Chapter 327 - 12: Encrypted Data (Part 2)

Chapter 327: Chapter 12: Encrypted Data (Part 2)

Both men looked a little worse for wear, but their faces were alight with excitement. There was nothing more thrilling than a well-matched opponent against whom you could unleash your full potential.

BANG—

Li Hua and Conley’s figures blurred together once more, the sound of their impacts echoing endlessly through the tunnel.

Shadowy fists and Sword Qi battered the tunnel, leaving pits and cracks everywhere.

Caught in the storm of flying fists and Sword Qi, the Extraordinary Squad ceased fire. They retreated to give Li Hua and Conley space to fight, lest they get caught in the crossfire.

Vincent seized the opportunity to rescue the injured Lizard-men lying on the ground.

...

Seeing the two fighters so engrossed in their battle, Lin Yu didn’t intervene directly. Instead, at his feet, vines began to spread out in all directions under the influence of his Spiritual Energy, quickly turning the entire tunnel green.

The members of the Extraordinary Squad noticed the sudden change in the tunnel. Sensing trouble, they immediately fired a warning shot. The sound snapped Conley out of his battle frenzy. He sent Li Hua flying back with a punch and leaped back to join his squad.

He looked at the now-green tunnel and roared, "What is the meaning of this?"

Li Hua didn’t answer. At a signal from Lin Yu, he unleashed most of his body’s Spiritual Energy, cleaving the air with a massive wave of Sword Qi. The attack filled the entire tunnel, flying at incredible speed toward Conley and the Extraordinary Squad beside him.

Seeing no way to dodge, Conley channeled the energy in his body, reinforced his physique, and threw a punch straight at the Sword Qi.

BOOM—

This time, Conley failed to shatter the Sword Qi. The tangible wave of energy blasted his fist aside and slammed into his body.

"AARGH—!"

Conley retracted his fist and pressed both of his Spiritual Energy-infused palms against the Sword Qi. The attack pushed him backward, carving a deep trench into the solid ground.

Finally, the Sword Qi exhausted its Spiritual Energy and vanished before Conley’s bloodshot eyes. He collapsed to his knees, gasping for breath. "Hah... a worthy opponent. But you must be out of energy now, right? Let’s see whose body is tougher!"

Conley grinned with delight as he looked at Li Hua’s body, which seemed slender and weak compared to his own.

But Li Hua paid him no mind. He simply sat down cross-legged and began to meditate, focusing on recovering his Spiritual Energy.

As if Conley would let him recover so peacefully. He caught his breath, stood up, and prepared to charge at Li Hua.

"Huh?"

Conley’s feet faltered, and he stumbled to the ground, his charge coming to an abrupt halt.

Only then did Conley realize that vines had wrapped around his feet.

The Extraordinary Squad soldiers behind him were in an even worse state. While he had been blocking the Sword Qi, they had all been tightly bound by the vines. No wonder he hadn’t heard any cheers for his impressive display.

"Bastards! Let me go! If you’ve got any guts, fight me one-on-one! You fucking sissies!"

"@#$%&*!..."

Conley was furious and began to curse a blue streak. To think they’d launch a sneak attack while he was distracted! So much for martial honor!

Lin Yu wasn’t about to indulge him. The vines tightened, binding him completely, even gagging his mouth shut.

These weren’t the ordinary vines he had summoned before. They were special Energy-Sucking Vines, which were not only tougher but could also continuously drain Spiritual Energy from their target, making it impossible to break free.

Seeing the situation resolved, Vincent let out a sigh of relief. But then he remembered these men worked for Opal Hass, and he began to seethe again.

"Sir, we have a problem! The gate isn’t fixed, and the police are coming in!"

With this new piece of bad news, Vincent’s breathing grew ragged again. He looked as if he was about to charge out and stop the police by force.

"Don’t do anything rash!" Lin Yu grabbed Vincent. He’d actually grown to like this Lizard-man. If Vincent charged out there now, it wouldn’t matter if he stopped the police or not; he’d definitely become a wanted criminal.

Vincent wrenched his arm free and glanced back toward the mining base at the rear of the tunnel. "They can’t be allowed to see the base," he said anxiously. "If they do, we’re finished."

"Weren’t you the one who said the worst they could do was fine you and deport you? That you weren’t afraid?" Lin Yu scoffed.

Vincent took a deep breath. "If they find it, I’ll have to initiate the self-destruct sequence to protect the technology. A massive explosion in the suburbs... that would be a catastrophe! I’d rather be charged with assaulting an officer."

Lin Yu looked at Vincent, completely bewildered. "This technology needs to be kept secret? Didn’t you sell it to me without a second thought?"

Vincent looked at Lin Yu and smiled.

He took a special communicator from one of his men who had just walked over, then told Lin Yu to take out the USB drive with the technical data and plug it in.

"See for yourself. This is the data!"

Lin Yu took the communicator and glanced at it. His vision went dark. The entire screen was filled with garbled text.

He grabbed Vincent by the collar. "You son of a bitch, you encrypted it!"

"Don’t be ridiculous! I’m a man of my word!" Vincent removed Lin Yu’s hand and straightened his collar. "This is an exact copy of the original data I acquired. And if you must know, it contains more than just the information on Artificial Spirit Crystals. You got a real bargain!"

"But..."

"It was already like this when I got my hands on it—all encrypted. And let me be perfectly clear: even if you manage to decrypt it, you won’t be able to read the script. It’s not from any civilization in this part of the galaxy."

"Then how did you manage to extract the technical data?" Lin Yu asked, unconvinced.

"Heh, everyone has their secrets, don’t they? Don’t worry about how I did it. The point is, I went through a lot of trouble to acquire that technical data and build this base. This technology is how I make my living; I couldn’t possibly just hand it over that easily."