Chapter 58
The silver flying eagle lay in front of Wen Yu’s dinner plate, its dotted sapphire eyes looking as if they were mocking him.
He was different from Wen Ruo, although they were a similar species. While Wen Ruo was born with expectations and curiosity about this world, he was repulsed the moment he gained consciousness, always feeling like there was an invisible shackle around him that was holding him back. He wanted to break free, but he was helplessly bound to this cycle of rebirth.
The moment he discovered the human empire, he suddenly realized that the empire might be the key to his escape from this shackle, and the subsequent appearance of Gu Xiyu confirmed this. He was the target of Gu Xiyu’s mission, someone who probably didn’t belong here in the first place, but had been forced into captivity for some reason.
He was even more convinced of his suspicions when Gu Xiyu’s main mission was to stop him from harming Lu Feng and destroying the empire. So even when Gu Xiyu suggested a way to close the portal, he was unwilling to cooperate. Now that he had gained Lu Yan’s trust and had control over the inner turmoil of the palace, he could take Lu Feng’s life at any time.
He still believed that Lu Feng and the empire were the points at which he could break free, but he was always a little more hesitant to do so.
Wen Yu reached out and took the brooch that didn’t belong to him in his hand. His fingers tightened slightly, and the pain that came from the sharp edge of the brooch touching his palm grew stronger. The stinging sensation overlapped with the constant soreness in his heart.
He was right, Wen Yu thought, but he didn’t know why he was unhappy.
What was he going to do after breaking free from the shackles of the world? He knew there was something important he had to do. He had felt close to it the moment he infiltrated the empire, but now that he had met Gu Xiyu, he suddenly felt it getting farther away.
It was like working so hard for so long and hitting the wrong target.
Was it possible?
Gu Xiyu watched Wen Yu squeeze the brooch in his hand for a long time.
The intelligent system suddenly asked him, [The brooch is quite beautiful, and it’s worth a lot, wouldn’t it be a pity not to keep it as a souvenir?]
Gu Xiyu sneered and replied, “In the future, if the one with the surname Wen has a tombstone, there will be a better memento.”
[……]
When Wen Yu let go of his hand again, only a pile of powder fell out of it, and the others looked at him with astonishment.
He said, “It’s fine if you don’t want it; I don’t want to give it to anyone else.”
The breakfast ended on a strange note.
In the old days, he had a little tiger rabbit to pet when he was in a bad mood, but now his little tiger rabbit had not only publicly severed his relationship with him, he had even found a new backer in Lu Feng.
Wen Yu wondered how Gu Xiyu, who was an alien, managed to get the cautious Lu Feng to accept him so easily, and since Lu Feng had agreed to help Gu Xiyu, that meant he didn’t even need to rely on his “pet” status to stay by his side. The other party was still the crown prince of the empire even if a tiger fell in Pingyang and was bullied by dogs, so it was only a matter of will for Gu Xiyu to completely break away from him.
*Tiger falls in Pingyang and is bullied by dogs is a metaphor for a person in power losing their position or advantage.
He looked at the people in the hall who were getting along happily.
He didn’t know what Lu Feng had said to Wen Ruo, and although Xie Mingan’s face was still straight, a smile slipped under his eyes, and even Gu Xiyu’s mouth curled into a light smile.
Wen Yu stared at him and was lost in thought.
Now that he thought about it, it seemed that Gu Xiyu didn’t smile much in front of him, and he realized that he enjoyed the warmth that radiated from his soul when this man was happy, as if it had worn away the coldness and sharpness in him.
“Brother, if you wanted Gu Xiyu as your partner, how could you send someone to him? Even if you see those two as ants, you can’t do things like that!” He recalled the conversation with Wen Ruo from earlier.
He frowned and said, “What’s wrong with that?”
Wen Ruo stared at him blankly for a while and tried to explain, “Let me put it this way, you like an item, and it belongs to you now, but one day, someone comes along and says he likes that item too, and wants to take it away; wouldn’t you mind?”
He pondered for a moment and said, “It depends on who that person is.”
Wen Ruo: “?”
“If it’s Gu Xiyu, I’m willing to give it to him.”
“……” Wen Ruo was speechless for a moment and decided to change the metaphor to something more direct: “Mating season is coming up, are you willing to see Gu Xiyu doing it with someone other than you?”
Wen Yu’s reaction to this question was quick; his murderous eyes instantly fell on her, and he asked in a stern voice, “Are you crazy?”
Although Wen Yu had never thought about falling in love before, the concept of having one partner was deeply engraved in his bones, and if he was to have a partner, then he could only treat them wholeheartedly.
Wen Ruo’s eyes instantly lit up, “You see.”
“If you send Lu Feng and Xie Mingan as a gift to Gu Xiyu, to you they’re just two ants, but to Gu Xiyu, they’re two mouth-watering big men.”
Wen Yu: “……” Something suddenly clicked.
Inexplicably, he recalled the movie he and Gu Xiyu had seen by chance that night. He looked at Gu Xiyu, who was now chatting happily with the other two and gradually drifting away from him.
The identity of the nominal fiancé was gone, and the connection as a pet was about to disappear. He thought he would be like he was before, where he wouldn’t care about losing a common toy, but he found himself suffocating at the thought of it.
How strange, this shouldn’t be, Wen Yu thought to himself. The connection between him and Gu Xiyu didn’t seem that deep, so why did he already feel possessive about him?
It was as if liking this person was an instinct engraved in his bones …… no, in his soul.
He suddenly remembered the panel system, and his confused mind gradually settled down.
He still has this system, and as long as he hides it well enough and Gu Xiyu doesn’t find out, they will always have a constant connection. What’s more, he was Gu Xiyu’s mission target, and as a mission executor, how could he leave his target?
Such thoughts constantly enveloped his mind until they arrived at a small private planet.
It was Caesar’s private planet, a small distance from the main star. There were few natural resources on the planet, so to plant something, he had to hire help to take care of it, so there was a small population of inhabitants. The planet was a reward Caesar had received when he led his army to repel the advancing zergs and was not under the jurisdiction of the Empire, so it was most appropriate to house Xie Ming’an and Lu Feng for the time being.
Besides, everyone in the Empire knew that ‘Caesar’ and Lu Feng did not get along, even Lu Yan would never imagine that Admiral Caesar would be the one to take them in.
Of course, Wen Yu also had his own little thoughts. By putting Lu Feng, whom Gu Xiyu cared about, in his place, he would be able to control his life and death. He knew that Lu Feng also had concerns in this regard, but the other party did not have any other choice. Lu Feng wanted to contact his people on the main planet, so he still had to rely on his help.
Lu Feng himself felt that it was mysterious, he never dreamed that he would one day work with ‘Caesar’. If he didn’t trust Wen Ruo and Gu Xiyu, he would rather have died on the outside than step into this place.
Gu Xiyu watched as Lu Feng and the rest walked off the spaceship. Wen Yu was still standing inside, as if he had no intention of leaving with them.
The Empire was in turmoil right now, so he had to go back to take a stand, which was understandable.
Gu Xiyu stood at the doorway, his eyes falling on Wen Yu, and before the doors of the spaceship closed, he came to the other man and said meaningfully, “Thank you, Lord Admiral, for your care during this time, I will take good care of the gift you gave me, and I will stay here with them for the meantime. His Highness the Prince will soon be able to make contact with those he left behind on the main star, so I won’t trouble you again.”
With that, he raised his hand and stretched out his left hand that had the metal ring: “I’ll trouble the admiral to take this off for me.”
Wen Yu stared at the metal ring for a long time before slowly raising his hand, moving as slowly as a turtle.
[Isn’t Wen Yu your mission target? Won’t the mission fail if you don’t stay by his side and monitor him?]
Gu Xiyu listened to the system’s words and sneered back, “What mission? It’s done.”
[……?]
When Wen Yu was unfastening the metal ring for Gu Xiyu, he found that there was a silver bracelet on top of it. Compared to the hard and unexceptional ‘pet ring’ he had snapped off, the silver one looked much classier, and it became a beautiful accessory on his fair wrist.
He pursed his lips for a moment and asked, as if casually, “What is this?”
Gu Xiyu smiled lightly. “The communicator His Highness gave me, he said it was inconvenient for me not to have one after being in the human territory for so long.”
“I can even play games and watch movies on it, I quite like it.”
The metal ring was clicked off, and Wen Yu’s eyelids dropped slightly, so Gu Xiyu couldn’t see his eyes at the moment. A few seconds later, Wen Yu, who was wearing an exquisite military uniform, suddenly threw the metal ring in his hand to the ground, and before Gu Xiyu could react, he childishly walked to the open door of the flying spaceship and closed it.
Gu Xiyu looked at the slowly closing door and had just taken a step away when he was yanked back by a force.
“I came to pick you up; did I say you could leave?” Wen Yu’s voice still sounded calm, but the hand that grabbed him was very firm, as if a little more weight could crush his fragile bones.
Gu Xiyu pretended to be surprised: “I talked to you about this a few days ago, and you didn’t object then. I thought you agreed!”
Wen Yu didn’t reply, wordlessly letting the autopilot start, not allowing Gu Xiyu the chance to follow Lu Feng and the others down.
After a long time, he heard Wen Yu’s deep voice say, “I’ve changed my mind.”
“When we return to the main star, I will inform Lu Yan that I want Lu Feng to die in the most gruesome manner, leaving him nothing.”
Gu Xiyu listened calmly to Wen Yu’s childish words, and he asked, “Why?”
Wen Yu replied, “Because you like him.”
“Didn’t you say that you wouldn’t kill him as long as I liked him?”
Wen Yu: “I changed my mind.”
Gu Xi Yu: “Oh, then I don’t like him now.”
“…” Wen Yu heard the perfunctory tone in his voice.
Gu Xiyu paused for a moment before saying, “Lu Feng and Wen Ruo like each other, I only treat him as a friend.”
Wen Yu didn’t answer again for a long time, and when Gu Xiyu thought the matter had passed, he heard Wen Yu ask again, “What about Xie Mingan?”
“……?”
In the past few days, Gu Xiyu had actually discussed with Lu Feng several related plans. Lu Feng was the crown prince of the empire and had accumulated quite a few connections over the years. Although public opinion pushed him and Xie Mingan into the eye of the storm the moment the report came out, there would naturally be supporters of the Crown Prince who would come out and put forward a different argument once everyone had calmed down. What’s more, these underground experiments were originally something that Lu Yan started, so even if the evidence had been tampered with to make a diversion, there would be some loopholes.
Lu Feng could go back and meet him head-on, but there was a certain chance that he would step into Lu Yan’s trap, so he did not intend to jump out for now. So the only way to get in touch with the people on the main star was to rely on Gu Xiyu, who was Wen Yu’s ‘pet’ rabbit.
According to the plan, Gu Xiyu would go back with Wen Yu for the time being and help Lu Feng with his whitewashing plan. The system had also issued this side mission, which, if completed successfully, would lower Wen Yu’s risk value by ten points.
So all he said to Wen Yu at the beginning was a test of sorts. This idea was suggested by Wen Ruo, who had approached him privately to discuss Wen Yu.
“Although my brother is a stable adult, he’s a blank slate when it comes to relationships. He’s never liked anything in his life, so if he does anything stupid to you, please forgive him.”
“I know him too well, he’s always been very confident in himself. You’ll have to give him a sense of crisis to know whether he cares about you. If he’s still dead set on being indifferent, then it’s better not to have such a person.”
The test results seemed to be okay, at least – the Great Demon didn’t seem as indifferent as he appeared to be.
Gu Xiyu felt that he had changed; if it were before, he would never have cooperated with Wen Ruo in such a boring little test. But seeing the Great Demon look deflated brought him a little joy.
On Caesar’s private planet, Wen Ruo looked up at the small spaceship, patted Lu Feng’s shoulder, and praised: “I didn’t expect you to be so clever, you even managed to catch me off guard with that lie …… to tell the great Admiral Caesar of our empire that Gu Xi Yu had a fiancée in the beast race, tsk tsk tsk.”
Lu Feng’s expression was a little strange: “I didn’t lie to him, Gu Xiyu does have a fiancée in the beast tribe.”
“It was an arrangement by his family; I’m not sure if he was aware, but it’s a pink female tiger rabbit. She’s quite pretty and cute-looking. I even heard her chanting last time I went over that she hadn’t seen Gu Xiyu in a long time, asking me anxiously about his whereabouts and saying that she wanted to follow his troops out to find him.”
Wen Ruo raised an eyebrow and rubbed her chin, smiling a little wickedly, “That’s good; it’s very good.”
—
At this time, far beyond the small world and in the time and space realm, the 12th branch finally welcomed Commander Lin who had taken over. Commander Lin was a middle-aged man who looked particularly composed, wearing a pair of glasses and a little beard. He seemed a bit stern, but his eyes were gentle.
The Director asked him after a long time, “Does the Lord God have a plan that could help Commander Gu?”
Commander Lin’s expression was somewhat perplexed: “The Lord God said… not to interfere.”
The director was stunned. The staff in the control room also heard the words, and they glanced at each other with different thoughts.
But the chat group was brimming with countless messages.
[What’s going on? Is Commander Gu being abandoned?]
[Could it be that the Lord God saw that Commander Gu had successfully entered the third world and thought that he was capable of completing the mission at this pace?]
[…… makes sense, after all, the data sheet shows that the hostility of the Great Demon towards Commander Gu has been trending downward; it’s only high at the very beginning of each world.]
[Impossible! If Commander Gu knew him, he would have mentioned it long ago. Moreover, he usually doesn’t care much about the great demon.]
[But if you let the main soul continuously hold the central station, every soul fragment that was cleared of the risk value will return to his side and combine with him. If it is said that Commander Gu will be able to complete the mission, doesn’t that mean that what awaits us is a complete Great Demon once the missions are over?]
[At that time, can the central station trap him? ]
[Ah this ……]
[Didn’t we suspect that the Great Demon was using Commander Gu to help him fuse with his soul fragments? Don’t forget that Commander Gu’s original body is still at the Central Station; if the Great Demon comes out and wants revenge, the first one he’ll deal with will definitely be the Commander.]
[So it’s true that the Lord God has abandoned him after all.]
Commander Lin looked at the familiar control room. Everyone seemed to be busy with the task at hand, but the atmosphere around him had become somewhat depressed after he said those words.
He sighed lightly and looked down at the tablet he had brought over.
On the screen was a surveillance screen, and amidst the countless filaments of light was a palm-sized box floating between the points of light. There was a very powerful layer of energy around the box, like a seal. It was clearly something that belonged to Gu Xiyu, but when he first tried to retrieve it, he was met with backlash.
Since then, the Lord God has temporarily kept it for him. Commander Lin didn’t understand why the Lord God had sent Gu Xiyu on his mission, he only knew that the promise the Lord God had given Gu Xiyu once the mission was complete — was false.*For those who don’t remember, the Lord God promised to help Gu Xiyu open his special box.
The Lord God had told Commander Lin about it before he returned.
––“I can’t do it.”
—“Only he can open this thing himself.”
He was staring out at the surveillance screen when he suddenly saw the box light up for a moment. He froze, but when he went to look more closely, he couldn’t catch any more changes.