Chapter 449: Devastating Blow
“You dare defy my orders? Lin Mo, you’ve got some nerve.” Ning Xuan pinched Lin Mo’s chin, forcing him to look up.
“Contractor, my combat skills can’t compare to Qinghe’s, but my family has business interests here. I used to live here for a while, so I know the area well. I can definitely help.” Lin Mo looked at Ning Xuan stubbornly, refusing to yield an inch even under her immense pressure.
Ning Xuan’s spiritual power slashed into Lin Mo’s Spiritual Sea like a blade. “Ah…” Lin Mo cried out in pain, his face turning deathly pale.
“You’re too weak to be of any help; you’ll only be a liability. Qinghe, send a message to Yu Mingche and have him take him back,” Ning Xuan ordered, turning to Qinghe.
“Contractor, I’m not leaving. Even if you have me taken away, I’ll just find a way to come back.” Lin Mo’s face was pale, and his voice trembled, but his resolve was unshakable.
“Yun Han is on a mission on the New Star Body, and General Ying is tied up on the Star Meteor Battlefield. Those despicable cowards are using this opportunity to make a move on you. As one of your Contractors, how can I possibly stand by and do nothing at a time like this?” Lin Mo’s stance was firm.
“I’m striking out on my own. I don’t want to drag your family into this. I don’t want to bear the karmic debt. Do you understand?” Ning Xuan gave Lin Mo a deep, meaningful look.
“Contractor, my mother has already transferred all the Lin Family’s assets and personnel on Beichen Star to me. They’re my personal property now, completely separate from the family. You don’t have to worry about that burden.” Lin Mo daringly pressed closer into Ning Xuan’s arms. When she didn’t react, he wrapped his hands around her waist.
“Oh? When did that happen?” Ning Xuan raised an eyebrow. An image of Lin Yuzhi’s gentle, placid face flashed through her mind.
Since Ning Xuan hadn’t made Lin Mo her husband, she didn’t interact with Lin Yuzhi as an elder and didn’t know her well. However, she certainly didn’t think Lin Yuzhi was the soft-hearted type to excessively dote on her child.
“Just a couple of days ago. Contractor, can you let me stay now?” Lin Mo looked up at Ning Xuan.
Ning Xuan threaded her fingers through Lin Mo’s hair, pressing on several of his acupoints. Lin Mo instantly felt his Divine Soul strengthen. Even the Spiritual Power circulating within him flowed more smoothly, and his whole body relaxed.
A look of blissful indulgence crossed Lin Mo’s face. Di Youlin pouted, displeased. The Di Family had originally dispatched personnel to him in secret, a way to support their master from the shadows. But now, with the Lin Family making such a public move, it made his own family look timid and less than forthright.
“You can stay. But from now on, no matter what happens, you will obey my orders. No acting on your own initiative.” Since the Lin Family was willing to go this far, Ning Xuan no longer pushed him away.
The very night Ning Xuan returned to the main urban district, her residence was hit by another terrifying night raid.
The Starry Sky Academy, the Star Sky Council, and the Myriad Phenomena Star River dispatched thirteen SS-level assassins and eleven SS-level Undead Warriors. They broke through the main district’s defensive grid and attacked Ning Xuan and her people. That night, blood stained half the district. The area’s entire defense system was paralyzed. Hundreds of influential figures residing in the main district were caught in the crossfire and killed. The entire district was left in ruins.
Over the next half a month, Ning Xuan endured dozens of attacks, averaging more than three per day. On the sixteenth day, the spatial barrier around the periphery of Beichen Star finally gave way. It suddenly shattered, and a massive storm swept across the entire planet.
That day, all stellar routes to Beichen Star were forced to close. Nearly a hundred short-range starships crashed, and thirteen large starships went missing. The already chaotic state of Beichen Star suffered a fatal blow.
City Lord Jiang Nanfeng of Beichen Star’s central city could no longer sit idly by. He decided to expel Ning Xuan from his territory. But by the time he arrived at her temporary residence, he found that she and her people had already vanished without a trace.
“City Lord Jiang, what are you doing here? Where’s Miss Ning?” Ji Wuchen, who had just arrived, demanded, glaring at Jiang Nanfeng.
“Mr. Ji, I just got here myself. As for what I’m doing here, don’t you already know? You made it sound so simple before. You said you were just ‘borrowing my planet,’ that you ‘absolutely wouldn’t disturb Beichen Star’s ecological balance.’ Just look at this! It’s been barely two weeks, and what has this place become? A wasteland! The city infrastructure I spent more than a decade building is destroyed! And all those shipping lanes! You’ll have to compensate me for everything!” Jiang Nanfeng yelled, exasperated.
He was an agent propped up by the four great Extraordinary Influences. While he generally answered to them, this place was still his life’s work, built over decades. How could he not be furious now that it was all destroyed in a flash?
“City Lord Jiang, no one wanted things to turn out this way. We can talk about the damages later. Right now, the priority is to find Ning Xuan. She was supposed to be under our constant surveillance. How could she just disappear?” Ji Wuchen eyed Jiang Nanfeng with suspicion.
“The spatial barrier has been shattered, the defense systems are completely destroyed, and a massive storm is tearing through the city. Under circumstances like these, isn’t it perfectly normal for a few people to go missing? Hundreds of residents from Central Star are already unaccounted for. What’s so strange about it?” Jiang Nanfeng’s words were harsh, but his gaze was evasive. He was deeply unsettled.
After all, Jiang Nanfeng knew the Extraordinary Influences had orchestrated this entire mess just to capture Ning Xuan. But now that she had vanished despite all their efforts, he would inevitably be held accountable.
“City Lord Jiang, you don’t actually believe you can wash your hands of this if something has happened to Ning Xuan, do you? Now get your people out there and find her!” Ji Wuchen roared at Jiang Nanfeng, pinching a broken scale between his fingers.
“I’ll get right on it.” Jiang Nanfeng didn’t dare say another word and hurried away.
With trembling fingers, Ji Wuchen activated his Light Computer. Instantly, four holographic figures appeared before him. None of them looked pleased. Enveloped by their collective gaze, Ji Wuchen felt an immense pressure weigh down on him.
“Our energy detectors are picking up chaotic spatial energy. Based on the evidence at the scene, it looks like Ning Xuan and her group were swallowed by a tear in space. It’s impossible to determine if she is currently safe,” Ji Wuchen reported, his face pale.