The Sun Moon Imperial Family Wants the Activated Sample

Early the next morning, an envoy arrived at Sun Moon Camp. He was not a military elder, but a royal chamberlain. Dressed in a dark-gold robe, he was pale-faced, and his footsteps were so light they seemed weightless.

When he entered the main tent, Orange was already seated at the head. Huo Yuhao and Ye Guyi were inside. Wang Dong'er and Wang Qiu'er were still held beyond the outer camp barrier, able only to sense the activity within through the spiritual communication line Huo Yuhao had left behind.

The line was extremely thin, so thin that it could convey only vague emotions and scattered words. Yet for Wang Dong'er, it was enough to make her chest tighten. She could not see Orange seated in the position of the crown princess, but she could imagine how that woman would gently and steadily hold the situation in her palm.

The chamberlain bowed. "Your Highness the Crown Princess, the Crown Prince has issued an order."

Orange's expression did not change. "Speak."

The chamberlain glanced at Huo Yuhao.

"Last night, Young Master Huo used a Spiritual Algorithm to reverse-verify the Beast Command Prototype and intercepted the activated Return Flow reaction. His Highness the Crown Prince has ordered that he is willing to exchange three Level Nine Soul Tool laboratories, passage rights through three border cities, and a list for the exchange of Shrek prisoners of war for the activated sample and reverse derivation formula in Young Master Huo's possession."

The main tent fell silent.

Those words were more grating than an outright seizure. The Sun Moon Empire naturally possessed the Beast Command Prototype, and it was naturally the originator of this military sampling system. But what they lacked was not a dead object. What they lacked was the living reaction Huo Yuhao had left behind after reverse-engineering it with his Spirit Eyes last night. What they lacked was the key that had briefly lit up when Wang Dong'er, Wang Qiu'er, and the character "Dance" were stirred.

On the communication line outside the camp, Wang Dong'er's aura suddenly turned ice-cold.

"They can't use the thing they made properly, so now they want the part Yuhao unlocked?"

Wang Qiu'er's destiny aura was even more direct. Even through the barrier, it felt like a lowered spear.

"What they want isn't the sample. They want Dong'er and me to open the door for them."

The chamberlain could not hear them. He merely lowered his head and said, "This is the Empire's sincerity. The Empire seeks only joint research and will not harm any of your lives."

Ye Guyi drew her holy sword halfway from its sheath.

"Using people's destinies as keys is harm enough."

Huo Yuhao did not speak at once. He looked at the exchange document on the table. Three Level Nine Soul Tool laboratories, passage rights through three border cities, a list of Shrek prisoners of war. Every item carried tremendous weight. The Sun Moon Imperial Family knew he was not greedy for wealth, so it had not offered gold soul coins. It had offered stakes he could not easily ignore. If he agreed, Shrek could rescue a number of people. If he refused, those people might die.

That was the Empire. It would not merely hold a blade to force you. It would place the people you wanted to save on the other side of the scales.

Orange watched Huo Yuhao, her gaze quiet. She did not speak for Sun Moon, nor did she speak for Huo Yuhao. Of course she knew how absurd this document was. Sun Moon had made the Beast Command Prototype, and the Holy Spirit Cult had supplemented the contamination method, but the part that had truly been ignited was not in their hands.

Huo Yuhao suddenly asked, "What if I refuse?"

The chamberlain said, "His Highness the Crown Prince said that Young Master Huo is an intelligent man."

"Intelligent people refuse too."

The chamberlain raised his head, and a trace of cold malice flashed through his eyes.

"Then the Empire will reevaluate Young Master Huo's value."

Ye Guyi's holy light instantly pressed down on the chamberlain. His knees buckled, and he nearly fell to them. Orange raised a hand.

"Enough."

She looked at the chamberlain.

"Tell the Crown Prince that the Beast Command Prototype may return to Sun Moon, but the activated reaction does not belong to Sun Moon. It contains the destiny of the auspicious beast, the Spiritual Algorithm of Shrek soul masters, and evidence of contamination by the Holy Spirit Cult. The trade can be discussed, but Sun Moon must first hand over its list of Holy Spirit Cult advisors."

The chamberlain's expression changed. "Your Highness, that is not within the Crown Prince's orders."

"It is now."

Orange's tone remained gentle. But beneath that gentleness was an unquestionable chill.

"I am the Crown Princess, and I am also the highest temporary commander in this camp. I will handle the negotiations here."

The chamberlain lowered his head. "This servant obeys."

As he withdrew, a dark glint flashed from within his sleeve. Huo Yuhao's Spirit Detection stirred. That was not a message—it was a second secret order. Orange had seen it too. She did not expose it immediately.

Only after the chamberlain left the main tent did she slowly say, "Yuhao, the document just now was for everyone to see."

Huo Yuhao said, "What about the other one?"

Orange took out a tiny Soul Tool scroll she had intercepted from her sleeve. Her fingertips were steady—so steady that it made one's heart turn cold. This woman had survived to this day at the center of Sun Moon's power not through gentleness alone.

The scroll opened. There were only two short lines on it.

--If acquisition of the activated sample fails, initiate the Kinship Inheritance Contingency Plan. If necessary, the Crown Princess will retain Huo Yuhao's bloodline sample to stabilize the inheritance endpoint of the Spiritual Algorithm.

There was no personal vermilion endorsement from Xu Tianran beneath those words. There was only an old crown prince's seal, an Imperial Court Consecration Office verification seal, and an exceedingly faint black-red brand. The mark was deeply concealed; if Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes had not swept over it, it would almost have been mistaken for an ordinary anti-counterfeiting pattern.

The Holy Spirit Cult's hand was in this as well.

The temperature inside the main tent plummeted. Ye Guyi fully drew her holy sword. Outside the camp, Wang Dong'er's aura instantly fell into chaos. From Wang Qiu'er's side came a cold laugh, suppressed so low that it sounded as though she might charge in with her spear the next instant.

Huo Yuhao used his spiritual power to restrain the communication line. "Don't move."

Wang Qiu'er's cold voice came back. "They're disgusting."

"I know. But if we act now, the evidence will be cut off."

Wang Dong'er said nothing. Her silence weighed more heavily than any question.

Huo Yuhao's expression had turned cold as well. He finally understood why Orange had said last night that "some things are not suitable to discuss right now." The Sun Moon Imperial Family was not lacking a Beast Command Prototype it could manufacture itself. What it truly wanted was an inheritance endpoint that could stabilize Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Algorithm, bind the Return Flow reaction, and bypass the risks posed by Dong'er and Qiu'er as living keys.

And Orange had been written into that contingency plan.

Ye Guyi said coldly, "They see you as a tool too?"

Orange looked at the scroll, her expression calm to the point of being terrifying.

"They always have."

Ye Guyi asked, "Then why didn't you destroy it?"

Orange did not answer. She put away the scroll. That gesture made the atmosphere inside the tent even colder.

Huo Yuhao looked at her. "You're still keeping it?"

Orange raised her eyes. "Only by keeping it can we learn what they intend to do next."

Ye Guyi said, "Or you can go along with it and fulfill your own wish."

"Yes."

Orange's admission made the air suffocating once more.

Huo Yuhao said softly, "Orange."

She met his gaze.

"I won't lie and say I've never thought about it."

On the other end of the communication line, Wang Dong'er's breathing faltered. The destiny aura around Wang Qiu'er nearly burst free. Yet Orange continued.

"My position in Sun Moon looks lofty, but I can be replaced at any time. Xu Tianran gave me status and power, but he has never treated me as a true wife." She smiled, but the smile was thin.

"He cannot give me children, nor can he give me a future I can rely on."

No one in the main tent spoke. She did not cry, nor did she make herself sound pitiful. That was exactly why her words cut like blades.

"Yuhao, if I could have a child with you, Sun Moon would not dare discard me lightly. The Holy Spirit Cult would not dare touch me casually. Many people might even believe that I held the key to a god's destiny."

At last, Wang Dong'er asked in a low voice over the communication line, "Yuhao, she sees you as a tool!"

Huo Yuhao looked at Orange. Orange said softly, "If I only saw him as a tool, I would not have given him the second layer of the secret key last night."

Ye Guyi said coldly, "But you still want to use him."

"Yes." Orange's voice softened. "I want to use him, and I want him to live."

This was not clean affection. If Orange had simply been evil, Wang Dong'er could have hated her cleanly. But this woman was honest even in her darkness, and sincere enough that she could not be wholly denied.

At last, Huo Yuhao spoke. "Orange, give me the scroll."

Orange did not move.

Huo Yuhao's gaze darkened. "Give it to me."

They looked at one another for a long time. Orange pushed the scroll before him. Huo Yuhao took it, and Ultimate Ice spread from his fingertips. The scroll instantly froze. But he did not destroy it. He sealed it within the outer layer of a Soul Tool Fragment.

"I'll keep this contingency plan."

Ye Guyi looked at him. On the other end of the communication line, Dong'er and Qiu'er had both fallen silent.

Huo Yuhao said, "Not for Sun Moon, and not for Orange."

He looked toward Orange.

"It will serve as evidence."

At last, a ripple appeared in Orange's eyes.

Huo Yuhao continued, "I will find out who proposed the Kinship Inheritance Contingency Plan. I don't believe Xu Tianran truly came up with this idea."

Wang Qiu'er's cold voice came through the communication line. "And then? What if she really has that thought in the future?"

Huo Yuhao fell silent for a moment. Orange was watching him as well. This question could not be avoided.

Huo Yuhao said, "Then I'll make her understand clearly whether what she wants is me, or an object that can keep her alive."

Orange's eyelashes trembled lightly.

Wang Dong'er lowered her voice on the communication line. "I understand."

She understood. Huo Yuhao had not said he would never draw close to Orange. He had merely drawn a line. It made her heart ache, but she could not say he was wrong. Huo Yuhao was not stone. Orange's pain could strike him, Qiu'er's fear could strike him, Ma Xiaotao's fire could stir him, and even Ye Guyi's aloofness could shake him. The only thing he could still hold onto was refusing to treat anyone as an object.

At that moment, the Soul Tool Fragment suddenly lit up. After the scroll had frozen, a lingering hidden command within it had been forced out. A silver-blue light screen unfolded. It was not text, but a marked map.

Three seals emerged at the map's edges: Soul Engineering Tower Seventh Laboratory, Imperial Court Consecration Office, and the dark mark of a Holy Spirit advisor.

The old crown prince's seal was merely stamped onto the outermost shell.

The people who had truly drafted this contingency plan were hidden behind those three seals.

There were three red dots on the map.

Star Dou Outskirts Ruins. Sun-Moon Soul Guidance Tower. And another location at the edge of the Shrek Old Battlefield.

Beside the red dots were the words:

Third Return-Flow Collection Site.

Outside the camp, Wang Dong'er abruptly raised her head. Wang Qiu'er's heart jolted. The Soul Tool Fragment in Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea began spinning violently. That incomplete opening stroke surfaced again. This time, behind the broken pattern, there was vaguely an additional faint vertical trace, like the beginning of a character that had not yet truly formed.

Everyone could feel that a name was approaching from the depths of fate. Yet none of them could make it out.

Orange looked at the red dots, her gaze complicated.

"So what they truly wanted was never the Beast Command Prototype."

Huo Yuhao's voice was low.

"It's the Activation Key I reverse-derived."

Outside the main tent, the Soul Engineering Tower suddenly sounded a shrill alarm. Ye Guyi turned around.

"The Soul Engineering Tower has moved."

Orange immediately threw on her military coat. In an instant, the crown princess's gentleness vanished, leaving only the sharpness of a commander.

"They've sealed the tower ahead of schedule at the second level. Yuhao, we don't have until tomorrow night anymore."

Huo Yuhao put away the Soul Tool Fragment.

"We go now."

Wang Dong'er said urgently over the communication line, "We're coming in."

Orange raised a hand over the military command token. "No. The moment you enter the camp, the military will immediately activate the Live Sampling Array."

Wang Qiu'er sneered. "Then we'll smash it."

Huo Yuhao said, "Qiu'er, guard the outer formation."

Wang Qiu'er paused.

Huo Yuhao continued, "What they truly want is the activated reaction after the three sides synchronize. If you don't come in, the sampling array will be missing one corner. Once I breach the tower, cut off the main control chain from outside."

Wang Dong'er drew in a soft breath.

"Alright."

Wang Qiu'er was reluctant, but she still said, "If anything happens to you, I'm not guarding anything."

Huo Yuhao said softly, "I know."

Orange stood before him, watching him calm two girls' impulses even across a single communication line. Something sank in her eyes. Envy. Jealousy. And something deeper, a longing she refused to acknowledge. She quickly turned away.

"Come with me."

Silver-blue military lamps lit one after another ahead of her. Huo Yuhao and Ye Guyi followed. He knew that from this moment onward, the Sun Moon thread was no longer merely a trade. It had become a war centered on the Military Beast Command, the activated sample, bloodline bargaining chips, old feelings, and the truth of Return Flow.