Chapter 189: Internal Strife in the Guard Corps

The surrounding Blazing Eye clansmen looked at each other in dismay, struggling to keep up with Colin's pace. Were they going to fight or not?

Cassili raised his hand high and made a specific gesture. The originally tense Blazing Eye clansmen immediately relaxed and went about packing up their belongings.

"To think that the Venerable God of the Underworld is actually in your hands. This is our hope," Colin said, somewhat agitated.

That green bead truly held an incredibly high status among the Blazing Eye Race. Li Yu could tell that Colin's excitement was not because he had confirmed Mo Duo's identity, but because he had seen the green bead again.

In other words, whether Mo Duo was the Princess or not did not matter, nor did it even matter if she was a member of the Blazing Eye Race. What he respected was that green bead.

But thinking about it, it made sense. Mo Duo's father had been dead for a very long time. Many of the younger generation had never even seen that supposed leader of the Blazing Eye Race. Expecting Mo Duo to return and have everyone immediately rally behind her was indeed a bit unrealistic.

"Where is the Guard Corps?" Mo Duo repeated her question. Years of wandering through interstellar space had helped her see many things clearly.

She did not believe that her identity as a princess would be of much use; in fact, the dangers it brought far outweighed the benefits.

Saving the entire Blazing Eye Race would be a long and arduous task. She could not just raise her arms and call for the entire race to rebel. If she did, probably no one would pay her any attention.

"The location of the Guard Corps..." Colin hesitated slightly as he swept his blind gaze over Li Yu and the others before slowly speaking. "There should be a branch near North Bay."

"Should be?" Mo Duo was a little confused by the uncertainty in Colin's tone.

"We don't have any way to contact each other. I only deduced it," Colin said, shaking his head with a bitter smile. Although he was once an esteemed one among the thirteen Blazing Eye Priests, he was now just a blind old man who didn't know much.

"Alright then," Mo Duo said. Although she was a bit disappointed, she had at least gotten a general location and would not have to wander around blindly.

She immediately prepared to leave and head to North Bay. Even though this group of Blazing Eye Remnants was pitiful, it would be difficult for her to change anything all by herself.

Only by changing the status of all the Blazing Eye Remnants could she save them.

"Wait, Princess Imperial," Colin tremblingly walked up, seemingly wanting to say something. His hollow eyes gave off an intense feeling of being watched.

"Please be careful," he implored.

Mo Duo nodded slightly. The Blazing Eye Remnants looked at her eagerly, not knowing exactly what Mo Duo could bring them.

Yet, hope involuntarily rose in their hearts. It had been far too long since they had felt anything akin to hope.

"By the way, do you know the background of those people impersonating the princess?" Li Yu asked, as if suddenly remembering something.

"Those people," a look of fury appeared on Colin's aged face as he gritted his teeth and spoke with deep hatred. "Those are Traitors!"

"They are the Traitors of the Blazing Eye Race!"

The Blazing Eye Race also had Traitors. When the Morgan Family made their move against Blazing Eye Star, they were the first batch of lackeys to surrender to the Morgan Family, allowing them to survive and act tyrannically.

According to Colin, many of those people were once highly powerful individuals, even including Blazing Eye Priests, and they knew many secrets of the Blazing Eye Race.

Because of this, they continuously sent people to impersonate Mo Duo in order to snatch up profits.

Li Yu pondered for a moment. So they were Traitors. That wasn't too bad.

He had thought they were from the Morgan Family. If they had been from the Morgan Family, things would have been troublesome.

In reality, members of the Morgan Family had not appeared on Blazing Eye Star for a very long time. All their attention was focused on the Underworld God Pearl.

......

This was a land with extremely high radiation levels. The environment was desolate and decaying, with a thick grayish-white haze seeming to fill every inch of space.

The blue sky was covered by a layer of gloom, and a thick layer of white ash accumulated on the ground. As far as the eye could see, there was not a single speck of green, utterly devoid of life.

At this moment, several narrow Shuttle-shaped Spaceships rested quietly in the area. A group of Blazing Eye clansmen clad in Interstellar Armor was tinkering with peculiar instruments.

This squad's mission was infiltration and surveillance; they did not need to engage in combat. These spaceships remained in a constant state of stealth, blocking out various scanning devices.

They shared their monitoring feeds with the space fleet, closely watching every movement on Blazing Eye Star.

Almost all the activity traces of the Blazing Eye Remnants could hardly escape their eyes, but they couldn't be bothered to pay attention to them.

They only had one goal, and that was to monitor the Guard Corps. There was no need to take action; they only needed to keep watch from the shadows.

......

The spaceship clanked and sputtered out black smoke. It had not been left in the desert for long, but many sand particles had seeped into the thrusters, causing it to run extremely sluggishly, even posing a risk of explosion.

Amidst Li Yu's muttering curses, the spaceship barely managed a stable liftoff and headed toward the southeast at an incredibly fast speed.

North Bay was a great bay that used to exist on Blazing Eye Star. According to Mo Duo, when viewed from above, North Bay looked like a crescent moon, and its waters were cyan. The ebbing and flowing of the tides had once been extraordinarily magnificent.

Even though this spaceship was dilapidated, it was still capable of interstellar navigation. Its speed barely passed the mark, and it didn't take long before they arrived near the so-called North Bay.

The dried-up sandy ground showed not the slightest trace of having ever been covered by seawater. The broken coastline was littered with deep craters blasted out by projectiles, and there were no signs of any living creatures surviving on the desolate Gobi Desert.

Although she had prepared herself mentally, a layer of gloom still cast over Mo Duo's already complicated heart.

The spaceship's built-in scanner swept over the area time and time again but found no traces of biological life.

"Let's go down and take a look," Mo Duo whispered. Li Yu nodded, and the spaceship soon landed. The temperature here was even hotter.

The atmosphere overhead was riddled with holes, allowing ultraviolet rays to run rampant without obstruction.

Only Li Yu and Mo Duo stepped off the spaceship, their bodies completely covered in the Titan Colonization Armor.

The external temperature had already reached ninety-five degrees Celsius. Ordinary people could not survive here at all. The ecological environment on this planet had been thoroughly destroyed.

The two had not walked far before they discovered metallic wreckage. It looked brand new, and there were also some shell casings nearby.

"These are traces of a recent battle." Li Yu picked up a shell casing and frowned slightly. The surging Mental Power in his mind began to attempt contact with the Spice — his Navigator Talent activated.

Immediately, his vision detached, then slowly advanced along a certain path, stepped into an underground passage, and finally entered a massive karst cave.

A large number of Blazing Eye clansmen clad in worn-out armor were gathered here. They were wiping down their weapons and equipment. The atmosphere was incredibly oppressive, and they did not communicate with one another.

His vision focused on a specific Blazing Eye clansman; the shell casing likely belonged to him.

His vision then snapped back. Li Yu looked at Mo Duo and tossed the shell casing aside. "Found them."

Mo Duo was slightly surprised, but then she thought of Li Yu's various miraculous abilities, making it seem not so surprising after all.

Li Yu did not bring the team along. The Guard Corps was not like the group of old, weak, sick, and disabled individuals from before; they still possessed a combat strength that could not be underestimated.

The combat power of the Esper Group had not yet been fully developed. If any of them were to be lost, he would be extremely heartbroken.

Following the route from his previous vision, the two headed toward the underground karst cave where the Guard Corps was located.

......

Among the Guard Corps, Tim looked around, glanced down at the time, and said in a deep voice, "Three minutes left for the break."

His voice continuously amplified within the spacious karst cave. The Guard Corps members immediately sped up their packing, and quite a few people silently pulled out reddish-brown strips of dried meat and put them in their mouths.

Although the taste was exceptionally awful, it was, after all, one of the very few things that could stave off hunger.

The demographic ratio of the Guard Corps was severely imbalanced. There were no elderly, weak, sick, or disabled, nor were there any children or youths. It consisted basically of weather-beaten older men and a portion of women with resolute expressions.

In other words, they were all an extremely formidable fighting force. The armor on their bodies was crimson red and covered them completely. Even though much of it was worn out, it still retained the majority of its functions.

Tim sat back down on the rock and sighed. "Many Slave Traders have come here recently. Dealing with them is going to be very troublesome."

Hearing his words, Tuya, who was beside him, frowned slightly. Though a woman, her appearance was quite androgynous, and her voice was raspy, seemingly having suffered some kind of trauma.

"Dealing with Slave Traders is not our duty."

"If we don't deal with them, many of our tribesmen will be captured," another person frowned upon hearing this.

"Simon, need I remind you? That is not our duty." Tuya cast a cold, indifferent look at Simon.

Simon immediately snorted coldly. "It's exactly because of your attitude that those tribesmen look at us the way they do now, you know?"

Tuya's emotions remained unruffled. "How they view us has nothing to do with us."

"We only need to properly fulfill our duty."

"Our duty!?" Simon flared up. "Just because of His Majesty's dying command, we've held our ground for ten years without any hope whatsoever?"

"Back then, each of the Guard Corps captains led nearly ten thousand guards. Now, combined, there aren't even a thousand of us left! Do you have any idea how many of our tribesmen have died!?"

The surrounding Guard Corps members showed no surprise. Clearly, they were thoroughly accustomed to such arguments.

They were not the original commanders of the Guard Corps; the leadership had already cycled through several generations.

"So what?" Tuya's apathetic voice caused Simon's face to flush red. It was like this every single time!

Tim felt a headache coming on. Helplessly, he stood up, pulled Simon aside, and whispered, "Stop talking. The squad members are all watching."

"Tim, you fucking take her side every single time! Why don't you tell her to shut up? Isn't it just because you two are old flames!?" Simon berated angrily, feeling extremely displeased.

The corner of Tim's eye twitched. That was because Simon was the one who flew into a violent rage every time, whereas Tuya remained as indifferent as a block of ice. How was he supposed to persuade her?

Yet, he couldn't afford to get angry. If he also joined the argument, the three of them would part ways sooner or later.

Tim said helplessly, "Both of you, say a few words less. We've dealt with quite a few Slave Traders recently, and didn't Tuya refrain from stopping us?"

Still grumbling with indignation, Simon gave a cold snort and walked elsewhere, not wanting to look at the two of them.

Right at that moment, the expressions of several Guard Corps members shifted slightly. They swiped at the instruments in their hands, exchanged a few words in low voices, and then one of them stood up and reported, "Commander Tim, two unidentified life forms have been detected approaching our location."

As soon as those words were spoken, the expressions of Tim and the other two changed slightly. He stood up immediately and made a few hand signals. Every member of the Guard Corps sprang into action without making a single sound.

They wielded melee weapons, predominantly Red Metal Spears. Those spears shimmered with a faint light, clearly showing they were no ordinary weapons.

Working with a deep tacit understanding, they moved in perfect unison. With extreme speed, they found cover behind the rocks, staring vigilantly in the direction of the entrance.

"Everyone, please don't attack. I discovered your scanners earlier and intentionally didn't destroy them just so you would have time to prepare."

Before anyone was seen, the voice drifted in first. Tim, Tuya, and Simon exchanged glances. Their long-standing tacit understanding allowed them to instantly grasp each other's intentions, and they all nodded.

Tim tapped his arm a few times, bringing up his Armor AI. He issued several commands, and the hidden Guard Corps soldiers immediately altered their defensive formation.

A moment later, two figures slowly walked out from the entrance. The karst cave appeared to be completely empty.

Li Yu looked at the dense cluster of red dots displayed on his Combat System, paying them no mind.

"Who are you?" The emptiness of the karst cave made it almost impossible to discern the direction of the voice.

The armor covering Mo Duo's head retracted, revealing her crimson eyes. However, merely being a member of the Blazing Eye Race was not enough to make the Guard Corps lower their guard.

Immediately after, the image of a green bead projected from the space between her eyebrows. As the commanders of the Guard Corps, the three naturally knew what that green bead was.

"The Sacred Relic!" Tuya's pupils shrank, followed immediately by wild joy. She was about to jump out right then and there, but Tim pulled her back firmly.

"Have you forgotten how Simon's men were wiped out!?" Tim scolded.

Simon's expression was moody and unpredictable. Since the fall of Blazing Eye Star, this wasn't the first time he had seen the Underworld God Pearl.

Last time, he had been just as ecstatic as Tuya, but the consequence was that his squad had been nearly wiped out entirely.

"Do you really think you can trap us a second time using the exact same method!? The Sacred Relic has already been defiled by you people; the Underworld God has become a Fallen One!" Simon roared, clenching his fists tightly.

Hearing this, Li Yu was instantly rendered speechless. The reason Mo Duo had shown the bead first was that she knew her identity as a princess alone would never be enough to earn the Guard Corps' trust.

But who would have thought that even showing the bead was completely useless now?

Fallen One... He heard this name once again. He had heard it from Colin previously; it likely referred to the green bead that had fallen into the hands of the Morgan Family.

Likewise, the Underworld God Pearl once again projected into the minds of the three, seemingly as a way to prove that it wasn't the Fallen One.

However, compared to Colin, the reaction of the Guard Corps was not so extreme as to have them bowing in submission. Only one woman reacted quite intensely.

"It's the true Sacred Relic! There is still hope for the Blazing Eye Race!" Tuya said with a tremble.

Tim and Simon merely looked a little astonished. They exchanged a glance but said nothing.

"I am the daughter of Ankebolun," Mo Duo finally revealed her identity.

Yet, Mo Duo's identity surprised them even less. Instead, their reaction was somewhat dull.

At the same time, only Tuya stepped forward in sheer excitement, her eyes turning red and her voice raspy. "Is it really you? Princess Imperial..."

"You are... Auntie Tuya!?" Mo Duo's eyes widened in matching excitement.

"It truly is you..." Tuya immediately dropped to one knee and placed Mo Duo's hand on top of her own head in a gesture of absolute loyalty.

Then, she turned her head to look at Simon and Tim. "Why haven't you two come over to swear your allegiance to the Princess Imperial?"

"This..." Tim and Simon looked at each other in dismay, appearing somewhat hesitant.