Chapter 345: Chapter 330: All Things Generate and Overcome Each Other

Li Xiao watched Gu Xi nervously, trying to read her expression.

But to his surprise, Gu Xi shot him a strange look. "Mr. Li doesn’t know?"

Li Xiao shook his head, his expression grave, but he couldn’t hide the excitement in his eyes. ’Is she finally going to tell me?’

"Site 176 is where they keep the mutants, of course," Qi Xiang, standing nearby, suddenly chuckled. She glanced at Li Xiao with a wry smile. "Surely you know that much, Mr. Li?"

Li Xiao was speechless.

Of course, he knew that Site 176 was dedicated to holding mutants. But for Gu Xi to send her blood in... ’She can’t possibly intend to give it to those mutants who’ve already lost their minds, right?’

’There’s definitely more to it than that.’

"Miss Gu..." Li Xiao started, looking at Gu Xi.

Gu Xi suddenly cut him off. "When I was very, very young, I came to understand a certain truth..."

Li Xiao fell silent. Even Qi Xiang, Shen Yue, and Wei Heng, who were standing nearby, looked over at her.

Gu Xi gazed into the distance, seemingly lost in memory.

After a long moment, she retracted her gaze. Looking down, she toyed with the small green sprout at her fingertip and said softly, "This world is too terrible. To be too beautiful is, in itself, a form of original sin."

That was why, from a young age, Li Ming had told her again and again, tirelessly, that in this terrible world, a beautiful girl like her had to be stronger than everyone else. Only then could she survive the apocalypse.

To truly live.

At first, Gu Xi didn’t really understand his reasoning.

But later, Ye Xin, who was a few years older than her, taught her that lesson through harsh experience.

That was also why, even though Li Ming knew the base had ill intentions when they sent over that mask, he still silently consented, allowing her to become the Blood-colored Asura.

Because his sister had been born with such a face, right at the cusp of womanhood.

And because his sister... had already been targeted!

No one can make an enemy of the whole world.

Li Ming couldn’t.

And neither could Gu Xi.

Therefore, hiding her face and becoming the strongest in the world was, at that time, the... best choice Li Ming could make for Gu Xi.

Of course, Gu Xi herself hadn’t objected at the time.

"But is being beautiful truly a crime?" Gu Xi asked softly.

Hearing this, the others exchanged glances. Qi Xiang grew pensive, and Wei Heng opened his mouth to speak...

In truth, however, Gu Xi didn’t need an answer from anyone else.

She stood up, her gaze fixed on the horizon, and said slowly but firmly, "No. The world is what’s wrong."

’So, I suppose I’ll just have to make this world a better place.’

’At the very least, beauty and gentleness shouldn’t be treated as a crime.’

Li Xiao was taken aback by her words.

"Miss Gu..." He still didn’t quite understand why Gu Xi had suddenly said all that.

Just then, Gu Xi’s personal terminal vibrated. She glanced down, and after a moment, she looked up at everyone and smiled faintly. "It’s time to pay City A a visit."

But with the mess of things they still had to deal with here, they couldn’t just up and leave.

At the very least, Liu Bo, Tang You, and the others were unwilling to leave.

...They still had to find the Superpower Seed, after all.

Gu Xi didn’t mind. She found Ye Junhan and discussed the arrangements for the convoy to head to A City Base, but after they were done, she hesitated.

Ye Junhan looked up at her.

’What in the world is making her so hesitant?’

"Follow me," Gu Xi said after a moment.

Ye Junhan gave her a deep look, then turned to give Zhao Qingxiao a few instructions before silently falling in behind her.

The two of them walked toward the edge of the swamp.

Half an hour later, Gu Xi had set up layers of Spirit Barriers around them.

Ye Junhan raised an eyebrow. An arc of electricity unconsciously flickered across the fingertips resting on his scabbard.

Gu Xi glanced at him but offered no explanation, simply raising her hand and releasing 027.

The moment it left Gu Xi’s space, 027 didn’t look at her. Instead, as if by reflex, it whipped its head around to look at Ye Junhan.

Ye Junhan’s gaze instantly met a pair of eyes.

Those eyes were like an abyss, where darkness, mania, repression, fury, and every other bleak emotion churned so violently they seemed tangible, about to spill out.

But Gu Xi saw something in those eyes that she had never seen before.

Fear and apprehension.

’Just as I thought?’

Gu Xi looked from 027 to Ye Junhan, lost in thought.

Both Lu Chenyuan and Li Ming had said that the G01 Plan’s original purpose was to create another Blood-colored Asura. After she disappeared, the base had been in urgent need of another weapon.

But strangely, whenever the specific details of the G01 Plan were mentioned, everyone—whether it was Li Ming, Lu Chenyuan, or even Ye Xin, an "insider" from the research institute who had sent people directly to the training camp—was frustratingly vague.

Initially, Gu Xi guessed it was because the G01 Plan was related to her, so someone was deliberately keeping Li Ming and Ye Xin in the dark. After all, her relationship with both of them was far from shallow.

That would explain why Li Ming and the others didn’t know the details.

But after seeing Chen’s strange reaction when Shen Yue sided with her, another idea had begun to form in Gu Xi’s mind.

All signs seemed to indicate that Shen Yue was also connected to this so-called G01 Plan.

’So, what exactly *is* this so-called G01 Plan?’

Gu Xi had been pondering this question constantly as of late.

But she still had no leads.

It wasn’t until Li Xiao had brought up Site 176 again just now that an idea had suddenly struck her.

’...From a certain perspective, isn’t the G01 Plan also a kind of mutation project?’

Gu Xi had wanted to test that theory.

And sure enough, when facing Ye Junhan directly, Guardian 027’s eyes revealed fear and apprehension.

And Ye Junhan was one of the six final candidates selected for the G01 Plan.

His superpower was clearly related to hers.

But 027 showed no such fear or apprehension when facing her...

Gu Xi narrowed her eyes slightly. ’It seems the G01 Plan wasn’t just about me. Back then, Ye Junhan and the other five must have also absorbed and fused with some other special energy...’

’And the source of that energy...’ The first person Gu Xi thought of was Yun Ye.

Yun Ye had definitely participated in the G01 Plan, but perhaps the thing he’d contributed wasn’t related to him personally. After all, 027 had shown no apprehension or fear when facing Yun Ye...

In that case, there was only one possibility left—

The thing about Ye Junhan that made 027 fearful and apprehensive had to have come from the Land of Death!

It was whatever Yun Ye brought with him when he escaped the Land of Death all those years ago!

Gu Xi didn’t know what it was, but she suspected it might be related to cosmic energy.

Yun Ye had said that Superpower Seeds were born from the universe’s origin power. If the origin power of the universe could create Superpower Seeds, it could naturally create other things too.

And Li Ming had once taught her that all things in the universe exist in a balance of creation and destruction...

So, was it possible that when the Superpower Seeds accidentally arrived on this planet, they brought something else with them?

And that this something was brought out of the swamp by Yun Ye, who had come to this planet in pursuit of the Superpower Seeds, and was ultimately fused into Ye Junhan’s body.

Is that why 027, whose powers originate from a Superpower Seed, would instinctively show fear and apprehension when facing Ye Junhan?

"Xiaoxi?" Ye Junhan narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on 027, the killing intent in them unconcealed.

Gu Xi snapped back to reality. After a moment’s thought, she recalled 027 into her space and, holding nothing back, told Ye Junhan all of her theories.

Finally, she hesitated. "About the G01 Plan..."

Ye Junhan suddenly relaxed his grip on his sword and looked up at her. "I’m sorry."

’There are some things I can’t tell her yet.’