Chapter 769: Intelligence Minister Xi Ong's Judgment
Chapter 769: Intelligence Minister Xi Ong's Judgment
Hidden among the flock of birds, Zhong Feng's immediate safety was assured. However, his concern for his future grew with each passing moment. From the current situation, it was clear that the high-level Skrul strongmen in the palace couldn't locate him. The chaotic aura of the bird flock provided him with strong protection, making it difficult even for a seventh-rank powerhouse to detect him. Moreover, the vast expanse of the Sun Palace meant that unless the Skrul were willing to slaughter all the pets and wildlife in the back garden, finding him would be nearly impossible. At least for the next four hours, he was safe.
But what truly worried Zhong Feng was what to do after those four hours. After four hours, Emperor Manina III and Plante would return from their home planet. These two were peak divine-level beings, with mental scanning ranges and sensitivities far surpassing even a dozen seventh-rank strongmen combined. If they joined the search and conducted a thorough sweep, Zhong Feng would have nowhere to hide!
Thus, Zhong Feng thought to himself, "No matter what, I must find a way to leave the palace within these four hours! But... how should I do it?"
Zhong Feng fell into deep thought.
...
After more than three minutes of contemplation, he suddenly had an idea: he could use the bird flock to his advantage. The chirping blue-and-white birds around him were a perfect resource. As a sixth-rank Great Druid, he could use the Heart of Nature spell to communicate with the birds and implant a layer of mental suggestion. Through this suggestion, he could indirectly control the birds' movements, guiding them to the edge of the palace's psychic shield. Concealed among the birds, the Skrul would not detect him. Once he reached the edge, he could use the Reflection of Reality spell to escape successfully. After much deliberation, Zhong Feng found this to be a good plan.
He immediately began to act, using the Heart of Nature spell to implant mental suggestions into the surrounding birds. However, to prevent the Heart of Nature spell from being detected by the Skrul, Zhong Feng dared not use it too recklessly. He carefully hopped from branch to branch, usually touching a blue-and-white bird before releasing a bit of the spell. After successfully controlling one bird, he would move on to the next, being extremely cautious. It took him a full half-hour to control the entire flock.
...
What Zhong Feng did not know was that just 15 minutes earlier, Emperor Manina had suddenly changed his pursuit strategy. This change began 20 minutes ago.
20 minutes earlier, Manina returned to his study with a gloomy expression. He himself had not joined the large-scale search for Zhong Feng, despite it potentially speeding up the process. After all, he was the emperor and had to maintain his imperial dignity. Such low-level tasks were better left to his subjects. So, he returned to his study to rest.
Upon his return, the study remained unchanged. The only difference was that Intelligence Minister Xi Ong was kneeling in the study.
"Rise," Manina ordered Xi Ong. He had intended to sit in his chair but thought of the insect that had been crawling around for hours, which made him feel disgust.
"Sunlight."
"Master, I am here."
A shimmering 3D hologram appeared in the middle of the study with a soft hum. The hologram depicted a strikingly beautiful woman in a golden and white outfit, the physical manifestation of the AI known as Sunshine.
"Tell the servants to thoroughly clean the study, not a single corner should be overlooked," Manina ordered.
"Master, the servants have already cleaned the study while you were away," Sunshine replied. She was well aware of Manina's obsessive cleanliness and had taken care of it in advance.
"Then do it again!" Manina shot her a stern glance.
"As you wish," Sunshine responded, and the hologram vanished from the study.
Minister of Intelligence, Seon, who stood nearby, felt a bit uneasy. He asked in a low voice, "Your Majesty, what exactly happened?"
Seon had just arrived at the palace and was still unaware of the recent events.
"A bug got in... Never mind, Sunshine, you explain it to Seon," Manina said, handing over the task to his AI assistant.
"Understood!" The clear, melodic voice of the Skrull woman echoed in the study.
As she finished speaking, a beam of golden light shot into Seon's brain, implanting a segment of memory. Instantly, Seon understood what had transpired in the palace.
It took him two minutes to process and absorb the memory, and he gradually grasped the severity of the situation. In the past fifty years, there hadn't been a single successful infiltration by an enemy spy in the Solar Palace. The last significant incident of this caliber was 360 years ago when a genius from the White-Headed Eagle clan disguised as a common bird to infiltrate the palace.
What was even more embarrassing for His Majesty was that it had been nearly half an hour since the spy was discovered, yet they still couldn't locate the intruder. This was indeed a blow to everyone's dignity.
...
But Seon, being a professional in intelligence, immediately began using his expertise to help the Emperor analyze and solve the problem.
"Sunshine, can you send me the footage from the study?" Seon asked.
"Sure," she replied.
Another beam of golden light shot into Seon's brain, and he closed his eyes to analyze the new memory.
After about two minutes, he suddenly opened his eyes and said to Manina, "Your Majesty, there's something peculiar in the video. Perhaps we can use this to find the bug!"
"What? Tell me quickly!" Manina's attention was immediately captured. Indeed, professionals were reliable!
"Your Majesty, it's like this," Seon explained. "I carefully reviewed the surveillance footage from the study and noticed that the bug's focus on the documents was different.
For internal affairs of the Solar Kingdom, the bug didn't seem particularly interested, and he flipped through those documents casually.
But for a specific type of document, he was exceptionally attentive!"
"Which type of document?!" Manina realized the issue, having overlooked this detail in his anger.
"Documents about Blue Star," Seon replied seriously. "Whenever the bug encountered documents about Blue Star, he spent much more time on them.
So, I can boldly predict that the bug was here for information about Blue Star.
And I can even go further to say that the bug is likely a human cultivator from Blue Star!"
(End of Chapter)
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