The jungles of southern Asia were rumored to be perilous, impassable, and plagued by disease, but to the warriors of the source energy world, none of this posed a problem.
They would emerge from the jungle.
The national governments of the ordinary world and Azure's South Asian front armies had all quietly yielded the way.
None of this was any secret.
The people waiting outside the jungle had already been crouching in the overgrown weeds for two days when they suddenly received a piece of advice today:
"If you keep lying down there, you might be mistaken for Alphonse's men. Then you'll be in serious trouble."
The crowd quickly agreed; that logic was sound.
Ashleia stood up from the soft hollow in the grass. Brushing away the grass clinging to her clothes as she listened to the chatter around them, she said, "Listen, Ian, they're talking about that wedding."
"Yeah, I hear them too. It's only natural, isn't it? Given the timing and the people attending, that wedding was destined to go down in history. As the groom, Lieutenant Colonel Lao Jian's name has already spread across almost the entire world."
Ian unscrewed the cap of his canteen and handed it to Ashleia as he spoke, stepping in front of her to keep a wary eye on their surroundings.
In truth, Ian was no match for Ashleia, but this protective habit had begun three years ago at Xilang Peak and had never changed.
Over these three years, they had revisited Xilang Peak together, journeyed deep into the plateau where the incident occurred to investigate, and traveled to the Antarctic battlefield, treading upon blood-stained glaciers.
Because of their outspoken, clear-cut support for Major The Qing, the two had borne immense risks and pressure together, including more than a dozen death threats.
Over the past two days, scattered along the perimeter of the jungle, roughly four to five hundred people had assembled, with more continuously joining their ranks.
Quite a few among them were journalists and press personnel like Ashleia and Ian. Because Azure had remained silent regarding this matter, some had ventured out to take a look; met with no interference, even more had followed.
An interview was naturally out of the question—this was a vendetta, after all. Their only hope was to be present on the scene when the time came, to witness whatever unfolded.
Beyond them, there were intelligence agents from various organizations across the source energy world, Azure included; geniuses whose special standing spared them from strict restraint, allowing them to come watch the spectacle; and people who had lost family or friends in Nepal...
And, without question, there were also plants sent by Alphonse.
The crowd remained wary of one another for that reason, yet no violent conflict actually broke out. Even when young geniuses from Azure locked eyes from afar with figures suspected of belonging to Snow Lotus, neither side raised a hand.
Their restraint stemmed from the sheer magnitude of what was about to happen. Not a single person wanted to miss it.
Just as everyone was saying: "This may very well be the most momentous, most high-profile act of vengeance in the entire history of the source energy world."
The avenger in this vendetta had hailed from Azure himself, nearly earning a Star of Azure around the age of twenty, and now he was coming to kill Azure's first-generation Starlight.
During the most perilous phase, he had spent three years on the run.
He returned standing upon the Dome Leaderboard, backed by an army over ten thousand strong, spearheaded by three super combat powers and eight top-tier fighters. He had publicly put all factions in the world on notice, Azure included, before marching out to enact his revenge.
"That way of doing things makes Major Qing look arrogant, violent, overconfident, and accustomed to flouting all rules, but in reality he isn't like that at all. I've interacted with him. Most of the time, he comes across as quiet and earnest. It's his steadfast resolve and his unique adherence to his principles that set him apart from the majority of this world."
Tightening the cap on the canteen with one hand, Ashleia stood gazing toward the jungle, her eyes bright as she spoke.
Over these years, Ashleia had always taken immense pride in having captured that photograph of him shouldering the banner upon the icy cliff. She was also the only known reporter ever to have truly interviewed The King... that night at the peak of Xilang Peak, when Major Qing surged into the sky with his sword and brought down the Great Spike mothership.
In truth, Ian knew the facts: the so-called interview had been nothing more than a single sentence relayed through an intermediary, and Ashleia had very clearly been brushed off.
Of course, Ian would never point that out... He wasn't that handsome, invincible dead iron straight man.
...
"They're here!" The strongest among them were the first to catch the sound and raised a shout, prompting the crowd to instinctively fall back a few steps.
Moments later, the whir of helicopter rotor blades grew steadily clearer.
Above the dense, lush jungle canopy, a helicopter appeared, banking slightly as it drew near and curved into the airspace outside the forest.
Was it conducting reconnaissance?
According to the rules of engagement, this was a severe blunder: the helicopter was flying far too low and had exposed itself directly in plain sight.
"Is that...?"
"Lieutenant Wen Jifei and his gun—that endless gun."
The speaker looked upward. Above, the helicopter's cabin door slid open abruptly, and a figure appeared at the hatch holding a sniper rifle in one hand.
"Oh, it really is him. I heard that not long ago, some council members in the Coalition were proposing to seize that gun for research the moment they returned. Then they received word that Major Qing would never return to Azure, which left them fuming and completely bewildered."
"See? If you support Azure, they take your gun. But once you have nothing to do with Azure, those great and wise council members become as dumbfounded and helpless as wooden geese."
"Yeah, Azure is truly exasperating sometimes. Those council members are like babies still nursing on their mothers' milk—flailing their limbs and throwing tantrums, thinking that's the skill that keeps them afloat in this world."
"Except not everyone is their mother or father, are they?"
"At least Major Qing made it clear he doesn't have children like them."
The chatter spread outside the jungle, letting even those who hadn't recognized him know who it was.
"Good heavens!" someone gasped.
Because this was actually very dangerous. While killing him might be difficult, the chance of injuring him was definitely real.
Especially given the rumors that Second Lieutenant Wen Jifei's personal combat prowess wasn't all that formidable.
"If I were Alphonse, I'd definitely give them a little greeting gift here. At least give it a shot, wouldn't you?"
"Right, maybe take care of a massive nuisance while he's at it! I mean Second Lieutenant Wen. Legend has it that he and his gun can sway the outcome of a duel between peak-level combatants."
The words had barely faded—
*Whoosh!* The sudden whoosh of a firearm launch tore through the air.
From the dense shrubs behind the crowd, a shoulder-fired man-portable missile shot toward the helicopter in the sky.
A collective cry of alarm broke out from the crowd.
Then—*Boom!*
Second Lieutenant Wen Jifei fired, but the crack of his shot was drowned out by the missile detonating in midair.
The missile blew apart roughly thirty meters above the ground. A blinding fireball and scattering shards of metal rained down, sweeping over the earth below.
The crowd ducked and scattered slightly to get clear...
And almost immediately after, they spotted the dead body collapsed within the bushes.
Second Lieutenant Wen had fired only a single shot just now; of that, there was no doubt.
Which meant that source-energy-powered dead iron bullet had first precisely pierced the man-portable missile to trigger an early detonation, then driven right through the explosion to kill the missile gunner on the ground.
When the onlookers looked up once more, their eyes were filled with far greater respect.
The helicopter circled once before its cabin door closed. It turned back toward the jungle and vanished from view.
...Then came a sound from the ground and between the trees, dense and overwhelming.
Ashleia could even feel the entire jungle shuddering.
Then the first figure appeared, stepping out from the jungle. He wore a black combat uniform, with two standard dead iron straight swords sheathed together over his right shoulder and a rectangular wooden case strapped across his back.
He seemed slightly annoyed by the presence of so many people, yet he said nothing.
Then more figures emerged from the jungle: a dozen, a hundred, several hundred... ten thousand.
In the narrative that was now widely known, years ago Major Qing had come to Nepal as an unknown newcomer, participated in the trial of the Third Fixed Exploration Site, and emerged victorious.
That, it seemed, had been the beginning of all the perils that followed—the conspiracies and the truth, the slaughter and the flight.
Now he was back, returning here once more.
Chapter 563