Light Fortress
Chapter 247 - 223 The Bronze Box

Chapter 247: Chapter 223 The Bronze Box

"Introduce yourself."

"Qin Ye... from Central Continent, Source Tower."

The underground secret tunnel was very damp, filled with mud, yet this man was exceptionally clean; his hands pocketed, he stood under the dim light, above which lay the well leading to the ground. His trench coat fell forward in the breeze flowing through the tunnel, rippling and shaking like liquid, as though it might scatter into ink at any moment.

Gu Shen stared intently at the man before him.

He protected his wife.

However... Qin Ye did not make a move.

"Don’t worry, I’m not here to kill."

Qin Ye stretched out his hands, slowly raising them; the man’s fingers were long and slender, as white as a woman’s.

As these hands touched the air, it seemed as if he was stirring lake water.

Invisible ripples spread out.

"The one responsible for taking action is still above... but he should be arriving shortly. I’m just here to check on the prey for him," Qin Ye said, looking towards the lady, and spoke in a very soft voice, "and incidentally, to greet her."

"I’ve seen you before..."

Lu Nanzhi narrowed her phoenix eyes.

She stared hard at the man in the trench coat in front of her, recalling a moment from many years ago... There’s always such an encounter in one’s life, a ’fresh in memory’ kind of person you meet, who then disappears from your life without notice, until they reappear, prompting a sudden realization that you’ve seen "him" before.

It was a meeting without meaning.

Because of the reunion... it became meaningful.

"Yes," Qin Ye saw the change in the lady’s expression and smiled, "We’ve met before."

The lady clenched her teeth.

Her memory was somewhat unclear...

"Ten years ago, the direction you pointed me in..." Qin Ye smiled, "Do you really not remember at all?"

Lu Nanzhi froze.

She remembered.

Many years ago, on a rainy night, she encountered a man wearing a black trench coat, holding an umbrella at the crossroads in the rain, asking her how to get to the old district.

He was a very strange person.

And after she gave directions, that person walked away under his umbrella, alone.

His voice seemed to carry a peculiar power that locked away her memory... Due to the existence of "Red Door," Lu Nanzhi hadn’t completely lost this memory, but resisted that strange power, and held onto the memory tightly.

It was only when Qin Ye spoke again that the peculiar power, which seemed to exist in some mysterious dimension, was lifted.

The sealed memory began to awaken, bit by bit.

The day after the man asked for directions, the Lion Alley case happened.

If Old Lu’s death... was an "accident," then the only ones who had the capability to orchestrate such an "accident" without leaving a trace for anyone to find were—

The Angel Envoys.

Her gaze toward Qin Ye changed... from perplexed, to shocked, and finally to anger.

"Why look at me with such eyes?"

Qin Ye’s voice was devoid of emotion, "I was destined to reach Lion Alley, and destined to take his life. It was all predetermined... Just like today, you are destined to die."

He slowly extended his hand and took out an ancient set of keys from the inside of his trench coat.

Lu Cheng’s keys.

To open the bronze box, one needed both keys and a password, neither could be missing... and when Old Lu died in Lion Alley, the most important "key" had disappeared without a trace.

Seeing this set of keys.

It suggests... the real culprit behind the Lion Alley incident from years ago has surfaced.

"...You killed Old Lu."

The lady shouldered one arm of her sister, slowly bowed her head, her hair cascading down, shielding her cheeks, "For the Lion Awakening technology?"

"Of course."

In Qin Ye’s eyes, Lu Cheng was nothing special. In the mission, such a character would be tagged as one, two, three, four, five, six... He only cared about whether he could complete the mission; he didn’t care about the identity of the person he needed to deal with.

"The mission back then was only half completed. I tried to extract his spirit... But unfortunately, the moment I infiltrated his consciousness, this man began self-destructing. This must have been the most valuable brain in the East Continent, right? I only managed to capture a portion of the information, but luckily, that information significantly advanced the Federation’s research on ’Awakening Technology.’"

Qin Ye paused, "Hmm... what you refer to as ’Lion Awakening technology.’"

Planning the Lion Alley case years ago, killing Lu Cheng, a man of great fame and influence in the East Continent, he chose to vanish and also succeeded in deceiving the public, burying the truth in the mists of history.

The only reason he would speak of it now...

He had the power to conceal the truth once more.

"This time I return to Da Du, I come for the unfinished mission."

That gentle voice of Qin Ye now sounded chillingly eerie, "You are Lu Cheng’s daughter, and obviously, you know the code to that bronze box... I hope you will cooperate."

He looked towards the lady.

In her flight, she didn’t forget to bring along the bronze box.

"What if I say no?"

"Then I will infiltrate your spirit, just as I did with Lu Cheng."

"Even if the mission can’t be completed?" Lu Nanzhi said emotionlessly, "I will erase all memories in an instant, and you will not get even a bit of information from my consciousness..."

"..."

Qin Ye fell silent for a short moment and then said, "Perhaps you underestimate me."

"Or perhaps you underestimate me," the lady returned coldly, "You can try."

Less than ten seconds of deathly silence persisted underground.

Qin Ye smiled.

"No... My lady, you misunderstood."

He shook his head, "What I mean is, perhaps you underestimate my bottom line. As an Angel Envoy of Source Tower, my mission is to burn everything for the future of humanity, to complete this mission at any cost, by any means necessary."

Qin Ye gently jangled the keys in his hand.

"I’ve said it... killing you is not my mission."

"My mission is to open this bronze box. And you know the combination and how to open it." Qin Ye said with a gentle smile, "Given tonight’s circumstances, one way or another, you’re going to die. Perhaps you don’t care about your own death, nor the destruction of the information in the box, but there must be something else you care about..."

A person who doesn’t care about their own life.

Often values something else even more.

Qin Ye’s gaze fell upon Gu Shen and then on the unconscious Lu Nanjin.

It wasn’t hard to guess.

"If you don’t cooperate, I will destroy everything you care about." Qin Ye spoke calmly, "If you are willing to cooperate, then I can promise... these two people don’t have to die."

Through these few sentences, Lu Nanzhi could be sure.

The Angel Envoys of Source Tower could not be called human.

At least the man before her, Qin Ye, was not the same "kind" as herself. He was like an emotionless robot; he had completely discarded his emotions and no longer possessed compassion, mercy, or kindness.

"Why should I believe you?"

"You don’t have to."

Qin Ye’s tone was calm, "I’m not here to negotiate with you; you just need to give your answer... cooperate, or don’t cooperate."