Stars Supreme had already noticed the defense array on the island, but he had too many things to understand and hadn't had a chance to ask yet.

Upon hearing Qinghu's words, he released his spiritual power to perceive the defense array, his brow slightly furrowing.

"A bit crude... Oh, still some ideas here, interesting. Was this created by Ran Bingluan?"

Qinghu answered casually, "He said he made it, but manpower is sometimes limited, so it's hard to say if it's true."

She didn't mean to belittle Qu Jianlei with these words.

Stars understood clearly and raised his eyebrow at her words, "Oh, are you telling me there's a team behind him?"

Qinghu retorted in annoyance, "Would you believe me if I said he had no team behind him?"

To accomplish so many big things, how could it be just one person's ability?

Stars looked at her calmly, only speaking after a while, "You've been in contact with him for so long, recall what has been said."

Qinghu rolled her eyes at him, not saying a word, but her attitude was clear: Don't even think about it.

She was a Supreme herself and had done nothing wrong; her home was forcibly invaded, and he still wanted to interrogate her?

The scene fell into silence, broken only after a moment when Arc Light snorted coldly.

"Hope you realize how serious this matter is. You're no longer young, stop playing childish games."

Qinghu replied indifferently, "Since it's such a major matter, shouldn't someone above Supreme preside over it?"

Arc Light felt a bit disgruntled at her words but didn't respond, instead looking towards his companions.

Stars Supreme sighed helplessly, "If there's no progress, the Anomalous Management Division will arrange something."

Upon hearing this, the scene fell silent once again.

After quite a while, Yuanyuan spoke up, "If Lord Bingluan were still here, what would you be doing today?"

No one answered her question, only Qinghu hummed lightly.

"Sigh," Qu Jianlei sighed, muttering quietly, "It seems the trouble is really big, let's leave once nighttime comes."

In the morning and afternoon, two groups came to check the farm, but he hid in a pre-built secret camp.

Fortunately, after advancing to Supreme, his control over his aura strengthened and he was not discovered.

Perhaps the Anomalous Management Division hadn't thought he'd linger nearby, so the inspection was relatively sloppy.

If it were the level of scrutiny on Half-Star Island, he might not have escaped.

Fortunately, it started raining at noon and continued until late at night.

Once night fell, Qu Jianlei carefully sealed the hiding secret camp and erased his aura, using the Wind Attribute Body Technique to slip away.

Considering warships were involved in the search and there might be someone above Supreme present, he didn't build another secret camp in the wilds.

Half a year later, in a factory called "Exquisite" in Celestial Heart City, a group of students came for an internship.

After losing its status as the Central Star, Celestial Hook Star experienced a rapid outflow of manufacturing.

The infrastructure of the traditional Central Star was quite good, albeit somewhat old, but land here was abundant, allowing quick renovations.

The key issue was the dwindling available resources, although there were sealed strategic materials, they couldn't be used freely.

This forced the manufacturing industry to relocate, and the remaining factories mostly had insufficient business; this was the overall environment.

The Exquisite Factory was relatively okay, with its business about eighty percent full.

The factory was privately owned, now in its fourth generation, with the owner having good connections, occasionally undertaking government orders.

The students here for internships were cheap labor, and it was the same in the Imperial.

However, because they earned less, the students had somewhat more freedom than regular workers, who faced stricter requirements.

The internship was comprehensive, involving not just production lines but also drawing and design among other aspects.

On their second day, a three-person group got stuck on a design, with no one able to convince the others.

This situation wasn't unusual; applying what one learns takes time, and inexperienced students can't immediately become skilled workers.

Unable to convince one another, the trio sought out their supervising worker to referee.

The supervising worker shrugged, "If I were skilled, I'd be doing design myself. Go find Lame."

"Lame?" The group leader, a Modified Warrior, asked, "Where does he work?"

"Third room beside the small warehouse," answered the worker, "He's also a Modified Warrior, with a rather peculiar temperament."

Finding Lame, there was a young, thin, pale fellow who didn't look very healthy.

Lame's left foot twisted outward oddly, seemingly from an external injury.

He didn't say much, but was very knowledgeable, succinctly pointing out the trio's errors without a word of explanation.

The students wanted to inquire further, but he waved them away, clearly indicating: you may leave now.

The three couldn't say much and left, with the group leader muttering, "Quite the attitude he has."

The supervising worker heard him and replied with a smile, "Being highly professional, he can afford to have a bad temper."

Actually, everyone in the factory knows that guy works a lot but earns little, the boss doesn't want to mess with him.

A student was a bit curious, "He has solid skills, should make quite a bit of money, why doesn't he fix his leg?"

"He used to be a gambler," the worker casually replied, "has a lot of debts, even his family doesn't acknowledge him anymore, he has to pay off his debts first."

He didn't mean any harm, most factories are like this, the work is dull and tasteless, chewing over gossip can pass the time.

The student was a bit surprised, "With someone like this, you dare to trust him? And even place him next to the warehouse?"

The worker continued, "He said it himself during the interview, the boss thought... to give him a chance."

The team leader nodded thoughtfully, "Simply put, it's still about having solid skills."

These conversations didn't escape the perception of the cripple, who took out a cigarette to light it, murmuring to himself.

"This factory environment is nice, sometimes I think about spending my old age here."

The environment is indeed nice, a century-old factory, even the roadside trees are a meter thick, and the factory area is kept very clean.

Big Head Butterfly whirled in his mind, "Are you kidding? The large-scale machine you promised hasn't been fulfilled!"

The cripple is Qu Jianlei, currently using the identity of a certain "Tesla," which indeed belongs to a real person.

This person really was a gambler, owed a lot of debts, and was estranged from his family.

Qu Jianlei monitored this guy for a full three days, then knocked him unconscious when he intended to commit robbery.

After extracting most of his experiences using the truth serum, he killed the man and disposed of the body without a trace.

This guy truly deserved to die, his gambling addiction aside, he often resorted to robbery to cover his losses.

During the robberies, he harmed multiple lives, and to prevent suspicion, he fled to Celestial Hook Star.

What Qu Jianlei valued was that this guy was abandoned by his kin, making it stress-free to assume his identity.

Ironically, this person also studied mechanical manufacturing and repair, making it easy to find work.

Given this, Qu Jianlei simply found a job in Celestial Heart City—a drop of water hidden in the sea is hardest to find.

He basically had no friends in the factory, barely interacting with people, giving an impression of aloofness and eccentricity.

After working at the factory for five months, the City Guard checked the factory seven or eight times, searching for "Ran Bingluan."

However, except for the first two times, afterward they never checked him again—his resume was clear and professionally relevant.

Even his motive for coming to Celestial Hook was very clear: debts were too high, wanting to start a new life.

"Urging again," Qu Jianlei replied irritably, "you keep doing this..."

"Easily affecting your temperament!" Surprisingly, Qinghu learned to interject.

"You know it yet you say it," Qu Jianlei couldn't help but roll his eyes, "don't assume relaxation now isn't a trap."

After intense searches for half a year, if he didn't know the underlying reasons, he couldn't figure out what heinous crimes he committed.

Speaking of Supreme above all... he didn't know if there ever existed, Supreme is so hidden, let alone above all.

Qinghu could use multiple relays to connect to Yuanyuan and Qinghu's watches; unfortunately, during this period, their watches were blocked.

Fortunately, Chi Yang's watch could connect, but Guardian Supreme was quite cautious, often communicating with spiritual power when involving sensitive topics.

Moreover, four months ago, Qinghu's penetration into Chi Yang's watch was discovered, the opponent initiated a counter-trace.

It erased most of the relay traces, but still almost got caught by the opponent.

In Qinghu's words—this time the opponent's intelligence level was indeed high, but it was still disadvantaged by insufficient computing power.

Big Head Butterfly was quite indignant about it, believing after passing the thunder tribulation, it had made significant progress.

Yet it was suppressed by artificial intelligence again, which made it unable to reconcile in its heart.

Nevertheless, it personifies subtlety, deeply understanding the importance of playing low-profile, so it merely grumbles about large-scale machines.

However, Qu Jianlei didn't see it that way, he felt that the "artificial intelligence" might be the Divine Thought above Supreme.

Because of this incident, Qinghu's intelligence gathering function was limited.

It can still invade ordinary networks, but it's of little use, as such classified intelligence is generally inaccessible to ordinary people.

For those who can access such classified information, invading them brings risks.

After a series of tests by Qu Jianlei, Qinghu now had perfected "replication" abilities after the thunder tribulation.

Even if trace of it is caught, it can perfectly "resurrect" at another terminal by directly destroying the used one.

As long as destruction is timely guaranteed, its code segments won't leak.

However, Qu Jianlei suggested to Qinghu that collecting intelligence on normal levels is enough, do not take risks.

The reason is simple, if the abnormality is discovered by the opponent again, spawning suspicion, he doesn't know how long he'd have to endure.

Qu Jianlei doesn't mind enduring, but "voluntarily extending the sentence" is unnecessary.

At this moment, Qinghu alerted him, "There's an unfamiliar number calling your watch."

(Updated to, summon monthly tickets, subscriptions, and recommendation tickets.)