Audit Records Regarding the matter Sang Ye had entrusted to him, Lin Changli gave a swift reply. At that time, three Sentinel classmates had been rendered comatose in the incident involving the original owner of her body.
One had already awakened and returned to the military. However, her spiritual form was severely damaged, and her combat capabilities were shattered; she was currently undergoing rehabilitation and serving in a civilian desk job. Qiu Linghua and the other person were still undergoing treatment.
"What do you plan to do?" Lin Changli asked.
"I don't have a perfect solution," Sang Ye sighed. "Every debt has a debtor. If they want to come for me, fine. We either clear the air, or..." She didn't finish the sentence, but Lin Changli understood. If they insisted on pushing her to the brink, she would have no choice but to strike back.
…
"Sangsang, Sangsang."
In a haze, Sang Ye felt someone calling her name, but she couldn't open her eyes. The sensation was stifling, and she struggled instinctively.
"It’s me!" the voice said cheerfully. "It’s Tongtong! Come in and see me." Tongtong? Her spiritual Parasol Tree? Since when could it talk? Sang Ye immersed her mind into her pocket dimension and was stunned. In just a few days, the Parasol Tree had grown thick enough to require ten people to encircle it. Its lush canopy made it look less like a single tree and more like a banyan forest—a "one-tree woods."
"How did you suddenly learn to talk?" Sang Ye patted the trunk.
"You planted a branch as a mental mark in Lin Changli’s landscape," Tongtong explained proudly. "That little branch absorbs mental energy from his domain and feeds it back to me. The Phoenix’s energy is perfect for me! Plus, all the food you sent out and the healing you did for the Tide Sea... it all nourishes me. When you go back out, you'll find your mental rank has broken through!"
Sang Ye gave a mental "thumbs up." She felt no guilt about taking "interest" from Lin Changli’s mental energy, considering her mark was constantly repairing his fractured landscape.
She took the time to reorganize her dimension. Her harvests were bountiful. The Durum Wheat had been harvested, and she had sorted the best seeds for the next cycle. The damaged seeds Jiang Siwei brought had all sprouted under Du Yuan’s advice to plant some in water.
She now had a bizarre, wonderful ecosystem: raspberries, snake fruit, bergamot, strawberries, and dragon fruit growing alongside tulips, porcelain roses, and hoyas. In the water, she had cranberries, water lilies, lotus roots, and rambutan. She stocked the ponds with freshwater fish and shrimp, and the new ocean with sea bass and crabs. With Tongtong’s help, the dimension was becoming a self-sustaining paradise.
…
The Major General of the Loda Plains base showed Sang Ye the exhausted mining areas—massive, hollowed-out craters left in the earth. The base had no plans to repair them; the policy was to abandon the planet once the resources were gone.
But Sang Ye, looking at the vast black soil of her dimension, had other ideas. The next morning, the Major General found several transport ships filled with dark, rich soil, with Sentinels busily ferrying it to the craters.
"What are you doing?" the General asked, bewildered.
"Planting trees for you," Sang Ye replied casually.
…
As the heavy robots filled the craters with black soil, Sang Ye worked with the Sentinels to begin reforestation. Thanks to her increased mental rank, she could feel the spiritual energy in the soil more clearly. To the Sentinels, it looked like a miracle—the soil itself seemed to "spread" and take root under her guidance.
While she worked, she looked toward the Loda settlement in the distance, thinking of the "underground" visitors and Jiang Sili’s secretive behavior. A weight sat in her chest.
Behind her, someone was approaching. The figure was thin and appeared weak, as if they had just recovered from a long illness, their skin an unnatural, sickly white.
…
Capital Star.
Empress Lin Shuangxu rubbed her forehead as she read the audit report submitted by Melusine. "...Based on total output and daily yields, there is a fixed-rate decrease in the Loda Plains sector. Due to weather and personnel shifts, the exact cause cannot be pinpointed. However, the volume of Black Crystals flowing into the underground black market overlaps significantly with the Loda Plains' deficit in both timing and quantity. There is no conclusive evidence; this audit makes no specific inference." "Melusine rarely leaves a conclusion so open-ended," Lin Shuangxu mused, looking at Duchess Vera Caylen. Her gaze lingered on the black pearls around Vera's neck.
Vera understood. Melusine’s ability allowed her to see the start, end, and every node of financial flow. If the books were "perfect," they could fool a supercomputer, but they couldn't fool Melusine.
Vera had feared her daughter was being threatened, but Melusine had simply explained that her injury prevented her from using her full power. The report was the limit of what she could prove.
"Qiu Lingxin gave these to me," Vera said, touching her pearls. "She wants to know if Jiang Sili has contacted the White Wolves. If you think I shouldn't keep them, I'll return them."
"I can't see anything for now," Melusine had told her mother earlier. "But use your brain—there’s no way there’s zero contact. But if she wants hard evidence, I can't give it."
Vera looked at the Empress. "Your Majesty, I believe giving the 'appropriate' answer is what matters most. General Asu Ment is returning to the G13 Legion. A minor, irrelevant oversight should not be a stain on her career—nor should her choice of spouse."
Lin Shuangxu shared a knowing look with her confidante and smiled with satisfaction.
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