Moon Theory (ABO)Ch85 - awaiting, next evenfall

“This…stinks!”

Or so Jae says as he pinches the tip of his nose. His voice is strangled and comes off comically high-pitched. He drags along a large, aluminum-coated crane, the edges of it scraping lines across concrete. Behind him are dozens more of the same crates, piled high to the sky. sK4ldM

“I mean it literally stinks! Hyung, why are we transporting two-weeks-old corpses! We’re the First Unit! We have merit! Distinction! We have thousands of achievements to our name, so why are we doing this kind of menial labor!”

Jae takes a pause to wipe the sweat off his face. When he continues, his tone is even more dejected. “Alas! We’ve been demoted to blue-collar work. Hauling crates one after another, trudging past snow and sand, facing rainstorms and windstorms… to suffer like laborers in hellfire Earth – woe is us! Hyung, let us forsake this planet and hide away… somewhere far away so no one will find us and make us work. Then I can die a simple, unnamed death when I’m old.”

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“The proposition isn’t half bad, Private Jae,” comes Yoo Seok’s reply. Beside Jae, the handsome soldier is lunging two creates at a time without breaking a single sweat. Frankly, with his sturdy frame, he’d be able to take on three if not for how needlessly large the boxes are. “If you would rather live an unchartered life in the slums, then by all means, call up Command and inform them of your decision. Resignment is but a few words anyway. A quick process, barely a minute of time – you may simply follow Colonel Yang’s ways.”

“…Colonel Yang did it very unconventionally,” Jae responds as he hoists a crate up a pickup truck. The young soldier does work efficiently (albeit begrudgingly). “Command hasn’t allowed him to quit yet… I think he needs some sort of formal letter? A government stamp? Some higher permissions that I don’t know much about. As of now, he’s still on an… unofficial leave of absence – but hyung, do you think he’s really quit?” 0rzeNO

Yoo Seok raises an eyebrow. “Do you think he’d come back?”

“I didn’t think he was the type to quit,” Jae says with a frown. “But I don’t think the military would allow him back on the field since he’s been confirmed infected – even if he does, he’d be monitored extremely closely. Hey… hyung, do you think he’ll die? Um… from the radiation, I mean. He’s… I don’t know when he’d started showing symptoms, but most infectees don’t last long. Especially soldiers like us who are exposed to the radiation daily – even the two of us, hyung, may unexpectedly die tomorrow.”

“Uncertain,” Yoo Seok only replies. He continues to load more boxes in the trunk. “I suspect Colonel Yang has been long infected, however. The exact timing is unknown, and such things do not concern me. I’ve only noticed certain oddities in his behavior and… perhaps it’s why he was so interested in Noah at first sight – a sort of camaraderie?”

Jae nods pensively. The two soldiers converse as they do heavy lifting. The current time is half past five – two more hours and the sun will rise. Thankfully, they do have time before radiation peaks. Yoo Seok works especially quickly, stacking boxes upon boxes weighing more than a hundred pounds. The contents are unknown though they do know these are dead organisms. The crates may be specially designed for preservation, but it hardly means the scent isn’t foul.

While Jae and Yoo Seok are tasked with the lifting, Li Jiayun sits dutifully on top of the truck. She carries a binocular in her hands, and she is continuously swerving to monitor the area, making sure there aren’t any potential threats. Truth be told, the First Unit is severely lacking in manpower – just three soldiers. No backup.

Jae is slightly out of breath by the halfway mark. “I was actually always curious why Colonel Yang had a sensor-disabling ID. I threw away my suspicions because General Xie has one too, so I just assumed it’s for easy transportation. Skip the screening process and all… and Colonel Yang has always been lazy—ah, I mean efficient with his time. Turns out he may have been infected long ago – but hyung, is it so strange that I don’t really care for such things?”

“And by that, you mean?”

“I’ve come to accept that we’ll all die early deaths,” Jae says plainly. “Whether it be by radiation or battle wounds. Actually… looking back, I don’t think I was extremely shocked to find out Colonel Yang was infected. Rather than shock it’d be… resignation. Acceptance soon after. The same goes for Noah when I’d first saw him – maybe I didn’t care to send him away as an experiment because I assumed he’d die soon enough and it’s alright to let him live properly. Maybe I feel pity?” tkDrF1

“Hm. Perhaps.”

“And I don’t really find myself so attached to our missions,” Jae continues. “Somehow, the Nexus’ goals don’t exactly align with mine—ah, not that I really have goals anyway, hyung. But I don’t place as much importance in the survival of humankind.”

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“None of us do,” Yoo Seok responds. “Not as much as Colonel Yang did anyway—and even for him, it wasn’t so much his desire as it was an obligation. He holds no attachment to the military. It is only that he was raised by the General and so, he’d always been associated. It is also why the First Unit was always destined to fall – neither commander nor his soldiers share a goal.”

The young soldier purses his lips. Jae is thinking hard about something, but most of his thoughts remain unsaid. His next words are said more quietly, almost billowed away with a sudden shivering gust of wind. “And what about us? What do you think we should do now? Our commander is gone. Some weeks later, we will be split up and assigned elsewhere. And things won’t be the same, hyung. Our goals would still not align with them – not with the Nexus, not with Command. I will be outer border patrol and you, due to be promoted to sergeant, will be assigned a unit in a platoon. Private Li will be gone as well, taken to some other unit with more ambition, as they’d put it.” fO1P2H

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Jae raises an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“I meant what I said before,” the raven-haired soldier says slowly. “That the proposition isn’t half bad. If you decide to quit being a soldier, Jae, or if you decide to live a life away from the Nexus’ regulations – say a few words to me.” eZ2GF3

Jae looks at him with an indecipherable gaze. Quite odd for the young soldier to look this serious – Jae has always had an air of frivolity, and it is only times like these that he looks the part of a soldier. He may not be veteran, and his features may not be particularly sharp, but the young man himself is very keen. Hidden inside a veil of mystery, his brown eyes stare up at Yoo Seok. Jae is but a measly five centimeters shorter and his frame is not frail in the slightest.

He says, “You would come with me?

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

Yoo Seok responds as he locks eye contact, “From the start, our reasons for joining the military were simple – if between living in the destitute slums versus ‘fighting’ in the same slums, we’d choose the latter with added benefits. In my case, I find it simpler to wield a rifle than to study the sciences that bore me. In your case, you only followed me.”

“Of course,” Jae replies. “Because you were there to save my life.” 0PpMsj

“I was sixteen, going on seventeen when I found you.” Yoo Seok leans against the trunk, assuming a wholly relaxed posture. “At the time, as I was assigned my first mission as a trainee, my unit felled to a pack of roadside hawks. I was the sole traveler alive and interestingly, on the way back, there was a boy a few years younger – innocent and spineless. A tad idiotic, I must add, for he was fending off a hawk with a rock.”

“…” Jae doesn’t look happy. “Hyung, your narrative is too opinionated. I’ll have to remind you that you were also injured and bleeding out of your chest. So now that I think about it some more, I also saved you!”

“You aren’t wrong.” Yoo Seok gives him a small smirk. Very deadly when paired with his handsome, usually stoic features. “Then I lived with you in the slums for quite a few years. So Jae, you’d only need a little bit of convincing for me to agree.”

Jae also rests against the trunk. He sighs in a bit of relief – the pause is much-needed before another round of lifting. “To agree to quit with me?” OUT8Pz

Yoo Seok gives a low hum and leans toward him. “To agree to run off with you.”

“Maybe,” Jae replies quite casually, not angling away. Their eyes meet comfortably. “I might weigh our options when we head back to the city.”

Yoo Seok nods in understanding. Before he can say anymore, Li Jiayun’s transceiver goes off. The female soldier jolts up in surprise, loses her balance and nearly topples over the hood of the truck. She catches her binoculars before they fall, thankfully, and it is with some frantic movements that she steadies herself.

A static voice cuts in. it’s just as robotic as all the other signallers’. “Unit One, do you copy? Requesting the coordinates of Unit One, under supervision of General Xie. I repeat, we are requesting the—” 1fHFpd

“Unit One, Private Li speaking!” Li Jiayun reports as she struggles with the device. “Our current location is the Kinnes Repertory. Pickup is estimated take another half hour. Coordinates are 52.8550 N, 72.9500 W.”

“Coordinates received,” the person says. “Your next destination is the city border. Command will authorize access once you’ve reached the area.”

“Understood.”

“Have a safe journey, Unit One.” iBQjED

Like that, the line hangs up. The monotonous voice is hardly reassuring or friendly at all. Nonetheless, the three soldiers are long used to these dreary calls. Jae heaves a sigh, and he resumes hauling the heavy aluminum crates. There are less than a dozen left – the remaining ones, however, weigh a tad heavier.

Yoo Seok takes one as well. He pauses right before loading it on the truck, his lips pursed in thinking. He must’ve zoned out for too long, for Jae taps him on the back questioningly.

“What is it, hyung?” asks the young soldier. “Are you tired? You can head inside the vehicle first and I’ll handle the other ones.”

“It’s alright,” Yoo Seok responds shortly with a shake of his head. “I was only caught off-guard by the noise.” rZl7U0

“The noise?” Jae leans in with a furrow of his brows. “Oh, the general has mentioned something about a special shipment. I believe it should be this batch. Some of these containers are reinforced, made sturdier for the anomalies inside.”

Yoo Seok nods. “I see.”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

—

“Unit 99, your situation report.” HQmfuE

The man’s tone is cold. Or perhaps it isn’t any colder than usual, but General Xie always bears an aura of frost, manifested through both his speech and his poise. His gait is as magnificent as his standstill, and not a single soul dares to trespass within five meters of him. Right before the break of dawn and Xie Liwei is still patrolling the vicinity, his combat boots silent against hard concrete.

His soldiers (or at least a portion of them, since he takes command of too many squads to count) have long retreated inside the shelter, but the general remains outside and alert. Bottomless dark eyes map out every inch of the landscape, not missing a single unit of sand or stone. His communications device is strapped to his belt – he hadn’t bothered, either, to take it out. As though pressing a few buttons is a waste of his time.

“G-General Xie!” comes the reply five seconds later – not quick enough, however, that Xie Liwei’s eyes narrow in slight consternation. “General Xie, we sincerely apologize for the delay. Shortly after receiving your orders, we’ve encountered a situation.”

“I am asking for a situation report,” Xie Liwei says curtly. “Not for an excuse.” AmqSPH

“Yes sir!” The man is clearly frightened. “Unit 99’s current location is by Vinctus Village. We have yet to leave due to an unexpected encounter. A valuable civilian has been spotted among the ruins. We are discussing our next courses of action.”

“A valuable civilian,” General Xie responds with pursed lips. “And the person is…?”

“Unfortunately, not the person you are looking for, General Xie,” the person replies, and his tone is a tad odd. Hesitant. There is some stutter in his words when he speaks again. “It is not the hybrid that Command has commissioned to find. R-Rest assured, we will be certain to capture him after taking care of the civilian. I estimate a day or two of rest and—”

“Private,” Xie Liwei says. Incredibly chilling – just one word out of his mouth and the other side is pressed to lower. “Do you take me for a fool?” sPtSFo

The soldier balks. “P-Pardon me, General Xie, but I think of no such—”

“Or perhaps you think I am deaf,” the general cuts him off. “Does ‘taking care’ of a civilian connotate progenitive activities, or may there be there another situation I am unaware of? You may inform me.”

The line goes silent for a few seconds. Soft whimpers are heard on the other side, not coming from the soldier but from an unknown person. Xie Liwei’s hearing is incredibly acute. He may even be frightening enough to distinguish hundreds of noises apart, regardless of their frequencies.

The soldier chokes out, “G-General Xie, as we were escorting the omega, he had suddenly gone into heat and—” sj5lP8

“Yet again, I haven’t asked for an excuse,” Xie Liwei brushes aside a tree branch as he walks. It cracks in half, the sound transmitting eerily on the call. “Nor did I grant permission for a leave of duty. It is an hour before sunrise, Private, which denotes an hour before any personal affairs may go on. The 99^th Unit is now terminated. Pack your belongings and head back.”

“General—”

“You have until next evenfall.”

Dum dum theater: jfyOwc

(immediately after last chapter’s kiss scene…)
noah, *sleeping on yang rong’s chest*
yang rong, *wide awake*
yang rong: …
yang rong: … …
yang rong, *checks his own crotch*
(a sigh of relief is heard.)

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