Chapter 66: Tao Lu's Reason

After a long while!

The battle was nearing its end. At this moment, Xia Yan looked utterly wretched; his face was sallow and deathly pale, and his head was shrouded in a layer of black mist. His state was somewhat similar to Adam's back then. He could barely maintain his sanity, with all sorts of negative thoughts surging through his mind.

Perhaps this was a sign that he did not have long to live.

When the last person was killed, Xia Yan sank to his knees, panting heavily. Blood spilled from the corners of his mouth, flowing continuously for a long time without stopping.

When he raised his head, all he saw was Tao Lu's mocking gaze.

"No matter which faction you belong to, I have already made my stance clear. If you still intend to come after me, I am not someone to be bullied easily either." Tao Lu flicked the laser gun in her hand. "Now, what are you going to do?"

"I won't make a move against you." Xia Yan shook his head. Tao Lu did not seem to recognize him, which was hardly surprising. His appearance and voice had completely changed, and the Ever-Changing Blade looked entirely ordinary—definitely not a weapon unique to him. It was only natural that Tao Lu could not recognize him.

For Xia Yan, perhaps this was just as well. If there were only two choices: for Tao Lu to recognize him and help him, or not to recognize him and kill him—

He would definitely choose the latter, because he could not drag Tao Lu down with him before he died.

Yet, what surprised Xia Yan was why Tao Lu had no intention of killing him.

Perhaps he could no longer escape a combination of Tao Lu's Mind Control and a laser bullet.

Xia Yan continued walking forward, the distance between him and Tao Lu growing smaller and smaller. When they were two meters apart, he deviated slightly from his path, as if fleeing, avoiding any subsequent physical contact with Tao Lu.

Xia Yan's destination was the inner research zone, even though the defense gate there had already been tightly sealed.

"You want to go inside?" Tao Lu looked at him. "There are no combat personnel in there anymore, only researchers."

"Yes." Xia Yan nodded.

"Those people are not at fault; they were merely following orders to conduct research. Killing them is a grave sin!" Tao Lu frowned. "Perhaps you should go after the high-ranking members of the Winged Clan instead of them. If they hadn't done the research, they might have been killed anyway."

Xia Yan ignored her and continued walking forward.

He had pondered long ago who was right and who was wrong. Were these researchers truly without a shred of blame? Perhaps if they hadn't done so, their own ends would have been extremely miserable.

Yet, could a mere reason like that absolve them of all guilt?

"Noah is about to arrive. If you retreat now, although your chances of survival are slim, there is still a sliver of hope," Tao Lu said with a smile. "But if you keep walking forward, it will be certain death."

Xia Yan shook his head, as if responding to her words. Without hesitation, he continued walking onward.

He was not someone like Emilia, nor was he someone like Gong Kui. He could not see too far into the future; he could only touch the present moment. That was fine, too. At least he did not have to worry too much, think too much, or fret over the entire race. He didn't have to calculate this and scheme that with every single step he took.

By killing these people, he would shoulder endless sins.

By killing them, he still could not completely halt such experiments.

Yet for Xia Yan, he had to do this. Once he turned a blind eye to these things, his own heart would be condemned.

He was not a leader, nor did he need to learn from leaders. Fulfilling the code of conduct that a human should follow—that was enough.

He was not a spokesperson for justice, nor had he ever wanted to imitate justice. All Xia Yan was doing was preventing his conscience from being condemned, which was why he made this decision.

Perhaps these researchers were all innocent, but Xia Yan had long since decided that since he made his choice, he would bear the consequences—even if it meant endless karmic retribution, and even if he died because of it, he would never regret it.

This was precisely where he differed entirely from Emilia, Gong Kui, and the others. Or perhaps, he took pride in this!

This defense gate was ultimately unable to stop the current Xia Yan. The edge of his blade gleamed with the color of gray flames, relentlessly attacking the defense gate. Even the energy shield could not withstand the gray flames, and so it was finally slashed open.

Xia Yan walked inside. This was a massacre, akin to the slaughter of mortals by a deity. Slaying those ability users had been so effortless for Xia Yan, let alone these ordinary people. Perhaps among these people, there were a small number of ability users, but they belonged to the lowest tier; they were barely any stronger than ordinary people. How could they possibly resist?

Blood, shattered flesh, and severed limbs stained this space red. The entire interior of the research zone was in utter chaos, with alarms blaring incessantly and the sounds of scrambling crowds and screams ringing out one after another.

Xia Yan had completely transformed into a god of death. In his eyes, there was only killing—killing to the very end, until not a single person was left alive.

The instant Xia Yan destroyed the signal jamming device, Gong Kui received the relevant research data. At the same time, this research base held no more secrets.

Those related surveillance devices had all been infiltrated by powerful hackers—some from the human side, and others from various other factions.

"Lord Gong Kui, it has been confirmed. We have obtained the relevant research data," Xia Yi reported earnestly after verifying the information.

"Mm, understood." Gong Kui nodded. "Even though Adam is dead, his mission was accomplished. He successfully retrieved the research data. In this contest, I won after all!"

"My Lord is truly brilliant. Even while holding down the fort in Jingyang City, you still managed to control the situation," Xia Yi exclaimed in admiration.

"Have the hackers infiltrate the interior of the research base. I want to confirm the situation inside," Gong Kui said.

"I understand." Xia Yi nodded.

Soon, the optical computer displayed the specific scene: the fellow who had slaughtered everyone like a god of death. His face still bore the appearance of Morris.

"This... this..." Xia Yi cried out in disbelief, her voice laced with shock. "What is going on? Who is this person? He is the culprit behind the destruction of everything here; he is not Xia Yan at all."

"No, he is Xia Yan," Gong Kui shook her head and said. "Look, clearly Lady Tao Lu is standing not far away, yet he didn't make a move against her."

"According to our intelligence," Xia Yi hesitated, "there is severe internal strife within the Winged Clan. Tao Lu's identity is extremely suspicious; she is likely not a subordinate of the pure-blood William, but rather a subordinate of the pure-blood Asa. These two pure-bloods have been fighting openly and covertly for a long time. Even if Tao Lu killed them, I suppose it would be normal—she is essentially a plant."

With Xia Yi's words, Tao Lu's true identity became clear. She was not a member of the Wilbur family at all. To be precise, she was a subordinate of the pure-blood Asa within the Winged Clan, and her mission upon coming to the Wilbur family was probably just to steal the relevant data.

"It's normal for her not to attack, but for this man not to attack her is somewhat abnormal. Things should be considered from the reverse perspective," Gong Kui smiled gently. "If Xia Yan can completely destroy this research base, then it is very likely that this research data will belong to the human faction. Even if the Winged Clan wants to restart their research, I have ways to stop them. Not to mention, they are fighting so fiercely among themselves..."

Regarding the ability users of various races, there were specific statistical data. In terms of numbers, the human faction had the fewest, while the Demon and Angel races had the most, with other races falling into a moderate tier.

However, calculating the specific strength of a race was not based on the number of ability users. Although the Demon and Angel races formed the first tier and were naturally the strongest, the human faction ranked just behind those two major races.

In other words, the comprehensive strength of the human faction was stronger than that of the vampires, the Winged Clan, and the werewolf race.

This had nothing to do with absolute-awakening ability users; it was simply because internal strife within certain races was severe.

Why internal strife?

Without a single absolute-awakening ability user, they could never truly submit to one another. Everyone was of pure blood; why should they let someone else trample on their heads?

This kind of internal strife was even more pronounced in the Winged Clan and the vampire race, neither of which possessed an absolute-awakening ability user.

Within the Winged Clan, there were only two pure-bloods: William and Asa. These two pure-bloods were also locked in internal strife, and a very severe one at that.

William was of the radical faction, using any means necessary to achieve results as long as goals were met. Asa, on the other hand, was of the steady faction, considering the bigger picture and advancing step by step.

"Lord Gong Kui, this is bad..." Xia Yi's expression changed drastically. "Noah, the general manager of the Wilbur family's research base, has arrived."

"Is that so!" Gong Kui smiled. "He's here, then. Xia Yan, this time, it is absolute death."

Unlike the previous incident in the Freedom Zone, Xia Yan was bound to be killed this time, without a single shred of chance.

From the time she first met Xia Yan until now, he had walked through one harrowing dilemma after another, each time coming perilously close to death, yet he had managed to survive by sheer luck.

Gong Kui did not wish for Xia Yan to die, but her rationality often anticipated the ultimate outcome of events, with a margin of error so small it was practically zero—just like this time.

Xia Yan had escaped from certain death countless times: such as the time with Levin, the time facing the former director of the Emilia-preceding institution, the time he and Blue Heart faced the Shadow Leopard, the decisive battle against the mutated species in Fuxiang City, the time he went to the Demon realm to duel the former director of the institution, and then the time at the previous auction.

Every single time, it had been almost certain death, yet he had pulled through.

This was the last time. It was definitely the last time.

Miracles could no longer be created!

Gong Kui knew very well that it would not be long before Lillin, the head of the Wilbur family, arrived—and perhaps even a pure-blood of the Winged Clan would arrive.

As for Xia Yan's strength, let alone those individuals, even against Noah, he was vastly inferior.

Although he progressed very quickly, he was still far too weak compared to these powerhouses.

It was truly tragic, but this was a dead end.