Translator: CinderTL
Tiger Soul Research Institute, Branch Base.
Late at night, on the rooftop.
A gentle night breeze rustled as Feng Qi and Lin Ran shared several rounds of drinks.
As they chatted about old times, the years of estrangement gradually faded away.
Especially as night fell, both were reminded of those days at Star City Academy, studying all night in the library after dinner.
After clinking glasses with Lin Ran again, Feng Qi took a large gulp.
"A'Ran, if your friend deceived you one day, would you hate him?"
Lin Ran was visibly startled by the question. "Brother Qi, why does that sound like you're about to deceive me?"
"Nothing like that," Feng Qi denied firmly. "Just something I was thinking about."
Lin Ran nodded, then asked curiously, "If it was a close friend deceiving me, it would break my heart. But everything has two sides. Even a surprise can be a form of deception. Tell me firstβwhat would be the consequence of being deceived?"
After a long silence, Feng Qi replied:
"What if they ended up losing their life due to the deception?"
"There must be a reason for that, right? What was the deceiver's motive?" Lin Ran asked, his curiosity piqued once more.
Feng Qi fell silent again.
He had never wanted to take lives in the name of saving the world. In his eyes, claiming moral superiority to arbitrarily decide someone's future was just another form of oppression and exploitation.
That's why he felt guilty towards Lin Ran.
Taking a deep breath, he looked at Lin Ran and asked, "What do you think about betraying a friend for a greater cause?"
"A greater cause? Can you give me an example?"
"Imagine one day you faced a choice: kill your friend with your own hands, or your world, your clansmen, would be destroyed. What would you choose?"
Hearing this, Lin Ran fell into deep thought.
After a moment, he looked up at Feng Qi.
"If your hypothetical were true, isn't there a possibility that even the friend being betrayed might have desired death?"
Feng Qi was momentarily taken aback by Lin Ran's words.
Noticing Feng Qi's troubled expression, Lin Ran smiled and continued, "Take you and me, for example. If one day, to achieve our ideal future, you had to sacrifice me, then I... would do so without hesitation."
Lin Ran's expression turned exceptionally serious as he spoke.
Feng Qi suddenly realized that Lin Ran seemed to have sensed something.
At that, Lin Ran smiled and took a large gulp of his wine. "Brother Qi, I feel like you're hiding something from me. Though I don't understand why you'd keep it from me, I believe you have your reasons."
"Knowing you as I do, disappearing for so many years couldn't have been just to experience life on the front lines. We used to talk about your dream of joining the cultivation technique research institute. Whether it's about contributing to humanity or other considerations, joining the front lines goes against your principles and moves you further from your original dream."
Staring at Lin Ran, whose smile still lingered at the corners of his mouth, Feng Qi fell silent.
He realized he had consistently underestimated Lin Ran's perceptiveness.
The conversation had now reached a critical point, brushing against a dangerous boundary.
The dialogue they had just shared could potentially be read by the Lord of the Mist after possessing Lin Ran.
This might sow doubt in the Lord of the Mist's mind, despite his unwavering trust in him.
A knot tightened in his chest at this thought.
Being seen through by Lin Ran would clearly jeopardize the future of the Sacrifice Line.
Yet this situation wasn't without a remedy.
Across multiple timelines, Wei Wei had been researching memory-related topics: memory preservation, editing, knowledge implantation, and more.
Given how the conversation had progressed, he considered revealing everything he knew to Lin Ran.
But after confessing, he would need to visit Wei Wei.
Then, he would ask her to edit Lin Ran's memories, erasing anything that might hinder the Sacrifice Line's development.
"Wait a moment, I need to make a call."
With this thought, he stood up and walked to the other side of the rooftop.
Lin Ran, though puzzled by Feng Qi's actions, remained silent.
Feng Qi, who had moved to the other side of the rooftop, removed his backpack and retrieved a specially encrypted phone from the Scarlet Research Institute.
After following the authentication steps, he accessed the encrypted interface.
He opened his contacts and dialed Wei Wei's number.
He waited for a long time, but Wei Wei didn't answer. Still, he wasn't worried.
Having worked at the Scarlet Research Institute for a long time, he knew that Wei Wei often participated in research projects involving rune crystals and couldn't always keep her phone with her.
Some projects, once initiated, could take days to complete.
Fortunately, calls to Wei Wei would automatically be forwarded to the Scarlet Communications Hub after ten minutes, where a specialist would notify her to take the call.
After more than ten minutes of waiting, the call was answered, and a familiar voice came through:
"Feng Qi, what's the urgent matter this time?"
"Sister Wei, I wanted to ask about your research progress in memory editing. How is it going?"
"What's wrong? Do you want to implant some knowledge into your memory? If so, send me the data, and I'll edit it into a memory that can be directly implanted into your brain. That way, your other self can access this knowledge instantly... But please, let's keep the amount of information manageable. Otherwise, the difficulty and failure rate will skyrocket."
Assuming Feng Qi wanted to transfer knowledge to his other self, Wei Wei responded decisively.
Hearing this, Feng Qi realized she had misunderstood.
He immediately said:
"Sister Wei, you know I've returned to Star City, right?"
"Of course. Our tracking chip is implanted at the base of your neck. Besides the special team protecting your brain, headquarters is monitoring your movements in real-time."
Feng Qi nodded and continued:
"The reason I'm back in Star City is that the history of this Sacrifice Line has progressed to the stage where the Lord of the Mist is preparing to infiltrate the Tiger Soul Research Institute. With Old Wang at the Scarlet Research Institute, Lin Ran is clearly the Lord of the Mist's next target for body possession."
"A few days ago, I applied for the Tiger Soul Research Institute's external recruitment drive. I've already started working at their Branch Base and even met Lin Ran..."
He spent over twenty minutes thoroughly explaining his situation to Wei Wei.
(End of the Chapter)
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