27. I’ll Lead the Way to the Very End

“This guy has crossed the line from reckless to downright lawless.”

“Does he not consider the consequences of his actions?”

After confirming that Minister Yin and his entourage had left, Saeki Rika, the trusted aide of Chief Counselor Kondo, emerged from the shadows, her gaze complex as she watched Qi Ming picking up the bullet casings.

She had happened to pass by and saw Qi Ming being stopped by the guards. Knowing Kondo’s intention to recruit Qi Ming, she showed her pass and intended to take him inside with her.

Normally, only the pass holder is permitted entry.

But the guards recognized Saeki Rika, aware that she was the trusted aide of Kondo, the third-ranking figure in TPC. Fearing to offend her, they hesitated but ultimately let them through.

To avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and provoke hawkish overreactions, Saeki Rika hadn’t shown herself earlier, only listening quietly from around the corner.

The more she heard, the more alarmed she became.

This man’s skills were perhaps even stronger than they had anticipated, and his audacity far exceeded what they had witnessed before.

What did it matter that he fought a senior teammate? He even dared to strike the minister and directly threatened the chief counselor through him.

She wondered if recruiting such a reckless person with no inhibitions was truly wise.

Some overt rules could be ignored, such as the requirement to hold a pass to enter.

But the tacit rules formed by mutual understanding among all parties had to be respected, or else it would cause a major uproar.

Then again, Counselor He had already ordered assassinations in the staff office of the offshore base. If anyone was going to overturn the table, it was them who started it.

With that thought, Saeki Rika left to report today’s observations to Chief Counselor Kondo in person.

Inside the room, Qi Ming, still bent over gathering bullet casings for Counselor Tongyama, pricked up his ears once he sensed Saeki’s departure and knew they could speak freely.

“Counselor Tongyama, did that shaman from the Kirairod tribe say something to you just now?”

Tongyama’s expression hesitated; he wasn’t sure if revealing the classified contents of the Omega files to Qi Ming would endanger him.

Qi Ming guessed, “Let me guess… it was about Nomarte, wasn’t it?”

Tongyama was startled. “The group told you everything?”

Qi Ming neither confirmed nor denied. “Did the Kirairod say something like, ‘Nomarte are the original inhabitants of Earth, and Earth itself is the invader’?”

Tongyama nodded grimly.

“That’s truly strange,” Qi Ming mused, stroking his chin.

If that conclusion came from his own investigation, he would accept it—after all, he was not a native and bore no emotional burden.

But if such words came from the Kirairod, it was truly suspicious.

Would those shamans be so kind-hearted as to reveal the entire truth?

A lie that is seventy percent true and thirty percent false is the easiest to believe.

Qi Ming pondered for a moment and said, “His words cannot be wholly trusted, nor wholly dismissed.”

“If Nomarte are Earth’s original inhabitants, then what of the ancient super-civilizations from thirty million years ago, and those subterranean people?”

In this blended universe, the “truth” from the series Seven OV might no longer be the sole truth.

Tongyama nodded in agreement. “Makes sense.”

…

Panting and disheveled, the gray-robed Kirairod man fled into an abandoned house.

Who exactly was that person who threatened me so?

He replayed the moment he met Qi Ming in his mind, perplexed and filled with both fear and anger.

“Kirairod, if you cannot breach the human fortress, why not cooperate with us subterraneans? You’ll need an insider.”

At that moment, a cold female voice spoke. The woman wearing sunglasses appeared again, though she had only one arm.

“Cooperate with you subterraneans?”

The subterranean woman replied, “Yes. We will help you crush the living armed forces of humanity. Then, you can take the remaining humans to your world—as believers or slaves, whatever you wish—while we subterraneans reclaim the surface world.”

The Kirairod asked pointedly, “Can you speak for all subterraneans?”

The Kirairod had visited this world in the Middle Ages and understood Earth to some extent.

Just as humans have different races—black, white, yellow—and established various nations, subterranean humans also had different factions.

Among them, the subterraneans who worship the Victory Crystal and those from the underground city of Dilos were considered the two strongest.

The subterraneans before him, who could only present the Talesstone as their emblem, were, in his eyes, mediocre at best.

The gray-robed man outwardly agreed but harbored other intentions: “Cooperation is impossible; they lack that qualification. But being cannon fodder? That’s another matter...”

They agreed on a time, planning to act tomorrow night.

…

Meanwhile, Minister Yin, a man of military discipline and firm resolve, treated his wounds briefly before going to see Counselor He.

“What happened here?” Counselor He was greatly surprised as he looked at Yin’s swollen right cheek.

Minister Yin recounted everything without omission. When he spoke of his four subordinates being mysteriously disarmed, Counselor He was astonished.

“You mean that new foreign member of the Victory team subdued all of you in an instant? Your men are the elite of the elite.”

Minister Yin nodded, offering no excuses.

He could hardly believe it. “Is this some kind of legendary kung fu?”

Minister Yin said he had studied this area before and believed that Shenzhou’s “kung fu” was an outdated, insular tradition, far behind modern combat techniques and long obsolete.

Those martial arts masters always boasted of their prowess, yet never appeared on the fighting stage.

He asked, “So you were taken by surprise?”

“Yes, we didn’t take it seriously enough. Next time, we won’t be so embarrassed.”

Minister Yin continued. When he mentioned the letter Qi Ming had referred to, Counselor He immediately grasped the implication.

It was as if to say, “If you can send someone to assassinate Counselor Tongyama, I can do the same to you.”

Counselor He asked, “Is this his idea, or is it the Victory team’s Tsuboshiki group trying to protect their former superior by any means? Do you think they have that capability?”

Minister Yin advised, “You’d better talk to Counselor Tongyama again.”

This man, an extremist even among the hawks, surprisingly wished his superior to make peace today.

Counselor He leaned back in his chair, pondering.

Minister Yin, under his direction, had not only failed in the assassination but had also been caught with evidence. The doves would surely exploit this to attack him.

However, Director Tsuchihashi was also aware of the Omega files and would undoubtedly support him.

This matter could easily be defused and minimized.

“Since Counselor Tongyama already knows part of the truth, he will understand me, because we both love humanity deeply.”

In the end, Counselor He accepted Minister Yin’s suggestion.

He planned to meet with the victim, hoping to reach an agreement and put this matter behind them.

Earth was now surrounded by wolves—countless monsters and aliens lurking. Internal strife could no longer escalate.

“As for that team member named Qi Ming… conduct a thorough investigation into his background.”