"Are you going to help me become the king of Suroma or not?"
In the barn on the outskirts of New Covenant, Yishan once again pressed Guan Tong for an answer.
Ever since Guan Tong had taken her away from the mental hospital, she had been stuck here the whole time.
Affected by the Doomsday Rules, she had no electronic devices to use. Every day, she opened her eyes to another boring, tedious day—this kind of life was driving her crazy.
To make matters worse, Guan Tong treated her with indifference. He came by every few days just to drop off some food, making her feel like she wasn't even human, more like a stray dog being fed.
This time, after waiting for several days, she decided she had to lay her cards on the table and get a definite answer.
So when Guan Tong arrived today, she ignored the food and immediately cornered him, pressing for an answer.
"I told you, it's impossible," Guan Tong said as he took a few cans of food from his storage ring and set them on the table.
He turned to leave, but Yishan blocked his way.
"Then what am I supposed to do cooped up here all day?!"
"Do whatever you want. That's your own business."
"You!" Yishan's face turned an ugly shade of pale.
Guan Tong certainly wasn't going to show any kindness to a woman like Yishan. He had only brought her out in the first place for information.
But it turned out that Bruce had completely shut her out of the inner circle. Aside from eating, drinking, and having fun, she had never been exposed to any important areas.
Apart from knowing a little about her brother Gaelid, she was completely clueless about everything else and utterly useless.
"I don't want to stay here anymore. Send me somewhere else!"
After venting her anger, Yishan put forward a new demand.
"I want to go to Xisiya!"
"...What are you going to do there?"
"The Administrator of Xisiya, Yelanka, is also a woman. She'll definitely understand me! Since you won't support me in becoming king, I'll seek her support instead."
"..."
Guan Tong looked at Yishan, who was speaking with such naive certainty, and was completely speechless.
Yishan's own eyes flickered with uncertainty, and she lacked confidence, but she still pursed her lips and persisted.
"I want to get revenge on Bruce. I want to get revenge on Han Qiu. They both think I'm just a pawn they can deceive however they please. I'm going to become king and make them both pay!"
After Yishan finished speaking, seeing that Guan Tong's expression remained unchanged, she gritted her teeth and headed for the door.
"If you won't take me, I'll go myself!"
"You'll die on the road."
"So what? That's still better than rotting away in this broken barn!"
Guan Tong looked at Yishan, who seemed to have made up her mind. He thought it over and told her to wait.
Then he went outside himself and contacted Yelanka through the Mind Network.
"Yelanka, are you busy?"
"Teacher Guan Tong?" Yelanka's reply came with a hint of surprise. "What's the matter? I have some time right now."
Guan Tong: "There's something..."
He briefly explained the whole story about Yishan.
"...That's the situation. She wants to go to Xisiya now."
Yelanka thought for a moment. "Then let her come. I'll arrange a place for her to stay."
Guan Tong: "Will that be inconvenient? You can refuse if you want. Don't agree just for my sake."
Yelanka: "No, I think her identity as the 'king's daughter' does have some use."
Guan Tong: "You mean...?"
Yelanka: "Bruce has been acting tyrannically in Suroma. Although no one wants war to break out in this age of the Doomsday Rules, it may be unavoidable in the future. Bruce might not care about his daughter, but his own daughter's accusations against him would still carry a lot of weight."
Guan Tong understood now. By taking in Yishan, Yelanka was planning to use her as a "human propaganda tool" in case war broke out between the two nations in the future.
Just imagine—if even his own daughter stepped forward to denounce and expose her father's crimes, it would make the world hate Bruce even more.
Even if Bruce's reputation was already in the gutter, to the point where he didn't care about accumulating more debts or more lice, that one extra bit of bad press might just become the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Guan Tong: "Alright, I'll get her there as soon as possible."
Yelanka: "Can you make it tomorrow morning? I'd actually like to meet with you, Teacher, and have a chat."
The two agreed on the time. Then Guan Tong returned to the barn and told Yishan, "I'll take you to Xisiya tomorrow."
"Really?! That's great!"
Yishan hadn't expected that she could actually go all the way to Xisiya. For a moment, she was both excited and nervous, tugging at her hair.
"The weather there is supposed to be really cold, right? I've never been. Also, I heard the people in Xisiya are all rough and unreasonable..."
Guan Tong ignored Yishan's rambling and focused on his own thoughts.
Over the past few days, he had been racing around, destroying several large factories specifically built for constructing war weapons, as well as several energy stations around New Covenant.
Bruce must have already received word that he was conducting guerrilla warfare, but he couldn't stop him.
If Bruce didn't stop him and let him continue, it would undoubtedly severely damage Suroma's overall military strength.
After all, Guan Tong was nothing like an ordinary soldier. He could truly destroy an entire munitions factory in a short time, from the warehouse storage to the production line—nothing left behind.
If Bruce couldn't stop him, he would have to make a move.
Guan Tong thought to himself that he would use this kind of solo strike as a bargaining chip to force Bruce to hand over Ai Ya.
As long as Bruce didn't hand her over, his destruction wouldn't stop.
As for whether it would affect the people of Suroma other than Bruce, to be honest, he really didn't care much anymore.
The next morning.
Ignoring Yishan's protests, Guan Tong wrapped her in his Shadow and tossed her into the shelter. Then he used Body Swap to teleport to Xisiya before letting her out.
When she realized she was already in Xisiya, she stared blankly at the surrounding buildings, which were so different in style, then looked back at Guan Tong, wondering how he had managed such an ultra-long-distance movement.
Guan Tong certainly wasn't going to explain it to her. He took her to Yelanka's manor, where Sigaochin, dressed in a black coat, was already waiting at the door.
"Long time no see, Sigaochin," Guan Tong greeted.
"Yes, long time no see." Sigaochin nodded in acknowledgment, glanced at Yishan, and said, "The Administrator is waiting for you on the meadow. I'll take care of her."
"Wait, I want to see your Administrator too!"
"You'll meet her later."
Without giving Yishan a chance to argue, Sigaochin took her away. The latter tried to struggle, but it was useless against Sigaochin.
Guan Tong watched Sigaochin lead Yishan away and felt a sense of relief. He certainly didn't want to be stuck babysitting Yishan's meals like some nanny.
Familiar with the place, he entered the manor and made his way to the meadow. There, he saw Yelanka with her hair tied back, dressed in a light tracksuit, practicing swordsmanship with an ice sword condensed from Mind Power. Her attacks and defenses were agile and effortless.
When Yelanka saw Guan Tong arrive, she retracted her hands, and the ice sword instantly dissolved into sparkling specks of light that scattered.
She smiled lightly, raised her arm, and waved. "Teacher Guan Tong."
"Yelanka, your strength has improved again," Guan Tong said as he walked over.
"Heh, not bad. Since I don't have much time to practice every day, I have to be very serious each time."
"That must be quite difficult."
Yelanka looked at Guan Tong, considered for a moment, and said, "After what happened in Suroma, I never contacted you, Teacher. I hope you don't mind."
Guan Tong shook his head. "I don't."
"...I heard that you've been attacking Suroma's munitions factories and other facilities recently. Is it for revenge?"
When Yelanka said this, Guan Tong was quite surprised.
"The news has already reached you?"
He had thought that, affected by the current Rule, the speed of information transmission would be slow and a lot would be lost.
Now it seemed that for a major nation, the impact wasn't that great. There was definitely still an intelligence system in operation.
"Mmm, but I couldn't be sure." Yelanka tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her expression turning serious.
"What you're doing, Teacher, can weaken Suroma's war power, so I should be grateful. However, some people would consider this kind of action to be terrorism, especially the destruction of energy facilities."
After Yelanka finished speaking, she noticed that Guan Tong's expression remained indifferent, as if he didn't care about such accusations at all.
"What I do is only determined by myself. What others say doesn't matter."
"..."
Yelanka wasn't surprised that Guan Tong said that.
She had known for a long time, back when she was studying in Beixing, that this was Guan Tong's personality.
"And even if what I'm doing is terrorism, then what about Bruce's countless inhumane acts? If the good people only use their mouths and don't take action, and evil people can only be dealt with by evil people, then I don't mind being that 'evil person.'"