Cultivation Online

Chapter 2693: Chief of Operations

"So, you’re the troublemaker who claims to have come from another world, huh?"

The black-haired woman muttered as she stared at Yuan’s sleeping face.

"I thought you were insignificant... nothing more than a passing breeze, especially since ’it’ never mentioned anything about you. But that is clearly no longer the case..." she mumbled, her voice tinged with puzzlement.

"Who are you? And what is your purpose for coming to this world?" she questioned aloud, even though she knew Yuan wouldn’t be able to answer them.

While the woman was lost in thought, Yuan’s body suddenly twitched.

"?!"

Although the woman could’ve left at that moment, for some reason, she decided to stay behind.

’Is he having a nightmare?’ she wondered to herself as she watched Yuan’s expression twist in pain.

Yuan’s body continued twitching for several more moments before suddenly going completely still.

The change was so abrupt that, for a split second, the woman thought he had died. Of course, that was not the case.

A moment later, the woman noticed movement in Yuan’s face once again. This time, it was his eyes, and they were slowly beginning to open.

Once again, the woman had the opportunity to leave. Yet, for some reason, her foot remained rooted to the ground, almost as if a mysterious force was making her stay.

Eventually, Yuan’s eyes fully opened.

After waking, he stared silently at the white ceiling for several moments before slowly turning his head to look around. His gaze soon settled on the black-haired woman standing several steps away.

His eyes widened slightly, almost as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

"Yu... Yu Rou?" he muttered in a daze.

The black-haired woman standing before him looked exactly like his sister, Yu Rou.

The woman’s expression immediately changed, and she stared at him warily.

"How... How do you know my name?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"I... just do?" Yuan replied.

The woman—Yu Rou fell silent. This was definitely their first time meeting, and any information on her identity was strictly prohibited. In fact, only the Supreme General knew her true name in the entire military, so any chance of it being exposed was nonexistent.

Then she recalled that Yuan claimed to be from another world.

"Do I also exist in your world? The one you claimed to have come from," she asked, ignoring how ridiculous it sounded.

And to her surprise, Yuan nodded his head.

"What’s your relationship with her?" she asked.

"Does it really matter?" Yuan replied.

"No... I suppose it doesn’t," Yu Rou muttered after a brief moment of thought.

After all, Yuan’s relationship in another world was none of her business, even if that other individual was her, as they were not actually the same person.

After a moment of silence, she asked, "Do you know why you became unconscious?"

"I do... but I also don’t. It’s hard to explain."

"Should we be worried about it? You’re the world’s only hope of defeating the Void Hunter, after all."

"If you’re asking whether or not I will suddenly die, then you don’t have to worry."

"I see."

"Who are you, anyway?" Yuan suddenly asked.

Yu Rou opened her mouth to answer, but hesitation flickered in her eyes, causing her to stop herself. A moment later, however, she spoke.

"I am the Chief of Operations."

"And what is your role in the military?"

"Let’s just say that whenever the Supreme General needs a second opinion, he comes to me."

"So, you’re a pretty big shot, huh? Then can I ask why you’re here? Do you have some business with me?"

"Mostly to satisfy my curiosity," she replied, giving Yuan an answer he hadn’t expected.

"I needed to meet you eventually, so I figured I might do it while everyone’s attention is elsewhere. I’m not really supposed to be out and about like this, after all."

"So you snuck out to meet me, huh?" Yuan smiled.

"Anything else?"

Yu Rou remained silent for a brief moment before asking, "I heard that you want to meet Gaia. Why?"

"I have a feeling that I was brought to this world to meet them," he calmly replied. "Moreover, Gaia also wants me to find them."

Yu Rou raised an eyebrow at such words and asked in a puzzled tone, "Gaia wants you to find them? How do you know this?"

"Because they told me."

"That’s not possible." Yu Rou responded confidently.

"You’re lying."

"Why would I lie?" Yuan shook his head.

"Then how did they tell you?"

"Through Gaia’s System."

"That’s..."

Yu Rou’s expression shifted once again, but this time the change was far more profound, rendering her thoughts completely unreadable.

"What are you going to do once you meet them?" Yu Rou asked a moment later.

Yuan shrugged.

"Who knows? I’ll figure it out once I meet them."

Yu Rou narrowed her eyes and said, "If you want to meet Gaia, you’ll need my approval."

"Oh? And how do I acquire your approval?"

"Defeat the Void Hunter."

"..."

Yuan fell silent.

"And before you get the wrong idea, I’m not trying to use you. In fact, I couldn’t care less whether the Void Hunter is defeated or not," she suddenly said.

"Why is that?" Yuan asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Because anything not mentioned in Gaia’s Prophecy holds no real significance. The Void Hunter was never mentioned, so its existence is ultimately irrelevant in the grand scheme of things."

"So, in your eyes, the Celestial Beings are a greater threat than the Void Hunter? In that case, why don’t you ask me to deal with them instead?"

"If you can’t even handle the Void Hunter, what chance could you possibly have against the Celestial Beings?" Yu Rou sneered disdainfully.

As harsh as her words sounded, Yuan wasn’t offended by them. As a matter of fact, he agreed with her that the Celestial Beings—the Eternals were even more dangerous than the Void Hunter.

Yuan suddenly removed the monitors attached to his arms and chest, then got out of bed.

"Just to confirm, if I defeat the Void Hunter, you’ll let me meet Gaia?"

Yu Rou nodded.

"I was already planning on defeating it, but you just gave me a little more motivation," Yuan said with a smile.

"I’ll defeat it. Give me a few years."

"Take all the time you need."

"I wish I could."

"...Well, good luck."

Without saying anything else, Yu Rou left the room.

Meanwhile, Yuan walked over to a mirror inside the room. The moment he saw his reflection, his eyes widened at the change in his appearance.

’What the hell? Did I accidentally transform?’ Yuan wondered inwardly.

His once-black hair had turned pure white, while his originally brown eyes now shimmered with a myriad of colors, as though each contained an entire universe within. The sight gave him an unnatural—almost otherworldly—appearance.

It wasn’t just his hair and eyes, either. His mature features had somehow become noticeably younger, as though his age itself had regressed. He had gone from looking like a fully grown adult to a young man again, almost as if he had returned to the days when he had only recently begun his journey as a cultivator.

"Did removing the curse cause this change? This is crazy..." Yuan sighed.

With such an otherworldly appearance, Yuan could hardly blame anyone for mistaking him for a Void Specter now.

"And I still have several more treatments to go..."

He wanted to change his appearance back to its original, more human state, but unfortunately, appearance-altering pills did not exist in this world. Even if they did, he had no way of obtaining one at the moment.

With no other choice, Yuan left the room in his current appearance... hospital gown and all.