Chapter 939: Ludmila llyinishna:17 years ago
At the military base of the most powerful human base in the entire Changping District, the rotor blades of a combat helicopter were thundering loudly causing the wind to whip fiercely around forming a whirlpool of dust and leaves.
As the pilot waited and prepared the controls, Bai Zemin temporarily said goodbye to some people including his family who were clearly reluctant to let him go so soon.
However, there was not much he could do. Work was work...especially when it involved the lives of important people.
"Bing Xue, Yijun, can I entrust the conquest of the west of the country to you, isn"t it?" Bai Zemin looked at the two young women in front of him with a serious expression and made a request that a little less than a year ago would certainly have been considered crazy.
"Don"t worry," Shangguan Bing Xue said in a firm voice. "With me and Yijun leading the army and the people, only a monster like you could stop us. Other soul evolvers can forget about putting up any resistance."
Bai Zemin forced the most natural smile he could and said softly, "Don"t you think it"s a little odd that of all people you"re the one who calls me a monster? Miss Monster."
Shangguan Bing Xue looked at him worriedly, and after a little hesitation she said softly, "You... Will you be all right?"
"I"ll be all right." Bai Zemin nodded. "Although I feel that it might not be that easy for some reason, the danger I feel is not as great as other times."
In other words, since he had overcome worse things there was no reason why he couldn"t overcome this one.
"That"s not what I meant." Shangguan Bing Xue shook her head. "I know you will win... At this point I think I have confidence in you to the point where if you tell me that you can kill a Fourth Order existence with a chopstick I would probably believe you."
Hearing her words, Bai Zemin smiled wryly and shook his head without saying anything.
"Your aura is... quite a mess." Wu Yijun said to complement what her good sister had just said. Her black eyes glinted with concern as she looked at his obviously forced smile and tried to say something but her emotions got in the way, "I..."
Bai Zemin patted her head and said calmly, "Don"t worry. I"m fine."
He looked at Kang Lan and Evangeline who were waiting for him next to the helicopter and said in a low voice, "Just.... A little angry with everything in general."
A minute later, Shangguan Bing Xue and Wu Yijun along with the others watched as the a.s.sault helicopter moved farther and farther away until it finally disappeared into the horizon with the sound of the engine and rotor blades being heard a little longer before all went silent again.
The wind blew, and the people present remained silent as they looked off into the distance as if they could still see the helicopter flying away, but they all knew in their hearts that it was just their futile attempt to hold on a little longer to the image of the people that had just left.
"Bing Xue..." Shangguan Xinyue looked at her daughter who was looking away with a lost expression and sigh in her heart.
It was hard for Shangguan Xinyue to a.s.sociate this girl with that cold and indifferent girl who vowed never to fall in love or let her actions be affected by a man. Although it was certainly a very welcome change, Shangguan Xinyue still had to get used to it, and as a mother her concern of not knowing too well the young man who occupied her daughter"s thoughts were there.
Shangguan Bing Xue closed her eyes before turning around.
"Yijun, mother, let"s get moving."
Her eyes flashed coldly and the mildness she had when talking to Bai Zemin a few minutes ago vanished like snowflakes falling into a volcano.
"We have to conquer the rest of the country in less than two months."
...
"Father, shall we go and wipe out the bad guys?" Bai s.h.i.+lin asked excitedly.
She was sitting next to Bai Zemin in the tail cabin of the a.s.sault helicopter and her eyes were s.h.i.+ning as she looked at him with an expression that suggested eagerness for battle.
"That"s right. We"ll go take out the bad guys." Bai Zemin replied as he stroked her silky hair and let it slide through his fingers, "s.h.i.+lin is excited? This will be the first time we fight together."
"Mm! s.h.i.+lin can"t wait to help father kill all the bad guys!" The girl closed her eyes and smiled sweetly even though her words weren"t sweet at all; at least not from the enemies" point of view.
"Leader..." Kang Lan looked at Bai Zemin and made a sidelong glance at the two women sitting on the opposite side. She whispered under her breath, "I understand you bringing Qin Ming... but why bring Zhong De"s mother to the battlefield?"
"This is what I promised her." Bai Zemin replied indifferently, "She will probably be accompanying us quite a bit. She"ll help Qin Ming to take care of my meals and that sort of thing on her own request."
"I... I understand." Kang Lan nodded at the same time as she sighed.
Zhong De"s death certainly still hurt in everyone"s heart, but probably none of them could compare to the pain his mother was feeling despite not showing it on the outside.
"Kang Lan."
"Yes?"
"Upon arriving at the base I want you to look for Fu Xuefeng and start healing both Cai Jingyi and Shen Mei." Bai Zemin said in a cold voice.
"Roger." Kang Lan nodded with a serious expression. After a brief silence, she asked, "You...?"
Bai Zemin said nothing, but that silence added to his expression was more than enough response to Kang Lan"s doubt and she simply nodded without saying anything else.
"Evangeline." Bai Zemin looked at the beautiful young woman with golden hair and deep green eyes who was looking at him with an unreadable expression before slowly saying, "We need to talk, don"t we?"
Evangeline nodded silently.
Bai Zemin also nodded and looked at the others as he calmly said, "We will arrive at our faction"s base in about five hours, rest until then."
He looked at Evangeline and said in a serious voice, "Don"t fight back."
She frowned slightly with visible confusion, but an instant later her expression changed from confusion to surprise.
Under the shocked eyes of Kang Lan, Qin Ming, and Zong De"s mother; Evangeline disappeared and soon after Bai Zemin followed her.
"This..." Lan Xiang looked breathlessly at the magical scene.
She knew that soul evolvers were terrifying. She herself possessed some skills despite being only a level 2 human. However, this was the first time she could literally feel the two people in front of her a moment ago simply disappear from the helicopter.
"The Lord is the Lord after all." Qin Ming sighed before a small, slightly sad smile appeared on her face, "I wonder how many lives will be taken this time... Hopefully, there will be no innocents involved... but given the circ.u.mstances, I"m afraid such a thing is nothing more than wishful thinking."
"Bai Zemin will definitely want to gather all of Zhong De"s records to bring him back to life someday.... If he wants to rebuild Zhong De"s soul completely then he needs all of his records, and in order to do that he has to kill everyone of those who caused him even the slightest scratch."
Kang Lan was one of Bai Zemin"s Loyal Followers, so it was no secret to her that his highest goal was to become the most powerful existence of all, even more powerful than the Soul Record itself.
A complicated glint shone in the eyes of the most powerful healer of the entire Transcendent faction as she looked at the place where Bai Zemin was sitting a moment ago and said in a low voice: "He will definitely kill many innocents. He won"t want to risk leaving even one culprit alive... Honestly, one of the reasons I admire him the most is because despite everything he has not collapsed regardless of the ever-increasing weight he carries on his back."
"... I think I now understand a little more the reason why my son was so willing to fight for him to the point of giving his life." Lan Xiang looked at the empty seat and said in a low voice, "To be willing to do this much, regardless of sins.... All for the sake of those next to him."
"That"s the kind of person my Lord is." Qin Ming forced a smile and said with some sadness, "Just.... I hope the weight of those sins doesn"t drag him down someday."
Kali, who was sitting quietly on the other side of where Bai Zemin was sitting, simply listened and took it in her heart.
...
"This is..."
Evangeline stood in awe as she looked at the large world that was filled with green pastures and with a bright blue sky floating above her head.
Even she who was one of the three most powerful soul evolvers in the entire Transcendent faction putting Bai Zemin aside felt shock in her heart. This was the first time she had experienced something as magical and strange as this.
When Evangeline turned around, she saw Bai Zemin walking towards the huge mansion in the process of being finalized and after a few seconds of consideration she followed him close behind.
The two walked in silence for a few minutes before Bai Zemin opened his mouth to start the conversation they both knew he had to initiate.
"Do you remember the first time we met?" he asked calmly.
"I do." Evangeline nodded, following him closely just a few steps distant.
"At that time, I along with Bing Xue, Nangong Lingxin, and Nangong Yi sneaked into the North Camp pretending to be normal survivors, but due to the machinations of one of the base leaders you snuck into our building to a.s.sa.s.sinate me... Come to think of it, it"s been about 9 months since we met but it feels like we"ve known each other for years, don"t you think?" Bai Zemin said, recalling what happened months ago.
"... A lot has happened during these months." Evangeline replied calmly as the countless battles and experiences lived together with Bai Zemin and his team began to flood into her memory.
"The connection between humans can become as strong as steel depending on the experiences lived together regardless of the time shared." She said.
"You"re right. Whether with me or not, you are a crucial pillar of our Transcendent faction." Bai Zemin paused and turned to look into her eyes for a few seconds before slowly saying, "Evangeline, you are one of my Loyal Followers, but more than a subordinate, I think of you as a good friend."
Evangeline"s eyes flashed slightly but her expression remained completely unchanged as she waited for his next words.
"When we first met, you set some conditions before agreeing to join our group." He said, and after a brief pause, continued, "One of those conditions was to help you take over Russian territory, as well as the Russian population, do you remember?"
Evangeline nodded, again without saying anything.
Bai Zemin closed his eyes for a moment before sighing. When he opened his eyes again, he said slowly, "Evangeline, can you tell me about your past? I know it must not have been something easy let alone pretty to remember, not when someone as young as you who is maybe one or two years older than me has such a terrifying combat ability even since before the Soul Record"s arrival on Earth... If you don"t want to talk about it then that"s fine, I"ll understand. However, if you don"t tell me anything I might end up doing something you might not like."
Bai Zemin was going to make sure that Russia, everyone involved, paid the price for invading his country, killing his people, and being involved in the death of Zhong De... Not only Russia was going to pay, all the Chinese involved as well as the other races would feel his wrath.
Bai Zemin wanted to make sure not to do something that might hurt one of his followers in the process of avenging another, that was all.
Evangeline did not immediately respond to Bai Zemin"s words but stared intently at his face. However, as he looked at her, Bai Zemin noticed that although her green eyes were indeed looking at him, her heart was elsewhere.
This was the first time Bai Zemin could not only feel but also faintly see such a flood of emotions flowing through Evangeline.
Sadness, helplessness, pain... but most of all, anger.
Anger and thirst for vengeance so great that it did not lose to Bai Zemin"s at all.
He waited patiently, they had time... 5 hours for those who were in the outside world but 50 hours for them who were in the Collector"s Pocket World.
After almost ten minutes, Evangeline seemed to calm down enough, and as she closed her eyes, she said in a soft, exhausted voice, "My real name is Ludmila Ilyinishna.... Or at least it was, 17 years ago."
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