About to Switch Sides

When Xiang Lin Tian successfully lit the cigar, the video abruptly ended.

Wang Jixuan and Zhou Zhengde stared at each other wide-eyed.

"What happened after that?"

"That's all they sent. It was my first time seeing it too."

Zhou Zhengde clicked his tongue in amazement. "Looks like Maternal Grandfather had been setting this guy up all along, trying to lure him over."

"Setting him up?" Wang Jixuan was a little puzzled.

Zhou Zhengde smiled. "My guess is that Commander Dongfang must have shown our Commander-in-Chief your attitude, maybe even recordings of a sentence or two you said. The Commander-in-Chief then showed them to Xiang Lin Tian and deliberately drew him here... Only by meeting him could they persuade Xiang Lin Tian. And only after persuading him could they further attempt to truly push D2 into deep reform and restore the war zone's combat strength."

A look of realization appeared on Wang Jixuan's face.

After giving it some thought, he understood why D2's upper ranks cared so much about that formula.

Because that formula controlled a large number of D2 Comprehensive War Zone officers who supported the Psionic Capital.

What Xiang Lin Tian and the others wanted to protect was actually their connection to the Psionic Capital. And the reason Xing Tian had been able to smoothly control so many politicians was, in truth, because the real power holders of D2 had tacitly allowed it from behind the scenes.

The two sides could be said to have hit it off immediately.

Those materials Xing Tian had sent to the Psionic Capital and Snow Mountain Base, those countless debts of blood—D2's rulers bore part of that guilt as well.

Having thought it through, Wang Jixuan did not know how to judge it for a moment.

Bless them, then.

What else could he do?

Zhou Zhengde sighed as well. "This is what the current era is like. There are two schools of thought throughout the entire Human Faction: one optimistic, one pessimistic. Clearly, D2's higher-ups are thoroughgoing pessimists."

"It really wasn't easy for Old Fu to hold on alone until now."

Wang Jixuan remarked with feeling, then lightly changed the subject.

"How effective was that pill?"

"This... it's powerful... From now on, you're my real big brother..."

Zhou Zhengde's expression was slightly strange. He leaned close to Wang Jixuan and muttered in a low voice.

"So, I have a friend..."

Peony, in the corner, pretended not to hear what followed and continued focusing on gathering information from everywhere.

This was not a topic that Mechs like her could take part in.

After Zhou Zhengde left, Wang Jixuan cultivated for a while longer and successfully completed this improvement to his aptitude.

Xiang Lin Tian's expression kept flashing through his mind.

It was a kind of despair—not passive despair, but the despair of striving desperately only to discover that nothing could be changed.

This world, already shattered beyond repair, from the widespread tragedies of the fortress's Lower City to the despair of its most decorated generals, all stemmed from that powerful foreign enemy.

Under such crushing pressure, many things had already become distorted.

Daoist Wang had thought he would not care too much about such matters.

But he quickly realized that this emotion had affected him. Subconsciously, he was considering how he could help humanity defeat the Blade Beasts.

My connection to This Realm is growing deeper and deeper.

Daoist Wang simply stopped cultivating. He told Peony to wait for him in the studio, then wandered around for a while to clear his mind.

The wheat seedlings in the fields were still growing.

The children in the nursery laughed and played without a care.

Enemies hidden somewhere unknown whispered in the darkness.

Wang Jixuan wandered alone, gradually steadying his state of mind and refusing to think about these aggravating matters.

The mortal world was full of troubles, most of them born from ordinary people worrying themselves sick.

"Sir?"

Ding ding!

The bicycle bell and Gao Huating's surprised cry made Wang Jixuan turn his head.

Only then did Wang Jixuan realize that he had unknowingly wandered near Gao Huating's studio. It seemed she was heading out to record songs for that evening's broadcast.

Just a second ago, Gao Huating had thought she could face Officer Wang Zheng calmly.

Yet after leaving the familiar environment of her studio and running into him on a country path, her heartbeat began speeding up without her realizing it.

If she had been a hopeless romantic, she might have misunderstood it as falling for this officer.

Unfortunately, she knew perfectly well that she was simply nervous, with a touch of social anxiety.

"You're going to record a song?"

Daoist Wang asked knowingly, sounding curious. "Can I watch?"

Gao Huating hurriedly nodded, then quickly shook her head. "My place is too messy..."

"It's fine. I've looked at it many times through scouting methods."

"Huh?"

Gao Huating was a little dazed. Then, in a muddle, half willing and half reluctant, she led Wang Jixuan into the elevator and down to her studio.

Although Gao Huating's music studio was not large, it was exceptionally messy, with instruments and sheet music tossed everywhere.

Gao Huating dashed forward, quickly gathered up sheets of paper, and moved a stool in front of Wang Jixuan.

"Please sit wherever you like, sir!"

"Thank you." Wang Jixuan nodded and beckoned toward the refrigerator in the distance. A can of drink flew over on its own.

He asked, "Didn't your manager send anyone to clean this place?"

"They clean it once every half month now," Gao Huating said quietly. "Someone should be coming tomorrow or the day after."

"Have Peony arrange for Mechanical Maids to help you clean."

Wang Jixuan opened the drink and took a sip.

"Go do your work. I'm just in a bad mood, so I thought I'd listen to some music here and recharge a little."

Gao Huating hurriedly nodded.

Did you run into some difficult problem?

She really wanted to ask that, but when the words reached her lips, she obediently swallowed them back down.

She was just a little shrimp who knew how to sing.

"Then I'll get to work..."

"Just pretend I'm not here."

Wang Jixuan said it with a smile.

Gao Huating lowered her head and walked to her workstation. Once she gripped her guitar, she finally calmed down and began skillfully tuning and testing the sound, doing the work of both musician and technician by herself.

A few minutes later, the strumming of an acoustic guitar quietly bloomed beneath her fingers.

Gao Huating began finding her rhythm, then looked toward the corner again.

Wang Jixuan was leaning against the wall. A communicator had appeared in his hand, and he was constantly typing without paying attention to her.

Gao Huating relaxed a little, immediately feeling much more at ease.

She cleared her throat and sang through the song she needed to record that day first. Her voice and the music echoed back and forth through the cramped room.

Daoist Wang raised his brows.

His state of mind had indeed become steadier.

Just how did she manage that?

Gao Huating quickly entered the zone, her expressions following the music as she performed joy and sorrow.

Taking the opportunity, Wang Jixuan released a thread of spiritual awareness. It carefully circled Gao Huating, allowing him to sense and comprehend this inexplicable Dao rhythm in detail.

The more he contemplated it, the more Wang Jixuan felt...

Perhaps the matter of Spiritual Practitioners was not so simple.

—Gao Huating's abnormality was clearly related to psionic energy. Her dreams contained all sorts of hints, and she could not possibly have come from the Cultivation World. Wang Jixuan was certain the scenes in her dreams did not exist in their Cultivation World. By process of elimination, they were most likely connected to the Spiritual Cultivation Civilization.

He could not understand it or figure it out. It was profoundly mysterious.

Wang Jixuan pretended to be contacting someone as he listened to the music and thought peacefully.

Half an hour later.

A transport aircraft slowly descended from the sky, and the Surface Camp of Fortress No. 76 was solemn and silent.

Two burly figures stepped out of the transport aircraft, one after the other.

Xiang Lin Tian had already determined that Fu Jian had thoroughly set him up.

But Xiang Lin Tian did not reject this scheme.

Fu Jian was right.

After using that cigar, Xiang Lin Tian fully believed it.

He had not felt like this in many years. This body, which had once felt somewhat heavy, now felt... incomparably light!

He could not wait to find a King-Class Blade Beast and beat the living hell out of it!

"Old Fu." Xiang Lin Tian called out to Fu Jian, who was walking ahead of him, and frowned. "What should I be mindful of later?"

"Don't be too nervous."

Fu Jian looked around and spoke slowly.

"Mind your image, and mind your status. Officially, he is my subordinate. You came here to visit and inspect the work."

"Necessary respect is still required," Xiang Lin Tian said with a frown. "Also, is my granddaughter really here?"

"Yes. Come with me."

Fu Jian had already opened the elevator doors and gestured for the Guard Team to stay where they were.

The two old Combat Bases activated stealth mode, concealed their tracks, and calmly entered and exited the elevator. They first arrived on the sixth level of the fortress, then passed through a checkpoint and reached the Seventh Floor.

"The security here is pretty strict."

Xiang Lin Tian looked around and could not help clicking his tongue.

"Old Fu, don't tell me you deliberately built this place? You gave the nursery the Seventh Floor, the area with the best view and strongest defenses... I really don't see any sign of small villas being built."

Fu Jian answered calmly, "I have always been principled."

"All right." Xiang Lin Tian smiled awkwardly. "I'm principled too. Before I retired... After retiring, I mostly turned a blind eye to things, because it felt like there was no point."

Fu Jian did not say much. He led Xiang Lin Tian around the Seventh Floor.

They first went to Uncle Tai's studio.

Fu Jian deliberately put on a display, letting Xiang Lin Tian see the original production line for the Demon-Breaking Dagger.

Although there were already more than a dozen production lines for Demon-Breaking Daggers, this place remained the R&D Center and Trial Production Base, and the production lines operated constantly.

Xiang Lin Tian picked up a Demon-Breaking Dagger and examined it closely.

He knew quality goods and had encountered related intelligence before, but seeing these cold weapons being mass-produced still shocked him somewhat.

"Old Fu, how long have you had this stuff?"

"Only recently. Wang Zheng led a team to make it."

"I thought you had become selfish to this extent already."

"Our goal is to ensure civilization survives. I will not monopolize things with hegemonic thinking. Once the time is right, they will gradually be promoted."

Fu Jian said no more and led Xiang Lin Tian toward a corner of the Seventh Floor.

Of course, Fu Jian knew that Uncle Tai's studio had plenty of technology on its second floor that could not be publicly revealed. He only wanted Xiang Lin Tian to firmly commit to following D5, not to deliberately show off Wang Zheng's technology.

The two old men quietly made their way near the stone slab of the Fifth Spiritual Practitioner.

It was a nursery that had not yet been put into use.

They did not approach directly. Instead, they stood at another high point and observed from afar—there was originally a Sentry Post here, and from its location, they could directly see the Spiritual Practitioner Stone Slab Wall behind the window.

"So that is the stone slab of a Spiritual Practitioner?"

Xiang Lin Tian murmured to himself as his gaze searched around. He quickly spotted the figure of a young girl.

Xiang Tiantian, the Exclusive Spirit Slave of the Fifth Spiritual Practitioner—the young girl whose body Number Five had once borrowed—was chatting and laughing with Wan Xiaoqi as they went upstairs.

They carried plastic baskets filled with scraps of cloth, apparently discussing how to sew some strange outfits.

Xiang Lin Tian's old eyes clouded over, then returned to normal. He lowered his head, sighed softly, and stood hunched over while holding the railing.

A moment later.

Fu Jian asked from beside him, "Do you want to go over and greet her?"

"No." Xiang Lin Tian gave a bitter smile. "I sold her before. I have no right to suddenly show up now."

"She has always wanted to write home, but Wang Zheng did not allow it."

Fu Jian spoke slowly.

"Actually, I suggest you meet. If you think this place is not bad, I can have someone arrange for her to enjoy an easy, pleasant life here."

"You're playing the hostage game too?"

"Not exactly." Fu Jian spoke slowly. "D2 needs to cut away the rot and heal the poison. That will inevitably come with upheaval and bloodshed. You are the only suitable candidate, Little Xiang... I understand you. You are also a junior I watched grow up, and your combat strength is particularly impressive."

Xiang Lin Tian did not answer directly.

He said, "Let's go see Wang Zheng. I want to personally take a look at this young man before making my decision... Isn't that what you taught me? Every decision we make concerns the lives and deaths of tens of millions of humans."

Just as he finished speaking, Wang Jixuan's voice sounded simultaneously in his and Fu Jian's minds.

"Come to this location. There happens to be a small room here where we can talk, and you can listen to music for free."

Fu Jian smiled awkwardly. "It must have been the outdated system on you that exposed us."

Xiang Lin Tian looked at the Fifth Spiritual Practitioner's stone slab a few more times. His gaze rested on Xiang Tiantian for only a few seconds; most of his attention was on the stone slab.

"Old Fu, was what Xing Tian said in that video true?"

"Which part?"

"The Six Elders opened the Starry Sky Gate in an attempt to summon Spiritual Practitioners, but also drew in Blade Beasts, causing the subsequent Civilization Invasion disaster."

"It has not been confirmed," Fu Jian said. "But that is probably how it will be written in future history books."

"History books are inevitably written by the victors... All right, I'm even more curious about that young man now. Your confidence is practically exploding, Old Fu."

"Let's go. I'll take you over."

Fu Jian turned and left with his hands behind his back.

There were not many guests worthy of having him act as a guide. Xiang Lin Tian at this moment absolutely counted as one.

Xiang Lin Tian, Fu Jian, and Daoist Wang were about to meet.

D2 Comprehensive War Zone, Xing Tian's Snow Mountain Base, outskirts of Rainbow Town.

A simple military camp had appeared here, with large amounts of equipment parked within. A gigantic Drill Machine modeled after a Drill Worm was currently being assembled and tested.

At the center of the camp, a round, enormous hole continuously emitted the hum of machinery. An elevator brought up several young soldiers, hurried and covered in dust.

Before the elevator had even come to a stop, the soldiers leaped out and sprinted toward a certain part of the camp.

Each of them carried an Alloy Box in their hands, seemingly containing something important. Yet with their ordinary human eyes, they failed to notice the faint Black Energy continuously seeping out through the gaps in the boxes.

That was...

Demonic energy.