Book 10: Chapter 59: Brief Rest

“How are you, Huobiao and Bowei?” One hour after the battle ended, these two were also released and sent back by the Chaos members who had been left at the ruins.

“We’re fine. The Chaos members let us use the Insectoid Blood Pool, and all the injuries from the battle were healed.” Huobiao didn’t seem very happy. He said with a dark face, “But don’t you plan to tell us what happened? Bowei and I both thought the mission had failed, but then we received the message that the mission was completed. And the Chaos members vaguely hinted that we were the ones who won.”

“There’s a reason for that. Balin, you come over too. I think the team owes you an explanation!” Robin glanced at Qin Lun and slowly narrated the course of events.

After listening to Robin’s explanation, the expressions of Balin and the other two were not good. “So, you suspected that one of us three was the traitor?”

“Perhaps I was overly suspicious. But at that time, if none of the three separated groups had an Apostle show up, the Chaos Team probably wouldn’t have spent so much time verifying if there were other Apostles in the other two groups!” Qin Lun said flatly.

“If the team needed us to be decoys, just saying so clearly, I don’t think we would have minded being captured. Was it really necessary to keep us in the dark?” Bowei said discontentedly.

“Just a precaution!” Qin Lun said lightly, and offered no further explanation. Balin and the other two fell silent.

Although emotionally they still found it hard to accept, they weren’t stupid. Thinking back to the situation at the time, they could also see some things that were off.

Balin and the other two were actually not weak in strength. The reason they were captured without any resistance was that the Chaos Team gave them very little reaction time. It seemed as if they already knew their positions, almost catching them completely off guard.

But suspicion was one thing; this traitor hadn’t revealed many clues from start to finish. The Chaos Team probably wouldn’t give them that information either. It likely had to stop here.

“Brother, I dare say Leaders Qin Lun and Robin already know who the traitor is. Why aren’t they willing to say it outright?” Dean pulled Loben aside and whispered in a corner.

“Without evidence, of course they can’t say it outright.” Loben frowned and said seriously, “And you shouldn’t talk carelessly either, understand?”

“Since when do we Apostles need evidence to act?” Dean asked strangely.

“Normally we don’t. But the accusation of being a traitor is very serious, equivalent to ruining someone’s credibility within the alliance. Then you have to think twice.” Loben rubbed his younger brother’s head and said with a smile, “Besides, this traitor didn’t go too far. Maybe they had no choice. Since there’s no real proof, nobody wants to push them.”

“Brother, from the way you talk, it seems you’ve guessed it too?” Dean’s eyes shifted, and he asked quietly.

“Heh, besides the simple and honest Frank, and you and Bobby, who are just kids, everyone else probably has some idea.” Loben couldn’t help but chuckle lightly.

“Tch, who says I don’t know? I said it was Bowei a long time ago!” Dean pouted unhappily.

“It probably isn’t Bowei!” Loben looked at his little brother, his expression somewhat helpless. “Don’t judge him unfairly just because the few teams he joined before all disbanded.”

“Not all his former companions died. Since the Order Front hasn’t spread any negative news about him, it means the responsibility for the teams disbanding wasn’t on him. Besides, he actively joined the Patrol seeking protection. If he turned traitor again, even if he joined Chaos later, no team would want him!”

“Then… is it Huobiao? Why would he do that!” Dean asked, confused.

“Huobiao has his own team, but he hasn’t been with them long, and his relationship with the members isn’t close. The other two alliances only invited him personally, not his whole team along with him. It’s similar to our situation. I don’t think it’s him either!” Loben shook his head faintly.

The Loben brothers received the invitation from Chaos, which actually came with a semi-forced contract. If the Patrol Team had lost this battle, they would have had to join a Chaos sub-team. This was completely different from how Wolf invited Robin. But precisely because of this, Chaos couldn’t possibly ask them to be traitors.

“No way! Balin is the leader of his own team. Would he do such a thing?” Dean immediately understood Loben’s implication and slowly widened his eyes. “Joining Chaos in this way… isn’t he afraid of revenge from Lost?”

“Why do you assume Balin wants to join Chaos?” Loben sighed and said in a barely audible voice, “Why can’t it be the other way around? The members of Balin’s team are of mixed quality, but they all get along very well. They wouldn’t want to go to the Chaos Alliance where internal strife is intense. The Chaos Alliance uses any means necessary. They could invite us semi-forcingly, and they could also threaten Balin with his companions to make him the traitor.”

“… So that’s why everyone isn’t exposing Balin?” Dean’s mouth fell open. For the first time, this clever boy felt his brain cells weren’t enough.

“Heh, not necessarily. Since when are we Apostles so kind-hearted? Everyone has their own reasons for not exposing Balin.” Loben felt this was a good opportunity to educate his brother. He discreetly observed everyone, saw that no one was paying attention to them, and then continued, “Frank doesn’t care about anything except his master. Sawa isn’t strong enough and doesn’t want to make enemies.”

“Huobiao and Bowei themselves were also suspects; they didn’t want to stir up more trouble. Leader Robin had no such concerns, but she preferred to play dumb. Because exposing the traitor would only make the situation worse for the Order Front. You and Bobby just haven’t figured it out yet, and I don’t want to get involved in such matters.”

“Then… what about Qin Lun? He shouldn’t care about exposing Balin, right?” Dean counted on his fingers and asked curiously in a low voice.

“I don’t know. What goes on in that person’s head, probably no one can truly figure out.” Loben said with a bitter smile. “He’s not normal. A normal person wouldn’t suspect their own team had a traitor for no reason before the mission even started.”

“Hey, bro, I find you can be quite smart sometimes!” Dean laughed and put his arm around Loben’s shoulder.

“Brat, did you think your big brother was stupid?” Loben pretended to be angry and ruffled his brother’s head.

…

“Alex, did you remember everything I told you?” Qin Lun glanced at the countdown in his Soul Sigil and looked at Alex and the others.

“I will relay your suggestion to the fleet higher-ups. But whether we can ultimately form an alliance with the Insectoids… I’m afraid a small fry like me can’t decide anything!” Alex replied with a bitter smile.

“Don’t underestimate yourself, Alex!” Qin Lun pointed to the almost completely transformed Bingren Mecha in front of them. “Your mechas have undergone a comprehensive evolution due to the influence of the Final Gospel, and only you seven can pilot them now. Apart from lacking the special abilities of Apostles, you are no different from the Apostles who piloted the Full-Bio-Mechanism back then.”

“This is a tremendous power. Even one-on-one against a Jannamer offspring, you have a fighting chance. But you must be very careful of the Final Gospel’s faith corruption. From the current situation, it seems the Angel Race is definitely not altruistic. Their goal is likely to resurrect by utilizing the faith power of the inheriting race.”

“… So that’s why you advised us to destroy your Angel Bodies immediately after the Descendant Apostles leave!” Alex frowned.

“No, that’s just a suggestion. Whether to do it or not is entirely up to you seven.” Qin Lun’s expression was neutral. “Our Angel Bodies now are essentially containers for the ‘Final Gospel’. They can bring great power to the Gith people, but they also easily allow the Angel Race to resurrect as gods. Then they would destroy the current Gith civilization and create a new civilization ruled by theocracy.”

“Apostles are explorers of history, emissaries of the Star Void, but we are not saviors. We don’t care about the civilization changes in this world. If we have the chance to descend next time, our partners could be either the Gith humans or the new Angel Race. My suggestion is just a personal opinion from a friend.”

Qin Lun’s words made Alex struggle internally. Seeing the young man remained silent for a long time, Qin Lun stood up and walked towards the area where Huobiao and Bowei were resting.

“Huobiao, a word!” Qin Lun gave Huobiao a meaningful look.

Huobiao hesitated for a moment. He looked somewhat coldly at Qin Lun, clearly still holding a grudge about the team keeping them in the dark. However, after thinking for a bit, he still stood up and followed Qin Lun to a secluded spot.

“If you want to apologize, forget it. I can understand your actions, I just feel a bit unhappy!” Huobiao muttered under his breath.

“Oh…” Seeing that Huobiao had misunderstood, Qin Lun felt a bit awkward and rubbed his nose. However, he didn’t correct Huobiao’s mistake. Instead, he went along with it, patted his shoulder friendly, and said, “It’s good that you understand. Also, I have something else I want to ask you.”

“Now? What is it?” Huobiao asked, puzzled. The battle was completely over, and they had less than an hour before returning. He couldn’t think of what else Qin Lun wanted to ask.

“It’s about the fight between the remaining Apostles of Chaos and Divine Light, and the Descendant Apostles from Hismere’s side, after we left the ruins.” Qin Lun asked cautiously, “Did you notice anything unusual?”

“Unusual? What aspect are you referring to?” Huobiao was slightly taken aback, frowned, and asked, “Does people dying count? If not, then there wasn’t anything unusual. I heard from the Chaos people that Divine Light originally lost two, and then were forced by Chaos to unite.”

“After you left the ruins, Wolf and Gan Luo took some people and chased after you. There were eleven Apostles left behind, though most were injured, and they faced off against the seven Apostles from Hismere’s side.” Huobiao suddenly remembered something and raised his eyebrows. “Oh, I remember now. It might not count as unusual, but there was one thing that really surprised me at the time!”