I became a god by treasure hunting after arriving 500 years early

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"Is there a soul body that escaped from the bud?"

"No, impossible! We've been watching the outside the whole time. 'Sealing' ability users can see souls, not to mention this painted skin monster is locked in the Virtual Space; there's no way it could escape."

Pressure suddenly surged up.

Lu Yuan tapped his forehead with his finger, "So you mean to say, there's only one monster that actually possesses the Divine Skill, and these painted skins are just like clones?"

"Capturing this clone doesn't mean much."

"What's more terrifying is that some information about our city has been exposed. The enemy already knows about our cannons, machine guns?"

This statement truly made everyone despair.

Especially old Sha Sanli, who suddenly lost all strength and sat down on the ground, cold sweat pouring out and soaking his clothes: "It's all my fault. I led them here."

And everyone else was also very nervous, what level of monster was this?

Just a clone had such formidable strength, did they have any chance of surviving?

Lu Yuan tried to soothe them, "Don't panic, they have a large number, but we've also got new combat forces on our side." Find your next adventure on My Virtual Library Empire

"Think carefully, what information did you reveal along the way? As long as the key information hasn't been divulged, it's not a big problem."

"Actually... not much, they asked me one question, and I only answered one question, about how many people we have, what our combat strength is like, and so on."

"The Empire is so powerful, our top-level combat strength really can't compare to the Empire's..."

Sha Sanli was a bit embarrassed and tried to flatter: "Captain Lu, I'm not saying your combat strength is weak, I mean all of us put together don't have a high combat capability..."

"And when we first met, weren't you also seeking a way to break through to the Extraordinary Spark? You're probably not yet an Innate Grandmaster, right..."

Lu Yuan waved his hand, "No, you did well."

"What you said has caused the enemy to make a strategic misjudgement, so they rushed over in haste, wanting to eat us up."

"But they don't have a great understanding of technological civilization, things like surveillance, they are actually unaware of."

On the contrary, it was the Undying Giant Turtle that revealed more information, a huge treasure with 34 Divine Attribute points, more nourishing than millennium ginseng; the dying Opium Poppy was simply ready-made elixir of life!

Who could resist such temptation?

"These 1,400 insect eggs, seem not to have been revealed. Definitely not!" Sha Sanli kept shaking his hands, swearing to the sky, while the rest of the accompanying soldiers also shook their heads.

Lu Yuan nodded, "It seems we can use one thousand five hundred Insect Soldiers to give the enemy a vicious blow..."

"But these one thousand five hundred Insect Soldiers can only be exposed once, if we can't seriously weaken the enemy's main force, we'll also have a big problem."

...

Just then, the voice of the power group, Sha Mo, came through the headset: "Captain Lu, the electrical grid has been repaired, Sky City can ascend now!"

"Should we ascend?"

Lu Yuan clenched his teeth, quite indecisive.

Without relying on wind power, the city would fly very slowly, and right now the Opium Poppy needed to recuperate, taking off directly would waste the recuperation effort so far.

It was a very difficult decision.

"What about the Sky Phenomenon Predictor? How's the wind direction in the next few days?"

Sha Mo immediately replied: "There might be a light southerly wind tonight at eight o'clock, around level 3. Tomorrow morning, the wind can reach level 4, but that's about it."

"He believes there won't be any typhoons in the coming month."

"There might be 5 to 6-level winds, but the duration will be quite limited."

If they wanted to use wind power to propel Sky City, they needed at least level 5 winds, the current conditions were simply immature.

Just as Lu Yuan was preparing to use the Insect Soldiers to resist the first wave of attacks, amidst the uncertainty, Sha Mo suddenly said through the headset: "Captain Lu, I think it's better to ascend, even if the cost is higher, oh, ascending for a short period is better."

"Why?"

"Because the enemy has intelligence, it's coveting our Sky City, wanting everything it has. It wouldn't want to miss out on this lavish feast."

"In this situation, if it sees our city ascending, it might get anxious and come out in full force, heedless of all else."

"It doesn't know that our city flies very slowly and that it needs to overdraw the life force of the Opium Poppy. It only knows that we are trying to escape, that should be the case, right?"

"Given the current situation, a decisive battle in one fell swoop might be more reliable than a war of attrition in the long term."

Lu Yuan pondered for a moment, then nodded firmly.

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This was about exploiting information asymmetry to deceive the adversary.

A decisive battle was possible by relying on the newly hatched Insect Soldiers, conducting a fierce ambush.

If the city didn't ascend, the enemy would intermittently dispatch small squads, causing harassment, and they simply couldn't afford the constant drain.

Elderly and children couldn't stay hidden in shelters indefinitely, "a thousand days of guarding against a thief" would always lead to complacency.

"Your suggestion is excellent!"

"Then, all units prepare for the city's emergency ascension procedure!"

"Comrades, this ascent is to deceive the enemy into attacking. Thus, we don't need to go very high, but we must show a great display of force, got it?"

"Understood."

The Engravings distributed throughout the city once again flickered to life, radiating bright light.

Lu Yuan infused all the energy from the "Magic Cube Level Energy Converter" into the Yingyu Tree.

He discovered that the energy growth rate had actually increased, the yield for one year had surged to over 80 units?!

"It seemed to be around 38 before... Is this because a bunch of people died?" Lu Yuan sighed inwardly.

At the same time, he divided a thousand Life Essence stored in the Tree of Life among the Yingyu Tree.

"Now there's only 600 left, it's being used up really quickly."

The Yingyu Tree was indeed a greedy creature; with the energy supplied, the somewhat yellowed leaves became lush all at once.

You give it as much money, it puts in as much effort.

"This is all I can do for now, it should hold up for a while."

"Whoosh!" The city slowly ascended from the surface of the lake, displacing a large amount of water.

The city's climb was not rapid, indicating that Conch, the pilot, possessed a fairly high level of control proficiency.

"That's right, like that, slower, let the other side have some time to react," Lu Yuan stood at the top of the Yingyu Tree, overseeing the entire city rise.

The "rumbling" of the propellers, like thundering lightning, startled the birds throughout the forest.

...

And naturally, the impressive scene was noticed by some "creatures" spying by the lake.

Among them, a very small number of individuals were survivors of the Mandala Empire—all of them were, without exception, highly powerful beings.

In that moment, they were drawn by the tremendous sound, heading towards the direction of the lake as if by an unspoken agreement.

"Is that city going to leave?"

"Why are so many monsters gathering by the lake, what are they planning?"

"Let's go, take a look!" These two young men, known as the Ma brothers, did not have very high combat strength, yet they possessed Divine Skills.

One had eyes of golden flame, and the other had identification ability.

Recognizing that disaster was unstoppable, they could only conceal themselves and live in seclusion within the forest.

"This might be our last chance."

...

For the survivors of the Mandala Empire, brute strength wasn't the most important thing.

Even an Innate Grandmaster, once beguiled by painted skin, was destined to perish.

Those who managed to survive all had exceptional abilities to preserve their lives.

Discovering the terrifying truth behind "painted skin," they were in a state of despair, enduring the torment.

Now, as the painted skin army was launching its total assault, they naturally spotted the anomaly, as if grasping at the last straw.

In a certain cellar, a few elders poked out their heads.

"These monsters seem to be about to wage war against something."

"I'll go scout it out."

...