Wei Feng watched himself leave one container only to enter another, larger one. There were fewer tubes attached to his body now, but people frequently drew blood from him.

The person doing it wore a white lab coat and a medical mask, exposing only a pair of eyes. The slightly downturned corners of those eyes gave them a kind appearance, yet the person did not hesitate in the slightest when drawing his blood.

He did not like this person…

“It actually repaired the missing genes automatically. This is far more valuable for research than the abilities of the Bique race.”

“Even your gene expression is identical to Wei Feng’s. You couldn’t be his reincarnation, could you?”

“We must never let anyone else discover you. Otherwise, your little life won’t be saved.”

Wei Feng did not know why he could understand the words, but he could not grasp their meaning. He could only lie there passively, repeating the endless cycle of intubation and blood draws…

Then, that person suddenly stopped coming for a long time. The surroundings became incredibly quiet.

The breathing light inside the container went out. Wei Feng found it harder and harder to breathe. His violent struggling yanked at the tubes, sending pain through his entire body.

With a sharp click, the container’s protective shield opened.

Wei Feng accidentally kicked open a gap. Driven by the instinct to survive, he scrambled outward desperately, tumbling onto the floor the moment he crawled out.

For the first time, he heard his own crying.

After crawling out, Wei Feng had no idea where to go. Dazed and bewildered, he stood at the doorway holding onto the frame, his entire vision spinning.

It took a long while for him to realize that the ground itself was shaking.

Many chaotic sounds echoed from outside, and several blurry figures appeared in his hazy vision.

“How is there a child here?!”

“Hurry up! They’re chasing us!”

“What do we do with this kid?!”

“If he’s not dead, bring him along first!”

Wei Feng felt himself being picked up, followed by a long, bumpy ride.

By the time his vision cleared slightly, a massive flash of fire erupted before his eyes. All sounds were drowned out by the explosion.

In the next moment, he could hear nothing at all…

“Wei Feng… Feng… Wei Feng!”

Hearing someone calling his name, Wei Feng snapped his eyes open. Blinded by the bright lights of the meeting room, he raised a hand to block them out.

Li Xiao asked, “Are you alright?”

“Alright… my ass!” Wei Feng rubbed his forehead to steady himself, temporarily unable to distinguish between the dream and reality.

Song Jin picked up the last piece of pastry and looked lazily at Wei Feng across from him. “Remembered everything?”

Wei Feng remained silent for a long time.

“I am the feedstock.”

Song Jin and Li Xiao exchanged a look, thinking to themselves: As expected.

Back at the floating tower, Wei Feng’s reaction upon facing the feedstock had been distinctly off.

Li Xiao asked, “What did you see?”

Wei Feng pulled a cigarette from his pack, clamping it between his fingers as he described the images he had seen one by one.

“Wait.” Song Jin raised a hand to interrupt him. “A dome carved with birds? What did it look like exactly?”

Wei Feng recalled carefully. “It should be the Seven Sparrow Gods, but their postures were extremely distorted and menacing. Looking at them made your skin crawl.”

By the time Wei Feng finished his description, Li Xiao was basically certain that he was talking about the abandoned base on Z152.

They had discovered Wei Feng’s DNA data there. Combining that with the fact that the Golden Feather Sparrows had launched a coup locally back then, it was highly probable that Wei Feng, as a Lieutenant General, had been secretly imprisoned by the Meng family for illegal research.

Song Jin had mentioned that Shen Sinian’s research showed Wei Feng’s gene expression was superior. At the time, they were baffled as to why Wei Feng hadn’t been used as raw material after being captured. Now, the reason was found.

Because the Wei Feng they knew was the feedstock itself, and the other feedstock variations had likely all been destroyed in the explosion back then.

However, as for why the Meng family didn’t use Wei Feng’s genes as raw material again—whether because the original gene template was lost or for some other reason—no definitive conclusion could be drawn yet.

“What feedstock?” Li Ji asked, completely in the dark. “What on earth is going on?”

Li Xiao looked at Li Ji. “Did you know the Meng family has been secretly conducting human experiments all these years?”

Li Ji narrowed his eyes slightly.

“I know he might have illegally detained some Bique people, but what do you mean by human experiments?”

Li Xiao replied, “You asked me before if I had ever encountered an Alpha who could attack others using pheromones.”

Li Ji froze, his face darkening. “It really was Meng Jian’s doing?!”

“Going by the timeline, it probably started during the generation of Meng Jian’s father, Meng Shan.”

As Li Xiao spoke, he projected the photos of the feedstock base they had collected earlier. “They drew blood from the Bique people, processed it through a special device, and injected it into ordinary people to grant them the abilities of the Bique race.”

The endless rows of feedstock in the photos were a horrifying sight. Yan Qing slowly stood up, leaning against the table with his hands gripping the edge so tightly his fingertips turned white.

The feedstock possessed only heads and torsos. Their limbs were tiny and underdeveloped, and their heads lacked facial features and hair—looking like lumps of flesh tightly wrapped in a layer of human skin.

“How did these—people—come to be?” Yan Qing asked with difficulty.

Li Xiao explained, “They screened superior gene templates from the captured Bique people, and through incomplete cloning technology, they cultivated these flesh lumps for blood harvesting. They are also referred to as feedstock.”

Hearing that they were clones, Yan Qing didn’t know whether to breathe a sigh of relief.

At least his living clansmen hadn’t been treated so inhumanely.

Yet the mere existence of such experiments meant countless clansmen had been hunted and killed behind the scenes.

Yan Qing: “Incomplete cloning technology?”

Song Jin: “They selectively snipped out a portion of the genes, preventing the clones from growing normally. It was likely also to ensure the blood met their requirements to the maximum extent. Research is still ongoing regarding this.”

Yan Qing looked at Wei Feng thoughtfully.

“If that’s the case, how did Wei Feng grow up?”

Song Jin rested his chin in his hand relaxedly. “I was wondering about that too. He might have existed as a backup for the gene template—a complete clone.”

“No.”

Wei Feng took over the conversation. “In my memory, a person in a white lab coat said I was the bizarre one. I completed the missing genes by myself.”

Song Jin: “Are there any others like you?”

Wei Feng shook his head. “I should be the only one. That person said if anyone else found out about my existence, I’d be dead.”

Song Jin stroked his chin, pondering. “It seems you really do have immense research value.”

Wei Feng: “…”

Is that something you say right to a person’s face?

Ignoring his reaction, Song Jin immediately pulled up his terminal, compiled the information he had just heard, and sent it to his father, Shen Sinian.

Noticing the shocked expression on Li Ji’s face out of the corner of his eye, Wei Feng spoke up gloomily, “This is just the tip of the iceberg. The evils the Meng family committed go far beyond this.”

Li Ji looked at him, startled and uncertain. “The tip of the iceberg?”

Wei Feng leaned against the back of his chair and let out a long breath, projecting several photos of Bique people being slaughtered.

“They treated our clansmen as rewards for killing games, letting those who cleared the games hack them to pieces at will!”

“They deliberately nailed people to the statues of the Golden Feather Sparrow God, wantonly trampling and humiliating the dignity of our race!”

“They spread rumors in the treacherous border regions, claiming that drinking the blood of a Bique Shaman grants immortality, which led to many clansmen being murdered for no reason! Many were children still in school; their defenses were too low, and once their identities were exposed, they were slaughtered like pigs.”

With every photo shown, Li Ji’s face grew a shade darker.

These things were indeed entirely new to him.

“The clansmen gathered evidence of their murders and submitted them to the police station. Want to guess what happened?” Wei Feng sneered. “Those killers walked free, while the clansmen were murdered and drained of blood instead! Tell me, don’t these people deserve to die?”

Li Ji turned to Li Xiao. “Are these all true?”

“I haven’t verified every single one, but they are likely all true.” Li Xiao circled one of the photos. “Xiao Jin and I were present for this one, and we also heard the rumors regarding the Shaman’s blood.”

Li Ji was puzzled. “What does ‘Shaman’ mean?”

Yan Qing answered, “The Bique race has a tradition of sacrificial rituals. A Shaman is the messenger of the gods, a role that can only be filled by those with the purest lineage in the clan.”

At this point, Yan Qing paused. “However, those are things from a very long time ago. Ever since the clansmen left their ancestral lands a century ago, the rituals have never been held again. Shamans are now the stuff of legends.”

“Oh, there’s more.”

Having sent his message, Song Jin looked at Yan Qing. “A century ago, when the Bique race went to war with outsiders, a portion of the strong and physically capable fought their way out to establish a new home elsewhere. A portion of the elderly and weak stayed behind, and they retained the traditional rituals.”

Before Yan Qing could feel any sense of relief, he heard Song Jin continue, “However, the clan leader grew greedy. He used the rituals to illegally collect the blood of the clansmen and sold it at exorbitant prices to certain ill-intentioned individuals in the Shengya Empire, nearly triggering a civil war there.”

The more Yan Qing listened, the more astonished he became.

“How could it be that severe?”

“Who told your genes to be so superior?” Song Jin shrugged. “Your five senses, physical capabilities, perception, and pheromones are all stronger than ordinary people. This means many will covet your abilities, and many will exploit them to do bad things.”

Li Ji frowned, looking at Song Jin with an inquiring gaze. “Why do you know so much about the affairs of the Bique race?”

Song Jin looked back at him openly and directly. “Because enhanced humans didn’t just appear in the Danse Empire. The Shengya Empire began investigating this decades ago. The impact of this matter is far greater than you can imagine.”

Hearing so many absurd revelations all at once, Li Ji’s thoughts were in disarray. Finally, his focus shifted back to the Alpha who had attacked him previously.

“Can the enhanced humans you speak of use pheromones to control others’ minds, forcing them to act according to their commands?”

Li Xiao nodded. “They also possess extremely sharp five senses.”

Li Ji was highly perplexed. “Then can the pheromones of actual Bique people control others too?”

Li Xiao: “No. But it might be because the blood used for the enhancement comes from the Bique race, so Bique people themselves are unaffected by the enhanced humans’ pheromones.”

Li Ji’s gaze swept over Yan Qing and Wei Feng, and his previous doubts were finally answered.

Back in the command bridge, when that Lieutenant released his pheromones to attack him, Wei Feng and Yan Qing hadn’t been affected in the slightest.

Even earlier, when they were stopped by the patrolling garrison, he could smell the Alpha pheromones even while sitting inside the vehicle and had felt extremely uncomfortable—yet Yan Qing seemed to have noticed absolutely nothing.

Li Ji asked again, “Are Bique Omegas also unaffected by Alpha pheromones?”

Li Xiao didn’t answer, looking directly at Yan Qing.

Stared at by a group of Alphas, Yan Qing forced himself to speak. “Under normal circumstances, no, they aren’t.”

“Ah, no wonder you’re still single, Big Brother,” Wei Feng lamented.

Yan Qing: “…”

Yan Qing sat back down to organize the data, pretending he hadn’t heard a thing.

Remembering the suppression ring Li Xiao had given him earlier, Li Ji reached into his collar and took it off. “Was this also modified specifically to deal with enhanced humans?”

Li Xiao nodded. “I haven’t asked you yet—how was the effect?”

“It works, but not by much.”

Li Ji continued, “If someone is controlled by an enhanced human, they completely lose their self-awareness. The stimulation from this suppression ring can restore a bit of it, but the effect is very limited.”

“This is just a beta version.” Song Jin snatched the suppression ring from his hand, switching to the program backend to check the data. “Perfecting the suppression ring requires a large amount of test data.”

This situation was within Li Xiao’s expectations.

The pheromones of enhanced humans varied; the current version of the suppression ring couldn’t possibly work against all of them.

“Still, because of this suppression ring, I managed to keep my life.” Li Ji’s expression was grave. “If others cannot withstand the pheromones of enhanced humans, wouldn’t they be able to do whatever they please?”

Copying the data rapidly, Song Jin’s voice sounded cool and detached. “That is exactly what it means.”

“So, I want Wei Feng to stay by your side temporarily, until the suppression ring is successfully developed.”

Li Xiao looked at Li Ji. “Meng Jian can’t wait any longer. You are their primary target. If you can’t distinguish enhanced humans and can’t withstand pheromone attacks, it won’t matter how many people you have around you.”

Before Li Ji could speak, Wei Feng protested first.

“I never agreed to take this kind of commission.” Wei Feng played with a lighter in his hand, looking thoroughly displeased. “If I have to stay in the palace long-term, what happens to the Ravens? We still have so many things to do.”

Li Ji looked over with a stern face. “What else are you planning to do?”

Wei Feng: “You’d better stay out of it.”

Li Ji’s liver ached from pure irritation.

“How do you think the Ravens’ strength compares to the military?” Li Xiao asked Wei Feng, his tone perfectly flat.

Wei Feng: “Is that even a question? The military is obviously stronger.”

Li Xiao: “As long as you protect my brother, whatever the Ravens need to do, the military will handle it for you.”

Li Ji: “…”

He had never said any such thing scraps!

Wei Feng considered it for a moment. “No. Every time we’ve offered our trust, we’ve paid for it in blood. I don’t trust anyone.”

Li Xiao said casually, “We confiscated quite a few enemy mechas and warships on the battlefield today.”

Wei Feng’s hand playing with the lighter froze instantly. He looked at Li Xiao with a beaming smile. “You wouldn’t happen to be saying you’ll share some with me, would you? Even if you agree, His Majesty won’t.”

“Not just a portion,” Li Xiao said calmly. “All of them. To you.”

“You said it yourself.” Wei Feng stood up. “Sign and seal the deal right now! I guarantee that even if your brother goes on a date or hits the head, I won’t leave his side by an inch!”

Li Xiao responded with absolute solemnity, “…Deal.”

Li Ji: “…………”

So no one cares about his feelings at all, right?

While Li Xiao and Wei Feng were signing the contract, Li Ji slammed the table and walked out in a huff.

Yan Qing watched Li Ji’s departing figure, then asked Li Xiao and Wei Feng to hand over the data they had so he could integrate it.

“How can I just give away my data so easily?” Wei Feng refused flatly.

Yan Qing: “We are of the same clan. I have also been gathering evidence of the Meng family’s crimes all these years. Don’t you want to bring them to justice sooner?”

Wei Feng scoffed. “Forget justice. I want to slice those two old men, Meng Shan and Meng Jian, into seven thousand two hundred pieces!”

Despite his words, Wei Feng still sent the photos to Yan Qing.

Recalling the video from earlier, Wei Feng sat in the seat next to Yan Qing, leaning close to study him. “Big Brother, are you really my grandson?”

Yan Qing: “…”

“Tell me about the original Wei Feng.” Wei Feng smiled cheerfully, as if he had completely forgotten the heavy topics from a moment ago.

Hearing this, Li Xiao also looked up from the suppression ring program.

After all, he carried Wei Feng’s lineage too.

Faced with two intense gazes from his left and right, Yan Qing spoke helplessly, “My grandfather was the Vice Commander of the Golden Feather Sparrow Legion, so you and I share no blood relation.”

Wei Feng: “Then did that Wei Feng have a wife or children or anything?”

At the mention of children, Yan Qing looked at Li Xiao, their gazes locking.

Exactly why Li Xiao possessed Wei Feng’s lineage was simply too bizarre.

Yan Qing: “I don’t know much about the events back then, but I never heard my father mention any descendants of Wei Feng. I imagine there weren’t any.”

Wei Feng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, though he talked nonsense anyway. “What a pity. I thought I could inherit his grandsons and granddaughters or something to save myself a few decades of hard work.”

Yan Qing: “You’re already a prince’s dad. What more do you want?”

Wei Feng snapped out of it, looking at Li Xiao with a beaming smile. “Ah, I forgot. I still have a wonderful eldest son.”

Li Xiao: “…”

Li Xiao extended a hand toward him. “Hand over the red envelope money for your daughter-in-law.”

Wei Feng: “…”

Asking for money the moment he opens his mouth.

What a spendthrift son.

Using the excuse of needing to follow Li Ji, Wei Feng made his escape first.

Once Yan Qing finished organizing the data, he walked out of the meeting room with Li Xiao and Song Jin.

Walking along the metallic corridor, Yan Qing thought for a moment before speaking, “The late King and Queen loved you very much, and I never heard them mention anything about Wei Feng either. I expect there are still circumstances regarding your birth that we haven’t uncovered yet. Don’t worry too much.”

Li Xiao could hear the underlying meaning in his words—it seemed Yan Qing was afraid he would think he was in a similar situation to Wei Feng.

“I’m not worried,” Li Xiao said evenly. “Whether I know my birth origins or not doesn’t conflict with what I need to do.”

A hint of a smile touched the corners of Yan Qing’s eyes. “You’ve been a very resolute child since you were little.”

Li Xiao stopped and looked at him. “Even if we share no blood relation, you hold a position in my heart equal to that of my father.”

Yan Qing snapped his head up.

“You knew…”

On second thought, since they could run DNA comparisons with Wei Feng, they naturally could run them with him as well.

“My apologies. I didn’t mean to deceive you.”

Li Xiao: “You didn’t want me to pick the wrong side?”

Yan Qing nodded. “The Meng family is too terrifying. They are not something any single individual can stand against. You must absolutely not act rashly.”

As the leading instructor, Yan Qing still had plenty of work to do. After bidding farewell to Li Xiao and Song Jin, he went off to attend a meeting.

“We solved a lot of problems, but quite a few new ones have popped up.” Song Jin walked beside Li Xiao. “It really is like your brother said—this whole business is a black hole.”

“It will be resolved eventually.” Noticing Song Jin unfastening the metal button at his collar with an irritated expression, Li Xiao took an extra glance. “Uncomfortable?”

“This uniform is so stifling.” Song Jin opened the buttons down to below his collarbone, finally breathing a sigh of relief. “Let’s find somewhere to change first.”

Just as they reached an intersection, Darcy spotted them and walked over.

“Your Highness, dinner has been prepared for you.”

Li Xiao nodded. “We’ll head over after we change.”

Darcy: “Change of clothes have already been prepared. Let me escort you.”

Song Jin took a closer look at this Beta. Around thirty years old, he bore a strong resemblance to Darbei.

“You used to stay by Xiao Xiao’s side?”

Darcy replied with a smile, “Yes, but after His Highness left the palace, I was transferred to the Internal Affairs Department.”

Song Jin nodded slowly.

The Internal Affairs Department was the easiest place to gather intelligence.

This kid Li Xiao certainly knew how to calculate his moves.

Seeing the teasing expression on Song Jin’s face, Li Xiao knew exactly what he was thinking.

At the time, he had simply thought the Internal Affairs Department would be relatively relaxed. Who could have known it would come in handy later?

In the command bridge.

Li Ji listened to Yi Lian’s report, looking up toward the monitoring station.

The Sun-facing Constellation was completely locked down. They could only do their best to evade the Meng family’s pursuit.

Yi Lian: “The military headquarters has tried to contact us many times. I haven’t dared to pick up.”

“Picking up would expose our position,” Li Ji said coldly. “Wait a bit longer. If Meng Jian remains obstinate, notify your father to deploy troops.”

The stationed forces at each jump point varied. By finding a relatively weak point and launching a pincer attack from both sides, it wouldn’t be hard to break through.

However, both sides were their own people, and the losses from a battle would still have to be footed by the military. Unless absolutely necessary, Li Ji didn’t want to resort to this.

As they spoke, an adjutant strode over, reporting to them, “Your Majesty, we just received word that the Shengya Empire military is pressing upon the border. Judging from the troop numbers, this operation is highly unusual!”

Li Ji’s expression shifted slightly. “What’s going on?”

The adjutant handed the detailed intelligence over to him.

“The Shengya Empire Ministry of National Defense held a press conference, claiming they want to deal with the dark and evil forces active along the border. But they’ve never cared about it before. Being so proactive all of a sudden naturally makes one suspicious.”

Li Ji scanned through the report quickly.

The phrasing was excellent, but the entire text was utter nonsense.

No true, law-abiding citizen would willingly live along the border—this was true for the Danse Empire, and even more so for the Shengya Empire.

The Shengya Empire’s social welfare system was highly comprehensive. If an ordinary person truly couldn’t survive, they could claim various government subsidies; there was no need to risk their lives living at the border.

Being able to survive in such a harsh border environment spoke volumes in itself.

The border had its own ecological system and required no government intervention. It was costly and thankless, and incorporating it into their territory would only cause endless trouble.

If it was a place even the Danse Empire looked down upon, Li Ji didn’t believe the Shengya Empire would find it appealing.

Deploying so many troops at such a delicate time—what exactly was the Shengya Empire trying to do?

The face of that brat Song Jin suddenly flashed across Li Ji’s mind, and he faintly seemed to catch onto something.

Yi Lian’s current mood was practically beyond words.

They had barely escaped with their lives from S1301, and before they could fully break out of their predicament, the Shengya Empire military had arrived.

“Your Majesty, with so many people coming from the opposing side, relying solely on the permanent legion of the South-tea Constellation won’t be enough.” Yi Lian was deeply worried. “If General Meng complies outwardly but acts otherwise, then we—”

“No rush.”

Li Ji handed the intelligence back. “Let’s first see Meng Jian’s reaction.”

Yi Lian: “But what if the Shengya Empire is serious? It will be too late to deploy troops by then.”

Li Ji: “They won’t. Meng Jian will definitely hold the border.”

Meng Jian would absolutely never allow the meat that was about to land in his bowl to be snatched away by the Shengya Empire.

Furthermore, who was to say exactly who the Shengya Empire’s deployment of troops was aimed at this time?

When it came time for dinner, Yan Qing emerged from the rest cabin after his meeting. Passing by the meal preparation area, he noticed the special assistant, Old Liu, tinkering with something. With one arm in a sling, he looked very clumsy doing it.

“Brewing tea? Shall I help you?”

Hearing Yan Qing’s voice, Old Liu turned his head and smiled somewhat apologetically. “Sorry to trouble you.”

Yan Qing: “Who is it for? His Majesty?”

Seeing Old Liu nod, Yan Qing looked at the tea leaves by his hand, put them back, switched to another variety, and expertly brewed it before placing it on the robot’s tray.

Old Liu watched but didn’t stop him.

“You used to be the one brewing tea for His Majesty.”

Yan Qing smiled. “Like you said, that was in the past.”

Old Liu chuckled softly. “Though I think being a teacher suits you better.”

Yan Qing: “Let’s go. We might as well head over to eat together.”

With so many matters on the front line, Li Ji simply ate his meals right inside the command bridge.

When Old Liu delivered the food, Li Ji was currently reading the news online.

Old Liu: “Your Majesty, please eat first.”

“Mm,” Li Ji offered a superficial response. He habitually picked up the teacup and took a sip, paused slightly, opened the lid to look inside, then turned to look at Old Liu. “Did you brew this tea?”

Standing to the side, Old Liu’s gaze shifted slightly out of guilt. “I had someone help brew it.”

Thinking of something, Li Ji didn’t ask further, continuing to drink his tea and read the news.

Li Xiao and Song Jin arrived after changing their clothes. Seeing the food placed far away on another table while Li Ji monopolized a whole table to himself, Song Jin waved to Darcy. “Move our food to that table.”

Darcy looked at Li Xiao with some hesitation.

Li Xiao didn’t mind, turning to walk toward his brother’s table. “Move it over. Lest he says we’re ostracizing him.”

Darcy: “…”