My bird

Woodpecker Hospital.

After a massive emergency resuscitation, Yu Chen’s vital signs finally stabilized, and he was transferred to the intensive care unit.

The doctors had used a heavy regime of coagulants and restoratives, and the powerful reactions of those medications left him intermittently comatose and lucid. Twice, he had even descended into brief, manic frenzies, unable to recognize his surroundings and displaying immense aggression. After exhausting seven security robots, he was finally restrained to the hospital bed by three thick leather straps.

Zhuo Liangmu didn’t dare get too close, delivering his report from a distance:

“It is entirely thanks to the high-intensity training you usually maintain that your physical condition didn’t decline. Although your internal organs ruptured this time and your blood loss exceeded 40%, you made it through safely despite the peril.”

“Where is he?” The Merman stared at the ceiling.

“Who?” Zhuo Liangmu’s heart skipped a beat.

“My bird.”

The merman slowly turned his face, looking toward him from the bed. Even though he had completely lost the capacity to move, that look still sent a violent shudder of horror snaking up Zhuo Liangmu’s spine. It felt as if he could break free from his constraints at any given second to tear apart every single living thing in sight.

Zhuo Liangmu steeled himself, forcing his mind to accept that this was merely the natural, bloodline suppression of a Rotting-breed Merman, perfectly normal. Besides, the Old Emperor had undergone rigorous civil education and would not senselessly harm the innocent.

“Your bird… was taken.”

Zhuo Liangmu played the video currently spreading like wildfire across the interstellar network. People often said a merman’s heart was as unyielding as iron, but the Woodpecker felt as though he could hear the sound of it fracturing.

Yu Chen’s face was terrifyingly pale, his blood vessels seemingly translucent.

Before slipping into a coma once more, he delivered his commands with fierce vehemence, repeating relentlessly: “Rescue Bai Ling. Save him. No matter what means it takes, I must see him stand before me tonight—completely intact.”

---

Sava was entirely dazed.

After finishing his meal, he had checked the trending topics out of habit. Tapping open a criminal escort video with over a hundred million shares, he slammed straight into his bro’s face. He sat frozen in his chair for a long while, only slowly recovering from the shock. But on second thought, this truly was exactly the type of thing that smelly bird was capable of pulling off.

Sava’s first instinct was to seek out Heinz.

They arranged to meet in a stairwell. Standing within the shadows, nearly melting into the gloom, Heinz curled the corners of his lips into a smirk:

“The Young Master wishes to beg for my assistance to save a friend’s life? Seeing the Young Master look so helpless yet completely sincere is truly touching.”

Anxious to the core, Sava skipped the pleasantries entirely: “Are you going to save him or not?!”

Heinz noted leisurely: “To save or not to save is naturally for the Young Master to decide. Everything depends entirely upon the Young Master’s sincerity.”

“What sincerity?”

“The Young Master understands.”

Confronted with this blatant implication, Sava snapped cleanly: “The storage room. I’ll give you twenty minutes. Come if you want; I’ll just treat it as being bitten by a dog.”

The expressions across Heinz’s face shifted several times. Pursing his thin lips, he bared a smile: “I truly envy the Young Master’s friend.”

Sava knit his brows, growing inexplicably alert: “What is there to envy?”

“Nothing.” Heinz shook out his immaculate trouser legs, adopting a highly calculated, mechanical stride as he advanced toward Sava inch by inch.

That delicate, feminine beauty expanded within Sava’s tangerine-orange pupils, turning crisp and breathtakingly captivating. Sava instinctively twisted his head away, only to have his jaw caught in Heinz’s grip, forcing him back around.

Sava came incredibly close to screaming out the word audacious.

Heinz pressed his lips against the mouth he had long yearned for, meticulously savoring those two small, plush expanses of flesh. During a brief gap to catch his breath, his tone was a freezing contrast to his actions:

“I was wondering… if a day comes where I am taken to the execution grounds, would the Young Master rush to rescue me with such frantic urgency?”

Sava sneered: “You think too much. If that day truly comes, I will absolutely set off fireworks to celebrate.”

“I hope the Young Master… keeps his word.”

His chest saturated with pure pleasure, Heinz dragged the Young Master straight into the storage room, setting all his tentacles to work simultaneously to fully exploit every single second of those twenty minutes. His Young Master was distinctly out of zone today, clearly still fretting over his “friend,” but that didn’t matter. Having successfully bartered for these goods with such difficulty, he naturally intended to feast to his absolute heart’s content.

Once the business concluded, Heinz adjusted his tie, reverting back into an immaculate secretarial official.

Sava sat disheveled on the floor and his athletic shorts were completely soaked through. Gasping with some difficulty, he lifted his head, his gaze razor-sharp:

“Take me there.”

Buttoning his cufflinks, Heinz replied airily: “That requires a separate price.”

“Damn it, you absolute whore!” Sava swore through gritted teeth. After wrestling with his thoughts for a few seconds, he ultimately chose to concede: “Tab it for now. We’ll do it again when I return.”

This time, Heinz agreed readily.

To his senses, there was no better bargain in the world. Because half an hour prior, he had already received the command from The One to extract “Bai Ling.” Paired with Sava’s concessions here, Heinz was harvesting benefits from both ends without missing a single beat.

His eyes darkened slightly, his thoughts shifting in a split second. He merely wondered: what kind of character was this “Bai Ling” anyway? To think he could drive his Little Mother Hen into executing such a humiliating surrender of his body was truly… intriguing.

---

Heinz’s appearance outside the prison walls was entirely unexpected, yet within the realm of logic.

Bai Ling understood that this matter would likely be funneled through Heinz’s hands, but what struck him as peculiar was that the man had personally arrived on scene. Heinz made a “please” gesture, and Bai Ling pulled out a chair to sit down, the two initiating their dialogue across the glass barrier.

Maintaining a loose, comfortable posture, Bai Ling exhibited none of the rigid tension appropriate for being trapped inside a prison cell. Leaning his shoulder against the chair, he arched an eyebrow to ask:

“Are you here to repay a debt of gratitude?”

Heinz’s reflexes were lightning-fast; within a fraction of a second, he deduced the underlying connection, noting with regret: “Major General Gram’s untimely passing was truly a massive tragedy. Today, I humbly occupy this elevated position to serve the Sovereign in Major General Gram’s stead; I presume his spirit in heaven would find comfort in this.”

Without Gram’s demise, how could Heinz have ever risen to power? Yet saying it out loud sounded incredibly hypocritical, carrying a meticulously manufactured air of humility.

Bai Ling held zero affection for him—simply because Sava’s ashes had been left on the Wild Planet for ten years without Heinz sparing a single glance. If the phrase “devoid of conscience” could manifest into a physical form, it would undoubtedly look exactly like Heinz.

Heinz was also scrutinizing Bai Ling.

The omega before him appeared broken and entirely exposed on the surface, yet his core was as unyielding as an iron fortress. Heinz thoroughly disliked dealing with this breed of person; these military cadres rarely compromised, conducting their business in a completely straight line, driven by their own convictions and innate charisma, making them exceptionally difficult to utilize for his own ends.

Heinz initiated a topic: “Do you know what is currently happening outside?”

“I am all ears.”

“To show solidarity with you, the citizens are launching protests against the administration, rushing out of their homes to completely buy out every single octopus and swordfish on the market. Right now, a thick aroma of cooked seafood is drifting from the kitchen windows of every single household. Not only are they eating them, but they are also posting on the trending topics to mock and lampoon the administration. The Sovereign is being completely driven to madness.”

Bai Ling noted airily: “At least they aren’t afraid of octopuses anymore.”

Adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses, Heinz smiled: “You harbor immense resentment toward the Sovereign.”

Bracing his arms loosely, Bai Ling stated flatly: “I merely look down on him.”

Heinz suddenly slowed his pace of speech: “However, have you ever considered that while Kaide may be one of the primary culprits behind your tragedy, The One‘s indifference might not be entirely innocent either? The Old Empire abandoned you all; do you truly not harbor a single shred of hatred?”

Without a second thought, Bai Ling stated: “I hate it. Of course I hate it.”

He lifted his grey pupils, which shone with a crystalline, frost-like clarity: “But who has never hated their own parents?”

Heinz was mind struck for a split second. Silver-tongued as he was, he unexpectedly found himself at a total loss for a response. Whenever the concept of a nation was discussed, what came to mind was bound to be a mixture of benevolence and severe authority, peppered with a continuous string of micro and macro blunders—exactly like parents stumbling through the dark to accumulate child-rearing experience. Sometimes they invite deep love, and other times they drive one to absolute fury and hatred.

You can freely lament its rot, yet after departing from it, at some specific fraction of a second in a future year, you’ll catch a glimpse of a warm light cutting through a window, and you will still uncontrollably recall it.

Heinz felt exceptionally surprised. Prior to this, having only heard his name without seeing the individual, he had judged the opponent to be an angry young military officer possessing a few minor tricks, acting under The One‘s instructions to incite the populace. But looking at it now, the suspect was vastly more perilous than he had anticipated.

This brand of danger did not stem from combat capacity, but rather from an ideological danger. With a bit of manipulation, it was entirely possible… that he might abduct his completely unworldly Young Master!

“I can extract you from this place, but under one condition.” Heinz lowered his eyelids, speaking with methodical precision. “I want you to tell Sava that your paths diverge and your convictions do not align—that it is time to part ways permanently. Remember to phrase it delicately; my family’s Young Master possesses a fragile glass heart that will shatter easily.”

“And if I refuse?”

Heinz slightly curled his lips. “If I am not mistaken, your next plan should be to escape to an outer planet. I am very well-informed; I know your Captain has rented a vessel. As long as I give a brief word to those below, the rental company’s contract will immediately become void. When that time comes, you won’t even have a chance to flee if you wanted to.”

“Think it over carefully, seize the opportunity, and make a wise move.”

Bai Ling was not at all surprised by this. In his eyes, Heinz had assumed the posture of a victor far too prematurely. He offered a deeply meaningful forecast:

“Perhaps many years from now, the Capital will welcome you once again. By then, dynasties will have shifted and things will have changed. I shall welcome you to come visit on a tourist visa.”

Bai Ling harbored a powerful premonition. This conversation was considered peaceful and friendly, but the next time he met Heinz, they might very well be on opposing sides as enemies.