EDEH Chapter 69

“Don’t open the door for anyone except me.”

 

“Okay…” Sang Jue still didn’t know what had happened.

 

He only heard Adjutant Zhang Min telling Huo Yanji on the communicator, “There’s trouble, related to you and Sang Jue.”

 

007 in his mind suddenly said: “Rumors are spreading throughout the city that you’re a deviant. The rumors are spreading very quickly—someone must be driving them.”

 

“What’s wrong with me being a deviant…”

 

Before finishing, Sang Jue realized that in outsiders’ eyes, he was Huo Yanji’s little lover.

 

Even though the truth about “Dawn” had been exposed, there was still a huge chasm between deviants and ordinary people. They couldn’t be together—the infection risk was too high.

 

Moreover, currently ordinary people and deviants were completely split, and Huo Yanji’s position was extremely delicate—

 

The supervisor organization had been an accomplice in harming deviants for nearly a century, and Huo Yanji was the highest executive officer of supervisors.

 

Even knowing he opposed the Dawn plan, deviants still found it hard to change their inner hatred.

 

While ordinary people currently strongly supported Huo Yanji, how could his partner be a deviant? A deviant who could lose order and die at any time, a deviant filled with anger and hatred?

 

Would Huo Yanji, together with a deviant, wholeheartedly protect them without bias?

 

007 observed residents’ reactions through surveillance throughout the city: “Some ordinary people think you deliberately approached General Huo, wanting to kill him through infection so deviants could gain primary power.”

 

“?”

 

Three question marks appeared above the little evil dragon’s head.

 

But thinking carefully, it was quite possible. The Supreme Court was about to fall, most high-ranking military positions were held by deviants, only Huo Yanji as an ordinary person held supreme power.

 

Though even the strongest deviant couldn’t withstand bullets, assuming Huo Yanji died and all deviants launched an offensive, ordinary humanity’s demise would only be a matter of time.

 

Either die from disorder or be infected and assimilated.

 

007 said: “But this assumption requires high-ranking deviants to lead to achieve an overthrow situation. General Huo Jiangmin has become a target of criticism, and other high-ranking deviants have normal character—no reason to do this.”

 

This assumption was just unnecessary worry.

 

But people deep in chaos and fear wouldn’t understand these details.

 

Sang Jue was dissatisfied: “I would never kill Ji Ji, at most disable him.”

 

007 said: “For humans, truly liking someone means being reluctant to hurt them, even non-life-threatening harm.”

 

“But this would let Ji Ji come to my home planet with me, he’d be mine.” Sang Jue was frustrated, “Do you think I don’t truly like Ji Ji?”

 

“Only you know that clearly.” 007 said.

 

Sang Jue wasn’t clear either.

 

He didn’t know what the standard for liking someone looked like, had never seen it.

 

Maybe he should ask Huo Jiangmin or Colin for advice.

 

If the Doctor were here it would be even better—she’d surely give the standard answer.

 

A clamor rose outside. These high-rises were home to the powerful; for security’s sake, ordinary people couldn’t come and go freely.

 

Although Sang Jue couldn’t see the gathering deviants, he heard their shouts from several blocks away: “Hang the executioner!”

 

“Disband the Supervisors!”

 

Ordinary citizens, too, demanded that Huo Yanji, as a high-ranking official, hold himself to the highest standard, ensure his own safety, and cut ties with Sang Jue the deviant.

 

With no evidence, Sang Jue had been painted as “malicious” and should be expelled.

 

The two sides faced off in hostility.

 

At this moment, no ordinary person would agree to disband the Supervisory Organization—even though they knew the supervisors had salted the deviants’ wounds for decades.

 

But for those terrified and anxious, the supervisors were their umbrella of protection and Huo Yanji a lifesaving straw.

 

Without Huo Yanji, no one could check the deviants’ collective rage.

 

Likewise, the deviants were furious at ordinary people for slandering Sang Jue—more precisely, furious at the slander of deviants.

 

For nearly a century, deviants had borne the label “dangerous monsters” and heard “Stay away—be careful, you’ll get infected” more than anything.

 

True though it was, it only made them lose control that much more.

 

They’d been lied to and “voluntarily” turned into monsters, then after the truth came out, they suffered even more rejection and strange stares.

 

The fury of betrayal and abandonment threatened to drown them.

 

Sang Jue stood on the eleventh-floor balcony, looking down at a safe zone reduced to chaos, lips pressed together: “I don’t like these humans.”

 

He’d grown up in the home-planet institute among dedicated, pure researchers. At first they’d feared him for not being human, but after getting to know him, they’d been kind.

 

So Sang Jue thought all humans were like that.

 

Even Dr. Millie’s cruelty made sense—he’d grown to understand how terrifying it would be for a parent to confirm their child dead, then see that child whole and calling “Mama” the next day.

 

But humanity here was different. Their cruelty and anger often stemmed from selfishness, thoughtlessness, and thought control by others.

 

Terrifying and hateful.

 

Perhaps because he lacked human thinking, he couldn’t grasp these tangled contradictions.

 

A knock sounded at the door. Sang Jue turned toward it, nose twitching.

 

It wasn’t a human he liked. Nor was it Ji Ji.

 

He stood behind the door, motionless, staring.

 

He calculated that Huo Yanji, at the city gate, would take at least an hour to reach here.

 

So if someone forced entry within that hour, how should he handle it?

 

Sang Jue muttered: “If I kill them all, will Ji Ji be angry?”

 

But the person outside was polite and did not break in.

 

He smelled them, recalled carefully—they’d been at the “Dawn” plan announcement meeting.

 

A deviant whose scent was not foul.

 

But Sang Jue had learned not to rely solely on scent to judge whether a human was harmful.

 

There were two more knocks: “Sang Jue, if you’re inside, open the door and come with me.”

 

He stayed silent. His tail flicked behind him.

 

Hearing nothing, the outside grew eerily quiet, as if they’d departed.

 

But Sang Jue knew better—outside were forty-seven soldiers, all deviants’ scent.

 

Soon, hurried footsteps approached: “Sir, we’ve checked the cameras. Sang Jue hasn’t left since this morning. He’s definitely inside.”

 

“Break the door.”

 

“But Sir, this is General Huo’s residence—”

 

“I’ll take responsibility.”

 

Sang Jue furrowed his brow, hesitating.

 

He wasn’t afraid—he could kill them all. But never having killed anyone before, having already been viciously framed, if he did strike, how would they describe him?

 

Could he still stay by Ji Ji’s side?

 

If he didn’t act, he could slip away as green slime through the pipes, avoiding conflict.

 

But then Huo Yanji would surely ask how he evaded surveillance and left the building…

 

So difficult.

 

Humans were truly hateful.

 

He only wanted to finish the doctor’s mission—get Ji Ji home early—not get mixed up in this mess.

 

Suddenly, “Bang!”

 

The heavy wooden door was struck, cracking open, and an alarm blared—beep, beep.

 

Seconds later, a second swing splintered the door into a wide hole. Unexpectedly, a bestial fist burst through, covered in coarse fur, fingers as thick as three of Sang Jue’s.

 

A muscular arm thrust through the jagged break, reaching for the lock—click.

 

…

 

His watch emitted an urgent alarm. Huo Yanji’s face darkened.

 

Every apartment had that system—any fire or attack triggered the alarm.

 

Huo Yanji left the city gate tower at speed and asked: “Have the redeployed forces arrived?”

 

Zhang Min, having just received the message, replied breathlessly: “Colonel Colin’s here, but was blocked outside the apartments by General Ling’s men.”

 

“Ling Gen?” Huo Yanji’s eyes turned ice. He immediately tried to call Ling Gen, but the call was refused.

 

He didn’t try a second call. Instead he dialed Sang Jue—also no answer.

 

Zhang Min could barely keep up, calling from behind: “Sir, the key!”

 

Without turning back, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, Huo Yanji simply raised his hand and the key followed a perfect arc into his palm.

 

Before coming to report, Zhang Min had already arranged for an off-road motorcycle.

 

With the city in its current chaotic state, driving a car would certainly face countless obstacles.

 

Huo Yanji swung his long leg over, and after starting the engine, immediately shot off at high speed, cold wind whistling past his ears, thin lips pressed into a straight line.

 

Military officer apartment complex.

 

Anxious Colin was blocked by Ling Gen’s men.

 

“Do you have military orders!?” Colin raged, “Forcibly entering an officer’s private residence is a serious crime!!”

 

The leading officer remained unmoved, not yielding an inch: “We’re all following orders, let’s not make things difficult for each other.”

 

The two sides formed a delicate standoff.

 

Until footsteps sounded behind them and Wei Lan arrived.

 

She didn’t waste words with Ling Gen’s people, instead ordering her subordinates: “Surround all entrances and exits to the apartment complex. Until the General arrives, no one is allowed to leave this area!”

 

“Yes!”

 

If they couldn’t get in, fine—but no one was leaving either.

 

Unless Ling Gen dared to kill Sang Jue directly, but that was impossible. Killing Sang Jue wouldn’t benefit the current situation at all.

 

Most importantly, not everyone was Huo Jiangmin.

 

Huo Jiangmin seemed mad but had acted against his conscience for over a decade, reaching the extreme of restraint and self-discipline.

 

But if the seemingly rule-abiding Huo Yanji truly followed rules, he couldn’t have kept a deviant by his side, living and eating together for so long.

 

And not just any deviant, but one of questionable identity and suspicious origins.

 

Pressuring Huo Yanji might not yield the same good results as pressuring Huo Jiangmin.

 

Colin exhaled deeply, asking quietly: “Did you not rest again last night?”

 

Wei Lan said flatly: “I slept—exactly three hours.”

 

Everyone had been the same lately. To calm the city’s chaos and restore order, time was stretched to its limits, sleep squeezed in wherever possible.

 

Wei Lan’s skin was very pale, the dark circles under her eyes particularly obvious.

 

Colin felt sorry for her but didn’t know what to say.

 

Advising rest was meaningless—they simply had no time. As a General, Huo Yanji didn’t need to handle everything personally, yet he slept even less. They had no right to complain of fatigue.

 

Now with news of Sang Jue being a deviant exposed, things wouldn’t be peaceful for a long time.

 

The rumble of an engine approached from far to near. Colin turned to see Huo Yanji speeding up, stopping just at the apartment complex entrance, tires sparking against the pavement.

 

He killed the engine and dismounted. Light rain was still falling, dampening his military uniform to deep black, matching his cold expression with particular severity.

 

Huo Yanji asked: “Do you have a search warrant?”

 

“…Report, no sir.” The lead officer Ling Gen had left behind answered hesitantly.

 

Huo Yanji said coldly: “Then get lost.”

 

The man gritted his teeth, steeling himself: “General Huo, we’re just following orders. Please don’t make this difficult for us.”

 

The pressure of facing Colin versus facing Huo Yanji was completely different.

 

Huo Yanji directly drew his gun, eyes filled with cold intent: “According to regulations, for entering my private residence without military orders, I can execute you all without reason.”

 

As his words fell, everyone behind Wei Lan and Colin simultaneously drew weapons, releasing safeties, countless dark gun barrels pointing at Ling Gen’s men.

 

As if waiting for Huo Yanji’s command to open fire.

 

**

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