Skyfire Avenue - Chapter 756

Chapter 756

Chapter 756: Of No Use

“Alright . ” Lan Qing answered .

Hua Li turned his attention to Lan Jue . “A-Jue, come on over when you have the time! Oh, right . I should go there . Am I welcome?”

Lan Jue chuckled . “Of course you’re welcome . If Tyrannosaurus would get there the Monarchs would be together again . ”

Hua Li looked at him with a serious expression . “I’ll be there in a little while . ”

After they hung up, Lan Jue spoke to his brother with a slight note of envy in his voice . “So this is the power of wealth, eh? You think we’ll have a family like this in the future, bro?”

Lan Qing was stoic as ever . “Not many families are as lucky as the Poseidon Group . Usually the more wealth and prestige you have, the more numerous are your enemies . Poseidon Group wouldn’t have invested so much in war machines if humanity wasn’t under threat – it would be taboo . Remember that the Poseidon Group traces its family roots all the way back to the former era . Luck and intelligence got them this far . ”

Lan Jue chuckled again . “No need to school me on principles, I understand . I’m just making conversation . I mean, you’re lazy too am I right? All this hard work your whole life was so you could take it easy later . I remember you saying something like that when you were little . ”

Lan Qing’s face twitched . He stared at his brother . “Stop with the nonsense . Go welcome Hua Li . ”

“Yeah, alright!”

ζ

Poseidon-Class Bastion Ship .

“You’re going over?” Mo Xiao looked at Hua Li, her face scrunched in a scowl .

“Yup . ” He nodded, running a hand through her hair . “Don’t be like this . Didn’t we already talk about it?”

She sniffed . “Just because you’re good to others doesn’t mean they’ll be good to you . The Austin family should be a lesson . They took their fleet, or didn’t you notice? We’re an important family, too, with many secrets to protect .  You are the patriarch, Poseidon . IF something happens to you they’ll be able to coerce whatever they like from us . ”

Hua Li frowned . “You think too much . There is no other group of people I trust more than them . Are you saying you don’t trust Lan Qing and Lan Jue?”

Mo Xiao shook her head . “It’s impossible to know what’s in a person’s heart, especially when it comes to the interests of their people . Are you sure you have your priorities straight? You’ve brought the full force of our family out for everyone to see . The rest of the family already doesn’t agree . Without my help you would have had a million troubles on your hands . Now you want to walk over and put your safety in their hands . I won’t allow it!”

Hua Li’s face stiffened . “Whether or not you allow it doesn’t matter . Don’t think because people call me your wife you have the right to tell me what to do . You said it yourself, I’m Poseidon . Patriarch of this family . You don’t determine what direction this family takes . ”

“You…” Mo Xiao’s breath became ragged .

Hua Li continued . “What’s more, even without me there’s another successor already . This has nothing to do with that . Now I’m going . ” He stomped down the hall, never looking back .

Once his back was turned, tears began to stream down Mo Xiao’s face . She shook with emotion .

“Why? Why do you treat me this way? Am I not good enough for you? Why?!”

ζ

Lan Jue saw Hua Li an hour later . The two walked side by side to Middle Heaven’s recreation area .

“You came just yourself? Your family isn’t worried we’ll detain you?” Lan Jue smirked as he said it .

The entertainer shrugged . “Detain me, then . I’m not opposed to sticking around . Just so long as you treat me right, big guy . ”

Lan Jue scowled . “Come on . Who would want your pompous ass? You’re a waste of food . Now hurry up . ”

Hua Li looked heartbroken . “Don’t you have a heart? We’ve traveled a long way to help you, and this is how you treat me . ” His voice was lilting and pathetic as he trundled down the hallway .

Lan Jue shivered . “What the hell are you doing? A-Li, how can we be sure you aren’t actually a woman dressed as a man? You’re killin’ me here . ”

Hua Li chuckled . If Iwas a woman in man’s dress would you like me? If there was no Hera?”

Lan Jue’s response was no-nonsense . “I’d have to think about it . Maybe . It’s not my fault you’re so pretty . It’d depend on who I met first . Now go on, drop your trousers and let’s make sure you aren’t a chick . ”

“Screw off!” Hua Li hurried a few steps ahead .

It made Lan Jue happy to see his old friend again . It was the first opportunity he’d had to relax since the war began .

“Do you want to see the big guy?” Lan Jue asked .

Hua Li shook his head . “No need, I’m not interested in any of this military nonsense . He can communicate directly with Mo Xiao if he wants, I’m just a figurehead . You? How have you been? You haven’t broken through yet, what a wussy . I never would have thought of the four of us you’d be the last to break through . ”

Lan Jue didn’t let his friend’s teasing trouble him . “You may have broken through earlier, but that’s like teats on a breastplate . ”

“What’s that mean?” Hua Li asked .

Lan Jue regarded his friend disdainfully . “You don’t know? It means you’re damn useless . ”

Hua Li gaped . “Cursing? That’s not like you!”

Hua Li chuckled . “Humans are multi-faceted creatures . You think I have time to just lay around like you? I’m busy from the moment I wake up . Besides, I’m going to break through soon . What I meant to say was that even though I’m not there yet you still couldn’t beat me in a fight . ”

Hua Li huffed . “That’s because I was holding back . I didn

T use the full power of my astrum, you see . I was afraid to hurt you . ”

Lan Jue changed the subject . “Are you staying here or going back?”

He thought for a moment before answering . “If I only had me to look after I’d be disinclined to go back and I’d hang out with you gentlemen . That’d be comfortable . But, if I don’t go back Mo Xiao would have a meltdown . The family would probably read too much into it as well . I’m just here to visit, I’ll go back in a little while . ”

Lan Jue nodded . “That’s good, we’re living in special times . Your family just wants to make sure things are stable . ”

“So what about your plans?” He asked . “You think we have a chance against these things?”

Lan Jue shook his head . “I don’t know . Frankly speaking even now we hardly know anything about our enemy . We don’t know what they’re really capable of . But according to our best guess…” Lan Jue went on to explain everything they’d determined about the aliens so far, including what they’d learned from the Pharmacist’s husband . Then he explained their battle plans .

They couldn’t speak openly over the communicator before . The aliens were abnormally well-informed, but still humans had no inkling as to how they learned so much . As far as they’d been able to tell the aliens somehow were monitoring and intercepting human communications .

This was likely to be mankind’s last stand . Because of the concerns the information would be leaked, Lan Jue had carefully omitted some of the most important details of their plan in earlier discussions . Part of the reason he invited Hua Li here was to fill him in .

As he listened, Poseidon Group’s patriarch nodded in understanding . He spoke thoughtfully . “It seems it’s clear by this point . You’re going in for another scout mission?”

Lan Jue nodded . “We don’t even know what it would look like when these planets begin evolving, but we need to go in and learn what we can . When we know the situation we can move ahead with our plans . The more we know the better our chances . It hinges on whether or not the aliens can fight back . ”

Hua Li spoke with decisiveness . “I’ll go with you . How can you leave me out of such a good time?”

But Lan Jue quickly waved him off . “No way . You are the predecessor of the Poseidon line . How can I knowingly put you in danger? And this is going to be very dangerous . You don’t know how strong these things are – more powerful than Paragons who have become one with the Infinite . If it weren’t for universal protogenia and the restrictions it brought, their full strength would have easily turned our species to ash and bone . If you go it’ll send Poseidon Group into disarray, and that’d affect our whole plan . ”

Hua Li pressed him . “What about you? If you go it won’t screw up the plan?”

Lan Jue smirked . “Don’t worry . First of all, no one is more familiar with the monsters than I am . I’ve been a part of every successful intelligence mission and have plenty of experience against them . Secondly, I’m bringing a whole team of Paragons . Succeed or fail our chances of survival are high . Relax, nothing’s going to happen . We’ll run from whatever we can’t kill . But you’re staying put . I don’t want to have to be the one o face Mo Xiao . ”

Hua Li’s lips pressed tight . No, I’m not going to ‘relax’ . We’re brothers, and brothers share joys and woes . Poseidon Group will be fine without me, they have Mo Xiao . We have a child, and he will be the next Poseidon . Even if something happens to me the family will go on . ”

Hua Li blinked . “You… you have a child?”

Hua Li was quick to interject . “Don’t misunderstand, it wasn’t like that . It was technological . Right now it’s a fetus, but after some genetic engineering and time it will be born . Mo Xiao and I don’t have those kinds of feelings for each other . How could we have kids the traditional way?”

“Hua Li,” Lan Jue chastised . “This is no good . Mo Xiao treats you very well, we all see it . You two are married and you should act like it, at least try to love her . If there’s someone else you love then make a decision . Short, sharp pains are better than long dull ones . Don’t string this girl along . ”