Chapter 44: Ninth Fortress

An He’s eyelashes trembled slightly. She wasn’t quite sure what Ide meant by asking that.

“Which aspect do you mean, Commander?”

An He sat up straight, her hands lightly clenched into fists resting on her knees, her head tilted slightly with a puzzled expression on her face. This posture made her look relaxed, showing almost no signs of wariness—more like the instinctive deference of a young person facing a strong leader.

Ide watched her subordinate closely. “After you entered the fortress, Lola was in charge of measuring your mental strength. I imagine you two spent a lot of time together and had plenty of interactions—”

“That’s true.” An He quickly picked up on Ide’s words. Beneath her deliberately even tone, her heart leaped into her throat.

Ide’s questioning felt unusual. The commander seemed genuinely irritated—An He noticed Ide’s body remained rigidly tense, not even glancing down at the blood seeping through her bandages from the torn wound. Without a doubt, this anger was connected to Lola.

But An He didn’t know if it involved her as well.

Lola’s status as a spy was an ironclad fact. An He had heard from others about what happened at the defense base, including how Lola took a bullet for Su Ling. In another scenario, Lola might have had some excuse, but being exposed on the spot by the First Fortress left her with no room to wriggle free, even with ten mouths.

That meant Lola’s entire past would be dragged out and scrutinized anew.

An He had been recommended by Lola, slipping into the Ninth Fortress when they were short-staffed—her background still murky and unexplained. Now that the commander was digging into Lola, An He was like the next grasshopper on the same rope, yanked out of the grass and put front and center.

Still, An He didn’t panic too much.

She already knew what kind of leader Ide was. If Ide didn’t trust her at all, she wouldn’t have put her to such heavy use from the start. This leader valued a warrior’s performance, and An He was satisfied with her own in battle—this uniform wrapped in bandages was the best medal.

She had already thought this through over the past couple of days and come up with a countermeasure.

Ide pressed on from where she’d left off. “So I called you here to ask: did you notice anything suspicious about Lola?”

An He thought for a moment before replying, “No. She acted completely normal around me. She doesn’t talk much and shows little expression…”

“Yes.” Ide said, “That’s her Innate Talent.”

“What?” An He straightened up, nine parts shocked. “Being expressionless is her Innate Talent?”

Ide paused wordlessly for a moment before explaining, “I mean low presence is her Innate Talent. If you’re not deliberately interacting with her, you’d hardly notice her in a crowd.”

“Oh, I see!” An He let out a genuine exclamation. Thinking back, she really hadn’t paid attention to what Lola’s Innate Talent was—she hadn’t even thought to wonder.

“Wait.” An He leaned forward. “Didn’t she demonstrate her Innate Talent when she joined Thorn Lamp?”

“She did.” Ide said. “The first one she showed was ‘Sniffing Technique’—a name I gave it. It detects differences in scents between the sick and the healthy, which is why Professor Su made her her assistant.”

An He quickly pieced it together. The Sniffing Technique definitely wasn’t Lola’s real Innate Talent; it was the result of her sharp observation skills combined with her Nestsoul. Lola’s Nestsoul was a feline, with keen senses to begin with, and after spy training, little tricks like “discerning personal info” or “sniffing out secrets” were child’s play to fool everyone.

An He could even picture how Lola had dodged the tests. She’d shown a “fake” Innate Talent in front of everyone, then used her real one to make them all overlook any oddities.

“You’re surprised?” Ide asked.

An He nodded obediently.

“I was too.” Ide relaxed a bit. “Back to the earlier topic: did she ever try to sway you? Or drop any hints?”

Because of this question, An He’s body shrank back in the chair, but her heart slowly settled.

She’d observed carefully—this didn’t feel like an interrogation of her. Ide hadn’t brought Professor Su, hadn’t locked the office door, and from the moment she’d walked in, Ide’s gaze hadn’t stayed fixed on her.

Their conversation wasn’t that grave; it was more like a routine check-in with Thorn Lamp members who’d interacted with Lola.

An He racked her brains. “Let me think… Hmm… No, I don’t think so. Most of our talks revolved around Embedded Spirit Bodies.”

“Then it seems she didn’t do anything memorable.” Ide frowned.

Not quite, An He thought. The first meeting left a deep impression—she tried to kill me.

“This afternoon, I went to see her in prison…” Ide said.

An He’s heart, not yet fully settled, clenched tight again.

“But she stayed completely silent.” Ide glanced at the bloodied bandage on her hand. “No matter how I questioned or threatened her, Lola didn’t budge. I nearly lost it and hit her. Of course, violent judgment isn’t in our playbook.”

“Your wrist…”

“I punched the wall in anger and reopened the wound.” Ide hid her hand under the desk.

As An He relaxed her tense toes, she felt deeply surprised. “Lola didn’t say a word?”

“Not entirely.” Ide hesitated. “She only said… she wanted to see Professor Su.”

Ah, Lola…

An He leaned back in her chair, dropping all her guard.

Lola’s behavior was outside An He’s expectations, but on second thought, it made perfect sense.

From Lola’s standpoint, she probably thought she was cornered. With Lola’s personality, she wouldn’t spill everything obediently, and the situation hadn’t reached the point where she’d rat out An He.

But An He hadn’t expected Lola’s final request to be seeing Su Ling.

An He had already planned how to cover for herself while protecting Lola—she wasn’t ready to lose this ally yet. But in a stroke of luck, Lola’s actions perfectly aligned with her strategy.

“Commander, did you approve Lola’s request?”

“Not yet. I turned her down, saying ‘Professor Su’s injuries are still severe.'” A stifled frustration lingered in Ide’s chest. “We’ll wait for Professor Su to decide before handling it.”

“Mm, that’s for the best.” An He agreed.

Ide glanced at An He. “Still, I want to hear your take on Lola’s behavior.”

With those words, An He confirmed her strategy would work.

Ide’s tone was like consulting a confidante—a familiar one from pre-battle talks they’d had many times.

“Very surprised.” An He chose her words carefully. “And confused.”

An He watched Ide’s expressions closely. After she spoke, she saw Ide nod faintly—so Ide’s confused too.

“Why?” Ide asked.

An He met Ide’s eyes. “From the results, Lola’s a spy colluding with the First Fortress, so they found our defensive flaw and Sora exploited it. But Sora fell into our trap because of that. Lola’s actions don’t seem to have benefited the First Fortress at all.”

If the First Fortress had attacked directly without that intel, with their terrifying forces, they might’ve had even better odds.

“Yes, that’s what puzzles me too. Her actions actually minimized our losses—it’s too strange.” Ide leaned back in her chair. “I searched Lola; no comms device, but she had a chip. It contained the Ninth Fortress’s defense layout.”

Ide’s words made An He break out in a cold sweat. She’d overlooked the chip—not recovered it. But that only deepened Ide’s confusion.

Ide frowned. “So the intel the First Fortress got definitely came from Lola, no doubt. But oddly, after we changed our defenses, she didn’t send an updated layout. Why no real-time sync? She should’ve had the means.”

An He straightened up. Because I deliberately misled her, making her think she didn’t need to with me there. Most importantly, I stole her comms button.

Of course, Ide didn’t know that. From Ide’s view, Lola’s actions and outcomes didn’t connect—full of contradictions and gaps.

An He seized the opening, leaning forward to launch her plan. “From what you’re saying, it sounds like Lola deliberately fed the First Fortress fake intel?”

Ide blinked. “I didn’t say that.”

“Oh, sorry—I thought that’s what you meant.” An He lowered her eyes.

A moment later, Ide frowned. “You mean Lola sent that intel on purpose?”

“Commander, you’re repeating my words.”

“Yes.” Ide rose slowly, pacing the office. “You’ve given me a new angle. Lola’s behavior is riddled with contradictions—you must’ve heard she took a bullet for Professor Su at the critical moment.”

“I heard from the nurses.” An He said. “Maybe Lola didn’t want someone from the Ninth Fortress—a certain someone—to die, so she made that choice.”

Ide sank into a long silence. Much later, her brow eased somewhat as she turned to An He. “So Lola only wants to see Professor Su… Is it because of Professor Su that she acted so contradictorily?”

“I think that idea holds water.” An He nodded seriously.

“…If it’s Professor Su, I can understand, after all…” Ide lowered her head, pulling out her chair with a screech of legs on the floor. She sat again, brow furrowed as she pieced it together.

Lost in thought, Ide picked up the Holy Sword from the desk and examined it.

“But one thing I can’t ignore: you were the one who first suggested changing the defenses.” Ide fixed her gaze on An He’s face again. “Can you explain that?”

“Ah.” Sure enough, Ide brought it up. An He had expected it sooner; the delay gave her huge confidence—Ide wasn’t overly suspicious of her.

An He feigned a sharp intake of breath, going with the flow. “Now that you mention it, maybe I was influenced by someone too.”

“You mean Lola?”

“I don’t know. Maybe she gave me subtle instructions without me noticing.” An He said humbly. “I seem easily swayed—I subconsciously mimic or learn from others’ behaviors, like a raven parroting speech.”

An He put on a wistful, lost expression. “Coming from the bountiful lands, this place is worlds apart from what I knew. I have to mimic others’ ways to survive. Maybe I got hinted at without realizing.”

She used the topic to reaffirm her backstory, clearing herself—every word true. Ide should know this; Professor Su had said An He arrived like a blank slate, taking Thorn Lamp as her mental anchor.

In truth, An He’s current ways were influenced by Thorn Lamp, Lola, and Gu Xianqing. She always learned relentlessly.

“Mm.” Ide’s tone softened. “That’s one reason I didn’t suspect you much. We’ve taken in Defectors before; no matter the fortress, they carry old habits for a long time, struggling to fit in. Like Lola—it took half a year of psych counseling to shake off the Third Fortress’s wariness—or so I thought; now I can’t even judge if that’s real. But you’re different: like a newborn, clueless about everything here.”

Ide’s fingers traced the patterns on the scabbard. “I approved your joining partly for that. I asked around—your Nestsoul knowledge came from Heidi. I figured you might have amnesia or trauma. You even acted like you’d never heard of the Strong Radiation Zone.”

At this, Ide showed deep sympathy for An He’s insistence on her bountiful lands origin.

Ide paused, then continued. “Of course, that’s not the decisive factor in dropping my suspicions.”

An He prompted, “What was?”

“You saved the Ninth Fortress—and killed Sora. No First Fortress warrior would kill Sora, let alone with that… method.”

Ide drew the Holy Sword out just an inch, its silver blade immediately reflecting the light and casting spots on the ceiling. “You killed her Nestsoul but spared her life. Your actions were no less than stripping a person of their soul while leaving their body alive, forcing them to wither away in endless emptiness. Unless there’s deep personal enmity, we never do that here—not even to enemy soldiers. We always finish them off completely by default.”

An He was momentarily taken aback. Sure enough, the people here had a different view of death from hers. She had thought that, no matter what, staying alive was something to be grateful for.

An He gave a slight bow. “I’m sorry. I was too cruel.”

“No need to apologize. I’m not scolding you.”

Ide smiled and let out a long sigh. “That explains everything. Because of Professor Su, Lola repented and turned over a new leaf, sending false intelligence to save the Ninth Fortress. Then she deliberately got close to you, using you to remind me. Coincidentally, Professor Su warned me before the big battle too. I rarely interact with Lola, but both you and Professor Su have crossed paths with her. She really went to great lengths.”

Not quite, An He thought.

Ide sheathed the sword and held out the hilt toward An He. “In the Thorn Lamp, you’re the only one skilled with cold weapons. Take it—as a reward for killing Sora.”

“Me?” An He stood up in surprise. “This… I don’t think it’s appropriate.”

“Why not?” Ide watched her closely. “Consider it a token of my complete trust in you.”

An He gazed at the gleaming Holy Sword. Its scabbard and hilt shone with an exotic golden hue, intricate patterns etched into a layer of precious metal, while the blade itself was silvery white and razor-sharp.

The entire sword dazzled with allure, as if it embodied all the power, honor, or other temptations that stirred greed in the heart.

“It doesn’t match me,” An He thought for a moment before offering her reason.

“You know, you’re right.” Ide held the sword up against An He’s all-black attire and sized it up. “Forget it then. If you don’t want it, we’ll put it in the armory as a trophy.”

An He watched as Ide lowered the Holy Sword, a glint flashing in her eyes. Suddenly, she changed her mind. “No, Commander, give it to me after all.”

“What?” Ide looked at An He with amusement. “So, do you want it or not?”

“I do. But not for me to use.” An He took the Holy Sword. The moment it was in her hands, she realized just how dazzling—and how heavy—it truly was.

“What do you plan to do with it?”

An He strapped the Holy Sword to her back. “Before I answer that, I’d like to ask—Commander, what do you plan to do with Sora?”