The Beautiful, Strong, and Tragic Female Lead is Mine [Transmigration Into a Novel] - Chapter 54

Late at night.

A silver moon hangs high in the deep blue sky, its pale light casting a layer of frost over the lush, green mountains.

A nimble figure moves through the forest. Her movements are so light that she leaves no trace, only a faint breeze.

This path, which runs through the center of the forest, is extremely secluded and untouched by others. In fact, it can’t even be called a path—the giant canopies of ancient trees block the view, and it passes through cliffs and steep mountainsides, making it tough for a normal person to get through even with wings.

Tang Zhuoran has lost count of how many trips she’s made. These days, she not only has to keep in touch with Xie Zhitian and Luo Yang in the underground palace, but also needs to gather intelligence inside District 7 and collaborate with people from other districts who have come to help.

Fortunately, Tang Zhuoran’s agility is superb, and running back and forth isn’t strenuous for her, making her the most suitable person for the job. She is very grateful to Xie Zhitian and Luo Yang; with the two of them, she can be in the best position for her, smoothly advancing the entire plan step by step.

After learning about the secret plan in District 7, everyone realized how serious the situation was. Personnel from several surrounding districts who had noticed something was wrong quickly reached a consensus. A high-level warrior had already taken people to report the matter to the Queen, while the rest stayed behind to stop the plan and rescue the trapped personnel.

But this isn’t an easy task. Even working overtime, it would take several days.

First, the process is likely to involve armed conflict, so they need to deploy more people. Without sufficient strength, a rash attack would just be a futile sacrifice. Second, during their investigation, they discovered that many of the indigenous people in District 7’s underground palace were forced into the plan. So they must find a way to get the remote controls for all the cyborgs’ self-destruct systems, or at least prevent anyone from getting close to where the remotes are stored.

The situation in the underground palace is also complex. They need to consider the cyborgs being held hostage and eliminate all the aliens inside. Additionally, everyone discovered that the palace has a self-destruct device. Zhou Quan’s original intention was that after the plan was complete, he would secretly move the successfully modified aliens to another location and then bury all the participants underground. Destroying the self-destruct device is not an easy task.

Fortunately, the people sent by each district are elites. Everyone is working together, and everything is proceeding in an orderly manner. Tang Zhuoran’s small team is mainly responsible for surveillance and intelligence transfer. Afraid of being exposed, she always acts alone and at night whenever she has to enter District 7.

This time, Tang Zhuoran went for the matter of Ning Ximing. She had gone to great lengths to get a list of the cyborgs, but Ning Ximing’s name was not on it. So she specifically went back to verify the accuracy of the list, and after several twists and turns, she figured out why. The other two cyborg warriors and Xia Fufeng stayed within communication range, just in case.

She was eager to return quickly to share her findings with her teammates, so she was moving even faster than usual.

Tang Zhuoran stepped over the protruding rocks on the cliffside and climbed to the top in the blink of an eye. She then hurried into the forest and quickly reached her destination.

The moment she pushed aside the branches covering the cave entrance, Tang Zhuoran sensed something was wrong. She couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but the cave’s aura had subtly changed. It felt different from when she left.

Tang Zhuoran’s heart thumped. She stood at the entrance, gave a soft whistle, and waited for two seconds, but no one responded.

Her eyes darkened, and she tightened her grip on the long blade she held. This blade was her preferred close-combat weapon. The dark golden hilt was simple yet elegant, with smooth, beautiful lines. The blade itself was heavy and sharp, able to cut through any obstacle.

Tang Zhuoran slowly walked into the cave with her blade raised. After turning two corners, she saw a scene of utter chaos.

A dim light from an oil lamp fixed to the wall allowed her to see everything clearly.

The cave was empty. Items were broken, and fragments were scattered all over, as if it had just been ransacked.

In an instant, Tang Zhuoran felt all the blood rush to her head, making it hard for her to breathe.

She forcibly controlled her emotions, knelt, and quickly checked the situation in the cave.

There were signs of a struggle on the ground and walls, but no blood. In a corner, she found a small ball of crumpled metal—Xia Fufeng’s communicator. She must have been afraid that the intruders would discover the contents and activated the communicator’s data protection feature the moment they broke in, destroying the device.

As for Xia Fufeng and her other two companions, they must have been taken away by Zhou Quan’s people. Although they had been careful, the long timeline had inevitably exposed their tracks.

Tang Zhuoran stared at the light on the wall, her eyes stinging. The hysterical emotions in her heart were like a raging storm that could easily swallow her whole.

But if she wanted to save her companions, she didn’t have the luxury of falling apart.

She took a deep breath and quickly left the cave. If Zhou Quan’s people had come to kill them, they could have done so on the spot. But they hadn’t; they had only abducted them. This meant that they wanted to get information from them, so they should be safe for now.

Tang Zhuoran stopped a few hundred meters away. She found a hidden spot and took out her communicator. Although her heart was burning with anxiety and she wanted to rush into the underground palace to see how Xia Fufeng was, she knew that doing so would not only fail to save Xia Fufeng but also destroy the entire plan.

She stood quietly in the darkness for two seconds, then sent a message to Xie Zhitian.

Late at night, the sound of hurried footsteps broke the silence of the rest area.

Xie Zhitian woke up with a start. She opened her eyes and heard a commotion outside the door.

“Get up, everybody, get up!”

The guards were aggressive, unceremoniously waking up everyone in each room.

Everyone was groggy and completely confused about what was happening. Xie Zhitian subconsciously reached for the communicator in her pocket and found an unread message.

The content was: Are the three of them—Xia Fufeng and the others—in the underground palace?

Xie Zhitian instantly became alert. She quickly showed the message to Luo Yang before the guards came over. Luo Yang’s eyes immediately became sharp after reading it.

She said in a low voice, “Xia and the others were caught?”

Xie Zhitian nodded and replied to Tang Zhuoran, “Don’t panic; I’ll contact you later.”

On the other side of the room, Liu Yunna and Zheng Lin also sat up, their eyes bewildered. “What’s going on?”

Before they could finish, a loud broadcast sounded in the rest area. Although it was very clear, it had a slight static, a zzt sound, which suggested the equipment was a bit old.

“The names I am about to read, please step to the railing gate and you will be taken out as a group.”

As names were announced one by one, the atmosphere throughout the area became heavy. Those whose names were called looked panicked, not knowing what fate awaited them; those who weren’t called were also on edge, afraid they would be next.

After a dozen names, Xie Zhitian heard her alias, “Su Qing.”

Immediately followed by Luo Yang’s, “Qiao Yu.”

The two of them exchanged a look, said nothing, and rose to go to the door at the same time.

Behind them, Liu Yunna and Zheng Lin looked worried. “Is this… a bad thing?”

Combining this with Tang Zhuoran’s message, Xie Zhitian could probably guess Zhou Quan’s intention, so she remained calm. She, in turn, comforted the two who were staying behind. “There are so many people. Don’t worry.”

The two thought that made sense. Right now, there weren’t enough people in the underground palace, and those whose names were called hadn’t made any mistakes recently. It was unlikely they would all be called out and killed without a reason.

But what would they be called out for in the middle of the night?

Soon the list was finished. A guard came to the door, took Xie Zhitian and Luo Yang out, and tied their wrists with restraints.

They turned several corners down a long corridor and finally stopped in front of a door.

The guard at the front turned back and said, “When you go in, all of you be honest, or you’ll be dead. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!”

Even though she was mentally prepared, the moment she saw what was inside the door, Xie Zhitian’s heart skipped a beat, and her fingers involuntarily tightened.

Zhou Quan was leaning on a luxurious, comfortable armchair, as if he had been waiting for a while. His right wrist was wrapped in a thick bandage, with a few visible bloodstains seeping through.

In the empty space in front of him were three slender girls, their hands and feet bound with restraints, and their mouths taped. One of them was indeed Xia Fufeng, and the other two Xie Zhitian had also seen—they were Tang Zhuoran’s subordinates.

When the group entered, the three girls looked up, but quickly lowered their heads again, their gazes not lingering on anyone’s face.

Xie Zhitian stood at the back of the crowd, carefully pulling her restraint a little to touch her communicator with her fingers. She sent a message to Tang Zhuoran, “They’re here, safe for now,” and then put the communicator into her space.

She glanced at Xia Fufeng and was slightly relieved to see that although she was tightly bound, there were no wounds on her body.

Zhou Quan ignored the others and stepped forward to roughly rip the tape off the three girls’ mouths. The force was so strong that Xia Fufeng’s whole face was yanked to the side, and she was in so much pain she almost cried out.

He took a list from the table and held it in front of the three girls. “This is a list of everyone who has entered District 7 in the past month, with their registration times. Circle all your accomplices and tell me where they are now.”

No one answered. The air was deathly silent.

Zhou Quan seemed to have expected this. He wasn’t in a hurry and casually put the list aside. “You can think about this question first. Answer the next one.”

He showed a sinister smile and looked up at the crowd. “These are the people who have entered the underground palace in the last few days. Are any of your accomplices among them?”

Xia Fufeng kept her head down, not saying a word.

But the next second, her chin was forcefully lifted, forcing her to look directly at the cyborgs in front of her.

A gleaming blade was held close to her face, making her squint.

“Take a good look, or I’ll kill you first.”

Zhou Quan’s sinister voice sounded in her ear. “Your dear friends won’t just watch you get killed and refuse to step forward, will they?”

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