Chapter Thirty-One: The Bonds of Hatred (Please Keep Reading)

Yes, that’s right—Ye Guhong was both excited and troubled at the same time.

Watching the news about the Sakura Technology Summit’s network being hacked, the shrine being bombed, and the theft of cultural relics was undeniably satisfying.

Yet, these three incidents were clearly interconnected and highly targeted, all pointing toward Shang Xia. It was obvious that Sakura would never let this go easily.

Dealing with those smooth-talking types from Sakura was no simple matter.

But Tang Wensheng took it in stride, laughing heartily. “Old Ye, why worry? After all, it wasn’t us who did it. Like I said before, if they have the guts, let them find solid evidence. Otherwise, we’ll just say they’re exploiting technological breakthroughs to stage a setup and deliberately frame us!”

At those words, Ye Guhong and Han Zhaoyu’s eyes brightened immediately.

“You, Tang old man, you really are ruthless! Turning the tables like that, you’ve got some serious skills,” Ye Guhong chuckled.

“Heh heh, Old Ye, what you say! This isn’t turning the tables—it’s strategic policy!” Tang Wensheng muttered with mock indignation. “You’ve got to use special tactics against shameless people!”

“Alright, if they come knocking for an explanation, we’ll respond exactly as you say. If they don’t accept it, let them go find the evidence themselves,” Ye Guhong decided firmly.

As for whether Sakura could really find concrete evidence tying those actions to that person, Ye Guhong wasn’t worried at all.

Come on.

The best official elite teams had tried everything during this time but couldn’t find a single clue linking that individual.

With Sakura’s limited capabilities, it would be surprising if they found anything.

After discussing how to handle Sakura, Tang Wensheng suddenly rubbed his hands together with a hint of anticipation.

“We’re now over eighty percent sure it was that person behind all this. Since they managed to hack the summit’s network, they probably have all of Sakura’s technical breakthrough data. Should we start looking forward to something?”

The room fell silent.

Ye Guhong and Han Zhaoyu exchanged glances and said, “Old Tang, didn’t we say last time that person has already done enough for us? Naturally, it’d be great if they provide the data, but if not, we can’t demand it.”

“Ahem, of course I understand that. I just think, given their attitude, if they did get it, they wouldn’t hold back. So I’m just hoping,” Tang Wensheng explained.

Ye Guhong nodded slightly, saying no more.

Tang Wensheng’s hope was natural, but what worried him more now was Lin Yang’s personal safety.

Hacking the summit’s network, bombing shrines, and stealing so many relics all in one day—there was no way to guarantee no traces were left behind. And since Lin Yang was from Shang Xia, if Sakura caught him, the consequences would be unimaginable.

But no matter how worried Ye Guhong was, there was nothing he could do.

They couldn’t even find a trace of Lin Yang’s identity now; their help was limited.

All they could do was pray Lin Yang would be safe and ask Sakura’s local staff to cover up any possible clues that might reveal his identity.

Meanwhile, while Ye Guhong and the others were deeply anxious, Lin Yang was in high spirits within Sakura’s Eastern Capital.

Watching the Sakura folks fume with frustration was immensely satisfying.

“Too bad there aren’t enough national treasure points; otherwise, I could cause more damage,” he thought with some regret.

Although Lin Yang was pleased, he still felt a twinge of disappointment.

Destroying shrines was a system task, requiring only a small amount of national treasure points to directly get system assistance for the destruction.

That’s how he managed to bomb multiple shrines across the Eastern Capital at once—he wasn’t a god, after all, and had no cloning technique.

But if he wanted to cause destruction beyond system tasks, the system’s fees were steep, and he couldn’t afford it right now.

To be precise, he did have enough—several hundred points of national treasure value could cover one more destruction—but at this stage, those points were better used to exchange for high-tech upgrades to advance Shang Xia’s technology; they couldn’t be wasted lightly.

As for sabotaging Sakura itself, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.

Just as Lin Yang was feeling a bit regretful, the system notifications chimed again.

“Congratulations, host, for completing the shrine destruction task. You have earned 100 national treasure points.”

“Congratulations, host, for completing the scientific research acquisition task. You have earned 100 national treasure points.”

“Congratulations, host, due to the series of destructive impacts caused within Sakura’s territory, your country’s people have developed a certain degree of admiration for you, hailing you as an unsung hero. You have gained 1 reputation point.”

“Due to the special historical enmity between your country and Sakura, your reputation gain has been amplified. The reputation points earned have increased to 10.”

“Congratulations, host, for reaching 10 reputation points, you have earned an exclusive advanced title: Rising Renown.”

“Congratulations, host, for completing the Eastern Capital relic repatriation series of tasks, you have earned 110 national treasure points and a third-class reward.”

“Congratulations, host, for earning 1 achievement point upon completing related tasks in a nation with a special bond.”

The system notifications went on for a full minute.

Lin Yang blinked.

Wow, the rewards this time were truly plentiful!

A total of 310 national treasure points!

This haul exceeded the combined total he earned in the past few days running back and forth between Windmill Country and Little Eagle’s territory.

More importantly, the reputation points were a full ten!

Though the system said reputation was mostly useless in the early stages, typically only one point could be earned at a time.

But this time, it jumped straight to ten.

And he even earned an advanced title—though titles were pretty much useless...

“Just as expected from Sakura. Because of the special historical enmity, the reputation was amplified tenfold. Looks like there’s great potential here!” Lin Yang’s eyes shone brighter.

Reputation might not be useful now, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be later. The harder to obtain something is, the more precious it becomes. He could cause more trouble in Sakura in the future to gather reputation points for emergencies.

Then Lin Yang checked his current national treasure points.

He had a total of 500 points.

After exchanging for the 0.1-nanometer lithography manufacturing manual, he had 300 points left. Using system services to hack Sakura’s network cost 100 points, bombing shrines and collecting relics took another 10.

The current total was just right—enough to exchange for controlled nuclear fusion technology!

Lin Yang’s gaze burned with determination.