Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Wait
‘Black Dream’ Yun Haixin asked, “After talking for such a long time, who are ‘Gao Huan’ and ‘Jiang Xue’? Are they real people or some kind of… illusion created by the puppet king?”
“I don’t know.”
Chu Zhixiao shook his head and said, “Even if ‘Gao Huan’ and ‘Jiang Xue’ do exist, we really can’t find any files about them. Our preliminary assumption is that Gao Huan and Jiang Xue are a couple of the thousands of soldiers and civilians of the Star Ocean Imperium who have been captured by us. But in
the past twenty years, when we lured the enemy into our territory, and in the recent battles against the Deep Earth Sector and Black Castle, a lot of citizens of the Star Ocean Imperium have been captured.
“For the leadership of the imperium, they might be tempted to tell us a lot of information by hypnotizing them. But for the officers at the grassroots level, the soldiers at the frontline, and the ordinary pioneers, it is impossible to waste too much time and energy on them. Their dirty thoughts and painful
memories will be cleansed by the Temple of Spiritualists in the future. They will be reborn with new names and numbers and become our compatriots.
“Even if Gao Huan and Jiang Xue are really one of the captives, I’m afraid they have already forgotten everything in the past. It is impossible for us to find them.
“Not necessarily.”
Yun Haixin sneered. “At the very least, ‘Gao Huan’ does not seem to have forgotten his wife ‘Jiang Xue’. Besides, his deep love for his wife has been tured into a terrifying weapon by Wang Li, who threatened the entire brainwashing system of the Sanctuary!
“Black dream—”
Chu Zhixiao said, “Are you gloating? Do you want to see the purification system of the Star Glory Federation collapse?”
“Of course, purification is just brainwashing, It is full of lies and unspeakable evilness, turning living human beings into muddleheaded machines!
Yun Haixin gnashed her teeth. “The Imperium of True Human Beings is truly appalling. In the competition of ‘evil’, it is only one percent of the Holy Accord Alliance!
“There you go again. I don’t understand.”
Chu Zhixiao frowned. “Since you despise the system of the Star Glory Federation and seem to have independent will, a clear mind, and the ability to resist, why didn’t you fight back or break the ‘evil system’? You could’ve fought to the death even if you were a turtle in a jar. In my opinion, you are not a
coward and do not lack the courage to sacrifice yourself. Why are you still living so unwillingly when you cannot stand everything here?”
His words pierced into Yun Haixin’s throat like a sharp sword and swallowed all his anger. His face flushed red, he sat down again holding his head after a long silence.
“All in all, time is of the essence. We can’t find out the identities of ‘Gao Huan’ and ‘Jiang Xue’ yet. But judging from the interrogation records of dozens of infected people, we are inclined to believe that ‘Gao Huan’ does exist and that he is a special forces soldier of a certain army of the imperium.
Chu Zhixiao did not bother Yun Haixin. He glanced at Yuan Kou and Guan Qixing and continued, “Because they both mentioned some mottled memories in the interrogation. The terrain, climate features, gravity index, and so on that were very consistent with Black Castle.
“Besides, Black Castle is a planet that we have just conquered. Billions of garrisons and pioneers have been brought to the rear to be cleansed. It is not unusual that some viruses were brought in together with the sand.
“Then why don’t we go to Black Castle?”
Yuan Kuo said coarsely, “What are you doing in the Gold Lion Sector?”
“Don’t panic. Listen to me. Watch the videos.”
Through Li Yao, the spider tank, Chu Zhixiao played some videos and analysis reports again. The names of ‘soldier bees’ and ‘worker bees’ appeared in the videos and reports, too. Pointing at the complicated lines and circles, Chu Zhixiao said, “Over the past three days, dozens of outbreaks of the ‘supreme
love virus’ have been reported. Three to five, if not hundreds, of people of the Star Glory Federation have been infected. They mistook themselves for a special forces soldier of the Star Glory Federation named ‘Gao Huan’ and came to the Star Glory Federation to look for his wife ‘Jiang Xue’. However, some
of them were infected more seriously than others. For those who did not eat, drink, or work, their eyes were red, and they were crying silently. They kept repeating ‘Jiang Xue’ as if they were heartbroken.
“As for those who are deeply infected, as I said just now, they are extremely aggressive. They think that we are imprisoning ‘Jiang Xue’ somewhere and are determined to find his wife. Whoever stands in their way, be it their supervisor or the inviolable priests, will all be killed.
“Even the priests of the Kindest Clan were not spared. After they were infected by the ‘Favorite Virus’, their deep love and obsession for ‘Jiang Xue’ would be implanted in their brain.
“According to the time of the outbreak and the degree of infection, we have made several diffusion maps and locked onto dozens of sources of infection, which are the earliest and the most aggressive guys. There is a lot of evidence to prove that most of the victims were poisoned and infected only after
they got in touch with the sources of infection.
“It’s like this…”
Yuan Kou asked, “Then, what is the connection between the sources of infection?”
“On the surface, no.
Chu Zhixiao analyzed the situation calmly. “They were either miners on a resource planet, soldiers who were about to be sent to the frontline, or priests who were in charge of a starship. Their identities, locations, and tribes were not similar at all. But when we dug deeper, we discovered a shocking fact.
All the sources of infection had been ‘deeply cleansed’ in the spiritual temple of the Gold Lion Sector over the past month.
Yuan Kou nodded. Even though his brain was somewhat slow, he still came back to himself. “That’s why we are here.”
“Yes. There is reason to believe that this is the source of the ‘Favorite Virus’.
Chu Zhixiao explained, “The few soldiers who attacked our supervisor in the beginning were all soldiers of the Star Ocean Imperium who had just been captured. Half a month ago, they completed their ‘recruit education’ in the Psychic Temple of the Golden Lion Sector and became loyal and obedient
warriors of the Fire Clan. The maintenance worker who opened the airtight door and jumped into the sea of stars without any hesitation because he thought that ‘Jiang Xue’ was in the vacuum saw his companion being infected by the Phantom Virus on his starship. Although he was not infected, he saw
that his companion was half-dead and bedridden after being infected by the virus. He was somewhat shaken and was sent to the Golden Lion Sector to be ‘refined’. The priest was the most obvious example. His starship was in the same battle sequence as ‘Pursuit of Light’ that we boarded three days ago.
The ‘Mutated Taotie Virus’ on ‘Pursuit of Light’ could infect the priest class, which raised the wariness of the leadership. Therefore, a lot of priests in the battle sequence of ‘Pursuit of Light’ were summoned back to the rear for soul examination and deep purification to make sure that there were no
mutated versions of the virus lurking in their brains.
“But as it turned out, the brain of the priest was indeed devoid of the strengthened mutated Disillusionment, Glory, and the Taotie Virus. Soon after the examination and purification, he fell madly in love with a woman named ‘Jiang Xue’!
“To this day, all the sources of infection have been cleansed in the Psychic Temple of the Golden Lion Sector. During the purification process, their brains must’ve been fully opened and unguarded. If a virus takes advantage of the situation, the consequences will be dire!
“Tunderstand.”
The colorful light on Guan Qixing’s head was blinking furiously. “This is a serial measure for the spreading virus. It is like a landmine that has been detonated.
Yuan Kou was baffled. “What serial scheme?”
“Haven’t we been wondering why the puppet king showed up on Light Pursuit and caused such a huge explosion?
Guan Qixing said, “Although he detonated a warship, it was not enough to hurt the foundation of the Sanctuary. He should have known that. Why did he take such a risk?
“Right now, it seems that he is trying to alert us on purpose.
“The more disillusionment, glory, and the Taotie Virus he spreads outside, the more vigilant the Heresy Interrogation Bureau will be, and the more interested they will be in the Great Sage. Then, more and more infected and potential infected will be sent to the psychic temple in the rear to open their
brains and receive ‘defensive treatment’.
“If he had snuck into one of the temples long ago, he could’ve taken advantage of the situation and planted the virus into people’s open brains unscrupulously. Many people who were determined enough not to be infected might’ve been corrupted by him.
“Let’s say that somebody has just finished the purification in this temple and has been implanted with a well-concealed virus of love, which is then sent to another temple for purification not long after. In such a way, all the temples might fall, and the order of the Alliance will be gone.
“That’s right. That must be it. The puppet king is no longer satisfied with the small-scale explosion of a few warships and the dissemination of a few viruses. His target is all the spiritual temples, at least the largest, most efficient, and most populated ones. As long as the spiritual temples are corrupted,
the entire Sanctuary Alliance will be corrupted!
Chu Zhixiao and Yuan Kou looked at each other and nodded simultaneously.
It was true that, if the ambition of the puppet king was not limited to the leader of the Heart of God but to cause ‘tiny trouble’ for the Holy Alliance every once in a while, it would be useless to detonate a few viruses every few days.
If he detonated the virus and created a threat so that more and more priests felt the need of deep purification and sent himself to the ‘cleaning cabins’ in the rear temple, and he controlled the ‘cleaning cabins’ in a certain way
Today, it was still the ‘Favorite Virus’ that was more likely to be discovered. But tomorrow, would it turn into a more inconspicuous and fatal virus that could control the mind without anybody knowing?
The shuttle shivered and gradually slowed down.
One of the largest spiritual temples of the Sanctuary was right in front of his eyes..
