CR CH88

Chapter 88: Enemies and Friends

The glaring white light stung his eyes. Jiang Tianji frowned slightly and raised a hand to shield his face.

The coat draped over him slid down with the movement—a scene that felt strikingly familiar. Sitting on the sofa to clear his head, he lowered his hand, toyed with the insignia on the Director General’s uniform coat, and let out a soft yawn.

Knock, knock. The person outside gave a perfunctory rap on the door before pulling it open.

“Captain—”

Holding a few pages of documents, You Li looked up and locked eyes with Jiang Tianji. Both froze for a second.

“You’re…”

You Li’s gaze settled on Jiang Tianji’s slightly curled black hair, then drifted toward the uniform coat he was idling with. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes.

Jiang Tianji stood up immediately and hung the coat on the clothes rack with fluid ease.

“Brother You.”

“Ah, yeah,” You Li replied instinctively, casually sweeping his eyes across the room. “Is the Captain not around?”

“Seems so.” Jiang Tianji raised a hand to fix his hair.

Seeing his freshly awakened look, You Li didn’t pry further. Jiang Tianji stepped up beside him, smoothly steering the conversation.

“I’m heading back to the training room in a moment. Need a hand with anything?”

“Help me deliver this document to Irene.”

Not standing on ceremony, You Li handed over two files, paused in thought, and then passed a third one.

“If it’s convenient, give this to Liang Chong. Tell him the deadline is today.”

Jiang Tianji glanced at it casually. The moment his eyes caught the words “Application for Resignation,” his brow knitted tightly.

“Brother You,” he tucked the files together and asked, “this one is for Liang Chong?”

You Li didn’t miss his reaction. “Yeah. I was quite surprised he suddenly made such a decision too, but to each their own—we have to respect personal choices.”

Pinching the bridge of his nose, You Li clearly didn’t seem entirely thrilled with the move. Jiang Tianji recalled that You Li had thought highly of Liang Chong, so his feelings were bound to be somewhat complicated right now.

“True. I’ll head out then.”

“Alright, thanks a lot.”

Jiang Tianji gave a nod, said goodbye, and headed straight to Sector C based on the dorm number You Li gave him.

At this hour, most personnel were out on missions or in training. When Jiang Tianji arrived at Liang Chong’s door, it happened to swing open from the inside. Their eyes met, both stopping dead in their tracks.

“…The application form?” Spotting the paperwork in his hand, Liang Chong was the first to break the silence. “Hand it over.”

Jiang Tianji flicked the form in his hand, looked down in brief contemplation, and then stepped into the room, kicking the door shut behind him.

With a soft click, the lock engaged. Liang Chong had already taken two guarded steps back the moment Jiang Tianji advanced, now scowling as he kept his distance.

“What are you doing?”

Jiang Tianji offered a polite smile. “Don’t be nervous. Just wanted to ask what happened.”

“I gave you some advice last time. Shouldn’t we exchange some parting courtesy before you go?”

Liang Chong’s face was devoid of expression, though he looked almost pushed to angry laughter. “How did I never realize how hypocritical you are?”

Jiang Tianji leaned against the door with no intention of leaving. After a brief silence, Liang Chong spoke anyway.

“The Hunter Association has no place for people like us, and I refuse to spend my whole life as a lapdog taking orders. Next time we meet, we’ll be enemies; if we don’t, I’m probably dead.”

Liang Chong looked haggard, but there was something new burning in his eyes.

“Dead either way, so I might as well fight for something.”

Carrying only a modest duffel bag, he yanked the application form from Jiang Tianji’s hand and pressed it flat against the wall to sign.

Jiang Tianji crossed his arms. “Uncle Liang agreed to this?”

A flash of mockery crossed Liang Chong’s eyes. “He doesn’t really have the power to stop it.”

Jiang Tianji pondered for a second and said nothing more.

“Someone gave me an opportunity,” Liang Chong suddenly said as he turned away.

Jiang Tianji looked back at the sound. Liang Chong stared fixedly at him, offering a smile that hadn’t been seen in a long time.

“You’d better stay this unbothered forever. Whatever you do, pray you never run into anything that drives you mad.”

He had an inherently bright, boyish look, but Jiang Tianji had rarely seen him smile like that—not even in their youth.

There was little venom left in those words. When the mockery was laid bare with such bluntness, the hatred had paradoxically faded.

“Goodbye.”

This time, Liang Chong stepped past him and left first. The sunlight paved a bright path ahead, and Liang Chong vanished down the corridor in long strides, never looking back.

No one knew what kind of road that would be, but his life had begun. This time, Jiang Tianji was one step behind him.

For some reason, Jiang Tianji spaced out for a moment.

Memories of the past surfaced out of nowhere; Liang Chong had always been the one to make the first move.

When their relationship began, it was Liang Chong who stepped forward to say hello. Discovering his interest in mechs, it was Liang Chong who proactively brought the reference materials. In the end, when it fell apart, Liang Chong was also the one to cut the ties.

Even their fights were started by his instigations.

At certain moments, Jiang Tianji was callous, while Liang Chong was hypocritical.

Jiang Tianji usually ignored other people, yet he could never resist throwing sarcastic jabs at Liang Chong.

Liang Chong was usually well-disguised, avoiding direct confrontations with others; Jia Yun had tried provoking him multiple times without getting a rise out of him, eventually resorting to strategically egging on Jiang Tianji instead.

Liang Chong could put on a front and swallow a lot, but he could never resist attacking Jiang Tianji. His methods were slightly childish, but when fists flew, they truly fought to the bitter end.

Once the dust settled, they could still converse normally and occasionally reminisce about the past, yet none of it changed the inevitable.

In the end, they were still destined to become enemies.

What was the difference between an enemy who understood you and a friend?

Jiang Tianji couldn’t be bothered to ponder the question, but thinking of friends brought a slight curve to his lips. He casually fired off a message to harass them.

—Jiang: hi.

The group chat instantly blew up over his sudden appearance, messages scrolling past at breakneck speed. Jiang Tianji remembered they were supposed to be in class right now.

Amid the rapidly ascending text, he caught Liang Shaoqun’s inquiry.

—Liang Shaoqun: In a bad mood?

He raised an eyebrow, his expression neutral. Just as he was typing out “No,” the flurry of text abruptly stopped.

—Luo Yang: Dear guest, our system has detected that someone may be overthinking things. A psychological counselor has been automatically assigned to you.

—Jiang Jun: Dispatching… Item picked, packaging in progress! Let us welcome Young Master Liang, who recently got a girlfriend and finally learned how to talk like a human!

Jiang Tianji: “…”

Just as he was about to hit send on the word “Lunatics,” a group announcement suddenly popped up. The Star Network had recently rolled out a customizable announcement feature, allowing custom layouts and graphics.

The announcement background was a grassy meadow, featuring three cartoon sheep and a tiger lounging beside them, accompanied by a caption.

Today’s Story Delivery:

A tiger is willing to stay with a flock of sheep. In the sheep’s eyes, he is just a special striped sheep.

If he ever returns to the forest one day, the sheep will only wonder when he’s coming back and whether he’ll be in danger, all while breathing a sigh of relief that he is a tiger, not a real sheep.

And my friend, even if you were a bird that poops on my head, I’d only roar at you to come down and wipe it clean—while looking for a chance to pee on you.

Below it was an AI sprite’s smiling face along with a closing remark:

Even if you build high walls, your friends will still make sure you see the sun.

Star Alliance, Lounge.

Beyond the semi-transparent, one-way glass window, a group of black-robed figures bustled to and fro.

Billion stubbed out his cigarette, looking up at the man across from him who had opened several virtual screens to deal with routine matters.

“You done yet?”

“Speak if you have something to say,” Ling Kongmiao spared him a glance without breaking pace. “Doesn’t interfere.”

“Did Jiang Yan contact you?”

Ling Kongmiao’s hand paused. Under Billion’s teasing gaze, he closed the holographic display.

“As far as I know, Jiang Yan had no real overlap with Jiang Tianji’s biological parents.”

“There was some,” Billion didn’t elaborate. “She and Duan Ye were once in the same orphanage, and she was alumni with Zheng Qing.”

“They shared the same stance and had collaborated before. Jiang Yan spent some time on a D-rank star back then; it was a bond forged through life and death.”

Billion kept his remarks brief, pivoting the question back to him: “What about you? Why did you stop the Hunter Association folks from contacting that kid earlier?”

“The timing wasn’t right,” Ling Kongmiao said. “Back then, he hadn’t accepted the truth yet. Even if the Association reached him, he would only have rejected them and spent more time dwelling on unnecessary problems.”

“Besides,” he paused, “the Association is dangerous right now. I don’t want him taking over their mess.”

Billion’s expression shifted subtly. “You don’t want him to?”

Ling Kongmiao ignored his overtly inquisitive gaze and set down his cup.

“If he doesn’t listen, he’ll just have to deal with it himself.”

Billion swallowed the question he was about to ask and broke into a full smile. “Deal with it himself?”

“Then when you pulled the Liang family kid out, did you not know he’d end up an enemy to the current Hunter Association?”

“Here I thought you were drawing fire away from Duan Shu’s faction to pave the way for our little Crown Prince down the line. Seems I was overthinking it.”

Liang Chong was capable enough. Currently, with Ling Kongmiao’s backing, he had entered the Reformers organization. With “Hua” vouching for him, his path would be vastly smoother, and the covertly gathered Reformers were bound to clash head-on with the Hunter Association.

If a clever person could seize the right window of opportunity, they could easily sit back and reap the spoils of the contest.

Ling Kongmiao’s expression gradually reverted to the familiar indifference Billion knew.

“That was his own choice. I merely gave him an opportunity.”

An opportunity for whom? It was hard to tell which part of the conversation he was answering, leaving his words laden with subtle ambiguity.

Billion lazily crossed his legs. Taking a good look at Ling Kongmiao’s aloof, unapproachable demeanor, he suddenly blurted out:

“So, are you his wife or his husband?”

During Ling Kongmiao’s brief pause, Billion smiled playfully: “You can’t be doing all the heavy lifting of a family member without an official title, can you?”

“Asa is Sister Yun’s dog. What are you to him?”

Ling Kongmiao let out a faint chuckle and smoothed back his hair.

“Well, you can’t do every single chore and still call yourself a stranger, can you?”

“…”