Chapter 85: Bai Ye

The Five-Stripe Enforcer's expression hardened, and he suddenly turned to look at the ship's cabin. As the three were about to make a move, an almost imperceptible white light flashed across the sky.

The three instantly froze in place.

They stood there like statues for a long time. Then they suddenly spoke again:"Did I just imagine that?""The Ancient Armory did react.""But, why though?"

The Five-Stripe Enforcer thought seriously for a moment. An idea seemed on the verge of surfacing, but he couldn't quite grasp it.

"There must be something on this ship that drew out the Ancient Armory's killing intent... What could it be...? From the Armory, it seems only..."

Before he could finish, another white light flashed across the sky. The three men's pupils unfocused again, as they stared blankly into space, as if something had been taken from them.

This time, they paused for a full ten seconds before snapping back to reality:"What do you think?""This incident is too serious... We must inform Aurora City immediately once we're ashore.""Speaking of which, aren't the Arsonists usually active in the southern territories? Why did they suddenly come to the Aurora Territory?"

On the deck, the three eerily repeated their initial conversation. They seemed to have completely forgotten the strange phenomenon of the Ancient Armory and their suspicion of Chen Ling.

It was as if an invisible hand had quietly stolen half a minute of their memory from their minds.

Steam billowed from the ship as it fully sailed out from under the Ancient Armory's dark sky. The hazy yellow sunset pierced through the clouds once more, casting light upon the frozen sea.

On a massive white ice floe, a hand slowly lifted the brim of a white baseball cap, revealing half of a face. A silver, snake-shaped earring glinted like gold in the twilight.

The imposing ship, like a mountain, bore down on the ice floe. A faint smile touched his lips.

The next moment, his figure vanished from the spot.

"The Bai Qi Token reacted?" Inside the cabin, Chen Ling frowned as he looked at the token in his palm, a bewildered expression in his eyes.

He didn't know that the ship had just passed the edge of the Ancient Armory. He only knew that in that instant, the Dao Foundation Shard and the Bai Qi Token reacted one after another, then returned to normal within a second, as if nothing had happened.

As Chen Ling pondered, a white blur suddenly caught his eye!

Chen Ling's heart skipped a beat. He quickly put away the token and looked in that direction... At some unknown point, a tall, slender figure in white was leaning silently against the inner wall of the cabin, like a ghost.

Who?!When did he get in??

Two questions instantly flooded Chen Ling's mind. He knew that this cabin had only one entrance, and its walls were thick steel, offering no other way for someone to enter... And Chen Ling was certain that, before this moment, he had been the only one in the cabin.

Chen Ling's mind raced, and in a flash, he reacted.

He raised his right hand, lightly touching his brow, and recited devoutly and sincerely:"Usurp the heavenly path, seize the universe.""Arsonist Number 13, I welcome the Saint of Thieves."

Cold sweat profusely trickled down Chen Ling's back.

The man before him wasn't wearing an enforcer's black overcoat, which meant he couldn't be from Aurora City. And his infiltration had caused no disturbance. Either the three enforcers outside had already been killed by him, or his strength was sufficient to casually infiltrate the cabin without the enforcers' notice...

In either scenario, it meant the man's power far surpassed that of the three enforcers.

Extremely powerful, not an enforcer, and suddenly appearing right after leaving the Ancient Armory... He was either Bai Ye, the Saint of Thieves from the Arsonists, or a member of the Twilight Society sent to meet him.

Considering the worst-case scenario, Chen Ling's immediate recitation of the Arsonist doctrine was the safest bet.

The figure slowly lifted his head. Beneath the white baseball cap, a pair of sharp eyes locked onto Chen Ling, as cold as ice.

"Number 13." His voice was devoid of emotion. "Where are the others?"

"They were all exposed. They clashed with the enforcers in the Ancient Armory, and all... died in battle." A look of regret appeared in Chen Ling's eyes. "Number 8 perished along with three enforcers who had stepped onto the divine path. I barely managed to save my own life."

"What about the Dao Foundation Shard?"

"...Didn't get it."

"Didn't get it?" He raised an eyebrow. "Then, what's this?"

He pulled his hand from his pocket. In his palm, at some point, was a dark red crystalline shard—precisely the one Chen Ling had hidden on himself.

Chen Ling's heart immediately sank!

Damn it, how are these thieves so fast?!

"The Dao Foundation Shard?" Chen Ling feigned surprise as he replied, "Saint of Thieves, senior, where did you get that?"

"Where? From you, of course..."

The man was halfway through his sentence when Chen Ling shot from the bed like an arrow, dashing straight for the cabin door with astonishing speed!

Just as his hand was about to touch the door, his vision blurred, and when he regained his bearings, he had been teleported in front of the mysterious figure.

He had stolen Chen Ling's position!

Chen Ling reacted quickly. Realizing he couldn't escape, he simply went with the momentum and chopped at the man's neck. At the same time, the other party chuckled softly.

"Your injury hasn't healed, so don't move around too much... Red Heart Six."

Upon hearing the last three words, Chen Ling's hand abruptly halted just before the man's neck. A look of shock flashed in his eyes.

The man gently raised his hand. A playing card materialized out of thin air, held between his two fingers.

Queen of Hearts!

"Human civilization will never extinguish." He slowly spoke, "I'm here to meet you, rookie."

Chen Ling stared at the red card with the queen's image, stunned for a long time before finally coming to his senses.

"You're a member of the Twilight Society?" Chen Ling asked in a daze. "Then... what about Bai Ye, the Saint of Thieves?"

The man looked at Chen Ling and smiled without speaking.

"You are Bai Ye, the Saint of Thieves from the Arsonists... and also the Queen of Hearts from the Twilight Society?" Chen Ling finally caught on. "Are you an undercover agent too?"

"I'm not an undercover agent. The Saint of Thieves was my original identity. It's just that I chose to betray."

Bai Ye casually put away the playing card, apparently not intending to elaborate further on the matter. "By the way, for a new recruit, you completed this mission very well."

"Wait a minute..." Chen Ling's mind struggled to keep up. "You're the Saint of Thieves from the Arsonists, and you sent people to infiltrate the Ancient Armory to steal the Dao Foundation Shard... So why did you also recruit me to steal the shard?"

"Good question." Bai Ye had already anticipated Chen Ling's question. He spread his hands and explained, "But you overlooked something: I am the Saint of Thieves, true, but I'm not the leader of the Arsonists... Sending them to steal the Dao Foundation Shard was the leader's decision. I was just in charge of the rendezvous."

"Then why didn't you wait for them to steal the shard and then just take it yourself?"

As soon as Chen Ling asked this question, he immediately thought of the answer himself. He spoke thoughtfully, "I see... Your status within the Arsonists is too high. If you stole the shard at this point, you'd inevitably be exposed..."

"Clever." Bai Ye smiled. "That's why I needed you... to help me put on a good show."