The King of Black Fog

"What does 'everything' include?" Li Changzhou, who was not interested in the military, asked.

"All the tracking technologies the Empire possess, the Imperial Mechas have," Beia Triss said, stating the obvious, then gave an example, "For instance, right now, our speed significantly surpasses that of the surrounding objects. The Imperial Mechas only need to detect the anomaly in speed to lock onto us."

"..."

"Should we slow down?" Li Qianxia asked her brother.

Li Changzhou didn't answer; he asked the princess, "Is there a way to avoid these tracking methods?"

"Don't you know?" Beia Triss asked back, puzzled.

"We've lost our memories."

Li Changzhou looked at Yang Qinglan. Could they really come up with such an outrageous excuse?

Beia Triss fell silent for a moment, then continued, "The mechas of the Empress's Knight Order, equipped with the Duchy's most advanced counter-tracking technology, have been tested by the National Guardian Divine Machine 'Knight.' If we stop moving and deploy the counter-surveillance shield, we can avoid all detection, but—"

At this point, the princess's voice became very weak, then she simply stopped speaking altogether.

"But the moment we landed, we got locked on? Stopping means nothing but waiting for death?" Li Changzhou asked.

The princess in the screen nodded.

"We might as well abandon the mechas," Turquoise Pool suddenly spoke up. "According to the map, the Imperial Capital is not far from the border; with the speed of the four of us, we can reach it within three days."

"That won't work," the princess gently shook her head, her blonde hair swaying, "The heat-sensing capabilities of the Imperial Mechas are extremely powerful. The missiles they are equipped with can be precision-guided based on the infrared wavelength, allowing them to accurately hit their targets even if one hides in a crowd."

Yang Qinglan fell into deep thought.

She had planned on using the 'Invisibility Lantern,' but the 'Invisibility Lantern' couldn't conceal a heartbeat, breath, and certainly not the heat of a body.

"Right," she remembered something and looked at Turquoise Pool on the display screen, "can't you neutralize heat weapons?"

"Are you sure 'The Gift' is a heat weapon? Or perhaps, you simply want me to die?" Turquoise Pool replied.

Their conversation had completely disregarded Beia Triss.

Their thoughts were mired deep in a quagmire; the situation of the five of them was like fish in a pond, no, more like a fishbowl—seemingly free, but in reality, everything was false.

"However, signals like infrared, electromagnetic waves, light radiation, sound waves, and the like—I can discard all of those," Turquoise Pool suddenly spoke up leisurely.

"I knew it!" Li Changzhou sported an 'I-thought-as-much' expression. "Anyone afraid of heat weapons would have thought of this."

"You understand me best," Turquoise Pool said with a giggling smile, as if hinting at something.

"The person who understands you best is me, but the one I understand the most is Miss Yang," Li Changzhou would not be fooled.

"Are you sure?" Yang Qinglan wasn't asking Li Changzhou, but Turquoise Pool.

Her meaning was clear—this was a different world, and the other party's methods might be beyond the imagination of Earth.

"The Introduction says it can avoid any detection method that 'utilizes some kind of energy reflected or emitted from the target,'" Turquoise Pool answered as if reading from a manual.

Li Qianxia glanced at Beia Triss. The glamorous princess remained silent, not uttering a word, appearing to accept the reality of the people around her suddenly "changing."

"That's good," Yang Qinglan nodded. "Let's give it a try."

The two mechas suddenly slowed down.

The tailwind they left behind continued far before stopping.

They didn't land directly on the ground, but to buy time, they pretended to use the mecha's counter-surveillance shield to hide.

They opened the map, found a nearby dam, activated the counter-surveillance shield, and sank their mechas into it.

"Xiao Hong, goodbye," Li Qianxia said with reluctance.

The mechas were not only novel but also extremely powerful; a pity that their opponent was the Imperial Mecha.

"Big brother, Xiao Hong is really good. The power furnace is very strong. During sprints and escapes, I only dared to push it to seventy percent of its capacity. If it was you, brother, you could certainly control all of its power and unleash even greater combat strength. Wuuu, Xiao Hong, if I can come back, I will definitely come to see you again."

Li Changzhou was reminded of his grandmother's little white cat from his childhood.

The day the cat died for unknown reasons, Li Qianxia squatted by its grave, saying she would come to see it every day after that, and she did go, for more than half a month—but of course, only for more than half a month.

The Turquoise Pool exhaled a puff of white mist, which curled into a ring around the five of them.

"My ability can support us for about six hours at a time, so we can't take a straight path, we must reach the nearest town to the Empire within six hours and hide among their own people," she said.

"Let's go," Li Changzhou called out to Li Qianxia, who was still saying goodbye, "You carry the princess."

"Okay!" Li Qianxia responded.

"No need, I can walk on my own," Beia Triss said, ripping off the hem of her dress which resembled a gown, revealing her legs in garter stockings.

"Nice determination, but determination alone isn't enough," Li Changzhou gave Li Qianxia a look.

"I… ah!!" Before Beia Triss could finish speaking, she was already being carried on Li Qianxia's back, charging towards the shores of the dam.

After a few leaps, the four of them had left the dam and entered the forest, running towards the nearest town.

After getting used to it, Beia Triss couldn't help but ask, "What exactly is… the deal with you guys?"

What she had meant to ask was—who exactly are you?

It appeared that in this world, there were no people whose constitution surpassed that of ordinary humans, Yang Qinglan silently gathered information.

"That's the secret of the Empress's Knight Order," Li Qianxia said with a giggle.

"I am the princess of the Leistain Duchy, to me, the Empress's Knight Order doesn't have that many secrets!" Beia Triss finally couldn't suppress her frustration.

But in the next instant, she deflated again.

"Never mind," her voice became softer and weaker, "it doesn't matter anymore."

"Can the Imperial Mecha still catch up with us?" Yang Qinglan asked.

"It's certain, but not only for that reason."

The Turquoise Pool smiled faintly, asking, "Don't you want to marry the heir to the Empire?"

Beia Triss didn't speak, her head quietly resting on Li Qianxia's back.

Li Qianxia, wearing only a military-style women's tank top, soon felt tears dropping onto her back, which the princess hurriedly wiped away with her sleeve.

She recalled the days in 1928, living in the slums, waking up before dawn to start work, earning only twenty cents a day, with living conditions that were filthy and foul. Compared to those female workers, the princess seemed laughably fastidious.

But for the princess herself, being used as a bargaining chip in a peace negotiation, marrying the heir of an enemy nation, was also an unbearable life.

Emotional troubles do not diminish with changes in material conditions; the worries that one should worry about still remain, the sadness that one should feel still lingers.

And a princess so elegantly lovely and sensible, anyone would feel a pang of sympathy.

She wanted to help her, and she knew that if she were a bit more headstrong, her brother would grant her request and Yang Qinglan would have no choice but to reluctantly think of a solution.

But precisely because the two of them would agree, she couldn't help her.

Yang Qinglan caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye, turned her head to look, and saw a wisp of black ash like snow, the aftermath of the battlefield having drifted all the way here?

Li Changzhou had no interest in the princess's plight.

He, like Li Qianxia, was compassionate, having even grieved longer than Li Qianxia when the kitten died.

But he was more rational.

Just as he treated the sheep and pigs in the "Honey Pot World," he had decided from the start not to let himself feel any emotion for the people of the past, of other worlds.

"Your Highness," he pretended not to feel the emotions of the other party, "Has there been any record of an Imperial Mecha being destroyed?"

"...Yes."

"Could you tell us about it?"

Beia Triss composed herself.

"Only an Imperial Mecha can defeat an Imperial Mecha, or to say, only a mecha powered by a Cangqiong Fragment just like it can."

After thinking for a moment, Li Changzhou said, "It seems we'll have to steal one."