Chapter 982 Impasse

"A number of air forces are stationed in the empty area among the floating mountains, including the Mirage Falcons from the Feather Clan, the Ghost Jellyfish from the Sea Clan, and the Ghost Face Silver Mosquitoes and the Colorful Locusts from the Insect Clan. Approximately ten eagles and a hundred bugs are hiding behind every cloud. The dense 'Flying Spirit Eyes' have an overlapping monitoring range. Even if one third of them are paralyzed, there will still be no blind spots!

"On the ground, there's also air-defense bastions made of more than thirty types of demonic plants, including Smoke Venom Flowers, Dragon Corroding Grass, Lethal Poisonous Lotus, and others that boast air attacking abilities. They can cover the entire sky with acid, venomous fog, and fire!

"To the east of Heavenly Path City is a large port, where more than fifty devilish warships—including 'Blood Demon', the flagship of the coalition army of demons—are docked. Among them, 'Blood Demon', which is seven kilometers long, is a super heavy warship produced by all four major demon kingdoms together at the cost of almost ten thousand demon beasts. It is not hard to imagine how many acid cannons and demonic energy cannons are installed on the warship. The most distinctive part about the warship is the 'Super Neuron Clustering Network System', which can connect the brains of four to five demon emperors to the main biochemical brain of the warship so that they can manipulate the warship easily!

"It is like a super warship with the wisdom of multiple demon emperors. Think about it. How terrifying is that!

"Leaving the defense system aside, the dozens of demon emperors inside Heavenly Path City alone are not easy to deal with. As tough as Master is, it is impossible for you fight against ten demon emperors at the same time, isn't it?"

Li Yao was silent for a long time. The hunting of ten or so demon kings along with thousands of demon soldiers was enough to make him flee like a stray dog. It was needless to say what would happen if ten demon emperors were after him.

After days of escaping and evading, Li Yao had a profound understanding about the difference between personal combat ability and the combat ability of an army.

It was true that he was a super expert whose combat ability was close to the Nascent Soul Stage. For him, slaying a demon general was as easy as eating a loaf of bread.

However, anybody would be stuffed if they ate ten loaves of breads in one minute!

'If a Nascent Soul Stage can kill a demon general easily in one second, he will easily take down sixty demon generals in one minute' was equally hilarious as 'Jack can eat one loaf of bread in a minute, so he can eat sixty loaves of bread in an hour'!

In a modern war, the role of the super experts was irreplaceable, but it did not mean that super experts were invincible and could do whatever they pleased. In a suitable environment, with appropriate arrangements, tremendous ordinary soldiers would have a chance to exhaust a Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator or a demon emperor, too. Or rather, like bread, they 'stuffed' the enemies with their own lives!

"Alright. Let's talk about the possibility of disguise and infiltration," Li Yao said helplessly. "Is there any way for us to pretend to be the workers of the Pantheon of Demons?

"Other than the demon kings and demon emperors, there are certainly workers in the Pantheon of Demons, right? For example, demon emperors need to eat and poop, too, which means that they need cooks and cleaners, right? These workers cannot live on the floating mountains, can they?

"Furthermore, to maintain the normal functions of the floating mountains, the assets consumed every day must be astronomical. The garbage must be enormous, too. Therefore, many carriers are bound to deliver assets and carry garbage away on a daily basis, too. Can we work on that?"

"It is very difficult," Jin Xinyue replied. "Of course, there are a lot of workers such as cooks and cleaners in the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons and the command center of the coalition army. Most of them live in the messy, crowded lower city. Every morning, special commuting beasts will bring them to the floating mountains at the periphery where they will be strictly examined before being sent to the central floating mountains together.

"The examinations on them are extremely rigorous. Not only will their blood, hair, fingerprints, irises, and voiceprint be tested, even their excrement will sometimes be tested, too. The headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons has domesticated countless demon beasts with sharp noses, including dung beetles whose genes have been specially modified. If so much as the scent of their excrement is any different from the day before, they will immediately be caught!

"Besides, although there are many workers, few can really meet the highest leaders such as my father. The examinations on such workers are ten times more stringent than those on the regular workers. They are essentially being scanned by demonic rays from inside to outside every day!

"It is impossible to sneak in by pretending to be one of them!"

Li Yao ground his teeth hard. "What about ventilation tubes? There's a complicated ventilation system in every floating mountain, right?"

Li Yao had a thing for ventilation tubes.

Jin Xinyue shook her head and said, "The ventilation tubes are the highlights of the defense system. More than ten different defense measures have been adopted in the ventilation tubes in the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons. For example, high-voltage electric arcs in the ventilate tubes and pumping the air with high-speed fans. The iron gauze behind the fans has small holes, too, and can perceive anything that passes through, including a fly. Besides, the Flying Spirit Eyes and the demon beasts that are highly sensitive to heat and smell are distributed around the key nodes of the ventilate tubes.

"Let's put it this way. If an intruder is unafraid of high-voltage electric shot, does not emit heat or smell, has a size smaller than a fly, and boasts a stealth ability all the way, there is a one in ten thousand likelihood that they can get in.

"However, the structural design of the ventilation tubes is top secret. There are too many branches, some of which are real, and some are false, like a maze. Even I don't know the correct design. If an intruder moves into a wrong branch in carelessness, they will find themself in the most terrifying traps!"

"If that's the case, the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons is indeed impregnable," Li Yao said. "I have no choice except to perform my ultimate skill now!"

"What! You have a solution despite such difficulties, Master? That's indeed marvelous of you!"

"How about we write a letter to your father?"

"…"

"Or in some other way. He must have a public communication channel, right? In the Heaven's Origin Sector, we have things like 'Speaker Hotline' or 'Speaker Mailbox'. We can even initiate online petitions. As long as the number of voters surpasses a certain threshold, the motion will be delivered to the Speaker of Parliament directly!"

"Of course, there is a communication system based on a super large biochemical neural network in the Blood Demon Sector, and many ways to contact my father. But as the commander-in-chief of the coalition army, he must be very busy now. All the messages that are sent to him will be handled through the command center. How should we introduce ourselves? We can't tell them that you are an unparalleled expert from the Heaven's Origin Sector and that you would like to speak to the commander-in-chief of the coalition army, can we?

"Besides, we are still unclear on how many of my father's trusted subordinates have been compromised by Elder Nether Spring.

"Given the horror of Elder Nether Spring's Spore Stratagem, it is impossible for him to have not made preparations to deal with my father!

"Think about it. When I met you for the first time, Master, the hunters after me included my big brother, Jin Wuxu, who is my father's most trusted eldest son, and the Mirage Falcons, the best troop of the Feather Clan!

"If even my big brother Jin Wuxu has joined Elder Nether Spring, there will be no way that we can contact my father through regular channels!"

Li Yao frowned. "Speaking of which, I do have another question. Is it possible that your father has joined Elder Nether Spring's cause, too?"

Jin Xinyue shook her head quickly. "Absolutely impossible. My father… How should I put it? He is a guy who values the interests of the demon race the most. There is no way that he would conspire with Elder Nether Spring. However, I don't know whether or not they have been taking advantage of each other."

Li Yao thought for a moment and said, "What if we make it big?

"For example, I can produce a batch of special crystal bombs, which will display enormous characters in the sky like colorful fireworks after they are detonated. With the precise explosions of hundreds of bombs, we will be able to send out a message of a few sentences!

"If we detonate the bombs in the lower city, you father will definitely see the message in the air clearly, right?"

Li Yao had played the move on Iron Plateau once before, and its result was rather satisfactory.

Jin Xinyue thought for a moment and nodded. "It's a last resort if we don't have any other choices, but the information contained in a few sentences is too limited. It's impossible to describe the whole thing clearly!

"Besides, we are now faced with a problem that is barely solvable. Elder Nether Spring has basically blocked every option. We only have some solid evidence if we show up in front of my father in person!"

Jin Xinyue pointed at herself and then Li Yao. "I've turned from a demon into a human being, and Master can trigger such intense 'demonic energy' as a Cultivator. That is enough to prove theory that human beings and demons are of the same origin.

"Although there is still a long way to go from proving the same-origin theory to proving the existence of the Spore Stratagem, we will at least plant a seed of suspicion in my father's heart! My father will be too prudent to neglect it!

"If it is just a few pieces of information in the sky, Elder Nether Spring can easily ask his accomplices to explain or rectify them.

"More importantly, we don't have much time. The Red Tide Plan might break out at any moment. Once the main force of the coalition army of demons is teleported to the east of the Star Glory Federation through wormholes, everything will be too late!"

Li Yao realized that it did make sense. It would be child's play if he could stop a military decision that would determine the future of a Sector by only a few words in the sky.

"What about habits and hobbies? Will your father leave the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons to train in the outside world?"

Jin Xinyue shook her head. "The headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons have the best training facilities. This is the critical moment before a great war. I don't see any reason for my father to go out without a good reason.

"As for hobbies… He is like a cold machine. Power is his only hobby. Anyway, in my every memory of him, he is working, working, and working!"

They were at an impasse. Li Yao scratched his head and pursued further, "He does not have any hobby at all? Clothes, food, or anything that can be helpful!"

Jin Xinyue hesitated for a moment. "Well. If we are talking about hobbies…"