Max Level Return—I'll Protect That Fragile One

"Mad!"

Xiahou Shang smashed his fist heavily on the table, indignantly pointing out, "When the crisis came, you cast us aside like worn-out shoes, sealing us behind isolation walls, leaving us to perish on our own!"

"You abandoned us first! Now that your population is saturated, and resources are scarce, you want to eliminate us and take our homes. What kind of logic is this?"

"This is robbery!"

Facing Xiahou Shang’s anger, Zhang Zhiyi smiled faintly and said nonchalantly, "Once we successfully reclaim what belongs to us, these ordinary mortals in the Mortal World will have long disappeared. Since ancient times, history is written by the victors, who cares about robbery?"

Xiahou Shang couldn’t believe such shameless words devoid of morality could come from Zhang Zhiyi’s mouth.

"So, you are from the Divine Martial Realm?"

Zhang Zhiyi nodded in acknowledgment, "Yes, I am from the Divine Martial Realm."

She gazed at the starlight outside the window, lamenting, "I and Ying Tu were sent to the Mortal World together, yet he, who is divine, developed feelings for these Mortal World trash."

"Who is Ying Tu?" This was another name Xiahou Shang had never heard before.

"Ying Tu?" Zhang Zhiyi did not hide it from Xiahou Shang and directly said, "Xu Xingguang’s grandfather, Mo Yinshu’s father, Ying Ziyao’s master. And he is also the real reason I disguised myself as Zhang Zhiyi."

Zhang Zhiyi looked tenderly at her carefully chosen husband and said, "In order to save the Mortal World, Ying Tu once allied with a group of the most powerful medical researchers from the Mortal World to establish a Neuroscience Research Institute, hoping to alter the genes of Mortal World humans to give them superpowers, and the courage to challenge the Divine Martial Realm."

"His idea was good, but unfortunately, there was a traitor in his team who revealed their plan to the overseers, and the overseers reported this back to the Divine Martial Realm. Then..."

Zhang Zhiyi picked up a flower on the table, crushing its petals with her fingertips, making the juice seep out. "The entire research institute was nearly massacred, only Ying Tu and Huo Ziyin managed to escape."

"Afterwards, Huo Ziyin experimented on himself with the drug and died suddenly, leaving Ying Tu to wander and hide."

Hearing this, Xiahou Shang was gripped by a sorrowful suspicion. He clenched his fists and hesitantly asked, "Who was the betrayer?"

Zhang Zhiyi’s smile slightly stiffened, and she expressionlessly uttered three words, "Qu Yanling."

Qu Yanling, this must be a girl’s name.

"Zhang Zhiyi." Xiahou Shang’s eyes were filled with pain as he asked, "What is your real name?"

Zhang Zhiyi’s lips pressed together slightly, her eyes flickered a few times. She avoided looking at Xiahou Shang and replied coldly, "Qu Yanling."

Hearing that, the colors in Xiahou Shang’s eyes instantly dulled.

He stood up silently, walking upstairs with an air of melancholy surrounding him.

Zhang Zhiyi watched in the direction of the stairs, a flicker of struggle in her eyes.

As early as when Xu Xingguang successfully healed Xiahou Huai Gui and recognized the parasitic organism within him as a mutative biochemical weapon, Zhang Zhiyi had anticipated that the secrets of the Divine Martial Realm were about to be exposed.

But she hadn’t expected the confrontation to come so quickly.

Zhang Zhiyi picked up the discarded flowers from the table, tossed them into the trash bin, and walked into the kitchen with a small pair of scissors. She inserted the scissors into the knife rack, turned on the faucet, pumped some hand soap, and bent down to concentrate on washing her hands.

Suddenly, a chilling coldness emanated from the living room.

Zhang Zhiyi looked up and saw Xiahou Shang holding a heavy handgun, aiming it at her.

She was slightly surprised. "Brother Shang."

Turning off the faucet, Zhang Zhiyi rested her hands casually on the sink and said, "A day of marriage is worth a hundred days of kindness. Brother Shang, do you really have the heart to shoot me?"

Xiahou Shang said, "Zhang Zhiyi, come with me to see the presidential order."

Knowing about the Divine Martial Realm and Zhang Zhiyi’s secret, Xiahou Shang couldn’t take no action.

"Zhang Zhiyi, no, Qu Yanling." Xiahou Shang tried to ignore the pain in his heart as he firmly stated, "We stand on different grounds, hold different values. You want to protect your Divine Martial Realm, and I want to safeguard my Mortal World."

"Even having learned about your true identity and deeds, my heart remains foolishly in love with you. But compared to the survival of the Mortal World, our love is insignificant."

Xiahou Shang’s finger hovered over the gun’s trigger as he issued his final ultimatum to Zhang Zhiyi, "Zhang Zhiyi, come with me immediately to confess your crimes! Otherwise, I, Xiahou Shang, will not hesitate to bear the crime of killing my wife!"

He would never let Zhang Zhiyi go free.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Zhiyi said, "I’m pregnant."

Xiahou Shang’s expression shifted slightly, his finger on the trigger trembling.

"I’m not lying to you." Zhang Zhiyi informed him, "In the vestibule’s commuting bag, you’ll find my ultrasound examination report and a positive pregnancy test. Brother Shang, I’m carrying your child."

Without hesitation, Zhang Zhiyi walked toward Xiahou Shang, stepping closer to the dark barrel of the gun.

She seemed certain Xiahou Shang wouldn’t shoot her.

"Xiahou Shang." Zhang Zhiyi stopped in front of Xiahou Shang’s gun, the barrel resting at the center of her throat.

Looking up, Zhang Zhiyi gazed deeply into her husband’s eyes and said, "Approaching Mo Yinshu and Ying Ziyao, locating what Ying Tu hid, that was my purpose in disguising as Zhang Zhiyi. But marrying you was not part of the plan."

"Whether you believe it or not, I truly love you, genuinely wanted to marry you. Discovering I’m pregnant with your child, I sincerely wish to give birth to this child for you too."

Zhang Zhiyi questioned Xiahou Shang, "Are you now going to kill your wife and child?"

Xiahou Shang’s eyelashes trembled uncontrollably.

His heart was full of conflict and hesitation.

On one hand, Xiahou Shang firmly believed that Zhang Zhiyi loved him. Shooting his wife and killing the unborn child was indeed a torment for him.

However...

"My Xiahou Family, having migrated from Beijiang to Yujiang City, has dedicated generations to serving the country. My grandmother worked diligently for the nation, eliminating countless foes! My grandfather and uncles have devoted their lives to serving the Xia Country Alliance Government."

"As the eldest grandson of the Xiahou Family, the ruler of Yujiang City, how can I let sentiments compromise the safety of the entire city’s citizens, or even all of the Mortal World?"

Xiahou Shang’s throat worked fiercely as tears streaked down his face, yet his finger resolutely pressed the trigger!

At the corner of Zhang Zhiyi’s lips, there was a slight lift. Her hazel eyes darkened instantly, reflecting two silvery white points in her pupils.

She stared fixedly at the gun in Xiahou Shang’s hand, and the next moment, the gun barrel twisted ninety degrees!

The bullet discharged and embedded itself into the door frame above.

"How could this be!" Xiahou Shang was utterly shocked.

Grasping the gun’s barrel, Zhang Zhiyi shook her head, gazing at Xiahou Shang with eyes filled with pity, "Brother Shang, this is what I love most about you. Yet, it’s also what I hate most in you."

The gun held in her grasp shattered instantly into countless pieces.

"I told you, we are divine beings with unparalleled abilities. Your Mortal World’s so-called high-tech weapons are mere toys to us."

There was disdain in Zhang Zhiyi’s eyes as she said, "If we were to truly rely on martial power, the Divine Martial Realm could effortlessly flatten your Mortal World. Ultimately, we are of the same bloodline, and it’s out of reluctance to annihilate you lot that we’ve allowed you mortals to continue as you are."

"But never mind." Zhang Zhiyi said, "Soon, the Mortal World will undergo a complete transformation." When everyone becomes beastly, that’s the day the Divine Martial Realm can discard their moral compass and reclaim the Mortal World!

And as for her, she would move from being a mere criminal to becoming a legend in the entire Divine Martial Realm!

Yes, both Zhang Zhiyi and Ying Tu were criminals dispatched to the Mortal World to ’serve’ their sentences as punishment for heinous crimes in the Divine Martial Realm.