Star Odyssey

Chapter 917: Wei Rong’s Gift

“Since you’ve finished making arrangements for your family, you can start brainstorming strategic plans for the Great Eastern Alliance and then prepare a proposal for me later,” Lu Yin said. 

Wei Rong respectfully answered, “Your Highness, can I be given information regarding the military’s current strength in order to properly prepare the proposal?”

Lu Yin considered his request. “I’m a part of Aegis’ first level management and am also an Honored Chosen of the Hall of Honor. I can also request help from the experts of the Sea King’s Dome if needed, and there are actually a few Envoys from the Sea King’s Dome that might take action.” 

Wei Rong was stunned by all this information, and he suddenly realized that he had been left far behind by Lu Yin. Although the Wei family had a legacy that stretched back many years, they had always been restricted to the Outerverse. Thus, their development had stagnated. Lu Yin was like a different breed; he had surpassed the Wei family’s accomplishments after just ten years, and his connections were far superior to what the Wei family had gathered. This was truly Lu Yin’s unique gift. 

Everyone had their own unique destiny and future, and compared to Lu Yin, Wei Rong lacked both opportunities as well as talent.

“I understand. I’ll go and draft a proposal with Wang Wen…” 

Wei Rong left soon afterward, and Lu Yin was feeling excited as he watched Wei Rong leave. He had told Lu Yin that he had left some spies within the Umbral Butterfly Tribe. 

Wei Rong had been very close to the Umbral Butterfly Tribe’s young mistress, Angie, and she had even fallen for him at one point. However, Wei Rong wasn’t someone who would be swayed by emotions, and he had still planted some spies within the Umbral Butterfly Tribe. By revealing these spies now, he was demonstrating his loyalty to Lu Yin, much like how Wang Wen had given Wei Rong to Lu Yin. 

Lu Yin had not told Wei Rong anything about Ah Mu yet, as Lu Yin was still not confident where Wei Rong’s true loyalties lay. 

The central weaves had started panicking after many of their top officers were assassinated within the span of a single day. Although the main figures of the Central Coalition did their best to calm the rest of the officers down, many of them were so scared that they did not even dare to leave their houses, which were being guarded by numerous elite soldiers. 

“Although the locations of our higher-ranking officers isn’t a very well-kept secret, it still isn’t realistic for someone to kill three hundred of them at the same time. This would only be possible if there was someone helping them from the inside,” Gui Wuzong stated coldly after turning on a screen in a dark room . 

Nearly a dozen leaders from the various weaves in the Outerverse’s central region were on the screen, though some of them were keeping their faces.

“Leader Gui, are you saying that there’s a spy among us?” someone asked in a gruff voice.

Gui Wuzong answered, “Absolutely, though this spy has to be in a high position since they knew the locations of three hundred officers. I’m sure that they would have revealed all the locations of our higher-ranking officers and have had them assassinated if not for the fact that the Great Eastern Alliance didn’t have the strength to carry out such a task. In fact , this person might even be one of us.” 

“Leader Gui, don’t be swayed by others. It’s not difficult for someone in the organization to learn about the locations of our higher-ranking officers, and most of the other officers in the military would have been able to gain access to that information. We shouldn’t grow suspicious of each other and allow this incident to affect our cooperation,” Angie calmly interposed. She was the one attending the meeting as the Umbral Butterfly Tribe’s representative. 

Gui Wuzong looked over at Angie. “Then I’ll be direct. Angie, I suspect you to be the spy.” 

Everyone else also turned to look at Angie. 

Angie grew furious. “What do you mean by that, Leader Gui?” 

“Everyone here knows that you were very close to Wei Rong and that the two of you were more than just friends. Now that Wei Rong has joined Lu Yin’s side, what of you? Will you be persuaded over to Lu Yin’s side as well?” Gui Wuzong asked coldly. 

Everyone carefully watched Angie. 

Angie was outraged. “Wei Rong is a useless person who was beaten by Lu Yin, and I would never stay with such a man. I’m the young mistress of the Umbral Butterfly Tribe, and I will lead the Umbral Butterfly Weave in the future! How could he possibly persuade me? Leader Gui, please be more respectful.” 

Leader Gui did not respond. 

Someone else spoke up at this moment. “Alright, don’t start fighting between ourselves before the actual war begins. We all have the same goal right now, which is to deal with Lu Yin, who brought chaos to our formerly peaceful Outerverse weaves. Leader Gui, in the future, we shouldn’t voice accusations like this that don’t have any evidence behind them.” 

Gui Wuzong calmly answered, “It’s still just a guess, but I will find evidence.”

Angie glared at Gui Wuzong with clenched fists.

Ever since Angie had heard the news that Wei Rong had joined the Great Yu Empire, she had been in a horrible mood. She had initially fallen for Wei Rong due to his grand ambition and assured confidence in being able to control his own future. She had thus given herself to him, but he had ultimately been defeated and even joined the enemy’s side, which left her feeling humiliated.

Gui Wuzong’s accusations intensified these frustrations even further, and she would have immediately left if not for the meeting. 

At this moment, she really wanted to find Wei Rong and ask him why he had decided to follow Lu Yin. In fact, she actually wanted to kill Wei Rong herself. 

The meeting between the leaders of the central weaves ended after an hour, but they were unable to come to any agreement about their next move as they were all unsure of what Lu Yin would do next. Was it possible that they themselves would be Lu Yin’s next target? 

But for some of the leaders, their chances of being targeted were even less than the high-ranking officers’, as some of those officers had been Hunter realm powerhouses.

These assassinations had reminded the Outerverse of how powerful Lu Yin had become, and many people were even more intimidated of him than ever. 

After the meeting ended, Angie walked out to her balcony that had a clear view of a forest and took a deep breath, which made her feel a bit better. Then, her gadget suddenly beeped, and her expression darkened the moment she saw that Wei Rong was calling her. 

“How dare you still contact me?” Angie’s voice was filled with her anger and disappointment.

Wei Rong’s image on the screen looked shocked. “Who made my dear Angie so angry?”

Angie angrily demanded, “You, you coward! What happened to the courage that you had when you orchestrated the events on Sourcepeak Planet? What happened to your ambition? It’s already humiliating enough that you were defeated, but it’s even worse that you surrendered. Not only did you lose to Lu Yin, but you also lost your dignity.”

Wei Rong rubbed his temples. “It seems that you’re very disappointed in me.”

Angie glared at him. “You really have disappointed me, Wei Rong. I wanted to let you rule over the Umbral Butterfly Tribe and help you as you ushered in a new era. However, what did you do? You let me down, and you’ve let down everyone who ever trusted you! Does it matter if you were defeated? Who hasn’t been defeated before? You can always start over. But instead, you actually surrendered! Don’t tell me that this is a part of your plan! I’m not stupid, and neither is Lu Yin.”

Wei Rong sighed. “It looks like your love for me has transformed into hate, so there’s no reason for me to try consoling you.” 

Angie sneered. “Consoling me? How could you possibly console me? I hate you, and I also despise you!” 

Wei Rong’s expression grew cold. “Are the central weaves’ Central Coalition preparing to go to war against the Great Eastern Alliance?’ 

Angie laughed. “Did you call me just to try to figure out our strategy? Wei Rong, not only have you lost your dignity after joining Lu Yin, but even your intelligence has decreased. Why would I ever tell you anything?” 

“I can always just guess the answer even if you don’t say anything. The weaves in the Outerverse’s central region must have implemented a few strategies to handle Lu Yin’s actions. For example, past mistakes can be forgiven, and years of rivalries can be temporarily reconciled. In addition, the most important factor would be to lure over powerhouses from the west. That means that you’re no longer merely a coalition that represents the weaves of the central region, but are rather an organization representing half of the Outerverse,” Wei Rong slowly explained. 

Angie glared at him. “Does it matter even if your guess is correct? You can’t stop us.”

Wei Rong hesitated. 

The next moment, Angie suddenly changed the topic. “Wei Rong, I know that you’re unwilling to work under Lu Yin, but your family is under his control. He must be holding your family hostage as a threat, right?” 

Wei Rong didn’t answer and merely calmly looked at Angie.

Angie gently urged, “Just give up. You have such grand ambitions, so don’t let your family become a burden. Can you really give up on your dreams just for your family? Don’t forget that you’re the first person to outsmart the Outerverse Lockbreaker Society! You also helped countless people in the Outerverse realize that it’s possible to overthrow those powerful organizations! Wei Rong, your future should not be limited by anyone. Join us, and help us defeat the Great Eastern Alliance. We’re not Armament Weave, and neither are we the Wei family—we have tens of thousands of battleships and experts, and we also have countless resources for you to use.” 

Most people were under the assumption that Wei Rong had surrendered because Lu Yin had threatened Wei Rong with the lives of his family, especially since both Wei Baichuan and Wei Xing’er had been in the Great Yu Empire. However, Wei Rong was not a normal person, and he would never be held back by his family. There was no need for Angie to tell him that he should not give up on his dreams to save his family. 

Angie understood Wei Rong quite well, but Lu Yin also understood the young man just as well. This was why Lu Yin had never threatened Wei Rong with the lives of his family, as Lu Yin had no desire to do so, and he also did not want Wei Rong to look down upon him. 

Since she understood Wei Rong so well, Angie was even more confused by his actions, especially whenever she thought about why Wei Rong had simply surrendered. This confusion made her feel like she had been both deceived and humiliated. 

Wei Rong listened to Angie’s advice and sighed. “There aren’t that many people in this universe who can understand me, but Angie, you’re one of them. Since you understand me, then you should know that I will never change my mind once I have decided to do something.”

Angie frowned. 

“Also, you know very well that I always like to have a backup plan,” Wei Rong leisurely continued.

Angie didn’t initially understand what he was implying, but then, she suddenly had a bad feeling. She had almost forgotten that she was now enemies with this man, and the same tactics that he had once used to impress her suddenly seemed quite frightening when she was on the receiving end. 

“I don’t trust many people, no matter if they might be my friends, siblings, family, or allies.” Wei Rong looked at Angie. “Thus, I always ensure that I have a backup plan to deal with the people I don’t trust. Do you remember that you once invited me to visit the Umbral Butterfly Tribe’s home planet?’ 

Angie’s eyes grew sharp. “What- what have you done?”

Wei Rong smiled. “Nothing much. I just added some stuff to your body by taking advantage of your ability to absorb energy from plants. I didn’t use a great deal of it, and it’s also something that can’t be discovered easily. However, you might face some difficulties once it accumulates in your body over a long period of time.”

Angie’s face went pale, and she screamed, “You’re despicable!”

Many powerhouses from the Umbral Butterfly Tribe who were near that particular tree looked up in shock to see Angie crazily screaming at someone from the treetops.

Wei Rong shrugged. “You can’t blame me, as that’s just how I am. Perhaps everyone from the Wei family has this trait. Still, you should go and get yourself checked out. Maybe you’ll be able to find a way to cure yourself? Of course, it’s also fine if you can’t find a cure, as I can help you.”

Angie hung up, immediately called over all of the tribe’s elders who were on the planet, and had them all check their bodies.