Chapter 145: Ji Laili, You Deserve to Die

Even after the video ended and the screen went dark, the people in the room had yet to recover. They stood frozen in place, their minds in turmoil.

All the advantages brought by the laboratory seemed to vanish in an instant, pulling them back to the time when they had been suppressed by the Federation for thirty years, unable to lift their heads.

It was Garna who finally broke the heavy silence, letting out a cold snort. “We underestimated him.”

Stealing the weapons, escaping successfully, and even leaving behind words to shake their morale—Ji Laili…

“How arrogant.”

“For thirty years, Nagano Star belonged to the Federation. From now on, it belongs to the Empire—and it always will.”

Garna’s disdainful words finally shattered the oppressive silence, and the Alpha soldiers echoed him with loud voices.

“Yes! Lord Garna is right! Nagano Star belongs to the Empire!”

“That guy is as arrogant as ever. How did I not notice before? Next time I see him, since Ji Laili used to call me ‘brother,’ I’ll at least leave his body intact.”

“Leave his corpse intact? What a joke! I’m his brother too!”

“Who isn’t? Who isn’t?! Who isn’t?! I am too! I’ll take his head myself!”

“You? He dared to make a fool of me—I want his life!”

The once-loyal Alpha warriors were now furious, their admiration for Ji Laili turning into seething hatred.

Another former admirer also sneered.

“And what are you? He dared to deceive me—I won’t just take his life; I’ll desecrate his corpse!”

“What are you all arguing about? What’s the point of fighting? Do you think you have it worse than me? I was the closest to him! I even suspected Lance of framing him just now! No matter what, his life should be mine to take!”

The bold Alpha who made that declaration suddenly felt a chill run down his spine as he met Lance’s deadly gaze.

“Huh?”

It wasn’t just him—all the Alphas who had just sworn to kill Ji Laili suddenly felt a foreboding chill.

Like they were being watched by something truly terrifying.

Realizing the danger, the Alpha quickly backtracked, “…Lord Lance, we were just joking. Ji Laili should be killed by you.”

Garna, who had been somewhat satisfied with their renewed morale, felt a throbbing vein on his forehead as their words grew more absurd. He barely held back his rage when they spoke of killing Ji Laili, but as they continued, his patience completely snapped.

Secondhand rage crushed the entire group of Imperial Alphas as Garna roared in fury, “Idiots, shut up!!!”

Lauri, startled back to his senses, realized his duty and quickly stepped up to interpret for Garna.

“How dare you put Lord Garna in such a position?! Even Lance has no right to kill… kill Ji Laili!”

He paused slightly before loudly declaring, “It should be Lord Garna who kills him! Why are you all fighting over it?!”

His words silenced the crowd, and Lauri eagerly looked at Garna, hoping to earn some favor and atone for his earlier mistakes.

But what he saw instead was Garna’s deathly glare, his killing intent almost tangible.

“You shut up too!”

“Huh?” Lauri was bewildered.

Did I say something wrong?

Garna took a deep breath, afraid he might actually kill Lauri and be forced to inherit his twelve-hour workload. Suppressing his rage, he stormed out of the room.

Only after stepping out did Garna realize—he had led everyone into his private quarters. As an Alpha with a strong territorial instinct, he normally wouldn’t allow outsiders inside.

If not for the sheer fury of discovering that a carefully cultivated talent had been a spy, he wouldn’t have called them in at all.

His expression darkened as he prepared to kick everyone out, but just then, he received a communication. Seeing the name on the screen, his eyes narrowed in contempt.

Casually answering the call, Garna’s cold gaze swept over the man on the blue-tinted screen—a refined and gentle-looking individual with a warm smile. But Garna made no effort to hide his distaste.

“This better be important.”

“Garna, long time no see. Looks like you still hate me.”

Philo smiled, but his words carried an edge of sharpness. “What a shame. Whether you like it or not, our superiors still assigned you to contact me back then.”

“You want to keep that mouth of yours? I can help—by letting you experience the joy of being mute, using hot oil.”

Garna’s expression was cold, his gaze dangerous.

But Philo remained unfazed, smiling faintly. “Is that so? I hope you get the chance. But before that, shouldn’t you be cleaning up your own mess?”

His smile faded, his expression becoming blank. “Intercepting those test subjects—because of you, I was completely exposed.”

Philo wasn’t truly angry about being exposed. That was inevitable.

From the moment he chose to participate in this experiment and became one of its beneficiaries, he had aligned himself with the Empire.

What truly enraged him was that some of the test subjects had escaped. Garna’s mistakes had created a problem, but Philo was the one left cleaning up the mess.

Suppressing his killing intent, Philo stared at Garna expressionlessly.

“I’ve already sent you some classified files from the Federation’s military academy. Also, there’s a list of undercover agents. These incidents shouldn’t happen again.”

He emphasized two names: “Shen Yu, Zhai Yifei.”

“The first one—you should know his importance. Once you find him, hand him over to me.”

Philo’s tone left no room for refusal.

“As for the second one.”

“Zhai Yifei, the son of General Zhai. Keep him alive when you find him.”

Philo smiled slightly.

“I wonder… what sacrifices General Zhai would be willing to make to get his grandson back?”

Philo played his part, issuing orders with an air of superiority. Meanwhile, Garna only felt more annoyed, his eyes full of killing intent.

“You’re teaching me how to do my job?”

“This is your so-called ‘list’? What use is it now?”

Thinking it might be something useful for the base, Garna scoffed coldly. “The test subjects weren’t captured, we caught one undercover agent, and Ji Laili escaped with a self-detonation trick. As for General Zhai’s grandson, I haven’t even seen his face.”

“Not to mention the Shen Yu you mentioned before.”

“The only thing your infiltrator accomplished was causing a mess.”

Just thinking about Eugene’s face soured Garna’s mood further, his gaze turning icy.

That idiot Alpha—since things had come to this, he had no remaining value.

Might as well kill him and be done with it.