Enemy at the Gates

"Who's missing? Tiger Girl, Little Five, Fatty..." Ye Lang rapidly counted everyone off. "Cousin Zhiqing is here too. Seems nobody's missing. Dad, are we short-handed here?"

"No. This is everyone who came," Ye Chengtian replied.

"Since we're not short-handed—Li Yue, do you want to come? If you do, you're welcome. Shalan... you should stay over there," Ye Lang said.

"I..." Li Yue looked at Ye Lang, hesitating. After all, her position was different now.

"What do you mean by that?!" Shalan glared furiously at Ye Lang.

"Nothing. We're bound to be enemies anyway. You're not going to come over to my side, are you?" Ye Lang replied.

"Why can't I? I'm only an alchemist, nothing else. As long as you dare teach me alchemy, I'll go with you!!" Shalan said coldly. The moment she said that, she had basically no choice but to follow Ye Lang, because anyone who said such things would surely be controlled—or eliminated—by the Xiangkong Emperor.

"It's fine if you come. Why wouldn't I dare teach you alchemy? I'll teach you everything I know. As for things beyond alchemy, that depends on whether I feel like it," Ye Lang said indifferently.

"What would I learn besides alchemy for?" Shalan said as she moved toward the airship. She did not know that some of Ye Lang's techniques were not alchemy at all—for instance, the formations she most wanted to understand.

"Li Yue, time waits for no one..."

"No, I still can't go with you. Why aren't we part of the same empire? Why do there have to be so many nations..." Li Yue shook her head, looking deeply pained.

"One empire..."

After hearing Li Yue's words, someone suddenly thought of an utterly absurd plan. Yet putting that plan into action did not seem impossible.

"Fine, then let's