Chen Qing had already given up hope.
He reacted quickly enough, but he still couldn't catch up. From Baiyun Lake to the southeastern river region and then to the entrance of the East Sea, it took him a full half day to catch up. Once they entered the East Sea, it would be even more impossible for him to catch up.
The Southeast War has begun, and he cannot leave the battlefield for such a long time. He must oversee the overall situation, complete the occupation of the Southeast as soon as possible, close the Underworld, and mitigate risks!
Just as he was about to give up, he unexpectedly saw Jiang Xiaoling waiting for him in the same spot.
Chen Qing and Ao Zhen were both stunned. According to the Dragon Breath Spell, the King of Qin was already far away. What was going on?
Could this be a real operation to capture and kill him?
Actually, it's not impossible. After all, there wasn't enough time to set up the magic array in White Cloud City. Wouldn't there be a better chance at the mouth of the East Sea?
After all, this place is near the East Sea. If there was a magic array set up in the East Sea a long time ago, it's not impossible for it to be restarted.
After hesitating for a while, he still decided to approach. He couldn't possibly give up this opportunity. Even if the King of Qin restarted some ancient magic array, given the time constraints, the restored array's power should be limited. He still felt it wouldn't be a dead end, and as long as it wasn't a dead end, he was willing to take the gamble.
"Mr. Chen Qing?" Jiang Xiaoling breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Chen Qing from a distance.
Number One left decisively, but left himself in the sea. Even with the Water-Avoidance Pearl in his mouth, he didn't know how to leave the ocean. If he stayed too long, not only would he get soaked, but if some water monster or shark came along, that would be quite a problem.
"Where is the King of King of Qin?" Chen Qing asked, frowning.
"I'm leaving." Jiang Xiaoling gave a bitter smile. "Could you take me away first, and then I'll explain why I'm here to you, sir?"
--
"Just as you predicted."
At the East Sea location, Mr. Origami was already waiting for his opponent at the East Sea. He had a huge star-gazing mirror in his hand. If anything unexpected happened during the process, he would need to deploy the backup forces he had prepared to support his opponent, but fortunately, he did not need to use them.
"Ah, we're lucky." The King of Qin gazed southeast, his eyes filled with melancholy. "Our time bomb is no longer a concern for now."
Mr. Origami nodded slightly. Their group all had Disintegration Program. If the Federation wanted, they would all die. When the King of Qin was betrayed and died, he originally wanted to contact the higher-ups immediately, but was stopped by the King of Qin before his death.
It was a gamble. The higher-ups had spent so many resources to send them in; they wouldn't easily sentence them to death without investigation. After all, they had not only spent a lot of resources but also achieved considerable results.
Therefore, unless it is directly confirmed that they have betrayed the Federation, they will most likely not initiate the program directly. Instead, they will try to reopen the channel and send people in to gather intelligence.
Sure enough, after waiting for twenty years, their group finally got what they were waiting for.
"Will there be any problems with Ziyue?" Mr. Origami asked, frowning.
"There won't be any problems," the King of Qin said confidently. "She won't remember that crucial memory."
"Is that so?" Mr. Origami sighed. "It was such a pity back then."
"Actually, thinking about it now, there's nothing to regret." King of Qin shook his head. "Even if we had successfully controlled this place back then, those people would have destroyed everything if they had come in. What are the five Virtual Realm like now? What kind of lives do the native NPCs lead? How much better are they than here?"
Mr. Origami lowered his head and recalled that he had never experienced the five Virtual Realm, but he knew that even in the relatively mild Central China, after the capacity of the Jade Dynasty World gradually became insufficient, the authorities still decided to secretly eliminate the local natives in order to gain more capacity.
The word "clean up" was chilling, like talking about clearing away weeds. For the Federation, no, for all players, NPCs could never be equals. Perhaps there would be some goodwill at first, but once their living space was squeezed, there would be no hesitation from the authorities to the general public.
The coexistence of humans and demons is simply impossible. The emperor of the Xiao Household was right to resist him immediately, because he knew very well that people like him were ultimately not on the same path as them.
"So what's next? What should we do?" Mr. Origami looked at the King of Qin.
"Wait," the King of Qin said in a low voice, "Even after the failure back then, I still don't know where those guys came from, especially the government's spy planted among us. If we want to carry out the plan, we must find that person!"
"Do you doubt the Heavenly Secrets?" Mr. Origami frowned.
After being betrayed, they learned that half of their group had been replaced by various complex forces, including people privately trained by powerful figures in Central China, people who had secretly reached agreements with ancient players, and people specially arranged by higher authorities to monitor them.
In the chaos of that year, he seized the opportunity to kill all those he suspected. Now, after a Samsara, he still cannot be sure who the government spy hidden among them is.
"From Jiang Xiaoling's words, we learned that the higher-ups knew nothing about their failure twenty years ago, and no one had passed on any intelligence in the past twelve years. It seems highly likely that the government spy from back then has lost his memory in the Samsara. Of course, it's also possible that he's secretly observing from the shadows."
Not many people survived back then. I, Mr. Five Poisons, and Mr. Heavenly Secrets were all old men who survived. If anyone is a suspect, Five Poisons and Heavenly Secrets are the most likely.
Mr. Origami said, "If it's Samsara who has lost her memory, then we need to find her as soon as possible and kill her. The government has no informants, so they can only focus on Jiang Xiaoling, which is very advantageous for us. If it's the second case, with either Heavenly Secrets or Five Poisons, then it will be a bit more troublesome, especially Heavenly Secrets."
Mr. Heavenly Secrets is skilled in divination and can avoid risks in advance, making him extremely difficult to catch.
" Heavenly Secrets is a clever man," the King of Qin laughed. "If he were a government official, then there would be no need to worry. The fact that he hasn't reported anything for so many years means he's also dissatisfied with the Federation. He prefers to follow me because he knows I'm right."
"But he saved Chen Qing!"
"He's just not clear about some things yet, he won't figure them out sooner or later."
"What about Jiang Xiaoling?" Mr. Origami frowned. "He should have a lot of new information, right? Shouldn't we try to get it out of him first?"
"No need," the King of Qin shook his head. "As long as our plan succeeds this time, the Federation will never lack intelligence."
"That makes sense." Mr. Origami nodded, then asked, " Chen Qing, will you agree?"
"Yes, he will," the King of Qin laughed. "I've followed him for twenty years, and although I've never truly understood his nature, there's one thing I'm absolutely certain of: he still lacks a sense of belonging. He... he always wants to return to what he once was!"
--
The campaign in Southeast Commandery went very smoothly. Tian Heng, as expected of someone with extensive experience in major battles, made the most of his overwhelming advantage in manpower and combat strength. Centered on White Cloud City, he divided his forces into four routes and captured five prefectures in just two days. With logistics in place, as long as Tiannan Pass is captured in the end, the entire Southeast Commandery will fall under the control of Jiangnan!
Such a large-scale war has greatly boosted morale in the rear areas of Jiangnan. In recent days, as battle reports have been received, the entire Southern Capital been filled with joy and excitement, and the reputation of the God of War of the West Sea has also soared in the past two days.
Faced with such a vast Warring States period, Chen Qing should have been quite excited, but at this moment he couldn't feel excited at all.
Because he learned the truth!!
One more chapter to come.