Starforce Warriors-Chapter 1006: I Am Back

“Dad, Mom, you don’t need to worry,” Li Xiaofei said. “I’ve already found Kongxue and Anyi. They’re both safe now.”

The moment those words left his mouth, Si Xingyun and Kong Xue let out a long breath of relief. Right now, they were desperate to know the real situation of their daughter and granddaughter. After listening to Li Xiaofei’s account, the two gradually calmed down.

“They’re really alright?”

“Can we go see them?”

Both of them looked at Li Xiaofei with hopeful eyes. But Li Xiaofei shook his head. The world within the Evolution Temple was filled with danger. Setting aside the terrifying monsters that lurked within, Si Xingyun and Kong Xue could not even withstand the harsh natural environment.

Still, Li Xiaofei had made some preparations. He pulled out a video he had prepared in advance. It contained footage of Si Kongxue and Li Anyi. When their daughter and granddaughter appeared on the screen, Si Xingyun and Kong Xue couldn’t hold back their tears. They wept like rain. It had been over a decade.

To many powerful martial cultivators, a span of ten years might be no more than the blink of an eye during closed-door cultivation. But to parents who had been longing and waiting in anguish, it had felt as long as dozens of eras. Only after a long while did they gradually regain their composure.

“Dad, Mom, how are things in the city now?” Li Xiaofei asked.

He had just returned to Chongque City and wanted to get a clearer picture of the current situation.

Si Xingyun said, “The current City Lord, Li Junjie, has firmly secured his position. He’s surrounded by capable aides, governs with decisive authority, and enforces orders without compromise. Compared to the past, Chongque City has undergone a complete transformation.”

Both of them grew emotional as they spoke on the subject. In the past, Chongque City had been a chaotic mix of different elements. Though official control was considerable, the city also teemed with other powers such as gangs, merchant guilds, and even influence from Eden.

But now, everything had changed. Gangs and merchant guilds were the first to be purged in Li Junjie’s rise to power as the new City Lord. They had been completely dismantled. All power within the city had been reclaimed. The gangs had become the primary targets of the City Lord’s Office. Every single one was disbanded.

Those who resisted were either struck down with overwhelming force or arrested and sent to serve on the front lines of the Star Battlefield.

In contrast, the dissolution of the merchant guilds was handled with more restraint. The new entirely militarized, administrative guild system had greatly enhanced the operational efficiency of Chongque City, allowing it to fulfill its original purpose and functions to the fullest.

As a result, crime rates had plummeted and internal strife had completely vanished. The long-standing gray-zone faction of Eden had suffered a devastating blow. Eden’s activity had all but disappeared. Even the most seasoned Eden spies had no choice but to lay low and remain dormant.

With this newfound order, Chongque City was finally able to send a steady stream of soldiers to the Star Battlefield. Over the past decade, billions of cosmic-level lifeforms had been dispatched to the front lines, greatly relieving the manpower shortages faced there. Li Junjie and his City Lord’s Office team had also been commended for their efforts.

“Oh right, I heard people say that the City Lord’s Office is preparing to pause the evolution program and temporarily suspend troop deployment to the front,” Si Xingyun added at the end, revealing this bit of news.

A ripple stirred in Li Xiaofei’s heart, Suspending troop deployment? Could something have gone wrong?

Kong Xue said, “There have been rumors circulating in the city lately. They say that the situation on the Star Battlefield has reversed. Our forces are winning battle after battle, and there’s no longer a shortage of manpower. As a result, some are saying that Chongque City may no longer be necessary and might be shut down.”

What? Is that really happening?

He was aware of the victories on the Star Battlefield. The key factor was the restoration of the Heavenly Court and the resurrection of many once-fallen top-tier powerhouses. Figures like Liu Shaji were no longer rare, and as time went on, these resurrected experts not only regained their peak cultivation but, having died once, often gained new insights which allowed them to reach even higher realms.

New Immortal Emperors were on the verge of emerging from the human race. Once that trend took hold, the collapse of the Reapers would be inevitable and swift.

In that case, with the Heavenly Court's return, the original function of Chongque City might truly no longer be necessary. However, in Li Xiaofei’s eyes, this didn’t mean the city should be dissolved outright.

Li Junjie’s decision to pause the one hundred thousand Base Planets plan closely aligned with his own thoughts. The base planets had sacrificed immensely for the Star Battlefield for countless years.

Countless lives had been lost in the pursuit of accelerated evolution. Countless base planets had been shattered and destroyed. If the human race had truly gained a firm foothold at the front, then it was time to ease the pace of forced evolution across the base planets, especially artificially accelerated evolution, which should be stopped entirely. Li Xiaofei hadn’t expected Li Junjie to be someone of such great wisdom.

Si Xingyun added, “There are also other rumors in the city. Now that the situation on the Star Battlefield front has stabilized, some people have started developing new intentions. In particular, certain high-ranking military officials, those who had close ties with the former gangs of Chongque City, are now deeply dissatisfied with the current City Lord’s administration. Since the war front is no longer an urgent matter, they’re looking to settle old scores.”

Li Xiaofei was momentarily stunned when he heard those words. Then a flicker of anger rose in his heart. The Reapers hadn’t even been fully eradicated. The human race had yet to gain absolute superiority. Things had only just begun to turn in their favor, and people were already trying to reap the rewards and settle old scores?

Much had been said about how the Reaper nobles had fallen into decadence due to the 'humanization' movement, causing internal corruption and loss of purity. But now, it seemed that the human race was no different. It was far from being united.

Still, Li Xiaofei wasn’t surprised. Where there were people, there would be conflict and scheming. Not everyone acted with selflessness and honor. Nevertheless, he had no intention of getting involved in those matters for the time being.

This time, he had returned with a different purpose. He wanted to go back to Earth and see it once more. He wanted to check if his old friends were still doing well. Deep down, he knew that this might be his last chance.

Once he returned to the vast starry universe, he would, like Li Mu, Lin Beichen, and the others, set foot on the final battlefield.

Whether the human race could truly defeat the Reapers, whether they could maintain lasting glory, whether they could pierce through the mist of the Land of Annihilation, and whether they could triumph over that existence even the Ancestor of Wisdom feared... The answer might be revealed in this very era.

“These things... let’s not tell Anxin just yet,” Kong Xue said suddenly. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Li Xiaofei nodded. He had indeed not planned to tell Li Anxin about Si Kongxue and Li Anyi. Li Anxin was living a peaceful and joyful life now. When the day came that she could meet her mother and sister in person, it would be time enough to tell her everything.

Not long after, Li Xiaofei left Chongque City. He returned to Earth. Not Earth No. 88. But the true Earth, the one where he had been born and raised. He had come home once more.