Ling Kuang fell silent.
He hadn't expected that this small, previously quiet and docile female beast could find so many details.
She had even seen the photo within the Heartflame, and guessed its origin.
Ling Kuang gazed quietly at a dark patch of light in the corner. After a long while, he finally spoke.
"That man left a photo of my mother."
"Perhaps out of guilt, a sliver of guilt left in his heart, he kept the group photo with my mother. Later, I found that man on the central planet, and he didn't know I was his son."
"I don't resemble my mother much, nor my father. My features are more refined than both of theirs, so he didn't recognize me."
"I was raised by a group of scavengers, then joined the interstellar pirate fleet. I quickly distinguished myself, took a modified spaceship and left my birthplace, so no one knew my identity."
He slowly recounted his past to Lin Muci, his eyes flickering dimly, yet within them seemed to be a burning flame, roaring like some unyielding belief.
"My mother's past, I pieced together myself. The descendants of the Jiang family were eradicated, even celebrated as great achievements on the central planet."
"He himself entered the military and became a lieutenant general."
"It's truly ironic – someone like him, to become a lieutenant general, even to be commended."
Lin Muci listened, silent for a few seconds, then asked with a wry smile.
"And then?"
She desperately wanted to hear the follow-up from this man.
"Later, he died."
A mere sentence, yet it immediately gave Lin Muci a thrilling sensation. Ling Kuang before her, staring at the shadows in the corner, light refracting into a hazy silhouette, while he himself seemed to be utterly consumed by boundless darkness, falling into darkness forever, never to see even a trace of light again.
Lin Muci's heart felt as if it were being squeezed hard.
She was silent for a long time, then softly asked him.
"Was it... you who did it?"
If so... she would be truly astonished.
Ling Kuang shook his head. He paused slightly, then denied the statement.
"It wasn't me."
"He died during a military mission—the ironic thing is, he clutched that photo in his hand until his death. The photo was recovered by the military later, but his family absolutely refused to acknowledge any connection between him and my mother. This photo was placed in a military warehouse, and those people forgot to destroy it."
"It just lay there quietly. Until I found that photo."
"I burned the part with the man's photo, leaving only my mother's image, and pasted it into the Heartflame."
"My mother was beautiful, wasn't she?"
Lin Muci was silent for a moment, then nodded.
"She looks..."
She paused, then said seriously.
"She looks very gentle."
Ling Kuang hadn't wanted to mention his past to anyone. He just hadn't expected this little female beast before him to be so capable, able to meticulously unravel and find all the scattered pieces of his past.
It was just a photo.
And she had managed to reconstruct his past almost entirely from it.
Ling Kuang looked into her clear eyes.
He reached out and pulled the young girl into his embrace. He could feel her fluffy head and warm breath, and he gently kissed her forehead.
He said.
"It wouldn't be so bad if the universe were destroyed."
The young girl seemed to tremble slightly in his arms. She said.
"But then, we would all die."
Ling Kuang replied.
"Dying together might be another form of eternal life."
The young girl was clearly quite startled by his words. He thought to himself, after all, she's just a young female beast, she hasn't seen much of the world. Look, she's ultimately frightened by him. But what he didn't expect was that in the next second, this young girl would forcefully lift her head and meet his gaze.
She was full of life and vitality, vibrantly and impossibly beautiful, her eyes sparkling like clear moonlight.
"But I believe, we can definitely do it."
"You don't have to sacrifice yourself, and I don't have to lose you."
"We will both live well."
"You will save this world—we will be together for a long, long time, and I will be your little female beast."
"I believe in you!"
Ling Kuang remained silent. The young girl before him exuded a warmth, but he considered himself no good man. At this moment, his heart trembled slightly, as if a clear spring had burst forth within his soul. He reached out, but could only hold the young girl tightly, hearing her say.
"I'll tell you a secret of mine too."
"Actually, we've been together for a very, very long time—a long time that has spanned many reincarnations. Each time, I find you."
"Each time, I bet correctly."
Ling Kuang pursed his lips. A coolness seeped into them, but he didn't feel bitterness, because just looking at the young girl before him was enough to make his heart flow with sweetness.
He asked her.
"Bet correctly on what?"
The girl whispered into his ear.
"That you will love me."
Ling Kuang felt a tremor in his heart—if anyone else said such a thing, he would think them mad, a fantasy. But at this very moment, hearing the little female beast speak of eternity, of forever, of reincarnation, he could believe her words without hesitation.
He believed her words were true.
"After betting correctly, will there be a reward?"
The young girl's eyes widened as she looked at him.
"Can we still be together for a long, long time? Is there a better reward than that?"
"I can tell you another secret... I came here, I have another mission..."
"You know I was sent from the Steel City. Before coming here, I already knew about the awakening of the Zerg. I promised the entity in the Steel City that I would help find the Zerg infiltrators hidden among humans... and then find a way to eliminate them."
"I also need to help him temporarily stabilize the human situation."
"The war between humans and the mother nest is still ongoing."
"I want to be able to help."
She said it sincerely, and the man opposite her slowly traced her earlobe with a finger, leaning close to her ear, saying earnestly.
"But you're just a female beast."
Lin Muci's eyes widened. She was quite indignant.
"What's wrong with being a female beast? Don't look down on female beasts. I'm going to be the strongest female beast—I told you, we can cooperate, and I've already told you my secret!"
"What's your plan? Can't you tell me the truth?"
"I don't believe that someone who pastes their mother's photo inside their mecha would just watch this world be destroyed!"
"She suffered so much—she must want you to live well, not to be torn apart and devoured by Zergs in a sea of insects!"
Lin Muci's tone suddenly intensified with this statement. Hearing Lin Muci say this.
Ling Kuang was silent for a moment, then replied.
"The second Shadowfoot Insect has already entered the military."
"Artesius vouched for him."
Lin Muci couldn't believe this answer.
"How could that be..."
"Is Artesius an idiot? How could he let someone of unknown origin into the council?"
Ling Kuang's lips curved slightly upwards. He retorted to Lin Muci.
"Do you think that Artesius fellow looks like someone smart?"
His question indeed stumped Lin Muci. Lin Muci had to admit that what Ling Kuang said was true—Artesius did not seem very bright.
But even so, Lin Muci was still confused.
"But—even if he's an idiot, why would he let the second Shadowfoot Insect into the military..."
"There's no reason for that!"
Ling Kuang gave an answer that Lin Muci couldn't refute!
"There is a reason."
"There is a perfectly valid reason."
"Because that fellow produced something the military couldn't refuse, something the military had always wanted to obtain."
"Do you remember the origin of those humans from the spatial battlefield? They were actually rebels back then, which is why they were eventually exiled. Although they are human, in a sense, they are also sinners."
"The council and the military have always known of their existence, but there has always been debate on how to deal with these people—the council's idea was to let these people fend for themselves."
"So naturally, the council wouldn't accept this fellow into the military at first, not even into the core departments. But he produced a piece of information."
"It was the diary of that... female scientist."
"This item is of extremely high value, causing the people in the military to accept it instantly. It is said that it even recorded the concept of Sky Net, the most advantageous artifact created by her to counter the Zerg mother nest. "
"Of course, this is priceless to the human military, especially since Sky Net has now become a powerful entity that even humans cannot control. They never expected to obtain the diary of that female scientist from back then!"
Lin Muci gasped.
Her eyes widened, and she herself was startled by this news.
The rabbit in her arms, which had been pretending to be well-behaved and resting with its eyes closed, could no longer contain itself upon hearing Ling Kuang's words. It suddenly opened its eyes, its voice becoming panicked.
"No... no, you can't let the military and the council get the diary!"
"That's not some secret weapon from a criminal, it's something the Zerg produced... it's a shameful bait!"
"Shadowfoot Insects are truly too cunning, only a Shadowfoot Insect could do something like this!"
Lin Muci hadn't expected her little system to speak up.
Insisting on interrupting at this moment.
She couldn't help but feel a headache and rubbed her temples. Ling Kuang, however, looked at the rabbit in Lin Muci's arms with a half-smile, his eyes filled with an expression of seeing through everything.
"I've long suspected you, rabbit."
"You've been lurking beside my little female beast with ulterior motives. You must have said a lot of bad things about me to her, haven't you?"
"Sooner or later, I'll roast you and eat you as barbecue rabbit heads and rabbit legs!"
The little rabbit scurried further into Lin Muci's embrace, its voice filled with panic.
"That's not true—"
"I'm not a bad rabbit!"
"My existence is to protect my master!"
"You're the one... you're the one who talks badly about me!"
"Protecting my master is my primary duty!"
The rabbit's voice was tense. It looked up at Ling Kuang, stammering.
"You're the one... you're the one with ulterior motives. Master is so simple, and you've been trying to trick her into talking! "
"You're the one who's wary of Master... you've never opened your heart to Master! Master is already your female beast, yet you're still wary of her. Clearly, it's you humans who are detestable!"
The little rabbit, relying on the fact that it was currently hiding in Lin Muci's embrace.
It fiercely spoke ill of him.
Ling Kuang stared at the little rabbit huddled in Lin Muci's embrace with deep eyes. He chuckled and said.
"You're good at shifting blame. So sharp-tongued, you must make for a delicious spicy rabbit head."
Lin Muci couldn't help but look up at Ling Kuang, her gaze filled with helplessness.
"Stop scaring it! It's not very brave to begin with."
"We should discuss what to do next. Can you get that diary? I want to see what's written in it."
Ling Kuang flicked his fingers casually.
"That Shadowfoot Insect is very cunning. What he produced might not be real; it's likely a mix of truth and falsehood, making it difficult to discern the authenticity of the content."
Lin Muci pondered for a moment and said.
"But if the Zerg ever got their hands on it, they would know its contents."
"I'm very curious about that diary."
"Even if it's fake, by reading its contents, we might be able to gain some new information we didn't know before. I think we can give it a try."
Ling Kuang glanced at her.
"I don't have that diary in my possession."
"The military obtained it and treasured it like a gem. Later, I heard they found someone to analyze it, but the council also has a replica."
"Although Artesius is from the military, his rank is not high enough to access that diary."
"But there is one person who has a very high probability of having seen that diary."
"And you know this person's identity."
"It's Yang Lanyan. He is an executive officer of the council, and the military will likely hand over the replica to him. Moreover, he is known in the council for his perfect memory."
"If you go find him, he should be able to recount the content to you word for word."
Lin Muci was slightly stunned. She looked at Ling Kuang before her, momentarily surprised.
"If I go to Yang Lanyan, won't you be jealous?"
Ling Kuang shook his head, his tone extremely calm.
"Of course not."
"Why would I be jealous if you go to Yang Lanyan?"
"I know he can't have you."
"However, his identity can be exploited."