Chapter Thirty-Two: Surprise

Lian Feng blinked, maintaining a mysterious expression.

Ge Xiaolun found it amusing. Although he had already made some guesses, he still put on a look of curiosity as he walked with Ducao and the others toward the operations center on the Juxia.

Unlike the story in Ge Xiaolun’s memory, Leona had followed them as well. However, after a moment’s thought, he realized there was no need to keep anything from her here.

"What is going on? Why is everyone here?"

By the time they reached the entrance of the operations center, Du Qiangwei, dressed in her green training uniform, was already waiting. Seeing the group gathered, she asked curiously. Naturally, she had also been notified by Ducao.

"Xiaolun." Seeing Ge Xiaolun in the crowd, her eyes softened. She greeted him quietly and moved to his side.

"Well, it should be about the formation of the Black Shard Company, the super-soldier squad," Ge Xiaolun answered her question, then looked at her forehead: "How are you? Recovered well?"

It was hard to say if it was due to Du Qiangwei’s excellent physical constitution or Yu Qin’s healing abilities, but after a night, her forehead was as smooth as new, with no sign of injury left.

"It's fine, I've basically recovered," Du Qiangwei nodded gently.

"I just wonder if filling in that hole in your head also increased your intelligence..." Ge Xiaolun mused.

"Pfft," Du Qiangwei scoffed.

The two chatted quietly, as if they were the only ones there. The others didn't interrupt, merely exchanging knowing glances with faint smiles.

Without further delay, Lian Feng sat down at a console, opening various files and surveillance feeds on the screen.

"General, look. Liu Chuang is still in the detention center."

"And that Zhao Xin..."

"Rui Mengmeng, a restaurant waitress."

"The prince, Cheng Yaowen, is farming."

"I will go get this one personally..."

Jace introduced the current status of the other super-soldiers to Ducao and the others via the surveillance footage. Ducao stated he would personally go to retrieve Cheng Yaowen. Watching this familiar scene, Ge Xiaolun nodded inwardly.

This was simply the introduction of the Black Shard Company soldiers' civilian identities. None of this exceeded his expectations. Although, when he heard that the "prince" was farming, he couldn't help but grin, nearly laughing out loud.

"These are the people? A bunch of misfits?" Du Qiangwei scoffed.

"Are you any better?" Ducao glanced at her.

"Of course, like father, like daughter," Du Qiangwei replied nonchalantly.

"Don't look down on your future comrades, Qiangwei," Ducao said, looking at his daughter with a mix of helplessness and seriousness. "Besides, is Xiaolun a misfit?"

He understood his daughter's arrogance. As a pure successor of the Nuo Star genes, Qiangwei had been far superior to her peers in both intelligence and physical fitness since childhood, making it difficult for her not to become cold and conceited. Although she had never been arrogant in front of Xiaolun—having been "conquered" at their first meeting—the old habit returned when dealing with others.

He felt a headache coming on.

"Xiaolun is certainly an exception; he’s a natural freak of nature," Du Qiangwei said, crossing her arms with a smirk. "It seems this freak of nature is about to easily become the leader of this bunch of misfits."

As for Ge Xiaolun, no matter how much she tried to deny it, she couldn't say he wasn't capable. But looking at the group of "misfits" before her, she didn't believe any miracles would happen.

"I feel like Qiangwei's combat power is off the charts today!" Ge Xiaolun could tell this girl was insulting him along with the rest of them.

"She has always been off the charts in front of me," Ducao huffed. He could still vaguely remember the soft, adorable little girl from over a decade ago who would cling to him, begging for stories about her mother. Unfortunately, he had been too busy with work and absent for most of her life. Gradually, the little flower grew more thorns—and specifically targeted him with them.

"Regardless, I’ll say it again: Blue Star needs the Black Shard Company." Ducao’s gaze deepened. "The universe has existed for 13.7 billion years, and the Shenhe civilization long ago set up a star network to protect all hard-won intelligent life."

"Light and darkness, justice and evil, life and death—war never ceases..."

"For so many years, no one has known what is right or what is against the grain in the universe. We are still exploring."

With that, he looked at Ge Xiaolun and patted his shoulder with a sense of sentiment. His profound words made everyone present feel a sense of age and mission, and they fell into silence. Du Qiangwei also felt the weight of the moment and remained quiet.

Ge Xiaolun listened silently, feeling the weight of Ducao’s hand. Even though he was only half-understanding at this moment, he naturally grasped the expectations Ducao had for him. This man, seen by many as a conspirator and sinner, was at least, according to the lore, a redeemer hoping to make amends by exploring the path forward. He had high hopes for Ge Xiaolun’s Power of the Galaxy.

"And the immediate priority is that the Styx civilization is about to invade the Milky Way."

"Blue Star will become the battlefield of an interstellar war."

Ducao’s voice was deep and resonant. "Perhaps it came too soon... Oh, by the way, Xiaolun, I have a surprise for you."

As he spoke, he changed the subject, smiling at Ge Xiaolun before gesturing to Lian Feng.

"Oh?" Ge Xiaolun looked surprised.

With a few keystrokes from Lian Feng, an image and a brief introduction appeared on the screen, showing a girl who could be described as a "femme fatale."

Although Ge Xiaolun had anticipated this, he still put on a look of utter shock: "Xiaoli?!!!"

Ducao, Lian Feng, and Jace watched him, and seeing his genuine shock and delight, they all smiled with satisfaction. Only Leona and Du Qiangwei looked slightly surprised, as they clearly hadn't expected this either.

"Xiaolun, you probably didn't know." Ducao laughed, putting an arm around Ge Xiaolun’s shoulder and pointing to the screen. "Your little girlfriend is actually a super-soldier as well."

"However, she is not part of the Shenhe super-soldier system. Her genes are that of a 'Combat Fairy,' and her abilities are charm rays and air-matter manipulation."

"This..." Ge Xiaolun, despite his delight, acted as if he couldn't believe it. "Should I say... the density of hidden super-soldiers is simply too high?"

He looked at Ducao and the others with amusement: "I just found out yesterday that Qilin was a super-soldier, and now you're telling me my girlfriend is one too?"

"You don't need to be so surprised, Xiaolun," Lian Feng said with a smile. "Juxia City does indeed harbor some genetic seeds. While the density isn't particularly high, super-genes do provide a significant boost to one's appearance. You and Xiaoli are both good-looking, so the probability of meeting was quite high—just like how you fell for Qilin at first sight. After all, you are a billionaire with enough capability and social reach to make encountering these genetic seeds much more likely."

When they decided to give Ge Xiaolun this surprise yesterday, they had naturally anticipated this reaction. It was, after all, quite a coincidence.

"And here I was thinking about how to earn resources to turn my parents and Xiaoli into super-soldiers, only to find out Xiaoli already has them," Ge Xiaolun sighed with emotion.

In reality, his plan had been to acquire resources and then naturally propose implanting super-genes into his parents and Su Xiaoli. At that point, Ducao and the others would have logically revealed that Su Xiaoli already possessed them. He just hadn't expected them to prepare this surprise for him. Though, when Lian Feng was being all mysterious earlier, he had instantly guessed that the person he was meant to pick up was likely Su Xiaoli.

"Heh, Xiaolun, having ambition and filial piety is good." Ducao looked at him with a smile. "But you will understand later that genetic resources are not easy to come by. It takes a long time and a lot of manpower and material to collect them; sometimes you even have to fly to many other star systems to harvest them. Our Blue Star’s genetic resources are very limited."

"We didn't want you to waste too much effort on this, only to end up in despair and failure. Although the plan was to activate Su Xiaoli's genes in a few months as part of the second batch of Black Shard super-soldiers—when we would have enough resources to arm them—given your relationship and the great contribution you made yesterday, we decided to give you this surprise."

"Oh!!!" Ge Xiaolun had a sudden realization and quickly thanked them: "Thank you, General. Thank you, Sister Lian Feng."

Ducao and Lian Feng were all smiles; clearly, Ge Xiaolun’s delight met their expectations. Leona watched the scene happily, finding it particularly amusing to see the usually composed Ge Xiaolun so genuinely surprised.

Du Qiangwei looked at Ge Xiaolun and then at Su Xiaoli’s photo, scoffing, "So she's a fairy. No wonder she looks like Su Daji..."

To be honest, she didn't approve of her father's decision. Letting Su Xiaoli into the academy so quickly and putting her in a small room with Ge Xiaolun—wouldn't Ge Xiaolun just be drained dry? How would he have any energy left for studying and training?

"Su Xiaoli’s genes are not within the Shenhe framework, which is why they weren't activated by Leona before, so don't be surprised that you couldn't sense them," Lian Feng explained. "You will be the one to activate her genes. I will teach you the method, and then you must have her wear these sunglasses." As she spoke, she handed Ge Xiaolun a pair of cool-looking shades. "Once Su Xiaoli activates her genes, her eyes will emit a charming ray. Until she learns to control it autonomously, it will be quite troublesome if she doesn't use these to block it."

Ge Xiaolun took the sunglasses and nodded in understanding.

"Alright, everyone, go prepare," Ducao said, looking at the group.

Ge Xiaolun turned around happily, the sunglasses in his hand, and patted Du Qiangwei on the shoulder: "Come on, Qiangwei, let's go carry the bags for your sister-in-law..."

"..."