Chapter 121: The Leak
Ye Xing's worries were not unfounded. Not only he, but Zhang Wei and Nan Yu thought the same way. If the situation were reversed and it had happened to them, they would have made the same choice.
After all, to Nan Yu, Ye Xing was merely a wanted criminal pursued by countless countries. Killing him outright would earn nothing but gratitude, not criticism.
That was exactly what Zhang Wei was worried about.
He wanted to raise Nan Yu's favorability as much as possible before Yu Lanfeng arrived. Unfortunately, anyone with eyes could tell that although Nan Yu no longer hated them as much as before, there was certainly no goodwill toward them either.
What neither of them knew was that Nan Yu had already decided to repay the debt he owed Ye Xing from his previous life.
In other words, he had already resolved to save Ye Xing's life in front of Yu Lanfeng.
But only this once.
Zhang Wei and Ye Xing naturally had no idea what he was thinking.
All they knew was that if Nan Yu still refused to relent before Yu Lanfeng arrived, they would truly be finished.
Watching the seconds tick by, Zhang Wei noticed that Nan Yu seemed increasingly relaxed.
It looked like Nan Yu had already contacted Yu Lanfeng and knew exactly when he would arrive.
Zhang Wei shot Ye Xing a meaningful glance, signaling him to leave first, or at least hide nearby.
When Yu Lanfeng arrived, Zhang Wei intended to negotiate with him himself.
If the negotiations succeeded, everything would be fine.
If they failed, at least Zhang Wei wouldn't be killed.
However, after thinking it over, Ye Xing refused to leave.
To him, Zhang Wei was his entire world.
He had taken such an enormous risk this time just to bring Nan Yu here and save him.
Although Zhang Wei's reasoning made sense, how could they possibly know that Yu Lanfeng would act according to common sense?
What if he became so furious that he simply killed Zhang Wei on the spot?
Neither of them knew what would happen.
Seeing there was no point persuading him further, Zhang Wei gave up.
"You can stay, but once he's here, you must remain behind me the entire time. Don't step out. Understand?"
"I understand."
To Ye Xing, even dying together with Zhang Wei didn't matter.
As long as they were together.
He had never regretted anything he had done.
Even when he had revealed his killing intent toward Nan Yu because Nan Yu had delayed treating Zhang Wei, he had never regretted it.
Although that incident had caused Nan Yu to develop an extremely poor impression of him—and even dragged Zhang Wei down with him—it was undoubtedly terrible for both of them.
Yet as Ye Xing stared at Zhang Wei's back, he felt completely content.
Being together was enough.
Nan Yu was still inside the room.
By now, he was no longer worried that those two would attack him.
Looking at the satisfied expression on Ye Xing's face whenever he gazed at Zhang Wei, Nan Yu couldn't help wondering—
If Ye Xing ever found out that he had secretly placed a small sphere of mental power inside Zhang Wei's Mental Sea, would he become so furious that he'd try to kill him?
Unfortunately, Ye Xing would never get that opportunity.
Yu Lanfeng would be arriving very soon.
Once he got here, Nan Yu could simply remove the mental power sphere from Zhang Wei's Mental Sea.
After all, once Yu Lanfeng arrived, he would no longer need that safeguard.
He checked the time.
Time had passed rather quickly.
There were only about three hours left until the agreed arrival time Yu Lanfeng had mentioned.
Hopefully, everything would go smoothly on the way here.
Actually, he could probably take out his communicator and contact Yu Lanfeng directly now.
But...
Who knew whether those two outside might suddenly change their minds?
It was better to remain cautious.
So he quietly continued waiting.
Minute after minute slipped by.
Nan Yu looked out through the window at the blurry landscape beyond, completely swallowed by sand and dust.
The climate here really was unbelievably harsh.
He couldn't help wondering how Ye Xing had managed to find such a planet.
Visibility outside was only two or three meters.
Once Yu Lanfeng arrived, would he even be able to locate this place?
Soon enough, Nan Yu's worries became reality.
The agreed arrival time had already passed.
Yet Yu Lanfeng still hadn't appeared.
Nearly another hour passed.
There was still no sign of him.
Unease filled Nan Yu's heart.
He immediately took out the temporary communicator he had been using for practice from his storage button.
But he discovered it no longer worked.
It wasn't broken.
He simply couldn't contact Yu Lanfeng.
His own communicator was functioning perfectly.
That meant...
The problem had to be on Yu Lanfeng's side.
His spacecraft?
Nan Yu abruptly stood up, threw open the room's door, and tried to leave.
The moment Zhang Wei and Ye Xing realized what he intended to do, both of them immediately stood up and blocked his path.
"Nan Yu! You {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} can't go outside now!"
Looking at the two standing in front of him, Nan Yu took a deep breath.
"Move."
Zhang Wei frowned slightly.
"I know what you're trying to do, but the outside is genuinely dangerous right now. You absolutely can't go out."
"If you insist on leaving, then wait another ten hours. After that, I'll take you out myself."
"Why?"
Zhang Wei glanced at Ye Xing.
"I only found out about this myself just now."
"Ye Xing wanted to find an absolutely safe place for me to recover, so he chose this location."
"This place is completely safe."
Nan Yu looked around.
"So he built this house here?"
Zhang Wei nodded and activated his communicator.
Although it wasn't connected to any network, he opened a saved file.
A three-dimensional map of the house and its surroundings appeared.
"The back, left, and right sides of this house are all blocked by sheer cliffs."
"The only entrance is this opening in front that's about ten meters wide."
"When Ye Xing brought you here before, you entered through this passage."
"This planet experiences a massive storm every ten hours."
"It comes with sand, rocks of all sizes, and everything else you'd expect."
"But the truly deadly part isn't the storm itself."
"Whenever the storm erupts, an enormous magnetic storm erupts at the same time."
"It's fatal."
"This planet was abandoned many years ago."
"Many areas have become dumping grounds for garbage."
"Perhaps there are still people barely surviving somewhere among the refuse, relying on trash to stay alive, but..."
"Enough."
Nan Yu interrupted him.
"I don't want to hear about that."
"I only want to know one thing."
"If their spacecraft approaches this planet... what will happen?"
Zhang Wei answered immediately.
"If they approach while the storm is raging, the magnetic storm will completely disable their spacecraft."
"It'll lose control and crash."
"And while it's crashing, the storm carrying countless rocks will continue smashing it apart until there's nothing left to protect anyone inside."
Nan Yu opened his mouth, only to realize he had nothing to say.
He knew one thing for certain.
Walking outside now would be suicide.
Yet if he didn't go looking for Yu Lanfeng, he couldn't stop worrying.
Trying to reassure him, Zhang Wei said,
"Don't worry."
"When they reach orbit, they'll detect the planet's conditions."
"They'll definitely wait until the storm ends before attempting to land."
Nan Yu slowly shook his head.
"No."
"He'll think I'm trapped inside the storm and that my life is in danger."
"He'll come in regardless of the risk."
"That's probably why he's late."
The only thing Nan Yu wanted to know now was whether the location data he had previously sent could pinpoint this place precisely.
With visibility this poor outside, someone could pass right by without ever realizing there was a house here.
His heart grew increasingly anxious.
Ignoring Zhang Wei and Ye Xing completely, he took out his communicator and attempted to contact Yu Lanfeng.
Every attempt failed.
Zhang Wei suddenly spoke.
"Didn't I return your communicator earlier?"
"You could try using that one..."
Right.
Nan Yu had been so anxious that he had completely forgotten.
He hurriedly took his own communicator from his pocket and contacted Yu Lanfeng again.
Unfortunately, the signal was intermittent.
The connection couldn't be established.
Still...
That meant Yu Lanfeng should be able to use the fragmented signal to determine his exact location and rush over as quickly as possible.
Seeing this, Zhang Wei chose not to disturb him.
Instead, he quietly returned to Ye Xing's side.
The two exchanged a glance before silently heading into the kitchen to talk.
"You're really not leaving?"
Ye Xing asked softly.
"If we leave now, he definitely won't know where we've gone."
"He has no idea where we'd hide."
"I'll work even harder to improve all those devices."
"I guarantee no one will ever find us."
"What do you think?"
"Of course, I'll pay Nan Yu twenty times the agreed reward."
"I wasn't able to send him back to where he came from, so consider it compensation."
Zhang Wei sighed.
"Do you really think they'd care about that little compensation?"
Ye Xing fell silent.
"But I have a bad feeling."
"After this storm..."
"Once Yu Lanfeng finally gets here..."
"The anger he'll feel will probably be dozens of times greater than what we originally expected."
"I think so too."
Zhang Wei nodded.
"But this is our only opportunity."
"Other than the Empire..."
"Other than Yu Lanfeng..."
"Other than this chance..."
"Do you think anyone else would be willing to accept us?"
"I don't think the chances are very good."
"Why?"
Ye Xing stared at him in disbelief.
"Isn't that what any normal person would think?"
Zhang Wei smiled faintly.
"Do you think either of us is normal?"
Ye Xing instinctively wanted to answer yes.
But before the words left his mouth, he realized...
Neither of them was normal.
Rubbing his fingers together, Ye Xing spoke quietly.
"Fine."
"You're right."
"I'm definitely not normal."
"But there's one thing that's certain."
"I'm nowhere near as strong as Yu Lanfeng."
"If he attacks me, I probably won't even have time to react."
"And you..."
"If he attacks you, your strength hasn't fully recovered yet."
"You probably won't even be able to dodge."
Zhang Wei awkwardly rubbed his nose.
Even so, he still didn't want Ye Xing to take him away.
This was dangerous.
But it was also an extremely rare opportunity.
If they missed it...
Who knew how many years they'd have to wait before another chance appeared?
Meanwhile, the situation on Yu Lanfeng's side was almost exactly as Nan Yu had guessed.
The moment their flagship reached the planet's outer orbit, they saw an enormous dark patch covering the atmosphere.
From space it looked like a blot.
In reality...
It was an unimaginably massive storm.
The storm covered nearly one quarter of the planet's surface.
Its sheer scale made it obvious just how terrifying its destructive power truly was.
Nan Ming reported,
"Marshal, Xiaoyu should be somewhere on this planet."
"The coordinates haven't deviated from the previous location."
Yu Lanfeng inhaled deeply.
"Prepare a small shuttle."
"I'm going down to take a look."
Nan Ming immediately shook his head.
"That's impossible."
"The storm isn't the only problem."
"The accompanying magnetic storm is incredibly powerful."
"If you enter the atmosphere now, the shuttle will quickly lose all control."
"It'll crash."
Yu Lanfeng replied calmly,
"I'm not afraid of crashing."
"I'm not afraid of the storm."
"It'll be fine."
"Prepare the shuttle."
In truth, Nan Ming was the one who wanted to go the most.
But Yu Lanfeng had flatly forbidden him from doing so.
He reserved that chance for himself.
Despite Nan Ming's determined opposition, Yu Lanfeng still boarded the small shuttle and left the flagship.
Moments later, the shuttle disappeared into the gigantic storm within the atmosphere.
Nan Ming let out a deep breath.
He was both angry...
And relieved.
If Nan Yu truly found someone like Yu Lanfeng as his lifelong partner...
That really wouldn't be bad at all.
The only thing he should probably be worrying about now was...
Would their Marshal end up getting himself killed?
Meanwhile...
Bai Zhouyun stood outside a closed door.
As long as he opened it, he could meet the person inside.
If he revealed his secret...
He would gain a life far better than anything he had ever had before.
Yet at the last moment...
He became afraid.
Once he told them everything...
He would lose all value to the organization.
Perhaps, to preserve secrecy...
They would simply silence him forever.
After all...
Someone as useless as him...
Really had no value.
Still...
Since he had already come this far...
Running away now was equally unacceptable.
He simply hadn't decided what to do.
Just as he continued pacing hesitantly outside the door...
It suddenly opened.
Standing inside was an exceptionally beautiful woman.
She also appeared to be a rather delicate Mental Power User.
Seeing Bai Zhouyun wandering uncertainly outside, she blinked in surprise.
"Would you like to come in?"
"Even if you don't say anything."
"You can come inside, sit down, rest a little, have something to eat and drink."
"I'm sure you'll eventually make the right decision."
Bai Zhouyun looked through the open doorway.
Luxurious decorations.
Comfortable sofas.
An exquisite feast of delicious dishes and desserts.
"Were... were you about to eat?"
She smiled and shook her head.
"Not me."
"Everything here was specially prepared for people like you, who come to contribute to the organization."
"Aren't you coming in?"
Of course Bai Zhouyun wanted to.
Ever since arriving here, he hadn't seen food this delicious.
More importantly...
He could already feel saliva flooding his mouth.
After hesitating for barely half a minute, he followed the woman inside.
The door quietly closed behind him.
Only after his figure completely disappeared.
Not long afterward, two people emerged from a nearby corner.
Looking at the tightly shut door, they began chatting.
"How long do you think he'll last against An Sha?"
"I'll bet ten minutes."
"You're joking."
"I only managed twelve minutes back then."
"You think that piece of trash can last ten?"
"You're you. He's him."
"No one knows what secrets another person is carrying."
"He hesitated for several days after learning valuable information could be exchanged for a better life."
"That means whatever he wants to reveal definitely isn't something trivial."
"I still think ten minutes is possible."
"By the way, betting has already started."
"You placing a bet?"
"How many minutes?"
"Let's go."
"I'll bet ten minutes too."
That included eating, resting, even going to the bathroom.
Only one minute had actually passed since Bai Zhouyun entered.
Naturally, almost nobody bet on one minute.
Anyone with even a little self-control could last that long.
Most people managed to hold out for over ten minutes.
After entering the room, Bai Zhouyun realized it was even better than it had looked from outside.
Besides the food he had already seen...
There were countless other delicacies.
Some of them had been things he could only look at—not eat—even back when he was living with the Bai family.
"Can... can I eat all of this?"
An Sha smiled.
"Of course."
"Go ahead."
"Try whatever you like."
What she didn't mention was...
If he ate without providing anything valuable...
He would never be allowed to leave this room.
She intended to tell him that only when he tried to leave.
If he provided valuable intelligence...
He would not only be allowed to leave but also receive an enormous amount of money and resources.
He could live independently.
Or stay here if he wished.
But if he simply came to enjoy the food and then walked away...
That was absolutely impossible.
Everything depended on Bai Zhouyun's intentions.
If he had only come to freeload...
Killing him later wouldn't matter.
But if...
After eating several dishes, Bai Zhouyun felt as though his entire body had been reborn.
He sat quietly at the table.
Although countless delicious dishes covered it, he still maintained basic table manners.
Each plate contained only a modest amount of food.
Whenever he finished one, he neatly stacked the empty plate aside.
About ten minutes later, after he was roughly half full, he finally turned toward An Sha.
"After eating all this..."
"I can't just leave anymore, can I?"
An Sha paused briefly before smiling.
"Of course not."
"But if you can provide us with truly valuable information..."
"You'll live an even better life than this every single day."
"You'll regain your freedom."
"We can even provide plastic surgery free of charge."
"What do you think?"
Bai Zhouyun sat there uneasily.
It seemed that revealing something was now his only option.
After struggling internally for a while, he finally opened his mouth.
"You know Nan Yu, right?"
Naturally, An Sha knew who Nan Yu was.
Many people within the organization had their eyes on him.
Originally, they had intended to capture both Nan Yu and Bai Zhouyun together.
However, when they went after Nan Yu...
He had already disappeared.
At first, they thought another faction had interfered.
Only after returning did they realize it had been a complete misunderstanding.
Fortunately, they merely received punishment.
"Nan Yu is so famous."
"Of course I know him."
"It's just a pity we couldn't capture him together."
Bai Zhouyun nodded.
"People from Yu Lanfeng's legion are protecting him."
"You can't make a move."
"We already know that."
"They couldn't find an opportunity."
"It wasn't because of that..."
"But because..."
Bai Zhouyun stared directly at him.
"Because of what?"
An Sha merely smiled instead of answering.
"Would you like to join us?"
Yu Lanfeng twitched the corner of his mouth.
Now really wasn't the time to listen to someone else's love story.
Bai Zhouyun asked cautiously,
"How valuable does my information need to be before you'll let me leave?"
"That depends on your own judgment."
Bai Zhouyun hesitated before carefully saying,
"What if..."
"I mean, what if..."
"I knew where a Nianshen Grass was located?"
An Sha nearly choked on her own saliva.
To be honest, until just now she had assumed he was lying.
She never expected someone to casually reveal information this explosive.
"Can you guarantee everything you're saying is true?"
"I guarantee it."
"I can't be mistaken."
"I know because—"
Huh?
Bai Zhouyun immediately covered his mouth.
He had originally spoken hypothetically.
Yet just now...
He had admitted he knew for certain.
Wasn't that practically exposing himself?
An Sha noticed he had realized his mistake.
Bai Zhouyun slowly stood.
"If that's all..."
"Can I leave today?"
"Not yet."
"You haven't actually told us anything."
"If you try leaving now..."
"The people outside will stop you."
"They'll make you perform manual labor until you've repaid the cost of the food, treatment, and everything else."
"So..."
"My only options are either to think it through here..."
"Or work off my debt?"
An Sha nodded.
"That's right."
"So..."
"What do you plan to do?"
Bai Zhouyun honestly didn't know.
The only thing he knew was that if he said nothing today...
He would never leave this room.
"I..."
"I really do know where a Nianshen Grass is."
"It's just..."
An Sha gently reassured him.
"Don't rush."
"Take your time."
"Would you like to eat a little more?"
"Or rest for a while?"
"You can stay here as long as you like."
The only condition was...
He couldn't leave until he revealed his secret.
If he attempted to escape...
He would simply be brought back.
And after being caught once...
No one here would treat him as kindly as they were now.
An Sha smiled.
"We've already prepared one billion credits as an advance payment."
"If your information is genuine..."
"The entire one billion is yours."
"And if we truly recover the Nianshen Grass according to your information..."
"We'll pay you another three billion credits to spend however you like."
"I hope that sounds appealing to you."