Retired for A Hundred Years: Re-Employment for the Apocalypse Bigshot!-Chapter 504 - 499: You Must Answer for the Commander’s Death!
Ji Ning originally thought that the Smart Brain and the Ji Family Army’s left-wing stronghold would be outside the desert, in areas controlled by those families, but unexpectedly, it was within an uninhabited desert.
The map indicated that ahead was supposed to be the largest uninhabited area in the West Continent’s desert, also known as the Uninhabited Valley.
"Father once told me a legend about a warrior who passed through Devil Mountain, obtained the Divine Blessed Spring Water, then arrived at Ghost Valley to battle the Dark Evil Dragon in a life-or-death struggle. He ultimately passed the god’s test, reached the Divine Domain, and obtained the Tear of Moon God, granting immortality."
Masha tried hard to recall the desert legend her father had taught her.
Aligning it with the route they had traveled.
Amazingly, the warrior’s legend turned out to be true.
Her eyes shone as she exclaimed in delight, "Sister Leader, are we nearing Ghost Valley?"
"Ghost Valley?"
"Yes, my father’s legend corresponds with the places we’ve passed. I see another patch of darkness ahead, it must be Ghost Valley."
Ji Ning showed a hint of interest in her eyes.
"Tell me about this Ghost Valley legend."
Masha immediately replied, "After the warrior obtained the Divine Blessed Spring Water, he regained his strength, then went to take on the god’s second test, heading to Ghost Valley to slay the Evil Dragon. The dragon could breathe fire, and if its flames touched the skin, it would reduce it to a pool of blood. To slay the dragon, the warrior asked the god for armor to defend against the dragon’s flames, which the god granted. Wearing the armor, the warrior finally killed the dragon and also obtained the dragon’s treasure."
Ji Ning chuckled lightly, "It just so happens that we are also going to slay the Evil Dragon and obtain its treasure."
Masha nodded excitedly.
From the hill to Ghost Valley, it seemed close, yet the journey took them two to three days.
During this time, they also had to avoid surveillance installed in the desert.
Ji Ning discovered that the closer they got to Ghost Valley, the more numerous the lines under the yellow sand became; there were even radar-like devices spaced at intervals.
Yet these things were rendered useless under the interference of Ji Ning’s newly acquired superpower.
"Ahead is a minefield. I will control these thunders, you all must pass quickly."
The captain of the Twelve Guards was a Sixteenth Rank Thunder Ability User.
With him around, the minefield around Ghost Valley was easy to traverse.
The group passed through the outer minefield unimpeded and arrived before a tightly closed door.
Ji Ning did not lift her superpower, directly taking down the access control and security equipment.
The group entered as if returning home.
Surprisingly, no enemy discovered them the entire way.
Yet everyone dared not move around recklessly or make a sound, uniformly following behind Ji Ning in one direction.
Ji Ning wasn’t walking aimlessly; she had seen such architectural structures in the blueprints given by the You Family, although it wasn’t certain if this was the place, so far the direction seemed correct.
They walked unimpeded for a while and stopped in front of a metal door.
[There are people behind the door.]
Ji Ning signaled with her hand.
Everyone clenched their weapons, placing Ye Xingyan and Masha in the middle for protection.
As Ji Ning opened the metal door, the strongest captain and the fastest Lao Qi launched an attack first.
The left-wing members of the Ji Family Army in the corridor barely had time to react before their necks were struck by lightning and daggers.
The screeching alarm sounded instantly.
Ji Ning’s eyes fixed on the activated attack devices, and with just a look, the devices began to emit black smoke.
A line of text abruptly appeared on the main control console’s large screen:
[Enemy attack! Suspected right-wing Twelve Guards.]
"Damn it—"
"How did they get here?"
"Stop them quickly!"
"Activate the S-Class attack!"
The man standing in front of the screen roared furiously at the giant screen.
He couldn’t comprehend how the right-wing had entered the West Continent and accurately located Ghost Valley.
This place was supposed to be an uninhabited desert area on satellite maps, one of the world’s top ten dangerous places.
No one dared to reach here lightly.
Who on earth leaked the stronghold’s coordinates?
Could it be those undercover agents?
Did they leak the information after all?
Murderous intent gleamed in the man’s eyes.
"Don’t let a single one of them live!" 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚
[Now is not the time to kill them; we still need to negotiate with the Huazhou Alliance.]
"How much longer do you need? Can you still not fully seize control of the main program?" the man paced back and forth in the room, contemplating the next step.
[It’s not possible yet. Hua Continent has a formidable hacker; wait until we send people to eliminate him, then we can resolve it.]
"Bring up the footage of the intruders outside; I want to see who dares to create trouble here."
The giant screen instantly displayed multiple images, but each soon turned to a no-signal state.
The man didn’t even have a chance to make out the intruders’ faces.
Furiously, he shouted, "Has the S-Class attack been initiated?"
[It has been initiated, but the intruders’ capabilities are too strong, negotiation is advised.]
"Negotiate? Those words don’t exist in my dictionary!" The man’s face was filled with dissatisfaction.
Negotiation would mean ceding power to the current invading right-wing forces, and how could he accept that?
He had struggled to reach his current position; why should he have to share power with others just as the entire Hua Continent was within grasp?
The Smart Brain seemed to have seen through his thoughts, and several lines of text appeared one after another:
[If you don’t negotiate with the right-wing forces, it would be detrimental to the Ji Family Army’s unification and to your control of the entire Huazhou Alliance.]
[If they find my mainframe, they may destroy the Immortal People 2.0 Project.]
[We need an explanation for the Commander’s death.]
[Someone needs to take responsibility for this.]
[Therefore...]
The man’s expression showed shock as he looked at the words on the screen in disbelief.
Just as he was about to say something, his expression froze forever at that moment.
The large screen displayed a pair of cold eyes.
Slowly, the final line of red text appeared:
[You need to take responsibility for the Commander’s death!]
...
Ji Ning and her group reached the outside of the central control room without any obstacles.
The tightly closed door suddenly opened automatically, and a familiar male voice sounded from within.
"Welcome, distinguished guests, please come in—"
Ji Ning’s face became icy cold as she sternly asked, "Who are you?"
This male voice bore an eighty percent resemblance to Fu Huayu’s, likely his voice in middle age.
At that moment, a virtual image appeared inside the room, showing the familiar face of a middle-aged Fu Huayu.
With a smile, he looked at them, speaking in a very gentle voice, "Hello, I am the Hua Continent’s Smart Brain program, just awakened from dormancy."
"Dormancy? Then the Smart Brain’s betrayal and the order to assassinate the Commander, it wasn’t issued autonomously by you?" Ji Ning looked at it coldly.
If it hadn’t appeared in the likeness of Fu Huayu, she might have believed a bit.
But at this moment, she wouldn’t believe a single word.
Even if there was a corpse of a man in front of her.
The virtual image displayed a very human-like expression, seemingly showing disdain as it glanced at the corpse on the ground, replying in line with Ji Ning’s words, "Indeed, during my reactivation dormancy, someone issued the command to assassinate the Commander to my system, so I have already executed the traitor in the Ji Family Army for the crime of murdering the Commander."
Ji Ning sneered, "How did he control you?"
The virtual image made a gesture of invitation, "The program key is in his pocket. If you wish to use it, you can retrieve it yourselves."
This Smart Brain program seemed completely unafraid of the key falling into the hands of the right-wing forces.
Ji Ning’s lips curved slightly upwards as she slowly walked into the central control room.
The Twelve Guards and Ye Xingyan behind her immediately raised their weapons, fearing this was just another trap set by the Smart Brain.
Yet, no danger occurred throughout Ji Ning’s retrieval of the key from the corpse.
The virtual image looked at Ji Ning, appearing very friendly, and asked, "The person who obtains the program key will become the temporary leader of the Ji Family Army. What is your name?"
Ji Ning showed a faint smile and uttered two words: "Ji Ning."
