Amid the astonished gazes of a group of military officers, Li Xiao walked over and stood in front of Gao Wanxin.

“Meng Jian has been arrested.”

Gao Wanxin snapped back to his senses, saying without a ripple of emotion, “That is good then.”

Li Xiao: “If you are unreconciled, I can use the same routine I used against him on you once more.”

Gao Wanxin lowered his head slightly to avoid Li Xiao’s probing gaze: “I do not understand what Your Highness means by those words.”

Li Xiao raised his brows: “Your people wanted to kill me—don’t tell me you didn’t know about that either?”

Gao Wanxin widened his eyes, putting on a look of utter disbelief: “When did this happen? I didn’t expect the Meng family to have infiltrated to such an extent. I will certainly investigate this thoroughly!”

With a swipe of Li Xiao’s finger, a virtual screen appeared between him and Gao Wanxin.

Several monitor audio recordings played on the screen. Gao Wanxin’s words—“Dispose of Li Xiao,” “Killing him now no longer has much impact on us”—were presented with absolute clarity before everyone.

“How do you explain this?” Li Xiao questioned.

The corner of Gao Wanxin’s mouth twitched slightly, yet he opened his mouth calmly: “There is an issue with this recording. I do not know who submitted it to Your Highness, but clearly they wish to pull that old trick of sowing discord to dismantle our side from within.”

The adjutant on the side took the opportunity to chime in.

“That’s right, Second Prince! You absolutely must not be influenced by this kind of thing. How could the commander possibly want to kill you? This is too ridiculous!”

“I also think it’s very ridiculous.”

Li Xiao kept his eyes on Gao Wanxin the entire time, “How could that Gao family, which is loyal and devoted to Danse, possibly help rebels deal with the Royal Family? Let alone me—Brother, Father, Grandfather… whoever they suspected, it would be impossible to suspect the Gao family.”

The adjutant hurriedly nodded: “Yes, indeed! This recording is far too fake!”

Seeing this, other military officers secretly let out a sigh of relief, piping up to support the narrative as well.

“Meng Jian really is a scoundrel! To actually use such a dirty trick!”

“Thank goodness Second Prince is sensible, otherwise he really would have fallen for his trap!”

“Now that Meng Jian is arrested, let’s see what kind of waves his people can still make!”

“Right on the verge of death and still trying to disgust others.”

Yet Gao Wanxin was completely unable to relax. Li Xiao was not that easy to fool; explicitly mentioning Li Xu and Li Ye in his words actually made his sense of crisis grow stronger and stronger.

“I originally came out pursuing Meng Jian. Since Meng Jian has already been arrested, I will leave him to Your Highness to deal with. I must return to the Fourth Legion.”

Gao Wanxin opened his terminal to contact the Fourth Legion to pick him up, only to discover that no matter who he contacted, no one answered. Flustered, he turned to his adjutant and said, “Have them come pick us up.”

Adjutant: “Yes sir.”

Yet after trying several times, the adjutant met the exact same result. Sweat poured down his face in anxiety, and he couldn’t control the trembling in his voice: “Commander, it won’t connect. Perhaps the signal is somewhat unstable.”

Gao Wanxin growled in a low voice: “Try more times!”

Adjutant: “Yes sir!”

“They are busy dealing with the Ninth Legion, so don’t add to their trouble. I will send you all back.”

Li Xiao spoke indifferently, “It just so happens Meng Jian is also here. I think he should have quite a lot he wants to say to you.”

The expressions of the adjutant and the group of military officers changed drastically, their hearts leaping into their throats.

What did Second Prince mean by this? Still suspecting them?

Gao Wanxin pulled a tense face: “I have nothing left to say to him, nor do I have the time to listen to his nonsense.”

“Well, I do.”

Li Xiao said casually, “I just happen to have nothing to do and want to listen to the stories of your older generation.”

Rong Mian gestured to his subordinates.

“Escort the old gentleman over to have some tea.”

Adjutant Sang Ning acknowledged: “Yes sir.”

Watching a group of Shengya soldiers surround them, Gao Wanxin looked at Li Xiao, saying anxiously: “Now is not the time to listen to stories! The war isn’t over yet, and a heap of legion affairs is waiting for me to go back and handle!”

Just as he was speaking, Li Xiao’s terminal vibrated. Opening it in front of everyone, he projected the video call screen into midair.

The picture flashed, and Yi Yongning’s face appeared.

Yi Yongning said respectfully: “Your Highness, just as you expected, someone wanted to launch a fatal attack on Meng Shan. They have currently been successfully captured.”

Sweeping his gaze past Gao Wanxin’s unsightly expression, Li Xiao asked unhurriedly: “What kind of people were the ones who acted?”

Yi Yongning: “One of them has been confirmed to be related to the Gao family.”

“Stop talking nonsense!”

Gao Wanxin barked in fury, “What necessity do I have to kill Meng Shan?!”

Hearing the voice, Yi Yongning was somewhat surprised: “Old Gao? You’re here too? I only said it was related to your Gao family, not that you were the one who issued the order. What are you getting anxious for?”

Gao Wanxin was choked for words, repeatedly reminding himself in his heart not to lose his composure.

The more it was at a time like this, the more calm he had to be.

The sound of clicking came from beside his ears. Gao Wanxin was startled; before he could struggle, his hands were handcuffed by Shengya soldiers.

“What are you doing!”

“Let go of me!”

“Get off! I am not a criminal!”

The group of military officers was surrounded by Shengya soldiers, handcuffed one after another.

Gao Wanxin was hoisted up by two soldiers and dragged outward, hurriedly questioning Li Xiao: “Second Prince, you don’t believe me?!”

Li Xiao: “I gave you a chance.”

Seeing Li Xiao’s firm attitude, Gao Wanxin pulled his lips into a tight, straight line, keeping a dark face and saying nothing further.

Once everyone was taken away, Li Xiao and Rong Mian returned to the command cabin together.

Rong Mian: “How is Ah Jin’s side doing? Does he need support?”

“I’ve already sent people over. It should be over by now.”

Though saying so, Li Xiao was still not entirely at ease. Entering the elevator, he sent a video call request to Song Jin.

The video window hovered in front of the two of them. Song Jin was walking inside a metal corridor, a pair of beautiful eyes looking over.

“Finished?”

Li Xiao: “Mm. What about your side?”

“Evacuated together with Wei Feng and the others.”

Noticing Rong Mian beside Li Xiao, Song Jin was somewhat surprised, “Mian-ge? Shi-ge reassigned you over here?”

Rong Mian greeted Song Jin with a smile: “I requested it myself. The people in my hands are more suitable for this operation.”

Rong Mian had a group of Omega elites in his hands, all super Omegas created during Lin Quan’s coup years ago. They were almost immune to the pheromone control of modified humans, unafraid even if close-quarters combat was required.

Song Jin nodded: “I’ll go rendezvous with you guys in an hour.”

Hanging up the video call, Li Xiao stepped out of the elevator. Song Jin’s chilly voice sounded by his ear—this time transmitted directly into his brain via the connection between 09 and 07.

Song Jin: 【No wonder you had me act together with Wei Feng. Turns out you wanted to create an opportunity to be alone with Mian-ge. If you told me directly, could I possibly have forbidden you from going?】

Li Xiao: “…”

Clearly jealous, yet still acting so generous.

Song Jin: 【So what? I just want to act like this. Bite me.】

Li Xiao: “…”

09: 【I accidentally transmitted your thoughts over.】

Li Xiao: “…”

This little traitor.

Song Jin: 【After returning to Shengya, I’m going to stay at Mian-ge’s house for half a year.】

Being “threatened” by Song Jin, Li Xiao was not flustered in the slightest, teasing instead: 【So sorry for monopolizing your favorite Mian-ge.】

Song Jin’s voice turned fierce: 【You kid, just you wait.】

Li Xiao: “…”

Enraged him.

So cute.

Hearing laughter by his ear, Li Xiao looked at Rong Mian in confusion.

Under Li Xiao’s inquiring gaze, Rong Mian cleared his throat: “I also have combat armor. During extraordinary times like war, they are all interconnected, so your conversation just now…”

Li Xiao: “…”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.” Rong Mian couldn’t suppress the upward curl of his lips, apologizing while laughing, appearing devoid of sincerity.

Li Xiao: “An apology in words alone is enough?”

Rong Mian: “…”

A moment later, Li Xiao obtained eight photos of Song Jin from when he was little—taken during different periods in Song Yang’s workshop.

Six-year-old Song Jin sleeping on the workbench holding mechanical parts…

Eight-year-old Song Jin wearing a overall jumpsuit, covered in machine oil while assisting Song Yang who was building a mecha…

Nine-year-old Song Jin at the testing base, dancing among a group of combat armors launching small balls…

Ten-year-old Song Jin squatting in the corner with Song Yang, sneakily eating ice cream…

Li Xiao placed the photos into a classified folder, thinking that if he found time to take another trip to Shengya, he should be able to collect quite a few photos of the little lion.

Warship Command Cabin.

All military officers were busy in an orderly fashion.

The cabin door opened. Seeing Commander Rong Mian return, people close by greeted him one after another, unable to resist looking toward the handsome youth beside him.

This was the Fourth Prince’s partner, Second Prince Li Xiao of the Danse Empire?

In person, he possessed even more of a presence than in videos, his appearance and demeanor flawless. No wonder the Fourth Prince could take a liking to him at a single glance and take him down right in the exam venue.

Li Xiao had long gotten used to these scrutinizing gazes, walking toward the conference area as if nothing had happened, first sending a video call to Li Ji to report the situation.

Rong Mian gestured for the main department heads to come over, opening the terminal at the head position of the conference table to connect military headquarters and all legion commanders involved in this operation.

By the time Li Xiao entered the conference room, a holographic map of the entire Nanming Constellation was projected on the conference table, with floating video call windows filling the air.

When he raised his eyes, he happened to meet Rong Shi’s gaze across the screen.

The other party was not merely a Prince Consort, but an Admiral holding real power in the Shengya Empire.

Rong Shi: “All Danse forces in the Nanming Constellation have entered our strike range. What are your plans?”

Li Xiao walked up to the conference table, his gaze sweeping past everyone before falling back on Rong Shi: “I have already had the Royal Family issue a final warning to the entire army. For those who remain disobedient, I’ll trouble Admiral Rong. Shengya is willing to dispatch troops to help; this favor will not be forgotten by me and the Danse Royal Family.”

Rong Shi: “The favor can be waived. However, if you insist on repaying it, you can consider marrying into Shengya.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Marrying into?

Rong Mian chuckled softly, taking over the conversation: “Our Shengya public likes you, Crown Princess Highness, very much. Billions of people online voted to have the military dispatch troops to snatch you over.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Snatch over?

A group of legion commanders tried hard to maintain serious expressions, eating the gossip without uttering a sound.

As expected of Admiral Rong—the moment he opened his mouth, he wanted the opposing side to use the Crown Prince to settle the debt. Wasn’t this worth way more than energy stones?

Li Xiao replied composedly: “This matter can be left for the parents of both sides to sit down and discuss in detail later. Personally, I don’t mind either way.”

Rong Shi nodded: “After the war, I will visit the Danse Royal Family together with Xiaoyu.”

Li Xiao smiled: “Welcome.”

When the time comes, I’m afraid another one will have to be dragged in.

Zifu Constellation, Nineteenth Legion.

Zheng Kang’an paced back and forth irritably in front of the monitoring console with his hands behind his back.

Having received urgent messages passed along from various sides, the adjutant was extremely anxious: “Commander, three hours have passed since the agreed time. Do we still continue to wait?”

Zheng Kang’an raised his head to gaze at the military deployment of the Yi family troops and their own side.

Both sides had already made deployments at the border. As long as he gave the order, working in coordination from the inside and outside with those left by the Meng family in the Tianjiang Constellation, barging through by force was not impossible. But the problem was—what about after barging inside?

The border checkpoint was merely the first hurdle. If reinforcements couldn’t keep up, going inside meant death as well.

Shengya’s massive army was pressing upon the border, and Meng Jian could barely protect himself, very likely leaving him in the lurch at a critical moment.

Wiping off a handful of sweat, the adjutant urged: “Commander, they are urging us again!”

Zheng Kang’an remained silent for a long time. Sorting through the entire situation from Li Xiao’s return to the palace until now, he spoke in a low voice: “Withdraw the troops.”

The adjutant widened his eyes abruptly.

“Withdraw troops?!”

Zheng Kang’an closed his eyes, accepting his fate.

“We lost.”

If it were purely dealing with the Yi family, they still had a possibility of winning. But Li Xiao secretly joined forces with Shengya—this was simply not on the same order of magnitude.

Even if Shengya only dispatched a small portion of its military force, it was enough to stall the current Meng family troops. Meanwhile, if he attacked the Tianjiang Constellation alone, neither side would receive any reinforcements.

No matter how one looked at it, this was a battle that could not be won.

The adjutant was panicked out of his mind: “But having walked to this step, even if we surrender, we won’t escape.”

“If we withdraw troops now, we can at least protect our families.”

Zheng Kang’an’s face was dark, “The moment we fire the first shot, the nature of the act changes.”

The adjutant lowered his head and pursed his lips, unable to respond.

Just as Zheng Kang’an said, if they surrendered now, at most it was disobeying orders from superiors and acting arbitrarily. But once they engaged in war with the Yi family troops, they were rebels.

If they could win, they could still “whitewash” their status as rebels. But with the current situation, the likelihood of winning was far too low!

“Commander, received a public frequency communication request from Military Headquarters!” an Alpha Colonel in front of the control console reported loudly.

Zheng Kang’an’s expression shifted. Before he could speak, a video window nearly ten meters high automatically popped up on the monitoring console.

Yi Yongning appeared on the screen.

“Meng Jian and his two sons have all been captured. All legions in the Nanming Constellation are to proceed to designated planets to land and undergo investigation according to the instructions received, otherwise bear the consequences yourself.”

This communication was simultaneously directed at all Danse legions.

The expressions of all military officers standing before the monitoring console who heard these words changed drastically.

“General Meng was caught?!”

“Saying a family of three—does that mean Meng Tu and Lieutenant General Meng Zai were also arrested?”

“Can’t be reached! It might be real!”

“Just received news—Shengya’s army has already intervened in the battlefield of the Fourth and Ninth Legions!”

“Li Xiao acted.”

Zheng Kang’an’s face was solemn, “He calculated everything early on, waiting for us to walk right into the net.”

The adjutant’s collar was drenched in sweat, completely panicked and at a loss: “Then what do we do?”

“What can we do? Can’t you see clearly yet?”

Zheng Kang’an fell back into his chair, “This is the Royal Family’s final ultimatum. If we don’t obey, once Shengya’s army comes over, we won’t even have the chance to surrender if we want to.”

Military Headquarters posted the announcement of capturing Meng Jian and his two sons on the internet, calling out across the void for the Meng family troops to surrender and accept legal sanctions.

Right after, they published real-time updates on the movement of the Meng family troops withdrawing.

One victory report after another set off giant waves on the internet. Quite a few people called out to Zheng Kang’an, telling him, the number-one crony of the Meng family, to step out and state his position.

Very soon, Military Headquarters published the movements of a portion of the Zifu Constellation legions. The entire nation rejoiced, making it even livelier than New Year’s.

At the same time.

Li Xiao and Song Jin stood in the observation room, watching two old men quarrel in the neighboring cell.

Gao Wanxin and Meng Jian were separated by a corridor, locked up directly across from each other.

Meng Jian pounced in front of the metal bars, roaring at Gao Wanxin opposite him: “This is the consequence of your betraying me!”

Gao Wanxin sat on a narrow bed less than a meter wide, sneering at the words: “Talking about betrayal or not—you and I were never people on the same path!”

Meng Jian: “Researching Wei Feng’s genes—do you dare say your family didn’t participate?!”

Gao Wanxin: “Right on the verge of death and you still want to shift the blame?”

Meng Jian: “There is as much evidence as you want!”

Gao Wanxin turned his head to look at Meng Jian: “Those were all sacrifices made to thoroughly investigate your Meng family. Did you really think I was your partner? Being stupid to this extent, no wonder you fell into the Royal Family’s hands.”

Meng Jian was almost exploded with rage by him.

Gao Wanxin said coldly: “I have already submitted all the evidence of your family’s crimes gathered over so many years to the Royal Family. No matter how you try to shift it, this blame cannot be shifted off your shoulders. Shut up; you’re making my head hurt from the noise.”

Meng Jian glared at Gao Wanxin, his mind rapidly recalling what evidence he held that could directly prove Gao Wanxin was an accomplice, growing more shocked the more he thought.

When on earth did the Gao family start guarding against the Meng family?

Or was it just as Gao Wanxin said—from the very beginning, the Gao family kept a trick up their sleeve, not treating the Meng family as an ally at all?

In the neighboring observation room, Song Jin put his hands in his pockets, speaking faintly: “This old fox Gao Wanxin is crafty as can be. Even Meng Jian suffers a silent loss against him. The evidence in our hands isn’t quite enough either.”

Li Xiao looked at Gao Wanxin, who sat incomparably composed on the iron bed: “Li Xu should have evidence of the Gao family’s crimes in his hands.”

“Li Xu?”

Song Jin turned his head to look at Li Xiao, asking in confusion, “You found the materials he left behind?”

Li Xiao shook his head: “I have a rough guess.”

After Meng Jian and Gao Wanxin were arrested, the tense situation persisted for a month. After controlling the final three Meng family forces, the highest defense control level in the Nanming Constellation was lifted and downgraded to Class B.

Li Ji had Yi Yongning arrange for a portion of the people to continue handling the aftermath in the Nanming Constellation—capturing fleeing Meng family troops, reorganizing military bases in various regions, tallying and repairing structures damaged due to the war, settling refugees, and so on.

After completing their missions, the Shengya army planned to withdraw sequentially within two days.

Song Jin, on the other hand, followed Li Xiao back to the Tianjiang Constellation first.

On the day they returned to the Capital Star, the streets were extraordinarily lively.

All companies on the Capital Star took a day off. Countless people took to the streets to participate in events, celebrating the triumphant return of the Royal Family members and the military.

Quite a few merchants launched promotional activities exclusive to this single day, with celebratory merchandise given out for free everywhere.

Large and small advertisement screens, as well as floating airships flying overhead, repeatedly broadcast victory news, photos of Li Xiao, Song Jin, and Li Ji, compilations of various exciting battlefield combat moments, along with pink large characters expressing love.

Rarely seeing the public so passionate, Li Ji was delighted and ordered a monetary bonus distributed to every Danse citizen.

This made the public of neighboring Shengya weep with envy, running to the Royal Family’s public page to wail and complain, demanding immediate diplomatic relations be established so they could go neighborly to grab money after commerce opened up between the two countries.

—”How can we let our Sovereign see this news? Urgent!”

—”Always heard the neighbor’s money is super easy to earn. Begging for diplomatic relations, begging to hold the big thigh QuQ”

—”Before establishing diplomatic relations, shouldn’t we first discuss the ownership of the two Crown Princes?”

—”Song Jin belongs to Danse! Neighboring side can only establish diplomatic relations under the prerequisite of recognizing this!”

—”Li Xiao is our Shengya’s daughter-in-law! Without our Shengya’s help, Danse wouldn’t have weathered the crisis so easily. It’s only right for him to marry over!”

—”I think Mon-Wed-Fri-Sun in Shengya, Tue-Thu-Sat in Danse. Fair like this.”

—”Danse’s civil war is over, but the two countries’ snatching war has just begun Hahaha”

No matter how fiercely it raged online, it couldn’t affect Li Xiao and Song Jin.

After returning to the palace, the two went straight to the side hall where Li Xiao stayed.

“You said the evidence collected by Li Xu might be here?” Song Jin followed Li Xiao toward his bedchamber.

Li Xiao nodded: “This used to be the place where Li Xu lived; the probability is highest.”

Song Jin: “Even if there was, after so many years, it would have long been gone, right?”

Li Xu was killed midway through his investigation back then. To protect themselves, the Meng family would certainly destroy the things Li Xu uncovered; this side hall was target number one.

“Let’s look around; maybe there are still clues.”

Reaching the small hall outside the bedroom, Li Xiao walked over to the wine cabinet and picked up a bottle of wine without a label to look it over.

“These are Li Xu’s?”

Looking through, Song Jin saw most were Danse wines, with only four bottles of expensive Shengya-produced red wine in the corner.

This cheap dad was quite a wine lover, with decent taste.

“Mm.”

Li Xiao placed the wine bottle off to the side, “Let’s see if there’s any trick to this wine cabinet.”

Song Jin’s gaze inadvertently swept past, seeing the handwritten words “Plum Blossom Wine” stuck onto that bottle, suddenly understanding Li Xiao’s intent.

Li Xu had once handed the earring and photo to Ye You for safekeeping; this was the only clue remaining in their hands.

The two flipped almost the entire wall of wine upside down, yet still came up empty-handed.

Refusing to believe in bad luck, Song Jin picked up that bottle of plum blossom wine, opened the cap to smell it, and had 07 scan the bottle body.

07: 【No anomalies.】

“Wrong train of thought?” Song Jin sat among a pile of wine bottles, deep in thought, “The group photo has Teacher Yan in it. Could it be with him?”

Li Xiao: “But what necessity does Teacher Yan have to hide it and not give it?”

Song Jin: “Maybe he doesn’t know? Ask him if Li Xu ever gave him anything back then.”

Li Xiao directly issued an order to 09, sending a video call request.

Yan Qing in the picture was in his office. Hearing the question, he pondered seriously for a moment: “No. The time we interacted was very short. After my family gave him the materials in our hands, he left, saying he would investigate clearly as soon as possible and give us a response.”

Song Jin asked: “Did he say anything? Similar to specifically mentioning a place or object?”

Yan Qing recalled for a few minutes: “A bar? He was craving that jar of plum blossom wine buried at my house for ten years, saying that after investigating clearly, it should be given to him as a thank-you gift.”

Song Jin: “…”

Li Xiao: “…”

This old wine lover.

Going around in a circle, the clue was still on wine.

After thinking for a bit, Li Xiao pulled Song Jin up.

“Where to?” Song Jin asked.

Li Xiao: “The wine cellar.”

The side hall had five wine cellars of various sizes. They searched through them sequentially starting from the nearest one.

“Why hide so much wine for no reason?”

Song Jin wandered through the maze-like underground wine cellar, “Got me feeling hungry from searching.”

Li Xiao: “Of the desserts you usually eat, five out of ten contain components of different wines. Otherwise, how could there be so many layers of texture?”

Song Jin immediately changed his tune: “Then this wine cellar is still a bit on the small side.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Walking along the dim corridor to the end, Li Xiao noticed a small door in the corner.

The space inside was very small, less than ten square meters, housing some tools used for cleaning, appearing just like an ordinary tool room.

Of rooms like this, they had seen no fewer than ten along the way.

Li Xiao went in and took a rough look.

Transforming into a detector, 09 rapidly scanned before saying: “No anomalies.”

Li Xiao turned around, preparing to leave, seeing Song Jin come over from another corridor.

“Nothing over there. What about here?” Song Jin held onto the doorframe and stepped into the small door.

Li Xiao: “Nothing here either—”

Before Li Xiao finished his words, white light flashed in his vision.

Conditioned by instinct, he darted in front of Song Jin, rapidly pulling him behind a shelf to take cover.

At the same time, 07 and 09 simultaneously switched to defense mode, shielding the two inside.

Yet the anticipated danger did not occur.

The two looked around the entire room in confusion.

Two more rays of light appeared, both gathering toward Song Jin.

Li Xiao glanced at the silver ring on Song Jin’s ear tip, taking it off casually and tossing it to 09: “Inspect it.”

“Alrighty!” 09 extended a matchstick-sized mechanical arm, catching the silver ring and raising it to the exact center of the room.

Light flashed past rapidly. Li Xiao heard an extremely faint click, and a small drawer popped out from the wall of the room.

09 flew over first to inspect: “Huh? What material is this that could actually evade my scan?!”

After confirming there were no other issues, Li Xiao walked up to the drawer. A stack of materials was neatly stacked inside, with a storage device in the corner.

Found it.

The evidence collected by Li Xu back then.

“The earring is the key?”

Song Jin took back the silver ring to look it over, then looked at the lighting lamp of this tool room in deep thought, “Unlocking using light of a specific frequency band—very special.”

Li Xiao swept a glance at one side of the drawer, discovering there was a metal interlayer inside; it should be this layer that shielded 09’s scan.

From the looks of it, Li Xu had spent quite a bit of thought in order to preserve the evidence.

There was a lot of material. Li Xiao took it all out, flipping through it together with Song Jin.

In addition to investigations into the Gaofeng and Bique tribes, there were survey materials on more than thirty other races. Compared to the file submitted by Gao Wanxin, this one was somewhat thinner.

“So Gao Wanxin claimed that file was given by Li Xu, when in reality it was compiled by himself.”

Song Jin read while speaking, “Sure enough, the ones who strike hardest are one’s own people.”

Starting from Gao Zhe, the Gao family had extremely close contact with the Meng family, so naturally they knew the Meng family’s background better than outsiders.

Judging from Meng Jian’s reaction, he never dreamed in his wildest dreams that the Gao family would betray the Meng family, seeming to trust the Gao family far more than the Zheng or Qi families.

Song Jin: “The Gao family researched Wei Feng’s genes together with the Meng family, yet the Gao family didn’t let their own people participate in modification—crafty enough.”

Li Xiao: “Otherwise, it would be impossible for the Gao family to remain hidden until now.”

In his previous life, even after resolving the Meng family, the Gao family had not been exposed.

Among the materials collected by Li Xu, many clues and evidence were ones they had obtained through other channels previously, making the reading process go much faster.

Li Xiao noticed a worn-out small notebook, picking it up to flip through. Opening it, he saw Li Ye’s signature.

This handbook recorded grandfather Li Ye’s daily work arrangements, similar to a memo pad.

“Here.”

Handing over the material in his hands, Song Jin said, “Found a Gao family member.”

Li Xiao didn’t take it, getting up to walk over and lean side by side with Song Jin, browsing rapidly through his hands.

The person on the material had once stopped a report by the Bique tribe, and privately dispatched people to create an accident to kill three whistleblowers.

The people they had investigated before were all from the Meng family.

“While maneuvering with the Meng family, the Gao family erased their own criminal evidence while secretly supporting the Royal Family, attempting to control everything from behind the scenes—even more terrifying than an overt enemy like the Meng family.”

Song Jin’s voice turned cold, “If the Gao family stood on the Meng family’s side, the Royal Family really would have had no play left to run.”

Li Xiao agreed with the first half: “It’s impossible for the Gao family to stand on the Meng family’s side. No matter how many times it restarts, it’s the same—this is destined.”

Song Jin: “So certain?”

“The Gao family counts as one of Danse’s oldest noble families, inevitably bearing the foul habits of nobility—selfish, aloof, exclusive—completely different from the Meng family who built themselves up halfway.”

Speaking to this point, Li Xiao paused slightly, “Perhaps precisely because they couldn’t blend into high-society circles, combined with their self-esteem causing trouble, the Meng family acted so crazily to eliminate dissidents, solidify their status, and even harbor thoughts about the throne.”

Song Jin sneered: “Rather than letting the looked-down-upon Meng family ascend, they preferred to support the Royal Family. But if the Royal Family threatened the Gao family, they could still turn coat and draw blades in minutes—self-interest reigns supreme above all.”

Li Xiao nodded: “Correct.”

Song Jin: “Then why did the Gao family cooperate with the Meng family in the beginning? Too greedy? Coveting Wei Feng’s body?”

Li Xiao: “…”

Phrased like that.

“A body this useful—anyone would want it, right?”

While chatting, Li Xiao flipped pages rapidly.

Leaning in close to Li Xiao’s ear, Song Jin lowered his voice and laughed: “But I only want your body.”

Flipping through the handbook, Li Xiao said composedly: “I recall you seemed to have lost the bet.”

Song Jin’s smile froze.

“Bet on what? What bet? I’m not an adult yet; gambling is against the law.”

Li Xiao turned his head to look at him.

“You’re not scared, are you?”

Song Jin: “…”

Li Xiao: “Extending your neck is a slash, shrinking your neck is also a slash. I will give you a swift ending.”

Song Jin: “…………”

Flipping to a page, Li Xiao noticed the words written on it, losing the mood for jokes.

In the middle, many pages had been torn out, leaving one crumpled page with a huge piece missing from the lower-right corner, looking like it hadn’t been torn cleanly, only ripping off a corner.

【…Because of my mistaken decision, you and the entire Golden Peafowl Legion were lost in the Zifu Constellation… Thinking that capturing those few dozen people in the research institute was all, sending one legion over would be enough. I didn’t expect the development of things to completely derail from original plans. The Meng family’s degree of control over the situation far exceeded my expectations, and the Gao family was actually intercepted outside the Zifu Constellation, completely unable to help…】

【The situation has completely spiraled out of control. I don’t know what to do, not even daring to tell a single person—one more person knowing means one more share of danger.】

【My surroundings are filled entirely with enemies. If I don’t act dumb, they will immediately show their fangs and tear Danse to complete shreds…】

【I can only endure, but one day I will seek justice for you and for the Golden Peafowl…】

Song Jin knit his brows: “The Gao family was intercepted outside the Zifu Constellation? Your grandfather dispatched the Gao family to reinforce back then?”

Li Xiao also felt this sentence was extremely subtle, clues flashing before his eyes.

Gao Wanxin had gone to the classified database to query file 99432 a few days after Li Xu died. If Li Xu hadn’t told him, through what channel could he have learned of that file’s existence?

The Meng family’s excessive trust in the Gao family…

Gao Zhe lowering his dignity to mingle with the Meng family to research Wei Feng’s genes…

Li Xiao fell into thought: “Perhaps on that secret agreement back then—”

Song Jin looked at him: “Besides Wei Feng, there was also Gao Zhe’s name.”

Li Xiao took over: “Gao Zhe sold the intelligence to Meng Shan, betraying Wei Feng, and then used being intercepted as an excuse after the incident, making no move to reinforce.”

Song Jin said coldly: “Then everything can be explained.”

The Gao family’s betrayal caused Li Ye to lose correct judgment of the situation at the time, thinking the Meng family had the capacity to handle Wei Feng and Gao Zhe simultaneously, even brazenly blowing up the Gaofeng tribe’s residence and wiping out the Golden Peafowl Legion.

Doing evil so recklessly made Li Ye timid, not daring to make any further moves.

In reality, if Li Ye really investigated down, he indeed would have been finished—the Gao family would be the first to act.

Song Jin: “This Gao Zhe really is not a good thing.”

Li Xiao: “He is still alive.”

Song Jin cursed softly: “Let’s go chat with him about life.”

Just as they stood up, 09’s prompt tone suddenly sounded.

09: 【Master, Wei Feng went to find Gao Zhe.】

Song Jin was puzzled: “What is he going to find Gao Zhe for?”

Deep in thought, Li Xiao pulled Song Jin’s wrist and walked outward: “To watch the excitement.”

Song Jin: “…”