Chapter 1215: Chapter 469: Farewell to Hua Xiaoling (2)

"You traveled all the way here just to invite me for tea?"

Hua Xiaoling said, "Chen Yanshu’s team was responsible for the previous order to eliminate you, but they failed. Some in our organization indeed view you as an enemy to the evolution of civilization. However, I’ve reminded them that their methods are insufficient to pose a threat to you."

She looked at Lin Xian: "Or rather, killing you is not the real intention of the Master."

Hua Xiaoling continued, "You’re surely curious about the operational logic of the Offshore Geothermal Base. Is it surveillance, guidance, or some form of research? Your escape from there was truly miraculous—or at least a small victory in the biological race struggle, from a human perspective. I can now tell you the true purpose of the geothermal base, which is to use Uniga 1 on Sea Rock Island to eliminate the Abnormal Bodies transferred from Star Abyss 13 and the 8th Star Abyss to the continental shelf, thus reducing the impact on Dragon Country’s coastal areas."

"Ah?" Lin Xian frowned.

Hua Xiaoling’s words left Lin Xian bewildered, making him wonder if he had misheard.

"Have you ever thought about why a large number of high-level Abnormal Bodies, based on marine life, spread out from various Star Abysses, but Yongcheng Port hasn’t suffered severe impacts from the sea?" Hua Xiaoling said with a smile. "During the Battle of Dawn City, you faced attacks from three fronts, yet the east side toward Yongcheng Port remained calm. Doesn’t this tell you something?"

Lin Xian remained silent. He and the Phoenix Society had pondered this issue, and Ye Lan had prepared preemptive plans. Hearing Hua Xiaoling’s words made his heart jolt. His subconscious told him not to trust this woman, yet her words seemed to hold some truth.

The large-scale Abnormal Bodies, special-level, and A-level entities were hunted and destroyed around Sea Rock Island by the Giant Ocean God. Naturally, the impact on the coastline was minimal. After all, Lin Xian had personally witnessed the monstrous creatures on the seabed marching as if on land, at a terrifying scale.

"I can also tell you, the Black Gear you acquired is an ultra-A-level Taboo Item, surpassing your 1542 Radio and Flashing Bullet by two containment levels. It’s one of the most treasured items of the Holy Revelation leader, Chen Yanshu. The method of containment requires a person to die, but its characteristic allows the bearer to perform dimensional travel within the Star Abyss. In other words, it lets you perceive the High-dimensional World within the Star Abyss without its influence. However, the logic of the Taboo Item itself is the anchoring singularity of the four-dimensional Dark World in the three-dimensional world, thereby releasing the power characteristic of the High-dimensional World. This Taboo Item mirrors the time of movement and, after the countdown ends, collapses the time dimension once traversed into a mirrored image again. Put simply, it releases time from a four-dimensional world into the three-dimensional world, manifesting as the scene of the Star Abyss bursting out. Do you understand this?"

Lin Xian frowned, unable to grasp the concept momentarily.

Hua Xiaoling glanced at him without saying anything and turned into the tent.

Lin Xian lingered for a moment, curious about what she said, and decided to follow her in.

Pulling aside the tent’s curtain, he found a brightly lit space inside. On a clean, flat carpet laid an empty redwood tea table with one main chair and one guest chair. Apart from a hovering ball-like drone projection device, there was nothing else.

"So you are indeed inviting me for tea." Lin Xian checked the time. "Isn’t this a bit inappropriate for this hour?"

Hua Xiaoling had already seated herself at the tea table, quietly extracting an ebony tea tray from beneath the table. Her movements were gentle as if dusting away specks. Her fingertips brushed past the teaware as she deftly placed two green-white jade tea cups whose thin, translucent walls resembled congealed ice. The teapot, meanwhile, was a plain, purple sand pear-shaped pot, its color iron-like.

She began brewing tea silently, seemingly like a skilled tea master, and said while brewing,

"I won’t take up much of your time, and you don’t need to alert your team over. First, there will be no forceful actions between us, and second, I don’t want to disturb your peace. Of course, I’m not here to reminisce about old times with you since we have no old times to speak of. I will naturally state my purpose; however, you’ll need to let go of some grudges, like those drones or the lady aiming at us with a sniper rifle."

Lin Xian shrugged and sat down in front of Hua Xiaoling, looking at her through the steaming tea vapor. He said, "You know, surviving is not easy for us. It’s only normal to be cautious around you."

Hua Xiaoling smiled and remained silent.

"You just said containing the Black Gear requires a death, but that seems incorrect," Lin Xian said. "When I was dealing with Chen Yanshu, I had the situation under control. Nobody died, right?"

Hua Xiaoling lifted the justice cup, her wrist suspended three inches above the tea cup. The tea stream split from the pot like a flowing creek, its arc pouring into the jade cup precisely, the water level meeting perfectly without spilling a drop. Once completed, she pushed a cup of hot tea toward Lin Xian and said blandly,

"But what about before that—haven’t you killed anyone?"

Lin Xian’s expression froze for a moment as something came to mind.

In the upper control hall of Deep Water Port, they had killed a humanoid experimental subject.

"Silver Pocket Watch..." Lin Xian frowned. "No wonder, that guy was waiting for me deliberately."

At this moment, Lin Xian felt a chill in his heart. It turned out he had fallen into a major trap. That Chen fellow was really something—one Black Gear almost cost him everything, losing even the South Heavenly Gate. Had he not kept his cool at the last moment, he would have been transmitted to the South Heavenly Gate, facing the erupted dark flood, turning the Gate and himself into remnants ravaged by space monsters.

Upon realizing this, Lin Xian shifted his gaze to Hua Xiaoling. "Did you find me to announce the Foundation’s intention to communicate with the Phoenix Society?"

"You can interpret it that way."

Lin Xian frowned. "I don’t understand. On one hand, you worship that Dark Civilization as your Master upon descent, but on the other, you help humans?"

He glanced coldly at the teacup in front of him. "You’re not going to tell me you’re playing some kind of double-agent game, are you?"

Hua Xiaoling raised her eyes to meet Lin Xian’s gaze, smiling as she said, "Captain Lin, you might need to realize that the logic of the world’s operation is not simply black or white, enemy or friend, good versus evil. The survival of human civilization is not limited to fleeing the Blue Star or destroying the Dark Civilization—such simplistic, brutal logic."

Lin Xian frowned. "Are you suggesting an all-encompassing, unified descent and fusion?"

This was something he had heard from Chen Yanshu and was also in Gu Zheng’s consciousness.

There was a subtle change in Hua Xiaoling’s calm gaze, and she made no attempt to explain further. Instead, she turned her head toward the floating holographic device beside her, speaking softly,

"Aren’t you eager to know what the Dark Civilization, the Star Abyss, truly are? Tonight, you might gain an entirely new understanding."

Lin Xian’s expression tightened as he turned his attention to the device.

The spherical holographic device looked like a flying drone, yet its projected eye seemed hollow and deep. As it quietly hovered there, Lin Xian’s scan confirmed it was merely a mechanical projection device, yet now, looking at it gave him a chilling sensation akin to being scrutinized.

Then, as Hua Xiaoling’s voice fell, blue arcs began flickering in the center of the projection device. A holographic image started expanding, enveloping the entire tent space. The supposedly blue lines of the light screen turned multi-colored, as if projecting an extremely high-definition world.

Lin Xian saw a dazzling flash of light and instinctively shut his eyes. When he opened them again, his pupils constricted immediately.

Although he still sat in the chair, the table, chairs, and tea utensils in front of him had vanished, leaving only Hua Xiaoling, who had shifted from sitting to standing, facing away from him.

Most bizarrely, Hua Xiaoling, now standing, was naked and spotless as if she had been that way all along. She slowly turned to face Lin Xian under his astonished gaze.

Lin Xian felt a cold sweat break out all over his body, his hairs standing on end.

Hua Xiaoling wore a faint smile, yet as Lin Xian looked upon her face—just before so familiar—his mind could only conjure one absurd notion.

That the Hua Xiaoling before him wasn’t her.

She was another kind of being.

An existence from the darkness.

Staring at him!