Chapter 97
"Turn it off, turn it off right now!" Norian lost his initial composure, barely managing to maintain his composure as he commanded the person beside him.
"Mr. Norian, I'm sorry, I can't do that right now."
"What about the other Warships responsible for escorting the convoy?"
Norian scanned the Warships around his Spaceship; they remained in place, unchanged for four or five seconds since the tail section of the Spaceship was opened.
Norian's forehead veins bulged, and he commanded sharply, "All of them..."
"I'm sorry, we can't move."
"Completely lost control of the Warship."
"The Warships have been hacked."
Norian's words were interrupted by a series of panicked voices on the Communication Channel.
The person controlling the Spaceship barely maintained composure, cautiously nudging Norian's arm and whispering, "Look ahead..."
Norian looked up, and in the short span of time, the Spaceship that had been blocking his way disappeared.
"In the back." The person next to Norian whispered a reminder. Although he had lost control of the Spaceship, he could still see Spaceship movements from the control panel. The open tail section of the Spaceship showed a man walking in.
With his Optical Brain losing control of the Spaceship, he immediately pressed the metal buttons labeled with letters on the control panel.
With a rapid, muffled thud, the protective door to the Spaceship's cockpit slammed shut.
The temperature inside the Spaceship instantly dropped to freezing point.
"There's only one enemy." Norian shuddered, noticing the displayed data. He swiftly grabbed the most powerful weapon hanging on the wall, gripped it tightly, and stared intently at the closed hatch. He ordered his soldiers inside the Spaceship, "Prepare for battle."
He hadn't faced danger directly in over seventy years, so it would be a lie to say he wasn't nervous.
It doesn't matter that the other Warships are under control and unable to move; there are still 28 soldiers on board this Spaceship.
With more people than people, the outcome is obvious. Once the other side is dead, the lost control of the Spaceship will be regained.
He just needs to wait inside for the battle to end; the soldiers outside will protect him.
The soldiers, who are usually well-trained and whose voices would always be strong and clear after Norian's words, did not respond this time as expected through the Communication Channel.
Norian: "?"
Norian's doubts were quickly answered.
"Sizzle... hiss... sizzle... nori sizzle... come out..."
A piercing crackling sound, mixed with a trembling voice, rang out, completely contrary to Norian's expectations.
Norian and those around him immediately tried to contact the outside world, but all the messages they sent through their Optical Brain failed to send.
With the hatches open at the rear, the two Spaceships are connected by an unfolded metal passageway.
The moment the enemy's hatch opened, identical weapons appeared behind the man, pointing at them.
The soldiers received no orders from Norian. Faced with a dense array of weapons Hover eerily in the air and pointing at them, they wisely lowered their weapons and raised their hands.
It's too strange. They weren't real soldiers. Without orders, they wouldn't risk their lives. If they died, it would be for nothing.
They were too far apart to see clearly, but they felt a chilling aura as the man approached, engulfing their entire bodies. A heavy pressure pressed down on them, and their knees snapped to their knees, powerless to resist. This was the oppressive feeling caused by Pheromones.
The weapons they had thrown on the ground also lifted off the ground and disappeared from their sight as they looked down. Then, a pair of boots stepped on the ground and passed through their lowered field of vision.
Qin Su entered the cabin and approached the tightly closed cockpit door. Under the control of the Optical Brain, the previously closed door slowly opened.
Beads of cold sweat on his forehead, Norian was frantically trying to contact the outside world, but to no avail. Hearing the noise, he shifted his gaze from his Optical Brain to the hatch.
"!"
As the hatch slowly opened, Norian met the man's purple eyes.
Behind the man were several identical weapons pointed at him. Through the gaps, one could see soldiers in the distance, clearly suppressed by Pheromones and unable to stand.
Their eyes met for a fleeting moment, and Norian, not knowing what was going on in his mind, gasped as the name 'Qin Su' flashed through his mind.
Not only him, but everyone he knew was trying their best to 'study' Qin Su. Qin Su's voice, physique, height, facial features... were all magnified and studied frame by frame.
Although the man in front of him and Qin Su had absolutely no resemblance, neither in height nor in eye color.
Why would he have such a thought?
As this thought crossed his mind, Norian's weapon was suddenly pulled away by a powerful force, and in the blink of an eye, the dark firing port of the weapon was pointed at him.
"!"
Norian's eyes flashed with disbelief, and out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the person beside him was in a similar situation.
Having achieved his goal, Qin Su breathed a sigh of relief, looked at the person beside Norian, and said coldly, "Get out."
The situation was hopeless, so the man said nothing and quickly left.
Norian watched helplessly as the hatch slowly closed after the man left.
Hope shattered, alone, and surrounded by a deathly chill, Norian fell to his knees with a thud, begging for mercy. "Don't kill me! I'll give you anything you want, just please don't..."
As Norian pleaded for mercy, Qin Su walked to the cockpit control panel, removed his helmet and purple contact lenses, turned to look at Norian kneeling on the ground, and resumed his original voice. "Raise your head."
Norian: "?"
That voice... why does it sound so familiar?
Norian, begging for mercy without understanding why, had no choice but to obey and slowly raised his head with a stiff upper lip.
Boots, legs, clothes, throat... wait, why does that Adam's apple look so familiar?
Norian's ominous premonition grew stronger.
Qin Su: "..."
He didn't understand why this person was dawdling, but luckily, striking a pose with downcast eyes and a cold expression wasn't difficult.
Despite his unease, Norian knew he had no other choice. He paused, then forced his gaze to continue upwards.
A chin, lips of moderate thickness, a high, straight nose, and deep, dark eyes...
"!"
After cautiously examining the features of the person before him, Norrian saw Qin Su's face, which had previously only appeared in videos and photos, now standing before him, his cold, sharp black eyes Gaze him from head to toe. Norian's pupils suddenly contracted, his heart tightened, and his breath caught in his throat for a moment.
Nightmare come true, who else could it be but Qin Su!
In an instant, thinking of the citizens' opinions of Qin Su, Norian went through all the evil deeds he had done in his life in his mind, and the more he thought about it, the uglier his face became.
'It's over, the other party is Qin Su, if he doesn't die, it'll be hard to get out of this!'
Norian lost all his strength in an instant, his face ashen, and he quickly lowered his head.
Qin Su could calmly chop up and kill those hideous insects, let alone someone like him... who rose through the ranks through family connections and underhanded means.
What's even more terrifying is that Qin Su deliberately let him see his face, which is clearly a way of telling him to die.
"..."
The Ghosts' gazes lingered furtively on Qin Su and Norian on the ground, thinking to themselves that they were indeed from the Qin Family members; ghosts were afraid of them, and people were afraid of them too. With that thought, they felt much more at ease.
It seemed he had successfully threatened Norian with the mindset that "seeing the murderer's face means certain death." Qin Su looked at Norlian, who had only glanced at him briefly before quickly bowing his head and collapsing to the ground, trembling. He didn't ask Norian to look up again, and said in an icy tone, "A dead end, a way to live, which one do you choose?"
"!"
A glimmer of hope flickered in Norian's ashen eyes. Still living under the threat of death, he dared not look up at Qin Su's face, his voice stammering, "Live... live!"
As expected, Qin Su circled Norian's name on his Optical Brain...
Norian has one vote now, and three votes now.
After changing the numbers, Qin Su looked at the breathless Norian and coldly unleashed a series of smooth moves, devoid of any enticement but only coercion.
Every second felt like an eternity. Finally, Norian waited for the heavy cockpit security door to open again. He fled from inside as if his life depended on it, running towards the stern of the ship in a panic.
Qin Su watched Norian's retreating figure, then looked to the side. The three ghosts nodded to Qin Su and took care of Norian from all sides, following behind him as they left.
From this day forward, they will monitor Norian's every move and, when the dust settles, send Norian to where he belongs.
There are many more ghosts who have been arranged in this way.
Although no one else in the world can see them except himself, and they are controlled by the ring on his hand, Qin Su habitually uses multiple layers of security.
To avoid betrayal, each of them keeps a secret from the others' intentions, monitoring and restraining one another.
Norian was soon horrified to discover that even though he had distanced himself from Qin Su, the chilling, deathly aura emanating from Qin Su still enveloped them, making it impossible to escape.
Rushing to the stern of the ship, he saw that, just as Qin Su had told him, a Warship was anchored there. His men were crouching on the Warship, clutching their heads. Norian, struggling to maintain his limp body and trying to ignore his physical and mental discomfort, quickly jumped into the Warship.
Neural Link to the Warship that Qin Su had granted him access to, Norian maneuvered the Warship away at the fastest speed he had ever seen.
Only when he could no longer see any Spaceships or Warships around him did Norian, who had narrowly escaped death, collapse onto the floor, panting heavily from exhaustion.
Recalling Qin Su's words to him in the cockpit, Norian felt even colder, his mind filled with the thought, 'As expected of Qin Su, even after he's gone, that chilling feeling still lingers.'
The three ghosts watched Norian lying on the ground and began recording Norian every word and action using the cell phone Qin Dai had burned for them.
Qin Su seized all of Norian's Warships Spaceships and continued on to his next target.
Over the next two days, the people on every Spaceship carrying large quantities of weapons, energy, and supplies that left the area gradually changed from initially thinking, "I've never seen such arrogant and domineering pirates," "Do you know who we are?" and "You know and you still dare to rob us? Don't you want to die?" to feeling no different from Norian.
Apart from Xuan Chengming.
After being subjected to a fierce bombardment, his body was exposed to the vast universe along with the shattered Spaceship. Without the protection of his special protective suit, Xuan Chengming was torn into countless fragments of varying sizes as meteorites and floating Spaceship debris passed through his unconscious body.
The Ghosts were watching this scene with Qin Su silently took two steps back when they saw Xuan Chengming, whose eyes had turned into blood mist in an instant.
Even now, Qin Su hasn't told them what he's doing. The group in front of them were all fine, but Qin Su just said something to them, scaring them half to death before letting them go.
Suddenly, at the end of the event, right in front of them, they couldn't help but suspect that Qin Su was deliberately using such a brutal method to 'kill the chicken to scare the monkey,' threatening them not to have any disloyal thoughts.
By combining carrot and stick tactics, they felt threatened and became more docile.
Qin Su carefully filmed the scene of Xuan Chengming's death and sent the video to Xuan Jingxi's Optical Brain anonymously, with no traceable source.
Having already 'shared information', even if the source couldn't be traced, Xuan Jingxi knew it was him without him needing to communicate with Xuan Jingxi further.
After doing all this, Qin Su turned around and found that the spirits were all standing a meter away from him.
"?"
"What's wrong?" Qin Su asked, puzzled. Had something happened that he didn't know about?
"Nothing!" the pirates shouted in unison, shaking their heads vigorously like rattles.
Qin Su: "..."
Okay, even ghosts have their own little secrets, he respects and understands.
Qin Su remained silent, his gaze fixed intently on them. Less than three seconds later, one of the ghosts, terrified, hurriedly asked ingratiatingly, "Where are we going next?"
It was still early. As Qin Su walked towards the cockpit, he mentally tracked the pirate Spaceship that had passed during the earlier bombing and succinctly stated. "Become the Pirate King."
Ghosts: "?"
A ghost whispered a reminder: "It seems you've wiped out most of the pirates..."
Qin Su, though unconvinced, declared confidently, "A true king is always alone."
The Ghosts, realizing what had happened, were speechless.
The physical concept of loneliness is logical, well-founded, and irrefutable.
--
Xuan Jingxi, who was attending a meeting in place of Xuan Chengming, received an anonymous link. Having learned from past mistakes, Xuan Jingxi now instinctively assumes that the anonymous link is from Qin Su.
"Excuse me, I'm not feeling well, please wait a moment." Xuan Jingxi stood up from the head seat and left under the watchful eyes of the numerous 3D projections.
After closing the door to block prying eyes, Xuan Jingxi clicked on the link.
Inside was a video in which her father, whose well-maintained face and body had recently been torn to pieces at the cost of countless lives, was seen.
Xuan Jingxi's lips twitched as she wildly turned upwards with emotion and suppressed her reason. Years of suppressed emotions erupted at this moment, and Xuan Jingxi finally couldn't help but burst out with a burst of joy mixed with the feeling of revenge.
Hearing the commotion inside, the butler, who was responsible for monitoring Xuan Jingxi during Xuan Chengming's brief absence, knocked on the door and said rudely, "Miss, are you alright? I'm coming in."
Before Xuan Jingxi could speak, the butler pushed the door open to go in, but before his hand could even touch the doorknob, the door was opened from the inside.
Xuan Jingxi emerged with a beaming smile, shoving the butler aside without ceremony. She strode to her seat, casually pulled the chair back with one hand, and leaned back with a flourish, ignoring the surprised looks on everyone's faces. She tapped her fingers heavily on the table, her smile radiant, "Everyone, please continue."
"?"
His voice was loud and clear, his demeanor was spirited and unrestrained, a stark contrast to his previous soft-spoken and gentle manner. This was not the behavior of someone waiting to sell a commodity.
The housekeeper frowned, silently preparing to report Xuan Jingxi's inappropriate behavior in front of many business partners to Xuan Chengming.
--
The weekend break flew by. With the Zerg and Mecha as examples, no one in 1st Brigade was surprised when Qin Su announced the weapons practice assessment on Monday.
They are not the same people they were at the beginning. Qin Su doesn't need to say anything more; they will take it seriously on their own.
After announcing the assessment model, which was essentially no different from the Mecha practice, Qin Su, having anticipated the students' reactions, decided not to waste any more time. He immediately sent the previously prepared plan to the group and instructed the students to proceed according to the plan.
"Wait a minute, have you guys noticed? Without us even realizing it, it seems like we've been scolded by Qin Su."
"You just realized that?"
"So what? I'd be happy to do it. People in the Unit 2 wouldn't even have this chance."
"That's right!"
[A vision of Qin Su leading a group of dogs of different types—slick, fluffy, endearing, intelligent, cute, etc.]
[No, no, they're clearly a group of different types of adorable repair dogs, but they all obediently sit next to the Boss 1 with leashes in their mouths.]
[A group of furry lovers, could it be a snake coiled around Qin Su?]
[Snake-loving, get out of here!]
The third week of training came to a successful conclusion, and Raymond, who had been invited by Xuan Jingxi to attend Xuan Chengming's funeral, traveled with He Muzhi and others.
The news of Xuan Chengming's death was personally delivered by Greyliff. Upon hearing the news, Xuan Jingxi, dressed in a bright red dress and celebrating her birthday in advance, looked grief-stricken in front of the Xuan Family's collateral branches. Her eyes, which had been treated with eye drops, were red and she covered her mouth, collapsing onto the newly appointed housekeeper, who had only been in office for five days, before she could burst out laughing.
The housekeeper cried out "Young Miss!" while having Xuan Jingxi's unconscious body helped her disappear from everyone's sight.
Five days ago, while cleaning out Xuan Chengming's collection of Military Saber, the old housekeeper was unfortunately struck by a two-meter-long, 26-pound Military Saber hanging from the top, which sliced off his head on the spot.
Rumors circulated that Xuan Jingxi, the sole heir of the Xuan Family, fainted in the arms of the housekeeper upon hearing the devastating news.
Normally, funerals are solemn and dignified, with black as the main color. Xuan Jingxi overruled everyone's objections, claiming that no one understands their Parents better than their daughter. Xuan Chengming loved red the most during his lifetime, so the main color of the funeral was crimson.
"Senior Sister Xuan went to great lengths to ensure Uncle Xuan had a peaceful journey," Raymond said, looking at the funeral decorations. He then turned to He Muzhi and the others who had been invited, asking, "Don't you agree?"
He Muzhi: "... Hmm."
"I don't understand, but I'm deeply shocked." Because it was a funeral and she was surrounded by adults, Lailisi's voice was much softer.
"..."
Everyone present was shrewd and knew nothing of their family backgrounds. Lin Yin silently covered Samuel's mouth and whispered, "Don't speak."
She didn't understand why her family and the Samuel family, given their status, would be invited. They had never had any dealings with the Xuan Family, and when they told their families the news, they were both surprised and delighted.
In any case, this is a good thing for them.
Samuel nodded, and after being released by Lin Yin, he glanced around before slowly raising one hand to gently cover his mouth.
Xuan Jingxi wasn't surprised not to see Qin Su. She knew without a doubt that Qin Su wouldn't attend the old man's funeral. Even though she knew this, she had politely sent him an invitation, which Qin Su declined for the sake of decorum.
The He Family will definitely be invited, He Muzhi's friends will naturally be included in the invitation list.
Seeing Xuan Jingxi come out, Raymond straightened his clothes and said to his classmates, "I think we should go and comfort Xuan."
Before He Muzhi and the other three could speak, Raymond had already walked up to Xuan Jingxi.
"Senior Xuan, regarding your uncle's matter... please accept my condolences. If it were your uncle, he would never bear to see you so sad and upset." Raymond's tone was heavy, and his eyes were filled with worry.
"..."
Xuan Jingxi forced a smile, "... Thank you."
She believed that anyone with eyes could see that she and the old man were sworn enemies.
Sophia, Jeffrey, and the others arrived. Sophia asked He Muzhi in confusion, "Why aren't you going over there?"
They were standing together just now; Raymond always likes to call out to his friends.
He Muzhi explained in a low voice, "I'm afraid it will be awkward."
Although he wasn't very smart, he could still read the room and people's expressions.
The adults and children were not standing together. Hansen Herbers was not far from where Xuan Jingxi and Raymond were talking. Hearing this, he covered his face, veins bulging on his forehead, and tried to take deep breaths to calm himself down.
This idiot! He ate so much meat for nothing, why doesn't he learn to be a little more cunning? Look at Qin Su, he's got eight hundred tricks up his sleeve! He's been in the same class for so long, and he hasn't picked up even a single one of those tricks!
Beside him, Lailisi's father, Powell Callisto, dared not laugh, not at all. His daughter was no match for Raymond, and the only thing that made him feel fortunate was that Lailisi's fists were harder than Raymond's. If she sensed something was wrong, she would just go for it and not suffer much loss.
"Powell, look over there." Hansen shifted his gaze from Raymond to Greyliff. "Here."
Hansen pointed to his head. "He doesn't look quite right."
Powell had never liked Greyliff and his group, and frowned dismissively, saying, "They've probably done too many bad things, and now they're being haunted."
"Haha..." Hansen chuckled, "You really love to joke around."
Since his appearance, Greyliff had been gazing around with a gloomy expression, his eagle eyes bloodshot and filled with crimson light.
Ever since he met Qin Su, he felt like he had stepped into a death trap, and he was being driven crazy by the intuition that 'someone around him wants to kill him, and Qin Su is watching him'.
--
Boom!
After a clap of thunder, dark rainwater streamed down the Transparent Wall. Xuan Jingcheng's red eyes fell on the Optical Brain, and he unconsciously bit his nails.
It's been three days.
Three full days have passed since he woke up again after surgery, and Xuan Chengming hasn't contacted him at all. How long is he going to be locked up here?
--
During the last week of the training month, when the students of Class 6) heard Qin Su say the words "simulated combat", they were invigorated.
'No one knows the patterns or the pain of death better than them!'
[6. You've become arrogant.]
Is there anything to be proud of in this?
[ (Class 6: I have no regrets about dying at Brother Su's hands (grinning)]
Before changing into special Combat Suit and entering the largest Simulated Battlefield together, Class 6) looked at the other classes with sympathy in their eyes and tacitly excluded the other classes from gathering together to cricket.
"Just thinking about what they're going to go through makes me want to laugh."
"Finally, someone is going to understand how we felt back then. I'm so touched!"
The other students looked at Class 6) with puzzled expressions.
What kind of look is that?
"Mercy?
"That's strange. Aren't they supposed to be doing the same thing as us? Could it be that Commander 1 is going to give them special treatment?"
"Why don't you go ask Brother Su?"
No, thank you.
"You coward."
"I'm speaking from the heart; you're the coward."
This wasn't the first time he'd done something like this. The experienced Qin Su ignored the puzzled looks from the students in other classes and calmly let all the students enter.
Zerg knowledge, Mecha, weapons, Warships... everyone has become familiar with them to the maximum extent in a short period of time. Now, it's time for them to experience the unpredictable real combat.
It doesn't matter what kind of insects we'll face in the Third Practical Exercise, what the climate and geographical environment will be like, or what weapons we'll be assigned...
Why bother with the questions? They're too hard. I might as well just shoot them all.
As long as his 'sweeping' range is large enough, the questions will definitely be included. In the following time, he will feed them a 'hodgepodge' of questions in the simulated combat.
"This simulated combat exercise will last for three hours. Begin."
With Qin Su's command, the simulated battle began. Faced with the overwhelming and fierce onslaught of different insects, the students from other classes finally understood the meaning in the eyes of Class 6).
Different insects, different attack and feeding methods, different terrains and climates, crashing into different 'walls' and dying in different ways, creating ear-piercing, painful screams that almost ripped the roof off.
Three hours later, with Qin Su's indifferent death after saying "rest for thirty minutes," the illusory Simulation Arena faded away.
In the vast, seemingly endless simulation map, there were countless 'corpses' lying around.
Qin Su knew that the people in Class 6 were experienced and that the insects were simulated by him using Mimicry Aircraft. They were used to it, but the people in other classes did not know this.
To avoid being killed by his classmates' glares after they found out the truth, Qin Su didn't hesitate for a moment after announcing a temporary break and strode into the Backstage Space, avoiding the murderous looks from everyone.
Behind closed doors, Qin Su reviewed his classmates' performance on the field to prepare targeted attacks for future training, while simultaneously monitoring the outside situation through another screen.
(Class 6 had faced this situation, and they were able to hold on. As the 'seniors', they didn't hesitate to stand up and stood up together to uphold the dignity of the 'seniors'.
"Hey, get up! Is this all you've got?"
"So what if you die a few times? The pain is the same, but it's not real death. You should be content."
Without Qin Su present, the people in Class 6 couldn't control their mouths.
"I've always heard people say you're very strong, but you're nothing special."
"That's why I say our (Class 6 truly lives up to its reputation as soldiers personally trained by our Class Monitor. In terms of resilience, you can't compare."
"That's right, soldiers are best raised by Brother Su himself. Speaking of raising, surely no one here doesn't know that our (Class 6 was fed by Brother Su?"
Qin Su: "..."
A strange competitive spirit.
The other classes, whose members were all knocked out. "..."
Having been trained to become a "teacher," it must be said that despite the repeated "deaths," the constant mental and physical pain of death or missing limbs, the people in Class 6) were still so "happy."
Their mental state was far superior to theirs.
After resting for a few minutes, the pain subsided. The other students were more curious about Qin Su's position in the Simulated Battlefield than about counterattacking Class 6.
Even in Simulated Battlefield, they hoped to bump into each other.
"Did anyone see Commander 1 just now?"