410: Chapter 410 Overall Results, Chen Wuwang Formulates Strategies

Before the morning mist had even dissipated, the door to the Council Hall was kicked open.

Chen Wuwang sat in the main seat, his fingers tapping the edge of the stone table one by one in a steady, unhurried rhythm, as if he were waiting for someone.

The Mechanical Prosthetic Eye in his left eye glowed with a faint blue light, projecting a translucent map of spiritual energy fluctuations—the data from the five simulated intrusions recorded by Ling Zhenzi last night.

A flurry of footsteps approached from the doorway.

Chen Tiezhu strode in carrying a black box, his face still stained with soot from the Artifact Refining Workshop, grumbling:

"You call a meeting whenever you feel like it. My 'Earth Dragon No. 2' is stuck right in the middle of spiritual energy circuit debugging, and you insist I drop everything and come—"

Before he could finish, Chen Xiaodao pushed the door open from the other side. Tapping his scabbard lightly against the floor, he said coldly, "I just finished engraving the Soul-Slaying Sword Intent into the Sea of Consciousness Defense Arrays of thirty-six Disciples. You give the order, and we have to come? If there's something to say, say it."

Ling Zhenzi, who entered last, looked the most disheveled. His eyes were bloodshot, and his gait was somewhat unsteady, but upon entering, he immediately stared blankly at the jade wall:

"The System is still running data... The Zhao Family started practicing their swordsmanship collectively again this morning. I didn't dare turn off the monitoring."

"Turn it off." Chen Wuwang raised his hand, and the blue light of his prosthetic eye flashed. The alarm markers on the jade wall were instantly cleared. "I've already whitelisted their 'Wave-like Progressive Spiritual Pressure'."

The three of them were stunned simultaneously.

Chen Tiezhu clicked his tongue. "You can actually understand these messy curves? I thought only Formation fanatics could make sense of them."

"I don't understand Formations." Chen Wuwang stood up, walked to the stone table, and drew a dagger from his waist. "But I understand loopholes."

The tip of the blade descended, carving the first line into the stone surface.

"Your Monitoring Array had three false alarms last night." He looked up at Ling Zhenzi. "The problem isn't precision; it's the logic of judgment. You only look for 'abnormalities,' not 'threats'."

Ling Zhenzi opened his mouth to retort, but Chen Wuwang continued: "The Zhao Family's sword practice is fierce, but the rhythm is steady and the containment is quick. The Spiritual Qi follows fixed meridian routes;"

"But what about a real attack? It's a thrust, a disruption of flow, a forceful tearing of Spiritual Vein channels."

He turned to Chen Xiaodao. "Just like your Flow-Breaking Sword Intent, it's specifically designed to break the rhythm of active techniques."

Chen Xiaodao's eyes flickered. "You mean... use the Sword Intent model as the identification benchmark?"

"Exactly." Chen Wuwang turned the tip of his blade and carved a new line on the second layer of the stone table. "I'm looking at the results of all three of you together—"

"Tiezhu's Mecha Anti-Insurgency Module responds quickly but is triggered passively. Your Sword Intent has strong initiative but limited coverage;"

"Ling Zhenzi's monitoring network is wide-reaching but prone to misjudgment."

He paused, his voice lowering: "Now that someone is trying to exploit the gaps, we can't each just guard our own patch. We have to link them up."

Chen Tiezhu frowned. "How? My module relies on power. Once the power supply line is cut, the whole System collapses."

"Then add a layer of judgment." Chen Wuwang pointed at Ling Zhenzi. "Your array scans first. If it confirms a target's behavioral pattern deviates from the normal threshold for more than two seconds, mark it with an orange-level alert. Only then do we activate Xiao Dao's interception layer."

Chen Xiaodao narrowed his eyes. "You want me to bury my Sword Intent in the Spiritual Vein nodes of each clan's residence in advance?"

"Not bury," Chen Wuwang shook his head. "Set up a 'checkpoint.' You place a 'Flow-Breaking Fuse' in the core Spirit Gathering Array of every Family. As soon as a sudden change in spiritual power direction or a frequency disorder is detected, it immediately triggers a Sword Intent oscillation, interrupting the casting rhythm."

"Brilliant!" Ling Zhenzi slammed the table. "This way, even if an infiltrator disguises themselves as a Disciple, the moment they dare to mobilize unconventional spiritual flow, they'll be 'Thought-Severed' on the spot!"

"But that's not enough." Chen Wuwang's third strike fell, carving the outermost circle.

"Tiezhu, your Mecha Suppression Layer must be connected at the back.

Once the interception layer is breached, it means the opponent has bypassed the early warning and containment, entering the actual attack phase—

At that point, your mecha swarms will automatically surround and blockade the area, implementing physical control."

Chen Tiezhu stroked his chin. "But what if the System misjudges? What if the mecha charge in and attack our own brothers?"

"That's why the linkage conditions must be strict," Chen Wuwang said coldly. "Level Three Protocol: First, the Spirit Array locks onto an abnormality for two consecutive seconds;"

"Second, the target has crossed the outer defensive line;"

"Third, the interception layer fails to activate or is forcefully suppressed. Only when all three conditions are met will the suppression program be triggered."

The room went silent for a moment.

Chen Xiaodao suddenly spoke: "What about the authority? Who presses this button?"

Chen Wuwang smiled. The laugh wasn't loud, but it made the trio's backs stiffen.

He raised his left hand, and the blue light of his Mechanical Prosthetic Eye surged, projecting an encrypted command stream directly into the air: "All System terminals will be unified under the Family Head's authentication. Without my biological key, no one can activate the joint defense mechanism."

"Damn," Chen Tiezhu cursed under his breath. "Are you afraid someone will steal command authority?"

"I'm afraid someone will intentionally create chaos." Chen Wuwang put away his dagger, his gaze sweeping over the three of them. "The last time the rebels reached the Earth Vein, it was because someone inside forged a Pass Talisman Command. This time, I'm not leaving any openings in any intermediate steps."

Ling Zhenzi was silent for a moment before nodding. "Fine. I can redesign the Main Control Array Core into a double-lock structure. I'll monitor it daily, and it will switch to your terminal for direct control during wartime."

"I can modify mine too." Chen Tiezhu patted the black box in his arms. "This batch of new modules will be equipped with remote wake-up protocols, standing by at all times."

"My Sword Intent can be deployed in stages," Chen Xiaodao said calmly. "The first batch will be placed in the Spiritual Pivot Rooms of the Chuanyun Sect, Leiyin Pavilion, and Cangling Clan. Those are the places most vulnerable to infiltration."

Chen Wuwang listened, his fingers continuing to tap the table, the rhythm gradually quickening.

Suddenly, he asked, "Tiezhu, for your anti-insurgency module, what's the fastest time from receiving the signal to mecha activation?"

"0.3 breaths," Chen Tiezhu answered concisely. "That's the absolute limit; it can't be any shorter."

"Xiao Dao? Your Flow-Breaking Fuse, from trigger to effect?"

"Instantaneous." Chen Xiaodao held up one finger. "The moment the thought arises, the Sword Intent falls."

"Zhenzi?"

"From data collection to judgment completion, 0.5 breaths." Ling Zhenzi gritted his teeth. "The 0.2 difference is algorithmic latency. I can optimize it out tonight."

Chen Wuwang nodded, picked up the dagger again, and made a heavy stroke in the center of the stone table.

"Good. From now on, the Eastern Wasteland Alliance's defense System will be changed to a three-layer linkage—the first layer is your eyes,"

He pointed at Ling Zhenzi, "watching every ripple of spiritual power; the second layer is your sword,"

He turned to Chen Xiaodao, "locking down every abnormal node; the third layer is his iron fist,"

He patted Chen Tiezhu, "smashing everything that dares to cross the line."

He withdrew his hand and looked around at the three of them: "I don't ask for perfection. I only ask that next time someone wants to cause trouble, they've already lost before they even make a move."

No one spoke.

The wind blew in from the open doorway, swirling a few withered leaves in the center of the Council Hall.

Ling Zhenzi looked down at the Monitoring Talisman Plate on his wrist and said softly, "Over at the Zhao Family... the Spiritual Pressure is rising again."

Chen Wuwang's prosthetic eye flickered slightly, and new data streams appeared on the jade wall.

"Let them practice." He sat back in the main seat, his fingertip resting lightly on an unissued Command Jade Talisman. "The System is already running."

Chen Tiezhu stood on the right, clutching the black box, his brow still furrowed.

Chen Xiaodao stood on the left, his scabbard still lightly touching the floor, his eyes as deep as the bottom of a cliff at midnight.

Ling Zhenzi stood by the projection, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the edge of the Formation Plate, his eyes never leaving the pulsing spectrum.

The morning mist flowed slowly outside the eaves, like a net that had yet to be cast.

Chen Wuwang's finger was still resting on the jade talisman.