Voyage's hidden resources were not kept here. They were scattered and concealed across many places around the world, as were the blueprints and data on spacecraft refitting technology.
However, that posed no real issue. Stream Vanguard's intelligence network was currently spread wide across the globe, and they could temporarily requisition Azure's emergency transit system, whose vehicles were source energy spacecraft.
"Then let's do this: once your people make contact with the guards at our secret bases, you will leave here first." Zhe Qiuhong counted heads with her eyes and said, "Only when I watch you drive away will I dare hand the items over to your people."
"That won't do. What if you go back on your word at the last second? Or what if your plan all along is to detain our people to use as leverage?" An imaginary Yanxiu scavenger beast had to be cool-headed, cautious, and vigilant; fully in character, He Tangtang voiced his challenge.
This had never been his job to begin with... Zhe Qiuhong turned to look at his visibly thinning hair, thought *serves you right*, and said:
"We wouldn't dare. We can't beat you in a fight, nor can we get far enough from Shenghai fast enough that even Qingbai couldn't catch up in an airship. Right now, we should be the ones worried about you breaking your word."
"Is that so?" He Tangtang felt a momentary flash of confusion and turned to look at Wen Jifei.
"Sounds reasonable enough. We'll do it your way," Wen Jifei agreed with a smile. He found a chair to sit down on, then looked at Zhe Qiuhong. "So what now? Since we're stuck waiting anyway, how about brewing a few cups of tea so we can catch up on old times?"
Zhe Qiuhong rolled her eyes at him. "There's no tea for you here. And I don't have the slightest desire to reminisce with you."
After that, silence truly fell.
Only Little Prince and Voyage's peak top-tier remained busy.
Little Prince restored communications inside the building, Voyage provided several locations, and both parties proceeded to notify their respective contacts to meet up and carry out the transaction.
***
Shenghai. On the streets outside Xinbienong, dense crowds of pedestrians, including citizens and reporters alike, were looking all around as if searching for something.
"Where is Major Qing?"
"Yeah, how did he vanish all of a sudden?"
"..."
Major The Qing was back. As it turned out, he was neither dead nor crippled. Some among the crowd had been present at the military funeral, but unable to cheer for Major Qing there, they had pursued him all the way here.
Others had rushed over upon hearing the news later on, feeling as though the Major Qing they had seen before was an illusion, while the one now was real—a rare opportunity that deserved a proper look.
However, none had managed to keep up with Yang Qingbai's car. Nobody could.
Major Qing had vanished in this vicinity.
"He should be around here!" Zhang Weiyu's frail body weaved obstinately through the crowd. Due to his poor health, sweat had already soaked the front and back of his clothes, and the boy's breathing had grown heavy and labored.
"Then let's just stop looking," his older sister, Zhang Youqing, said as she followed close behind, dreading that he might collapse from exhaustion. "It's not like you haven't seen him. You've already seen him twice."
As a young girl, Zhang Youqing didn't care much for Major Qing, and at times even found him somewhat annoying—an attitude far from common in the world today.
To borrow a term from show business, Zhang Youqing was a fan of Huang Dudu.
As a newly minted young female super in Huaxia, Huang Dudu had also fought in the Zenith War and delivered a stellar performance. On top of that, she was quite pretty; the radiant smile and dashing, heroic bearing of this woman warrior charmed more girls than guys.
During a past press interview, Huang Dudu had once remarked: "Actually, from a girl's perspective, Major Qing is an extremely, extremely annoying person."
She was probably the first female Azure soldier in the world to publicly declare her dislike of Major Qing.
Because of that, many fans had abandoned her.
Zhang Youqing, however, only liked her even more.
In truth, Zhang Youqing had once been infatuated with Second Lieutenant Shen Yixiu as well. That suit of iron armor of hers was just too cool; imagining that a young girl lived inside created a captivating contrast that was almost impossible to resist.
Yet everyday news concerning Second Lieutenant Shen Yixiu was simply too scarce. She never gave interviews or anything of the sort, and she was always hanging around that annoying fellow.
Gradually, Zhang Youqing had lost interest.
"But I haven't greeted him on my own yet. I wanted to wait until he looked at me, and then tell him at the top of my lungs that I will definitely take part in the next degree of fusion test, and one day, fight alongside him beneath the dome," Zhang Weiyu said with resolve.
"Get lost. You? You struggle just walking up a flight of stairs," Zhang Youqing retorted, before abruptly realizing her words had been too harsh. Softening her tone, she amended, "Just put it out of your mind. You've been sickly since you were little; Mom and Dad worry every time you step out the door, so how could they possibly let you take the test? Besides, you're only fourteen."
*Though I could give it a try. Who knows...* Zhang Youqing thought to herself. *Who knows, maybe I'll be the next Huang Dudu? Maybe I could fight side by side with her.*
As the older sister spoke, she looked up, only to find in surprise that her brother had already wandered off without her noticing. Fortunately, standing on tiptoes, she could still see him—he was heading toward the mouth of an alley by the street.
As he walked, the frail youth looked up, craning his neck to search.
***
"How is it?" Wen Jifei asked.
"No problems. Contact has been made everywhere," Little Prince said.
Nearly two hours had passed by now. Finally, the people from Voyage and Stream Vanguard had linked up in seven locations across the globe.
"In that case, I won't see you out." Zhe Qiuhong stood up, making an unceremonious gesture inviting them to leave.
"All right." Wen Jifei stood as well.
He walked toward the door, toward Rusty Sister, while Little Prince walked in the opposite direction, stepping forward into the room.
Right then, a subordinate's panicked shout rang out: "Miss! Our communications are jammed again!"
Little Prince had jammed the communications in the building once more.
"You! What do you think you're doing, Little Prince?" Zhe Qiuhong looked at him, anxious yet fighting to keep her composure.
"Rest assured, we strictly honor our transactions. But there is another matter..." As Little Prince spoke, his gaze turned intensely sharp. He shifted his eyes toward a wall in a shadowed corner behind Zhe Qiuhong and said slowly:
"If I'm not mistaken, there is a very high probability that someone we aren't supposed to see is hiding in there."
"Following that logic, his name should be... Zhe Shouzhao!"
Zhe Shouzhao—the man Han Qingyu had once sworn to kill on sight, the third option about whom Zhe Qiuhong had claimed she couldn't possibly offer any clues—was, in fact, right here.
In truth, more than two hours ago, Little Prince had already realized that someone was likely hiding in here, and had quickly deduced that the person concealed within was Zhe Shouzhao.
At that time, prompted by the topic of dung beetles, many had laughed, easing the tension between Zhe Qiuhong and Stream Vanguard, and the atmosphere of the entire room had softened along with it.
However, Voyage's peak top-tier and the death-sworn guards lurking in the surrounding shadows had not relaxed.
Ordinarily, once relations between Zhe Qiuhong and Stream Vanguard softened, they should have breathed a massive sigh of relief, since it meant they probably wouldn't have to die... yet they hadn't. Their demeanor had remained exceptionally tense and uneasy.
Because of this, Little Prince had deliberately added the comment "Quite a picky eater, isn't he?" as a probe. The result of that probe showed that they were still just as rigid.
Considering they lacked any ability to fight back, such tension was utterly pointless.
Therefore, the only explanation was that an even greater problem existed here.
When an individual or a group of people uniformly harbored extreme worry and anxiety toward a particular spot, that location would inevitably be betrayed by subtle details. Little Prince had quickly pinned down its position.
After that, he had done nothing, said nothing, and shown not the slightest trace of suspicion.
He had waited until the transaction between Voyage and Stream Vanguard was complete, and the resources and refit data were securely in hand.
Only then did Little Prince act in silence, re-jamming the signals on site...
And finally, laid it bare.
In an instant, *hum!*
Wu Xu's source energy erupted. Latent rage and blatant killing intent surged forth as his surging aura locked onto the hidden wall.
*Hum, hum, hum, hum!* Little Prince, Rusty Sister, He Tangtang, and Wen Jifei simultaneously powered up and primed their strikes.
Zhe Shouzhao had to die.
...With things having reached this stage, excuses were meaningless. Zhe Qiuhong nervously took a step sideways to shield the hidden wall, her gaze piercing past Wen Jifei, Wu Xu, and Rusty Sister to lock straight onto Han Qingyu.
"For the sake of our three-plus years together in the past, and for the sake of me saving Qingbai's life after the Zenith War... give him one last chance," she said slowly.
She waited two seconds, then called out again, "Qingzi."
She was pleading.
And Qingzi was the only possible breakthrough now, the sole glimmer of hope.
Because he had yet to regain his memories; he was not yet *that* Han Qingyu... If it were that Han Qingyu, Zhe Qiuhong would have chosen to give up outright, or tried to find some other way.
At the same time, even if he wasn't that Han Qingyu, as long as he said to let Zhe Shouzhao go, it would still count.
Zhe Qiuhong looked at him with earnest eyes,
catching the flicker of hesitation that crossed his gaze.
Was there hope?
Usually so calm and rational, for once in her life, Zhe Qiuhong felt a thrilling surge of anticipation.
At this juncture, she couldn't care about the shame and guilt of having plotted an assassination attempt against this nineteen-year-old Qingzi... As for that attempt, she had known all along that it had zero chance of succeeding, nor had she intended for it to succeed.
"Qingzi!" He Tangtang called out anxiously.
He wanted to remind Qingzi that he could not yield on this matter under any circumstances, because whether looking to the past or the future, Zhe Shouzhao was a man who had to be killed.
However, "Tangtang!" Wen Jifei spoke immediately afterward, his tone somewhat heavy.
He cut off whatever He Tangtang was going to say next.
Plague Chicken naturally knew as well that it was best for Zhe Shouzhao to die here today.
Yet here today, he wanted Qingzi to make this decision.
*If Qingzi's condition truly is as Zhe Qiuhong expects, where recovery is difficult or he may never recover at all, then he must start learning to make decisions and bear all the results and consequences they bring.*
*Because he is Han Qingyu. Some things, even if he has lost his memories and grown weak, he is destined to never escape.*
A powder-keg stalemate.
Aside from the silent churning and clashing of source energy,
the room was quiet.
Two seconds, three seconds... five seconds.
Both sides were waiting.
Perhaps Zhe Shouzhao behind the hidden wall was waiting as well.
"However," Han Qingyu finally spoke up, meeting Zhe Qiuhong's gaze, his voice neither loud nor soft, "as for his affairs, I probably can't decide for him. And his vendetta, it seems, is mine as well."
Chapter 751