Chapter 263: Beast! How Dare You Hurt Her?!

Chapter 263: Chapter 263: Beast! How Dare You Hurt Her?!

"You’re saying Lick is missing too?!"

Listening to President Lucas, Goring felt a massive headache coming on. Although they were currently being protected by the Mermaid Beastmen, it had also severed their contact with Leila and the others. And now Lick had disappeared? Wasn’t this just adding to the chaos?!

"Someone supposedly saw him driving a submarine toward the Mysterious Sea Area."

Speaking of which, President Lucas was just as troubled. Back then, he had only agreed to bring Lick along because the young man worshipped Liang He and had begged endlessly to come. Now, with so much happening, Lick was only causing more trouble at such a critical juncture. Having failed to keep an eye on him, President Lucas felt deeply ashamed.

"He must have gone to find Liang He."

They were currently trapped at the bottom of the sea, relying entirely on the Mermaids for communication. From them, it wasn’t hard to figure out where Liang He had gone.

"Has that massive commotion from earlier been investigated?" President Lucas was solely worried about Liang He’s safety now. If anything truly happened to her, a thousand deaths wouldn’t be enough to atone for his guilt. "That Minister Ace, or whatever his name is, explicitly said he wanted Liang He dead!"

Thinking about it, President Lucas still couldn’t wrap his head around it. The last time, Ace had wanted to abduct Liang He. Why had it escalated to outright murder this time? Could it be a case of ’if I can’t have her, I’ll destroy her’? But surely, that wasn’t something Ace could decide on his own, right?

"Word has already come back. The Rebel Army’s warship self-destructed, and Ace was killed by Liang He in a single strike."

This time, Goring was completely in awe of Liang He’s capabilities. Bravely fighting off an entire warship of Rebel Army forces alone was no easy feat, even with Commander Lanton assisting from the sidelines. What was more, Liang He had single-handedly destroyed the entire warship and wiped out the Rebel Army forces on board. Such a battle record was practically unheard of across the entire Federation.

"Liang He is indeed a rare genius," President Lucas agreed. He always felt as though she could do everything, especially when it came to martial prowess, where she truly stood out. Given the combat power she had displayed, she could probably go toe-to-toe with an SSS-level Beastman.

"By the way, have you seen Huo An?" Deputy Governor Goring asked, his brows furrowing as he suddenly realized he hadn’t seen Huo An in a while. With people going missing one after another, he couldn’t help but feel incredibly anxious.

"Now that you mention it... it seems Huo An hasn’t been seen since Leila and the others set off."

Earlier, Liang He had mentioned that Huo An was taking care of the seasick Mojin King Tiger, who was actually the Marshal. But now they all knew Cedriel had already regained his human consciousness and successfully passed his Evolutionary Stage. He shouldn’t need anyone to take care of him at all.

"Could they be secretly plotting something behind our backs?" Goring sighed helplessly, feeling as if his position as Acting District Chief was completely nominal.

Ever since the incident in the Mysterious Sea Area began, he had felt an invisible hand manipulating everything behind the scenes, controlling every step. It was a very unsettling feeling.

"Huo An isn’t the type to act recklessly. Even if they have some sort of plan, with him there, nothing will go wrong. Rest assured."

President Lucas had a lot of faith in Huo An’s character and abilities. Although he couldn’t guess what the younger generation was scheming, he trusted they knew their limits.

"True. Then what about the Marshal and the Commander?"

"I don’t know. They aren’t people the two of us can manage anyway. Let’s just wait quietly for news."

The suddenly mentioned Cedriel and Lanton were also nowhere to be found at this moment. Without Liang He, neither Goring nor Lucas could rein them in.

Completely unaware of the current situation, the two men could never have imagined that the Lick they were so worried about was actually a long-hidden undercover agent for the Rebel Army. Right now, Liang He and the others were trapped by Lick in a secret chamber beneath the statue in the Mysterious Sea Area, facing a life-and-death crisis.

"Liang He, I advise you to stop this pointless resistance!"

While everyone else was locked in a chaotic melee, Lick had quickly retreated to a corner, his hands frantically searching the wall for a mechanism. By the time he found it, Liang He had already wiped out nearly two-thirds of the Rebel Army soldiers. Seeing this, Lick could no longer maintain his composure.

"What exactly do you want?"

Forced to hold back for fear of collateral damage, Liang He watched as Lick rested his hand over a mechanism on the wall. She had to admit, he had successfully gained leverage over her. Forcing herself to stop fighting, her eyes were bloodshot as she glared fiercely at him, her gaze heavy and dark.

"I already told you! I just want you to come with me!"

Lick knew perfectly well that no matter how heavy the casualties were, as long as he could bring Liang He back to headquarters, it would be a massive achievement. As for those who lost their lives in the process, well, they simply weren’t fortunate enough to enjoy the leader’s grace.

"Bah! Liang He, don’t believe him!" Ao Ke spat viciously at Lick, utterly disgusted by his behavior.

Leila, her face equally filled with resentment, echoed Ao Ke to stop Liang He. "That’s right! He just said he wanted our lives! He’s just trying to trick you!"

Terrified that Liang He might let herself be taken away to save them, Leila and the others desperately feared she might make a foolish sacrifice and fall into Lick’s trap.

Lick truly wished he could just kill these people hindering his plans, but he also knew that doing so would only force Liang He into a desperate, mutual-destruction fight to the death.

"Liang He, I promise, as long as you come with me obediently, I absolutely won’t touch them." Seeing that Liang He seemed to be wavering, Lick pressed his advantage.

Frankly, his primary objective was Liang He. Since this group of deadweight could be used to force her hand, he didn’t necessarily have to slaughter them all.

"What makes you think you can guarantee that?" Liang He adjusted her breathing, forcing herself to calm down as she tried to negotiate with Lick.

This hellhole was essentially Rebel Army territory, and Leila’s group still had to safely escort the injured sailors out. They held absolutely no advantage here. If they tried to force a breakout, she couldn’t guarantee that whatever mechanism Lick pressed wouldn’t instantly kill everyone. She couldn’t gamble with their lives, and she didn’t want to.

"How about this? Let them leave first. As long as they make it out of here safely, I will surrender and put myself at your mercy."

Only by ensuring everyone’s safety first could Liang He avoid falling into a passive position again.

Unfortunately, Lick wasn’t a fool either. Having lurked by Liang He’s side for so long, he was naturally very clear about how her mind worked.

"Impossible! What if you go back on your word? The subordinates I have left are no match for you."

Even with Fierce Beasts in the mix, Lick had no confidence. After all, the fact that Liang He had single-handedly wiped out half a Fierce Beast Army was still hanging high on the Rebel Army’s wall of shame.

"You expect me to trust you, yet you refuse to trust me. Do you think that makes any sense?"

Trying to confuse Lick with logic to make him relent, Liang He poured all her focus into tricking him. Because of this, she completely failed to notice a Fierce Beast suddenly lunging at her from behind—a wild beast that hadn’t been brought under control and was singularly focused on attacking her.

"Liang He!"

Leila and the others, who had been closely watching the exchange between Liang He and Lick, noticed the anomaly immediately and frantically tried to save her. However, the danger unfolded in a split second. They didn’t even have time to intervene; their only warning was screaming out her name.

ROAR!

Just as Liang He, holding her gleaming dagger, ’slowly’ turned around to deal with the attacking Fierce Beast—whose sharp claws were now less than a palm’s width away from her—a black silhouette suddenly flashed by her side. The figure pulled her behind him, stepping in front of her without hesitation, and struck out ruthlessly.

"You beast! You think you’re worthy of hurting her?!"