“You’re interested in him too?” The Colonel set down his wineglass and narrowed his eyes as he studied Chi Zhou, looking genuinely surprised. “Chi Zhou, haven’t you already attained enlightenment and transcended worldly attachments? And now you’re trying to steal my recruit?”

The Colonel was a devoted fan of Ancient Earth culture and would occasionally blurt out expressions that people of this era couldn’t understand.

Chi Zhou, however, had long since gotten used to it.

“How can you say I’ve ascended?” he said. “That’s bad luck.”

“So you care about that sort of thing?” the Colonel muttered. “Give me a break. After awakening, living for five hundred years isn’t even a challenge. If anything, I think that life is too long.”

He picked up his glass and drained it in one gulp. The expensive golden liquor slid down his throat, bringing with it a strangely icy burn.

Chi Zhou smiled unconcernedly.

“What’s wrong with living a long life? You might even get to attend your great-grandchild’s wedding.”

Like Chi Zhou, the Colonel had been among humanity’s first generation of awakened Sentinels.

The difference was that Chi Zhou had remained on the front lines fighting the alien contamination, while the Colonel had long since walked away.

After the District Twelve contamination incident, the Colonel had become utterly disheartened and drunk himself senseless for an entire night.

That night, with bloodshot eyes, he had stubbornly repeated the same question over and over.

“Chi Zhou… Does anything we’re doing even matter?”

Chi Zhou hadn’t been able to answer him.

No one could.

Ever since the day the extraterrestrial contamination first appeared, countless people had been asking themselves that very question.

Did anything they did matter? Where exactly did humanity’s future lie? After giving everything they had to resist, would they still be unable to defeat those monsters in the end?

It wasn’t until sentinels and guides began to differentiate that the Alliance finally saw hope again.

The awakening of sentinels and guides was like the first spacecraft humanity had launched when it left the Solar System, unfolding an entirely new horizon before mankind.

Everything changed.

After sentinels and guides appeared, the alien contamination no longer spread unchecked, and areas that had once been death zones became significantly safer.

Districts like Twelve, which had nearly been reduced to extraterrestrial colonies, regained their autonomy.

That peace lasted only a hundred years.

Then District Twelve was struck by another large-scale extraterrestrial contamination.

The forgotten impoverished district instantly became the Alliance’s focal point as news flooded in like a tidal wave:

The extraterrestrial lifeforms had evolved once again…

The battle mechs were being torn apart with bare hands…

The person in charge of the Alliance’s top-secret project had disappeared…

Every report strained the public’s already fragile nerves.

The Alliance dispatched reinforcements to District Twelve overnight, with the Colonel placed in command.

Chi Zhou accompanied the operation, though he had a different mission.

The Alliance’s super mech, Scarlet Dawn Lotus, which was still under development, had suddenly gone off the grid, and its project leader had vanished without a trace. Chi Zhou’s mission was to recover it.

It was the only mission he had ever failed.

The operation’s records were sealed away in the highest-classified archives, where no one had been permitted to access them ever since.

The Colonel’s squad met an equally tragic fate; his entire team was wiped out, their bodies reduced to ash under ultra-high-temperature attacks.

Only the Colonel survived, and he returned with news that sent tremors through the Alliance’s highest ranks.

The alien lifeforms had declared—within one hundred years, humanity would be wiped out.

To overturn that prophecy, the Alliance had spent years making countless preparations. It expanded its military academies, built a stronger army, and trained sentinels and guides into cold, ruthless weapons of war.

It searched for Scarlet Dawn Lotus and its destined pilot, hoping they would lead the next generation of sentinels and guides in defending the Alliance.

The Colonel, however, felt nothing but sorrow toward the plan.

To him, it signified the end of an era.

It meant that he and his comrades—even Chi Zhou, the man hailed as the Light of the Alliance—were about to become relics of the past.

In the dim office, the Colonel stared at the flickering candlelight and remarked out of nowhere, “Attend my great-grandchild’s wedding? Who would still want anything to do with a bunch of old fossils like us?”

Chi Zhou fell silent. He understood what the Colonel was really trying to say.

Only after a long pause did he answer quietly, “If you truly believed that, you wouldn’t have opened the fighting arenas.”

The Colonel let out a few snorts through his nose that sounded more like sobs than laughter.

“Then call me a damn fool.”

After the District Twelve contamination incident, the Colonel retired from the military despite repeated attempts to persuade him to stay.

The following year, Chi Zhou approached him and asked whether he would be willing to participate in one of the Alliance’s classified projects.

From then on, several underground fighting arenas appeared throughout District Twelve.

Sentinels from impoverished backgrounds poured their sweat and youth into those arenas, earning prize money just to survive. Only the very best were invited to the Colonel’s office for fried chicken.

That was the Alliance’s classified project.

Outside the prestigious military academies that symbolised honour, the Colonel quietly built an underground army for the Alliance, raising a pack of untamed hounds in the hope that one day they would achieve an unexpected victory against the alien contamination.

A competitor like Xia Ye, who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, had always been exactly the kind of person the Colonel wanted.

“If you want to meet him, then have him come over.” Steering the conversation back on track, the Colonel casually beckoned a bunny girl over. “Go bring me the pilot of Iron Cavalry.”

—

While the Colonel and Chi Zhou spoke in riddles, Lin Kezhi had buried his head in the fried chicken, listening all the while. By now, he was about half full.

The moment he heard them summon Xia Ye, his nerves immediately returned.

Without drawing attention to himself, Lin Kezhi glanced at the money pouch on the sofa.

It was an old-fashioned leather pouch, stuffed full of chips from the underground fighting arena.

It contained no small amount. Converted into star credits, it was enough for an entire family to eat, drink, and enjoy themselves comfortably for a whole year.

Lin Kezhi guessed that Xia Ye probably needed the money.

Xia Ye had been born in District Twelve and likely struggled to afford the exorbitant cost of living in District One. His younger sister had injured her eyes during the District Twelve contamination incident and required expensive, regular treatment.

If he didn’t need the money, why would he have come here?

Lin Kezhi couldn’t think of any other reason.

If the Colonel discovered that he and Xia Ye had known each other from the start and had colluded to place the bet, they might not only lose the prize money but also jeopardise their places at the academy.

Alliance Military Academy regulations strictly forbade students from entering unauthorised establishments, including, but not limited to, black markets and underground fighting arenas.

Lin Kezhi had heard that although the Colonel appeared easygoing, he was anything but soft-hearted.

Anyone who caused trouble in his arena paid a heavy price. The people who disappeared in District One late at night were proof enough.

“Colonel, do you like fried chicken?” Lin Kezhi asked abruptly. “You should try the garlic butter sauce. The young lady over there said it’s their newest flavour.”

He pointed toward the bunny girl nearby, a faint tremor barely detectable in his voice.

“You’re pretty nervous, aren’t you, young man?” The Colonel laughed heartily, the gloom from moments ago disappearing completely. “First time at an underground arena?”

Lin Kezhi nodded.

“Yes.”

The Colonel looked him over before saying meaningfully, “Oh… So there are still kids from Upper District Seven who don’t spend all their time fooling around.”

Lin Kezhi felt somewhat awkward.

He had certainly heard of underground fighting arenas before. Plenty of wealthy young masters at his private school loved excitement and often snuck out on weekends looking for entertainment.

He had simply never been one of them.

Although he enjoyed lively company and got along well with everyone at school, he had always stayed away from activities that carried this kind of risk.

The Colonel smiled. “So what made you decide to come today?”

He pointed at the money pouch beside Lin Kezhi. “For your first visit, you had the nerve to bet everything. That’s quite bold.”

A fine sheen of sweat broke out across Lin Kezhi’s forehead as he fought the overwhelming urge to run.

The Colonel was a sentinel veteran on the battlefield. He appeared warm and approachable, but in reality he was scrutinising him.

Lin Kezhi found himself glancing repeatedly toward the door, desperately hoping Xia Ye wouldn’t arrive so soon.

They hadn’t even coordinated their stories yet. If their lies didn’t match, they would be in serious trouble.

Unfortunately, his silent prayer went unanswered.

Three polite knocks sounded at the office door.

Xia Ye’s voice came from outside. “I’m the pilot of Iron Cavalry. May I come in now?”

The Colonel set down his wineglass and stood to answer the door. “You’ve got good manners.”

Chi Zhou paused halfway through taking a drink and looked toward the door. There was something remarkable about the voice on the other side.

It was light and clear, making its owner sound quite young, yet the calmness with which he spoke inspired an unusual sense of composure. He had just defeated the arena’s reigning champion, yet there wasn’t the slightest trace of pride or excitement in his voice, as though it had been nothing more than an ordinary occurrence not worth dwelling on.

The feeling reminded Chi Zhou of someone.

—

The child of an old friend.

Bright, mature beyond his years, and exceptionally perceptive—to the point that he hardly seemed like a child his age.

After the Alliance received word of the alien contamination, Chi Zhou had been ordered to travel to District Twelve.

Dr. Xia, the scientist leading the Scarlet Dawn Lotus development project, had already disappeared without a trace.

Even more troublesome, the District Twelve Research Institute and the Bureau of Social Administration had both been destroyed, along with all of their classified records.

It had taken Chi Zhou some time to find Xia Ye.

By then, two years had already passed since the large-scale contamination.

But the extraterrestrial lifeforms had gone to great lengths to lure Chi Zhou to District Twelve, so naturally they had no intention of letting him leave alive.

Through wave after wave of pursuit, Chi Zhou painstakingly uncovered several clues.

According to the Alliance’s classified project protocols, Dr. Xia’s identity had been one of District Twelve’s highest-level secrets.

Only the head of the Security Division within the Bureau of Social Administration knew who he really was.

Everyone else believed Dr. Xia was merely an ordinary researcher.

Yet during the contamination, the extraterrestrial lifeforms first destroyed the records kept by both the Research Institute and the Bureau of Social Administration before targeting Dr. Xia and the head of the Security Division.

As a result, the secret surrounding Dr. Xia was buried beneath the ruins of District Twelve, known to no one.

Xia Ye and Xia Zhi were sent to a social welfare orphanage, where they lived under closed management.

Their files contained only one word: [Orphan], without any further explanation.

By the time Chi Zhou met Xia Ye, the boy had already spent two years there. His eyes were as wary as a hedgehog’s.

Years of malnutrition had left him so thin he seemed as fragile as paper.

The extraterrestrial contamination had also destroyed some of his cells, leaving several of his organs damaged to varying degrees.

His stomach and lungs appeared to have suffered the worst. In the span of only fifteen minutes, Chi Zhou heard him cough several times.

As they walked toward Xia Ye’s apartment, Chi Zhou struggled to suppress his anger. He had never imagined Xia Ye would be living under such conditions.

Alliance law required social welfare orphanages to treat every child equally, providing adequate food and a decent living environment.

To that end, the Alliance allocated billions of star credits every year. Clearly, the orphanage in District Twelve had fallen far short of that standard.

Xia Ye wasn’t someone who complained. If anything, he was unusually quiet.

Yet Chi Zhou noticed faint bruises around his wrists. They weren’t marks that could have been caused by ordinary bumps and scr4p3s.

They were signs of deliberate violence. The boy’s skin was so pale it was almost translucent, making the purple finger-shaped bruises stand out all the more vividly.

There were injuries scattered across his knees and shins as well. Some had already scabbed over, yet it was still obvious how severe they had once been.

Someone had been bullying him.

Chi Zhou knew all too well what life in an orphanage was like for someone as isolated and physically frail as Xia Ye, burdened with caring for a younger sister.

His food and blankets would be stolen.

Older, stronger children would beat him.

He would be forced to do work that wasn’t his.

Chi Zhou knew that environment better than anyone, because he had grown up in one just like it.

He had considered taking Xia Ye to District One, where he could receive a better education.

Chi Zhou owned several apartments. He could let the siblings live in one close to a school so they would never have to worry about food or shelter again.

But when he cautiously tested the idea, Xia Ye refused. Chi Zhou understood the stubborn determination in the boy’s eyes.

A teenager who had just lost his parents could never abandon the last place that still held memories of them.

He wanted to protect the house that preserved his childhood until the day he could truly call it his own.

Chi Zhou didn’t force the issue.

Instead, he quietly looked after the siblings from the shadows.

Fortunately, Xia Ye didn’t refuse that much.

It was, at least, a small consolation—a way for Chi Zhou to honour the friendship he had once shared with the boy’s parents.

—

When the military academy held its spring admissions, Chi Zhou heard that Xia Ye had taken part in the selection process and entered the academy with the highest score.

After the entrance examinations, the academy had invited Chi Zhou to give a lecture.

He had planned to meet Xia Ye then.

Instead, he unexpectedly encountered someone in the underground fighting arena who gave him an eerily familiar feeling.

The Colonel had already opened the door. “Come in, come in! Our new champion! Have some fried chicken.”

Xia Ye stepped into the office without betraying a single emotion. He had long heard the rumors that the Colonel often invited the day’s winners to his office for fried chicken, so he remained perfectly calm.

After entering, aside from bumping into that drunken Blackbeard, he didn’t exchange a single word with Lin Kezhi.

There was no way the Colonel could know they were acquainted.

“Hmm… let’s see. Fang Qi, right?” The Colonel glanced through the dossier. “The young really are formidable. You beat our champion in three moves. Bright future ahead of you. So, what flavour of fried chicken do you like?”

From his seat in the corner, Chi Zhou quietly examined ‘Fang Qi’.

He looked to be around twenty years old, somewhat slender, quite unlike the Sentinels who usually appeared in underground fighting arenas.

There was a refined, scholarly air about him.

Yet his gaze was razor-sharp, like an eagle taking its first flight into the open sky.

He resembled Xia Ye.

But not quite.

Under Chi Zhou’s unwavering gaze, Xia Ye remained completely composed, without the slightest sign of nervousness.

“Garlic butter,” Xia Ye replied seriously as he chose his dipping sauce. “Thank you, Colonel.”

“Oh, you like garlic butter too?” The Colonel pushed the small dish toward him with a grin. “Xiao Lin likes it too. Do you two know each other?”

Lin Kezhi’s heart leapt into his throat. Ever since Xia Ye had entered, he had kept his head lowered, staring straight ahead, terrified that the Colonel might notice even the slightest flaw.

“Really?” Xia Ye picked up a piece of fried chicken, coated it generously with garlic butter sauce, and sighed. “Not many people like this flavour, but I’ve loved it ever since I was little.”

Chi Zhou chuckled softly. “I like garlic butter too.”

He picked up his first piece of fried chicken that day, covered it with garlic butter sauce, and leisurely took a bite.

“It’s quite a distinctive flavour,” Chi Zhou said meaningfully. “It’s not easy to gather this many people who all like garlic butter. Don’t you think… Fang Qi?”

He deliberately emphasised the name.

For the first time, a tiny crack appeared in Xia Ye’s flawless mask.

His hand paused for just a moment as he ate the fried chicken.

“…En.”

“I don’t see what’s so special about it.” The Colonel rolled his eyes and grumbled. “Chi Zhou, since when did you start liking that flavour? How come I never knew?”

—

Author’s Note: Take a guess—did Chi Zhou recognise xiao Xia despite the alias?

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