Chapter 1201 - Where Is Ling Xiao?

“Detected a faint thermal signal in the north-eastern direction,” (Belief) suddenly reminded Ling Xiao.

“Why would there be a thermal signal in an abandoned wormhole? This is interesting.” Ling Xiao smiled. “Let’s go and take a look.”

“Yes, general.” (Belief]’s mecha body disappeared as it moved silently towards the direction of the thermal signal.

While Ling Xiao was thinking of all the possible reasons for there to be a thermal signal in an abandoned wormhole, (Belief] suddenly stopped moving. Ling Xiao woke up from his daze and zoomed in on the floating object that was emitting heat.

“It looks like a metal fragment,” Ling Xiao said softly.

“The explosion of Planet Zuojing will result in such rubble.” (Belief) thought that it was normal.

“Well, what kind of rubble can emit thermal energy for almost 30 years without depleting?” Ling Xiao smiled as he asked (Belief]. To anyone else, (Belief] was just a mecha. However, to Ling Xiao, (Belief] was a member of his small family. It was a comrade he could trust with his entire life. He treated (Belief] like a brother of his.

(Belief] thought carefully before answering, “Nuclear energy...” It sounded hesitant.

“The explosion on Planet Zuojing was caused because I ignited all the energy on the planet.” Ling Xia immediately rejected (Belief]’s guess mercilessly.

“There’s nothing else then.” (Belief) was disappointed. It always lost to its master in arguments.

“Thus, this metal fragment must have been here after the destruction of Planet Zuojing,” Ling Xiao said. “Moreover, since I can enter the wormhole, the three great mecha lords of Twilight should have came here too.”

“What is it?” (Belief] was curious.

“Can you scan its internal structure?” Ling Xiao asked.

“No.” (Belief] tried to scan it but it came back with bad news.

“That means that it’s not a normal piece of rubble.” It would be best if they could scan the internal structure of the object. If they couldn’t, it meant that things were complicated.

“What do we do now? Shall we take it?” (Belief) was excited. It was very interested in the fragment.

“Of course not. It might be a trap.” Ling Xiao was in deep thought.

“Huh?” (Belief) was confused.

“Let’s go back. It looks like we need to go on a different path.” Ling Xiao decided to give up his original plan after much consideration.

“Why?” (Belief] asked as it retreated silently.

“Our plan was leaked.” Ling Xiao gave a cold smile. When they found the spy, he had the feeling that this person he caught wasn’t the most important spy in the Federation. Now, the most important and secretive spy was finally starting to create trouble. However, this wormhole wasn’t his only plan. He was using it to probe his enemy too.

He wondered who the spy was. Ling Xiao closed his eyes and considered all his options. He decided that he must find this spy. If not, there would be serious implications.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t enough information for him to deduce the identity of the spy. Ling Xiao sighed. He was given too little time. His intelligence network wasn’t as vast as some of the elite families who specialised in intelligence.

“General is back.” After some time, He Xuyang received news that Ling Xiao was back from the wormhole.

‘Did the general find a way through the wormhole?’ He Xuyang wondered as he saw Ling Xiao walking into the command center.

He Xuyang quickly welcomed him. “How is it?”

“The situation is terrible. We need to find another path.” Ling Xiao trusted He Xuyang but he needed to make sure that the information wouldn’t be leaked. It was the safest if it just stayed with him.

He Xuyang was disheartened. The Zuojing wormhole was the fastest route from the Federation to Twilight. In the past, the Federation was wary that Twilight might use this wormhole to enter the Federation, so they stationed many soldiers in the wormhole to defend the area. At that time, this deployment was like a blackhole in the finances of the military.

If Planet Zuojing hadn’t exploded, which in turn destabilized the Zuojing wormhole, the Federation might not have the finance nor the manpower to deal with the frequent battles around its borders just because the strain of upkeeping the peace on the Zuojing wormhole.

Soon, the 23rd division left as quietly as they came.

“Ling Xiao’s 23 division is still not found? Didn’t you say that he will go through the Zuojing wormhole? Why aren’t there any movements there?” Some of the upper echelons of the Twilight Empire were frustrated that there was still no news of General Ling Xiao.

“We’re having a hard time suppressing Qi Yaoyang. General Black Wing, if we don’t find the 23rd division immediately, we might not be able to pull through!” At the central command center of Twilight, a 70-year-old general shouted angrily as he pointed to his superior who was around the same age as him.

“General Shangye, if we don’t find Ling Xiao, we can’t send our main force away,” General Black Wing replied coldly.

“Are you going to abandon my Shangye army? Bastard!” General Shangye took off his cap and threw it on the ground angrily to display his frustration and anger at the situation.

“We’re doing this for the sake of our country. If we’re able to find Ling Xiao, any sacrifices will be worth it. General Shangye, please bear with it.” The general sitting on the commander-in-chief’s seat looked at General Shangye with pity. However, his tone was resolute.

“So what if we found Immortal Bird? Who can kill him? The three great mecha lords? They deployed four god-class mecha masters for this war. They won’t allow our three great mecha lords to encircle Ling Xiao.” General Shangye didn’t believe that finding Ling Xiao would be useful. He only knew that his subordinates were currently being reaped like crops in a farm. Many more of his soldiers would die if the battle continued on. He couldn’t accept this.

“The three great mecha lords aren’t our only trump card.” General Black Wing gave a sinister smile. They allowed their nation to be at the losing end so that they could lure Ling Xiao out. As long as they were able to confirm his position, there would be a way to catch him. “Immortal Bird, when everyone wants you to die, can you remain alive? Hahahaha!”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

So, where were Ling Xiao and the 23rd division?

No one knew. After the 23rd division left the Zuojing wormhole, they lost contact with the military headquarters as well as the other three divisions. They disappeared completely from everyone’s detection.