Lin Mo met Su Xiji’s gaze, suppressing the turbulent waves in his heart and forcing himself to calm down.
He knew that any panic or fear was meaningless at this moment.
Lin Mo took a deep breath.
Facing the other man’s sharp eyes, he asked each word clearly and powerfully, “Commander Su, I only want to ask one thing… Have you betrayed Huafu?”
“Have you… betrayed the people who gave you their duty and trust?”
“And have you betrayed the land beneath our feet, even — even — our identity as humans, our race?!”
His voice echoed in the silent limestone cave, carrying the unmarred edge and interrogation unique to the youth.
This question struck at the very core, representing the greatest doubt and anger in the hearts of Gao Yuan, Du Qiang, and all the soldiers who might still be resisting.
Su Xiji listened quietly to Lin Mo’s questioning.
No flash of offense or anger appeared on his face, nor was there any agitated urge to defend himself.
His eyes did not fluctuate much, remaining as calm as a deep pool, though a trace of extremely complex and indecipherable emotion seemed to flicker in their depths.
He did not answer “yes” or “no” directly.
He remained silent for a few seconds.
Then, in a tone that was almost a sigh — carrying an unspeakable weight and a sense of detachment — he slowly said, “Betrayal… ha.”
Su Xiji shook his head slightly.
“Young man, you see too little, and you understand too little.”
“Some choices are not simple matters of black and white, right or wrong.”
“Some paths are taken not because of how right they are, but because… they are the best choice.”
Having said this, Su Xiji paused.
His gaze seemed to penetrate the rock walls of the cave, seeing the battlefield outside being submerged by the tide of Shi Bian Ti, seeing a more distant and unknown picture.
“You don’t understand.”
His tone was decisive, as if this were the full explanation and the final answer.
‘I don’t understand?’ Lin Mo pressed on.
He needed an answer; he needed to pry open this seemingly indestructible mystery.
“Then please tell me, why did you abandon the defense line?”
“Why did you control or even purge the internal ranks?”
“What exactly is your relationship with those Abnormal Beings outside?”
He threw out a series of questions, attempting to seize any possible breakthrough.
However, Su Xiji seemed to have lost interest in the conversation.
He waved his hand as if shooing away an annoying fly.
“Take them down,” he commanded the surrounding soldiers and officers.
“Keep them under strict supervision, especially…”
Su Xiche’s gaze fell on Lin Mo again, and he added a specific instruction in a subtle tone, “Have the military doctor give Captain Zhu a proper checkup and treat the injury on his arm. Use the reserved specialized medicine; don’t let there be any lasting effects.”
This command caused Lin Mo to start slightly.
Was Su Xiche… concerned about his injury?
At a moment of life-and-death opposition?
Before he could think further, two field grade officers with heavy auras — clearly Oracles — stepped out from the crowd and approached Lin Mo from both sides.
Their movements were swift and professional.
In an instant, they locked Lin Mo’s arm joints and shoulders.
A gentle but resilient Oracle power flooded in, skillfully suppressing the residual power in his body and making it difficult for him to resist.
At the same time, other soldiers stepped forward, confiscated any weapons Gao Yuan and Du Qiang might have been hiding, and bound their wrists with specialized restraint straps.
“Take them away!” the officer said coldly.
Lin Mo wanted to say more, trying to see more clues from Su Xiji’s calm, expressionless face, but he was already being forced toward the cave exit by the two Oracle officers.
Gao Yuan and Du Qiang were also pushed along by the soldiers.
Su Xiji did not look at him again.
He had already turned back toward the giant sand table, his silhouette upright and lonely, as if everything that had just happened had never occurred.
The heavy explosion-proof door of the cave slowly closed behind them, cutting off the last bit of light and that mysterious man.
….
The temporary detention area, deeper within the underground city.
A squad of soldiers escorted the three of them, marching silently through a dimly lit and heavily guarded passage.
On both sides of the passage were individual cells sealed with thick steel bars and heavy alloy doors.
Some seemed to hold people, as suppressed coughing or slight movements could be heard, but most were empty, radiating a cold and gloomy aura.
Gao Yuan and Du Qiang had dark expressions, their minds heavy with worry.
Su Xiche’s attitude and final words had not resolved the mystery.
Instead, they made everything more blurred and… ominous.
His phrases ‘You don’t understand’ and ‘no other choice’ weighed on Lin Mo’s heart like two heavy stones.
Lin Mo forced himself to break free from the shock and sense of frustration.
As he was being escorted, he unobtrusively observed his surroundings: the structure of the passage, the distribution of guards, possible surveillance points, the location of ventilation ducts, the material of the walls, and the types of door locks… He quickly memorized every detail.
He was looking for a flaw, searching for a possible opportunity.
Su Xiji’s ambush was perfect, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have a single chance at life.
The fact that the other party didn’t kill them on the spot but detained them instead suggested they might still have some value, or that Su Xiche had other plans.
But those things weren’t important.
What mattered was — Su Xiji hadn’t dealt a killing blow, which gave them time and room to maneuver.
Lin Mo’s gaze swept over the officer leading the way and the soldiers on both sides, evaluating their level of alertness and combat strength.
The two Oracle officers escorting him were not weak, but they weren’t without flaws…
Just as his brain was racing, thinking of various possible escape plans…
A extremely fine, almost imperceptible strand of hair drifted down from a gap in the ventilation duct above.
It brushed past the tip of his nose and landed silently on the ground in front of his feet.
Lin Mo’s breath suddenly hitched!
His pupils contracted slightly, and his gaze fixed on that strand of hair that was nearly invisible in the dim light.
His heart felt as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer!
‘Could it be…?’
An unbelievable yet perfectly fitting guess sliced through the fog in his mind like lightning.
‘Is it… her?!’
Just then, they were escorted to a specially reinforced cell at the deepest part of the detention area.
The leading officer signaled the soldiers to open the heavy alloy door.
“Get in!” a soldier shoved them.
The two Oracle officers also slightly loosened their grip on Lin Mo, preparing to push him into the cell.
Now!
A sharp light burst from Lin Mo’s eyes!
Without the slightest hesitation, his body suddenly dropped low.
His arms slipped from the two officers’ grasp like loaches at an incredible angle!
At the same time, the Oracle power that had been suppressed but not fully dissipated erupted like a dormant volcano.
Though the amount wasn’t much, it was enough to condense in his feet!
Lin Mo gave a low shout and stomped the ground hard!
Crack!
With his feet as the center, a layer of hard, slippery ice instantly spread, covering a small area at the doorway!
The two Oracle officers reacted extremely quickly, but in the moment their feet slipped and they lost their balance, their movements were still half a beat slow!
Almost at the same moment…
The grate cover of a ventilation duct directly above the cell was violently blown off from the inside by a massive force!
A figure descended from the ceiling amidst splashing dust and metal fragments!
The position where this figure landed was exactly between the two Oracle officers who were unstable due to the ice!
The figure didn’t waste any words.
Upon landing, both hands shot out.
One hand turned into a palm blade and struck the left officer’s carotid artery, while the other elbow hit the right officer’s ribs like a heavy hammer!
The movements were clean, ruthless, and precise, carrying the texture of a thousand-times-refined practical combat without any unnecessary flair!
Under the unexpected pincer attack, the two capable Oracle officers didn’t even have time to fully mobilize their Oracles before they let out muffled groans.
Their vision went black, and they slumped to the ground, instantly losing their combat effectiveness!
All of this happened in less than three seconds!
It was so fast that the ordinary soldiers nearby couldn’t react at all; the expressions of surprise had only just begun to surface on their faces.
The sudden figure succeeded in one strike and did not stop.
Her body moved like a ghost, pouncing toward the two nearest armed soldiers.
Punches, kicks, elbows, and knees… every part of her body turned into a lethal weapon.
Combined with the subtle interference of her Oracle power, those elite soldiers were knocked down and disarmed as easily as scarecrows!
Lin Mo wasn’t idle either.
After creating the ice interference, he immediately pounced on the soldiers on the other side.
Using a combination of strikes and the local low-temperature deceleration effect created by his Oracle power, he neutralized their threat at maximum speed.
Gao Yuan and Du Qiang, though lacking in power, still had their combat instincts.
They fought hard, using their bodies to collide and their feet to kick, interfering with the soldiers’ aiming and formation.
Ten seconds!
From the breaking of the ventilation duct to the last soldier being knocked out by Lin Mo’s hand-blade, the entire process took no more than ten seconds!
This escort squad, composed of two Oracle officers and eight elite soldiers, was completely defeated by the unexpected and perfect sneak attack.
They lay scattered in front of the cell door, having temporarily lost consciousness.
Silence instantly returned to the passage, save for the low hum of the ventilation system and the slightly rapid breathing of the group.
The dust slowly settled.
Lin Mo and the figure who had descended from above — now with her back to him as she quickly checked if the fallen soldiers were completely unconscious — turned around almost at the same time, as if by telepathy, and looked at each other.
Their gazes met in the air.
There were no pre-arranged signals or redundant verbal communication.
But at the moment their eyes met, a sense of familiarity and unspoken understanding, cultivated from countless battles fought side-by-side and life-and-death experiences, surged forth, confirming everything.
The corners of their tense mouths curled up unconsciously into a smile — a curve of relief, endless emotion, and joy that appeared on both their faces simultaneously.
Almost at the same time, they spoke.
Their voices were soft, yet they reached each other’s ears clearly.
“Senior.”
“Lin Mo.”