Great! I'm surrounded by villains!
Chapter 177 - 97: Bitter Fruit

Chapter 177: Chapter 97: Bitter Fruit

Qing Hua collapsed among the ruins, his vision gradually blurring.

The former Director of the Cosmic Coordination Department no longer had the strength to rise, scattered across the land they once deemed a pigsty, along with the wreckage of the fallen flagship.

He was full of doubts; before his trip to the Imperial Court, he had prepared thoroughly.

With three "Long Branch" Imperial Guards and a flagship at his disposal, he should have been capable of "purifying" the surface of a planet that had fully hatched, yet the Prime Monarch’s sword strike that targeted the flagship greatly exceeded his knowledge and the records of the Company to date.

He didn’t know what he was facing or why it suddenly appeared in this "pigsty" that had been peaceful for hundreds of years. Among the many breeding grounds of the Company, the Blue Star was definitely not the most special one.

These doubts were destined to remain unresolved.

He would die on this planet, a cold feeling of powerlessness overwhelming his consciousness, a sign of excessive blood loss.

The broken metal plate that had pierced his abdomen prolonged the process from bleeding to death.

Just as darkness was about to envelop his vision, Qing Hua saw a figure approaching him.

It was a Blue Star person.

This was an ending he never imagined.

To die in such a place, in front of a "beast."

Looking back on the history of the Universe Company, perhaps no other Director had ever died such a disgraceful death.

With doubts, resentment, and unwillingness, he...

Woke up.

And it was exactly for this reason that Qing Hua realized there was something more shameful in this world than dying in a "pigsty": being captured alive by "beasts" and then locked up. He staggered up from the bed and saw all familiar faces.

Aside from Falang, everyone who had been part of the visiting delegation was here.

The three "Long Branch" Imperial Guards were present, along with a substitute who had just undergone surgery to stitch together his upper and lower body, now resting on the bed.

Compared to being in a proper prison, their situation was more like house arrest, confined within the palace, forbidden to leave, but well supplied with food and drink - the last bit of dignity afforded to them.

"We all need to stay here until the Inspector Officers arrive,"

Cai Hui told Qing Hua, now that he was awake, about their current predicament. They had no other choice; without the flagship, even if they fought their way out, there would be nowhere to go.

Qing Hua didn’t respond immediately but instead looked down and lifted his clothes to examine the wound on his abdomen.

"It was Duan Mingyuan who treated our wounds,"

Cai Hui explained.

Within a single day, she had witnessed two miracles.

One was the sword that tore through the sky, and the other was the Resurrection Technique that brought people back to life.

It was a divine skill more powerful than the medical technology of the Company, even defying common sense, so Cai Hui could only think of it as a miracle. Duan Mingyuan had not only saved them but also restored the scattered limbs and bodies in front of the great hall, turning the Rebels, who should have been dead, back to their original form.

Cai Hui was still conscious at that time and had a brief conversation with Duan Mingyuan.

According to him, his ability was not suited for fighting but rather for helping others, a medical and logistical type of ability.

A support or healer-type Transcender.

Cai Hui lamented, "It’s really been a thorough defeat."

Not just a clean loss in the war, but also being captured and becoming a prisoner. She knew that for proud people like her teacher, such an outcome was worse than death.

Because no matter what kind of agreement the Inspector Officers reached with the Blue Star people, the failure would be entirely borne by the Director of the Cosmic Relations Coordination Department.

As a result, the consequences would be more than just losing the Directorship; Qing Hua would be brought back to headquarters to face trial as a criminal of the Company.

Having lost a flagship and nearly lost three "Long Branch" Imperial Guards, such a grave error in judgment, even the Consortium behind him wouldn’t be able to protect him. His future held only being discarded as a pawn and sent to a real prison or executed publicly as a warning to others.

Someone must bear the wrath of headquarters.

Cai Hui didn’t know how to console her teacher; everyone knew that the forthcoming days of house arrest at the Imperial Court would be the last relatively free moments of Qing Hua’s life. But the thought of the impending arrival of the Inspector Officers, along with his future fate, would likely rob him of peace, even in sleep.

Ironically, it was Mingyuan’s ability that delivered the final blow to Qing Hua.

Even ending his own life had become a luxury.

No matter if he took deadly poison, jumped off tall buildings to smash himself to pieces, he would always wake up on the bed in the great hall.

Cai Hui believed that Mingyuan was far from harmless as he appeared, healing Qing Hua not out of kindness but to let the lofty director of the Cosmic Coordination Department taste the flavor of failure.

Just as the director had said to the Third Prince before.

Death was too easy; he had not yet fully experienced the bitterness of falling from a heavenly envoy to a base prisoner.

"This is the lunch sent by the Third Prince,"

With some sympathy, Cai Hui glanced at her teacher whose face was alternately turning pale and flushed, already foreseeing what would happen next.

With the teacher’s personality, he of course wouldn’t be able to stomach any food.

As expected, he transformed into the desktop-cleaning master, frustratedly flipping over the plates one by one, with the clattering sound incessant, even his last bit of composure lost.

Cai Hui no longer spoke.

She suddenly felt that maybe the teacher and they, or even all the people of Blue Star, were not fundamentally different; it was the identity as Consortium and department director that made him stand so high and always maintain that lofty demeanor, and if he tasted the bitter fruit of failure, he would, like others, lose his sanity in a disgraceful manner.

And she had to consider her own future too.

As a direct descendant of Qing Hua, her banishment to the frontier was certain; to spend the rest of her life on a barren planet, with no chance of returning to the company, that was her fate.

This fortune was truly unpredictable.

A few days ago, she was the most likely successor to the director in the department, waiting for the teacher to be promoted one more level before taking over his post.

But since the outcome could not be changed, Cai Hui gladly accepted it.

Let it be Red Star.

Having lost her career, she was at least an expert in the research of the Red Death Disease.

Meanwhile, the Third Prince was walking shoulder to shoulder with Mingyuan, simultaneously commanding the repairs within the Royal City in an orderly manner.

Mingyuan was someone he had persuaded to leave retirement three times.

Mingyuan, who had been performing the Resurrection Technique all night, had just lain down when an unwelcome visitor barged in; although the Third Prince claimed he would let him rest first and wait outside until he woke up, how could Mingyuan sleep with the Crown Prince sitting in the room?

"Mingyuan, I hope you can stay in the Imperial Court and take the position of the national advisor; it is the result that everyone hopes for,"

This "everyone’s hope," of course, referred to the people who had been brought back to life.

"I still have unfinished business."

Mingyuan declined.

"Are you referring to matters related to the Royal Hunting Court?"

Mingyuan neither confirmed nor denied, feeling that his contribution to the Imperial Court this time had already been outstanding; in fact, he did not like places filled with deception and intrigue.

Teaching students and conducting academic research was more in line with his heart.

After the company’s Inspector Officer left, he too would begin his journey home.

"Since Mingyuan has made up his mind, I won’t insist on keeping you, but could you please guide me in the Sword Control Technique in the coming days?"

The Prime Monarch’s sky-splitting sword had reignited the Third Prince’s enthusiasm for the Sword Control Technique.

"I’ve said before, Sword Control Technique is not suited for you,"

Mingyuan said, "You’re suited for ship repairing."

"Ship repairing?"

"Although you can’t afford to buy a flagship, the wreckage of flagships is now scattered everywhere. If you could collect all the wreckage, perhaps you could unravel some mysteries."