I Can Control Resources

"I’m not afraid!" Gao Neng replied directly.

"Not afraid? You little brat, do you have any idea what a military tribunal means?"

"You’re the Military War God anyway. Even if it goes to a military tribunal, you’d still call the shots... Are you really going to let me die?" Gao Neng pouted.

"..." Li Tiannan was stunned for a moment.

’He’s got a point!’

’How could he, Li Tiannan, let his precious apprentice be killed? If that really happened, he might as well give up his title as the Military War God.’

’But the key issue here isn’t whether or not you’re going to be killed, is it?’

"Elder Li, forget about all this for now. That non-human probably hasn’t gotten far. We need to go after her, now!" Sword Elder waved his hand dismissively and prepared to rush upward.

But just then, Gao Neng moved again, blocking Sword Elder and the others. He raised the black longsword in his hand.

"You little brat, are you trying to rebel? Believe it or not, I’ll clean house right now!" Li Tiannan roared when he saw this.

"No, you wouldn’t have the heart to! Besides, she’s not some non-human spy. I can explain everything about her," Gao Neng said, naturally not believing the threat.

"Explain my ass! Get out of my way right now!"

"Once I’m done explaining, I’ll naturally move."

"You little brat, you’re just stalling for time, don’t think I can’t see it. I’ll fucking kill you right now... Hey, don’t hold me back! What are you grabbing me for? I’m going to kill this brat this instant!" Li Tiannan raised his hand, then immediately lowered it. After repeating this two or three times, he remained standing perfectly still.

Watching this scene, Yutian and the others finally understood.

’He’s signaling for us to mediate.’

What else could they do? A Strongest had drawn the line. They had to give him some face, right? You can’t let the performer lose face, can you?

So, Yutian and the others immediately rushed forward.

"Elder Li, don’t be rash!"

"Yes, Elder Li, there must be more to this story!"

"That’s right, didn’t Gao Neng say it himself? He said this non-human isn’t... a spy. I think we should let him explain. He’s just a kid, after all. Are we really going to send him to a military tribunal?"

The group chimed in, trying to persuade him.

"If we don’t send him to a military tribunal, won’t this brat completely run wild? The Military Department has its own discipline! If we don’t make an example of him for acting so recklessly, how will we maintain order?" Li Tiannan shouted sternly.

’How will we maintain order?’ Yutian felt a bitter taste in his mouth. ’So he wants me to take the fall, is that it? If you wanted me to be the scapegoat, Your Excellency, you could have just said so. Why the self-righteous act?’

Yutian was suffering inwardly.

But he wasn’t an idiot.

’At a time like this, if he didn’t take the blame, could he really let Li Tiannan take it himself?’

"Elder Li, how about this? Let’s forget the military tribunal. There’s no need to make such a big fuss. Besides, we have to consider Gao Neng’s future. It’s not right to be so rash before we’ve even gotten to the bottom of things! Right... Speaker Wu is in the Underground City right now! If he presides over this, he’ll be representing the Supreme Council. Even if the Military Department questions it later, we can’t be accused of being unfair!" Yutian immediately suggested.

"Hmph, that little brat is getting off easy!" Li Tiannan waved his hand, signaling that it was an excellent plan.

"So, this non-human who isn’t a spy... are we still going to catch her?" Sword Elder glanced at Li Tiannan, then at Gao Neng, feeling mentally exhausted.

’He felt like he never should have left Forbidden Zone No. 2.’

’The schemes out here...’

’Are too deep!’

"Catch her? Of course, we’ll catch her!" Yutian didn’t give anyone else a chance to speak and immediately took over. "This is the Underground City. There’s only one way out. That non-human can’t escape!"

"Mm, I’ll leave it to you then." Sword Elder nodded and said no more. If Gao Xiaomeng had been right in front of him, he naturally would have acted to capture her.

But she had already gotten far away.

There was no need for him to intervene anymore. After all, a Strongest like him couldn’t be expected to chase a high-rank non-human all over the world. It was best to let Yutian and the others handle it.

Now that a decision had been made,

Li Tiannan didn’t give Gao Neng any more chances to act up.

"Come with me, you brat!" Li Tiannan grabbed Gao Neng and flew up out of the Demon Abyss, though he didn’t increase his speed.

Because, just as Yutian had said...

The Underground City was hard to get into, but even harder to get out of!

...

At the entrance of the Demon Abyss.

A silvery-white cat leaped out from within and sped off into the distance, never pausing for a moment.

The Dragon List Geniuses and adventurer teams watching from the outside didn’t try to stop it either, because they all remembered that this cat was Fang Tangtang and Gao Neng’s pet.

Gao Xiaomeng ran very fast.

She only stopped after running for a full ten minutes without a break.

She slowly looked back, a hint of reluctance in her deep blue eyes. But she quickly concealed this feeling.

Then, her form slowly began to change.

From a cat, she transformed into a woman.

This was a woman in professional attire, with light makeup and a tall figure. If anyone had seen her, they would have gasped in shock.

Because this woman looked exactly like Zhang Hongying.

...

「Fifteen minutes later.」

The guards of the Underground City received a martial law alert.

They were ordered to strictly monitor all departing personnel, with a special focus on young women. A hand-drawn sketch was transmitted shortly after, showing the face of a girl with long, silver hair.

Two hours later, Zhang Hongying appeared before the Underground City guards, personally reiterated the martial law order, and then, after the guards verified her identification card, she left openly.

「Two hours and ten minutes later...」

The footage of Zhang Hongying leaving the Underground City appeared on a screen in a conference room.

Yutian, Wu Qingjing, Zhang Hongying, and seven others, a total of ten people, were seated in the conference room. As they watched the screen, they couldn’t help but steal a few glances at the real Zhang Hongying.

Zhang Hongying, however, remained silent, though her fists were clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white.

"Let’s go, Speaker Wu. Elder Li and Sword Elder are still waiting for us." Yutian looked away, slowly rose, and walked out of the conference room.

"Yes. Hong Ying... this matter has nothing to do with you." Wu Qingjing stood up, gave Zhang Hongying another look, and finally left.

"Why did she have my identification card?" Zhang Hongying pulled out her own ID card. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out what was going on.

...

「Night.」

「City of Hope.」

A silvery-white cat raced across the rooftops, letting out a melodious meow from time to time that caught the attention of the stray cats below.

The strays on the streets began to converge on a factory near the Eastern Capital Military Academy, as if they had received some kind of command.

Two hours later, the silvery-white cat stopped at the entrance of the abandoned factory.

Inside the abandoned factory, more than ten thousand stray cats had already gathered. More importantly, strays were still streaming in from all directions.

The silvery-white cat transformed into its human form.

She was a young woman with long, silvery-white hair. Her mature, tall figure and long, snow-white legs all exuded an aura of youthful ripeness.

"I am your Queen!" Gao Xiaomeng declared.

"MEOW!!!"

"MEOW!"

Ten thousand cats bowed low in unison.

"I will lead you out of the City of Hope!"

"MEOW!!"

"Away from the humans!"

"MEOW!!!"

"To build a kingdom that belongs to cats!"

"Meow meow meow..."

"Now, you may choose. Follow your Queen and leave, or remain here!" As Gao Xiaomeng spoke, her face was filled with a domineering, regal aura.

"We are willing to follow the Queen!" One by one, the stray cats transformed into their human forms before Gao Xiaomeng.

However, they were different from Gao Xiaomeng.

Their ears were still fluffy cat ears, and they still had long tails of various colors and patterns sprouting from their behinds.

"Very good. As long as we can escape, we will have a new life! No more sleeping in the wild and eating scraps! No more eating garbage! You will have absolute freedom, just like humans!"

"Queen!"

"Xiaomeng Queen!"

"MEOW!!"

The thousands of cats submitted once more.

Gao Xiaomeng didn’t spare another glance for the prostrated strays. Instead, she walked straight toward a room with a glass roof in the abandoned factory.

Soon, the door to the room opened.

Eight members of the Cat Race in human form stood respectfully on either side.

"Queen!"

"Queen!"

"Queen!"

The powerful, unified voices echoed throughout the factory.

After entering the room, Gao Xiaomeng looked up at a small, emerald-green tree that had grown to be three or four meters tall.

BUZZ!

A ball of condensed energy appeared behind Gao Xiaomeng.

Then, the emerald-green tree was completely absorbed by the condensed energy. In just a moment, the rich aura within the room vanished without a trace.

Gao Xiaomeng turned back.

Her eyes were as deep blue as the sea.

Her long hair shone as brightly as a starry sky.

She looked at the more than ten thousand stray cats prostrated before her, and at the members of the Cat Race who had taken human form but still retained their tails.

She lifted her head.

"Move out! We’ll proceed through the sewers along the planned route!"

"Yes!" The more than ten thousand cats entered the abandoned factory’s sewer system in an orderly fashion, surging forward like a tide without any congestion.

This was an army that, perhaps, couldn’t be considered conventional.

But it was absolutely well-trained and possessed absolute obedience.

Gao Xiaomeng watched all of this unfold.

Her gaze turned once more toward the entrance of the Underground City. It was where she had come from, but she could never go back. She was destined to leave.

"Brother... Mother... I’m leaving!" After speaking, Gao Xiaomeng’s figure vanished into the night as she began to race toward the gates of the City of Hope.

To leave!

They had to... breach the city!