"What, Tangtang, aren't you scared at all?"
Although Rusty Sister was formidably strong and had hacked down plenty of Great Spikes and people alike, what He Tangtang had just done still left her feeling somewhat flustered and unnerved.
Killing had its degrees. The difference just now was roughly akin to the difference between hacking an enemy to death and roasting an enemy on the spot before drying him out into jerky.
As she spoke, Rusty Sister turned her head away, unwilling to look, and pointed over her shoulder at the shriveled corpse on the floor that had yet to be carted away.
"Scared of what? What's there to be afraid of? It's an enemy anyway, isn't it? Hacking someone with a blade spatters blood all over the place. Doing it my way, you don't even have to see a drop of blood."
He Tangtang spoke nonchalantly, chewing huge mouthfuls of medium-rare, bloody beef. Truth be told, he rather relished the feeling of inspiring dread right now.
By the time the two were speaking, not many people remained in the dining hall.
A completely pointless assassination attempt with zero chance of success had ended in an instant. After a brief flurry of chaos, the vast majority had already departed, leaving behind only the Frontline military personnel, official staff, and Han Qingyu's group, who stubbornly insisted on finishing their breakfast.
They had no choice but to eat; shortly after this, they would board an airship to leave for their next stop.
"Nothing much will likely turn up in the follow-up investigation, right?" Han Qingyu asked in a low voice. In truth, he was still somewhat shaken—after all, this was his "first time" facing blades, guns, and an assassination.
He was doing his best to hold it together. Because of his status as Major Qing, he wanted to appear as composed as possible.
Even so, he couldn't swallow another bite, mostly out of disgust caused by He Tangtang.
"You're right. If someone is determined to die, they definitely won't leave any clues behind. As for the gun, if its origin really can't be traced, we could try digging into research and development. Though the chances are slim," Wen Jifei said, his gaze thoughtful.
"The real issue is that this assassination appeared utterly pointless, and success was out of the question," the Little Prince said, rapping his knuckles against the tabletop.
"And the target was Qingzi." Wen Jifei's brow furrowed as he spoke.
While the two began their analysis, some among the crowd that had already left outside finally started coming to their senses from the shock and chaos.
"Why do I feel like something wasn't quite right?"
"What wasn't right? Aside from those two assassins being too stupid..."
"Being too stupid is suspicious in itself. And besides, did Major Qing really need to dodge that first knife thrust?"
"Uh, he even blocked it with a plate—a porcelain plate... Fine, even if that dodge was purely reflexive, what about the bullets afterward? Why did he dodge? A source energy firearm couldn't possibly pose a threat to him!"
The points of suspicion had already emerged amid their chatter, yet they didn't lead to deeper contemplation or further doubts. Because the name was Han Qingyu, people instinctively refrained from overthinking.
Yet Wen Jifei and the others were well aware of the conclusions that had not quite formed in those minds.
"Right now, the only explanation is that someone has already noticed something is wrong with Qingzi," Wen Jifei deduced as his first conclusion.
"So they were... probing him?" Yang Qingbai chimed in.
"A probe in itself carries no value or meaning. The key is who they really are, what they want, and what their logic is," the Little Prince mused aloud, deep in thought.
Wen Jifei said, "If we assume their objective was to use this assassination to show the whole world that the current Major Qing isn't actually Major Qing anymore..."
The Little Prince said, "To shatter humanity's faith. Where is the tangible benefit in that?"
This question silenced everyone at the table. Thinking simplistically, the answer was obvious: the Cleansing Faction needed no justification to tear down humanity's morale. But precisely because that logic was so straightforward, it seemed too superficial, too vague, the cost too high, and the logistics of planting operatives far too difficult.
So, assuming for a moment that the assassins weren't from the Cleansing Faction, who else could it be? And for what purpose?
No immediate answer presented itself.
Breakfast, however, was just about finished, and everyone rose one after another, preparing to head for the airport.
Han Qingyu hesitated as he stood up with them, then spoke up, "Proving I'm a fake..."
Wen Jifei turned with a smile. "You're not a fake."
"Then weak. Proving I'm weak would shatter all of humanity's faith—is that really true?"
Han Qingyu had a vague sense of Major Qing's influence, but he wasn't clear on just how immense that influence truly was. If possible, he wished it wasn't so overwhelming.
Yet Wen Jifei swiftly delivered an unequivocal answer. "Yes."
"Shouldn't it be that old man? The Invincible on Earth, Chen Buer. Why me?" Han Qingyu tried to push back a little.
"About that..." Yang Qingbai, standing nearby, chuckled with a hint of schadenfreude. "Do you know what some people out there call you in private? The God of War, haha. To put it by way of an analogy, you're the God of War right now, and the old man is an idol on a pedestal."
Chen Buer's era was already too distant, hidden away for so long that it felt like tales and legends. From the perspective of all mankind, the Zenith War was the very first true battle they had witnessed to defend human survival.
When Han Qingyu delivered that zenith slash before the eyes of all humanity in that war, cleaving Daie out of the sky, he became the greatest pillar of human faith.
In this regard, his symbolic significance eclipsed both Chen Buer, who had not intervened in the Zenith War in the end, and General Bochen, who had been wounded midway through.
At the same time, the Zenith War was also seen as the battle where humanity's new stars officially rose and shone—spearheaded by Major The Qing, joined by Pegmont, Wolf, Wu Xu, and a whole cohort of young geniuses.
They represented the future of humanity and the hope of ultimate victory.
One of the recruitment ads Azure rolled out recently was called "Hope." The poster featured streaming light and shifting shadows against a backdrop of throngs marching into darkness, among which more than ten figures could be clearly identified. Leading the way, walking at the very front, was the silhouette of Han Qingyu's back.
"...Fine," Han Qingyu muttered under his breath, asking no further questions.
This was the first time he distinctly felt that tremendous weight of pressure.
He didn't want to carry it.
Nor could he bear it.
Yet he could not cast it off.
...
With no answer to the puzzle, the group walked out of the dining hall. On their way to the airport, they passed a newspaper rack standing outside the entrance.
Wen Jifei glanced at it casually, then froze in his tracks.
"I think I understand."
The Little Prince asked, "What?"
"Remember that news piece? The Coalition Council finally decided to integrate all six mothership-grade Great Spike vessels captured by humanity near the end of the Zenith War into the combat order of battle. The reorganized fleet was christened the 'Stars Expedition.'" Wen Jifei paused, then added, "The core word in that statement is actually 'all.'"
"And? What does that have to do with anything?" He Tangtang asked blankly.
Wen Jifei said, "String the pieces together and think about it."
He Tangtang said, "Do you think my brain does that?"
"After the Zenith War, humanity triumphed and captured six Great Spike motherships. Those six motherships are currently the only vessels capable of taking humanity deep into outer space. They could be used for conquest, or for an exodus carrying the embers of civilization, or purely to search for a new home in the depths of the cosmos." The Little Prince paused, then continued, "However, because of the unprecedented faith of all humanity following the Zenith War, the Azure Council ultimately decided to stake everything on one throw, leaving no retreat. Someone wants to preserve that retreat. Thus, they need to strike at the faith of humanity—especially those in the Azure Council—in order to shatter the current status quo. To do that, they chose to reveal to the world that the current Major Qing is actually a fake."
The Little Prince's breakdown brought the entire trail of clues into sharp focus.
He Tangtang scratched his head on the spot. "Oh. Then who could they be?"
Yang Qingbai said, "Or rather, who are they most likely to be?"
Wen Jifei looked up. "Voyage. Doctor Zhe. Our friends."
Chapter 735