Charlie gazed at Ye Ming with excitement and admiration. He was sincerely happy for his friend.
Ye Ming blearily opened his eyes and saw a young, black-uniformed officer standing in front of him. When he looked at him, Ye Ming’s eyes flashed with sorrow.
The young officer was handsome. He had black hair and blue eyes, his expression icily arrogant. He wore the epaulet of a senior ranking officer. This was Cossen’s trusted subordinate, Brody. This was also…Ye Ming’s former friend.
At the time, they were both Cossen’s subordinates and fought together in the same unit. They were as close as brothers.
But now…Ye Ming looked at Brody’s distant, cursory, cold gaze. Ye Ming’s eyes were sad. He must hate him to death too, now. Or…he didn’t recognize him at all now.
Ye Ming pushed aside his complicated mood and stood up, saluting. He said, “Corporal Kevin salutes senior officer!”
Brody looked at Ye Ming coldly. “You’ve been selected. Come with me.”
But Ye Ming stood there and didn’t budge. He found it very implausible that he’d been chosen. He was once part of Cossen’s personal guard as the major general. There was no way he wouldn’t understand Cossen’s strict standards. How could he have chosen him? The aptitude level he pretended to have, at least, was far from meeting the standard.
Ye Ming asked a little apprehensively, “Can I ask why I was chosen?”
Brody’s lips tugged up, and he said, “Because you were very outstanding when you bravely saved your fellow soldier yesterday. The marshal really admired your swiftness to adapt to the situation, so he made an exception to recruit you…You can choose whether or not to come. It’s fine if you don’t. You have the right to choose for yourself.”
Ye Ming stared blankly. This reasoning wasn’t entirely too out there. After all, it was only the position of a reserve soldier. Plus, they were not forcing him. Maybe they really did just so happen to pick him? But he still felt it was a little implausible…or had something changed in the three years he was gone?
But at the moment, he didn’t have the time to think too much on it. If he didn’t grab such a good opportunity now, there wouldn’t be any more later! Ye Ming said at once, “I want to come!”
Brody nodded, turned around, and walked out.
Ye Ming didn’t have the chance to pack up. Under the envious gazes of Charlie and the other soldiers, he quickly followed behind.
Brody brought Ye Ming to Cossen’s residence and brought him to his room. He gave him his new uniform, then told him, “We’re only staying for one night. We’re leaving tomorrow. Rest well tonight.”
Ye Ming touched the familiar black uniform in his hand. His eyes became very wistful. He lowered his gaze and said, “Yes.”
Brody wrinkled his brow slightly. Ever since he saw Ye Ming today, a strange, indescribable feeling had begun milling around in his heart. Now, looking at Ye Ming’s expression, which was calm but also a little sad, he finally understood why he seemed so off.
When he went to get Ye Ming earlier, his roommate was so happy and admiring. Ye Ming was the only one who was this calm the whole time…Apart from his slight initial surprise, he didn’t reveal anything else in his expression. He had even calmly asked why he had been chosen. Thinking about it now, his surprise might not necessarily have been because he was happily surprised…
And his expression now, as he received his uniform, was also very calm, as if this were not his first time going through this.
It was reasonable to assume that a patrol officer of such a small, remote base would not react this way upon receiving such a fortuitous opportunity.
Brody’s eyes became ever colder. He felt that what the marshal had said was reasonable. Whether or not this person was an infected, no matter what secrets he was hiding, there was no doubt that there was some issue with him.
Brody said, “My name is Brody. From now on, I’ll be your immediate senior officer. Do you understand?”
Ye Ming nodded. “I understand.”
Brody looked him up and down once more, before turning around and leaving to report to Cossen.
Cossen was waiting in his office. When he heard knocking on his door, he said, “Come in.”
Brody opened the door and entered. He saluted, then said lowly, “I’ve already settled Kevin down. I’ve also installed surveillance cameras in his room. If he has any issues, we’ll definitely be able to find out.”
Cossen nodded. Originally, he wanted to tell him that it was enough just to watch him closely, but when he thought of Ye Ming’s eyes, what came out of his mouth instead was: “Direct the live surveillance feed to my communications device as well.”
Brody figured the marshal still felt uneasy about that person and said, “Alright.”
Cossen waited for Brody to leave, then sat in his chair in deep thought.
If there was really something wrong with Ye Ming, he would give himself away sooner or later. Although he had inexplicably decided to keep Ye Ming at his side, he didn’t plan on personally keeping watch over him. He felt assured handing this matter over to Brody.
But…Cossen’s subconscious kept flashing back uncontrollably to Ye Ming’s figure, until it morphed into a different appearance.
It became someone else who he’d once loved but now only hated.
He never forgot that person for even a moment. He knew he couldn’t forget, either, but he had to coldly, cruelly command himself to lock that person’s memory in a dusty place he could never reach. He couldn’t be swayed again by a traitor.
He’d always thought he had the strongest willpower…but now, just because he’d seen a slightly similar person, those long-repressed memories attempted to return, messing with his thoughts.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
Cossen was silent for a long time before he turned on the surveillance feed on his communications device.
The video projection appeared in front of him.
Ye Ming sat alone in the room that had been temporarily arranged for him. The black uniform was neatly folded on the bed. He sat on one end with his head slightly turned to the side. His eyes lowered, he stared at the uniform on the bed. There seemed to be a look of sorrow in his purple eyes.
It seemed nostalgic, pained, helpless…
He stared like that for a while, then reached out and gently stroked the fabric of the uniform. Then he suddenly stood up, his back to the camera, and took off his current uniform.
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.
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Ye Ming lifted his foot, stepping out of his pants…Just like that, his graceful rear view was put plainly on display.
He reached out to grab the black uniform on the bed and put it on in one motion. His movement was neither fast nor slow. It was tidy and efficient, and carried an air of elegance. Finally, he fastened his belt and straightened his collar.
Cossen stared at the back of Ye Ming. He couldn’t help but sit up straighter, his hands tightly gripping his knees, his pupils contracting slightly.
The back of the young man in the black uniform—this familiar rear view, paired with the familiar clothing…was practically identical to the back of the person in his memories. Even his movements when putting on his clothes and fastening his belt were as if that person had reappeared…as if that person were standing right in front of him.
Cossen’s eyes became pained once again. He recalled something from a long time ago.
At that time, Harvey had already been at his side for some time. Slowly, he became attracted to this open, handsome, and smart young man. They risked life and limb fighting together, and their feelings slowly began to turn ambiguous. He didn’t know when it started, but he began to like this person.
Everything about this person attracted him.
The interactions between them became those between friends. But when they were in private, they were not so reserved with one another. One time, when he returned to the base to see Harvey, Harvey had just awoken. He saw Cossen come in and did not feel a shred of unease or embarrassment. He just smiled and raised his eyebrows slightly. With a pleasant, melodic voice, he asked him to wait just a moment, and then he turned around and got dressed, his movements natural…
Cossen stared at the young man in the projection. Even though he hadn’t yet turned around, Cossen seemed to already be able to see what he would do next: he would turn around and smile brilliantly at him.
Cossen grit his teeth until they creaked. In his eyes, hurt and regret tangled together. He hurriedly turned off the surveillance footage!
There was no way this person was him!
That traitor, how could he have the guts to come back to his side? If he wanted to keep on living, he should have hid under Xicks’s protection for the rest of his life, or else he definitely would not spare him!
………………
[Ye Ming: Was my rear view just now sufficiently enticing?]
[888: I suppose it was sufficient. After all, your laogong’s eyes nearly turned red watching you.]
[Ye Ming: His eyes were red to begin with, though (⊙v⊙)]
[888: …]
Ye Ming rested comfortably for a night. He was finally free from his roommate’s snoring—he felt his quality of life had finally risen a level! His sleep that night was incomparably pleasant, and when he woke up the next morning, he was many times more spirited than usual!
Cossen had always been very strict. He had set the departure time, and everyone had already assembled outside long ago.
As a new recruit, Ye Ming would not be late, of course. He stood in the midst of the group of soldiers, dressed tidily, and boarded Cossen’s starship alongside everyone else.
Just as he boarded the starship, Brody told Ye Ming, “Come with me.”
Ye Ming immediately followed deferentially.
Brody passed Ye Ming an ID card, saying, “This is your ID card. When you go in and out of your dormitory and communal areas, you must use this card. Wherever the card doesn’t have the authority to swipe you in, you can’t go. Generally, you can go anywhere in the lower cabin, but the middle level is where the marshal lives, so you can’t go there. Regarding other matters of interest, you can check the starship operation manual. It has all the information inside it.”
Ye Ming said, “Yes.”
Brody coldly nodded. “Since you’re new, if there’s anything you truly don’t understand, you can ask.”
Ye Ming nodded. “Your subordinate understands.”
Brody stared at him for a little while. He thought about something and then said, “We can arrange your duties after returning to base star A001. There’s nothing much for you to do as of now…Why don’t you go pour me a cup of coffee?”
Ye Ming pressed his feet together and stood at attention. “Yes sir!”
Then he turned around and poured Brody a cup of coffee.
Brody watched Ye Ming from behind. Suddenly, he realized that since the moment he saw Ye Ming, his military etiquette was extremely proper. He couldn’t find a single fault with it. Even the Federation’s honor guard might not be any better than this.
This ability did not seem to belong to a patrol soldier of a small base…Brody understood those patrol soldiers’ moral integrity very well. The majority of them were local riff-raff who had muddled their way in. But Ye Ming had always behaved like a very up-to-par and self-disciplined soldier…
He suddenly realized he could not clearly see through this person.
As Brody was busy contemplating, Ye Ming had already brewed the coffee and come back.
Brody accepted it and took a sip. His expression promptly changed. He recalled that he hadn’t specifically told Ye Ming to add extra sugar, but this coffee was precisely to his taste…
When Ye Ming saw Brody’s expression shift, he thought, This is bad. Just now, he’d been too preoccupied with making Brody’s coffee, and he’d forgotten his current identity.
Brody might always look cold and aloof, but in actuality, he preferred sweeter coffee, and he would always add two cubes of sugar. But this was a secret that only his close friends knew. This guy’s face was actually very thin…
Without thinking, Ye Ming had added an extra two cubes of sugar for him. Seeing Brody’s expression, it was clear he had realized something was fishy.
Ye Ming met Brody’s piercing, icy gaze and suddenly lowered his head, saying, “S-sorry…I prefer sweet coffee and added too much sugar by accident. I didn’t want to waste it. I’ll go and make you another coffee right away!”
Brody stared at Ye Ming for a good while and suddenly said, “No need. You can leave.”
Ye Ming let out a sigh of relief and left.
Brody looked at Ye Ming’s departing figure. He tightly gripped the coffee mug in his hands. Why hadn’t he noticed before that this person’s figure actually quite resembled Harvey’s?
Did the marshal choose him because of this, too?
With lowered eyes, Brody looked at the coffee in his hands. After a while, he suddenly poured it all into the garbage processor. This cup of coffee was really to his liking, but the person who had made it was not. As long as he remembered Harvey, pain and hatred flooded his heart anew.
They used to be such close comrades that there was nothing they couldn’t tell each other. He’d even secretly started to like him…
But such a person who seemed to possess all the best qualities actually could not even be considered a person—he was only a monster wearing human skin. Everything he’d done was only to trick them, use them, and betray them.
Finally, he had turned around and left. All that was left behind was the dust of Fort Frederick and countless skeletons of the deceased floating around in the cosmos. Among those skeletons was that of his most beloved little brother—Brom.
He was lucky enough to escape with the marshal, but there were more…of their comrades, friends, and loved ones, who did not get to escape.
They would be left in the dark forever.
………………
Ye Ming returned to his dorm and sat there without any expression. In fact, he was actually watching the recording 888 was playing for him. Brody and the others were monitoring him, but he was actually monitoring them, too.
[Ye Ming: Little Brody used to really like the coffee I made. Now he doesn’t anymore…]
[888: It’s normal for him not to. His little brother died too.]
Ye Ming was quiet for a long time. He remembered Brom. He was a very cute little boy. He’d said that when he grew up, he also wanted to join the army and kill monsters with them. Brody loved his precious little brother the most…No wonder he’d changed so much.
Before, despite Brody’s aloof appearance, he was actually kind of a cute little guy. Now, though, he was cold through and through.
[888: What’s the matter? You regret it?]
[Ye Ming: A little bit. This game is a little too realistic, but I can’t save and restart. I can’t do anything about it either. Sigh.jpg]
[888: …] He was a bit unused to seeing this spicy chicken like this.
[Ye Ming: Aiya, I can’t fix this for them. All I can do is help them ferret out the traitor as an apology.]
[888: …]
Cossen’s starship was the most technologically advanced in the entire Federation’s military, and it could move at the speed of light. They quickly arrived at base C331. This was the last stop in Cossen’s inspections. After they were done, they would return to base star A001, where Cossen was garrisoned most of the time.
Cossen and Brody wanted to monitor Ye Ming, so of course they would not restrict him too much. They treated him as a normal person and allowed him sufficient freedom to move about.
Cossen did not bring too many people with him for inspections, so the other guard members and Ye Ming were permitted to go out and walk around. They had a night to have fun. Base C331 was located on a beautiful planet, which had good scenery and local specialties.
Everyone was very excited.
It was probably due to the casualties of war, but many of Cossen’s men had been replaced. Ye Ming didn’t recognize most of them, and they didn’t treat him familiarly either—after all, they didn’t really know each other.
Ye Ming might as well walk around by himself. He walked along a small bypath in the city, leisurely taking in the scenery.
[Ye Ming: Is anyone following me?]
[888: No, there’s just the invisible drone above your head.]
[Ye Ming: …Oh, I think it’s time to reveal a little flaw. I made preparations for so long just so my family’s marshal daren could recognize me!]
[888: What are you planning on doing?]
[Ye Ming: I’ve decided to help the weak defend themselves against the strong! Do you still remember when I used this method to gain ten affection points from Cossen? He definitely should have a deep impression of it ^_^]
[888: …]
Ye Ming thought providing Cossen with a live broadcast would yield the best results, so he didn’t rush to act. Instead, he waited for Cossen to finish his inspections and return to the base before finally beginning to look for his target. He believed that when Cossen got back, he’d definitely want to check up on him.
To tell the truth, public safety here was relatively good. Furthermore, because of Cossen’s inspections, they’d tidied themselves up in advance. There really weren’t any situations that required him to make a move. He didn’t even have the chance to be chivalrous…but luckily he had the omnipotent 888!
Following 888’s instruction, Ye Ming walked farther and farther away. Finally, he came across a couple of thugs bullying a dirty little girl down a small path. As if he had come across this by chance, he walked over.
The little girl was holding onto some food, unwilling to let go. Her body was curled up into a ball as she was beaten and kicked.
Seeing this, Ye Ming’s eyes immediately turned red. Angrily, he said, “Stop!”
If Ye Ming were wearing the uniform of Cossen’s personal guard, these thugs would’ve knelt down and begged for forgiveness as soon as they saw him. But at the moment, Ye Ming was wearing civilian clothes. When they saw that such a skinny little guy actually dared to yell at them, they clenched their fists hard and sneered, “Where did this blind, nosy meddler come from?”
Ye Ming looked at them coolly. “That’s not for you to know.”
These thugs had rarely seen such an arrogant person before. They recognized anyone who was anything around these parts. This person was completely unfamiliar to them—he must be some hothead from who knows where!
They all scoffed and pressed the power button on their wrists. Immediately, metal fist guards covered their hands. With a kick, they leapt toward Ye Ming! It turned out some of them had installed mechanical legs!
But Ye Ming didn’t think anything of them at all. This was merely a group of thugs whose physical aptitudes were trash, and they were only equipped with low-end mechanical prosthetics and weapons. His gaze sharpened, and he stuck a hand straight out, grabbing one of their hands. He pulled the entire person’s body up and then threw him heavily to the ground! At the same time, he brought a foot up and kicked him away when he tried to crawl back up. He punched his temple, knocking him out immediately!
His movements just now—the throwing and kicking—were neat and tidy. His short black hair gently rose and fell. His purple eyes flashed with icy arrogance. His thin lips parted slightly. “Are you going to get out of here?”
The thugs were completely stunned. This person’s movements…they were afraid these movements could only belong to an expert in the military. Plus, his strength as he tossed people around, unarmed, belonged to someone with at least A-grade physical aptitude! He was like iron! This wasn’t someone they could deal with! They grabbed their unconscious friend and quickly ran away, afraid that Ye Ming might catch up to them.
A thug’s foremost priority was to bully the weak and fear the strong.
Ye Ming didn’t intend to give chase at all. He just walked to the little girl and gently held her in his arms, wiping her grimy face clean. A look of tenderness and sympathy appeared in his eyes. Softly, he said, “It’s alright now.”
Although Cossen had been working hard to manage the military and uphold peace, Fort Müller was so big that it was impossible for the military to look after every corner of it. The ones in charge of managing public order actually primarily depended on the local government.
The government had always taken in refugees from all sorts of places, but there were too many…so there were bound to be times when they could not take care of them all.
The little girl stared dazedly at Ye Ming. She said shakily, “Thank you, thank you, gege…”
Ye Ming looked heartbroken. He asked, “Where did you come from?”
The little girl said, “After Fort Frederick fell, my dad and I fled here. Our home is gone, and my dad is sick…I can only steal food, but I got caught…” As she spoke, tears streamed down her face. She hadn’t cried when she was being beaten, yet now, she did.
Ye Ming was suddenly choked up, and he couldn’t speak. He held the girl tightly. When he’d left, he honestly should’ve expected that a day like today would come…If only he could have broken free from Xicks’s control sooner, if only he could have realized what he truly wanted sooner…
Unfortunately, it was all too late…
Ye Ming took out all of the money he had with him and gave it to the little girl. He said, “Take this and help your dad see a doctor.”
The little girl wanted badly to accept it, but she also felt too embarrassed to. She hesitated. “This is gege’s money…”
Ye Ming looked into her eyes tenderly, his voice warm. “Gege has more money. Plus, gege isn’t in a hurry to use it. You take it. It’s no big deal.”
The little girl was moved to tears. She kept saying, “Thank you gege, thank you gege…”
Ye Ming earnestly looked at her and said, “Go ahead.”
The little girl ran off. When she was a distance away, she turned around again and looked at Ye Ming gratefully. Finally, she disappeared around the end of the road.
Ye Ming stood there watching as the figure of the little girl disappeared. He didn’t move for a long time, his eyes sad and heavy with emotion.
At the time, he hadn’t understood his true feelings. His orders were to blend into human society, win their trust, and get close to Cossen. From his analysis, he believed Cossen should like someone kindhearted and heroic, so he’d always worked hard to act like that.
But was it all really just an act? Deep down inside, why did he identify more with the character he pretended to be?
As if that were the real him…
Showing mercy to the weak and detesting evil.
Was this the feeling that was brought about by the human part of him?
If this were the case, he would rather be a human and live among other humans instead of keeping company with those evil, savage alien beasts.
It was a pity that when he realized this, his mistakes had ultimately already been made.
Meanwhile, in a distant starship…
Cossen suddenly stood up in front of the surveillance footage, his body shaking minutely, his clenched fists propped heavily against the table.
The image of a different person seemed to appear in front of him.
That blond, blue-eyed, handsome young man was arrogantly and coldly staring down the thugs that were bullying the girl. Contemptuously, with a punch and a kick, he got rid of two of them, and the rest of the group rushed off frantically in fear.
He’d also walked over and tenderly looked at the bullied girl, his smile like sunshine, and warmly said, It’s alright now.
The girl said, Thank you.
Then he asked, Where did you come from?
The girl told him she had fled here, so without the slightest hesitation, he’d given her all of the money he had with him.
Even though the two people looked completely different, at this moment, to Cossen, they seemed to overlap with one another.
Their every movement, every expression, every word were all so alike.
As if there were the same soul in these two different bodies.
Who exactly are you?
thank you for the chapter! so angsty :’)
Thank you for the chapter
Thanks for the chapter! ^ ^
That last line gave me chills~
Thank you for the chapter!!
I already want to cry 😢!
thanks for the chapter! im super excited for this arc to unfold omg 😋
;-; these poor tormented kids. Also nice change of pace for Ye Ming to not be so removed since ppl are like dying dying.
my hart is my hart omygHAD