Chapter Forty-Four: Liang Bing's Spring

Chapter Forty-Four: Liang Bing’s Spring

“Rose, you haven’t eaten properly for two days now.” Liang Bing entered the room, carrying a bowl of soup. Seeing Rose’s reddened eyes, she felt a sudden pang of sympathy.

“Don’t pretend to care! Karl wouldn’t go after someone he’d never even met for no reason.” Rose already knew something of the relationship between Morgana and Karl from Yun Yang, so she was convinced that Liang Bing had deliberately wanted Yun Yang dead.

“Don’t say that. This really has nothing to do with me.” As the Demon Queen, Liang Bing could lie without blinking, her expression calm and unaffected.

“Does it even matter? Yun Yang is dead, maybe even twice over because of you. It’s all your fault!” Rose was so angry she wanted to kill Liang Bing, but she dared not, both because of Liang Bing’s strength and their shared comrades.

“Don’t say that. Besides, Yun Yang is tough—maybe he’s not dead yet.” Seeing Rose’s state these past days, and the hatred directed at herself, Liang Bing felt a twinge of guilt. It was impossible to get along with Rose like this.

“Really? Are you telling the truth?” Rose sprang to her feet, clutching Liang Bing’s shoulders, her voice urgent.

“All right, I’ll send Karl a secret transmission and ask him. I’ll put it on speaker.” Seeing Rose’s reaction, Liang Bing sighed inwardly. She had planned to keep this hidden a while longer—but her soft heart always betrayed her.

Karl was recording some research data at the Death Song Academy when a secret transmission alert caught him by surprise. Who would contact the infamous Reaper? As for Liang Bing, Karl hadn’t even considered her; he was always the one to seek her out, never the other way around.

He set down his quill and answered the transmission, only to hear an even more astonishing voice.

“Karl, you bastard, explain yourself! What’s going on with Rose’s boyfriend? Speak up—Rose wants to know.”

Hearing Liang Bing’s voice through the secret channel, Karl was momentarily at a loss. This was the first time she had ever contacted him.

He quickly grasped the situation, having caught the suppressed sound of someone breathing near Liang Bing. That must be Rose. Considering the connection between Rose and Yun Yang, Karl cleared his throat and said:

“Liang Bing, why are you asking me this? Do I need to report everything I do in pursuit of my art?”

Liang Bing shot Rose a helpless look, as if to say, “This really isn’t my doing—it’s that pervert Karl.”

“Yun Yang is my friend, and more importantly, Rose’s lover. Don’t you think you should report to me?” Liang Bing pressed.

Karl made a snap decision. “Whether he’s your friend or not is none of my concern. Just focus on nurturing our creation.”

At that, Rose couldn’t hold back any longer. “Karl, right? What did you do to Yun Yang? And what’s this about your ‘creation’?”

Karl realized he’d been contacted just to maintain a lie. Well, what did it matter? He would play along. Feigning surprise, he said, “You must be Du Rose, inheritor of the Chrono-Rose. Yun Yang was interfering with your development, so I took care of him.”

For Karl, using such a tone was difficult. Apart from Liang Bing, everyone else was beneath his notice; he felt nothing for them.

Rose’s anger flared as she glared at Liang Bing. “Karl, is it? Very well. You’ll regret what you’ve done.”

Liang Bing, too, raised her voice at the right moment. “Karl, you damn bastard, just wait—I’ll see Rose grow strong, and then you’ll pay.”

Hearing their words, Karl felt he’d played his part well. His voice returned to its usual indifference. “I look forward to seeing my creation reach its potential.”

The transmission cut off with a click. Karl shook his head and bent once more over his writing.

On the other end, Liang Bing comforted Rose, her face full of anger, though in her heart she secretly applauded Karl for playing his part so well.

“Rose, don’t be angry. Listen to me.”

Rose looked up, signaling for Liang Bing to speak.

Liang Bing understood. “Rose, your Chrono-Rose genetic engine is a creation of Karl and myself. If you grow strong, you can counter the Void that Karl is researching.”

She left the rest unsaid, but Rose understood: if she became strong, she could avenge Yun Yang. And that was exactly what Rose wanted now.

“Haven’t you always said you had knowledge that could help me grow? Teach me.”

The hatred in Rose’s eyes lingered as she spoke.

“Well, I can’t remember it all, you know—it’s on Demon One.” Liang Bing, seeing Rose had taken the bait, hesitated a bit.

Rose stared intently into Liang Bing’s eyes, searching for any sign of deception, but found only sincerity. With a sigh, she said, “Let me be alone for a while. I need to think.”

Once outside the tent, Liang Bing’s smile broke free, dazzling the nearby soldiers.

Avoiding their gazes, she sent a secret transmission to Demon Ato aboard Demon Wings. He answered immediately, respectfully.

“My Queen, what are your orders?”

“Ato, quickly prepare a room near my quarters for Rose. She’ll be staying with us,” Liang Bing said lightly.

Sensing the queen’s cheerful mood, Ato replied promptly, “Yes, my Queen. I’ll see to it at once.”

“It must be the best. Oh, and Rose likes coffee.” Liang Bing added a final instruction before going off to joke and chat with her soldiers, thoroughly satisfied.

Less than three days later, Ge Xiaolun, on North Star, received a message from Rose. Heart pounding, he opened it. Had Yun Yang bullied Rose? Had she changed her mind, realizing he was better for her after all?

But after reading, he was filled instead with confusion and rage. The message said that, because of Yun Yang, Rose needed to temporarily join the demon camp, using their power to protect Earth, and their science and technology to strengthen herself.

Ge Xiaolun didn’t care to probe the reasons. He just wanted to find Rose and demand to know why she had abandoned the Xiongbing Company and himself for the demons. But he couldn’t find her—the demons had fully withdrawn from Earth, leaving behind only a few unknowing converts.

After informing the others in Xiongbing Company, Ge Xiaolun couldn’t bear what he saw as Rose’s betrayal. He decided to go into seclusion to work on his Hero Core system.

As for Yun Yang, after more than twenty transmissions, he’d finally reached a star system with life—though the civilization was only at the cold-weapons stage, hardly worth contacting. But at Kaisa’s request, they landed anyway, as she wanted to replenish the food stores in her virtual space after so many days of consumption.

At the gates of the largest city, Yun Yang gazed up at characters he couldn’t read and felt deeply out of place—a universal illiterate with no status at all.

Fortunately, thanks to his translation program, he could still understand the locals’ speech. Strangely, these people were also of the God River type, virtually identical to himself.

He voiced his doubts to Kaisa, who replied with proud satisfaction, “That’s the result of our angelic civilization’s victory in the corporeal wars.”

Seeing her pride, Yun Yang thought the angels’ arrogance was justified.

There was no cliché demand for an entry fee. Yun Yang and Kaisa entered the city together.

“That woman was beautiful. I’d die happy for just one night with her,” one of the gate guards sighed.

The veteran beside him cuffed him hard on the head. “What are you thinking? Did you see the fabric of their clothes? Only nobility or the emperor can afford such materials. They must be high officials’ kin. Watch your mouth—I don’t want to get in trouble because you can’t keep quiet!”

(Don’t worry—the locals weren’t actually saying “emperor,” but something with that meaning. I just didn’t want to make up a random word.)

After the scolding, the younger guard straightened up, thanked the old soldier, and resolved to buy him a drink that evening.

Inside the city, Yun Yang teased Kaisa, “Didn’t expect you to have such charm. Those guards were practically drooling.”

“Of course. Angels possess the most perfect bodies in the known universe,” she replied, not with arrogance this time, but with pride.

“But this body isn’t actually angelic,” Yun Yang muttered under his breath.

Kaisa shot him a glare. “I am the Angel Queen. This body is an angel—whether it was or not before doesn’t matter.”

“Whatever you say. I couldn’t argue even if I wanted to,” Yun Yang grumbled softly.

Ignoring him, Kaisa, guided by her all-seeing eye, strode toward the food market.

It was odd to Yun Yang that such a city, still in the feudal cold-weapons era, would have a food market. Shouldn’t people be struggling just to eat? At least, that’s what he thought.

Following Kaisa into the market, Yun Yang was amazed—almost every type of snack he could imagine was here, though the ingredients differed from Earth. Still, most looked about the same.

Walking ahead, Kaisa remarked, “As expected of the capital of the planet’s most powerful empire. You can find forty percent of the planet’s delicacies here. We came to the right place.”

Yun Yang was left speechless. For a single street to offer forty percent of a planet’s cuisine—that was no small feat. Clearly, this was exactly where they needed to be.