182: Chapter 182 Flame Born

Shen Qingyan sneered and cut in.

"To put it bluntly, it's still that same old 'those with ability should step up' routine—"

"What's laughable is that you talk about cooperation, but the moment you walk through the door, you treat us like submissive subjects."

"What do you mean by 'even if we get a smaller share'? Before you say that, shouldn't you look at what you've brought to the table?"

"Not reports, not technical cooperation—just a bunch of empty data packets."

Zhang Tianjin couldn't hold back either: "It's the Apocalypse, and you still think sticking a national emblem on something lets you requisition our resources? You're dreaming."

"Tianlang Mountain is not a charity station."

"I don't live to wipe other people's asses."

"You have your order, and I have my logic."

"It's not that I lack humanity—it's just that I don't owe you anything."

Her gaze swept across the six people and settled:

"I only save the people I can see."

"Instead of carrying the entire wasteland on my shoulders."

She stood with a flick of her sleeve:

"This is my answer."

"Your moral kidnapping won't work here."

The air in the meeting room froze in an instant.

Just as Shen Qingyan's sarcasm faded, Lin Xiao stood up and announced expressionlessly:

"The meeting is over."

"You may leave."

"Tianlang Mountain will not consider connecting to the system."

His words fell like a hammer striking a thick wooden table.

The six-person team had varying expressions.

Lin Yunming subconsciously closed his tablet, his knuckles tightening, a cold light appearing in his eyes.

"...Understood."

But when he said those two words, his tone had clearly changed.

He was no longer a superior representative here to discuss cooperation.

But an executive officer who, after failing, forced himself to save face while keeping a mental tally.

He stood up, straightened the lapels of his suit, and looked at Ye Nanxing with a deep gaze:

"Tianlang Mountain truly is 'self-contained'."

"But a self-contained place must also bear its own 'consequences'."

After saying that, he turned to leave.

The middle-aged female official in charge of clerical intelligence records, Bai Xuan, paused before leaving and said softly:

"We only came to perform an assessment."

"Sometimes the system isn't about controlling someone, but about recording 'who is disobedient'."

"The files will state it clearly."

Shen Qingyan replied bluntly:

"Then you should also remember one thing—Tianlang Mountain doesn't need a nanny."

"Especially the kind of nannies like you, who only take and never give."

Bai Xuan's eye twitched; she said nothing more, packed her terminal, and left.

As for the operator, Lyu Qisheng, his face was pale, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

He never dared to look Ye Nanxing in the eye.

That single sentence, "Your machine moved," had nearly made his heart skip a beat.

He knew he had just been countered by the space.

And he knew—he was being watched.

Before walking out of the meeting room, he kept his head down like an intern who had made a mistake, his pace half a beat faster than the others.

The liaison woman, Gu Liyin, who had been smiling throughout, specifically stopped by the door before leaving and glanced at Ye Nanxing:

"Ms. Ye, we aren't actually enemies."

"It's just that some people walk too far ahead and will always be... targeted by those behind them."

"I hope you can hold out."

After saying that, she gently closed the door, her smile fading.

The meeting room door closed.

The air became quiet once more.

Zhao Wei snorted coldly. "The system? Hah, the system is already unstable, yet they still come here to put on airs?"

Zhang Tianjin laughed more bluntly:

"To be honest, Sis—that line about 'retreat fifty kilometers so I can observe you'... that was so satisfying."

Zhou Cheng pushed up his glasses and analyzed calmly:

"They won't just let this go."

"Tianlang Mountain will be added to the 'observation list'."

"For future policy favoritism, technical support, and intelligence synchronization, we'll have to rely on ourselves."

Ye Nanxing's consciousness stood within a gradually stabilizing energy convergence zone in the space.

Beneath her feet was a limestone terrace naturally formed by the spiritual spring water, emitting a pale blue light; ahead, the Fire Domain was like a lava skeleton left after the world cracked open—crimson gold like blood, surging with heat.

Between the two domains, the once clearly defined boundary was now spontaneously intertwining, forming rings of energy trajectories.

Light and heat spiraled around each other in the space as if breathing.

[System Notification: Spatial Change]

[Detected activation of "Flame Born" core activity]

[The convergence of the Cold Domain and Fire Domain has successfully formed an "Energy Balance Layer"]

[Spatial level rising; local biological adaptability enhanced]

[Warning: Flame Born is not fully stabilized. Do not allow external interference.]

Deep within the Fire Domain, atop a crimson rock platform floating like an altar, the Fire Spirit "Flame Born" was slowly undergoing a transformation.

He knelt in the heart of the flames, his long hair floating like burning threads. His handsome face was still faint and indistinct, like an incompletely carved jade statue.

His entire body's skin was like translucent crystalline glass. What flowed in his veins was not blood—but a constantly circulating stream of molten flame energy.

[Psionic Meridians: Clearly Visible]

—A fire mark gently appeared on his brow, outlining a rune-like curve.

—A shadowy flicker of flame wings appeared faintly on his back, yet to unfurl.

—Light spots floated in his palms like a beating heart core of life, echoing the space in frequency resonance.

Beneath him, the Fire Domain spontaneously formed a "Fire Lotus" base, emitting a temperature that was almost divine—high heat yet harmless, as if it only burned the life soul and not the flesh.

Ye Nanxing stood on the spatial platform, dozens of meters away, quietly watching this child of fire life she had "conceived."

Her expression held neither maternal softness nor the coldness of a commander.

She was simply calm and focused, like an engineer waiting for a new life to take its first breath.

"The speed of the spatial changes is far beyond my imagination."

"Flame Born already possesses self-organizing capabilities in his Fire Spirit form... If he continues to grow, he might—become another 'will node' of the space."

"Not a tool, but... a successor."

[Intelligence Module Synchronization Progress: 83%]

[Custom Name: "Flame Born" - Bound]

[Construct Form: Humanoid youth; initial age set to 15]

[Speech module not yet activated. Recommendation: Wait for the completion of "Life Source Leap."]

[Heart Fire Core identification successful. Emotional flow activating.]

Just as Ye Nanxing gazed at the Fire Lotus, the humanoid silhouette of light trembled slightly.

His fingers moved as if sensing "muscles."

His brow furrowed slightly as if some emotion had triggered an instinctive reaction before it could form into words.

He didn't open his eyes, but his body had quietly heated up, with faint light flowing across the surface like a pulse.

The originally calm Fire Domain in the space also rippled slightly in response.

As if he were—taking his first "breath."

In the next second, Flame Born opened his eyes.

They were not pupils of blazing fire, but a clear golden-red polished by flames.

He looked at Ye Nanxing and gently opened his mouth.

No words came out, only a tiny spark of burning light that drifted imperceptibly toward her.

Like an infant instinctively drawing closer to its mother.

—The space fell silent in an instant.

The ripples of the spiritual spring water paused, and the molten flames of the Fire Domain bowed low.

All existence seemed to give him silent assent:

This was the first life in the space "truly permitted to possess a will."

A faint "shockwave" burst from the center of the fire core, carrying a pale golden flow of light.

Flame Born opened his eyes.