Chapter 262: The Undercover Agent is Actually Him?!

Chapter 262: Chapter 262: The Undercover Agent is Actually Him?!

Ao Ke and his team backed up step by step until they collided with Leila’s group. They only stopped when the Rebel Army completely encircled them.

Everyone wore the exact same expression of sheer disbelief. No one could have imagined that there was a mole in their ranks—let alone that it would be him!

"Lick! What are you doing?!"

Leila glared at him, her eyes wide with shock. She tried to step forward but was shoved back by the Rebel Army soldiers, leaving her with no choice but to yell her question.

"What am I doing?" The target of her interrogation, Lick, let out a disdainful chuckle. His previously honest and simple-minded demeanor had vanished entirely. "Colonel Leila, isn’t it obvious?"

Lick glanced at Liang He, playfully twirling the photon gun in his hand. He had laid low for so long, all for this very moment.

"You’re an undercover agent for the Rebel Army?!" Ao Ke couldn’t wrap his head around it. How on earth did Lick infiltrate the Animal Protection Association, and how did he earn President Lucas’s trust? In truth, he had severely underestimated the capabilities of the Rebel Army. After all, wasn’t Vice President Tai Nan’s assistant also one of their operatives?

"That’s right. I am indeed with the Rebel Army." Showing no shame and instead taking pride in it, Lick openly admitted his true allegiance.

"You really went to great lengths to hide yourself so deeply." Compared to the others, Liang He seemed much more capable of accepting the fact that Lick was a rebel.

"It wasn’t too bad. Hard work pays off in the end."

Lick had indeed put a lot of thought into getting close to Liang He. From the very beginning, when Liang He posted her first set of photos as a Fur Raising Officer, he—just like everyone else—thought it was nothing but a cheap publicity stunt. It wasn’t until Liang He released a video proving herself, confirming her ability to safely approach Evolutionary Beastmen, that he immediately reported her existence to the Rebel Army.

"As an animal rescue blogger, I had the perfect camouflage." Before this, even the higher-ups in the Rebel Army never expected that the seemingly useless Lick could use this identity to naturally get close to Liang He.

"So, this whole ’die-hard fan’ persona was just to pull the wool over President Lucas’s eyes?" Liang He didn’t care about Lick’s deception towards her, but she felt sorry for President Lucas. If he found out the truth, she feared he wouldn’t be able to handle the betrayal.

"If I hadn’t done that, why would he have brought me along on such an important mission?"

With Liang He involved, and the recent ’man-eating’ incident in the Mysterious Sea Area, President Lucas was bound to be extremely cautious. Lick had worn him down for a long time. It was only because President Lucas saw him as one of Liang He’s oldest fans that he finally relented and agreed to bring him along.

"Then why did you leave so suddenly last time?" Liang He was referring to the time on Greenfield Star. Lick had already become the person in charge of receiving her, so why did he suddenly disappear? If he had been there last time, along with Valken and Ace, they might have actually succeeded in taking Liang He away.

"Last time?" However, faced with Liang He’s question, Lick seemed to hesitate.

She quickly deduced the truth. "You’re not him."

Back on Greenfield Star, the vibe Lick gave Liang He was completely different. He was friendly and exceptionally sincere—perfectly fitting the image of an animal lover and rescuer. But this Lick standing before her, no matter how good his acting was, couldn’t hide his blatant disregard for life.

"Haha! Liang He, I have to admit, you are indeed smarter than I imagined." Lick didn’t deny her accusation. She was right. He wasn’t the real Lick. Before this, he had merely been Lick’s colleague and friend.

"Who asked him to refuse to help me? I had no choice but to... live his life for him." At first, he had wanted the real Lick to introduce him, but he was rejected. Left with no other options, he was forced to be ruthless. He spoke as if he had been left with no other choice, yet the unconcealable cold-blooded indifference in his eyes sent shivers down everyone’s spines.

"You killed him?!" Upon realizing this, Liang He felt an uncharacteristic surge of rage. The real Lick had died because of her, and his murderer was standing right in front of her. "In that case, you will pay with your life!"

Liang He suddenly erupted into motion, closing the distance to Lick at an almost imperceptible speed. The photon gun in her hand had been swapped for a dagger, its sharp blade aimed straight at Lick.

"ROAR!"

As Liang He broke the standoff, the Fierce Beasts that had previously been suppressed by the Rebel Army began to grow restless. Blocked by the Fierce Beasts, Liang He stared coldly as the Rebel Army soldiers snapped back to reality and raised their photon guns, aiming right at her.

"Don’t kill her. The Military Commander is still waiting to receive her." Standing safely behind the heavily guarded lines of the Rebel Army, Lick flashed a frivolous smile at Liang He’s counterattack. "As for the others... leave no survivors!"

Other than Liang He, the lives of Leila and the rest were completely worthless in Lick’s eyes.

"Come to think of it, I really must thank you." A smile playing on his lips, Lick suddenly expressed his gratitude to Liang He. "If it weren’t for you, Ace wouldn’t have been disposed of so smoothly."

"Ace? Wasn’t he your accomplice?" Her brow deeply furrowed, Liang He looked utterly bewildered. What was this? Did the Rebel Army also engage in dog-eat-dog infighting?

"Accomplice? Haha! He almost ruined the Military Commander’s plans. How could I ever dare to be his accomplice?"

At this moment, prompted by Lick’s words, Liang He finally remembered the difference between their two factions. The orders Ace was executing were to kill her, whereas Lick was instructed to bring her back alive.

"So, that’s why you only showed up after I killed Ace?" It made sense now—there were no such coincidences in the world. The moment Ace died, Lick showed up piloting a submarine. "I suppose Deputy Governor Goring and President Lucas had no idea that you left the Sea Ship in a submarine, did they?"

Given the status and abilities Lick had displayed, it stood to reason that neither Goring nor Lucas would have ever agreed to let him search for Liang He on his own.

"Sigh... Liang He, oh Liang He. You’re great in every way, except you’re just a bit too smart for your own good." Especially when that intelligence was directed at him—it really put a lot of pressure on him. Fortunately, the situation was now completely under his control. No matter how clever Liang He was, she couldn’t turn the tables.

"Alright, stop trying to stall for time." What needed to be said, and what shouldn’t have been said, had all been laid out. Lick didn’t want the prize he already had in his grasp to slip away. "Do it!"

At Lick’s command, the Rebel Army once again clashed with Leila’s group. Thankfully, with Liang He weaving through the fray, the rebels had reservations and didn’t dare to spray indiscriminately with their photon guns. However, apart from the Rebel Army, the relentless Fierce Beasts were also formidable adversaries.

"Leila, watch out!"

The prolonged battle had left Leila and the others physically and mentally exhausted. Coupled with the Fierce Beasts, they simply couldn’t hold the line. Already burdened by the unconscious injured sailors from earlier, they were now caught in a pincer attack from both the Rebel Army and the Fierce Beasts, inevitably making it impossible to defend on all fronts.

"SLASH!"

Liang He saved Leila from a Rebel Army soldier, swiftly eliminating the attacker in the process. Once Leila had steadied herself, Liang He held back no longer.

"Protect yourself."

Leaving those words behind, Liang He charged into the crowd. She tossed Ao Ke and the others out of the combat zone one by one, while she herself fought like a savage beast—one far more ferocious than the actual Fierce Beasts—fighting to the bitter end.

Watching Liang He see red as his Rebel Army soldiers fell one by one, Lick’s expression finally changed.

"Liang He! Do you want them to be buried with you?!"