Chapter 403: Preparing to Leave and Making Trouble

Hearing these words, Azkana frowned slightly and said, "Let him leave the Central Star System now?"

He seemed somewhat unwilling. It appeared that this "not far off" was much closer than I had imagined; in that case, I really need to run away quickly.

Li Yu pondered inwardly but maintained his indifferent tone: "Rest assured, everything is under my control."

Control his ass. Li Yu only knew the general gist of things right now, but that didn't prevent him from conning this Excellency.

Azkana was slightly displeased, but since the two had just reached an intent to cooperate, he couldn't say much.

Hmph, when your identity is exposed, don't blame me for being ruthless!

"Fine, then let's leave it at that..." Azkana's figure began to dissipate. Just at the very last moment, he suddenly spoke up: "Viapos?"

Li Yu looked blank, then looked at Azkana with a half-smile.

Azkana was actually trying to trick him. He didn't know which Councilor's true name this "Viapos" belonged to, but Li Yu secretly committed it to memory.

He knew that Digor's death would likely cause a massive uproar, but he hadn't expected this storm to arrive far sooner than he imagined.

"I'll take my people and leave first..." Li Yu thought to himself. With his current status, his every move received widespread attention, so he couldn't leave as he pleased.

However, he happened to have an excuse to leave the Central Star System—heading to No Man's Land to serve as the Commander of the Black Pupil Fleet.

Moreover, now that he had conned Azkana into helping him, No Man's Land couldn't be considered a dangerous place either.

It was also a good opportunity to investigate Gensokyo; that thing was pretty good too.

While thinking, he arrived at the large experimental Base where Peyton was. Compared to its initial desolation, it was much livelier now.

There were Researchers hurrying about everywhere, individuals who had formerly belonged to Gust's Laboratory.

In a certain laboratory, a Metal Pendant was stored within a transparent glass enclosure. It contained a Stellar Core Fragment, which, after being processed by Peyton, released its radiation much faster.

Upon taking it, Li Yu immediately felt a warm sensation flooding his body.

During this period, whenever he had free time, he persisted in using the Mental Tempering Device and had already pushed his Gene Chain Development Progress to around 7%.

If he added this small device, the progression speed should accelerate once again.

"It's time to plan for the next stage of the Gene Chain..." Li Yu pondered to himself, but he generally didn't have a very good direction.

Peyton was busy with his own tasks. Li Yu looked around and asked in a low voice, "Can this experimental Base be packed up and taken away?"

Peyton's movements paused slightly. He turned his head to look at Li Yu, a hint of doubt in his eyes, and said in a plain tone, "Yes. It's nothing more than some technological equipment. As long as the Space Compression Devices are large enough and numerous enough, it can absolutely be packed up and taken away."

"However, if you want to empty this place, you should first consider how to handle Return Star's accountability."

Packing up the entire experimental Base wasn't difficult; the difficulty lay in how to deal with Return Star.

If it were before, Li Yu wouldn't have had this thought. After all, the usage rights for this experimental Base still lasted for many years.

However, today he had learned explosive news from Azkana.

It wouldn't be long before Return Star ushered in a huge storm. Whether they could survive it was still uncertain.

If they survived it, the worst Li Yu would have to do was apologize and return the items, and everyone would laugh it off.

If they didn't survive it, then when the time came, probably no one would care about the few things he took away.

Li Yu didn't say much to Peyton; this wasn't a matter that could be clearly explained in a few words.

Taking Hunter and the others away shouldn't be difficult, but Klein was a bit troublesome...

Li Yu considered this inwardly. This place was very likely to become a battlefield; naturally, he wouldn't leave Hunter and his group behind.

Aside from Hunter and the others, the only one who made Li Yu give it some thought was Klein.

But her status was even more special. Taking her away wasn't a matter of a single sentence, and how to explain it to her was also a problem.

But on second thought, Li Yu realized he seemed to be thinking of Return Star as too incompetent. They were a top-tier civilization after all; how could they be completely powerless to resist?

"Let's take it one step at a time. It's never wrong to prepare for a rainy day."

...

In the Central Star System, on a certain satellite, Elton was currently in a completely secret room. His brows were tightly knitted, seemingly pondering some question. All his electronic devices had been confiscated.

He was waiting for the results of his gene verification.

Ever since he was inexplicably knocked unconscious last time, he often fell into a trance-like state and would even lose a few seconds of memory.

He didn't know what had happened. This made him feel that something was wrong, yet he couldn't find the source of the anomaly.

And the most outrageous thing was that he found he had actually awakened some kind of Superpower. It was similar to Telekinesis, but even more formidable.

The concept of a blessing in disguise had crossed his mind more than once.

And he completely failed to connect his newly awakened ability with the incident of being knocked out previously.

Because it was impossible that the other party had knocked him out merely to give him an awakened ability, right? Who would believe that if he said it out loud?

Outside the room, Titus looked at the silent Elton while a Subordinate reported in a low voice: "Your Highness, according to the gene comparison results, his identity can be confirmed."

This result was within his expectations. He had already met with Elton beforehand and could essentially confirm that the other party was the former Commander of the Meteor Fleet.

Conducting the gene comparison was only to convince others.

"Keep an eye on him. I'm going to see General Aethel..." Titus then turned and left the area.

...

Seven days later...

During this period, Li Yu had already handled most matters. Both the experimental Base and his own Base had completed their packing work.

Since his subordinates were all absolutely loyal Zealots, outsiders had absolutely no way of knowing what he was doing.

And on this day, Li Yu once again received a meeting summons. However, what arrived this time wasn't bad news, but good news—

Although the Four-Armed Titan Fleet had arrived in No Man's Land, the Radiant Council had dispatched troops as reinforcements and simultaneously cooperated with Horus, unexpectedly resulting in a stalemate.

"Calculating the time, it should be about right..." Li Yu pondered. The timing of this meeting was perfect.

Elton had long fallen into Titus's hands, and Li Yu occasionally descended into Elton's body via Primal Force Projection.

During this period, Titus should have already made his preparations.

It was still that same meeting hall. Numerous High Echelon officials were gathered together. Vimala had arrived early, and she was in a very good mood.

Although the battle situation had deteriorated rapidly previously due to Yodel's inexplicable attack on Horus, forcing them to dispatch reinforcements early.

She hadn't expected that after the Four-Armed Titan Legion arrived, the Radiant Council would choose to cooperate with Return Star, leading to the situation where they originally thought they could only retreat not happening.

Now, it was instead a stalemate, and they vaguely held the advantage.

Although the development process was vastly different from what Vimala had envisioned, the final result was very good.

It was just that... Titus's movements had been quite frequent lately. She didn't know what he was plotting again.

Thinking of this, her good mood largely dissipated.

As soon as Li Yu appeared, he keenly realized the atmosphere wasn't quite right. Several High Echelon officials were secretly casting measuring glances his way.

Aethel, in particular, stared directly at Li Yu, his gaze containing many inexplicable meanings.

The suddenly changed atmosphere in the meeting hall caught Vimala's attention, giving her a bad premonition.

Waiting for everyone to arrive, although Vimala's heart was full of doubts, she suppressed them and began the meeting.

The first half of the meeting was lackluster, basically just Horus's battle reports from this period.

Only when unexpected events occurred would battle reports be paid attention to, such as when Horus was suddenly attacked last time.

Otherwise, under other circumstances, everyone just wanted to know the results.

And the portion of people who knew a major event was about to occur were even more impatient for the battle report summary section to pass quickly.

"...That's all for the situation in No Man's Land for now. At the same time, the Spirit Civilization has agreed to issue a joint suppression order against the White Uprising Army." Vimala frowned slightly, attempting to end this meeting directly:

"The main topic of today's meeting concludes here."

However, how could Titus, who had prepared for a long time, let this excellent opportunity slip by? His eyes flashed slightly.

Someone immediately stood up and said loudly, "Queen Vimala, please do not end the meeting just yet. There is still a major matter that needs to be discussed."

"Archon Jose, what major matter?" Vimala's gaze solidified slightly. He was someone from Titus's faction.

Jose was full of confidence as he said loudly, "It concerns an old case—the Ordos Incident. This event involved five A-Tier Lifeforms and a Titan Ruin."

"The Ordos Incident?"

"Is that the incident that resulted in Elton's death?"

"That's right. Such a severe incident hasn't happened within our borders for a very long time."

"..."

Whispering voices immediately erupted within the hall.

"In this incident, Commander Elton sacrificed himself heroically, and the Apostle vanished without a trace. It was a rare, high-risk event that occurred within our borders," Jose continued.

"Yet the true protagonist only appeared in an inconspicuous corner of the battle report."

Dense text floated up on the Holographic Screen. It was precisely the battle report of the Ordos Incident.

In the middle section, Jose circled a sentence—

"...Due to the combat level being too high, His Excellency Li Yu stayed far away from the battlefield to take refuge..."

Instantly, a large number of gazes converged on Li Yu. So it was aimed at Li Yu.

Li Yu's expression was calm. He had long anticipated this and quietly waited for the other party's performance.

Vimala frowned, the bad premonition in her heart growing stronger and stronger. Actually, part of the cause of this incident was because she wanted to kill Li Yu.

It was just that the subsequent situation had exceeded her control.

Considering these things, she said coldly, "Archon Jose, what exactly are you trying to express?"

Jose sneered at Li Yu. "I want to say that Commander Elton didn't die! Even... he was imprisoned by Duke Li Yu to conceal the truth of what happened back then!"

"What!?"

"Elton isn't dead!?"

"The truth? What truth?"

"..."

As soon as these words were spoken, many High Echelon figures in the hall wore dumbfounded expressions. There was too much information; they needed time to digest it.

Alexei, sitting in the corner, blinked his eyes, quickly sorting out the context and vaguely making some guesses.

To think there was such a good show today. As expected of Big Brother, a one-hit kill...

He revealed a gloating smile, but looking at the still-indifferent Li Yu, he suddenly felt that this matter wouldn't be so simple.

And facing these two sentences, Li Yu only had one phrase: "Absolute nonsense."

"Duke Li Yu, don't be so quick to deny it. It won't be good if you get slapped in the face later." Jose held the winning ticket as he looked around:

"I know this matter is too bizarre, and everyone probably doesn't quite believe it, so I have a video here."

He waved his hand again. On the Holographic Screen, Elton's figure suddenly appeared and began to speak: "...Everyone, I am Elton. You all probably thought I was dead, right..."

Many High Echelon officials looked at each other in dismay. Elton really didn't die? Damn... they were really seeing a huge drama unfold today.

"..."

As Elton recounted his story, everyone's expressions changed constantly, especially when he spoke of Li Yu crushing the other four A-Tier Lifeforms.

Someone even couldn't help but exclaim, "How is that possible? Baron Li Yu should have only been a B-Tier Lifeform back then."

Even though the overall content was extremely unfavorable to Li Yu, everyone was still astonished by his combat power.

There was no battle recording of everything that happened back then, but Elton's eloquence was quite good, and he described it vividly. Perhaps he had already fantasized about this scene countless times.

"...He captured me and imprisoned me together with his Guard Corps. It wasn't until a month ago that I managed to escape..."

After Elton finished speaking, the meeting hall sank into a deathly silence.

Hiding an Apostle and illegally detaining a High Echelon commander of Return Star were not ordinary criminal charges. In severe cases, it could even be called betraying civilization.

"Therefore, I demand to restart the investigation into the Ordos Incident," Jose said in a deep voice.

It was impossible to directly execute Li Yu right now. They had to follow procedures: establish a special investigation team, gather evidence, submit it to the Supreme Court, and only then could he be judged.

Even if beaten to death, Vimala would never have imagined that while she was being driven crazy by the battle situation in No Man's Land, such a thing would turn around and happen on the other side.

Klein's large eyes were filled with worry. As for whether the matter was true or not, she didn't care much about that.

"Duke Li Yu, do you have anything you want to say?" Vimala looked at the unperturbed Li Yu, getting angry out of nowhere.

Couldn't you have been cleaner with your actions? What were you doing locking Elton up? Wouldn't it have been better to just kill him?

Although she didn't know what exactly happened back then, the Ordos Incident was indeed full of suspicious points, so she believed that what Elton said was true.

"No..." Li Yu shook his head and said with a slight sneer, "Asking me to explain based merely on a single video? Then isn't my status as a Duke a bit too cheap?"

That's right. What Jose played was merely a video recording, not even a live broadcast.

A portion of the High Echelon nodded upon hearing this. That was indeed the case. Trying to accuse Li Yu based solely on a single video was thinking too simply.

Plenty of their own dark secrets were flying all over the Interstellar Network, yet weren't they still doing fine right now?

"I knew you'd say that..." Jose sneered. They had Elton in their grasp but didn't want to use him directly right away.

Instead, they wanted to gnaw away at Li Yu's psychological defenses step by step. It seemed this Duke's psychological defenses were far stronger than he had imagined.

Even better. The stronger he is now, the harder he will collapse later.

Titus, however, looked at Li Yu's calm eyes and vaguely sensed a trace of something unusual.

Li Yu definitely knew that Elton had escaped. Since that was the case, seeing Elton now falling into his hands, wasn't he nervous at all?

Jose continued, "Everyone, several days ago, His Excellency Elton found... me. And after I learned the truth of the matter, I conducted a series of verifications under the witness of General Aethel."

He then posted a series of test certificates.

They found the real Elton!?

Many people's expressions changed slightly. This was truly sufficient preparation, provided it proved the other party was indeed Elton.

This accusation would probably be confirmed, thereby initiating a special investigation.

Seeing everyone's gazes converging on him, Aethel nodded and said, "That's right, Elton's identity can be verified."

General Aethel's confirmation, coupled with the numerous test certificates, caused the atmosphere in the entire meeting hall to become eerie once again.

Having the real person but choosing to play a video first, deliberately making Li Yu deny it initially—this was a resolute intention to slap Li Yu's face until it swelled. What a black heart.

Such a sentence surfaced in the minds of many High Echelon officials.

The corners of Jose's mouth curled up, and Elton's holographic projection surfaced in the center of the hall.

He looked slightly agitated as he scanned the numerous High Echelon officials, as well as Li Yu, whom he remembered most deeply.

Vimala took a deep breath, ignoring Klein's pleading gaze. Li Yu hadn't done things perfectly himself; there was no way for her to cover for him in this kind of situation.

What a good Pawn, what a pity...

She looked at Elton with an icy expression. "Elton, are the accusations against Duke Li Yu in the video just now true?"

Elton didn't know how long he had waited for this sentence. He calmed his mood. Just as he was about to speak, his eyes suddenly flickered slightly, and only then did he shake his head and say:

"What accusations? I don't know..."

As soon as these words came out, an uproar swept through the hall. Many High Echelon officials widened their eyes.

Damn... there's another twist!?

Today's meeting was not in vain!

Jose's smug expression froze on his face. Titus's expression abruptly sank. Alexei's breathing stalled slightly, but in the next moment, his smile grew even more radiant.

The light of hope bloomed in Klein's beautiful eyes, while Vimala frowned slightly.

And a smile appeared on Li Yu's calm face.

(End of this chapter)