Looking at the equipment he had jelly-rigged, Barda knew that they would be one-time usage, so he had a plan to destroy the 2 devices as soon as he was done. In all the vital components, Barda had rigged gunpowder explosives to destroy anything sensitive.
That wouldn't have been a concern, but he guessed Lady Arnea and her people would be very curious to know what he had built. No way he was going to leave chips around to be reverse-engineered.
Due to the distance and hence the time difference, Barda knew he didn't have many options to get data. Whatever target he was going to hit should have understandable and concise data. Furthermore, the information needed to be comprehensive for usage.
He could have targeted data-centers of important companies, they were bound to have good information. However, they would be very partial to the company and hence incomplete. Social media was also very rampant, and he had considered hitting the top sites, but he relented.
Over the years, humanity had risen in the galaxies and colonized several planets. It was not unusual to hear of a prominent family that owned an entire planet or a solar system. However, humanity's need for innovation and money-making never waned one bit.
Therefore, the need for a patent office was felt even more. All planets registered in the Human Federation were required to have certain buildings that were believed to serve the whole human race. These included the patent offices, or as known officially: Human Federation Patency Authority.
The patent offices were well known by most innovative minds but were hardly frequented, especially in the fringes of the federation. As such, Barda hoped the security would be laxer than those closer to the headquarters. If his virtual intrusion failed, it would all have been for naught.
Finally, Barda got what he was waiting for. The signal and the hack tools deployed had been effective enough. What's more, the command was running perfectly, which meant ... Suddenly, Barda was hit by an influx of data flowing in.
The advantage of the Patent offices was that all their information was synced and centralized to prevent thieves and pirates from copying a patent and using it in a different part of the federation. That being said, all his hack protocols had all failed. His intrusion had only happened when he noticed a security weakness in the Power Line Connection(PLC). It ended up being easier and faster than the earlier intended method.
[Transfer complete. Initializing Self-Destruct Protocol.]
It took Barda another 12 hours of downloading data before he got the transmission. With an ear-to-ear grin, he had begun a slow descent down the mountain.
He had done it! He had every patent known to man. A patent in the simplest explanation is a form of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, selling and importing an invention. Legalities aside, the patent contained details on how to manufacture, design or invent said invention.
In a nutshell, aside from proprietary information, Barda now had almost every design known to man. Why would he not be happy? Just thinking of the possibilities made him grin harder, almost tearing his face off.
Barda was taking a walk in the library full of books. The books were arranged according to how the patents had been arranged. Barda did not need to change anything, just taking a walk and admiring his collection.
With the information obtained from Tristan's library and the patents, Barda felt he had enough information to bridge both worlds. He was already a peerless genius with the AI and supercomputers, but now with the patents, he was beyond reach.
As Barda went about in his head, the system suddenly flashed red, indicating imminent danger. At the same time, the system took control of Barda's arm and grabbed the oncoming arrow. He then quickly rushed to the nearby bush and hid there.
Looking at the scans, Barda found that there were 5 hidden people, presumably assassins sent to put him down. Barda judged the furthest one was the bowman, but 4 people were closing in on him.
"I thought the Queen's Rod was something special, turns out people just like to overpraise a famous name," A burly man raised his ax and lunged at Barda. Watching the man coming, Barda ducked left and followed up with a counter-attack with a right fist. However, he had to change since a swordsman was coming at him from the left, and a spearman blocking all his escape routes.
Barda brandished the arrow in his hand at the swordsman, parrying his attack. Barda's movements were nimble and well-timed to ensure he steered clear of the spearman's attacks. The spearman was not that bad, but Barda had an AI with advanced pattern recognition. The moment the man moved, Barda had read him like a book.
Suddenly, a tower shield came at Barda from the side. From his position, Barda had no escape, so he received the attack. It wasn't that Barda hadn't seen the attack, but he so wanted that shield.
Barda grabbed on the shield, and leveraging on the moment of the impact, he swerved, causing the shield-bearer to stumble and fall. The shield came free of his arm at just the right moment, for a split-second later, Barda would have been decapitated by the ax.
With the shield up, Barda had blocked all incoming attacks, including another arrow. The bowman was skilled indeed try and thread the needle with his teammates all around the target, or maybe he just didn't care.
Barda then spun around with the shield up and struck at the fallen shield bearer. Barda soon discovered that he also had a sword, but had chosen to attack with the shield. Grabbing the sword, Barda quickly got back to his feet.
The AI had managed to map out every one of their actions using its advanced predictive analysis modules. Once he was upright, Barda knew exactly when to swing his sword. When he did, the ax and sword fell, and he deflected the coming spear. Soon after, the heads of the swordsman and the ax-man followed.
Seeing the attack, the spear guy was momentarily shocked. Before he could react, a sword had already torn through his neck, detaching his head from his body. Barda didn't stop there. Running at neck-break speeds, he quickly made his way through the forest towards the bowman.
Seeing the coming threat, the bowman tried his best to shoot down Barda but none of his shots connected. He quickly got down from his perch and took off running. Suddenly, stabbing pain in his right leg brought him down.
As he tried to get up, the bowman saw someone take his bow. He looked up to see an arrow aimed at this forehead.
"I will say a list of names, nod if you hear your employer," Barda said. He had deduced that these were assassins sent to take him down.
"I will never talk!" The bowman shouted defiantly. A proud man, he knew he was at the end of his rope. The least he could do was die with some dignity. He was not going to help his reaper.
What he didn't know was that Barda was never interested in anything he had to say, but in his microexpressions. That was where the truth lay.
"Lady Arnea," Barda said and gave a meaningful look at the assassin. The man gave him a blank stare, no recognition whatsoever.
"The prince of Gumina?" The man had hesitated before nodding slightly. Barda knew this ploy. This devil wanted him to think it was them, but it was not. Not by his reactions. Moreover, had it been Gumina, shouldn't they have used their own, not some nameless assassins.
"King Sahir?" With his top 2 suspects eliminated, Barda was just listing down potential suspects at this point. Curiously, this man's reaction showed he was getting close. He had been shocked, eyes widening slightly before he resumed his composure.
With the information at hand, Barda let loose the arrow, ending the man's life. "Either King Sahir or someone in his court wanted me dead," Barda muttered to himself as he got back to the city.
Above him in the clouds, 2 people were very shocked.
"He thinks you are after him?" Krib asked her.
"No. I don't think so, but he suspects something," She answered fascinated. For whatever reason, he was wary of her.
"Better watch your back?"
"Why should I? I have you to look after me," Lady Arnea answered sweetly. Krib could take the annoyed her any day, but he knew to be wary of the sweet lady, she was the absolute devil.