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ntranslator: baumkuchen (unedited)

nAfter tidying himself up, Chi Xiaochi went to the jail to see that Omega who had gone into heat.

nHe was currently wrapped up in a quilt, sound asleep. The alarm and terror filling his face from yesterday yesterday had already been replaced by serenity. It was just that on the side of his exposed neck was a bruise, particularly striking.

nChi Xiaochi asked Yin Shaofeng, “How did that bruise happen?”

nYin Shaofei’s face was sweaty. He turned his gaze to the Zhan Yanchao keeping watch at the entrance of the jail.

nZhan Yanchao, leaning on a major’s sword decorated with mahogany and steel wires, sat by the only entrance to the steel prison. A big bunch of keys hung off the hilt of his sword, and his head was leaning against the railing, drooping as he dozed off.

nYin Shaofei, “Of not for Vice-Division Leader Zhan, there would have been no way that guy would have reached here in one piece……”

nYin Shaofei simply didn’t dare to think too deeply about the chaos last night.

nThose Alpha soldiers had all descended into a state of extreme madness. Fortunately, there had been Zhan Yanchao to open a path. In the end, when the Omega had seen the surge of Alphas rushing over, he had started shrieking and screeching in fear, kicking and punching in his arms. Only when Zhan Yanchao turned back and smashed him with the back of his knife did the world finally turn peaceful.

n“Then what use do you still have?” Chi Xiaochi shot him a look. “Other than you being able to breathe, what’s the difference between you and a rice cooker?”

nThe rice cooker, “……”

nChi Xiaochi then asked, “Who brought that Omega into my tent?”

nNow, the rice cooker didn’t even dare to breathe.

nChi Xiaochi found his answer from his silence. “That’s just nice. You can go and receive thirty strokes of the cane.”

nHe turned and walked out. Yin Shaofei, vexed that his attempt to pat the horse’s ass had landed on the horse’s hoof, hurried after him.

nThe sound of his footsteps as he left finally woke Zhan Yanchao up.

nUpon seeing Ji Zuoshan’s back, Zhan Yanchao shot awake and jumped to his feet, but smacked his head against the copper lock above him, making him spin in pain. After letting out a few hisses, only then did he grab the keys and get to his feet, and hurried out the door with the jingling of keys.

nHearing the sound of the keys, Chi Xiaochi turned back, just so happening to meet Zhan Yanchao’s gaze.

nOnly then did Zhan Yanchao realise that he’d stayed up all night, guarding, cutting quite the sorry figure in front of the neatly dressed General Ji. But Second Young Master Zhan was Second Young Master Zhan, after all. He wouldn’t forget his original intentions.

n“I didn’t touch him,” Zhan Yanchao tried to clear things up, “I have…… that, mysophobia.”

nChi Xiaochi just looked at him, silent.

nZhan Yanchao said, “Once I recognise a person, then that’s the person for me.”

nIn order to hide his embarrassment, as well as to avoid being rejected, Zhan Yanchao muddled on, “Omegas really are as fragile as tofu. ……Thankfully you didn’t become like that.”

nLooking at the Ji Zuoshan who was more than half a head taller than him, he muttered, both feeling sweet yet pained, “You being like this, is, is good.”

nAs he spoke, Zhan Yanchao’s regret value went up by another two points.

nIt was for no other reason than that he’d truly recognised his past wrongs and outrageousness.

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nBut the youth before him wasn’t Xiao Ji anymore. The gaze he used to look at Zhan Yanchao with, was of General Ji looking at Vice-Division Leader Zhan. He just gave him a shallow nod of approval, then chose to leave.

nZhan Yanchao’s heart twisted with pain, but he could only tighten his grip on the keys, and quietly watched Ji Zuoshan leave.

nHe thought of something from a long time ago.

nProbably when he was about thirteen, fourteen years old, once, because of a reason he’d already completely forgotten, Xiao Ji had received ten lashes from his wip.

nAt the time, the weather had been humid, and Ji Zuoshan’s wounds had gotten infected. He contracted a high fever, and had to lie in bed for three days and three nights straight. Zhan Yanchao had been keeping watch by his bedside, afraid that he would leave him just like that. As he wallowed in sadness, he quietly swore that he would never beat him ever again.

nWhen Ji Zuoshan woke, he was too tired to talk to him.

nHe squeezed into Ji Zuoshan’s quilt, and took him into his arms, not talking either.

nJi Zuoshan said in a small voice, “It’s hot.”

nHe hugged him even tighter.

nJi Zuoshan’s lash wounds had always recovered quickly. He also wasn’t in pain anymore, so he just let him hug him.

nJi Zuoshan said, “Young Master, my break to visit family is coming up soon. How can I go back to see my younger siblings if I’m sick like this?”

nZhan Yanchao wasn’t willing to admit his wrongs. “If you hadn’t made me angry, why would I have beaten you.”

nJi Zuoshan let out a helpless sigh.

nZhan Yanchao curled up in his arms, and looked up at him. His dark eyes shone like stars. “Are you angry with me?”

nJi Zuoshan thought for a moment, then said objectively, “I’ve never gotten angry before.”

nZhan Yanchao wasn’t willing to let him off. “Get angry for a bit for me to see.”

nJi Zuoshan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “I won’t get angry. ……I’ll probably only be disappointed.”

nZhan Yanchao couldn’t differentiate between the two. “Don’t those mean the same thing?”

nJi Zuoshan good naturedly explained, “With anger, perhaps there would still be a chance of reconciliation; with disappointment, I won’t get angry, I won’t lash out, I’ll just leave, and never come back.”

nZhan Yanchao puffed up his cheeks. He jumped up and said, indignant, “You dare!”

nJi Zuoshan didn’t say he dared, nor did he say that he didn’t dare. He just looked at him, and the corners of his mouth curved up slightly.

nClearly this was a child of the same age as him, but Ji Zuoshan’s eyes held an abnormal gentleness and acceptance.

n……Now, Zhan Yanchao understood the meaning in his eyes.

nBut in the end, Zhan Yanchao had lost that Xiao Ji from the beginning.

nAfter Chi Xiaochi had taken about ten steps away, 061, looking at the blue line representing regret value, notified him, “Xiaochi, it’s full.”

nChi Xiaochi let out a quiet “en”.

n061 said, “You’re not planning to do anything else to Zhan Yanchao?”

nChi Xiaochi said, “The choice is always made by the person themselves. It’s not like I didn’t give Yang Baihua and Lou Sifan a chance.” If someone were willing to rein in their horse at the edge of a cliff, there was no need for Chi Xiaochi’s feet to itch and kick them off the cliff.

nJi Zuoshan was a little confused. “‘It’s full’…… What does that mean?”

nChi Xiaochi signalled 061 to stop the mid-grade compression card that had been running all this time. “It means, this body will go back to belonging to you alone at any time now.”

nJi Zuoshan, however, fell silent.

nChi Xiaochi let him stay silent. But he and 061 both knew, a child of this age, can’t stand separation in the end.

nSure enough, after staying silent until lunchtime, Ji Zuoshan started to act.

nHe said, “Rosie’s coming tomorrow.”

nChi Xiaochi added on for him, “It’s the Miss Rosie who’s the new researcher of the military’s arms research institute.”

nJi Zuoshan, “En. She looks very pretty in her women’s military uniform.”

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nA few days ago, she sent a picture of herself in her military uniform over through the transmitter. Next to her was even Wang Xiaoqing, a fellow member of the arms institute. The two flowers blooming side by side, made people’s eyes heat up when looking at them.

nChi Xiaochi said, “Don’t look at the fact that she’s in a dress, when she pulls it out, she’s bigger than me.”

nJi Zuoshan’s face flushed. “Mister Chi, you shouldn’t say that about a lady.”

nChi Xiaochi said, “I said that she’s bigger than me, compared to you, she’s definitely still a little smaller.”

nJi Zuoshan, “……”

nChi Xiaochi elegantly sliced off a piece of the fragrant, pan-fried veal with a fork and knife, and placed it into his mouth.

nJi Zuoshan tried again, “Mister Chi, you should see her again before leaving.”

nChi Xiaochi said, “There’s no point. She’s your friend.”

nJi Zuoshan wasn’t willing to give up. “She’s yours too.”

nChi Xiaochi didn’t keep refusing, saying an “okay”.

nOn the public holiday the next day, Rosie and Wang Xiaoqing came to visit as agreed.

nHer hair had grown a little longer, the ear-framing short locks making her look even better. She pulled Wang Xiaoqing over to look at Ji Zuoshan’s new single-person mecha, then ran back over to Blue, and took its hand. “Hello, Blue.”

nBlue returned her handshake, and said in a gentlemanly fashion, “Hello, Miss Rosie.”

nOff to the side, the Ji Zuoshan inside their body spoke up again, “Mister Chi, Rosie’s very good, right.”

nChi Xiaochi nodded, at the same time, thinking, Ji Zuoshan doesn’t have an interest in Rosie, does he?

nJi Zuoshan, “She’ll come visit again on the next public holiday, you should leave after then.”

nChi Xiaochi didn’t speak.

nA moment later, he let out a low laugh. “With you putting it like that, I might even think that you’re interested in me.”

nJi Zuoshan had interacted with Chi Xiaochi for so long. He knew what this laugh of Chi Xiaochi’s meant.

n“Mister Chi, you guys, don’t leave,” he said, almost panicking, “I, I can accept having two people in one body. You guys, don’t go, alright?”

nThey had accompanied him through the toughest times in his life. Ji Zuoshan didn’t want this contractual relationship to end. He wanted it to continue, forever.

nBut Chi Xiaochi’s attitude was firm. “I need to go back to my original world.”

nJi Zuoshan also knew that he was making things hard for them.

nHe lowered his eyes, disappointed, and said, “Sorry. Mister Chi, there’s definitely someone waiting for you to come back in that world.”

nChi Xiaochi replied, “There’s not, actually.”

nJi Zuoshan, “Then……”

nChi Xiaochi said, “But I still need to go back.”

nAs Ji Zuoshan hung his head, despondent, 061, however, smiled silently, like he’d thought of some happy matter.

nIn the middle of the night, Ji Zuoshan, who’d been dragged out by the two ladies to go shopping in the military service area, fell asleep very early, not waking up no matter how they called him.

nAfter confirming that he’d already fallen asleep, 061 asked Chi Xiaochi, “Why didn’t you tell him, if you didn’t leave this world, then you’d be forced into committing suicide to leave?”

nAfter the last time he’d returned to the Lord God’s space, and learned that hosts would be forced into committing suicide, 061 immediately reported this matter to Chi Xiaochi.

nChi Xiaochi had been busy taking stock of his storage. Hearing this, he asked, “Why would he need to know that?”

n061 was stunned.

nChi Xiaochi said, “He just needs to know, he had a very long nightmare, and after making a pretty good deal, woke up from that dream. From today onwards, he’ll be this planet’s hero, a battle god.”

nAs for him, Chi Xiaochi, he was just a passer-by in that dream.

nAfter saying this, he got up, and put on his military uniform. He said, “Let’s go.”

nJust after walking out of the military tent, he was met by a hobbling Yin Shaofei. “General Ji, where are you going?”

nChi Xiaochi said, “Going to look at the stars.”

nYin Shaofei followed for a few steps, before hearing Chi Xiaochi say, “What are you following me for? Be careful of infiltrating Zerg.”

nYin Shaofei laughed, “Our military satellites are operating 24 hours a day.”

nChi Xiaochi asked, “There’s a limit to what satellites can monitor, after all. What if it’s burrowing bugs infiltrating?”

nYin Shaofei, “General Ji, did you forget? Burrowing bugs are E-class Zerg. They’re only good at digging holes, and don’t have any combat ability. It’s even unlikely for them to be able to get through the atmosphere and land on this planet, and even an ordinary Beta citizen would be able to kill one with their bare hands……”

nChi Xiaochi patiently finished listening to his words, then asked, “What if a small group of burrowing bugs were to wrap their bodies around an armoured Zerg, interfering with satellite judgement, and directly invade from the back?”

nIn his last life, the planet’s tight defenses were broken through in a time of complacency.

nAnd Ji Zuoshan had died like that.

nThis kind of speculation made Yin Shaofei break out into a cold sweat. “……General Ji?”

nChi Xiaochi waved his hand. “Write up a report, and submit it to the military to apply for a plan to stay on guard against burrowing bugs to be included in the wartime guard plan.”

nYin Shaofei replied with a “yes sir”, and immediately left.

nChi Xiaochi then stepped onto the stargazing platform and sat down, cross-legged.

nBefore his eyes, was a sky full of shining stars. Some were only a few lightyears away, but some of the brilliant lights were coming from stars more than millions and millions of lightyears away, having passed through huge distances. By the time Chi Xiaochi saw them, the star they came from might no longer exist, quietly dying in a corner of the universe.

nChi Xiaochi asked, “Liu-laoshi, where’s the star you sent me?”

n061 said, “Southeast.”

nAs Chi Xiaochi searched for that star that was like a single speck in the long river of stars, a pair of steel arms wrapped around him. “Master.”

nLooking at the positioning device on his wrist, it wasn’t hard for Chi Xiaochi to imagine how it had found him.

nBlue was the first mecha Chi Xiaochi had ever piloted, and had their senses connect. Now, nestled into its embrace, Chi Xiaochi actually felt a trace of reluctance to leave.

nHe felt like this was too strange. He simply asked it a question that he already knew the answer for, “How did you find me?”

nBlue reached out its hand, gently grasping Chi Xiaochi’s wrist which was wearing a positioning device. It lifted his wrist, then pointed at Chi Xiaochi’s heart.

nIt said softly, “I found Master by following his heartbeat.”

nChi Xiaochi, “……” Is this still a **ing mecha?

nBlue wrapped its arms around him, then continued, “No matter what corner of the galaxy Master is in, as long as your heart’s still beating, I’ll always be able to find you.”

nChi Xiaochi inexplicably felt his ears burn from hearing that.

nHe leaned back into its arms, and said to it, “……In the future, you need to watch the stars with Xiao Ji, okay?”

nBlue seemed as if it didn’t understand. It cocked its head to the side. “Master?”

nBefore Chi Xiaochi closed his eyes, he took one last look at the beautiful starry scene before him.

nHe wouldn’t be able to see such a good view of the stars in other places, such a pity.

nHe said to 061, “Let’s go.”

n061 moved, extracting Chi Xiaochi’s consciousness. After confirming that his spiritual energy was no longer in this body, he too prepared to leave. Who knew that at this very moment, he heard Ji Zuoshan’s voice, “Liu-laoshi, Mister Chi left?”

nHis voice sounded very clear, as if he’d already been awake for a long time, or perhaps he’d never slept.

n061 “en”-ed. “I’ll be going too. Sorry, we didn’t get to say goodbye before leaving.”

nJi Zuoshan let out a gentle laugh. His eyes were still closed, as if he wasn’t willing to open them, and face a morning of waking up alone.

nHe said, “Liu-laoshi, my spiritual energy can analyze a certain degree of data. I know that you’re Blue.”

n061 just smiled, not speaking.

nHe had also sensed Ji Zuoshan probing Blue with his spiritual energy. It seemed, it wasn’t just Chi Xiaochi who’d suspected Blue of being too intelligent.

nJi Zuoshan didn’t continue to ask about this. “Will we see each other again in the future?”

n061 said, “Maybe.”

nOnly then did Ji Zuoshan feel a little more at ease. “Please give this video to Mister Chi. Alright?”

nIn the next moment, 061 sensed a video being added to his database.

nHe asked, “What is this?”

n“Mister Chi is a really good person.” Ji Zuoshan said, “This is…… my gift to him.”

nWhen 061 returned to the snow-white rectangular space, Chi Xiaochi, who had waited for a long time but he hadn’t come, had already began playing his card game.

nSeeing Chi Xiaochi now, 061 couldn’t hide the tenderness in his voice, “I’m home.”

nChi Xiaochi “mm-hm”-ed, “Welcome home.”

n061 said, “Xiao Ji knows you left.”

nChi Xiaochi’s hand that had been tapping the screen stilled slightly. “En. ……After that?”

n061 played 061’s gift to Chi Xiaochi on the screen in front of him.

nIt was of a protostar exploding, throwing out broken fragments in all directions. The video came from a molecular cloud of a constellation. In the darkness of the galaxy, a burning, lifeless star silently split apart, its magnificence filling the entire sky, the resplendent glow lingering for a moment before disappearing.

n“He set off a cosmic firework for you,” 061 said to a silent Chi Xiaochi, “He said, thank you.”

nThe author has something to say:

nTomorrow’s chapter will be about the little seal’s wonderful life and the ending of this arc~

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nbaum: ahh Xiao Ji I’m going to miss you T T

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