162: Chapter 158: New Clue 162: Chapter 158: New Clue “Of course,” lia nodded, then stated confidently, “Because I was the one who handled the purchase of this batch of cannons.”
Wang Xu didn’t respond, his face looked rather grim.
Luo’er glanced at him, then lightly nudged him.
Wang Xu then ca back to his senses, and with an apologetic look, he said, “Apologies, Your Highness, for my indiscretion in your presence.
I have so matters to attend to, please forgive my abrupt departure.”
“It’s okay,” lia replied with a smile, generously stating, “Having Luo’er to see off is enough.”
“Luo’er, escort the princess,” Wang Xu commanded.”
Luo’er looked at Wang Xu, then at lia.
A triumphant look crossed her face.
He sighed lightly out of helplessness, then replied, “Understood!”
With a few instructions, Wang Xu hurried off.
Evidently, lia’s intelligence was highly significant to him, to the point that he couldn’t afford a second’s delay here.
The trip back was carried out by Luo’er.
It was supposed to be both him and Cheng Ziang seeing her off, but that jerk escaped with the excuse of a stomach ailnt, leaving him to follow lia back to her temporary residence awkwardly alone.
lia was driving the carriage forward, with Luo’er accompanying her on the side.
The gold previously on the carriage had already been left in the villa at the station.
For lia, that gold was her door-knocking brick; naturally, she wouldn’t ask for it back.
But those at the command headquarters didn’t act modest either, after all, they had accepted the money.
They were to provide lia with a ton of weapons and equipnt for her army in support of her plan.
This expenditure was much greater than the value of those gold coins.
Neither spoke during the journey, creating an awkward atmosphere.
Luo’er felt that it was all because of Cheng Ziang.
His regular interaction with lia had been presented as if he intended to betray Tangmo and Baiyue and elope with lia, which made him now treat seeing lia like seeing a plague, too late to avoid it, let alone deal with it.
“Luo’er,” lia called him back to reality as he zoned out.
“Huh?” Luo’er gave a sowhat bewildered reply.
“You don’t seem willing to talk to today, right?” lia, without looking at him, asked while gazing into the distance.
“Um, I…” Luo’er scratched his head awkwardly, asking, “What should we talk about?”
“We’ll be partners from now on.” lia revealed a beautiful smile as she spoke.
“Naturally.” Luo’er replied absentmindedly.
“Will we still frequently et in the future?” lia turned her head, tilted it, and asked him with a smiling face.
“I suppose so,” Luo’er avoided her gaze, and chuckled awkwardly, “We’re all underlings here.
A single order from the top has us running around.
There might not be too many opportunities to et.”
“So, will you co and visit if you happen to stop by Masya?” lia hung her head down, and proceeded to inquire.
“That depends on the mission, if it requires us to pass through your area, then I would naturally co and see you.”
“So, it’s only if it’s a coincidence that you’ll co to see ?” lia asked with a laugh.
“If headquarters requires us to cooperate with you, then I definitely will co to find you,” Luo’er scratched his head as he replied.
“So if there’s no mission, then you won’t co to see anymore.” lia said sowhat disheartened.
“Uh…” Luo’er understood her mind, where it was wandering to.
Seeing her slightly lancholic look, he shook his head, sighed, and then said, “Why bother with all this fuss.”
“That’s okay,” lia raised her head, a forced smile appearing on her face, “As long as you still rember , as a friend.”
Ambiguity had sohow crept into their relationship.
Originally, they were people from two different worlds, but so inexplicable factor had bound them together.
Although Luo’er had clearly indicated that he didn’t like people like lia, and had even opposed her when she offered herself to him voluntarily.
But from so point, lia started hiding her scheming nature in front of him, revealing her true self instead.
If that was her cunning little trick, then Luo’er admitted he was indeed caught off guard.
What made lia different from the other girls he had t was her intelligence.
Having her by his side, whether carrying out missions or just hanging out would be much more comfortable.
However, Luo’er also knew that even if he thought so, lia might not necessarily reciprocate.
She longed for the icy throne, not a man’s warm chest.
For her, power was always more important than affection, which was why Luo’er didn’t fancy her.
“Did you know,” lia suddenly said, “When you sent back your reply, I was once thinking that I should burn the intelligence originally ant for you guys.”
“In the end, you still mailed it to us,” Luo’er didn’t know what to say.
He pursed his lips before replying, “Why are you telling all this?”
“Do you know why I didn’t burn the intelligence?” Instead of answering his question, lia continued with a new one.
Luo’er looked at her, hesitated for a mont and then asked, “Why?”
“I want to collaborate with people from Earth, and you could serve as a bridge,” lia said, lowering her head to look into the distance, and continued, “Of course, this is only one of the reasons.”
Luo’er was about to say sothing, but he held back because he already had a rough idea of what lia was going to say next.
“There is another reason, and that’s I don’t want you to think less of ,” lia announced, raising her head to stare at him earnestly, “I don’t want to deceive you, I don’t want you to feel that I am a cunning and untrustworthy woman.”
Luo’er was surprised, struggling for words in front of lia’s candid confession.
He was slow to react.
“There’s sothing else,” lia started, wrapping her arms around her body and lowering her head to confess shyly, “You’ve seen my…”
“Enough,” Luo’er could no longer hold back, he cleared his throat, and said seriously, “Your Majesty, your quarters are just a few hundred ters away, let’s part ways here.”
Having said that, he led the horse, preparing to turn and leave.
“Are you leaving,” lia turned to watch his retreating figure and spoke with so sadness, “We might not see each other again after this goodbye.”
Luo’er had to carry on with his dangerous missions representing the headquarters, while lia needed to carry out her plan of raising an army to overthrow her father and brother’s rule.
They never walked the sa path, and just as she said, they might indeed never et again.
“Take care, lia.” Luo’er took a deep breath before turning back to say to her.
“You too.” lia looked at him, her face forced into a smile.
But her eyes blinked rapidly, likely because any cessation would have unleashed a torrent of tears.
“May your military fortunes prosper!” Luo’er pronounced.
“May the holy and loving light of God bless you.” lia returned his blessings.
Then, both turned away without looking back, never sparing another glance for the other.
Back in the mansion, Luo’er’s gloomy mood was worsened by Cheng Ziang’s gloating face.
“You don’t seem very cheerful?” Cheng Ziang approached him, deliberately teasing.
Luo’er spared him an annoyed glance, ignoring him, falling into deep silence.
“Let’s look on the bright side, at least you’ve done right by Moumou,” Cheng Ziang comforted him.
“Why are you guys always ssing with relationships, nothing’s going on between and Moumou, but you already make it sound like we’re married.” Luo’er sighed and looked at him.
“We have a long journey ahead and are just trying to find so enjoynt to pass the ti.
Besides, everyone in the team is fond of you because of your temperant.” Cheng Ziang replied with a wink and a smirk.
He never showed this rich set of facial expressions unless he was around Luo’er.
“Such a nesis.” Luo’er glared at him, eventually deciding to stay quiet.
“Hey, did you hear about the situation that lia ntioned today?” Once he was done teasing Luo’er, Cheng Ziang straightened his face and asked seriously.
“I did, those cannons were made by the High-peak people.” Luo’er responded solemnly.
“What do you know about the High-peak people?” Cheng Ziang queried.
“High-peak Dwarves, one of the three major dwarf species in Otherworld.
Their kingdom, Ronisca, is located at the northeastern corner of the continent.
The High-peak people worship the sky, they are the only race on the mainland with anti-gravity engines, all airboats on the mainland are made by them.” Luo’er explained effortlessly, as these were knowledge from textbooks.
“Upon hearing lia’s words, Wang Xu seem to have turned pale, you reckon they…” Cheng Ziang asked hesitantly.
Luo’er nodded and continued, “I know a little, apparently our headquarters have been cooperating with the High-peak people for a long ti.
The High-peak people have received a lot of advanced technology from our headquarters as well as the Russian headquarters for their military equipnt upgrades research and developnt.”
“By the looks of it, it feels like the headquarters might have gone a bit overboard.” Cheng Ziang comnted with a frown, referring to the cannon situation.
“The United Nations’ question remains unanswered,” Luo’er shook his head, “if the Aricans find out that we helped the High-peak people produce cannons and sold them to Masya, I suspect they might impose a military blockade on Ulysses City.”
“I sense that our headquarters might not have known that the High-peak people sold the cannons to Masya.
I wonder if their next move is to send us over to Ronisca?” Cheng Ziang speculated.
Though it was already spring, Ronisca located at the northeastern corner was still enveloped in ice.
Just the thought of them trudging through the snow again for their mission sent shivers down both their spines.
More importantly, Luo’er was hoping that their next mission would take them south.
This would allow him to manoeuvre closer to the Wood Elf Kingdom, Ilanadale, and seek out his mother’s whereabouts.
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