AHDIBCB Chapter 71

Yuan Yi seriously looked at the person full of love, then smiled and pointed to his own lips.

When they separated, he thought he wouldn’t miss him that much. But after more than three months, over a hundred days, across two lifetimes—he finally understood what it truly meant to miss someone. On the surface, he appeared calm and unafraid, but inside, every day felt like a year.

Li Heng’s hand slowly caressed Yuan Yi’s neck, kissing him forcefully. The scent of golden-edged daphne lightly surrounded him, as if it too was telling him of the longing he had felt all this time.

The missing piece seemed to be found in that instant. The urge to embed himself into the other’s body and never be separated grew stronger and stronger.

Just as the couple were kissing passionately and inseparably, Yuan Yi suddenly let out a soft “mm”—as if in pain.

Li Heng let him go. “What’s wrong?”

Yuan Yi said, “The little one got upset and kicked me. It’s fine, I just need a moment.”

He wasn’t sure if it was because he’d been eating so well every day, but the two inside his belly were both full of energy. Not only did the fetal movement start early, it was also very strong. Sometimes he’d even be kicked awake while asleep. The number of times he woke up at night wasn’t only because of trips to the bathroom—those two little ones had to take some of the blame too.

Li Heng placed his hand on Yuan Yi’s belly and gently stroked it, as if telling the children not to be naughty, and also as if to soothe them.

But when he actually touched it, he was a little surprised too. Although they had been communicating every now and then through holographic images, seeing a hologram and truly seeing and touching in real life were still not the same. He hadn’t expected that after just over three months, Yuan Yi’s belly would already be this big.

Usually, Yuan Yi only reported the good news and not the bad, but just thinking about it, one could imagine how hard it must be with such a heavy body.

Li Heng’s face was full of guilt. “Once the war is over, I’ll absolutely work without complaint—you point east, I won’t go west.”

Yuan Yi let out a snort-laugh. “You said it yourself, huh. There are still so many places I want to go, especially the Zhenyuan Ship. Once the war is over, you have to take me there so I can see just how majestic it really is.”

Because every time Li Heng contacted him it was either in the bedroom or study, and occasionally in the command center, even though he had seen it, it was only a partial view. That’s just like how Li Heng could sometimes see Yuan Yi’s belly through images—yet when he saw it in person, he was still shocked. It was completely different.

“Maybe we don’t need to wait until the war is over,” Li Heng said. “I came back this time to take you with me.”

“Take me?” Yuan Yi slowly sat up and leaned against the headboard. “To where?”

“To the Zhenyuan Ship,” Li Heng also sat up, pulling Yuan Yi into his arms. “The Mingzhu Ship is about to fight Aysdiya, and it’s already heading here at full speed. I can’t leave you here any longer—this place will soon become unsafe too.”

“Then are we getting ready now?”

“Yes, we’ll need to pack up in a bit. This time, we have to leave using a more special method—we can’t go via the sea surface.”

When he came here, it wasn’t through the sea surface either, otherwise he would’ve been discovered long ago. The Qiming Army was prepared this time to intercept Yuan Yi.

Yuan Yi still couldn’t figure it out. He was in the sea—if he didn’t leave via the sea surface, where else could he go?

Li Heng saw Yuan Yi show a confused expression—this was a rare sight. He couldn’t help but kiss Yuan Yi’s forehead and whispered softly into his ear, “Do you still remember those sea trees?”

Of course Yuan Yi remembered—those trees were thick enough to support a ghost ship, tall enough to pierce the clouds…

Yuan Yi suddenly understood. “We’re leaving through the trees?”

Li Heng said, “Yes, through the trees.”

In less than fifteen minutes, Yang Mei came over to help pack. Yuan Yi was completely awake now, and immediately followed along, reminding them of what things needed to be brought, and which ones didn’t need to wait. Jian Yurou and Ji Lan also came to help pack together.

Actually, he didn’t have that many things—just some simple clothes and shoes and such. The main bulk was all the stuff for the children. Some were brought by Ji Lan when he came, and some were brought by Professor Jian. From his nutritional supplements and clothing to everything the babies might need for eating, drinking, peeing, and pooping—it was practically all-inclusive. You could say that even if he didn’t buy a single thing for two years after giving birth, it would still be enough. No—in fact, it was more than enough.

Yuan Yi stood to the side with one hand on his belly. Sitting made him feel cramped; standing felt more comfortable. Li Heng then wrapped an arm around him and let him lean against his body. Yuan Yi was also somewhat worried about the future situation, so he asked: “Then does this mean we won’t be able to come back again?”

Li Heng said, “It’s hard to say right now. Luo Fan told me that the Second Prince has prepared poison gas bombs, but it’s not clear exactly which model. If it’s a few specific types of high-risk poison gas bombs, then this place won’t be usable again for decades—or even hundreds of years.”

Yuan Yi said angrily, “He’s really completely lacking in morals.”

Although this place had little land, and there weren’t many animals and plants on the land, there were still some. Not to mention the sea. Just thinking of how those sea beasts had helped them fend off attacks several times, Yuan Yi felt thoroughly disgusted by the Second Prince’s actions.

He had always advocated for peace. Even when Li Heng fought Gallech, it was because the Zerg had first invaded Marledor and deliberately tried to seize it.

If poison gas bombs were really thrown into the sea, then most of the life in this sea area would suffer. Because with the technology of this era, poison gas bombs were much more powerful than those from his previous life.

“Isn’t there any way to stop them from destroying this place? Immortal Mountain is one thing, but those sea beasts—I’ve always had a strange sense of familiarity with them. If this place is truly destroyed, then that answer will never be found.”

“I also feel regretful about this. But as of now, there’s truly no way to guarantee it. Still, I promise you—I’ll do my best. So don’t worry yourself.”

“Mm. I’ll go take a walk.”

Within the gel wall was Immortal Mountain, and outside was endless seawater. Yuan Yi walked to the entrance, only to be shocked to find that those sea beasts had all swum over and were gathering outside.

Usually, he would occasionally see one or two, but they were just passing by unintentionally and would soon swim away. But now these sea beasts had gathered in this place—it was clearly for some reason. And when he walked, they followed; when he stopped, they stopped. Their gazes were even constantly fixed on him.

Li Heng was also extremely surprised, because when he came in not long ago, this situation hadn’t occurred yet.

He Yanwu came over from the other side and said, “Isn’t it quite baffling?”

Li Heng frowned slightly. “Has anything like this happened before?”

He Yanwu said, “No, this is the first time.”

Yuan Yi reached out and placed his hand against the gel wall. A small sea beast cub immediately rubbed against his hand nonstop. Not being able to get through, it anxiously swam back and forth, as if trying to tell him something. The sound it made was “woo-er woo-er,” and it felt just like a child crying sadly and looking for help from an adult.

Hearing it made Yuan Yi feel especially upset, but his expression suddenly froze, and he looked at Li Heng. “Is it possible that the Qiming Army suddenly launched an attack?”

Whether to fight or not—it’s up to the commander’s word. If the other side had already started preparing, then it’s not impossible!

Flight Wolf said, “But there hasn’t been any movement.”

Snow Wolf quickly rushed in from outside and said, “There has. Gallech’s bug soldiers arrived first. What we thought were gas bombs were actually launch-type gas bombs. But they’re using time-delayed gas bombs. Gallech’s troops are deploying them manually. I saw the coverage area—it’s pretty wide. Quite a few of them came.”

If it were long-distance launches, it would definitely create a lot of commotion—so they wouldn’t have missed it.

Li Heng immediately ordered everyone to speed up. For anything that could be left behind, just leave it. While sending out two-thirds of the robotic soldiers to monitor the water quality, he also tasked them with collecting those timed bombs.

If conflict could be avoided, then it should be—for now.

The submarines with source-blocking layers had already been prepared. Li Heng was going to take Yuan Yi away, but unexpectedly, the sea beasts began crying even more fiercely.

Yuan Yi really couldn’t bear to hear that kind of sound, but with so many sea beasts, it was simply impossible to take them all along.

Li Heng said, “I promise—I’ll try my best to minimize the destruction.”

Yuan Yi shook his head. “No, let’s open Immortal Mountain instead—can we?”

“Open Immortal Mountain?”

“Yes, open it to the sea beasts. Although it might damage the existing environment here, once they come in, we can seal Immortal Mountain again. Maybe it won’t block everything, but anything it can block is still something. At the very least, with the gel wall here, they’ll be a bit safer inside. And if the seawater inside and outside can be completely cut off, maybe they’ll be entirely unaffected by the poison gas.”

Li Heng thought it over—it was indeed an idea. So he sent out robotic soldiers to guide the sea beasts into Immortal Mountain. Only, if the usual entrance was opened directly, the pressure from the rushing seawater would surely destroy Immortal Mountain. So they only opened a few of the prep rooms originally used by the robot troops for storing energy. They were big enough, wide enough, and shock-resistant. Once all the sea beasts had swum inside, they would then connect it to the main area of Immortal Mountain.

Yuan Yi watched in real time through the images transmitted by the robotic soldiers as they guided the sea beasts toward Immortal Mountain. He began to worry that the sea beasts wouldn’t go in, but fortunately, that didn’t happen. After the entrance opened, the cubs swam in first, and later the larger ones followed.

At this time, Li Heng brought Yuan Yi into a submarine, quickly heading toward one of the sea trees.

Only when they entered the base of the tree did Yuan Yi realize that one-fourth of the inside had been hollowed out—and there was actually a gel-energy elevator installed inside the tree?!

Li Heng brought him in. “The speed might be a bit fast—don’t be scared.”

He held Yuan Yi in his arms. Yuan Yi didn’t see Professor Jian or Ji Lan—clearly they had come out one after the other—so he asked, “Where are the others?”

Li Heng said, “There’s more than one elevator. To be safe, we’re moving separately. If too many people gather in one place, it’s easier to be detected.”

Yuan Yi understood, but even though they all had a way to get out, he still couldn’t forget the expression of that sea beast cub crying as it looked at him.

Li Heng gently patted his hand and said, “Don’t worry—they’ll be okay.”

The elevator quickly rose to the top of the tree. Li Heng brought him out and onto a flying craft, completely leaving the planet Aysdiya.

Under the sea, the robotic soldiers quickly began collecting the poison gas bombs and gathering them in one place. Perhaps there were still places that couldn’t be detected, but every one fewer was still a gain. And so, on Aysdiya, a strange scene appeared—on one side they were fiercely throwing, and on the other side, they were fiercely collecting.

The two sides didn’t interfere with each other—truly achieving “you do your thing, I do mine.” And at this time, Li Heng had already quietly brought Yuan Yi back onto a sub-ship of the Zhenyuan fleet.

As soon as Yuan Yi got off the aircraft, he saw neatly arranged rows of troops.

He recognized the people in the front row—Winter Wolf and Night Wolf, and also Scarlet Snake and Zi Lu.

Behind them were human soldiers, probably only about a hundred or so. The rest were robotic soldiers.

Upon seeing Yuan Yi, they shouted in unison: “Welcome, Madam, aboard the ship!”

Yuan Yi was momentarily stunned, then smiled and said: “Thank you, everyone.”

He had originally thought they were sneaking in—after all, the war wasn’t over yet, and this would be safer. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust these people, but rather that technology nowadays was too advanced. Sometimes that made things less safe—you never knew when the enemy might spot his whereabouts.

But Li Heng said: “Even if the Second Prince knows we’re here now, he still can’t get to us.”

Yuan Yi turned his head to ask with his eyes—

Meanwhile, on the Mingzhu ship that had just reached the skies above Aysdiya, a sudden boom was heard— an explosion rocked the ship, making the whole vessel tremble.

The energy storage unit had exploded!

At that time, the Second Prince was not far from the energy storage unit and was blasted so hard his brain buzzed.

He shouted immediately: “Someone! What the hell happened?!”

His trusted aide hurriedly reported: “Second Prince! The energy storage unit has exploded!”

The Second Prince bolted out, shooting forward at a speed like never before, rushing toward the energy storage room.

Energy! This was the key to fighting the war!!!

Once they arrived at the scene, they saw that the entire storage chamber had been blown beyond recognition, and all the energy gel inside had been destroyed— the blazing fire couldn’t be put out no matter what!

The Second Prince shouted: “Useless trash! Who was guarding this? Drag them all out and shoot them!”

His trusted aide said: “The ones guarding it were directly killed in the explosion. And Your Highness, this might not be the guards’ fault—look at this!”

The aide used his light-brain to show the Second Prince the final recording: “It’s clear that the one to explode first was that high-purity energy gel that Luo Qizheng brought over from Li Heng! That piece of energy must’ve had a problem from the beginning— it’s our people who didn’t catch it!”

The Second Prince’s face went cold, as if he were about to eat someone alive. “Go. Bring Luo Qizheng to me. I want to ask him just how he managed to escape back then!”

When Luo Qizheng heard that the energy storage room had exploded, he had a vague sense of foreboding. He tried to flee, but had only just stepped out of his own resting quarters when he was seized.

The Second Prince grabbed him by the throat and asked: “Speak—did Li Heng promise you some kind of benefit?!”

Luo Qizheng struggled a bit, and was flung aside hard by the Second Prince before he barely managed to regain his footing and said: “Y-Your Highness, you’re—cough cough—you’re mistaken. How could I possibly want anything from him? And besides, he couldn’t possibly give me anything either.”

The trusted aide said: “But the high-purity blue gel you brought back exploded—how do you explain that?”

Luo Qizheng’s heart gave a sudden lurch.

In fact, ever since he came back, he had vaguely felt that something wasn’t quite right— that high-purity blue gel had come by far too easily. He had worried before—whether Li Heng might’ve left some kind of backhand move.

He wasn’t worried about anything else—just those soldiers under him, worried that they might still be alive, and one day actually come back to bite him, especially if they exposed what had happened with the Qiming Army.

But he had secretly sent people to investigate, and hadn’t heard of any survivors anywhere.

And it turns out—this was Li Heng’s real aim!

Luo Qizheng’s face turned deathly pale.

The Second Prince said, “Drag him out and strangle him.”

Luo Qizheng suddenly grabbed onto the Second Prince.

“Second Prince, wait! This subordinate still has something to say! This subordinate also set a trap for Li Heng— but it still needs time. As long as Your Highness gives this subordinate a little more time, I swear I can make him pay the price!”

“You still dare lie to me?”

“This subordinate wouldn’t dare!” Sweat poured down Luo Qizheng’s forehead like rain.

“This subordinate guarantees—this time, I’ll definitely make him suffer!”

“Fine. Speak. I’m listening.”

Luo Qizheng clenched his jaw— but said nothing.

He knew full well: if he did speak, then his life would be over.

The Second Highness stared at Luo Qizheng for a moment. In the end, his desire to strike at Li Heng outweighed everything else.

He ordered the guards: “Lock him up. No food is to be given. One sip of water a day— until he’s willing to confess honestly.”

The guards took Luo Qizheng away. The Second Prince’s face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

Luckily, the energy storage room wasn’t the only one. If there had only been one, the losses would’ve been unimaginable. But Li Heng actually dared to blow up his energy at a time like this?

“Your Highness, do you think it’s possible that Li Heng knows our intentions, so he tried to stop us this way?”

“That shouldn’t be possible. We’re already so close to Aysdiya— wouldn’t he be afraid I’d launch a direct attack on the sea?”

“Could it be that he realized the difficulty of this rescue mission, so he simply decided to give up?”

“Your meaning is—Li Heng wants to give up Yuan Yi?”

“Your subordinate is only speculating.”

If this battle is lost, it’s a total defeat—nothing will be gained. But if it’s won, glory, wealth, and overwhelming power won’t be lacking either.

The Emperor can have multiple partners. Many generals who command their own forces secretly keep multiple lovers. Could it be that Li Heng doesn’t have this kind of thought?

Although Yuan Yi is quite good, he doesn’t have much background, and after all, they didn’t fall in love freely. But Yuan Yi has done a lot for the people, and Li Heng couldn’t possibly just cast him aside. Otherwise, he’d definitely be cursed to death.

So—like now—using another’s hand to kill him, wouldn’t that both make the Second Prince bear the hatred, and let Li Heng get what he wants?

The Second Highness thought for a while, felt like this wasn’t impossible. But putting it on Li Heng, he still felt something wasn’t quite right.

He said: “Probably not. If he really had such thoughts, he would’ve acted long ago— no need to wait until today. Besides, Yuan Yi has no background, no support, and now he has a child. Even if Li Heng finds a few more, can he really divorce him? Also, don’t forget— Yuan Yi and Li Heng’s genes are highly compatible. That child is probably exactly what Li Heng hopes for. There must be some other reason. Is the fire out yet?”

A guard said: “Reporting to Your Highness— not yet.”

The entire storage room’s energy was wasted. Even a few adjacent warehouses were affected. If it weren’t for the Mingzhu Ship’s explosion-proof design being excellent, the losses would’ve been even worse.

“Your Highness, do we still attack Aysdiya as scheduled?” the trusted aide asked. “Gallech’s Zerg soldiers have already thrown all 20,000 poison bombs.”

“How long can the remaining energy last?”

“Subtracting what’s needed for the return trip—seven days.”

The Second Prince exclaimed: “How can there be so little?!”

The trusted aide, speaking of this, also felt a chill in his heart. “Because although the just-destroyed storage room isn’t the largest one on the ship, what it stored was all high-purity energy. If it hadn’t been destroyed, we should have still been able to fight for another month.”

The Second Prince’s expression twisted slightly. “Then why are you even asking? Of course we fight!”

At this moment, the Second Prince’s communicator sounded— the electronic assistant said: “Second Prince, the Marshal requests that you come over for a moment.”

The Second Prince said impatiently, “What is it?”

The electronic assistant said: “The Marshal hopes you’ll consider withdrawing the troops.”

The Second Prince froze for a second. “Withdraw? Withdraw to where?”

Once the bow is drawn, there’s no turning back. He’d never even considered retreat. Either win, or die— there was no third option.

The electronic assistant said: “Withdraw to Bruteman. This is currently the only way you still have a chance to make a comeback, and also the only way to preserve the chieftain of the Dru’Adi clan’s standing within the clan. The Marshal says, the explosion of the storage room was most likely because Yuan Yi has already successfully left Aysdiya.”

The Second Prince said: “That’s impossible! Our people have been monitoring all along— not a single living thing has left the sea’s surface.”

The electronic assistant produced a video for the Second Prince on the spot. In the video, a tall sea tree had a ladder going up and down inside. “The Marshal said this method may have been used.”

The trusted aide asked: “Then why didn’t the Marshal tell the Second Prince earlier?”

The electronic assistant said: “The Marshal only thought of this possibility after the explosion of the storage room. The Marshal also said: if you still insist on attacking Aysdiya, then you must guard against the Dru’Adi. Because of the energy shortage, they may lose their last bit of confidence in you— what happens afterward will be unpredictable.”

As the words just fell, faint tremors came from the ground— a kind of vibration that only occurred when orcs walked over.

Dru’Adi questioned the Second Prince: “The storage room exploded—how long can the remaining energy still support us?”

The Second Prince answered without even thinking: “A month.”

Dreuadi’s huge fist slammed down with a bang, smashing the table in front of the Second Prince. “At a time like this, you still dare to lie to me!”

The Second Prince, face unchanging, said calmly: “I didn’t lie to you. If I said one month, then it’s one month.”

Dru’Adi said: “Fine. Then hand over half a month’s worth of energy first— otherwise, don’t expect even a single one of us to participate in any further operations!”

The Second Prince stared Dru’Adi down with a dark expression for a moment. “You think that going back now means you can reclaim your former position? If you want to snatch back the position of Grand Chieftain, then we can only continue cooperating!”

This wasn’t just empty talk. Dru’Adi really was stuck in a dilemma at the moment.

“When do you plan to make a move?”

“Right now.”

Just as he spoke, a loud boom suddenly came from outside— the entire Mingzhu Ship shook with the impact, a sign of how powerful the blast had been.

The Second Prince and Dru’Adi almost lost their footing. The Second Prince shouted: “What was that sound?!”

Someone came to report: “Second Prince! The enemy has initiated an attack—it’s the Sirius Ship! Do we still attack Aysdiya?”

The Second Highness said: “Attack! Immediately recall all Gallech troops! Detonate the poison bombs! All sub-ships, go out and engage Sirius in battle!”

Dru’Adi gritted his teeth— he had no choice but to brace himself and fight the enemy. If they didn’t fight, the only path left was death.

Bang bang bang!

Boom!

The sounds of impact and explosion rang out endlessly. Gallech’s zerg soldiers were flying at top speed toward the sub-ships. However, midway, they saw something very familiar!

Weren’t those the poison gas bombs they had thrown into the sea?!

Bang!

A poison gas bomb exploded in the starry sky! The Gallech zerg soldiers sped up, rushing toward the Mingzhu Ship.

The surface of Aysdiya was utterly calm. There were faint tremors coming from the sea. In the depths of the galaxy, like a flower bursting open, glowing streams of energy cannon fire shot out like meteors, striking toward the enemy.

And at this moment, those armies who had previously been watching from the sidelines also began joining the battle one after another— almost without exception, they all stood on the side of the Xingyan Army.

The battle lasted for a full two days and two nights. Among the Qiming Army, many died, many fled— but even more surrendered. Li Heng personally led a team to take custody and confiscate weapons.

The Mingzhu Ship no longer had the strength to retaliate. The Second Prince and Luo Qizheng were captured alive. Dru’Adi died in battle. Marshal Huaman’s whereabouts were unknown.

The Second Prince and Luo Qizheng were imprisoned together. Only when no one else was around did the Second Highness ask: “What exactly was the trap you set for Li Heng?!”

Luo Qizheng remained silent.

The next day, the Zhenyuan fleet set sail. Yuan Yi boarded the Zhenyuan flagship that day.

This time he had made preparations in advance, disembarking from the sub-ship to see all the soldiers on the flagship. In the end, he didn’t see a single shadow of a person.

He asked Li Heng, and Li Heng said: “There are so many people on the flagship, if they all came to greet you at once, they might scare our babies.”

Yuan Yi thought that made sense, and followed Li Heng to the captain’s bedroom.

A certain bast*rd captain turned off the lights and showed him the painting he had sent to him before.

“What do you mean by this?” Yuan Yi asked, sitting on the sofa.

“Wife, shouldn’t we settle some accounts now?”

Yuan Yi: “…My stomach hurts.”

Li Heng said: “Using our sons as a shield won’t work.”

Yuan Yi held his belly, bit his lip, “I’m not joking, it really hurts!”

Li Heng was stunned for a moment, then shouted loudly: “Winter Wolf! Go get a doctor!”