Chapter 40 — ILK Chapter 40

Du Yuan

Leading the way was Rong Cheng, the very person Sang Ye had been worrying about. She charged into the hall, peeling off her thermal combat suit while turning back to scream in a rage: "You stupid bird, you slashed my suit, didn't you! Just you wait! See how I handle you!"

Her spiritual form, the Three-legged Golden Crow, flew beside her. Following its master's mood, it spitefully spat a few plumes of fire toward the captives being escorted behind by the Sentinels. The Golden Crow was currently only about three meters long, golden and brilliant, radiating a dazzling light and heat.

Rong Cheng fiercely tore off the combat suit, which was almost frozen into a block of ice. A massive gash had been sliced through it by a sharp weapon, stained with mottled blood. On Rong Cheng’s back, a wound was still seeping blood, drenching her undershirt and nearly sticking to her flesh.

There were three captives from the Snow Mountain tribe, all of whom hadn't had time to escape. They wore distinctive ethnic clothing with large bones hanging from their chests, and their skin was rough and flushed.

The one who had slashed Rong Cheng’s suit was a petite woman. Her black hair was braided into two pigtails tied across her chest. Her appearance made Sang Ye feel inexplicably familiar.

"Pah!" The woman showed no fear and was entirely unfazed by being in enemy territory; she even spat toward Rong Cheng.

"You!" Rong Cheng was furious, wanting to rush forward for a life-and-death brawl.

"Rong Cheng!" Sang Ye hurriedly called out, running forward to hold her back. "You're heavily injured, don't get worked up!"

The heating in the hall had been restored. Rong Cheng changed into a standard combat suit that could be unzipped from both front and back, making it easier to apply medicine and breathe. The captives were escorted into a small room near the hall that had been converted into a simple prison cell.

Once Rong Cheng was settled, she and her squad sat directly around Sang Ye’s fire and began competing for the roasted lamb.

"Don't grab mine!"

"Slow hands get nothing."

Rong Cheng wasn't particularly fond of the whole roasted lamb; she preferred the half-lean, half-fat lamb skewers. She drank a bowl of Fish-Lamb Umami Soup, added a few spoonfuls of chili oil and vinegar, and after gulping it down hot, felt the mental energy fill her limbs. She then mixed in freshly cooked rice noodles, eating with immense satisfaction.

Lin Changli was pushed to the side, still holding his half-eaten rice ball. However, he was looking thoughtfully at the "prison cell."

"That woman fought like she didn't want her life. Everyone else ran, but she stayed to fight me to the death. She slashed my suit trying to freeze me to death," Rong Cheng complained while eating. "Good thing my spiritual form is the Golden Crow, or she actually might have succeeded."

The Golden Crow stood on the roasting rack, spinning it with its talons for fun, while its other claw held a lamb skewer. Spiritual forms feed on mental energy, but when manifested, they can consume nutrient solutions or food to recover. It spun the rack while taking bites of meat.

"But I’ve never seen her before. I’ve never seen someone that powerful in the Snow Mountain tribe. Her mental power is likely A-rank. If I didn't happen to outrank her and have the Golden Crow to counter her spiritual form, the outcome might have been different."

"She is the High Priestess of the Snow Mountain tribe, Minur," Lin Changli said calmly. "She rarely leaves the tribe. Something must have happened within their clan."

…

As expected, Minur wouldn't say a word during the interrogation. The two Sentinels brought back with her looked as if they had fallen into mental exhaustion, devoid of all life.

"Minur, if you tell me the whereabouts of Major General Keliu and the Sentinels, I will let you go." Even though Asu Ment made such a promise, Minur kept her eyes half-closed, remaining silent.

"Minur, the reason you are still sitting here with your limbs intact and your spirit sound is not because I have a high moral compass. It's because I once signed the Interstellar Anti-Abuse of Prisoners of War Treaty, and there are too many eyes and ears here. If I torture you, I’ll be demoted," Asu stood up coldly and leaned in close to Minur, her voice quiet but heavy with threat.

"But there are always times when others aren't looking, and that’s not hard for me to manage. Don't think you can hold out just because you're an A-rank Sentinel. You, and these two beside you, won't want to experience my interrogation. Think it over. I advise you to accept my terms. All I want is the safe return of my subordinates; everything else can be negotiated."

Minur kept her eyes downcast, silent and unmoved, her expression still arrogant and cold. Furious, Asu Ment slammed the door as she left.

The people outside also looked indignant. If the person inside were a Guide, they likely wouldn't be treated so roughly, but Sentinels were a different story.

However, the moment Asu Ment slammed the door, a series of crackling explosions suddenly erupted inside the room, followed by Minur’s startled cry. The woman who had been as still as a mountain seemed to have lost all self-control.

Asu Ment rushed back in as the Gu-Eagle deployed a mental shield in front of her.

The two Sentinels beside Minur seemed to have consumed some kind of expanding agent; their bodies had swelled several times over, and their limbs were mutating into the talons and fangs of their spiritual forms. Scales and feathers grew on their faces, making them look terrifying as they let out bestial growls.

Minur stood before them, her face filled with the sorrow of a fate sealed. The mutated Sentinels had lost all reason, turning into beasts that only knew how to destroy. With a single swipe, they sent the cell door flying.

Several vines erupted from the ground, firmly binding their limbs. A snow-white, red-eyed, long-eared beast lunged out, biting the leg of one of them to pull him away from the crowd, her body sprouting more dancing vines.

Wu Huansheng followed closely behind.

Panhu.

It turned out her spiritual form wasn't just a plant, but the Panhu—the divine hound capable of controlling flora.

Rong Cheng stepped in front of Sang Ye to shield her.

"Even like this, you still won't tell the truth?! Why did they mutate?" Asu grabbed Minur, seizing the chance to interrogate her. "I brought Guides. If you aren't honest, I’ll let them die. I won't save them."

Minur closed her eyes, seemingly unwilling to recall the nightmare of recent times. "They... consumed Black Crystals, using the radiation to evolve their spiritual forms," Minur confessed everything.

"How dare you! Your tribe doesn't even have Guides! How did you dare stimulate the spiritual forms?" Asu sounded as if she were hearing something absurdly ridiculous.

"A while ago... a Guide suddenly appeared in a travel ship of the old Royal Family. We didn't know her origin, but her power was immense. The Clan Leader decided to use her to help the clansmen through the mutation period. But recently, that Guide ran away; her whereabouts are unknown. And the Black Crystals in our clan have run out."

That was why the Snow Mountain tribe chose to invade the base. They drove out the garrison, dug out a large amount of minerals, and searched relentlessly for that Guide.

"Suddenly appeared in a travel ship? What kind of fairy tale is that? What was that Guide's name!" Asu didn't believe such nonsense and pressed for a logical answer.

"...She said her name was Du Yuan."

Sang Ye and Rong Cheng looked at Minur at the same time. Their faces showed an identical expression of shock.