Author: 易修罗 / Yi Xiu Luo

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 91

Three people were entangled here, but the people around them acted as if nothing had happened. In this space, there was no existence of Ying Feng and, naturally, no Ling Xiao. Even the Ling Xing in front of them was an illusion.

But in illusions, there was reality. A sharp pain hit, and Ying Feng remembered he was wounded. The pain grew worse. His right arm felt as if it weighed a ton, and he could barely muster any strength in his hand.

His vision began to blur, and white fog filled his sight. He couldn’t distinguish who was talking to him; all he could see was a moving mouth. The voice emerged softly from the other person, whispering in his ear yet seemingly from miles away.

“Why don’t you let go? You’re so badly hurt. Holding on will only cause more pain. Take a rest.”

This voice was like a bewitching spell. The little strength Ying Feng had left slowly faded, the warmth in his right hand palm inching away. This choice, with no objections allowed, would soon yield a result.

A massive explosion shattered the sky. Waves of heat and flames consumed everything. The illusionary scene finally turned into a sea of fire.

……

“Commander, the owner of the ship Tai Yin was piloting, the Eagle, has been identified. It belongs to a man named An Chen.”

Long Yin took the tablet from his subordinate. “Who is he?”

“He is the third-generation developer of Tianyuan Network. Despite his considerable accomplishments in his career, he had a short lifespan. He was reincarnated 106 years into adulthood, which was 19 years ago. His child had an even shorter life, dying just two years into adulthood.”

“If both of them are dead, why hasn’t the inheritance been reclaimed?”

“An Chen was a computer genius. During our investigation, we found that all his personal property data had been tampered with. Besides the Eagle, he left a significant inheritance, its whereabouts unknown. The inheritance recovery center can’t find any record of him.”

“You don’t have to guess. Tai Yin must have had expenses over the years. Just maintaining the Eagle would cost a fortune every year. It’s unknown why An Chen would leave his private assets to Tai Yin… Forget it.” He returned the tablet to his subordinate. “Any news of Ying Feng?”

“Commander Fu Yao and Deputy Commander Nie Yun have split up to pursue the Huoxiu Star Independent Army’s ships. There are four enemy ships, and three have been spotted. We will report further if there’s any news.”

Long Yin nodded. “Prepare the aircraft. I’m going to the Genetic Center.”

At the Tianxiu Genetic Research Center, Heng He was anxiously waiting. The news of extraterrestrial invaders kidnapping hostages had spread everywhere. When his eyes met Long Yin’s, Heng He knew he couldn’t hide any longer.

“Speak.” Long Yin sat down, waiting for Heng He’s explanation.

Heng He was at a loss for words, so Long Yin reminded him, “If I remember correctly, in your induction report, you specifically mentioned that your most admired person was Tai Yin, right?”

“Yes… That was decades ago… He was the chief of the base then…”

“So please explain to me how a secret plan, unknown to most of the military high command, and a fugitive, knew precisely the time and route of Ling Xiao’s operations?”

Heng He’s eyes darted. He was a scientist dedicated to research and unfamiliar with schemes. Even now, he couldn’t believe he’d been used by his idol.

“I… actually…”

He stuttered out the past events, and Long Yin’s expression grew grimmer.

“So you’re saying the plan you claimed as your own discovery was actually from Tai Yin’s hands?”

Heng He hung his head in shame and nodded.

“So you’ve been in touch with him all this time. He’s the real puppet master behind this plan, and you’re just his puppet. He even used the military, right?”

“Tai Yin would sometimes inquire about the progress of the experiment. I would send him some data reports. If there were issues, he would find them. I thought it was just academic communication…”

“Do you know what crime you’ve committed?”

Heng He whispered, “Espionage.”

“Because of your failure to report, two people almost died, and one is still missing, with his fate unknown. If the enemy takes him and clones our genes, you will have committed treason.”

Heng He bit his lip, full of regret. Not because he was exposed and would face punishment, but because he had implicated Ling Xiao and Ying Feng and possibly threatened the entire nation. As the primary cause of this disaster, he was deeply responsible.

Long Yin’s communicator rang, with news coming in from the front lines.

“Commander Fu Yao has locked onto all four enemy ships and is currently searching for the location of the hostages. The enemy has been constantly avoiding direct confrontation with us and is always looking for an opportunity to escape. It’s highly likely they will use spatial jump to warp randomly.”

Long Yin fell silent for a moment. “Issue the order… If we can save them, we do. If we can’t…”

“Then obliterate them all.”

The onlooking Heng He was greatly shocked. His pale lips trembled, but in the end, he didn’t make a sound.

Fu Yao received instructions from Long Yin without showing a hint of surprise. His expression remained unchanged as he stared ahead.

The same order reached Nie Yun’s ship. A worried subordinate officer said, “I heard the hostage is a student highly regarded by the Major General and someone he was grooming as a potential successor…”

“You’re right,” Nie Yun interrupted calmly. “But we are the people of Tianxiu.”

“Target two has been checked. No signs of any souls present.”

“Targets three and four checked. No soul detection.”

“Eliminate them.”

With Fu Yao’s brief command, three white flashes appeared in the distance, and the three enemy ships were instantly destroyed.

“It seems the first ship is their flagship. These three ships were covering the main ship’s retreat. The hostages are likely aboard.”

“The first ship has anti-jamming systems; we can’t scan inside.”

“Activate the entwining beams. Nie Yun, lead a team for a forceful entry.”

Upon his command, the hatch of the neighboring ship opened. A well-trained team of soldiers flew out, one after another, in a well-coordinated manner. These soldiers, who could freely move in space, skillfully dodged the enemy’s light bullet fire, surrounded the target enemy ship, and prepared to breach the ship. This was the Tianxiu people’s biggest advantage in space combat; they could bypass the solid exterior of a ship and directly penetrate its core. Under Nie Yun’s lead, the hatch was quickly destroyed. As he was the first to enter, Fu Yao, who had been watching closely, felt an alarm bell ringing in his mind due to his years of combat experience.

“Get down!”

With a gesture, he summoned his Qizi from space back to his side. Almost simultaneously, a massive explosion erupted inside the enemy’s battleship. The shockwave from the explosion sent everyone nearby flying, and a blinding white light illuminated space. Fu Yao’s ship was also affected, violently shaking. Everyone experienced dropped to the ground, trying to lower their center of gravity as much as possible.

The explosion lasted only a brief moment. The limited oxygen quickly ran out, and the debris from the explosion spread out at high speeds in all directions. Some collided with the hull of the ship, changing their trajectory. Soon, all that was left was the partially burnt hull of the ship.

Once the shaking stopped, Fu Yao urgently got up, looking for any signs among the debris.

“Did any souls ascend? Did anyone see any souls?”

Everyone shook their heads in disbelief. The situation had been so sudden and chaotic that no one noticed.

“Why would they suddenly self-destruct? Weren’t they aiming to kidnap hostages?”

Nie Yun, having just escaped death, scanned the remains of the ship and analyzed. “They might not have self-destructed but had a timed explosive placed. Someone never wanted them to succeed from the start…”

Several possibilities flashed through Fu Yao’s mind, and he slammed his fists onto the control panel, growling two words, “Tai Yin!”

A deathly silence filled the ship cabin, interrupted only by the ticking of the instruments. No one made a sound.

After a long while, Fu Yao stood up straight, resuming his calm and rational demeanor as the Major General.

“Send the injured back to the ground. Try to salvage as much debris as possible. Contact the base and check if any souls have returned recently.”

The subordinates nodded and went about their duties. As everyone dispersed, Nie Yun gently patted Fu Yao’s shoulder, a gesture of comfort.

Upon receiving the news, Long Yin also paused for a moment before swiftly heading out, with Heng He anxiously following.

They entered an elevator, which went directly upwards. When it reached the top and the doors opened, they were greeted by a different scene: the Tianxiu Genetic Research Center, located directly beneath the base.

The current chief of the base, Ye Hai—previously the deputy researcher and now the head after Zhi Shang’s reincarnation—immediately stepped down from his command platform upon seeing Long Yin. Long Yin took his place.

“What’s the result?”

Ye Hai respectfully reported, “Today, three souls have returned to the base. One matches the time described by Major General Fu Yao…”

Heng He felt a lump in his throat, his eyes rimming with tears. Even without concrete evidence confirming the returning soul belonged to Ying Feng, everyone present understood the implications: the brilliant student, newly enrolled in the military academy, was likely no longer among the living…

……

Ling Xiao lay in the medical station’s bed, closely watched by two soldiers. They took great measures to prevent him from taking his own life. If those who had watched over Lan Sheng before had been half as dedicated, he wouldn’t have escaped.

When he wanted to live, he was faced with obstacles at every turn; when he wanted to die, he couldn’t. Ling Xiao wondered, why was he the only one so unlucky?

“When will you let me go? I want to return to Bikong.”

The answer was always the same. “Once you’re out of danger, we’ll send you back.”

Ling Xiao, feeling agitated, covered his forehead. How many days had it been since his coming-of-age ceremony? He couldn’t remember.

The medical staff, seeing him through the surveillance room, hurried to check on him.

“Do you feel unwell? Do you have a headache?”

Ling Xiao lowered his hand expressionlessly, indicating he didn’t have a headache.

“Can psychological trauma truly not be healed?”

The medical personnel were taken aback by his sudden question and then shook their heads. “Unfortunately, current medical science can’t do much about it.”

“So, without my Qizhu, I can’t survive?”

“You could… It would just be very difficult.”

Ling Xiao didn’t know what to say next. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a dog dozing off nearby.

“Is this dog yours?”

The medical staff glanced at the creature, which seemed to be somewhere between a dog and a wolf. It didn’t allow anyone to touch it except for Ling Xiao, clearly recognizing him as its owner.

“No.”

“Can I keep it?”

Feeling a pang of sorrow, the staff replied, “Yes.”

Ling Xiao carefully picked up the little gray creature, holding it face to face.

“Your eye color looks like mine. Did you also lose a fight?”

Xiao Hui whimpered, pawing at Ling Xiao’s face.

“Why do you sound like a wolf? Do you have a name? Given your gray appearance and wolf-like howl, I’ll call you ‘Hui Lang’.”

Ling Xiao stroked its head. “Hui Lang? Xiao Hui? Do you like that name? I’ve realized that if I can’t survive, dying would be too shameful. Before, I lived because of a promise I made to Lan Sheng, but now I choose to live for myself. If you don’t have a home, come with me. Let’s go somewhere where no one can find us and live our lives together.”

The two guards exchanged glances, shaking their heads in resignation.

News from the front lines was displayed on their terminals, with no clear answers but hints of death and loss. Ling Xiao noticed that, after seeing the message, the atmosphere in the room grew even more oppressive. Their fleeting glances at him were filled with sympathy, but they quickly looked away, unwilling to meet his gaze.

“Tell me the truth. Was I abandoned?”

Their silence was confirmation. Ling Xiao laughed dryly.

“Haha, that’s fine. I hadn’t figured out how to leave him, but he left me first.”

After a while, he asked again, “Am I going to be sent to the disease control center? Can my friend and I be placed in the same room?”

No one answered, and Ling Xiao continued speaking to himself, “Lan Sheng will be disappointed if he sees me there.”

Burying his face into Xiao Hui’s fur, the warm touch felt so familiar.

Finally, it feels like a family of three. Where had he heard that phrase before?

Tears wet Xiao Hui’s fur, strand by strand, chaotic like the tangled emotions in his heart.

“Why does it feel like I’ve forgotten so much?”

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