In space, the patrol ships and assault ships had stopped attacking. All the other starships had received orders to stop attacking from the mothership. Of course, no one would have guessed that these orders were given by Xin Jie. This was where the hacker's advantage came into play. The crisis was resolved without a single drop of blood.
The defensive energy field created by the Divine Light energy source did not disappear. The white pupil of light was still spinning, but an energy vortex had appeared right in front of the pupil. The space-time rift had been opened, and the Divine Arrow spaceship flew in with a whoosh. After absorbing a large amount of attack energy, short-distance teleportation was not a problem at all.
Ding Meng's group had slipped away under everyone's watchful eyes. Moreover, the Apocalypse Group's fleet had no way of tracking them down.
Ding Meng and Su Xia had been safely teleported back. Seeing the operating screen and the sea of stars flying by outside the window, Ding Meng let out a long sigh of relief. It had been ten years since he piloted the S.S. Expedition into the wormhole. It was only today that he had truly returned.
Little Rascal was still operating on the screen. At this moment, the interstellar map had been generated. Xiao Ai fiddled with the cursor representing the major planets one by one. Her finger finally stopped at a dot. "Planet Watcher?
Are you sure it's this planet? "
Xin Jie nodded. "I'm sure. The Grassroot Empire not only left their own unique logo in the final block of the program, but they also hid an SSS-grade code. The code hinted at the planet Planet Watcher three times."
The dot was quickly zoomed in. Planet Watcher was a small, remote planet far away from the Federal Empire. Its remoteness was not inferior to the V4 Poison Hazard Planet. Many years ago, it was still considered relatively wealthy, but there were not many resources that could be used. Gradually, it was abandoned by the Federal Empire.
The map showed that Xin Jie's coordinates were a small village. Xiao Ai was puzzled. "Does the Grassroot Empire live in this village?"
Xin Jie also showed a puzzled expression. "But the hidden message in the program does indeed show that."
Xiao Ai clapped her hands and said, "Ding Meng, we won't go down. Let Xiao Ai pass you down!"
The village was located by a river. It was indeed very small. Judging from the number of houses, there were probably only forty to fifty families here. Ding Meng scanned the village with his telekinesis vision. Except for a white-haired old man in ragged clothes at the entrance of the village, there was no one else in the village.
"Where did the people of this place go?" Su Xia asked, puzzled.
Ding Meng said with a sullen face, "The people in this place are not missing. In my opinion, most of them are dead."
Xin Jie also nodded in agreement. These houses were too old, and many places were already rusty. Judging from the surrounding environment, the resources here were almost completely exhausted.
However, they could still vaguely see the beautiful traces of Planet Guardian's past. At the very least, the streams in the valleys had not dried up, and the hills had not completely withered. They could still vaguely see scattered greenery.
"Hello, old man …" Xin Jie took the initiative to go forward and greet him, but halfway through, he was at a loss for words. He suddenly did not know how to ask. He could not possibly say that he was here to visit the grassroots empire, right?
Unexpectedly, the old man took the initiative to say, "Young man, you're here to look for someone, right?"
Xin Jie said in surprise, "How did you know?"
The old man sighed and said, "I'm the only one left here, but someone once told me that a young man would come looking for him sooner or later."
Ding Meng and the other two looked at each other. Could it be that the grassroots empire had already predicted that Xin Jie would come?
The old man suddenly said, "Is your code name Hollow Teeth?"
Xin Jie nodded in surprise. "Yes, my name is Xin Jie. Xin as in hard work, Jie as in outstanding. My code name is Hollow Teeth!"
The old man nodded in satisfaction. He pointed into the distance and said, "Go ahead. He said that when you come, bring me there to look for him."
Looking in the direction he was pointing, there was a two-story cement bungalow on a small hill about a few hundred meters away from the village entrance.
The house was really old and dilapidated. Furthermore, the house was very strange. There were clotheslines in the yard, and there was a large jar of sauce in the corner. There was also a well next to it.
The clotheslines had turned yellow, and there were many cracks on the surface of the jar. As for the well, it had dried up a long time ago. This did not look like someone was living here. Instead, it looked like it had been left unused for a long time.
Xin Jie had already walked up to the gate. The gate was a rusty iron fence. Xin Jie took a deep breath and asked, "Is anyone home?"
At this moment, there seemed to be a flash of white light in the yard, and the iron gate opened automatically with a clatter.
Ding Meng frowned and said, "There's no one in this house, but there's an AI system running automatically in this place. There's an optical computer in the room on the first floor, and the system commands are coming from there."
Initially, Xin Jie was still wondering if the grassroots empire lived here, but after hearing Ding Meng's explanation, he was immediately certain that this was his residence. Because this village was so primitive and backward, how could it have an AI system?
Xin Jie turned his head and asked, "Old man, do you know who the owner of this house is?"
The old man smiled bitterly and shook his head. "I know who the owner is, but I don't know his name. He's been in our village for more than ten years, and no one has ever known his name …"
Xin Jie laughed to himself. It would be strange if you guys knew. Looking at the hundreds of billions of people in the Federal Empire, no one knew the identity of the grassroots empire.
Thinking of this, Xin Jie suddenly felt his heart pounding. This was because he was very likely going to meet this most mysterious and legendary almighty of the hacker world. This situation was like the most devout believer standing at the gates of a sacred temple, about to face the god in his heart.
Xin Jie even straightened his collar. He did not want to leave this almighty with a bad impression of being disheveled.
The bungalow was a standard village building. The large room in the center of the first floor was the main room. In the middle of the room was a shabby square table, and next to it were two small wooden stools covered in dust. This place had indeed not been lived in for a long time.
There was indeed a miniature optical computer on the square table, but looking at the model, it was quite old. Other than that, there was only a faded old photo hanging on the wall. The person in the photo was a young woman with an unusually sweet appearance.
Xin Jie was instantly stunned. That feeling was like a bucket of cold water had been poured over his hot-blooded head.
Could it be that this person was that omnipotent grassroots empire?
Could it be that this was her residence? This place was so shabby, so difficult, and she lived in this kind of place?
Xin Jie was really curious. Not only was he curious, he was also puzzled.
Fortunately, the old man was already explaining. "She's the owner of this house. Counting the years, she's been in our village for fifteen years."
"Then where is she?" Xin Jie quickly asked.
The old man's voice dimmed. "She passed away three years ago."
"W-what?" Xin Jie and the other two were all shocked.
"Passed away?" The blood drained from Xin Jie's face in an instant. "How is that possible?
How is that possible? "
Ding Meng quickly said, "Old man, may I ask what the owner's name is? How should we address her?"
The old man shook his head and said, "No one knows her name. We all call her Xiao Yun. She came from outer space fifteen years ago. She even brought a two-year-old child with her. We only know that she calls her son Xiao Hua. No one knows the real names of the mother and daughter. It's said that they are interstellar refugees who escaped from outer space …"
"This …" Ding Meng was also stunned. Although he did not know much about the hacker world, at least he knew one thing. This omnipotent grassroots empire was actually an interstellar refugee, and she even brought a two-year-old child with her. This was completely different from the image of an 'expert' in their minds. It was completely unexpected.
Su Xia was also a woman. She also had the experience of being a refugee. She could not help but ask, "She brought her child here. How did she live?"
The old man pointed to the clothesline pole in the yard and said, "She was a laundry worker in our village. She made a living by washing clothes and dishes in other houses."
Su Xia was also stunned. On such a primitive and backward planet, laundry workers worked so hard and their income was so meager. Could it be that the grassroots empire relied on this to make a living?
Furthermore, she had to raise a two-year-old child. She could not imagine how hard life was for a grassroots empire.
Was this the hacker who punished the Heavenly Dragon Unit and made them helpless?
Was this the king who emptied the Heavenly Dragon Unit's account of hundreds of millions of galactic coins?
Only God knew what kind of life she lived.
The three of them were shocked and could not speak for a long time.
After a long time, Xin Jie could finally speak. "This Xiao Yun … elder sister, how did she pass away?"
The old man also had a strange expression. "She was only 26 years old when she came. However, she aged very quickly in the past ten years. Before she passed away, she looked like an old woman in her seventies or eighties. We also found a doctor to check on her, but she did not have any illness. She died of old age naturally …"
Xin Jie was shocked again and again. According to the old man, even if Grassroots Empire was still alive, he was only 41 years old today, which was two years younger than himself. And Grassroots Empire was born more than ten years ago. What kind of amazing talent was this? What kind of talent was this? What kind of talent was this?
"Heaven is really jealous of geniuses." Xin Jie said regretfully.
Ding Meng said, "Old man, where is elder sister Xiao Yun buried? We want to pay our respects to her."
The old man also sighed. "She was not buried here. According to her will, her son took her ashes and left here, saying that he was going to send her back to her hometown. However, no one knows where her hometown is."
Ding Meng was also speechless. This was not a pleasant feeling. Xin Jie and Little Rascal had been painstakingly searching for this extraordinary person. Who would have thought that this person had already passed away for such a long time? When they finally found this place, all they saw was a portrait.
The old man sighed. "Xiao Yun told me before she died that in the future, a young man named Xin Jie, codenamed Kong Ya, would come here to find her. Now that you are finally here, I have done what I promised her. I will go out first. If you need anything, you can come to the village to find me."
Xin Jie let out a long sigh. He was once again impressed. Even the events after death were calculated so accurately. If the person in the photo in front of him was not the grassroots empire, then who was?
Who was worthy?