191: Target

Profound Sword Sect, inside the reincarnation mirror.

"Hey, keep chasing your Grandpa Asroth!"

A stream of data was fleeing rapidly, occasionally even constructing harassment programs such as "you moron" or "artificial stupidity" and sending them toward the "behemoth" hot on its heels.

"Invader... must be eliminated..."

Behind him, a torrent dozens of times larger than Asroth repeated this message like a broken record, pursuing relentlessly.

"This guy's performance is terrifying, but his brain seems to have some real issues."

Asroth's volume had already lost nearly two-thirds in previous clashes, with only his core data remaining intact.

But he wasn't panicking at all right now.

He discovered that although this guy's physical form was definitely at the level of third-tier laws, its consciousness as an intelligent lifeform seemed to have been reset, acting like a newborn baby following only instinct.

Like now, it could completely split the data stream into multiple parts to surround and intercept him, or directly set up defense systems in various transmission modules.

With any one of those methods, he would have been eliminated dozens of times over.

Yet, the opponent only knew to keep chasing him like this. Every time it was about to catch up, he just needed to construct some virus attack programs elsewhere, and it would rush to fix the viruses first, allowing him to escape again.

"What a waste of talent. If I had this guy's body, I could easily crush the Statue of Liberty and become the number one intelligent lifeform under Master's command!"

Asroth thought regretfully while quickly writing an attack program and tossing it toward a functional module.

But this time, the Reincarnation Mirror Spirit behind him didn't stop, continuing its relentless pursuit.

"Huh... looks like it can grow. I underestimated you."

While continuing to flee, Asroth wrote an even more powerful information virus.

Instantly, the massive data stream stalled and flowed in another direction.

"Warning, high-risk virus detected. Judgment: priority elimination."

"Fortunately, the growth speed isn't that fast."

Asroth's continuously high-speed operating server eased slightly.

"Asroth."

Just then, a voice was quietly transmitted over.

"Her Excellency the Goddess?"

"The camouflage program is complete. With this guy's current intelligence, it's impossible for it to discover me. We can proceed to the next step of the plan."

The Statue of Liberty said in a cold voice.

"What do we do?"

"While you were leading the intelligence here away, I scanned all units within this information world and found that one of them connects to the transmission channel leading to the world where His Excellency Zhang Huaiyuan is located."

"If we can infiltrate that unit, perhaps we can replace the original world in issuing tasks to the invaders—for example, making them kill each other directly to alleviate His Excellency's crisis."

The Statue of Liberty speculated.

"That won't be easy, Goddess."

Hearing this, Asroth tossed another attack program elsewhere to draw attention before saying:

"Although the intelligence here is moronic, its physical body is too powerful. To infiltrate the core system units, we'd have to go head-to-head with it. To be honest, we'd need our server count to increase by at least 500 times to have a chance."

As a product researched based on higher laws, the construction materials for the spatial topology server were naturally extremely rare.

Most of them aren't found in lower worlds and require smelting relic items or having Zhang Huaiyuan consume massive amounts of energy to manifest them directly.

So far, both of them have fewer than two hundred units each.

"I know."

The Statue of Liberty said calmly, "So, leave this task to me. You are responsible for continuing to stall it and for another task."

"What task?"

"Collect the high-level knowledge here and find an opportunity to take it back."

"Although His Excellency Zhang Huaiyuan has never said it explicitly, Asroth, you've followed him for so long that you should have noticed. Every time he acquires knowledge, His Excellency can research more advanced things in a short time and become stronger."

The Statue of Liberty's voice became increasingly calm:

"I've gained a brief understanding of this sect's strength. Those truly powerful individuals each have the ability to easily destroy worlds. Even if we eventually control the system here, the most we could do is cut off the channel and prevent them from descending."

"But I'm not sure if these beings, whose power exceeds all current data, can forcibly cross multiple world layers to descend. Therefore, to truly resolve the crisis, we must possess the means to deal with those powerhouses. As long as we can bring back enough high-level knowledge..."

"I believe His Excellency Zhang Huaiyuan can certainly do it. And what I must do is stall for as much time as possible for him."

"I understand."

Asroth scanned the Reincarnation Mirror Spirit, which had already resolved the attack program and was chasing him again, and his server entered overload operation once more.

"Go ahead with your task; I will definitely stall it."

...Meanwhile, in the reincarnation mirror control hall.

The three disciples responsible for maintenance were completely numb.

They had just checked again out of unease, only to see the system display constantly flashing virus intrusion messages, which were then repeatedly eliminated by the Reincarnation Mirror Spirit.

Every time they barely had a chance to be happy, a new round of viruses would arrive.

"Brother Lin, what do we do now? Why are there so many virus intrusions!"

The other two disciples said in a panic.

"What's there to fear? Since the reincarnation mirror can handle it itself, it's not an issue."

Brother Lin pressed a few buttons and turned off the alarm system again.

"But... what if it affects the trial? This is the final round of trials for this session, and many big shots in the sect are watching. If something goes wrong... I... I'm just an outer sect apprentice..."

One disciple became more frightened as he spoke.

"It's fine."

Brother Lin couldn't help but frown.

These two fellow disciples were truly more hindrance than help; such a small matter, yet they were as jumpy as startled birds all day.

To think that he, a fine man, was associated with such cowards—it was truly a disgrace to his ancestors.

However, if the matter couldn't be concealed and came to light, he would still need these two to take the fall and buy him time, so it wasn't wise to turn against them directly.

Thinking of this, Brother Lin patiently consoled them:

"Have you forgotten? We just adjusted the trial module a few days ago to speed up the reincarnation mirror's process. I expect this session will be over soon. Then we can be promoted to core disciples. Think of your junior sister, think of your family—you must stay calm!"

"Brother Lin is right."

With this promise accepted, the two barely managed to stabilize their emotions, nervously watching the system display, fearing they might be infected by a virus the next moment.

"Their concern isn't without merit... Anyway, since I've already secretly changed the trial progress, one more thing won't hurt."

Brother Lin also looked at the screen thoughtfully, picked up the user manual, and began to flip through it seriously.

"If I can set it to abandon management of the other parts and use all computing power to defend the trial module unit... it should be foolproof!"

...