The one left behind

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In Bright City, two rooms were ablaze with conflict that night.

One was a chaotic scuffle between lovers in the bathroom; the other, a brutal clash between comrades on the floor.

This time, Zhou Jiuya was genuinely furious. He usually let things slide with Ye Shu, but tonight, Ye Shu had slipped him a drug while his guard was down.

—The Felton Serum.

It was a mind-numbing substance. In small doses, combined with alcohol, it dulled a person’s mind and amplified emotions, making them prone to spilling out secrets.

The reason Zhou Jiuya knew it so well was because he and Ye Shu had once used this kind of thing together before to deceive enemy generals. The poor target had been deep in despair after being rejected by an omega and, under the influence of the drug, had ended up confessing his entire family history in tears.

But this serum was hardly foolproof. It worked only under specific conditions. The person drugged needed to be emotionally heightened and in a familiar, relaxed setting. Otherwise, with even the slightest awareness or resistance, a strong-willed person would be hard to manipulate.

Ye Shu had chosen the perfect time, the safest place, and… Ye Shu was one of the people he trusted the most.

When Zhou Jiuya was feeling low due to Jiang Ci’s situation and was sitting in the comfort of his usual lounge, Ye Shu—usually so sharp and abrasive—suddenly softened his demeanor.

In short, everything fell into place perfectly, allowing Ye Shu to wrest from Zhou Jiuya a secret he absolutely could not reveal.

He had made a promise to Marshal Huo Chao—one he would keep at all costs.

Even from Pei Changyun.

—No one could know!

Back then, Zhou Jiuya had gone to great lengths to cover every trace, enlisting Jiang Jinsheng’s help to encrypt Wan Jiang’s private data, constantly on high alert to fend off the Church’s endless probing, sacrificing sleep to keep it hidden. For three hundred years, he’d kept his silence.

Even His Majesty the Emperor never noticed it, and now, tonight, he’d been outplayed by Ye Shu and his devious plan!!!

It enraged him to the point of physical pain.

Bang!

Zhou Jiuya punched Ye Shu to the floor.

He didn’t hit Ye Shu in the face because his hands wouldn’t move once he saw his disfigured side face, so he aimed his punch at his stomach instead.

Ye Shu felt like his internal organs had shifted, but he coughed twice, rolled over, and pinned Zhou Jiuya beneath him, his mechanical arm tightening with a click and landing a punch right to Zhou Jiuya’s face!

Smack!

The Legion Commander’s head snapped to the side and the metallic taste of blood instantly filled his mouth.

His military uniform was completely in disarray, and even the collar button was torn to pieces by Ye Shu.

“Damn you, Little Zhou Bird!”

Ye Shu’s eyes were bloodshot, his patience at its limit.

“If you don’t fucking explain yourself tonight…”

Bang!

Zhou Jiuya licked the blood from his back teeth, his ice-blue eyes hardening. The next moment, he bent his knee and drove it into Ye Shu, sending him crashing into a nearby cabinet with a loud thud.

“Cough, cough…”

Ye Shu caught his breath, preparing to charge again, but then a big hand reached out, forcing him back. He retaliated instantly, but Zhou Jiuya grabbed his mechanical arm, overpowering it with brute strength alone, pinning it behind his back.

But Ye Shu’s mechanical arm quickly reconfigured itself and launched an attack. Zhou Jiuya sidestepped, reaching out with his other arm, and in a swift motion, his Wan Jiang wristband transformed into a dagger.

Screech!

The dagger pierced straight through the mechanical arm, pinning it to the floor.

In terms of raw strength, Ye Shu couldn’t match Zhou Jiuya.

Aside from Marshal Huo Chao, the Legion Commander was, without question, the Empire’s strongest warrior.

But it wasn’t over yet. Ye Shu thrashed wildly, even sinking his teeth into Zhou Jiuya’s wrist, drawing blood.

Ye Shu had always been this way: he’d never win, but he’d never back down either, turning into a mad dog and biting whoever he catched.

This pain was nothing to Zhou Jiuya. He pressed down on Ye Shu’s jaw, breaking free with a sharp twist and gripping Ye Shu’s neck.

Bang!

Zhou Jiuya slammed his friend to the ground with a forceful hand.

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The Legion Commander’s voice trembled with fury.

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“Heh… too far?”

“If… if I hadn’t done this tonight, Zhou Jiuya, would you have kept it from me forever?”

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He let out a bitter laugh.

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But Ye Shu couldn’t truly resent any of them.

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Only he has no talent.

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Ye Shu had once believed that through hard work, he could measure up to anyone. It had taken nearly ten years of blood, sweat, and struggle to finally stand by Huo Chao’s side, and at that time, he’d truly believed he could be one of those fighting for a new world.

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“Hah…”

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A fool, deceived by everyone! And tricked for three hundred years!

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Zhou Jiuya closed his eyes.

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For the first time, the Legion Commander didn’t sit with his usual disciplined posture. Instead, he slumped with his back hunched, sitting cross-legged on the floor with a somewhat defeated air.

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Ye Shu, slightly stunned, sat up and listened intently.

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Zhou Jiuya wiped a bit of blood from the corner of his mouth and continued. “But the situation was too urgent at the time. I didn’t expect Pei Changyun to show up there… The Consul was supposed to be organizing survivor evacuations. According to Marshal Huo Chao’s plan, he should have stayed in the command center on Eternal Cloud Planet, overseeing operations.”

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“Ye Shu, you only know he’s allergic to flower pollen now. But you don’t understand how severe it was then… Had I been even a little later, Pei Changyun would have died there, suffocating in a cabin full of Gardenia Roses. Then, Marshal Huo’s carefully orchestrated sacrifice would have been for nothing.”

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Back then, Ye Shu had only an A-class mecha, which nearly melted upon entry, and he’d barely escaped with his life. After delivering Pei Changyun to Wen Xubai, Zhou Jiuya rushed back to rescue Ye Shu.

“You passed out at the time, so you couldn’t see the state you were in…”

It was even more horrific than Pei Changyun. His face was fully covered with blood, and it seemed like his whole body would melt into a puddle.

To this day, Zhou Jiuya couldn’t bring himself to vividly recall that scene.

Later, he’d become the illustrious Legion Commander of the Empire’s First Legion, celebrated and respected by countless people, while Ye Shu was hidden away on Winter Day Planet, guarding the remnants of the Forbidden Abyss in solitude for three hundred years.

Even though Zhou Jiuya didn’t get along with Jiang Ci, he still had a child with him for company.

Even though he had to fight battles for the Empire, he had the backing of his former comrades from the Dawn Legion, as well as Pei Changyun.

—But Ye Shu has nothing.

So Zhou Jiuya always felt guilty.

Guilty for the arm Ye Shu lost saving him; guilty that Ye Shu had nearly died fulfilling what should have been his own mission; guilty for taking the honor that Ye Shu deserved.

And, as Ye Shu had pointed out, regardless of how many reasons he had, he’d lied—a lie that had lasted three centuries.

The Legion Commander took a slow breath, looking up, and his usually cold blue eyes now softened with a hint of warmth.

“I’m truly grateful you are here.”

Ye Shu froze, hearing Zhou Jiuya’s voice, rough yet resolute.

“Ye Shu, you completed the most crucial part.”

This sentence sounded simple enough.

Yet they struck Ye Shu like a blow to the heart, bringing an intense, aching sorrow. It was as if all his endurance, hard work, pain, and resentment were finally understood—but it still hurt.

It hurts a lot.

Ye Shu covered his eyes, his lips quivering, and after a long pause, he finally spoke in a trembling, hoarse voice.

“Then? What did you mean about He Zhun, He Qichu, and the sacrifice…?”

Zhou Jiuya sighed; as expected, he couldn’t avoid this question. He closed his eyes briefly.

“He Qichu was a core researcher in the Illusory God Church, studying the Holy Stigmatas. Marshal Huo Chao needed us to find him, but you know how things were then. Eternal Cloud Planet was just established, fear was rampant, and both the Alliance and the Church were eager to eliminate us. I simply didn’t have the resources to find him.”

“Moreover, after He Qichu escaped from the Illusory God Church, he knew how to hide. It wasn’t until twenty-eight years ago that Jiang Jinsheng somehow located him.”

“Twenty-eight years ago?” Ye Shu was stunned. “That’s… wasn’t that when Bai Min…?”

“Yes, the year Bai Min died. In order to save Bai Min, He Qichu was exposed to the Church’s eyes.  We tried our best to protect him; Pei Changyun even launched a major political purge to help him fake his death and assume a new identity.”

“But even with all that, we still couldn’t keep him safe.”

Zhou Jiuya closed his eyes.

“In a sense, Jiang Jinsheng believed he caused his friend’s death, so he was determined to protect He Zhun at all costs. That’s why he treated He Zhun better, even better than Jiang Ci—it was compensation and guilt.”

The situation surrounding He Zhun wasn’t exactly a secret nor something Marshal Huo Chao had ordered them to guard with their lives. So, Zhou Jiuya had been planning to bring it up in the meeting room. But then something suddenly came up with His Majesty, and right afterward, Huo Xianfeng revealed the story of Huo Chao and Pei Changyun… so it got delayed.

Ye Shu was silent for a few seconds, then opened another bottle of liquor and asked him,

“Still drinking?”

Zhou Jiuya looked fixedly at his hand, but didn’t take it. Seeing this, Ye Shu lifted the bottle himself and took a long swig.

“This one doesn’t have…” medicine

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Jiuya snatched the bottle and took a gulp. The fiery liquor roughened his voice,

“You’re right, Ye Shu. I owe too many people in this life: you, my brother, Bai Min… and A-Ci as well.”

Zhou Jiuya rarely called Jiang Ci by his nickname, usually using his full name. His silent and upright personality, and the shadow of his childhood traumas, made it hard for him to show affection.

Looking back, all Zhou Jiuya saw was regret.

“If only I’d been a little faster… maybe the child could’ve seen his mother…”

“It’s… not all your fault, Little Zhou Bird.”

For the first time, Ye Shu could speak calmly with his old friend. He turned his head to look out the window, propping his face on his hand to hide the slight redness at the corners of his eyes.

“Didn’t Jiang Jinsheng say at that time that you were ambushed because someone close to Bai Min tipped off?”

“…That woman.”

Zhou Jiuya clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking. His eyes reddened as he gritted his teeth.

“—Cecilia.”1