No Money to Divorce

With such a great reward, the brave will definitely come.

Just within the first hour, two people managed to rush to the scene, and one of them even insisted on giving out more than a single blood donation, but could only give up with the discouragements of the doctor.

Fayn found Adrian in the front compartment of the rear support vehicle.

He couldn’t see the situation within the simple surgery room behind him, but this was the closest place to Zhong Yan. The wounds on his body had been dressed up simply to stop the bleeding, and the bandages could be seen between his open neckline and cuffs. He was sitting on the chair with his head down while his terminal rang from time to time, half of them coming from his own wrist, and the other from the one he held in his hand: Zhong Yan’s terminal that the doctor passed him earlier. But he just sat there without any reaction and didn’t even bother to mute his own terminal.

Adrian knew what he would see if he turned on his own terminal. The first thing he would see was definitely the highest priority message. The notification from “Butterfly” that congratulated him and Zhong Yan for becoming legal partners.

And it was that notice that made Zhong Yan keenly aware that something was wrong, dragging him out from the Grim Reaper’s grasps, but putting himself in instead.

He had known Adrian for nine years, but Fayn had never seen him look so dispirited.

“It’s not going to help if you just sit here either.” Fayn stood in front of Adrian. “The urgent stuff is already dealt with. Don’t you trust Wei Lan’s medical skills? I was hurt way worse than him back then and look at me now. I’m perfectly fine. You were just hit by the hallucinogens earlier so you should get some fresh air right now.”

Adrian raised his head to look at him. Instead of responding to his advice, he spoke in a hoarse voice. “How’s my guard?”

“His external injuries are fine. They’re not as serious as yours, but he inhaled a relatively large amount of the hallucinogens so he’s still unconscious. But the doctor said he should be fine after two days of recovery.”

“That’s good. He’s still young. He should get another check-up after returning to the headquarter’s hospital. It’s best if he doesn’t end up with any side-effects after this.”

Fayn gave him an acknowledging response. Adrian asked again, “Is the search of the mansion over?”

“It’s basically over. Two of the assassins are still alive and they’ve been taken into our warships.”

“What about Qu Yongyi?” Adrian asked with eyes overflowing with murder.

Fayn frowned. “He…We still haven’t found him. His private spaceship, as well as the assistants accompanying him, are all gone. He probably escaped before we arrived.”

Adrian stroked Zhong Yan’s terminal and was quiet for a moment. Only then did Fayn really begin to worry. From what he knew, Adrian had never been a passive person no matter what sort of serious matters happened. It goes without saying how important it was if they could capture Qu Yongyi, but Adrian actually didn’t react at all when he heard that he escaped.

Just when he was about to leave Adrian here and head out to arrest him himself, Adrian said gloomily, “Pass on my order. Transfer out the first division unit and seal the border.”

“The border?” Fayn was slightly stunned. For a moment, he couldn’t figure out what the relationship between the first division and sealing the border was. “Hasn’t the border always been sealed?”

“I’m not talking about our borders.”

Only then did Fayn realize what he was saying. He was shocked. “You want to seal Lebor’s borders?! Do you know how serious that move is?!”

“I’m very clear. This is the result of my deliberation.” Adrian took no refusals. “Is Intron in our warship? Contact him, tell him to check the list of Qu Yongyi’s entourage. Don’t miss a single name. I want the ones still alive.”

Fayn calmly asked, “Lebor is within ‘Butterfly’s’ scope of control. We’ve already received serious warnings and interception just with me bringing in a small troop earlier. Even though this place is remote and the Capital’s forces won’t be able to reach here for a while, ‘Butterfly’s’ orders have no limits on their distance. What if he orders the Lebor System’s troops to resist us?”

“Look for Intron. Ask him to release a joint announcement with us. On the way of Councilor Zhong Yan’s return, he was met with Qu Yongyi’s armed ambush. He is the interim Council Head of Lebor and his goal…This is Lebor System’s provocation towards the Navi System through me, and the Capital at Councilor through Zhong Yan’s.” Adrian had clearly thought about it very clearly and ordered without hesitation. “I want the public relations department and legal affairs to polish up the wanted order. Stick on as many crimes on them as possible. Tell the third and fifth units to follow the first unit to the border just to deter them. Do not fire unless it’s an emergency. Hold the twelfth unit in Navi’s borders and prepare heavy duty cross-planet long-range strike weapons. In the event of a crossfire, shoot immediately. Don’t just stand there, Adjutant, execute the order!”

Fayn obeyed. “Yes!”

He turned and left to carry out his orders. Adrian took a few deep breaths to suppress the anger in his heart. Pearson’s move on Lebor seemed to be a rash move, but it was actually a surefire plan. If someone from his party could gain the position of Head of Council, then he could take over that resource-rich star system. Otherwise, he could use his trump card, Qu Yongyi, disguising him as an anti-AI supporter to perform the assassination mission.

Adrian turned on his terminal and contacted the person from the intelligence department who was in contact with Intron. He wanted to ask “Specimen” to provide evidence to help convict Lebor’s Council Head as a criminal.

The Lebor System. If he moves his troops to occupy it now, then he won’t be returning it to the Capital. In any case, Pearson was too far away from him. Without Zhong Yan around, it would be difficult for him to get his hands on Pearson directly. However, Pearson and “Butterfly” had both taken a fancy to the Lebor System that was right on his doorstep, so he will teach them a lesson without standing on ceremony.

Before Zhong Yan lost consciousness, he had told Adrian the password to his personal terminal. He could turn on Zhong Yan’s terminal and give direct instructions to “Specimen” himself, but he did not do so.

This was what Zhong Yan entrusted to him, but the will is only to be executed after the death of his person. There are still decades before Zhong Yan’s will should really come into effect.

The terminal password was the most important thing to a person, and the most private. And for such a password, Zhong Yan had actually used the date “ten years ago from today”. Only now, after being blank on it for so long, did Adrian finally think of it. Today is the day they got married, then what day was it…ten years ago from today?

He suddenly recalled something, and quickly turned on his terminal to look at the date—Ten years ago from today was a Sunday.

On the second Monday of January every year was the start of school for the Supreme Institution. Ten years ago was the day before school started for the Supreme Institution…It was the day he and Zhong Yan met for the first time.

Adrian looked at the calendar and was out of it for a long time. He used to have Zhong Yan’s birthday as his password, but he changed it after they graduated. But Zhong Yan…In these seven years, what did he feel every time he had to put in his password upon opening his terminal?

The rescue mission lasted for four hours, and Adrian sat in the compartment separated by that wall with a heavy heart for four hours. It wasn’t until Wei Lan walked out of the surgery room and told him himself that Zhong Yan’s life was no longer in danger did Adrian finally loosen up. Due to the immense blood loss coupled with the effect of the hallucinogens, he finally could not hold on after four hours of mental stress, and fell over.

……

钟晏再次睁眼之后，盯着天花板上熟悉又陌生的吊灯看了很久。

When Zhong Yan opened his eyes once more, he stared at the familiar yet unfamiliar ceiling light above him for a long time.

He didn’t know why but his brain felt stiff. Everything seemed like it was covered with a layer of something, and his thoughts were particularly scattered. Only after a few minutes was he able to barely recall that this was the chandelier in Adrian’s bedroom. He had lived in Adrian’s room for more than half a month, so he recognized it.

After straightening out that thought, he settled down. He wanted to fall back into sleep, but was unsuccessful.

The soft sound of the door could be heard; someone entered the room. The person walked to the bed and seemed to have put something down at the headboard. Then, a soft touch was felt on his cheek before the deep voice of a man could be heard asking by his ear, “Xiao Yan, are you awake?”

Zhong Yan heard that familiar voice and struggled to open his eyes again. Groggily, he said, “Adrian.”

“It’s me.” Adrian leaned down and kissed his forehead. “Do you want to drink water? I went out and poured you a glass.”

Water. Zhong Yan thought about it for a while. Water can form lakes, and also the ocean…That’s right. The ocean. Adrian. Why is Adrian here? He hated him, he would never treat him this kindly.

Zhong Yan was clearly distracted, but Adrian waited patiently for his response. Wei Lan told him that the effect of the anesthesia is very strong. It might still affect him for half an hour after waking up, and for a short while, his thoughts may not be too clear, but he will be fine once the anesthetics wear off.

Adrian would prefer this effect to last a little longer. If the anesthesia wears off, then Zhong Yan would begin to hurt. The painkillers would only relieve his pain to some extent.

“Is this heaven?” Zhong Yan asked seriously as he blinked.

Adrian didn’t know whether he should laugh or cry. He put a pillow under his head and fed him the water through a straw. “It’s not, Wei Lan managed to save you. Now we’re at home.”

While drinking, Zhong Yan stared at Adrian almost as if he had never seen him before, and he didn’t know whether he even understood him or not. Zhong Yan had always been a rational and self-sufficient person. He had never seen him this confused in his life before. Adrian felt an itch tugging at his heart. After feeding him water, he couldn’t help but tease him. “How could heaven look like our home?”

“It is Heaven.” Zhong Yan could finally talk after the straw was moved away. “This is how good you are to me in my dreams. That’s the light before death, that thing called…the will-o’-the-wisp. Scientific research shows that a person could hallucinate before his death, and that was…”

He was trying to explain science on one hand but talking about Heaven from mythology on the other. Also, under the effects of the anesthesia, his words came out slurred, so he started to confuse himself after a short few sentences.

And when Adrian heard what Zhong Yan said about him treating him this good only in his dreams, he felt his heart hurt. He took his left hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss before raising it in front of him. “Do you see this? Does Heaven have this?”

A very simple silver ring adorned Zhong Yan’s left ring finger.

“This ring…” Zhong Yan kept his eyes still on it for a moment and couldn’t figure out what it was for. So, he said his honest, intuitive feelings that he would never say when he was sober. “It’s so ugly.”