Chapter 447 - Wang Yu Yan (22)

The security was strict, so the few black ants that sneakily got onto Wang Yu Yan's clothes died before they could trespass into the meeting room. The ones on the other military officers did not survive too. And he, a rankless temporary guard, had no right to participate. This was the reason Jiang Li had no idea what they discussed. 

Therefore, he was just surprised when the girl came out of the room and asked in a low voice. "Sir, if I agree to be your disciple, would you give me the honor of hearing what you know about the fae race?"

"... Huh?" If he were to describe what he felt upon hearing the question, it was indescribably.... awkward.

That offer was made thoughtlessly as he knew that the woman would refuse. His prediction came true, no? She rejected twice.

So maybe he was merely hearing things?

"I remembered Sir saying that he valued my character and brain."

Wang Yu Yan did not know where she got the courage to stare into the eyes of the person before her. 

Jiang Li raised a brow and briefly wondered if it was already late to take back those words now. "What changed your mind? And shouldn't you know that when I said that, I was merely joking?"

"Yes." She acknowledged with a nod. 

A while later, she added with a serious look on her face. "However, I'm sure you have a reason for doing everything you have done so far.." 

The man's face showed interest and she took it as a cue to explain her words.

"Sir. Your appearance at the black hills, you said clearly your objective there is me." 

"And on the day of execution, you volunteered to be my guard. This means I am or was somebody you need to ensure the survival of. This made me guess about the reason."

"The best I can think of is you know my parents and they made you promise something to them, or you are related to the orphans who used to be my guards."

"Although the chance is a little lower than the previous two, you might also be related to one of the faces and names used as my fake credentials in the army and the government. But regarding why you continued showing up after knowing that my face is different, I have no idea... I said the chances are low since it's illogical."

The man dressed like a regular soldier-guard narrowed his eyes for a moment. 

He didn't know what to say, since technically, one of her guesses was correct. The profile of the mother of his soul-client was used as Wang Yu Yan's camouflage. 

'System, you see this girl?' In his mind, he called for the system. 'If you have a new sister or brother in the same line of business, you should recommend her to be their host. She's a lot smarter than me when I first started.'

"…" The child spirit in the void space got knocked out of his stupor. 

Remembering he was not muted, the child spirit replied, 'Host, I'm the only transmigration system in this multiverse.'

'I know. That's why I said if you have a new colleague,' said Jiang Li.

'Host, I doubt I would ever have one!'

It was not clear if the grin formed on his lips were due to the system or Wang Yu Yan. 

To the woman still waiting for his response, Jiang Li shook his head. "While I'm entertained by your hypotheses, sorry, I'm not fit to be a teacher as my motive for trying to lure in a brainy disciple is to get a free maid."

"... I see."

He controlled ice. Her powers were enhanced calculation abilities and absolute marksmanship. It was obvious that the uncle had little to nothing to teach her. So, Wang Yu Yan did not bother considering the proposal before. 

Now that she heard his real purpose, she felt that her choice was correct. 

But strangely, regret also overwhelmed her for a moment.

Of course, she immediately suppressed the feeling as she had a duty to do. In just a few seconds, the woman's mind went back to her objectives.

…

The fae race's Pontiff snuck out, so everyone's focus momentarily shifted to locating him. This was why even though part of the manpower set out to contain the virus spreading and to chase the culprits that spread it, several human elites still managed to come back and delivered a crucial piece of information.

This morning in the middle of a conference, these elites brought a human boy, aged sixteen. Because of him, the discussion abruptly ended and Wang Yu Yan approached Jiang Li.

The said boy looked normal on the outside, just a little skinny. The only abnormality was the eyes that seemed to be that of a dead man. However, he was breathing, his pulse was okay. His sclera was still white. When the federation searched their database, it was revealed that the boy's name was Hugh Dalton, from a city in the west part of the globe destroyed about seven years ago. 

Perhaps, if a few physical examinations were not conducted, the army higher-ups would have thought Hugh Dalton was merely traumatized by his days in the fae territory, hence the worrisome look in his eyes. 

However, a simple blood test proved that they were all thinking too optimistically.

Wang Yu Yan gave Jiang Li a special privilege to come with her in the meeting that was held later this afternoon as her bodyguard. The boy was presented to them again.

Jiang Li immediately recognized what was wrong with the boy as he had seen his case before. 

"… Puppet?" His voice carried both confusion and shock. 

When the voice echoed near her ears, Wang Yu Yan bowed. Everyone else in the place recognized it too.

She whispered in a low voice, "Humanity's modern technology is not that incompetent to not know. We called it living metal..."

The boy's internal parts long turned into something else, something that only faes could control and make. Silver in color, even a drop poured in the mouth of a civilian would turn them into a puppet in just a matter of days. In the process, the drop would multiply and convert the red blood into liquid metal.

'

For not stuttering out of anger and other extreme emotions, Wang Yu Yan's adoptive uncle was already amazing. 

"The previous day, thanks to Colonel Wang's report, one of the scout teams managed to sneak in and returned with this… boy… We didn't know about it before because there's no way to infiltrate the other side with the Fae Race's Pontiff overseeing everything there. But…" 

Wang Wei stopped speaking for a while to compose himself, his tone heavy as he continued. "We suspect that all human slaves in the fae's slave cities have been turned into something similar to industrial puppets." 

The President was with them, chairing the meeting and amongst those present, his face was naturally the gloomiest. 

Nobody refuted the general's words. It was something they did not want to hear as those present in the place might have relatives or acquaintances amongst those turned into puppets, but they were not foolish to not recognize an obvious fact. 

After the long moment of silence, somebody from the military side requested solemnly. 

"President, please authorize the use of nuclear weapons."

At this point, humans were not even patient anymore to wait for the strange virus to do the job for them. 

After closing them for almost two minutes, the President, Shi Nianzhu, tiredly opened his eyes. "Alright. I open the voting session. Generals and City Leaders, please cast your vote." 

Jiang Li had no say in it, so he kept his silence. 

He just looked at the boy again only to feel displeased. Normally, stuff like this wouldn't affect him since witnessing death had long turned commonplace for him. Yet at this moment, he absolutely hated what the lifeless eyes of the boy reminded. 

He then moved his gaze to Wang Yu Yan's side profile. She was emotionless, but the air around her spoke of something else - anger.

After the talk centered on wiping out half the surface of the world before the great migration, she once again bowed at him. This time, she didn't bring up the matter about being a disciple. 

"Please advise me what to do." Even though there were others around, it was quite absurd that such a person of her status lowered her head to a nobody.

The boy was next to her since she volunteered the arrange everything for him. 

Jiang Li touched the head of the boy, sighing in his heart. The one in question was already dead. 'What else can I advise but prepare a funeral for him?'

"Let the body find peace too." 

Wang Yu Yan silently did as he told and arranged the burial for the boy that Jiang Li later froze. 

The whole ordeal did not take more than ten minutes from her. She did not even move from her office and Jiang Li took that opportunity to ponder what to do next.

"I'll have to make a trip," he then announced.

When nighttime came, Jiang Li paid a visit to the territories beyond the cities inhabited by the fae people. He had finally confirmed with his two eyes that these places were no longer inhabited by humans anymore. Another specie that merely used the human as their shell moved like robots there, manning the factories, mines, and other industrial zones. 

Wang Yu Yan who forcibly tagged along spat out due to anger. "Breathing. But living no better than a dead one. A living dead made to work for the betterment of the fae race. If I don't wipe them out before we leave earth, I'll resign from the army and remain behind then!" 

He reminded the girl. "The blue-eyed monsters are quite the genius." 

"Genius is used for people worthy of admiration. Lunatic is what I called people that used their superior intellect to dishonorable matters," she said coldly. "The Pontiff we met is just as filthy."

Jiang Li gave her a glance and then pondered.

About these high-class zombies… Does Dong Lan know about this? 

Oh, wait. That guy was the highest leader. How could a Pontiff not know when he had been in power for more than two centuries? 

Then what process did those poor souls go through and how painful was it? 

"He's indeed a hypocrite." Jiang Li became more annoyed as he recalled the peace talk attempt that the guy wanted to endorse to him. 

Besides the displeasure from hearing that a billion humans turned into puppets, the fact that the other party tried to deceive him and make a fool out of him also provoked Jiang Li.

"Miss Wang." He turned to the woman aboard the same aircraft. There was another person with them in the flying vehicle, eyeing him with both wariness and curiosity. General Wang, her adoptive uncle. "I will begin shortly."

Wang Yu Yan looked up from the screen and nodded. "I'm coordinating with the ones in charge of disabling the city protective shields."

Their vehicle had just gotten past the nearest the third fae city.

Dong Lan was already back to his Temple. Jiang Li sensed him there. The female lead was recuperating somewhere on the lower floors and the male lead was back to his family estate. After learning about the infiltration at the slave cities, the Pontiff must have worried that Jiang Li would try to assassinate him so he put up several enchantments and formations around his room.

When Jiang Li found about it, he merely laughed. 

Given his miles of head-start, the Pontiff was really as unkillable as the two leads in this world. But so what?

He jumped out and stood at the ten-thousand-meter tall ice pillar. It was normally a bit hard to breathe at that height but he was unconcerned since there was a small oxygen pack on his back. His eyes fell on the three cities below him, one official, and two, a dwelling for mindless slaves. 

Jiang Li chuckled, pouring out five percent of his magic powers. In less than ten seconds it began to snow heavily. It enveloped all three cities near the coast. Hailstorm also raged across the land protected by barriers that were now gradually being covered by snow. 

An amused glint flickered in his eyes as he glanced at the endless stretch of water on his left. He remembered a word the Pontiff mentioned when he tried to convince him to become a peacemaker. Resources.

He wondered if it merely referred to the fae race members, the dinosaurs, and the human slaves. 

Once done laying out the distraction, Jiang Li returned to the flying vehicle and flew south. Upon reaching what he believed to be the most ideal distance, he signaled the General to watch out for Wang Yu Yan. Then he turned around and laughingly faced the boundless ocean, spreading his arms as he waited for the shadow above to reach the horizon. The magic power he emitted terrified the uncle-niece pair.

'I sincerely hope you survive, you scheming bastard.'