Chapter 19: Connecting Lifelines (Part 1)
When Beichen and Atlas flew back to Elysion, they found that there were outsiders in many areas within the country - armies of various countries and small groups of refugees were heading towards the capital from all directions.
Upon arriving in the capital, he discovered that every district had been placed under the highest level of martial law. In the central square of Crystal Origin, numerous workers were constructing a large platform—a scene reminiscent of the scale of the lectures once hosted by the Cerrand Holy Church. Shaking his head to dismiss the unpleasant memories, Beichen nodded to Atlas beside him, unfolded his armored wings, and flew directly towards the Imperial Palace.
When they landed on a large open-air platform, the guards immediately rushed forward vigilantly, but when they found that it was Beichen and Atlas, they cheered and saluted.
"Your Majesty, you are back!"
"Well, everyone, thank you for your hard work." Beichen smiled and nodded to the soldiers. "Where are Xiang Ying and Hei Huo Su Jie? And Aunt Fang, La Han, Li Ye, Xiao Ying, and the others...are they all right?"
"They are all well, but Your Majesty, recently—"
"Ah, is that what Xiang Ying is arranging? Don't worry."
Beichen smiled and patted the guard's shoulder.
"Where is Xiang Ying?"
"He should be in your study..."
"Okay. Go back to your posts."
So Beichen changed direction and quickly pulled Atlas towards the study.
When he opened the door, he saw Xiang Ying sitting on the sofa beside him, deep in thought. When he saw that it was Beichen, Xiang Ying's eyes immediately lit up, and he happily took two steps at a time to greet him:
"Master! Atlas, you guys—are you back safely!?"
"Hehe, of course I came back safely!" Beichen put his hands on his waist in a cocky manner, "And I also solved the biggest behind-the-scenes boss!"
“—Huh?”
Xiang Ying looked at Beichen, then at Atlas:
"Behind the scenes... could it be that?! Inside Atlas—"
"Yes, I guessed right! It's Senagard's consciousness. I've convinced him and he's fallen into a deep sleep. Things are pretty much as I suspected—so we can continue to steadily implement our plan. You've done a good job on that end."
"Ahem, well... since Xiao Peng and Miss Li Ye also participated, there shouldn't be any problems. But Master, I'm still very curious why you insisted on not letting me use the power to command the world's weapons that time."
"You'll have to ask Xiaxue about this."
Beichen's voice dropped slightly, seemingly not intending to explain for the time being.
"By the way, where are Black Disaster and Su Jie? Aren't they still busy with their work?"
Speaking of Hei Huo Su Jie, the joy of reunion on Xiang Ying's face suddenly faded and was replaced by deep worry.
"Brother Gemini—I don't know what to say. They should be resting in their rooms now. I'll go with you to find him."
Beichen nodded seriously, and then the three of them walked quickly towards Heihuo and Sujie's room.
“──”
As soon as the door opened, Beichen was stunned. Then she walked to the center of the room and shouted:
"Black Disaster, Su Jie! What happened to you?"
In the room, Heihuo leaned weakly against the bed, tilting his head back and breathing slightly, while Sujie was also sitting on the bay window beside him, staring at the ceiling with a dull look. Beichen's appearance made their eyes light up, but they did not come over immediately as they did in the past. Instead, they struggled to get up, but fell back because they did not have enough strength.
"What the hell is going on? Are you two seriously injured? Who did this?!"
“No—”
Heihuo laughed at himself and stretched out his hand to Beichen.
"Come here, you little loach, let me hold you for a while."
"Explain it to me clearly!"
Seeing the worry and anger in Beichen's eyes, Heihuo laughed dryly as if he was wronged, and glanced at Su Jie.
"Brother, you tell me."
"I...I won't tell you." Su Jie, who was on the windowsill, shrank back a bit. "If I tell you, you'll definitely get beaten up by the little loach!"
"No matter! You pushed Little Loach one more time than I did, and I've been thinking about finding an opportunity to seek justice!"
"Tsk, you're the one who's always snatching away [beep────]'s chances. I've been unhappy about this for a long time!"
"Anyway, you say it."
"You say it, asshole!"
"If you say so, I'll lend you that half-naked portrait of a little loach that Yaye drew for ten days!"
"I'll call you 'brother' if you say that!"
"I'm your older brother!"
"Who cares about your half-naked portrait? I already asked Li Ye to get the image crystal for the little loach to bathe in!"
"Brother Hei Huo, Brother Su Jie, you're already very weak, so please stop arguing," Xiang Ying said with a wry smile, trying to smooth things over. "I've made a deal, so you can give me the master's half-naked portrait and the Immortal Spirit Crystal..."
“You wish!!”
"Go get it yourself!"
As a result, the two twins, one black and one white, blew their noses and glared at Xiang Ying at the same time.
Beichen held his forehead with his hand for a long time, feeling a little weak.
"Xiang Ying, you go ahead and tell me."
"Yes. Master—it seems the twins and their companions entered the Yagard research base without permission and used the transformation facilities."
"What?!"
Beichen stared in surprise, then turned to look at the pale faces of the twins.
"...What transformations did you make on yourselves? Did the transformation go wrong?!"
"It went smoothly, indeed." Su Jie's eyes wandered guiltily. "It's just... well, that... I asked Yagad's men to do some strengthening... increase its astral energy storage, increase its sharpness - specialize its concealment ability and so on... No, it's not a big deal."
"You—"
Beichen suddenly felt furious.
"Is this what you said you wanted to do?! You said you wanted to strengthen yourselves—but look at yourselves now!! Don't you think I and everyone else will be worried?!"
"I, we also know that—" Black Disaster deliberately put on a playful smile and said to Beichen, "Actually, the transformation experiment was successful. It's just that—well, the load on my whole body suddenly increased, so I'm a little uncomfortable. I just need to get through this adjustment period, really!"
"You're lying." Atlas replied expressionlessly.
"..." Heihuo twitched the corner of his mouth, and Xiang Ying immediately refused to do it.
"Atlas, what do you mean by lying? Brother Black Fate, Brother Su Jie, you guys are lying to me?! I just said I'd ask the researchers at the base to take a closer look!"
"Hmm, that's a lie." Atlas blinked unhappily. "The concentration of the star energy exceeds the body's capacity, and the newly added unnecessary functions are significantly hindering its normal functioning. At this rate, Black Disaster and Su Jie will die of exhaustion from prolonged overheating within 42 days."
Hearing this, Xiang Ying's face turned pale, and Beichen silently covered his mouth.
What did Atlas say? He would die in 42 days? Black Plague and Su Jie?!
Are you kidding me?! I've weathered so many storms!
Taking a breath, Beichen turned to Atlas.
"Atlas, can you help me find a cure for Black Plague Su Jie from your database?"
"Okay." Atlas was silent for a moment. "Because the symptoms are relatively rare, the search will be a bit slow. Beichen will have to wait."
“—Yeah.”
Beichen responded softly, then narrowed his eyes, walked to the window, and together with Xiang Ying, he carried Su Jie, threw him to the edge of the bed, and sat side by side with Heihuo, as if he was holding a criticism meeting.
"...Now can you tell me why?"
Heihuo deliberately made a shy and asking-for-a-punch expression with his fingers raised up - a vein on Beichen's forehead twitched.
"Why would you want to reform yourself for no reason?"
Su Jie shyly pulled open her collar to reveal the muscles on her chest and abdomen.
"Don't think you can get away with this lame seduction!" Beichen blushed slightly, stamping his foot in anger and amusement. "Are you the only ones who can seduce others? I can do it, too, okay? Tell me the truth and I'll consider spending the night with you tonight!"
"Yeah really really?!"
"Then we'll say it right away, little loach, you can't go back on your word!"
Xiang Ying's face turned green.
Beichen rolled his eyes in exhaustion:
"Can you guys handle this situation now?"
"...Okay! Why not! Little Loach, don't underestimate the vitality of a man's Armstrong Spin Cannon!"
"That's right, even if we spit out blood, spit out parts, and lose limbs, the Armstrong Spin Cannon will always stand!"
Black Plague raised his hands high: "The Armstrong Spinner is light, hope, and the future of the world!"
Su Jie crossed his arms: "The Armstrong Spin Cannon represents truth, courage, and beautiful peace!"
"How can something that looks ugly be so magical? Pay attention to yourself, you are about to die!" Beichen was furious and wanted to step forward to hold the shoulders of the two men, but when he got close to them, he didn't know what was going on and was held in the arms of the twins - Heihuo hugged her upper body, and Sujie held her feet.
Xiang Ying on the side laughed when he saw this:
"Brother Gemini, you know your death is approaching, but you're not afraid at all?"
"Don't be afraid." Black Disaster smiled evilly and winked. "Little Loach won't ignore it. This little problem won't be a problem for her."
"And even if we really died because of this—" Su Jie curled his lips and touched Beichen's thigh, "We won't regret it. At least we tried our best, but we just couldn't defeat fate."
“…”
Beichen frowned and looked up at the two people who were holding him.
"Isn't it about time you two confessed your mistakes?
Upon hearing this, Heihuo and Sujie exchanged glances, and then Heihuo spoke first.
"The answer is actually very simple and old-fashioned, little loach. ...Because, we want to become stronger."
"You're already very strong, aren't you?" Beichen was puzzled. "You're a top-grade Nine-Glory Moon Clan, possessing two extremely rare full-body combat weapon forms, and your special abilities are also very useful. Why would you still want to become even stronger?"
Su Jie shook his head.
"We've reached the Ninth Glory and can't advance any further. In other words, our strength has reached its peak. However, we—that day we checked the tactile sphere. The top warrior was Xiang Ying, followed by Xi Feng, number 11, then Long Yun, number 46, and Na Luo Jia, number 80. And we were only... in the 200th place."
"Why do you care so much about ranking?" Beichen was a little annoyed. "First it was Xiang Ying, and now it's you two. Why are you all so obsessed with this? Even if it's only in the top 200, ranking in the top 200 among the billions of weapons in the world is already quite impressive, okay? If it weren't for my special status and experience, we might still be hanging around in the hundreds of thousands. Wouldn't you all be dying of inferiority complex?"
As she spoke, she glared at the two figures, one black and one white, who were hugging her.
"What's more, compared to this kind of overall strength ranking, what's more important is the combat effectiveness and practicality that can be exerted in actual combat. Even if Longyun is ranked higher, can I use it? Even if it is the number one weapon, I can't lift it. But when you are partnered with me, can't you still tie with Yin Yue who is holding Longyun? What's the use of rankings? When I met Xiang Ying, where did you think Xiang Ying was ranked? Similarly, do you think I will dislike you because of this?"
"It's not that simple."
Black Disaster rarely showed a serious expression.
"...It's not that simple, little loach. We are weapons. Our instinctive need is to become weapons you can rely on. In the beginning, we were even proud of being used the most by you and having the highest growth rate. But a high growth rate also means that we will reach the end and limit the fastest."
Beichen was stunned.
"Xifeng not only possesses outstanding long-range attack capabilities, but can also open dimensional portals to bring you many delightful things; Yaye can transform into a shadow and do many things that ordinary people cannot do; and Xiangying—there's no level cap, so even if you're in first place, you can continue to grow infinitely. We—gradually became complacent and fell behind. When we came to our senses, we realized that we had gone from the top of the team to the last one."
"Su Jie, what are you talking about—you are not!"
"I know we are." Su Jie interrupted Bei Chen and shook his head vigorously. "Whether on the battlefield or in peacetime, we have indeed paid the least for you in the past two years. We just wanted to stay by your side, but forgot our duties as weapons. It was not until Xiang Ying came back that we came back from that daze."
"That's why you want to reform—"
"I just wanted to contribute a little more in the final battle, but I didn't expect it to turn out like this." Black Disaster chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Of course we know you won't look down on us just because we're not strong enough, but from our own perspective—Beichen, you've worked so hard to reach such a high position, and you've devoted all your energy to making yourself so dazzling. Those who don't work hard and aren't strong enough don't deserve to stay by your side."
"But I don't care about these things. Didn't I tell Xiang Ying these words once?! What's the use of strength or talent? As long as you are still by my side, it is a great blessing!"
"It's precisely because we know you'll say that that we don't want to just lie there and not make any progress."
As Su Jie spoke, he leaned over and gently kissed Beichen on the cheek.
"This is a man's pride and persistence. Please understand us."
“…”
Beichen lowered his head.
"What? A man's pride and persistence—I really don't understand. Do you think it's manly and heroic to ruin your life for your woman? Do you think women will be touched by your coolness?"
Xiang Ying smiled a subtle, wry smile. He thought he could understand what Black Disaster and Su Jie were thinking.
"I'm sorry, I'm not touched at all, I'm just angry!" Beichen said as he broke free from the twins' arms and stood on the ground. "Just you wait! After I heal you, I'm going to make you suffer!"
"Oh oh? What's the hard part?! Did Little Loach learn Zephyr's S-technique?!"
"Impossible? If she could learn it, would Xifeng still be having so much fun?"
“…”
Beichen watched helplessly as the twins started arguing with each other again. She felt like she had a breath stuck in her chest with nowhere to vent. The heartache and worry mixed in the subtle anger had nowhere to vent, making her a little anxious.
But at the same time, there was a fresh and warm current swirling in my chest.
──At least, at least they are still holding on and have not given up hope of living.
——At least, they took this step without regret for her and for the principles in their hearts.
So don't worry, Black Plague is right, I will definitely solve this small problem.
Beichen looked at the twins, the corners of his mouth curled up, and he said this silently in his heart.
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