They weren't without their suspicions that hidden, powerful space-type espers existed among the populace. But they'd never expected one to stand on the opposite side.
"Another esper wanting to carve out their own dominion, I suppose."
Zhang Hai couldn't help but exhale.
He knew why Zhao Feng had betrayed them.
Not only because he'd stolen the First Sequence ability from that little girl, causing her death — but because he despised the world as it was.
They didn't want to maintain the so-called peace. They wanted the world to burn.
Let the old order collapse. Let the so-called strong rewrite it.
Survival of the fittest. Crown yourself king.
"Transcendence means transcending the mortal."
"They don't want constrained power — they want to do as they please without bearing any obligation. Freedom."
Freedom. What a beautiful word.
But to everyone else, they were nothing but an uncontrollable demon.
No one could predict what they wanted, or when they'd act.
Characters like that can populate fiction by the dozen and no one blinks. But in reality — absolutely not.
"A space-type esper."
Firewing heard this and didn't know what to say.
Different paths don't share the same road.
They believed the strong must be "free" — under no one's control.
Compared to ordinary people, to weak mortals, they alone had the right to control this nation, to control this world.
But if that were truly how things worked, the nation would have collapsed long ago.
Freedom is relative.
There is no such thing as absolute freedom in this world.
Even Bai Xuan had a will of his own he followed and upheld.
Sighing softly, Firewing asked Zhang Hai:
"Can you locate them?"
"Impossible. Their mastery of space is no weaker than mine."
Zhang Hai shook his head.
That was the conservative way of putting it.
When Zhao Feng had vanished just now, all he'd sensed was a spatial fluctuation — nothing else, not the slightest trace.
Either the other esper's space-type talent surpassed his, or their development of spatial abilities went deeper than his.
So finding Zhao Feng was completely out of the question.
"Troublesome."
Firewing pressed his fingers to his temple.
"Let's get out of here first. Ask the higher-ups what they want."
"We can't keep watching this indefinitely."
"That's all we can do."
Zhang Hai nodded, his voice low and heavy.
No one understood the terror of space-type espers better than him — especially one this powerful.
The destructive power was one thing. But if they wanted to leave, there was virtually no stopping them.
If they couldn't find a solution, then even when Zhao Feng reappeared with that esper's help, it would be nearly impossible to capture him.
Firewing and Zhang Hai departed.
Not long after, Zhao Feng, Tigerflame, and Jinhong's figures emerged slowly from the forest.
"Why didn't you help me hold them off?"
Zhao Feng looked at Jinhong, frowning.
"There are many paths to First Sequence power. No need to make an enemy of Huaxia."
Jinhong said coolly.
Their goal was unbiased coexistence with human civilization — not being labeled dangerous like Zhao Feng.
Of course they wouldn't fight Firewing for his sake.
Setting aside that Firewing also had a space-type esper who could leave at any time — Flame Emperor Firewing was a summoning-type esper, the single most skilled at area attacks among First Sequence.
Even if Tigerflame and Zhao Feng fought together, they couldn't defeat the Flame Emperor in a short time.
Zhao Feng turned his gaze to Tigerflame.
"Jinhong's meaning is my meaning."
Tigerflame said calmly.
"Our ideologies have never aligned from the start."
Zhao Feng took a deep breath.
"I don't believe the me of the future will change, and I don't understand why you put faith in an intangible future."
"If our ideologies remain incompatible going forward, I'll leave."
With that, Zhao Feng turned and walked away.
He didn't believe in peace between races.
Not unless they were pets with no threat capability, or beasts locked in a zoo.
But they weren't.
They had intelligence. They had immense power. They were a severe threat.
Would humans willingly coexist peacefully with creatures like that?
Impossible.
Only by wielding overwhelming force to make humans fearful could they achieve so-called peaceful coexistence.
Even between human civilizations and nations, it was the same.
The foundation of any negotiation was that each side had the ability to flip the table — because they feared each other's power, peace was compelled to be maintained.
Jinhong claimed it had seen that his future self would lead them to this, but Zhao Feng didn't believe it.
He didn't think anything could sway his ideology.
He had always believed the strong were entitled to more rights in this world, more freedom!
The strong are free — bound by no one, taking orders from no one.
The only ones who could command the strong were the even stronger — not a bunch of ordinary people.
"Let us, then — wait and see."
Jinhong watched Zhao Feng's departing back, saying quietly.
Then its golden pupils fixed on the human city standing beyond the wilds, its gaze carrying a sliver of longing.
"An era of peace will come."
"I always look forward to it."
"A space-type esper of unknown origin at Zhao Feng's side?"
"At minimum Second Sequence level?"
"Beyond that, a divine beast similar to the Fire Beast Lion?"
"Possessing flame power, and a very high grade at that?"
Liu Suifeng looked at the information Firewing had reported. For a moment, he truly didn't know what to say.
What had Zhao Feng been doing during all the time he'd been gone?
Quietly recruited a powerful space-type esper, and gotten his hands on a divine beast resembling the Fire Beast Lion.
If it were merely recruitment, that would be one thing. But what if he'd been recruited?
The former couldn't happen in such a short time, but the latter — hard to say.
"Zhao Feng's matter must be dealt with."
That much was undeniable.
Whatever the final outcome, at the very least — they could not allow Zhao Feng to run free outside.
His existence was a danger.
But capturing him was genuinely difficult.
Before this, the wilds were occupied by mutant creatures. Mutant plants covered the entire wilds area — even satellites couldn't detect what was happening inside. And Zhao Feng hadn't gone near human cities.
Naturally, they had no way to know his exact location.
But as soon as Zhao Feng approached a human city, they'd know immediately. They'd send Zhang Hai with a team to capture him.
But that was no longer possible.
With a space-type esper's help, even if they arrived in the first instant, Zhao Feng could escape with the other esper.
Unless Zhang Hai developed his spatial abilities to a deeper level — forcibly preventing the other esper from teleporting.
(End of Chapter)
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