CR CH39

Chapter 39: Connection

Visibility within the forest under the cover of night was exceptionally low, with only the rustling of leaves breaking the absolute quiet.

Jiang Tianji was breathing heavily, his sweat completely drenching his training uniform. Every passing gust of wind sent a fresh wave of chills racking through his body.

In the pitch black, the chains wrapped in a ghostly blue light resembled life-reaping death fires, monopolizing the vast majority of his field of vision. The wounds on his body stung unbearably. Under the dual torment of physical and psychological stress, the tightly coiled string in his mind finally snapped.

The numbness brought on by brushing past imminent danger repeatedly stimulated his nerves. With his brain’s commands failing to synchronize with his physical movements, Jiang Tianji made a single misstep, causing his body to completely lose its balance.

“Oof!”

He crashed to the ground, instinctively curling himself into a ball. However, the anticipated pain did not descend.

His suddenly relaxed limbs trembled slightly. Panting heavily, he lifted his eyes to look not far ahead.

He saw Ling Kongmiao unhurriedly turn off his equipment, walk over to him, and crouch down.

“Not bad. You lasted 3 minutes and 2 seconds longer than expected. It seems I underestimated you.”

Those casual, light words caused a sudden surge of nameless fire to flare up in Jiang Tianji’s chest. He forced himself to prop up his body.

“Commander, I…”

Ling Kongmiao looked down at him, directly delivering a notice.

“Currently, the Star Supervision Office has listed you as a priority target of concern. I am very busy, but I will try to carve out time to personally put you through special training. Today was merely to let you adapt to the environment mode.”

He continued speaking right into Jiang Tianji’s dumbfounded gaze: “Tomorrow morning, go out on missions as normal. In the evening, assemble at the Special Department. I went ahead and applied for a C-rank ‘Evil Source’ mission for you along the way.”

Clutching the wound on his lower back, Jiang Tianji slowly crawled up from the ground.

“Cough, cough… I remember you stating before, Commander, that given my current situation, coasting through these two years wouldn’t be an issue.” He glanced over his own tattered combat fatigues, trying his best to stabilize his breathing. “This isn’t what we agreed upon.”

“You naturally have choices. For the next few evaluation missions, as long as your performance is poor enough, I can help you apply to withdraw from the special group.”

Ling Kongmiao lowered his head, drawing a bit closer. “However, back when you were in the restroom questioning whether someone was being shameless or not, I assumed you had already thought things through.”

Jiang Tianji froze, his breathing turning incredibly faint.

“There is one sentence I don’t quite agree with,” Ling Kongmiao smiled, specifically picking out the exact words that made one want to die on the spot. “You claimed you were holding your own leash and sitting in place, not daring to move. Yet from what I saw just now, you ran faster than anyone.”

How can those two things be the same? Just how much did he actually overhear? Jiang Tianji’s face flushed bright red as he stared at him, utterly speechless.

Then, he watched with wide eyes as Ling Kongmiao fished a familiar piece of equipment out from his vest.

Jiang Tianji: “Commander, that seems to be my device.”

Ling Kongmiao gave a brief grunt of affirmation, jamming the device in front of the recruit’s face to pass the biometric scan, opening his social software right before Jiang Tianji’s eyes.

Jiang Tianji stared at that cold, detached face for a moment. “Isn’t it a bit inappropriate to add a commander’s personal contact info?”

“Yes,” Ling Kongmiao replied as he pulled out another device from his chest and scanned it. “It was an oversight on my part. Let’s add my private account instead.”

Jiang Tianji: “?”

“Stand by at all times from now on, keep your device on you.” Ling Kongmiao stood up, catching sight of a group of people walking toward them out of the corner of his eye as he delivered his final line. “I don’t like waiting for people.”

With that, he accessed his authorization panel and inputted the termination command.

“Wildwood-PT09 Trial: Concluded.”

Before the approaching group could even reach them, a black energy vortex materialized beneath their feet. A powerful sensation of weightlessness hit them, and except for the instructors, the remaining team members all crashed onto the familiar solid ground in a thoroughly disheveled state.

The medical team was already in position, with many Beastmen figures visible among the white lab coats. His physical strength completely depleted, Jiang Tianji was just about to locate his teammates when someone supported him by the arm.

“How are you doing? Can you still move?”

A gentle voice reached his ears. Jiang Tianji looked up to see a pair of furry beast ears—short, rounded, and flopping downward softly. They looked incredibly cute.

“Team member, can you still move?” Seeing him staring straight at his ears, the Beastman doctor cleared his throat.

“…My apologies.” Jiang Tianji stood up in embarrassment. “I can move. Thank you for your help.”

“You’re welcome, it’s just my duty.”

“Jiang Tianji, over here!”

Just as he was about to respond, he heard his teammates calling out from not far away, with Feng Huo’s voice being the loudest.

“Holy crap, that was terrifying just now! I must have been hit by the mental interference—I actually saw you flying through the trees!”

Huang Qi trotted over to join them. “Sigh, I’ve already finished my treatment. My condition wasn’t great today.”

“What flying? Who flew?”

Jiang Tianji: “…”

“The commanding officers are still here,” Ji Yandong interrupted, unable to bear it any longer. “Silence.”

The group instantly quieted down obediently, crowding around Jiang Tianji. Catching sight of the doctor’s ears, Huang Qi’s eyes lit up.

“Wow, little short ears! So cute.”

Feng Huo added, “It’s my first time seeing this kind of ears too. Most of them seem to be erect ears.”

“Thank you.” The Beastman doctor’s ears twitched self-consciously, though he couldn’t help but smile. “This is a genetic defect. It’s actually the first time anyone has ever complimented them.”

Ji Yandong noted, “It is very unique.”

Jiang Tianji didn’t say a word, but his gaze involuntarily gravitated toward the top of the doctor’s head.

Not far away, Ling Kongmiao calmly retracted his gaze, leaning against a reef by the shore to supervise the cleanup work of the foundation department.

“Captain.”

Footsteps approached from behind, and Irene came to a halt next to him, speaking in a relaxed drawl.

“Personally, I think your ears look much better. Don’t be discouraged.”

The motion of Ling Kongmiao tossing his device paused, his tone betraying neither pleasure nor anger. “Irene, if your words were directly proportional to your salary, You Li wouldn’t be the richest person here.”

“I don’t care about that, as long as our Captain is the most beautiful.” Irene shrugged, completely unfazed.

“Though I know that back then, the children of the Beast clan nobility were young and ignorant—chasing your beast form to court you after having too much to drink, which left a massive trauma on you. But still… tracking back, where are you going, Captain?”

Ling Kongmiao strode off in the direction of the battleship, his retreating figure radiating absolute coldness.

Irene let out a sharp whistle. “Captain, ears with little blue sparks look even better, you know!”

Blue fireflies emitted a soft radiance in the night, and Ling Kongmiao’s form completely vanished into the darkness.

“Awakeners naturally need to revert to their beast forms to release energy periodically. Yet he happens to possess invisibility, preferring to hide away rather than let us see him,” Irene pouted.

“Who told you to vigorously pet him like that when he was in his weakened cub state back then?”

Her pocket twitched, and a tiny, furry head poked out, its eyes shining brightly.

“By the way, I felt like something was off earlier. Do the Captain and that Little Golden Egg actually know each other?”

“Uh-huh. I felt it was a pity back then, but who knew I’d actually get to catch the sequel.” Irene tapped the little mouse’s head. “The Captain once said something along these lines.”

The scene from back then flashed across her mind. At that time, the look in Captain Ling’s eyes carried very little nostalgia or sentiment; it was mostly coldness.

“Someone tricked me into being his wife, yet he went ahead and forgot the entire thing, living his life completely at ease.” Ling Kongmiao had chuckled softly, his silver-white long hair cascading past his fingertips. “The moment I saw his idle, carefree look, only one sentence crossed my mind.”

“Don’t you dare fall into my hands.”

“Oh, oh, oh!” Hearing Irene’s narration, Tang Min’s eyes shone with immense excitement, letting out a string of gasps.

“Sister Irene! You used to be the Captain’s doctor, so you must know some inside scoop! What exactly happened between them? Does the Captain feel something for the Little Golden Egg… mmph!”

“Shh. Your sister here has professional ethics. As for what exactly the Captain feels for him…” Irene pinched the little mouse’s cheeks, letting out a soft sigh. “I’m afraid he can’t even put it into words himself.”

“Does he not like the Little Golden Egg?”

Irene fell silent for a moment, turning her gaze out toward the vast ocean.

“He… is actually quite a cowardly child, you know.”