Although no reinforcements from the Academy arrived in the end, Zhao Xiao unexpectedly received a piece of news from Old White that he could hardly believe—
He could go home.
It was a dark, windy night.
The empty camp was deserted and silent.
The Burning Corps soldiers had set the place up fifteen minutes earlier, but they had not stayed in the camp. After leaving behind a truck and some supplies, they departed.
Standing in the middle of the camp, Zhao Xiao felt conflicted.
He had not expected Old White to be serious. He had actually let them go.
It was not just him, but Chen Yutong as well, and Wu Liangping, who was severely wounded and unconscious in a hibernation pod... Every captured person was here.
As for Xuan Feng.
The Alliance insisted that bionics without "sapience plugins" should be considered equipment, and since that was also the Academy's own position, its body and AI core were not included in the prisoner exchange.
It was a bit of a forced argument, but the Academy truly did not recognize bionics as people, and Zhao Xiao could not think of any way to refute it.
It was not just Xuan Feng.
That guy named Ye Shi had also kept his sniper rifle and attachments... Though he had not expected them to return his weapons along with his freedom.
Though he had regained his freedom, there was one thing Zhao Xiao simply could not understand.
Why had the Alliance and the Corporation released prisoners like them?
What puzzled him even more was why, when he was about to return home, he could not feel happy at all.
Perhaps it was because of that bet.
Old White had not mentioned the beer, and in the end, he had merely smiled, patted Zhao Xiao