"We are very lucky!"

Fang Quan shouted with a bit of excitement:

"A success on the first try!"

"Perhaps, this time we can recreate that bubble!"

Lei Jie didn't answer, just stared intently at the generating trap.

He didn't know what changes would occur there.

But he knew that if there were changes, the future of all mankind would be altered in an instant.

A slightly eerie, wave-like distortion appeared in the air.

Lei Jie almost thought this ring device was about to launch successfully.

----But in the next second.

"Buzz----"

A sharp noise rang out.

The electricity in the capacitor was completely discharged, and the device stopped functioning.

In the empty shaft below, only the humming sound of the still-turning fan remained.

"Failed."

"I'm sorry, this time we... achieved nothing."

Fang Quan looked regretfully at Lei Jie and continued:

"I originally thought we would have better luck this time, but..."

"No."

Lei Jie shook his head and said:

"It's not as if we achieved nothing."

"At the very least, we know where that strange metal comes from now."

As soon as he finished speaking, Fang Quan's eyes lit up.

"Where does it come from??"

Lei Jie let out a soft sigh and replied:

"It's not a necessity for starting the ring."

"It's a byproduct after the ring is started."

"This device... indeed affects the world on a microscopic level."

"It's likely that at a certain moment, it altered the fundamental forces within matter..."

...

On the other side, in Mountain City.

With the "Synthetic Team" led by He Shuo successfully clearing the surrounding monsters and driving the last two level-one monsters further west into the mountains after several rounds of bombardment, the gates of Mountain City were completely open.

Routes began to form, accompanied by a constant stream of equipment and personnel, along with those curious merchants, and.....

the Pilgrim citizens.

No matter the era, faith has always been the strongest driving force.

Knowing full well the journey was perilous and without a clear picture of Mountain City, the fervent followers of the Mechanical God Sect still surged forward.

Through thorns and thickets, they carved a path.

Where there were no roads, they stubbornly forged one.

Some of them fell along the way, seeking help from the expeditionary reinforcements also heading toward Mountain City.

But He Shuo had already given orders to Li Xian, and Li Xian, who was in charge of dispatching, had given orders to the soldiers of the expeditionary force.

They ignored all the Pilgrims' cries for help, leaving them to perish on the treacherous paths.

Their bodies became signposts, but at the same time, they deterred many Pilgrims whose resolve was not so strong.

The number of civilians who finally reached Mountain City was not actually large, only about a few dozen.

But even these few dozen caused significant trouble for the Huaxia Army stationed in Mountain City.

----The destruction of the mud statues was not something everyone could accept as easily as a few like Guo Xu.

They saw the Huaxia Army as desecrators and destroyers, and the previously circulated title of "Supreme Saint Eight One" became an evil symbol.

Harassment and abuse happened daily, with many priests waving incense burners to curse the temporary command post of the Huaxia Army.

Of course, such curses were meaningless.

The smoke from the incense burners was not even as thick as the steam emitting from beneath Mountain City.

But Chen Jian was indeed quite annoyed.

But Ji Xing appeared to be quite... satisfied with this scene?

Standing outside the command post, Chen Jian couldn't help but ask Ji Xing, with a puzzled look at his faint smile:

"I say, what's so funny to you?"

"Isn't this very annoying? Where's the amusement in it?"

Ji Xing coughed, turned back to look at Chen Jian, and then replied:

"Commander, haven't you realized it yet?"

"This is also part of Chief He Shuo's plan."

"... What do you mean?"

Chen Jian asked curiously:

"Did you see through it?"

"Of course---I may not be as smart as you, but I do know more about this world's... fanatics."

A hint of pride appeared on Ji Xing's face, and he continued:

"We could have originally opened a much... smoother path."

"Or, we could have directly shared the resource transport routes for these Pilgrims to use, pulling them along the journey."

"But we didn't do that."

"And the reason is actually very simple, it's a filter."

"Filtering out those with insufficient faith, and those who truly make it here are the most steadfast, the core followers."

"These people's influence is often much greater than that of ordinary followers and believers."

"If we can use them, dismantling the Mechanical God Sect will become much easier."

"They are just causing trouble now, but once Chief He Shuo has time, he'll deal with them sooner or later."

"Tsk tsk....."

Chen Jian shook his head upon hearing this.

"Schemer, quite frightening."

"Could this also be a meticulously designed plan?"

"Definitely not."

Ji Xing shook his head and said:

"Most likely Chief He Shuo just did it casually."

Chen Jian sighed.

"I understand, maybe this is what talent looks like."

"He is indeed suited for this."

Saying this, Chen Jian turned and walked toward the command post.

"Alright, enough of this chat."

"Time to get serious."

Saying this, Chen Jian opened the large screen.

Fu Xi was already online, and on the screen, a suggested simulation program was displayed.

"We need to deploy a virus inside Mountain City."

"You should understand what it means by virus, right?"

Ji Xing slightly nodded, answering:

"I roughly understand---it's like throwing a stone into a machine that's currently running."

"That's basically the idea."

Chen Jian's fingers slid on the PDA and then continued:

"What we need to do is simple, use something akin to a shock virus to physically destroy the core computing hub of Mountain City."

"We have three tasks in total."

"First, decode the brain-machine control system."

"Second, infiltrate the communication channel."

"Third, inject the virus into the Mountain City computing center via the communication channel."

"The process is not complicated, but it requires prolonged and intricate operations."

"During the next negotiation, we need to stall Lin Yu, or rather, the Lingxi behind him, for at least six hours."

"We need to ensure he stays connected to the isolated computing module for at least six hours, and it cannot be interrupted by Lingxi midway."

"But now, we have a problem."

At this, Chen Jian paused briefly.

He looked at Ji Xing and asked:

"If you send a representative to the enemy's camp to negotiate with the enemy leader, and he doesn't return within the scheduled time, what would you do?"

"...Cut off contact with him."

"Exactly!"

Chen Jian nodded approvingly and continued.

"Based on our estimate, Lingxi would give us at most two hours for negotiation."

"This amount of time is completely insufficient for decoding."

"Because the computational power controlled by Lingxi is much greater than ours."

"Even an isolated block approaches all the computing power we have."

"Therefore, we must create more time for Fu Xi."

"We must convince Lingxi that a six-hour negotiation is perfectly reasonable."

"Therefore, following this line of thought, we must create a relatively closed environment."

"This enclosed environment cannot be controlled by us."

"We need... you, to enter this environment."

Upon these words, Ji Xing's eyes slightly changed.

"You want me... as a representative, to enter the real Mountain City and negotiate with Lingxi?"

"Exactly."

Chen Jian nodded emphatically.

"I have no other choice."

"Li Shitai... is too simple-minded, he cannot bear such responsibility."

"And I, my body cannot withstand the trauma of plugging into the brain-machine."

"You are the best candidate."

"We will pre-install a backdoor in the system to forward signals to Fu Xi."

"This way, we can use you as medium to truly access Mountain City."

"Well?"

"Are you... willing?"

Ji Xing took a deep breath.

Then she nodded solemnly and said:

"If you need... I will never back down!"

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