Chapter Thirty-Nine: Arranged with Utter Clarity

Chapter Thirty-Nine: An Orchestrated Fate

After much contemplation, Liang Bing finally revealed the truth about the Spatiotemporal Rose gene. This revelation was hard for Rose to accept; her own genetic engineering project was, in fact, the work of the Demon Queen. Suddenly, she understood why Liang Bing had chosen to stay by her side, though the true motive remained a mystery.

Liang Bing hadn’t anticipated that, after telling Rose the origins of the Spatiotemporal Rose gene project, the girl would not only fail to warm up to her, but become even more guarded than before. Yet, considering her three-thousand-year lifespan, the Demon Queen quickly realized the reason, though she couldn’t explain it—or even if she tried, Rose would never believe her. After all, her demon civilization’s reputation in the universe was already tarnished, and that was thanks to the relentless propaganda of those little angelic brats.

While Liang Bing was painstakingly trying to persuade Rose to study under her, far away in the Styx Star Domain, Death God Karl was debating whether or not to send a covert message to his goddess.

Time passed. Gazing at Rose’s skeptical face, which clearly said, “I don’t believe a word you say,” Liang Bing grew dispirited and decided to call it a day. There was no need to rush. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, a cultured male voice sounded in her ear. At the very instant she heard it, she knew exactly who it was.

Pressing her earlobe, she snapped irritably, “Karl, you bastard, do you know what time it is? Unlike you, I need sleep!”

Karl, sitting in his grand hall, wasn’t offended by Liang Bing’s insult. He was used to it—unless he initiated contact, every call from her started with a scolding.

Clearing his throat, Karl announced, “Liang Bing, I’ve obtained five void micro-particles from the black hole in the Peacock Galaxy. I plan to give you one.”

Hearing this, Liang Bing’s expression turned serious. She was well aware of the value of void micro-particles; they were essential for constructing a void engine.

“What do I need to give in return?” she asked, calculating inwardly.

“Aren’t we friends?” Karl replied coolly.

“As if you’re that generous! I can’t accept a free gift from you—it makes me uneasy.”

This was Liang Bing’s honest thought. In the past, her relationship with Karl had been purely transactional: he provided technical and resource support, and she helped him restrain her sister, Keisha. Every favor had its price; it was always an even exchange.

But now that Keisha was gone, their mutual interests had vanished. Without a common goal, what need was there for cooperation? Liang Bing found it impossible to gauge Karl’s real intentions and was wary of accepting anything from him.

As her mind raced, Karl spoke again.

“Consider it payment for being a little nicer to me in the future.”

Liang Bing felt a subtle pang. After all, they had been partners and friends for so long, and she understood Karl’s feelings towards her. But what could he do? Now he was nothing but a phantom, lacking even a body—what use were emotions?

Though she thought this, her tone softened considerably.

“Alright, I’ll accept it. I’ll send a squad of little demons to collect it. You should get some rest, too.”

Hearing her concern, Karl—emotionless for so long—allowed a flicker of affection to cross his phantom face. Ever since Liang Bing defected from Celestial City, it had been ten thousand, maybe even twenty thousand years since she last cared for him. Whenever he reminisced about their days researching together at the Super God Academy, his nonexistent heart would still feel as if it pounded with life.

By force of habit, Karl almost replied that, as a phantom, he had no need for rest. But he caught himself and stammered out a response instead.

“You too. I will.”

As Karl waited in bliss for Liang Bing to end the covert communication, she suddenly spoke again.

“Karl, do you remember the Spatiotemporal Rose?”

Her words drew Karl’s memory back to their days researching together at the Academy—the happiest time of his life. Back then, he thought they would always work side by side. But after he shared his theories of the void and ultimate fear with her, everything changed. Liang Bing defected to become the Demon Queen, was hunted by Keisha, and those happy days were lost forever.

He fell silent, lost in memory, but finally replied with heartfelt emotion.

“Of course. It was the fruit of our collaboration at the Academy. How could I possibly forget?”

Liang Bing didn’t challenge the slight ambiguity in his words and continued.

“The Spatiotemporal Rose gene has awakened.”

“I know. Supposedly, it’s a descendant of Deno, currently at the Super God Academy on Earth,” Karl replied after a moment’s thought.

“Yes, a young girl—I’m very fond of her. But I’ve run into some trouble while spending time with her,” Liang Bing said meaningfully.

Though Karl was a technical genius, he had lived over thirty thousand years and was quick to pick up on the subtext.

“What trouble? If you can’t intervene, I can help.”

“The inheritor, Rose, has a boyfriend, and he’s proving to be quite a headache for me,” Liang Bing admitted with a trace of annoyance.

Hearing his beloved’s troubles, Karl didn’t hesitate.

“I understand. Leave it to me—you’ll have good news soon.”

As they ended the call, Liang Bing added, “Don’t kill him, or Rose will be heartbroken,” and hung up.

Karl wasn’t surprised by the abrupt end. It was just like the Liang Bing he knew so well.

After a moment’s daze, Karl summoned his sole servant and instructed him, “Snow, find out who Rose’s boyfriend is among the Earth’s Heroic Legion.”

Though Snow was puzzled, he didn’t question the order and promptly went to carry it out.

Meanwhile, Yun Yang, the one so meticulously targeted by Liang Bing and Karl, was still fast asleep in bed.

The next morning, the Gluttonous King, Devourer, received a divine order: at any cost, locate and capture Yun Yang, the quantum controller known as the Black Armor God. If successful, he would be rewarded with a genuine void engine upgrade.

It was as if the heavens had sent him a pillow just when he was tired. Devourer was ecstatic—if he succeeded, these mysterious Earthly gods and ghosts would no longer be a problem, provided he could serve his faith well.

That day, all the Gluttonous on the land of Huaxia sprang into action, attacking everywhere in hopes of drawing out every super soldier.

As expected, when the Gluttonous launched their large-scale assault, every Black Armor received the order to fight back.

Almost every camp came under attack, and when the Gluttonous mechs encountered the super soldiers, they never failed to ask, “Are you the quantum controller, Yun Yang?”

Just moments ago, Zhao Xin had been questioned. When he entered the battlefield, he saw three massive mechs. He hesitated, remembering the lesson he’d learned the last time he faced such machines.

But seeing them slaughtering ordinary soldiers, Zhao Xin charged in a fit of rage. Predictably, he was beaten down again—though not as badly as last time. With the protective programming written by Zhi Xin, these mechs couldn’t disassemble his body right away.

After a while, as Zhao Xin was struggling to hold out, one of the mechs spoke.

“Black Armor, are you the quantum controller Yun Yang?”

Without hesitation, Zhao Xin retorted, “I’m Zhao Xin—taste my spear!”

Realizing they hadn’t found their target, the mechs lost interest in Zhao Xin. They could suppress him, but not kill him—their main weapon was a reverse-engineered void engine.

Similar scenes played out across the battlefield. At Liu Chuang’s position, he even managed to take down two mechs.

Yun Yang’s camp was also under attack, and everyone sprang into action. Seeing the blue-and-white mechs soaring overhead, Yun Yang instinctively hurled his Dragon Gallant Spear.

Because of the distance, the mechs easily deflected the spear. But that wasn’t a problem—the spear was guided and returned to attack again. After several exchanges, to Yun Yang’s surprise, two mechs managed to restrain his spear together.

It turned out that after deflecting it several times, the mechs realized the spear could return, so they activated their pseudo-void engines. Analyzing its trajectory, they tried to set the spear’s velocity to zero. Failing that, they set it to 0.1, causing the spear to crawl toward them at ten centimeters per second.

Yun Yang was dumbfounded. He couldn’t believe such a trick was possible—these mechs were formidable indeed.

But with the battle at his doorstep, he had no choice but to act. He leaped up, grabbed the slow-moving spear, and thrust it into a mech that hadn’t reacted in time.

Perhaps to conserve energy, the mechs had only set the spear’s flight speed; once Yun Yang held it, it was no longer flying, and the restriction vanished. He had exploited a loophole.

The stabbed mech’s electronic eyes flickered, then went dark as it collapsed at Yun Yang’s feet.

Seeing their comrade felled in an instant, the remaining two mechs grew wary, but didn’t forget their king’s order.

“Are you the quantum controller Yun Yang?”

Yun Yang looked at the questioning mech with surprise and blurted out, “Do you know—no, I’m not.” Mid-sentence, he realized his mistake—giving his name to the enemy was foolish—so he quickly denied it.

Just as Yun Yang was feeling clever, space rippled behind him and Rose emerged.

“Yun Yang, I’m here to help you,” she announced.

At the sight of the angel, the two mechs hurried to report that they had found the target, while Yun Yang could only cover his face in exasperation.