Section Eighty-Nine: Despair x and x Celebration

"We won."

"We won!"

Ling'er tossed aside her headset, jumping and dancing with a radiant smile. Huakai followed suit, and the two girls joined hands, spinning around in joy.

Lin Feirui, standing to the side, maintained a calm expression, looking somewhat weary.

"What's wrong?" Huakai sat beside her and undid a button on her collar. "You don't seem very happy?"

"It's not that." Lin Feirui’s expression wasn't exactly unhappy, but it was far from disappointed. "I just feel... it would have been better if the entire enemy force had been there."

The other two laughed. "You're too greedy," Ling'er teased.

"Once they run out of food, they'll collapse soon enough," Huakai said, her lips dipping down to touch the peak of Lin Feirui's chest. "Even if the Han army wants to fight, the 'Blood Rain' ability is ready. It doesn't matter! We'll just crush them with a quick skirmish!"

"Forget about that; let's celebrate!"

Perhaps due to the immense pressure accumulated over these past few days, Huakai was brimming with excitement. Not wanting to dampen her mood, Lin Feirui reached out to stroke her face and kissed her.

Soon, Ling'er joined in as well. In the aftermath of a great battle, such relaxation was customary and beneficial. Yet, what was this shadow lingering in the back of her mind?

----

"Cough, cough, cough-cough."

Charles struggled his way out of the river.

Both mentally and physically, he was essentially in a half-dead state.

He sat dazed for a moment, then burst into hysterical laughter, only to break into tears a few moments later.

What had he done to himself? In a previous scenario, he had witnessed the power of the Wuzhou team and, captivated by the beauty of their leader, betrayed his original group to join them.

In this current scenario, he had miscalculated, causing Wuzhou to suffer heavy losses, and in a fit of "in for a penny, in for a pound," he had betrayed Wuzhou in return.

After being told he had a parasite in his body and would die if he didn't feed them information, he had defected back to Wuzhou once more.

Then, because of the arrival of Gadini, he felt undervalued, and after a conversation with Wang Luo where he concluded the Revolutionary Army would win, he had defected yet again.

As it turned out, he had misjudged everything once more. Not only had he failed to achieve anything, but he had personally burned down the Revolutionary Army's base...

Ah, you fickle, shifting man! You arrogant, self-proclaimed genius! What kind of top student or industry elite are you? You are nothing but a clown!

Looking at his reflection in the stream, Charles punched the water again and again. The water splashed, only to settle a moment later, revealing his wretched, devastated face once more.

Perhaps he should just die. Let it end here—this pathetic, foolish career in the Space!

He pulled a pair of gloves from his storage space. The electricity stored within them had been used to knock out Wright and Black Sha; in a setting consistent with their technology, it could have charred them to a crisp. Here, it was just enough to render someone unconscious and immobile.

Use it on himself. Drop his defenses and finish off this fool who had miscalculated every single step! End this life of constant failure!

He put on the gloves, gripped his own throat, his hands trembling for a long time, before he finally let go and wept.

"Ahhhhh!" This time, he screamed while he cried, pounding at the stream before him.

"Cough, cough." Just as Charles felt utterly despondent about his situation, another coughing sound echoed beside him.

He turned his head to look. It was Ranke.

----

That night, the victors from the ferry crossing set up camp next to the former Revolutionary Army base.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. But they had received intelligence that the Revolutionary Army forces, who had been locked in a stalemate with the main Han army, had likely learned of the base's destruction and, instead of returning, had retreated along a different path.

Thus, they remained here. There was much to handle—collecting leftover supplies, scouring the surroundings for fleeing rebels, and incidentally waiting for rewards from their superiors.

The Wuzhou team, naturally, was camped with them.

"Cheers!"

For this occasion, the meeting hall had been converted into a banquet hall. Ordinarily, this was something done only at the end of a scenario, and Lin Feirui hadn't intended to do it, but Red Electric had strongly suggested it to allow the members, who had been under such immense pressure and torment, a chance to relax. Many supported the idea, and she had no choice but to agree.

The food on the tables was abundant. In the Space, such dishes were cheap, but they were impossible to find within a scenario. Fortunately, the merchants who had appeared had not yet vanished, so they had easily prepared a table full of delicacies.

The Wuzhou members, who had paid a heavy price and finally achieved victory, began to chat privately after raising their glasses in a few rounds of toasts. The content was mostly boasting about their own bravery in battle, mocking the enemy, or claiming they had known all along that certain things were bound to happen. Some, after bragging, would steal glances at their leader, hoping to win her appreciation and pleasure.

But Lin Feirui seemed to be in a foul mood today. She held her wine glass, not saying a word.

Someone sat down beside her. Lin Feirui looked up; it was Gru.

"You've worked hard." Despite her low spirits, she still raised her glass to toast the man who had miraculously stabilized the situation at the ferry. "Well done."

"Thank you." Gru picked up his glass and downed it in one gulp. "Charles didn't come back?"

"I can't reach him," Lin Feirui said. "With a fire that large, I don't know if something happened to him."

As she spoke, she glanced at Huakai.

That man was irrelevant now. If he was truly compromised, she would just squeeze the debt out of him; if he couldn't pay, he would be erased. If he was fine, he would return sooner or later; the Revolutionary Army was essentially defeated anyway.

This time, their own losses were not insignificant, and it wasn't just Charles. Black Sha, Xiaolin, Wright, and Tingyu—none had returned. In that great fire, not even their bodies could be found...

Fire. Yes, the enemy had relied on fire to achieve their previous victories, and now they had been crushed by fire themselves. Every action and reaction was fated.

The direction they fled was a dead end. While, geographically speaking, they could retreat backwards, the range of movement for contractors was limited.

The Revolutionary Army soldiers could leave, but the enemy contractors could not. And even if they did leave, they would just be chased down by the Han army, which had no bearing on the final settlement of this scenario.

Essentially... it was safe. Once the enemy ran out of food and scattered, they would hunt them down in groups, or turn them—now that the enemy was starving, turning them should be much easier.

Though the merit points gained would be fewer this way, there would be no risk to the final outcome.

It was that simple. Heh, they had won a great victory, and they had plenty of options. If they just played it safe, there wouldn't be any problems. Why had she been feeling such inexplicable worry?

She gave a self-deprecating smile and downed her wine.

Her face flushed an alluring, rosy red, making her look even more beautiful.

Who to choose for tonight? Gru, perhaps. He had just performed a great service, and she had been too harsh with him before; he needed some soothing.

Having decided, she looked at Gru with a smile, prepared to offer herself when she saw the familiar glint of greed in his eyes. But Gru wasn't looking at her; he simply poured himself another glass of wine and spoke.

"Can you let me leave?"