The Fire Ant King, Yuchi Ba, Han Tuhu, and Suo Chaolong were somewhat startled. They looked at Li Yao at the same time.
Li Yao sat cross-legged so that he would be more comfortable with the lump at the end of his spine. “Perhaps Elder Nether Spring was not willing to expose the information himself, but he did not have a second option.
“Think about it. A week ago, Elder Nether Spring was forced to the edge of a cliff. His entire plan was on the brink of destruction!
“His identity and purpose were discovered. His secret force, the Nether World Watch, was known. His most important research base Nether World was almost overturned by us and lost most functions for now.
“What was scarier was that the memory unit of the main biochemical brain that stored tremendous experiment data and core secrets was stolen by us!
“Both the Fire Ant King and the Suo Chaolong are silver-blood demons and nobles on the surface. You must have a lot of connections in the Pantheon of Demons. I bet that you have a close relationship with some of the demon emperors, too.
“It would be very convenient for you to reach out to other demon emperors. As long as you went to visit them, they would at least meet you and listen to your words for a few hours patiently.
“What could Elder Nether Spring do if you went to the demon emperors with all the evidence?
“Yes. Such an attempt would get yourselves involved. The Fire Ant King would not be able to hide his identity as the leader of the Blade of Chaos anymore. But who knows what you think? Perhaps you just wanted Elder Nether Spring to be cursed even at the cost of your everything. Or maybe, you would send the evidence to the demon emperors in a special way!
“Naturally, the demon emperors are not likely to believe everything you say just based on a few simple files and experiment records, but they will certainly grow suspicious and start investigating.
“Some of the things can barely be concealed. For example, the Nether World in the North Pole. As long as a few devilish warships are deployed to the coordinates nearby and search carefully, the island will certainly be discovered.
“If so, Elder Nether Spring’s plan will definitely be seriously disrupted.
“Weren’t we discussing whether or not we should unveil Elder Nether Spring’s true face in such a way just now?
“Therefore, since it was impossible to keep everything a secret anymore, he might as well expose the information himself rather than waiting for you to accuse him.
“Do you know how to stop a forest fire?”
Everybody was dazed, not knowing why Li Yao suddenly went off the topic. They all shook their heads.
Li Yao smiled and said, “When a forest fire is burning furiously and cannot be extinguished anytime soon, the best approach is to set up a controllable new fire outside the main forest fire in order to create a ‘fire line’. That way, the forest fire will be compressed to the limited area or guided to the unimportant locations.
“It is obvious now that Elder Nether Spring has manipulated Master Hollow Wind to set up a new fire and create a ‘fire line’ for himself!
“Right now, the Fire Ant King, Suo Chaolong, and I are all on the most wanted list. No matter where we show up, we will endure storm-like attacks. It will be difficult for us to meet a demon emperor in a regular way.
“Even if we manage to meet a demon emperor through all the hindrances and tell him Elder Nether Spring’s plot along with our ‘evidence’, it will be very difficult for him to believe us because they have been brainwashed and believe that we are implementing a ‘strategical deception’.
“Half a month ago in the Mausoleum of Chaos, Elder Nether Spring brought me, an unexpected factor, back to his nest because of his negligence, which almost resulted in the unfolding of his entire plan. His greatest weakness was exposed.
“But it is safe to say that, right now, after a series of operations, he has fixed his weakness and become flawless again!”
“None of the twelve demon emperors of the Pantheon of Demons are easy to deal with,” Han Tuhu said solemnly. “Such a lie cannot work forever.”
“It doesn’t have to work forever,” Li Yao said calmly. “As long as everybody is misled until the moment the Spore Stratagem is activated, it will be good enough. I think the moment is not far away from us.”
Suo Chaolong frowned. “It’s true that Elder Nether Spring’s lie worked out, but the price is that he lost control over the Nether Spring Kingdom and even got kicked out of the decision-making circle of the Pantheon of Demons.”
“So what?” Li Yao asked back. “The real armed force that Elder Nether Spring counts on is the ‘Nether World Watch’. They are his trusted subordinates. The nobles and armies of the Nether Spring Kingdom will not listen to his command when they learn that he is not a true silver-blood demon.
“Such disloyal armies that might betray him at any minute are certainly not something that Elder Nether Spring would want.
“As for being kicked out of the decision-making circle, it is even simpler. That was exactly his purpose.”
“What?” The Fire Ant King, Suo Chaolong and Han Tuhu were all dazed. “Why would Elder Nether Spring kick himself out of the decision-making circle of the Pantheon of Demons?”
“Not kick himself out but keep his distance from them.”
Li Yao’s eyes were moving unpredictably, as if he were staring at Elder Nether Spring, who was perhaps the greatest schemer lurking in the Blood Demon Sector, through the wall from tens of thousands of kilometers away.
Li Yao pondered for a long time and shifted his eyes to Yuchi Ba. “Master Yuchi, according to your intelligence, all four demon kingdoms and cities are taking measures to recruit soldiers and collect resources to complete the unprecedented general mobilization, right?”
“Yes,” Yuchi Ba said, “I have never seen such a general mobilization before. Even for some of the silver-blood families, all the teenagers above the age of twelve have been summoned to establish the ‘Youth Guard’. Everybody in the Blood Demon Sector is braced for a great war!”
“That’s right!” Li Yao narrowed his eyes and mumbled, “After learning the existence of the Flying Star Sector, the first judgement of Suo Chaolong and Han Tuhu was that the Pantheon of Demons was likely to wager everything on a national war. Master Yuchi’s intelligence supports their prediction, too.
“Here comes the question. If the Pantheon of Demons is really going to fight a great war with all the resources of the Blood Demon Sector, as one of the four giants of the world, Elder Nether Spring will have to stay in the decision-making circle along with the other eleven demon emperors, won’t he?
“It is possible that he will be forced to stay in a top-secret command center and handle endless military affairs with other demon emperors day and night.
“Also, all the personnel, assets, and information that enter or exit the highest command center will certainly be scrutinized to ensure that nothing unusual was passing by, right?
“If Elder Nether Spring is kept in such a command center, how on earth can he carry out the Spore Stratagem?
“A great war against the Star Glory Federation is coming close. As one of the four giants of the Blood Demon Sector who always appeared to be passionate about the war, Elder Nether Spring cannot disappear every other day. It would be very strange, wouldn’t it?
“We must note that his colleagues will not be random guys but the keenest and most quick-minded demon emperors! Somebody will suspect him as long as he shows the slightest irregularity!
“Therefore, Elder Nether Spring must stay away from the decision-making circle. More exactly, he must stay away from the cage named ‘highest command center’ and get out of the sight of the demon emperors.
“It is true that a series of investigations targeting him will be conducted, but right now, the attention of all the demon emperors is focused on the war against the Heaven’s Origin Sector. The investigations will not be thorough and careful at all.
“After all, he has lost his power and become a stray dog. Nobody will choose to beat a stray dog at such a moment!
“As a result, Elder Nether Spring will have time and space to carry out the Spore Stratagem without worries.
“Besides, the greatest benefit of keeping his distance from the decision-making circle is that, when the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector are fighting, Elder Nether Spring, who has been kicked out of office humiliatingly, will not be leading the charge!
“When other demon emperors are galloping in the Heaven’s Origin Sector with great armies, Elder Nether Spring, who is ‘downhearted’ because of ‘loss of power’, will be responsible for the logistics work in the rear ‘despondently’. That is perfect reasonable, isn’t it?
“It is highly unlikely that Elder Nether Spring will resign from the Pantheon of Demons himself, which would be super weird. Therefore, he exposed the Fire Ant King’s real identity through Master Hollow Wind’s mouth so that he would get involved and be kicked out of office!
“Everybody knows the grudge between Master Hollow Wind and Elder Nether Spring. There will be no suspicion at all!”
There was a long silence.
Han Tuhu and Suo Chaolong both took a long breath and eyed Li Yao in a weird way.
“Elder Nether Spring is too dreadful,” Han Tuhu mumbled. “He has been manipulating everybody in the Pantheon of Demons!”
Suo Chaolong’s eyelids were twitching crazily. “Why do I feel that Li Yao is even more dreadful than him?”
“If that is the case, everything is unchangeable now. What should we do?” Yuchi Ba asked earnestly.
Li Yao thought for a moment and said, “We are more in need of Jin Xinyue now!
“If a national war between the Blood Demon Sector and the Heaven’s Origin Sector breaks out, we must know how the war will be fought in order to stop it in advance!
“As daughter of the commander-in-chief of the coalition army, it is possible that Jin Xinyue can help us infer what her father is thinking.
“Besides, we are all wanted criminals right now. It is barely possible to reach out to any demon emperor through legal channels.
“Jin Xinyue is a saintess of the Pantheon of Demons. She must be familiar with the terrain of the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons and know a way to sneak in and show up right in front of the faces of the demon emperors without alarming anyone!”
“Sneak into the headquarters of the Pantheon of Demons!” Everybody was completely shocked by Li Yao’s bodacious idea.
After a long daze, Yuchi Ba struggled to say, “However, when we approached Void Turmoil City, it was already surrounded by the coalition army of demons. They were apparently ready to attack the city at any moment. Chances are that it is already occupied at this moment.
“I was seriously short of hands back then and could not sneak into Void Turmoil City to look for Jin Xinyue.”
“Now that the Fire Ant King’s identity has been exposed,” Li Yao said, “it is only natural that Void Turmoil City cannot get away. It may have already been burned to the ground.
“However, I am confident in Jin Xinyue’s survival ability. She will not have been killed so easily.
“Since we need her, I will have to go to Void Turmoil City and get her out!”