Wizard: Become stronger by drawing cards from the potions variety show

Chapter 776

Qiao De really has high hopes for these two little guys, so he deliberately gave them some advice.

Talent cannot be hidden. Compared with most of their classmates, these two little guys simply lack some practical experience.

This is a good opportunity to bring them out for some experience and also to establish some good relationships.

Because of this, in the current situation, he did not give direct orders, but wanted to hear the opinions of the two little guys.

Yuri calmed down, and after synthesizing the existing information, he spoke cautiously:

"I think it's difficult to accurately judge the other party's intentions based on the current situation. Brother Avalon's analysis makes sense, but we are not familiar with Senior Cecily and don't know him well enough, so I can't make the same judgment based on his personality as Brother Avalon."

"So, we should gather as much information as possible to understand the current situation."

Qiao De did not comment and continued to ask: "How to collect it?"

"Push forward, get close to the classified building." Yuri replied crisply. "If something goes wrong inside the building, we'll be able to grasp the situation immediately. Acting now won't delay the rescue. Staying here would only mean missing the opportunity."

"From an efficiency perspective, staying put is not the optimal solution."

"Of course, the specific course of action is up to you, Captain. I'm only offering suggestions."

Jode nodded and turned to another figure: "Lina, what do you think? Tell me what you think."

Lina said softly, "I think we should go and rescue them. I can feel the other party's anger, fear, and strong desire to survive from the message just now. These emotions are not pretended. They must be in big trouble."

"Cecily is one of the top three combatants in this operation. An ordinary, difficult opponent wouldn't cause him to experience such emotional fluctuations. This shows that the difficulties he encountered are beyond the ordinary."

"I think rescue is the right choice. Of course, if we want to be safe, going forward to collect information is also a good option."

"only……"

Joad had been nodding his head, but when he heard this turn of events, he raised his eyebrows: "Just what?"

Lina hesitated. "Nothing, just a conflicting feeling. I know the request for help is genuine, but I also feel like something bad will happen if I go there. It's like... like a voice is warning me not to get close."

"This is normal. Your current abilities are still limited, so it's normal for things to happen that are beyond your ability to handle."

Joad laughed, breaking the solemn atmosphere:
"You three all favor action, and I agree. However, this isn't a matter of the majority following the minority. I also believe intervention is necessary."

He put away his smile and analyzed seriously:
"First of all, as Avalon analyzed, setting traps is not Cecily's style."

"From a profit perspective, Cecily has always valued his image as someone who keeps his promises. The gains from this mission simply aren't enough to make him give up the long-term benefits of his image."

"Secondly, I wonder if you noticed the background noise in this voice communication."

"Background noise?" Avalon scratched his head, looking confused.

Yuri and Lina, on the other hand, both had thoughtful expressions.

Qiao De glanced at his old partner, smiled helplessly, and stopped keeping the secret: "Apart from the panting and the wind, there is no high-frequency noise from the micro-shielder."

"During normal missions, these devices must be turned on. Now they're not. There are only two possibilities: either the equipment was damaged during intense combat, or the shielding is ineffective. He chose to prioritize communication quality."

"Finally, this is my personal observation," Joad added. "Cecile, to maintain his composure, even argues in a very refined manner. The fact that he can put aside his pride and speak in a human way must mean that the problem he's facing is definitely serious."

Yuri nodded thoughtfully. "When people are highly stressed or frightened, their social pretenses become thinner, and their true nature is more easily revealed."

"That's right. And Lina's intuition is very sharp. She feels something is wrong, which proves that there is indeed a problem."

"If we just wait here, the mission will likely fail. Instead of that, we should take the initiative and attack. Even if we fail, we need to know how we failed."

He turned to Lina and instructed: "By the way, Lina, if you feel particularly uncomfortable, you must tell me the first time."

Joad stood up and clapped his hands. "Let's go and save poor Cecily. He might be being chased and beaten, waiting for us to rescue him."

The four of them simply counted their luggage and advanced towards the confidential building along a covert route.

The closer you get, the more you feel an eerie silence.

This calmness itself is abnormal.

Combat professionals are bound to make noise when performing missions, especially in places like combat districts.

Confrontations between rivals are commonplace, and noisy weapons are used whether to eliminate the enemy or to cover retreat.

There has been no obvious movement since the call for help was received, which actually confirms that the situation is abnormal.

Qiao Deguan turned his head and asked Lina: "How do you feel?"

Lina shook her head gently: "I haven't been feeling very comfortable. Whenever I think about going in, it's like a voice is warning me to leave as soon as possible and never get close."

Joad thought for a moment and decided it would be better to go in.

The combat effectiveness of the two teams is actually not weak at present, and there is no reason to be afraid of others. The reason for the ambush is just to get a better place and get higher points.

Now that the situation has changed, we naturally cannot stick to the original plan rigidly.

So, Jode comforted him, "Don't worry. Even if something unexpected happens in the battle zone, the most that can happen is that the mission is reset. There's no danger to your life. There's essentially no difference between abandoning the mission and failing it. We just need to do our best to complete the mission."

At this moment, a rustling sound of electricity suddenly came from the communication terminals of several people.

"Hello? Can you hear me?"

Everyone's expressions suddenly changed.

They activated signal shielding throughout the entire process, so it was impossible to locate them unless they were at a very close distance.

Not to mention that the other party forcibly accessed their communication channel without permission.

The four of them looked at each other, and closed the ports at the same time. They quickly checked the shielding devices on their bodies, but found that all the shielding devices had been short-circuited and damaged at some point.

A drone drifted over from a distance and called out through its external speaker:
"Don't be nervous, the mission has been temporarily changed. Something big happened inside, and the juniors have made a big discovery this time."

"For various reasons, those of us on standby were also deployed in advance to assist you."

"Um, thermos, say a few words."

"My name isn't Thermos. Please call me 'Sandbox'."

"That's a pet name."

"I've never heard of a nickname that sounds like that."

The drone started conversing on its own, leaving Jode and his group speechless. While they were still muttering to themselves, Jode had already completed identity verification.

The task has been updated.

The two hackers were indeed reinforcements sent.

Their support mission was merged with the main plot of stealing the blueprints, forming a temporary combat team.
Now officially welcome new partners: "Ghost" and "Sandbox".

Among them, Ghost cooperates with Jord, and Sandbox assists Avalon.

Since Jord and Avalon have been working together for a long time and their missions are related, Ghost and Sandbox naturally formed a team.

Qiao De rushed forward and took off the drone in mid-air. "What are you doing? Is this how you help? Shouting with a loudspeaker outside the classified building. Are you afraid they won't find us?"

The ghost replied nonchalantly, "Who told you to shut down all the communication ports? I can only use this method to remind you."

"Besides, do you think you're hiding well? In fact, every move you make has been under their surveillance."

"They? Who are they?" Joad demanded.

"Of course it's the junior students."

A laughing and crying emoticon popped up on the drone's display screen.

Joad's terminal received a video playback request.

When they clicked on it, they saw the footage of their previous ambush, with every move captured clearly.

"That's impossible." Joad was incredulous. "We turned on signal shielding the entire time, paid attention to concealment, and never approached the classified building. Unless they cheated, there's no way they could track our whereabouts."

"Although I don't know how they did it, with your half-finished signal jammer, I have ten thousand ways to escape him. It's not surprising that you were discovered, so don't worry too much. Now, the exposure is a fact, and they have been waiting for you to come."

The drone flew up and down, and the ghost's excited voice came from the speakers:

"Don't hide, this is a fair competition. We'll add you and try to meet up with the other members, and then face the rising star head-on."

"If they win, it will be the first time in the library's history that a freshman has defeated a senior in a subject test."

"If we win, it will be nice to beat him once before his talent grows up."

Joad agreed to the ghost's proposal after a brief thought. If the current situation was really as the ghost said, then they had only one way left: a head-on confrontation.

"Open the communication port. Thermos and I will guide your actions. Turn on the two little guys as well. Thermos isn't good with words, so I'll be in charge of the communication."

"But don't worry, Thermos's technology is top-notch, and we'll work together to ensure you have unimpeded access. Your presence has now been erased from the surveillance system, so you can proceed without worry."

In front of them, the secret door on the side of the confidential building slid open quietly.

"Rush in now!" Jode ordered his team members.

They broke in through the side door, but the employees inside ignored them and continued to go about their business.

Although the bionic robots responsible for security have high authority, their behavioral logic is ultimately processed through the network, which leaves them open to intrusion by hackers.

As they sprinted down the corridor, the eyes of the bionic robots around them suddenly turned red, their visual and auditory systems briefly failed, and the signals were delayed for a second or two.

During this gap, Jode's team passed through smoothly.

Instead of taking the elevator, I went up the stairs in the emergency passage.

With the help of hackers, they had a smooth journey.

Taking this opportunity, Joad asked Ghost what exactly happened inside and why reinforcements were suddenly sent.

Ghost didn't hide it: "I'm not a combat professional, so I don't know the specifics. But I heard they've designed a bionic combat robot that can defeat all the combat professionals participating in the competition in a single fight. It already has the power to annihilate you all."

"Some people speculate that the limits of the new weapon can't be tested at this level, so they increased the difficulty to see where its upper limit lies."

"Isn't this what you guessed?" The voice of the thermos cup interrupted.

"It's really me."

Ghost's tone held a hint of schadenfreude. After all, as a hacker, he'd always be unemployed as long as AI was prevalent, so it was hard for him to empathize with the idea of ​​his profession being replaced.

Avalon and Joad exchanged a look.

"Impossible. AI's combat capabilities have a limit. Unless you're willing to invest enormous resources into a single machine, the cost-effectiveness is simply incomparable to training humans."

"It's not that there haven't been combat robots with excellent performance in the past, but they were expensive. Cheaper ones were also ineffective and could only be used to fill the gaps."

"And even if we add those expensive, high-performance robots, unless they're controlled by combat professionals or combat sub-AI, there's a very high risk of failure even when facing human warriors of equal strength."

"At this level, the resource consumption ratio between the two could reach one hundred to one, or even one thousand to one. High-performance combat robots can only be used as exceptions and cannot be widely used. They will only be deployed for specific dangerous missions."

Ghost said softly, "Times have changed, Jode. The line between high performance and high cost performance, as you said, has become blurred in this project design."

"A low-cost combat robot that can exert extremely strong combat power."

"Look at this."

Ghost sent three videos, including the "Hound Type 1" controlling the bionic robot to fight with Kara, Cecily running away with his head in his hands, and David being captured.

"This is what Lao Hei got from their internal system."

Joad continued to follow the instructions while distractedly watching the video.

The first video is short, with Kara seizing the opportunity to destroy the bionic robot. However, the fighting machine's movement patterns and move selection are already unusual.

By the second segment, the abnormality of the bionic robot became more obvious, and Cecily had almost no ability to fight back. The message for help they received was sent at this time.

The third paragraph shows that David was subdued after barely a few attempts to defend himself.

Looking at the fighting machine in the video, Qiao De's face gradually became solemn.

It was obvious at a glance that these bionic robots were fundamentally different from traditional combat robots. They were more agile and their combat skills were more like those of humans. If Ghost hadn't explicitly stated that they were controlled by the combat system, Jode would have even thought that a combat professional was behind the controls.

Anticipation.

These robots all have obvious foresight.

(End of this chapter)