91: Su Yuan's vigilance

The moment Wang Yi pushed open the door to Su Yuan's room, a thick smell of smoke wafted over him.

The lights weren't on in the room, making it very dark; only the computer screen emitted a faint blue glow.

Su Yuan sat before the computer, his figure shrouded in darkness and smoke, appearing somewhat blurred.

Seven or eight cigarette butts had already been tossed at his feet.

Wang Yi had known Su Yuan for so long, yet he had never seen him smoke, much less seen him looking so preoccupied.

"What happened?" Wang Yi walked to his side and asked in a low voice.

Su Yuan didn't answer immediately; he picked up the cigarette pack on the desk, lit another one, took a deep drag, and then slowly exhaled a cloud of white smoke.

Amidst the swirling smoke, his expression looked exceptionally grave.

"Wang Yi, what do you think the Lighthouse Country is doing right now?" Su Yuan suddenly asked a seemingly random question.

"The Lighthouse Country?" Wang Yi paused for a moment before saying, "What else could they be doing? They're probably overwhelmed; their dungeon failure was a disaster, their national destiny is heavily damaged, and their country must be in total chaos by now."

"Exactly," Su Yuan nodded. "Stock market crashes, social unrest, public protests... From any perspective, they should be busy dealing with their internal conflicts, overwhelmed and unable to look elsewhere."

"But..." Su Yuan's tone shifted as he stubbed out the cigarette in his hand and looked up at Wang Yi, his eyes gleaming sharply in the darkness.

"It's too quiet."

"What do you mean?" Wang Yi was somewhat puzzled.

"They are too quiet," Su Yuan repeated, pointing at his computer screen. "Look at this."

Wang Yi leaned in to look; on the screen was an extremely complex map of global network data flows.

Countless dense lines representing data streams shuttled and intertwined between various countries and regions.

Most of the lines were green, representing normal network activity.

But a few were a piercing, bright red.

These red lines all originated from several special IP addresses in the Lighthouse Country, eventually flowing into obscure or even abandoned servers around the world.

"This is abnormal, encrypted data flow across the globe that I monitored using my Administrator privileges," Su Yuan's voice grew low.

"Just three hours after we cleared the dungeon and obtained the Controllable Nuclear Fusion technology, these encrypted communications from the highest-level servers of the Lighthouse Country's military and intelligence departments began spreading across the world at an unprecedented frequency."

"Although I can't decrypt the content of these communications, I can track their flow."

Su Yuan's fingers tapped a few times on the keyboard, and the image on the screen switched instantly.

A world map appeared on the screen.

Hundreds of flashing red dots appeared on the map, spread across the globe, with more than half concentrated in the areas surrounding the Dragon Country.

"These red dots are the final receiving ends of those encrypted communications."

"I've checked; behind these receivers are the top-tier sleeper agents and secret assets planted by the Lighthouse Country all over the world."

"They are being awakened."

Hearing this, Wang Yi's expression changed instantly.

He wasn't a fool; he immediately understood what this implied.

"What... what do they want to do?" Wang Yi's voice also turned cold.

"I don't know," Su Yuan shook his head. "But my intuition tells me they're about to make a big move."

"You should know that when an animal is in a life-or-death crisis, it will use all its strength for a final struggle, right?"

"Even a rabbit will bite off a piece of your flesh before it dies, let alone a gambler like the Lighthouse Country at the national destiny arena table."

"What would a desperate gambler do after losing all his chips?"

Su Yuan looked at Wang Yi and asked slowly.

"He would... flip the table." A cold glint flashed in Wang Yi's eyes.

"Yes, flip the table," Su Yuan nodded. "The Lighthouse Country is now that desperate gambler. They know that on the table of the national destiny arena, they no longer have any hope of a comeback."

"So, they are preparing to flip the table."

"They plan to expand the war from the virtual arena with its clear rules to... the real world."

Su Yuan's words made Wang Yi's heart sink abruptly.

The real world!

The thing they feared most was finally going to happen.

"What would their target be?" Wang Yi asked. "A direct military strike against us? Do they dare?"

"No, they don't dare," Su Yuan denied. "Starting an all-out war with us now would be no different from suicide for them. Moreover, the existence of the national destiny arena itself places significant constraints on real-world warfare."

"Then their goal is..."

Before Wang Yi could finish his sentence, a flash of insight suddenly struck his mind!

He thought of it!

Controllable Nuclear Fusion!

The Lighthouse Country didn't dare to fight an all-out war with the Dragon Country, but they could stop the Dragon Country from obtaining this heaven-defying technology at its source!

"Scientists!"

Wang Yi and Su Yuan spoke those words almost in unison!

The two looked at each other, seeing gravity and horror in each other's eyes!

"They're going to target our scientists!" Wang Yi's voice trembled slightly with anger.

Those bastards!

They are simply insane!

To actually think of using such despicable and shameless means!

"This is just my speculation; I don't have any direct evidence," Su Yuan said solemnly. "But logically speaking, this is the only thing they can do right now, and it's also the greatest threat to us."

"No! I must report this to General Lin immediately!" As Wang Yi spoke, he reached for his communicator.

"I've already reported it," Su Yuan stopped him. "Just before you arrived."

"What did General Lin say?" Wang Yi asked urgently.

"He's taking it very seriously. He said he would report to the highest levels immediately and launch the highest-level security protocols to protect all relevant researchers."

Hearing this, Wang Yi finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"But..." Su Yuan's brow remained tightly furrowed. "I'm still uneasy."

"Why?"

"Because our enemies aren't just those lurking agents," Su Yuan said to Wang Yi, emphasizing every word.

"Don't forget, the Lighthouse Country has their players too."

Wang Yi's pupils contracted sharply!

He instantly understood what Su Yuan meant!

The Lighthouse Country could very well use their players from the national destiny arena to carry out assassinations of the Dragon Country's scientists in the real world!

You have to realize that those players all possess extraordinary skills and power far beyond that of ordinary people; they are the most terrifying and unpredictable assassins!

And on the Dragon Country's side, besides the Dragon Team, there is almost no force that can contend with them in the real world!

"Damn it!" Wang Yi slammed his fist hard onto the table!

"These scumbags will stop at nothing!"

"So, Wang Yi," Su Yuan's expression became incredibly serious. "From now on, we can no longer just focus on the battles within the dungeons."

"We must be prepared to go to war in the real world."

"A war without the smoke of gunpowder, yet even more cruel and dangerous."

Su Yuan's words were like a massive boulder, weighing heavily on Wang Yi's heart.

He knew that the peaceful days were over.

Every day from now on would be like walking on thin ice, fraught with danger.

Just then, Wang Yi's communicator rang urgently.

It was a call from General Lin Zhan.

Wang Yi answered immediately.

"Wang Yi! Su Yuan!"

Lin Zhan's voice came through the communicator, filled with unprecedented anxiety and anger.

"Something's happened!"

"Just five minutes ago, the security team we sent to pick up Academician Zhang was attacked on the road by unidentified armed personnel!"

"The entire team was wiped out!"

"Academician Zhang... is missing!"