Startled by his voice, Lian Feng hurried over, lowered her voice, and quickly explained what had happened in his ear.
After hearing her out, Du Kao's face instantly turned as dark as the bottom of a pot.
He opened his mouth to say something, but when the words reached his lips, he found he had nothing to say.
He could see Ge Xiaolun and the others hanging their heads on the Training Ground, and he could hardly fault Lian Feng's expression that said she had done her best. Meanwhile, Qin Feng stood a short distance away, smiling at him as if to say, See? I didn't steal or rob anyone. It was a fair trade.
At that moment, Du Kao felt his vision darken.
The angels had withdrawn their funding, the resources were about to be gone too, problems had arisen within the Super Soldier Company, and even ten sets of the Dark Alloy Armor they had finally managed to manufacture were about to be carried off!
The plans he had spent over a thousand years laying had been torn to pieces in a single day.
The pressure that had built up for so long burst through all his psychological defenses like a flash flood. Suddenly, everything seemed to spin, and the scenery at the edges of his vision began to blur.
"General, General! What's wrong?!!"
Lian Feng's alarmed cries exploded in his ears.
Du Kao's body abruptly tipped backward, and he slid out of his wheelchair, crashing heavily to the ground.
His eyes were still open, but his pupils were unfocused. His lips moved slightly twice before he lost consciousness completely.
"Someone, quick! Get him to the infirmary! Hurry!"
A Jie and Lian Feng scrambled to lift Du Kao back into his wheelchair, then pushed it toward the base's main building at full speed.
Watching this, Qin Feng's smile faded a little, but he was not particularly surprised.
He merely shook his head gently, then turned to Yan.
"Looks like your negotiations didn't work out either?"
Yan shrugged, her tone carrying a calm acceptance that this should have happened long ago.
"The talks broke down."
"Good."
Qin Feng said, "Blue Star is a quagmire. The angels would be better off staying out of it."
Yan looked at him, wanting to say something, but in the end she merely curved her lips and said nothing.
"Boy, come outside with me!"
Just then, a voice suddenly reached Qin Feng's ears.
His brows shifted almost imperceptibly.
Noticing the change in his expression, Yan tilted her head toward him. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
Qin Feng quickly regained his composure. "There's just a monkey itching for a beating."
"A monkey?"
Yan froze, still trying to understand what he meant, but Qin Feng had already waved her off.
"You should head back first. I still have something to take care of."
With that, the pitch-black wings on his back abruptly spread, and he shot off the ground, turning into a black shadow that streaked straight out of the base.
Seeing this, the Shadowkhan who had remained behind placed one hand on the Throne and silently sank into the shadows along with it, as though neither had ever existed.
Yan instinctively moved to follow.
"Enough."
Leng came up from behind and grabbed her arm, her tone carrying the clarity of experience. "Don't go after him and get in the way. We still have to report what's happened here to Queen Kaisa."
Yan fell silent for a moment before finally nodding.
She withdrew her gaze and turned to Rena, who was still standing there, an unreadable smile curling her lips.
"Little girl, your big sister is leaving. Take care of yourself."
Rena scratched her head in bewilderment. "Hey, you old hag..."
Before she could finish, Yan had already soared into the sky with Leng and A Zhui. The three golden figures soon dwindled into ever-smaller points of light on the horizon and disappeared into the clouds.
Rena stood on the Training Ground, looking up at the empty sky, her head full of questions.
"Seriously? Does everyone love talking in riddles this much? This goddess hates it when people leave things half-said!"
No one answered her.
All that remained on the Training Ground were the injured Ge Xiaolun and his companions, and ground battered full of craters.
Meanwhile, Qin Feng had already flown dozens of kilometers away.
Following the direction of the voice, he swept over the mountain ranges before finally folding his wings above a clearing deep in a dense forest and slowly descending.
A large, smooth boulder stood in the middle of the clearing. A figure sat on it with his legs crossed, tossing a peach in one hand, looking as though he had been waiting for a long time.
The figure wore dark red chain mail and a purple-gold crown adorned with phoenix wings. His pointed mouth and monkey-like cheeks carried an innate air of defiance.
"Boy, aren't you something? You've even dared to swindle Old Sun? If you know what's good for you, hand over everything you just took. Otherwise, Old Sun's staff won't show you any mercy."
Sun Wukong took a bite of his peach and spoke unhurriedly.
With his hands in his pockets, Qin Feng looked at the living, breathing monkey opposite him, a cold curve slowly forming on his lips.
"Heh, the Protector of the Horses is still the Protector of the Horses. Still can't tame that wild nature. Want those ten sets of Dark Alloy Armor back?"
He tilted his head, a hint of languid provocation in his gaze.
"Sure. Show me what you've got."
"General Ika!"
The moment he finished speaking, the shadows behind him churned violently, and a burly figure emerged.
Ika knelt on one knee with his head bowed, his voice carrying excitement he had long held back. "Your subordinate awaits your orders!"
After waiting so long, he finally had a chance to show Qin Feng his abilities.
Meanwhile, when Sun Wukong heard Qin Feng call him the Protector of the Horses, he abruptly stopped eating his peach.
With a crack, he clenched his fingers around the bright red peach and crushed it to pulp. Peach juice dripped through his fingers onto the ground.
His gaze changed. The layer of indolence and carelessness fell away, revealing the sharpness of someone truly enraged.
"Boy, if Old Sun doesn't beat the shit out of you, I'm not your Grandpa Sun!"
Sun Wukong slowly straightened, and the Golden Cudgel gave a low hum in his palm.
"How dare you!"
Ika sprang up from the ground and stepped in front of Qin Feng, his eyes wide with fury. "An uncivilized monkey dares show disrespect to my king!"
He turned his head and looked respectfully at Qin Feng. "My king, please allow your subordinate to capture this monkey!"
Qin Feng nodded, his hands still in his pockets, his tone utterly casual.
"Go on. I'll be waiting for your good news."
The energy within Ika was comparable to that of a near-Third Generation Divine Body. Even if he could not defeat Sun Wukong, he could at least fight him to a draw.
Unless Sun Wukong used Heaven and Earth Manifestation, he definitely could not take Ika down.
And even if it really came to that, it was not as though Qin Feng himself could not act.
"As you command!"
Ika turned and curled his right hand around empty air.
A pitch-black Shadow Longsword slowly emerged from the shadows in his palm.
He stood with the sword held across his body, its tip pointing at Sun Wukong, his voice cold and hard as iron. "Monkey, pay the price for your arrogance!"
Before he had finished speaking, Ika flashed in front of Sun Wukong, his longsword slashing down at his head, wrapped in a fierce black blade aura.
Sun Wukong's gaze sharpened, and he held the Golden Cudgel horizontally above his head to block.
The instant sword met staff, a deafening metallic clang erupted, and the shock wave toppled the surrounding trees.
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