Chapter Thirty: Truly Old Comrades

Zhang Desen couldn't be bothered to look any longer. He simply took Liu Yuting by the hand, intent on leaving as quickly as possible. He still worried that Young Master Qian might suddenly regain his memory of what had happened. Although it was known at the time that Qian had inexplicably lost his memory, it was always better to be cautious. Liu Yuting, unaware of this, was even more eager to make their escape.

Zhang Desen regretted not telling Miss Liu about this beforehand. Clearly, he needed to explain everything to her once they were home, to prevent her from being needlessly anxious. But just then, Young Master Qian asked, “Where’s Tang Jie? Where did he go? Go find him and bring him back!”

“Yes, sir!” Several idle men stayed behind to attend to Young Master Qian, while the rest scattered in search of Tang Jie.

Zhang Desen was taken aback when he heard the name—Tang Jie? It differed from Tang Shijie by just a single character. There was no time to dwell on this, though; he grabbed Liu Yuting and hurried down a narrow alley to make their way back to the Liu residence.

Seeing his reaction, Liu Yuting seemed to understand and explained, “The Tang Jie Young Master Qian mentioned is one of his household guards—a formidable one. Everyone’s afraid of him. I once saw him from afar, helping Young Master Qian beat an innocent man. I turned and ran straight home.”

Zhang Desen nodded wordlessly, keeping her hand in his as they hastened on. Liu Yuting did not resist.

But sometimes, fate intervenes when least expected. Suddenly, a masked figure emerged from a side alley. Though his clothing matched that of this world, there was something about the stranger’s presence and the way he walked that felt hauntingly familiar to Zhang Desen.

Regardless, Zhang Desen immediately went on high alert and tried to activate his signal jammer—only to discover it was already running, perhaps left on by accident, but now perfectly timed.

He swiftly drew his Type 95 assault rifle from beneath his outer coat, ready for any sudden threat. Liu Yuting gasped in fright, exclaiming, “That’s the household guard, Tang Jie!”

Yet Zhang Desen did not feel the situation was entirely unmanageable; his main concern was whether the man before him had been injected with some kind of bio-weapon by the terrors. Still, the aura he sensed was unmistakably familiar, quelling his suspicions.

Sure enough, the guard approached, glanced around to ensure they were alone, then removed his mask, saluted Zhang Desen with military precision, and announced, “Tang Shijie, member of the Huaxia Flying Dragon Special Forces, reporting to the captain.”

In that moment, Zhang Desen was struck by a storm of shock, pain, anger, and sorrow.

The shock was that Tang Shijie still remembered him—there must be something important he wished to say. Was he about to ask Zhang Desen to work for the terrors? That, Zhang Desen would never do.

Though he had once suspected Tang Shijie’s way into the Flying Dragons was through connections, and had been less than pleased as the team leader, he had always believed Tang was loyal and would never betray his comrades. But now, things seemed to have changed.

He felt pain, for the comrade he had searched so long to find was now on the verge of becoming his enemy—how bitter to think he might have to fight one who had shared his meals and missions.

He felt hatred—how could a fellow soldier fall so far? Had Tang Shijie forgotten his duty, becoming a murderous fiend, slaughtering his own kind for the terrors?

And deep sorrow, for now he would have to uphold military discipline and destroy his own comrade with his own hands.

Yet before that, Zhang Desen wanted to hear what his old friend had to say. With anger in his voice, he demanded, “So it’s you. You came to this universe as well, but how could you forget the duties of a soldier? Why did you side with Young Master Qian and help him commit evil? Have you forgotten our military code?”

Tang Shijie met Zhang Desen’s gaze, and a trace of sorrow flickered in his eyes.

Zhang Desen noticed, but waited for his answer.

Tang Shijie spoke, “What do you want me to say? Was I not forced into this?”

Zhang Desen’s anger flared. “Forced? We were trained in survival—even in the wild, our lives shouldn’t be at risk. What happened to you?”

Tang Shijie explained, “If not for your signal jammer, I wouldn't be standing before you now. If we’d met outside its range, we might have fought to the death. Here’s what happened…”

He revealed that the nation had completed its multiverse travel craft months ago. Tang Shijie had been recalled home, selected as the first volunteer for multiverse travel. But the Defense Ministry ordered another round of animal testing first, for safety. Impatient, Tang Shijie demanded to go several times and, denied, finally decided to act independently.

Upon seeing the animals slated for experimentation, he resolved to take action. Using his special forces training, he tampered with key security monitors and sneaked aboard the vessel intended for animal pilots.

Just as when Zhang Desen had traveled to another universe, the multiverse craft sent the animal-manned vessel into this world. Unfortunately, the ship suffered a malfunction—or perhaps was attacked—and exploded at the tail end as it entered this Earth’s atmosphere, crashing to the ground.

Tang Shijie used every means to escape the ship before the crash and survive, but was still gravely injured.

While he lay there, a UFO appeared. Terrors emerged, brought him aboard, and transported him to their base.

They gave Tang Shijie comprehensive medical treatment, though their intentions were far from benevolent. Initially grateful, Tang Shijie soon realized, in his semi-conscious state during surgery, that the terrors were implanting unknown devices into his brain. Though he couldn’t identify the technology, he could feel his body and mind slipping from his control. Foreign information flooded his mind.

The terrors, it turned out, wanted more human samples, seeking ways to ultimately control mankind. A prehistoric catastrophe had decimated their high-tech civilization, forcing survivors underground. When the disaster passed and they resurfaced, they found more of their kind had survived, but had reverted to a primitive state. Humans, too, had survived—and multiplied many times over.

Though the Olmei Empire retained advanced technology, their numbers were few, so they remained hidden. Eventually, they formed the idea of enslaving both primitive terrors and humans to serve them, and began to actively seek suitable slaves to expand their ranks.

Not long after this enterprise began, Huaxia’s experimental craft repeatedly appeared, alarming the terrors. They began hunting down the crews.

Tang Shijie was the first they found. They treated his injuries and implanted control devices, allowing the terrors to manipulate his brainwaves remotely and place him among Young Master Qian’s household guards.

Qian frequently ruined those who offended him, then handed them over to Tang Shijie, whose actions provided the terrors with a steady supply of samples for their research, bringing them closer to perfecting their means of enslavement.

Though Tang Shijie despised this role, he was helpless under the mind control and could not resist. Not long after, Zhang Desen arrived, and the terrors shifted their focus to searching for his craft.

Because the implants required constant contact with the terrors’ central hub, once Tang Shijie entered the range of Zhang Desen’s signal jammer, he was temporarily freed from their control. He seized the chance to confess everything to Zhang Desen and intended to end his own suffering.

Zhang Desen finally understood—his comrade had never wanted to betray them.

Before he could speak, Tang Shijie drew a silenced pistol and fired into his own chest. With his final breath, he said, “Captain, dispose of my body quickly. I have incendiaries on me. There’s a drainage pit nearby—there’s no water in it now. If you throw me in and set the fire, no one will notice; this area is sparsely populated. The loss of signal will arouse suspicion—they may fly here to check…”

Taking another breath, Tang Shijie continued, “Though their numbers are small—fewer than half a million, as far as I know—their other kin’s whereabouts are unknown. You must avoid their hunt and, if you can, avenge me. If you make it back, report my fate truthfully, good or bad—just the truth. Farewell!”

Holding his fallen comrade, Zhang Desen choked out, “Don’t worry, brother. I’ll see it through.”

Without hesitation, Zhang Desen gathered anything useful and quickly took care of the remains, with Liu Yuting’s help.

He then disabled the signal jammer to avoid detection, and hurried with Liu Yuting and her maid back to the Liu residence by a shortcut. As they neared their destination, the radar detector signaled—the terrors had indeed come to investigate.

Their ship hovered above the city. But since it was daytime and bustling with people, it couldn't land, resulting in a public spectacle of an unidentified flying object over Xidu.

Zhang Desen knew that as long as he acted normally, he would be fine. Still, he couldn’t be too conspicuous, so he joined the crowd with Liu Yuting to watch the UFO, blending in.

Fearing the terrors might seek other means—such as contacting Young Master Qian—he soon led Liu Yuting away as inconspicuously and swiftly as possible, returning home.

Once inside, Liu Yuting wanted to bring Zhang Desen straight to her father. Today’s events had been so extraordinary, she wanted Zhang Desen to help recount the story.

But Zhang Desen needed to continue observing the terrors' movements, so he sent Liu Yuting ahead and cautioned her not to let too many people know what had happened. Then he went to the city wall of the Liu residence to keep watch on the terrors’ ship.