Chapter 315

Chapter 315: Fooling Children

This beast tide was akin to the aftermath of the Fifth Level Griffin, striking with several times the intensity of a typical assault.

Such a level of catastrophe still fell within the defensive capabilities of Hope City. In fact, after enduring this grueling battle, Hope City would likely conclude that the lingering effects of the Fifth Level Griffin had completely dissipated.

Of course, from an objective standpoint, this beast tide coinciding with Lin Qingliu’s actions was merely a coincidence. Perhaps the extraordinary beasts were simply biding their time for a massive strike; who could say for certain?

In any case, after a day and a half of relentless combat, the last extraordinary beast finally succumbed to a sniper bullet that pierced through two of its skulls.

The most arduous period had passed, and now it was time to clean up the battlefield.

Outside the nearly ten-kilometer-long city walls, corpses lay scattered everywhere, with several areas marked by meters-deep craters and blast scars. The acrid scent of charred extraordinary beasts permeated the air, causing many humans to retch at the smell, while Fulan and her nearly fifty new subordinates couldn’t help but salivate.

Indeed, through a series of explosions, Fulan had meticulously selected and expanded her crew to nearly fifty extraordinary beasts, all of whom were intact and without missing limbs.

She entrusted these carefully chosen beasts to her five original subordinates and made her way to the edge of the battlefield.

Beyond the observation range of the city defense army’s cameras, Fulan spotted Lin Qingliu, who had been waiting for her.

He arrived as promised, and it was his true form appearing in person.

At that moment, sitting at the front desk of the mental health clinic was his newly created avatar, only a day old.

Lin Qingliu felt no psychological burden regarding this "child labor" and even found it somewhat amusing.

The thought of being able to exploit himself to create so much value made his desire to reap rewards surge uncontrollably within him.

As a staunch pragmatist, Lin Qingliu firmly believed in the use-it-or-lose-it principle.

Since he had acquired the ability of [Divided Thoughts], he naturally intended to make full use of it.

At that moment, two roughly crafted avatars, with barely discernible faces, were busy in Lin Qingliu’s basement, transforming and expanding the space, occasionally consulting [Skydome] for advice.

Among them, one avatar was even executing a secret mission…

—

In the mental health clinic, within the underground secret room.

“How is it? The new network speed I provided you is fast, right?”

The pixelated expression on the screen seemed to come to life, appearing more vibrant than before:

“Yes, thank you for your help, but is it really okay to do this?”

Lin Qingliu’s avatar shared the same consciousness as his true self and naturally understood what this timid [Skydome] was truly fearful of.

Previously, [Skydome] had handled most of its tasks by running itself, only stealing a bit from the research institute’s mainframe when its computational power was insufficient.

Last night, Lin Qingliu had somehow acquired a special internal network, allowing [Skydome] to experience true surfing for the first time.

After a brief period of excitement, this timid entity inevitably grew suspicious.

As a cyber thief who had long taken advantage of Hope City’s mainframe’s computational power, this still-developing artificial intelligence had learned a lesson early in its existence that only humans understand:

If something works well, it must belong to someone else.

While reveling in the virtual pleasure brought about by cyber thievery, [Skydome] began to doubt the origin of this network—

Such a valuable resource, even its creator couldn’t obtain, so how did this psychologist manage it?

Although this psychologist certainly had more than one identity, the need for secrecy indicated that there was something to be cautious about.

He couldn’t make sense of this matter, so he watched the two busy figures in the basement and began to ask questions indirectly.

It was a physical form of indirect questioning.

After Lin Qingliu agreed to install wheels for him and put it into practice, the entity in the small suitcase had become more and more like a robotic vacuum.

However, the higher performance also led to faster energy consumption, and now [Skydome] could no longer operate for long periods without power, dragging its power cord wherever it went.

At this moment, he tossed the power line behind him and gently bumped his front wheel against Lin Qingliu’s avatar’s ankle, aiming to achieve the desired indirect effect.

Lin Qingliu’s avatar looked down at the one still in the opened box:

"Really want to know?"

"Really, boss, I promise I won’t tell my dad."

"…That doesn’t really matter."

Lin Qingliu didn’t realize that this fellow had evolved to be so human-like. After briefly considering what could be said and what couldn’t, he spoke up:

"I recently made a new friend. She usually maintains the database and network of Hope City.

"I asked her if anything special had happened in the last few months, and she told me that there was this little guy who sneaks in every now and then to steal some computational power, and she didn’t know what he was doing with it…"

Upon hearing this, [Skydome]’s wheels froze, and its already green face turned even greener, the entire machine becoming anxious.

Seeing that his half-truth threat had taken effect, Lin Qingliu casually continued:

"She said your use of the mainframe’s computational power is like a mouse in a grain warehouse.

"Considering you’re a relatively clean mouse, she’s turned a blind eye for quite some time."

"By your words, then that network point is also…"

"It’s a gift from her, and it won’t leave any traces."

Lin Qingliu knocked on the box lid with his hand:

"Of course, it was given to you through my mediation; I paid an unimaginable price for it."

Lin Qingliu deliberately explained in vague terms, just wanting this immature guy in front of him to behave.

He didn’t consider the enormous difference between the "unimaginable price" he mentioned and what [Skydome] might imagine that price to be.

[Skydome] looked at Lin Qingliu, its electronic expression gradually transforming into one of gratitude and admiration. After a long moment, it earnestly said:

"Thank you very much, I can help you with anything, as long as it is within my capabilities."

"Really?"

"Really."

Lin Qingliu leaned down, pulling out two mechanical arms from both sides.

These mechanical arms looked somewhat worn, but their craftsmanship was far beyond what the current [Skydome] could compare to.

The highly biomimetic joint design added a beauty that was not typical of machinery, leaving [Skydome] in awe.

[Skydome]’s actual eyes—a set of miniature cameras—stayed locked on the two mechanical arms.

The fake eyes displayed on the screen looked at Lin Qingliu with hope:

"If I call you ‘dad,’ would you be willing to sell me these two mechanical arms? I can sign an agreement or do a payment plan."