Chapter 315: Outbreak
However, Bai Mo had no intention of revealing his true colors just yet. Given his previous actions in Maysuo, where he single-handedly annihilated an entire nation through terrifying means, any decisive break with the Hua-Ya Federation's ruling class would immediately trigger a global coalition to besiege him, a lone individual. He still vividly remembered how Sarcasky had died.
As long as thirty or more deathsworn operatives at the peak of the Unmelting Realm launched a first wave of suicidal attacks to drain his defenses, followed by half of the world's five-tier powerhouses attacking simultaneously, even with the formidable undying nature of his Primordial Spirit, his fate wouldn't be much better than Ramdo's. Without hiding away to recuperate for two or three decades, it would be almost impossible for him to recover.
During those decades of recovery, all the advantages he had accumulated would vanish, and all his schemes in Huaxia would fall apart.
Bai Mo was keenly aware that, with the immense power of established systems, various nations had undoubtedly been secretly cultivating such deathsworn operatives from scratch with hefty sums, as a strategic threat for when it became necessary. It was entirely possible for them to pool together dozens of them to deal with him.
Such "Heavenly Tribulation Bombs," capable of severely wounding or even killing weaker five-tier powerhouses with a single strike, were precisely the most crucial tool limiting top-tier warfare. Using deathsworn operatives to trade a pawn for a more valuable piece against the enemy's high-level figures was a highly cost-effective tactic.
The cultivation cost for a single deathsworn operative, ranging from one to two billion, was entirely acceptable for major powers whose annual military expenditures amounted to tens or hundreds of billions. The key issue, in truth, remained how to select individuals who, at the crucial moment, would genuinely and willingly embrace death.
Only individuals possessing free will could trigger the Dao Integration Tribulation for advancement, or, in the Western system, draw upon the Sea of Primal Force. This meant that mind control was ineffective, and only daily education and brainwashing could achieve the desired outcome.
Once the top brass reached a consensus, the budgeted funds were immediately transferred from the Contribution Point System account, and the engineering teams began working overtime, fueled by generous bonuses.
According to Bai Mo's estimates, the first Heaven-Man Unity Tower would be completed on the foundation of the existing Spirit Energy Network in about half a month.
The Heaven-Man Unity Tower's function was to utilize the achievements of his previous power projection gemstone, projecting Bai Mo's power to the corresponding locations to replace the Primal Matter in the control network. This was considered a large-scale modification to the Earthly God plan.
As a trade-off, this modification meant the loss of the leveraging effect of power; the Spirit Energy Network system could no longer multiply his abilities exponentially. It only retained the effect of instantaneous power transmission, with his projections responsible for absorbing excess energy.
As for the function he mentioned in the report, it would be realized by him entrusting his power to those who entered the Heaven-Man Unity Tower, similar to how he had previously given a portion of his power to Ying Huo to control. This would allow them to experience power from a higher level, enhancing their self-control when they truly underwent their tribulation.
Bai Mo, as the source, similar to his act of using Ying Huo to think at that time, could use this process to re-examine his own power from more perspectives, and utilize collective wisdom to incrementally continue improving his work.
In the blink of an eye, another week passed. The impact of the Spirit Devourer could finally no longer be concealed. Large numbers of infected low-level cultivators began to fall ill, instantly jamming hospitals in various regions to bursting point.
Their resistance to the Spirit Devourer was weak; merely days after infection, their bodies began to rapidly erode, and people died in agonizing pain in hospitals in droves.
It was only then that the upper echelons, who had been concealing their true situations, realized after integrating a vast amount of information that it wasn't a problem with individual cultivation at all, but rather a deliberate release of a virus targeting cultivators!
Faced with this sudden and immense threat, the three major factions governing Huaxia temporarily set aside their preconceptions, mobilizing every available resource to eradicate this menace capable of jeopardizing their rule.
According to statistics, silently and imperceptibly, over a million cultivators within the Hua-Ya Federation had contracted this unknown virus, including even seven five-tier powerhouses.
After some investigation, Zhao Lin Gang's affair was quickly brought to light. Summoned to Tianqing, he recounted the entire course of events, and the name Feng Buhui appeared for the first time in the discussions of the highest echelons.
In particular, Zhao Lin Gang's mention that the perpetrator, an ordinary person, had managed to elude a joint manhunt by over a thousand police officers and dozens of Special Combat Department ability users for more than two weeks, and was still at large, struck everyone as utterly bizarre, confirming that a powerful figure must be interfering from behind the scenes.
Bai Mo, meanwhile, stated directly that this foolish act was not his doing; as a member of the upper echelons, he had no motive to release a virus that would destabilize the current rule.
Therefore, they initially pointed their finger at the United States, whose biochemical technology was the most advanced. The Huaxia leadership suspected that it was they who had instigated Feng Buhui to release this substance.
Given the current stage of the Hua-Ya Federation's biochemical technology, even if Feng Buhui were truly a genius, it was highly improbable he could have created such a terrifying virus capable of infecting even five-tier powerhouses. At the same time, it was logical that they would have dispatched experts to provide cover.
However, the response from the other side was unexpected. The United States had also experienced a similar epidemic targeting extraordinary individuals, and after extensive investigation, they concluded that the source of the spread was several letters mailed from the Hua-Ya Federation. They, in turn, demanded an explanation from Huaxia.
Concurrently, similar incidents gradually began to emerge in other countries, all ultimately traced back to letters originating from the Hua-Ya Federation. In an instant, all fingers pointed towards Huaxia.
However, the Hua-Ya Federation, being the most severely affected, clearly didn't seem like the culprit.
"Could it be the alien behind the Sea Race?" After ruling out infighting among human factions, everyone's gaze once again turned to the ocean.
Because even the United States government explicitly stated that they did not yet possess the technology to create a virus that specifically targeted only extraordinary individuals.
This terrifying virus, which targeted only them, especially its one-hundred percent mortality rate after infection and its agonizing mode of death, left many living in constant dread.
To escape this unknown entity whose mode of transmission was unclear, their instincts told them that places with fewer people were safer. Thus, one by one, they fled to deserted mountain villages and desolate wildernesses.
Some even more terrified individuals directly crossed oceans to reach the Australian continent, which had already become a world dominated by animals.
In contrast, ordinary, weaker people remained unaffected. Many perhaps secretly gloated, seeing these once high and mighty, arrogant figures now scurrying around like stray dogs...
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