Shen Jingming stepped out of the cave, gazing up at the starless, pitch-black sky.
The darkness was even more chilling and unforgiving than the pitch-black domain.
Using the faint light reflected from within the cave, Shen Jingming found a rock shaped like a bench and sat down.
The sealed memories of that period surged back in an instant.
The first person he saw after waking up on the surface was Hong Lian·Zhi Wu.
Shen Jingming clearly remembered the young Hong Lian gripping his shoulders with force, weeping and pleading, "Save me! Please!" as if clutching at the last straw of hope.
Her clothes were torn from the blast, revealing slightly darker skin and a proud figure.
She cried so pitifully that Shen Jingming's heart was moved with compassion.
Just then, five fully armed men, guns in hand, stormed into the alleyway.
"Black Star pilot here! And an unidentified civilian!"
"Kill them all!! Leave no one alive!!"
The spray of bullets flew wildly like locusts in a plague, grazing their bodies and tearing several bloody gashes.
With no time to think, Shen Jingming used his pitch-black domain to block the bullets and escape with Hong Lian.
They hid in a ruined building for a night. That night, Shen Jingming lost his innocence to Hong Lian.
The next day, when Shen Jingming woke up, Hong Lian was already gone.
After wandering for months, he saw Hong Lian, whom he had longed for, again. To his surprise, she wanted to capture him for experiments.
The battle quickly ensued. Mu Ye·Xing Chen, then a Lieutenant General, commanded the capture operation. The two sides fought from dusk till dawn with no decisive victor.
Finally, Hong Lian launched a surprise attack, and they both charged into the pitch-black domain.
When their life codes combined, resistance became meaningless.
Seeing that his "wife" treated him merely as a trophy, showing off in front of others and completely devoid of his feelings, Shen Jingming knew his life was over.
Even if he escaped the Black Star Empire later, what good would it do?
"Cough..." Mu Ye·Xing Chen interrupted Shen Jingming's thoughts, sat down beside him, took out candy from his pocket, and asked, "Want some candy?"
Shen Jingming scooted further away, put on his headphones, and the explosive music blared. Even from half a meter away, Mu Ye·Xing Chen could hear the ear-splitting music.
"I remember that battle. Hundreds of mechs couldn't defeat you," Mu Ye·Xing Chen said softly, popping a piece of candy into his mouth. "After you and Hong Lian came out of the solitary space, you gave up resisting."
"I thought about it for a long time afterwards, and I could never understand why you stopped resisting. Now I know, it was for Hong Lian."
"You must have had a very difficult time these past few years, haven't you?"
Seeing Shen Jingming's cold, distant expression, Mu Ye·Xing Chen slowly realized that this might be his way of avoiding emotional entanglement.
He hated Hong Lian, yet due to their special bond, he had to endure.
"Isn't there a way to sever the partner relationship?" Mu Ye·Xing Chen asked softly.
"Yes..." Shen Jingming stared blankly at a small stone and said indifferently, "One of them has to die."
"Then why didn't you kill her? It would be better than suffering day and night," Mu Ye·Xing Chen asked calmly.
Shen Jingming managed a faint, bitter smile. After a long pause, he slowly said, "She is my 'wife'. Even if she doesn't know or acknowledge it, even if she's been terrible, it doesn't matter. I hate her, to death, but I can't bear to see her die."
"Also, partners' hearts are connected. If one dies, the other will experience the same pain and despair, possibly even dying from overwhelming despair."
"These years, every moment, I've been guarding against her death, against the despair and pain that would follow."
"I'm like a lab monkey locked in an electric cage, constantly fearing and guarding against the shock."
"In the end, it's because I'm a coward!"
As he spoke, Shen Jingming's eyes returned to a state of cold indifference and numbness.
Mu Ye·Xing Chen finally understood Shen Jingming. Beneath his calm, wooden exterior lay a pained, complex soul!
Not only did he have to endure his "wife's" promiscuity.
He also had to constantly guard against the despair and pain transmitted to him should his "wife" fall in battle.
And finally, there was his hatred for his "wife," a hatred he couldn't act upon by killing her, because she was his "wife."
These were three layers of suffering!
An ordinary person could have easily killed her in a fit of rage.
But he was a Dunsaxin. For him, a partner meant more than his own life.
Yet, he still faced everything with strength, striving to live.
No, he wasn't cowardly at all. In fact, he was stronger than most people!
Mu Ye·Xing Chen gently patted Shen Jingming's shoulder and said, "I can help you."
Shen Jingming turned his head slightly to look at Mu Ye·Xing Chen, his expression complex, and said indifferently, "No need."
"Do Dunsaxins only reproduce with their partners? What other secrets does your race hold? Why did you go to the surface back then?" Mu Ye·Xing Chen asked softly.
But Shen Jingming ignored him and walked into the darkness alone.
Shortly after, Shu Fei Zhang and Gu Ya emerged from the cave, dragging the unconscious Qiao.
Gu Ya asked, "Where is he?"
Mu Ye·Xing Chen's gaze drifted towards the darkness.
Gu Ya illuminated the darkness with a holographic light. Shen Jingming stood alone beside a large rock, removing his shirt and reaching behind his back to hook his spine.
His seventh vertebra popped out, emitting a faint, pale blue glow.
"I'm replacing my psychic overflow module. What is it?" Shen Jingming said calmly.
Gu Ya replied, "I entered Qiao's consciousness world and found their city's location. It's time to go."
Shen Jingming finished the replacement quickly, pushed his vertebra back in, and walked towards the three.
While Gu Ya was summoning mechs for everyone,
Shen Jingming said to Mu Ye·Xing Chen in a cold, calm tone, "I have no good feelings for Hong Lian. My protection of her is instinctual. Please don't tell her the truth."
As milky white light clusters flashed around everyone, four exoskeleton armors resembling miniature mechs attached themselves.
Gu Ya explained, "We're about to enter the city defense zone. Any large mech activity will be pinpointed. To infiltrate the city smoothly, I've scaled down everyone's mechs, but their functions remain the same."
Tucking Qiao into an iron crate, the four miniature mechs roared to life, lifted the crate, and flew close to the ground towards the city.
Lan Lan Lan Nation's capital, Lan Ye City.
Even in the early hours of the morning, it was still bustling with activity.
Looking up, interwoven steel corridors spanned between skyscrapers.
On the cramped ground streets, trash, foul water, and rats were everywhere.
Men in thick trench coats hurried through streets filled with toxic fog, while alluring women posed seductively in crimson storefronts.
Dilapidated neon signs on both sides projected onto the stagnant water.
The high-level corridors gleamed in the reflection of the puddles, like bridges to heaven.
A leather boot crushed the stagnant water, scattering countless neon-lit water splashes.
Following that, several pairs of leather boots walked by from both sides.
Gu Ya and the other three finally arrived at the city, known as the "City That Never Sleeps," just before dawn.