This is not mechanical ascension...

Chapter 506: Pick the softest persimmon

In the Star Alliance meeting room, Gutierrez and the other two gathered together again, their faces gloomy enough to drip water out of them.

"The three great craftsmen are truly of the same blood. None of them is willing to reveal anything." Gutierrez's face was grim.

Antigo couldn't help but snorted coldly: "Qinglong is fine, but Reynolds and Mikhail still have a lot of business in the Star Alliance."

"Especially Mikhail, this guy is notorious for bullying the weak and fearing the strong, but this time he took the risk of offending us and refused to say anything."

"So, this also means that what they are hiding may be bigger than we thought. The disappearance of Gonzalez and Crow is likely related to some core secrets."

Sieg nodded in agreement, "Yes, we are already far behind in this matter."

"Let's just do it." Antigo's eyes were fierce. "Before, I was worried about Reynolds and Mikhail, so I didn't do much to their business. This time, let's just take it down."

"Let me see, how long can they hold out?"

"No." Gutierrez shook his head, "This will only force the two of them into mortal enemies."

He was clear and organized. "Our goal is to find out the secrets hidden by the Empire and the Federation, not to do anything to them."

"They don't say it now because they are concerned about the Empire and the Federation. They don't really want to be our enemy."

Antigo couldn't help but frown when he heard this: "That being said, the Imperial Federation can't tell us what happened. Not many people know the truth."

"Compared to the two major civilizations, it is easier to take action against these three divine craftsmen. Qinglong has no business in our territory, so it is difficult to control him. We can only take action against Reynolds and Mikhail."

"Wrong..." Gutierrez said coldly, "It's because Reynolds and Mikhail have businesses in our territory, so we can't take action against them."

"If we do this, it's equivalent to forcing them to choose between the Imperial Federation and us. If it were you, what would you choose?"

Antigo couldn't help but pause. It seemed to be true. The leaders of the affairs within the Red River Star Stream must be the Empire and the Federation.

These three great master craftsmen were merely insiders, and later reached some kind of deal with the empire to make them shut up.

If they were forced to choose between the two, they would definitely choose the Empire and the Federation.

"Besides, these two people are not easy to control. Their years of accumulation should not be underestimated." Zigg couldn't help but add,

"Their business network is huge. Once we issue a decree, we don't know how the people below will implement it. The result may not be good."

"This won't work, and that won't work. We don't have time to waste." Antigo frowned and said irritably.

"Yes, we must get a chess piece that is important enough to force someone to surrender," Gutierrez said.

Antigo stared at him in confusion at first, then suddenly realized: "Your target, isn't it Qinglong?"

"But didn't he say that no one went? It shouldn't have much to do with this matter."

"It's not up to him to decide whether it's a big deal or not." Gutierrez nodded calmly, "If we have to start with the three great craftsmen, it's better to offend one than two."

"The relationship between Reynolds and Mikhail is very complicated. Qinglong is a latecomer and has no conflict of interest with the other two, so it is easier for him to take action."

"That's true." Antigo didn't react much, frowning and saying, "Although the last time we defeated Ryan, it had a huge impact, his own strength is not that great."

The battle with Ryan was Qinglong's last public battle in the interstellar space.

Calculating the time, only two or three years have passed, so based on this analysis, it is normal.

"You can't say that." Sieg shook his head and disagreed: "That battle was very strange. Qinglong defeated Ryan not because he was only slightly stronger than Ryan, but because Ryan's strength was only at that level."

"Moreover, Qinglong is very mysterious and was even promoted by the Empire as one of the ten founding members of the Higher United Organization. Many people suspect that he is actually Adam's man."

Antigo sneered: "Ha... those so-called founding ten are just the empire's own fun. Only Gustav and Anatoly are pretty good, but the others are nothing."

"Besides, it would be even better if he really is Adam's man."

"Be careful." Sieg was very cautious: "Qinglong's range of activities is far away from us. We know very little about him. It may be inappropriate to act rashly."

"Besides, we don't even know where his base is. That Mechanical Royal Court seems to be a bait."

"I'm not going to attack Qinglong." Gutierrez shook his head and denied it. "Every X-level life form is not a simple commodity. If you don't have certainty, it will be very risky to act rashly."

"Our goal is just to find out what happened in the Red River Star Stream. As long as we achieve this goal, it will be fine."

Zigg's eyes suddenly became deep, "You mean, Li Ming?"

"Li Ming?" Antigo was stunned, then looked at Gutierrez suspiciously: "Are you simply coveting his development potential?"

The Holy Silver Civilization where Gutierrez is located has a special evolutionary path. It can promote its own evolution by devouring other life forms. The higher the level, the greater the potential and the more benefits.

Gutierrez frowned, but did not explain. He just said:
"Li Ming's development potential is rare in the entire galaxy, and he must be very important to Qinglong. Using him as a threat is just to get an answer. Qinglong should not refuse."

Zieger thought about it and felt that Gutierrez's proposal was reasonable.

Li Ming is indeed a very good target. He is only an A-level life form and is extremely easy to control, but he is also very important.

The risk of taking action is much less than directly confronting Qinglong. Even if Qinglong is unhappy afterwards, he has to hold it in. It is impossible for him to break off relations with the Star Alliance.

Moreover, by that time, Qinglong should have revealed the hidden news of the Empire and the Federation, which was equivalent to having one foot on their boat.

More importantly, Qinglong can’t find it, but Li Ming can.

"The Mechanical King's Court is in a chaotic star gap... If we want to take action, we must be quick, accurate and ruthless." Sieg added.

"It's just a deserted area that no one cares about. Just send a few X-level life forms there to capture people." Antigo said simply and roughly.

The number of X-level life forms in the Star Alliance should be the largest in the universe.

However, although these Class X life forms nominally belong to the Covenant, in reality, they will only obey the orders of their own civilization.

"We can't be too reckless about this. If we fail in one attack and Qinglong reacts, we won't have a chance." Gutierrez said, "We need a perfect opportunity to strike."

……

"I can't feel the four thousand times gravity anymore. I have to adjust it to five thousand times." Li Ming stretched his body, making a crackling sound, and glanced at the [Magnetic Crystal Heavy Domain] next to him.

He casually increased the gravity a thousand times, and once again felt the sense of urgency coming from all directions, then he nodded in satisfaction.

But he did not continue to develop gene seeds, but went out and went straight to the reception room. In the reception room, Ulrich was waiting with two life forms in yellow robes, who lowered their heads and revealed that they were Anatoly's followers.

"Sir Li Ming..." The two of them walked forward together and took out a long wooden box from their arms.

Li Ming took a quick look and found that it was basically the same as the box he placed in the display case.

"Another invitation?" he couldn't help asking.

One of the believers answered, his eyes were white, like dancing bone fire: "Yes, because the number of people attending the banquet exceeded the expectations of the God, so he changed the location of the banquet and postponed it for three months to make better preparations to welcome all the distinguished guests."

"The number exceeds expectations?" Li Ming was surprised. How many people were going?

Because of that star beast?
Li Ming subconsciously judged others by himself, but soon felt something was wrong. There should not be many X-level life forms that have this need.

"Yes, currently, seven people from the United Organization of Higher Life Forms have agreed to go, including the chairman and another vice-chairman." The other party responded in a low voice.

"Seven?" Li Ming was slightly surprised, and then realized that the star beast had a great attraction to people like Gustav.

More than half of the higher life forms will go, making it almost an offline gathering, and more people who want to join the joint organization of higher life forms will naturally flock to it.

Under the agglomeration effect, the scale will naturally grow. And Anatoly and others may also be planning to gather momentum.

It can even be said to be a demonstration.

It has been almost two years since the establishment of the United Organization of Higher Life Forms, and it won’t be long before more members can be admitted.

"Due to the current special circumstances, the invitation has been slightly changed. Please check it yourself, Lord Qinglong." The two believers simply said this, nodded, and left.

Ulrich followed closely behind.

"Changes?" Li Ming watched them leave, then turned around and opened the box. It was still the same invitation as last time.

After the light on the surface slowly faded away, some neatly written words were revealed, which seemed to be written by Anatoly himself.

The general meaning is to invite him to attend the banquet on time four months later, and the banquet was originally scheduled to start one month later.

In another half a month, Li Ming was ready to set off, but he didn't expect it to be delayed for another three months.

Finally, he added a paragraph stating that if he wanted to go, he needed to indicate so as to notify him.

In the past, for the evening banquet, after the invitations were distributed, there was no need to tell Anatoly whether to go or not, because the scale was not too large.

Those who are willing to go are basically on good terms with Anatoly, and there are no conflicts between them.

But this time it’s different. It’s a hodgepodge and the relationships among them are much more complicated.

Just a simple seating arrangement would require a lot of effort. Maybe there is a life-and-death feud between the parties, so arrangements must be made in advance.

"Hmm..." Li Ming thought about it, and the tank guard attached to his body in an instant, and then he wrote a few words at the end of the invitation - "Li Ming will go on my behalf, and there may be entourage."

After writing these words and waiting for a moment, the edge of the invitation paper in his hand twisted and burned with green flames.

Ripples appeared in the air, and the traces of burning did not dissipate, but condensed into crystal fragments, gradually outlining a vague human figure, who bowed slightly to him, and then entangled with each other and disappeared through the metal wall.

"This dusk hermit has a strong sense of ritual." Li Ming couldn't help but sigh, and thought in his heart, "I remember that he seemed to have some connection with Heckler. Last time he wanted to lure me out."

"But it seems that they only made a little effort. Their relationship should not be very good. As for this time..."

Thinking in his mind, he left the reception room and flipped through the smart terminal on his way back.

A day ago, the Star Alliance responded to the joint decree of the Empire and the Federation, claiming that it was not aware of the decree and would not support it.

But in the Interstellar Alliance, the minority has always been subject to the majority, and the incorporation of the Mechanics Association is a foregone conclusion.

However, the division of the Mechanics Guild did not stop within the Star Alliance.

The Mechanics Association has not yet been completely established, and the attitude of the Star Alliance on this matter has given confidence to many neutral civilizations.

The butcher knife has been picked up. If you put it down again, you might hurt yourself.

However, there are currently many civilizations that support the incorporation of the Mechanics Association, which is enough for the Mechanical King's tentacles to extend.

It would take a long time to take over these markets, so he didn't care about the Star Alliance.

After returning to the room and making some preparations, he continued to produce genetic seeds.

His development progress climbed to 33%. After returning from the Red River Star Stream, it only increased by 3%, which really made him sigh.

.........

In Heckler's office on the capital star of the Empire, his face looked extremely ugly, and his grim eyes seemed ready to devour anyone.

“Adam, Adam!” He suppressed his voice and roared in a low voice, “An X-level life form disappeared for no reason, and he actually acted as if nothing happened!”

John, who was standing nearby, was shocked and asked in astonishment, "The parliament doesn't agree with your request?"

"More than disagreeing." Heckler gnashed his teeth, "Adam even said that Ivan might just be out for fun and would come back after a while. He's an x-lifeform, not a dog!"

Adam was not humiliating Ivan, but humiliating him.

John's heart trembled slightly, and he asked cautiously: "Could it be that the rumors are true, and Qinglong is really the Holy Emperor's man?"

Heckler snorted coldly. He was more inclined to believe that Adam was cautious because of the corpse, so he was reluctant to take action against Qinglong.

But he was too cautious. There was a possibility that what John said was true.
He did not respond, but instead asked in a deep voice, "Have you found out? Who is killing our people?"

"This..." John hesitated, and suddenly felt a cold murderous intent.

"How long has it been?" John heard the indifferent voice, and cold sweat dripped down his face. He hurriedly explained: "We have found some clues. The people who took action are very diverse. There are people from the Free Knights, the Sleeping Horn, the Red Armor Army and even the Holy Revolutionary Army..."

"They are not our own people?" John frowned, as if he was a little surprised, and said in a deep voice: "They are all hostile forces of the empire. Who brought them together?"

John's throat rolled, "The intelligence department speculated that it might be... a pioneer."

"Pioneer?" John was stunned when he heard this strange yet familiar name.

(End of this chapter)