Chapter 444 - Wang Yu Yan (19)

Wang Yu Yan grew up without a mother or a father. There was no other relative to take care of her. Even the strict but kind-hearted uncle who had raised her as his niece was not truly related to her by blood. 

Thankfully, the ongoing war had made the leadership treat every single human in the territory preciously. The orphanage where she grew up before being adopted by General Wang was not lacking in resources. There was no need to fight for food or clothes. The staff members were nice and they were provided basic stuff needed to survive and be literate. 

Of course, things were still not that convenient, and more than anyone else, they who got funded by the federation were expected to contribute the most to humanity. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they were properties of the federation. Only, this owner was quite sly yet humane and knew to make them feel indebted to their graces.

Many orphans were kids who lost their parents and families on the battlefield. The government took advantage of this to prep them into being soldiers. Almost all those who got adopted went to families related to the police or the army. Yet even though Wang Yu Yan was aware of this fact, there was really nothing to say as she had long accepted it as a common-sense practiced for two centuries.

It could not be denied that the government was cruel. There was nowhere else easier to lose one's life than a battlefield. But what could orphans do when they have no parents to protect them? 

Wang Yu Yan did not really learn to value life and companionship from discovering that her parents died from a sudden invasion more than twenty years ago. She had no impression of her mother and father and was only respectful to them in her memories for bringing her into this world. 

More than the couple she had never seen in her life, she was more grateful towards the nuns and sponsors of the orphanage. These people were paid to care for them, but grace was grace and should be repaid with gratitude. 

However, the ones she really considered her family were not them, but the seven kids that had grown up and joined the army alongside her. They were all about the same age, with varying stories and backgrounds that only had the word 'unfortunate' as a commonality. 

Wang Yu Yan reckoned that even if she didn't have magic that could speed up her thinking process and retain most information in her brain longer, she would never forget their names, their personalities, and habits. 

When the army learned of her computational capacity and strategic mind, the other kids were assigned as her guards and attendants. 

Unfortunately, as mentioned earlier, the battlefield was cruel. Three years ago, these guys died for being by her side. Several of them took the strikes and bullets for her. Like the guards that Nuwa had killed two days ago. 

It was that incident that caused the higher-ups to assign a double to her. Nuwa also killed this person out of anger from being deceived. 

Remembering it all put Wang Yu Yan in a terrible mood. 

"Are you really going to request public execution for those fae seized yesterday?" asked General Wang to her, his image projected by the large screen. 

The woman's expression was still dark even after the successful operation. In front of her were several doc.u.ments, about the funeral of the deceased soldiers. Looking at the red stamp on the faces of her former subordinates, her heart felt heavy. It was not hard to guess why a heavy atmosphere still lurked around her. 

She replied, "Yes, General. I have already submitted the report. The announcement's already been made and the media are excited about it. Once the word spreads to the fae's side, it would be the best opportunity for us to lure the tiger out of the mountains."

"I heard you sent an independent unit to a few key cities owned by the fae. Aren't you the one disagreeing the most to Professor Li's plan?" The general was not invited to the secret meeting held by the President so he thought of his niece's actions as something weird. 

Wang Yu Yan explained, "They would be more like scouts. My whole attention right now is on ensuring the enemies that disturb this city's serenity and killed off thousands of people would receive their proper punishment." The last sentence was said in an icy tone. 

"By the way, General, I would like to hold a trial for the negligent commander who permitted entry to those filthy things. May I…" 

The topic was diverted and another serious exchange of words began between the two. 

Their conversation ended an hour later. 

Leaning his back on the wall was a man dressed in a soldier's suit. Out of the corner of her eyes, Wang Yu Yan watched this person's movement with wariness. 

The man was Jiang Li who suddenly volunteered to be a hidden guard on the day of the execution. Wang Yu Yan could not shoo him away. The other party did not seem malicious anyway and was only jokingly pestering her to be her master so she let him be and granted him a temporary bodyguard position. 

Of course, despite feeling that the man lacked malicious intent, she did not let her guard down and never talked about or dealt with classified information whenever the person was around.

Wang Yu Yan's heart said it was okay to trust since Jiang Li was also a human. But his logic dictated even humans were not trustworthy. The repeated encounters prompted her to look into this man's detail to get more clues on his actual aim. 

…

Meanwhile, Mohan was immediately summoned by the Pontiff when the latter heard that he encountered the ice expert on his mission at the human territory. 

After the male lead finished his report, the beautiful man in a pristine white robe stood up, sighing. 

"I sent your squad in hopes you will bring back the other children. How come it ended up with you sending more into their prisons?"

To this, the kneeling male lead bowed his head to hide his cheeks that flushed in extreme embarrassment and self-loathing. The fae sitting before him was none other than the highest spiritual leader of their race. Any lesser fae granted an audience would only want to leave a good impression on the Pontiff. Mohan who felt like he had disgraced himself so much hurriedly spoke.

"I'm deeply ashamed for failing you, Your Grace. I deserve death! Please punish me!"

'As if you'll die if I say so,' thought the annoyed Pontiff behind his smiling mask. 

"Stand up. You'll get your punishment from your leader and military superior."

Two fae leaders stood up and bowed. Mohan was from the clan claiming to be descendants of the Babylonian Fire God Nuska. The latter was not as well-known as the other ancestors so, amongst the ducal families, his descendants were always ranking at the bottom. Perhaps because the two consecutive failures were deemed a great embarrassment, Mohan's clan leader was glaring dangerously at Mohan, as if almost dying to strangle him. 

"Leaders, we can't neglect the issues at hand." The Pontiff raised a hand to call their attention. Should I just visit this Beijing city to fetch the kids in person?"

His question almost scared the people around him into pulverizing the long table. "Your Holiness! Please reconsider! Even if humans are weak, if you go there, they would definitely use some despicable methods to… to…" 

The priest was not courageous enough to mention the next word as if saying so was a very unforgivable crime. 

However, the unsaid word agitated everyone there anyway. Another retainer shook his head in protest. "No. We can't allow any untoward things to happen to the Pontiff of our race."

"Your Holiness, why care about peace talks with them? They have already overstepped their bounds. This one suggests to just sent the Supreme General to wipe out those humans!"

"Yes! They want to execute a few of our nobles, we should just stop letting their entire race exist! If we destroy them all now, once the Paradise appears, we won't have to worry about unstable factors!"

In this gathering of priests and local nobles, the ones most enthusiastic about sending a punitive force were the family heads of the imprisoned faes.

The Pontiff kept his warm smile as he changed the topic. "Fine, let's discuss next the small problem caused by the other kid that returned... One of you reported a strange virus entered the city which can turn a healthy fae into a dance maniac dancing for a full three hours before suddenly dying of heart attack..." 

A noble from the pro-war faction offered his insight. "I believe it's just a small problem. We can just isolate the infected areas and have our scientists rush the vaccine. No matter what those inferior beings come up with, we fae can easily overcome them. But in my opinion, this underhanded attack is another perfect excuse to just stop coexisting with humans."

The discussion continued. Most of the topics brought up were preparations for the imminent war and the next great immigration. When the fae people realized their Pontiff was actually serious about the planned visit to the other territory, it was already too late. An hour later, the Pontiff went missing along with the male lead and the Supreme General.