This is not mechanical ascension.

"Ryan? Blood sacrifice?" Li Ming frowned, this word was unfamiliar yet familiar.

What surprised him even more was Prince Ryan's idea of ​​sacrificing the entire Corona Borealis ring. This was a massacre that shocked the stars.

By what method? What's the purpose?

In an instant, a large number of thoughts intertwined in his mind.

"Don't worry, tell me everything you know." Li Ming's calmness calmed Ford's mood somewhat.

Now that he mentioned it, his fear still lingered. He took a breath and said, "More than half a month ago, Archduke Xavier suddenly came to Asmara and said he was ready to intervene in our war with the Judge."

Li Ming's expression flickered, and after a moment he recognized the target person with this name. He was Asmara's fiancé.

Nicholas's eldest son has now succeeded to the position of Grand Duke.

Li Ming thought of Lao Wu again, and as his thoughts diverged, he couldn't help but ask: "They are not married yet?"

Ford, who was originally frightened, couldn't help but pause when he heard Li Ming ask this gossip question, and was speechless.

But he still explained:

"Logically speaking, they should have consummated their marriage six months ago, but at that time news of the death of Grand Duke Nicholas came through, and Asmara used this as an excuse to delay."

"I was acting weird at the time. Nicholas died and Xavier succeeded the Grand Duke, which is definitely a good thing for Asmara." Ford's expression became more relaxed, and he spoke more and more:

"Later I found out that it was because Nicholas's brothers almost divided up his inheritance.

Xavier has almost nothing except the title of a Grand Duke. He couldn't even intervene in the war between us and the Judge before. "

"Asmara is so realistic. If he gets married, he will help Xavier fight in the palace."

Li Ming suddenly realized and motioned for Ford to continue. After talking about this gossip, Ford was already quite calm, with a bit of sarcasm, so he continued:

"That's the same Xavier who still thinks Asmara is one of his own and has no idea that the truth about Gabriel's death was covered up by his fiancée."

"At that time, we were fighting fiercely with the Judge. The Bloody Archduke was dead and no one was helping us. On the contrary, the Archduke Guya had completely recovered and we were retreating steadily."

"At this time, Xavier arrived in person, found Asmara, and brought several mysterious people with him.

Claiming to help us win. "

"He told Asmara part of the story -" Ford said this, his eyes were distracted, and he vaguely remembered the afternoon when Asmara found him in a hurry.

He rarely saw such a panic expression on the woman he could call his aunt.

"Xavier asked Asmara to help them spread something called "blood seed" to every living planet in the Corona Borealis ring.'

Ford said in a heavy tone: "Asmara told me that after being activated, that thing will devour the life of the entire planet."

"Vampire?" Li Ming thought in his mind and searched around in his mind, but found no relevant information.

He looked Fud up and down: "Do you mind drawing blood?"

He didn't believe it at first, and even doubted whether this person was Ford.

"It's okay." Ford sighed helplessly. He had already predicted Li Ming's character and rolled up his sleeves.

Pulling out a tube of blood, Li Ming asked his robot to test it, while he asked, "Why did you fake your death?"

Ford explained in detail: "Asmara told me this because she wanted me to find a way to inform you."

"This matter is so involved that I don't even dare to contact you through the Black Hole Network, and our core members are all being treated to death and can hardly find a chance to leave."

He didn't dare to use the black hole network - Li Ming was silent, shook his head and said: "Actually, there is no need to go to such trouble, the black hole network can be trusted."

Can be trusted? Ford paused slightly, feeling vaguely in a daze.

Li Ming didn't explain too much. He had done a lot in the past six months, and he had also conducted in-depth exploration of the black hole network.

After all, he also used the black hole network to do a lot of things. In the past, his ability was weak, and what he did was not a big deal, but now it is different. He must find out whether this thing is really safe.

He is now in contact with quite a few major interstellar forces in the universe, but the black hole network is always as solid and hidden as an underwater iceberg.

Many people including Austin, even Abel, and the Pioneers were mentioned.

I found that although many big guys have built their own communication networks through the Star Network in private, they still maintain a high degree of trust in the Black Hole Network.

Because the controller of the black hole network does not seem to be an individual, through various clues, he speculated that it should be an intelligent entity that gave birth to autonomous consciousness.

The emergence of the black hole network originated from the omnic crisis that was born in the Federation.

Before this crisis, StarNet also had a dark side, but it was all a small matter.

The omnic crisis caused the interstellar network to be disconnected for hundreds of years. Not long after it was reconnected in 2011, the black hole network came into being and grew rapidly at an incredible speed.

Although it has a high degree of intelligence and autonomy, the black hole network still acts according to the rules and has never violated them.

Interstellar bosses know this information more or less, so they trust the black hole network. However, ordinary life forms who do not understand this information have discussed many conspiracy theories.

Including but not limited to the black hole network, which is jointly controlled by the three major civilizations, in order to know in advance the people and forces that are destructive to civilization.

There were also reports of someone placing an order on the Black Hole Network in the morning and being taken away in the afternoon.

Asmara and others encountered such a big event that could shock the stars, so they did not dare to transmit information through the black hole network. After all, if they were not careful, they would be shattered to pieces.

"Then why did Asmara ask you to come to me?" Li Ming asked again: "Even if this is true, why should I help you?"

Qinglong's murder of Nicholas was basically an ironclad fact in the eyes of the empire's senior officials and certain forces.

But people at a slightly lower level have no way of knowing this extremely secret information, and the empire will not take the initiative to publicize it.

So on the surface, he or Qinglong had almost no relationship with Prince Ryan. At most, they had a slight collision in the central world, but no one died.

Asmara seemed vaguely sure that Li Ming would help her.

Ford seemed to have still not recovered and looked in a daze. Li Ming asked again before he came to his senses, stabilized his mind, hesitated, and said cautiously:

"Because that blood species, under the special request of the prince, was first planted in the Blue Star civilization and your home planet."

Suddenly, Ford felt a chill in the room, and hurriedly added: "To complete the entire plan, it will take at least half a year to a year, or even longer. The blood species needs to be activated at the same time, and it will take a long time."

Asmara told him at that time that Li Ming or Qinglong must have a deeper connection with Prince Ryan.

Otherwise, we wouldn’t specifically target a low-level civilization.

Li Ming had no expression on his face, a cold light flashed in his eyes, and he still remained calm. He had one last question:

"This matter is not harmful to Asmara, right? Then Xavier will definitely protect her life, and even the entire Etlan royal family. Does she want to be the Virgin who saves the Corona Borealis Ring again?"

"You can save the royal family, but you can't save the citizens of the entire Etlan civilization." Ford said sadly, knowing Li Ming's scruples, gritted his teeth and said: "You can let me search my memory."

Li Ming raised his eyebrows and looked at Ford, who looked as if he was dead. He was silent for a moment and said, "No need."

Although there are still many questions, Li Ming has already believed most of them. Everyone knows that Li Ming is in the Mechanical King's Court.

Rui En couldn't go to all the trouble to set a trap for Li Ming, he wasn't qualified yet.

Ford felt relieved and couldn't help but said: "That--this matter-"

"You stay here first and try to contact Asmara. I will report to the teacher." Li Ming regained his composure and made arrangements.

Ford nodded, with a complicated look on his withered cheeks. Looking at the familiar yet unfamiliar Li Ming in front of him, he said in a low voice, "Thank you."

Li Ming smiled and said, "By the way, what life levels are the people following Xavier at?"

Ford thought about it and shook his head: "I'm not sure. I haven't seen them take action. However, there is a guy who feels out of tune with them. He doesn't look like Prince Ryan."

He frowned, "It's hard to describe. He's so weird. I've only met him once—"

"Suzaku." Li Ming shouted, and the shadow of Suzaku appeared, standing on his shoulder.

"Suzaku is my artificial intelligence, just describe it to it in detail."

Ford nodded repeatedly and arranged his residence. After sending Ford off, Li Ming quickly calmed down and explained the context.

This news came a bit unexpectedly. He looked carefully and found the Corona Borealis Ring, thirty-six star clusters, one thousand four hundred and twenty six galaxies, one thousand eight hundred and seventy two living planets, and the number of intelligent life exceeded ten trillion. .

He felt horrified that they were all killed. If the news really spread, he didn't know how much trouble it would cause.

"Is it the empire's instruction, or is it Ryan's own play?" He estimated that the Corona Borealis star ring was almost adjacent to the empire's territory.

But it is precisely because of this that if there is really an empire's instruction, it will not do this.

"If we were farther away, it might be the empire's instruction, but at such a close distance, I feel like Ryan was trying to force the empire into the water in order to avoid an accident." Li Ming thought about it.

No one can withstand the backlash of this ring-level massacre being revealed.

Li Ming's eyes flashed sharply. The maneuverability of this matter seemed to be extremely high.

But a question arises. After paying such a high price, what does Ryan want to do?

With only this information, Li Ming naturally couldn't figure out the answer, but it must be of great importance. What the enemy wanted was what he wanted to stop.

With the clues coming out, he acted very quickly, his eyes moved slightly, and he had already switched the [Quantum Communication Ring], and the next moment he arrived in the Iron Throne Hall.

The Iron Throne Hall has many functions. It can be done by summoning everyone or just a few people individually.

Not long after, shadows appeared in front of him and on the seats beside him.

It was the Navigator and the Bloodfallen that he summoned.

The pioneers were in constant action for most of the year, but they were also very smart. Polk's Declaration was not a clarion call to launch a general offensive. They were still focused on cutting off the empire's tentacles outside.

The main event location was the Sea of ​​Stars, and the results were indeed impressive. Ryan was almost restricted from going anywhere.

The number of imperial garrison troops has been greatly reduced.

This can show from the side that the empire is indeed deteriorating, causing the greed of many careerists.

In other places, most of them are just foreshadowing and there is no big plan.

According to Blackbeard's words, "How can there be so many big plans? Each big plan takes years of preparation."

Li Ming came up occasionally to exchange information and so on. There were a few times where he found out the true identities of several members by mistake.

"Qinglong?" The navigator was a little surprised, after all, Qinglong had never actively summoned anyone.

"What do you want to talk to us about?" The Bloodfaller was also surprised.

"I just learned something incredible." Li Ming said.

"Unbelievable?" The navigator became interested, "What can make Mr. Qinglong feel incredible?"

"Someone is preparing to sacrifice the entire Corona Borealis ring with blood." Li Ming spit out a few words.

After the voice fell, the other two did not speak for the first time, and the gray mist on the chair kept surging.

After a while, the Bloodfaller said with some suspicion: "Blood sacrifice to the Corona Borealis ring? Why haven't we received any news?"

Such a big event can't be silent no matter how you look at it.

The navigator asked: "Who is so bold? Dare to make trouble under the nose of the empire? Isn't this a slap in the face of the empire?"

The Corona Borealis ring is adjacent to the territory of the empire. It's not quite appropriate to say that the civilization in it is a dog tied at the door of the house, but it's almost the same.

The dog was killed, and the owner still didn't know anything?

"It's still in the works. As for who did it." Li Ming paused, then said, "Prince Ryan."

After the words fell, the Bloodfaller spoke in a surprised and loud voice: "This is impossible---He is still involved in the Sea of ​​Stars by us."

Li Ming glanced at him, so surprised?

The Navigator was also suspicious, "Where did you get this news?"

"Believe it or not." Li Ming said lightly: "I plan to start with this matter. Let's discuss a plan. If it is handled properly, it will definitely cause a heavy blow to the empire."

That's right, he plans to use the power of the Pioneer. It is difficult for him to handle such a big thing by himself.

Seeing that he was so sure, the two fell silent. After a long time, the Navigator said:

"Since your Excellency is so sure, let's conduct an intelligence investigation first. Blackbeard and Falcon have some power in the Corona Borealis ring. Let them cooperate."

"If it is confirmed that this matter is true, we will take the next step."

The Bloodfaller remained silent.

Li Ming also knew that more concrete evidence was needed to convince the two guys, and responded: "I will let my students go and cooperate with them."

"By the way, I hope you two don't leak this news to others." Li Ming reminded again.

"Your Excellency should know the confidentiality of the Pioneers." The navigator said calmly.

Li Ming knew the value of this sentence. Since the Pioneers gradually surfaced, it's not that no one jumped around.

To be more accurate, there are three people who were purged three months ago, two months ago, and one month ago.