Chapter 144 Return
Two days later, they searched every inch of the Dead Bone Prison, but found nothing. Fake Zongfang couldn't find the black box and gradually became impatient.

As the sun sets, Qiao Suisui and Carl hide in an abandoned warehouse. The mottled marks on the wall and the swaying lights create a tense atmosphere. In front of them are a pile of messy documents and photos, all of which are fragments of Dadligne's village life many years ago.

After these days of delays and investigations, Qiao Susu has come to a conclusion that is infinitely close to the truth.

"Karl, these documents," she pointed to a yellowed medical report, her voice a little excited, "look at these dates and symptom records, the people in the village developed symptoms at almost the same time, this is definitely not a coincidence."

Carl frowned as he looked at the report, "These symptoms are too similar to typical reactions to chemical leaks."

"Here is an unfinished report showing that the village's water supply underwent a dramatic chemical change in the period before the bombing. I think it has something to do with the drainage system of the underground laboratory."

"You mean that the chemicals from the underground laboratory were discharged into the villagers' water source, causing them to be aware of the existence of the laboratory. So the Federation wanted to silence them in order to prevent the news from leaking out."

Qiao Suisui nodded. The truth was about to come out.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard from outside. Qiao Suisui and Karl stared at the door at the same time.

'Tuk-tuk.'

The knock on the door made Qiao Susu's nerves instantly tense.

'Tuk-tuk.'

With the knocks on the door again and again, she even forgot to breathe.

The fake Munakata appeared at the door. His eyes were sharp and cold, with a weird smile on his face. At the same time, he held a chainsaw in his hands behind his back.

"Qiao Qiao, what are you doing here?"

Carl stood in front of Qiao Susu, and both of them took a defensive stance.

'click--'

An electric saw suddenly thrust through the wooden door.

"You're so disobedient, it's giving me a headache." It was Zong Fang's voice, but the weird smile and extremely gloomy tone in his words made Qiao Susu shrink.

Carl shouted out the door: "Who are you?"

The fake Munakata laughed and broke into the room.

"I originally wanted to let you slowly uncover the truth, but now it seems that it would be easier to just end you."

Qiao Suisui asked coldly, "You blew up the underground laboratory, right? After you rescued us that day, you kept looking at the direction of the collapse to confirm whether the entrance was completely buried. And you pretended to save us just to follow us all the way to understand how much of the truth we knew."

"Miss Qiao, you are very smart." His expression suddenly became ferocious. "It's a pity that such a smart ancient human just can't help me find what I want."

Apparently, this man had been guiding them to find the black box these days. Qiao Susui was suspicious. What was in the black box?
But there was no time to think, bullets quickly hit them, and Carl's arm was shot through when he was protecting Qiao Susu.

The fake Munakata's movements were swift and deadly, and the air was filled with the sharp whistling sound of the blade passing through.

Carl ducked his head and felt the cold wind blowing past his face. He knew it was the chill of the dagger just a hair's breadth away from his skin. Qiao Suisui seized this moment and stabbed the fake Zongfang's waist with her Emei Spear. The opponent retreated and dodged the fatal blow in a panic.

Karl and Qiao Suisui cooperated tacitly, turning their backs to each other. A light flashed in the fake Zongfang's eyes, and then he suddenly accelerated, twisting his body at an almost impossible angle, turning his head 180 degrees and turning to his back. The dagger brought a sharp sound of wind and went straight to the direction of Qiao Suisui.

"don't want!!!"

Carl hugged Qiao Susu directly, and the two of them instantly rotated and changed positions. Carl's back was exposed to the fake Zongfang's sharp blade, falling right into the opponent's trap.

With a "swish", there was the sound of a sharp blade penetrating into flesh.

Qiao Sui Sui opened her eyes wide, and used all her mental strength to throw the Emei Spear to the other side, directly nailing the fake Zong Fang to the wall. The man on the wall struggled for a few seconds and died.

"Carl! Carl!"

"No, I don't want you to die. Get up, don't die." Qiao Susu hugged Karl and cried nervously. Her hands were covered in blood. She felt helpless and desperate.

Karl lay on the ground, slowly raised his hand to wipe away her tears, and asked weakly: "Why are you crying? You don't love me anyway. If I die, no one will make you angry."

"I don't want you to die."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to lose you." Qiao Susu cried heartbreakingly, which made Carl feel a little sad, but he had to continue acting.

"So, do you like me at all?"

There were still traces of tears on Qiao Susu's face, and she realized something was wrong as she sobbed.

"Are you okay?"

Qiao Suisui lifted up his shirt and saw that he was wearing a close-fitting special bulletproof vest underneath.

Karl covered his chest and squinted his eyes and said, “I think I can still be saved.”

Qiao Susu pushed him away, then kicked him out of anger.

"How dare you joke about such a thing!"

She turned to leave, but was instantly pulled into a strong embrace.

Karl hugged her tightly from behind. The wound on his back was still bleeding, but thanks to the bulletproof vest, the wound was not deep.

"I'm wrong, I'm wrong. I'm fine. Don't be angry. Don't be afraid. I will always be with you. You will never lose me. I promise."

Qiao Suisui's eyes were still red, and she was angry, but she was more angry at herself. It was Karl who took the risk to bring her to the southern battlefield. If he really got into trouble, she would not be able to forgive herself. Instead, she wanted to thank Karl. At the critical moment just now, he used his body to block it for her without even thinking about it.

She turned around and hugged the man's narrow waist again, wiping her tears on his clothes.

Karl laughed softly, watching her struggling in his arms like a little animal, and put his hand on her head.

Both of them thought the crisis was over, but suddenly, the ground began to shake, and one "Mongfang" after another emerged from the cracked ground. They had wooden expressions, like controlled puppets.

"Do you think this is the end?" Wei Shou's voice echoed in the air, full of sarcasm and indifference.

"Is it you? You're not dead?"

Qiao Susu looked at the man walking slowly towards her in shock. His fingertips controlled countless silk threads. When Wei Shou waved his hand, countless "Zongfang" began to attack Qiao Susu and Carl.

Wei Shou, whose talent is manipulation. What Anubis killed that day was just one of his puppets.

From the very beginning, the Federation's plan was to let Qiao Suisui lure out Anubis. As the son of a rebel, Anubis might know the whereabouts of the black box, so the leader ordered Wei Shou to constantly create opportunities for them to be together. Whether they were in the wine cellar or in the bridge tunnel, Wei Shou was secretly monitoring them.

"I am running out of patience. Let me ask you again, where is the black box?"

Qiao Suisui didn't say anything. She supported the injured Carl. The two of them continued to resist the puppets that rushed over, and gradually fell into a bitter battle. Qiao Suisui couldn't hold on and almost fell to the ground. Carl nervously stood in front of her. The wound on his back had been torn, but he was still holding on.

As the situation became more tense, the dust and debris on the battlefield drifted away under the impact of mental power.

Suddenly, red snow began to fall from the sky, like blood mist. A figure suddenly cut into the center of the battlefield like lightning at dawn, directly blocking all attacks in front of Qiao Suisui.

Silver hair fluttered in the wind. The man was wearing a black combat uniform, and every step he took seemed to be accompanied by the sound of thunder. Wei Shou was commanding countless puppets. When he saw the man standing in the center, fear and uneasiness flashed in his eyes.

"Mongfang."

　Respectfully welcome Concubine Xi back to the palace~~~~~
　　(End of this chapter)