Chapter 697: Feng Tian Wu"s interest and Meng Qi"s sympathy
In the end, after considering it for a few minutes and asking the opinion of others, Bai Zemin managed to come to the final conclusion that there really wasn"t much to think about even though there were many things to consider, which was quite ironic from his point of view.
While it was true that Bai Zemin needed to consider the high if not inevitable near-total destruction of the Sky Destroyer if a battle between powerful existences broke out in its interior. as well as the fact that the safety of his subordinates and his sister could not be guaranteed in such circ.u.mstances, the reality was that the highest chances of them surviving and the Sky Destroyer being unharmed would only happen in case the war could be avoided.
As the queen of the weaver ants had pointed out at the beginning, if she really wanted to harm them, then there was no need for her to alert them with her presence. Of course, Bai Zemin and the others also could not discount the fact that perhaps the ant queen could not use the attack function of the magic circle despite being in the command room or that perhaps there were other kinds of reasons which was why none of them were actually willing to let their guard down any more than necessary to try to find an friendly solution.
"It will be difficult." Bai Zemin sighed softly and pointed out, "I doubt the queen of the weaver ants wants to give up on control of the battles.h.i.+p and I won"t give up easily either..."
Something that Bai Zemin did not mention but that everyone knew in their hearts was the fact that they had slaughtered millions and millions of weaver ants; if they counted the number of eggs destroyed and larvae killed then that number could even multiply without a problem.
Unless the queen of the weaver ants was sick in the head or was a reincarnated saint of goodness, neither Bai Zemin nor anyone else believed that she could forgive them just because; it made no sense at all.
"Leader, what do we do now?" Xia Ya asked as she looked beyond the corridor. The door had slid somewhere and was no longer visible so they could all see the previously closed new pathway now fully available to them. She turned her eyes to Bai Zemin and asked with a slight frown, "Shall we all go together to the s.h.i.+p"s command room?"
They all looked at Bai Zemin, waiting for his answer. Xia Ya"s question had been very crucial; as much as Bai Zemin"s answer would soon be.
In fact, Bai Zemin did not respond immediately and instead took a moment to think things over carefully. Even though the ant queen had told him before that she had her time counted and Bai Zemin estimated that she would probably die soon, he could not trust her words completely, and if he made an error in his judgment, the lives of powerful subordinates and one of the most important people to him would be lost.
While it was true that Bai Zemin could simply let time pa.s.s to see if the queen of the weaver ants was pretending or not, which would end up with him winning in every way, doing so also carried severe dangers that needed to be taken into account.
For example, if the queen of the weaver ants really died after 50 minutes or so, then Bai Zemin and his team would have a much simpler time taking control over the Sky Destroyer. However, if she really died and it turned out that she was telling the truth, Bai Zemin might be missing out on information or something important; which would result in eternal regret.
There was also the factor to consider that if the queen of the weaver ants became angry before her death after discovering that Bai Zemin planned to let her die just like that and had made her waste her last moments, it was not at all improbable that she would unleash her final fury upon them; the wrath of an existence so powerful that it no longer had anything to lose was something Bai Zemin had no desire to check out at the moment.
"Too many things to consider and take into account within too little time." Bai Zemin tousled his soft ink-black hair as he let out a frustrated sigh.
This was one of the consequences of being a leader; not everything was rosy as the rock called responsibility weighed more heavily on the shoulders of a leader than anyone else.
"Leader, may I make a suggestion?"
"Mm?"
Bai Zemin raised his head and looked at Xia Ya curiously. He nodded silently, instructing her to continue.
"In this kind of situation, I think it would be better if you go alone by yourself so that you can act accordingly to any circ.u.mstances that may develop. If we were there we might end up being more of a burden than support." Xia Ya explained calmly and with a partially serene expression on her face. "Although it is true that leaving us behind is also not the best solution given that we are in unknown enemy terrain, the corridors of the battles.h.i.+p are not only a prison but also work as a defense."
Feng Tian Wu took advantage of Xia Ya"s momentary silence and immediately interjected, "I agree with her. In this kind of battlefield, all we have to do is to defend two corners. With Nangong Lingxin"s barrier and with my flames, defending two points should be a piece of cake.... Not to mention that with the White Tiger guild leader here we can get ready before the enemy reaches our location."
Bai Zemin thought about it for a moment as he watched everyone"s expressions. Actually, he had the same idea except he wasn"t so sure about it; the group of people in front of him were all powerhouses, and leaving aside that losing them would be a great loss not only to their future faction but also to the human race, there was also the factor that Bai Zemin had been fighting with them for about half a month, experiencing a lot of things together.
"Big brother, hurry up and go." Meng Qi intervened at that moment. She looked at him with a faint smile and said with concerned eyes that were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with affection, "We"ll wait for you here. Just be sure to come back."
Meng Qi"s words were the little push Bai Zemin needed to stop hesitating. He nodded and said in a firm voice, "All right then. All of you, Xia Ya will be left in charge of leaders.h.i.+p while I am absent. In case the majority of you decide that she is not fit to make decisions due to different circ.u.mstances that may arise. the person in charge will be Liang Jing."
Everyone nodded, clearly in agreement with his words, and noticing this, Bai Zemin gave his final instructions:
"If you hear combat explosions or something similar then return to the surface even if you have to break the battles.h.i.+p. If any enemy appears trying to attack you, then you"d better retreat to the teleport room."
"Big brother, be careful." Meng Qi emphasized. Even though she was trying to act calm and her face didn"t show how she really felt, her eyes that were the window to her soul and the sweat on the palms of her hands were things she couldn"t control.
"Don"t worry," Bai Zemin moved forward and stroked her hair with a smile, "I"ll be back before 60 minutes have pa.s.sed."
After saying those words, Bai Zemin nodded towards the rest, and without saying or waiting for any words, he became a blur that in just an instant disappeared from everyone"s line of sight.
After Bai Zemin disappeared beyond the corridor, leaving behind nothing but a rush of wind with his scent that was soon swept and scattered throughout the corridors of the battles.h.i.+p, Meng Qi finally sighed and rested her back against the metal alloy wall.
"Young Miss Meng, no need to worry- cough! cough! cough! cough! cough!...." Liang Jing smiled in between his usual coughing attack, and seeing Meng Qi"s legs trembling weakly, he said in a kind voice, "Your big brother, our Leader, is a really powerful man, and a man of miracles. It will definitely be all right if he is the person who is personally involved."
Meng Qi simply tried to force a smile but said nothing. When one person loved another very much, worrying was a normal thing not to mention in this kind of mysterious and unknown circ.u.mstances.
The group was silent for a few seconds as they all took their respective positions to prepare in case they were attacked; none of them had forgotten the situation they were in. However, one person seemed to have made some sort of decision after hesitating several times about doing so or not.
"Excuse me, can I ask you a question?"
Everyone turned in the direction of the voice, towards the back of the group.
There, Feng Tian Wu was looking at Meng Qi with a calm expression and composed eyes.
Meng Qi looked at her and her expression immediately turned bad. However, after remembering all the words her brother had said to her previously, Meng Qi took a deep breath and with great willpower managed to calm down.
"What"s wrong?" Meng Qi asked indifferently looking at Feng Tian Wu as if she was looking at a stranger and not a person she teamed up with for about half a month to fight against millions of common enemies.
Feng Tian Wu had no apparent reaction before Meng Qi"s indifferent voice and cold eyes. Her expression remained stoic and her voice unchanged as she said in a clear and melodious voice, "It"s a bit of a personal question...."
"A personal question?" Meng Qi frowned slightly and straightened her posture. "What is this all about, so suddenly."
Feng Tian Wu looked her in the eyes and said calmly, "It"s about Bai- It"s about Team Leader Bai, and about you."
Meng Qi"s expression changed slightly and a glimmer of caution flashed in her eyes. She looked at Feng Tian Wu cautiously and said with a slight frown, "What do you want to know?"
As everyone watched curiously from the side, Feng Tian Wu took a few seconds to think carefully about her next words before pointing out her doubts.
"From what I understand, the surname of the mother of the two of you is Ye. Of course, both of your father"s surname is Bai and thus our Team Leader"s surname is also Bai..."
"Feng Tian Wu, stop beating around the bush and go where you want to go once and for all." Meng Qi remarked with irritation.
Although Meng Qi was very mature even when she was only 17, one could not forget that at the end of the day she was still a young girl at the end of her teenage years. When it came to emotions that were particularly strong and that she did not need to hide, such as hatred or irritation, Meng Qi could not and did not try to control herself; which is why in front of a person she still hated to the bone like Feng Tian Wu, it was difficult to hide her emotions even if she wanted to do so.
In the eyes of Meng Qi, the less interaction she had with a treacherous person like Feng Tian Wu, the better!
Feng Tian Wu looked at her silently and blinked without saying anything at Meng Qi"s little outburst. She didn"t seem to realize that her calmness was also the reason for his irritation when she asked still maintaining the same tone of voice as before:
"Sorry if I offend you but, I was wondering why your last name is Meng? Are you the sister of Team Leader Bai from your mother"s side?"
Meng Qi blinked in surprise. She hadn"t expected Feng Tian Wu"s true interest to be more focused on her than on her brother. Soon, however, a practically invisible trace of a disdainful and torturous smile formed at the corner of Meng Qi"s lips as she understood what was going on.
Even though Meng Qi was young and had never dated any guy in her entire life, this did not mean that she was stupid. In fact, she understood many things even more clearly than most adults just that most of the time she hid her thoughts and feelings to avoid any kind of problems.
How could Meng Qi not understand what Feng Tian Wu was thinking?
She smiled slightly and all irritation disappeared from her face. In fact, when Meng Qi looked at Feng Tian Wu now, her expression was a mixture of amus.e.m.e.nt and sympathy.
Feng Tian Wu frowned slightly at Meng Qi"s sudden change of att.i.tude but she quickly regained her calm expression from before. Although she didn"t know what was going on, since the other person had calmed down that was also good for her.