“No need to thank me. This is simply my duty. Besides, this time...” Wang Qian took a deep breath. “The Western Military Region has become far too arrogant these past two years. With Mayor Chen and the Inspectorate covering for them, our Northern Military Region failed again and again at the critical step and could never truly suppress them.”

“But after what they’ve done this time, all the weapons and equipment supplied to them for the next three years should be redirected to our Northern Military Region. As for after three years...”

Wang Qian gripped the rifle in his hand and said, word by word, “A debt of blood must be repaid in person!”

“A debt of blood?”

Su Mo swept his gaze over the Academy, which had changed beyond recognition, and fell silent for a moment. If he had not come here in person, he would never have imagined how far the territory had fallen in the years since he left. Several great powers had cut a once whole territory into pieces and were attacking one another. The armed forces that should have worked together sincerely had split into offshoots of several different wills, each conveying a different idea. Perhaps everyone had their own hardships and their own thoughts. But woven together, these conflicts and eruptions all seemed perfectly reasonable.

The murlocs’s outbreak might not have been an accident at all. It might have been the beginning of this conflict slipping out of control. The King’s Medicine they had taken had clearly been prepared long ago, and it was only because of this dispute that it had erupted early and appeared before everyone’s eyes. That alone explained everything.

In the sky, more and more drones flew past, buzzing and humming without pause.

“The Tianpo Army must have spotted us!” Qi Xiaomei came over from behind to warn them. Because she had lain in ambush in front of the building beforehand, she had not suffered many injuries in the battle, only some exhaustion from the violent exertion.

“Can you contact Feng Long and the others?”

“I did,” Wang Qian said, shaking his head. “But our Northern Military Region is a long way from Hope City. Even if they rush over now, the earliest they could be in place is four hours from now. Still, there’s no need to worry. For these few hours, as long as we stay inside the Academy, under Dean Ji’s protection, they shouldn’t dare to do anything out of line.”

“I understand.”

Su Mo turned around and quietly looked at Ning Yushu, who was leaning against a pillar in the distance, lost in thought.

“Youzong, rest assured. After this round, no matter what anyone else is thinking, your life shouldn’t be disturbed again. With the Academy stepping in... we’ll keep your identity strictly secret and make sure only a few people know it.”

“As for the question of Divine Su’s whereabouts that they keep pressing about, if you know... forget it, I’ll take no part in that.” Wang Qian stepped forward and quickly explained, close to Su Mo’s ear.

“From here on, do what you need to do. Now that everyone has torn off their masks, after a fight like this the hidden rules from before naturally won’t apply anymore. Whoever has the bigger fist gets obeyed.”

“Whether you become a researcher, or go back to Zizai Liang Lane and live as an ordinary person, the choice is entirely yours. But please understand that we still have to carry out our mission at your side.”

“Thank you.” The Tianpo Army in the distance had already closed in. Su Mo waved a hand and, supported by Qi Xiaomei, limped away, his eyes still on Wang Qian.

The thoughts that had been somewhat muddled in his mind grew clearer and clearer. If he were still the lord of Tian Yuan Territory now, perhaps a single word from him would have been enough, and this battle, with all its dead and wounded, would never have happened. Perhaps from the very beginning the territory would have been a single solid block, with no powers carving it up. Even that damned identity system would never have appeared, forcibly stamping a label on every survivor struggling in the wasteland and sorting ordinary people into higher and lower ranks.

“If I keep silent, this time someone gave their life for me.”

“If I keep silent, next time someone may sacrifice themselves for me again.”

“I have kept silent countless times, and countless people have died because of me.”

“They should never have died like this, and I should never have been so... silent!”

The root of power lies in strength. The murlocs ran wild and did whatever they pleased. The Tianpo Army could have saved people but deliberately dragged out the time. The Chen Family stirred up trouble east and west, and other forces had not yet shown their faces. Relying on strength, within this not-so-large Tian Yuan Territory they had reduced everything he had set up to nothing and trampled the rules he had once made underfoot. Relying on strength, they had forcibly created all kinds of conflicts to secure the standard of living they wanted in the wasteland at the end of the world.

Then tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, once the Sun-chaser battle armor came into the world...

Why could Su Mo not find these damned vermin one by one and crush every one of them? Why could he not, in this world eight years later, build anew a Tian Yuan Territory that belonged only to him, obeyed only him, and was loyal only to him?

“This is my territory. Eight years ago, it was. Eight years later, it still is.”

“No one wants to change it, and no one has the ability to change it.”

“But now, I am here!”

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.