103: Chapter 102 Su Xiaoli Awakens

Lin Mo closed the panel.

The moment the light screen dissipated, he noticed his finger being gripped even tighter.

He looked down.

Su Xiaoli had her eyes open.

Her two eyes were big and round, staring straight at him, blinking.

Just like stars.

Her brow furrowed slightly, as if she were trying to identify something.

"Awake?"

Lin Mo reached out and touched her forehead.

"How does your body feel? Any discomfort?"

Before he could finish speaking,

Su Xiaoli let go of his finger and instead grabbed the Little Carp Pendant at his collar.

She held the dark gold pendant, turning it over several times to look at it.

She was confirming that the tiny scratch on it was still there.

That was from when she had accidentally bumped it while sealing her power.

Su Xiaoli's lips moved.

"You're real."

Her voice was so hoarse it was almost inaudible.

Lin Mo didn't speak; he just sat back on the edge of the bed, letting her hold onto the pendant.

Silence lasted for about ten seconds.

Su Xiaoli suddenly sat up, the quilt sliding down to reveal her wrinkled nightgown.

She threw herself forward, her arms tightly hugging Lin Mo's waist, burying her face in his chest.

No crying, no fussing.

No speaking either.

She just hugged him with all her might.

The strength she used was ridiculously high.

If it were anyone else without the base stats of a Fifth Class Advancement, they probably wouldn't have been able to withstand it.

Lin Mo didn't move an inch.

With a Constitution stat of 43.4 billion, the physical sensation of being hugged by her was roughly equivalent to being stepped on by a kitten.

"You've lost weight."

Lin Mo looked down at her.

Su Xiaoli didn't say a word, nuzzling her face against his chest again.

"And you have dark circles under your eyes."

Su Xiaoli's body stiffened for a moment.

She suddenly looked up, one hand covering the area under her eyes.

"Don't look!"

This was the same God of Slaughter, Su Xiaoli, who had dragged an overlord halberd across the battlefield, clad in black and red heavy armor, and shattered three Fifth Class Advancement Law Avatars in one strike.

Right now, she was covering her dark circles with one hand and clutching Lin Mo's clothes tightly with the other, her expression both fierce and guilty.

"I don't have dark circles."

"You do."

"I don't!"

"The area under your left eye, the color is quite deep."

Su Xiaoli directly reached out and covered his eyes.

"Now they're gone."

Lin Mo couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

Su Xiaoli's hand covering his eyes trembled slightly, then slowly pulled back.

She lowered her head, her voice very small.

"...You laughed."

"Yeah."

"Eight months and twelve days."

She counted on her fingers, muttering under her breath.

"Two hundred and fifty-four days, six thousand and ninety-six hours."

"I counted."

The room was quiet for two seconds.

Su Xiaoli looked up again.

Her eyes were red, but she didn't shed any tears.

She stared at Lin Mo's face, enunciating each word.

"Try disappearing for this long again and see what happens."

Her voice was soft and delicate, her tone like she was acting spoiled.

But Lin Mo knew she was serious.

Lin Mo reached out and brushed her messy hair behind her ear.

"I won't."

Su Xiaoli pursed her lips.

"Liar."

"I'm not lying to you."

"Then swear it."

"Fine, I swear—"

"No, swearing doesn't count."

Lin Mo raised an eyebrow.

"Then what do you want?"

Su Xiaoli scooted to the side and patted the bed, sounding perfectly justified.

"Tonight you sleep here; you're not allowed to leave."

"You've been holding me the whole time; I couldn't leave even if I wanted to."

She quickly let go.

Then she quickly hugged him back.

"...Anyway, you're just not allowed to leave."

Lin Mo didn't say much.

He took off his jacket and draped it over the back of the chair, then lay down on the edge of the bed on his side.

Su Xiaoli pressed her face against his shoulder, her breathing gradually stabilizing.

Her voice grew smaller and smaller.

"Lin Mo."

"Yeah."

"I had a very long dream."

"What dream?"

"I dreamed that you died, died many times."

Her fingers tightened unconsciously.

"After that, I didn't trust anyone anymore."

"...But then someone walked over and patted my head."

"I knew it was you."

Her voice became completely blurred.

Su Xiaoli's breathing became long and steady again.

She had fallen asleep again.

Lin Mo looked down at her.

The faint, dark-golden shimmer on the surface of her skin was slowly flowing.

Suddenly, the light switched to a very faint dark red before quickly returning to normal.

Lin Mo placed his hand on her back.

When the dark-red light touched his palm, it vibrated slightly.

As if responding to something.

Lin Mo didn't make a sound; he just silently noted this detail.

Outside the window, moonlight quietly spilled onto the roof of the manor.

This night was very quiet.

...

The next day.

6:17 AM.

Core City shook.

It wasn't violent.

It lasted less than two seconds.

But it was enough to make the cups on the bookshelf of the second floor of the Shen Family Manor clatter against each other.

Su Xiaoli frowned during the tremor, turned over, and continued to sleep.

Then her breathing stabilized again.

Lin Mo stared at Su Xiaoli's peaceful sleeping face, his brow furrowing slightly.

Lin Mo didn't wake her.

He gently pulled out his hand that had been held all night, tucked the quilt in for her, and got up to walk out of the bedroom.

In the living room, Shen Yuntang was already standing there.

Her expression was very serious.

The communicator in her hand was still lit.

A few battle reports were piled on the table; the top one was marked with several eye-catching red dots.

"What happened?"

Lin Mo leaned against the doorframe and asked.

"A magnitude 4.7 earthquake."

Shen Yuntang turned off the communicator, her face very grim.

"Epicenter unknown."

She paused.

"The Alliance Leader said this is the resonance of laws generated as the Dragon King fragments converge toward the dragon heart."

"The frequency?"

"In the past three days, the depths of the Great Desolation have already shaken eleven times consecutively. Each time means we're closer to the Dragon King's resurrection."

Shen Yuntang let out a soft sigh.

"The Alliance Leader calculated that after 99 times, the Dragon King will successfully resurrect."

She walked to the window and pulled open the curtains.

The early morning sunlight streamed in.

Core City's skyline remained orderly.

High-rise buildings stood tall, and order was maintained.

But Shen Yuntang's gaze looked past the city toward the northern horizon.

At the base of the clouds there, a very faint dark red was pressing down.

If one didn't look closely, it was almost undetectable.

"Perhaps the Dragon King is about to resurrect."

"The Dragon Temple people have been very active lately."

"The Noble Families' side is also starting to get restless."

Shen Yuntang picked up the battle report from the table and handed it to Lin Mo.

"Three Noble Families have spoken out, saying they are willing to surrender to the Alliance."

"But the remaining ones haven't stopped; instead, they're taking advantage of the chaos to raise the stakes."

Lin Mo took the battle report.

Page one.

Shimmering City.

Red marker.

Page two.

Dawn City.

Red marker.

Behind them were Blackwater City, Sunfire City, and several small to medium-sized satellite cities.

Below each page was a threat from the Noble Families attached.

The Shangguan Family claimed to have planted bombs in Shimmering City.

People from the Liu and Ling families blocked several main roads outside Dawn City.

Blackwater City and Sunfire City also had various degrees of civilian hostage situations.

"They said if the Alliance doesn't agree to their terms, they'll kill the hostages."

Shen Yuntang's voice turned cold.

"The terms?"

Lin Mo flipped to the last page.

A few lines of text were circled in red pen.

Stop the liquidation of the Noble Families.

Return the southern strongholds.

Rescind the arrest warrants for some high-ranking members of the Noble Families.

And—

Restrict Lin Mo and Su Xiaoli from taking action.

Lin Mo finished reading and didn't speak.

Shen Yuntang had hardly closed her eyes for the past few days, and her communicator was vibrating until it was hot.

Request for reinforcement reports were piled on the table.

Behind each one were at least thousands or even tens of thousands of lives.

No matter how they fought in the past, the Noble Families would at least maintain a facade of decency.

On the surface, they wouldn't hold a knife to the necks of ordinary people.

But it's different now.

The Noble Families know they're standing on the edge of a cliff.

The Dragon King is about to be resurrected.

The Alliance's liquidation is imminent.

And Lin Mo has just come out of the Trial Tower.

They're truly out of options.

So they simply slammed their last bad card onto the table.

Isn't your Alliance people-oriented?

Then I'll use lives to force you.

I can ignore my civilians and let you kill them as you please.

Can you let me kill yours as I please?

This is their confidence.

And their final madness.

Lin Mo flipped through the battle reports page by page.

Shimmering City, Dawn City, Blackwater City, Sunfire City.

Every red dot lit up in his mind.

"They haven't made a move yet?"

Lin Mo asked.

"Not for now."

Shen Yuntang shook her head.

"They're probably waiting for your reaction as well."

At this point, she paused.

"But it won't be long."

"These people have gone crazy now."

Lin Mo closed the battle report.

"Alright."

His tone was very calm.

So calm it was as if he were talking about what to eat for breakfast.

"Give me ten minutes."

Shen Yuntang was startled.

"Ten minutes for what?"

Lin Mo looked up.

"Ten minutes."

"Is enough for me to completely wipe out all the Noble Families threatening the Alliance."