Jiang Lijin shifted into a more comfortable sitting position, resting her elbow on the metal back of the chair.
"What are you going to do now?" she asked, pointing toward the ceiling. "What will eventually happen to that portion of spiritual power you forcibly stripped away in the isolation room upstairs?"
Baal pulled a military jacket from nearby and draped it over his shoulders, the fabric barely covering the bloody scratches on his chest.
"Without the support of the main body, that mass of spiritual power is like an energy crystal that is constantly being consumed. Once its internal energy is depleted, it will completely dissipate."
He said it so lightly, but Xiao Yi practically exploded in Jiang Lijin's mind.
[Host, this man is ruthless!] Xiao Yi's electronic voice even changed its pitch. [In the interstellar era, spiritual power is the lifeblood of beastmen. Forcibly stripping away spiritual power is like hacking off your own limbs while still alive and throwing them away. Even though it can be nurtured back after eight or ten years, can you imagine how much that process hurts?]
Jiang Lijin ignored the system's emotional outburst.
To secure the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Military, if Baal didn't have the resolve to be ruthless to himself, he would have been chewed up by his political enemies long ago, with not even bone scraps left behind.
The isolation room fell silent for a few seconds. The black snake coiled by Jiang Lijin's feet was affectionately rubbing against her ankle.
Baal lowered his eyes, his gaze landing on the tips of Jiang Lijin's shoes. Watching his own spiritual body fawn over her with such an absolute lack of boundaries, his Adam's apple bobbed unconsciously.
"Thank you for today," he paused. When he looked up again, he had reverted to the cold and hard demeanor typical of someone in high authority. "However, you cannot stay here. When you go out later, pretend that your spiritual power is severely overdrawn. Tell the people outside that my rampage is irreversible and that you are powerless to help. Then, Gary will arrange a starship, and you will return to the capital planet immediately."
Jiang Lijin raised an eyebrow. "Are you kicking me out?"
"This is the Sirius system, the most dangerous combat zone on the front lines. Furthermore, there is a mole of unknown depth hiding in the base." Baal looked straight at her. "It is too dangerous for you to stay."
Actually, given the current situation, having Jiang Lijin stay and play along was the best choice to stabilize the situation and draw out the mole. But Baal didn't want to drag her into danger.
The soldiers he trained himself had problems; it made no sense to let a female bear the risks. Not to mention, she was his wife, even if only in name for now.
"I'm not leaving," Jiang Lijin refused cleanly and decisively.
Was he joking? She had rushed to this godforsaken frontline to purify Baal, true, but her main goal was to establish prestige within the military. If conditions permitted, she even wanted to conduct a mass purification to prove her strength!
Now that she had just pacified this rampaging giant python, without even making a splash, he wanted her to pack up and go home? No way.
"Your condition isn't stable yet," Jiang Lijin found a high-sounding excuse. "When I was sorting out your spiritual power just now, I noticed that the rampage levels in your body were fluctuating. The effects of the drug haven't worn off at all. Before it completely metabolizes, your spiritual power could lose control again at any moment. If I leave now and you fail to suppress it, what if your body actually explodes?"
This was indeed the absolute truth. As the person involved, Baal knew better than anyone just how fragile his spiritual domain was at this moment. The violent rage that had been forcibly suppressed was still lying dormant in his veins, ready to strike back at any second.
But he never expected that Jiang Lijin would stay for this reason.
Baal froze, his golden slit pupils staring fixedly at the woman sitting opposite him.
The restlessness in his heart that had just been pushed down surged up once more. Baal wanted to open his mouth to persuade her to leave, but the words were abruptly blocked by an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
The black snake at her feet even directly coiled its way up Jiang Lijin's calf, fawningly resting its head on her knee.
Standing to the side, Gary took in his Commander-in-Chief's completely whipped appearance. He silently clicked his tongue, shaking his head frantically in his mind.
Feeling utterly uncomfortable under Baal's intense gaze, Jiang Lijin simply ignored him and began laying out the next steps of their plan.
"When I walk out of here later, I'll pretend to be weak." She turned to look at Gary. "You play along. Tell the public that the purification was halfway done, but my physical strength couldn't hold up, so we had to pause and will continue in a couple of days."
Gary stroked his chin and pondered for a moment before raising a question. "Why not just say you can't cure him? If you say you tried your best but couldn't save him, wouldn't the mole be completely put at ease?"
Jiang Lijin rolled her eyes at him, looking at him as if he were a not-so-bright student. "I am an 3S-rank. If even I say he can't be cured, then Baal has only one path left: death. If Kieran really is the mole, upon hearing this news, he wouldn't need to make any more moves. He could just hide in the dark and wait for the news of his death. If he doesn't move, how are we supposed to catch him red-handed?"
She tapped the armrest of her chair, analyzing with clear logic. "Only by saying, 'It's half-cured, he can still be saved, but it takes time,' will he get anxious. Once he panics, he'll try to find a way to finish the job. Taking a step back, even if he doesn't dare to strike blatantly within the base, he will definitely come to me to fish for information."
Kieran was her ex-husband, after all. In the eyes of that deeply scheming man, the original Jiang Lijin had always been a brainless, easily manipulated, useless simp. He would absolutely use this relationship to pry for details.
Speaking of this, Jiang Lijin patted the silver medical box resting by her feet.
"Tell everyone that in order to stabilize the Commander-in-Chief's condition, I gave him a shot of a powerful tranquilizer, and he has now fallen into a deep sleep." Jiang Lijin turned to ask Gary, "Can the video feed from the isolation room upstairs be altered?"
"No problem," Gary nodded. "It was originally a holographic projection anyway. The spiritual power radiation is real, but the image can be adjusted at any time. Moreover, the camera position is fixed; it can only view the area by the isolation wall."
"That works then," Jiang Lijin finalized. "We'll just wait for Ki... the mole to deliver himself to our doorstep."
After she finished speaking, she bent down, preparing to pick up the medical box and leave. When she turned her head, however, she found Baal's gaze pinned dead on that silver box, his eyes dark and gloomy.
Jiang Lijin paused her movements. She assumed Baal was bothered by the fact that the box contained high-purity anesthetics; after all, no top-tier male wanted to be guarded against.
"Did Chiron give that to you?" Baal spoke out of the blue, cutting her off directly.
Jiang Lijin blinked, somewhat bewildered. "Yeah."
Baal's face visibly darkened, and even the surrounding air temperature seemed to drop a couple of degrees. "Do you trust him that much? Taking the things he gave you, without even being certain of what's inside, and daring to run single-handedly to such a dangerous place?"
Jiang Lijin was almost irritated to the point of laughter by his words.
Was there something wrong with this man? She had traveled all the way from Valoran to the front lines to clean up his mess, and instead of being grateful, he was here being sarcastic and nitpicking?
"Fine." Jiang Lijin rolled her eyes dramatically, picking up the medical kit with a chilling tone. "Next time you go crazy, I'll just sit back on the Capital Star with a fruit platter and watch the live broadcast. I absolutely won't come to save you."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Baal realized his tone had been too harsh. He had originally just wanted to remind her to be careful and not to trust that cultured scumbag, Chiron, too easily. But when the words actually came out, coupled with his fiery temper, it sounded more like an interrogation.
He opened his mouth, trying to salvage the situation. However, being so used to reprimanding people in the military camp, he couldn't find a single soft, coaxing word in his head. After holding it in for a long time, all he could squeeze out was a dry, "I didn't mean it like that..."
Gary stood near the door, his head lowered and his shoulders shaking. He was holding back his laughter so hard that his abs were about to cramp.
With the Commander-in-Chief's emotional intelligence, getting into her good graces in this lifetime would be as difficult as ascending to the heavens. She had traveled all this way to save his life; instead of playing the victim to win her sympathy, he actually dared to yell at her?
Jiang Lijin couldn't be bothered to deal with him. She grabbed the kit and walked out. After taking two steps, she stopped and looked back at Gary, who was still enjoying the show.
"Hey, you," she tipped her chin up. "Come over here and give me a hand. I need to pretend my mental energy is completely drained. Walking out of here full of energy on my own would look too fake."
Hearing this, Gary quickly wiped the smile off his face and jogged over in a few quick strides. He reached out like an eager lackey, firmly supporting Jiang Lijin's arm.
"Take it easy, Ms. Jiang, just lean on me."
Jiang Lijin didn't lean on him—after all, it wasn't time to start the performance just yet—but she didn't push him away either.
Behind them, Baal stared at Gary's hand hovering over Jiang Lijin's arm. His golden, slit-like pupils narrowed into a dangerous line. The air pressure in the isolation room instantly dropped to a terrifying level.
Xiao Yi, always eager for some drama, chimed in: [Host! The look in Baal's eyes right now makes it seem like he wants to chop off Gary's paws! Oh no, he's definitely jealous. Dean Chiron is in danger! Adjutant Gary is in danger too!]
Jiang Lijin didn't stop walking, not even turning her head.
[Jealous?] She sneered in her mind. [That's just the aftereffects of his berserk state. He's got water in his brain.]
The elevator doors slid open in front of them. Jiang Lijin got a headache just thinking about the calm, gossipy expression Gary had worn on the surveillance monitor earlier. This guy really didn't know how to act.
She couldn't help but whisper a reminder, "When we go up in a moment, make your expression a bit heavier. It's best if you can show a sense of despair, like the sky has fallen. Remember to squeeze out a couple of tears."
Feeling the murderous aura radiating from behind him, Gary's mouth twitched. "...I'll try my best."
