Turn back the clock.
Earlier, when Ye Jian had given his warning to Commander Hua, the first half of his sentence had stated unequivocally that this airship was the core base of Snow Lotus. In the second half, however, he had deliberately left room for doubt: *Ne is very likely on board as well.*
By all rights, he shouldn’t have needed to add the words “very likely.” But add them he did. It was because, by that point, even Ye Jian had begun harboring doubts about the entire situation—and even about certain periods in the history of the source energy world.
For instance, the core question: Just what gave Liu Shiheng the right?!
If one could argue that his getting away scot-free after stealing Ne’s Tenth-Generation device back then was because Ne himself wished to see humanity’s combat strength improve, then today’s incident made no sense whatsoever. He had driven the entire Snow Lotus base out like a bumper car to ram the tractor field, and Ne had not only failed to show himself to put a stop to it, but had not even uttered a single sound. It was utterly absurd.
On top of that, Liu Shiheng had slept with Ne’s only secretary, Alice!
Sneaking over every two or three days, sleeping together for nearly a year...
And not a damn thing had happened to him.
*Could it be that, just as some people speculate, Mr. Ne never actually recovered from his severe injuries back then and died years ago?*
In Ye Jian’s memory, Ne was a man of supreme intellect, outward gentility, and immense charm, but beneath it all, he was fanatical and cold-blooded. The most terrifying thing about him was that he played the traitor to all humanity with complete composure, never once considering his actions evil.
He placed what he termed source energy science—and the cosmic ecological science that fascinated him even more deeply—entirely above life and his fellow man. He did not care in the slightest about human survival, whether of individuals or the species as a whole.
Ne was that kind of man. He had always firmly anticipated a large-scale invasion of Azure by the Great Spike civilization, after which humanity would either be destroyed or, struggling out of the ashes at the brink of extinction, give birth to a new human civilization capable of gaining a foothold in the cosmic ecosystem and competing for higher tiers of resources...
*How could he possibly let Liu Shiheng fool around like this?! And he even seemed to tacitly approve of me helping him.*
Ye Jian himself had not seen Ne face-to-face in a very, very long time. Naturally, they had conversed a few times, but inside that little blue church, Ne had never once appeared. Only his voice had drifted directionless through the air.
*Is he really dead? Gone all along?* Ye Jian could not help but wonder.
*Could it really be some melodramatic farce?*
*A simple, naive girl who, merely through books and through observing and learning from the great teacher at her side, forged a formidable temperament, a unique and eerie persona, brilliant cunning and methods, along with an unfathomable lust for power.*
*When her teacher was gravely wounded, she calmly murdered him. Perhaps it was premeditated, biding her time for the opportunity, or perhaps she simply wanted to validate her own system of thought, and so she did it. Afterward, using her intimate knowledge of her mentor, the girl constructed a mysterious facade, taking control of one of the two most powerful source energy organizations in the human world from behind the scenes using nothing but a voice and authority.*
*No one knows what her ultimate goal is, or what she wants to do with Snow Lotus. Perhaps she isn’t even clear on it herself, and simply did it first.*
*And yet, despite all that, when it came to romance and relationships, she remained a naive, inexperienced young girl. Then she crossed paths with an incurable playboy who only possessed courage when chasing women—a supreme master in the science of romance... and she was conquered.*
*Wait... by that logic, doesn’t that mean that bastard Liu Shiheng is effectively in control of Snow Lotus right now?!*
It was with this deduced conclusion, his heart brimming with sheer absurdity, that Ye Jian had slipped away to hide among the distant ice rocks.
He was wounded as well. That strike just now had pushed far beyond his limits, leaving him in poor shape.
As for his current predicament beneath the tractor field, to put it simply, neither side was going to welcome him...
*If a fight really breaks out all of a sudden, that pretentious prick Hua Bixuan won't necessarily back me up. For the past twenty-odd years, every single time he invited me out for a drink, he did it under the guise of challenging me to a duel...*
Because of that, Ye Jian made himself scarce first.
It wasn't that he didn't care about Liu Shiheng; he just felt there probably wasn't any need. And if his deduction turned out completely wrong, he was in no state to manage the situation anyway.
***
Compared to Ye Jian, Young Master Shiheng, who had been completely beside himself with triumph, had far simpler reasoning. With things already carried this far, he was utterly convinced that the bastard Ne was truly pinned inside the little blue church, unable to budge.
So there he was: Alice on his left arm, Ye Jian on his right, and a whole flock of life-and-death brothers down on the ground, including four super combat powers—Han Qingyu, Wu Xu, He Tangtang, and Shen Yixiu...
The entire world practically belonged to him.
*Wait, what’s the deal with Tangtang? Didn’t we agree that in our duo, he could only shed his status as the weakest link once this young master returned?*
*Whatever, I'll ask him later when we have time. First I'll introduce them to Alice, let them call her sister-in-law, and then maybe drop by to visit little cutie Ne while we’re at it.*
*Haven’t seen each other in so long. Those bastards are probably going to piss themselves in shock over this young master’s miraculous exploits and glorious camaraderie!*
Indulging in these lighthearted thoughts, Liu Shiheng leveled the airship in midair and opened the hatch.
When he stepped out of the cockpit, hundreds of Snow Lotus white-robes were lined up along both sides of the corridor. None dared make a move against him; none even dared draw a blade.
Young Master Shiheng spotted Alice waiting at the far end of the passageway at a glance.
Her gaze seemed somewhat cold, yet mingled with a touch of excitement and agitation... That made perfect sense. Walking toward her, Liu Shiheng said with proud delight, "Come on, I'll take you to meet my friends."
Even as he spoke, Young Master Shiheng smiled and reached out to wrap his arm around Alice's waist...
And then, a war blade was resting against his neck.
The hand holding the blade was Alice’s.
He tried to convince himself she was merely playing around...
Then, as he tried to speak and take a step forward, the blade's edge sliced into the skin of his neck.
Blood trickled down.
***
It was precisely because of this that, right up until he walked out onto the "balcony," Liu Shiheng had not managed to look for Qingzi and the others.
With his head tilted, he stared blankly at Alice the entire time.
*If I say a word, will you really hack into me? What happened to you, Alice? Fine, fine, fine, then I'll talk anyway—just cut me to death! Was it fake? Everything before, was it all fake? I don’t believe it. I don't believe any woman in this world could act so well that she could fool my eyes. Do you have some kind of hardship, Alice...? If that's the case, I won't blame you.*
Young Master Shiheng had a bellyful of words, but since he didn't dare test that first sentence, he naturally never got the chance to voice the petulant bickering that usually followed between lovers.
Just like that, Alice finally came to a halt. He stopped alongside her, turned his head, and at last saw Qingzi and the others standing in a line below, looking up at him with anxious, bewildered helplessness.
*Well? Surprised, aren’t you?*
*Meeting like this is a pretty damn big surprise to me too!*
*Let me tell you, the woman beside me—the one holding a blade to my neck—she’s actually your sister-in-law. Would you believe that?*
Young Master Shiheng lamented inwardly.
At the same time, Alice’s gaze behind him had already settled upon the iron armor on the ground.
The only successful experimental subject, and one that had just completed a crucial step in her evolution... In an instant, an uncontrollable fanaticism blazed through "Alice’s" eyes.
*Smack!* Striking with the flat of the blade, Alice knocked Liu Shiheng sprawling to the ground beside her, leaving his face covered in blood.
Then, taking a step forward, she slowly raised the blood-stained war blade and pointed it at Rusty Sister.
"You. Come save him."
"Or watch me kill him, and then have me come drag you up here myself?"
It was the voice of a young woman, but delivered in a strange, spine-chilling cadence.
Across the battlefield, every single warrior froze. After two stunned seconds, they threw aside the rations in their hands, engaged their devices, and rose to prepare for battle.
Chapter 851