Chapter 1004: The Highest Pass

A short while later.

The center of Starlight City.

Inside the heavily guarded City Hall, the lights blazed. Countless mechanical guards, armed to the teeth and emitting a cold, eerie glow, patrolled the corridors, leaving no secluded corner unchecked.

Faint, imperceptible full-frequency pulses rippled through the air. Any outsider attempting to infiltrate would be detected immediately, making the defenses here nearly flawless.

This impregnable steel fortress was the core hub of Starlight City's massive network, responsible for managing all affairs within the city.

The so-called [Mayor] was actually an intelligent robot completely loyal to the Intellectual Brain. It did nothing but steadfastly execute the various cruel regulations issued by the Mechanical Alliance according to its factory settings.

"Warning! You have reached a classified area. Please present your pass immediately, or it will be deemed a malicious intrusion, resulting in immediate execution!"

A cold electronic voice broke the dead silence of the scene, yet it drew no attention.

Whether it was the busy staff members hurrying through the City Hall or the patrolling mechanical guards, everyone turned a blind eye to the situation at the entrance.

This place was like a terrifying machine of absolute precision and smooth operation; every part fit perfectly and performed its own duties, never interfering with anything outside its scope of responsibility.

Standing at the entrance was a plain-looking young man dressed in black work clothes.

Facing dozens of Phase-Disruption Cannons aimed at him, he calmly raised his right hand, revealing a silver-white crystal block styled like a wristwatch on his wrist.

Immediately following that, beams of light shot out from the crystal block, instantly coalescing into a series of incredibly complex encrypted codes.

"C-level authority… Identity verification passed. Entry permitted."

Beep!

With a clear chime, the security at the entrance was quickly deactivated, and a path opened up in front of the young man.

Seeing this, a faint, almost imperceptible curve formed at the corner of the man's mouth. He leisurely set off, entering the City Hall gates with his head held high.

This man was naturally Qi Yuan in disguise. He had only slightly altered his appearance and physique to easily fool the surveillance System spread throughout the city, thereby shedding his status as a wanted criminal.

Of course, while the process seemed simple, in this world, probably only a cheater like him—who possessed the [True Pretend to be a Pig to Eat the Tiger] talent and could shield all detection at will—could pull it off.

If it were Mu Feiyu, no matter how much she changed her appearance, she could forget about hiding from the multiple layers of intelligent robotic detection; just the hurdle of hiding her aura would be as difficult as reaching the heavens.

As for the pass in Qi Yuan's hand, it came from a formal employee working at the City Hall, a target he had specifically selected after multiple days of scouting.

Currently, that lucky City Hall employee was unconscious at home, enjoying an unprecedented vacation.

One must understand that since the Intellectual Brain took power, the current Great Void had become a literal Hell for workers.

Forget about vacations; if anyone dared to be late just two or three times, they would be ruthlessly purged on the spot. The main theme was that the Cyber Branch did not support idle people…

After successfully passing through the final checkpoint, Qi Yuan followed the route map provided by Mu Feiyu, moving at a steady pace through a labyrinthine series of corridors.

Currently, with his C-level authority, he could theoretically only operate within the first to third floors. If he exceeded this range, he would be surrounded and suppressed by mechanical guards within minutes.

To enter the database where the [ancestor module] was stored, one required the highest S-level authority, which only the robot mayor was qualified to have.

Of course, since the Resistance dared to target the [ancestor module] here, they had already made thorough preparations. Qi Yuan now held a cracked version of the Pass Key in his hand.

In other words, as long as he could successfully enter the City Hall, the rest would basically involve no difficulty.

After all, if he had taken out the S-level pass earlier, the robot in charge of access control would likely have said 'Welcome, Mr. Mayor' on the spot.

Besides various robots, there were also many original residents serving as staff members in the City Hall. No matter how numb or dull they were, they would instantly notice something was wrong with him…

At that point, wouldn't he be exposed in minutes?

Relying on the highest level of authority, Qi Yuan encountered no obstacles along the way and soon arrived at the classified database located deep underground.

Looking at the tightly closed silver-white door before him, Qi Yuan's eyes narrowed slightly as he quickly inserted the S-level pass into the slot beside the door.

Click.

A flash of light passed, and the database door slowly opened, revealing the scene inside.

Unlike the dark and hidden place he had imagined, this database was spacious and bright. Rows of crystal-clear, high-tech massive instruments were arranged with absolute neatness inside.

Multi-colored halos flickered and flowed between the instruments, like dazzling and eye-catching works of art.

Qi Yuan scanned the room, and his gaze quickly focused on the sci-fi control console at the very center of the data room. A deep sense of shock flashed in his eyes.

What was going on?

There, a slender woman in black with long flowing hair had her back to Qi Yuan, busy working at countless complex and tedious buttons…

Although he couldn't see the woman's face clearly, Qi Yuan's expression still changed drastically; he could hardly believe his eyes.

She seemed to be… Mu Qingqing!