The continent ahead drew closer, the magnificent Huiye City faintly visible.
The city's architectural style was chaotic and intricate. It was easy to imagine that anyone entering without a guide or map would get lost.
Gu Ya piloted the Black Star mecha towards the transport factory on the city's edge. As the towering buildings loomed, the bustling and busy scene at the transport hub became clear.
On the distant sea, numerous Black Star mechas took off from and landed at Huiye City's transport factory.
On the wide transfer plaza outside the transport factory, countless Black Star transport mechas were lined up.
The mecha at the front unloaded its cargo bay onto a giant conveyor belt.
There were hundreds of conveyor belts in the entire plaza. The goods on them passed through layers of inspection instruments before being sent underground. It seemed the city's underground held hidden wonders.
Gu Ya decisively retracted his mecha, using wind power and the exhaust from his exoskeleton legs to rapidly sprint towards a Black Star transport mecha. After a series of actions, Gu Ya entered the cockpit and successfully captured the Black Star pilot.
Amidst the pilot's confused and astonished expression, Gu Ya placed the consciousness world materialization instrument onto his head.
Gu Ya emerged from the pilot's consciousness world and delivered a swift, fatal blow.
Controlling the Black Star transport mecha and impersonating the pilot, Gu Ya smoothly passed through security checks and layered interrogations, arriving at the transport hub plaza.
"According to intelligence, the entire city is controlled by an advanced central brain," Gu Ya said softly. "I've added ten layers of code shielding for you, and you shouldn't be detected by the central brain."
Hei Yang softly said, "Master, I feel your love for me."
"Get lost, don't be so mushy. When we reach the conveyor belt, you'll go in with the cargo. If you encounter danger, return immediately. Remember not to be discovered!"
While waiting in line, Gu Ya also organized the intelligence sent by Sa Kuan.
Sa Kuan had successfully infiltrated the city half a month ago and sent five pieces of intelligence.
Two were routine safety reports, while the remaining three were useful.
[All lifeforms in Huiye City are controlled by programs, with a hierarchical, tree-like management model, topped by the central brain.]
[The Brains are not omnipotent.] Attached was a map of Huiye City's outer districts.
[I do not recommend the Young Master attack Huiye City.]
The first two were normal, but the last one was rather bizarre.
Coupled with the fact that Sa Kuan hadn't sent intelligence in five days, when their prior agreement was to report back every three days, even if there was no news, Gu Ya suspected Sa Kuan had been exposed and likely went into hiding or was captured by the Black Stars.
Gu Ya's immediate priority was to find Sa Kuan as quickly as possible, to prevent him from encountering danger or being exploited by the Black Stars for the intelligence he possessed.
As the conveyor belt swallowed the cargo bay and slowly descended underground, the transport mecha's mission was complete.
Gu Ya set the mecha's program to automatic piloting and flew away from the transport plaza.
Gu Ya then concealed himself within the 'Du Mi Kong Jian' (unique secret space) and, using the outer city map provided by Sa Kuan, navigated towards the city's interior.
'Du Mi Kong Jian' was akin to a small, independent space within a vast, three-dimensional spherical space, capable of moving with the host.
However, exiting from it into paths similar to the real world was not easy.
In open areas, one could walk correctly as long as the direction was known.
But with Huiye City's chaotic arrangement of buildings, if Gu Ya took the wrong path, upon exiting 'Du Mi Kong Jian,' he might very well find himself inside a wall or underground, instantly crushed.
Following the map, Gu Ya quickly reached the boundary of the map's fog. This should be a sealed alley between two large buildings.
A sense of tension quickly filled Gu Ya's heart. If the map was wrong or he had miscalculated, he might be crushed into blood the moment he emerged.
But this did not stump Gu Ya.
He released a dummy body, tossed it out, and then pulled it back. After observing its integrity, Gu Ya confidently stepped out.
Indeed, the map and his own location were correct.
Gu Ya now stood in a dead-end alley, blocked at both ends.
The skyscrapers on either side squeezed the sky into a narrow slit.
The ground was bone dry, with some ferns or weeds quietly growing in the corners and cracked concrete floor.
"A perfect hiding place," Gu Ya said calmly.
Suddenly, he felt something crawling on the back of his neck!
Gu Ya quickly grabbed it and brought it to his eyes. It was a half-mechanical insect, only a centimeter long, resembling a rove beetle, struggling and twitching its short, thin antennae and four legs.
Gu Ya casually crushed the bug and carefully looked at the ground around him. In the dry, cracked crevices of the ground, he could see many similar insects crawling.
"Will it be dangerous?" Gu Ya muttered to himself.
After all, the entire city was controlled by the central brain. It was possible these insects were also its eyes and ears.
But Gu Ya didn't have time to ponder these things. Placing his hands on the building's wall, he activated [Xing Gou Lan Tu] (Star Blueprint), and the entire building's structural diagram entered Gu Ya's mind.
"Consciousness avatar, create new shielding barriers to protect me," Gu Ya said calmly.
He then expanded the 'Du Mi Kong Jian' and vanished from the dead-end alley.
This building's function was to handle the city's outer affairs, including "residents'" sustenance and city operations.
For Gu Ya, the only valuable thing about this building was the possibility of it storing a map of the entire city. Of course, a list of all buildings' functions would be even better.
When Gu Ya emerged from the 'Du Mi Kong Jian' again, he was inside a small bathroom.
It was called a bathroom, but the toilet stall behind him was ridiculously large; it would require a creature three times Gu Ya's height to use such a big toilet.
Without overthinking, Gu Ya pushed open the bathroom stall door and was met with a giant stomach, its belly about to burst the buttons on the white shirt.
Slowly looking up, a mountain-like mass of flesh appeared before Gu Ya.
The entity clearly hadn't noticed the tiny Gu Ya, being absorbed in its own illusory world, lazily unbuckling its trousers, ready to squat.
Gu Ya wouldn't miss such an opportunity. He quickly flashed behind the flesh mountain and activated [Code Tampering].
The intelligence sent by Sa Kuan proved useful. The brains of these giant creatures were embedded with drive chips that Gu Ya could use to control the flesh mountain.
When Gu Ya walked out of the bathroom, he had "transformed" into the flesh mountain, at least in the eyes of its "peers."
With the drive chips from the flesh mountain's brain tucked into his pocket, and the code shielding barriers created by his consciousness avatar, Gu Ya could easily evade the surveillance of the central brain and other sentries.
As for the flesh mountain, it had vanished without a trace.
Upon entering the office area, Gu Ya was immediately stunned.
The vast office space was divided into numerous individual workstations, each occupied by a different employee.
The "difference" here was put in quotes.
While the employees looked humanoid at first glance, upon closer inspection, Gu Ya's scalp tingled.
Some employees were so enormous, their bodies curled up, their torsos and arms motionless, their gazes fixed on tiny holographic systems, their nimble ten fingers tapping away at keyboards.
Others were incredibly diminutive, not even reaching Gu Ya's calf, carrying stacks of paper files taller than themselves, quickly darting between the legs of the giants, not forgetting to yell in shrill voices, "Watch out! You stepped on me!! Hey! Don't block the way!"
There were employees of normal size, but their appearances were truly hard to describe.
Some had telescopes mounted on their heads instead of eyes, some had antennae for ears. Some had vertical zippers for mouths, extending down their necks and into their uniforms. Some simply had entire heads that were square displays.
Among these "employees," Gu Ya, with his normal human appearance, seemed like the odd one out.
Gu Ya casually conjured an old-fashioned audio recorder, stuck his head into it, and transformed, blending in with the crowd.
"Employee number 6975695, your rest time has exceeded protocol by one second. Three days of survival time deducted."
A system voice, emanating from somewhere, echoed above the noisy office area. Gu Ya recalled that he was now employee number 6975695.
But no one cared, least of all Gu Ya.
Gu Ya strode to his workstation and, using [Code Tampering], obtained a confidential map.
"Except for the central district of the city, the entire city is now within my mind."
"It seems the central area of the city is my ultimate destination."
"But for now, I need to find Sa Kuan first."
Just as Gu Ya prepared to leave his workstation, a squad of personnel clad in black combat suits stormed into the office area.
Their shoulders were all modified into shotguns, their hands were barrel-shaped, and atop them were only mechanical eyes and metal ears. They were clearly not to be trifled with.
This squad of combat personnel rushed towards Gu Ya and, without a word, lifted him by his shoulders and began to escort him out.
One of them, with a mechanical voice from an unknown source, said coldly, "Employee number 6975695, your survival time has expired. You are being sent for routine restructuring in the furnace."