Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 355 - 448: Kali and Yaning_1

Chapter 355: Chapter 448: Kali and Yaning_1

"I, I don’t know, I had no idea about this..." Luo Qishan spoke in a daze. His throat felt uncomfortable, his voice began to break and tremble.

"You always believe that Luo’er hates you because you used him to start the Origin Project. But Luo’er understands your predicament, so he understands your actions." Cheng Ziang stared at him and said what he had wanted to say all along, "Principal, Luo’er is a dutiful grandson, and he doesn’t resent you for all you’ve done. He empathizes with you, he understands you. But have you truly fulfilled your duty as a grandfather? Don’t you feel you have done anything wrong?"

"I, I don’t know. I truly didn’t know. I thought, I thought Luo’er hated me because..." Luo Qishan wiped his tears and said in a choked voice, "I allowed him to be the subject of the experiment. I wanted to explain to him, but by then he had already started to hate me..."

"Luo’er needed companionship, and you had nothing to offer him. That’s why he turned all his hopes towards his mother, who was far away in the Otherworld, rather than aiming them towards you. On this issue, Principal, are you truly innocent?" Cheng Ziang pushed the questioning step by step.

"I don’t know, I truly didn’t know. If I had known then, I wouldn’t have treated him in that manner. It’s my fault, it’s all my fault..." Luo Qishan sobbed, becoming increasingly incoherent.

Looking at his miserable state, Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but sigh deeply. Although he didn’t want to get involved in these messy affairs, both Luo’er and Luo Qishan were at fault in this issue. Luo Qishan failed to understand what Luo’er needed, and Luo’er brooded in silence. This stalemate between them has lasted for more than a decade. So, when Cheng Ziang learned about this matter, even he started to feel uneasy about the situation.

Luo’er wasn’t the cold and detached type. Although Wang Xu wasn’t related to him by blood, he had taken care of Luo’er since his childhood. While Luo’er’s attitude towards Wang Xu may not have been friendly, Cheng Ziang could always sense the deeper connection between the two.

As for Luo Qishan, Cheng Ziang felt that he had a good hand, but he played it poorly. In the end, he blamed everything on the plan, believing that the plan and Lin Wei were what ruined his relationship with Luo’er, not realizing that the problem actually lay with himself.

Today, saying all these things made Cheng Ziang feel much lighter. When he looked at Luo Qishan, he was still wiping away his tears, sobbing, and blaming himself.

He sighed deeply, finally deciding to leave and give Luo Qishan some time to reflect and blame himself. Although Luo’er was his grandson, both of them were at fault in this matter and Luo Qishan couldn’t be excused just because he was an elder.

As he exited the office, Cheng Ziang walked towards the reception area with his head bowed, his mind filled with the problems between Luo’er and Luo Qishan. He was so absorbed that he didn’t notice the playful laughter in the corridor.

Suddenly, he felt as if something had grabbed his leg. Looking down, he found a young girl with big eyes hugging his leg tightly, her eyes beaming with joy.

"Where did she come from... Wait a moment." Cheng Ziang knitted his brows, ready to shoo her away when he suddenly recognized the girl.

He bent over and picked her up by the collar of her dress, looking at her in confusion, and asked, "Aren’t you Yaning? How did you end up on Earth?"

"Hey, don’t treat her like that, it might hurt her!" Shangguan Jiu ran up to them, speaking anxiously.

Cheng Ziang looked at her, then at Yaning. Yaning didn’t seem upset. On the contrary, she was excitedly clapping her hands, appearing to enjoy being treated this way.

"Well..." Seeing that Yaning wasn’t afraid at all, Shangguan Jiu was left speechless. As soon as Cheng Ziang set her down, she clung to him again, wrapping herself around his leg like an octopus.

"Why does she like you so much?" Seeing the intimate exchanges between Yaning and Cheng Ziang, Shangguan Jiu couldn’t help but pout and asked in frustration.

"Who knows." Cheng Ziang shrugged, then squatted down and pinched her cheek, asking, "How did this girl end up on Earth?"

"Don’t you know? She’s one of the first subjects of the Mingming Plan." Shangguan Jiu said, taking it for granted.

"Experimental subject..." Cheng Ziang frowned at Shangguan Jiu, then lowered his head and chuckled, "The research center really loves experimenting on children!"

"Don’t worry, she’s healthy. She’s not experiencing any rejection symptoms due to lack of magic power." Shangguan Jiu said, bending down.

"Is that so?" Cheng Ziang said, pinching Yaning’s tender face a little roughly. However, Yaning didn’t seem to mind and burst into laughter, much to Shangguan Jiu’s frustration.

She had been trying to establish a rapport with Yaning, but the girl wasn’t interested in her, or anyone from the Murong squad for that matter. Every time she tried to touch Yaning, the girl would cry relentlessly, but she was surprisingly calm in Cheng Ziang’s hands.

"Yaning, where did you run off to?" Suddenly, an anxious female voice echoed down the corridor.

Cheng Ziang looked in the direction of the voice, and was surprised to find Kali there too.

"You’re that..." As soon as she saw Cheng Ziang, Kali’s face broke into a delighted smile. She rushed over to Cheng Ziang, pointing at him excitedly and shouting, "You’re the Master!"

At her words, Cheng Ziang almost spit out blood. He had saved Kali at Luo’er’s request but had forgotten to tell her his name. He hadn’t expected the girl to start calling him "Master" upon seeing him. Fortunately, there weren’t many people in the corridor, or else his reputation would have been truly ruined.

"Master? My name is Cheng Ziang. If you call others like that, they might misunderstand." Cheng Ziang said, unable to decide whether to laugh or cry.

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry." Kali quickly apologized.

"Why are you here too?" Cheng Ziang let go of Yaning and stood up to ask.

"Well, Chief Wang Xu said that by coming to Earth, I can repay their kindness, so I..." Kali said.

"You really are..." Cheng Ziang didn’t know how to describe her, always feeling she was a bit too straight-laced.

"No, it’s fine, everything is great here, I really like it here. I came voluntarily, nobody forced me." Seeing a change in Cheng Ziang’s expression, Kali quickly explained.

"Never mind then," Cheng Ziang waved his hand, then murmured to himself, "No wonder I didn’t see them at the base, I wonder if Luo’er knows about this."

"So, did Luo’er... are they here too?" Kali asked, a little timidly.

"Luo’er didn’t come, he is still over there." Cheng Ziang said. Kali tried to obscure her intentions by referring to them all, but Cheng Ziang saw through her thoughts instantly.

"I see..." Hearing his words, a look of disappointment crossed Kali’s face.

Looking at the three girls before him, Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but sigh. He felt as though he was the chief eunuch for the emperor, helping Luo’er manage his harem. That kid really was good at attracting girls.

"You’ve been here for a while now, have you learned any Chinese?" Cheng Ziang looked at her and asked.

"I learned a..." Kali suddenly switched languages, and timidly uttered her halting Chinese, "Learning... a, a little bit..."

"Great progress, keep up the good work." Cheng Ziang waved his hand, remarking somewhat casually.

He looked around, noticing something amiss, so he couldn’t help asking: "Where’s Yalunte?"

"Oh, uncle got called to the office by the Chief, Murong asked me to wait here for you to go." Shangguan Jiu said.

"I see," Cheng Ziang scratched his head, then said, "Let’s go then!"

Just as he was about to step forward, he noticed Yaning stuck to his leg like bubble gum. So he said to Kali: "Kali, deal with this girl!"

"Oh, okay," Kali bent down, and then picked up Yaning. Watching Cheng Ziang about to leave, she hesitated, then asked, "When will Luo’er come back here?"

"It’s hard to say," Cheng Ziang glanced at her, immediately wearing a faint smile, "Miss him?"

"No, not at all!" Kali lowered her head, her cheeks starting to turn red.

"Once we complete the mission we should be able to return." Cheng Ziang said solemnly.

"Be careful then." Kali said.

At this time, in the office, Lin Wei and Yalunte were sitting face to face. Being able to sit with the highest-ranking officer of the headquarters demonstrated that Yalunte had indeed gained enough trust over the past twenty years.

"Mr. Yalunte, about your son’s matter, I believe Wang Xu has already given you a full briefing, hasn’t he?" Lin Wei said bluntly.

He and Yalunte were still conducting their exchanges in Tasta language, which he had studied specially to become the envoy to the Otherworld.

"I already know!" Facing the man with a natural air of authority before him, Yalunte displayed tight caution.

"You haven’t told him, have you?" Lin Wei asked.

"No!" Yalunte answered succinctly.

"That’s for the best," Lin Wei gave a satisfied nod, then said, "Now isn’t the time to tell him the truth. Of course, if you want to accompany him, we won’t stop you. After all, you’ve been working for us these past twenty years, we trust you enough. However, we hope you won’t disrupt our plans."

"Do you plan to use him to deal with the Kingdom of Odelanqi?" Yalunte asked unflinchingly.

"Yes," Lin Wei nodded, speaking honestly, "If King Gudelv continues to be obstinate, we might consider such a plan."

Hearing his words, Yalunte sighed deeply, and said: "I just don’t know if he’d be willing."