Chapter 1726 – It’s All a Trap
“More importantly,”
“You said you had a way to save my son, so I handed over that useless pastry to you, but you turned around and used it to build a blade. Now look, Jiang Xiaojia is actually suspicious about the child inside the God-slaying Blade… Did I owe you two in my past life?”
The other party replied, “She knows her limits.”
Oh.
What a concise speaker!
“I certainly know she has her limits; after all, she’s half my apprentice. That’s far better than you, the so-called ancestor and adoptive father, who has done nothing but betray her over the years. I suspect Jiang Xiaojia already knows where the Heavenly Brain’s main body is. You might as well go yourself and retrieve that thing to spare Xiaojia the risk. After all, she is the last precious gem of your Jiang clan… it would be a shame if she died.”
“She can handle it.”
The implication was clear: if she can’t even deal with this, how does she expect to ascend to the rank of Marshal?
Hah, better wash up and get some sleep instead of daydreaming.
The Old Commander sighed, once again pitying Jiang Pengji for running into an unreliable cold-hearted ancestor.
“I have another question.”
“Ask.”
The Old Commander tossed away his cigarette butt and pulled out another to stick between his lips.
She wasn’t particularly fond of the taste of tobacco, but whenever she felt annoyed, she would smoke a couple of sticks. Back when she was a legion leader, during times of war stress, she could privately smoke through several packs in a day. After retiring, she gradually quit, but she was still a senior chain smoker.
“Is there anything special about that dimensional space?”
Though her contact was limited, the Old Commander knew this “ancestor of the Jiang clan” had deep roots and extraordinary abilities. If she really tried, she could duel and escape from the Heavenly Brain. Yet she passed this heavy responsibility onto Jiang Pengji—wasn’t that rather short-sighted?
After thinking it over, the only guess left was that the dimensional space where Jiang Pengji currently resided held a special significance.
That must be why Jiang Pengji twice traversed to achieve dominance in the world.
“Fortune.”
The other party stated frankly, with no intention of hiding anything.
“Fortune? What do you mean?”
After a pause, the other side sent a message.
“The Federation’s fortune has run out.”
Upon reading those six words, the Old Commander’s fingers holding the cigarette trembled, ash falling onto the table without her noticing.
“Impossible!”
How could their fortune possibly be exhausted?
In nearly a century of defensive wars, the Federation had won at least ninety percent, forcefully elevating its status in the interstellar alliance through warfare.
“Today’s prosperity is merely a flicker before the flame goes out.”
In a few years, once fortune is entirely depleted, the Federation will quickly collapse and fracture due to one reason or another.
For instance, a second catastrophe from the Heavenly Brain!
The Old Commander’s hand shook; she took a fierce drag and crushed the remaining cigarette in the ashtray.
The other party sent another message.
“Ajia’s trip to that dimensional space isn’t just to take down the Heavenly Brain; she has another important responsibility: to gather fortune. Although a worldly emperor seems inconsequential now, he is favored by the Way of Heaven. If she succeeds, the imperial fortune bestowed by the dimensional space will be enough to get the Federation through the crisis. Do you understand? Under the watchful eyes of the Way of Heaven, we can’t interfere too much, much less help her directly bear the burden expected of Jiang’s offspring. When we took her in back then, I saw the potential for transformation and vitality in her.”
What used to be succinct has turned into a flood of words… even the cold tone became affectionate.
The Old Commander thought…
The one typing behind the screen had probably changed.
“You’re so full of tricks; the social scene is too much for me.”
Damn!!!
The Old Commander mentally cursed; every time she marveled at the cunning and shrewdness of the old foxes in the Federation, those balding old geezers surprised her again. The fact that they were willing to give Jiang Pengji the opportunity to become a Marshal wasn’t just because she bore the Jiang name or to seize the Heavenly Brain’s supreme authority from the “ancestor of the Jiang clan.” They were also eyeing the imperial aura gathering around Jiang Pengji!
After retiring, the Old Commander had mingled for many years.
Having encountered so much, she understood more and gradually transformed from a staunch believer in science to half a believer in metaphysics.
She certainly knew how vital the “imperial purple aura” was.
The Federation’s ploy of empty-handedly gaining everything was quite the profit.
The Old Commander felt that she had a long way to go before reaching that level of cultivation.
It seemed the person conversing with her had truly changed.
In response to the Old Commander’s complaints, the other person not only didn’t back off or get angry, but also sent a cute smiling face.
“Since the Federation was established, there have been no individuals possessing imperial aura. Xiaojia is a surprise, a glimmer of hope left for the Federation by the Way of Heaven. Some things are not out of hearts of selfishness from us elders; it’s just that everyone has their own destinies and paths in life. Some roads must be walked by her alone. All I and Aruan can do is watch her from behind. She is a child of the Jiang clan, born extraordinary, and won’t be easily defeated.”
After reading this, the Old Commander sighed and overturned her previous conjecture.
She once thought the ancestor of the Jiang clan bore deep-seated grudges against Jiang Pengji and the Federation. Now it seemed, perhaps it was this ancestor who cared too deeply.
“Have you ever said these things to her?”
The other party sent a smiling face.
“Of course not; we can explain it to her later.”
The Old Commander pondered Jiang Pengji’s temper, feeling a wave of melancholy as she typed out her next message.
“You two are going to get beaten up by her.”
It’s definitely going to happen!!!
Jiang Pengji had awakened her ancient powers, and by the time she returned to the Federation, her strength would increase dramatically.
Give her a few years to develop, and even the Old Commander’s peak strength might not hold her down; she might even get countered!
Jiang Pengji had a fiery temper and was genuinely hard to deal with—didn’t these unreliable “ancestors of the Jiang clan” fear being accounted for by their juniors?
The other party sent a cheeky grinning emoticon.
“Xiaojia is just a child.”
The Old Commander weighed the age gap between the two, suddenly at a loss for words.
In the eyes of those old-timers, Jiang Pengji really was just a kid.
It’s like a little child, three to five years old, getting angry and waving their tiny fists to challenge an adult!
“I swear one day I will pass your words on to Jiang Xiaojia.”
The Old Commander pulled out another cigarette.
She genuinely hoped one day to witness the scene where Jiang Pengji learned everything and went to settle accounts with those two old fossils.
“Heh.”
The cool and terse reply made the Old Commander realize the person on the other side had changed again.
Having received what she wanted, she opened the live stream screen once more, watching Jiang Pengji lean over her desk working diligently, her gaze softening slightly.
The frequently mentioned Jiang Pengji let out a loud sneeze, causing the brush in her hand to swipe across the entire sheet of paper, nearly ruining it. She rubbed her nose and couldn’t help tilting her head, propping her cheek with one hand, mumbling, “It must be Zixiao who is missing me.”
The Old Commander: “…”
Just as she finished that thought, footsteps sounded outside.
“My Lord, urgent news has come from the front line at Zhanjiang Pass.”
Jiang Pengji paused her brush.
“What happened over at Wenzheng?”
