138: Chapter 138 Forgiveness

“Clang~”

A young girl, clad in a black cloak embroidered with silver dragon patterns, violently pulled her spear from the Star Beast's body. She gave the spear a casual flourish, flicking away the blood.

“Are you okay?” a lively voice rang out.

Qian Mo looked at the familiar smile on the girl's face with a complicated expression.

When he first arrived at Longxiang Academy, she was the guide who received him.

While she was showing him around the campus, they came to an open wooden bridge.

It was then that she told him the truth.

Only then did he learn everything that happened when Xing Yaoyan met with trouble.

“It's not your fault, you were just a tool used by the Mayor...”

That was what Qian Mo said at the time.

But Captain Li Qiaoyan was no fool; she could sense the killing intent he was desperately suppressing behind his expressionless face.

He wanted to kill her... but it was simply difficult to show it while at school...

“I'm sorry...”

That was how she responded back then.

Afterward, the two of them just rested their hands on the bridge, remaining silent for a long time before parting on bad terms.

Since then, both had avoided each other, intentionally choosing not to meet.

Because he remembered that she had once saved him, Qian Mo didn't do anything in the way of revenge. Moreover, looking back at the events of that day, there had actually been signs long ago...

The day before the incident, Captain Li Qiaoyan's tone on the phone had been strange. But at the time, because he had just made the 'climb to the peak together' promise with Xing Yaoyan, he had actually failed to notice such an obvious abnormality in her words.

Who could he blame? Thinking carefully, it seemed there was no one to blame...

From his previous conversations with Hu Wang and his subsequent studies, he knew that Star Beasts were originally parasites from the starry sky that harmed the Blue Planet, beings that everyone had a right to kill.

From a human standpoint, it seemed the Youfeng City Security Bureau wasn't wrong to move against her, Captain Li Qiaoyan wasn't wrong, and no one was wrong.

The only one he could blame was himself...

As if sensing the boy's inner turmoil, Captain Li Qiaoyan gave an apologetic smile and suddenly tossed something toward him.

Qian Mo caught it and looked closely.

It was a compact jetpack.

“Put this on; it can make up for your shortcomings in flight.”

“What about you?”

Qian Mo spoke while skillfully putting on the jetpack.

As Old Qian's student, he had seen these things many times in the laboratory and had used them frequently.

Haha... even though he says that, he's not being polite at all when it comes to action...

Captain Li Qiaoyan scratched her cheek somewhat awkwardly.

Then, she stretched both hands forward.

In the next moment, countless metal ions suddenly spread out from a strange ring on her hand, instantly enveloping half of her arms.

“I have Nano Battle Armor.”

Qian Mo was slightly stunned.

He knew that mature, complete Nano Battle Armor could only be controlled by Espers of the fourth rank or higher. This was because their life level had increased, and the armor's backlash effect on the body was smaller.

As for what Captain Li Qiaoyan was wearing, it was a modified version of the Nano Battle Armor. Although incomplete, it still had the necessary functions. More importantly, this armor broke the restrictions of ability ranks; as long as one was an Esper, they could use it.

However, this kind of armor was still in the testing phase, and truly qualified sets were extremely rare...

“You came alone?”

“It can't be helped. This barrier only allows third-rank Espers to enter. You also know the nature of my Superpower; other than me, other third-rank Espers simply wouldn't last long if they came. They'd just be throwing their lives away.”

“Heh... true...”

Qian Mo flexed his wrists and resumed his combat stance.

“The barrier core is inside that Ferris wheel's axle box. Any plan?”

“Fly up together and destroy it. It's that simple.”

“Wait, did you already know the core was there?”

Suddenly thinking of something, Qian Mo turned his head to look at the girl, who was brimming with Battle Intent.

“That's right.”

“Then why didn't you destroy the core first while I was distracting the Star Beasts?”

Hearing the boy's words, Captain Li Qiaoyan lowered her head, an apologetic smile appearing on her face once more.

“Because when we captured the White Wolf back then, my heart ached. Just now, as soon as I entered and saw you in grave danger, I didn't want to do something I'd regret again. So, I chose to save you first.

“Don't tell me that saving a hundred people is greater than saving one. I won't listen to such trolley problems. After experiencing so much, I now have only one thought in my mind: true justice is doing what leaves you with a clear conscience!”

“It seems... I've gotten to know you all over again today...”

Qian Mo suddenly smiled. All the dissatisfaction he had toward her in his heart instantly dissolved upon hearing her words.

“Come on, let's go together!”

“Together!”

“Balance of Equivalence, Swap!”

“Spear of Judgment, Sentence!”

...

Meanwhile, on Xing Yaoyan's side.

“Damn! No wonder they didn't say anything. Turns out they couldn't...”

Just now, Xing Yaoyan had finished reading all of the two people's memories.

She was surprised to find that their memories had actually been tampered with. Even though she had analyzed their memory fragments, these fragments began to dissipate at a terrifying speed almost the moment she started reading them.

Fortunately, she reacted quickly and used Power Of Will to protect the important memory segments, so she didn't end up returning empty-handed.

“Ferris wheel, Star Beast teleportation anchor, barrier core...”

Xing Yaoyan opened her eyes and abruptly looked toward the Ferris wheel.

She saw that over there, a massive black phantom of a balance and a spear glowing with white light were rapidly charging toward the top of the Ferris wheel, one after the other. Behind them, all sorts of Star Beasts were desperately climbing upward, attacking them from time to time.

“That's... Qian Mo and Captain Li Qiaoyan!”

Xing Yaoyan spoke in surprise.

The golden Power Of Will gave her excellent eyesight, and she quickly identified the climbers.

“Not good! They're about to be caught!”

Star Beasts naturally had much higher base stats than Espers. Under the harassment of other Star Beasts that excelled in speed or had flight capabilities, the duo's speed was inevitably slowing down. This caused the main horde of Star Beasts to get closer and closer to them.

“Xiao Dao! Little Chaos! Quick, help me think—is there anything that can attract the Star Beasts' attention?!”

In her sea of consciousness, Xing Yaoyan's Soul avatar shouted anxiously.

“Uh... generally speaking, as long as it's a substance containing powerful energy, we Star Beasts like it...”

Xiao Dao spoke very conservatively.

But Xing Yaoyan didn't want to hear that because she already knew it. The key was where to find food that was more nutritious and better at attracting the Star Beasts' attention than two powerful third-rank Espers like Qian Mo and Captain Li Qiaoyan!

“Navigator!”

Little Chaos suddenly spoke.

“When I first met you, I was attracted by the scent on your body. To me at that time, you were the thing that attracted Star Beasts the most.”

“That's right, Navigator! I almost forgot. Star Beasts polluted by Breath of the Abyss are extremely interested in pure Astral Power. With the strength of your Heaven-Swallowing Star Wolf Bloodline, as long as you burst out your Astral Power with all your might, you will definitely attract their attention.”

Xiao Dao hurriedly added excitedly.

“Me... me?”

Looking at the two people who were about to be completely intercepted, Xing Yaoyan gnashed her teeth and stomped her foot.

“Qian Mo, you owe me for this!”

Her sea of consciousness boiled, and a brilliant golden pillar of light shot straight into the sky...