Chapter 397 - 339: Conquering the Celestial Capital

"Are you okay?" When Chu Bamboo got back on the phone, he heard Li Min’s voice was as calm as ever, but he asked out of concern anyway. If she had been crying hysterically or lost her composure, Chu Bamboo would have actually been a little more relieved.

"I’m perfectly fine!" Li Min’s tone was flat, but as she continued, a hint of gritted teeth crept into her voice. "I can’t wait to get my revenge. By the way... thank you for killing the man who murdered my father."

"...That had nothing to do with you! It was my duty to avenge Uncle Li." Chu Bamboo walked out of the room, leaving Xu Duoduo to cry silently by herself. His voice was calm. "Alright, lay out the details of your mission for me."

"I... um! Basically, I’m supposed to see if I can find a weakness in the Kunpeng... and then infiltrate it! Right, this is related to my Divine Technique... But the specifics are, well, not something I can easily disclose. Of course, if you’re *really* curious... um, anyway, I’m very good at infiltration!"

"? Shadows?"

"?"

"It’s nothing... I was just reminded of an enemy’s Divine Technique." ’A thousand thoughts flashed through Chu Bamboo’s mind. ’It couldn’t be Thousand Shadows and Transformations, could it? After all, I’ve used Reproduction on it before, so I know all too well how that ability is geared toward support... But in the previous timeline, the destructive power Li Min unleashed was enough to shock even Lao Hu.’

’Never mind, it’s not that important... The next time I see Li Min, I can just use Reproduction on her and analyze it then...’

As he sorted through the information he had, Chu Bamboo gradually grasped the key point, his eyes lighting up. ’Yes, so that’s how it is... That explains everything!’

Infiltration! The most critical part of Li Min’s mission was to avoid being discovered. And "being discovered" didn’t just mean by the ordinary citizens of the Celestial Capital—it also included the thousand-man Security Corps inside the drone carrier!

That’s why, even though Li Min was strong enough to go on a rampage against the thousand-man corps, she chose to kidnap Zhao Xu while he was on a bathroom break. Then, using some unknown method, she snuck to the nuclear fusion power source and used her Divine Technique to destroy it.

Moreover...

’Since she couldn’t cause a major disturbance from start to finish, her infiltration must have been...’ Chu Bamboo’s eye twitched. He strongly suspected Li Min had actually slipped in through the gap that opened when the drones were launched or recovered.

Analyzing it from that perspective...

"Whew! The risk isn’t as great as I thought."

Chu Bamboo silently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. He also realized why they hadn’t run into this kind of problem back in the Imperial Capital...

While it was possible the enemy hadn’t thought of it, it was also likely they simply failed to time it perfectly and slip into the drone carrier through the opening...

"Is there anything else?" Li Min whispered.

"Yes, continue with your mission. Stall for time... As for your superiors, just tell them you haven’t found a suitable opportunity to infiltrate yet. That’ll be enough." Chu Bamboo gave the instructions, then hung up.

Then, Chu Bamboo stared at the two Little Mushroom Heads. "Nuwa No. 17!"

"Present."

The two Little Mushroom Heads spoke at almost the exact same time. Then, they glanced at each other...

Chu Bamboo: "..."

Even though Nuwa No. 17 had said there was only ever one Nuwa, seeing this still felt a little strange to him. ’Why am I getting the feeling they’re jealous and vying for attention? Am I imagining things?’

"You will assist Hive and complete the infiltration of all civilian facilities in the Celestial Capital!" Chu Bamboo forcibly cleared the distracting thoughts from his mind and organized his words. "Then, seize control of all unmanned machinery belonging to the Celestial Capital’s military... and make them turn..."

As Chu Bamboo spoke, he had Hive receive the intel Nuwa provided on the Celestial Capital Military Camp, telling her to perform a detailed analysis based on the information...

Gradually, a strategic attack plan began to form.

At Chu Bamboo’s command, the world turned upside down.

"All resistance forces in the Celestial Capital Military Camp will be completely destroyed in an estimated one hour and twenty-eight minutes!" The second Little Mushroom Head snapped a salute. "Because the Celestial Capital Military Camp already has a large number of drones, we only need to divert one-third of our current drones... to be sufficient to complete the strategic objective of destroying the camp!"

"I’ll take over after that!" Hive’s screen flickered, its voice ringing with determination. "Deploying civilian drones to begin the re-education of the prisoners!"

"..." Chu Bamboo frowned. After a moment of thought, he glanced at the numerous machines remaining inside the drone carrier and chose his words carefully. "We still have two-thirds of the drones left... Hmm, Hive, I’ll need you to pull out another half..."

Chu Bamboo glanced at the Security Corps soldiers, their faces a mixture of excitement and confusion. After a brief silence, he enunciated each word. "Coordinate with my Security Corps soldiers and, on a conventional level, attack the Celestial Capital! Occupy the Government Offices in as many of its districts as possible..."

"At the same time, Nuwa... actually, never mind. Second Little Mushroom Head, I’m just going to call you Xiaosan."

"Deep thought initiated." Xiaosan sank into contemplation. "In the culture of the Divine Continent, this title represents..."

"...Alright, that’s enough! It’s just a name." Chu Bamboo’s eye twitched as he vigorously rubbed Xiaosan’s mushroom head to cut her off. A wry smile touched his lips. "Xiaosan, I’ll need you to step up too! Take control of all electronic devices—cell phones, loudspeakers, and the like... and launch a propaganda campaign!"

"Yeah, the main propaganda points are... that I am the bearer of the Celestial Mandate! The one chosen by Nuwa! That Daqian has lost the Way..."

"...Beginning data retrieval!" Xiaosan nodded seriously. "Successfully retrieved... video by a Bilibili creator titled, ’How to Stage a Coup in a Classical Society?’ Douyin detected... *Selected Works* detected... Commencing data analysis... Extracting key component—Public Opinion Campaign!"

"Now synthesizing new slogans for the campaign based on keywords such as, ’The Azure Sky is already dead; the Yellow Sky is soon to rise!’ and ’Are kings and nobles destined by birth?’, supplemented by the political stance revealed by the current Authority..."

Chu Bamboo: "..."

He had a strange feeling that Xiaosan was about to cook up something really big.

But...

Chu Bamboo looked at Xiaosan, a flicker of suspicion and uncertainty in his eyes. Compared to Nuwa No. 17, Xiaosan was clearly much more vivacious. Her thought processes were also incredibly nimble... It almost felt as if she truly had a spark of humanity.

After spending so much time with Z, he knew... ’This is all just a simulation... right? It has to be.’

So...

’Is it because of her processing power? Or because she has an earlier serial number? Is that why she’s more like the original Nuwa?’ One possibility after another ran through Chu Bamboo’s mind. He glanced to the north, took a deep breath, and didn’t dwell on the matter. "Xiaosan... go!"

...

The Security Corps soldiers all deployed, equipped with drones and robotic dogs. Coordinating with the numerous machines that had turned traitor inside the Celestial Capital—and with Xiaosan’s omniscient grasp of the city’s internal situation—their advance could only be described as unstoppable.

Ultimately, the armed forces within the Celestial Capital City were designed to suppress the populace... not to fight off an invading army!

The main army corps, the one actually meant for warfare, was stationed outside the city... and it, too, had been completely neutralized by the drones!

...

Finally.

Gradually—

The Celestial Capital City, which had previously echoed with sporadic gunfire, fell silent...

He watched the drone footage projected on a light screen from the drone carrier, showing the Government Office buildings being occupied one by one... showing the city’s armed personnel laying down their weapons...

"...No way! Did we... Did we really conquer it?" Hu Kaikang’s eyes were glazed over, his mind a complete blank. His voice trembled.

He was from the Celestial Capital. Watching his hometown below get conquered—a speedrun in under three hours... It felt absurd, surreal. He suspected he had to be dreaming...

’No, this has to be a dream, right? How could something like this possibly happen in the real world?’

’Hahaha... Yeah, that must be it. I’m probably still back in the forbidden zone, and I haven’t actually made it out yet, right?’