News from Afar [Please Vote]

Beta was drunk—and bald.

Daoist Wang had successfully plucked a whole crate of grafted "herbal spirit plants," and he had been in quite a good mood tonight. But then Beta mentioned that their squad's aircraft had originally carried three crates of Spiritual Wood. During the earlier clash, the aircraft had exploded, and those three crates of Spiritual Wood had been destroyed as well...

Daoist Wang's mood immediately became less than beautiful.

Even if that Spiritual Wood could not be used to refine pills, it could still be made into paper for High-Tier Talismans!

Still, it did not matter much.

"Tree of Kindness" Beta had already fallen into his hands. Would he be short on Beta's connective tissue in the future?

The room next to Wu Man's dormitory.

Wang Jixuan placed the drunken Beta on the bed. Wei Na supported the thoroughly drunk Shaman as she looked around outside the door, while the newly arrived Zhou Zhengde searched nearby for somewhere for Shaman to stay.

—Wang Jixuan had overlooked something as well. He had forgotten that Shaman and Beta were not boyfriend and girlfriend, so he had only arranged one double suite.

Doctor Wei Na let out a soft breath.

She looked two or three years younger than before. Her skin was more delicate, her waist considerably slimmer, and her elegant black dress and exquisite makeup both showed how much importance she had placed on tonight's dinner.

"I never expected this!" Wei Na panted. "A high-end talent like you actually has to socialize too!"

Zhou Zhengde smiled. "These two are no ordinary guests. One is A-Class, the other a B-Class Psionicist. Both are worth winning over."

Wang Jixuan said with a smile, "I'll leave Shaman to the two of you. I'm heading back to prepare my lessons."

"Go on, busy man."

Wei Na waved helplessly.

"I thought you were arranging a blind date for me, which was why you specifically said you wanted me to help receive and look after two guests... But you actually wanted me to take care of girls!

"Do you even understand that people of the same sex repel each other?"

Wang Jixuan merely smiled without saying anything.

Zhou Zhengde said seriously, "Comrade Wei Na, watch your tone. Don't speak to Teacher Wang like that."

"What's wrong with it?"

Wei Na rolled her eyes indignantly.

"I specifically took sobering medicine tonight. There's no advantage to be had now, so I can't even say a couple of things about him?"

"He recently killed a powerful S-Class Psionicist. Two S-Class Psionicists have already died by his hand."

"Uh..."

"He brought out a technology capable of influencing the global balance of power. One product has already been manufactured in two hundred and thirty thousand units and issued to troops across the entire front."

"Well..."

"He also has a buddy named Fu Jian now, known as the Devil Commander-in-Chief."

"Alright, stop talking."

Wei Na forced out a fake smile.

"Teacher Wang, please don't mind me. I spoke without thinking just now. Actually, I've always respected you greatly."

"Then I'll give you some compensation."

Wang Jixuan took out the blank talisman paper he carried with him and swiftly wrote two talismans. Raising his hand, he drew over and opened two bottles of purified water. He shook the talismans, which burned on their own, their ashes slipping into the water. He gently shook the bottles to mix them evenly.

"One removes skin blemishes, and the other regulates your hormones. Drink them at least three days apart... You two settle Shaman in. I'm off."

Wang Jixuan winked at Zhou Zhengde, hoisted the crate full of Spiritual Wood onto his shoulder, and slipped away.

Peony was already waiting downstairs, pink light continuously flashing around her wrist.

Pink light represented non-urgent matters.

"Wow," Wei Na could not help but marvel. "Is he this cool now?"

Zhou Zhengde pointed at Shaman, who sat against the wall beside Wei Na. "Help her up. We found an empty dormitory over there. We need to go downstairs."

"Why can't you support her? I'm practically out of strength."

"Physical contact between unfamiliar men and women can easily cause misunderstandings."

"What a hypocritical conservative."

"Thank you for the compliment."

"Hey, how have things been going with your political girlfriend lately?"

"I don't know the specifics either. We haven't met in a long time. But she's a conservative too, and someone keeps an eye on her movements to prevent her from disgracing my family, so I don't need to worry at all."

"Has your controlling streak become this perverse now? You even monitor people in political marriages?"

"I didn't arrange it. My mother did. It's mainly for the family's reputation. Personally, I don't really care."

"Come help out. I'll prove your innocence for you. This girl has a pretty good figure, but her frame is so heavy... Hold her properly. Can you loosen up a little? This is the Fortress Era... Yes, yes, put her slender arm around your neck... Great, I took a picture. Young Master Zhou takes advantage of a drunk girl and escorts her back to her dormitory. Nothing less than three boxes of the same skincare cream your mother uses will settle this!"

"I'm calling the guards!"

"Tch, you can't even take a joke. My communicator doesn't even have a camera function."

The two childhood friends laughed, cursed, and roughhoused.

Poor Shaman, half-drunk, sensed a bit of the world's malice—and how unnecessary she herself was.

"Sir, there are two messages that require your attention. Commander Dongfang Zhenghong sent them."

"Are they urgent?"

"Not particularly."

"We'll talk when we get back." Wang Jixuan glanced at the apartment building nearby and handed the cardboard box to Peony. "There really have been too many things lately. I barely have time to heal."

Peony said with a grin, "The capable work harder. The Commander-in-Chief sent some materials to the workshop. You'll need to go tomorrow and see how they should be sorted."

"Fine."

Daoist Wang stretched lazily and did not complain much.

No matter how many things there were, they had to be handled one by one. Every plan had its own order of priority.

Recently, there were really only three matters to deal with—using the Demon Suppressing Grand Formation to process the Spiritual Cultivation Slate, attempting to refine pills, and teaching at the academy.

A few minutes later, Wang Jixuan saw the two messages. His expression swiftly turned cold, and he sat in the Sofa Chair for a long time without saying a word.

[Message One] concerned Xing Tian.

Large transport aircraft had recently been taking off and landing at Xing Tian's Snow Mountain Base, and the base had gained a great deal of armed personnel. The Psionic Capital had dispatched two teams, but they had not been able to uncover the specific situation.

Based on estimates, this S-Class Psionicist with one arm and one leg missing had now received an injection of resources from the Six Elders.

Xing Tian might truly attempt to break through to SS-Class next.

Xing Tian posed an enormous threat. He had countless ways to escape, struck ruthlessly and viciously, and could even lower himself enough to personally act as a scout. Wang Jixuan could not help gaining a bit more respect for him.

I can't let him successfully reach SS-Class. Otherwise, I'll only be able to hide inside Fortress No. 76, and I'll have to set up the Mountain Protection Grand Formation here.

The Daoist made up his mind. Xing Tian would be his priority target from now on. He did not think much about the rest.

What truly affected his mood was the second message.

It was a passage of text and a video.

[Dongfang Zhenghong:

Yesterday, at a large Scavenger Camp on the outskirts of the D5 Comprehensive War Zone, we found traces that appeared to belong to Kong Nu's wife and daughter. Since you previously said you wanted to find them, I immediately had people dispatch an additional Special Operations Team into that camp. In the end, they found Kong Nu's daughter.

Her mental state is already somewhat abnormal. After the soldiers interrogated her, they sent her to a Scavenger Camp under our control.

The interrogation details are all here.]

Peony clasped her hands together and pulled them apart like an accordion. A three-dimensional Projection Screen appeared between them and began playing a video.

The video was set inside an armored vehicle. The frail girl wearing smoky eye makeup, ear piercings, and a nose ring pursed her lips and frowned, looking completely unconcerned.

Wang Jixuan had seen her photo before. In it, she had been a "young lady" with quiet refinement in her bones, raised in comfort since childhood.

The two had completely different temperaments now.

A female soldier began questioning her.

"Are you Kong Nu's daughter?"

"Yes. Are you here to hunt me down?"

"The laws of this era do not impose guilt by association. You did not participate in your father's crimes, and you are still a minor. Where is your mother?"

"Dead."

"When did she die?"

"More than ten days ago? She got sick, and she couldn't bear being casually humiliated by the people here. She killed herself."

"You're lying!"

The female soldier knocked on an instrument beside her.

"This is a lie detector... We've been watching you for half a day. You were receiving customers, trading your body for supplies. If you don't think this kind of life needs to change, then you can keep lying. We can't do anything to you. But if you want things to change—even if you want to enter a prison-like institution with sufficient food, a private room, and respect for your dignity—then tell us the truth."

The girl froze. Then she suddenly covered her face with both hands, lowered her head, and began choking back sobs.

The female soldier waited quietly.

Some useless portions had been cut from the video. It jumped directly to when the girl had calmed down and begun speaking.

"I sold Mom... About ten days ago, she caught a cold and fell unconscious. I was starving. I didn't know what to do, so I copied Ye Zi and sold us like she did. I found a trafficker... I thought Mom would be sent somewhere else to become a slave or prostitute... They killed her and took her organs..."

The girl trembled all over and tightly hugged her own arms.

"I didn't mean to... I really... I just wanted to survive. I didn't want to starve to death... There isn't even a mouthful of clean water here...

"This isn't my fault..."

The female soldier frowned deeply. "You just mentioned Ye Zi? Who is she?"

"She... she's the younger sister who came out with me," the girl sniffled. "Dad liked her a lot, and Mom did too, so we always kept her with us before."

"Is this her?"

"Yes, that's her. Ye Zi."

"Where is she now?"

"I don't know. She sold us to the traffickers here more than half a month ago."

The girl tightly pursed her lips.

"At first, we thought that trafficker was a friend she knew. It wasn't until they sent two men to tear off my clothes... that I realized she had betrayed us and taken all the supplies we carried.

"She knows how to use a lot of guns too. I heard them say she killed a gang of more than a dozen people here, then left with seven or eight others."

The female soldier asked, "When you left Fortress No. 76, weren't you heading for Fortress No. 82? What happened in between?"

"I don't know the details. I was asleep at the time. The explosion woke me up, and everything was chaotic. The Psionicists escorting us seemed to have turned on each other. They wanted some kind of account books... Then the vehicle overturned..."

The girl's body continued trembling.

"It was Ye Zi who saved us then. She dragged Mom and me out of the vehicle, then used a pistol to kill two heavily injured and unconscious Psionicists.

"Mom and I were both terrified. Ye Zi seemed scared too at the time... But I think she was probably pretending...

"Then Mom drove away with Ye Zi and me. We didn't dare go to Fortress No. 82 anymore. Ye Zi took out a map from the briefcase she carried. They said those account books were inside, but they needed a codebook to be read...

"Ye Zi said the fortress authorities would definitely kill us to cover up the scandal... So we fled all the way. What happened afterward is what I told you earlier."

"This time, you weren't lying. Good. Thank you for cooperating."

The female soldier raised a hand and rubbed her brow, then picked up a pistol and pressed it against the girl's forehead. The girl's entire body tensed, her eyes filled with pleading.

A female soldier beside her said quietly, "Watch the discipline."

"She sold her own mother to organ traffickers!"

"We must follow the law. We have no judicial authority. Take her back and wait for higher-ups to handle it. She will stand trial in court."

"This unnecessary procedure is merely wasting precious resources in the apocalypse!"

The video abruptly ended.

Inside the dormitory, Wang Jixuan raised a hand to wipe his face and exhaled softly.

So he really had released a demon back into the mountains.

Moreover, the Daoist realized he had underestimated the upper limits of an ordinary person's ability.

He muttered, "So Ye Zi recruited seven or eight vicious people, brought along some supplies, and has already left D5."

"Yes. That is also the information Peony extracted."

"Send Commander Dongfang a message. Once Ye Zi is found, consider it a favor to me—give her a missile."

Wang Jixuan suddenly thought of something else and frowned tightly.

Just as Peony finished sending the message, Wang Jixuan suddenly said, "Something's not right."

"What isn't right?"

"Kong Nu's daughter mentioned the map Ye Zi had. They followed that map to reach the large Scavenger Camp in the D5 Border region."

Scenes flashed before Wang Jixuan's eyes.

They were from his brief time with Ye Zi in the wooden cabin.

Ye Zi's preparations for fleeing had been far too thorough.

That night had actually been rather chaotic. After Thomas killed the old landlady, where had Ye Zi found the time to prepare all this?

Account books, a map, even a plan for leaving the D5 Comprehensive War Zone... Was that really the kind of knowledge a little girl who had never stepped outside the lowest level of the fortress could possess?

She must have begun planning long ago.

And there was a strong chance that the plan had not been made by her.

I have to learn many things every day. Arithmetic, world geography...

Ye Zi's words echoed continuously beside Wang Jixuan's ears.

She had needed to learn world geography?

At the time, Wang Jixuan had only assumed that the landlady, with her vast knowledge and large collection of books, wanted the children to develop a longing for the world aboveground.

The image of prayers at the dining table entered Wang Jixuan's mind.

But now... things seemed far from simple...

"Peony, notify Zhou Zhengde. Ask him to send an Enforcement Team to the Lower City and reinvestigate all information related to Kong Nu's mother, Kong Meilian."

"Yes, sir. Peony has noted that the Lower City was struck by the Blade Beast Tide. There may not be much surviving information."

"Don't make it too formal. This is only a small matter in the end. I'm just a little curious."

Wang Jixuan gently shook his head.

When one's personal strength was enough to crush everything, any conspiracy or scheme was nothing but emptiness.

He should continue healing and cultivating. He also had to prepare the formation foundation and refine pills.

It was just...

This long mortal world was perhaps far too cruel.

Meanwhile.

War Zone D3, outside an Agricultural Fortress near the front line.

A truck slowly made its way toward the fortress.

Inside the truck's cargo compartment.

More than a dozen boys and girls between fourteen or fifteen and eighteen or nineteen, dressed in patch-covered clothes, sat hand in hand in a circle with their heads lowered, reciting:

"As long as we help one another and support each other as we move forward, we can light the fire of civilization step by step in the darkness."

"All right, time to eat."

"Make sure you remember our mission. Sister Ye Zi is waiting for our good news."