Chapter 861

Got her.

Upon hearing the female reporter's words, the corners of Li Ang's mouth curled up imperceptibly, and then, maintaining his expression of deep sorrow, he asked coldly:

"Then let me ask you, a few nights ago, why did the Aquarius Board member break into Qiaoshuya's dream? What exactly was he trying to do?"

"He wanted to protect the Capital."

Oh, so he wanted to destroy... wait, what?

"It's true."

Seeing Li Ang's somewhat stunned expression, the female reporter couldn't help but say:

"Before the Nightmare King descended, the Director had me take the 【Dream-Traveling Lantern】 and collect three hundred thousand dreams related to the Capital, creating a dream-Capital that was indistinguishable from the real one.

If you really couldn't stop the Nightmare King and let it successfully descend, the Director would have shattered the 【Dream-Traveling Lantern】, letting all the dreams of the Capital inside pour out at once.

In that case, even if the Nightmare King descended, it would be trapped by those three hundred thousand dreams and would never reach the real Capital. Once the Blood-Haired Maiden was free, she could enter the dream-Capital and kill the Nightmare King directly."

"..."

She's actually telling the truth...

Glancing at the female reporter's soul state and finding that she was not lying, Li Ang couldn't help but frown, feeling that something was not quite right.

If nothing else, if it weren't for Aquarius spreading false information and pulling away the people from the Virgo Branch, which led to the failure to clear out the Nightmare-Worshipping Black Sect's stronghold in time, the Fallen Soul Black Abyss could never have descended, let alone the Nightmare King entering reality.

Therefore, it could be said that the Nightmare King's descent event was caused single-handedly by the Aquarius Board member. But why would he help the Nightmare King descend on one hand, while helping the Virgo Branch protect the Capital on the other? Could it be that...

"Is there some conflict between the Aquarius Board member and the Nightmare King?"

"Yes..."

Seeing that Li Ang had guessed a portion of the truth after only a moment's thought, the female reporter looked at him with astonishment, then nodded in admission:

"In order to return to his best state, the Director opened his soul directly and let the Nightmare King plant a mark inside it, so if the Nightmare King isn't killed, it could directly control or even enslave him."

No wonder...

After hearing the female reporter's words, a look of realization flashed across Li Ang's eyes.

Rather than saying the Aquarius Board member wanted to protect the Capital, it would be more accurate to say he wanted the Nightmare King dead.

After all, even if the Nightmare King successfully descended, it likely wouldn't be able to kill the Director, but he would have to face enslavement by the Nightmare King. Comparing the two, for the Aquarius Board member, killing the Nightmare King was definitely more important.

"Heh, then let's just say he wanted to protect the Capital."

Hearing that the female reporter still maintained much defense for the Aquarius Board member in her words, but since Li Ang didn't actually have any deep-seated blood feud with the Aquarius Board member, he didn't dwell on it and continued to press:

"I just heard you call him Director, so continue and tell me, what is the situation with the Gemini Branch right now? And the Kroke Kingdom?"

"The Gemini Branch... has basically shut down."

After looking up at Li Ang, the female reporter said hesitantly:

"Many years ago, the Kroke Kingdom created machines capable of thinking, but that machine, named Artie 01, did not appear very intelligent and could only undertake some basic work, though it far surpassed humans in basic tasks.

So the scholars of the Kroke Kingdom remodeled the kingdom's factories and public facilities, connecting Artie 01 to them to replace low-end human labor, allowing more people to be liberated from basic labor and invest in the research of new technologies.

At the very beginning, it was just basic production work like planting and manufacturing; later, they gradually handed over work like transportation, construction, defense, and auditing to Artie 01 as well..."

"There's no rush to talk about these."

Having already learned about the machine intelligence crisis that broke out in the Kroke Kingdom from the Artie 128 captured from the airship, Li Ang interrupted the female reporter:

"I want to know more about what's going on with the Cleanup Bureau's Gemini Branch, and what happened to the people of the Kroke Kingdom."

"The Gemini Branch has already been controlled; all cleanup agents have undergone implantation surgery and must obey Artie 01's commands."

The female reporter bit her lower lip and said:

"After Artie 01 gained permission for some key facilities, it completely sealed those places off and began to clear out anyone with the authority to shut it down. Then, when the Gemini Branch sensed something was wrong and prepared to destroy it, it sank them into the ground and buried them in advance."

"Sank them into the ground?"

"Yes..."

The female reporter explained:

"The building complexes in the core area of the Kroke Kingdom are individual, separated honeycomb-shaped blocks that can be spliced together using sliding chutes and docking rails, or moved up and down to a certain extent by adjusting the number of floating crystals at the bottom.

And Artie 01 seemed to know about the existence of the Cleanup Bureau, so it remodeled the nearby blocks in advance under the guise of component maintenance and mechanism replacement, so the Gemini Branch was sunk and sealed before they could even make a move."

"Then why couldn't you fight your way out?"

"The people who could fight their way out aren't there."

The female reporter said helplessly:

"Artie 01 has no soul and doesn't rely on a soul to store memories; the 【Illusion Canister】 that can modify memories is ineffective against it, so its records likely contain intelligence on the vast majority of the Gemini Branch's cleanup agents.

And those cleanup agents with outstanding destructive power who could break the blockade were pulled away by 'anomalous intelligence' it organized in advance to go out and clear anomalous objects; those left behind were all cleanup agents without strong destructive power.

The people left behind cannot be said to be weak, but they are only skilled at dealing with flesh-and-blood organisms or soul memories; facing solid walls over twenty meters thick in all directions, they really had no way at all.

Although the Director had the ability to solve the problem, he only talked to Artie 01 once, but in the end, he didn't take action; instead, he went back to the Bureau to get some things, and then left the Kroke Kingdom with me."

"..."

The enemy is in the dark while we are in the light, plus Aquarius has ulterior motives; you certainly didn't lose unjustly.

Keeping the situation of the Gemini Branch in mind and preparing to report it to the Director later, Li Ang continued to press:

"What about the ordinary people? After being taken over by Artie 01, how are the people of the Kroke Kingdom doing?"

"They... are actually doing quite well?"

Upon hearing this, the female reporter hesitated for a moment, then said somewhat uncertainly:

"I went back once last year; everything over there is controlled by Artie 01 now, and it's actually better than when it was controlled by humans. Food is free, and even the poor and beggars have been taken care of.

Except for the fact that the original scholars were forcibly conscripted, and ordinary people almost have no work and need to undergo regular tests, most people seem to be living much better than before."

"..."