Another delicate arm was pinched in Li Ming’s hand, likewise dripping with blood.
Agonizing pain swept through her nerves, and Chen Yan instinctively gritted her teeth trying to hold it in, but soon wanted to let out a wail.
Li Ming timely added, "If you scream, next time, I’ll cut off your head."
Chen Yan took a deep breath, clenched her teeth hard, completely breaking down, and squeezed out from her throat, "What... what is wrong with you!"
Gasping for air, she stopped pretending, tore off her shirt, wrapped it around the severed arm to stop the bleeding, and stared coldly at Li Ming.
"Ha..." Li Ming dropped the half arm in his hand, which rolled on the ground twice, "I guessed right."
Hearing what Li Ming said, her expression became dazed again; it was hard to imagine what kind of madman this was, who, based solely on guesses, treated her so unreservedly in a way that didn’t match the intelligence reports at all.
"You... you aren’t afraid of guessing wrong?" she asked incredulously.
"Guess wrong?" Li Ming paused and shrugged, "What about it?"
"Besides, better safe than sorry, it’s better than hesitating and you striking at me first."
"What about it?" Chen Yan seemed startled by the answer, shaking, struggling to speak for a long time.
"If you guessed wrong, it’s an innocent life lost!
"Pretend, keep pretending..." Li Ming laughed, "I’ve investigated you, come from a remote small town on the planet Kubu in the Xinsangde star system."
"Lived alone with your grandmother since childhood, your parents working abroad. At the age of twelve, your grandmother passed away; three years after, your parents were killed in a mine accident."
"You came back with hundreds of thousands of Star Coins in compensation, shuffled between several relatives who raised you."
"Yes, a little girl with several hundred thousand in compensation, even if not her own relatives, would still need to become someone’s relatives," Li Ming sighed, then slowly said:
"So I want to ask you, where did the original person you replaced go?"
Chen Yan stopped, looking at Li Ming, a huge panic suddenly rising in her heart.
She thought she had hidden herself well enough; even if it involved Li Ming, there wasn’t much interaction, just a gradual approach.
Yet even so, she was still discovered by this person, what’s more outrageous is, Li Ming first assumed she had issues, then sought clues, and found faults where there were none!
"The moment I saw you, I had a strange sense of déjà vu, then I remembered that your dress is imitating Nuo Xing." Li Ming weirdly smiled, "Don’t tell me you guys used the beauty trick."
Chen Yan’s face tightened, body trembling, both from weakness and the indignation of being exposed.
"I thought you guys from Torch intended to kill me, but you actually played the beauty trick. Seeing your reaction," Li Ming laughed wryly, "Why didn’t you imitate Yang Yu... oh, you think I couldn’t get to Nuo Xing."
Chen Yan stood still, feeling the overwhelming darkness and cold about to envelop her.
"You, you know, my background?" Chen Yan said bitterly.
It was as if the last piece of clothing was lifted from her body, standing utterly exposed before Li Ming, with nowhere to hide.
"Once I pulled on one thread, it wasn’t hard to guess, the only people who would use such tactics to switch identities seems to be you guys from Torch." Li Ming carelessly said, "Don’t waste any more time, or your arm won’t be reattachable soon."
"Talk, what do you guys really want to do to me with the beauty trick, then what?"
Chen Yan scoffed, "Just kill me."
"Ah..." Li Ming sighed, "Don’t always mimic the martyrs; you were not trained as one, you’ve had many peaceful years."
Chen Yan’s expression changed slightly but remained silent.
"You had a higher education, even if they brainwashed you when you were young, you should have come to your senses by now. Why be so loyal to them, is it because they have something on you, your parents?" Li Ming pondered, stroking his chin and guessing step by step.
Since young, identities were replaced, and Torch barely made contact with them afterward, to prevent betrayal; there must be various measures in place.
Chen Yan coughed dryly, her face growing paler.
"In fact, leverage is mutual restraint, if you die, would that leverage still have any meaning?" Li Ming indifferently said, circling around Chen Yan and speaking like a whispering demon:
"By the way, do you know about a form of punishment that first buries you in sand, then cuts open your scalp and pours molten gold into it? The molten gold separates your skin and flesh inch by inch, making you unbearably itchy. A little strain, and you would burst out of your skin."
Chen Yan looked at him in horror, staggered back, and bumped into the wall.
"Or," Li Ming switched to a more amiable tone, "you could tell me some specific details. In exchange, I could also cooperate with you, a win-win situation."
Chen Yan still did not speak, but this time Li Ming could clearly feel her struggling.
"Why not give it a try?" Li Ming smiled.
A moment later, Chen Yan sat down abruptly on the ground as if all her strength had been drained, and said with difficulty, "My task was to seduce you."
"Very well, continue," Li Ming encouraged.
Once begun, the rest followed more smoothly.
Chen Yan continued, "Then I would have you help me with some tasks, progressively, and finally try to steal Wu Yanqing’s secrets."
"Secrets?" Li Ming’s interest piqued, "What secrets?"
"Do you know about the Genetic Purification Particles?" Chen Yan asked.
"Of course," he responded.
Chen Yan added, "Then do you know the real purpose of the Genetic Purification Particles?"
Li Ming’s eyes narrowed, his gaze growing dangerous.
Chen Yan dared not tease him further: "Genetic Purification Particles hold an important function, which is to give gene evolvers the hope of awakening superpowers."
"Hmm?" Li Ming was surprised; it was interstellar consensus that gene evolvers and superpowers could not coexist.
Chen Yan nodded vigorously: "The reason Wu Yanqing’s gene seed was eliminated was because it underwent an experiment, and indeed it awakened a superpower, but only coexisted for an instant."
Li Ming stroked his chin, so there was this aspect.
If gene evolvers could also awaken superpowers, it would be an epic enhancement, especially for those top life forms who found it difficult to advance on the path of genetic evolution.
"That doesn’t sound right, no disrespect to Old Wu, but if he really had that capability, he would have been captured long ago," Li Ming realized.
"Do you think, the Genetic Purification Particles were really discovered by Wu Yanqing himself?" Chen Yan explained, "He was just pushed to the forefront as a pawn to stir public opinion."
Hmm, Old Wu became a pawn?
Princess Asmara, a name surfaced in Li Ming’s mind.
At the same time, the somewhat melodramatic story of a runaway princess and an adventurer that Luo Chuan had told him instantly became murky and complicated.
One who hasn’t experienced it will never truly know what the story is like.
"Is it Princess Asmara?" he ventured.
Chen Yan was shocked, seemingly astonished that he had guessed correctly, and then nodded:
"Right, Wu Yanqing’s gene particle hypothesis stirred interstellar public opinion. Princess Asmara used this to leverage the Yitelan Royal Family, gained autonomy, and was no longer just a figurehead, even becoming the top princess."
Li Ming frowned; these matters were too complicated, intertwined with too many conspiracies. He wanted to know more, but that was all Chen Yan knew.
This was only because her task was special, and Torch had to tell her.
"There’s another thing," Chen Yan’s eyes struggled, but she spoke, "Additionally, if I succeed, Torch might have a big plan that requires your cooperation."
Once betrayal starts, it cannot be stopped.
Li Ming’s eyes flickered, "What big plan?"
"I don’t know the specifics, only that it’s very important," Chen Yan shook her head; she was not a core figure, only privy to what she needed to know at the moment.