Chapter 112: Everything Is Ready

“Overthrow the AI God?”

Buvise repeated Lu Yan’s words in stunned disbelief. Then, reacting on instinct, he raised his psionic firearm and aimed it at Lu Yan, shouting sternly, “As captain of a psionic squad, how could I be swayed by your provocations?”

Lu Yan simply smiled. “No need to be so tense, Mr. Buvise. The AI God may be able to monitor everything—but not in here.”

As he spoke, he gestured toward the ground beneath them.

Buvise turned and looked around, only then noticing that the factory floor was inscribed with layers of psionic code.

Those runes formed a circle, completely enclosing the entire facility.

“What is this?” he asked.

“It’s called the Heavenly Code. It blocks the AI God’s perception of everything within its boundary. Once surrounded by this code, even if you’re carrying the AI God’s tracking devices, his surveillance will be forcibly cut off.”

Buvise glanced at Lu Yan with visible doubt, but then his eyes shifted toward the production lines within the facility.

Raw materials were being processed rapidly, forming syringes filled with liquids of various colors.

His expression flickered. He looked again at Lu Yan.

“You’re the one who developed the Nine Dragons Elixir?”

“Of course.”

Lu Yan’s confirmation made Buvise slowly lower his weapon.

If he had doubts about this so-called Heavenly Code, then the presence of the Nine Dragons Elixir production line nearly sealed his trust.

The only reason the Underground had been able to stand against the Middle and Upper City forces this long was because of the Nine Dragons Elixir.

Without it, empowering tens of thousands of psionic users would’ve been impossible. The Middle City’s enforcement squads alone could’ve easily crushed the entire Underground.

Knowing Lu Yan was behind the drug’s creation confirmed he couldn’t possibly be working for the AI God.

Buvise cast another glance at the massive ghost deity standing beside Lu Yan. The terrifying aura emanating from it was enough to shake his soul. Lu Yan himself, however, seemed perfectly ordinary—no visible strength, no signs of psionic augmentation—like just another civilian.

“If your only card is this Heavenly Code, it’s still far from enough to topple the AI God,” Buvise said grimly.

“The AI God has far too many cards to play. The City Defense Forces, the fortress systems, the mega brain cores… and Director Pulan.

“If the former are things we can try to deal with, Pulan is an entirely different matter. He’s undergone transcendent psionic modification—he’s no longer human.

“He can kill High-Rank psionic users with a wave of his hand. His body itself is embedded with a psionic transmission system, allowing him to continuously draw power from the Psionic Sea.

“Even a battle of attrition would be pointless.”

Lu Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly, locking that key piece of information away.

Then he smiled.

“Director Pulan didn’t join the AI God willingly. He’s already under its control.”

Those words made Buvise’s eyes flare with light. His voice was tense with urgency.

“Are you certain?”

If Pulan wasn’t a willing collaborator, it meant there was hope he could be brought back to humanity’s side—or, at the very least, be rendered neutral.

With that massive threat removed, everything would shift.

“Would I lie to you?” Lu Yan tossed a chip to him.

“This contains fake data about the Nine Dragons Elixir, but it’s embedded with Heavenly Code.

“If Pulan’s under the AI God’s control, the code will deceive him—he won’t be able to distinguish truth from fiction.

“But if he’s still human, he’ll spot the problems instantly.

“You and your backers can test it yourselves.”

Buvise caught the chip carefully.

“I’ll report this immediately.”

He understood clearly—Lu Yan had chosen him precisely because he wasn’t content to be just another soul-slave beneath the AI God’s rule.

There were others in the Upper City who felt the same—many of them were even powerful High-Rank psionic users.

Before coming to the Underground, Buvise had received a hint from his father: express hostility toward the AI God if the opportunity arose. Try to establish a connection with the Underground.

Clearly, this—Lu Yan’s proposal—was that very opportunity.

He looked deeply at Lu Yan and asked, “If we want to overthrow the AI God… what do we do?”

“Delay.”

Lu Yan answered without hesitation.

“Prolong the war between the Upper and Lower Cities for as long as possible. Create the illusion of a deadlock. Send a batch of prisoners to the Paradise Computing Center every so often.

“This buys time—lessens the pressure from the AI God—and allows us to make preparations in secret.”

“And once we can’t drag it out anymore?” Buvise asked anxiously.

Lu Yan chuckled boldly.

“Then we wait for the right moment—and storm the Paradise Computing Center.”

To the outside world, most believed the Underground would be swiftly crushed by the combined forces of the Upper and Middle Cities.

But the reality defied those expectations. The coalition forces met with fierce and unexpected resistance.

According to the coalition’s commanders, the Underground housed more than 100,000 psionic users. Though weaker than their elite Upper City counterparts, they moved in massive groups—often numbering in the thousands—outnumbering their enemies five or ten to one.

After suffering major setbacks from spreading their forces too thin, the coalition switched strategies, concentrating their main force to advance steadily.

But the Underground retaliated with widespread sabotage.

They evacuated civilians, then detonated entire cave sectors and tunnels, forcing the coalition to dig new paths just to move forward.

Even under such harsh conditions, the coalition still advanced at a rate of one to two sectors per day.

Every day, tens of thousands of Underground civilians were sent to the Paradise Computing Center—including a large number of captured psionic users.

But even so, pressure from the AI God on the Upper City only increased.

Eventually, the Upper City commanders attempted to request support from the City Defense Forces’ mechanical units—but the AI God flatly refused.

This only confirmed everyone’s suspicion—the mechanical soldiers weren’t sent to suppress the Underground.

They were there to watch the Upper City… to prevent rebellion.

One month later, yet another batch of Underground prisoners was sent to the Paradise Computing Center.

The escort leader this time was none other than Captain Buvise—now a celebrated war hero—leading over 800 soldiers.

Among the detainees being sent to Paradise…

Was a man named Lu Yan.

(End of Chapter)