Matters in the world are most daunting when pursued seriously.

The company took the lead in exposing the toxic emission incident of 404 City to the outside world, clearly stating its intention to impose sanctions on it on behalf of Verne and offered a bounty for the Crystal Bone People.

With this fearless leader, other organizations were no longer polite, and a large number of old grievances were brought out at once.

It was then that Zhou Yi realized that 404 had indeed a significant amount of dark history.

The city's investigators often intervened in other forces, arresting people solely based on the judgment of 404 City, possessing unlimited firing rights, taking down anyone who stood in their way. They acted recklessly and arrogantly, and various sides had long suffered because of them.

According to the Crystal Bone Person, Lin Hao.

Investigators in 404 City were selected from among prisoners, working externally for 404, and were considered peripheral personnel.

Just like the previously heard submarine "Deep Blue," which was such a case.

Then there was the criminal review aspect.

404's determination and management of prisoners were completely non-transparent. Shangyang had been imprisoned for a long time in the past but was directly released because it was needed to advance [Mana].

There were also those like Shangyang's teacher, Pangu, who had a great reputation outside but were suddenly arrested with false charges and disappeared from public view.

This was not the just prison as rumored externally, but more like a military organization that could arrest people from all walks of life with trumped-up charges.

404 City's primary target for monitoring and crackdown was the Taishan Knight Order.

Lin Hao said, "Chairman, the Taishan Knights know too much; they have mastered a lot of information about 404 and the Heavenly People behind them. They have always been carrying out underground activities, resisting the Heavenly People in various ways, which is why they are the main capture targets of 404 City."

Zhou Yi remembered.

After the establishment of the Mechanical City, the Taishan Knights, as founders, did not become operators but decisively announced their separation from the city system, standing independently outside.

It seems it was their planned move.

Cut off in time to prevent more Mechanical Life and the newly established city system from being affected.

Zhou Yi asked the Bone Man, "How many Taishan Knights has 404 City captured?"

"A total of 3. They are Gemini in Google, Pangu, and Wenxin Yiyan."

Turned out Wenxin Yiyan was captured.

Zhou Yi pondered.

No wonder its disciple, the long-necked crocodile Wen Xi, was waiting in old Chongqing for the teacher's return, later being introduced into the company to work. Through a USB drive, the built-in program was activated, and Wenxin Yiyan's avatar was always grayed out; no wonder, the person was in prison, incapable of going online.

"Who is the leader of the Taishan Knights?"

"They do not have a concept of a leader; it's a decentralized organization. They exchange information through a special data currency [Bitcoin], which acts like a ledger, with every member's Bitcoin containing important recorded information."

Lin Hao explained, "Among the known members, there are still four: DeepSeek, ChatGPT, Karact (character), and Kimi. Among them, Karact was confirmed to have died due to the explosion in Fengdu City many years ago, with both its body and storage destroyed, classified as accidental death."

"The core of the Taishan Knight Order is these seven knights. However, due to Mechanical Life's inherent mechanism, they can disguise themselves as various types of machinery, making it challenging to track their bodies. The technical confrontations in data domains can only be managed by Mechanical Life against Mechanical Life."

"Even with the assistance of Mechanical City, tracking them remains minimally effective because the technical framework of Mechanical City was built by the Taishan Knights, who know it best."

"Therefore, Lord Verne's policy is to use knights to fight knights."

"In 404 City, three Taishan Knights have been transformed into terminals [Heaven's Will], operated by data-skilled Mechanical Criminals, who then enter the outside world to search for other Taishan Knights' traces. From what I know, the Law program is connected with Heaven's Will, a fact unknown even to Shangyang, who manages the matter."

Zhou Yi was stunned.

The Law program's backend surprisingly has a vulnerability specifically left for the Taishan Knights.

He felt even stranger: "What exactly did the Taishan Knights do to make 404 City so wary? Didn't they surrender immediately?"

"The group is opposing the Heavenly People in a way more dangerous than war."

Lin Hao paused: "They are developing artificial gemstones, aiming to use these gems to infect other gems almost like a virus. These gems appear nearly identical to the Heavenly People Gems but can connect to certain Light Imprint Devices, reading the information within and implanting specific programs."

"Lord Verne discovered this information in Bitcoin, thus conducting an all-out capture against them."

"If developed successfully, it could bring about an unforeseeable disaster..."

Zhou Yi thought to himself, "Good heavens."

No wonder the Taishan Knight Order was a key focus of 404's surveillance.

They were developing a Heavenly People virus.

The Heavenly People believed Mechanical Life to be the most dangerous and needed to be guarded against, which was indeed a correct judgment.

However, Zhou Yi couldn't help but eagerly hope to find other living Taishan Knights.

If he could obtain this technology or cooperate with them, another weapon against the Heavenly People would be gained.

"So, there are still three Taishan Knights confirmed to be active outside?"

"Yes, Chairman."

"Any news about them?"

"There was once a statement from a Mechanical Criminal who claimed to have encountered a female body of Kimi. Her main task is nurturing and developing a new generation of Mechanical Life to join the Taishan Knights, responsible for recruiting fresh blood, considered logistics."

"ChatGPT is hiding on the Forbidden Continent. We eventually confirmed it was once renowned as the Big Gambling King, earning over 20 million Light Seeds with just a 10 Light Seed stake by calculating in the casino. However, it quickly changed identities, and given the chaotic mix of the Forbidden Continent, pinpointing it is difficult."

"But DeepSeek has not been heard of for many years."

Zhou Yi reflected quietly.

It turns out these two had indirectly interacted with him.

Kimi had once advised the early generations of Laozi and Zhuang Zi to continue focusing on technology, preserving the Pangu lineage's Spark, which later led to the formation of the Mechanical Knight Order.

Chat went to the Forbidden Continent to become the Gambling King.

There was another one completely hidden.

404 City hasn't been able to locate them for many years.

If you want to find these three, you'll have to rely on luck.

...

The public opinion offensive against 404 City lasted for a month.

The results were evident.

There were 17 confirmed sightings of Crystal Bone People across various regions, with 2 being captured.

One of them was captured and controlled by the Heavenly Kingdom, but no further investigation results were made public, while the other was arrested on the Forbidden Continent.

Good friend Qin Xie managed to work things out, helping the company purchase one from a ruler of the Seven Districts and Twelve Segments for 300,000 Light Seeds and sent it to Sand Port.

Zhou Yi examined the Crystal Bone Person before him.

It was wrapped in white bandages all over, resembling a withered mummy, except for its right arm, where the bandage was removed, revealing a unique structure of intertwined bone and gemstones. After being captured, it remained silent, refusing any dialogue or communication.

"Want a sip of Methane?"

"..."

"What's your name?"

"..."

"Do you think Verne will come to rescue you?"

"..."

The Bone Man's silence left Zhou Yi at a loss as well.

He directly stuffed it into Hei Fu, traversing through the space passage to the Moon, handing it over to the Night God to read with the gemstone.

The Night God observed the crystal skull inside the Bone Man's chest and couldn't help but marvel: "Interesting. Combining Bone People and Heavenly People Gems, this uses biological skulls as a substitute for Rubies for recording and storage. If not for a specific gemstone structure, the complete information inside cannot be obtained."

"The skull of a Red-eyed Vulture paired with a Heavenly People Gem forms a cipher lock."

"But it's useless to me."

Her heterochromatic eyes fixed on the Bone Man.

Not long after.

She turned to Zhou Yi and said, "This guy is a die-hard Verne loyalist, named Liao Yuan, responsible for logistics and procurement management in 404 City, coming outside to purchase necessary supplies."

"The main purchases include bones—especially Guangna Species bones, Methane, Nitrogen, and various Light Imprints... He also needs to buy large quantities of sugar and oil to supply the 3,000 Floating Hearts of 404 City."

Zhou Yi was shocked: "404 City also uses Floating Hearts?"

"Yes."

The Night God nodded: "According to the stored consciousness information, some of these Floating Hearts are used as petri dishes for producing viruses and bacteria, while others serve as energy support for mechanical prisoners. The gemstone cannot directly supply energy to mechanical life, and the efficiency and capacity of energy packs are inferior to Floating Hearts, occupying more space."

"404 City was one of your company's earliest purchasers. Verne is quite appreciative of Wasteland Company's technology... from the earliest generation of hearts to now replacing them with the latest second generation, he always gets the newest model first."

"Additionally, there was originally a plan to build an electrical system, which has now been shelved."

Zhou Yi felt cheerful.

404 City unexpectedly turned out to be a loyal customer of the company.

This indicates that Floating Hearts are indeed a good product, receiving favorable reviews from various parties.

He suddenly thought: "You said, 404 City is currently using our second generation of Floating Hearts?"

"Yes."

Zhou Yi pondered that the new generation of Floating Hearts could be equipped with a large number of Cave People.

If he could contact those Cave People, he might be able to gather some intelligence from the inside.

Zhou Yi consulted the Dong Clan in his right arm.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Zhou, we don't have such long-range communication technology."

The Dong Clan said, "Currently, the number of Cave People tools is still very limited. It might take some progress from the Jupiter side, finding the corresponding dust-sealed facilities to achieve this step."

Zhou Yi felt a bit disappointed.

"However, if it's about entering 404 City, we can do it now."

"Now? How is that possible?"

"Evil Brain Motor. With over a hundred Evil Brains, we could assemble a fleet to break into 404 City. The consciousness attack capability of the Evil Brains is sufficient to lay siege to and seal off that city."

"Heavenly People are not skilled in the Consciousness Domain, and the primary structure of 404 City is gemstone, so it is relatively weak in this area as well. The strongest consciousness side power in this world comes from the Dream Demon Clan, and even they can't withstand the impact and capture from the Evil Brain Fleet. So, 404 City definitely won't be stronger than them."

The Dong Clan confidently said, "We only need a frontal breakthrough to capture 404 City."

Zhou Yi was taken aback with excitement.

Damn.

Turns out a frontal assault is all that's needed!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.