Chapter 58: The Final Secret, Section 1

Two voices—one clearly coming from the black-haired man. But the other came from someone no one expected at all. It came from the very center of Mirror Lake. Red Beauty!
Yet neither of them expected the other to retort simultaneously, causing a brief pause and a silence. Then, under the Emperor Moore’s slightly surprised gaze, the black-haired man reached out, grabbed his broken little finger, and snapped it back into place with a crack.
“You’re lying!”
The black-haired man’s gaze was cold as he stared at the figure below without any expression, as if looking at a dead person.
“You say it took you only thirty minutes to open that base—I can’t confirm that. But you claim it would take even less time if it were you, which makes me doubt it. Your Majesty, where did you draw that conclusion from?”
“The Gene Training Base was built by a group of mad scientists from various Earth countries back then. Its security is still unmatched even today. It not only has a sophisticated self-defense system but also terrifying restraint devices inside to prevent the trained subjects from escaping.” The black-haired man described calmly, recalling the miserable experiences of being used as a test subject. His facial muscles twitched slightly.
“Then, Your Majesty, since you personally opened such a base to rescue Red Beauty, the Monkey, and the others, have you also seen those restraint devices and defense systems?”
“Well…” Emperor Moore was stunned, clearly unprepared for the topic to shift in this direction. He was at a loss for words.
“You don’t know.” Seeing his expression, the black-haired man concluded firmly. “If you did, you would never have uttered such an amateurish statement that my abilities could easily open the training nest. Remember, as a subject under study, one has absolutely no freedom inside the training nest. By ‘freedom,’ I mean not just physical movement—even thought is restricted. Inside the training nest, a subject is nothing but dead flesh, completely at the mercy of others.”
“But then I have another question. If you don’t even know these things, how did you manage to open the base?” At these words, the black-haired man narrowed his eyes, a chilling glint appearing in them.

“And also, if I’m not mistaken, you just said that you personally rescued Hongyan. You also mentioned that at that time, Hongyan’s vitality had already been drained due to excessive modification. But as far as I know, the cultivation nest monitors the process constantly to ensure the vitality of the substrate remains intact. If anything goes wrong, the experiment is stopped immediately, and cell supplements are injected to repair the substrate. All of these actions are automated, precisely to prevent the experimenter from failing to react in time in case of an accident. So unless someone deliberately stops this safety mechanism or forces excessive modification, it’s impossible for the substrate’s vitality to be drained.”

“Well, since I’ve come up with so many doubts, then Your Majesty, as the one who personally rescued Hongyan, can you explain this? Also, since Hongyan is in such a state, how come Gray Bear and Monkey, who are part of the same batch of substrates, are fine? And what I find most unacceptable is that you use Monkey as the brain for the experimental Moor warship, treating him very differently from Gray Bear, who is your most trusted deputy. How can this be explained?”

“All of them are part of the same batch of substrates. You rescued them all, yet three different outcomes resulted. Your Majesty, you’re far from as great as you claim to be…” After raising these questions, Black Hair looked up to the sky and let out a long sigh.

Or maybe you’re just lying. Those words remained unspoken by Black Hair. With so many questions raised, anyone with eyes could see the flaws in the Moor Emperor’s words. Just as he thought, the Moor Emperor’s words might deceive ordinary people who know nothing about genetic modification, but it was unrealistic to fool Black Hair, who had escaped from the cultivation nest himself.

Logically, the Moor Emperor should know this. Yet he still spoke boldly in front of Black Hair. This behavior couldn’t help but draw Black Hair’s attention. Perhaps there was some other hidden truth behind it?

Unconsciously, an unimaginable thought suddenly arose in Black Hair’s mind, leaving him stunned.

But just because he was stunned didn’t mean others were too. As the other party who also voiced objections, the woman in the center of Mirror Lake, Hongyan, was much more polite.

“Your Majesty, you’ve repeated these words to us many times already. But why don’t you learn from your mistakes? Lying isn’t a good habit for an emperor.”

“Oh, you’re fine now, Tia.” Hearing those words from the beautiful woman, the Moor Emperor felt no guilt at all—instead, he was somewhat excited. His concern wasn’t about himself being questioned, but rather about the woman’s condition. Noticing that the woman trapped against the stone pillar no longer trembled, a joyful smile appeared on his face, like that of a happy boy.

“It’s good that you’re fine. Really good.” Rubbing his hands repeatedly, the Moor Emperor smiled brightly. “Tia, I’m not criticizing you. Though you can always withstand the injection of the enhancement liquid, it’s not a sustainable solution in the long run. Please keep our agreement. I won’t interfere in your affairs, and you shouldn’t hinder my plans. Haven’t we lived like this for ten thousand years? Isn’t that good enough? Why do you keep crossing the boundaries now? Yes, the enhancement liquid can strengthen your physical strength, but if this continues, I’m afraid one day you might turn into a lump of metal. That would be truly boring.”

His voice was gentle, his smile like a spring breeze. Yet the words he spoke sent chills through everyone’s hearts. Although they still didn’t know what the so-called enhancement liquid was, just the idea that repeated injections could turn a person into metal suggested it wasn’t as good as the Moor Emperor claimed.

No wonder it was considered a punishment for breaking the agreement. Looking at the Moor Emperor’s sweet smile, a sense of dread arose in everyone’s hearts.

How could this man still smile so brightly? Could his earnest words for his beloved woman really be lies? Otherwise, how could he say such cruel things with a smile?

Amidst everyone’s puzzled gazes, the woman in the center of Mirror Lake moved. First, she stretched her body carefully, then slowly raised her head toward the sky. Her wet long hair parted, revealing a stunningly beautiful face. Unfortunately, her eyes remained closed.

“Your Majesty, you’re using these boring threats again. It’s the same every time—ten thousand years ago, and still now. Please, try something new next time. I’m getting annoyed even if you’re not tired of it.”

“Yes, yes,” the Moor Emperor replied cheerfully, showing no sign of dissatisfaction.

“As for your deception just now, Your Majesty… I really don’t want to say much. Though you’re not a good person, there is some truth to it. You’ve indeed given too much for me. Every resource here was fought for desperately to sustain my life. For that, I am grateful.”

“That’s only right… Tia. You are everything to me. What does it matter if I start a war for you? As long as you’re with me, even if the universe collapses, I can still smile happily.” The Emperor of Moore stopped smiling. His expression became distant. From these words of the beauty, he seemed to sense something ominous.

Sure enough, the beauty’s next words took a sharp turn for the worse. “Don’t do this, Your Majesty. You’ve said these words of love countless times over the years. But do you really think I’m some naive girl who can be deceived with a few sweet words? If that’s really what you think, then I must say I’m sorry. My heart was given to someone else long ago.”

“It’s the black-haired man, right? I know that.” The Emperor of Moore sighed and glanced at the fierce winds above. “But I don’t know what’s so great about him. Everything he can give you, I can give you too. What he can’t give you, I can still give you. For you, I became the emperor of the greatest empire in the universe. You are the goddess of my empire. As long as you wish, you can have everything. Why do you keep rejecting me? Tia, no—Beauty! Tell me!!”

“Shut up! You’ve violated the agreement too!!” The beauty snapped, cutting off the Emperor of Moore. Hearing this, his expression changed instantly. After hesitating for a moment, he finally pulled out a small dagger from his bosom and stabbed it into his side with a gritted tooth. With a muffled groan, his face twisted as bright red blood stained his clothes.

In the midst of intense pain, the Emperor of Moore’s face became grotesque. Yet he still didn’t stop pressing for an answer, persisting stubbornly. “Tell me, tell me!! Why can’t you accept me? Why not? Every time I try to get close to you, you run away. Am I that repulsive? Does nothing I do touch you at all? Tia!! Answer me!!!”

His agitated tone and twisted face made him resemble a roaring beast. If it weren’t for that face, long familiar to everyone, it would be hard to believe he was the majestic and graceful emperor of the greatest empire in the universe!!

Is this what love is called? Mad love? Love without reason?

“Your Majesty…” Faced with the Emperor of Moore in such a state, the beauty also hesitated. After a pause, she finally spoke again.

“I could never accept you. You must be well aware of the real reason. It’s just that you refuse to admit it. You surely didn’t expect that I already know your biggest secret. Do you really want to go to such extremes and force me to reveal it in public?”
“You…” Emperor Moore’s expression at this moment was absolutely fascinating, like that of a cat with its tail stepped on. He instantly jumped far away, staring at the beautiful woman in the center of Mirror Lake with a horrified look.
“You already know? When?”