Chapter 1579: Debt From The Past
Lu Yin"s eyes grew thoughtful. He had not given Wan Gong a model, but rather a sourcebox array that was a working example of microarray technology. Even though it had been able to store four Void Rip attacks, it was a sourcebox array, not a form of technology. "Are there any Array Masters among the researchers investigating microarray technology?"
"There is indeed a powerful Realm Array Master."
Lu Yin let out a breath. This was not a surprising answer, as such a technology would have to be combined with the underlying principles of sourcebox arrays. Clearly, Aurora Enterprises was truly willing to freely invest into this research if they had their own Realm Array Master. Not even the White Dragon Clan, one of the four ruling powers of the Perennial World, had been able to raise an Array Master, and the clan had been forced to hire such experts.
For them to have a Realm Array Master on the research team, this research was not something that Lu Yin could afford to invest in.
Wan Gong was excited by what he saw while examining the Void Rip sourcebox array. He had the same expression as when he had first seen the rare materials that Lu Yin had brought to be used for his universal armor. Wan Gong was completely absorbed in examining the sourcebox array, and it occupied his full attention. The man was a true engineer, and his essence could not be changed.
"If you have this, could your microarray research make more progress?" Lu Yin asked.
Wan Gong subconsciously responded, "There’s no other option! Absolutely."
He then looked at Lu Yin and the sourcebox array, clearly unwilling to give the thing back.
"You’ve forgotten why you came here. Our matter is not yet settled," Lu Yin reminded the man.
Anyone who learned of microarray technology would become excited about it. Even if it sounded like an impossible goal, Aurora Enterprises had already poured so much money into the project, and their enthusiasm was clear to see.
Wan Gong had truly forgotten about why he had chased after Lu Yin after seeing the Void Rip sourcebox array, and Lu Yin’s blunt reminder gave the man chills.
Lu Yin smiled casually and waved a hand, causing the sourcebox array to disappear from Wan Gong"s grasp.
The man was still unwilling to give up such a treasure, and he stared at Lu Yin, pleading with his eyes.
"With how things are, is anyone keeping an eye on you?" Lu Yin wondered.
"Yes, but I’m able to lose them."
Lu Yin nodded. "I sought you out for an unpaid debt. You need to settle this account."
Wan Gong"s face grew pale. "Alliance Leader Lu, I"ll pay you back. Just please, let my son go! Let him go!"
Lu Yin stared at Wan Gong. "With this sourcebox array, how long would it take to develop the microarray technology?"
"I believe that we would be able to make a breakthrough within no more than ten years. However, I’ve been absent from this project for a long time, so I don"t know what progress might have been made by now. According to the progress when I left, it should be about ten years."
Ten years was a long time to Lu Yin, but that was nothing compared to the time that had already been spent researching microarray technology.
Lu Yin longed for the day when the research would be completed and various attacks could be stored in a microarray. It would allow an army of hundreds of thousands of ordinary humans to instantly release an attack with the power of an Envoy! What would such a thing look like? Forget the Sixth Mainland—even the Perennial World and Aeternus would be terrified!
After thinking about it, Lu Yin threw the Void Rip sourcebox array back to Wan Gong. "I"ll give you the opportunity to stay here and research microarray technology. After the project’s success, you will deliver the results to me, and your debt will be cleared."
Wan Gong was overjoyed. "Really?"
Lu Yin nodded. This person was clearly a gifted engineer, but he was also ignorant of the full implications that this microarray technology held for the future, or it might be that he simply had not thought that far into the future. Aurora Enterprises, on the other hand, was different; they had seen the potential for microarray technology, but they lacked the technical abilities to bring it into existence.
What intrigued Lu Yin the most at this moment was how the Celestial Frost Sect had even made the Void Rip sourcebox array. Regardless of whether or not the sect itself had developed this sourcebox array that was able to hold four Void Rip attacks, someone had still already mastered microarray technology.
This was not good news. Someone had developed microarray technology, but it was not being used against Aeternus. In that case, what was the technology being used for?
"You can return now, but remember: if Aurora Fortress develops any important technology, you must inform me," Lu Yin ordered.
These words meant that Wan Gong had betrayed Aurora Fortress.
In the past, his ancestors had betrayed the Hidden Earth Society to join Aurora Fortress, but at this moment, Wan Gong had betrayed Aurora Fortress and fallen under Lu Yin"s command. The debt that he had inherited would soon be repaid.
Wan Gong sighed and stood up. He slowly started leaving, but just as he got to the door, he suddenly remembered something. "Aurora Enterprises might have some sort of connection to the Cosmic Sect."
Lu Yin was caught off guard. "What was that?"
Revealing the information about microarray technology meant that Wan Gong had already completely betrayed Aurora Enterprises, and there was no turning back. His new position caused him to want to earn Lu Yin’s favor. "Some technology that I developed accidentally detected that more than one person in Aurora Enterprises uses the Cosmic Art. While I’ve never seen it myself, the instruments did. Still, I’m not completely certain.”
Lu Yin"s eyes flickered. There should be absolutely no connection between Aurora Enterprises and the Cosmic Sect. "I see."
Two days later, Lu Yin’s bodysuit armor was successfully completed, and he reached out to touch it.
The bodysuit armor looked completely different from universal armor, and it looked like an exceptionally delicate piece of clothing. It was actually rather similar to the Cloudguard Robes in appearance, but while the Cloudguard Robes’ defensive abilities came from a combination of its material and various sourcebox arrays, the bodysuit armor’s defensive abilities stemmed exclusively from its materials, which made it far weaker than the Cloudguard Robes, though that was only for the moment.
Across from Lu Yin, Director Zhi admired the bodysuit armor. "With so many rare materials and my Aurora Fortress’s technological abilities, we managed to produce a bodysuit armor that can defend against attacks of a power level of more than 400,000. While it’s very, very close to the power of an Envoy, though it falls to pa.s.s that specific threshold."
Lu Yin smiled. "This is enough. Thank you, Director Zhi."
Lu Yin watched as Aurora Fortress gradually faded into the distance as he and his party moved towards the Cosmic Sect.
Lu Yin’s original destination had been the Cosmic Sect, as he wanted to study the next layer of the Cosmic Art. However, Wan Gong’s comment had also piqued Lu Yin’s desire to investigate that particular possibility.
For eons, the Cosmic Sect had existed in the western region of the Neoverse while Aurora Enterprises was in the north. There was no affiliation between the two, and Lu Yin had never heard of any rumors connecting the two before. Still, if what Wan Gong had detected was accurate, then the Cosmic Sect was indeed related to Aurora Enterprises. The combination of two such ma.s.sive Neoverse powers would change the entire political landscape.
Such a thing seemed highly, highly unlikely, as how could the Hall of Honor have possibly not noticed anything after so many years?
"Mr. Lu, there is an abnormality up ahead," Ah Da said.
Lu Yin had been tasting some wine that Director Zhi had given him with Luo Shen, but he immediately appeared as soon as he heard the warning.
There was an interstellar city in front of their vessel. Such cities were common in the Neoverse, such as the Westgazing City he had once visited, Crimson Star, and many more. However, the city up ahead of them was actually cracking apart.
"Let"s go take a look," Lu Yin said.
Each interstellar city was home to countless people, and they would struggle to survive if the city was destroyed. Naturally, Lu Yin would help if he could.
Their s.p.a.cecraft moved above the interstellar city, and Lu Yin and the others looked down at it.
Two groups of people were engaged in a fierce battle in the city, and the fighting was causing the city to break apart. Innumerable people were fleeing in despair, but many of the vessels were not able to leave.
Lu Yin"s eyes narrowed; both sides were using Truesight in their battle.
"Those people are from G.o.ds’ Origin, and they’re fighting against people from the Ignition Crew, one of the Cosmic Sea’s Four Pirate Crews," Ah Da solemnly observed.
Jin He had been a part of the Ignition Crew, and he was the person behind the deaths of the 72 people with the Lu surname. Even though Lu Yin had killed Jin He during ZENITH, he had still been a part of the Ignition Crew.
"Liu Ye, please go ahead and suppress everyone," Lu Yin said.
Liu Ye and Fei Hua had a sourcebox array hidden within their bodies, and Lu Yin could cause their deaths at any moment with just a thought.
Ever since the two had started following Lu Yin, he had not once given the two Envoys a single order until this exact moment. Even though Fei Hua had constantly been rude to Lu Yin, he had never minded her att.i.tude, and he had never once even asked for something until this moment.
Fei Hua wanted to talk back after hearing Lu Yin’s request, but Liu Ye stopped her with a shake of his head.
During the time that they had followed Lu Yin, they had researched him on the Human Domain’s network. They had already learned a bit about Lu Yin before this, and they knew about his personality. At this moment, if they went against him, they knew that Lu Yin would not hesitate to kill them both.
Most of the people fighting in the city were only Explorers, but there were also a few Enlighters as well as two Envoys.
"Get back! You bugs only know how to stay trapped in the Neoverse! The day will eventually come when my Ignition Crew will take everything from G.o.ds’ Origin, and you all become slaves!" A man laughed wildly as he raised a hand.
An arc appeared before him, but an old woman in beautiful robes who was from G.o.ds’ Origin snapped back, “Arrogant!”
She attacked even as she shouted.
Each of the two sides worked to reduce their opponents’ runes, and they also attacked each other by creating attacks out of nothing with their mastery of runes. Occasionally, the Envoys would disappear into the true universe, and their battle was quickly destroying the entire city.
It was clear that not a single one of the combatants cared about the fate of the city or its citizens.
This was true for both sides of the battle, and the city’s own cultivators did not dare to interfere in such a battle, as the small city could not afford to offend either side of the two powers partic.i.p.ating in this fight.
Suddenly, a terrifying wave of energy swept out, and the two Envoys who had entered the true universe were forced back out. They looked up in awe and saw Liu Ye standing high in the sky.
Peace returned to the city, but then an explosion erupted, and flames shot into the sky. Many people watched on in despair, thinking that they were seeing their own deaths approaching, but suddenly, they were standing in outer s.p.a.ce.
Both sides of the battle had been forced to stop fighting, and they all looked at Liu Ye.
The old woman said, "I don"t know who this senior might be, but please help my G.o.ds’ Origin to destroy these traitors from the Ignition Crew."
The Envoy from the Ignition Crew also spoke up. "I don"t know if Senior was just pa.s.sing by and we disturbed you. If you visit the Cosmic Sea in the future, my Ignition Crew will definitely welcome you and show our appreciation."
Everyone stared at Liu Ye, waiting for him to speak.
Liu Ye did not move, but the void near him twisted. Lu Yin appeared and looked down at the various combatants.
"Lu Yin?" someone shouted as they recognized him.
Everyone stared at Lu Yin. "That’s right, ZENITH’s champion!"
"It"s him! It"s Lu Yin!"
…
Down in the city, the old woman was thrilled. G.o.ds’ Origin was not a popular place, as few people had any sort of affection for the organization. However, Lu Yin got along well with G.o.d Taiyi, and they could almost be considered friends. Even more importantly, Lu Yin had killed Jin He during ZENITH, who had been an incredibly talented youth who had managed to become one of the Innerverse’s Ten Arbiters. It was clear that Lu Yin and the Ignition Crew were enemies.
The moment he saw Lu Yin, the Envoy from the Ignition Crew did not hesitate to enter the true universe to try to escape.
After taking just a few steps, Fei Hua appeared in front of him. No matter what the man tried, he could not get past the woman.
Liu Ye looked dazed; the man was only a one-tribulation Envoy, and it even looked like the man had only recently become an Envoy, so how had the man managed to weaken his attack? It was not a small amount either. Liu Ye was a three-tribulation Envoy, but his strength had been weakened to the level of a two-tribulation Envoy, and he was unable to restore his strength despite his greatest efforts.
The Envoy who was trying to escape gritted his teeth and turned to look at Lu Yin. "Alliance Leader Lu, what is it that you want?"
"What just happened? He has very bizarre techniques," Liu Ye asked in a low voice as he glanced over at Lu Yin with curiosity.
Lu Yin smiled and asked, "Have you ever heard of… the Rune Progenitor?"
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