Chapter 247 - 246: Infighting

Chapter 247: Chapter 246: Infighting

Ye Zheng kept her head down, her right claw digging into the floor. She swallowed her pride and answered, "That’s right. Give me another shot of the sedative."

Feng Ling’s voice shot up. "Are you kidding me?! You finish one shot and immediately want another! I got this from Su Yuqing for emergencies! It’s not candy for you to snack on!"

Ye Zheng was seething with rage.

’I’m an Inspector Captain, for crying out loud. Even my direct superior, Mei Junyu, wouldn’t dare speak to me with that kind of attitude.’

She suppressed her fury, raised her head, and stared into Feng Ling’s eyes. "Then what do you think I should do? Bring this Squirrel along on the mission with you? Endure its provocations, suppress my emotions, and pretend I’m a normal person without a 48% Pollution Value? And then, when we run into danger, I go on a rampage, lose complete control, and turn into a mindless monster, causing the mission to fail and maybe even getting the team killed or injured! Is that what you want to see?!"

Feng Ling’s eyes went wide. "What am I, dead? If you were about to lose control, you don’t think I’d stop you?!"

"And how would you stop me?!" Ye Zheng raged. "You’re just used to doing whatever you please without a thought for the consequences! Your idea of ’stopping me’ is just using Spiritual Suppression to hold me down for a moment. If we really fought, as long as you didn’t shift into your second form, you wouldn’t necessarily be my match!"

Feng Ling let out a derisive laugh. "Ha! I’m not your match? It looks to me like that Pollution Value isn’t just messing with your emotions—it’s messing with your head! Why don’t you try to remember who pulled you out of Daling Forest? Who helped you get rid of a Card? And who was it that had to carry you all over the place after you unleashed your White Flame?!"

Her voice grew louder with each question, until the last one was practically a roar.

Huangfu Miaomiao, Li Qing, and Xu Yiming didn’t dare make a sound. They shrank to the side, trying to make themselves invisible. They wanted to break up the fight but didn’t have the courage to open their mouths.

Across from them, Ye Zheng shot to her feet, her own presence just as imposing. "Even if you helped me, that doesn’t mean I have to follow your every order!"

"Loser! If you won’t listen to me, are you going to listen to this squirrel?!" Feng Ling viciously stomped on the Squirrel Illusion on the floor. "One stupid squirrel and you turn into this pathetic coward. Useless! A burden! Wasting my time...!"

Every word she spat was like a dagger to Ye Zheng’s ears.

Ye Zheng finally snapped, roaring, "Enough! Why don’t you get it?! I decided to take the sedative because I’m afraid of being a burden to the team! Wouldn’t you be better off without a ticking time bomb like me around?! HUH?!"

Feng Ling, thoroughly exasperated, yelled back, "Better my ass! After a shot of sedative, you’re practically a zombie! I’m taking you into the Maze to find the Divine Statue so you can keep lowering your Pollution Value! How is a zombie supposed to do that? You tell me! How?!"

Removing a Card required the person themselves to do it. Otherwise, it would be a repeat of last time, where she and Li Qing had to work together just to guide Ye Zheng’s fingers to finish the process.

’For Feng Ling, it was just too much damn trouble, like spoon-feeding a helpless child.’

’Why should she have to? She wasn’t Ye Zheng’s nanny.’

So Feng Ling was furious. She felt she had already gone above and beyond, done everything she possibly could, and yet Ye Zheng was still waiting to be spoon-fed. The ingratitude was infuriating.

Ye Zheng was just as furious. ’She felt that Feng Ling, this reckless loose cannon, was completely off the rails. She acted without thinking, had no plan, no strategy, no sense of the big picture, and no foresight whatsoever. To actually attempt to explore the Maze with a Pollution Body who could snap at any second—the plan was an absolute disaster!’

But Feng Ling held nothing back, her words dripping with sarcasm. "Still afraid of being a burden to the team? That’s rich. You’re already in this state. What more do you have to lose?"

"Make yourself clear!" Ye Zheng hissed through clenched teeth. "What do you mean, ’in this state’? What state?!"

The blazing fury in the air instantly dropped to a freezing point. The tension was a string pulled taut, ready to snap at any moment.

Li Qing, Huangfu Miaomiao, and Xu Yiming all watched Feng Ling, their hearts in their throats. ’Don’t say it, don’t say it...’ they pleaded internally. ’Don’t provoke her any further...’

Feng Ling looked at Ye Zheng, genuinely confused. "You still don’t get it? You’ve already lost. You lost so badly you lost everything. You have nothing left. So I really don’t understand. Since you’re already at rock bottom, what’s there left to fear?"

A dead silence fell over the room.

No one spoke. They barely even breathed.

Ye Zheng’s blood-red eyes were locked on Feng Ling.

After what felt like an eternity, a single tear escaped and rolled down her cheek.

The tear traced a path down her pale cheek, hesitated for a moment at her jaw, then fell into the patch of mutated, grayish-brown fur on her neck and shoulder, vanishing without a trace.

She stared at Feng Ling and said slowly, "Say that again."

Feng Ling met her gaze without flinching. "Whether you accept it or not, you’re a loser. If you don’t want to drag me down with you, then stop asking me for sedatives."

’At that moment, Ye Zheng felt as if Feng Ling had stomped her pride into the mud and then ground it under her heel for good measure.’

She felt an indescribable humiliation. And rage.

But she couldn’t refute it.

She had lost.

She was a loser.

’She had already lost the right to face the Alien Species head-on. She could only serve as a pawn to help Feng Ling win this war. Other than that, what path was left for her?’

"Don’t think you’ll always be the one who wins," Ye Zheng’s tone was ice-cold.

Feng Ling was unbelievably arrogant, sneering, "I’m not the one who’s genetically contaminated. Even if I die at the hands of an Alien Species one day, I’ll still have won against you."

Ye Zheng flew into a rage. Unable to take it anymore, she lunged at Feng Ling, roaring, "Then let’s see you try and win against me!!!"

CRASH!—

The two of them slammed hard against the metal shelving!

Feng Ling shot a kick up, launching Ye Zheng off of her!

The force sent Ye Zheng crashing through the glass door! Her wings instantly swept forward to block the flying shards as she slammed onto the pavement outside.

Feng Ling scrambled to her feet, cursing, "Going berserk again, are we?! Fine by me! It’s better than you acting half-dead all the time!"

She drew several Bone Blades and Teeth and Claws, then bolted out the door!

The three inside were dumbfounded, watching wide-eyed as the two started brawling outside.

Li Qing finally couldn’t take it anymore. Even at the risk of becoming collateral damage, he had to run to the doorway and yell, "You two, stop it! Now is not the time to be fighting!"

In just a few seconds, both Feng Ling and Ye Zheng had drawn blood.

Xu Yiming was completely stunned. He couldn’t help but think, ’Compared to these two, who start brawling at the drop of a hat, the infighting among the Alien Species seems downright peaceful.’

Ye Zheng’s right claw pierced Feng Ling’s arm.

Feng Ling’s Teeth and Claws sank into Ye Zheng’s shoulders.

The pressure from the Blazing Angel was world-shaking.

The menace of The Queen Mother of the West was soul-crushing.

Li Qing and the others trembled under the clash of the two spiritual powers, nearly scared out of their minds.

Just then, the familiar sound of drums and music drifted from the distance.