Chapter 690: Employment

In the laboratory, layers of cold light cascaded down.

Jie Ming slowly raised his head from the experiment table.

Dozens of holographic screens floated silently before him, massive streams of data cascading like waterfalls: fleet structure diagrams, energy circulation models, quantum communication protocols, social hierarchy frameworks, homeworld ecological parameters, weapon iteration records…

Each screen represented the core secrets of that sixth-level technological civilization.

And now, they had all been dismantled.

Rapidly analyzed, then archived, and finally resting quietly within his database.

The laboratory was so quiet that only the low hum of energy flow could be heard.

Moments later, Jie Ming waved his hand.

All the screens extinguished at once, and the world fell into sudden silence.

He stood up, rubbed his shoulders, and his joints produced faint cracking sounds.

At this moment, a black giant priest came forward to report: “Master, the legion has finished assembling. According to your requirements, a total of ten billion troops were screened this time. Here is the detailed count!”

“Ten billion…”

He quietly repeated the newly tallied number, unable to stop himself from raising an eyebrow. “I didn’t expect the black giant population to have grown to this scale without me noticing…”

Per his instructions, these ten billion black giants were not ordinary soldiers, but all elite units above Level 5.

Jie Ming glanced at the screen handed over by the black giant priest. Among these ten billion elites above Level 5, the number of Level 6 individuals was counted in the millions.

Commanding the entire legion was the black giant king, Molten Mountain, who had stepped into the seventh-level.

Such a legion was already enough to crush a standard sixth-level technological civilization.

It wouldn’t even qualify as a war of attrition.

Jie Ming slowly exhaled.

But soon, his gaze sank again.

The issues of the legion, coordinates, and enemy intelligence had all been resolved. Then… there was one final problem.

He turned around and looked toward the depths underground.

The thick stone walls seemed nonexistent in his eyes.

His vision pierced through layer after layer of space, ultimately landing at the very core of the plane.

There, countless elements converged, forming the slowly pulsating plane origin.

The Infernal Sulfur Plane had already been transformed by him multiple times. Even the underlying rules had been embedded with the Incense Fire Divine Dao system.

Yet even at this level of control, if he wanted to precisely teleport nearly ten billion black giant troops and open a spatial gate directly to the void coordinates of another civilization, one final step was still missing.

He needed a high-tier wizard who had truly integrated with the plane origin to act as the “navigator.”

In other words, he needed a wizard above Level 6.

Only wizards of that level could manipulate the entire world as if it were part of their own body.

Jie Ming lightly tapped the tabletop.

Strictly speaking, he already possessed power corresponding to that level.

In terms of combat strength, he was now completely comparable to a true Level 6 wizard.

The problem was… he had not yet formally undergone the “Law Solidification Ritual.”

The Dao Integration state could provide some assistance in this regard, but it ultimately wasn’t a perfect match.

Within the wizard system, he still remained at Level 5.

“…Just one procedural step short.”

After pondering for a moment, Jie Ming reached out and picked up the magic network terminal beside the experiment table.

The crystal-thin terminal lit up at his fingertips. Pale blue runes spread out in circles as the contact list unfolded in the air.

His gaze swept across the names one by one.

Finally, it stopped.

Without hesitation, Jie Ming sent out a communication request.

Buzz…

The terminal vibrated gently.

A few seconds later, the screen lit up.

A lazy, smiling voice came through first.

“Oh?”

On the screen, Viola was sitting in a large, soft chair, resting her chin on her hand.

She wasn’t wearing her signature deep blue wizard robe today, but rather a lighter, more casual home outfit.

Her silver-gray long hair draped over her shoulders, and her eyes, like emeralds soaked in wine, carried a natural allure.

She looked at Jie Ming, the corners of her mouth slightly raised.

“It’s only been a few days since our last communication? Contacting me so frequently will easily lead to misunderstandings.”

Jie Ming ignored Viola’s teasing and went straight to the point: “Senior Sister, I need your help.”

Viola clearly paused for a moment.

Then, the smile in her eyes grew even stronger.

“Oh?”

She sat up straight.

“What could possibly make you take the initiative to ask for help?”

“Let’s talk in person.”

Jie Ming raised the terminal.

“I’ll grant you spatial access.”

Viola blinked.

She knew this junior of hers too well.

If it could be solved with one sentence, he would never waste a second.

Now he wouldn’t even explain over communication…

That meant… the benefits involved were enormous.

Extremely enormous.

The smile on her lips slowly widened.

“Alright.”

“I happen to be free.”

Jie Ming raised his hand and drew a complex rune seal in the air.

With the permission granted, the space at the center of the laboratory instantly rippled with silver waves.

Layer upon layer of spatial structure was precisely cut open, and a nearly perfect stable teleportation channel slowly formed.

The next second.

A figure flew straight out of the teleportation array.

Viola’s feet left the ground as she maintained her lazy posture, floating out from the array.

She landed lightly, her long hair drifting slowly in the air, then looked around.

“Speaking of which, although we’ve been in contact, it’s been quite a while since I last entered your laboratory.”

She walked with her hands behind her back, as if touring a museum.

“The things here are getting more and more exaggerated.”

Jie Ming didn’t respond. Instead, he directly recounted everything that had happened in the past few days.

As he narrated, the smile on Viola’s face gradually disappeared.

When she heard “enemy attack detected,” her left eye clearly twitched.

When she heard “perfectly captured an entire fleet,” she frowned slightly.

And when she heard “complete homeworld coordinates obtained”…

She fell completely silent.

The laboratory was quiet for several seconds.

Then, Viola slowly raised her head.

“Jie Ming.”

For the first time, she called his name in an extremely serious tone.

“Do you know how a normal Level 6 wizard discovers alien civilizations?”

“If I remember correctly,” Jie Ming replied, “they basically fuse their specialized laws with the plane origin and then search the endless chaotic void for regions with relatively high resonance with themselves.”

“Search cycle?”

“Anywhere from decades to over a thousand years.”

“And then?”

“I’m not really clear on that. I haven’t looked into it much.”

Viola crossed her arms and stared at him. “After finding them, they still have to assess strength, formulate invasion plans, apply for federal approval, and organize an expeditionary force. The entire process takes hundreds of years at minimum before war can even begin.”

The more she spoke, the stranger her voice became.

In the end, she couldn’t help but laugh.

“And you?”

She extended a fair finger and firmly poked Jie Ming’s shoulder.

“A sixth-level civilization crashed right into your doorstep.”

“Bringing a complete fleet, complete database, and complete homeworld coordinates, only to be captured entirely by you alone.”

Viola was silent for two seconds.

“Do you know how many old monsters would go insane with jealousy if this got out?”

Jie Ming thought seriously for a moment.

“It really was quite lucky.”

The air suddenly fell quiet.

The next second.

Viola burst into laughter.

“Quite lucky?”

She held her forehead, laughing so hard her shoulders shook.

She laughed for a full ten-plus seconds before finally catching her breath. Then her expression suddenly turned fierce as she lunged straight at Jie Ming!

“I’m going to bite you to death!”

“Waaaah!!! Help!!!”

After running several more laps around his laboratory, Jie Ming finally found an opportunity to pull the “floating” Viola off his head.

Pop!

“Ptui ptui, your head is getting harder and harder!”

Jie Ming’s face darkened. “If you’re not satisfied, I can go find someone else!”

Viola, however, seemed not to have heard him at all. She returned to her elegant and composed demeanor.

“Alright, I understand the situation.”

She raised one finger.

“The appearance fee is simple.”

“Give me a full copy of that sixth-level civilization’s entire knowledge system.”

Jie Ming barely hesitated: “Deal.”

Viola stopped wasting words.

She raised her head, genuine excitement finally appearing in her eyes.

“So when do we depart?”

Under the laboratory lights, Jie Ming slowly raised his head. “Now!”