The hovercar ascended smoothly, leaving the Academy of Sciences building behind. The cabin was very quiet, with only the faint sound of airflow brushing against the windows.
"The public uproar is too big," Jiang Lijin broke the silence, still analyzing what had just happened. "A man like Graven must have already prepared a backup plan. Felwin can no longer be used as a decisive leverage to threaten him. If we really want to shake his foundation, we need a more complete chain of evidence, or even catch Holman alive."
"No, even if we really root out Holman, it will be hard to shake his position. The old emperor's condition means he won't last until the third prince grows up. Graven is currently the first in line to the throne."
Chiron set the autopilot from the driver's seat and turned to look at Jiang Lijin. "I belong to the Imperial Academy of Sciences. It's hard to assess just how deeply Graven's influence has penetrated the Empire. He even has operatives working inside the Security Bureau; otherwise, Felwin could never have been taken away without a trace."
Jiang Lijin understood the unspoken implication of these words. Chiron was in the light, while Graven was in the dark; there wasn't much more Chiron could do right now. Although he didn't say it directly, he was telling her that she needed third-party support, and that person could only be Baal.
"Baal is the supreme commander of the Federation's military and holds real military power. No matter how rampant Graven's people are, they wouldn't dare touch him easily, much less cross the line and trigger a conflict between the Federation and the Empire. Coupled with Baal's combat strength, he is our current shield of safety."
"As for the twins from the black market." Chiron paused briefly, his fingers tapping gently on his knee, making a rhythmic clicking sound. "Since they took the initiative to show goodwill, we can reveal a bit of our hand to exchange for information with them. Black market channels can often trace hidden leads that official sources cannot."
Jiang Lijin nodded. In extraordinary times, you have to play the cards in your hand. Since she possessed the top resources in the entire galaxy, she should integrate them and use them to her advantage. Fighting alone was the act of a fool.
[I was suffocating!] Xiao Yi's voice finally popped up. [The signal shielding in that dump just now was too strong. What did you guys just see?]
Without waiting for Jiang Lijin to answer, Xiao Yi went ahead and read Jiang Lijin's recent memory fragments on its own.
[Oh my god!]
[What on earth is that?!] Xiao Yi screamed in Jiang Lijin's mind, making her head throb. [That green, leggy mass... wait a minute, this skeletal ratio, these energy fluctuations... is that Felwin?! My god, what kind of hellish look is this!]
[Yes.] Jiang Lijin replied calmly in her mind. [Chiron said someone implanted Zerg genes into her spinal cord, trying to pull off a god-making project.]
[God-making? Stitching beastmen and Zerg together?] Xiao Yi said. [Impossible, absolutely impossible. Even if they could barely piece it together on a biological level, the Main System would never allow such a setting to exist.]
Jiang Lijin caught the key point in those words: [The Main System wouldn't allow it? What do you mean?]
Xiao Yi stuttered for two seconds, humming and hawing for a long time before explaining: [These small worlds we are in now are theoretically constructed by the Main System. Each world has its underlying logic and laws of operation. For example, in this world, beastmen are beastmen, and Zerg are Zerg; this is an ironclad rule. A monster forcefully stitched together across species severely violates the laws. Once the Main System detects such a balance-breaking existence, it will directly issue an obliteration command to carry out a physical purge.]
Jiang Lijin digested this setting without speaking. So there was such a layer of restriction.
Xiao Yi sighed: [Alas, she was the original female lead after all. How did the plot collapse like this? In the original storyline, Felwin stepped on others... advancing triumphantly all the way, reaching the pinnacle of life relying on those devoted males of hers. And now? The male leads Arden and Kieran are both dead, leaving only Rex, and the female lead has turned into a monstrous thing that is neither human nor bug. This world is too broken!]
[From the moment I arrived in this world,] Jiang Lijin kept her gaze fixed straight ahead, incredibly determined, [the plot of this world has to follow my rhythm.]
Originally, she just wanted to stay away from those awful people, find a place to slack off, and live her own little life peacefully. But these people couldn't be driven away, insisting on getting up in her face.
Then they couldn't blame her for cutting a path through the thorns.
[Arden and Kieran are both dead.] Jiang Lijin tapped her fingers on her knee twice. [Rex is an Imperial noble. He will definitely be present at tomorrow's royal banquet.]
Rex, the man who kept calling her a piece of trash upon their first meeting, humiliating her with the utmost arrogance.
[Host.] Xiao Yi muttered softly. [The look in your eyes right now really resembles the ultimate villain boss preparing to wipe out the protagonist group in one fell swoop at the banquet.]
[Cut the crap. Since I can't hide from it, I'll just clean up all the eyesores. Otherwise, should I wait for them to come kill me?] Jiang Lijin snorted coldly, then thought of something and frowned slightly. [However, if I make too big of a move, will the Main System judge me as an unstable factor and then obliterate me?]
Xiao Yi's voice sounded a bit guilty: [Actually, I don't know either... I haven't unlocked the authority to contact the Main System yet; right now, only the Main System can contact me unilaterally. So I don't know what the situation is either.]
[Little trash.] Jiang Lijin rubbed the space between her eyebrows. [How can it be unlocked?]
[Just unlock one more galaxy and it will be fine!]
The hovercar stopped in front of the villa.
Pushing the door open, the living room was brightly lit. Baal was sitting on the sofa, dismantling a high-energy particle gun in his hands, with parts scattered all over the table. Tinia was leaning over the coffee table looking at financial reports, and the twins were still nowhere to be seen.
Hearing the noise, Tinia was the first to jump up, his golden hair swaying as he pounced over. "Sister is back! Which dress did you choose? The clothing store said you took a red one and a black one. I told you the red one suits you better!"
"I'm wearing the black one," Jiang Lijin answered casually, walking past Tinia to sit on the single sofa.
Chiron entered behind Jiang Lijin, hung his coat on the rack, and walked over to sit next to where Tinia had just been sitting.
Baal stopped his gun-cleaning motions, lifted his eyelids to glance at the two of them, and his gaze landed on Jiang Lijin. "Where did you go? You look terrible."
Jiang Lijin took the warm water Tinia handed her and took a sip to moisten her somewhat dry throat before recounting in full detail the Felwin she had seen in the underground laboratory, as well as Graven's deranged god-making project.
The air in the living room seemed to freeze instantly.
A crisp crack echoed from the metal part in Baal's hand as it was crushed by sheer force. The smile on Tinia's face completely vanished, replaced by a chilling, murderous aura.
