Chapter 25: “I Will Protect You.”

Chapter 25: "I Will Protect You."

Xie Chi immediately realized who the young man before him was.

—The ultimate victor of history, A-class alpha, the First Prince Yan Huishi.

Yan Wanqiu showed no kindness toward Yan Huishi either, stepping forward in front of Xie Chi with a cold tone: "Skip the idle pleasantries."

Yan Huishi was briefly taken aback.

Losers weren't worth his consideration. Unlike Yan Baiyue, who had seen Yan Wanqiu one last time before his exile and happened to witness his transformation firsthand, Yan Huishi's impression of Yan Wanqiu remained that of the gentle, humble younger prince who had once exerted every effort to suppress his Pheromone Dysregulation Syndrome so as not to harm his family. Seeing Yan Wanqiu so cold and unyielding now, he found himself momentarily unsettled.

After a brief moment of surprise, Yan Huishi let out a low chuckle: "A few months apart, and you've finally gotten smarter. At least you're no longer as foolish as you used to be."

"I won't mince words either. Yan Wanqiu, the scandal of brothers turning on each other benefits neither of us. Yan Baiyue is dead, and I hold the crucial evidence that you killed him. The thermal ore is vital to Eberis's development. Hand it over willingly, and I'll spare your life—preserving both our reputations in the process. What do you say?"

Compared to Yan Baiyue's shallow scheming, Yan Huishi was clearly more troublesome. His words appeared to have Yan Wanqiu's interests in mind, but every sentence was riddled with traps.

If Yan Wanqiu refused to hand over the thermal ore, he'd be branded a traitor. If he handed it over, it would prove his guilt in killing Yan Baiyue. Either way, Yan Huishi could pin a charge on him. Even if Yan Wanqiu somehow survived, he'd likely rot in prison for the rest of his life—while Yan Huishi would walk away with a reputation for "magnanimity."

Yan Wanqiu wasn't falling for it. A cold smile curled at his lips as he shot back: "As if my reputation was ever any good to begin with."

After the Joint Military Exercise Incident, he had long been branded a madman by everyone. Yan Wanqiu didn't mind adding fratricide to his list of sins.

Besides—

"You sure you have the evidence?" Yan Wanqiu mocked.

Yan Huishi sensed something off from his unflinching demeanor. Frowning, he opened the video file on his smart device that he hadn't gotten around to reviewing.

The screen lit up, but the footage was nothing but a blur—figures warped into mottled blobs of color, making it impossible to identify any useful information.

Yan Huishi's expression turned completely grim.

"Xie Chi, you dare to betray the royal family?"

The video was recorded by Xie Chi. Now that it was corrupted, coupled with Xie Chi's unexpected survival, Yan Huishi quickly connected the dots and deduced Xie Chi's betrayal.

Suddenly put on the spot, Xie Chi looked utterly bewildered: "I didn't do anything."

He pointed at Yan Wanqiu and explained seriously: "He's a prince too. Working for him isn't betraying the royal family—I only betrayed Yan Baiyue."

"..." Yan Huishi was rendered speechless.

Yan Wanqiu covered his mouth, letting out a quiet laugh.

Yan Huishi shut down the video, which couldn't distinguish a single figure, finally provoked to genuine anger.

Yan Wanqiu trading barbs with him could at least be seen as a contest between princes—but who the hell did Xie Chi think he was? He was nothing but a dog under Yan Baiyue's command. Yan Huishi hadn't even respected Yan Baiyue, let alone ever given Xie Chi a second thought.

Now that Xie Chi had thrown in his lot with Yan Wanqiu, he dared to stand up to Yan Huishi on the strength of his new master's backing.

Yan Huishi cast a cold glance at Xie Chi: "You have no place to speak here."

With that, he lost all patience for further debate with Xie Chi and pressed the detonation button on the other's smart device without hesitation.

Yan Wanqiu's guess had been right—all of Yan Baiyue's actions had been orchestrated by Yan Huishi, which meant the ultimate control of the device naturally lay in his hands.

This had been designed to silence loose ends. Killing two birds with one stone—making an example of Xie Chi in front of everyone—suited Yan Huishi perfectly.

Yet, three full seconds passed, and the expected explosion of flesh and blood never came.

The spatial ring blocked all signals, and with the energy shielding box Shi Peijue had crafted as a second layer of protection, Xie Chi stood there innocently, completely unharmed.

He had no real concept of imperial authority, and muttered under his breath: "You're the one who called me out first, and now you won't let me talk. That's unreasonable."

Even more unreasonable than Yan Wanqiu was.

Though it was a quiet mutter, in such a solemn and silent standoff, Xie Chi's words still reached the ears of those around him.

Yan Wanqiu let out a soft laugh. Yan Huishi, humiliated, gave the order in fury: "Since you refuse the easy way out, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Yan Wanqiu had already drawn his sidearm, chambering a round with practiced ease. His crimson eyes locked onto the other man as he smirked: "Then don't hold back."

At his words, the grey-clad miners surrounding him and Xie Chi—whom Yan Huishi had completely overlooked moments ago—all moved at once.

They set down their mining picks and drills, pulling electromagnetic guns from their baskets and coat linings.

The shape and specifications were identical to those carried by Yan Huishi's troops. And due to the climate, the alphas of Blizzard City all bore rugged, weathered features—their fierce glares giving them an even more intimidating presence than the regular army.

Then, from behind Yan Huishi's forces, the crisp, rhythmic crunch of footsteps in the snow came steadily closer.

Another army of a thousand surrounded them, dressed in mismatched fur coats, materializing silently across the vast snowfields of Blizzard City in the biting wind. They advanced in pairs, each duo carrying a massive gun resembling an electromagnetic gun.

These were the replicas Shi Peijue had worked overtime to produce.

Though they lacked the sleek look of the genuine electromagnetic guns and seemed somewhat clumsy in appearance, their firepower was nothing less than—if not greater than—the originals.

Yan Wanqiu had only brought three hundred elites from the Main Star Army. The thousand-strong force was mostly made up of Blizzard City natives trained over the past two months. Their individual combat skills couldn't match the Main Star regulars, but they used their local advantages to the fullest—marching across the snowy terrain without making a sound, completing their encirclement without ever alerting Yan Huishi's troops.

Real shock flickered in Yan Huishi's blue-green eyes: "You...!"

Yan Wanqiu said, unhurried: "The scandal of brothers at each other's throats serves neither of us well. Surrender willingly, and I'll spare your men. What do you say?"

The boomerang always comes back fast.

At this point, how could Yan Huishi fail to understand?

Xie Chi must have already sold out the Night Owl Syndicate and Yan Baiyue's entire plan, which was the only way Yan Wanqiu could have replicated the electromagnetic guns.

He took a long, hard look at the black-haired young man beside Yan Wanqiu, memorizing his face with gritted teeth, then ordered: "Yan Wanqiu has murdered his brother and conspired to rebel—kill every traitor on sight!"

With that, he angrily cut the remote communication.

In his view, Yan Wanqiu had no chance of surviving this death trap today. Continuing to talk with him risked saying something rash that would leave a trail of evidence.

Yan Wanqiu watched Yan Huishi leave, a flicker of confusion passing through his eyes.

At present, the two sides were at a stalemate. Was Yan Huishi so confident that nothing else could go wrong?

The two armies formed their lines, war about to break out. Xie Chi was already ready to shield Yan Wanqiu and break through.

Just then, from within the Main Star Army's formation, three half-height, oddly shaped long-barreled weapons rose, their muzzles locking onto Yan Wanqiu and Xie Chi among the crowd.

The weapon's main body was a slender black metal cylinder, wrapped in rings of metal similar to those on electromagnetic guns. As they took aim, the metal rings along the barrel began to glow with a faint blue light, and a low hum resonated through the air.

Xie Chi stared in shock at the search results on his terminal: "How do they have light electromagnetic cannons?"

Yan Wanqiu's alarm bells went off the moment he heard the unfamiliar term, immediately dodging with Xie Chi while ordering a full-frontal assault to break out.

Gunfire erupted on all sides, but the three electromagnetic cannons had clearly received orders from Yan Huishi, staying locked onto Xie Chi and Yan Wanqiu no matter what.

"Hum—"

The electromagnetic cannons finished charging, their muzzles erupting with blinding blue-white electric light as they blasted a massive current as tall as a person toward the two.

The hard-packed snow ground exploded violently, rocks and ice flying in all directions as the current swept forward, plowing a deep trench into the earth.

Xie Chi and Yan Wanqiu had barely scrambled away from the first strike when a second shot came hurtling through the air.

They were dead set on killing the two of them.

Xie Chi couldn't afford to hold back anymore—he quickly pulled up data on his terminal while grabbing Yan Wanqiu and diving sideways, the two tumbling messily across the ground into the mining site, barely evading the second attack.

"Light electromagnetic cannon—destructive power five times that of an electromagnetic gun. Downsides: long charge time, clunky, and prone to blowing its barrel if fired rapidly in succession, especially somewhere like Blizzard City, where the extreme temperature swings shorten the cannon's lifespan even further. Get your people to destroy these cannons fast, or we're both dead."

Xie Chi rattled off the data from his terminal in one breath, not even pausing to catch his breath when an explosive boom thundered in his ears.

He turned to see the third electromagnetic cannon, which hadn't even managed to fire a single shot, blown to pieces under concentrated fire.

Yan Wanqiu was pinned beneath him, his disheveled white hair coated in dust, breathing hard as he looked up at him: "I know. Let go of me first."

Even if he didn't know what an electromagnetic cannon was, he knew the biggest threat had to go first.

Xie Chi froze for a moment, suddenly realizing how compromising their current position was, and quickly withdrew his hands to stand up.

Almost forgot—Yan Wanqiu didn't become the Tyrant because he was soft. The guy had never been someone you'd want to mess with.

Yan Wanqiu rose as well.

After all that chaos, the two had gotten separated from the breakout squad. Yan Wanqiu squinted, observing the battlefield for a moment before speaking: "Go regroup with Nie Huaiyi and the others. The electromagnetic cannons are mainly targeting me—I'll draw them off for a bit while you and the others break out fast."

With the knockoff electromagnetic guns in play, the two sides were otherwise evenly matched, but the electromagnetic cannons were absorbing most of the firepower, leaving the breakout squad stuck outside the thermal ore field in a desperate fight. The camp soldiers outside fought desperately to break in, but couldn't do a thing against the main star soldiers who'd chase Yan Wanqiu even to their own deaths.

He'd been through too much today, and his condition was far from good. Especially after Yan Huishi's army appeared, as time passed, Yan Wanqiu could keenly feel his pheromones starting to churn restlessly.

His Pheromone Dysregulation Syndrome was caused by Yan Huishi's poison—his enemy would never pass up such a weakness—he must have hidden pheromone toxin somewhere.

Yan Wanqiu had seen this coming, planning to use the chance to find the original toxin and develop an antidote, but he hadn't expected Yan Huishi to bust out electromagnetic cannons, completely killing any chance to search up close.

And if everyone kept tangling with the electromagnetic cannons, once the breakout squad took heavy losses, he and Xie Chi would have no hope of surviving.

He had to tear a hole in the encirclement under fire while he could still suppress his pheromones, and link up with the main force outside.

Xie Chi frowned, disapproving: "What about you?"

Yan Wanqiu glanced back at the thermal ore field behind him. Under the pressure of multiple crises, his nerves were on high alert, his pheromones already threatening to spiral out of control, a sharp cedar scent radiating off him.

"It's fine—I know the mining terrain like the back of my hand. By your logic, those two electromagnetic cannons won't kill me anytime soon. I can even lure them deeper and find a chance to turn the tables on them."

As he spoke, a thunderous crash rang out—a vein inside the thermal ore field caved in from the tremors of battle, jagged cracks spiderwebbing across the ground and mountainsides.

Yan Wanqiu fell silent.

Xie Chi fell silent too.

The electromagnetic cannons might not kill Yan Wanqiu anytime soon, but the thermal ore field in its current state could easily bury him alive.

Historical records on this event were sparse—Xie Chi didn't know if electromagnetic cannons had been there back then, but what he did know was that without his involvement, the thermal ore field had been blown to bits by explosives Yan Baiyue had planted. Afterward, Yan Wanqiu crawled out and never faced the danger of being trapped in tunnels under cannon fire.

Now, because of his meddling, the mining field was on the verge of collapse, the electromagnetic cannons closing in—accidentally backing Yan Wanqiu into a corner.

Xie Chi gritted his teeth.

No. Yan Huishi had already thoroughly made an enemy of him. Yan Wanqiu couldn't die here—otherwise, both he and his wife were screwed.

He took a deep breath, looked at Yan Wanqiu, and asked seriously: "Your Highness, do you trust me?"

Yan Wanqiu was taken aback for a second, then nodded instinctively.

Xie Chi immediately grabbed his wrist, pulled a quantum gun from his spatial ring with his other hand, and dragged Yan Wanqiu deeper into the mining field, dodging the next incoming blast.

"If you trust me, then let me stay and protect you."

The black-haired youth looked at him, his eyes carrying a resolve Yan Wanqiu had never seen before—a ruthless determination that left no room for argument.

"Even if I die, I won't let you die here."

For a heartbeat, his pulse seemed to sync up with the thunderous artillery fire.

Yan Wanqiu opened his mouth, but in the end, just gripped Xie Chi's hand in return.

"Don't say stuff like that."

The exchange between Xie Chi and Yan Wanqiu took barely half a minute. Moments later, Nie Huaiyi, part of the breakout squad, received Yan Wanqiu's order.

He raised a hand: "Stop firing on the electromagnetic cannons—everyone, break out now!"

The soldiers obeyed, immediately adjusting tactics and charging outward with everything they had. The electromagnetic cannons, no longer intercepted, powered up again and advanced toward the mining field, tracking where Xie Chi and Yan Wanqiu had vanished.

Under Nie Huaiyi's command, the breakout squad stopped blocking the cannons and fought desperately to escape.

Nie Huaiyi's shoulder was already a bloody mess—from the electromagnetic gun's recoil and searing heat.

Even though Shi Peijue had handed out safety manuals, on a battlefield that changed by the second, using such high-risk weapons made injury inevitable.

Nie Huaiyi had even seen with his own eyes a soldier from the breakout squad, in a desperate bid to quickly destroy an electromagnetic cannon, brace the gun with his bare body—only to have his skeleton shattered by the recoil, half his body scorched black and rotting from the heat.

Weapons like these were meat grinders on the battlefield—whether user or victim, both paid with their lives to fill the gap in firepower.

The electromagnetic cannon's destructive power would only be greater.

Nie Huaiyi cast a worried glance at the thermal ore field. Xie Chi and Yan Wanqiu were already out of sight.

They... would be okay, right?