When we teleported out of the starships just now, wasn’t the system still working?! Every ability user shouted inwardly. But no matter how much they complained or questioned the suspicious timing of the Main System’s power failure, the system’s notification remained silent after that single message.

The ability users looked around nervously at the 200,000 laser cannons aimed at them. Though no one had surrendered yet, they didn’t dare act recklessly or launch another attack on the Zerg.

Over 2,000 ability users and 400,000 Zerg were packed tightly together, surrounded in a massive circle by 200,000 mechanical soldiers, creating a tense standoff in the desert.

Clearly, the ability users were the elite of the Salvation Alliance—none of them wanted to be the first to compromise. Just as Xiao Yi was preparing to step forward and set an example for the others:

“Don’t fire! We surrender!” Long Tai suddenly shouted, raising his hands over his head as he walked toward the mechanical soldiers. The Zerg along his path parted to let him through. Two mechanical soldiers stepped forward, didn’t give him a hard time, and simply secured his hands with a pair of electronic cuffs before escorting him toward the newly established military base.

“You have 60 seconds to step forward and surrender, or we will open fire immediately! We will not harm those who surrender,” the 200,000 mechanical soldiers shouted in unison.

“That’s an electronic handcuff that can be remotely detonated at any time,” Programmer finally explained, providing some insight—albeit a little too late. “If it explodes, it’s powerful enough to obliterate every living thing within a square meter into dust!”

Before the ability users could fully process their fear or voice protests, the mechanical soldiers shouted again, “50 seconds remaining!”

Seizing the moment, Aliena cried out pitifully, “I surrender too.”

C2001 was clearly furious at his comrades’ capitulation. “You—you can’t just—”

Xiao Yi quickly interrupted, stepping forward as he spoke. “I surrender too.”

Walking toward the mechanical soldiers, he led the hovering Huo Li along, speaking softly to the others, “As long as we stay alive, we’ll always have a chance to turn things around.”

The mechanical soldiers secured handcuffs on the youth and even fitted Huo Li with a matching pair, pulling him along like a kite on a string as they led them into the base.

“40 seconds remaining!” the mechanical soldiers reminded.

With three top-tier saviors surrendering first, those with less resolve began following suit, raising their hands above their heads and stepping out of the encirclement. Within 40 seconds, two-thirds of the ability users had surrendered.

When the countdown ended, the anticipated massacre didn’t occur, leaving the remaining one-third, who had resolved to fight to the death, in stunned silence.

The few hundred ability users who had been ready to make a desperate stand suddenly felt dizzy, their vision darkened, and they collapsed to the ground. Only a handful of taskers, like C2001, who had antidotes on hand, managed to stay conscious—though only briefly. They were quickly overwhelmed by the Zerg and mechanical soldiers, pinned down, and knocked out with blows to the back of the head.

With this, the entire S- and SS-ranked elite forces of the Salvation Alliance, except for Xu Yun Cheng, who escaped, were completely wiped out.

The defeated ability users were either escorted or carried on stretchers into a temporary military base made from the starships.

Thousands of conscious saviors were herded into a large hall inside one of the starships, where the mechanical soldiers systematically confiscated their belongings. Afterward, the taskers were grouped into fives and escorted to the prison cells.

Since Xiao Yi had been one of the first brought into the hall and stood at the back of the room, he was among the last to be searched. Remaining composed, he held onto Huo Li as he telepathically instructed, “Huo Li, find an excuse to have me placed in the same cell as Xiao Mao. I have questions for her. As for you, head to a single-person cell—it’ll make it easier to move around.”

As Xiao Yi finished speaking, it was Huo Li’s row’s turn. The Guardian, categorized as a “special item,” was reluctantly taken away by the mechanical soldiers and placed in a small room near the control room.

After thoroughly searching Xiao Yi, the mechanical soldiers claimed there were no available cells and escorted him to a metal compartment already holding five other people.

For a prison cell, it was relatively clean and orderly. The 4-meter-square metal compartment had two rows of raised metal panels on either side, serving as seats for the inmates. A neat stack of sleeping bags was placed at the far end, clearly indicating preparations for a long-term detention.

Once the soldiers escorted Xiao Yi into the cell, they shut the heavy door behind him. Through the bulletproof glass on the thick metal door, they addressed the six occupants inside: “If you need to use the restroom, please notify the guard. Do not defile the environment of the cell.”

At this, the two men sitting on the outer side of the cell looked as if they’d just swallowed flies. One of them, a burly man with thick eyebrows, let out a loud snort as if he had been greatly insulted.

Xiao Yi felt innocent in all this. Wasn’t it better to have the guards escort them to the ship’s restrooms rather than having to handle such matters inside the cell? Even if the mechanical soldiers had installed a temporary toilet with partitions in the room, it would still have been extremely embarrassing, wouldn’t it?

Seeing that his 'humane' arrangements didn’t make the ability users feel particularly welcomed, Xiao Yi felt a little dejected. He glanced around the cell and spotted a girl with shoulder-length hair sitting quietly on the right. Could this be the legendary 'Xiao Mao' from the infamous 'Cloud Cat' group?

Xiao Yi was taken aback. A girl who could move the cold, unfeeling Xu Yun Cheng had to be someone special. She exuded a gentle aura, almost as if she were meant to be cared for and protected.

Feigning nonchalance, Xiao Yi moved to the far-right corner and sat down next to the girl. Before he could even think of what to say, a familiar voice came from the opposite corner of the cell:

“2d14, you got caught too?” Xiao Mao asked curiously.

Xiao Yi snapped his head up and looked across at the speaker—a girl who appeared to be only about 14 or 15 years old. She had jet-black hair cut neatly to her cheeks and a tattoo on her wrist......

“You—you’re Xiao Mao?”

“Didn’t we talk before? You don’t recognize me?” Xiao Mao’s tone still carried that hint of casual defiance.

The black-haired youth stared at the edgy girl. Her punk-style T-shirt featured a black cat logo, and her wrist bore a cat-shaped tattoo. Her large, distinctive eyes radiated an air of independence.

Okay, so she really was Xiao Mao! But wasn’t Xiao Mao supposed to be a gentle, sweet girl? How could she be…? This version of her was nothing like the image of the timid, well-protected girl by Xu Yun Cheng's side he had envisioned!

The elaborately planned script he had prepared—to move a 'fragile and kind-hearted girl' into helping him soften the 'cold and ruthless overlord'—was now utterly useless.

"You're 2d14, right? Why aren’t you saying anything?" the edgy girl asked, narrowing her eyes.

Xiao Yi coughed lightly, trying to regain his composure. "Ahem, it’s nothing. I just didn’t recognize you earlier."

Not only did I not recognize you, but at my quick first glance, I even mistook you for an exceptionally stylish, non-mainstream boy!

Xiao Mao seemed like she wanted to ask something. As one of the few who knew Xiao Yi’s true capabilities, she was clearly puzzled as to how he could have been captured. However, not knowing if the cell was monitored by mechanical soldiers, she swallowed her questions and pretended not to know him well. She shifted her focus to carefully examining her handcuffs, trying to figure out how to pick the lock.

Only a narrow view of the corridor outside was visible through the small glass window in the metal cell door. Despite being imprisoned in adjacent compartments, the ship’s soundproofing ensured the ability users couldn’t hear anything happening around them.

The six people in the cell exchanged glances, sizing each other up. Except for Xiao Yi and Xiao Mao, the others appeared unfamiliar with one another, even though they were all members of the Salvation Alliance.

The white, chubby man sitting opposite the burly, thick-browed ability user near the door was the first to speak. “My name is Han Zhe. I… uh, I mean, are we just going to sit here and wait?”

Though Han Zhe had a round build, his manner of speaking was refined, suggesting he had some intelligence. He had likely just remembered that revealing his ability in a potentially monitored environment was unwise, hence his hesitation.

The curly-haired man sitting on Xiao Mao’s outer side took over the conversation. “There’s nothing else we can do right now. Since Programmer said our handcuffs are equipped with remote-controlled bombs, they probably have monitoring devices too. Any attempt to act might trigger an explosion. Oh, by the way, I'm Hans."

“So everyone, it’s best to stay calm,” the girl with shoulder-length hair said, suppressing her fear. “We’re all in the same cell. If one of the bombs explodes, it’ll definitely hurt others too!”

The burly, thick-browed man at the door looked like he wanted to sneer again, but he refrained from mocking her outright since the speaker was a young woman. Instead, he shook his head and rolled his eyes.

Seeing that no one seemed to catch his earlier point, the chubby man named Han Zhe spoke up again to steer the conversation back. “Actually, what I meant was… someone escaped. Xu Yun Cheng is still out there, isn’t he? He must have some kind of plan to save us, right?”

After noticing Hans’s disapproving look, Han Zhe quickly added, “And it’s not a secret. Everyone saw Xu Yun Cheng escape earlier—there were so many Zerg watching. The D System must know too.”

His words, while meant to inspire hope, only deepened the air of uncertainty in the room. The others exchanged wary glances, weighing the possibility that the man they had once trusted might indeed be working on a rescue—or perhaps, planning something entirely different.

"You knew there might be surveillance here, so why are you even bringing this up?" Hans snapped, still irritated by Han Zhe's explanation. "Are you trying to guess our only escape plan and hand it over to the D System on a silver platter?"

"Then what do you suggest?" Han Zhe retorted, his temper flaring briefly before he forced his tone to steady. "All 2,000 of us have been captured—we can't just sit around waiting for Xu Yun Chen to rescue us alone! Besides, this whole situation is way too strange. How could the D System possibly join forces with the Zerg? And how did they both suddenly appear in the middle of Earth's system, coming from opposite ends of the galaxy, without anyone noticing?"

“Hah! If the Interstellar Federation hadn’t gone insane and attacked the Main System, these pests wouldn’t have had the chance to take advantage!” the burly man with thick eyebrows sneered. “My name is Zhang Hu. If we can get out of here safely, we will be brothers in the future.”

Han Zhe and the others nodded. “Let’s hope Xu Yun Cheng has some kind of ace up his sleeve that we don’t know about.”

Xiao Yi had to muster all his willpower not to laugh at that statement. Xu Yun Cheng certainly had plenty of aces, but they were all for killing people.

Xiao Mao remained quietly fiddling with her handcuffs. Still, Xiao Yi noticed that every time someone mentioned Xu Yun Cheng, her movements would pause. A flicker of worry would flash across her eyes.

She clearly didn’t know about Xu Yun Cheng’s betrayal yet and was still worrying about his safety. Xiao Yi couldn’t help but feel a slight boost of confidence in his 'gentle girl swaying the demon king' plan.

“Bring four people out.” The cold, robotic voice suddenly rang out in the metal cell, startling everyone inside. With a metallic click, the door unlocked, and a group of mechanical soldiers marched in, pulling four people seated near the door to their feet and escorting them out.

The shoulder-length-haired girl tried to move closer to Xiao Yi for protection, but the mechanical soldiers ignored the black-haired youth entirely and dragged her out from the far corner of the room.

“What are you doing?!” the shoulder-length-haired girl cried out in fear.

“Do not panic,” the cold robotic voice replied once more. “Our master wishes to speak with each ability user to gather some information. Once the investigation is complete, you will be returned.”

Han Zhe, Hans, and the others watched their departing comrades with increasing unease. Could this be the beginning of the D System secretly executing ability users? However, with bombs securely fastened to their wrists, the four had no choice but to leave the cell under the escort of the mechanical soldiers.

The metal door clicked shut, leaving only Xiao Yi and Xiao Mao inside the cell.

“Xiao Mao, did you know that Xu Yun Cheng has betrayed humanity and joined the parasites?” Xiao Yi asked bluntly.

“What?”

“Xu Yun Cheng has defected.”

“That’s impossible!” Xiao Mao’s usually brash tone completely shifted as she let out a sharp cry, her eyes searching Xiao Yi’s face, trying to discern whether he was lying.

“Two months ago, he tried to kill me using his spatial powers,” Xiao Yi stated plainly. “He folded the two sides of a street together, but I managed to escape before I was crushed. You’ve probably heard of the ‘Flying Pigs Incident.’ His spatial domain couldn’t handle more than 10,000 living beings simultaneously.”

Xiao Mao initially tried to interrupt, attempting to defend Xu Yun Cheng, but when she heard the detailed description of his spatial abilities, her confidence wavered. She bit her lower lip tightly, saying nothing.

After several minutes of silence, Xiao Mao regained her composure. Struggling to suppress the tremor in her voice, she said, “But my prophecies never foresaw…” She trailed off, realizing how weak an argument it was and swallowing the rest of her sentence.

“I’ve known him for hundreds of years. He’s always worked hard to save humanity. Every single mission he’s undertaken has been completed flawlessly, and he’s never let personal desires affect him in the slightest!” Xiao Mao said, her words becoming a little incoherent.

“You mean to say that he’s always calm and rational, that he never hesitates when faced with decisions like saving ten lives or nine lives—even if those nine include his family or friends?”

Xiao Mao realized that what she wanted to say was exactly what Xiao Yi had described. Still, hearing it phrased that way, she couldn’t bring herself to nod.

The youth looked silently at the girl with trembling hands adorned by a cat-shaped tattoo. “How can you be sure that Xu Yun Cheng’s almost cold-hearted rationality comes from a love for humanity and not complete indifference toward human life?”

Xiao Mao covered her face with her cuffed hands, on the verge of breaking down, when—

“Beep—”

The entire base’s broadcast system suddenly came to life without warning.

“Taskers of the Salvation Alliance, this is Xu Yun Cheng,” a hurried and anxious voice came through the broadcast. “The mastermind behind your capture is not the D System or the Zerg but 2d…”

A burst of static followed, cutting off the rest of the message. The broadcast fell silent, likely interrupted by the mechanical soldiers in a panic to shut it down.

Still, the incomplete message had already reached the ears of every tasker. Discussions erupted in each cell:

“What did Xu Yun Cheng just say?”

“The mastermind is 2-something…”

“Could it be a system ID? Is one of our own causing trouble?"