Separated by life and death

As the​‌​​‍‍⁠‍‌​⁠⁠‌‌⁠⁠​​⁠‍​​⁠‍ blue light gradually faded, the advanced projection technology made it nearly impossible to distinguish between the real and the projected. At that moment, it seemed as though the man standing beside Huo Xianfeng with his eyes closed had come back from the world of the dead.

Beside him stood Ye Shu, who was so overwhelmed with emotion that he could hardly contain himself, and Zhou Jiuya, whose breathing had suddenly quickened—they both stood up abruptly. However, Pei Changyun remained seated, his expression unchanged, showing no obvious outward emotions. He appeared calm—very calm. He didn’t even blink, merely sitting up a little straighter, so subtly that no one noticed.

A few seconds later, under the intense gaze of everyone present, Huo Chao slowly opened his eyes.

Since Huo Xianfeng and Pei Changyun were sitting opposite each other, it created the illusion that, in that brief moment when Huo Chao opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was him.

At that moment, in that conference room, everyone was truly real.

Only Pei Changyun and Huo Chao were projections.

—Only they were just illusions.

It seemed like they were just separated by a table, but Pei Changyun clearly knew that the distance between them was 300 years and…

— The vast distance between life and death.

In this space, everyone was looking at Huo Chao, but only Huo Xianfeng was looking at Pei Changyun.

Because, among all the people present, only Huo Xianfeng knew that Pei Changyun liked Huo Chao.

Huo Xianfeng had never noticed it before because he had no interest in human emotions. Back then, his heart was filled with hatred, a burning, all-consuming hatred that almost made his chest and brain explode from the constant growth, seething rage.

But now, with the appearance of Jiang Ci, who had made him experience the feelings of care and affection, Huo Xianfeng could keenly sense that Pei Changyun still liked Huo Chao—from that early morning many years ago when the sun first rose and he secretly kissed the young man who was pretending to sleep on the grass, to now, 300 years after Huo Chao’s death.

This feeling had never changed; it had only grown stronger and more intense over time.

Huo Xianfeng could clearly sense the stormy love and pain that Humanity’s Emperor was desperately trying to hide under his calm exterior.

At that moment, there was something in Huo Xianfeng’s gaze as he looked at Pei Changyun.

Jiang Ci noticed the change in Huo Xianfeng’s expression and, slightly puzzled, followed his gaze to look at Pei Changyun. The Emperor’s expression was strange, though Jiang Ci couldn’t quite pinpoint why—it just made him feel a heartache.

However, this was a pre-recorded projection, so Huo Chao, of course, couldn’t see Pei Changyun fervently staring at him from across the room. He just relied on his prediction of the future to record what he was going to say in advance.

This was the 29-year-old Huo Chao, still looking as everyone remembered him, dressed in the uniform of the Dawn Legion, handsome and upright, with warm and resolute eyes. He showed a familiar, gentle smile as he looked in Pei Changyun’s direction.

“If everyone is watching this video, you’ve probably met Xiao Feng already,” Huo Chao said.

Xiao Feng.

Pei Changyun was momentarily stunned. The nickname was indeed typical of Huo Chao, but he was the only one who would ever call the Zerg King “Xiao Feng.”

“Let me formally introduce him to everyone—” Huo Chao continued, raising his hand. Quite remarkably, the pre-recorded projection made it seem as if his hand rested perfectly on Huo Xianfeng’s shoulder.

Pei Changyun’s gaze darkened slightly as he watched Huo Chao’s hand hover over the young man’s shoulder. This indicated that Huo Chao knew Huo Xianfeng very well, so much so that he anticipated Huo Xianfeng would definitely be sitting there when this projection broadcast.

“This is Xiao Feng, the strongest Zerg King and the best friend I’ve ever had in my life.”

Normally, when Huo Chao referred to him as “the strongest king,” it meant he had some ulterior motive.

Huo Xianfeng glanced up at the man, who just happened to turn his head and wink at him with an overly bright smile, as if to say, “How’s that? Are you feeling very touched?”

Huo Xianfeng: “…”

…Tsk, this guy is still as stupid as ever.

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However, Huo Chao wasn’t done with his introduction yet. Still smiling, he spoke with a very serious tone: “And Xiao Feng is also one of my teachers. In short, this guy is incredibly, incredibly impressive!”

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Why is this guy suddenly praising him to heavens?

The Huo Chao’s words quickly dispelled the underlying tension and hostility in the air, almost completely overturning everyone’s perception of Huo Xianfeng.

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On the contrary, after thinking about it for a few seconds, Huo Xianfeng roughly understood the purpose behind Huo Chao’s blatant flattery.

I have to admit, although Huo Chao may seem foolish at times, he can be incredibly shrewd when it matters.

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For the sake of this friendship, Huo Xianfeng wouldn’t initiate an attack on humanity, or at least not on the Empire.

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Therefore, the most crucial thing Huo Chao was doing was subtly warning Pei Changyun and the others—under no circumstances should they ever become enemies with Huo Xianfeng.

Huo Chao knew all too well that Huo Xianfeng harbored a deep hatred for humanity. However, he couldn’t have predicted the appearance of Jiang Ci, and thus assumed that after his own death, which severed the last bond holding Huo Xianfeng to humanity, no one would be able to amuse the Zerg King.

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—Huo Chao’s goal was achieved.

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“After realizing I had rebellious intentions, the Pope tried to use my DNA to create a more obedient puppet. So, I destroyed all my DNA.”

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The short projection video lasted only ten minutes.

Beep.

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The conference room was soundless.

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Ye Shu’s expression turned grave as he recalled it clearly, “That was… a month before the Zerg invasion… before they entered Earth.”

At that moment, Ye Shu seemed to remember something and suddenly turned to the Emperor, a blatant questioning tone, “Pei Changyun, I’ll ask you again, why did you transport so many Gardenia Roses to Earth, attracting the Zergs?”

“…”

Before Pei Changyun could answer, Huo Xianfeng frowned and said, “Are you misunderstanding something?”

Ye Shu was taken aback and turned to the young man, who explained, “Although Gardenia Roses do attract the Zergs, it’s like how some humans with a sweet tooth react to cake—they like it, but it doesn’t override their reason.”

Back when he hadn’t regained his memories, he had found it strange that something as ordinary as Gardenia Roses could drive the Zergs mad and cause them to invade Earth. It felt almost like a joke, and there was a strong sense of incongruity in his mind.

However, since human history was written that way and the Empire’s laws strictly prohibited the flowers, he hadn’t thought much more about it.

But now, it seemed quite ridiculous.

Huo Xianfeng scoffed, “Besides, at that time, the entire Zerg race was summoned by me. Who had time to care about some flowers?”

“…”

Ye Shu was stunned.

Now, all of humanity believed that the Zergs were invaders, and the Gardenia Roses were the original sin that attracted them.

The Zergs supposedly came for the Gardenia Roses.

They were irrational invaders.

But now, Huo Xianfeng was saying that the Zergs didn’t really care about Gardenia Roses—they merely liked them, but their reason wasn’t affected.

Pei Changyun remained still, silently clenching his fists. At this moment, Jiang Ci suddenly looked surprised,

“Uncle Changyun…”

Realizing that this wasn’t the time for informal titles, Jiang Ci quickly corrected himself—”Your Majesty, weren’t you…?” allergic to pollen?

Jiang Ci remembered that when he was a child and visited the palace, he had run through a field of flowers before meeting Pei Changyun. On that day, the Emperor merely patted his head, but immediately had a severe allergic reaction.

Pei Changyun’s face turned red, and within minutes, his arm was covered in hives, he struggled to breathe and was almost suffocating.

That terrifying scene was something Jiang Ci could never forget.

So—why would Pei Changyun, who was clearly allergic to pollen, personally transport a large amount of Gardenia Roses to Earth during the Zerg invasion?

M1zushi: HC and PCY’s love story is so heart-breaking

Huo Chao, a character doomed by the narrative ;w;

also, the way everyone saw an idealized figure in HC and PCY instead of their truest selves, and how only both of them saw each other in their truest, naked form

they’re kind of a foil to HXF and A-Ci, bcs our CP deals with outsiders that only see them as the “Zerg monster” and “Jiang Jinsheng’s son”

JJWXC comments:

1F: Huo Chao and Pei Changyun only knew each other for 10 years

• Yet they have been separated by life and death for 300 years.

2F: The only thing that could make Pei Changyun do this despite his pollen allergy must be for Huo Chao. I feel like there is a knife buried here.

• Author: Super big knife

Zhou Jiuya’s confession
My name is Zhou Jiuya, an ordinary Alpha of the empire. I have a very rich life history, from a small-town rebel to an adjutant of the Dawn Legion, and now the Legion Commander of the First Legion of the Empire, and may become the uncle of the Zerg Queen in the future. Although I don’t want the last identity.
My name is Zhou Jiuya, the illegitimate son of the Jiang family, the controller of the first military industry in the empire. However, I have an older brother who doesn’t dislike me, the blemish of the Jiang family. My brother is different from me, although he only has a B-class body, he has an S-class brain. And I am the opposite of him, I have an S-class body, a B-level brain, oh, maybe not even a B-grade, after all, I can only fight, and I can’t even look at my own cabbage.
My name is Zhou Jiuya, the former guardian of the Empire’s only S-class Omega. I have been very distressed recently, my cabbage ran away with a wild man, he was too good to this wild man, not only providing him food and housing, but also lent his Xiao X to the wild man, and asked the wild man to temporarily mark him when I didn’t know! When I was about to teach the wild man a lesson, my little nephew actually drew a knife against me for him! The cold wind blew in my face, and my nephew’s rebellion broke my heart……
My name is Zhou Jiuya, a uncle who is looking for his little nephew who suddenly disappeared but still sticks to his post. I have been in a hurry lately, although my hair is silver, I still have a lot of gray hair, after all, my nephew disappeared with his wild man in a conflict with the enemy. Although I know that as a soldier, my Major General nephew will not elope at this time, but I am still very anxious, after all, I don’t know the details of that wild man at all, I only know that he may be a Zerg! Even if he is not a Zerg, I can’t rest assured to hand over my weak and beautiful little nephew to this savage man who has no money, no house, no mecha, and even always wears my nephew’s clothes!
My name is Zhou Jiuya, and I am staying on an enemy planet, facing a group of former mortal enemies of humans – the Zergs, and I never thought that one day I would coexist peacefully with this race. I wanted to meet that wild man, but they told me that it was inconvenient, I couldn’t defeat the Zerg army, and I couldn’t fight it, after all, we are allies now. So I can only wait here now, waiting for that wild man to return my little nephew to me after he has dealt with things!!
My name is Zhou Jiuya, and I finally met my little nephew, but I hoped I hadn’t seen him today! What happened to the pheromones on him? Why is it all the smell of that wild man! Is the wild man showing off? Did you actually show off to me in front of me and mark my nephew? And you made me wait yesterday?! What are you waiting for? Wait for my nephew to be thoroughly marked by you? Oh, he has already done it, and I can’t beat him! Wan Jiang is shivering, I didn’t protect my nephew, he was kidnapped! No! It was not kidnapping, nor was it eaten by pigs, but it was eaten by insects……
My name is Zhou Jiuya, the uncle of the Zerg Queen. I never thought that one day I would have such a close connection with the Zergs, I was not interested in the Zergs, I was not interested in this seemingly prominent identity, I just wanted the Zerg wild man to return my nephew to me!!