Before Chen Jinglong arrived, Li Ming had already aligned their testimonies with Feder.
In their script, Caroline was already seriously injured, the sacrifice of Istanbul had failed, and she sustained another heavy blow, with only a fraction of her strength remaining.
Li Ming delayed time while Feder assisted from the side. It took Tate’s vow to fight to the death before they killed Caroline.
Feder also asked Li Ming about the armor, to which Li Ming told him not to worry, he naturally had a way.
"His Highness Feder is benevolent, and both Luo Chuan and I must thank His Highness. Of course, that includes us as well; if it weren’t for him, we would have been finished long ago,"
Duke Bai Ye intentionally portrayed Li Ming and the others as the ones who were saved.
"Indeed, this time we must thank His Highness Feder," Li Ming immediately stood up, his expression solemn as he spoke.
Feder’s mouth twitched, "No need for politeness, without our cooperation, it would have been quite difficult to survive."
The atmosphere of brotherly respect between the two caused those present to stir slightly; having just experienced a life-and-death crisis, could it be possible that the two had turned from enemies into friends?
"Your Highness, could you please elaborate on the scene at that time? Why did the sacrifice of Istanbul fail?" Chen Jinglong asked about the incident once again.
"I’m not exactly sure of the specifics myself. I only heard Caroline scream as if something incomprehensible happened. By the time the flames receded, she was already covered in blood."
"As for what happened inside, we probably have to ask Li Ming."
Everyone looked at Li Ming, and Duke Bai Ye said, "Chen Jinglong, it seems you are quite disappointed about the failed sacrifice of the Torch."
Chen Jinglong’s expression remained calm: "Whether it failed or not, we need to know the reason. We must ensure there isn’t a next time or discover a way to counteract it for true peace of mind."
Li Ming pondered, "Actually, the sacrifice was probably successful. I felt an overwhelmingly vast presence that must have been the so-called Istanbul."
"It’s just that, it seems to have not accepted me as a sacrifice."
Feder added, "The name Istanbul had never appeared before; the Torch must have been sacrificing for the first time, so something unexpected must have occurred."
Chen Jinglong appeared thoughtful, vaguely sensing that the Torch might have encountered some bizarre incident.
The last sacrifice of Thunder in Hormuz had failed, and now the sacrifice of Istanbul had also failed. Given the level of the Torch, such failures should not have happened.
Ren Cangsong’s subordinate rushed to report, "We’ve cleaned up the laboratory, and all the internal data has been wiped. The items swept from the scene have been listed."
"What exactly was lost will need to be tallied later."
His words drew everyone’s attention, but many people were curious about Wu Yanqing’s laboratory, casting subtle glances its way.
Ren Cangsong briefly looked over the document before tossing the materials onto the table.
"Li Ming, take a look and see what’s missing."
Li Ming hesitated, "I haven’t been to that underground laboratory much; you should ask Brother Luo Chuan instead."
"The Torch chose Wu Yanqing’s underground laboratory for their sacrifice; what were they looking for?" Duke Bai Ye’s voice was neither loud nor soft, just enough for everyone to hear.
"Li Ming?" His words carried a hint of scrutiny.
Li Ming ignored him and instead looked towards Feder, who cursed under his breath and said with a frown, "This concerns Professor Wu Yanqing. It’s better if Your Grace doesn’t ask."
Duke Bai Ye was not embarrassed but simply nodded with a smile.
The experimental data had been deleted by Li Ming, but the Torch had already packed a copy away.
There was no important information inside. The only trouble was the few words Wu Yanqing had said when he first discovered Li Ming, but even those didn’t specifically mention any names.
As for the remaining items, only the "Genetic Homotopy Evolution Theory" was worth Li Ming’s attention.
"Sanger, I want to posthumously award Tate the Fifth Class Purple Rose Medal," Feder said to the middle-aged man behind him.
"No problem, Tate died a heroic death and deserves such honor," Sanger nodded, his face showing no trace of sorrow but rather a hint of excitement.
He was one of Feder’s men and naturally understood what it meant to kill a Firework Master like Caroline with such special abilities under Feder’s leadership.
It was a tremendous feat. Prince Bai Jiang would surely make a big deal out of it, and Feder, whose name was previously unheard of among the young royals, would become the talk of the town.
Meanwhile, in another, more high-end medical room, a vat of green liquid sat in the centre surrounded by numerous screens monitoring data.
Within the green liquid, Luo Chuan, who had been turned into a human stick, suddenly opened his eyes. The intense pain provoked his nerves. The glass vat shattered abruptly as the liquid inside rapidly started boiling, causing the medical staff to cry out in alarm.
"Luo Chuan, it’s me, it’s me..." Yuan Hong shouted from the side, while simultaneously calming the panicked medical staff.
"Yuan Hong?" Luo Chuan blinked in confusion, looking around in bewilderment, "I’m not dead? Not captured by Torch?"
"No, no, you’re still alive," Yuan Hong complained, "This vat of high-solvency vitamin fluid is worth hundreds of thousands and now it’s completely wasted."
Yuan Hong couldn’t hide his distress and had people lift Luo Chuan up and place him back into a new vat.
The itching at the sites of his severed limbs was unstoppable; Luo Chuan knew they were regrowing. Then, he looked around and called out loudly, "Li Ming! Where’s Li Ming?"
"He’s fine too, even better off than you. Right now, he’s being interrogated," Yuan Hong quickly replied.
"He’s okay too..." Luo Chuan finally breathed a sigh of relief but couldn’t help asking, "Who saved us, did the teacher come back?"
"Not exactly..." Yuan Hong signaled the medical staff to leave, then explained in a low voice, "It was Feder..."
Disbelief painted Luo Chuan’s face. Torch was going to sacrifice Li Ming and then destroy the entire Jingnan Star?
Luo Chuan’s throat bobbed, suddenly recalling how Li Ming had threatened Caroline with suicide to secure her release. So that’s how it was...
"Li Ming..." Luo Chuan’s face tensed.
When he heard that it was Tate, one of Feder’s men, who had killed Caroline, he found it even harder to believe.
"But Caroline was a B-grade life form!" Luo Chuan blurted out.
"Yes..." Yuan Hong nodded, "However, they say that the sacrifice failed, causing a backlash and severely diminishing her strength."
"After all, he is the son of Prince Bai Jiang; he does remain unflappable in the face of danger." Yuan Hong couldn’t stop himself from expressing his admiration, while Luo Chuan hesitated to speak.
Having faced Caroline, he knew how terrifying she was; she operated on a completely different level. Even with severe injuries, she shouldn’t have been ended by Tate.
Moreover, when Caroline returned with Li Ming and Feder, there was no sign of Tate. Luo Chuan intuitively sensed that something was off.
Yuan Hong added, "It is said that Li Ming also helped from the sidelines, though most of the credit definitely goes to Feder, at most a few words of encouragement."
"And you haven’t even seen Caroline’s body yet. Half her genes were released and she was killed instantly. They say it was only possible because Tate burned his life’s potential," Yuan Hong continued reflectively, "You didn’t see it, the power, it almost split half the island in two."
Luo Chuan forced a smile. There was definitely something going on here.
"Right, the underground laboratory," he couldn’t help mentioning.
"Ah..." Yuan Hong sighed, "I was just about to tell you, the underground laboratory has been severely damaged. A lot has been lost and the experimental data has been wiped clean."
"We want you to take a look to see specifically what’s missing."
Yuan Hong handed over a document; Luo Chuan wanted to reach for it but resignedly allowed Yuan Hong to flip through it for him.
After a while, he sighed, "Three or four items are missing. How are we going to explain this to the teacher?"
"You can’t blame yourself. What exactly is missing?" Yuan Hong asked.
Luo Chuan’s eyes flashed, "I only saw a few of them in passing, I really don’t know what they specifically are."
Yuan Hong pointed at him and laughed, "Old Luo, you’re still so careful."
Luo Chuan didn’t respond but instead asked, "How many people escaped? Have they been found?"
If items were missing, it was certain that someone had fled.
"We haven’t found them. According to the testimonies of His Highness Feder and Li Ming, indeed some members of the Torch Organization escaped," Yuan Hong said.
"The higher-ups have sealed and reviewed all surveillance footage, but they haven’t found any traces of them. However, the starport has been locked down; they won’t be able to escape," he added.
Luo Chuan frowned slightly. Since the statement came from both Feder and Li Ming, it should be reliable.