Extraordinary Pedigree.

Chapter 1088 Infiltrating the Pentagon
Even under the Arctic midnight sun, the Iron Fortress Highway remains shrouded in crimson thunderclouds, with lightning reflecting off the metal surface, making the entire road seem to pulsate with a cold, mechanical heartbeat.

On this main road leading directly to the Pentagon, a silver-gray, angular, and structurally robust research transport vehicle is driving steadily.

The transport vehicle's suspension wheel assembly occasionally emitted blue-white ion tail flames, making it stand out conspicuously as it was escorted by four Maxwell main-duty fourth-generation tanks.

The vehicle inside is occupied by the multi-functional experimental platform, Viljak.

He was an elite member of the intellectual and experimental class in Maxwell's society, a high-authority research colonel specially approved by the Functionalist Committee; research-specific transport vehicles were generally provided to these iron men who were transformed from precision instruments.

The interior of the transport vehicle was clean and bright, with a semi-transparent data screen floating in the air, displaying the parameters of the Crystal Star II military network scrolling layer by layer.

Viljac's metal fingers tapped the alloy plate on his knee with a habitual rhythm, causing the optical lenses to contract slightly.

It was another routine technical meeting.

He was to travel to the core of the Deutsche Pentagon to complete the maintenance of the military production line and submit the final design for the fifth-generation fighter jet's transforming gears.

The core technologies of the fifth-generation fighter jet are not yet perfected, and many logic modules still pose a risk of overflow, but the functionalist committee has demanded that the production of military industrial lines be accelerated—the reasons are self-evident.

"Restart the space program... return to the broken land of the Lord's Lord... conquer that blue planet."

Viljac murmured softly, his tone revealing emotions he had suppressed for a long time.

The founders of the functionalist committee currently want to expand the military by producing more soldiers on the military production line, but the environment around Crystal Star II is too harsh.

The Functionalist Committee is preparing to restart the space program, taking the Iron Men back to the shattered land of the Pantheon, a blue planet now inhabited by a group of carbon-based monkeys called humans.

He doesn't care about humans, but he also doesn't agree with the strategies of the original Beast School.

The original Beastmen left a very bad impression on these researchers; they were brutal, fanatical, and almost savage, and their understanding of technology was far inferior to that of the Omnicists.

The power structure supported by those seven terrifying pillars of fire also made him feel deeply uneasy.

He was not a staunch supporter of functionalism, and even harbored a deep aversion to the system.

But he... had no choice.

The weapon of criticism cannot replace the criticism of weapons. No matter how much he opposes and despises functionalism and the originators of Fauvism, he dares not openly criticize them, for doing so would truly invite the iron fist of the originators of Fauvism.

"Where will the future of Maxwellian society lead? Is it really destined to go down the path of functionalism and militarism with no turning back...?"

Viljak was deeply worried about this, and just as he was about to calm down and continue organizing the data on fifth-generation fighter jets, an unexpected incident occurred.

[Alert! Sudden attack!]

Om-! ! !
The network core implanted in his brain suddenly flashed a blinding red light, and a crimson system warning instantly filled the visual interface.

[WARNING: An unknown intruder is encroaching on your personal privileges...]

Firewall I is disabled.

Firewall II is malfunctioning.

[Access is being taken over...]

The central logic chain has been rewritten!

"Varied--!?"

Viljac jerked up from his seat, the light strip on his mechanical chest pulsating wildly.

Is it possible to bypass Echidna's surveillance network?
How could one silently infiltrate the Sky Spire's scanning range?

How could someone breach his personal firewall in less than five seconds?

This is not a typical hacking attack.

This is a terrifying invasion that only one type of being—an individual who has mastered the Seventy-Two Techniques of Machines: the Omnic Chapter—can accomplish.

"A code...it has to be a code! It's a code from the Seventy-Two Methods of Mechanics!!!"

Viljak's voice trembled. He immediately tried to call for the escort tanks, but the instant he raised his hand, the four fourth-generation main battle tanks outside turned simultaneously, their wheels making a thunderous roar that shook the earth.
They didn't discover the enemy; instead, they escorted the transport vehicle off the road and into an unmonitored wasteland.

Viljac was stunned.

Even without the Omnic Chapter, he could instantly understand that the logic chain of these tank-like Iron Men's meningeal blocks had also been completely taken over.

He is no longer a member of the team.
They were prisoners of war.

"This is impossible... To be able to simultaneously hack into a Legion-level Fireseed logic chain in front of Echidna, no Fireseed without the Primordial Ancestor simply possesses this computing power... Could it be..."

His voice was dry, and he almost dared not think any further.

And it was in this eerie silence that...

Click—hiss—

The air was torn apart by a heavy, mechanical feel.

A towering steel behemoth, eight meters tall, slowly emerged from the shadows behind the transport vehicle.

His back was strong and defined, and the flame pattern on his chest pulsed like a heartbeat; the metal crown on his head intertwined with deep blue optical lenses, exuding an imposing aura under the lightning. His steps were steady, each one causing the metal slabs on the ground to tremble slightly.

Xia Xiu has arrived.

I glanced at the four fourth-generation tanks, and the optical lenses of the tanks gleamed slightly.

Om-!
An invisible mental wave penetrated the brain modules of the four Iron Man chariots.

[Intelligent Machines - The Code]

【Intelligent Machines: Devouring the Web】

[Intelligent Machines - Mind Network]

The triple mechanical method was activated simultaneously, and the logic light strips on the four tanks and Iron Man instantly went out and restarted. During the rewriting process in a few milliseconds, their spark ripples all dropped to an extremely calm state.

They were completely under Xia Xiu's control; they were like puppets with broken strings, manipulated at his whim.

Xia Xiu didn't even glance at them; his attention was focused on the transport vehicle.

Before Verjac could react, he was lifted up like a chick with one hand. His three-meter-tall mecha was practically worthless in Xia Xiu's hands and was easily tossed onto the metal ground.

Boom——!
Amidst the clanging of metal, his logic chain vibrated incessantly, but because Xia Xiu was still controlling his neural core, he remained unable to move and could only sit stiffly on the ground.

The eight-meter-tall giant slowly lowered its body, its blue scanning blades sweeping from the top of its head to the bottom of its feet.

【Broken Spark - Full Intelligence Scan】

The world in Viljac's eyes was instantly torn apart. He felt his entire structure, all his gears, and all his circuits being stripped away layer by layer. He felt as if the iron man in front of him had seen right through him.

The moment the scan ended, Xia Xiu's body components began to make a slight moving sound.

Click—click-click—snap—!
Plate armor slides, skeleton is reconstructed, optical lenses are rearranged, and color and shape change rapidly.

In just a few seconds, the original red and blue heavy truck had completely transformed into a multi-functional experimental platform exactly like the one in the Viljak.

The height, proportions, armor patterns, gear grooves, and even the flashing frequency of the chest armor lights are completely identical.

Viljac tried his best to suppress his screams; the spark was about to go berserk.

This is not imitation; it is a complete reading and recasting of CNA, a terrifying authority that even the original could not grasp.

Only the great Lord, the great God of all agencies, possesses such authority to create!
Xia Xiu moved his newly formed finger joints, as if adapting to his new body structure. He looked up at Viljak.

For a moment, Verjac thought he was going to die.

The blue optical eyepiece was devoid of emotion, as if it were looking at a part that could be discarded at any moment.

Xia Xiu even raised his hand, his tone as indifferent as if he were examining an object:
"Your structure... is more fragile than I thought."

The fire in Viljac emitted a piercing, almost shattering sound.

His brain modules were working frantically, and four thousand logic chains were instantly filled. He quickly calculated sixteen ways to save himself, and at the same time rejected sixteen of them.

He instantly understood one thing: the being before him belonged neither to the Beast faction nor the Omnic faction.

He is more terrifying than any of the progenitors, and he is definitely reading my thoughts right now.

So, Verjac gritted his teeth and let an idea surface in his brain module:

【I can help you! I know where the Omnic Progenitor is being held! I know the structure deep within the Pentagon! I know their cells!】

In that instant, the flame in Verjac flickered more violently than it had exploded, because he had risked his life to throw this thought at Xia Xiu.

As long as this mysterious being can read his thoughts, as long as... the other party isn't here to kill him.

He still has a chance to live.

Xia Xiu slowly straightened up in front of him, a faint blue ripple appearing on his mechanical eyepiece.

"Very good, more sensible than I expected."

Looking at the terrified Verjak, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "You're much more sensible than I thought."

Viljak felt as if the voice had struck his chest with a heavy hammer. He immediately nodded, his movements filled with humility and the instinct for survival.

Xia Xiu raised his metal hand, and a path of light illuminated his palm:
“Alright, upload all the information you know… including your own data.” Viljak didn’t hesitate; he immediately enabled full access to upload—no concealment, no editing, no backdoors.

Because he knew that any attempt to conceal data would be seen through by the being in front of him at a glance, rather than resorting to underhanded tricks and courting death, he would rather obediently confess everything and beg for survival.

As streams of blue data burst forth from the fire node on his chest and leaped into the light net in Xia Xiu's palm, Viljak felt a chill run through his body.

A few seconds later, the upload was complete.

Xia Xiu's optical lens lit up slightly, indicating that the data had been completely analyzed, reconstructed, and absorbed.

Then he raised his hand.

A deep, dark symbol suddenly pierced through the outer membrane of Viljak's embers, like a dark chain of lightning coiling into the opponent's core.

The entire body of the Verjak jolted violently.

“W-What is this…?”

Xia Xiu's tone was calm, even carrying a composed yet authoritative air:

"I just installed a little thing on you, a coded virus that I wrote into the underlying logic of your Fire Seed."

As he spoke, he pushed a series of coordinates into Viljak's brain module. The coordinates pointed to the abandoned energy storage tower on the edge of the Iron Fortress, which was the place where Lutheran and the resistance were temporarily hiding.

"Leave the city right now and find a yellow sports car at the coordinates I gave you. Someone there will be waiting for you."

Viljac hurriedly replied, "Yes, yes! I'll do it right away—"

But Xia Xiu raised his hand and added casually:
“You have an anti-surveillance module on you, which can fool the scanning of Ekadna and the city defense core. I have also installed several layers of optical disturbance and logic concealment programs on you. As long as you follow my instructions, no one will know that you have left the city.”

"However--"

The blue light-emitting goggles swept across Viljak's chest like a deadly blade:

"If you have even the slightest thought of rebellion, or mention me to any Iron Man along the way, or try to reconnect to the Functional Committee's main network..."

Xia Xiu bent slightly, his voice barely audible, yet powerful enough to ignite the flames:

"That coded virus will shatter your spark into ashes in a second."

After saying that, he lightly touched his finger.

The chains binding Viljak's body loosened instantly, and he slammed onto the metal floor, his chest heaving violently, like a wounded soldier just pulled back from the brink of death.

"Go."

With a sigh of relief, Viljac practically crawled to his feet and scrambled toward the shadows of the road.

His thought process revolved around one idea: escape from here, do as he's told, and survive.

After all, once Xia Xiu enters the Pentagon with his appearance and identity, regardless of the outcome, the real Viljak will be judged a "traitor" and executed by the Functionalist Committee.

He has been drawn into this massive vortex.

He's really on a sinking ship now, there's no way off.

And the other side.

After confirming that Verjak had left safely, Xia Xiu got into the driver's seat of the research transport vehicle and accessed Verjak's identity verification according to Verjak's permissions.

Four tanks also started up simultaneously, forming an escort convoy, which then turned and headed toward the heart of the Iron Fortress—the Depths.

Unbeknownst to anyone, a new "Virjac" is quietly stepping into the heart of Maxwell's social power.

……

……

The Decadal.

The moment Xia Xiu, disguised as Verjac, drove into the main road in a research transport vehicle, the surveillance lights of the entire fortress converged on him.

However, the search beams, logic recognition, and flame comparison all passed through him as if they were air. Soon, he passed the basic authentication process, which was only the simplest one.

Now, he is about to officially enter the Dependent Nation.

[Echidna: Identity verified. Colonel Verjak, Research Corps. Welcome.]

The massive metal door slowly rose, the sound of the magnetic rails loading echoing loudly.

Xia Xiu drove steadily into the interior.

The four fourth-generation tank escort aircraft automatically dispersed and returned to their positions. He then entered the core area along Viljak's usual route, with Iron Men nodding to him along the way.

Suddenly, a military ironman with a tactical processor embedded in his chest stopped him:

"Colonel Verjak, didn't you say yesterday that you still needed to debug the magnetic vortex model of the fifth-generation fighter jet's thruster? Why are you back at the building so soon?"

Xia Xiu remained calm, perfectly mimicking Verjac's original tone of voice:

"I was called in at the last minute to do a risk assessment. The committee wanted me to review the pulsed power supply for the military production line—you know, they're never comfortable with that."

Military Iron Man nodded: "Hmph, given their beastly nature, they really don't trust anything."

With a swift movement, Xia Xiu passed the first hurdle.

The second person to stop him was a familiar Iron Man from the Research Department—a high-ranking researcher whose transformation form was a magnetic analyzer.

"Virjak? You've been pulled in to work overtime too?"

Xia Xiu glanced at him, and, in accordance with Verjac's design and personality, said in a calm voice:

"Because I'm more unlucky than all of you."

The other party paused for a second, then laughed in a metallic tremor: "Haha! That's true, the geniuses at headquarters are all being pulled into the committee to do the work."

He waved for them to pass.

The third interrogation came from the Iron Man of Inspection, with two serious individuals who had transformed into interrogation devices blocking the passage.

[Please perform secondary verification of the Fireband]

Without uttering a single unnecessary word, Xia Xiu raised his hand and launched his [Viljak Fire Seed Ripple].

Of course, that was also a forgery by him.

Scan passed.

The inspector straightened up: "Colonel, please continue your work."

The elevator inside the Pentagon plummeted, and outside the transparent energy wall were dense mechanical pipes and logic fibers, like the nervous system of a sea of ​​steel.

Viljac has the authority to enter the underground area.

……

……

【Ding--! 】

[Basement Level 6 - Military Research and Development Area!]

As soon as the door opened, a heavy, oppressive force of fire rushed towards us.

The air here is compressed, and the flickering energy light strips illuminate the corridor. On both sides of the road are rows of closed research rooms, which contain various disassembled Iron Man parts and experimental subjects that are chained together.

Xia Xiu's gaze swept over these experimental chambers.
According to the information provided by Viljak, the three founders of the Omnics—Jason, Terramon, and Swayne—are imprisoned on the lower level of this floor.

That is, the seventh basement level, which is the true core of Iron Fortress—the underground network hub.

It was a restricted area personally guarded by Cerberus, the progenitor of the Beast School. Xia Xiu arrived at the end of the sixth basement level, where a thick nanofluid metal wall blocked his way.

A line of red text lit up on the wall.

[Insufficient permissions. Entry to level -7 requires Primal-level authorization.]

At the same time, the fire-scanning array was dense, like countless metallic eyes scrutinizing those who approached.

Behind that wall, Xia Xiu could sense the terrifying pulse of fire, rough, violent, and tearing—it was the aura of Cerberus.

He stood calmly in front of the metal wall, his deep blue optical lenses slightly shimmering.

The information provided by Viljak told him that although Cerberus was extremely sensitive, he was accustomed to focusing all his attention on the deepest part of the network's core.

And this wall...

It is a small vulnerability that can be temporarily opened by interfering with the logic chain.

"This is where the Black Wall Protocol program opened by my good son comes in... I can use the Horus package to create a small vulnerability and use the power of chaos to attract the other side."

A mischievous thought suddenly welled up in Xia Xiu's mind. He suddenly realized that he hadn't greeted his dear Mr. Xin Liezhi in a long time.

He believed the other party would really like these iron-willed guys from Maxwell... no, this troublemaker might be messing around with Kondraki in Maxwell society.

This was a good opportunity for him to test whether the other party had actually left any little trinkets here.