Chapter 170

Chapter 170

Bai Sha remains silent for a long time.

Until Salmer falls silent too, his dark, lifeless eyes quietly meeting Bai Sha's.

Bai Sha had seen Salmer Greiz before, though only in video archives. The tradition of the military school joint competition had been ongoing for many years, and both Salmer and Xipes were once young military cadets like Bai Sha. They were flamboyant, full of spirit, so powerful that their contemporaries could only look up to them. But now, Salmer is not only scarred on the outside; he has changed entirely—becoming more sinister, stubborn, his swordsmanship no longer as strong and fierce as before, but shadowy and sneaky.

Through those deep, abyss-like eyes, Bai Sha could feel his intense pain, and thus, she began to understand the roots of his hatred for everything.

But understanding is one thing; Bai Sha was not going to be lenient.

"…Come back to the empire with me to face your crimes," Bai Sha says softly. "You've been a fugitive for so many years; it's time to return."

"Return where?" Salmer scoffs. "You mean to surrender, follow you back to the empire, and then get a death sentence or life imprisonment, endure endless humiliation before dying?"

Kaxin: "Uncle, we're not..."

"Shut up," Salmer snaps fiercely at Kaxin. Kaxin, seeing the madness rising in his eyes, dares not rebut further. "Especially you, you worthless, traitorous brat! How can you be so foolish as to side with the Ronings?"

Kaxin takes a deep breath, his fists clenched tightly, standing ramrod straight - so tense it seems he might collapse any second: "Chief Salmer, aside from you, no one knows what really happened back then. If you were framed, or if someone else caused the incident, you could defend yourself, explain to the family. But you chose to leave—your desertion is an undeniable fact!"

How could the Greiz family just watch their leader be convicted without a fight? They would surely do everything to uncover the truth. But Salmer chose to flee, not giving them any chance to salvage the situation.

Unless, the truth is what people have speculated.

"…I don't want to defend myself," Salmer pauses, then suddenly looks up, glancing at Bai Sha. "I admit, I must bear responsibility for what happened. But I don't believe I was wrong. The Ronings have no right to judge me."

Then, he addresses Kaxin: "I left the family deliberately, because the Greiz clan cannot have a leader convicted by the royal court. If that were to happen, it would take centuries for our family to raise its head again—do you understand?"

"I don't understand," Kaxin's eyes, as vibrant as juice squeezed from a blood-red pomegranate, speak. "Is this so-called 'family status' really that important?"

"—Shut up," Salmer cuts him off. "Do you think maintaining family legacy is simple? Look at the Ronings. To preserve their royal status, how many of their lineage have fallen on battlefields over the centuries? That's the price paid for the continuity of a family!"

“I disagree with that,” Bai Sha crossed her arms and spoke, “A commander dying in battle is normal; it's just a matter of probability. Haven’t other families lost their people too? Our Ronin family is just not as populous as your Greiz clan.”

Perhaps due to genetic factors, the fertility rate of the beast-kind has always been lower than that of the feather-kind, and the infant mortality rate is lower too. If it weren't for the Ronin family’s superior individual combat capabilities, they would have been overshadowed by the Greiz clan.

“Family status, family honor – those are things the older generation cares deeply about,” Bai Sha continued, “Look, Kaisin’s mental resilience is much better than yours.”

Kaisin: “... Your Highness, if you can’t compliment properly, better not to do it at all.”

Bai Sha waved a hand dismissively: “Fine, fine. Can’t even take a compliment.”

Fundamentally, Kaisin and Salmer were from different eras. In Salmer’s youth, the Greiz clan was a prominent family that could stand against the royal family. However, after Salmer’s defection, the clan declined. Not only did Cecil Ronin subtly suppress the Greiz’s influence, but Kaisin also grew up in an environment where his clan was viewed with suspicion and hostility – mostly by Ronin and Seppes’ supporters. Despite his outward pride, Kaisin’s heart was not as imperious as Salmer’s.

Watching their back-and-forth, Salmer frowned slightly, shooting Bai Sha a cold glance.

“Flatterer,” he commented.

“Don’t get cocky. You haven’t explained yourself properly,” Bai Sha retorted, “Why do you say the Ronin family has no right to judge you? Wasn’t it your people who caused that exploration ship’s explosion?”

“Why do you think I sent people there?” Salmer countered, “Do you know where that exploration ship was headed?”

“I don’t know, most related materials have been destroyed,” Bai Sha replied.

“Destroyed – of course, they had to,” Salmer laughed, “They were heading to the ‘Tomb of the Gods’ of the Silver Core, where the damaged core of the Silver Core lies! For the Silver Core to regain its former capabilities, it must rebuild its core. What do you think Seppes Ronin and that ship were quietly heading to the ‘Tomb of the Gods’ for?”

Bai Sha furrowed his brows, “...To destroy the remaining Silver Core?”

“Perhaps that was the case,” Salmer shook his head, “But back then, I couldn’t take that risk.”

"Since you were able to find me, it means you've had quite an in-depth conversation with the Silver Core."

"You know very well how the Silver Core tempted you, but it didn't just use these tactics on you and me—it approached Xipes as well."

"The origins of the Aresians, the special 'Resonance' power of the Roning family, I believe it has told you all about it. The existence of 'Resonance' is a threat to the Aresians."

"'Resonance' functions to create a large-scale mental network.

For the Silver Core, it could even use 'Resonance' to control the will of the Aresians.

"Originally, the Silver Core persistently sought Xipes to be its spokesperson among humans—had Xipes chosen to agree, out of ambition or succumbing to the Silver Core's threats, wouldn't the entire nation be doomed?"

"…In that situation, I couldn't help but doubt her," Salmer says, his eyes slightly downcast, voice heavy. "So when I heard she took the research ship to the 'God Tomb,' I impulsively followed. But I didn't expect that she was just there for research. Instead, a traitor among my men inadvertently triggered a part of the 'God Tomb.' Although we tried to rectify the situation, the virus still leaked out—those viruses were traps prepared by the Silver Core to protect its core."

"At first, no one realized we were infected. By the time we did, almost everyone had gone mad. The entire ship was a nightmare, people dying one by one... During that time, I was intermittently lucid and delirious. The last thing I remember is Xipes releasing her spirit, attracting all the dispersed virus to her. Then... she silently detonated her spirit."

The only survivors on the ship were him and Xipes.

Xipes, as always, played the role of a hero. And he, at best, was a fool who let the wolf in.

That's why he dared not and was unwilling to return to the family.

"I know I was wrong. But the choices I made then were because I couldn't take the risk," Salmer stubbornly repeats. "Who can face the threat of the Silver Core without yielding? Who can resist its temptations without faltering?"

"I think the one who was tempted was you," Bai Sha suddenly interrupts coldly. "The Silver Core approached you back then—you were swayed by its offer. So you assumed Xipes would make the same choice as you, right?"

Salmer Greiz's pupils constrict.

"No, that's not it. I, I—"

"You've always been swayed by your own desires, and you like to evade reality," Bai Sha stares at him and suddenly laughs. "Were you really rushing to stop Xipes from opening the 'God Tomb' back then, or... did you not want Xipes to be the first to open it?"

Xipes Roning's existence was a source of irritation for Salmer.

Why was she considered superior in the royal lineage? Why was she stronger than him? He was always overshadowed, and Xipes Roning was the mountain weighing on his heart.

"Who really opened the 'God Tomb' and released the virus?"

Bai Sha gently counters.

"The person you brought, they weren't a traitor but someone trying to repair the Silver Core... your collaborator, right?"

Salmer suddenly looks up, his grotesque face contorted with an expression of unbearable frustration bordering on madness.

He presses the cockpit closure button and turns to leave.

Bai Sha suddenly raises her hand, pointing her pre-heated ray gun at Salmer. A dazzling ray shoots out as she fires. Simultaneously, Yaning and Yan Jingyi leap out from either side to grab Salmer's mech's arms.

During her conversation with Salmer, she had anticipated this moment and had already discussed countermeasures with Yaning and others over the communication channel.

Bai Sha's claim of never missing her target isn't just self-praise.

The scorching ray grazes the closing cockpit door, penetrating it. The next second, a scream echoes, and the air fills with the smell of charred flesh and skin—Salmer's entire right shoulder is almost perforated, splashing a mist of blood, staining the grey cockpit door red.

Kaxin instinctively widens his eyes: "Chief—"

"Go and pull him out," Bai Sha commands Kaxin with a hint of a headache. "He still hasn't divulged the most important information."

Like the coordinates of the God Tomb, and who exactly was his "collaborator" back then.

Unfortunately, Bai Sha thinks as she looks at the blood-stained mech, Salmer no longer deserves this mech. If he had been thoroughly evil, that would be one thing, but he still retained some remnants of personality and conscience. Just avoiding his past mistakes had already eroded all his will, and now he no longer had any spirit to control the "Seven Kills."

Kaxin did not follow Bai Sha's order.

He stood there like a wooden stake, not moving an inch.

Bai Sha sighed: She had asked Kaxin to go because he was Salmer's relative, thinking it might lessen Salmer's resistance. If Bai Sha went herself, it wouldn't be so gentle, and Salmer might even end up with broken arms and legs from resisting.

But since Kaxin wouldn't go, she had no choice but to do it herself.

Just as Bai Sha took a step forward, Salmer's mech suddenly moved. Salmer forcefully broke free from Yaning and Yan Jingyi's hold, and with a flash of silver, those threads suddenly attacked Kaxin, who stood defenselessly outside the mech.

Kaxin didn't resist either—he was bound by the silver threads and silently carried away by Salmer.

Bai Sha cursed under her breath: Salmer really has no shame!

Just as she was about to chase, she heard an urgent alarm sound from above.

They had delayed too long, and the garrison forces of Xiao Yang Star had sent reinforcements.

Yaning and Yan Jingyi got up from the ground, both slightly out of breath.

"Sha Sha, you were too soft," Yaning said softly, his tone devoid of any blame, merely stating a fact.

"I know," Bai Sha sighed. "I held back just now, firstly, to get more information from Salmer, and secondly, not to kill his uncle in front of Kaxin before things were clear. But now that the truth is mostly out, I won't hesitate anymore."

They pursued in the direction of Salmer's escape.

After chasing for a few hundred meters, they found Salmer's mech and Kaxin kneeling beside it in a secluded corner surrounded by high black walls.

The cockpit of the mech "Seven Kills" was open.

Salmer lay face up in the pilot's seat, half his shoulder soaked in blood. His jaws were clenched, eyelids tightly shut, lips purple-black, his body displaying a strange rigidity.

It didn't look like excessive blood loss, but rather as if he had been poisoned.

Bai Sha, startled, leapt out of her cockpit and hurried towards "Qi Sha" to scan Salmer's current physical state with her light computer. She was just about to start when Kaisin stopped her with a hand.

"…There's no need for that now," he said.

Only then did Bai Sha notice that he was holding the energy key of "Qi Sha."

Bai Sha glanced suspiciously at Salmer's body: "He is—" She leaned in to inspect the cockpit and abruptly paused: the inner wall of the cockpit was inscribed with a line of characters in blood. Undoubtedly, it was a set of coordinates.

"The one who wanted to open the 'Tomb of the Gods', my uncle mentioned him too," Kaisin's eyes shone with a cold light, "His name is Qiu Zha, a Federation citizen, brainwashed follower of the Silver Core, current chair of the 'Immortal Cicada Council'... and the current Chief Security Officer of Xiao Yang Star. The Silver Core arranged for Qiu Zha to collaborate with my uncle, mainly to closely monitor him. Once my uncle died, Qiu Zha would escape. To avoid alerting others, we'd better not make a fuss."

Bai Sha was momentarily stunned.

She glanced at Salmer—he looked as if he were asleep in the cockpit, though not very peacefully.

As if in a nightmare.

"My uncle left you two messages," Kaisin suddenly turned, his voice hoarse, barely audible, "One is... 'You look nothing like your mother.'"

Bai Sha: "…" At this moment, she didn't know what expression would be appropriate. If Salmer were still alive, she would have beaten him senseless. But he was already dead.

"The other is—'I'm sorry. Please pretend you never saw me today.'" Kaisin inhaled deeply, clutching the key, "Before his defection, he had already disowned himself from the family as its head. He didn't want to return to the family in life, and certainly not in death."

"He had disowned himself from the family a long time ago?" Bai Sha was slightly surprised, "Ignoring the appropriateness of disowning oneself... all these years, your Greiz family never publicly announced this."

Kaisin looked at Salmer's corpse—now he could talk calmly and evenly:

"Because we were always waiting for him to come home."