Ziye and her companions were stunned into silence by this sudden turn of events!
She was still engrossed in Tang Wen’s impressively cool, almost theatrical ambush stance when the bizarre address hit her like a thunderbolt, leaving her utterly speechless. Sister-in-law? What kind of address was that?
Tang Wen, knowing Ziye well enough to be certain she wasn't married, instantly suspected this was a delaying tactic. His eyes narrowed slightly, and he spoke coldly, “The truth or death!”
As he spoke, the tip of his Aurora Sword pressed against the hostage’s jugular. The light from the blade was fine but flared intensely; a kiss to the neck like that would surely draw blood and end life.
The hostage broke out in a cold sweat. “I am telling the truth. Sister-in-law, you may not recognize us, but we recognize you. You are our future Corps Commander’s wife; we absolutely have not mistaken you!”
Wait, wait, something is fundamentally wrong here. Ziye felt a massive headache coming on. “Your Corps Commander? Which legion are you from?”
The two spoke in unison: “The Angel Legion!”
Ziye’s face turned dark with exasperation. An Junlie’s joke had gone too far!
She glanced at Tang Wen, whose face had darkened considerably. Ziye genuinely worried he might accidentally wipe them out with a single sword stroke.
Seeing that Tang Wen had no intention of moving the Aurora Sword, the two quickly realized using the 'Commander's Wife' card had backfired. They hastily changed their approach, only stating their affiliation: “We have Angel Legion pilot licenses in our pockets; we aren’t lying to you.”
Without a word, Ziye raised her hands, pressing the muzzle of her micro-submachine gun right against the hostage’s forehead.
The hostage’s face instantly turned ashen.
Tang Wen, however, gave a nod of approval. It was unsuitable for her to search a strange man, so she had to control the hostage while he did the searching. Still, he felt deep disdain for the act of groping someone, so with obvious reluctance, he pinched a small pilot’s license from the man’s upper pocket using only two fingers. “It’s real.”
With that, he used an impeccably clean gesture to tuck the license back into the man’s pocket.
Only then did Ziye lower her weapon.
The hostage finally let out a long breath, wiping the cold sweat from his brow. The two men snapped into a disciplined formation, stood at attention, and saluted: “S-sister—”
Ziye shot him a sharp look, and he immediately corrected himself: “Ms. Ziye, what a dreadful mix-up—running into you here at the Dragon King’s Temple!”
Ziye retorted without ceremony, “What business do you have coming to the Tiger’s Den?”
As if receiving a military order, they both turned their gaze toward Tang Wen simultaneously.
Ziye instantly guessed seven or eight parts of the truth and introduced him: “This is my teacher, Tang Wen.”
The two exchanged a glance and spoke in unison once more: “Greetings, Mr. Tang Wen!”
Tang Wen clearly saw the shock, confusion, and hostility flicker in their eyes when they heard his name. Having navigated the Star Federation for many years, he paid such minor expressions no mind. Instead, he gave a subtle flick of his fingertip; the Aurora Sword spun like a flash of lightning, tracing a path precisely past the hostage’s neck, causing the man to break out in another wave of cold sweat.
Tang Wen smiled faintly. “Greetings to you as well.”
For reasons they couldn't quite articulate, the two suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure bearing down on them.
They couldn't help but recall the complaint from Eksbente. The twins’ original message had been: “Don’t let Tang Wen’s beautiful appearance fool you; he looks clean and pure, but he is absolutely rotten to the core! And so rotten you can’t even see it! If any of you see him, remember to help our Commander snatch Little Ye back!”
It seemed the mission entrusted to them by the twins was now impossible to achieve.
At this moment, the only thing they could do was avoid disgracing the Angel Legion.
So, they braced themselves against the intimidating pressure. “Our legion is scheduled to send pilots for training at Silver Crest Base starting next month. We currently need the Hunter Base Tiger Gall to use as a medicinal catalyst to enhance the pilots’ resistance so they can withstand the gamma baseline radiation.”
If they hadn't brought it up, Ziye would have forgotten.
Since they were sending pilots down so soon, the Wolf’s Den needed to accelerate its pace as well.
However, with them possessing the Hunter Base Tiger Gall, she wouldn't have to worry! She smiled sweetly and extended her hand: “That’s excellent. Send me one.”
The hostage replied, “We are still in the process of suppressing the tigers. Once completed, we will certainly present it.”
Tang Wen gave a slight nod, then turned and walked away.
Ziye offered the two men a word of thanks and quickly followed Tang Wen. “Where are we going?”
Tang Wen replied, “Since others have taken action, let’s go sit outside the forest and wait.”
Ziye: ...
He really wasn't being polite at all!
Once they were gone, the two men from the Angel Legion let out a huge sigh of relief.
The hostage murmured, “The Sister-in-law is with the Commander’s love rival. What should we do?”
The other man pondered for a long moment. “Since the Sister-in-law needs the Base Tiger Gall, she won't be leaving Silver Crest Planet immediately. We should stall her while reporting the situation to the Commander so he can decide.”
The hostage hesitated. “But the Vice-Commander said the Sister-in-law isn’t suitable for our Commander.”
Slap!
The other man smacked him on the head. “Idiot! Even if she isn't suitable for the Commander, what he says goes. Furthermore, she’s so capable; even if she can’t be our Sister-in-law, it would be a good thing if she could help our legion!”
The hostage conceded that made sense. The two immediately divided the task: one would stall, and the other would report back to An Junlie.
Just as they finished their communication, a long, mournful tiger roar echoed from the depths of the Tiger’s Den.
ROAR—!!!
The entire forest seemed to tremble. That single roar stirred the nerves of every old Base Tiger. Before its echo had completely faded, a dense wave of resounding tiger roars erupted from all corners of the forest, overlapping one another.
It sounded as if the Base Tigers were charging them.
The hostage, already shaken once, felt his heart leap again at the sound. His legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground. The other man managed to remain standing but was trembling uncontrollably, wanting desperately to flee but finding his feet rooted to the spot!
This was the furious roar of the forest king!
It lacked the might of mechs or the sheer scale of starships.
But it was the undisputed monarch of this forest, possessing thousands of years of history, a remnant of bygone eras, a true powerhouse!
An intensely suffocating yet furious aura began to spread. Every living creature in the forest—those flying overhead, running on the ground, or swimming below—was affected by this aura. They crawled out of their nests, baring venomous tongues and dripping toxic fluids... emitting infrasound waves audible and inaudible to the human ear.
The two men were terrified beyond measure. They heard only a short command crackle over their communicator from their squad leader: “All units, withdraw!”
Ziye, walking back with Tang Wen, suddenly heard the tiger roars and thought a Base Tiger was lunging from behind. She spun around in alarm, but seeing no animal, exclaimed in shock, “It’s over, they must have provoked the Tiger King!”
Tang Wen instinctively tightened his grip on the Aurora Sword, his expression remaining placid. “What are the consequences?”
Ziye panicked, turning and sprinting away. After about ten steps, she stopped when Tang Wen didn't follow, waiting for him anxiously. “This forest will swallow us whole!”
Tang Wen didn't run, merely quickening his pace slightly to catch up with her, stating calmly, “It doesn’t matter. There are a large number of Angel Legion personnel behind us; they will be swallowed first.”
Ziye shot him an exasperated look. “You are so cold-blooded.”
Tang Wen smiled faintly, suddenly bending down to grasp her hand, and then they ran.
Ziye instinctively followed, running for quite a while before belatedly realizing her accusation toward Tang Wen had been excessively harsh!
Under circumstances where even their own lives might not be guaranteed, who had the spare energy to worry about the lives of others? Even if they intended to, they would be powerless.
She stole a glance at Tang Wen, intending to apologize, but seeing his face still relaxed even while running, she swallowed the words that had reached her tongue.
Hmph!
Tang Wen led the run, precisely navigating around areas frequented by wild animals. When there was no path, he leaped directly over vines or thickets. Ziye, not as light on her feet, stumbled along while he pulled her, inevitably drawing ridicule from Little Sprout, whose tiny wings fluttered merrily above her head.
As they neared the forest edge, Tang Wen stopped, looked sideways at Ziye—who was panting, her face flushed—and smiled warmly, about to speak, when another tiger roar suddenly sounded!
Ziye hadn't even caught her breath fully before hearing the roar again, causing her to nearly fall as her feet slipped.
They had almost reached the boundary, yet they encountered another Base Tiger?
This was followed by the rapid thud-thud-thud of projectiles.
Ziye exhaled deeply, forcing herself to calm down, and tugged at Tang Wen’s sleeve, looking toward the direction of the sound. She saw two figures in purple woodland camouflage firing wildly at a raging Base Tiger.
The Base Tiger, covered in dark purple bloodstains, charged madly back into the forest.
Ziye inwardly thought: Oh no!
Tang Wen then released her hand and dashed toward the frenzied Base Tiger.
Ziye was nearly scared senseless. What was he doing now? Did he think he had lived too long?
Forgetting everything else, she hefted the micro-submachine gun she hadn't had a chance to use and charged after him. Midway, Tang Wen suddenly looked back and commanded, “Don’t follow!”
Ziye paused in shock. She watched as Tang Wen executed a clean leap, landing directly in front of the maddened Base Tiger, thrusting his long, slender Aurora Sword straight into the beast's wide-open maw!
The Base Tiger’s body was as rigid as iron; its hide was notoriously difficult to pierce. Its only weakness was its eyes, which were small and hard to hit accurately. Even a successful strike to the eye would only drive the beast into a deeper frenzy.
In that split second, life and death were decided. Ziye, seeing him standing directly before the tiger, was utterly paralyzed with terror!
—The Aurora Sword was controlled by mental power and could extend or contract indefinitely, but even if it pierced the tiger entirely, the beast wouldn't die instantly. This meant Tang Wen had placed himself in the most dangerous position possible!
The Base Tiger let out a muffled roar and leaped up, claws descending upon Tang Wen’s head.
Tang Wen met the charge, gripping the Aurora Sword tightly. In the next second, Ziye witnessed the miracle of the Aurora Sword!
The sword's light suddenly exploded inside the Base Tiger’s body, fragmenting into hundreds of beams of light that sliced through the beast's thick hide. Chunks of the tiger’s body flew everywhere, one piece narrowly missing Tang Wen’s head.
Purple blood gushed out like a spring, pooling on the ground.
Then, the tiger’s flesh fell like raindrops.
Of that one Base Tiger, only the head remained intact!
The Aurora Sword in Tang Wen’s hand returned to its slender form. He calmly turned his head and smiled faintly at Ziye. “Come and take the tiger gall.”
-RS