Chapter 323: The Hidden Meaning Behind Switching the Ashes

Chapter 323 The Hidden Meaning Behind The Ashes Swap

Jian Suiyu suddenly realized,

"Wu Yue, when you had the three families steal the ashes back then, did you mean to leak the info on purpose?"

Otherwise, given Wu Yue's personality, she would never make such a risky play that could potentially drag Jiang Yuhua into the situation.

Wu Yue nodded, "At that time, we were in a hurry to go to the Realm of Order. If all of Blaze's members went, the base would inevitably be left empty.

By the time Vlad realized, even if the Royal Court was weakened, joining forces with the Church to deal with Blaze alone could still easily take us down.

At the time, the Jiang family wasn’t certain of my identity, but due to their work on DX001 Phase Two, they were already quietly being cornered by the Alliance.

The Jiang family’s proactive strike against the Royal Court was meant to redirect the heat, playing them against each other to suppress those restless forces and prevent them from acting rashly.

But I think..."

When Wu Yue uttered the words "I think" with such an inscrutable expression, everyone present instantly realized that what followed would be mind-blowing.

Wu Yue, "Playing defense gets you nowhere. Rather than constantly worrying about the enemy attacking, it’s better to strike first.

Stealing the ashes not only dealt a direct blow to the Royal Court, reclaiming the power Vlad held, and crippled the Church’s Western mystical forces, but it also brought an unexpected cash bonus. Of course, the most important thing was sending Vlad a signal—he was being targeted.

This was a flare, telling him that if he didn’t fight back now, with his back against the wall, he would die.

Though Ancient China has an old saying: 'Do not pursue a cornered enemy.'

Ancient China also has another saying: 'Pluck the grass up by the roots, leave no trace behind.'

I wanted Vlad, in his desperate and vicious state, to be forced into a corner and make the first move himself.

After all, as you know, even the iron-fisted rulers of Ancient China, in the historical records left for posterity, would appropriately whitewash the brutal act of initiating war.

So,

From anyone’s perspective, if the S4 season truly begins, it will have been the Royal Court and the Li family who started it, right?"

Wu Yue shrugged, "When the powers that be push too hard, the people have no choice but to rebel. We’re all victims—underdogs sticking together isn’t a problem, is it?"

Yes, yes, yes. The Alliance’s top-ranked team, the Alliance’s foremost aristocratic family, the Alliance’s leading financial conglomerate, and the Alliance’s highest administrative body.

Truly some underdogs.

....

For a few seconds, the high-level meeting room of Blaze was utterly silent.

Though Wu Chong and Jie Chen didn’t fully grasp all the intricacies, the mental alarm bells screaming in their heads since earlier made them realize that what they were hearing was

a very, very, very horrifying and terrifying truth about a game-changing power play.

Jian Suiyu, "...So you deliberately went to the polar region alone to lure Vlad out.

You intentionally sought out Wu Xiuli, had her find Mo Ke, and specifically dropped this info in a sketchy spot like Midnight Nightclub—all that cloak-and-dagger stuff was just to spread the word."

Shen Que suddenly turned to Jian Suiyu, "What did you say?"

Seeing Shen Que’s instantly darkened face, Wu Yue got instantly guilty, "Yes, but everyone kept it quiet. Trustworthy as I am, I must seem like a cunning conspiracy theorist. And Vlad turned out to be not nearly as sharp as I thought.

At the time, the Jiang family had hidden 50 state-of-the-art warships outside the polar region, with enough firepower to wipe out the entire Blaze base, yet Vlad was nowhere to be found."

The poles are so far from World City, where no laws reach—once you're there, it's completely lawless.

I thought, Vlad's tough for an old guy; I might as well lure him out and capture him alive for research.

But what a shame, he was too dumb to even notice the bait."

Wu Yue’s tone when saying this was almost identical to when she captured a Mutant Jellyfish for research.

.....

The conference room fell silent again. Clearly, everyone had already lost track of Wu Yue’s train of thought.

This had completely surpassed the scope of normal human logic. The way they looked at Wu Yue now was as if she were some kind of deity.

Wu Chong looked utterly confused. "So, while I was delivering food to kids in the refugee camp, Yue Yue was plotting to assassinate a Royal Duke, dismantle the entire Royal Court, and then capture them all for research?"

Fu Yanqi, "Yeah, we were together, riding the kindergarten bus."

Jie Chen, "Yep, I was fighting monsters in an A-rank dungeon, singing 'Makkah Bakkah'."

Richard, "I was helping kids in the survivors' base awaken their spiritual energy—lucky ones got A-rank."

....

So much for peaceful times—it was all because a tyrant was carrying the weight for them... No, she wasn’t carrying anything at all. She handled it effortlessly, the true master of the game rules, the supreme villainess!

The Blaze members’ gazes slid over to Shen Que. Back then, when this guy fought the Royal Court, he got his face rubbed in the dirt—it was brutal.

Now, the tables had turned. Wu Yue, to avenge him, had the Royal Court pinned down, driving them into a corner like rats in a trap, leaving no room for escape.

Wait—

Jian Suiyu was utterly baffled. If Wu Yue had gone this far, investing such massive sunk costs, was she really willing to let Shen Que go back then?

Jian Suiyu, "Wu Yue, your 'Fate Points' with Shen Que must be maxed out by now, right? When did that happen?"

Wu Yue shut her mouth. Jian Suiyu glanced at Shen Que, seeing his face darken again because Wu Yue had put herself in danger.

Jian Suiyu tried to mediate, "Save the anger for later behind closed doors. First, tell me—when did your Fate Points max out?"

Shen Que shot Wu Yue an angry glare. "It was maxed when we got back from the north."

Jian Suiyu, "...Alright, alright. How hard it must’ve been for you two to pretend you weren’t getting along, dragging the entire Blaze into your little romantic charade.

No wonder Shen Que couldn’t figure it out back then!"

Wu Yue had known all along that Blaze would stand by her side. At first, she really was fighting her better judgment, but later, it was purely about training a dog!

Don’t believe any of her sweet talk—it’s all excuses. She was housebreaking him!

Think about it—from Shen Que being pushed to confess, to the two-faced psycho revealing his true colors in front of Wu Yue—it was all orchestrated by her!

What skill—juggling intense training, keeping Shen Que on the hook in a relationship, enduring family pressure, leading a rebellion to swap ashes and spark the S4 incident, and tackling SSS-level nightmare-difficulty story dungeons.

Even a machine would buckle under that, let alone a god like Wu Yue.

A helicopter's rotor couldn’t spin as fast as Wu Yue’s brain!

Wu Yue stole a glance at Shen Que, seeing his face black as a thundercloud, and felt a little guilty.

Come on, she’d done so much quietly without asking for anything in return—what’s wrong with playing him a little?

She just loved riling Shen Que up, watching him go wild for her, frantic and furious!

What's the matter!

But that didn't stop her from blaming Jian Suiyu—it was all his fault. If he hadn't spelled it out, Shen Que would never have figured it out on his own!!

Wu Yue smiled, "Jian Suiyu, what’s your angle here?

My sister probably has some feelings for you, but she won’t say it. You’ve never been the principled type anyway.

With her qualities, my sister could have anyone she wants. If you’re not interested, just don’t go this time. It’s that simple.

Once we leave this room, let’s all act clueless. After all, our two teams won’t interact much in the future."

As she spoke, Wu Yue glanced at the others.

Wu Chong nodded first. "Yeah, I know nothing."

Sister Xiuli told him to listen to Wu Yue carefully—otherwise, he wouldn’t even know how he died.

Fu Yanqi, Jie Chen, and Richard chimed in, "We’re monks—leave us out of this."

Before Jian Suiyu could respond, Wu Yue changed her mind, "Actually, you’d better not go."

Wu Yue had long realized Jiang Yuhua wasn’t just soft—she was way more.

Jiang Yuhua was actually quite adorable, nothing like the image she projected—she was a total cutie.

Her three older brothers all spoiled her rotten. Jiang Mubai had deliberately said those things in front of Jian Suiyu just to see how he’d react.

And now, with Wu Yue also pampering her endlessly, she’d even started S4 over her.

Her sister needed someone who loved her more than she loved them!

Lost in thought, Wu Yue’s communicator beeped. She absentmindedly opened it, unaware that due to the earlier plan, her device was linked to the conference room’s hologram.

What popped up was Jiang Yuhua’s bridal makeup test shots—smiling at the camera,

as if to say, *I’m fine—no worries.*

Jian Suiyu’s expression instantly changed.