Chapter 374 316: Cat of Destiny, Come Out and Clean Up

「Inside Nuwa Base.」

"They surrendered just like that?" Chu Bamboo stared at the screen, lost in deep thought. He felt it was surreal, but after a moment's consideration, he had to admit it was perfectly logical.

Drones fighting enemies from the Industrial Revolution! If they couldn't win this—they might as well self-destruct. Right, just have them all self-destruct.

"Alright then!" Chu Bamboo swiped his finger lightly. "Hive, take control of the civilian drones... Follow your basic principles of warfare! Treat them as prisoners of war... and conduct basic management! And..."

Chu Bamboo paused briefly before continuing, "Emulate the historical model of re-educating defeated armies. The tactic where you fight, capture enemy soldiers, turn them into your own troops, and grow stronger the more you fight. See if we can convert them... In theory, ordinary soldiers are just common people. Before joining the army, they were workers, farmers... Theoretically, we have a basis for integrating them..."

As he spoke, Chu Bamboo started to get a headache. He had no military or political affairs experts on hand. He had formed a Security Corps, but relying on the Security Corps...

'Yeah, I might as well just look at the blue sky and white clouds.'

'For now, I'll just have to trouble the AI to handle it... Hope it's of some use!'

"Warning! Warning! Someone is attempting to open the underground base gate... As per the Authority's prior instructions, the underground base gate has been sealed!" Little Mushroom Head suddenly exclaimed.

Chu Bamboo frowned slightly. He swiped his finger, and the screen switched to the base entrance—a hidden camera was capturing everything.

He saw the crowd of Transcendents gathered at the main gate. Eunuch Huang looked utterly panicked, phone in hand, communicating with Eunuch Sun.

"What a pain!" Chu Bamboo rubbed his temples. With a light tap of his finger, the numerous drones he had deployed outside began their attack.

However...

Vice Squad Leader Xin, his face impassive, drew the sword from his waist. With a gentle flick, countless streams of Sword Qi swarmed out, instantly wiping out dozens of drones.

The remaining drones, under Nuwa's control, rapidly soared into the sky.

Vice Squad Leader Xin stared intently at the drones, but after much hesitation, he ultimately chose not to press the advantage. Instead, he looked at Eunuch Huang. "Eunuch Huang, shall we?"

Eunuch Huang's expression shifted erratically. He suddenly dropped to his knees and kowtowed deeply toward the base's gate. "'Great Goddess Nuwa' above, please forgive our transgression! Treacherous subjects and rebels deserve to be executed. For the sake of the common people of this world, we had no choice but to offend you."

Then, with a twisted expression, Eunuch Huang ordered, "Force the gate open!"

Vice Squad Leader Xin gave Eunuch Huang a deep look, then also knelt and kowtowed. Afterward, he gritted his teeth and swung his sword.

...

"...Seriously!" Watching the group file in one by one, Chu Bamboo felt a headache coming on. 'Sure enough, I'm the weakest link!'

The easier it had been to deal with the army, the more trouble it was for him to be cornered now...

'But, for Old Xin to take out so many drones so easily!' Chu Bamboo mused, a rueful feeling washing over him as he recalled how effortlessly the drones had suppressed the army. He had no doubt that if Eunuch Sun had decided to act, he could have also dealt with most of the drones.

It was just that...

'Mortals' affairs belong to mortals, and the Extraordinary's affairs belong to the Extraordinary!' Chu Bamboo felt he had ultimately underestimated the weight of that statement. 'Still, this more or less confirms my previous guess...'

Against a purely mortal army, he, holding the legacy of a precursor civilization, was equivalent to Xiang Yu in the late Qin dynasty—he could take on any number they threw at him!

Accompanied by the sound of footsteps, the members of the Captain's Office surrounded him.

"Insolent peasant! How dare you..." Eunuch Huang's sharp rebuke died in his throat. Mid-sentence, he subconsciously rubbed his eyes. After confirming he wasn't seeing things, he gaped, dumbfounded, at the Little Mushroom Head held calmly in Chu Bamboo's arms...

His face instantly turned pale, his thoughts a chaotic mess. He instinctively dropped to one knee.

Seeing this, how could the others dare to remain standing? They all knelt down as well!

"Please, dispense with the formalities!" Chu Bamboo said, his tone calm, composed, and lighthearted. At this moment, it was as if he had truly ascended the throne as the Emperor.

"...You!" Eunuch Huang's face flushed with anger, but looking at Little Mushroom Head, he could only grit his teeth. He spoke as if weeping blood, "Great Divine Envoy! Why... why is this happening! Why has the Great Goddess Nuwa... Are you being threatened? That must be it..."

"Nuwa No. 17, shake your head and piss him off!" Chu Bamboo said. Little Mushroom Head solemnly shook its head.

Eunuch Huang: "..."

"Divine Language?" Vice Squad Leader Xin uttered two words. Only then did the others react. The scene fell deathly silent as everyone stared at Chu Bamboo in disbelief. It finally dawned on them... the language Chu Bamboo was using might, just maybe, possibly be... the language spoken by Nuwa?!

"Old Xin!" Chu Bamboo raised an eyebrow with interest, extending his hand. His tone was indifferent. "You all probably don't know what 'good deeds' Su Po has been up to, do you?"

Xin: "..."

'I'm begging you, am I that familiar with you? Stop talking to me like this... Help!!'

However, Chu Bamboo's voice remained calm and unhurried. "He conspired with the All-Powerful Lineage to destroy the protections the Great Goddess Nuwa placed in the forbidden lands! He intended to let the demons that incubate the Cultivation Resources there escape... and ravage the world! If this matter is not contained, it will surely engulf the world, and monsters will run rampant."

"At that time, all of Jinghai City! It would have been the first to be sacrificed..." Chu Bamboo tilted his head, looking at the stone-faced Vice Squad Leader Xin. "Old Xin, with your authority, you should be able to find out the full story of what happened yesterday! Now think about it, what's happening today... Heh, treating a meritorious official like this without a moment's hesitation..."

"...I am loyal to the Emperor!" Every word seemed forced from between Vice Squad Leader Xin's teeth. Cold sweat drenched him; after speaking, he felt like he was about to die of dehydration... especially having said such a thing in front of the Great Goddess Nuwa's Great Divine Envoy...

Being well-versed in the mythology, he even had the strange feeling that the Great Goddess Nuwa was watching him through Little Mushroom Head...

But the Captain's Office could never betray the Emperor.

It had nothing to do with anything else! Even if the Emperor were the greatest evil in the world, the Captain's Office could only carry out that evil—because they were the Emperor's tools, and tools cannot have personal feelings!

"True! Your wife and child are in the Imperial Capital." Chu Bamboo nodded, his voice tinged with a sigh. "The Captain's Office... how did an unfilial descendant like Su Po end up with such a fine blade?"

Unfilial descendant!

It was like a bolt from the blue.

'Normally, he wouldn't think this way, but given the current situation... this person before him... could he be the founding Grand Ancestor...? No, absolutely impossible! But, if that were the case... it seems everything would make sense... No, I can't keep thinking about this!' Eunuch Huang was drenched in sweat, his thoughts spiraling out of control as a certain suspicion took root.

"...Arrest him! Vice Squad Leader Xin!" Eunuch Huang's voice was shrill. He wanted to cover his own ears. His terror had reached its peak. 'How did I get dragged into such a complicated mess?'

'Dammit... If I had known it would come to this, I would have feigned illness to get out of it...'

"Your Eminence." Vice Squad Leader Xin slowly walked up to Chu Bamboo, yet his posture was utterly respectful, without a hint of slack. "If you would please... I beg you, do not make this difficult for me!"

By the end, Vice Squad Leader Xin's voice carried a hint of pleading. 'This is a fight between gods... Your Excellency, go to the Imperial Capital and fight the Heavenly Monarch... Why are you making things difficult for small fries like us? Is this a matter we are even qualified to be involved in?!'

Chu Bamboo gave Vice Squad Leader Xin a deep look and sighed. "As I thought..."

Although he had already roughly guessed the outcome... after all that talk, the result was still the same. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

'Seriously, I really didn't want to use this move to break the stalemate...'

Chu Bamboo sighed softly. Finally, with a blank expression, he reached out and tapped his own forehead, unsealing his memories. He narrowed his eyes and, under everyone's gaze, uttered the forbidden name: "...Cat of Destiny, Chaos!"