EDEH Chapter 39

[007 Diary Fifteen]

 

[The currently known information is fragmentary and chaotic. Looking at Dr. Luce’s audio text alone, one cannot discern what lies in the depths of the rift.

 

Ivan was deeply affected, ultimately dying in madness, even questioning the science he had devoted his life to.

 

But experience tells me that everything in this world can be explained by science.

 

The reason humans view certain things as ‘devils’ is simply because those substances and energies exceed their knowledge reserves—they are existences they cannot resist, so they demonize them.

 

Humans can only accept ‘matter’ and ‘existence,’ while unknown energy fields beyond their control will plunge them into fear.

 

This trip has been quite rewarding. General Huo Feng very likely went to the underground depths. From the last words he wrote, he and the human leadership seem to have jointly planned a ‘lie’—a lie that deceived all apocalypse survivors.

 

Could this be related to the classified file coded as ‘Dawn’ that I captured?

 

Current ‘Dawn’ repair progress: 5%. Looking forward to the day of revelation.

 

The little evil dragon has finally met with No. 001. His good and evil nature remains to be analyzed.]

 

·

 

In this kind of empty, dark environment, even slightly loud sounds would echo, let alone gunshots.

 

“Bang—!”

 

Ah Qin was startled and covered her mouth, collapsing on the ground. Her ears buzzed as the gunshot echoed continuously, each echo weaker than the last.

 

The gun smoke hadn’t cleared, but the person beneath the gun had already fallen.

 

The bullet precisely penetrated the skull. Shui Ming died instantly, without feeling any pain.

 

Colin and the other soldiers watched this scene quietly, all raising their hands in salute.

 

Since Huo Yanji, as a general, was also the highest executive officer of the supervisors, there had always been an unwritten tradition in the team—

 

If Huo Yanji was present, all infected or disorder-prone soldiers would be dealt with by him personally.

 

Outsiders would think Huo Yanji was cold-blooded and cruel, killing like it was nothing, but they themselves knew it was because Huo Yanji’s marksmanship was unparalleled in precision.

 

Those killed by him wouldn’t suffer for even half a second.

 

Huo Yanji suddenly took out gloves. Sang Jue realized what he was about to do and tugged at his hand.

 

Then he stepped forward, crouched down, and closed Shui Ming’s eyes for him. Huo Yanji’s leg injury was severe, making it unsuitable for him to bend and strain again.

 

Ignoring the wound, Shui Ming looked as if he was sleeping. His expression was calm, slightly pale but very peaceful, with the faint smile he had given Sang Jue still lingering on his lips.

 

Only Ah Qin was confused, her eyes red with tears.

 

After all, she had spent nearly a day with this officer, and Shui Ming had saved her several times. Having never lived in a safe zone, she had no idea what had happened and could only murmur after a long while: “Why…”

 

Huo Yanji stroked the gun barrel, looking down and asking: “How did your companions die?”

 

“The colonel said they were infected—” Ah Qin suddenly realized something and spoke incoherently, “I saw it with my own eyes. They suddenly became very strange, their faces started festering, like tentacle slime…”

 

Sang Jue guessed that Shui Ming had killed those four community residents, and the infection must have been Shui Ming’s doing, but he didn’t quite understand why.

 

Was it because they had bad character?

 

Ah Qin sat on the ground in panic, equally unable to understand the reason. She was only seventeen after all, having lived in that small community all her life, never having seen the outside world.

 

Suddenly experiencing these two days of events, she couldn’t hold it together anymore and tears streamed down: “Why… why did you leave me…”

 

Was Shui Ming a bad person?

 

Of course not. From choosing to ‘evolve’ at nineteen until now, nearly ten years had passed. From birth, every education he received, to every action he took before his death, was to protect the residents of the safe zone.

 

He could kill those ungrateful people, but he couldn’t bring himself to kill a purely good-natured underage girl.

 

“Did you, did you kill the colonel because of this?” Ah Qin cried breathlessly. She felt that no one should have died—her companions, Colonel Shui Ming, they all should have lived.

 

Everyone should have been safe and sound, working together to leave the rift and be embraced by the sunlight outside.

 

Huo Yanji’s tone was indifferent, appearing particularly cold-blooded: “I wouldn’t execute my officer for killing a few rebel descendants.”

 

Sang Jue poked his head out and quietly explained: “Colonel Shui Ming was infected, he was just hiding it and didn’t say anything.”

 

Ah Qin slowly lost her strength and sat there dazedly.

 

She felt a momentary confusion about where to go from here. Her father had been eaten by humanoid creatures and was confirmed dead. Her brother hadn’t been found yet, but she knew in her heart that he was most likely gone too.

 

Other residents she knew had basically all become corpses. She seemed to have suddenly become all alone, not knowing if she could leave this place alive, not knowing if she would be abandoned by these cold soldiers at the critical moment.

 

Even if she successfully entered the safe zone, not understanding any rules, could she really fit in? Or would she forever be alone, living lonely amid the bustle?

 

“Colin, burn the body. Ran Zhen, go check the control panel.”

 

“Yes!”

 

Sang Jue tugged at Huo Yanji’s clothes: “What about us?”

 

Huo Yanji said: “Go pull the circuit breaker.”

 

The generator was started, but they still needed to open the base’s circuit breaker. The possibility of cracking the key code wasn’t great, but they had to try.

 

Sang Jue followed behind Huo Yanji: “I didn’t tell you Shui Ming was infected. Are you angry?”

 

Huo Yanji asked back flatly: “How would I know that you knew he was infected?”

 

Like a tongue twister, Sang Jue thought for a minute before understanding.

 

Right… he judged whether someone was infected through sound wave fluctuations and smell, but humans couldn’t do this, so naturally they wouldn’t know he had seen through Shui Ming’s infection.

 

He seemed to have exposed himself.

 

Sang Jue stammered: “I… I have a very good sense of smell. He had a different scent on him.”

 

Several hours ago when he was trapped in the quicksand and rescued while still groggy, he had sensed someone was infected, but hadn’t identified who at the time.

 

Later when he was fully conscious, he naturally recognized it was Shui Ming.

 

Huo Yanji went along with his words, casually asking: “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“Because I felt he had no malice, and it would be good if he could live a little longer.” Sang Jue didn’t want Huo Yanji to be angry and tried hard to explain, “If he lost his reason and harmed others, I would have killed him.”

 

Then he heard a faint laugh.

 

Sang Jue walked in front of Huo Yanji, carefully staring at his face, trying to catch traces of having laughed.

 

Huo Yanji’s expression was calm, eyebrows slightly raised, as if asking what he was looking at.

 

Sang Jue: “…”

 

Acting, keep acting.

 

Humans were all creatures who could perform and should all be stuffed into television sets.

 

Huo Yanji said: “Let’s go after you’re done looking.”

 

Sang Jue snorted quietly to himself.

 

Although the base was large, the regional facilities were very clearly marked, and they easily found the electrical room.

 

The electrical box was densely packed with wires of various colors, with many buttons, but not even labels.

 

Huo Yanji said: “You do it.”

 

Sang Jue was stunned: “I can’t understand…”

 

Huo Yanji stood leisurely behind him: “I’ll tell you, you do it. I trust you.”

 

Sang Jue was immediately filled with confidence, unable to disappoint his number one best friend’s expectations.

 

“Okay!”

 

Huo Yanji said: “First open the blue medium button on the left, this represents basic living power distribution.”

 

Sang Jue did as instructed. There were hundreds of wires here, crisscrossing, requiring careful identification to accurately find the corresponding button.

 

Huo Yanji continued: “Open all the small buttons connected to the yellow wires.”

 

Sang Jue asked: “What does this represent?”

 

Huo Yanji said: “It represents the main control panel.”

 

Sang Jue noticed that among all the wires, red ones were the most numerous. He asked curiously: “What are the red wires for?”

 

“Artillery shells.” Huo Yanji’s tone was flat. “You can try pressing one.”

 

Sang Jue’s tail behind him immediately stiffened, standing straight up with scales slightly flared, showing the owner was very nervous.

 

Huo Yanji wasn’t teasing him—those really were artillery shell power buttons, just that they only activated power supply. To actually launch an attack, you’d need to operate the control panel.

 

He raised his hand and smoothed the tail scales: “Won’t you try?”

 

“No, no thanks.” Sang Jue blinked, turning back to look at Huo Yanji. “Didn’t you say no one should touch anywhere with their fingertips?”

 

Huo Yanji let go, curving his lips slightly: “Not bad, you have a good memory.”

 

Sang Jue was troubled: “But I like it when you touch my tail.”

 

Huo Yanji: “…”

 

Sang Jue and his tail seemed like two different species. The owner’s beautiful eyes were full of conflict, while the tail tip had already intimately hooked around Huo Yanji’s wrist.

 

As if saying: Touch me, please.

 

“Don’t you like my tail? It likes you very much,” Sang Jue asked. “Really can’t touch it?”

 

“…” Huo Yanji grasped it with his other hand and said flatly, “You can—but there are three conditions.”

 

Sang Jue quickly pressed all the yellow buttons, his eyes bright: “Tell me.”

 

“First, you’re not allowed to call me those two words in front of others.”

 

“Which two words? Ji Ji?” Sang Jue’s face fell. Although its homophone was sexual, it really rolled off the tongue well.

 

He had previously thought that if Huo Yanji didn’t like it, he would just call him that in front of others.

 

Huo Yanji said calmly: “You can call me that in private when it’s just us, but not in front of others.”

 

He didn’t want rumors spreading after a while that the highest executive officer of the supervisors, aside from being extravagant, lustful, and cold-blooded, also liked being called by the name of a sexual organ.

 

Sang Jue made a sound: “Fine.”

 

He agreed very reluctantly.

 

What kind of nickname was it if only two people knew it? How would others know they were good friends?

 

Hmph.

 

“Second, from now on, you’re not allowed to expose your tail in front of anyone other than me, and you can’t let others know you’re a deviant.”

 

“Okay.”

 

Sang Jue had been doing this anyway. It was just that when he was trapped in quicksand earlier and was unconscious from lack of oxygen, he forgot to retract it.

 

Huo Yanji continued: “Third, after returning to the safe zone, you need to start reading books.”

 

Sang Jue was stunned: “What books?”

 

Huo Yanji said: “Any books—about contamination creatures, surface environment, special terrain, all of them.”

 

“Why…” The little evil dragon was troubled. He didn’t like reading books.

 

“Sang Jue, all rifts contain quicksand terrain, which is easy to identify. Its color is lighter than other ground, the surrounding humidity is higher, but oxygen decreases. If you look carefully, you’ll find the quicksand surface is too smooth—even pebbles don’t exist. This is terrain that can’t possibly appear in caves.”

 

Sang Jue pursed his lips.

 

The tail tip hooked around his wrist loosened.

 

Huo Yanji didn’t soften, his tone flat as he said a long passage: “Sang Jue, maybe you’re very powerful and not afraid of anyone. But you severely lack common sense. There are countless strange creatures on this land now, and the methods to deal with them are all different. Unless you plan to stay in the city forever and never go out, you must absorb experience.”

 

Sang Jue knew Huo Yanji was right.

 

But he hadn’t planned to stay on this planet for long, so naturally hadn’t considered other things.

 

He lowered his head and muttered: “Not maybe, I’m already very powerful.”

 

“Mm.” Huo Yanji paused, then raised his hand to ruffle his hair. “If you understood more knowledge, you’d be even more powerful.”

 

Sure enough, the little evil dragon needed to be coaxed. Hearing this, he immediately became obedient: “I understand.”

 

His tail suddenly moved, directly circling around Huo Yanji’s waist. The latter almost had his dagger in hand, barely stopping before injuring the tail.

 

The tail around his waist was wrapped very tightly. Huo Yanji looked down and asked: “…Sang Jue, what are you doing?”

 

The tail brought Huo Yanji in front of Sang Jue, who reached out his hands: “Hug.”

 

Huo Yanji: “…”

 

Sang Jue sniffed. So fragrant.

 

“My guardian once told me that if a friend is in a bad mood, you can give them a hug.”

 

Huo Yanji’s fractured left hand hung at his side, his right hand slightly raised, but after a moment he lowered it.

 

“My mood is bad?”

 

“Mm.” Sang Jue said, “Because Shui Ming died, are you worried I’ll die too? That’s why you want me to read books and learn experience.”

 

Huo Yanji asked: “Is that so?”

 

Sang Jue nodded confidently: “Yes.”

 

The tail around his waist was wrapped very tightly, with strength impossible to break free from.

 

Huo Yanji suddenly pinched the tail tip, and the body he was holding trembled sensitively, as if an electric current had coursed through his entire body.

 

The tail instantly released his waist and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

 

Sang Jue’s ears turned a light red: “You forgot what I said—you can’t pinch there.”

 

Huo Yanji said flatly: “Then why did you use your tail to hook me?”

 

“Um, um…” Sang Jue held back for a long time, “I just wanted to give you a hug.”

 

“Hugging only requires reaching out your hands, not your tail—this is more like an invitation.”

 

“An invitation for what?”

 

Huo Yanji didn’t answer. Sang Jue’s ears gradually turned completely red.

 

He bit his moist, glossy lower lip: “Is the tail also a private part? Does it also count as flirting?”

 

“Since being touched makes you have…” Huo Yanji paused slightly, “makes you have special feelings, then yes.”

 

“I see…” Sang Jue defended himself, “Just now doesn’t count. That was my tail wanting to circle your waist on its own, not me.”

 

He widened his eyes, trying to gain Huo Yanji’s trust.

 

Really, he hadn’t even reacted before his tail had circled around. Besides, Huo Yanji was worrying a bit too much—his tail currently didn’t like anyone other than Huo Yanji.

 

“What, you and your tail are two different species?”

 

Sang Jue answered seriously: “Yes, sometimes it’s not under my control.”

 

Huo Yanji said: “Then you should properly educate it and make it more obedient.”

 

Sang Jue cooperated: “I’ll work hard on it.”

 

Huo Yanji closed the electrical box door and walked out. His lower back was suddenly touched by something sharp.

 

He turned back to look, only to see Sang Jue a meter away from him, beautiful big eyes blinking several times, with no tail visible outside.

 

He said: “Don’t misbehave.”

 

Sang Jue looked completely innocent: “I didn’t.”

 

Huo Yanji looked away, his lips curving almost imperceptibly.

 

 

Cold military boots stepped on the threshold, and Huo Yanji suddenly stopped.

 

Sang Jue nearly bumped into his back: “What’s wrong?”

 

Huo Yanji slowly drew his gun and handed it to Sang Jue, instantly entering combat mode, his voice ice-cold: “Someone’s coming.”

 

Not only had someone come, but they weren’t victims who had fallen into the rift with them.

 

Their current position was far from the main hall. Even with Sang Jue’s excellent hearing, he couldn’t detect any unusual sounds. He didn’t know how Huo Yanji had determined there were enemies.

 

This was an inexplicable mystical ability—whether you called it experience or sixth sense, people who had lived on the knife’s edge for years always had a perception of danger far beyond others.

 

Sang Jue imitated Huo Yanji and lightened his steps. The cold corridor was full of dust, leaving footprints with each step. The longer you stared, the more you felt enemies could burst from the end of the corridor at any moment.

 

However, Sang Jue naturally made no sound when walking. Back in the home planet laboratory, he had spent half his time living in evil dragon form. Animals often had a genetic instinct to walk stealthily, skilled at covering their tracks, unwilling to let natural enemies discover traces of their movement.

 

Sang Jue’s nose twitched… there really were others outside, and more than one.

 

From the side corridor, dozens of footsteps were slowly approaching.

 

Huo Yanji leaned against the wall, his jawline cold and sharp, like his blade.

 

The moment the footsteps were closest, he suddenly moved. Cold light carved a sharp arc through the air as Huo Yanji directly captured the newcomer, a drop of blood splattering on the wall.

 

At the same time, Sang Jue heard the sound of guns being cocked in rows.

 

“…Your stealth is still so impressive.” The man whose throat was held by Huo Yanji clicked his tongue and raised his hands in surrender.

 

He happened to be facing Sang Jue’s direction and examined Sang Jue with interest for a while.

 

Sang Jue had seen this face before, on old Karl’s television—Huo Yanji’s brother, Huo Jiangmin.

 

The soldiers lowered their guns and saluted in unison: “General.”

 

Huo Yanji lowered his dagger, his tone slow and cold: “What is the general doing here in violation of the Commander Safety Protocol? What does Rift No. 2 have that attracts you?”

 

“You were unfortunately attacked and trapped in danger—how could I sit by and do nothing?” Huo Jiangmin smiled and spoke slowly, “I was just worrying about how to get down when you activated the generator and circuit breaker, allowing me to remotely start the elevator key and come down to find you.”

 

This explanation had extremely low credibility.

 

The soldiers behind him filled the corridor completely. Besides these, there were definitely more soldiers outside, or Colin and the others wouldn’t have made no sound at all.

 

As for the elevator key, apart from the original chief engineer, it should only be recorded in the original classified files. For Huo Jiangmin to know the key, he must have received permission from higher authorities.

 

To precisely lead a team to this level of the base couldn’t be from predicting they would be here.

 

Huo Yanji’s lips curved slightly, but his tone was extremely cold: “Military control console commander, heavy weapons specialist, observer, medic—you wouldn’t need so many people just to find me.”

 

Huo Jiangmin smiled noncommittally: “Just doing some other things along the way.”

 

Sang Jue looked at him, then at Huo Yanji.

 

The atmosphere between these two was so strange.

 

Huo Jiangmin raised his hand to wipe his neck, where the wound Huo Yanji had just cut was still bleeding.

 

He seemed to feel no pain, rubbing the blood between his fingertips and smiling as he changed the subject: “However, you used to be able to precisely distinguish between mine and A-Qing’s footsteps from dozens of meters away. Why not today?”

 

Huo Yanji asked flatly in return: “What do you think?”

 

“Did you really want to kill me just now?” Huo Jiangmin still smiled, “What is our Yanji suspicious of? Suspecting I created this explosion to kill you? Or suspecting I’ve already rebelled and done something to betray the human safe zones?”

 

 

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