TCPUAAV Chapter 135

 

 

Since the attack on Rong Heng in the Baghdad District, father and son hadn’t contacted each other at all. Later, news spread like wildfire that Rong Heng was still alive, but Siyan never once reached out.

 

The two of them were now even more distant than strangers.

 

So when the call finally connected, the two of them stared at each other in silence. Neither made the first move to speak.

 

“You contacting me out of the blue—what is it about?”

 

In the end, it was Siyan who broke the silence. His voice was cool and detached, revealing no emotion. Even when faced with his son who had come back from the dead, he showed no visible shock.

 

Compared to the gentle and refined Emperor often seen in the news, the man before him now was far more cold and aloof.

 

But Rong Heng was more used to this version of him. If Siyan had tried to deal with him using the hypocritical mask he wore for the media, he might not have had the patience to say a single word.

 

Taking a deep breath, Rong Heng organized his thoughts before answering, “There are some things I want to confirm with you.”

 

Siyan’s gaze flickered slightly, but he didn’t respond—clearly waiting for him to go on.

 

“Mother’s death on the front lines—there’s more to it, isn’t there? You’ve known the truth all along. It was you who tampered with Noah’s memories, wasn’t it?”

 

Once he’d calmed down, Rong Heng thought it over carefully. The only person with both the power and access to alter Noah’s memories would be Siyan.

 

Siyan didn’t deny it. Instead, he asked, “Where did you hear that?”

 

“That’s not something you need to know,” Rong Heng replied, his tone still cool.

 

Confirming that the other man had indeed known everything and had deliberately hidden the truth—even going so far as to alter Noah’s memories—ignited a fire in Rong Heng’s chest.

 

His hand, hanging at his side, curled into a tight fist. He forced himself to stay calm, but his voice was still tinged with suppressed anger: “Why? Why did you hide it from me?”

 

He stared intently at Siyan, the corners of his lips tugging into a mocking smile. “You knew she was set up. And all these years, you never avenged her. You even kept it from me.” His eyes burned with fury. “What the hell are you trying to do?”

 

He had so many questions, so many accusations ready to spill out. But when faced with that emotionless, unreadable face, it felt like throwing a punch into cotton.

 

It didn’t hurt, but it left behind a crushing sense of helplessness.

 

So in the end, he asked just one question. But as the words left his lips, he had a feeling—Siyan wouldn’t answer him.

 

And he was right. Siyan said coldly, “This is my business. You don’t need to get involved.”

 

Even though they were bound by blood, father and son, Rong Heng had never truly understood him.

 

He didn’t know what kind of person he was, didn’t know what he really wanted. And now, looking at that cold, impassive face, doubt crept into his heart: Was his mother really right about him? Did she truly understand the man she had married?

 

She had always said that his father loved them—he just didn’t know how to show it.

 

He used to believe that. But now, all he felt was confusion.

 

Even the wisest people make mistakes.

 

Maybe Siyan was her mistake.

 

He didn’t know.

 

Siyan’s stance was firm—he clearly had no intention of telling him anything. And faced with such a person, Rong Heng couldn’t even muster the strength to argue. This man was so emotionally barren that any feeling seemed like a burden. No matter how angry or indignant you were, to him, it was probably just noise.

 

In the end, Rong Heng hung up without another word, ending the call unilaterally and in frustration.

 

Tossing his AI terminal aside, he sank into a storm of tangled emotions.

 

Ruan Shiqing waited until he figured Rong Heng had calmed down a bit before heading upstairs.

 

As soon as he stepped into the living room, his foot knocked into something—it was Rong Heng’s AI terminal.

 

Picking it up, he walked over to see the man sitting slouched on the sofa, shrouded in a dark and oppressive mood.

 

He placed the terminal on the coffee table, but before he could say anything, Rong Heng pulled him down, and he landed on his lap.

 

He was just about to get up when Rong Heng said in a low voice, “Don’t move. Let me hold you for a bit.”

 

His movements stilled, and he didn’t move again.

 

Rong Heng wrapped his arms tightly around his waist, burying his face in the crook of his neck, saying nothing.

 

Ruan Shiqing stayed in that slightly awkward position, recalling the call screen he’d accidentally glimpsed when picking up the terminal. The contact name was just a single character—“Si”—but it was obvious who it belonged to.

 

It was clear that Rong Heng had reached out to Siyan himself—most likely about Queen Farah’s death.

 

Judging by his expression, though, he clearly hadn’t gotten the answer he wanted. They may have even argued.

 

Quietly, he reached out and interlaced their fingers. “Did you get any answers?”

 

Rong Heng hadn’t intended to talk about the unpleasant conversation, but Ruan Shiqing’s voice was so calm—like a spring stream in summer, gently soothing his nerves. After a moment of silence, he murmured, “No. He wouldn’t say.”

 

Ruan Shiqing was a little surprised at first, but then he recalled that this emperor had once been referred to in the history books as the “Mad King.” He wasn’t truly mad now, but his unpredictable ways still made him difficult to understand—and that, in a way, made it seem perfectly normal.

 

“If he won’t talk, then we’ll investigate it ourselves.” Ruan Shiqing gave their intertwined hands a gentle shake and said softly, “I’ll go with you.”

 

If he won’t talk, we’ll investigate it ourselves.

 

That simple sentence pulled Rong Heng out of his gloom.

 

Ruan Shiqing was right—he was no longer a powerless child to be manipulated. If Siyan refused to tell him the truth, then he would find it himself. If Siyan wouldn’t avenge his mother, then he would kill the culprits with his own hands, and lay her spirit to rest.

 

He lifted his head and rested his chin on Ruan Shiqing’s shoulder. After a moment of thought, he said, “Number 4 probably knows quite a bit. I’ll interrogate him again tomorrow—might be able to squeeze something out.”

 

The next day, Rong Heng returned to the prison at the munitions factory to question Number 4 again. Ruan Shiqing came along.

 

Having spent years immersed in the military, Rong Heng was well-versed in all forms of interrogation. He methodically used every trick on the infuriatingly tight-lipped Zerg. But even after all that, the other still clamped his mouth shut, refusing to reveal anything.

 

“Let me try?” Ruan Shiqing offered after seeing the shadow darken Rong Heng’s expression.

 

The cell reeked of blood, and Rong Heng wasn’t keen on letting him go in.

 

But then Ruan Shiqing added, “He seems especially repulsed by me. Maybe I can get something out of him.”

 

Number 4 had made no secret of his hostility toward him and the Empress Zerg. Ruan Shiqing thought that might be the opening they needed.

 

After a brief hesitation, Rong Heng relented and let him enter.

 

Sure enough, the moment Number 4 saw Ruan Shiqing, his expression twisted with rage.

 

The Empire had no policies for lenient treatment of captured Zerg. Rong Heng had not held back trying to break him. Now Number 4 slumped in a corner of the cell, covered in wounds, completely still like a corpse. Only when Ruan Shiqing walked in did he laboriously lift his eyelids, his eyes burning with fury and disdain.

 

“A royal-blooded Zerg willingly becoming a lapdog to humans—turning against your own kind.”

 

“You didn’t seem too concerned about ‘your own kind’ when you ambushed and betrayed the Queen,” Ruan Shiqing replied, his expression mocking.

 

Even though he now knew that Zerg blood ran in his veins, he found it impossible to empathize with these cold and cruel beings.

 

To him, only Ruan Jiao and the late Queen truly counted as his kin.

 

They were fundamentally different from the rest of the Zerg.

 

Though the evolved Zerg had taken on humanoid forms, at their core, they were still beasts. Predation and slaughter were etched into their DNA—monsters wrapped in human skin.

 

But the Queen and Ruan Jiao were different. They hadn’t just taken on human forms—they had also learned human emotions.

 

This Zerg kept throwing around the word “kin,” but did he even understand what it meant?

 

Otherwise, how could he loathe the Queen, who only wanted to lead her people to a peaceful life?

 

At that moment, Ruan Shiqing suddenly understood the Queen.

 

She had been the first among her race to evolve—she had even infiltrated the Empire, seen its science and culture. Her beastly instincts gradually faded; humanity awoke within her. Facing her still-primitive, beast-like kin, she must have felt terribly alone.

 

So she helped Number 4 and other powerful Zerg take on human forms. She worked tirelessly to broker peace, hoping to end the war. With a peaceful environment and enough “Celestial Stones,” her people and future generations could complete their evolution.

 

They wouldn’t have to live like beasts anymore—wandering, fighting, plundering.

 

They, too, could have peaceful and stable lives.

 

And she wouldn’t have to shoulder the burden of repopulating the species, forced to mate with different males like an animal just to lay eggs.

 

Having only the Queen to bear the race’s future—this was always a twisted setup.

 

The Empire was so technologically advanced. A species’ survival should not rely on one individual.

 

Sadly, everything she worked for was destroyed by a conspiracy.

 

Ruan Shiqing’s brows lowered as he looked at the rage-contorted face of the Zerg before him. He asked quietly, “Who were the ones involved in the assassination?”

 

As his voice rang out, it sent a ripple through the air like water.

 

I don’t know.

 

That was what Number 4 had intended to say. But as he opened his mouth, an inexplicable pressure gripped him. He couldn’t stop the words forming in his throat: “I wasn’t the one handling communications at the time, so I don’t know exactly who was involved. I just know there were quite a few within the Empire who didn’t want the war to end. They were eager to work with us.”

 

They had long suspected there were traitors in the Empire colluding with the Zerg.

 

But “quite a few” was more than he’d expected.

 

“What factions are we talking about?”

 

“From what I know—the Four Great Conglomerates, the Merfolk, the Nine-tailed Fox Clan, and the Holy Legion all had a hand in it. They helped us kill our Queen, and in return, we helped them assassinate Queen Farah.”

 

That way, both sides could pin the blame on each other.

 

Ruan Shiqing’s heart sank. He hadn’t expected so many factions to be implicated in the Queen’s death.

 

But then he quickly understood—this was all about profit.

 

The war between the Empire and the Zerg had dragged on for thousands of years. The prolonged conflict had reshaped the national borders and fed countless war profiteers.

 

The Four Great Conglomerates had grown rich off war profits, slowly expanding into the towering giants they were now—even the royal family had to tread carefully around them.

 

However, if the war were to end, the Empire would no longer need to produce warships and weapons on a massive scale to defend against the Zerg. The major conglomerates would lose their trump card—the one thing that allowed them to counterbalance the royal family.

 

The same was true for the Merfolk and the Nine-tailed Fox Clan. Relying on the wealth and influence passed down from their ancestors, they had seized control of key military regions and formed their own factions within the armed forces. Some even coveted royal power, dreaming of pushing further up the hierarchy.

 

But once peace came, the military would inevitably face demobilization, and the current military district structure—carved out to fight the Zerg—would likely be reshaped.

 

So when they learned that the Queen intended to negotiate peace with the Zerg and end the war, they didn’t hesitate to join forces with the enemy.

 

If you can’t solve the problem, then eliminate the person who raised it.

 

And it turned out to be a highly effective solution. With both the Empire’s Queen and the Zerg Queen dead, hatred on both sides only deepened. In the years that followed, the war became more brutal than ever.

 

Ruan Shiqing closed his eyes and forced down the rising anger in his chest. Then he asked one final question: “The Holy Legion—what faction do they belong to?”

 

The name rang a bell. After thinking for a moment, he recalled hearing it recently—it was a rapidly growing organization that resembled a cult.

 

He just wasn’t sure if it was the same one.

 

“They seemed to be a group of fugitives from the Empire. They approached us themselves, offering to cooperate. I don’t know the details, but I do know they loathe the royal family. Many of our experiments were completed with their help.”

 

No wonder. They had long wondered how the Zerg had made so many breakthroughs in such a short time. So there was someone backing them.

 

Ruan Shiqing followed up with a few more questions, but Number 4’s voice was growing weaker and weaker. He eventually ended the interrogation and called in a medical bot to treat the prisoner’s injuries.

 

What he didn’t notice was that just after he left the cell, Number 4’s body completely collapsed. The black pupils in his crimson compound eyes dilated, leaving him nearly lifeless.

 

 

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Yup so that confirms that Siyan knows about all the factions involved in Queen Farah’s death, aside from that legion (Is it that terrorist group?? Is it actually involved with the “original” Lucien’s group since they were supposed to be Farah’s trusted subordinates?)

 

Also, do they control n4? Did they kill him from afar because he “betrayed” them and talked about their secrets? aaaah so many things still needing answers!!

 

Thanks for reading!

For every three ko-fis, I will upload a bonus chapter~