Chapter 264
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Ye Bai didn’t immediately use her mental power. Instead, she first activated the 【Identification】 on the black terminal that Le Lun referred to as the "Master Control Terminal."
‘……’ ‘……’ ‘Silicon element’
However, the result was the same as with the jade terminal; aside from the most basic material elements, she didn’t gain any further information.
Combining her previous understanding, Ye Bai now felt that the difference between the two terminals lay in the ‘permissions’ they held.
Moreover, this terminal of Le Lun’s, after she had violated the taboos of the Star Church, did not show any signs of account suspension. Instead, it still had the ability to prioritize its influence over Ye Bai’s "Secondary Terminal."
Perhaps, just as Le Lun had said before, even the clergy of the Star Church, their ‘Master’ didn’t really care.
After the identification yielded no results, Ye Bai didn’t waste any time. Seizing the moment to stop Le Lun, she finally made contact with the black terminal using her mental power.
Drawing from her earlier experience of replicating the spaceship on Tai Da Star, Ye Bai had gained a new understanding of the Historical Cycle. When two objects from the past and present are separated by a sufficient distance, they might not necessarily merge.
Although it might be more challenging to retrieve the "Master Control Terminal" from the past than it was to retrieve the "Secondary Terminal" last time, the prerequisite was that she had to have touched the object in the present first in order to use the 【Historical Cycle】 in the future. This was likely her only chance.
As Ye Bai’s mental power connected with the black Master Control Terminal, a panel similar to the Secondary Terminal but with different content flooded into her consciousness.
With Ye Bai’s current speed of information processing, it took her only a moment to absorb the contents.
This terminal’s information was divided into three sections: 【Task Area】, 【Points Area】, and 【Function Area】.
In the Task Area, there was a task list that was both similar to and different from the jade terminal.
【Close Coordinates (56.08.987), (09.809.809), (11.019.98)…… Wormhole】
【Achieve 20% Civilization Migration Rate (Current: 12%; Civilizations Available for Migration: 21)】
【Submit 5 A-Class Mental Power Techniques (Current: 3)】
The Points Area could be described as a small-scale virtual currency issuance system, where points could be added to this account and then transferred to the Secondary Terminal.
As for the last Function Area, it was an enhanced and free version of the 【Exchange Area】.
Yes, free. It contained all the Star Technology that Ye Bai had seen on the jade terminal, as well as advanced technologies she had encountered in task rewards that were not available in the Exchange Area, including the technology for creating ghostly magnets, the Ether Laboratory, and its energy charging… all of it was surprisingly free on this terminal!
Moreover, there was a special function called 【Secondary Terminal Management】, which not only allowed the creation of new Secondary Terminals but also enabled remote influence over Secondary Terminals within a certain area.
No wonder Le Lun referred to the jade terminal in Ye Bai’s hands as a Secondary Terminal. In that moment, Ye Bai truly understood how the Star Church controlled the chaotic sea of stars.
Only with a Master Control Terminal like Le Lun’s could the true nature of the Star Church be revealed, while all the Secondary Terminals that branched out were merely tools for the Star Church to expand its control and influence.
The Star Church received tasks from a higher level, perhaps truly issued by the ‘Stars’ themselves, then distributed these tasks to the Secondary Terminals, assigning a virtual value of ‘points’ to technologies that were already free for them, compelling the taskers to fulfill their KPIs.
It turned out that what appeared to be a church was, in essence, the largest ‘task subcontractor’ in the chaotic sea of stars.
Thus, both points and technology were values monopolized and assigned by the Star Church. Ye Bai’s previous use of the Historical Cycle to ‘farm points’ posed no risk of discrepancies in accounts. Aside from the oblivious taskers in the chaotic sea of stars, the internal members of the Star Church wouldn’t care about points at all.
At the same time, it was confirmed that the permissions of the Master Control Terminal were higher than all Secondary Terminals, and Master Control Terminals were on the same level with each other. Therefore, even after Le Lun had violated the taboo, he couldn’t be precisely located, and just moments ago, he was still able to ‘transfer’ to Ye Bai, buying himself some time.
Just as Ye Bai was absorbing this information through the Master Control Terminal, an unexpected event occurred—
【Soul Activity Time: 11,442 years… Exceeds the limit.】
【Smuggler detected! Proceed to coordinates (89.89.648) to eliminate!】
【Smuggler detected! Proceed to coordinates (89.89.648) to eliminate!】
【Smuggler detected…】
The Master Control Terminal that Ye Bai had touched suddenly blared an alarm.
More importantly, the alarm wasn’t just sounding from the Master Control Terminal she was in contact with; even the Secondary Terminal she carried was receiving the alert.
And this time, the alarm didn’t follow the format and process of the urgent task that had pursued Le Lun earlier. Instead, all content on the terminal was overridden by the alarm, which also provided precise coordinates!
What was happening? Why was it exceeding the soul limit? Was this a trap set by Le Lun?!
All these changes occurred the moment Ye Bai’s mental power truly connected with the Master Control Terminal of the Stars. She had remained vigilant all along, so at the instant the alarm sounded—
【Bullet Time】
Time for everyone except Ye Bai slowed to a crawl. Her thoughts raced a million times faster than the world around her, and she saw Le Lun, who had always maintained an air of mystery and composure, experiencing a violent fluctuation in his mental power at that moment.
In this slowed time, even the Master of the Star Church, who had lived for billions of years and had excellent control, couldn’t suppress the momentary unnaturalness of his body under the surge of primal emotions.
Ye Bai caught the subtle shift in his expression—from shock to ecstasy, then to greed.
In an instant, she realized that this change wasn’t a trap set for her by Le Lun. He had also received the alarm and understood something from it that she did not.
From what Le Lun had previously revealed about being a third tasker, it was clear that he still possessed a Secondary Terminal, and perhaps that terminal had additional permissions and functions not available to ordinary Secondary Terminals.
Since Ye Bai’s Secondary Terminal had received the alarm, it was evident that his could too. Moreover… given the completely different situation now, she even suspected that other Master Control accounts of the Star Church could receive the precise coordinates.
All signs indicated that the ‘smuggler’ Ye Bai had triggered was a far more serious matter for the Star Church than Le Lun’s breach of taboo!
If Le Lun had previously touched upon the Star Church, then the current situation Ye Bai had triggered… could it be the ‘Stars’ themselves?
In the blink of an eye, Ye Bai felt a chill run down her spine, and two pieces of information surged into her mind from the torrent of data—
“Don’t get discovered.”
“Beware… of the Stars.”
Ye Bai looked at Le Lun, who was struggling to suppress his excitement. The likelihood of him selling her out to return to the Star Church was certainly greater than the chance of him keeping this under wraps. And even if the odds were slim, as long as there was a chance, she wouldn’t gamble with her life.
Without hesitation, without doubt, in the next moment, Ye Bai’s eyes locked onto Le Lun, and her pupils vanished, turning into a pale blue.
【Petrifying Gaze】
Le Lun had been modified, but his body was still flesh and blood, especially the part of his brain that housed his consciousness.
In an instant, before Le Lun could react, his face began to petrify, the areas covered by her gaze turning into the most ordinary stone.
Le Lun, after all, was an ancient creature who had lived for billions of years. As his head encountered the petrifying gaze, one of his hands instinctively lifted, as if he could still do something.
But in the next moment, a blinding white light erupted as the 【Super Electromagnetic Cannon】 from Ye Bai’s Secondary Terminal activated, piercing through the Master Control Terminal that was still sounding the alarm in space and obliterating the petrified Le Lun aboard the spaceship.
In the vacuum of space, there was no gravity for Ye Bai to utilize. However, thanks to the lower-level functions of the Secondary Terminal that branched out from the Master Control Terminal, it couldn’t sound alarms like the Master Control Terminal, allowing Ye Bai to wield a version of Star Technology.
Under the intense energy impact, the petrified Le Lun didn’t have time to activate the spaceship’s defenses. The light cannon broke through the ship and effortlessly extinguished the being that had already turned into ordinary stone.
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