[007 Diary Entry Twelve]
[Colin wasn’t originally a subject of observation, but now he can be included. Becoming a rare deviant has added quite a few chips for him—temporarily designated as No. 042.
But No. 042’s evaluation of No. 001 isn’t good. “Hypocritical,” is it?
A fair analysis will have to wait until after direct contact.
As for that list of over three thousand names, without seeing the specific names, it’s impossible to analyze. However, after checking the known information on the 113 hostages, another common trait besides being ordinary people was found… but its significance can’t be determined from current data.]
Leon said, “It would be hard to explain if I returned empty-handed.” He handed over a document. “Please take a look.”
It was a military order.
Two pages in total, each stamped with Huo Jiangmian’s seal.
Huo Yanji glanced at the final signature and said flatly, “As an adjutant, your duty is not only to carry out orders, but also to supervise and correct your superior’s mistakes.”
Leon smiled. “Surely you don’t mean that.”
Huo Yanji closed the document and looked up. “Violating military discipline over old grievances—is that what a District One Commander should do?”
“You think the Commander is abusing his authority?” Leon replied. “That may be a misunderstanding. This Governor is suspected of colluding with high-ranking military officials, so the Commander wants to investigate personally.”
“Screw you!!” The Governor, nearby, tried to run but his bullet-shattered knee couldn’t support him, so he could only limp. “All this suffering for a banished wanderer—I won’t let you get your way, never…”
No one chased him.
It was as if he was just an irrelevant lackey.
Huo Yanji intertwined his long index and middle fingers, gently tearing up the document. “Go back and tell your Commander: I’ve overlooked all his past acts of revenge, but he shouldn’t gamble with innocent civilians’ lives.”
Leon’s smile froze, the shredded military order reflected in his eyes, the golden seal dazzling in the sunlight.
“I’m afraid I don’t quite understand what you mean.”
“As long as he does.”
Leon was silent for a second, then turned and made a call.
A faint, gentle laugh came from the other end. “Not going smoothly?”
Leon replied quietly, “No, Commander.”
“Forget it, I’ll talk to him myself.”
“Yes, sir.”
As soon as Leon finished the call, Huo Yanji’s communicator beeped twice.
He glanced at it and answered.
“Yanji, wouldn’t it be better to just hand him over to me quietly?”
Huo Yanji asked, “Are you saying this as District One Commander, or as Huo Jiangmian?”
There was a moment of silence, then a soft, lingering laugh that lasted a long time. “Why are you always like this… Why do you never change?”
Huo Yanji replied, “You’re the one who changes too quickly.”
“No choice,” Huo Jiangmian said with a laugh. “I have to do something to stay sane, to keep leading the rest of these people forward. Even though I… deeply loathe them.”
“Including me?”
“Of course not. You’re my brother. I’d die for you—how could I hate you?”
Though he was laughing, Huo Jiangmian’s tone was utterly calm, with not a trace of sincerity. “But Yanji… look back. Are they really worth it?”
“Fifteen years… fifteen whole years. You climbed from the very bottom to where you are today. They only remember the tens of thousands you’ve killed, but forget the millions you’ve saved and the seven cities you’ve defended.”
Huo Yanji asked calmly, “Are you finished?”
“In recent years, how many times have you been attacked—have you forgotten?” Huo Jiangmian’s voice was gentle, as if chatting with family. “Doesn’t your shoulder wound still ache every time you fire a gun?
“—Doesn’t it remind you how much the people you protect wish you were dead?”
Huo Yanji looked down and said, “I didn’t know the General cared so much about me.”
“I told you, you’re my brother. We share the same genes and bloodline. So even if I deeply loathe them, I still do the same things as you, right up until the day I die.”
The voice on the communicator faded: “Since you want to personally escort the Governor, I won’t fight you for it. It’s just as well—you can hear with your own ears about the ugly things some people have done.”
The call ended.
Leon must have received the order to withdraw. He saluted Huo Yanji. “General, I apologize for any earlier offense. As a gesture of apology, you may use the ten vehicles I brought as you please.”
He put his protective mask back on and led his team back into the spore-infected zone.
The others hadn’t heard what Huo Jiangmian said on the call, but just looking at Huo Yanji’s frosty expression, they could sense the unusual atmosphere.
Standing in the sunlight, it still felt like falling into an ice cellar.
The original residents of the community were nervous too. In their eyes, these solemn, cold soldiers were terrifying—especially Huo Yanji at their head.
Even Ah Qin, who had always wanted to enter the city, was uneasy, not knowing what had happened to make two high-ranking military officers fight over a minor Governor.
But after witnessing the Governor’s disgrace, they realized that for city people, crushing them was as easy as crushing ants.
Colin glanced at Ah Qin, recalling what she’d said in the basement, deep in thought.
Although he shouldn’t speculate about the higher-ups, with his face wrapped in bandages, no one could see what he was thinking anyway.
Saiya struggled to keep his shock and confusion in check. “Sir… do we still need to call for vehicles from District Seven?”
“No need.”
“Understood.”
They had just turned to leave when the officer called out, “Colin.”
Colin’s heart skipped a beat. He turned and answered, “Sir.”
Huo Yanji said, “You’re coming with me to District Seven.”
Though he didn’t know why, Colin still replied, “Yes.”
Saiya asked, “Sir, should I take the hostages back to the main city first?”
Huo Yanji: “Yes.”
Colin, left behind, hesitantly reminded, “Sir… the Governor has gotten pretty far.”
“Mhm.”
“…”
Colin shut his mouth.
The higher-ups argued, while those below were left on edge.
The point was, Huo Yanji always wore the same expression—no way to tell if he was angry, annoyed, or indifferent. It was impossible to adjust one’s behavior accordingly.
Only Shui Ming was bold enough to ask, “Sir, aren’t we going after the Governor?”
After a moment, Huo Yanji shifted his shoulders and said calmly, “No. Organize the usable supplies in the community.”
“Yes, sir.”
Sang Jue trailed lazily after the Governor, asking curiously, “Where are you trying to run off to?”
“Get lost!” The Governor leaned against a wall, panting, and glanced back at the persistent youth behind him. “Does Huo Yanji make you that happy? Are you so eager to catch me and please him!?”
“Why does everyone think I’m Huo Yanji’s male?” Sang Jue kicked at a pebble, reminding himself, “This time I can’t forget—I have to ask him how two males mate.”
“Idiot—”
“Stop running. You’re losing a lot of blood—if this keeps up, you’ll die.” Sang Jue asked, “Want me to take the bullet out for you?”
The Governor twisted his foot and fell, scraping a large patch of skin off his arm.
He used to think this youth would be fun to “play” with, but now he just felt a chill down his spine. “Are you insane!?”
“I’m not,” Sang Jue denied, innocently. “Ji Ji wants you, so you can’t die yet.”
Even though Huo Yanji didn’t like that nickname, Sang Jue thought it was nice—he could use it when Huo Yanji wasn’t around.
He thought for a moment and said, “Once he’s done asking what he wants to ask, then you can die.”
The Governor stumbled backward, suddenly feeling like he was facing not a person, but a demon. Sang Jue’s face was pure and angelic, but nothing in his words or actions showed any regard for life.
“Don’t come any closer!” The Governor waved his arms, snarling, “I’m a deviant. If you get infected by me, you’re dead!!”
“I’m a deviant too.” Sang Jue revealed his tail, swishing it happily, then asked with curiosity, “Why don’t you like females, but prefer males?”
“And besides, you clearly can’t mate anymore—so how did you make those people die from mating?”
The Governor’s eyelids fluttered, sweat the size of beans rolling down his jaw, as if this was the final straw breaking him.
His pupils seemed to reflect the nightmares he had every night, hatred gradually overwhelmed by fear.
“Fine, then I’ll go ask Ji Ji.” Sang Jue squatted down. “Be good. I’ll help you get the bullet out.”
Back on his home planet, Sang Jue often played games and watched movies. Whether in games or movies, there were always scenes where the protagonist removed bullets bare-handed, without anesthesia.
He was genuinely curious—doesn’t it hurt enough to make you faint?
He’d only been jabbed in the lower back once and it hurt a lot. Maybe humans just have dull pain nerves?
To prevent the Governor from hurting either of them with pointless resistance, Sang Jue helpfully dislocated his arm.
The Governor’s face twisted in terror. “Maniac! Just like that Huo guy—maniac!!”
Sang Jue frowned. “Don’t insult Ji Ji.”
Of course, the Governor wasn’t cursing Huo Yanji, but with pain and nightmares tormenting him, he couldn’t be bothered to explain. “Get away! Get away!!”
The bullet that hit the Governor’s hand had gone straight through, so it just needed to be bandaged.
Sang Jue used gauze he’d taken from Ah Qin’s basement to wrap it up like a pig’s trotter, quite satisfied. “That should stop the bleeding.”
Then came the main event.
Sang Jue put on gloves that didn’t fit very well, slowly reached into the Governor’s knee, probed into the flesh, and spread the fascia.
“Aaaahhh!!”
It really was very painful.
Sang Jue flicked his tail, pulled out the bloody bullet and tossed it aside, then sprinkled on some of the medicine Ah Qin had used for Colin and wrapped the knee in gauze.
He dragged the Governor by the back of his collar, pulling him back.
“Why are you so afraid of General Huo Jiangmian?” Sang Jue had a lot of questions today. “Is he a bad person?”
If he was a bad person, he’d have to be kicked out of the prince candidate list.
The Governor didn’t answer, perhaps having fainted from the pain.
As they neared the fountain, Sang Jue instinctively tucked away his tail, just in time to meet Huo Yanji’s gaze.
“I helped you catch the Governor,” Sang Jue said, looking expectant for praise.
“Very impressive.” Huo Yanji’s eyes flickered. “What happened to his limbs?”
“If he kept bleeding, he would have died, so I helped him take out the bullets,” Sang Jue explained. “I was afraid he’d scratch me, so I dislocated his arms—not broke them.”
Shui Ming and Colin exchanged glances, both sucking in a breath.
Just looking at the Governor’s pale face, it was obvious the bullets had been removed while he was still alive.
Sang Jue asked, “Did I do a good job bandaging?”
Huo Yanji: “…Not bad.”
Never mind the “pig trotter” hands—the way his knee was wrapped, blood probably couldn’t even circulate.
Huo Yanji said calmly, “Thank you.”
The little dragon was very polite: “You’re welcome.”
As soon as he let go, the Governor’s head hit the ground with a thud.
Shui Ming hurriedly took over—if Sang Jue kept playing, the Governor would be dead for sure. The bullets had been removed, but dragging him all the way had caused plenty of scrapes.
Just as they had the Governor carried off, Sang Jue piped up with another question: “How do two men mate?”
“—Cough, cough—” Colin nearly choked on his own saliva.
Huo Yanji replied without a change in expression, “…That’s not something you should ask in public.”
Sang Jue: “Oh.”
Colin let out a sigh of relief.
He’d just realized something very serious—Sang Jue was a deviant.
And Sang Jue and the General… Oh no!!! If anyone else found out, what would happen?
The General must know Sang Jue is a deviant—did he arrange for Sang Jue to have a normal human identity just so they could be together?
How devoted, Colin thought sympathetically.
But judging by Sang Jue’s questions, nothing had happened between them yet—there was still time to intervene.
Before he could finish sighing, he heard Sang Jue ask, “The Governor already can’t mate, so how did he still manage to sexually abuse people to death?”
Huo Yanji’s expression turned cold. “How do you know he’s impotent?”
Sang Jue mumbled.
This was a hard question to answer—he couldn’t exactly say the Governor’s male scent was extremely weak.
He told a little lie: “His subordinates were gossiping about him behind his back.”
Huo Yanji’s expression softened slightly and he replied, “Sexual abuse doesn’t necessarily mean intercourse.”
Sang Jue: “Oh.”
Colin quickly pulled the shocked Shui Ming away, afraid that Sang Jue’s curiosity would lead to another awkward question like, “If it’s not intercourse, then what is it?”
He felt embarrassed on the General’s behalf—luckily, the General was half expressionless anyway.
They began evacuating the residents and organizing the community’s supplies to prepare for departure.
Huo Yanji said, “Raise your hands.”
Sang Jue obediently raised both hands—clean, neatly trimmed nails, no blood.
Huo Yanji said, “Don’t go removing bullets from people again.”
Sang Jue nodded. “I won’t. I was just curious.”
“Curious about what?”
“Curious how much it hurts to take out a bullet without anesthesia.”
“Did you get your answer?”
“I did,” Sang Jue replied. “It’s enough to make you faint from the pain.”
Huo Yanji said blandly, “Not too bad, then.”
Sang Jue didn’t catch the nuance behind “not too bad.” He looked at the row of people kneeling in the distance. “What will happen to them?”
Huo Yanji asked, “What do you think?”
Sang Jue shook his head.
Huo Yanji said, “They have countless innocent lives on their hands. They could be executed, or imprisoned for life.”
Sang Jue considered, “Imprisoned for life, then.”
Huo Yanji asked, “Why?”
Sang Jue said, “Death is too quick for them.”
Humans aren’t like animals—they can’t stand living in a place like a ‘zoo.’ Being shot is over in an instant, but in prison, they’ll suffer for a lifetime and might repent.
“Those residents might not all be good people, either,” Sang Jue reminded quietly. “What if they do bad things in District Seven?”
“They won’t be allowed into the city easily,” Huo Yanji assured him. “There are a lot of strict checks, and they’ll be fitted with trackers. Only after three months without incident can they get a permanent residence permit.”
Sang Jue understood. “But Ah Qin is a good person.”
“Ah Qin?” Huo Yanji thought for a moment and remembered the girl who’d said she wanted to live in the city. “She’ll be a very valuable person.”
Sang Jue made a sound of agreement. “You go work—I’m going to find Colin.”
“…”
Colin was standing in front of a row of captured people. Many looked resentful, but Boss Jie was still calm.
He asked, “I heard you were the one who had the others take me out of the sewers?”
“Not really a rescue, just convenient,” Boss Jie didn’t try to make himself look good. “I just wanted another hostage.”
“Still, I should thank you.” Colin crouched down and asked, “But at that time, you should have been evacuating with the others. Why did you suddenly double back to the city and kidnap Sang Jue? Was that part of the plan or a change?”
“It was a change.” Boss Jie told the whole truth.
Three months ago, the Governor suddenly ordered them to kidnap two hundred people, but didn’t say what for.
They started by knocking out and abducting some people in the main city. Since most lived alone, their disappearances didn’t always get reported, and with inside help faking exit records, it barely caused a stir.
But still worried about being discovered, they diverted to the nearby District Seven, intending to abduct a few more people—unexpectedly, they encountered an attack from avian contaminants.
Although for a few days after the disaster there would be no patrols checking ID cards (to give residents time to reissue them), stricter inspections would soon follow to prevent ill-intentioned people from sneaking in during this period.
They had no choice but to retreat, planning to go to a more distant safe zone to kidnap people, but then the sewers suddenly caught fire—and they stumbled upon the unconscious Colin.
Boss Jie casually carried him out. Just as he was about to leave with the others, he received a message from the Governor: he was to kidnap a boy named Sang Jue.
He even sent a new recruit to assist—Jason, who had been killed earlier.
Colin felt something was off. After all the effort to kidnap over a hundred people, why the sudden change in plan?
“You originally kidnapped me to use as a hostage, but I was badly injured at the time. Wouldn’t the cost of treating me be higher than just grabbing a different hostage?”
Boss Jie said, “You’re on the list.”
Colin’s eyelid twitched. “What list?”
Boss Jie replied, “The Governor has a list of over three thousand people, and your name is on it. We’re kidnapping hostages according to that list—the first batch only needed two hundred.”
No… something’s not right.
Colin realized, “You knew I was Colin from the start and saved me, but when I later used the alias Alan, you didn’t expose me?”
“Because you became a deviant. I wanted to use you to kill the Governor.” Boss Jie paused. “I just want to live quietly with these residents, but the Governor is always doing pointless things.”
Like this time, inexplicably ordering them to kidnap two hundred people.
Colin asked, confused, “Why not kill him yourself? Wouldn’t it be easier to just shoot him at the right moment?”
Boss Jie said, “A lot of people in the community worship him. If an outsider does it, it’s more justifiable.”
Colin frowned. “You didn’t know about his sexual abuse?”
Boss Jie shook his head. “I spent most of my time working for him outside, so I wasn’t clear about what went on in the community. I knew he liked men… but I didn’t know it had cost so many lives.”
Colin took a deep breath. “Was this the first time the Governor had you kidnap people?”
Boss Jie nodded. “It only started three months ago. Before that, we just set traps to hunt lone mercenaries.”
Colin asked, “You and the Governor both saw the list, but you recognized me and he didn’t?”
Boss Jie reminded him, “You’re pretty badly disfigured.”
Colin: “…”
Boss Jie wasn’t telling the whole truth—it wasn’t just that.
They only had the list, not photos, so they always had to sneak into the city and search for people slowly.
The reason he recognized Colin was because they’d met years ago. His younger brother’s first time out hunting mercenaries, he accidentally stepped into a trap set by their own people.
From dozens of meters away, he heard his brother’s screams. Before he could get there, he saw a stranger rescue his brother—it was Colin, out on a mission.
He hid in the shadows and witnessed Colin’s rescue—he himself was on the city’s wanted list and didn’t dare show himself.
When the District Seven sewers caught fire, he hesitated: if he took Colin, Colin would be one of the two hundred and might face who knows what. But if he left him, Colin would burn alive.
“Where’s the list?”
“You’ll have to ask the Governor.”
Colin asked the last, most crucial question: “What’s special about the three thousand people on that list?”
“I’m not lying—I really don’t know,” Boss Jie shook his head. “But I can sense that the one who needs these people isn’t the Governor, but the person behind the scenes making deals with him.”
If the Governor’s original goal wasn’t to get contaminated genes, then someone really was using him to collect these residents.
Who could it be?
“In my view, these three thousand people have only one thing in common.”
“What?”
“None of them are deviants,” Boss Jie said, looking up. “Weren’t you an ordinary person before you were infected by the slime mold?”
What kind of commonality is that…? Ordinary people are easier to kidnap than deviants, so it makes sense to target them.
Colin fell into deep thought.
Shui Ming came over. “Are you done? I’m taking him away.”
Colin waved distractedly, “Mm.”
Boss Jie stood up, walked a few steps, then turned back to remind him, “The three thousand-plus people on the list are all residents of the main city and District Seven. There might be lists in other safe zones too—other people like us helping the mastermind do the same thing.”
Colin frowned deeply, feeling like something big was about to happen.
A hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, startling him. He turned and saw it was Sang Jue.
He said, half-laughing, half-crying, “What are you doing?”
Sang Jue said, “You’re so jumpy.”
Colin replied, “Anyone would be startled, okay?”
Sang Jue had actually been there for a while. “Is it possible that the person making deals with the Governor is General Huo?”
Colin was startled again. “Don’t say that outside! Spreading rumors and slandering officers is a serious crime.”
“Oh.” Sang Jue squatted beside Colin. “Then what do you think the General is like?”
Colin asked, “Why are you suddenly interested in the General again?”
Sang Jue’s eyes darted. “Just curious.”
“A long time ago, before he was a general, I went on a mission with him,” Colin recalled. “He seemed easy to talk to, always smiling, gentle with everyone.”
“Sounds pretty good?” Sang Jue blinked.
“But I think it’s all just on the surface—” Colin paused, then said, “The General is someone who can really endure things. He can eat food he doesn’t like without changing his expression, and greet people he doesn’t like with a smile.”
“On that mission, he saved a lot of people. The survivors were deeply grateful, each coming forward to shake his hand and thank him… But in truth, he didn’t want to save them at all—he loathed them to the core. Yet he still saved them, and could even accept their gratitude with a smile.”
“Why didn’t he want to save those people?”
Colin hesitated, unsure if he should tell such things to someone as innocent as Sang Jue.
“Those people were trapped underground for dozens of days after the ruins collapsed… and ended up eating one of their companions.”
Sang Jue made a sound of understanding. Although he wasn’t human, he could relate.
Humans are sentient beings who uphold basic moral order, so something like that would cause them deep feelings of guilt and transgression.
“So isn’t it normal that he didn’t want to save them?”
“That’s not the point,” Colin said with a laugh, thinking Sang Jue’s little brain probably couldn’t grasp what he meant. “Hmm… how should I put it? He makes me feel hypocritical.”
As expected, Sang Jue didn’t understand, staring at him with wide eyes.
Colin chuckled, which tugged at the wounds on his face. “I’m just telling you, so don’t spread it around.”
Sang Jue made a sound of agreement.
This time, Colin didn’t even say “I think”: “He’s the kind of person who doesn’t want to be a good man, but forces himself to act like one.”
A few meters away, Huo Yanji looked at the two squatting, whispering figures and said blandly, “Colin.”
Colin jumped up at once. “Here!”
Huo Yanji: “Are you eighteen too?”
Colin gave an awkward laugh. “Sir, I’m twenty-eight.”
“Twenty-eight and you still don’t know what you should and shouldn’t say?”
“I know!”
Colin quickly turned around, not even glancing at Sang Jue, and reported the information he’d just learned from Boss Jie, trying to change the subject.
“A list of over three thousand people?” Huo Yanji mused, glancing at Colin. “Do you think there’s anything special about you that put you on that list?”
Colin thought for a moment and answered honestly, “I haven’t noticed anything, for now.”
“That’s as it should be.” With that, Huo Yanji walked over to Sang Jue. “Why are you squatting here?”
Colin’s mind spun—was the officer jealous?
The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became, feeling both a strange toothache and anxiety about what might happen if news about Huo Yanji and Sang Jue got out.
They’d known for years what could happen if a deviant and an ordinary person got together… and with Huo Yanji’s status, it would only bring even more severe backlash.
Sang Jue looked up, frowning. “My legs are numb, I can’t get up.”
He was only squatting because he saw Colin do it.
Huo Yanji took Sang Jue’s smaller hand and pulled him up.
“Can you walk?”
Huo Yanji crouched down and pressed Sang Jue’s leg.
Sang Jue nearly collapsed. “D-don’t squeeze… it feels weird.”
The tingling, numb sensation was hard to bear.
Huo Yanji asked, “Weirder than having your tail base squeezed?”
Sang Jue drew out his answer, not understanding why Huo Yanji would make that comparison.
Huo Yanji said slowly, “But what can we do? Without a massage, your blood won’t circulate and you’ll be numb for a long time.”
Sang Jue, in his ignorance, believed him. “Really? Then go ahead and massage it.”
He closed his eyes, ears turning red, with a look of “I’ll endure it bravely.”
But after a while, Sang Jue didn’t feel any massage—he only heard a low laugh from Huo Yanji’s throat, deep and resonant.
He opened his eyes to find Huo Yanji already standing up, even dialing his communicator.
While waiting for the other side to answer, Huo Yanji smiled. “Just walk a bit more and the numbness will go away.”
“…Liar.”
“Not really,” Huo Yanji said calmly. “Consider it a lesson.”
“?”
Huo Yanji said blandly, “Massages are something you can do yourself. If anyone tries to use that as an excuse to touch you, you should report them for sexual harassment.”
Wei Lan, who answered the call, was startled: “Sir… what sexual harassment?”
“Nothing. Are the people from the Council still there?”
Huo Yanji turned and walked away, his voice fading.
Sang Jue: “…”
Even if he was a little dragon unfamiliar with human ways, he could tell Huo Yanji was deliberately teasing him.
Friendship points: minus 10,000.
Hmph, that’s minus 20,000 now.
But the tentacle cheese sandwich earlier was really tasty… so plus five points.
###
![How to Achieve Godhood with a Life-Threatening Persona [Quick Transmigration]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/219974s.jpg "How to Achieve Godhood with a Life-Threatening Persona [Quick Transmigration]")
![Dissatisfied [e-sports]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/4997572.jpg "Dissatisfied [e-sports]")