Star Gate-Chapter 1094: Gan Wuliang (I)

Outside the base station.

Li Hao took out his tattered golden armor and accessed it according to the methods he knew. He opened the authorization settings and adjusted the communication frequency channel.

“Martial Uncle He Yong, can you receive this?” He quickly tested out his changes. They were in the north, while Southern Fist was in the south. Several thousand kilometers separated them.

The signal seemed to be weak; it took a while for He Yong’s voice to travel back, “Have you come to the southern continent?”

Li Hao heaved a sigh of relief. It works! The emergence of the base stations had greatly amplified their signals. Although the stations weren’t fully active yet, communication with places immensely far away was possible now.

The young man swiftly completed the rest of the adjustments and took out a large sum of mysterious power stones. The dim base station erupted with faint radiance after it was infused with energy. Rays of light wafted from the renewed station before it darted into the void and disappeared from site.

At the same time, those left on guard in eight other locales poured a large sum of stones to the base station in front of them. All nine burst with illumination before vanishing into the void.

If one looked up at the sky now, they would see nine base stations circling the continent like satellites. They pulsed with faint ripples and enveloped the minor world with a particular fluctuation.

Li Hao finished his frequency adjustments, masking all other signals apart from the armor that he’d activated. His adjustments were promptly reflected in the other base stations.

......

In the blink of an eye, all transmission pendants and other communication systems lost effectiveness. Even long-distance signal transmission between armor ceased to be effective. Only Li Hao’s system was still usable.

......

The man about to depart Great Li suddenly tilted his head at the sky. Rays of light appeared in his eyes as he frowned. The black robes next to him paused when they saw their master stop.

“Milord?”

“The base stations seem to have been reactivated...” he murmured after a long moment of consideration. “Try contacting the four nations.”

“Understood!” The black robes quickly took out their pendants, but their messages went unanswered, as if rocks plopped into the sea. The same result was seen when they took out their armor for another attempt.

“Milord, no one is responding,” someone muttered upon several tries.

“The base stations have been seized...” The man nodded and regarded the sky again. “Li Hao is behind this. He is the only one in the world who can do this because he holds Stellaris. None of the others have this level of authorization. It would take the lord of Sword City and the city lord seal. Otherwise, Stellaris outranks everyone else.”

The black robes looked gravely at the sky, but they quickly said, “It’s just seizing the base stations... That doesn’t affect us... much, does it?”

It wouldn’t impact their plans too much; in fact, it was just a bit of inconvenience. They could swiftly send word to various locales when they wanted to deploy their people before. Even the armor’s internal communication range might be weakened now, which would make it very difficult to send their messages in all directions.

“How can it not affect us?” frowned the man. “Incomplete knowledge is a very thorny problem! The modern world is different from that of our time. The death of powerhouses does not induce any heavenly phenomena. No one will be the wiser if such actions are concealed. With information further obscured... no one will know if anything else develops as a result.”

“Milord, should we seize control of the base stations then?”

“It’s no use.” The man shook his head. “We don’t have the appropriate level of clearance and they’re very difficult to destroy. It would cause too much of a commotion—we would be easily exposed instead. Not to mention, our primary bodies can’t set foot into the world at present. It won’t be that easy to destroy the base stations. They were crafted by premier existences back in the day.”

So Li Hao had quietly taken down all nine base stations! Did he want to cut off communication between everyone? That was troublesome, but also negligible if one didn’t wish to pay attention to it.

“Let’s go take a look at the Barren wasteland!” The man said nothing else on the matter. His entourage swiftly followed him out of Great Li.

......

At the same time.

With the flow of information now severed, some of the ancient cities lost communication with their people on the outside. They’d set up some basic communication systems prior, but all of that was ineffective now. Even the stable system found within the armor had shrunk to a range of fifty kilometers.

Stationing insufficient soldiers at various intervals would make it impossible to communicate, but assigning too many meant they would be easily exposed.

A flurry of discussion ensued on all sides as everyone guessed that Li Hao had claimed the base stations. It wasn’t the base stations falling apart as they’d stood for so many years. Why would they crumble away now?

......

Li Hao could finally breathe out more easily. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Three days.

It’d taken him three days to complete his capture of the base stations. Although it wouldn’t deal a tangible blow to the enemy, it could at least sever their communications and make it more difficult for them to coordinate.

In this way, he would be able to wage information warfare. Otherwise, his enemies would receive word as soon as he defeated Divine Nation. With the situation as it stood now, it would take the powerhouses in hiding some time to send any word back.

Meanwhile, his side could instantly communicate with each other.

“Can everyone hear me?”

“Yes!”

“Loud and clear!”

Li Hao quickly received responses from his various troops when he sent word out. Other than Gan Wuliang, there was return communication from every side. The young man heaved a sigh of relief.

“All personnel are to set aside their tasks at hand and convene in Skystar City for the next two days. Ah, forget it, just come to Silver Moon!”

“Understood!” Messages flurried to the young man.

Li Hao looked in a certain direction. Today was when Gan Wuliang and the others visited the ancient city of the Zhengs. This was a very dangerous undertaking as the Zhengs were ninety-nine percent likely the ones who’d betrayed New Martial.

Although the possibility was very high, Li Hao still wanted to confirm this information. In that regard, Gan Wuliang and his teacher would be in very dangerous straits. His earlier exposure of the Zheng patriarch might have caused some trouble to lurk beneath the surface.

Li Hao could only pray for nothing to happen. To be honest, dealing with the Lius was a good idea. They didn’t necessarily have to march on the Zhengs.

At the same time, the young man knew that whether it was him or his teacher, both desired to confirm if the Zheng city had completely turned traitor. Was there a possibility for another truth?

......

Just as Li Hao contacted his various personnel.

The city of the Zhengs.

This city was named Boundless. A Gold Armor welcomed Gan Wuliang and the others in the city lord manor, but its tone wasn’t too friendly.

“The heir of the Lis, Li Hao, has slandered my family’s patriarch as the New Martial traitor. He spewed all sorts of nonsense when he fought the Great Li king. How dare you come here??

“My house’s patriarch left Boundless to help the various sides when the world changed.” The Gold Armor’s tone was chilly. “He is yet to return even today and may have died a long time ago or is trapped somewhere. Yet you besmirch my family’s name! Do you think the Zhengs are easy targets?!”

“Please quell your anger, senior!” Gan Wuliang hastily said when he sensed the other’s fury. “The information didn’t come from the commander, but from... Vice Commander Sun Xin of the Skystar Troops. He did indeed betray New Martial and admitted to that in front of Senior Zhang An. He said that it was the Zheng patriarch in the lead.

“We don’t believe it either, it’s just that the commander is young and was furious that day. That’s why all of this happened. We’re partially here to verify the claim and partially to let the seniors know of what transpired.

“Perhaps Sun Xin slandered your good name before he died or perhaps he purposefully wanted to muddy the waters. No matter what it is, we should all sit down and talk it out. That way, we can avoid some trouble.”

“Sun Xin’s betrayal... was indeed unexpected.” The Gold Armor inclined his head and seemed to be in less of a rage. “But his words are absolutely baseless! The patriarch would never turn traitor! As a Zheng and an heir to Tranquil Star’s legacy, how would he betray New Martial? Tranquil Star was New Martial’s foremost faction apart from the Human King! They had multiple exiled emperors and survived the tumult of New Martial. Why would they betray our age at the peak of its glory?

“There might be some misunderstanding in this.” The Gold Armor’s tone turned frosty again. “But Li Hao did not bother to identify right from wrong and publicly made those claims. He harbors evil intentions! The eight families may indeed have traitors among their midst, but to make that declaration with such fanfare was to extinguish all hope for Boundless!

“How many soldiers’ hearts did he wound on that day?? We have safeguarded this place for countless eons, but he easily designates us as traitors! Do you know what kind of price we have to pay for that?!”

“Please quell your anger, senior,” Gan Wuliang quickly said. “In reality... the commander does not believe it either! He said that potentially to lower the guard of the true traitors.” He hesitated, but continued, “Senior, if I may be so bold, Boundless would not have energy stones from the Skystar mine if the Zhengs are not the traitors. May we... go inside for a look?”

“You wish to investigate Boundless?!”

“This junior would never dare.” Gan Wuliang was the very picture of resignation. “These are simply my duties. It is not only the commander, but also the seniors of Battle Heaven, Martial Alliance, Star River... who wish to confirm this point.

“Hence, this junior may be so bold as to be the executor of their wishes! They did not dare come in person because they were worried of creating further misunderstandings and giving offense. The eight families are of the same breath and branches at the end of the day...”

The Gold Armor looked coldly at them for a very long period of time and said slowly, “You would not have this right otherwise! But the Zhengs certainly have not betrayed New Martial, so you may enter as you wish. Remember, you cannot touch a single branch or blade of grass in the city!”

“We will not, rest assured, senior!” Gan Wuliang promised sincerely. “If we prove that the Zhengs have been wronged, the commander will travel to all corners to bear witness. Please be assured!”

“Go on, then!” The Gold Armor didn’t wish to say anything else to them.

Gan Wuliang quickly took his leave. Yuan Shuo and the others didn’t say anything at all. They followed the envoy out of the city lord manor.