Chapter 48: The Era of Fire and Sea

Qi Lin had been caught, and Chu Aoqing expressed profound confusion.

Although the capture process had indeed been grueling—several times Qi Lin had nearly plunged into the bottomless deep sea, and only thanks to her leading the entire division of the Control Bureau in a desperate blockade was she finally seized—having captured her just like that made her feel that something was amiss somewhere.

Could there... be some kind of trap?

Chu Aoqing couldn't help repeatedly confirming with Momo that nothing weird was going on over on her end, and told Momo to stay close to Mobai.

Then came the time for interrogation.

Qi Lin, who had been beaten to the point of fainting by Chu Aoqing, was brought back to the interior of the Control Bureau. To entertain this special guest, Chu Aoqing brought out her bureau's prized possession.

"Look, this is a foreign novelty I bought last time using the bureau's funds," Chu Aoqing introduced proudly to her subordinates. "It's called the [Cross of the Saint]. You know old man Jesus, right?"

"Old man Jesus?!" Shen Qiqi looked shocked. "Could it be that cross where the saint was pierced through his hands and feet and bound to it right before he died?!"

"Then this thing must be ridiculously powerful! How did you manage to get your hands on it, Sister Chu?"

"Ahem..." Chu Aoqing's weathered face turned red. "Well, it's not quite that exaggerated."

"Although the prototype is indeed that cross, the one I have is a replica of a replica, just a rather powerful alchemical creation."

Seeing the disdainful looks in everyone's eyes, Chu Aoqing panicked. "Hey! Even if it's not the genuine article, this thing is still super powerful, alright!"

"As long as you tie someone onto it and then pierce the palms of their hands, hehe, Qi Lin won't be able to get down."

"When the time comes, we can do whatever we want to her, and she won't be able to resist at all, hee hee..."

Since Momo was not around, Ji Yue was the one responsible for roasting Chu Aoqing: "Director Chu, at least we're currently inside the bureau and everything is on record. Could you please not be so perverted?"

"When the higher-ups find out, they're going to start cutting this year's budget again..."

"Enough!" Chu Aoqing waved a hand. "Let's not talk about such sorrowful matters. Cheer up, we've accomplished a massive merit now, haven't we?"

"As long as we confirm she really is Qi Lin and hand her over, the prize money will come rolling in like crazy."

"Get to work!"

Chu Aoqing skillfully bound Qi Lin to the cross. Of course, Qi Lin was clothed at this moment; after all, having a naked woman bound like this inside the Control Bureau would be far too bizarre.

Once all four limbs were securely tied, Chu Aoqing picked up two golden, sharp spikes and, without changing her expression, drove them directly into the palms of Qi Lin's hands. Fresh blood slowly dripped down through the spikes.

The scent was overwhelmingly sweet.

Shen Qiqi, watching from the side, rubbed the palm of her hand, feeling a sense of phantom pain.

"Alright, done." Chu Aoqing clapped her hands. "Now there's no need to worry about her escaping."

"Miss Miseria, go ahead and verify her true identity."

"Understood." Miseria, who had been waiting eagerly for a long time, stepped forward impatiently and stroked Qi Lin's exposed skin. "Such a flawless brood-kin, I've been wanting to dissect her properly for the longest time..."

Chu Aoqing's face darkened. "I only asked you to check whether she's really Qi Lin, I didn't say you could dissect her, roar!"

If she accidentally killed her, all their previous efforts would go down the drain.

"I know, I know, I was just expressing my emotions."

Miseria opened her bag and pulled out a scalpel gleaming with a cold light.

Then, with decisive movements, she pierced it into Qi Lin's body and carved out a piece of flesh and tissue.

Tormented in this manner, Qi Lin finally woke up. She slowly opened her eyes and, upon finding herself bound, showed no signs of fear whatsoever.

She simply bantered, "Waking up like this, could it be that Dongxia's Control Bureau is about to harvest my internal organs just like those vulgar underground clinics?"

"Hah, then you should really be grateful that the person who caught you is the Director of the Control Bureau." Chu Aoqing looked coldly at Qi Lin. "The time for your frantic fleeing has come to an end, Qi Lin."

"Next, please answer my questions."

Qi Lin smiled. "Very well, even though you have killed countless of my children and made me experience the pain of flesh and blood separation countless times,"

"I am still willing to have a calm and pleasant conversation with you."

"After all, aren't I a kind and loving mother?"

Qi Lin licked her lips, her blatant gaze staring straight at the group. "All of you are such excellent germinal buds..."

One could only say that a psycho is a psycho; even when tied up, she still managed to scare people.

Much like a tiger smeared in shit inside a zoo.

Chu Aoqing and Miseria exchanged glances, and Miseria nodded, confirming with certainty:

"This is the real body, without a single doubt."

"I can even sense the lingering traces of the Blue King within her bloodline."

There was no anti-counterfeiting mark more authoritative than the Blue King.

Chu Aoqing finally relaxed and began her questioning: "What on earth are you trying to achieve by selling aphrodisiacs and carrying out the cycle of breeding?"

"What am I trying to achieve?" Qi Lin giggled. "Naturally, it is to create a better ecological chain."

"The initial epoch was the Epoch of Fire. The primordial tribes managed to survive alongside the fire, which granted life the fundamental basis for survival."

"However, the fire was extinguished, and the world consequently entered the second epoch—the Epoch of the Deep Sea. That was a dark, cold, and utterly lifeless world."

Qi Lin wore a nostalgic expression. "Yet, even in that freezing era, life managed to catch its breath by relying on the ashes left behind by the fire."

"Eventually, the ocean receded, leaving behind only the final remnant of the Black Tide, turning the world into what it is today."

She stared fixedly into Chu Aoqing's eyes. "Your eyes are very pretty; they remind me of my first daughter."

"Have you ever wondered what kind of end exists for this world, and in what posture we will welcome that final destination?"

"Everything I have done,"

"Is precisely for the sake of better persistence and survival."

After hearing Qi Lin's words, Shen Qiqi couldn't help asking in a low voice, "What kind of nonsense is she blabbering about?"

Ji Yue replied, "Tomorrow I'll hand you a copy of *The Primordial Rites*. Once you read it, you'll understand."

"To put it simply, it's the state of the world before our current epoch."

The Epoch of Fire and Sea.

Chu Aoqing maintained a poker face. "Wow, you really do have lofty ambitions, don't you?"

"To prevent a completely unknown end countless millions of years in the future, you've gone and harmed tens of thousands of lives. Oh wow, you are truly so noble, I am just so full of admiration for you."

She said coldly, "Truly worthy of being a *shabi* hailing from the Eternal Paradise."

That *shabi* was losing her mind.

Qi Lin naturally knew Chu Aoqing was being sarcastic, but she still maintained her smile. "Thank you for the compliment. Is there anything else you wish to ask?"

Chu Aoqing: "...Mobai."

She said solemnly, "That fellow favored by the Red Moon, why did you kidnap him?"

Qi Lin blinked. "For no particular reason."

"I just wanted to turn him into my child."

Chu Aoqing: "Huh?"

She blinked in utter bewilderment.

Qi Lin continued to explain, "Just think about it: an existence capable of enduring the complete gaze of the Red Moon without experiencing a single crack in their psyche."

"Is he truly human? Is he still human? What does he possess? What does he lack?"

"His very being is a magnificent and unrepeatable miracle."

"I want to understand him, I want to deconstruct him, I want to know everything about him, I want to lick his soul, I want to..."

A blush bloomed across Qi Lin's crazed expression.

"Fuse with him into one."

"Ah... ah... what a magnificent enterprise this is, what a hard-to-pray-for grace..."

Chu Aoqing: "..."

How... how bizarre.

Disgusted, she took two steps back. "Gross."

"You lust after his body, you're so base!"

Qi Lin smiled. "Don't put it in such harsh terms. This is for the sake of survival."

"Before the collective, what is wrong with the sacrifice of the individual?"

"At the very least, I myself have sacrificed myself over four hundred times, you know."

Ah, doing sit-ups, are we?

"You have no right to call it a sacrifice in front of us," Chu Aoqing said earnestly. "And you won't have the opportunity to take Mobai away either. Very soon, we will hand you over to the Red King's side."

"You will become a permanent collectible within the Red King's clan."

Faced with the miserable future described by Chu Aoqing, Qi Lin simply burst into a manic, uncontrollable laughter.

She raised her head, and that pretty face gradually twisted into something ferocious.

"What you say is correct, Director Chu."

"However, before that, I still have some time to tell you all about,"

"The ultimate experiment I conducted for three whole months deep within the Amazon rainforest."