Chapter 170: The Plan
The moment the man seated at the head of the table spoke, everyone below fell silent.
The pitch-black hall instantly became so quiet that the heated discussion from just moments ago felt like nothing more than an illusion.
"Heh."
He let out a cold laugh.
"Why has everyone stopped talking?"
"Don't you know what to say anymore?"
"You all seemed awfully enthusiastic just now."
Leaning back in his chair, the man rested his clasped hands on his knees.
"Since none of you are willing to speak..."
"I'll analyze the situation myself."
"No objections?"
Everyone hurriedly murmured their agreement.
Of course, no one actually had the courage to object.
"Very well."
"Let's begin."
"I assume all of you already know how this started."
"It all began with what happened at the military base in Border Region Five, the one under Yu Lanfeng's legion."
"The first event was Zhou Ziyu's identity being exposed while carrying out his infiltration mission."
"As for how his identity was exposed..."
"Do any of you know?"
Of course they knew.
At that time, their people inside Border Region Five Military Base hadn't yet been discovered, so they had still been receiving information normally.
According to the reports, Zhou Ziyu had secretly conducted experiments on personnel inside the military base, which eventually exposed him.
Initially, only a handful of insignificant infiltrators had been discovered.
Even if they all died, it would hardly have mattered.
But what happened afterward...
No one had anticipated it.
Even until the day they died, they probably would never have imagined things would develop this way.
At this point, however, none of them wanted to be associated with the matter.
If responsibility was assigned to any one of them...
Then that person would have to bear the losses caused this time.
And who could possibly shoulder such a burden?
Their operation against Yu Lanfeng's legion had begun the moment Yu Lanfeng founded it.
Yet his legion maintained unbelievably strict discipline.
There had never been any loopholes to exploit.
Even after its numbers grew and all kinds of people joined, secretly promoting their own operatives remained extraordinarily difficult.
As a result...
Most of the people they had inserted could only remain quietly at their assigned posts, diligently carrying out their duties.
Progress had therefore been painfully slow.
Still...
After so many years, they had accumulated some results.
Now...
Everything had been destroyed.
Border Region One alone had suffered losses exceeding ninety-nine percent.
Only a few insignificant newcomers remained alive.
Since they had infiltrated only recently and occupied completely peripheral positions, the investigation into them hadn't been very strict.
That was the only reason they had survived.
If they had been investigated as thoroughly as the higher-ranking members...
They almost certainly would have been exposed as well.
Moreover, those peripheral operatives could never advance in rank.
The moment they were promoted...
Their identities would most likely be discovered anyway.
"I hope all of you understand one thing."
"The most important issue right now isn't arguing over anything else."
"We need to identify the method they used to expose our infiltrators so quickly."
"Otherwise..."
"Our future infiltration operations will become almost impossible."
"If we don't know what method they're using, we can't avoid it."
"Nor can we prepare countermeasures."
"Wouldn't you agree?"
"So..."
"Take a guess."
"What kind of method could identify so many infiltrators..."
"And do it with such incredible precision?"
Everyone present remained extremely cautious.
No one dared speak carelessly anymore.
Each of them silently contemplated the question.
It wasn't that they were secretly waiting for someone else to answer first.
They were genuinely thinking.
But no matter how hard they considered it...
None of them could imagine a method capable of achieving such astonishing accuracy.
Could the Empire possess some kind of special device capable of distinguishing friend from infiltrator?
That explanation sounded plausible...
Yet none of them truly believed it.
If such a device really existed...
Why would it leave anyone alive?
Surely they would eliminate every single infiltrator to ensure complete safety.
"I still think Zhou Ziyu is involved."
"After all, Zhou Ziyu knew part of the list."
"If he handed the complete list over to Yu Lanfeng, then everything that's happened becomes entirely possible."
"They first arrest everyone whose names appear on the list."
"Then they torture them using brutal interrogation methods until they talk."
"Finally they identify who among them are Imperial citizens and who are spies sent by our organization."
Many people nodded.
It certainly sounded reasonable.
But before long...
Someone immediately shot the theory down.
"And why do all of you keep thinking that?"
"Didn't I already explain this earlier?"
"Have you all forgotten?"
"If Zhou Ziyu really leaked the list, allowing Yu Lanfeng's legion to act in advance..."
"Then no matter how brutally they interrogated those people, all they could obtain would be information about each person's direct companions, their habits, routines, and similar details."
"They couldn't possibly learn anything beyond that."
"So if you're so certain..."
"Explain this."
"Why did every one of the operatives we individually planted also die?"
"Was that just coincidence?"
Impossible.
The operatives each of them had personally inserted were known only to themselves.
No one else knew their identities.
That theory simply couldn't explain what had happened.
"Then tell me what you think happened!"
"I only said Zhou Ziyu was definitely connected."
"I never claimed he personally caused everything."
"But I'm certain he handed over his list."
"Otherwise Yu Lanfeng's people couldn't have moved this efficiently."
The discussion continued.
Two more hours passed.
Eventually...
Everyone noticed that the man seated at the head of the table looked increasingly dissatisfied.
He clearly disliked having so much time wasted.
Unfortunately...
No one had managed to figure out the answer.
Still...
That wasn't necessarily a problem.
They might not know...
But the man in the main seat clearly knew something.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have spoken the way he had earlier.
Only after everyone finally quieted down did he speak again.
"So."
"Have you found an answer?"
Silence.
No one replied.
He spoke again.
"You don't know."
"That's understandable."
"Because I don't know either."
"As for everything you just said..."
"It was all nonsense."
The hall became deathly silent.
An eerie atmosphere mixed with unmistakable fear spread throughout the room.
"However..."
"Although I don't know everything..."
"I can still guess part of it."
"Let's put Zhou Ziyu's list aside."
"In my opinion, this matter has absolutely nothing to do with that list."
"I personally sent several operatives into Yu Lanfeng's legion."
"They never contacted me even once after entering."
"They've now been discovered as well."
"There has been no news from any of them."
"Which means..."
"They're undoubtedly all dead."
"When the fire walls suddenly rose around the square inside the military base..."
"The people left there were surrounded."
"Every single one of them was burned alive."
"Not a single survivor."
How wonderful.
Not a single one remained.
His heart ached with fury.
Every operative he had sent there had cost enormous resources to cultivate.
Who could have imagined they would all perish inside Yu Lanfeng's legion?
Even more unbelievable...
They had hidden safely for years without incident.
Then the moment something finally went wrong...
Every single one was wiped out at once.
"In my opinion..."
"Yu Lanfeng has definitely obtained some method that can verify identities rapidly and without mistakes."
"But..."
"Does the Empire actually possess such technology?"
Everyone shook their heads.
None of them had ever heard of anything like it.
Even if Yu Lanfeng had close ties to the Imperial Family...
Would the Imperial Family really hand such an invaluable invention to him before using it themselves?
They still had many operatives infiltrated inside the Imperial Family.
Some had been sacrificed during the operation to rescue Bai Zhouyun.
But enough remained to monitor major developments within the palace.
Yet none of them had reported anything.
Which meant...
Whatever Yu Lanfeng was using probably wasn't some Imperial technology or nationwide device connected to the royal family.
"In any case..."
"We'll wait and observe."
"So far Yu Lanfeng has only dealt with Border Region One."
"Besides Districts One and Five..."
"We still have people inside twenty-four other military bases."
"There's no need to panic."
"And even if we eventually do panic..."
"It can wait until the very end."
"Of course..."
"There is still one thing we should do immediately."
"Didn't we expend considerable effort rescuing Bai Zhouyun from the Imperial prison?"
"Isn't it finally time..."
"For him to prove his value?"
Everyone nodded.
Truthfully, many had objected when Bai Zhouyun was rescued.
But he was an exceptionally successful experimental subject.
A successful specimen was simply too valuable.
That was why they had ultimately agreed.
What they hadn't expected...
Was the tremendous surprise he later brought them.
He had revealed an astonishing secret.
Nan Yu...
The Empire's Mental Power User...
Possessed Nianshen Grass.
Nianshen Grass.
Actual Nianshen Grass.
What did that represent?
Limitless wealth.
Endless influence.
It was every Ability User's greatest desire.
And every Mental Power User's lifelong dream.
Naturally...
Capturing Nan Yu himself would have been even better.
Unfortunately...
They quickly discovered that things weren't nearly so simple.
Before even graduating...
Nan Yu had already left school and joined a legion.
Not just any legion...
Yu Lanfeng's legion.
And ever since then...
Whenever Nan Yu appeared...
Yu Lanfeng was always beside him.
When he left...
Yu Lanfeng accompanied him.
When he returned...
He followed directly behind Yu Lanfeng.
No matter where they appeared...
They were together.
Because of that...
Their operatives never dared make a move.
The moment they attacked...
Failure was guaranteed.
Death...
Was practically certain.
Since abducting Nan Yu was impossible...
They temporarily shelved the plan.
They would wait for another opportunity.
The man at the head of the table spoke again.
"So."
"How should Bai Zhouyun be used to maximize his value?"
One subordinate immediately answered,
"Boss."
"Didn't he say Nan Yu was deeply in love with him?"
"That's why Nan Yu even revealed the existence of Nianshen Grass."
"In that case..."
"Let Bai Zhouyun approach him."
"Our people can lie in wait nearby."
"The moment they meet..."
"We capture Nan Yu."
Someone laughed.
"What a brilliant idea."
"If it actually worked..."
"We'd have done it long ago."
"The reason we've delayed until now..."
"Is precisely because it doesn't work."
"As for why..."
"Bai Zhouyun has never been able to contact Nan Yu."
"Nan Yu is now serving inside Yu Lanfeng's legion."
"He only uses military-issued optical computers."
"He can't receive Bai Zhouyun's messages at all."
"If Bai Zhouyun wants to contact him..."
"He'll have to wait until Nan Yu leaves the legion and returns to the Capital Star."
"The only uncertainty..."
"Is whether Nan Yu switches back to his personal optical computer during the journey..."
"Or only after arriving on the Capital Star."
"If it's the latter..."
"Then things become even more troublesome."
"We'll have to sacrifice more manpower just to escort Bai Zhouyun onto the Capital Star so the two can meet."
The man at the head of the table said,
"That's too troublesome."
"According to our investigation..."
"Nan Yu has one father and two older brothers."
"Since we can't capture Nan Yu..."
"Why not choose a simpler target?"
"We capture his two brothers."
"What do you think?"
"Do you think..."
"If Nan Yu learns his two brothers are in our hands..."
"He'll willingly come to us?"
"If he does..."
"That would make everything much easier."
"And if he doesn't..."
Even if he refused...
The brothers' relationship would still be shattered.
It was an exceptionally vicious plan.
If they captured Nan Yun and Nan Zhen...
They would gain leverage over Nan Yu.
Meanwhile...
Nan Yu's side held no leverage over the organization whatsoever.
Even if one of the organization's branches were exposed...
They could simply sever it immediately, minimize their losses, and recover quickly.
Yu Lanfeng's legion couldn't do that.
Once a large-scale battle erupted...
Every casualty they suffered would be real.
"That's actually a good idea."
"I never thought about Nan Yu's brothers before."
"Now that you mention it..."
"It really could work."
"I have no objections."
"Neither do I."
"I think it's an excellent plan."
"If only we'd held this meeting earlier."
If they had...
Someone would have proposed the idea much sooner.
Whenever Nan Yu was on the Capital Star...
Or inside the legion...
His protection was airtight.
But others weren't so heavily guarded.
For example...
Nan Yu's friend Yang Zhou.
Or Nan Yu's brothers, Nan Yun and Nan Zhen.
Or even Nan Yu's father, Nan Ming.
Unfortunately...
Yang Zhou now lived near the Capital Star headquarters of Yu Lanfeng's legion, inside the family residential complex.
After everything that had happened...
Security there had become extremely tight.
Taking the risk wasn't worthwhile.
As for Nan Yun and Nan Zhen...
The two brothers spent nearly all their time living and training at the academy.
Ironically...
They were the easiest targets.
The problem was...
They never left campus.
Attacking them inside the academy was impossible.
Instead...
They would need another plan.
Someone would lure the brothers off campus.
Then outside collaborators could cooperate from both inside and outside.
That would make the operation much easier.
"In that case..."
"I'll leave this matter to all of you."
"If you fail again..."
"I'll settle every account together."
Everyone's expressions stiffened.
Clearly...
The disaster involving Yu Lanfeng's legion had already been blamed on all of them.
Not individually.
Collectively.
Which meant...
This operation absolutely required cooperation.
Otherwise...
If one person's plan failed...
Their operatives would likely be captured one after another.
"What do you think?"
"This time..."
"We work together."
"Otherwise..."
"You all heard what the Boss said."
"If we fail..."
"We'll bear responsibility for both disasters."
"Can you imagine what awaits us then?"
Everyone remained silent for a while.
In the end...
Every single person stayed.
All agreed to cooperate.
The only remaining issue...
Was selecting a temporary leader.
...
Border Region One Military Base.
Nan Yu looked down at the patient list before him.
Every name still remaining required his treatment.
The people he had already cured had all been marked and moved to the end of the list.
Even so...
A tremendous number of names still remained.
That meant...
Relying solely on Nan Yu as the only Mental Power User here was simply too slow.
"Brother."
"When are we leaving for District Six?"
"Everything was prepared long ago, wasn't it?"
Nan Yu set the list aside.
The affairs at Border Region One Military Base had essentially been resolved.
For the time being...
There was no need to recruit additional soldiers.
Conducting another round of examinations was unnecessary.
After all...
Who could guarantee that the new recruits wouldn't simply be more infiltrators sent by the organization or other forces?
At first...
Nan Yu had thought burning all thousand-plus infiltrators to death was perfectly fine.
Later...
He realized some among them had actually belonged to other factions.
Burning every single one alive...
Did seem a little excessive.
But as time passed...
He gradually came to understand something.
This was one situation where mercy simply couldn't exist.
If they showed mercy...
Only they themselves would suffer in the end.
Still...
Why hadn't Wu Qinhao been taken away yet?
Wu Zhengting was moving far too slowly.
Yu Lanfeng's group had been waiting for Wu Zhengting to retrieve him.
Only then could they depart for District Six and eliminate the next group of infiltrators.
Yu Lanfeng replied,
"Wu Zhengting seems to have been delayed by something."
"We still don't know where he is."
"But he already informed us he'll arrive within ten days."
"Ten days?"
Nan Yu thought for a moment.
"Then how about leaving Qin Wenxing here while the two of us head to the military base in District Six first?"
Yu Lanfeng shook his head.
"No."
"This time we have to wait until he arrives."
"There are things that must be discussed."
"According to military regulations..."
"I had every right to kill Wu Qinhao immediately."
Nan Yu had recently taken time to study military law.
If someone who didn't belong to your own legion posed a threat to it...
You could execute them on the spot without punishment.
Naturally...
There had to be evidence proving the person was a spy, infiltrator, or something similar.
Originally...
Yu Lanfeng had intended to kill Wu Qinhao immediately.
Later, however...
He reconsidered.
Since Wu Zhengting's son was involved...
He was willing to make one exception.
He still couldn't understand why Wu Zhengting had secretly sent his own son into Yu Lanfeng's legion as an infiltrator.
If Wu Qinhao had shouted just a fraction of a second later...
Or if Yu Lanfeng's attack had been even slightly faster...
Wu Qinhao would already have become part of the ashes.
In fact...
There probably wouldn't even have been any ashes left.
Nan Yu asked,
"You have a pretty good relationship with Wu Zhengting, don't you?"
"Otherwise you wouldn't have made an exception."
"But if you're on good terms..."
"Why would he do something like this?"
Yu Lanfeng answered,
"That's exactly why I have so many questions for him."
"He's probably still traveling through hyperspace."
"The signal is poor."
"I can't reach him."
"So we'll wait until he arrives."
"Then we'll talk."
Nan Yu didn't particularly care how many days they had to wait.
"In that case..."
"We'll wait."
"We're leaving soon anyway."
Nan Yu took a deep breath.
He selected two more patients.
Then...
He added a third.
This time...
Three patients.
He handed the list to Yu Lanfeng.
After looking over the names, Yu Lanfeng frowned slightly.
"This time you're treating three people consecutively?"
"Are you sure?"
Nan Yu nodded.
"No problem."
"I'm getting stronger."
"Three shouldn't be an issue."
"Actually..."
"If I still limit myself to only two now, the training intensity isn't enough anymore."
"So I'll try three first."
"If I can't manage it..."
"I'll go back to treating two."
Yu Lanfeng approved.
"But I have to stay beside you."
Nan Yu shrugged.
"Suit yourself."
"If you want to watch, then watch."
"But aren't you too busy?"
Most of the approved personnel records from the other military bases had already been uploaded into the database.
The base with the largest number...
Was Border Region Eighteen.
Nearly two thousand people.
It was terrifying.
Border Region One had only a little over one thousand.
And that wasn't even counting everyone the military base itself had already screened out as suspicious.
Altogether...
The number probably exceeded three thousand.
How could so many people have infiltrated a single military base?
Had all the original Ability Users there been killed and replaced?
Impossible.
If the entire base had truly fallen under enemy control...
Wouldn't everyone have fled by now?
Why would they stay behind and cooperate with the investigation?
More likely...
Certain infiltrators had climbed into influential positions and deliberately sabotaged the review process.
The situation there might be chaotic.
Fortunately...
Once Yu Lanfeng arrived...
He would personally verify everything again.
The only problem...
Was how much time it would require.
By the time they finished inspecting every military base...
The annual Ability Beast berserk season would likely be almost over.
Nan Yu quietly waited for the three patients he had selected to arrive.
As soon as they entered...
Yu Lanfeng immediately set aside all his work and carefully watched over Nan Yu, afraid something might happen during the treatment.
Nan Yu himself wasn't nervous.
The truly nervous one...
Was Yu Lanfeng.
Well...
Not only him.
Standing a short distance behind Yu Lanfeng...
There was also Yuan Qiyang.
Treating three patients suffering from S-rank Mental Contamination simultaneously...
It sounded utterly impossible.
Even High-Tier Mental Power Users could probably only treat one patient at a time.
Whether they had energy left afterward was another matter.
But everyone knew...
A true High-Tier Mental Power User would never perform consecutive treatments.
Not even two.
After successfully treating one patient...
They had to rest overnight.
Only then could they begin treating the second.
Yuan Qiyang blinked.
So...
In a certain sense...
Was Nan Yu actually more capable than a High-Tier Mental Power User?