In just over ten minutes, the post’s comment section had garnered thousands of replies.
User A: What did I just see? Captain Zong actually hugged someone in a doll store?
User B: Doubtful, this photo must be photoshopped, right? We’ve seen this before, random couple photos with faces swapped, just fishing for attention.
User C: I also think it’s photoshopped. In the photo, Captain Zong is actually smiling! He! Is! Smiling! Hey! I remember our Captain Zong never showed any expression on TV, right? And his partner looks too unreal, I doubt a human could look like that, probably a computer-generated image.
User D: Don’t jump to conclusions, computer-generated images can’t be this natural and smooth… Let’s be honest, although it’s not ideal for a regular person to be with an ability user, this person is really good-looking.
User A: So, any tech expert here to explain?
A passing tech expert: Hmm, after pixel analysis, it’s not photoshopped. Nor is it synthesized.
Users ABCD: !!!
User C: No! I don’t believe it!!
User D: Haha, see? I told you. Such a stunning beauty can’t be computer-generated. Now I understand why Captain Zong chooses a regular person as his partner… If it were me, I’d also choose beauty over everything else.
User A: Although the analogy above isn’t quite right, the two people in the photo really look good together. Quietly raising my hand to admit it.
User D: Agreed. (+1) (PS: I have a feeling I’ll get roasted, but I don’t care. Any excessively vulgar insults will be deflected.)
User F: A regular person, a man at that, incapable of having children, unable to pass on the genes of an ability user, enjoying all the city’s resources without any responsibility—what’s the use of someone like that, no matter how good-looking they are?
User D: Are you saying regular people don’t have the right to pursue love?
User E: The aliens are getting stronger and stronger. Regular people are completely powerless against them, only ability users can protect the city. Considering how low the awakening rate of ability users is, if they don’t have children, there won’t be enough people on the front lines, and humanity will be doomed. Think about your own lives. Can love fill your stomachs?
As soon as this was said, everyone fell silent.
The city was currently experiencing a massive outbreak of unrest, and those still able to post on the forums were from safe zones that hadn’t been affected.
In the areas truly isolated by the “wall,” signals to the outside world had long been cut off.
There were few people on the streets, with everyone hiding indoors, only able to pass the time by scrolling through their phones. The glow of fire tinged the sky red outside.
No one knew if they would be the next one affected.
Those echoing F’s sentiments quickly multiplied. In the end, it almost became overwhelmingly one-sided.
User G: Honestly, I feel like someone like Captain Zong would never fall in love with anyone willingly. The reason he married a regular person… must have been because he was seduced.
User H: As a regular person, I’ll chime in too. Being partnered with someone with abilities is great, they’re strong, have privileges, more resources, and if anything happens, they get priority protection. But, haha, I still have a sense of moral responsibility, so I won’t do such things.
User I: So when will they ban regular people from registering marriages with ability users? Proposals have been made every year, but never passed, even though more than 60% of people in the forum surveys agree, right?
User A: Although, just quietly, while you all criticize Captain Zong’s partner for being selfish, whether it was his initiative or not, if Captain Zong didn’t really like him, their relationship wouldn’t have lasted this long, right?
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
User F: Come on, when abilities and regular people are together, there’s all sorts of stuff to bear, afraid to touch and afraid to break, is such a marriage really happy? Don’t be ridiculous. I heard Captain Zong’s infection rate has been increasing lately, I think he’s to blame.
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Do you know how difficult it is to book Professor Shen’s number??? If I could marry Professor Shen as my partner, I’d be so happy I’d dance in the streets.
After this reply, more ability users emerged one after another like mushrooms after rain.
Ability user B: Sob, no wonder my two marriage proposals were rejected. Captain Zong is so lucky.
Ability user C: Damn, you little brat, you dare secretly propose to Professor Shen without telling us?
Ability user DEF: So envious of Captain Zong!!!
The sudden influx of ability users disrupted the one-sided condemnation.
Usually, ability users were not very active on the city forum, as they had their own internal forums and communication groups for mist and alien intelligence, task assignments, and task completion.
Perhaps because there were too many people criticizing in the post, someone couldn’t stand it and forwarded the post to the group.
Then it stirred up the group.
They had booked Professor Shen for so long, and now he was being slandered by this group. How could they tolerate it?
Professor Shen had to be so heartbroken after reading these words. If he resigned and quit, what would they do?
—-
During the forum war, Shen Jie remained curled up on the sofa, playing on his phone.
The phone was a newly purchased reinforced version, which should be a bit more resilient than the previous two.
“Wild WoodFish” had long been cleared by him, and in these past few days of leisure, he had also reached the top rank in the unlimited hell mode.
He set down the phone and rubbed his forehead.
On the other end of consciousness, Su Shiyu was still busy at work.
In these past two days, he had ascended another level, and the “Feather of Creation” had reached Stage Three.
The benefits of treating ordinary people were already quite minimal at this point, but he had no intention of selecting patients based on their condition.
He would save as many as he could.
Once Wu Yan sent over the cores of the aliens he had collected, upgrading wouldn’t be a problem.
Speaking of which, Wu Yan hadn’t reported to him for two days already.
While Zhu Wu You’s seal on the room couldn’t completely cut off his connection with the void entity, it was still effective in isolating other things, such as Wu Yan’s connection.
The aroma of tomato broth wafted in from the kitchen, and Zong Lin added fresh slices of fatty beef into the soup.
Shen Jie’s throat rolled slightly.
He was hungry.
But it wasn’t a physiological hunger.
There weren’t many things in this world that could make him feel “hungry.” Especially such a strong attraction, almost uncontrollably restraining his desire to devour souls.
And he was actually familiar with this feeling.
Back then, he was also attracted by this feeling, waking up from the slumber of the void and coming to this world.
At this moment, his phone vibrated, and a communication request suddenly popped up.
Shen Jie glanced at it; it was from Steven.
He answered the call, “What’s up?”
“Shen Jie, have you seen the forum?” Steven asked urgently.
Shen Jie replied, “No.” He usually only used his phone to listen to music and play games, rarely bothering with other miscellaneous stuff.
Steven said, “A photo of you and Zong Lin was secretly taken and posted on the forum.”
Shen Jie raised an eyebrow. Over the seven years of being partners with Zong Lin, he had indeed been concealing their relationship for the sake of his own peace of mind. But now, that peace had been shattered, and there was no longer any need to continue hiding.
So he replied casually, “I see. Is there anything else? If not, I’ll rest for now.”
“Shen Jie!” Steven called out to him.
“Although as a friend, I shouldn’t interfere with your choices,” Steven hesitated for a moment but continued, “but you should know, it’s difficult for marriages between ordinary people and ability users to have a happy ending. How many ordinary people have been seriously injured by ability users in hospitals?”
“If you’re aiming for better job performance and promotion opportunities, there’s no need to resort to such… cunning methods.”
“You’re overthinking it,” Shen Jie said, then hung up the phone.
Steven put down his phone and sat on the bed, hugging his knees.
This was the outer city residential area. Because he had argued for Luo Shuang’s death, he was forcibly sent out of the blocked core area by his father, Shi Chen, and even stripped of his identity as a researcher.
And that box he had painstakingly rescued from the fire, filled with the genetic research data he had secretly conducted over the years, barely got a glance from the other party.
From the beginning, Shi Chen had opposed his joining the research institute, but he had insisted on doing so.
But even though he had tried so hard, his three acquaintances, Shen Jie and Ke Xi Ya, had already become senior researchers. Luo Shuang had jumped off a building.
He had been raising the aliens for so many years, repeating the same low-skilled tasks every day, like a replaceable screw. For ten years, he had achieved nothing.
His every effort seemed like a joke.
Steven reached for the sleeping pills on the bedside table, pouring a handful.
Suddenly, a voice softly echoed.
An indistinguishable voice, with endless allure, whispered in his ear.
【Do you want to become stronger?】
【Do you want to possess a power that others dare not underestimate?】
【Do you want to break free from mediocrity, making those who once looked down on you tremble in fear, making those who once mocked you beg for mercy?】
【Gaze upon me, perceive me.】
【With your body, bear the required price, and be reborn anew.】
—-
In the late hours of the night, people’s tempers always seemed to be particularly high.
The arguments on the forum grew fiercer and fiercer.
Regarding the issue of whether ordinary people can marry ability users, hundreds of threads had been opened on the forum, each one hotly debated.
The mainstream viewpoint was “no,” and although those who oppose were few,
Suddenly, all the arguing voices fell silent.
It wasn’t because the administrators had muted them.
Instead, it was because all the screens in the city— including televisions, computers, phones, billboards in malls, and even mirrors—suddenly went black.
“What’s going on?”
“Is my phone out of battery?”
“No, that’s not it. All screens are black. What on earth is happening?”
Then, their screens suddenly lit up again.
—The ordinary person they were just discussing moments ago appeared in the center of the screen.
A young man with black hair and eyes sat on the throne of the temple, dressed in a black suit, hands folded on his knees, his long hair tied with a ribbon. In front of the camera, various forms of different kinds of aliens knelt before him.
He wore a faint smile and spoke in a tone as if chatting casually.
“Good evening, humans.”
I knew the brother would pull something like this, impersonating the mc to make his situation worse.
Oh no, is this so-called brother going to masquerade as Shen Jie and cause misunderstandings???
So much drama
OOOOOHHHH!!!
Thank you for the chapter! <3333
What a bad, bad brother he turns out to be… Thanks for the update ❤️🤣
Why you leave us on a cliffhanger like that( ཀ ʖ̯ ཀ)
Still thanks for the translation! <3
Uh oh. This’ll be interesting.
Thank you for the chapter! ❤
can’t be shen jie, so is it the little brother?
Ah, so the younger brother will out the older as the King?
Oh damn, identity theft 😩
Oh boy! The brother is not good!