At this time, the image of (Bold Explorer] stopped, and his vision returned to the warehouse. He lifted his palm from the cold sh.e.l.l of the triangular device, stood in place, and looked at the device in silence.
He remained silent and did not move at all. Clueless as to what was going on, Harrison sensitively felt that the atmosphere had gradually become heavier, so he cautiously asked, âYour Excellency Black Star, did something happen?â
ââŠNothing.â Han Xiao regained focus. He glanced at him and then walked out of the warehouse with wide strides. Harrison quickly followed after him. âGo do your stuff. You donât have to follow me.â
âOh, sure.â
Like he had just been spared his life, Harrison quickly left.
Although Black Star did not do anything, just being beside him made Harrison feel extremely pressured.
After getting rid of Harrison, Han Xiao returned to his room and thought of the secrets he had just seen. His mind started working fast.
The Virtual Mutiny Virusâs real name is the Domino Virus, it seems. What a terrifying weapon of war. Any organization that gets their hands on this technology will have the absolute upper hand in the information warâŠ
He finally understood why the Intelligent Plague still swarmed the entire universe in his previous life. It turned out that it was not only because some people did not obey the three Universal Civilizations, but the three Universal Civilizations could not stop the Domino Virusâ invasion.
It was not because their technology was inferior, but they did not have enough information and got caught by surprise. After all, who would ever think that the Virtual Mutiny Virus worked this way? If not because he had seen the virusâ true ident.i.ty from (Bold Explorer), he would probably have been in the exact same spot the three Universal Civilizations were in, still seeing the virus core as just a data program.
According to common sense, the virus core was supposed to just be the switch that monitored the entire infection progress. Hence, the three Universal Civilizations thought that they had nothing to be afraid of because they had already come up with the antivirus.
Of course, they had no idea that the virus core had the ability to update and evolve on its own. What they had under control at the moment was just the first-generation virus. As long as the core was not dealt with, there would still be the second generation, the third generation, and so on. Furthermore, there would be no incubation period next time; the virus would directly cause the machinery to rebel.
Not only was its infectiousness more horrifying than expected, but the virus coreâs ability to escape was also astonis.h.i.+ng. It was not limited by its data state and could even enter the material world, forming an electromagnetic field as the body to carry itself and switch freely between the virtual and the real world. It was not afraid of being locked in the network at all.
As the foundation of its existence was a virtual soul, the virus core did not need any physical node to enter the quantum network. It was similar to how Beyond Grade A Virtual Mechanics could enter the quantum network anytime they wanted. It would only need a node as the exit when materializing, meaning that it could teleport between the various nodes using the quantum network.
No wonder I couldnât find any traces of the virus core over the past few months. Itâs probably not because Harrisonâs Luck Glow isnât good enough, but it simply canât be caught on the network.
This ability was similar to his Void Dimension Jump. To the virus core, the quantum network was like another secondary dimension it could enter any time it wanted. This artificial intelligence civilization probably did not reach the Universal Civilization level, since the three Universal Civilizations had the ability to a.n.a.lyze the Domino Virus completely. However, this needed time. Therefore, when facing this kind of weaponized virus, there would always be a period of time when there were simply no measures to deal with it. The specialties of every civilization were different. There would also be some civilizations that would invent some new technology. For example, the Kunde Raceâs s.p.a.cetime Splicer. The three Universal Civilizations were inferior in the virtual virus technology aspect. After all, even the citizens of this civilization were artificial intelligence life forms, so this was clearly their strongest suit.
Wait a minute, if the three Universal Civilizations successfully defused the Intelligent Plague in my previous life, the virus core was definitely dealt with, so the three Universal Civilizations would have certainly obtained this technology⊠But why did they not use it when fighting the World Tree Civilization?
Han Xiao had some suspicions.
Could it be that⊠the virus core did not end up in the hands of the three Universal Civilizations in the previous life but somehow got obtained by someone else?
The next moment, the image of an old man appeared in the Great Mechanic Hanâs mindâŠ
Mechanic Empire Manison!
This b*stard was the most suspicious!
One could not blame Han Xiao for thinking this way. Manison gave him too strong of an impression as someone who would do something like this.
Furthermore, the original material of the Domino Virus was mutated artificial intelligence life forms, and Manison just so happened to be in control of an artificial intelligence civilization.
It was horrifying to even think about it!
Han Xiao hastily shook his head, left these thoughts behind, and pondered.
The three Universal Civilizations made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot of lessons before finally understanding how the Domino Virus worked. Now that Iâve seen the truth in advance, I can skip that process and come up with prevention measures!
Having thought of that, Han Xiao was relieved.
In his previous life, the three Universal Civilizations had no choice but to learn through mistakes. Now that he, someone who had already watched the âinstruction manualâ was there, the same thing did not have to happen again.
Maybe, the source of the virus might even be dealt with in the first generation. This way, the virus would have no chance of causing an outbreak, and the damage would be minimized!
When looking at it this way, the b.u.t.terfly effects he had brought seemed to lean more toward the positive side.
The main issue now is convincing the three Universal Civilizations to change their plan of killing the virus on a large scale. If the virus core isnât dealt with, no matter how many viruses they kill, it wonât make a difference. The virus coreâs ability is very tough to deal with, so Iâll need the three Universal Civilizationsâ cooperation to deal with itâŠ
Its ability to self-evolve was the most terrifying one. As long as that was dealt with, the rest would not be too much of a problem.
He was not afraid of the virus core escaping from the Ancient Star Desert. The quantum network of this Star Field was in lockdown. It was like an enormous LAN network, so it could not receive any feedback from the viruses within the Ancient Star Desert from outside it.
Even if the virus core really got out, it would still have to come back and log in to this sealed network to monitor the overall infection progress of the Ancient Star Desert.
This meant that even though the virus core could teleport in the quantum network, its range was limited to the Ancient Star Desert.
As for whether it would go out and spread the virus seed, Han Xiao was not worried either. Although the three Universal Civilizations lacked information, they were not useless. In order to prevent the virus from getting out, they were also doing large-scale scanning in the outside world.
If the first-generation virus infected the outside world, the three Universal Civilizations would notice it very quickly. There was no need for him to worry. After a.n.a.lyzing for a while, Han Xiao had some ideas. He summoned Phillip and said, âContact the three Universal Civilizationsâ pandemic command center as well as the other Beyond Grade A Mechanics for a meeting. Tell them Iâve made a huge discovery about the virus coreâŠâ
After receiving Black Starâs invite, the three people in charge of the department, including Sidreun, and all the other Beyond Grade A Mechanic dropped their work and arrived at the Intelligent Plague Pandemic Command Centerâs conference room in the form of remote projections. They were all there to hear Black Starâs discovery.
As soon as Han Xiaoâs remote projection appeared, Sidreun could not wait and asked, âBlack Star, have you found the virus core?â
âNot yet, but Iâve made a shocking discovery.â
Hearing that Han Xiao did not find the virus core, the people present were both disappointed and glad, followed by the curiosity of the huge discovery Han Xiao spoke of.
âWhat did you discover?â
âHereâs the thingâŠâ
Han Xiao cut to the chase and directly explained the rough mechanisms of the virus core, mainly emphasizing its ability to transform freely between the virtual and the real world, as well as its ability to self-evolve.
The threat of the Domino Virus was too high. Working together to defuse the pandemic was the top priority at the moment, so he did not plan to keep anything to himself.
After hearing what Han Xiao said, everyone present became silent. They looked at each other and did not even know what to feel.
Seeing this, Han Xiao continued and said, âTherefore, your plan to kill the virus on a large scale wonât work. The threat of the Intelligent Plague will only be removed when the virus core is found, so I suggest you take action immediatelyâŠâ This time, Sidreun interrupted Han Xiao and said with a strange expression, âBlack Star, Iâd like to ask⊠Where did you obtain this information from?â
The rest of the people present had the exact same thought. They all stared closely at Han
Xiao.
They had to be doubtful. This information was way too detailed⊠so detailed it almost seemed made up!
Are you messing with us?
Itâs not impossible given how cheeky you are!
This matter is huge, and thereâs no room for anyone to play tricks. We have to confirm the authenticity of the information. How can we just believe you if you donât show us some proof?
âI knew youâd say that.â Han Xiao was not surprised at all and went on to explain, âActually, I discovered the virus coreâs traces in the quantum network not long ago. I was just about to try to track and capture it when it disappeared from the quantum network without any signs, and the lead I had ended there⊠Iâm a peak Beyond Grade A Virtual Mechanic, yet it could still disappear into thin air right under my nose without me having any idea of how it did it. Some of you surely know how difficult it is to do that. Thatâs when I started suspecting that itâs not just a data program.â
âThen? How did you discover this information?â Sidreun asked.
âYour doc.u.ments should have recorded that I have the ability to pa.s.sively see the future. A few days after I noticed that the virus core isnât as simple as we thought it was, I had a vision and saw the future. I saw how the Intelligent Plague erupted and how it killed countless lives. At the same time, I saw the true ident.i.ty of this virus core.â Han Xiao shrugged. âSo, if youâre asking for proof, I really canât provide any.â
âThatâs⊠youâre making it difficult for us.â
The various people in charge from the three Universal Civilizations all looked troubled.
It was not that they did not trust Black Star, but foresight was indeed inaccurate sometimes. This matter involved the safety of the entire universe. It was way too risky to bet all their chips on a prophecy without any real evidence.
Han Xiao had no other choice. He did not have any real evidence, so what he said was certainly not going to be convincing enough. He could only use his ability of foresight as an excuse. After all, (Bold Explorer) was not something he could really explain, and it was not even as convincing as prophecies.
Nonetheless, although what he said lacked any real proof and was not convincing enough, with his current position, even if the three Universal Civilizationsâ people would not believe him immediately, they would still definitely find ways to prove or disprove what he said. He did not have to do too much explaining
In the end, if what Han Xiao said was proved to be false, the three Universal Civilizations would undoubtedly trust Han Xiao less in the future. However, before that, they would not instantly take Han Xiaoâs words as false.
After so many things had happened, the name, reputation, and respect Han Xiao had acc.u.mulated in the universe was more than enough to have the three Universal Civilizations take his suggestions seriously.
At this moment, Manison slowly said, âI feel that Black Starâs foresight does make some sense. In fact, I discovered the virus coreâs tracks some time ago. It also disappeared right before my eyes, and I suspected that it was not just a data program.â
Hearing this, Han Xiaoâs eyelids twitched.
Him saying he had found traces of the virus core was completely made up, but Manison was most likely not making it up. I knew it. This old b*stard really did make progress but never said anything about it. If not because I tricked him today, he would never have publicized this information on himself.
Phooey! You say I donât have enough resolution, but youâre even worse, hiding such key information! The people exchanged looks and digested this impactful piece of information.
In the end, Sidreun coughed and said, âNo matter what, weâll check out the content of His Excellency Black Starâs vision. This is a very important piece of information.â
While saying so, he secretly looked at Manison with derision.
The strongest Mechanic in the universe? How come you did not discover as much information as Black Star when the two of you had the same experience? Learn from him!
Manison looked directly ahead and acted like he did not notice Sidreunâs gaze.
This time, Kant said worriedly, âIf the Virtual Mutiny Virus is really as Black Star says it is, weâre in big trouble. The firewall weâve come up with this month will be useless before the next generation of the virus. By then, the disaster will sweep across the entire universe.â
âWho in the world invented such a horrifying virus technology? Arenât they afraid of it biting themselves in the foot?â âMechanical Catastropheâ Francisco wondered. âWhether what Black Star said is true or false, weâll still have to come up with a plan.â The dynastyâs ally Quantum Demon showed his support.
Han Xiao spoke again with a deep voice. âThatâs right. It doesnât matter if my foresight is accurate or not. It wonât hurt giving it a try.â
Thatâs true⊠The people in charge from the three Universal Civilizations exchanged looks and nodded.
âWhat plan do you have then?â.
âI wouldnât call it a plan. Itâs just a rough idea.â
Han Xiao paused and looked around. Seeing that everyoneâs attention was on him, he said slowly, âThe mobility of the virus core is too high, so itâs very difficult to catch it. However, it still has limits. It can enter the quantum network anytime, anywhere, but when it leaves it and materializes, it has to choose a terminal node as the exit. This might be our opportunity.
âIn order to receive feedback from the rest of the viruses, the virus core will return to the quantum network once every so often. This time, we really might have to cut off the network on a large scale and reduce the number of terminal nodes in order to restrict the range of the virus coreâs ability to teleport within the quantum network. This way, when the number of exits is reduced, we can station people at every node and set up traps.
âThe people stationed at each node have to be Beyond Grade A Virtual Mechanics with the knowledge of âVirtual Paramountâ. This is because after the virus core materializes, it doesnât have to come into contact with any node in order to re-enter the quantum network. Therefore, the chance will only last for a short instant. At the instant the virus core materializes, the Beyond Grade A Mechanic will use âVirtual Paramountâ to lock up the virus coreâs virtual soul so that it canât escape its body temporarily, then capture it together with its physical body.
âThe technology to seal the virus core already exists. That safe prevents the virus from leaking, so it can certainly suppress the virus coreâs virtual soul and prevent it from entering the quantum network. As long as we pa.r.s.e that triangular container, we can obtain this targeted technologyâŠâ
Hearing this, the people all looked at Han Xiao with weird expressions once again.
Not to mention the feasibility of this plan of yours, just the fact that the people stationed at the nodes have to be Virtual Mechanics who have the knowledge of (Virtual Paramount), arenât you being too obvious?
Virtual Paramount is an ability only Divine Throne Mechanics of the Virtual branch can obtain, so clearly only peak Beyond Grade As. Youâre one, Manison is another, and thatâs it.
So, youâre saying that only you guys can compete for the virus core. Even the three Universal Civilizations have to stand aside?
Are you really not tricking us? Manison, however, smiled and fully approved of this plan.
âBlack Star is right. To maintain peace in the universe, we are more than willing to step up. How many terminal nodes are there to set up traps for? How about this, Iâm willing to deploy fifty million spare Lordâs Avatars, ensuring that I can advent in any location the virus core appears. Is that enough?â