Chapter 140: We Have No Choice

"Is there truly no room for compromise?" Even though he knew Gu Changqing's personality all too well, Yan Hao still could not help asking.

"Either I beat him to death, or he gets beaten to death by me!" Gu Changqing sneered.

"Where is Chen Daoling right now?"

Yan Hao knew in his heart that there was indeed no room for compromise; he simply could not persuade Gu Changqing.

He missed Gao Wenxin more and more. Only Gao Wenxin shared a relatively good relationship with Gu Changqing and could still reason with him to some extent.

Let alone joining forces, even if Gu Changqing and Chen Daoling merely ignored each other, the boost to Southern Chu would be immense.

The Qi Dynasty only had two tier-seven Awakeners. With these two around, Southern Chu's voice would carry much more weight in the future.

Realizing that there was no amicable resolution between the two, Yan Hao's mind began to race.

Chen Daoling was a veteran tier-seven Awakener, but he belonged to the royal family, whereas Chongming was backed by the current government.

The initial establishment of Chongming was driven by fears that, over time, the Southern Chu royal family would reclaim absolute power, reducing the current presidential office to a puppet regime or even dissolving it altogether.

After all, the gap between Awakeners and ordinary people was simply too vast.

Yan Hao's loyalties naturally leaned toward Gu Changqing. Furthermore, Gu Changqing grew at a much faster pace and might one day reach the theoretical tier-eight Awakener status.

"Chen Daoling has been at tier-seven for over a year, and his strength is formidable. Are you confident?" Yan Hao probed first.

"I am stronger!" Gu Changqing scoffed.

"What do you plan to do?" Yan Hao asked directly.

"I'm going to beat Chen Daoling to death, then wipe out the royal family, disband the guards, and from now on, I'll call the shots for all Awakeners in Southern Chu!" Gu Changqing stated matter-of-factly.

Hearing this, horror flickered in Yan Hao's eyes.

Gu Changqing was planning to rebel!

"Relay these words back to Chongming headquarters! Even if you guys don't want to... I am still going to beat them to death," Gu Changqing said coldly.

"What you think doesn't matter; what matters is what I think!"

"Have them track down Chen Daoling's location right now!" Gu Changqing commanded.

"I'll contact headquarters." After a long silence, Yan Hao sighed. He suddenly realized a terrifying problem.

When an unscrupulous Awakener like Gu Changqing emerged, the situation immediately began to spiral out of control.

Other Awakeners were accustomed to morals, laws, and rules. Even upon breaking through to tier-seven, they still operated within a framework, making their actions predictable.

Gu Changqing, however, was different. From the very beginning, his modus operandi had been utterly unhindered, and now that he had reached the seventh tier, nothing could restrain him anymore.

The only thing capable of holding Gu Changqing back seemed to be personal sentiment? At the very least, Gu Changqing's attitude toward him was still relatively normal.

Yan Hao's mind spun rapidly. To be human was to possess emotions; right now, the only leverage to control Gu Changqing was probably affection.

This sparked a rough idea in his mind.

"Gao Wenxin hasn't shown up yet. Did you not see her inside?" Yan Hao asked while using his computer to contact headquarters.

"She hasn't returned? What about that Gao Tianwu fellow?" Gu Changqing asked with a hint of surprise.

"Neither of them has returned."

"Could they have perished together?" Gu Changqing shrugged.

Gao Wenxin had treated him reasonably well, but so what?

"There is another possibility," Yan Hao said. "Apart from us, the only others there were from the Qi Dynasty. The situation was too chaotic when I led my people away. If she is still alive, she must have been captured by the Qi Dynasty."

"Their target is most likely you!"

"Then I'll beat them to death!" Gu Changqing sneered without a second thought.

"I've notified headquarters, but they might not necessarily know Chen Daoling's whereabouts." Yan Hao sent out the email and let out a soft sigh.

"Then I'll wipe out the royal family first!" Gu Changqing stood up to leave. "I refuse to believe he can hide like a turtle in its shell forever!"

"Wait! If you do that, the entire Southern Chu will descend into chaos. Even if you're going to do it, you must make proper arrangements and preparations!" Yan Hao urged.

"That's your problem!" Gu Changqing sneered. He simply didn't buy into that rhetoric. What grand picture? What chaos? What did any of that have to do with him?

He himself was the grand picture!

With that, he vanished from the room.

Almost simultaneously, Gu Changqing materialized in mid-air, summoned his flying boat, and sped directly toward Angang.

It took him only half an hour to return to the Chongming headquarters in Angang.

Li Yue had been sitting with a gloomy and restless expression.

Seeing Gu Changqing appear, her face instantly lit up with pleasant surprise: "Captain Gu, you're finally back!"

"Did Zeng Shiqian and Qiao Renxia fill you in?"

"What are you talking about?" Gu Changqing asked in confusion, having never encountered those two.

"The Qi Dynasty sent a letter saying the Captain is in their hands and demanding your appearance before they release anyone! I sent Zeng Shiqian and Qiao Renxia to notify you..." Li Yue blurted out hurriedly.

However, before Zeng Shiqian and Qiao Renxia could find Yan Hao, Gu Changqing had already raced back.

"They really captured her?" Gu Changqing raised an eyebrow, a look of intrigued amusement crossing his face.

"Did they say where she is?"

"At Jiaoma Port! That's a port on the western side of the Qi Dynasty, directly opposite us!" Li Yue explained.

"Oh! Got it, I'll handle this!" Gu Changqing waved dismissively.

"Captain Gu, you'll be able to bring the Bureau Chief back, won't you?" Li Yue asked with concern.

"As long as she's still breathing, it'll be fine!" Gu Changqing laughed heartily, reaching out to give her head a casual pat.

Gao Wenxin had treated him quite well; both sentimentally and rationally, it was his duty to bring her back.

Besides, he had just been lamenting the lack of an excuse to march into the Qi Dynasty anyway.

"Tell them I'll go collect her in a few days."

Gao Wenxin's matter wasn't urgent. Gu Changqing planned to deal with Chen Daoling first, and then go slaughter the Qi Dynasty's sword masters and nightmare masters. He wondered how much stronger his strength would grow after that.

As for anyone below tier-seven, he could afford to spare their lives.

It wasn't like he wasn't giving them a chance; he was granting them ample time to grow to tier-seven.

Thoughts churned in Gu Changqing's mind, and the more he thought about it, the more brilliant his plan felt.

Gu Changqing picked up his phone and headed upstairs to charge it.

Ten minutes later, Yan Hao called.

"Where are you? We have news about Gao Wenxin; she's in the hands of the Qi Dynasty."

"Your intelligence network is slower than mine! If I waited for your notification, she'd already be cold!" Gu Changqing sneered. "I'll go fetch her back in a couple of days."

After hanging up, Yan Hao motioned for Zeng Shiqian and Qiao Renxia that they could leave.

Then, he placed a call straight to headquarters.

At that moment, a group of officials at headquarters was holding a meeting, many of them arguing fiercely.

In truth, Yan Hao had been on the phone with headquarters earlier, but had cut it short when Zeng Shiqian and Qiao Renxia arrived, suspecting an urgent matter.

Now, he re-established the connection.

"Is it certain there is no other way?" the person in charge at headquarters motioned for the others to quiet down before asking.

"None. You've all read his file. Nothing restricts him anymore. Those rules, laws, and man-made constraints are completely useless against him. A battle between him and Chen Daoling is inevitable! Who wins and who loses is anyone's guess!"

With that, Yan Hao could not help sighing again: "Tier-seven Awakeners are simply too powerful. We all know this—a tier-six Awakener is utterly defenseless before a tier-seven, an even greater disparity than that between a tier-six and a tier-three!"

"Make preparations as soon as possible. If he wins, the landscape of Southern Chu will undoubtedly undergo a drastic upheaval!"

"When dealing with him, drop your airs and do not provoke him under any circumstances. He is completely unhinged; if you displease him, he will beat you to death on the spot without the slightest regard for consequences."

"Besides, the so-called consequences only apply to ordinary mortals, not tier-seven Awakeners."

"Can he win?" The head of headquarters asked the most crucial question.

"I don't know..." Even Yan Hao had no answer to that.

"But we have no choice."

That was the ultimate tragedy.

As Gu Changqing ascended to tier-seven and prepared to beat Chen Daoling to death, those holding high positions in Southern Chu found themselves entirely out of options.

...

Once his phone was fully charged, Gu Changqing opened his navigation app, summoned his flying boat, and hurtled straight toward Chendu.

"Chen Daoling, I'm coming to get you, you bastard!"