A World Worth Protecting

It was as if a hurricane had swept through the room. Everyone’s breathing stilled in terror. Li Wan’er, who had destroyed both Zhuo Yixian’s voice transmission ring and the video recording, gave Zhuo Yixian a frosty glare. She turned and left with no expression on her face.

The tension in the room didn’t go away with her departure. In fact, after she had left, everyone gradually recovered from their earlier fright, and as they recollected what they had seen, their hearts started racing again.

Wang Baole watched as dead silence descended over the group. Zhuo Yixian still seemed to be in a daze. He had a lost look in his eyes. Wang Baole coughed awkwardly. He rose to his feet and patted Zhuo Yixian on his shoulder.

“Yixian, I told you. This matter shouldn’t be spoken of, but you… had to ask. Why? You’ve made a grievous mistake.” Wang Baole sighed and shook his head. He was secretly pleased though. He placed his hands behind his back and strolled out of the room with everyone else staring at him like he was a god.

A few even rushed to see him off. They only managed to barely come to their senses. If the young woman in the video was not Department Head Li, her destroying the video still proved his innocence. Not just that, it also proved the strength of Wang Baole’s political backing.

After all, the murkiness of the entire political situation must have reached a certain level for the fair and just Li Wan’er to do what she had done.

However… if the woman in the video was indeed Li Wan’er, then the relationship between the two must not be an ordinary one, seeing how they had spent the night alone in the cave. Either way, it was worth the effort to befriend Wang Baole and repair the damage that had been caused.

As they gave Wang Baole a warm and cordial send-off, the rest fled the room hastily. Before they escaped, though, they all looked at Zhuo Yixian. They all knew. It was highly likely… that this was going to be the end of Zhuo Yixian.

Li Wan’er had clenched her teeth and forced those last words out. The promise of violence in her voice still sent them shivering as they thought back to it.

Zhuo Yixian stood alone in the room as everyone left. The confusion in his eyes slowly turned to horror and panic. Beads of sweat started dripping profusely from his forehead. He was soon drenched in his own cold sweat. The others might not have caught a clear look because of where they stood, but he had been standing right in front of the screen. He had seen most clearly what the others had not.

The video might have been destroyed by Li Wan’er, but as Zhuo Yixian started to recall what he had seen, his face grew paler by the second. He couldn’t lie to himself. He had caught a glance at the woman’s face in the recording.

She… was Li Wan’er!

The worst was what he knew what the others didn’t. He knew that Wang Baole had gone missing for the entire night… he had only appeared back in the city in the afternoon the next day.

An entire night… Zhuo Yixian shuddered at that thought. His face was drained of blood. He couldn’t control the numerous images that flooded his mind… it had been a dark night then. His superior and Wang Baole had spent an entire night together in one room…

Li Wan’er’s outburst was the key. That had been rage fueled by embarrassment. It was clear that there was some unspeakable secret between the two of them.

Zhuo Yixian shuddered even more violently at that thought. He was weeping inside. He knew he had done the unforgivable; he had looked into his superior’s private affairs. He had looked into her personal, romantic life…

There was a loud buzzing in Zhuo Yixian’s head. He felt dizzy. He couldn’t forget what Li Wan’er had said to him and the look in her eyes before she had left. It terrified Zhuo Yixian.

He understood Li Wan’er’s character. He knew how vicious she could be. She was cold-blooded and merciless, and backed by a powerful family. She was a strong and powerful fighter herself. She was ill-tempered, and there were many rumors surrounding her. Her father was the leader of the Senate. He was a Secondary Rank One Noble. It might seem as if he was the equal of the Martian Colony Governor, but his authority and power was something even the Governor didn’t possess.

He was, after all, the leader of the Senate!

The Five Generation Sky Clan was powerful as well, but it was an entity formed from various family clans, and it had suffered losses during the lunar incident. The Zhuo family clan was one of the five most powerful clans in the Five Generation Sky Clan, but it wasn’t the only one. Zhuo Yixian was only the eldest son of the Zhuo family clan. He couldn’t compare with Li Wan’er. They were worlds apart.

Furthermore… Li Wan’er was his superior on Mars. This fact alone nearly drove Zhuo Yixian to tears. He thought about how he had arrived at Mars, his initial fears, and how he had toed the line. At the same time, he had great ambitions and had wanted to make a name for himself. Now… he had only despair.

He had no energy left to concern himself with Wang Baole. He left the room hastily and got a voice transmission ring off someone. He immediately sent a transmission to his father.

Zhuo Yixian’s father was the master of the Zhuo family. He was an important figure in the Federation. Despite his status, his heart nearly stopped when he heard Zhuo Yixian recount to him everything that had happened. He asked his son hastily, “Yixian, does Li Wan’er know that you used your family resources for this matter? It’s still not so bad if she doesn’t know. After all, this is your…”

“She knows…” Zhuo Yixian had a distressed look on his face. He had no choice but to tell his father.

“She’s not the only one. Many in the family clan probably already know. The original video recording… is still with the clan.”

Zhuo Yixian’s father got into a rage when he heard that. If this matter had stayed contained between the young ones, there was still hope of resolving it. It would only be a misunderstanding between children. But now that the family clan had gotten involved, it was no longer as simple.

“How did she know you made use of your family clan resources!” Furious, Zhuo Yixian’s father thundered.

“I told her myself…” Zhuo Yixian grimaced. He knew he shouldn’t be hiding anything at this point. He gritted his teeth and admitted the truth.

When Zhuo Yixian’s father heard his son’s reply, he fell silent. After a long moment, he sighed. He sounded like he had aged considerably.

“I’ll handle this matter… Yixian, stop giving me so much trouble. Your father is old. I can’t handle this much stress. Her father, Li Qidao, is famous for being difficult. Can’t you tell just by looking at his daughter?”

Wang Baole was obviously unaware of the exchange between Zhuo Yixian and his father. He had just returned to the academy in high spirits. He had no time to think about what was going to happen to Zhuo Yixian. He happily continued practicing with his Dark Fire and the Lightning Dao: First Volume. He also didn’t forget to spend time crafting and perfecting his construction puppets.

Wang Baole continued to craft construction puppet after construction puppet. Life slowly returned to normal. The donkey continued to leave the residence early in the day and return late at night. It always left excitedly and returned with a satisfied look on its face.

Wang Baole couldn’t help his strange curiosity the few times he saw that. He had been considering following the donkey and finding out what it was up to. Then, Jin Duoming came visiting and that put that idea on a temporary hold.

Jin Duoming hadn’t brought along his gigantic stronghold. He had only a few dozen guards and an equal number of female servants in his procession.

Jin Duoming was about to speak when he saw Wang Baole, but Wang Baole cut him off with an excited question.

“Brother Jin, have you come to buy the donkey?”

Jin Duoming had wanted to start with a casual greeting before diving into serious business. However, once he heard Wang Baole’s question, alarm flashed across his face. He got even more alarmed when Wang Baole seemed prepared to promote and market his donkey in great detail. He raised his hand and interrupted Wang Baole. Then, he coughed and decided to save the chat for later. He started speaking hurriedly about why he was there.

“Baole, have you heard about the new Mars Divine Armament Region?” Jin Duoming asked. His eyes narrowed. Even his voice seemed lower than usual.

“A new Divine Armament Region?” Wang Baole froze.

“That’s right. The original Divine Armament exploration project has been put on hold, but I heard it was being brought up again after the blood-colored mist appeared. The exploration will be challenging though, that’s why they need a series of foundational preparations to be done. The energy and resources required for the project in the future would definitely be significant. That’s why the Governor has proposed building a new city zone!

“Build a new city zone around the area where the Divine Armament lies and be in charge of the exploration for the Divine Armament… the new city zone will not be considered as part of the current Martian Colony City. It will be viewed as an external administrative zone!”

“The person who becomes the head of the zone, the mayor, will be holding a Primary Rank Four Noble. This is a rare opportunity. The competition will be fierce, but I can help you fight for your candidacy… it’s just that…” Jin Duoming paused and gave Wang Baole a deep, meaningful look. He believed that after saying so much, based on his understanding of Wang Baole’s character, the latter should realize what he was trying to say.

And that was indeed the case. Once Wang Baole heard what Jin Duoming had said, his heartbeat quickened. He lifted his head and looked at Jin Duoming. The memory of what Lin Tianhao had said, the message his father Lin You had wanted him to pass on to Wang Baole, surfaced in Wang Baole’s mind…

So that’s what he meant!