Star Odyssey

"It doesn't matter whether you believe me or not. I’ll take you to meet the other people from the Cloudflow Universe, and then I’ll help you attack the research facility. I’ll even tell you that I simply want to use you to distract the Transcendent Universe’s attention so that I can achieve my own goals," Lu Yin stated bluntly.

The woman continued to stare at him. "You’re looking for something in that same place?"

Lu Yin nodded. "That’s right, and while I can go in on my own, the Transcendent Universe will know that it’s me. So, I need someone to serve as a distraction. As for you, if you really want to save Cloudflow, this will be your only chance. I’m quite familiar with that research facility, and I can at least agree to help you. After you see Cloudflow, it’ll be up to you whether you continue to cooperate with me or not.”

The woman thought for a while and then said, "I want to see my companions first."

Companions? Lu Yin stared at the woman. That was an unusual term to use for people she had never seen before.

He put his hand back on the woman’s shoulder and took her back to the Transcendent Universe.

As for the people from the Cloudflow Universe who were already in the Transcendent Universe, You Fang naturally knew where they were.

While the people from the Cloudflow Universe believed that they were hidden from the Transcendent Universe, in reality, they were being used as test subjects. Zi Jing’s teacher was using them as part of a research project. In order to advance the research, experts from the Cloudflow Universe had been specifically allowed to leave their marks on spatial coordinate seals for the Transcendent Universe, giving the natives the ability to move between the Cloudflow Universe and the Transcendent Universe. The Transcendent Universe deliberately ignored the Cloudflow Universe cultivators and let them continue to attack the hidden research facility to try to free Cloudflow.

The Transcendent Universe was deliberately torturing the people of the Cloudflow Universe, and even more so, torturing Cloudflow himself. This was all done in the pursuit of even more perfect data for their research.

As soon as the data was no longer needed, everyone from the Cloudflow Universe would be eliminated.

However, it was not like the people of the Cloudflow Universe had any choice in the matter. The moment their universe was conquered, every last person in the Cloudflow Universe had been deemed subhuman.

This was the fate of the weak.

Every time he saw people from the Cloudflow Universe, Lu Yin was reminded of the Origin Universe. He could not allow his home universe to be conquered, and he would never allow his family and friends to become subhumans. That was simply not an option. free(w)ebnovel

As they made their way to find the people from the Cloudflow Universe, Lu Yin repeated the first question that he had asked upon meeting the woman again. "Why don't you help them?"

With the experience that the woman had built up over her years of fighting on the bestowal art carrier, she was certainly capable of protecting some of the people who had been around her.

The woman calmly replied, "All of us will just die sooner or later. Helping them would only prolong their suffering."

The resigned answer reflected the woman's helplessness.

Lu Yin said nothing further as he led her to the others from her universe.

The cultivators who believed themselves well hidden in the Transcendent Universe actually stood out like bright lights in the darkness. Every move they made was observed. It was truly pitiful.

Before long, Lu Yin and the woman met up with all the others from her universe. The people were initially unwilling to cooperate with Lu Yin, but after he shared some of his knowledge of the Transcendent Universe, as well as Cloudflow’s location, they started to believe him.

However, while the people were willing to believe Lu Yin about the research facility, they did not trust him at all. It was true that he was not from the Transcendent Universe, but he also was not from the Cloudflow Universe. After so many years of desperate struggle, the Cloudflow Universe natives had lost their ability to trust any outsiders, and they instead felt that everyone simply wanted to use them.

They intended to use Lu Yin to locate Cloudflow, and this was why Lu Yin was upfront with them about wanting to use them himself. For people like them, trust or sympathy meant nothing.

Negotiations and planning took several days, but they eventually decided on the day to attack the research facility.

During these negotiations, Lu Yin also learned the woman's name: A-Mei. It was a perfectly ordinary name.

The night before the attack, A-Mei found Lu Yin and then proceeded to disrobe. Her actions startled Lu Yin, and he quickly stopped her.

The woman was clearly disappointed. "Am I not pleasing to you? In that case, I’ll go find someone else for you."

"Wait a minute! What are you trying to do?" Lu Yin asked. If he were honest, while A-Mei was not a particularly beautiful woman, she was far from ugly. She was rather attractive and had very delicate features. Additionally, her years of struggling on the battlefield had given her a certain resilience that set her apart from most other women.

A-Mei calmly stated, "I have dedicated myself to your service. I hope that you will be able to provide us with some help when we need it." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝔀𝓮𝙗𝓷𝓸𝙫𝓮𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Lu Yin replied, "I already said that we are both using each other. Without you all, I won't be able to get what I want. There’s no need to bother with such things."

A-Mei stared at Lu Yin. "You should be quite powerful, so by doing this, I hope to earn a bit of favor from you for my people. Even if we are able to save Lord Cloudflow, I still hope to see more of us survive. You don’t need to worry, I am very clean."

Lu Yin stopped the woman again. "Go back. I won't accept this."

A-Mei replied, "I will find someone else for you. Someone beautiful."

"Leave!" Lu Yin shouted.

The yell startled A-Mei, and she quickly adjusted herself as she said, "I apologize."

Watching the woman leave, Lu Yin felt as though something was pressing on his chest. This woman was willing to sacrifice her innocence just for the hope of obtaining a bit of good will for her people.

Lu Yin could see these people’s sorrow, but he could not fathom just how deep it ran.

The incident soured Lu Yin’s mood, and he was no longer able to relax.

...

Dark colored wisps filled a region of outer space, giving it the impression of a dark swamp. This was one of the restricted regions in the Transcendent Universe, as no one could enter it. Anyone who saw this region would instinctively retreat and avoid making contact with the place.

The toxic gas spread across a vast region of outer space that was nearly the size of an entire galaxy. However, in the depths of the region, things were completely different. At the core of the region, there were countless humanoid machines patrolling the area, each radiating a sense of great strength. This was the research facility, and invisible sensors filled the surrounding area, creating a surveillance network that monitored the entire facility. However, these sensors were just for show and were intended as bait for the Cloudflow Universe natives whenever they attacked. The true surveillance overseeing the region was the hyper-analysis mode. It was completely undetectable, and only the very top echelon in the Transcendent Universe had any idea that it was present.

The facility had seventeen floors, and at the moment, dozens of people wearing research uniforms were busy on the sixteenth floor. In one corner, Xiao Hai has a serious expression, though his eyes were a bit dull as he stared at a display.

He was the most serious person in the facility, and while his talent was far from outstanding, his dedication and seriousness were enough for him to be accepted as a student of the Energy Research Group’s leader. Xiao Hai could be regarded as Zi Jing's senior.

"Xiao Hai, how are you?" someone asked as they walked over while glancing at the display.

Xiaohai snorted and somberly answered, "They aren’t here yet, but they should arrive soon."

The other person laughed. "How many levels do you think these Cloudflow Universe cultivators will be able to pass through?"

Xiaohai lifted a hand and reached out for the display. He started conducting an analysis.

The other person shrugged and commented, "Just take a guess. There’s no need to be so serious about this."

He was overheard, and someone grew interested and also walked over. "I’m guessing that they’ll reach the eleventh floor. It’s how far they got last time. They lost all of their most powerful people while attacking the lowest floor, so this time, they won’t have the strength to get past the eleventh floor.”

"I’m betting on the ninth floor. There are still a number of powerful cultivators from the Cloudflow Universe."

"I say the tenth floor. I’ll go right in the middle."

"Haha, I’m going with the fifteenth floor. These people just won't die."

"Xiao Hai, what about you?"

Xiao Hai’s hand drew back, and he somberly replied, "According to the analysis of their current combat strength, at best, they’ll reach the eighth level."

"What? Only the eighth floor? Are they just coming here to die?"

Xiao Hai muttered to himself, "This is strange... They have so few experts right now, so why are they preparing to attack? This is very strange."

"Alright, Xiao Hai, there’s no need to be so serious. If they want to die, just let them. How much data have we been able to put together?"

Xiao Hai replied, "This is Teacher's project. I can’t share his secrets."

"Fine, just mess around by yourself, but if you see something fun, call us."

Xiao Hai nodded, though his eyes never left the display. "Do they have people with innate gifts this time?"

After this comment, a mysterious smile started to spread across his face. No one saw his smile, let alone the laughter in his eyes. This was a side of Xiao Hai that no one knew about, not even his teacher. At this moment, Xiao Hai’s eyes looked exactly like those of the information broker that Luo Lao’er had dealt with.

There was a loud bang, and the attack commenced.

Out of everyone in the Transcendent Universe, only the people from the Cloudflow Universe were aware of the existence of this particular research facility. It was a secret from everyone else.

These people were like rats in an experiment. The research facility would prepare everything before each attack, and they would set up obstacles, organize the resistance that the attackers faced, and more. These attacks only served to gather more data for them.

This was something that none of the cultivators from the Cloudflow Universe were aware of, and it was even less likely for A-Mei to know anything about this. Only Lu Yin was privy to this information.

He felt disappointed when he saw the Cloudflow Universe’s cultivators charging straight into the research facility. Had these people never even considered the possibility of leaking information about this research base? Even if they could not actually do it, as long as they even contemplated the idea, the research on the attacks from the people from the Cloudflow Universe would be terminated. There was no way He Ran or others who knew about the research facility would ever risk letting its existence be exposed.

If Lu Yin were from the Cloudflow Universe, he would definitely test it just to see how the Transcendent Universe would react, but unfortunately, these people have never even considered such a possibility. They were focused solely on rescuing Cloudflow and did not consider the danger they faced or anything else.

As he glanced around, Lu Yin raised a hand to touch the horns on his forehead. They were the mark of people from the Cloudflow Universe. The moment Lu Yin moved forward, he would be quickly noticed by the hyper-analysis mode as someone who was not from the Cloudflow Universe. This meant that he had very little time to work with.

A-Mei was constantly staring at Lu Yin.

He looked over at her and said, "Let's go."

He then lifted a foot and stepped forward. An energy that looked like flowing clouds appeared around his body. This was something that he had practiced specifically to confuse the hyper-analysis mode, but it would only work for a very short amount of time. He needed to locate and disable the hyper-analysis mode as quickly as possible, as otherwise he would be exposed.

Sixteen levels beneath the surface, Xiao Hai observed the attack up above with both interest and disappointment. "There’s nothing at all unexpected or surprising about this attack. Can’t these pieces of trash at least find themselves a halfway decent expert? It’d be best to give them a little surprise; I’ll let them get to the seventeenth floor. Seeing the sadness and despair in Cloudflow’s eyes is always interesting.”

Suddenly, something unusual appeared on the display, and Xaio Hai’s expression changed. Was there an outsider present as well?

A terrifying pressure fell upon the research facility, and it was split in half all the way down to the fifteenth level.

Lu Yin had found the hyper-analysis mode, and it was all thanks to You Fang. The man had shared a description of the device with Lu Yin, as well as an approximate location. Without that, it would have been impossible for Lu Yin to pinpoint the location so quickly.

Xiao Hai's scalp went numb. This was not good!

He quickly called for help. Someone who was not from the Cloudflow Universe had arrived with this attack.

All of the other nearby researchers were either dead or injured. Only a few were even conscious.

Lu Yin's domain erupted, stunning everyone in an instant, including Xiao Hai.

The hyper-analysis mode disappeared, which allowed Lu Yin to breathe a sigh of relief.

The people from the Cloudflow Universe were moving slowly after witnessing Lu Yin open the research facility all the way down to the fifteenth level. This was something that they had never done during any of their previous attacks. Just how strong was this person?

"What are you all still standing around for? Move! Do you want me to hold your hand?" Lu Yin roared.

The people from the Cloudflow Universe quickly reacted, and they raced towards the sixteenth level through the tear that Lu Yin had opened up in the ground. All their efforts over the years had not been in vain. They had already learned that the base had seventeen levels, and that Cloudflow was held captive on the lowest level.

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