At that moment, an indescribable feeling of familiarity traveled from those eyes to Cossen’s heart. His originally cold and frozen heart seemed to pound for a moment.
Cossen stared at those eyes. After a second, he finally dazedly realized that that was a face completely different from Harvey’s.
The young, black-haired officer had a pair of deep purple eyes and ordinary features, entirely different from those of the blond-haired, blue-eyed, handsome, and dazzling Harvey. Yet…the ineffable shock brought to him by that familiar back in that split second when the young soldier had turned around just now remained in his heart, impossible to get rid of.
Ye Ming, Charlie, and the others were standing by the entrance. They saw Cossen approaching and immediately stood at attention, saluting respectfully to him with the other soldiers.
Charlie, Hawk, and the others watched Cossen with shining eyes filled with adoration and passion. The reason they planned to come to the entrance was precisely because of their tiny hope that they might happen to catch a glimpse of Cossen in the flesh. They didn’t expect to really get that chance! Their luck was too fucking good!
The young soldiers’ ardent gazes were extremely sincere. The base commanding officer, Colonel Lance, followed behind Cossen, smiling. He understood everyone’s desire to catch a glimpse of their idol. He wouldn’t rebuke them for this small matter. The marshal surely wouldn’t mind either.
Ye Ming stood among the crowd, an indescribable, complicated emotion in his eyes. He was standing straight, like the people around him, with his right hand raised to his chest, and there wasn’t a single problem that could be found with his salute, yet somehow…it made one feel as if he didn’t fit in at all.
The base commander Colonel Lance’s gaze swept past Ye Ming. He, too, had some misgivings. He kept feeling like this soldier’s expression seemed a bit strange. He was standing in a crowd of soldiers who were so excited they were like fans, but he, on the contrary, did not seem at all in awe of Cossen’s appearance and didn’t at all act pleasantly surprised like he should have.
Cossen noticed this too. They looked at each other from a distance, their eyes fixed only on one another.
Although Lance found Ye Ming a little strange, he didn’t think too much of it. Despite Cossen’s prestige at Fort Müller, it was impossible for every single person to be as excited about seeing him as a fan was about seeing their idol. It was very normal for there to occasionally be one or two uninterested or reserved people. Supposedly, over at the capital star, there were even many who didn’t like the marshal.
He quickly looked away and said to Cossen uncertainly, “Marshal, sir?”
Cossen nonchalantly withdrew his gaze and suppressed his strange mood. He said indifferently, “It’s nothing.”
When he finished speaking, he continued walking out. He soon left with his accompanying officers.
Colonel Lance walked Cossen all the way back to his residence and was just preparing to take his leave, when Cossen suddenly said to him, “Lance, stay behind for a moment.”
When he heard this, Lance was a little bit excited. He was just a mere colonel. Normally, he wouldn’t have the seniority to meet with Cossen. This was already very rare, and today, Cossen actually asked him to stay behind. Was something the matter? But he quickly recovered from his excitement, his expression nervous. Cossen had always been impartial, with strict demands. He couldn’t have asked him to stay behind because he found faults with Lance’s supervision, could he?
Cossen paid absolutely no attention to Lance’s apprehension. His eyes solemn, he asked, businesslike, “When was the last time you ran routine tests on the soldiers?”
Routine testing was specially put in place to prevent the infected from infiltrating the military. Tests occurred every two months. Lance looked frightened when he heard this. Somewhat nervously, he said, “It was a month and a half ago. Do you think an infected has infiltrated here?”
Cossen didn’t respond. Instead, he closed his eyes and hesitated for a moment before opening his eyes again, his dark red eyes as deep and serene as the ocean. Calmly, he said, “Conduct the tests again tomorrow, together with the all-round tests to gauge the soldiers’ aptitude. Say it’s to select reserve members for my personal guard.”
Lance was shocked. Cossen’s personal guard was the strongest unit in all of Fort Müller, even all of the Human Federation. Only the most outstanding soldiers were qualified to join. They’d always been handpicked through multiple rounds of screening. Why were they now selecting people from his tiny base? If they took the best soldiers from here over to Cossen’s side, they might not be up to par…and this matter came up too suddenly. He was much more frightened than he was happily surprised.
Lance carefully asked, “Are you really going to select personal guard members? Or is there another reason for this?”
Cossen looked at him and said faintly, “I believe it’s necessary to carry out an impromptu inspection, but I don’t want to alert the enemy. At the same time, I can select personal guard members. If there is suitable talent, I won’t be too unyielding with the rules. I can make an exception to recruit them. Go prepare. I’ll wait until after you finish inspections here to leave.”
Lance immediately understood what Cossen meant. Previously, unannounced inspections like these were common. He didn’t understand why Marshal Cossen would suddenly want to carry out unannounced inspections here, but he absolutely would not defy his orders. He left obediently.
After Lance left, Colonel Brody, one of the heads of the personal guard and a trusted aide who had followed Cossen since the beginning, took a step forward. He asked uncertainly, “Why are you suddenly conducting impromptu inspections of this place? We were planning to go to base C331 tomorrow. We notified their commanding officer about it yesterday.”
Brody had risked his life fighting alongside Cossen for many years. He was his classmate, comrade, and friend. Cossen’s attitude with him was more easy-going, and he would speak relatively straightforwardly. “Today I saw someone I thought was a little fishy.”
Brody asked, “Do you think he’s infected?”
Cossen was silent for a moment, then said, “Maybe. We’ll know after testing.”
Brody still didn’t completely understand. Even if he really suspected there were infected people here, such a small matter could just be handed over to Lance or some other subordinate to take care of. Why would he need to personally stay here and even change his original travel plans over it?
Cossen did not intend to explain anymore. He said, “Contact the people at base C331 for me, and tell them my arrival might be delayed by two days.”
Despite Brody’s uncertainty, he almost never questioned Cossen’s decisions. He had always admired Cossen, from his sharpness to his accurate judgement and decision-making, so he respectfully replied, “Yes!”
Cossen waited after Brody left and he was the only one left in the room before a look of pain finally emerged in his eyes.
He once again recalled that person and all of the bitter memories he could not forget.
It was all his fault. Because he trusted someone whom he shouldn’t have trusted, he had made such a blunder. Even if he used his entire life to atone, it still wouldn’t be enough…No matter how much he regretted it, he couldn’t bring back the lives that were lost.
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.
………………
Tf Zlcu gfaegcfv ab tlr dejgafgr. Lf qbcvfgfv obg j wbwfca jcv ofia atja tlr qfgobgwjcmf beuta ab tjnf yffc fcbeut ab jaagjma Jbrrfc’r jaafcalbc.
[Ye Ming: I think I arranged it super perfectly—first, turning around, second, looking back, third, casting charming glances! He definitely noticed me. With my family’s daren’s sharpness, there’s no way he’ll ignore my obvious abnormality! Especially after the occurence of two tragedies, he definitely wouldn’t take any hidden dangers lightly.]
[888: That’s right. I was just monitoring him and saw that he already instructed Lance to conduct impromptu inspections under the guise of selecting personal guard members.]
[Ye Ming: Just as prudent as expected. Attracting his attention was the first step. Next, I have to use my brilliant performance to get the position of personal guard!]
[888: Hehehehe…] Wasn’t he using his strange performance to make him even more suspicious?
[Ye Ming: Right, I was too engrossed in my performance just now and forgot to ask—how high is his blackening value?]
[888: Not much, just 100.]
[Ye Ming: …] He felt he was done for.
Tf Zlcu ofii jriffq offilcu rbggbkoei. Dfmjerf bo tlr gbbwwjaf Jtjgilf’r tfjnfcr-rtjxlcu rcbglcu, tf tjvc’a tjv ubbv riffq obg wjcs vjsr jigfjvs. Lf gfjiis cffvfv ab ufa jkjs ogbw tfgf delmxis!
Early the next morning, the ringing of bells blared throughout the barracks. Grumbling, they got up, quickly got dressed, and assembled at the drill grounds.
Charlie looked very bewildered. He hadn’t even finished washing his face yet, and he sounded dazed. “What’s going on? Why are we suddenly assembling?”
Ye Ming’s gaze was indecipherable. In those deep purple eyes that resembled dark gemstones, there seemed to be an unshakeable sadness. He said, “I don’t know either.”
Charlie was a bit dazed looking at him. Ever since this roommate of his came back from his vacation, his personality seemed a bit different from before…even his melancholy side was attractive and actually made him give off a noble impression.
But wasn’t this roommate born to a very ordinary civilian family? His parents were both salespeople, and he hadn’t received any higher education. As a teenager, he had dropped out of school to work. Though his appearance was okay, he was by nature just as thoroughly crass and peasant-like as them…When did he ever seem as refined as he did now, making people unable to help but feel inferior?
Could sorrow elevate one’s character???
Ye Ming noticed Charlie’s mind wandering as he looked at him. Concerned, he asked, “What’s wrong with you?”
Charlie finally snapped out of it, smiling with embarrassment. “Nothing, nothing…” He couldn’t say he had been entranced while staring at a man.
Just then, commanding officer Lance went up to the stage to speak. He announced that all soldiers on the base would undergo all-round tests in order for Marshal Cossen to select reserve members for his personal guard. This was a rare opportunity for them—they had to grab hold of it!
When Lance was done speaking, cheers erupted from below. It was like a giant meat pie had fallen from the sky and into the crowd of soldiers. Every one of them was eager to show off their skills. What an honor it would be to be able to join Cossen’s personal guard! Not only would it be a symbol of their strength, even their family’s status would rise. They would be respected by all and have a lot of face when going out.
Of course, there were also those who feared death and did not want to be in the limelight. They only wanted to huddle in the tiny base, aimlessly drifting along in life. But these people were few. In the harsh circumstances nowadays, most soldiers were dauntless, brimming with fighting spirit, and didn’t fear death!
Charlie was very excited, but not even a full second later, he hung his head dejectedly, saying, “Ai, us patrol soldiers are just little guys. We don’t stand a chance! I figure not even anyone from Commanding Officer Lance’s special combat unit can make it. That bunch of bastards can only feel a sense of superiority here at our tiny base.”
Ye Ming was very worried, however. This whole time, he had been trying to figure out a way to get close to Cossen. There couldn’t be any better opportunity than to join the personal guard. If he was outstanding enough in today’s tests, maybe he would be able to get Cossen’s attention. But…that was too inconsistent with Kevin’s original abilities. If he performed outstandingly and got Cossen’s attention, he might end up exposing his own identity.
So he was really going through an internal struggle.
The testing quickly began. They split up, entering different rooms. There were many components to the all-round tests, but this time, a component including routine infection testing was also added in advance.
The infection testing consisted of gene testing and psychological testing. Through many years of refinement, these two components were enough to detect 99.9% of the infected.
The gene testing determined whether soldiers had the alien beasts’ hybrid genes inside of them, because even though Xicks created the infected by combining humans and alien beasts, each of them were at a different level of hybridization, integration, completion, and proportion of human to alien beast. Most of them could be detected.
The psychological testing measured the soldiers’ emotional responses. From what people had gathered from experience, the infected that Xicks created physically resembled human beings, but they lacked human emotions. Internally, they considered themselves alien beasts, not humans. No matter how hard they worked to conceal it and pretend to be humans, there were still certain differences between them and real humans.
Because the human military’s detection technology was getting better and better, Xicks’s rate of successful infiltrations was much lower these past two years. On top of that, Fort Müller was so big. It was actually quite rare to come across an infected, when they were spread across so many bases.
At least, Charlie had never come across an infected here in his several years of active service. Thus, he didn’t actually care much about these two routine tests. He was totally at ease.
Charlie had just gotten his blood drawn, when he smiled at Ye Ming and said, “I’ll leave first and wait outside for you—”
Just as Ye Ming was about to nod, he suddenly heard a loud crashing sound from the psychological testing room next door! Everyone was stunned for a moment, and Charlie’s words came to a halt. In the blink of an eye, he saw someone knock down the wall of the next room and rush out!
Strictly speaking, it was already no longer a person. It was wearing the same dark green uniform as theirs, but it was on all fours, and it had blood-red eyes. Half of its face was covered in dense scales. Its two hands and feet were the same length, both strangely curved. A barbed tail grew from its tailbone. It opened its mouth, revealing fierce fangs. With a yell, it pounced toward them!
Charlie was scared silly! He stood there, stunned, without moving. Ye Ming’s eyes turned steely, and he quickly rushed over, pushing him down to the ground and evading the infected’s attack!
This was a heavily-guarded army camp, so many people quickly worked together to take down that infected, which had now revealed its true nature. There was absolutely nowhere for it to escape. After tearing apart two ordinary soldiers, it was quickly killed. Its body was littered with gaping bloody holes. As it died, its eyes were fierce and malevolent, utterly terrifying.
Charlie’s entire body was shaking. Just now, when that infected had pounced at him, he couldn’t react at all! If Ye Ming hadn’t pushed him down, he would be the dead one right now!
He looked at the half-person, half-beast monster on the ground and recognized it as someone from another battalion. Not long ago, they had gone out for drinks together, but now, it had changed beyond recognition. It was no longer that outgoing, enthusiastic comrade—it was only a monster, through and through!
Charlie’s lips quivered. “Th-there are infected…here, too…”
This was the first time he saw an infected with his own eyes, and now he finally knew just how terrifying they were. In the moment, in the face of its immense power, he wasn’t even able to move his legs…If even the infected were this horrible, how terrifying would those powerful alien beasts be? It was said that there were giant sky beasts even bigger than fortresses…
Ye Ming looked calm and undisturbed. This was but a low-level lizard hybrid. Its gene sequence didn’t seem very stable, either, if it was so easily exposed.
Very quickly, some soldiers came and took away the infected’s corpse. They told everyone not to worry and to continue with the tests.
But how could they not worry?
Most patrol soldiers had never truly fought with alien beasts before. They were all rattled after seeing something so horrifying for the first time. The atmosphere during the rest of the tests was heavy, no longer as relaxed as before.
Cossen stood in the tallest building, quietly watching everything that was happening below.
Lance stood behind Cossen, his face pale. He didn’t realize there were actually infected among his troops! If it weren’t for Cossen’s reminder, he would’ve missed it, and who knew what kind of grave consequences would have come of his negligence?
Lance gazed at Cossen even more admiringly! How did Marshal Cossen know? He said gratefully, “Thank goodness for your reminder; otherwise, we wouldn’t have noticed an infected had infiltrated.”
Cossen’s expression was still as intent and solemn as before, as if the scene before him was nothing to him at all. His voice low, he said, “Continue.” It was only a low-level infected—it was not his target.
Lance’s expression became resolute. “Yes!”
By the end of the day, every single one of the soldiers on base had been tested. No other infected were discovered. Everyone let out a sigh of relief.
Ye Ming’s subsequent tests went smoothly too. In fact, he’d hoped to use them as a chance to join Cossen’s personal guard, but given what had just happened, if he performed too outstandingly, he feared that he might instead have to face another investigation and interrogation. So he just gave a standard performance, only slightly better than that of the original Kevin.
But he might not be able to get close to Cossen this way. What should he do? Would he really have to reveal his identity?
When they went back, Charlie was determined to drag Ye Ming out for drinks, on him. He said that if it weren’t for Ye Ming, he would’ve lost his little life back there today. Ye Ming didn’t want to go, but it was hard to turn down the kind sentiment, so he went in the end.
………………
That night, Lance reported back to Cossen with the day’s test results. “Marshal, sir, here is the information of all the soldiers who achieved an A or above today. Please look over it.”
Cossen quickly thumbed through it and said indifferently, “Bring me every soldier’s information.”
Lance was momentarily stunned. That was too much. But he didn’t question Cossen’s order and ultimately brought him every soldier’s information.
Cossen flipped through the pages. An hour later, he finally pulled out Ye Ming’s information and said, “This person. I’m taking him away.”
Lance took a look and wrinkled his brow. Puzzled, he said, “All of his aptitude ratings are only C, and he’s just a patrol soldier with no combat experience or higher education. Why would you choose him?”
Cossen said, “His reaction speed is very quick. Among the patrol troops, his adaptive ability is the best, and he promptly saved someone near him today. I think he has great potential.”
Lance remembered that that soldier’s performance today was indeed pretty good, but although what Cossen said seemed reasonable, he still felt that something was off…In the end, he didn’t dare ask anymore and left, confused, to carry out Cossen’s orders.
Brody waited for Lance to leave before asking Cossen, “Why did you pick him?”
He was different from Lance. After being at Cossen’s side for so long, his knowledge and experience were much vaster, and he was familiar with the way Cossen did things. With Ye Ming’s low aptitude, he was far from qualifying to be even a reserve soldier. He did not believe Cossen had given Lance his true reason.
Cossen’s dark red eyes flashed with coldness. Indeed, this time, he answered differently. “I suspect he’s infected.”
Brody was extremely alarmed. “But his test results were fine.”
Cossen said, “Did you forget? The tests are not one hundred percent accurate.”
Brody was silent. He couldn’t help but think of Harvey, who was able to smoothly pass every test for years. Infected like him did exist, but were very, very few…This was very unlikely. When you were facing such a high-level infected, it was completely impossible to know it, unless the infected revealed itself. Why did Cossen believe this person was an infected?
Brody said, “If this is only a guess, we can ask Lance to observe him more closely and be more careful with him. We don’t have to bring him right to our side, which would be dangerous and troublesome.”
Cossen’s eyes were somber. “No, put him into the personal guard, and personally monitor him for me.”
Brody was shocked. He was even more confused now.
But Cossen didn’t want to explain any further. Instead, he commanded, “Go take care of this now. Don’t let him suspect anything.”
Even if Ye Ming’s test results came out completely normal, he still felt that there was something wrong with this person. This was an intuition that came to him from wading through danger for so many years.
He closed his eyes. The image of Ye Ming quickly saving someone today once again appeared in his mind. Ye Ming and Harvey’s appearances and physiques were obviously different, and their only similarity was their backs, but he still felt a strange familiarity…He and Harvey had fought side by side for years, and he knew the other’s each and every expression and movement. They used to have such a deep connection…
But now, all of this just made him feel depressed and pained.
And this was the reason he chose to personally monitor Ye Ming. It was probably just because he was very similar to that person…But what was he thinking? There was no way this person was Harvey. How could he possibly dare come back?
Cossen slowly gripped the back of his chair harder and harder. His jaw was tightly clenched. When he opened his eyes again, they were cold and sharp. If you’re really a high-level infected, you won’t be able to escape.
………………
Ye Ming and Charlie returned drunk, but Ye Ming didn’t forget what he needed to do. He asked 888 to tell him what was going on on Cossen’s side.
After he looked it over, he was finally relieved.
[Ye Ming: To be honest, I was really worried Cossen wouldn’t want me and would have Lance or someone else monitor me. Then I would’ve done all this for nothing…Now it looks like the affection points I previously earned do have some use. He would even personally go into battle over something as small as spy testing, just because of baseless conjectures and a sense of familiarity. He really does feel something really special for me!]
[888: …Aren’t you scared?]
[Ye Ming: I’m scared to death QAQ…but the mission is most important, so I have to keep making him even more suspicious of me! Right now, he only suspects that I’m a high-level infected that’s similar to Harvey, so he’s treating me so seriously. He doesn’t actually suspect that I’m Harvey…so the next step is to make him suspect my true identity!]
[Ye Ming: Cossen’s blackening value is targeted toward Harvey. If he never finds out my identity, nothing I do will make a difference. I won’t be able to lower his blackening value at all. So I have to let him know who I am ^_^]
[888: You aren’t worried that he’ll just kill you straight away when he finds out who you are?]
[Ye Ming: That’ll depend on how I do. If I get a good grasp on it and make him think I’m sufficiently useful, he might hold off on killing me, which will allow me the time and chance to wash him clean…After all, it must be quite upsetting to be supressed by Xicks all the time. If Xicks can use me to attack humans, he ought to want to use me to attack Xicks in return. Our marshal dada is very smart and resourceful~]
[888: Hehe.] What was he supposed to do when someone wanted to seek death and couldn’t be stopped? Of course he wouldn’t stop them.
Because Ye Ming was hungover, he slept until very late the next day and was finally woken up by someone.
Charlie kept shaking Ye Ming’s shoulder. He yelled excitedly, “Kevin! Wake up! Hurry and wake up! You need to go see the marshal!”
The author has something to say: 888: Your identity is going to be revealed soon, is it very exciting?
Ye Ming: Keke.
888: What are you laughing about?
Ye Ming: I’m not laughing, I said Keke!
888: Don’t laugh like that, it’s too rude.
Ye Ming: …
Cossen: My wife is calling me 🙂
888: …
Author: I almost can’t recognize the word ‘ke’ anymore. I blame all of you guys, hmph! ╭(╯^╰)╮
[I’m already fast-forwarding the storyline as much as possible, but I still feel like this world might be a bit longer…_(:зゝ∠)_]
Thank you for the chapter
you’re welcome! 💖
Thankful for the chapter! Ye Ming really shot himself in the foot in this world, this is a terrible beginning for him 😄
you’re welcome! i agree, this is definitely one of the worst situations he returns to imo!
Thank you for the chapter, it’s always fun to watch YM jump into danger.
And it’s also kinda scary how he analyzes and acts so perfectly, but with skewed morals
you’re welcome! i think it’s fun to see him be so scummy yet like…nonchalant and carefree about it lol
sooo excited! thank you for the chapter! 🙏💞
whoops sorry i accidentally sent that as a reply 🤦♀️
He’s really in a tight situation, tho honestly it’s the first time I actually completely sympathize with him (or more like, the person he acts as)乁( ⁰͡ Ĺ̯ ⁰͡ ) ㄏ
And of course, thanks for the chapter, YOU UPDATE SO OFTEN (*＾3＾)/～♡
yesss i really feel for harvey! and you’re welcome ^3^ i’m trying my best so this novel doesn’t take another year to finish lol
I’m actually really liking this arc over the other ones so far
Thanks for the chapter!
Character descriptions.
Brown haired, red eyes, indifferent look –>reminds me of Kaname kuran from VK.
Blonde haired, blue eyes, handsome and dazzling..i cannot help but keep thinking of Tamaki Suo from OHSHC.😍
Thanks for the chapter! ^ ^
This world is beautiful; I love it ;-;
…….thinking…..how bad the future arc beginnings will be from this🙂*looks far to the horizon of the unknown angst journey