"Don't be afraid." You Mo-nian said. "Once the test is completed, you'll be released."
Su Mi nodded.
"However..." You Mo-nian turned to look at Shang Zheng not far away and said in a loud voice, "Shouldn't Director Shang explain... his true identity?"
Hardly had the words been spoken when numerous guards emerged from every corner of the garden, all armed to the teeth, and quickly surrounded Shang Zheng, Mu Xiting, and several military police officers.
Su Mi felt a hardness against her back. It was the muzzles of the guards' guns pressing up: "Don't move."
Su Mi suddenly looked at Shang Zheng, only to see that he had a calm expression on his face, as if the dozens of gun muzzles around him didn't exist at all.
You Mo-nian stood behind the guards with his hands behind his back, his tone solemn: "Shang Zheng, thirty-two years old, a brilliant student from the National University. He was known for his modesty, steadiness, and compliance with the rules... At first, when I saw this job evaluation, I had my doubts because you didn't seem like that at all. But the fingerprints of Shang Zheng stored in the Alliance's confidential database are the same as yours, and the mayor of the Free City also confirmed your identity, so I believed it. However, now, the mayor of the Free City has been arrested."
Su Mi was greatly shocked in her heart. You Mo-nian's meaning... He wasn't the real Shang Zheng?
Then who was he? Who could be so audacious and have such means to impersonate a high-ranking official of the Alliance?
However, "Shang Zheng" wasn't the least bit flustered by You Mo-nian's doubts. Even Mu Xiting beside him remained calm and motionless.
"Who on earth are you?" You Mo-nian asked.
A faint smile appeared on "Shang Zheng's" face, and his clear and deep voice came lowly: "Don't you already know?"
You Mo-nian's expression changed: "So you are indeed..."
You Mo-nian's icy gaze swept over Su Mi and then landed on "Shang Zheng" again: "You hijacked Shang Zheng's interstellar special train and locked him in a remote and uninhabited space station. If it weren't for the air force's accidental discovery of him during this search for Ling Zheng, how long were you planning to keep up this charade?"
You Mo-nian stared at him, speaking word by word: "Commander – Meng Xi-cong?"
Su Mi was completely stunned.
Meng Xi-cong?!
The commander?
When Su Mi first awakened in this world, she had heard of mercenaries and this name. But she had always thought it was just a distant legend.
Meng Xi-cong was the commander of the legendary interstellar mercenaries. But in the Alliance, mercenaries didn't have a good reputation. It was said that he recruited only the most desperate and heinous outlaws. Nobody knew exactly how many people he had recruited. It was said that his mercenaries were scattered across multiple galaxies around, and there were also rumors that he actually settled in this galaxy. In his team, besides humans, there were even Zerg, extraterrestrial monsters, and so on. He was never loyal to humanity, only to profit.
Su Mi simply couldn't associate Meng Xi-cong with the man in front of her.
But this must be the answer. Because only Meng Xi-cong would say, "Whether you are loyal to humanity has nothing to do with me."; and only Meng Xi-cong would train the normally disciplined military police team to be fierce and lawless.
"Since you know who I am..." The man looked at You Mo-nian with a calm and haughty expression. "Are you planning to arrest me?"
You Mo-nian said seriously: "No matter who you are, if you break the law under my jurisdiction, I will arrest you."
The guards rushed forward. The two didn't resist and calmly allowed themselves to be bound and shackled. Su Mi had been staring blankly. Meng Xi-cong seemed to notice and his gaze slid over quietly, with an inscrutable meaning.
Su Mi felt as if a heavy hammer had fallen on her heart – it was incredible. So had he been planning to train her to be a mercenary?
No wonder he had chosen her – because she had been so reckless in front of him time and again?
The guards pushed them into a vehicle. Only then did You Mo-nian's tense expression relax slightly.
Then he turned to look at Su Mi, his expression complex: "Miss Su, let's have a talk."
For some reason, seeing You Mo-nian opposite her, Su Mi, as a prisoner, didn't feel nervous or afraid.
Sitting in the mayor's office, You Mo-nian placed a cup of hot water in front of her: "Drink it."
She nodded.
"Your body is clean." He stared at her with his jet-black eyes. "Why?"
Su Mi took a sip of the hot water, still looking a bit shaken: "He injected me with a kind of drug, and the pain disappeared."
You Mo-nian was stunned.
When the Cheetah they were flying landed on the ground, the flight record had been cleared by Mu Xiting. The radar only detected that they had returned from the outer reaches of the galaxy. Nobody knew where they had gone.
Su Mi looked very natural. Her expression made You Mo-nian believe that since mercenaries had seen a lot during their exile across multiple galaxies, it wouldn't be surprising if there really was such an effective drug to resist the insect epidemic.
But such a drug was even more precious than Meng Xi-cong himself. For the sake of the Alliance's interests, it had to be obtained no matter what.
Thinking of this, You Mo-nian said seriously: "Su Mi, what exactly is your relationship with Meng Xi-cong?"
This question made the girl in front of him change color.
"Nothing." She said almost coldly. "I'm just a toy of his."
You Mo-nian had always been a gentleman. Having reached this point, he was actually embarrassed to press further. But the doubts in his heart were hard to dispel: "Then why did you refuse my help that day?"
She looked at him with a bitter smile: "Sir, how was I to know whether the place beside you was heaven or hell?"
You Mo-nian suddenly understood. He had always been in contact with the powerful and wealthy. How could he have understood the defensive mentality of an orphan girl that day? The doubts that had lingered in his heart for days were finally dispelled.
But this woman was clearly closely related to Meng Xi-cong, yet she had also performed great deeds and received public commendation.
It was really a tricky situation.
"Why did he send you to the War Phoenix?"
"He wanted me to steal the blueprints of the warship." She said resolutely. "But sir, I never did it and never intended to do it. I will not betray humanity."
You Mo-nian nodded – he had already secretly inquired about the evaluation of her from the War Phoenix. The result was that she had never overstepped the bounds.
"I said that you saved my life." He looked at her deeply. "There is no clear evidence indicating that you are guilty. I'm releasing you now. But your movements will be restricted. You are not allowed to leave Hope City. Once any evidence of your crime is discovered, I will arrest you myself."
"Thank you, sir." She paused. "May I go and see him?"
You Mo-nian looked at her.
"Perhaps sir doesn't understand how intense a woman's hatred can be for the man who took her virginity." She said slowly. "Now that he has finally become a pariah, I really want to see him in his downcast state. If sir gives me the chance, I really want to kill him with my own hands."
Sometimes, Su Mi felt that she wasn't a good person.
Otherwise, facing the upright and resolute good man You Mo-nian, why couldn't she tell a single truth?
But in fact, she wasn't lying either. Each sentence was half-true and half-false.
For the sake of that non-existent drug, You Mo-nian would never execute that man no matter what. And when he agreed to let her go to the prison to see that man, he must have had the intention of surveillance.
The man who had always been all-powerful in her heart was now a prisoner, no longer able to demand anything from her – she had gained her freedom. Behind the slight sense of relief was more uneasiness.
She stepped into the underground prison of You Mansion, with two guards from the You family holding guns on guard behind her.
The cell looked like a square room, with no windows and no furniture. In the metal cage, Meng Xi-cong and Mu Xiting were both sitting on the ground.
That posture really looked downcast.
From the moment Su Mi stepped in, Meng Xi-cong had been staring at her intently. Mu Xiting, on the other hand, stood up, with an obvious look of anger on his face.
"You've got what you deserve." Su Mi said coldly.
Meng Xi-cong smiled.
Mu Xiting said coldly: "Women are women. You're really despicable, taking advantage of someone's misfortune and showing no loyalty. You make me sick!"
"Sick?" Su Mi glared at him. "No matter how sickening, is it as sickening as what he did to me? Meng Xi-cong? What a strange name. I'm not afraid of you. Do you know that when I was with you, when I was on the War Phoenix, I was looking forward to the day when I could kill you?"
"Sir just saved you!" Mu Xiting was furious.
"That's because he didn't want to waste the effort he had spent on me!" Su Mi stared at Meng Xi-cong. "I'm not the least bit grateful."
Meng Xi-cong's face slowly darkened.
He stood up and walked up to Su Mi. Separated by a cell door, Su Mi looked at him without fear.
"So you're such a reckless woman." He said coldly.
Although she was prepared mentally, Su Mi still couldn't help but shudder when she heard his tone. Even though this time he was in the prison cell, he still scared her.
"Really?" She sneered. "Too bad it's you who'll die first." Having said that, she didn't even look at Meng Xi-cong and turned around and walked away.
The two guards saw the tense atmosphere between the two and remained silent. When Su Mi walked past them, they were startled to see the tears on her face.
At that moment, Su Mi quickly slipped past one of the guards and in an instant had snatched a pistol in her hand.
This was a trick she had learned from Li Xi-zhong. She never thought she would use it today.
She was breathing nervously. The two guards were horrified and immediately aimed their guns at her: "Miss Su, put down the gun!"
She didn't seem to care about their threats at all. She turned around and aimed the gun at Meng Xi-cong: "I want to kill him with my own hands."
The guards panicked. But this woman really seemed fearless. They couldn't really shoot, so what should they do?
Mu Xiting roared and rushed over to block in front of Meng Xi-cong. Meng Xi-cong pushed him away with one hand. From start to finish, his black eyes stared coldly at Su Mi.
Su Mi also stared at him and walked towards him step by step until her gun was pressed against his forehead, as if the iron cage between them didn't exist.
"Miss Su! Don't be impulsive!" The guards roared. One of them rushed out to dial the on-duty phone to call for support.
At that moment, Meng Xi-cong was as quick as lightning. He stretched out one arm through the cage and accurately grabbed her neck.
"Want to die with me?" He easily lifted her up, forcing her face to get close to his. Su Mi seemed to panic. The pistol in her hand was shaking, but she didn't dare to shoot.
The remaining guard was dumbfounded when he saw this. He didn't know whether his gun should be aimed at Su Mi or Meng Xi-cong.
"Where are your people..." Her voice suddenly dropped very low, so low that only he could hear. "I'll send a message for you... That's all I can do..."
He suddenly raised his eyebrows, looking at the flushed face of the woman in his hand.
"You want me to believe you?" His face got closer, as if he was about to bite her ear.
"I have conditions..." Feeling that his grip had loosened a bit, she gasped for air, her voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz. "Freedom."
"Kill her!" Mu Xiting's voice came from behind the two.
"Let go! Let go immediately!" Several guards rushed in, aiming their guns at the three of them.
Meng Xi-cong stared deeply at Su Mi, his black eyes seeming to see into her heart.
Suddenly, he let go. Su Mi fell to the ground. Just as she was about to jump up, she was pinned down by the guards and escorted out of the cell.
In the monitoring room behind one side of the cell wall, You Mo-nian stood with his hands behind his back. He watched the whole process of the two meeting in silence. Then he lowered his head and asked the guard beside him: "Could you hear what they just said?"
The guard shook his head: "The voices were too low."
You Mo-nian turned around and left the monitoring room, saying to his subordinates: "Monitor Su Mi twenty-four hours a day."
"Yes."
After leaving You Mansion, Su Mi unconsciously walked to the street in the city center. Looking up, she saw people coming and going, and traffic was busy.
She knew without thinking that someone was following her behind. She leisurely went to a high-class restaurant to have a meal, and then went to a shopping center to buy a lot of clothes, including men's underwear and outerwear.
Finally, she checked into a hotel. At ten o'clock at night, she dialed the phone number of the War Phoenix.
A familiar pilot answered the phone. After just a few words, she started to cry.
"Has Ling Zheng not come back?" She asked.
"No..." Her colleague also shed tears. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." She choked. "Is Brother Li Xi-zhong there?"
Li Xi-zhong on the other end of the phone was a bit surprised: "Xiao Mi, are you okay?"
"Darling..." She burst into tears. "I miss you."
Li Xi-zhong was silent for a moment. "I miss you too."
She wiped her tears: "Don't worry, I'm okay. I'm crying because I'm happy."
"What's so happy?"
"You don't need to ask. Just know that no one will ever separate us again."
"Okay, I'll wait for you."
Su Mi became happy and started to chatter with Li Xi-zhong about the life they would have together in the future. Along the way, she happily spread out the clothes and underwear she had bought for him and talked about them. They talked for more than half an hour before hanging up.
After hanging up the phone, Su Mi leaned back on the bed.
She hadn't had a good sleep for a whole day and night. Now that she was on the soft bed, she immediately felt extremely tired.
She closed her eyes and buried her face in the pillow, tossing and turning but finding that she couldn't fall asleep.
Because Meng Xi-cong's face kept flashing before her eyes.
With Li Xi-zhong's experience, it was impossible for him not to notice something was wrong. When she said that no one would ever separate them again, it meant that she had broken free from Meng Xi-cong's control, which meant that Meng Xi-cong was in trouble. If Li Xi-zhong couldn't figure this out, she didn't care.
This was the only way she could think of. Although she didn't know if it would work.
Meng Xi-cong.
She murmured this name.
Was there anyone more arrogant than him?
During the day in the cell, she had faked a conflict to cover up her asking him for a way to get rescued.
But it wasn't for free. She wanted freedom. She knew that no matter what, he had always been a man of his word.
But that man, even though he had already become a prisoner, even though his glory days were over, when faced with her condition, he actually responded with a faint smile.
"No." As the gloom dissipated, there was a faint smile in his black eyes. "You don't have freedom."
Thinking of this, she covered her head with the quilt and sighed.
The freedom of a small person like her, in exchange for his chance to survive, how cost-effective was that? She thought he would surely agree.
But he actually refused.
And she had made a mess of things because of him, yet she still went to great lengths, suppressing the anger in her heart, to send a message for him