether Spring is going to run away? Li Yao pondered.
…
On a gray devilish warship that had no marks of any emblems, Elder Nether Spring observed the scene of the delivery through the biochemical eyes that were embedded on the warship, his hands behind his back. His face was as cold as ice.
Despot and Swirl stood behind him respectfully, not even daring to breath too loudly.
Swirl had just finished her treatment in a biochemical slot. Her shattered wings had not entirely recovered yet, and they were cramping now and then beyond her control.
“How much longer will it take before we pack up and ship away all the important facilities and corpses inside the Mausoleum of Chaos?” Elder Nether Spring asked coldly.
“One day and one night, at least.”
Swirl lowered her head and said, “There are too many items inside the Mausoleum of Chaos. We have to examine them carefully to determine the real relics that are of value. One day and one night is already our best.”
“I’ll give you twenty hours. We will take off in twenty hours!”
Elder Nether Spring made the call. “If there’s no time for examination, don’t examine it. Speed is what matters most right now. After we take off, blow up the dome of the Mausoleum of Chaos and let the Star Swallowing Sea drown it!”
“Elder—” Swirl hesitated.
Elder Nether Spring glanced at her. “There’s no need to persuade me. We have been discovered. Although we do not know the stance of the mysterious expert under Jin Xinyue’s command, we cannot establish research centers inside the Mausoleum of Chaos and continue our studies as we planned before. Our enemy will gladly take our trophies if we do!
“We must prepare for the worst. Let’s simply consider that we have been completely exposed at this second.
“There’s no need for useless talk now. As of now, activate Plan B and accelerate our operation. Let’s do it as soon as all the valuable treasures and the captives are sent back to the ‘Nether World’!”
Despot and Swirl looked at each other in bewilderment. Swirl faltered for a moment but still struggled to suggest, “We are activating our plan so quickly? But our secret weapon is still imperfect right now. We’ll pay a high price if we rush into it.”
“Indeed, elder,” Despot said with a deep voice. “The more days we have, the more flawless our secret weapon will be, and the more strength it will be able to trigger. Our plan’s odds of success will be much higher!”
“Give up your impractical illusions already!” Gloomy flames were burning deep inside Elder Nether Spring’s eyes. He declared resolutely, “Don’t be too greedy. There is no such thing as a perfect plan in the world. If we postpone, it is true that we weapon will be sharper, but the risk that we are exposed will be higher, too!
“The key to our victory is speed. We must activate the plan before anybody realizes what is going on!
“I have made up my mind to initiate the plan right now. The day when the millions of demon soldiers march into the Heaven’s Origin Sector will be the day of our rise. There will be absolutely nobody that can stop me!”
…
Elder Nether Spring is running way. But where to?
In the desert almost a hundred kilometers away, Li Yao lurked inside the sand like a rattlesnake. He boosted his optical cells to the maximum while he observed the black spots inside the Star Swallowing Sea.
Elder Nether Spring’s attack on the Mausoleum of Chaos with the Nether World Watch was definitely top secret. He planned to establish research centers in the desolate place, but now that he knows he has been discovered by me, it is not strange that he has decided to leave off with all the trophies to avoid risks.
His devilish warships are packed with the soldiers of the ‘Nether World Watch’ that have never been seen in the Blood Demon Sector. They are also carrying a lot of the corpses and pieces of magical equipment excavated from the Mausoleum of Chaos, even including the fossilized member of the Pangu Clan. It is obvious that he cannot ship the stuff back to the Nether Spring Kingdom openly.
After all, he kept everything a secret from the silver-blood nobles of the Nether Spring Kingdom. If we get to the bottom of it, the grudge between him and his brother, the Fire Ant King, and the secret of the ‘hidden-blood demons’ are both clandestine.
Therefore—
Li Yao clapped his hands. Elder Nether Spring will certainly be shipping the Nether World Watch and the treasures of Chaos back to his secret base!
Didn’t he tell the Fire Ant King that he had also excavated a lot of residences of Chaos? They must be the other war bases that Ba Yanzhi left on the planet.
It is only natural that Elder Nether Spring transformed one of the bases into his nest!
A crazy idea suddenly occurred to Li Yao.
Sneak into Elder Nether Spring’s nest to investigate all his secrets and his true purpose!
The idea seemed to be implausible, but on second thought, it was actually quite feasible.
Elder Nether Spring was a big shot of the Pantheon of Demons. Right now, it was the critical moment in the war between the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector. If the ‘Red Tide Plan’ of Jin Tuyi, who was the current commander-in-chief of the coalition army of the demon race, was really endorsed by Elder Nether Spring, it would be implemented very soon. By then, Elder Nether Spring would be too occupied to bother anything else.
He had already spent a lot of time in the Mausoleum of Chaos, and it was unreasonable for him to still be absent from the Pantheon of Demons.
Therefore, he could only return to his nest to check that the important facilities and captives were properly handled at best. Then, he would have to leave for the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons immediately.
When the tiger is away from a mountain, the monkeys will be kings. As long as Li Yao could sneak into one of Elder Nether Spring’s vehicles and go to his nest with him, Li Yao would certainly be able to do whatever he wanted after Elder Nether Spring left.
Besides, Li Yao was still short of hands right now. To strike the big shots of the Blood Demon Sector, just Jin Xinyue and Li Yao were far from enough.
The Fire Ant King was the key to his cause. He had to be rescued.
First of all, the Fire Ant King is the leader of the Blade of Chaos and the most influential one among the low-level demons. The organization has a lot of secret branches in the Blood Demon Sector, which could prove useful later.
Secondly, the Fire Ant King himself is an expert in developing demonic plants and refining strengthening drugs. The Blade of Chaos has conducted profound research on cells and genes.
If I want to produce ‘reduction drugs’ that can turn demons back into human beings, I will have to ask for the Fire Ant King’s help.
But there remains one question. How will the leader of the Blade of Chaos view his identity after he learns the truth of the origins of the demon race?
Anyways, I guess I’ll have to get him out first!
Li Yao was still a hundred kilometers away from the devilish warship where the Fire Ant King was locked. The longer the distance was, the stronger the spiritual waves when he manipulated Neltharion would be.
Due to the long distance, Li Yao did not dare contact Neltharion easily.
I have to sneak into one of Elder Nether Spring’s devilish warships!
But how am I going to do it?
Looking at the Star Swallowing Sea where tides were surging, Li Yao frowned.
At least a thousand highly-vigilant soldiers of the Nether World Watch were defending the Mausoleum of Chaos’ perimeter. It was certainly not a good idea to swim to them.
Besides, although he had a lot of experience in sneaking into starships, they were all crystal warships.
The crystal warships were full of spiritual energy transmission tubes, ventilation tubes, maintenance cabins, and engine compartments. As a magical equipment expert, even if Li Yao did not know the detailed structure of a starship, he could guess a thing or two when he saw the distribution of some of the cabins. If he was not able to tell, he could still explore and examine the starship with his magical equipment.
But the devilish warships were something completely different. Their working mechanism, distribution of cabins, methods of information transmission, and mostly importantly, the alert system were vastly different from those of crystal warships!
Many devilish warships were produced out of enormous demon beasts. If he snuck into a random hole inside the warships, he might actually be entering the navel of the demon beast and got caught instantly!
This is rather tricky!
Li Yao buried himself in the sand and thought hard for a while. He drafted a hundred infiltration plans in his head, but the enemy discovered him and blew up him with their demon cores in the end.
He scratched his hair hard helplessly.
When he raised his head again, he suddenly noticed a small black spot on the southeast coast of the Star Swallowing Sea.
What is that?
Li Yao took out a telescope from his Cosmos Ring and observed, only to discover that a small devilish warship was docked at the edge of the Star Swallowing Sea, with cargo the size of a hill next to it.
Almost a hundred soldiers were busy repairing and modifying the vehicle.
A moment later, Li Yao realized what it was.
It’s a light sky-hunting warship of the Blade of Chaos!