Chapter 92
"Ha?"
Irelia looked completely puzzled.
She didn't understand the meaning behind Karma's complicated expression, nor did she notice the slightly uneasy look on Chen Ce's face.
But it doesn't matter anymore.
Karma had already led the three men to the tent.
Irelia immediately recognized two of them— Ahri, the "fox spirit" she had met in Placidium, and Lillia, the "deer girl" Chen Ce had introduced in his letter.
As for the third person...
She was also a woman...
To be precise, she was a very beautiful white-haired girl...
Chen Ce mentioned in his letter that the four of them resolved the crisis on Fae'lor Island, and three of them were familiar faces. So, that so-called "super strongman" is...
No wonder Chen Ce hadn't mentioned this person's specific information in his letters before, not even their gender. So that's why...
I initially thought he forgot to mention it or didn't think these things were important...
Irelia's smile froze instantly, but didn't disappear—it became very fake and professional.
Despite her many doubts, she could not afford to slight the great hero who had conquered the Fae'lor Island because of her own speculations.
She extended her right hand to the white-haired girl. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Irelia."
The latter— Syndra, of course—had no expression on her face, as cold and indifferent as an ice sculpture.
She didn't even extend her hand, let alone intend to shake hands with the other person.
She remained floating, looking down at the pure Ionia before her—not only an Ionia, but also Ionia leader.
She wouldn't even give him her name, or rather, she disdained to do so, only coldly uttering a few words:
"I am Chen Ce's master."
The makeshift meeting room, "converted" from a tent, wasn't exactly crowded, but it certainly wasn't spacious either. Six people sat around a desk, with less than fifty centimeters between the five chairs, and an eerie atmosphere permeated the air.
Of all these people, Irelia is undoubtedly the one most eager to kill.
She glanced at Karma, who seemed to be chuckling to herself, and their previous bet kept flashing through her mind— Chen Ce would definitely bring back some strange "lover," at most Ahri.
But now it seems...
Miss Lillia probably doesn't count, but Syndra definitely does...
Irelia desperately wanted to strangle Chen Ce, but she couldn't openly break off relations— Syndra was of paramount importance to the Resistance Army.
She single-handedly conquered Fae'lor Island and easily defeated the Noxus army composed of three legions yesterday morning. Such strength and achievements are enough to crush any individual unit.
Honestly, it would be perfectly reasonable to award her a "Hero of Ionia" award on the spot.
But she just... how could she just...
Is her relationship with Chen Ce ambiguous?
Ahri is one thing, but why is there another one???
Irelia had snapped the quill in her hand in two without her noticing.
To be honest, if Syndra had been discovered by her, she would have treated her like an honored guest, showing her the highest respect and courtesy. But the reality was...
It's not that she holds a grudge against Syndra right now—even though Syndra had been arrogant and rude to her earlier, she wouldn't be petty enough to hold a grudge.
But... there's still a lingering unease in my heart.
Of course, the person she most wanted to strangle right now was Chen Ce —and only Chen Ce.
Syndra is a hero of the Resistance Army and even the whole of Ionia. As the leader of the Resistance Army, she would naturally not show any hostility towards Syndra because of personal feelings—that would be too naive.
Providing official procedures is the most basic requirement.
But Chen Ce... well, there's plenty of time.
Private matters have their own ways of being handled.
"Right now, I want to figure out a few things first."
Irelia took a deep breath and broke the awkward silence in the meeting room with a serious tone, her beautiful eyes fixed on Chen Ce.
The latter immediately felt extremely uneasy.
Fortunately, Irelia's next words weren't directed at him. "Don't worry, I won't pry into your personal affairs for now. I just want to know one thing—you clearly said in your letter that you planned to encircle the Noxus army with the Resistance Army, so why did you suddenly come back?"
"That's because I have other plans," Chen Ce said seriously, "But not because the plan has changed—I intended to return quietly from the beginning, and the ambushes I mentioned in the letter were just a cover."
"So the plan to encircle them has been cancelled?"
"No, the encirclement plan remains the same—when the time is right, I will secretly flank the Noxus army from behind with Syndra."
"Are you confident you won't be detected by Noxus?"
"Syndra can carry me around through the sky."
"...Okay." Irelia glanced at the silver-haired girl who appeared to be sitting in a chair but was actually maintaining a certain floating height, and was amazed.
A moment later, she asked Chen Ce another crucial question, "So why did you 'sneak back'?"
"Of course, it's for our original purpose." Chen Ce adjusted his posture slightly, shifting his gaze from the other person to the room outside the conference room.
"We've reached the most critical moment; I think that traitor will soon be unable to sit still."
Upon hearing this, Irelia nodded thoughtfully, while Syndra, standing beside her, also recalled Chen Ce yesterday to "try to hold back."
"So what are your plans or goals now?" Irelia asked again.
"Let's wait and see," Chen Ce replied. "Right now, we just need to inform a few high-ranking members of the Resistance Army that I've returned; keep it a secret from everyone else—and ask those high-ranking members to keep it a secret as well."
"I see."
Irelia nodded, then took a new quill from the drawer and wrote several secret letters.
Karma then left with the secret letter.
This brief meeting has now come to an end.
Irelia glanced at the position of the sun outside the tent, then at the three girls inside, and a gentle smile gradually appeared on her face:
"You must be tired from your long journey, why don't you go down and rest for a bit?"
As night fell, Irelia, exhausted, returned to her room.
And inside this cramped, makeshift wooden hut was another person— Chen Ce.
The former leaned back in his chair, eyes closed, resting, his expressionless face radiating an indescribable coldness; the latter sat timidly in the corner of the room, beads of cold sweat seeping from his forehead and back.
Neither of them spoke; the tension in the air was almost palpable.
This terrifying atmosphere lasted for a good ten minutes.
Finally, Chen Ce couldn't withstand the pressure any longer and spoke up, "Um... several senior executives said they wanted to meet me... how about I go and talk to them first...?"
There was no response.
After another nearly half-minute of deathly silence, the girl said coldly with her eyes closed, "If it were something related to intelligence, they would have sent someone to take you there already."
"Exchanging pleasantries... is fine, isn't it...?"
"What, you'd rather exchange pleasantries with them than with me?" Irelia finally opened her eyes, but her gaze towards the other person was filled with murderous intent.
"So all that talk about missing you in your letter was just a lie. All you're thinking about are your Ahri and Syndra, aren't you?"
"I didn't... I didn't... Don't talk nonsense..." Chen Ce swallowed nervously.
"Heh." Irelia chuckled coldly, then slowly closed her beautiful eyes. "Those high-ranking officials want to see you. I will arrange a secret meeting for you tomorrow, with more people and greater confidentiality."
"That would be perfect..."
"You're going to stay here quietly tonight."
"It's my pleasure..."
The two fell silent again.
Nearly half an hour later, Irelia finally stood up and walked towards the bathroom on her own—she didn't avoid Chen Ce, nor did she deliberately hint at anything to him, as if he didn't exist at all.
Soon, the sound of flowing water could be heard, but Chen Ce had no ulterior motives at this moment—he only wanted to escape from here as soon as possible.
Unfortunately, Irelia didn't give him that chance.
As the sound of flowing water gradually subsided, the girl, having removed her armor and now only wrapped in a pure white bath towel, emerged barefoot.
At this moment, she had neither combed her hair up nor was she armed, and she looked completely unrelated to the title of "Resistance Army leader," resembling more of an ordinary, frail young girl.
She gently wiped the water droplets from her long hair, then lay down on the bed.
The tight bath towel wrapped her up well, revealing nothing that shouldn't be exposed, except for a pair of long, snow-white legs, slightly damp with water droplets, gently swaying on the edge of the bed.
Even so, her perfect figure was still clearly visible—or rather, it was the tightness of the towel that perfectly outlined her alluring curves.
Chen Ce was a little afraid that the other party would gouge out his eyes, so he didn't dare to look and silently began to Meditation in the corner of the room.
But before he could finish reciting the first verse, the girl's cold voice pierced his ears:
"Come over."
"..." The Meditation was abruptly interrupted. Chen Ce cautiously stepped forward, afraid that a few pieces of blade fragments might suddenly fly out from under the bed or somewhere else.
Fortunately, Irelia's desire to "strangle him" remained only at the "desire" level.
"Hurry up," she urged coldly.
Chen Ce cautiously leaned against the edge of the bed.
The girl continued, "If you're tired, turn off the lights and go to sleep. If you're not tired, give me a massage."
"Not tired, not tired..." Chen Ce waved his hands repeatedly, seemingly cowardly, but it was indeed the truth—he had spent nearly half of the past few days traveling on Lillia or being carried by Syndra using magic, so he wasn't tired at all.
"Then I'll trouble you to give me a massage." Irelia remained prone, her hands supporting her chin. "I've been a little tired lately."
"Hmm... You've worked hard." Chen Ce gradually became less "afraid," and instead felt a pang of guilt—the other party had truly sacrificed a lot for Ionia.
He gently lifted the pure white bath towel, revealing the girl's even whiter back to his view.
But at that very moment, the other person suddenly tensed up and rolled over.
"Never mind, I'd better go to sleep..." Irelia's expression suddenly became somewhat unnatural.
Chen Ce frowned slightly—he had just seen something unusual in that fleeting glimpse of white.
"Let me see..."
"No... I'd better go to sleep..." Irelia shook her head, but not out of shyness.
"Let's see." Chen Ce's resolve hardened.
"It's really nothing..."
There's no need to hide it.
"As a soldier, this is normal... Please stop looking, okay?" Irelia's tone even carried a hint of pleading. "Let's go to sleep, Chen Ce..."
But now that things have come to this, how could Chen Ce possibly agree?
He gripped her small hand rather firmly, then used his other hand to turn the girl around.
The bath towel, which had been partially pulled back, slipped off naturally, exposing her snow-white back to the air once again.
There are many shocking scars on it.
Although they have mostly healed, the faint traces still reveal how terrible the injuries were – crisscrossing sword marks, knife wounds, and even arrow wounds intertwined, like black butterfly tattoos crawling across this once delicately cared-for, fair back.
"I told you... don't look..." Irelia hurriedly pulled the towel back over herself, but the scar between her shoulder blades was still partially visible. "It's ugly... don't look anymore..."
"..." Chen Ce remained silent, a sharp pain shooting through his heart.
The sight of the girl frantically covering her wound broke his heart even more.
He gently took the girl's hand that was clutching the bath towel, and then hugged her tightly.
"I'm sorry... I won't let you get hurt again... never again."