Part 2
But as the days dragged on, the news was like a stone sunk in the ocean. All he found was ironclad proof that Jiang Chenyan had died long ago. The flame in his heart was gradually doused by cold water.
Bai Ning had been locked up for several months and had finally gone crazy and lost his sanity. Looking at Bai Ning’s state, Xie Huaijin became more and more certain that Bai Ning had been talking nonsense from the start.
Later, the number of times Xie Huaijin encountered Shen Shiyue at the Alliance Headquarters gradually increased. Every time they met, a surge of irritation would always rise in Xie Huaijin’s heart. Especially watching Shen Shiyue’s status and position rise like a boat on a swell, his abilities becoming more and more prominent and his position climbing all the way.
More troublesome was that not long after, Qi Bai also left the military academy and entered the Alliance Headquarters.
Since then, the difficulty for Xie Huaijin to secretly investigate if Jiang Chenyan was still alive had spiked. He didn’t know what kind of wrong medicine Qi Bai had taken, but every time they met, he never had a good face. His words, inside and out, were full of hidden mockery. Xie Huaijin wasn’t in the mood to argue with him, so he simply tried to avoid him as much as possible, never meeting if he could help it.
But while he could avoid the open confrontations, he couldn’t avoid the secret involvements.
He didn’t know if it was intentional or not on the other’s part, but during a certain investigation for clues, Xie Huaijin would always unintentionally find that Shen Shiyue was also secretly searching for Jiang Chenyan.
At that moment, Xie Huaijin suddenly felt that he was probably crazy. He clearly should have let go of the past, yet he was holding on tight. He was obsessively searching for a person who had already passed away. Even he himself couldn’t distinguish whether this obsession held guilt or something else.
The days continued in this lukewarm way until a mysterious association with the code name “D” quietly rose on the dark web.
Initially, no one took this association seriously. But not long after, several Alphas in the Alliance died bizarrely one after another. Their deaths were strange. Once the news spread, it caused an uproar, and people were panicked. In Xie Huaijin’s view, this was just another troublesome mess. It was better to have one less thing to worry about, so he didn’t take it much to heart.
Who would have thought that after half a year, this “D” Association became even more arrogant? Their crime frequency grew higher and higher, and the scope of involvement became wider and wider, already threatening the stability of the Alliance. Under pressure, the Alliance finally issued an order, sending him and Qi Bai to join forces, with Admiral Cyrus assisting, to thoroughly investigate this matter and destroy this association.
…
A frontier town.
Embedded in the most remote corner of the planet, it was so desolate that only swirling sand and scattered houses remained.
Only the small tavern at the street corner was bustling with noise. A group of people sat around greasy tables, drinking and playing finger games. Their singing was noisy, stirring a bit of liveliness into the quiet town.
“Hey, have you heard? That Alpha Admiral with the ridiculously poor pheromone level… something happened to him!” Someone downed a gulp of wine and shouted out the topic, drawing the attention of the whole table.
“You’re talking about Ji Xuan, right?” the person next to him sneered, chewing a bit of food. “To be honest, I never thought much of him. How does he deserve the title of Admiral? He just happened to get lucky and complete a few missions. He’ll trip up sooner or later.”
“I heard the place where things went wrong is right here on our planet. It’s truly unlucky. I hope he didn’t bring all that bad luck here with him.”
“If you ask me, only hard rank counts. Didn’t the military academy produce an SS+ rank Alpha two years ago? That’s real skill.”
“The surname was Jiang… I forgot what he was called.”
“What use is the most powerful rank? Didn’t he die anyway? Hahahaha!”
The man’s laughter grew more and more unrestrained. Suddenly, with a loud boom, a strong current of air carrying swirling dust hit the laughing man’s face, making him cough violently.
The others weren’t spared either. Their faces and bodies were covered in dust, and even the dishes on the table were covered in a layer of grit.
The group was instantly annoyed. They slammed the table and were about to start cursing when their peripheral vision caught a black figure racing over from the street corner. A heavy motorcycle rolled over the sandy road and stopped at the tavern door.
The roar of the motorcycle faded. The youth in black raised his hand to take off the helmet on his head, revealing sharp, cold features. A chill came from his eyes, and the curses at the table were forced back down their throats.
One couldn’t say exactly what was outstanding about the youth’s looks. It might be that his overall aura was extremely strong—cold and clean-cut. There was an indescribable tension hidden in his features. One look and you couldn’t turn away; he looked just like a protagonist who brought their own halo in a movie.
Realizing they had automatically cast themselves as NPCs, the group’s expressions soured, and the fire in their chests surged.
Just as they were about to roll up their sleeves and start shouting, the youth raised his hand and tossed a thick stack of coins onto the greasy tabletop.
A cold voice wrapped in a chill dropped down: “Where is Dream Town?”
That town was extremely remote and wasn’t marked on any public maps at all. Jiang Chenyan had searched for a long time without a lead, so he could only ask the locals.
If he hadn’t heard wrong, these people were just discussing him.
So that gust of sand just now wasn’t an accident; he had intentionally manipulated the motorcycle’s airflow to sweep it up.
The group stared at the thick stack of money on the table. The curses at the tips of their tongues were forced back down. Their faces turned blue then white, but they finally squeezed out fawning smiles: “You should have said you were asking for directions. It’s no big deal. Just come with us.”
Jiang Chenyan looked up. “Then you lead the way.”
At this time, the sound of Kai Lan and Ye Qingyu arguing came from the exquisite earring in his ear. It was so noisy it made his ears tight.
Ye Qingyu: “Are you sure or not? Did Ji Xuan really lose contact in this dump?”
Kai Lan: “I guarantee it. It can’t be wrong. All the clues point here. Ji Xuan fell in this place.”
The next second, Ye Qingyu’s voice suddenly spiked: “Dammit! The few pots of rare star-flowers I raised have all withered! Did you touch them when I wasn’t looking?”
Kai Lan: “Are you sick? Why would I touch your precious flowers when I have nothing better to do? If your brain isn’t clear, don’t just bite people!”
Jiang Chenyan silently clicked off the switch on the side of the earring. Finally, it was quiet.
Over this past year, too many unexpected things had indeed happened. For example, his death eventually couldn’t be kept from Ji Xuan.
When the news reached Ji Xuan’s ears, the man’s defenses collapsed on the spot. He cried so miserably that it took several people advising him for half the night to barely calm him down.
Thinking about it now, it felt quite dramatic. He and Shen Shiyue were handing over a mission and had just turned a corner in a small alley when they bumped into Ji Xuan.
At that time, he was wrapped up tightly—mask, sunglasses, and hat were all present. He hadn’t even shown half a face. Yet, Ji Xuan had only caught a distant glimpse of his back and his footsteps had jerked to a stop. His eyes turned red instantly, and he had blurted out his name.
…
Following several locals through several turns, Jiang Chenyan finally arrived at Dream Town. The town was remote and chaotic, with no clear clues to follow. There was no other way; he had to knock on doors one by one to ask.
He spent an entire day on this. From dawn to dusk, forget finding a single shadow of Ji Xuan, even his heavy motorcycle used for travel was stolen clean. He had gained absolutely nothing.
The sky had turned completely dark. The night was wrapped in a cool breeze, and only scattered lights flickered in the surroundings.
Jiang Chenyan squatted by the roadside, pulled out a cigarette pack, took one out, and lit it. Before long, white mist drifted from between his lips and teeth.
He had only taken two puffs when a soft, small figure suddenly approached him. The child looked up with a round little head and asked crisply, “Big brother, are you squatting here to beg for food?”
Jiang Chenyan: “…”
“Big brother, are you hungry? My big brother’s cooking is super delicious. I’ll take you to eat, okay?”
“Luo Luo, don’t just pull other brothers home. Come back quickly.”
A clear male voice came from behind the child.
The cigarette at Jiang Chenyan’s fingertips was still held between his fingers. Just as he was about to look up and explain something, his gaze landed on the newcomer. His entire body stiffened, and the cigarette butt almost fell to the ground.
It was Xiao Yi.
That familiar face hit his eyes clearly. Although he was more settled after the youthfulness had faded, his features were still clean and elegant.
What a coincidence.
To meet here after two years.
Jiang Chenyan was using a disguise, and he had changed his name and surname again. Eight out of ten, Xiao Yi wouldn’t recognize him.
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