Lu Wuxin smiled. "You are pushing me to tell you more details, aren't you? But it doesn't matter. Now that I am at your mercy, I guess I have to show my sincerity.
"How about this? You remove my restraints and give me a biochemical brain, and I will tell you half of the information I know about the Children of the Nether World. You can verify the information however you want, and after you are convinced, we'll negotiate about the other half and how you are going to ensure my safety in the future."
Li Yao pondered for a moment but shook his head. "I can't give you a biochemical brain. It's too dangerous. I'll give you a crystal processor with the simplest functions. You will input half of the information you know into it, and we will proceed with the negotiations after the validity of your words is confirmed."
Lu Wuxin considered for a moment and laughed in amusement like a broken balloon. "It's a deal then!"
The ice that encased him slowly melted. Supported by two demon kings, Lu Wuxin struggled to crawl out and smiled miserably. "Give me something to eat. I have to make sure that my head still functions at a high speed. Otherwise, much of the information will be mottled and incomplete. I will not be able to recall all of it!"
Li Yao and the Fire Ant King discussed for a moment. Then, they decided that the Fire Ant King would make some solutions of high-energy nutrition and inject them into Lu Wuxin's head. In such a way, his brain would be very active, but his body would be as feeble as before.
They could not be too prudent when it came to the cunning demon emperor.
Half an hour later, Lu Wuxin began his confession and did not stop until three hours later. The information he poured out was enough to fill half a jade chip.
In the end, he was still wearing a mysterious smile when he pushed the crystal processor over to Li Yao.
However, the words that followed that froze Li Yao's heart.
"I spent ten years collecting the information. It should be enough to identify most of the Children of the Nether World.
"However, in Elder Nether Spring's plan, the Children of the Nether World are classified into different levels. The one of the highest level, whose code name is 'Abyss', will never be caught by you.
"That is because Elder Nether Spring never asked them to send back any intelligence or do anything that harms the interests of the Star Glory Federation. Before 'Abyss' was dispatched, they were even brainwashed so that they would have absolutely no doubt about their identity as a human being.
"Nobody knows who 'Abyss' is. Nobody knows the sex, age, height, or weight of 'Abyss'. Even 'Abyss' probably didn't know that they are 'Abyss' before they were activated.
"Elder Nether Spring is the only one that knows who 'Abyss' is. For decades, he paved the way for 'Abyss' and helped 'Abyss' rise to power in the federation without leaving any traces.
"Hehe. You are trying everything you can you capture Elder Nether Spring, but chances are that Elder Nether Spring has already fled to the Heaven's Origin Sector and awakened 'Abyss' and all the other Children of the Nether World!
"Who knows what they will be doing in their desperation?
"Therefore, you can take however much time you want to analyze the information I've provided. After all, time is not on my side, not on your side, but on the side of Elder Nether Spring and 'Abyss'. Haha. Hahahaha!"
…
An hour later, on Chaos, the flagship of Skyfire, which was docked above Gloomy Bone City, a secret meeting was being held.
The participants of the meeting included Li Yao, Jin Xinyue, the Fire Ant King, Han Tuhu, Suo Chaolong as well as Jin Tuyi, who joined them through a remote video chat.
Faced with the intelligence Lu Wuxin had provided, everybody was grave. The air was so tense that a storm might be coming.
Shua! Shua! Shua! Shua!
On the more than ten light beams, countless entries of information were flying crazily like headless flies, messing everybody's mind.
"First and foremost," Li Yao said, "are Lu Wuxin's confessions true or not? Did he make them up in order to buy him more time?"
Han Tuhu gestured to stop one of the light beams. He enlarged the map of a city and said, "I don't know the validity of other information. But this map includes the distribution of the soldiers in 'West River Fort', a city on the frontier on Grand Desolate Plateau twenty years ago, and the underground bastions.
"West River Fort used to be a barren, unknown town. However, after tremendous mother lodes of crystals were discovered thirty years ago, it expanded rapidly and grew into an important city on the Grand Desolate Plateau.
"At that time, my troops were stationed around West River Fort and even joined the West River Resistance. The defense system left quite a deep impression on me. So, this piece of information should be true.
"At that time, I belonged to the field army nearby, and I was not qualified to learn the secrets of the garrison. West River Fort did not have any local sects. Only the supreme commander, the chief of staff, and a few other officers of the garrison knew and could send out such information!
"Besides…"
Han Tuhu's eyes suddenly turned sharp. "Nineteen years ago, West River Fort encountered an unprecedented beast tide outbreak. Billions of insects flowed out of the depths of the mines directly and drowned all the mother lodes in West River Fort!
"At that time, we thought that it was a coincidence. The enemy was teleported to the mines below the ground of West River Fort by accident and caught us unprepared!
"But now, in hindsight, the enemy must've studied the defense system of West River Fort in advance and launched a critical strike through a precise teleportation. That's a much more reasonable theory."
Li Yao pondered "So, the highest commander, or the chief of staff, of the garrison of West River Fort twenty years ago is likely one of the Children of the Nether World? What's their status now?"
Han Tuhu's eyes suddenly turned hollow. He mumbled, "Twenty years ago, it was the 66th Legion of the Federal Army that was stationed in West River Fort. In the battle, the commander and chief of staff were both killed. West River Fort was about to fall when Duanmu Ming, the deputy chief of staff, stood up and commanded the remaining troops in the fierce battle for three days. In the end, he even led a counterattack in person. Finally, West River Fort was saved!
"At that time, I was fighting side by side with Duanmu Ming, and his craziness in the battle was etched to my mind. I knew that the guy would certainly rise to prominence one day!
"Following the battle, Duanmu Ming secured many other victories and suppressed dozens of beast tide outbreaks. As a new star in the federation army, he was appointed as the Commander of the 66th Legion and later the deputy captain of the Pegasus Legion. Right now, he is the supreme commander of the Dragon Horse Legion.
"The Dragon Horse Legion was one of the best troops in the federation and among the troops that were the earliest to be equipped with the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. It is now one of the sixteen crystal suit legions of the federation.
"Their gear has been updated twice, and they are now equipped with Assault Type and Super-Heavy Armor Type, two latest derivative models of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. In terms of equipment, it is even better than my Flying Tiger Legion!"
There was nothing but silence in the meeting room.
The Star Glory Federation had dedicated all the national resources for more than ten years to the establishment of the sixteen crystal suit legions.
Among them, Han Tuhu's Flying Tiger Legion was crippled in the Dark Desolate Domain, and most of the soldiers were captured and brought to the Blood Demon Sector.
It meant that, for the time being, the federation only had fifteen crystal suit legions.
But the commander of one of the crystal suit legions could be Elder Nether Spring's agent?
Horrible! That was too horrible!
Suo Chaolong found it hard to believe. "That… that's a bit absurd. Is it possible for a stranger whose background is unclear to become one of the most important commanders of the army after only several decades?"
"It is quite possible." Li Yao took a deep breath and said, "You are not citizens of the federation. It's understandable that you don't know our policy.
"Over the past hundred years, the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven's Origin Sector have been melding, and wormholes have been appearing nonstop. The Grand Desolate Plateau is the most plagued area because it is too close to the point of impact. Beast tides occur all the time!
"After every beast tide, countless towns on the Grand Desolate Plateau will be demolished, and a lot of people would lose their home and family."
"Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!"
Suo Chaolong coughed in embarrassment. He was of a mind to debate with Li Yao again about who the real owner of the Grand Desolate War Institution was and who began all the murders and demolition. But on second thought, he felt that it was not a good time.
Li Yao continued. "The Grand Desolate Plateau is sparsely populated. Life is difficult. An identification system would be very hard to implement. Sometimes, entire towns are swallowed by the beast tide, and all the files will disappear. How could you prove someone's identity?
"Let's say that a heavily-wounded stranger appeared in the desert near a town that was destroyed in a beast tide. He claimed that he was a resident of the town and luckily escaped the disaster although his home and his family didn't. How could he prove it? There's no way!
"Besides, the Star Glory Federation considered the war as one between mankind and the demon race. Then, as long as the guy was a pure human being, he would certainly be on our side. What other proof did he need?"
"That's right!" Han Tuhu nodded. "When I was in service on the Grand Desolate Plateau, I experienced countless beast tides. Most of the civilians caught in the disaster were scared out of wits by the insects and beasts. Many of them were even suffering serious PTSD or other mental diseases such as amnesia. Who had the heart to tear open their wounds again? As long as they passed the cell test and proved that they were human beings, everything would be good!
"Also, according to the policy of the federation, the victims of the beast tides have a lot of privileges.
"If they are going to college, they will be given bonus scores. If they apply for the major sects or the federal army, they will get priority. They will have other benefits after they are admitted, too.
"After living in the harsh environment for hundreds of years, most of the civilians of the Grand Desolate Plateau are physically strong. Also, they hate the demons' guts and fight harder than other people, which make them the best soldiers. Who else will you raise if not them?
"Therefore, in both the federal army and the major sects, the soldiers and Cultivators from the Grand Desolate Plateau are very influential forces. You know the point best, President Li!"
Li Yao nodded. As a graduate of the Grand Desolate War Institution, naturally, he knew the influence of the Cultivators of the Grand Desolate Plateau very well.
The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit became the first MP crystal suit of the federal army partly because of its marvelous design and partly because of the support of the natives of the Grand Desolate Plateau in the army and the government, without which it would not have succeeded.