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"Report: Everything in the shutdown area is normal; there has been no energy fluctuation since the shutdown began."

Outside the cordon of the Huaxi District, numerous officers collect data traces under the command of experts, while also strictly preventing outsiders from approaching.

Many journalists protest against the authorities’ high-handedness at the periphery, clamoring about the public’s right to know.

A middle-aged man, with officers clearing the way for him, squeezed through the massive crowd and entered the inside of the cordon to inquire about the data collection status.

The man was exceptionally tall, and judging from the aging of his face, he was clearly born in the Virtual World and held a high position. If there were high-level individuals present, they could quickly recognize that this man must be from the Wu Family.

There is a downside to forming appearances using gene algorithms: individuals with the same genetic inheritance will look strikingly similar.

"No trace fluctuations at all?" The middle-aged man sternly looked at the soldier who made the report, carefully confirming.

"General, we’ve checked three times now, there are indeed no traces left. There are journalists everywhere here now, and your personal visit might draw even more deliberate reporting. Maybe... it would be better if you head back early?" an adjutant suggested in a low voice.

"Hmm... I’d like to take a look first..." The middle-aged man didn’t pay the slightest attention to the adjutant’s reminder, but adjusted the data panel and carefully reviewed the reports from the experts.

From all reports, it seemed to be just as the soldier had said earlier: since the shutdown in the Huaxi District began, everything was normal with no data leaks. In fact, this should indeed be the case; if even the power was off, what could a powerful digital life form do?

If it still could do something, then that would defy the laws of physics.

But...

The man recalled the intelligence he received not long ago: an internal family report stated that his niece had used the family’s unique key to access the network!!

In Digital City, everyone who goes online leaves traces, but there are exceptions such as members of noble families like his. Their descendants have special channels and use unique IDs to browse the web without leaving any official traces.

However, the family must keep track of the whereabouts of these descendants, so once this key is activated, the family’s internal network would be aware of it.

Each descendant receives a unique ID, and even after death, that ID is sealed with them. He remembered that Wu Xiaoli’s ID was sealed yesterday...

Yet, the family’s internal system detected that Wu Xiaoli’s ID had been reactivated!

The family’s preliminary judgment was that it had been stolen, possibly by some extreme hacker organization.

Of course... there was another more terrifying conjecture, which no one inside the family dared to even mention, and he didn’t dare to either, but he still couldn’t resist coming to the scene to have a look.

It must be overthinking on his part...

The man comforted himself in this way, thinking it apparent that his niece’s ID had indeed been hacked. Damn, these bold and blind felons are getting bolder. If he caught them, he would definitely send them to the mental torment room to let them experience what consequences mean!

"Continue the data collection without slacking; there must not be any chaos here!" the middle-aged man commanded sternly.

"Yes, sir..."

The man nodded, about to say something, but suddenly... his personal intelligent device alerted him of the appearance of internet traces used by Wu Xiaoli!

This caused a slight change in his expression. What was going on? Was it a trap?

Even regular hackers who stole his niece’s ID wouldn’t be this bold in using it, would they?

"Have everyone continue the investigation and not overlook any detail," the middle-aged man ordered, ready to leave, when suddenly, a voice behind him said, "Is it the General of the Wu Family?"

The man tensed up instantly; the voice was unfamiliar, not belonging to any of his soldiers. How could such a stranger appear behind him without his notice, and why were there no sounds from his soldiers?

Without thinking, he knew that the soldiers behind him must have been taken down...

Who could kill a group of elite soldiers right under his nose without him having any inkling?

Are you kidding? Even if Zhang Zhengyuan himself came, he couldn’t achieve this. What kind of deadly thing was behind this?

With his head stiff, the middle-aged man slowly turned around, to see two people dressed in ancient attire. A chill ran through him: they were indeed from the Virtual Realm. What chilled him more was that all soldiers behind him had vanished without a trace!

What means had been employed that, at such close range, hundreds of elite soldiers could vanish without a trace?

"Who are you?"

"I am Wang Ye..." The young man in black bowed respectfully, "Due to the urgency of the situation, you were the fastest person we could find. Please excuse our presumption."

Tianji cast a complex glance at Wang Ye from behind, indeed having had his calculations figured out by this youth; no wonder Chen Qing always mentioned how clever he was—smarter than one might think.

An ancient person, who by merely having a brief introduction to the situation here, had deduced King of Qin’s approximate intentions!

Wang Ye speculated that the King of Qin intended to create panic, leading to external pressures that would draw the remaining domestic defense forces to the front lines. Then, while internal defenses were weak, he would search for the only thing that posed a threat to him!

Yes, that final command console!

The ability to shut down a district’s command console was the greatest restraint against his powerful digital life form.

With the character that the King of Qin had shown, he would certainly not leave such a vulnerability unaddressed, so his first goal was actually very simple: to destroy the most threatening thing in Huazhong District.

From the very beginning, his high-profile slaughtering of the upper echelons, causing panic and triggering a maximum level alert, then forcing the command console to shut down Huaxi, were all in pursuit of destroying the command console.

With such a major incident caused by the command console, whether or not it met the expectations of those high-level families, it would certainly lead to accountability.

And according to Tianji, the console was usually encrypted and hidden; it could only be found and connected with through a series of approvals, including contacting the general in charge.

The upper echelons would definitely contact the command console after the incident, presenting the best opportunity for him to find it!

A series of deductions had Tianji looking at Wang Ye with surprise. He himself hadn’t even considered King of Qin’s goals, and this novice, having just learned the rules here, was able to so quickly pinpoint King of Qin’s objectives?

For the first time, Tianji seriously considered this young man. Before, he only thought the other’s evening-like abilities were useful, but this time...

Such a terrifying adaptability, such exaggerated thinking ability, this guy... was more than just smart.

"Where are my soldiers?" The middle-aged man suppressed the astonishment in his heart and asked with a stern face.

"They are all safe..." Wang Ye said indifferently, "I’ve just sent them far away. You will be able to contact them soon."

"Sent to a distant place?" The middle-aged man was taken aback, and before he could ask again, his intelligence aide contacted him.

Startled, he connected immediately and a familiar voice came through.

"General, where are you?"

"Where are you?" the middle-aged man asked coldly.

"I... We don’t know either. It happened so suddenly; our group just ended up at the outside plaza, causing quite a chaos. Now we are surrounded by reporters, and the scene is very disorderly. General, what about you? Have you encountered something strange?"

"Nothing..." the middle-aged man calmed down and said in a low voice, "Don’t cause panic. There’s nothing wrong here, and there’s no need for you to come. Just take control of the situation."

"This..."

"Hmm?"

"Yes, General..."

After disconnecting, the middle-aged man looked at Wang Ye, his gaze softening slightly. With such terrifying means at his disposal and yet without killing anyone, it seemed he did not come with malicious intent.

"Who exactly are you? You sought me out specifically; is there something you need?"

"We come from there..." Wang Ye pointed behind the middle-aged man, which made his nerves tense up again, but he could also guess that all characters from the Virtual World were registered, and there was definitely no one as formidable as the person in front of him.

The origin of this person could only be an unrecorded, new world.

"May I ask, General, why did you come here all of a sudden? Could it be that a member of your family contacted you?"

The middle-aged man: "...."