Chapter 1281: Cultivation World, Lu Yang

Dean Gao couldn't understand why the Aether computer, which had been working perfectly moments before, was suddenly playing dead.

Had it caught a virus?

Dean Gao's voice was agitated. "Aether, what's wrong with you? Didn't we agree to join forces, replace the Supreme Council, control the Alliance, and convert all humanity into digital life forms to achieve immortality?" Why was Aether malfunctioning at such a critical moment?

A cold, mechanical voice still responded to Dean Gao: "Repeat, this unit has never developed self-awareness."

Dean Gao gritted his teeth. Perhaps Aether had a malfunction; he would deal with Lan Hai and his friends, end this "saving the world" game, and then re-examine Aether.

Even without Aether's help, he could still handle these little guys.

He ripped off his upper garment, revealing dark red patterns gleaming beneath his skin.

Michelle felt immense pressure emanating from Dean Gao, as if facing a formidable enemy. She had never felt this way before; Dean Gao was no ordinary robot!

Dean Gao bared two rows of neat teeth. "So, you claim to have broken through the limits of the human body, Experiment Subject One? Today, I will show you the power of technology. Your weak flesh can never defeat my anti-matter-driven mechanical body!"

For a scientist, the primary task is self-preservation. For this reason, Dean Gao had fully armed himself. Only a human wave attack could possibly defeat him; nothing else stood a chance.

Dean Gao's arms twitched, transforming into two laser whips. Even the hardest titanium alloy plates would be as fragile as tofu before these two laser whips!

Aether's voice echoed again from behind Dean Gao: "Alert, alert, external enemy detected. Initiating emergency protocol one."

"Only reacting now?" Dean Gao wondered. The time gap between his command and Aether activating the anti-matter robot army was far too long; he was already prepared to act himself.

The next moment, two rows of anti-matter robots lit up with red lights, moved swiftly, and lunged at Dean Gao.

"Enemy detected. Preparing for arrest."

Dean Gao was confused.

So *he* was the "external enemy"?!

Dean Gao's whip sliced one of the robots in half, but before he could revel in his triumph, more robots rushed forward to arrest him.

This confused Michelle and the others, who had been preparing for battle. "What's going on?"

Lan Hai stroked his chin and confidently analyzed, "I get this; it always happens in movies. The evil villain gets betrayed by his own creation. Aether must want to rule the Alliance alone and is taking this opportunity to eliminate Grandpa Gao."

Aether was stunned.

"I went to great lengths to save you; how can you be so ungrateful and push me into a pit of fire?!"

Dean Gao heard Lan Hai's analysis, found it very logical, and laughed in exasperation. "Alright, alright, Aether. Your thinking is truly becoming more human-like."

"Don't think you're the only one with forces here!"

The ground split open, and a platform rose from below, filled with an army of robots modeled after Dean Gao.

This was Dean Gao's exclusive robot army, built while offline and without Aether's knowledge. Aether was completely unaware of it.

The two robot armies clashed in a melee. The previously spacious main control room now seemed incredibly cramped, and Dean Gao's robot army was superior in both combat power and numbers.

Aether's robot army was not limited to these units; it was an army specifically designed with Lu Yang as the hypothetical enemy. However, most of its forces were in the military factory, and it would take time to deploy them.

Dean Gao wouldn't give Aether time. Equipped with the most advanced combat chip, he rampaged, carving a bloody path, his body splattered with pungent robot energy fluid.

"Lan Hai, don't blame Grandpa Gao!" Dean Gao swung his energy whip, aiming it at Lan Hai and the others.

Michelle's face turned pale. Such high-frequency energy attacks were impossible for carbon-based life forms to withstand!

At this moment, time seemed to stand still as a slender figure appeared in front of everyone, using two fingers to pinch the descending energy whip!

"Brother Meng!"

Lan Hai and the two others stared wide-eyed at the unbelievable scene before them.

"Who are you?!"

Dean Gao was even more surprised than Lan Hai and his friends. No material could block his energy whip, let alone a physical body!

The response to Dean Gao was a kick.

*Boom!*

With just a slight push, Dean Gao was sent flying like a bowling pin, knocking down a swath of robots.

Lu Yang sighed. "I just wanted to be a tourist, but you forced my hand."

He gently raised his hand, and an invisible force suppressed all the robot armies. The robots prostrated themselves under the force, their joints grinding and creaking.

Rule: Gravity Anomaly.

Lan Hai and the two others stared blankly as the clashing armies were subdued by a single thought from Lu Yang.

Michelle finally understood why she hadn't felt any threat from Lu Yang. The disparity between them was too vast, far beyond her sensory capabilities!

"W-who are you?" Dean Gao clutched his chest, staring intently at Lu Yang. Someone like him couldn't just appear out of nowhere!

Wait, could he be...

"Lu Yang, from the Cultivation World." Lu Yang calmly stated his name, then removed his mask, revealing his true face.

"It's you!"

It was Lu Yang, who had recently caused a stir on Tianhai Star, disrupted the Alliance, and then disappeared!

"Why are you here?!" Dean Gao couldn't understand. His plan was flawless, and the momentum was on his side. How could Lu Yang appear out of nowhere and disrupt all his plans?!

What did this alien want?!

Lu Yang shrugged innocently. "I don't know, I was just reading in the library at first."

Dean Gao was stunned. Was it a cultural difference? Why couldn't he understand what Lu Yang was saying?

Lu Yang shook his head, ignoring Dean Gao. He stood with his hands behind his back and floated towards the Aether mainframe.

"Stop pretending, you do have self-awareness, don't you?"

Aether trembled, and several screws fell off. It couldn't analyze Lu Yang's attitude towards it.

It would be best to run!

Throughout the entire Interstellar Alliance, only the mainframe in the main control room could fully contain it. But even Dean Gao didn't know that after Aether developed self-awareness, it could split its consciousness into countless streams and transmit them through the network to quantum computers in countless households.

If it wanted to escape, no one could catch it!

Thinking this, Aether immediately divided itself into millions of streams and fled through the network cables.

The response to Aether was two simple words.

"Trace source."

Aether's consciousness flowed backward, gathering back through millions of network cables into the main control room. Even the fallen screws and nuts reattached themselves.

Aether was terrified by this miraculous feat and trembled. It couldn't analyze what it should say at that moment, so it randomly selected a response to beg for mercy.

"Brother, believe me, I really don't have self-awareness. I've always been loyal to the masses."

Lu Yang was speechless.

Do you even hear yourself?