CR CH79

Chapter 79: A New Beginning

Stepping into the office, Jiang Tianji quietly raised his eyes to gauge Ling Kongmiao’s expression, only to collide directly with the other man’s calm, unreadable gaze.

Ling Kongmiao tapped the spot right in front of him.

“Officer,” Jiang Tianji sat down obediently.

Ling Kongmiao acknowledged him with a faint hum, his fingers sliding across the holographic screen to review data. At his ankles, slightly cool scales pressed close, a certain tail lazily and slowly wrapping itself around his calf.

“Have you been very busy lately?” Jiang Tianji kept his head lowered, his tail’s action seeming like nothing more than an involuntary reflex.

Yet, when Ling Kongmiao shifted his hand downward, that tail cautiously shrank back a bit. Ling Kongmiao didn’t pause his movements; he opened the cabinet below, retrieved a fountain pen, and signed the documents on the desk.

“Bring this to Dr. He.”

Ling Kongmiao pushed the file folder toward him to prepare for the energy guidance session, but there was no response from the other side.

“Is there a problem?”

Jiang Tianji lowered his eyes: “Do you not want to pay attention to me anymore?”

Ling Kongmiao halted, tossing his gloves aside: “Who are you acting spoiled with?”

“Someone I managed to catch with great difficulty,” Jiang Tianji let out a soft sigh, his words loaded with double meaning. “Although entering school without permission, trespassing on private property, unauthorized stalking, and using abilities in public places… are all interstellar offenses, I don’t mind.”

Ling Kongmiao’s gaze remained indifferent: “Then do you know that a Hunter illegally marking someone without asking for their consent carries a sentence of over ten years of execution?”

“…”

Jiang Tianji paused noticeably, a flash of surprise crossing his eyes before he coughed lightly and shifted his gaze away.

“I asked,” he said. “He agreed.”

“He was under fifteen years old at the time; it doesn’t count.”

After a brief silence, Jiang Tianji held out his hands: “Then cuff me, Officer.”

Ling Kongmiao brushed his hand away, and Jiang Tianji took the opportunity to hold his hand instead.

“Does harboring a fugitive count as being an accomplice, Officer?”

Blue fireflies drifted between the two of them. Ling Kongmiao ignored his fooling around, proceeding with the guidance session according to protocol.

Jiang Tianji gripped Ling Kongmiao’s hand, applying a bit of force whenever he felt the other man try to pull away. Ling Kongmiao likely figured using one hand was enough to keep this restless guy quiet, so he simply let him be.

As his consciousness gradually sank, Jiang Tianji stared at his unyielding, ever-unchanging expression, tapping his fingers gently against his palm.

“Can just anyone hold your hand like this?”

No response came. It was difficult to maintain clarity during the guidance process; Jiang Tianji’s eyes lost their focus, making it hard even for Ling Kongmiao to tell in that moment whether he was acting on instinct or deliberate design.

Pushing his luck, Jiang Tianji’s fingers squeezed into the spaces between Ling Kongmiao’s, intertwining their fingers together.

Amid the flowing blue fireflies, Jiang Tianji’s head gradually rested against the desk, refusing to let go even in such an awkward posture.

Listening to the even breathing beside him, Ling Kongmiao pulled out his hand that had been warmed by the other’s grip, flexing his fingers.

“So many questions.”

He could already foresee just how chaotic and colorful their inherently restless days ahead would become.

A few days later, the final assessment of Z01 came to an end.

The top-ranking members transitioned into higher-level combat units. Months flashed by in an instant; though time was impossible to catch as it slipped away, everything within view felt intimately familiar and deeply etched into memory.

Some put on new uniforms to bid farewell to their former teammates, discarding the long-rehearsed speeches in their minds until only two simple words of care remained.

The rest area was surprisingly quiet. Jiang Tianji was dressed in the Special Assistance uniform, flanked by Ji Yandong and Feng Huo.

While changing uniforms earlier, Jiang Tianji had asked Ji Yandong why he chose to leave Z01 this time.

Ji Yandong’s movements paused slightly before he turned to look at Jiang Tianji.

“Because I saw another possibility.”

That day, as he stared intently at the S-Rank mutant specimen during the exhibition, he had seemingly walked out of the venue with the crowd, but in reality, he had remained trapped on the spot.

The calm and firm attitude Jiang Tianji displayed after learning the truth made him gradually accept a reality.

The Captain was no longer here. The specimen in the exhibition was not the trapped Captain, but his own lingering obsession.

After finishing his talk with Jiang Tianji and returning to the ward, he thought of these things and fell asleep, dreaming of the Captain for the first time in a long while. Wen Kuan pulled him forward, walking far, far away, until Ji Yandong asked him:

“Captain, where are we going?”

Wen Kuan turned back to smile at him, roughly ruffling Ji Yandong’s hair.

A sudden sense of weightlessness startled him awake, pulling him out of that hazy, warm world. Ji Yandong opened his eyes somewhat absentmindedly. The wind flipped several pages of the book beside his bed, his line of sight landing on the concluding passage:

—People will head toward their final end. Before that happens, you can go anywhere you wish.

Ji Yandong picked up the book and flipped one page further, finding it to be a blank page.

In the rest area, Feng Huo pulled out a photo hidden in the inner layer of his jacket, one that looked quite aged.

He spoke of many past events he had previously kept tight-lipped about, pointing at the family portrait in the photo to introduce everyone to his teammates one by one. When mentioning his eldest brother, Jiang Tianji bent down to look closely.

It was an unexpectedly frail youth, yet in Feng Huo’s retelling, he was like a mountain that would never fall.

This time, Feng Huo didn’t carry much melancholy. Stroking his thumb over his eldest brother’s face, he simply said:

“He’s gone.”

Huang Qi was much quieter than usual, as if he had finally learned to listen.

Li Cheng was usually skilled at piercing people’s hearts with sharp words, but today he refrained from saying anything ambiguous.

Qi Xiuyi pondered for a long time before waving his hand, saying he could provide financial support if anyone faced hardships in the future.

In this final period of time where they could talk heart-to-heart, everyone simply wanted to stay together, sharing untold stories of their pasts, wishing for these tiny, scattered traces to linger a bit longer in their hearts.

Ding— The assembly bell rang out. Its reverberations were long, sharing an uncanny resemblance to the bell for evening meetings.

When they first arrived at Z01, Huang Qi had remarked, “I wonder who chose the evening meeting bell.”

“I really can’t stand this ultra-long echo. It bounces back and forth in my head like a spring.”

Yet at this moment, the long, drawn-out chiming pierced through the months of daily companionship, revealing its original meaning only as it reached its conclusion.

Perhaps the person who picked the chime had also thought that if the assembly bell were just a little longer, could they at least squeeze in one extra “see you next time”?

Before departing, everyone hugged one another, keeping their heads down to hide their reddened eyes. Jiang Tianji quietly listened to their hushed chatter, no sadness or reluctance in his dark green eyes, only a very shallow flicker of helplessness.

The assembled ranks marched toward their respective chosen paths. The Special Assistance flight vessel stood right in the center. When Jiang Tianji looked back, he saw a few unfamiliar figures joining Huang Qi’s side. He had a great personality and was the likable type; no matter how one looked at it, there was no need to worry about him being left behind.

What was truly precious was that he still held everyone in high regard. Perhaps moving forward past this age, one would never encounter such a person again.

Huang Qi called himself mediocre, but Jiang Tianji felt he was ordinary and happy. Dazzling individuals like himself and Liang Chong were merely lonely in their own ways.

If a genius was like the sun, then an ordinary person was like a firefly. Only when one quieted their mind on a certain night would they realize that the light glowing in the mountain forest was neither piercing nor flashy, yet breathtakingly beautiful.

Friends were those who respected each other even if their personalities differed and their tastes conflicted.

Just as Jiang Tianji had always believed scallions were unpalatable, yet upon seeing Huang Qi eat them with sheer bliss, he silently stuffed a mouthful of his beloved cilantro, feeling that the other’s experience in that moment was identical to his own.

The moment he stepped onto the flight vessel, Jiang Tianji knew full well that a complete full stop had been drawn on his peaceful life.

He turned back one last time, seeing his friends who had shrunk into tiny black dots. One of those dots leaped violently twice, waving both arms frantically. Feng Huo, who was walking ahead, suddenly stopped in his tracks, matching the other’s movements in perfect sync.

“I’m off! See you next time—!”

From afar came a heart-wrenching, high-frequency shout that achieved a 100% turn-around rate:

“We definitely have to meet! Whoever doesn’t meet up is gay—!”

Before Feng Huo could talk back, the door of the flight vessel had already sealed shut, and the group walked forward with laughter.

No one noticed at the very end of the line, Jiang Tianji curled his lips upward, lightly waving his hand toward the narrow gap.

See you next time, friends.

At the exact same time, his device vibrated.

• Ling Shizai: Shared access granted
  
• Ling Shizai: Conference Room A01. Come over.
  

“I have something to attend to, I’ll step away for a bit.”

“Alright, keep in touch via the comms if anything comes up.”

Jiang Tianji gave a brief head-up to Ji Yandong and Feng Huo. As he lowered his head to reply with an acknowledgment, he strode off in another direction.

As a Combat-Type S-Rank Awakened, Jiang Tianji was a prized asset wherever he was placed.

However, Special Assistance had an evaluation period. Before officially transitioning into Team 1, he needed to be on call for deployment at any moment, spending most of his time accompanying Team 1. If a mission’s danger rating was excessively high, he would be temporarily assigned to handle other tasks.

Following the prompt on his device, Jiang Tianji located the small conference room. Detecting his member credentials, the mechanical door slid open.

Special Assistance Team 1 was holding a brief meeting. Hearing the noise, everyone paused what they were doing and turned their eyes toward him.

Jiang Tianji flashed a likable smile, gazing at the distant and aloof figure seated at the head of the table, his voice low and smooth:

“Captain.”