This is not mechanical ascension...

Chapter 270 The deepest hidden thing is...

Temporary evacuation?
In the laboratory, both sides were restrained in the confrontation, and only some fragile glass test tubes were shattered.

Ulrich and the others paused, their expressions somewhat subtle.

After learning the general story from Connit, they were not surprised that the other party chose to withdraw.

The question is, once they leave here, can the Torch Organization still suppress them?

At least, it is unlikely that any quarantine zone will be created.
Cornett didn't care what everyone was thinking, he just said in a deep voice: "Time is tight, you should pack your things a little bit, we will send someone to assist you."

"Wait, where is the evidence you just mentioned?" Seeing that Cornette was about to cover up the matter, Ulrich immediately interrupted him with a flickering look in his eyes.

Cornette's expression calmed down, "Follow me."

A few minutes later, in the small conference room, the virtual imaging device kept switching between various screens, and the printed materials were distributed to everyone, who passed them around and looked at them.

Ulrich's eyes were filled with wonder and he was secretly surprised. He took a quick look at the relevant evidence about Deyes. Most of them were closely linked, and some contradictions could be explained away by the "mysterious methods of the great mechanic."

Li Ming noticed that the Torch Organization also deliberately concealed a lot of evidence, including the mechanical pocket watch, probably because they did not want to leak more information about Deyes.

"The Torch Organization suffered heavy losses this time. No wonder they are so angry, but..." he pondered in his heart.

The others didn't care much about this matter. They just glanced at it casually and soon dispersed.

On the way back, Sandro was still muttering, "Could this Deyes really be hiding inside the Torch Organization? If he wants to do something else, then we will be in great danger."

No one paid any attention to him. They all returned to their rooms and subconsciously locked the door. Li Ming lay on his back on the bed.

"Cornet is very suspicious."

He guessed that Connet might become suspicious in the face of all the evidence, but he didn't expect that the other party would come directly to test them without even having time to recover from his injuries.

However, he managed to outmaneuver the opponent, so the matter was left unresolved.

"The evidence that Deyes is collaborating with the enemy is not false..." Li Ming shook his head. He was not afraid of lies, but he was afraid of nine truths and one lie.

Ninety percent of the evidence is true and can be verified within the Torch Organization base.

Even if the audio files have been recompiled, it is still a lot of work to find one or two false words from the real conversations.

In this situation, Cornett still wanted to put the blame on him. It's not just that he is suspicious by nature, he is simply paranoid.

Li Ming was packing up his things, his eyes suddenly flickered, "No, I'm thinking wrongly, he may not be doubting me, he is doubting everyone."

"On the surface, I seem to have the highest level of skills and I am quite mysterious. If anything bad happens, I will be the first person they think of."

Shaking his head, of course, the personality that one displays to the outside world is not completely without benefits.

At least the other party has to think twice before taking action.

Deyes had disappeared without a trace, and the sublimator had not yet fully completed the remaining parts and still depended on him.

Whether it is testing or suspicion, it can only be suppressed temporarily.

Not long after I finished cleaning, there was a knock on the door. It was Theo, who was wearing a neat black suit, looking thin and gloomy.

Li Ming was surprised and asked him to come in. Theo nodded slightly.

After closing the door, the two sat opposite each other. Neither spoke at first, and the atmosphere was quiet and silent.

Finally, Theo spoke first, expressionless: "Do you think Deyes really has that kind of ability and means?"

"Maybe." Li Ming did not comment. "This should have nothing to do with us. The losses are all caused by the Torch Organization."

"But with Deyes's disappearance, the manufacturing of the sublimator has reached a bottleneck." Theo stared at the great mechanic in front of him with gloomy eyes: "I wonder if Lord Qinglong has considered the next manufacturing work."

"So what if there is one?" Li Ming tapped the table carelessly, "So what if there isn't one?"

Theo was silent for a moment, then added: "I don't think the Torch Organization's plans and ideas will succeed."

The topic seemed to jump a little, and Li Ming grinned and chuckled, "Sir Theo, if those people from the Torch Organization heard this, it might not be good."

"That's the truth." Theo said solemnly, "The Torch Organization is only active in the Silver Star Cluster. To say they are a regional resistance organization is flattering them."

"They are used to taking advantage of the pressure from the Ithran civilization and perhaps they think this is similar to many previous actions."

"But in fact, this time, they have no right to take advantage of the situation. The Xingyuan Empire has already intervened. If they insist on going their own way, they will only bring about their own destruction."

Is this talking about the Torch Organization or me?

Li Ming narrowed his eyes and said, "So, in your opinion, what should the Torch Organization do to survive?"

"The Xingyuan Empire's intervention is just a broad concept. In essence, it is still two forces fighting. The Itlan Civilization is one side, and the Torch Organization can completely choose the other side." Theo said in a deep voice.

Let him choose? Li Ming held his chin with one hand, looking nonchalant. Theo continued:
"After all, this is the sphere of influence of the Xingyuan Empire. If we really confront the Xingyuan Empire, is there any way to survive?"

Li Ming pondered for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Is it really Grand Duke Gu Ya behind you?"

Theo's face changed slightly. He was playing a riddle well, but it was suddenly put on the table. This made Theo somewhat uncomfortable, but he quickly adjusted himself and asked back, "What do you think?"

He didn't think Li Ming would tell on them. They were all in the same boat. Anyone who wanted to jump off the boat would be seeking his own death.

Li Ming smiled slightly, then asked, "What do you want me to do?"

After hesitating for a moment, Theo said, "Make the sublimator, and then help me get this thing. Apart from the sublimation source crystal, you can choose anything else."

"Tsk..." Li Ming groaned, "It sounds like the conditions are similar to those of the Torch Organization. It's really not attractive."

Theo frowned and wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Li Ming: "There's no rush for this matter, let me think about it."

He stood up, as if he was sending the guest away.

Theo frowned slightly. He thought that after letting Sandro convey his wishes last time, Qinglong had considered it to some extent and had a tendency in his mind.

He shouldn't be wavering until now. Seeing that time is running out and the manufacturing progress has come to a standstill, Theo couldn't help feeling anxious.

Seeing the other party's obvious intention to send him away, his eyes turned slightly cold, and he said with a stern face, "I hope you will consider it carefully." Then he left.

The Torch Organization is also very anxious and will definitely increase the price to ask Qinglong to produce it.

Although the two of them were on the same front not long ago, jointly dealing with the threat from the Torch Organization, it was not for anyone else, but for their own interests. Therefore, Li Ming now has no intention of helping Theo.

He doesn't care who gets the sublimator. What he cares most about is whether it is in his own interests.

"If you are in a hurry, you will make mistakes." Li Ming shook his head.

Next, it is time for the Torch Organization to prepare for evacuation. It is obviously impossible for such a large organization to be completely evacuated in a short period of time.

In addition to the large number of staff and the cleaning of various instruments, there is even the temporary sealing of the dimensional cracks.

It's called an emergency evacuation, but it won't be done without ten days or half a month.

Things have different priorities, and it is obviously impossible for Connet to wait until the last group of unimportant staff have packed up before leaving.

They would naturally be the first group and head towards the Red River Star Stream as quickly as possible.

There weren't many things to carry, basically just the entire core laboratory emptied out, plus some necessary supplies.

In order to avoid any accidents, Li Ming only used [Shadow Sting] to go out once in three or four days, mainly to inquire about the evacuation of the warehouse where the dimensional crystals were stored.

What surprised and relieved him was that those dimensional crystals would follow Connit and his companions onto the main ship and head to the vicinity of the Red River Star Stream.

When Li Ming first heard the news, he was very surprised, but then he thought about it and understood. In his opinion, this was a valuable item.

But in the eyes of the Torch Organization, these things are weapons. Next they will face the battle for the core ruins, so they naturally have to take these weapons with them.

After confirming this, Li Ming felt relieved.

Two days after the standoff in the laboratory, Ted was reporting to the top brass at the main base on the relevant evacuation work.

"The overall retreat plan is divided into five batches. The first batch has entered the final stage. The "Conil" and its affiliated fleet are ready and can set off at any time."

"The withdrawal of the second batch of experimental personnel and mid-level core personnel is also on track..."

As Cornette listened, the scars on his skin had almost healed, and the bloody hole in his left eye was wrapped with white gauze.

Kovis leaned on the sofa with his head tilted back in a strange posture.

After finishing the report, Ted left in a hurry. As soon as he walked out of the door, he ran into Pierre who was walking quickly. The two passed each other and nodded slightly.

"Chief, Your Excellencies..." After entering the room, Pierre greeted them and then quickly reported:
"According to the leader's previous order, my colleagues and I from the Ministry of Internal Affairs have compiled the timelines of all the great mechanics and A-level life forms during this period of time."

"According to the analysis, the timeline of Zog and his team being hypnotized did not match up a few times because he was in the core laboratory at the time."

"Oh?" Ke Weisi became interested and raised his head: "Is there anyone whose timeline can match up completely?"

"Yes." Pierre nodded and said, "Theo, Ulrich, Huber, Sandro, Brot..."

"Neither of them is a master mechanic?" Koves frowned, and Connit subconsciously asked back: "No Qinglong?"

"No, there was a time when Zog was hypnotized and the surveillance video clearly captured him walking in the corridor."

Pierre hesitated. "Except for the fact that his mechanical body wanders around the corridor every day, that's all."

"Theo..." Fernande looked unhappy and felt an inexplicable chill on the back of his neck.

"I think he has the biggest problem. He was able to get so close to us without being detected. It probably won't be difficult for him to sneak into the main base."

"Or maybe Brot... He wasn't dead at that time." Corvis shook his head: "The problem now is that Deyes is dead, and now it seems that Qinglong is the only one who can take over the manufacture of the sublimator."

"He seems to be inactive, waiting for a good price."

Fernand frowned, glanced at Pierre, waved him away, and waited until the door was closed again before he said in a deep voice: "Even if the sublimator is manufactured, we don't have any sublimation particles to use."

Cornette put his hands behind his back and said, "The most urgent thing is..."

He was interrupted by the ringing of the video terminal when he was speaking. "Chief, Master Mechanic Benny wants to meet with you and the other two Excellencies."

"Benny?" The three of them looked at each other.

Not long after, in the small conference room, they saw Benny, who was hunched over, with his pale yellow skin full of wrinkles and age spots.

"Sir Benny..." Cornett asked him to sit down. Corvez seemed indifferent and Fernand had a sullen face.

Among the four great mechanics, Qinglong is the most mysterious, Deyes contributes the most, Jessia is an A-level mechanical modified body, and Benny's presence is very low.

"Hey guys..." Benny gave a helpless smile, "The manufacturing of the sublimator has been stagnant for several days. If we don't think of a solution, we may not be able to catch up with the tidal period."

"Why did we invite you here?" Fernand said rudely, "If Deyes disappears, you can't do anything?"

Cornett shook his head and said calmly: "We understand what you mean and will deal with this matter as soon as possible."

"No, you don't understand." Benny's expression was restrained. He looked around at the three people and his face became unpredictable. "Mr. Corvis is right, but even if the sublimator is manufactured, can you use it?"

"Huh?" Cornett was quite surprised to notice Benny's different attitude.

"You..." Fernande looked at Benny in doubt.

Benny smiled and said leisurely: "No matter what civilization is destroyed, it will leave behind the fire, the most core technology, the most core people, and the most core culture."

"Some may be lost in the interstellar space, but some will always exist..."

"Okay." Ke Weisi interrupted and asked with interest: "You mean, you are a remnant of the Ascendant civilization?"

"As I recall, they don't look like this, do they?"

"Unfortunately, you guessed wrong." Benny shook his head, "I am not a survivor of the Ascendants, but I can contact them."

The room was silent. Cornette stared at him and said, "No wonder you agreed so quickly."

Then, he calmed down. After Deyes's "baptism", his psychological endurance improved a lot. He said solemnly: "What do you or they want? I can't give you the sublimation source crystal, but we can talk about other things."

Benny kept his good-natured smile and asked, "Even if you get the Sublimation Source Crystal, can you use it?"

"It's the genetic verification mechanism again." Ke Weisi had guessed it and sneered, "Only the Ascendants can use it, right?"

"You can say that, but it's more than that." Benny smiled grimly: "In fact, we can cooperate."

(End of this chapter)