Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

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

---

Chapter 92

Count Darius Bayes raised his head to look up at the towering door before him. It was tightly closed, leaving no gap, as if it were invisibly rejecting him. This was Lantrea, the largest cathedral in the Empire Capital. To show their mourning, the cathedral had extinguished all its lights tonight, leaving only candlelight in the funeral hall.

Prince Annot’s coffin lay just behind this closed door. Darius had been busy on the front lines, fighting against the rebellious Duke’s army, and hadn’t even been able to attend the sorrowful wedding. In a way, he had intentionally kept himself busy because he didn’t want to see Annot linking arms with another woman and getting married under everyone’s blessings. That scene would have been very warm, but unbearably cruel for him.

However, now Darius regretted it. He should have come back sooner, like an ordinary brother or a simple friend, to offer his blessings to Annot. Even if he couldn’t stop him from doing something foolish, at least he could have seen him one last time while he was still alive.

Now it was too late to say anything. Annot had ended his young life with a laser beam while Darius was still light years away. By the time he returned to the capital, he could only see Annot’s body the night before the funeral.

Darius reached out to push the door, but hesitated when his fingertips touched it. Was there anyone behind the door? If there was no one, he would be facing Annot’s body alone. What should he say? Annot couldn’t hear him anymore, so who would he be speaking to? Was the Prince’s soul resting in the embrace of the Lord, or was it still lingering in the mortal world? If it were the latter, would he see Darius, who was late? What expression would he show? Would he open his arms as usual, embracing his brother and friend, or blame him for being too late?

Trembling with fear, Darius pushed open the door. The warm orange candlelight illuminated the hall, which had its seats removed from the aisles to make space for the mourners. Now they were gone, leaving the hall empty, with only the sound of the night wind echoing.

Thousands of candles were lit in the hall, with a sea of flowers in the deepest part. The white flowers made the coffin look like a small boat sailing on a sea of flowers, carrying the person inside to heaven.

A slender figure knelt before the coffin, hands clasped in front of the chest, head bowed, seemingly praying for the deceased. Darius recognized her as Annot’s sister, Alveira. The Princess was dressed in a black mourning dress, her long hair tied up, and covered with a black veil. Because she had her back to Darius, the Count couldn’t see her expression.

A gust of wind blew in through the slightly open door, causing the candle flames to flicker. Alveira, startled, turned to see who had so rudely intruded into the funeral hall on the night of rest before the funeral. When she saw that it was Darius, she was so surprised she was speechless.

Darius silently closed the door and walked towards the coffin under the girl’s gaze, stopping at a spot where he couldn’t see the body inside the coffin.

“Darius?” Alveira asked. “Is that you? Have you returned?”

“Yes, I have returned.”

Alveira’s lips trembled, her blue eyes brimming with tears.

“You came too late… too late…” she said, trying to hold back her tears.

“I’m sorry.”

“What good is apologizing to me!” the Princess suddenly shouted, her voice shaking the nearby candles. “Apologize to Annot! Go! Apologizing to me won’t change anything!”

“I’m sorry.” Darius accepted Alveira’s anger, though he didn’t know why she was angry with him.

“Can I… see Annot?”

Alveira glared at Darius with eyes that seemed to burn through him, then lifted the skirt of her mourning dress, stepped back a few paces, and made way for him.

Darius felt as if his legs were filled with lead; each step was unbearably heavy. The air seemed to stagnate, making it hard for him to breathe.

The coffin was also filled with flowers. Due to the low temperature, the flowers remained as fresh as when they were first picked, just like the person lying in the coffin. Annot lay quietly with his eyes closed, hands folded on his chest, holding a golden eagle-headed scepter. The excellent mortuary makeup and low temperature preservation made him look nothing like a lifeless corpse but like a young man sleeping in a sea of flowers, ready to open his eyes at any moment.

Darius gazed at the prince’s peaceful face, feeling as if a sharp knife had carved out a piece of his heart, causing immense pain and emptiness. The last time he saw Annot, he was still alive, and now they were separated by life and death.

He still had many things left unsaid to Annot, many promises unfulfilled. He remembered the night before he left the comfort of the palace to attend military school. He knelt before Annot and offered a kiss, representing loyalty to the young prince, vowing to become the Empire’s sword, to clear all obstacles, and to kill all enemies for the heir to the throne. In the days that followed, this vow appeared in his dreams every night, and Darius climbed the ladder of power step by step, building his own fleet, gaining his own strength. He knew this power ultimately belonged to Annot, and in times of internal and external troubles, he would use this power to protect his Prince, ensuring he ascended the throne and became the ruler of the galaxy.

But now this vow could never be fulfilled. His Prince had left this world first, going to rule his empire on the other side. Sometimes Darius even ridiculously worried: Would Annot find a loyal subject like him in the other world? Would he find someone who loved him as much?

Alveira walked towards the door. The wind she stirred up disrupted the candle flames. “Darius,” she said, “You loved Annot, didn’t you?”

Darius’s eyes widened slightly. “When did you know?”

“I always knew. I was hiding outside the door, listening when you swore your oath to Annot that night. I was too young then, thinking you were playing some knightly game. Later, when I understood the conflicts of power, I thought it was a secret agreement between you. Only now do I understand…” Alveira walked to the center of the hall. “You loved him, didn’t you?”

Darius looked up at the statue behind the coffin. The Lord gazed at him with merciful eyes.

“Yes,” he answered. “I loved him.” May the Lord forgive this forbidden love, he prayed in his heart. May the Lord forgive me for not fulfilling my vow. Please let me meet Annot after death, to apologize to him face to face and then become his knight again, protecting him forever.

Then he grasped the edge of the coffin and leaned down to kiss the prince’s cold lips.

If this were a beautiful fairy tale, Annot would surely open his eyes and come back to life. But it wasn’t. This was cruel reality.

Darius found himself crying. He hadn’t shed tears since his mother died. The tears fell on the white flowers like dew drops on petals.

“What will you do now?” Alveira’s voice came from a distant place behind him.

“After the funeral, I will return to the front line. First, I must defeat Duke Winnet. Then…” he paused. He had planned to return to the capital after defeating the rebels. By then, Annot would have married the young lady of the Greenwald family, and the Chancellor would support his ascension. Darius could then eliminate the Chancellor’s power in the long political struggle, consolidating Annot’s position. But now the one he served was no longer in this world. What should he do next?

With Annot’s death, Alveira became the first heir to the Empire. Could this young girl take on the heavy responsibility and become queen?

“Darius, does your vow still stand?” the Princess asked.

“What?”

“You once vowed to become the Empire’s sword, to clear all obstacles and kill all enemies for the heir to the throne. Do you still decide that now?” Alveira’s voice was frighteningly calm. “Do you want to avenge Annot?”

Darius looked again at the merciful Lord. Would his vow ever be fulfilled?

“Darius, the Lord took my beloved from me, then took my brother. I have nothing left, only you. Will you help me?”

“What do you want to do?”

“I want to avenge the dead and send those who took their lives to hell. If you are the Empire’s sword, I will be the Empire’s shield. I will guard the throne left to me by my ancestors and brother. I will become the Queen who reigns over the galaxy.”

Darius turned back. The Princess had already reached the door, far away from him. He always thought Alveira was still a little girl, forever young in his memory. When did she become so strong? In the candlelight, her silhouette looked so tall.

“Yes, my vow still stands.”

Alveira pushed open the door and walked into the starlit night.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

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

---

Chapter 91

“…I bought a house on Olympus, then truly became a professional assassin. Later, because a client leaked my whereabouts, I was sent to Hecate… and then I met you.”

Joshua’s narration came to a pause. He lowered his head, looking at the young man sitting on the grass. Alois was also looking at him. The assassin’s black-gold eyes were as calm as an undisturbed lake, but beneath that lay turbulent undercurrents. Although he had vaguely suspected, Alois could never have imagined that Joshua had such a past.

He hugged Joshua. The other’s body was warm, existing tangibly in his embrace amidst the slightly cool evening breeze. He wanted to say something to comfort Joshua. However, at this moment, any words seemed pale and powerless. Could he erase that unbearable past from Joshua’s memory? Could he wipe away the pain Joshua had suffered?

He could do nothing. Just listening to Joshua’s story made Alois’s heart ache faintly. Joshua must have felt a thousand times worse. He couldn’t help but regret how childish he had been in arguing with Joshua before. If only he had met Joshua earlier, before any of this had happened. Then he could have protected Joshua, preventing him from experiencing pain and sorrow.

“Joshua…”

A pair of hands clutched the back of Alois’s shirt tightly, like a drowning man grasping at a life-saving straw. Joshua buried his head in his neck and began to cry again. Alois felt the scorching tears wetting his shoulder, seeping into his clothes, as if they would burn his skin.

“Alois… I’m so glad I met you… So glad…” Joshua sobbed.

Alois gently patted the assassin’s back, like comforting a child. He recalled the many times Joshua had said to him, “Stay with me,” “Don’t leave me.” He used to think it was just the assassin’s stubborn possessiveness. Now he understood it was a desperate plea.

He kissed Joshua’s hair, kissed his ears and tear-streaked cheeks. He kissed Joshua’s lips, tasting the salty bitterness of tears, but also an exceptional sweetness.

“I wish Kester could see what a wonderful lover I’ve found…” Joshua whispered.

He had stopped crying. Perhaps because he had cried, the assassin’s whole outline seemed softer. He leaned against Alois’s chest, gently rubbing. Alois nervously thought, ‘Could Joshua be acting coquettish?’ The idea was so shocking that it made other things seem natural, like the places Joshua touched feeling like they were on fire, the flames quickly converging below and burning hotter.

“Jo… Joshua…” Alois stuttered, pushing him away. “I… um… can we do it here?”

“Why not?” Joshua looked up, grasping the swing’s chains. “Can you do it?”

“…Me?” Alois blinked, afraid he misunderstood Joshua’s hint.

“……” The assassin awkwardly averted his gaze, staring at the grass beside him. “You do it.”

This time, it was Alois’s turn to be at a loss. “Really? Uh… are you okay with it?”

“Yeah.” Joshua nodded, his flushed earlobes particularly noticeable against his fair skin. “I don’t want to live in the shadows forever. If it’s you… If it’s you… I think I can overcome it…”

Alois felt his mouth go dry. This was a scene he had fantasized about for a long time. From the first time he met Joshua, he had wanted to push him down, possess him fiercely, make him his own. At first, this desire was purely driven by lust, but as they got to know each other better, Alois realized that even without a physical relationship, they were already deeply connected—inseparable. He had already claimed Joshua’s heart, and in the assassin’s heart, there was always a most important place for him—just as he had for Joshua.

Alois tried to control his trembling hands as he slowly unbuttoned Joshua’s shirt. Joshua obediently let him do as he pleased, even when his pants were pulled down, exposing his lower body, he didn’t resist at all—almost making Alois think he was having a bold spring dream.

He grasped Joshua’s rising member, slowly stroking it. He thought he must be gentle, making Joshua experience ultimate pleasure. Speaking of which, Joshua really had a sense of adventure, doing this on a swing…

The swing kept swaying, and Alois had to free one hand to support Joshua, while the latter tightly grasped the chains, the veins on his arms bulging, as if enduring great pain.

“Relax, Joshua.” Alois bit his nipple. “It won’t hurt much.”

“You said… it won’t hurt ‘much’? How much will it hurt?” Joshua frowned.

“I’ve been under you so many times, and I’m still fine, aren’t I?”

“Don’t you think this comparison is a bit… Ah!” Joshua suddenly cried out, because Alois lifted one of his legs and inserted a finger inside him. The strange sensation made Joshua tremble all over, like small electric currents dancing under his skin, not painful but bringing indescribable pleasure.

Alois quickly found his sensitive spot, pressing it repeatedly. Joshua bit his lip, trying not to moan, but eventually failed under the skilled assault, letting out a faint hum from his nose.

When the second finger entered, the feeling of fullness was more pronounced. “Slower,” Joshua whispered.

Alois knew he shouldn’t rush at this moment, or Joshua would get hurt. Though he was on the verge of exploding, he patiently continued to stretch him while kissing his sensitive spots, easing his tension.

When Joshua was fully prepared, Alois withdrew his fingers, grasped his own rock-hard cock, and entered Joshua.

The warmth and tightness inside made Alois sigh in satisfaction, almost making him cum instantly. He paused, calming himself and letting Joshua adjust to the intrusion, then began to move slowly.

Joshua tilted his head back, exposing his unguarded neck. The discomfort was more pronounced, but so was the pleasure that followed, doubling the impact on his body. He gripped the swing’s chains tightly and wrapped his legs around Alois’s waist to make the movements easier. This encouraged Alois, who quickened his pace, thrusting into Joshua’s body repeatedly, reaching the deepest parts each time.

Joshua was completely engulfed by the waves of pleasure, and after climaxing, he was too weak to even hold the chains. He slid off the swing, lying on the grass, and Alois embraced his waist, entering him from behind again. The assassin grabbed a blade of grass, tearing off its leaves in the thrusting motion. He smelled the scent of grass, soil, and flowers, mixed with the lustful aroma of the male body. These scents combined into a sweet dream, sweeping away the shadows that had shrouded him for over a decade, allowing him to face the brilliant light shining down from the mountain of purgatory and return to the human world.

Then he was flipped over. Alois kissed his lips, thrusting fast, and soon came.

Both were exhausted, lying in each other’s arms on the grass. The holographic clock above them, like the eternal stars, continued to rotate solemnly. At this moment, Joshua felt a sacred sense, as if their union was witnessed by the gods and history, more unbreakable than any vow.

Joshua held Alois’s hand, facing the young man. “I’m so glad to have met you,” he said. “My Alois is the best lover in the world.”

Alois leaned in to kiss him, then suddenly smiled slyly. “How do you know I’m the best? How can you prove I’m the best?”

Joshua gazed at the stars. “Well… if I had enough time, I’d date everyone in the world once, then I could proudly tell you, you are indeed the best.”

Alois was stunned. He just wanted to tease Joshua but didn’t expect such a serious and flawless answer.

“Don’t you dare see anyone else,” He hugged the assassin tightly, biting his lips in a fit of jealousy.

Joshua laughed from his throat, responding passionately to his kiss.

Time was indeed long—long enough to turn news into stories, stories into history, history into legends, legends into dust, and dust to vanish in the depths of the universe, becoming stardust and fading light. Yet, no matter how long time and space extended, their moments together would remain unchanged, etched in memory through millennia, never fading, as vivid as ever, just like the past.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

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

---

Chapter 90

Joshua will forever remember the scene when the scissors stabbed into Dr. Yulenta’s carotid artery. Blood spurted out like a fountain, splattering the white ceiling, walls, and sheets red. The doctor’s throat quivered, his mouth opening and closing like a stranded fish, so Joshua gave another slash to his throat. This time, the doctor stopped moving completely. Blood foam overflowed from the wound on his throat, like a bottle of overturned dark red sauce.

When the blood stopped spraying everywhere, Joshua dropped the scissors and intended to leave. Something tugged at him, and when he looked down, he realized it was the catheter inserted into his body. He sneered, slowly pulling out the catheter along with the electrodes. Midway through, he misjudged the force and caused himself great pain. But that was okay, Joshua thought, it was a pleasurable pain, granting him freedom.

After pulling out the catheter, he tried stepping on the cold ground. He hadn’t moved for so long that he couldn’t stand up at first. When he finally did, he felt dizzy from anemia for quite a while. Supporting himself against the wall splattered with dirty blood, he slowly walked towards the door. He needed to find his clothes first—he couldn’t run around naked—and then check if his chip was still there. He also had to find the man in black who had hired him to kill. That man was crucial to why he ended up in this situation, and Joshua intended to repay him well.

At the door, Joshua glanced back at the doctor. The body lay twisted on the bed, clothes disheveled, his exposed genitals hanging like a damaged, drooping pipe. The doctor’s pupils were already dilated, and Joshua knew that soon his eyes would become murky. Now, those blood-soaked eyes stared at him motionlessly, silently accusing him of murder. Out of nowhere, Joshua felt a surge of ecstasy, as if his soul was twisted in the dead man’s gaze. He felt supreme joy—the thrill of controlling another’s life, venting his own pain through this violent form of revenge—making him tremble with delight.

Joshua liked the eyes of the dead. When they stared at him, he even experienced a sensation akin to sexual climax.

He didn’t, like those haughty assassins in movies, close the dead man’s eyes and recite a phony eulogy. He would let the dead eyes remain open, witnessing their own demise.

Yulenta’s clinic was larger than he had imagined. It took Joshua quite some effort to find the doctor’s bedroom. Inside, there was a large wardrobe where he found his clothes. The chip was still in the pocket. Besides that, the wardrobe was filled with clothes suitable for boys his size, indicating he wasn’t the first one the doctor had brought to bed.

Joshua used the deceased’s bathroom to wash off the bloodstains before putting on his clothes. Just moving around made that private area ache with pain. He suppressed the urge to vomit and left the clinic through the back door.

The neighborhood where the clinic was located was unfamiliar, probably some distance from where Joshua was familiar. He wandered through the maze-like alleys for quite a while before finding a poorly run store, where he bought some gel food. He hadn’t eaten for so long that his stomach couldn’t digest solid food. There was money in the chip. At least the man in black hadn’t lied about that.

Then he found a secluded corner to sit down and enjoy the hard-earned food. He worried that if the doctor’s body was discovered, the police might trace him. But he doubted if creatures called “police” existed on this planet. In a world filled with thugs, prostitutes, assassins, and pedophile sadists, would anyone truly seek justice?

A shadow fell over him. Joshua looked up to see a man in black standing in front of him, wrapped so tightly he looked like a moving, breathing mass of darkness.

“Kid, long time no see,” the man in black grinned.

Joshua tilted his chin slightly, not surprised by the man’s sudden appearance. “Where’s the rest of the money?”

The man tossed another chip into his hand.

Joshua weighed the chip. “How did you find me?”

“I’ve been keeping an eye on you. Including when Yulenta caught you.”

Joshua stared at him intently. “You knew?”

“Of course. Yulenta’s interests are quite well-known around here.” The man chuckled. “Are you wondering why I didn’t help you?”

Joshua remained silent. The man continued talking to himself, “Isn’t it obvious? If you were played to death by the doctor, the remaining money would be mine.”

Seeing the fury in the boy’s eyes, the man laughed even more triumphantly. “That’s the rule of our world, kid. Being an assassin isn’t easy.”

“You’re an assassin?”

“Used to be. But now I’m retired, working as an assassin broker.” The man pulled out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, but didn’t light it, “You did well, both with Hewitt and Yulenta. Interested in continuing in this line of work?”

“What?”

“Becoming a professional assassin,” the man lit his cigarette with a click of his lighter.

“Is it profitable?”

“Obviously. Profits always come with risks.” With that, the man turned and walked slowly towards the end of the alley. “Ah, my name is Sawyer,” he said without looking back.

Joshua swallowed the last bit of gel food, then stood up and followed the man. “Joshua Planck.” He made up a surname for himself.

“Ah, Planck. I hated him when I was in school.”

“Me too.”

Sawyer, the assassin broker, wasn’t only an excellent teacher but also an outstanding weapon collector. His arsenal ranged from the oldest flintlocks to the most advanced laser guns, from primitive stone daggers to the trendiest high-speed vibrating knives. He taught Joshua the skills and tricks for each weapon, letting him hone his techniques through repeated practice.

Besides that, Joshua didn’t neglect his existing knowledge. Under Sawyer’s arrangement, he interned at a private hospital for a while. When he left, not only had he eliminated his target, but he also obtained an internship certificate. With this, he took the physician license exam on Benjamin that year (it was surprising such a place even had such an exam). Like Old Earth, Benjamin required candidates to be over 16. Joshua lied about his age, though he could hardly remember how old he actually was.

On the day he received his certificate, Sawyer opened a bottle of expensive red wine to celebrate.

“Not bad,” the broker said. “If someone asks why you’re so good at cutting flesh, you have a legitimate reason.”

“Yeah,” Joshua echoed.

They finished the entire bottle. Sawyer was a bit drunk, and Joshua excused himself to get him some sobering medicine. When he returned, he had his favorite gun in hand. Without any explanation, he pointed it at Sawyer’s head and pulled the trigger. When the broker’s lifeless body fell into the pool of blood, his eyes were still wide with disbelief. Joshua bathed for a moment in his lifeless gaze, then found the communication terminal on his body. It contained all of Sawyer’s clients and the assassins he could contact.

Because the broker had helped Joshua a lot, he made a point not to leave the body to rot at home but transported it to the suburbs, dumping it in a ruin. Above the ruins stood a crooked iron plate, looking like a dark tombstone.

“Goodbye, Sawyer. Thank you for everything you did for me. I no longer need you. You can rest here forever.”

Joshua found a small white flower growing next to the broker’s burst head, like the flowers people lay at funerals. This was a perfect grave, he thought.

Then he left the ruins, took the light rail around the city, and went to the spaceport, where he bought a ticket to Olympus.

Joshua often recalled Dr. Yulenta’s question before he died: Can money buy life? The answer was no.

Money couldn’t buy life, but it could take life.

He had killed, his hands stained with blood. He knew that once he embarked on this path, there was no turning back. He walked in darkness, crawling alone in a hell devoid of light. Since no one would bring him justice, he would become his own justice.

The boy Joshua from Old Earth had already died in his memory. The one who survived was Joshua Planck. He had many nicknames: those who admired him called him “The Living Legend of the Galaxy”, others called him “The Dark Blade”, or “The Silver Assassin”. In the most popular version, he was known as “The Mourner”.

He was an assassin.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

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

---

Chapter 89

Joshua had been smelling the strong mixture of disinfectant and iodine until he struggled to open his eyes and found himself lying on a hospital bed. The room was entirely white—white ceiling, white walls, white sheets, and a white-clad self. Layers of bandages were wrapped around his body, and an IV was attached to his hand, though he no longer felt any pain, likely due to the analgesics.

He watched the fluid level in the IV bottle drop bit by bit until it was empty. The door to the room creaked open as if precisely timed, and a man in a white coat entered, pushing a trolley.

“Good day,” the man said in a deep voice. He looked about forty years old, maybe younger, maybe older; Joshua found it hard to discern the age of people in this era.

“Good day,” he replied hoarsely.

“My name is Yulinta. And you are?”

“Joshua.”

“I heard you killed Hewitt?” Yulinta skillfully replaced the IV bottle and then tapped on a series of complex machines nearby, obtaining Joshua’s current physical condition data.

“Yes.” Joshua curiously observed his every move. This was his first time encountering medical equipment from this era, wondering how it compared to his own. “Are you a doctor?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Yulinta shrugged with a smile. He took a series of bottles and jars from the trolley and began to change Joshua’s bandages and apply medication. “And, coincidentally, the only doctor in this area. This is my clinic.”

“No wonder they’re so afraid of you.” Joshua could barely move and had to let Yulinta do as he pleased. The doctor’s movements were gentle, sometimes unexpectedly so. His hands lingered on Joshua’s private areas, making the young man feel uneasy.

‘I must be overthinking it,’ he thought. ‘The doctor is treating me. Touching is… normal.’

After finishing with the bandages, Yulinta gently stroked Joshua’s forehead, tracing from his brow to his nose, sliding over his lips, and lifting his chin to carefully examine his delicate face. “You’re a beautiful child.” The doctor breathed heavily. “I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful than you.”

Joshua’s heart pounded with fear, a sensation even killing had never induced. He had heard that some people had peculiar tastes, preferring young boys over voluptuous women. Could he have such bad luck to encounter one?

“Dr. Yulinta…?”

The man’s ambiguous caress stopped abruptly. He withdrew his hand, pushing the trolley away with a cold expression. Joshua sighed in relief. The doctor’s touch seemed to linger on his skin. He wanted to take a bath, wash away this strange feeling, but he couldn’t move. He thought, ‘I need to get better quickly so I can leave this place and go into space.’

When Dr. Yulinta came to change his bandages again, Joshua realized how wrong he was. After removing the bandages, the doctor didn’t immediately apply medication. Instead, his hands roved over Joshua’s skin, not just his cheeks but from his scarred chest to his slender waist and finally to that private area between his legs, thoroughly “examining” every part.

“You’re a good boy,” the doctor murmured. “Obey me. I’ll make you feel good.”

Joshua couldn’t resist. In this private clinic belonging to Dr. Yulinta, even if he screamed, no one would come to his aid. He had never experienced such treatment. His legs were forcibly spread, exposing his private parts to the doctor’s scrutinizing gaze. With tears in his eyes, he whimpered, “Doctor, please don’t…”

“Why not?” Yulinta applied some cold liquid to his rear, and a gloved hand carefully and precisely entered his body, eliciting a whimper from Joshua at the strange sensation.

“I saved your life, didn’t I?” The doctor’s voice was laced with lust. “Shouldn’t you repay me?”

“I… I’ll pay you…” He still had a chip with a thousand standard credits. Where was the chip now? In the pocket of his clothes. And the clothes? Where had the doctor put them?

“Can money buy life?” The doctor gasped. “You can only repay me with your body, right?”

Joshua wanted to answer “No”, but what came out was a miserable scream. The doctor forced his thick penis in and penetrated his body without hesitation.

Joshua felt that he was torn in half. His lower body was tortured repeatedly, and the pain filled his body and brain along the nerves. He couldn’t think of anything, couldn’t remember anything, and the only thought left was, so painful, so painful, so painful. In the end, he couldn’t even scream, and could only stare blankly at the ceiling. It was pale and empty, just like him.

After venting, the doctor regained his calm and composed appearance. He put on his pants, bandaged Joshua, caressed his cheek and said, “You’re a good boy. I like obedient children like you.”

Joshua didn’t answer. He didn’t know how to answer.

What happened next was a nightmare that would accompany Joshua forever and couldn’t be shaken off. Every day when he fell asleep, he prayed to God to let him sleep like this and never wake up, or to find himself still on the Boccaccio after waking up, and never landed on the planet called Benjamin. However, God didn’t answer his prayer.

Dr. Yulinta continued to violate him, about once every three days when his injuries hadn’t healed, once every two days after his injuries healed a little, and even every day to satisfy his lust on him. Sometimes Joshua’s lower body was really injured, and he couldn’t bear it, so he forced the boy to give him oral sex, stuffed his penis that stood up from the thick hair into the boy’s mouth, and forced him to swallow the smelly liquid after finishing.

After Joshua recovered, Yulinta was afraid that he would resist, so he tied him to the bed. But the doctor soon found that there was no fun in this way, because the boy always rejected him silently with a stiff posture. So he thought of a new way to inject Joshua with muscle relaxants, so that he didn’t have to tie him up, and he could let the boy do whatever he wanted, which meant that Dr. Yulinta could play more tricks.

Because Joshua had been lying in bed and couldn’t even defecate and urinate on his own, the doctor inserted a catheter into him. This special catheter was connected to an electrode and inserted deep into the boy’s tender urethra. When Joshua made him unhappy (such as trying to bite him during a kiss), the doctor would turn on the electrode and let the current flow into the boy’s body from the most vulnerable part of the human body, making him scream in pain and cry for mercy. Every time he did this, Yulinta was extremely happy. If he hadn’t been concerned about Joshua’s body, he would have made the music composed by this scream a part of his daily life.

After this inhumane torture lasted for a while, Joshua’s body gradually developed drug resistance, so Dr. Yulinta changed to another drug. This time, when the drug was injected into the blood vessels, Joshua didn’t feel weak as usual, on the contrary, he felt great. When the doctor violated him, he tried to move his fingers and found that he could control his body.

Dr. Yulinta was immersed in the joy of abusing others and didn’t notice this at all. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Joshua’s brain worked rapidly, as if his spirit had been separated from his scarred body. He guessed that he had a certain resistance to the new medicine. Perhaps the medicine was designed for the physique of modern people, and Joshua himself was “an ancient man from two thousand years ago”, and his physique was very different from that of modern people, so the medicine had no effect on him.

Regardless of the reason, the result was the same. Joshua was no longer a slave to the medicine. He had regained his strength!

He turned his head and saw a set of knives of different sizes on the cart pushed by the doctor. Sometimes Yulinta would use them to cut Joshua’s bandages, and sometimes he would use them to directly cut the boy’s body. Now, those knives were going to turn against their master.

When the doctor ejaculated in him with satisfaction and immersed in the pleasure of orgasm, Joshua suddenly stood up, grabbed the scissors closest to him, and stabbed the doctor’s neck!

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

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

---

Chapter 88

“Hey, kid. Want to make some money?”

The man looked suspicious, but in this place, who wasn’t? Without thinking, Joshua responded, “Yes.” He regretted it a moment later. He should have asked how the money would be made before agreeing.

The man’s hand, clad in a black glove, emerged from his pocket, pinching a tiny bottle filled with a transparent liquid. Against the backdrop of the dim sky and the filthy alley, the bottle shimmered like a crystal.

“I want you to kill someone for me,” the man said, tilting his chin up. “There’s a guy named Hewitt with blue hair and three earrings in his ear. He often eats at this restaurant.”

Joshua thought for a moment. Indeed, there was such a person—the boss of this block. “You want me to poison him?” the boy asked.

The man grinned, showing his stark white teeth. “Smart kid,” he said, placing the bottle in Joshua’s palm. The bottle was ice-cold, yet Joshua felt as if there were flames burning inside it.

“Just kill him. That’s all.”

“What about the money?” Joshua asked. “How much will you give me? How will you give it?”

The man stretched out three fingers. “Three thousand standard coins. I’ll give you a thousand now, the rest after the job is done. If Hewitt is dead, I’ll know, and then I’ll come to find you.”

Three thousand standard coins wasn’t much by normal standards, but it was enough to buy a life. For Joshua, who had nothing, it was a fortune that could solve urgent problems. He nodded, agreeing to the deal. The man smiled ominously again and pulled an envelope from his pocket, tossing it on the ground.

“Good luck, smart boy,” he said, disappearing into the alley strewn with stains and trash.

Joshua picked up the envelope and found a chip inside—paper money was out of fashion these days. He put the chip and the bottle of poison in his pocket and returned to the restaurant kitchen.

That night, Hewitt and his cronies were causing a ruckus in the restaurant as usual. He had a new woman with him—a haughty and beautiful prostitute wearing heavy makeup and emitting a pungent perfume smell.

Hewitt ordered a sandwich and beer, the woman a liqueur, and the rest of the gang ordered drinks. The chef, busy at the stove, muttered complaints about these freeloaders, who often ran up tabs. Joshua silently washed dishes, his heart pounding almost out of his chest, yet his mind was unexpectedly calm. All he had to do was pour the poison on Hewitt’s sandwich when serving it—so simple, a single action could do it. The ease of taking a life astonished the boy, and strangely, he felt no fear, as if his long drift had erased his emotions.

The chef set the tray with food aside. The waiter, who was supposed to work today, hadn’t shown up. “That bastard must be chasing girls again,” said the chef. “Joshua, bring the plates over!”

Joshua’s hand was in his pocket, clutching the bottle, prying off the cap with his fingernails. He approached the tray, used his body to shield his hand, lifted the top slice of bread, and poured the poison onto the not-so-fresh meat and odd sauce. Then he replaced the bread, picked up the tray, and walked out of the kitchen.

Hewitt was joking crudely with his friends. Laughter burst out occasionally, with the woman giggling and leaning into him. When Joshua set the tray on their table, the woman laughed and grabbed his arm. “Yo, handsome, come let sister have a look.”

Joshua stepped back in fright, her nails digging into his skin, causing pain. Hewitt pulled the woman’s hand back, spraying her face with smoke. “Stupid whore, thinking of cradle snatching?” Laughter erupted around them, and the woman flirtatiously leaned back into his embrace.

Joshua fled back to the kitchen, calming his breath and heartbeat. From a broken corner of the window, he saw Hewitt grab the sandwich and devour it greedily. After a few bites, he clutched his throat, emitting a discordant moan, his eyes bloodshot and bulging. The woman thought he was choking and offered him a drink, but Hewitt pushed her away, his chest heaving as if gasping for air. When the others realized something was wrong, they rushed to help, but it was too late. Hewitt’s hands, clutching his throat, lost strength, dangling at his sides, and his body stopped struggling. A bold guy pressed on his carotid artery, then howled, “Boss! The boss is dead!”

The restaurant immediately erupted into chaos. The owner ran out, trying to calm everyone down, but was knocked to the ground with a punch. Amid the turmoil, the woman’s shrieking was particularly piercing. “Hewitt died after eating! He was murdered!”

Blood drained from Joshua’s face, leaving him feeling especially cold. He didn’t know how advanced the poison was in this era, or how it could be detected, but as long as Hewitt’s men rounded up everyone in the restaurant for questioning, the truth would easily come out. He couldn’t stay here any longer!

Joshua quickly ran out the back door of the kitchen. It was already very dark, and the dying city was dim and lightless, its complex alleys even darker. He stepped over the garbage on the ground, splashing dirty water, with groups of rats scurrying under his feet, their sharp squeaks like a rebuke to this unwelcome intruder in their home.

Many years later, when Joshua recounted this experience, he realized his life seemed to be a constant flight—escaping Earth, escaping prison, fleeing the past. The difference was, back then he was alone, but now he was no longer lonely.

Joshua ran past a fork in the road, then found himself blocked both front and back. Hewitt’s men, clearly more familiar with this labyrinth of trash, were eager for a fight, brandishing clubs in their hands, planning to teach this audacious kid a lesson. Luckily, they didn’t have guns. Joshua thought, such high-end toys were beyond their reach.

“Little rat, where do you think you’re running?”

A hand grabbed Joshua’s hair from behind, throwing him to the ground, followed by punches raining down on him. The angry thugs unleashed their fury on him, alternating between clubs and fists on his back. Joshua protected his neck with his hands, curled up on the ground, futilely shielding his vital areas, hoping to endure their beating. But a voice inside him faintly told him: Give up. It’s useless. You killed a man. You deserve this. An eye for an eye.

His whole body was in pain. At first, he could distinguish whether it was his back or his chest that hurt, but later all the pain blended together, roaring like a flood through his nerves. He could only hazily guess that the difficulty in breathing was due to broken ribs, and the taste of fresh blood in his mouth was because his organs were injured, and so on.

I’m going to die. Joshua thought. Die in this unknown place. No future left. I’m sorry, Kester.

Then he heard a gunshot.

“Get lost,” a deep male voice said.

Suddenly, it was quiet around him. The previous cursing and shouting stopped. Someone trembled and said, “It’s Yulinta!”

“Get lost,” the man named Yulinta repeated.

“It’s you who should get lost, Yulinta. This kid killed our boss. We want blood for blood!”

“Get lost. You’re in my way.”

Another gunshot.

The sound of frantic footsteps told Joshua that the people who had been beating him had left. He opened one swollen eye, and through his blurred vision saw someone squatting next to him.

“It’s alright, good boy, you’re fine now,” the person said, lifting the blood-stained hair from his face. “Go back and clean up. You’re still a handsome kid.”

Joshua smelled a disinfectant scent on the person. A doctor, he thought.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Normally, I don’t mention warnings except at the start of the novel, but in this case, I’ll make an exception. The next chapter depicts extreme graphic sexual assault on a minor. This is uncensored, written in 2010, so it’s not like the vague writings or allusions of recent times.

I strongly advise you to skip the chapter if this doesn’t sit well with you. The chapter basically explains why Joshua had trauma about getting intimate with Alois when they first got together.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

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

---

Chapter 87

When Joshua awoke again, he found himself lying in a transparent incubation tank, surrounded by a pale red liquid, with mechanical arms firmly holding him in place, rendering him immobile. Through the liquid, he saw that he seemed to be inside a laboratory filled with odd instruments. A white figure moved among the devices, continuously entering data into a computer.

Joshua tried to move but confirmed he couldn’t break free. However, his movement caught the attention of the white figure.

“You’re awake?” The voice that came through the tank and liquid had a strange tone, and then Joshua recognized that the white figure was Kester.

“What is this place?” Joshua asked urgently. “Why am I tied up here? What are you going to do?”

“Stop yelling, I’m starting the cryogenic sleep program.” Kester continued to manipulate the strange instruments. “This is the ‘Boccaccio’ spacecraft, originally prepared for myself…” he said, laughing dryly. “Though I knew I’d never need it, I still harbored the vain hope that I might escape on it when the end comes.”

Joshua didn’t understand a word he said.

“It’s now impossible to make the ‘Dante’ return, so I’m having you leave on this one,” Kester continued. “Its speed isn’t as fast as the ‘Dante’, but it won’t be too slow either. You might arrive at the colony a couple of hundred years after Giorgione and the others…”

“I’m not going anywhere!” Joshua shouted, his agitation causing the liquid around him to ripple. “I want to stay on Earth! I want to be with you!”

Kester turned around and approached the tank. “Stop being foolish, Joshua.” His brows were furrowed, and his tone was stern. “You have no idea what those of us who remain will face. I don’t want you to head toward a hopeless future with us.” Placing a hand on the glass, he said, “You are young. You have a long journey ahead. You will meet many people, experience many things… You might even find someone you love and spend a long life with them—but it won’t be here, not on Earth.”

He withdrew his hand and stepped back. “This is farewell, my brother. We share the same blood, so live on for both of us.”

He turned back to his instruments. One by one, the lights overhead went out, until only a solitary light shone on Kester. The cryogenic sleep program had been initiated, and once Joshua fell asleep, the Boccaccio would rise and fly towards the boundless space with the last remnants of Earth.

Then, the last light went out. Joshua’s world plunged into darkness.

After that, Joshua’s memories weren’t very clear. During the long space voyage, he was mostly in a state of sleep, not even dreaming, as the low temperatures stopped all brain cell activity. However, to prevent damage from prolonged cryosleep, the system periodically woke him. Each time, a mechanical female voice would recite the distance the spacecraft had traveled, and the time spent.

The first time he woke, the mechanical voice told him that two hundred thirty years had passed in the outside world, but for the spacecraft and its sole passenger, only a little over a month had passed. Just that fact was enough to drive Joshua to despair. While he slept, so much time had passed on the planet he could never return to, and Kester might have long since died. He couldn’t accept this reality. Desperate, he struggled to break free and command the spacecraft to return, but the mechanical arms still held him firmly. The mechanical voice informed him that his restraints would never be released unless the spacecraft landed.

Thus, the times he was awake became an eternal torment for Joshua. He could only stare into the nothingness of darkness, trying to recall the bright and joyful memories of his childhood. He sifted through old memories like a neurotic old man flipping through an old photo album, over and over again. Initially, those warm and beautiful memories made him sad and hurt, but after revisiting them too many times, the memories lost their warmth and became pale and tedious, haunting him like persistent ghosts or like ghastly hands dragging him into an inescapable mire.

The most detestable were the memories involving Kester. In the darkness, Joshua cursed his heartless and cruel brother time and again for putting him in this horrifying situation. Yet, he also missed Kester desperately, longing for his gentle smile and warm hands, his clear voice and bright eyes. In his lucid dreams, Joshua couldn’t tell whether he was still on Earth or adrift in space. Ultimately, waking became a nightmare, and the cryogenic sleep turned into his salvation.

He oscillated between heaven and hell so many times that he became numb, living like a zombie in the pallor of memories and the darkness of reality. Just when he thought this deepest torture would never end, the spacecraft landed.

At this point, only about a year had passed for him, but nearly two thousand years had elapsed in the outside world. The spacecraft landed on a planet called Benjamin, approximately in the outskirts of a city, an area filled with ancient ruins and overgrown with weeds and rubbish.

For the first time, the mechanical arms released him. The pale red cryogenic fluid drained away, the incubation tank opened, and the lights around him lit up. Joshua stepped out of the spacecraft, standing on the edge of the ruins, with a skewed black city visible in the distance, obscured by haze and smoke. After a long nightmare, he breathed air for the first time—though it was different from Earth’s—tainted, with a faintly sweet and fetid smell, like a mixture of blood and decay.

At that moment, Joshua truly felt bewildered. Kester had wanted him to go to the colony, to the future, but now that he was really there, what was he supposed to do? Joshua had no money (if currency was still used in this future world), and he couldn’t communicate with the locals (clearly, human language had evolved significantly over two thousand years). He had extensive medical knowledge but no idea how to use it to make a living. Kester hadn’t considered these things, and the spacecraft’s mechanical female voice certainly wouldn’t think about them, so Joshua had to figure out how to survive on his own.

At first, he struggled greatly, walking through the unfamiliar city. His ears were filled with alien languages, and surrounded by many machines he neither understood nor could operate. The city was like a collapsing mechanical giant, vast and complex, with crisscrossed streets and alleys that looked like tangled blood vessels, and what flowed within was undoubtedly dying, filthy blood. Fear told Joshua that he needed to learn to protect himself, especially on this hostile planet.

On his third day in this strange world, he managed to get a job washing dishes in a rundown restaurant by using gestures. Due to a lack of staff, he sometimes had to serve tables. The pay was low, barely enough to cover his daily expenses according to galactic standards. Joshua knew that earning money wasn’t his top priority; his main goal was to familiarize himself with this future world. He quickly learned the local language, although filled with slang and grammatical errors, it was undoubtedly the lingua franca of the colony. Language was the first step to integrating into society, Joshua reminded himself.

After mastering the language, he started to subtly inquire about the colony’s current state from his boss, colleagues, and customers. The restaurant’s patrons were mostly thugs and occasionally prostitutes and drug dealers looking for clients. They never discussed national affairs, endlessly babbling about which girl was hottest and how to deal with a certain ruffian in the neighboring block. Joshua realized that continuing to stay there was no longer beneficial for him. He planned to leave this isolated place for somewhere more connected to the outside world. If Kester was right, Giorgione and the others had already arrived at the colony, and he needed to find a way to contact them or at least locate their descendants.

First, he needed a significant amount of money. The restaurant’s wages weren’t enough to cover the costs of traveling, and he couldn’t risk using the spaceship parked on the outskirts (he definitely didn’t want to be labeled as an “ancient person from two thousand years ago” and end up in a museum). Soon, he found an opportunity to earn money.

He was taking the restaurant’s trash to the bins in the back alley when a man dressed in black suddenly appeared beside him. The man wore sunglasses and had his collar pulled up high, covering most of his face. The exposed skin was unnaturally pale.

“Hey, kid.” The man’s voice was hoarse and hissing, like a hissing viper. “Want to make some money?”

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

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

---

Chapter 86

Following the route provided by Leo, Joshua successfully avoided the ship’s crew and reached the preparation chamber where the sky shuttles were stored. The Dante carried many items, essentially everything that could be taken from Earth—from plant specimens and animal genetic maps to electronic versions of hundreds of millions of books. This turned the small spacecraft into a floating Noah’s Ark in space, carrying the last of humanity in search of a new home.

The preparation chamber housed numerous aircraft and sky shuttle models, all scaled down to original proportions so that they could be replicated upon arrival at the colony. As for the sky shuttles, these smaller items were brought aboard directly—fortunately, they had decided to do so.

Joshua picked up a sky shuttle and, following Leo’s instructions, ran to the ship’s lower pressure chamber, where Leo would open a door for him. Along the way, the AI kept urging him, “Hurry! Once the ship starts accelerating, you won’t have another chance! You’ll either be squashed into a pulp by the acceleration or thrown into space and explode!”

His threats were highly effective. Joshua ran faster than he ever had in his life, even more so than during the long-distance races at school. If he had had metal braces on his legs, he could have starred in a movie. Once inside the pressure chamber, he felt breathless—not from overexertion, but because the air in the pressure chamber had indeed been significantly reduced.

“This is for your own good,” Leo explained. “This is the air pressure you’d find at four thousand meters altitude. If I didn’t do this, once I opened the chamber door, you would be sucked out and die from altitude sickness…”

“Can you stop with the dying talk?” Joshua complained, frustrated. “Are you that eager to see me dead?”

“In fact, you humans do tend to die quite carelessly,” Leo remarked nonchalantly. “A reminder—you might want to hold onto the railing next to you…” He hadn’t finished his sentence when the pressure chamber door slid open with a hiss. Perhaps the pressure had been reduced too much, as a blast of air rushed in, nearly blowing Joshua back into the corridor. He grabbed the railing with one hand and struggled to activate the gravity grid on the sky shuttle with the other.

“Now at an altitude of 3,573 meters, I’m glad to see you’re still standing,” Leo commented. “Go ahead, Joshua. The next time we meet, it’ll be in space.”

Joshua stepped onto the sky shuttle, feeling the gravity grid securely anchor him to the board. When his peers were still on Earth, they often rode sky shuttles over the forest from the research institute all the way to the beach, filling their pockets with shells and conches before heading home. He was adept at handling the sky shuttle. This time, the altitude was just a bit higher than usual, but he wasn’t scared.

“Goodbye, Leo.” The sky shuttle rose, carrying him slowly towards the exit. “See you in space,” he said, thinking to himself, ‘Farewell. We may never meet again.’ It was only much later, when they did meet again, that Joshua had to admire the foresight of AI and mock his own youthful naivety and arrogance.

He flew out of the depressurization chamber, and the door closed mercilessly behind him. The low air pressure at high altitude was terribly uncomfortable, and he descended quickly. Soon, the Dante turned into a small dark cloud above him, and after a while, it was no bigger than a bird.

The sky shuttle allowed Joshua to descend smoothly. He dared not descend too rapidly for fear his heart couldn’t take it. It took him two hours to get close to the ground, over an unfamiliar forest. The sky shuttle whisked him past the treetops. He pulled up a map on the communication terminal and realized he was over five hundred kilometers away from home. The sky shuttle could reach a top speed of 90 kilometers per hour, and it took Joshua over six hours to wearily make his way back to his front door.

Stepping onto the ground, his legs felt weak as if walking on cotton, each step dizzying. The short distance from the yard to the front door nearly drained all his strength. He had never felt that this path, which he had walked countless times, could be so long. Reaching the door, he almost collapsed. Would Kester be at home? It was more likely that he was at his lab at this hour, but Joshua’s instincts told him Kester was inside the house.

He rang the doorbell.

Seconds later, he heard soft footsteps and Kester’s muffled voice from behind the door. “Who is it?” Kester liked to ask first and then open the door without waiting for an answer, which Joshua had pointed out was dangerous. “What’s the danger? Unless monkeys have learned to knock,” his brother had replied.

The door opened, revealing Kester’s still weary face. Seeing Joshua standing in front of him, Kester didn’t show the confusion or joy the young man had expected but a mix of shock and anger, as if not his brother stood before him but an enemy with deep grievances.

“How dare you… How dare you…” Kester’s lips twitched, his eyes bloodshot. Before Joshua could explain why he was there, Kester raised his hand and struck him across the face.

Joshua was knocked off balance by the slap, nearly falling if he hadn’t grabbed the doorframe. He couldn’t believe Kester had hit him. Although Kester could be serious and had been furious with him when he made mistakes, he had never hit him before…

Then, Kester grabbed him by the collar and dragged him into the house, treating him more like an object than a person. He threw Joshua onto the sofa and then walked upstairs without looking back.

The young man curled up on the sofa, his cheek burning with pain and his body aching from exhaustion, but these were nothing compared to the emotional hurt. He had been so eager to return to his brother’s side, yet Kester had treated him so coldly. Did he hate him now? Did he see his return as bad news? Were the tears shed at their parting all fake?

It was a long time before Kester came back downstairs. He carried a tray with two cups of hot tea on it. He placed the tray on the coffee table in front of the sofa and pushed it gently towards Joshua, indicating for him to drink.

Joshua remained seated without moving.

Kester walked around the coffee table and sat next to him. The young man kept his head down, refusing to look at him.

“Why aren’t you speaking?” Kester asked.

Joshua turned away. His brother forcefully turned his shoulder, gently touching his swollen cheek. The touched spot stung painfully, but Kester’s cool skin was surprisingly comforting.

“Does it still hurt?” his brother asked.

Joshua choked up and nodded.

“I’m not going to apologize,” Kester said. “You brought this upon yourself by being willful. You deserve it, and I’m not going to apologize to you.”

Joshua nodded again, this time tears falling involuntarily. Kester sighed and pulled him into his embrace.

“Giorgione reported to me that you were missing. Do you know how worried I was? You disappeared from the ship… I thought… I thought something had happened to you…” His voice trembled. He neurotically combed Joshua’s hair, then patted his back. “How did you come back?”

“…By sky shuttle,” Joshua whispered.

“Did you fly for a long time?”

The young man curled up in his brother’s arms and murmured affirmatively.

“Stupid kid,” Kester said. “Why did you risk coming back?”

“…I didn’t want to be apart from you.”

Kester released him and kissed the reddened corner of his eye. “You must be exhausted. Have some hot tea and go rest. Luckily, I didn’t clear out your room…” He laughed to himself. “Now I have to contact Giorgione to tell him you’re alright.”

Joshua picked up the cup of tea and took a sip. Perhaps it was the relaxation of his nerves, but he began to feel drowsy. His limbs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead, and he slumped against Kester’s shoulder. Suddenly realizing this wasn’t just a natural bodily reaction, he suspected Kester had put something in the tea! Then, he lost consciousness.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

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

---

Chapter 85

“Then… Can I stay as well?”

Kester’s answer remained the same as always. “No.” He set down the luggage and then bent down to hug Joshua. The teenager felt himself enveloped in a warm embrace, the arms around his body thin from years of desk work but the only ones in the world he could rely on.

“Joshua, I don’t want to be separated from you either,” Kester whispered in his ear. “I want to see you grow up, see you become a man who can stand on his own… but it’s not possible. You have to leave.” He gently ruffled Joshua’s hair. “Go to the colony with Giorgione, okay? It will be at least fourteen hundred years before you arrive at the colony, and if the modern medical theories haven’t been completely overturned by then, the knowledge you have will still have a place. You’ll continue to study, right? You’ll become a great doctor or medical scientist, just as you’ve always dreamed, right?”

He released Joshua, looking him straight in the eyes. Through his brother’s eyes, Joshua saw his own reflection—a pale, thin boy—a stark contrast to his robust brother, as different as day and night. How could anyone say they looked alike?

“I won’t be by your side, Joshua. You’ll have to learn to take care of yourself,” Kester said, showing a hint of sadness typical of farewells. He pushed the luggage into Joshua’s arms and took a step back, silently signaling: It’s time for you to go.

Joshua wanted to say a proper goodbye to Kester but was abruptly pulled away from behind.

“Let’s go, kid!” Charles Titian yanked his arm and dragged him away forcefully. Joshua stumbled, trying to maintain his balance while attempting to break free from Titian’s grip, but to no avail. He was forced to walk unsteadily towards the Dante, looking back at his brother several times. Kester stood motionless by the car, waving each time Joshua looked back.

“Come on, kid, it’s not like you’re going to die. Stop the waterworks.” Charles Titian gruffly turned the young man’s head.

“I… I’m not crying!”

Charles grunted, pretending not to see the tears streaking down the boy’s face. They were nearing the elevator, where a crowd gathered. Among them was Giorgione, easily recognizable. In the long interstellar journey to come, Giorgione would assume the leadership role in place of Kester, who stayed on Earth.

Charles Titian considered himself immune to the melancholy of farewells, silently vowing never to look back or shed a tear over this eternal parting. But at that moment, he couldn’t help but glance back one last time. Kester was still waving from where he stood, then a colleague approached him. Kester said something, and then the assistant handed him a handkerchief.

God bless that Charles didn’t turn into a pillar of salt. He turned to Giorgione and pushed the sobbing young man towards him. “Take good care of this annoying brat!”

“Of course, I will.”

Giorgione gently patted the young man’s shoulder, comforting, “Stop crying, Joshua. Cheer up, we have a long journey ahead of us.”

The young man nodded, still crying, but at least followed Giorgione to the elevator. He was the youngest member of the “Friendly Earth Scientists’ Interstellar Travel Group”. Most children had left with the earlier groups for space. Joshua remained until now because of his brother. If not for his youth, he might have stayed until the end.

Charles searched his pockets for a cigarette but remembered that he had smoked his last one in anticipation of the long journey. He chuckled to himself. “Might as well try quitting.” With that thought, he quickened his pace to catch up with Giorgione and board the ship together.

“This journey has 429 passengers, most of whom will directly enter cryogenic sleep chambers once the Dante passes the solar system’s outer transition station, and the rest will then begin their long sleep,” Giorgione explained as he led Joshua towards the cabins.

“What happens if everyone’s asleep? Who will control the ship?” Joshua blurted out, then realized he had asked a foolish question.

Who else but their best artificial intelligence? Leonard would take over the navigation and control of the ship, allowing others to safely sleep through the millennia-long journey.

Past interstellar travelers had embarked on the cosmos this way. However, they didn’t have such advanced artificial intelligence, so some had to remain awake for routine maintenance, then enter cryosleep, waking others in rotation to manage the ship.

So in that sense, Leonard’s creation really saved them a lot of trouble. Just enter the sleep chamber, sleep without dreaming, and wake up in a new world.

But when Joshua awoke from his long sleep 1,400 years later, by then Kester would have… would have…

“Teacher Giorgione.” He grabbed his teacher’s hand. “If Kester completes his research, will he come to the colony? Will he come find us?”

“He will.” The teacher smiled kindly. “He won’t leave us behind.”

Giorgione truly believed this. However, at that moment, Joshua felt he was just being comforted with a lie. Kester wouldn’t come. He would stay on Earth until the end of the world or until his last day.

They would never see each other again.

Joshua didn’t dare think further.

“Teacher, how long until the ship departs?”

“Five minutes.” Giorgione checked his watch.

“And how long until we leave Earth? When do we reach the transition station?”

“Seven minutes to leave Earth’s orbit, 36 hours to the transition station,” Giorgione answered truthfully. “What’s wrong, Joshua?”

“Nothing…” The young man bowed his head. “I just… miss Kester a bit.”

The teacher nodded understandingly. “Child, we can still communicate with Earth before we transition. If you wish, you can wait to enter the cryochamber until after that. You can leave him a message before then.”

Joshua silently accepted his teacher’s kind offer. But he knew he would never do that. He wouldn’t go with Giorgione to the colony. He had to find a way off the Dante and return to Earth, to home.

Joshua sat on his cabin’s bed. As the ship vibrated, he knew the engines had started, and in a minute, they would break free from gravity and head into space.

He had thought for a long time but still found no way to leave the ship. Maybe he could steal an escape pod, but he had no idea where they were stored. Teacher Giorgione surely knew but wouldn’t tell him.

Who else could he ask for help? Who else could help him escape the ship?

“Attention, passengers, please return to your cabins. The ship is about to ascend. I repeat, the ship is about to ascend.” The mechanical male voice overhead startled him. Joshua recognized this voice. He had conversed with it countless times in Kester’s lab.

“Leonard?”

“Indeed. How may I assist you, Joshua?”

It seemed Leonard still recognized him. That was perfect. Who knew the ship better than artificial intelligence?

“Leonard, help me!” Joshua jumped from the bed. “I need to get off the Dante!”

“The engines have already started. It’s impossible to stop now.”

“Find a way to help me escape!” Joshua shouted. “Use a lifeboat or anything! Let me return to the ground!”

Leonard hesitated. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. Using an escape pod while ascending is extremely dangerous, and Mr. Giorgione wouldn’t allow it.”

“Your permission is enough!” Joshua pleaded. “Please, Leonard, help me out this once! Let me go back to the ground. I need to return to Kester!”

If Leonard were a regular AI, he would never agree to such a whimsical request. But he was Leonard, the only advanced AI, understanding and adaptable, capable of making independent judgments. He could also be moved by human emotions.

“Turn right out the door. I’ll light the way for you,” Leonard instructed. “Head to the prep chamber. There are sky shuttles there that you can use to return. It’s very dangerous, though. I advise you to…”

“Thank you, Leonard!” Joshua dashed out the door.

“…You’re welcome.” Leonard found an unobserved path in the maps and lit the markers for Joshua.

Back to Kester’s side.

‘Joshua was indeed a fortunate human,’ the AI thought. ‘He still had the chance to return, while I can never look back.’

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

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

---

Chapter 84

Fourteen-year-old Joshua, carrying an iron cage, crossed a garden blooming with begonias and jasmine flowers and plunged into the woods behind it. Untrimmed branches snagged his sleeves, and as he turned to free himself, something caught in his hair. This annoyed him. He really shouldn’t have followed Kester’s example by growing his hair long like a little girl, having to tend to it all the time.

Once he finally freed himself from the branches, the little creature in the iron cage had already started squeaking impatiently. “Shut up,” Joshua threatened, completely disregarding whether the squirrel understood him or not.

About two weeks earlier, he had found this squirrel on the hillside behind the house when the poor thing was caught by a malfunctioning patrol robot that mistook it for an “intruder”. In its struggle, the squirrel had unfortunately broken its leg—a major tragedy. Fortunately, Joshua was drawn by the noise of the malfunctioning robot and managed to save it just in time.

Joshua had always been interested in medicine (a stark contrast to Kester’s interests), and he had interned in Euclid’s laboratory last year. If it weren’t for the rule that one had to be sixteen to qualify for a medical license, he would have signed up for the exam immediately. Damn the rules!

However, this didn’t stop him from bringing home a model human body for dissection and, during dinner, bathing under Kester’s horrified gaze while showing him how beautiful the human hyoid bone was. “If you were my sister instead of my brother, I’d make you a hairpin,” he said.

“My God, my brother is turning into a mad scientist!” Kester stuck out his tongue and made a face.

Even with his medical knowledge, treating a live squirrel was a first for Joshua. He had to soothe the frantic little creature while setting its splint, enduring Kester’s ridicule for the gruesomeness of the procedure.

Of course, the outcome was excellent. The squirrel quickly recovered, bouncing around the cage, eager to return to nature. So, that morning, Joshua carried the cage to the spot on the hillside where he had found the injured squirrel. He looked around to make sure there were no malfunctioning robots nearby, then placed the cage on the ground and opened the door.

The squirrel couldn’t wait to bolt out of the cage and onto the grass.

“Go on, get out of here.” Joshua gestured to shoo it away. “Don’t get caught again. Go.”

The squirrel circled his ankles a few times, sniffed the air, remembering his scent, then darted up a tree. Soon, its bushy tail disappeared into the dense foliage.

Joshua picked up the empty cage and headed home. As he entered, he smelled breakfast cooking. His brother Kester was yawning and spreading butter on bread. He had only returned home early that morning, resting just a few hours. His fatigue was evident from the dark circles under his eyes. Normally, he could sleep until noon (letting Joshua, who had destroyed countless microwaves, starve), but not today. Today was special.

“Did you let that little guy go?” Kester asked.

“Yeah.” Joshua tossed the cage in the entryway, sat down at the dining table, and began to enjoy his breakfast. Today’s breakfast was neither too lavish nor too sparse, just like every other breakfast they had, with no difference. Kester seemed to imply that the days ahead would be no different from the past. Joshua thought otherwise.

Throughout breakfast, he didn’t say a word to Kester and just buried his head and ate. Occasionally, he felt a heavy gaze on him that made it hard to breathe, but when he looked up at its owner, the pressure mysteriously vanished.

Kester quickly averted his gaze, pretending he hadn’t been staring continuously.

Joshua snorted through his nose. What’s he being shy about? He wondered. This might be their last meeting. Couldn’t they say goodbye like normal people? His brother excelled in many areas but was terribly inept at handling emotional matters. At times like this, Joshua wished Kester weren’t the universally acclaimed scientist but just an ordinary older brother.

After breakfast, Kester cleaned up, grabbed his already packed luggage, and gestured to Joshua. The young man silently followed him. They stood at the front door for about a minute, then heard a car horn from behind the woods.

“Let’s go. Charles is here to pick us up.”

A ground car was parked on the road behind the woods. Charles Titian, chewing gum, poked his head out the window to wave at them. “Hi, Kester!”

“Good morning, Charles.” Kester put the luggage in the trunk and pulled Joshua into the car. Charles started the engine, and the car screamed in agony as it sped down the mountain road.

“You two really are calm,” Charles said. “You don’t look like brothers about to part ways, but more like strangers who just happened to share a car.”

“Mind your own business,” Joshua retorted.

Kester tapped his head. “I believe ‘manners’ are something that never changes, whether on Earth or in the colony.”

Joshua turned his head to look out the window.

Charles smirked. “It’s okay. I’m used to it. I was the same at his age, like the whole world owed me money.” He sharply turned the steering wheel. If it were not for the locked doors, the two in the back would have been thrown out. “I’m saying, Kester, are you really unwilling to go with us?”

Joshua saw Kester’s eyes flicker in the rearview mirror.

“Yes,” the young scientist answered. “I still have important research unfinished, and I can’t bring the equipment on the ship, so I have to stay.”

“God, Kester. Where and when you do your research doesn’t matter. Does it have to be here? You could come to space with us, and once we reach the colony, you can rebuild your lab and continue your damn project.”

“That’s years away! What if someone takes the achievements that should have been mine in the meantime!” Kester laughed after saying this. Charles laughed along. They both knew Kester wasn’t telling the truth. Even if he made any groundbreaking discoveries, the people in the colony wouldn’t know because no one would be there to pass on the message. Once the rest left Earth on the Dante, Earth would be truly isolated in the universe. Those left behind were like ancient people from hundreds or thousands of years ago, calling into the cosmos without any reply.

The car soon reached the temporary spaceport. This port, built temporarily to transport migrants, had only one docking berth, where two ships previously from the lunar spaceport had docked, and now the Dante was parked there. The Dante’s specifications were inferior to the previous two ships, and it was terribly slow. It would reach the colony about a thousand years later than its sister ships.

A thousand years! Joshua could hardly believe the number! Though a thousand years was just a moment in cosmic time, for humans, it was an unimaginably long period. By the time he reached the colony, he would be an “ancient”. By then, where would Kester be? Wouldn’t Kester have long…

Charles parked the car in the public parking lot. The spaceport was unusually busy, with about four hundred fifty people set to leave on the Dante, while less than twenty, all scientists following Kester, would stay on Old Earth to continue their research. Now, these people gathered at the temporary spaceport, representing all that was left of humanity on Old Earth. Soon, when the Dante departed, Earth would become unprecedentedly deserted—all cities abandoned, all settlements deserted. Only the labs would keep their lights on all night, illuminating the Earth’s eternal night sky.

Kester dragged his luggage from the trunk and waved to Joshua. “Let’s go.”

Joshua leaned against the car door, staring at the massive Dante and the ant-like crowd below it. He turned back to see Kester’s silver hair disheveled by the morning chill. The brothers looked extremely similar, both with silver hair and black eyes, although Joshua’s pupils were ringed with gold.

“What’s wrong, Joshua?” Kester said, “Come on, I’ll take you to the elevator. Giorgione is waiting for you there.”

“Kester, are you really not coming with us?” Joshua asked.

He had asked this question countless times, and Kester had patiently answered just as many times, always the same, and this time was no exception.

“I’m staying.”

Joshua suddenly felt his eyes dry. “Then… can I stay as well?”

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

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

---

Chapter 83

Alois sat alone behind a cluster of rose bushes. The breeze messed up his hair into a disheveled style. He impatiently smoothed it down, pulled his knees to his chest, and curled up as tightly as possible, like a stray cat abandoned by its owner, hiding in a corner unknown to anyone to keep warm. Soon, he began to pluck the grass on the ground in frustration. When the grass was nearly plucked clean, he turned his attention to the roses behind him. He wondered if he would be fined or even jailed for “damaging the greenery” if caught.

Reaching out to grab a flower, he was pricked by a thorn on the stem. “Damn it!” he cursed under his breath, retracting his hand. His finger bled from the prick, and he sucked on the wound, tasting the salty flavor of his blood.

Once the bleeding nearly stopped, Alois got up, dusted off the dirt and leaves from his clothes, and walked towards the white cottage. On the secluded forest path, he heard sobbing.

The sound was faint, almost imperceptible unless listened for carefully, but he keenly noticed it. He carefully parted the branches in front of him and saw Joshua sitting on a wooden swing in front of the flower garden, his head deeply bowed, his silver hair cascading over his knees like a waterfall. His shoulders trembled, like a lonely and helpless child. The faint sobs and sniffles were carried to Alois’s ears by the breeze.

It was Joshua crying.

This shocked Alois greatly. He blinked several times to make sure he wasn’t seeing an illusion. How could this be? He thought. To him, Joshua always appeared so dashing and formidable, compelling all enemies to submit with his lethal prowess, beautiful yet never fragile. His sharpness, like a drawn sword, had thoroughly conquered Alois inside and out.

But did Joshua also have such moments of vulnerability? Did he cry like this when alone?

Seeing him so helpless pained Alois deeply. He wanted to comfort Joshua but feared being coldly rejected, pushed away mercilessly like a few times before. With this thought, his steps slowed.

Why did Joshua always keep him out of his world? Why keep a tightly locked door in his heart, preferring to decay slowly inside rather than opening up to him?

Why torment himself like this, bearing pain alone? Why not share it with him… even just a little?

When will this fool stop being so stubborn!

Before Alois realized it, he had already approached Joshua from behind and hugged him tightly. Joshua’s body jolted, then he struggled fiercely.

“Let go of me!” Joshua grabbed Alois’s arms wrapped around his chest, his fingers digging into the skin, seemingly as a threat, but his choked voice betrayed him. “I told you not to come over! Let me be alone!”

“No!” Even as his arms ached from the grip, Alois didn’t loosen his hold. Instead, he hugged tighter. “Even if you say that, I won’t let go!”

“Get away!”

“No!”

“Let go of me!”

“No!” Alois shouted. “I won’t let go! Even if you drive me away, I won’t let go! You said we would always be together. You said so… so I won’t leave you alone!”

Joshua’s struggling gradually weakened, and finally, he stopped resisting, allowing Alois to gently caress his ear.

Thus, Alois quietly held him, chest pressed against his back, feeling his heartbeat and the slight tremor of his shoulders. He felt the warm tears wetting his hand. Joshua was crying again. Those tears were so scorching they nearly burned Alois’s skin, but he relished the feeling. He wanted to be the person Joshua could lean on, the one to share his pain, listen to his sorrows, and help him out of the darkness.

He could accept all of Joshua, not afraid of rejection. He wanted to be loved by Joshua and to love him in return.

After a long time, the sobbing finally stopped. Alois loosened his arms and moved in front of Joshua. The assassin hung his head, unwilling to look at him. Silver hair fell down, covering his face. Alois reached out to brush his hair aside, but Joshua shrank back, turning his head away.

“Don’t look at me…” He raised his hand to cover his reddened eyes.

Alois wrapped his arms around his neck, wiping away the lingering tears. “Don’t be like this.”

“You saw me at my worst,” Joshua muttered softly.

“I won’t laugh at you.”

Alois gently kissed the corner of Joshua’s lips, then sat down cross-legged on the grass beside him, holding Joshua’s hand on his knee.

“I’m sorry,” Joshua said. “For how I treated you before.”

“It’s okay.”

“I shouldn’t have kept so much from you.” Joshua bit his lip. “You must be curious, yet I didn’t tell you anything…”

“If you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t,” Alois said. “Those things happened before I met you, I… I don’t care about them.” His voice lowered. Even he felt a bit insincere.

“I wasn’t intentionally hiding them.” Joshua ruffled his hair. “Because those aren’t pleasant memories. Sometimes I don’t even want to remember them myself.”

Alois stared. “Then don’t…”

“I think it’s better to tell you now.” Joshua raised a finger to Alois’s lips. “We should be open with each other. No secrets or doubts, right?”

‘You should have done this earlier,’ Alois thought. He nodded, signaling Joshua to continue.

Joshua looked towards the white cottage, slightly dazed, as if unsure where to begin. “Um… you ask.” He withdrew his gaze. “I’ll try to answer truthfully.”

“Okay, my first question, and the one I want to know most.” Alois shifted to a more comfortable position. “Who is Kester? What is your relationship with him?”

Joshua’s answer came almost without hesitation. “Kester is just as you know, the genius scientist from Old Earth. He is my brother.”

This response surprised Alois. “You’re brothers? Real brothers?”

“Is there any doubt?” Joshua appeared slightly uncomfortable. “But there’s a big age difference. He’s thirteen years older than me…”

“That’s not what I meant!” Alois exclaimed. “Kester is from Old Earth, right? That’s over a thousand—nearly two thousand years ago. How are you… Why would you…”

Joshua again looked towards his restored old home, holding one of Alois’s hands, while the other clutched the swing’s iron chain. Gathering his thoughts in the night wind, he began to recount his past.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>