A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 295 The Fifth Mirror, the Empty-Body Insect

In the Taishan region, at the headquarters of the Shenzhou Brotherhood Society, the current president, Hong Siya, hung up her communication with Jiang Zisheng and immediately came down from the building.

Her office area was on the top floor of the building. There were multiple exits from the top floor downwards, including two high-speed elevators and five ordinary electric elevators.

However, just as Hong Siya was giving her secretary some instructions, packing her things and taking her knife, preparing to leave the office, she saw a white-clad figure on a tall building across the street through the floor-to-ceiling window.

She changed her mind and opened a glass door on the top floor's floor-to-ceiling window, stepping outside.

From the top floor of this building, there is a skywalk that connects directly to the rooftop of the shorter building opposite.

This long corridor, suspended high in the air, is like a long bridge spanning hundreds of meters. Except for the support points at both ends, it is completely suspended in the middle, but it is very stable.

The bottom of the corridor is made of a black, high-performance material, and the sides and top are made of the same material, but they are transparent, allowing you to see the outside.

The misty clouds high in the sky left winding streaks of water on the transparent exterior walls of the corridor.

As Hong Siya walked on this high-altitude suspension bridge, it felt like walking through a tunnel in the clouds. And the person she saw on the opposite rooftop after passing through this corridor seemed like an ancient philosopher who had emerged from the clouds.

"Fifth Master, what brings you here?"

Standing on this rooftop is a young-looking man with gentle eyes, white eyebrows and white hair, and a flame-like pattern between his eyebrows. His pure white robe has a classical style. Although the color is simple and not luxurious, the style is complicated, with an inner waist belt and an outer robe, and it is meticulously dressed.

He also had a long string of glass prayer beads wrapped around his wrist. The pure beads were threaded through white silk, wrapped around his wrist, and hung between his fingers and palm, with a large section hanging down, accompanied by white tassels, swaying in the air.

This person, whose appearance and clothing resembled those of an ancient person, yet who blended perfectly with this vast and mottled metropolis, was none other than the Fifth, named Mingjing, one of the three most powerful figures in the united regime.

"President Hong."

Fifth Mingjing raised one palm to his chest as a greeting, his gaze still sweeping out from the rooftop, seemingly searching for something.

"President Hong should also be aware of the recent attacks on official television stations, construction teams, and large factories in several major cities."

"These cases were initially thought to be perpetrated by extremists, but their leaders could not be caught each time, and the scale of the cases grew larger and larger, with the level of importance being raised all the way up. Now they have been handed over to me."

"I found out some things and traced them here."

Hong Siya, of course, knew what he was talking about.

Twenty days ago, a large city in the southeastern part of the coalition government was preparing for a televised celebration of the great success of the "Sixth Phase of the Urban Population Housing Allocation Plan".

On the day the celebration was broadcast live, the television building was attacked. Fewer than ten people, including television staff and guests attending the celebration, survived; the rest were all infected with an unnamed virus.

This virus forms blue-purple crystals on the surface of the human body. When staff use psionic energy or come into contact with psionic-related equipment, the rate of crystal proliferation will double.

When the television station was attacked, someone tried to activate the psionic resonance shield inside the building, but instead, 99% of the people in the building were completely frozen by the viral crystals.

The second case, less than five hours after the first, took place in a large city in the northwest.

That place was severely damaged during the period of frequent disasters. It was located on an earthquake zone and was adjacent to a desert, with strong winds and sandstorms. After many local organizations were taken over by the United Government, the United Government has been carrying out restoration and reconstruction work.

The members of those construction teams included strong local laborers and personnel directly transferred from the coalition government's forces. They all possessed excellent psychic potential, which enabled them to easily utilize psychic resonance technology and operate large machinery.

As a result of encountering the crystallizing virus, the construction team in Northwest China suffered heavy losses. More than 2,000 people were covered in crystals and fell into a critical state similar to that of a vegetable. Another 4,000 people were also covered with viral crystals to varying degrees.

In the period that followed, similar cases occurred frequently in various places, all using the same type of virus.

Several large factories under the Shenzhou Brotherhood Society that produce psionic projection learning glasses were also attacked, each suffering varying degrees of damage.

The projection learning glasses are a top priority among the many industries of the Shenzhou Brotherhood Society after the Great Cataclysm, and have received full support from the United Government.

After the cataclysm, humanity scattered across various regions acted independently, giving rise to countless new organizations, some good and some bad, many of which were essentially bandits or warlords.

Humanity has not lost much technology, but cities have been destroyed, populations have been devastated, and almost the entire world is in turmoil. The level of civilization has regressed by at least two centuries.

In just over a decade, in some remote areas, there have even been instances of illiterate young people being led to worship psionic technology as a miracle by those with ulterior motives.

Once the united government was formally established, the primary task became to bring the survivors' cities under its control, restore education, and establish moral and legal awareness.

The Shenzhou Brotherhood Society's projection learning glasses are inexpensive and of good quality. They can easily help people improve their memory and learn a lot of basic knowledge, saving countless teachers' resources.

After those large factories were hit by the virus, not only did the Shenzhou Jieyi Society itself suffer losses, but the original supply chain also became tight. Many orders had to be rushed, and other workers had to be asked to work overtime and get extra pay in order to barely be able to deliver them.

Hong Siya had been troubled by this matter recently, and upon hearing about it, she couldn't help but feel angry. She asked, "Has Mr. Fifth found out where the culprit is?"

Fifth Mirror held a very high position in the united regime, but he was not arrogant at all. Upon hearing this, he said directly, "I've just got some clues."

"This group of extremists who used the virus to launch attacks appears to be very active and powerful, able to spread out across various locations, coordinate with each other, and carry out successive actions."

"In fact, upon closer examination, most of the members who have already appeared are bionic robots with intelligent programs, along with a few fanatics who have been misled and insiders who have been coerced and are unaware of the truth, in order to create the illusion of a large number of people and a huge organization."

"Some of the inside agents didn't even know about the virus attack. They were basically threatened because their family members went missing, and they did some small things that seemed insignificant to them. The people threatening them often pretended to be settling personal scores to lower their guard."

Fifth Mirror shook his head as he finished speaking.

After his recent investigation, he discovered that in more than twenty major cases, the methods used to threaten those inside agents were all the same. Even the information used to blackmail them was copied verbatim, with only a few words changed.

It is precisely this monotonous method that has caused such great damage.

Moreover, if it weren't for the Fifth Mirror, other investigators would have had a hard time distinguishing the "insiders" who had also been harmed by the virus from among the many victims.

"Upon closer investigation, it's almost certain that the organization behind this virus creation has a very small number of members. This is because in many ways, if humans were to perform these tasks, they would do a far better job than those robots that only have intelligent programs."

Fifth Mirror said, "This organization's real reliance is only two points. First, their crystal virus, which we currently have no effective means to contain. Second, their bionic robot technology is exceptionally advanced, almost flawless. Unless there is face-to-face communication for a certain period of time to directly discover the rigidity of the intelligent program, it is impossible to tell whether those bionic robots are human or machine with just some scanning instruments."

Upon hearing this, Hong Siya seemed to understand something and said, "Viruses may be created by individual geniuses and inspirations, but the overall creation of bionic robot technology involves many aspects and must be supported by a complete research system."

"Currently, the only country in the world whose level of bionic prosthetics clearly surpasses that of the United Regime is the Hachiyos."

Fifth Mirror nodded: "They seem to be treating these cases as experiments. After obtaining experimental data, each time they use a virus, it undergoes some minor adjustments compared to the last. However, in recent cases, this minor adjustment has disappeared, indicating that they have reached a bottleneck or are close to completion. If the Eight Leaves are behind them..."

So now is the time to return this technology to Hachiyo.

The base stations and satellites within the territory of the United Regime are all under their strict control. People from the Eight Leaves have no way to conduct remote data transmission within the territory of the United Regime.

The most reliable method, on the contrary, is to escort them by human force to leave the united regime and enter the Eight Leaves.

Before Fifth Mirror could finish speaking, he suddenly rolled up his left sleeve, and an ant crawled onto his sleeve at some point.

"I sensed some clues and guessed their possible route, which led me to this city."

He pinched the ant between his right thumb and middle finger, his fingertips rosy and his nails crystal clear, and flicked his fingers.

Three kilometers away from the building, a large tree beside the road suddenly shook violently.

It was as if something behind the tree was struck by a tremendous force, making a cracking sound.

The branches rustled, and leaves fell in abundance.

As the sunlight shone down, the shadows of the trees swayed and flickered, and suddenly, beneath those sparse patches of light, appeared a figure dressed in an elaborate and classical white robe.

Green leaves fell on her shoulders, and the white tassels of the rosary hanging from Fifth Mirror's wrist were still swaying gently.

In the blink of an eye, Hong Siya, with short hair, glasses, a black casual suit, and a knife in her left hand, also arrived.

"This is it."

The tree's bark was black and had many cracked folds. Fifth Mirror picked up a small spider from among the folds behind the tree.

The spider had eight black legs and looked unremarkable. Its back was even slightly cracked, with a viscous fluid seeping out, like the tissue fluid of an arthropod.

Hong Siya reached out and took it, only to realize something was wrong.

This little black spider's body is exceptionally strong.

It should be noted that she herself is a level seven psychic. Even gold-titanium alloy, which was previously used as aerospace material, can be kneaded at will in her hands with just a little force from her fingertips, like kneading clay.

But she couldn't quite squeeze this spider; she had to exert a lot of force to break it open a little with her fingernail.

"This is also a kind of biomimetic machine. Although it is made of extraordinary materials, its real strength is detection."

Fifth Mirror said, "I sensed the presence of this thing near every crime scene. At first, I didn't understand why, but after capturing some, I discovered that the biggest use of this thing is that it can evade the radar of the United Regime, autonomously detect the presence of psionicists of level seven or above within two kilometers, and transmit the coordinates back to the main body that released these bionic mechanical insects."

Hong Siya's heart skipped a beat. She asked, "Within two kilometers, it can detect the presence of psychics of level seven or higher. So once it detects a psychic, can it maintain a sufficient distance to follow them wherever they go?"

Fifth Mirror nodded: "Powerful psionicists don't usually move at high speeds without reason. This bionic spider has a tracking function. These robotic insects have no offensive capabilities other than detection, tracking, and reporting. Their stealth effect is extremely high. Even someone with your strength, President Hong, wouldn't be able to detect them easily."

"However, the entity that releases the mechanical insect must possess extraordinary psychic abilities to receive its faint signal amidst the United Regime's vast array of satellites."

"If the theory that the virus organization is supported by the Eight Leaves is true, then the person who released the mechanical insects should be one of the four mountain lords of the Eight Leaves, the Sky Mother who is in charge of intelligence."

Dakini, the formless realm, can perceive all forms.

Hong Siya frowned, and a burst of fire shot from her fingertips, burning away the remains of the bionic spider.

"This thing can only report a general location and cannot provide any specific information. The Skywalker is probably scattering this thing everywhere to avoid the powerful figures investigating this series of cases as much as possible."

Fifth Mirror sighed, "Although I eliminated it outside the spider's detection range, I can't be sure if there are other bionic mechanical insects with the same function around."

Hong Siya said decisively, "We still can't not pursue them. The five cities of Myanmar have already been occupied by the Eight Leaves. Now it seems that this operation, in addition to expanding territory and seizing people, may also be to make it easier to receive the Skywalker."

"I happen to be heading that way. Mr. Fifth, would you like to come with me?"

Her eyes flickered slightly, and a spark rose from her fingertips. From the cracks in the bark, an ant slowly crawled out.

Fifth Mirror quickly stopped him, saying, "It's just an ordinary ant. Although it tried to bite me, I used it to get rid of the pest. The cause and effect have been repaid, so it's not good to harm it."

The ant crawled out, shook its head, and seemed a little dizzy.

The straight-line distance between the building and the tree from the ground is about three kilometers, but Fifth Mirror was standing on the rooftop when he launched the ant, so the ant had to travel an even longer distance.

Moreover, it was the force carried by this ant that penetrated the tree trunk and destroyed the bionic spider.

Watching the ant crawl energetically across the tree trunk, Hong Siya couldn't help but exclaim, "Mr. Fifth's abilities are becoming increasingly sophisticated."

"Old Master Yan and Brother Hei are truly wise, employing the wisdom of sages internally and the tactics of military strategy externally. I was merely using tricks."

Fifth Mirror said, "The Taishan area is full of talented people and should not be underestimated. I have eliminated many biomimetic insects, but I find it increasingly difficult to eradicate them completely. I should try to find the true form of the Dakini."

"Let's not delay, let's head to Burma Mountain now."

(End of this chapter)