Chapter 147: War

Chapter 147: War

Hurst was already overwhelmed by these matters, and Su Quan’s questioning only deepened his irritation.

If Song Yuqing’s assassination target had been him, he wouldn’t have feared it in the slightest.

Even if Song Yuqing actually killed him, the successor he’d meticulously trained would step seamlessly into his role.

His life held little weight in Srilan’s grand expansion.

In fact, he’d take pride in sacrificing it for that cause.

But Song Yuqing wasn’t after *him*—he was targeting those cowardly fools clinging desperately to survival.

These idiots, refusing to face reality, still fantasized about capturing Song Yuqing alive and turning him into their plaything.

They were utterly insane.

It would be far more fitting if Song Yuqing killed them himself.

Hurst’s hawk-like green eyes flashed displeasure and warning. “Do you seek revenge—or are you still holding a torch for Song Yuqing? Su Quan, don’t forget your place.”

Though masked, Su Quan’s visible eyes were glacial.

He smirked coldly. “Do you think, now that the machines are handed over, you no longer need me?”

Hurst looked away—silently conceding the thought.

Su Quan sneered. “Then you truly don’t know me. Do you imagine my machines serve only to fight Song Yuqing’s?”

“Let me tell you plainly: without me, you can’t even unlock ten percent of these machines’ capabilities.”

“You will not lay a hand on Song Yuqing. I want him alive.”

“I want him to understand his errors.”

Hurst narrowed his eyes, staring hard at Su Quan.

The irritation in his heart vanished entirely upon hearing Su Quan’s revelation.

Originally, pressured by those people, he’d had no choice but to rein in his ruthless methods.

His current restraint toward Song Yuqing was merely strategic—aligning with the shifting tides.

Hurst: “Are you truly confident you can capture Song Yuqing?”

Su Quan’s expression softened slightly as he slowly arranged the documents on Hurst’s desk, one by one. “Of course. The score between him and me—I’ll settle it myself.”

Hurst immediately halted all operations targeting Song Yuqing.

But Tan Shu did not cease his retaliation against Srilan’s “New Blood.”

No particular reason—he simply felt these Alpha figures deserved to die.

Fantasizing about capturing Song Yuqing, claiming him as their own, and making him the object of their public fantasies…

This widespread, feverish obsession with Song Yuqing deeply disgusted Tan Shu.

Within five days, Alpha figures who’d previously survived assassination attempts were now paralyzed—or dead—from various causes.

Song Yuqing placed the newly acquired intelligence before Tan Shu.

Lifting his chin, he asked, “Your doing?”

Tan Shu wore his usual smile and casually stepped behind Song Yuqing. “They deserved it.”

“Did I disrupt your plans?”

“If I did, I’ll accept the punishment.”

Song Yuqing’s voice was icy. “Killing them is one thing—but next time, tell me first.”

“Give me a heads-up.”

Tan Shu’s gaze drifted to the intelligence file on Song Yuqing’s desk. “Did Zheng Kaiji give you this?”

Song Yuqing nodded. “Zheng Kaiji has always headed New Continent’s intelligence agency.”

“He’s doing an excellent job. Every piece of intel matches what you’ve provided me.”

Two independent intelligence channels could cross-verify information—and also test loyalties.

Tan Shu’s tone remained gentle, his voice as soft as ever. “Are you doubting me?”

“I’m not that kind of person, baby.”

Song Yuqing: “…”

Song Yuqing turned sideways, gazed up at Tan Shu for several seconds—and then slapped him across the face. “Stop smiling like that. You look like a psychopath.”

Tan Shu: “…”

Tan Shu suspected Song Yuqing had wanted to strike him the moment their eyes met.

Song Yuqing never indulged anyone—if he was displeased, he struck without hesitation.

Yet those fools still deluded themselves, believing Song Yuqing was easily bullied and controllable.

Perhaps—even if New Continent lost the war against Srilan and they were all captured—

Song Yuqing would first ensure their safe evacuation, denying others any chance to threaten or manipulate him, then wait for the right moment to exact vengeance and send them all to hell.

“Good thing you’re from New Continent,” Tan Shu sighed.

Song Yuqing glanced at him, amber eyes silently asking, *What do you mean?*

“No—I should say, it’s a good thing *we’re both* from New Continent.”

He and Song Yuqing were natural allies.

“Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t be standing beside you—I’d just be dreaming of making you my prisoner.”

Song Yuqing looked away, unwilling to comment on Tan Shu’s musings.

Zheng Kaiji’s collected intelligence was exhaustive—even detailing possible motives behind Tan Shu’s killings of those Alpha figures.

The reason? Those revolting comments posted across international websites.

Song Yuqing suspected Zheng Kaiji was deliberately provoking him. He’d long suspected Zheng Kaiji—the arch-opportunist—was up to no good.

However, the Fence-sitter hadn’t yet made any fundamental mistakes, and retaining him still served a purpose.

Song Yuqing lowered his eyelashes, sensing Tan Shu’s gaze, and spoke flatly, “Don’t look at me.”

Only then did Tan Shu shift his gaze away from Song Yuqing’s face.

He averted his eyes, letting them fall back onto Song Yuqing’s prominent collarbone.

That spot should be bitten by an Alpha, leaving behind suggestive marks.

The first year of the war.

The war erupted abruptly at the height of the harsh winter. The world was vast and desolate; the biting wind and snow drowned out all sound.

Yet it couldn’t muffle the sounds of countless lives falling on the battlefield.

Amid the swirling snow and howling winds, they closed their eyes forever.

The conflict escalated rapidly. The joint forces of Sri-Lanka and Westland advanced triumphantly across multiple fronts. Under immense pressure, New Continent’s defensive lines steadily shrank and destabilized.

By mid-year, the situation remained extremely unfavorable for New Continent, making it seem as though victory for Sri-Lanka and Westland was only a matter of time.

New Continent’s military and its people endured tremendous sacrifices and pressure amid the flames of war, resisting with extreme difficulty.

After paying an unimaginable price, New Continent’s forces finally achieved a hard-won defensive victory against Sri-Lanka’s offensive strength in a critical battle or on a pivotal front by year’s end—driving the joint forces of both continents out of New Continent’s territory.

That year, the entire nation of New Continent was unprecedentedly united—after all, if New Continent fell, there would truly be nothing left.

Song Yuqing stood atop the parliament building—the steadfast pillar of New Continent—looking down as ice and snow gradually blanketed the city beneath him, watching the first snowfall of New Continent’s winter.

No one knew what Song Yuqing was thinking.

Ye Siling pushed the door open and entered, gazing at Song Yuqing’s back. The shirt outlined the young man’s lean and wiry frame.

In private, Song Yuqing shed his usual aloofness and rigor, instead exuding a sense of loneliness and detachment.

Ye Siling’s heart felt an unexpected pang. Was Song Yuqing thinking about Pei Huai again?

Remembering what he needed to inform Song Yuqing, Ye Siling tightened his grip on the documents in his hand.

“Qingqing,” Ye Siling interrupted Song Yuqing without hesitation.

Song Yuqing turned and walked back to his desk, his gaze falling on Ye Siling. His lips barely moved as he spoke, “What is it?”

Ye Siling handed the documents to Song Yuqing. “An enemy robot retrieved from the front lines. With your approval, it can enter the Central Special District.”

Only then did Song Yuqing give Ye Siling a bit more of a reaction. “It’s here?” he asked.

Ye Siling replied, “It arrived this morning.”

Song Yuqing signed the documents and handed them back to Ye Siling. “I’ll come to your place later. Transport the robot to the lab.”

At the center of the lab’s training ground stood a robot with minimal damage.

The special alloy material gleamed metallically under the lights, its craftsmanship on par with New Continent’s own robots.

Such military technology was rarely captured—just as it was difficult for Sri-Lanka to acquire New Continent’s robots.

Song Yuqing didn’t know how Pei Huai had managed to get his hands on such a well-preserved robot.

Ye Siling finished recording the basic data. “This robot has at least two critical vulnerabilities.”

Song Yuqing held a tool, testing and probing the robot.

Hearing Ye Siling’s words, Song Yuqing nodded.

The robots developed by Hakimi indeed had at least two critical vulnerabilities.

Whereas the robots he and Ye Siling had developed had nearly eliminated all potential critical vulnerabilities.

On the battlefield, they would ensure the highest probability of Alphas surviving.

Even when the frame suffered critical damage, it would lock itself down, becoming the Alpha’s final layer of protection.

Song Yuqing said, “Record the fatal flaws.”

“Find an Alpha to pilot the robot and conduct destruction testing,” Song Yuqing tapped the robot again, then changed his mind mid-action. “No experiments for now. First, disassemble it, then reassemble it.”

There was only one robot. If it was scrapped, it would be gone for good.

Better to build eight to ten units first, then experiment more conveniently.

Ye Siling also nodded. “Shall we disassemble it together? Draw the schematics together?”

Song Yuqing nodded. The two spent two days in the lab disassembling the robot and drawing schematics. Song Yuqing looked again at the two flaws.

“These two fatal flaws are of no analytical value,” Song Yuqing said. After disassembling the robot, he had essentially abandoned further experimentation.

Ye Siling’s expression also turned grim. Honestly, he had never encountered a more deceptive robot designer than those from Sri-Lanka.

They intentionally exposed flaws, but if one studied the robot’s structure carefully, they would find that the wiring at the flaw points was strategically engineered. Under significant impact, certain parts of the robot would deform or shift.

That slight shift would precisely connect to another interface, linking to an alternate system.

The two flaws—one corresponded to a displacement interface triggering immediate detonation, the other to a displacement interface causing structural self-disabling.

The two flaws respectively corresponded to either instant explosion or instant scrapping of Sri-Lanka’s robots.

If the robot hadn’t been retrieved, and if their research hadn’t started with deconstructing the robot, they would likely have fallen directly into Sri-Lanka’s trap.

Striking the self-destruction point would cause Sri-Lanka’s robot to result in mutual destruction with New Continent’s Alpha, preventing this part of the sample from being relayed back to the military.

Meanwhile, Alphas occasionally scrapping Sri-Lanka’s robots on the battlefield would be documented as valid tactics and relayed back to New Continent’s military.

Moreover—the opponent’s design ensured that self-destruction and self-disabling alternated between the two flaw positions: a fifty-fifty chance of mutual annihilation.

Just analyzing this far, Ye Siling could already sense the treacherous design of the opposing robot designer.

Song Yuqing continued completing the schematics.

Song Yuqing lightly pointed precisely on the drawn blueprint. “There’s more to it than that.”