If only he had smoothly taken Tianyuan Military Industry back then, at least half of his worries would be gone now.
Sun Ai had posed three demands to Ren Zhong.
First, she discovered that the microorganisms in the alien ore could amplify the information streams she released. She had been unaware of this until Ren Zhong involved her in the battle to seize Zhaoshan Town. Encased in a Red Blade Armor mixed with a large amount of alien ore, with other elite warriors wielding weapons containing alien ore alloy, she perceived this while infiltrating the city defense cannon and hacking the central system via cable links.
Second, she needed to use the Ghost Particle Communicator to broadcast her signal, not just one, but many. She was unsure of the exact number but knew it would be significant.
Third, she needed this signal to scan Source Star and the entire Source Star System to locate the "Net's" physical position. Sun Ai believed that although the "Net" was ubiquitous and perhaps intangible, it couldn't exist purely within information streams and must have an operational center. Upon locating this center, she would use the Ghost Particle Communicator array to dispatch her consciousness there, launching a destructive infiltration against the Net. Ideally, she could achieve mutual destruction.
Ren Zhong had solutions for all three of Sun Ai's demands.
As for alien ore, he currently had over seven tons.
If he restarted and monopolized all the alien ore accumulated by the Wang Family, the total would exceed twenty tons.
Uncertain if it would work, but it's worth trying.
Ghost Particle Communicators are regulated items, expensive too, but Purple Crystal Mining holds a large stock of communicators. Ren Zhong believed he could obtain them through Purple Crystal Mining.
As for the third point, uncovering the physical location of the "Net," Ren Zhong also had a breakthrough idea, which was based on a new positioning technology under development by Tianyuan Military Industry.
If Ren Zhong had completed the act of the snake swallowing the elephant back then, he wouldn't need to restart now. He could first explore this technology, finding ways to deal with the alien ore slowly in the future.
Right now, though, he was stuck.
Ying Hao had shifted from being his support to his obstacle. Even if Ren Zhong offered an astronomical price, Ying Hao would never allow him to purchase Tianyuan Military Industry, never allow him to own a weapons factory.
Ren Zhong pondered for a long time and set a new date for himself, deciding to observe the situation for another half month. If there was no breakthrough by the 167th day, he would restart.
As for now, he first intended to seize all of Yangsheng City, observing the ensuing changes.
...
That noon, the combined forces of 110,000, including the Starfire Army, Yangsheng Army, and the 20,000 newly reorganized Nangao Army, arrived at Beihai Town.
No battles occurred; the army moved directly in.
Half an hour earlier, Ren Zhong had reached a deal with Beihai's resource owners to purchase at thirty percent price.
Thus, Wangdong Town, Zhaoshan Town, Nangao Town, Beihai Town were all secured.
Counting Starfire Town, Ren Zhong now monopolized half of the ten towns in Yangsheng City, with only Xifeng Town and the four towns within West Lake County struggling.
A comprehensive intelligence report on Xifeng Town was presented to Ren Zhong.
After a quick glance, Ren Zhong made a decision.
Launch a blitzkrieg immediately, striking directly at Xifeng Town.
The owner of Xifeng's resources must die, even if they surrender.