Rong Pu said nothing.

Because this was the inevitable choice.

Because in the original plan, he was to personally lead the team, commanding the elite troops from Haiyou Prefecture that had already been deployed to complete this mission.

In any case, they would never let Tie Ci take the field personally.

The people of Daqian hadn’t all died out yet!

It’s just that Rong Pu had no confidence in himself. He was physically weak and feared becoming a burden. It wouldn’t matter if he died, but it would be terrible if he ruined His Majesty’s great plans. Moreover, there was no guarantee that Haiyou’s strong generals could definitely capture the enemy’s leader.

The others weren’t suitable either.

Fortunately, Xiao Xueya had arrived. He was powerful in his own right, and his naval forces had always been strictly trained, capable of both water and land operations—they were far stronger than Haiyou’s forces.

He nodded and pointed to the vehicle: “This newly developed vehicle will be for the Governor’s use. Please, Governor, for His Majesty’s sake, take care of yourself.”

Xiao Xueya said: “I won’t die.”

He followed Rong Pu to learn about the vehicle. The mountains echoed with tremendous roaring sounds—Xiao Xueya had heard these sounds before when trailing those pursuers from afar. But this vehicle’s roar sounded intermittent and faltering, as if it might give out at any moment, making its reliability questionable.

Actually, everyone knew in their hearts that this thing was basically useless, completely unable to outrun those leopard-like contraptions the enemy rode.

But Xiao Xueya still learned seriously. After he learned the vehicle and his selected elite soldiers understood the complete terrain and plans, night had fallen deep.

Approaching midnight.

The roaring in the distance grew more urgent. Those monitoring with telescopes reported: “It appears the enemy has finished assembling, roughly a thousand strong.”

This number meant they were tired of the prolonged chase and wanted to eliminate the Daqian Emperor in one decisive strike.

Xiao Xueya put down the telescope, descended the watchtower, and returned to the small courtyard.

He stood before Tie Ci’s bedroom, looking at the tightly closed door, closing his eyes as if thinking about something, then turned around.

The door suddenly opened, and Pingzong stood behind it with a curled lip: “A great general, a grown man, pacing and hesitating outside the door… If you want to say something, go in and say it yourself!”

Xiao Xueya wanted to say he hadn’t been pacing and hesitating, that he had no intention of going in, only wanting to bid farewell outside the door, but Pingzong had already walked away decisively.

So he had no choice but to go in.

After all, if this parting was forever, it would be good to see her one last time.

He entered the room.

Behind the screen, Tie Ci was sleeping. Near midnight, she wasn’t sleeping comfortably, her brows slightly furrowed.

After years of separation, her appearance was unchanged, only thinner. With her eyes closed, one could see the slight melancholy between her brows.

Xiao Xueya thought for a while, then sat down beside the bed.

He turned sideways toward Tie Ci, remembering their first meeting beneath Ziyang’s Cangsheng Pagoda, when the hooked spear had collapsed an entire wall. When the dust settled, there was a face with slightly startled but warm and gentle features.

He remembered pursuing the abyss iron, standing on the shore, watching her emerge from the seabed like a swimming dragon, using various ships as stepping stones, moving with agile grace—both dashing and wonderful. His gaze unconsciously followed her, and from then on, he could never look away.

He remembered aboard the great ship at Haiwei Port, his first time boarding, when the wind and waves rocked the vessel. She pointed toward the sun, and when he turned his head, he vomited all over her.

He remembered that day’s blinding sunlight, but her smiling face under the sun was brighter than the light itself.

He remembered their first sight of the slums in Huangzhou, sitting across from her in that filthy shack, eating harsh wheat rice as if nothing was wrong.

He remembered being poisoned aboard the great ship, and how she led him through the Hundred Thousand Mountains to seek medicine.

He remembered having his head shaved in the brothel in Xizhou, riding monkeys in the great mountains of Yannan, when insects swept across the mountains and he saw her disappear beyond the cliff.

He remembered their brief first meeting, the month-long journey together in Yannan. In his thirty years of life, the time spent with her was only an extremely short part, like dew or lightning in a long life, merely an instant.

Yet every single thing, every moment, was engraved upon his heart.

In the quiet of midnight dreams, never to be forgotten.

As he thought, his hand began to rise.

Continuing to think, his hand was about to touch Tie Ci’s face.

The moment his fingertips were about to touch Tie Ci’s cheek, a breeze suddenly passed through the window, the slight coolness startling him.

Only then did he realize what he was doing.

His fingertips stopped less than an inch from Tie Ci’s cheek.

He neither immediately withdrew his hand nor continued forward, stopping there. His fingertips moved gently, but his expression gradually revealed a kind of bewilderment.

Tie Ci suddenly opened her eyes!

Xiao Xueya was startled and immediately tried to withdraw his hand, but Tie Ci moved like lightning, raising her hand to grab his wrist.

The next moment, heaven and earth spun, light and shadow tumbled, and with a low, muffled thud, Xiao Xueya was pinned to the bed.

Tie Ci held his hand against his chest with one hand and covered his mouth with the other, making a shushing sound.

She didn’t really need to shush, because Xiao Xueya couldn’t possibly cry out at this moment.

He rarely opened his eyes wide, looking up at Tie Ci above him.

But Tie Ci wasn’t looking at him at all, turning her head to look outside. Fortunately, the bedding was thick, and the thud of pinning Xiao Xueya hadn’t attracted attention from outside.

No lamp was lit in the room, but torches burned in the courtyard. A faint light spread across the screen, perfectly projecting the silhouettes of the two people behind the bed. A plum blossom was embroidered at the bottom corner of the screen, and in the night, someone’s cold fragrance floated in the air.

The shock and turbulence in Xiao Xueya’s eyes gradually calmed down.

But he neither struggled nor spoke, because Tie Ci’s hand still covered his mouth, and the faint floral and medicinal fragrance between her fingers merged into a clean yet seductive scent.

The hourglass in the room slowly trickled down. It was approaching midnight, and Xiao Xueya could even feel Tie Ci’s strength gradually fading.

But for some reason, he still didn’t move.

Tie Ci said softly: “Governor, that’s right. Stay quiet. We still have important things to do.”

She thought again and added: “If you shout, I’ll shave your head bald.”

In her mind, the aloof and proud Xiao Xueya would definitely find losing face the most unacceptable thing.

Xiao Xueya suddenly lowered his eyelids.

Tie Ci didn’t notice his expression either. She could feel that familiar surge of blood and qi approaching again, and her whole body was gradually stiffening.

Thinking her threat had worked, she withdrew her hand. Xiao Xueya looked steadily at her and said hoarsely: “Your Majesty, you didn’t fall for the trap?”

Tie Ci said lightly: “As long as anyone passes behind me, I will notice immediately.”

She spoke plainly, but Xiao Xueya felt a tightness in his chest upon hearing it.

“Why has Your Majesty restrained me?”

“Because I cannot let you go,” Tie Ci said. “That would be sending you to your death.”

“Wouldn’t Your Majesty going be the same?”

“If I go, it’s not necessarily so.”

“But I also cannot let Your Majesty go to die,” Xiao Xueya said. “You’ve already begun having an episode, haven’t you? How will you lure those people and escape safely? You actually can’t even restrain me.”

He easily pushed Tie Ci away and sat up. Tie Ci stiffly rolled off him and fell toward the inner side of the bed.

For a moment, both had a strange feeling.

It was like a scoundrel failing to force himself on a virtuous woman…

With the situation tense, the strange feeling passed in an instant. Outside, people were already looking for Xiao Xueya.

Tie Ci said: “Xiao Xueya, you cannot be this suicide squad leader. If something happens to you, Yannan’s forces will be leaderless. You Weixing can’t control those people of yours. When word gets out and people incite trouble, you’ll become someone who died for me, and I don’t want Yannan to rebel.” She smiled slightly: “There are still people hiding deep in Yannan’s mountains, waiting for their chance. I just thought of a good way to deal with them, but if something happens to you, forget about solving the problem—the waters will only become muddier.”

“I’ll leave a letter explaining…”

“But I’m not saying you can’t go. It’s just that I should still be the bait, while you’re responsible for protecting me and helping me escape.”

“I think it would be more reliable if I went myself…”

“Then I’ll just have to go by myself. Do you believe that even though my body is stiff, I still have ways to go myself?”

Xiao Xueya fell silent.

“Xiao Xueya, do you have no confidence in yourself? Do you think that as a general, you cannot protect me?”

Xiao Xueya remained silent.

Tie Ci was somewhat at a loss. Xiao Xueya was stubborn by nature—ordinary provocation wouldn’t work on him.

Having a sudden inspiration, she said: “Are you so unwilling to fight alongside me once more, to drive out the enemy invaders?”

“…”

After a long silence, Xiao Xueya silently drew a breath and asked: “In Your Majesty’s current condition, how will you go out? How will you deceive Academy Director Rong?”

Hearing his tone soften, Tie Ci’s expression brightened slightly: “I have my ways.”

…

Moments later, Xiao Xueya emerged from the room and exchanged glances with Rong Pu standing opposite.

Rong Pu smiled without seeming to mean anything by it: “Is the Governor ready?”

Looking at him, Xiao Xueya realized he had never liked Rong Pu, though he didn’t understand why. Until this moment, seeing Rong Pu’s smile, that uncomfortable feeling returned.

That knowing, tolerant look, like a magnanimous principal wife.

The problem was, weren’t they all of unclear status?

General Xiao was completely unaware that his train of thought had slipped toward a dangerous angle in that instant. He gave Rong Pu a cold look: “His Majesty seems somewhat uncomfortable and wants you to go to him.”

Upon hearing this, Rong Pu’s smile indeed faded as he quickly entered the room.

Xiao Xueya listened intently and indeed heard another muffled thud.

This reminded him of his own earlier thud, and his eyes immediately showed complex emotions.

His soldiers were already prepared, mounted and formed up outside the courtyard, waiting.

Xiao Xueya turned and entered the room. After a moment, he helped out someone wrapped from head to toe in a cloak, telling his subordinates and Rong Pu’s men: “The Academy Director fears I’m unfamiliar with the route and insists on personally guiding the way.”

He had always been absolute in his military command, as had Rong Pu, and Xiao Xueya’s reputation was far-reaching. Rong Pu’s subordinates didn’t dare question him either. Though they found it somewhat strange, they said nothing.

Xiao Xueya personally helped “Rong Pu” onto his horse: “The Academy Director is frail, so I’ll personally care for him.”

Seeing that “Rong Pu’s” cloak ties were somewhat loose, he reached out to tighten them.

Pingzong, who was yawning and preparing to return to her room, saw this scene from afar and stopped, feeling something inexplicably strange.

After a moment, she shook her head, thinking that Xiao Xueya, who appeared so proper, was actually a cut-sleeve.

She had no interest in this matter and went into the room yawning. In the darkness, the person behind the screen slept quietly.

Pingzong was very happy she could lie down and sleep tonight, comfortably stretching out on the soft couch outside the screen and falling asleep in the blink of an eye.

Outside, Xiao Xueya took the lead, galloping toward the mountains. Rong Pu’s men followed behind with a specially made cart dragging the backup motorcycle.

They headed southwest, toward where the pursuing forces had gathered. Behind them to the southeast stood a low mountain with gentle slopes. The entire mountaintop appeared to have been flattened like a plateau, with a slight depression in the center. An unexpectedly wide and smooth road wound from outside the mountain directly to the summit.

Looking more carefully, one could see many black-clad figures moving in and out of the mountain’s base.

The night wind was strong, blowing open the cloak’s hood to reveal Tie Ci’s face.

She couldn’t sit steadily because her illness was beginning to flare up.

Xiao Xueya watched her swaying figure, silently reached out, and drew her into his embrace, his arm crossing over her shoulder.

The wind was too strong for the hood to stay on. Tie Ci’s hair flew against Xiao Xueya’s face.

Like silk, like soft clouds, touching not his face but his heart.

A brilliant white light suddenly shot toward them from ahead—they had entered the enemy’s firing range.

Overhead, a large mass of black clouds silently appeared. Looking closer, it was a drone swarm.

Xiao Xueya raised his hand, signaling the followers behind to halt temporarily.

The charging cavalry behind stopped in bewilderment—according to the original plan, they should have charged directly into the enemy formation, being as arrogant as possible.

While calling for his accompanying soldiers to stop, Xiao Xueya drew a prepared white cloth from his chest. He shook it in the wind, and it unfurled with a snap.

The drone swarm overhead moved with this single rider’s movement, immediately transmitting his actions and the writing on the white cloth to everyone.

On the white cloth was written: “Daqian surrenders, do not harm our Emperor!”

…

In the Academy Director’s office at Daqian Academy, the atmosphere was somewhat strange.

The large leather chair where Rui had sat for the past two days was now occupied by someone else. That person sat improperly, with long legs draped over the armrest, his bottom swiveling back and forth. Looking at Rui standing before him, he said with a grin: “Having trouble?”

Rui’s face looked very unpleasant: “Lord Xilin, please watch your language. Though we’ve suffered some losses, Daqian has already shown weakness to us, willing to pay tribute. Their emperor has been forced out of the capital in embarrassment by us. Eliminating her is just a matter of time…”

Before he could finish, the chair beneath Xilin spun rapidly several times, so fast it made him dizzy and he involuntarily stopped speaking.

Xilin calmly stopped and tapped the screen to look, making clicking sounds: “Yes, six mechanized warriors, sixteen muscle warriors, plus forty elites equipped with photon and pulse guns, one nano-robot, one bee tracker, eighteen drones… a small loss indeed.”

He even made a small gesture with his thumb and forefinger, smiling: “When we invaded Tum Star, our losses were only a bit more than this.”

Rui’s face turned purple with anger, speechless.

“But it doesn’t matter now. The Management Division has specially approved the deployment of the elite Lion Eagle Squad, fully staffed. The General ordered me to personally lead the team to accomplish everything in one decisive strike.”

Rui let out a long breath.

They were secure now.

Years of warfare, extreme climate, sharp population decline, and massive battle losses had left the Alliance Era with almost only a final batch of elites. Soldiers and weapons had reached the edge of being unable to support the Alliance’s survival. Since they no longer had enough strength to explore outer star systems and find new pure lands, they could only trace back through time to occupy ancient eras that required few weapons and personnel to conquer.

Lion Eagle was one of the only three remaining fully organized elite military units of the Alliance, a rare fully equipped force in today’s Alliance, and one of the last few military units the Management Division could deploy.

This had originally been the Management Division’s ace in the hole, kept for after gaining control of Daqian’s government to deter and manage the Daqian people and protect the leadership. Now it was being deployed early.

And Xilin, though mediocre in ability, was the General’s son. His personal leadership of Lion Eagle’s expedition demonstrated the Management Division’s impatience and determination.

It also meant that this time, the Daqian Emperor was doomed.

Xilin wasn’t concerned about the upcoming mission. In his view, it was just a matter of moving his finger. Using Lion Eagle was overkill. As for the previous failures, it was just that Rui was too useless, and whether there were other reasons.

He said: “The Management Division is very shocked by your repeated failures. They consider these unreasonable results. Did Yun leak many secrets she shouldn’t have? The Management Division wants to launch an investigation.”

But Rui didn’t answer immediately, only asking: “Where is Yun?”

“Arguing with the Management Division,” Xilin said carelessly. “Besides, there’s nothing for her here. Women should just do logistics and secretarial work. Honestly, if this generation’s heir wasn’t female, it never would have been Yun’s turn.”

Rui said nothing, because at this moment the real-time image transmitted Xiao Xueya’s scene of single-handedly charging the formation with a white flag raised from horseback.

“Who is this?” Rui asked in amazement.

Xilin’s focus was obviously different. His first reaction was “This person has quite some nerve!” But seeing the words on the white flag clearly, he couldn’t help laughing: “Turns out he’s a brave coward. He must be scared seeing our army.”

He added: “Smart of him!”

Rui also looked down on those coming to surrender, focusing on the person in front of Xiao Xueya on screen: “That really seems to be the Daqian Emperor!”

But he didn’t dare be certain, because during this period, bone scans hadn’t matched, preventing long-distance strikes against Tie Ci. During the pursuit, there had been many “fake Tie Cis” to confuse their vision. Once, they had even used this method to capture three of his soldiers.

So Rui said conservatively: “These Daqian people are all very cunning. Regardless of whether the Daqian Emperor is real or fake, since they dare break into our range, we should kill them all without mercy!” He was about to give the order.

“Wait.” Xilin smiled and turned his head: “Colonel, have you forgotten who should be giving orders here?”

Rui said coldly: “Major, you wouldn’t want to invite the wolf into the house, would you?”

“Invite the wolf into the house?” Xilin pointed at the single rider on screen: “Daqian people? Wolves? Are they worthy?”

Rui stopped speaking. He had once thought the same way, but subsequent losses had taught him reality. Obviously, the superior who had just arrived to replace him, this defeated general, wouldn’t immediately develop such deep wariness toward the Daqian people.

He seemed to see himself from a month ago—proud and confident. This pride had nothing to do with personality but stemmed from superior civilization’s natural condescension toward inferior civilization.

Not to mention this Management Division boss’s son, once the most famous young master in the Alliance capital, was inherently more indulgent and careless than him.

He said mockingly: “I didn’t expect Lord Xilin to be like Yun, believing in not killing envoys between warring states.”

Xilin snorted: “Don’t compare me to a woman.”

“The Management Division wants to capture the living Daqian Emperor, which will be more beneficial for controlling Daqian in the future. Additionally, the General requires us to capture the Daqian Emperor alive for convenient future extradition to the Alliance Court to fulfill her duties as a witness.”

Rui was stunned, wondering what kind of witness?

Then he understood.

The General’s faction in the Management Division and the Speaker’s faction behind Yun had always been somewhat incompatible, competing fiercely with each other. Seeing Yun about to achieve great merit, the General’s faction couldn’t sit still and wanted to use Tie Ci’s causing losses to the Management Division to attack Yun for leaking secrets.

Rui had harbored such suspicions but had suppressed them as Daqian proved difficult to control, not directly reporting to the Management Division.

Regardless, Yun was a hero, the person most familiar with Daqian. Publicly and privately, they shouldn’t try to deal with her now.

Thinking of the top bosses still not forgetting to struggle for power during humanity’s critical moment of survival, Rui’s lips curved into a slight mocking arc.

Xilin pointed at Xiao Xueya approaching on screen: “Look, their horses are so slow, their weapons so crude. Even if they have ulterior motives, we can blast them to dust in the blink of an eye. Don’t be afraid, little Rui. Go back and receive the girls’ caresses.”

Rui clenched his fists and walked away without a word.

Yun Buci, wearing headphones in a remote meeting in the inner room, poked her head out, sensing the strange atmosphere. Her gaze swept toward the screen, but before she could see clearly, the incessant questioning voices in her headphones forced her to withdraw her head.

Therefore, she didn’t see that the person raising the white flag was Xiao Xueya, who was least likely to surrender.

In front of the screen, Xilin stood up and took out a small device emitting blue light, muttering to himself: “The Daqian Emperor being captured and surrendered—such an important moment will be recorded in Alliance stellar history. How can I not be present?”

He pressed the button on the blue light device.

The surrounding space suddenly underwent a strange distortion.

Then his figure disappeared from the spot.

…