The Third Rebirth (REBIRTH)
Jiang Cancan quickly noticed the scene that was completely out of sync with the current atmosphere—feeding each other candy and smiling at one another, it was blindingly sweet.
Seeing Ye Xiao arrive, his mood was as bright as the sunshine, and he called out with a grin, "Hey, you over there, can you pay attention to the occasion? We're in the middle of a fight, stop being so lovey-dovey!"
Ye Xiao heard him, and his ears turned red in an instant. Ling Chen felt the itch to do something but knew it wasn't the right time, so he quickly forced himself to shift his attention.
Apart from the initial chaos, the members of Holy Judgement quickly calmed down and swiftly sought cover to avoid the sniper's shots. Before long, the advantage brought by Jian Lan became extremely limited.
But Ling Chen's side had already turned the situation around in a very short time and almost pulled it to a draw, with neither side gaining the upper hand. After Ye Xiao arrived, the numbers on both sides became five against eight.
The surroundings were filled with intermittent gunfire, each shot seeming to shatter the eardrums. Both sides were hiding and not showing their heads while occasionally taking a shot—in such moments, whoever showed themselves first would become a live target.
Ling Chen lowered his center of gravity, glanced out from the edge of the vehicle, and suddenly asked Ye Xiao, "Tell the Captain, have you had dinner?"
Ye Xiao answered honestly, "No, I haven't."
Ling Chen: "Are you hungry?"
Ye Xiao: "Yes, I am."
Ling Chen fed him another candy before casually pinching Ye Xiao's slender, pale cheek, "Good boy, after the fight, the Captain will find you something delicious to eat."
Ye Xiao, with two candies in his mouth, nodded like a little squirrel, "Mhm!"
Meanwhile, Jiang Cancan and Jiang Mu, hiding on the other side, noticed that their Chen Ge's offensive suddenly became fierce, switching from a Buddha-like calm to a Daoist-like aggression in a second. He showed himself as a target but didn't get hit by a single bullet; instead, he managed to take down one opponent.
Jiang Cancan, while changing his magazine, shouted at the top of his lungs, "Chen Ge, have you finally woken up?"
Ling Chen calmly replied, "Little Fuzzball hasn't had dinner, he's hungry. Let's finish this early and wrap it up."
Jiang Cancan doubted his ears—this answer—well, this answer was indeed not wrong!
Soon, the balanced standoff between the two sides was broken. Jiang Cancan also showed himself by quickly running out from behind the armored vehicle he was hiding in and flamboyantly attracting fire. Ling Chen took the opportunity to take down two, and Jian Lan seized the moment to snipe one.
After making a round, Jiang Cancan leaned against the tire, catching his breath.
His arm had been grazed by a bullet, and a bit of blood had come out, but it stopped quickly. He didn't pay attention to such a minor injury and was about to go out for another round to lure out the hidden cowards when he noticed someone was faster than him—Ye Xiao popped out.
"Damn it!" Jiang Cancan was anxious, but the next second, Ye Xiao blew his mind.
Ye Xiao moved extremely fast, leaving only afterimages on the retina. It seemed like he could predict the bullet's trajectory, almost changing direction mid-dive and precisely dodging the bullets aimed at him. Without a pause in his sprint, he reached the Holy Judgement members in a few breaths.
He didn't use the gun he carried; instead, he drew his knife as a cold light flashed, and the blade plunged into the enemy's chest.
Jiang Cancan's breath almost stopped from fright, and he murmured, "So this is the essence of stepping on someone's face in a fight? Damn, that's showing off!"
On the other side, the moment Ye Xiao leaped out, Ling Chen charged towards Konins. Seeing Ling Chen approach, Konins' expression turned excited. He tilted his neck with his bloodthirsty smile. "Last time, you left a scar in my eye. When we meet again, I swear I'll gouge out your eyes!"
Ling Chen's face was filled with arrogance and ferocity as he sneered, "Try it."
Their gazes clashed in the air, and in the next second, both fired their guns, only to have their shots dodged by the other. Ling Chen took a few steps back, reached out, and with a loud "snap", pulled open the door of the armored vehicle, using it as a temporary shield as he pressed forward against Konins. Konins was no pushover either; even under the intense suppression of Ling Chen's firepower, he managed to fire a few shots back, causing trouble for Ling Chen. The smell of gunpowder quickly became overwhelming.
It didn't take long for their bullets to run out, and neither of them intended to give the other a chance to reload. They both charged forward! Ling Chen and Konins had faced each other more than once, and both were extremely familiar with each other's tactics.
Konins was tall and burly with his arm muscles bulging as his fist while carrying a terrifying force, grazed Ling Chen's temple, leaving a shallow mark the length of a knuckle. However, Ling Chen dodged in time, only breaking the skin without drawing blood.
After dodging, Ling Chen pushed off with his heel, straightened his left leg, and delivered a spinning kick with his right leg, the top of his foot slamming heavily into Konins' face.
"Playing dirty again? Hiding a blade between your fingers? You've improved!" Ling Chen didn't even pause to catch his breath. He stepped forward to grab Konins by the throat, and lifted him up before slamming him hard onto the hood of the armored vehicle. His voice was icy as he said, "Don't you know I can't bleed? Little Fuzzball will cry if he sees it!"
After saying this, he pinned Konins' legs with his iron-like fingers tightening abruptly. Konins struggled to pry Ling Chen's hand away with his eyes bulging and his face twisted in agony. In the next moment, Ling Chen caught a glimpse of something metallic in his peripheral vision and quickly let go before stepping back to avoid the finger knife Konins slashed at him.
Konins fell to the ground while barely managing to steady himself as he clutched his neck and coughing violently. Ling Chen didn't wait for him to recover. He bent down to pull a military knife from the sheath on his calf, and attacked again.
Konins was in the mercenary business, walking a path of ruthless killing.
Before Ling Chen joined the Second Division, he was a street brawler who fought with steel pipes, relying purely on instinct. After joining the Second Division, he was taken under the wing of the then-commander Liang Ling, who personally trained him. He also sparred daily with seasoned soldiers, learning a set of lethal combat skills. When facing enemies, he was equally deadly.
As the blood-grooved military knife thrust toward Konins, the latter grabbed Ling Chen's arm. Ling Chen's fingers were extremely agile, and he twisted the knife in his hand, driving it deep into Konins' arm, causing blood to spurt out. The moment Konins instinctively let go, Ling Chen bent his elbow and delivered a heavy elbow strike, knocking Konins to the ground. Just as Konins tried to get up, Ling Chen punched him again.
"Ye Xiao!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, Ye Xiao, who was passing by, threw a gun with perfect accuracy. Ling Chen caught it with the black pistol spinning in his palm before the muzzle pressed against Konins' forehead.
Konins was breathing heavily with a ring of bruises around his neck. He stared intently at Ling Chen, but a strange smile crept into his eyes.
Ling Chen first disabled the opponent's limbs to prevent any sneak attacks. He crouched down while stepping on Konins' chest with the gun barrel steady, "Come on, old friend, tell me, what exactly are you planning to do by entering D Zone this time?"
Konins' voice was hoarse, "Whatever you're planning to do, we're planning the same." He gasped, "Whoever gets their hands on the Regional Core can control the entire D Zone, even the entire Noah System. Aren't you tempted?"
Ling Chen raised an eyebrow, "Only typical villains aim to control the world. I'm busy and have no time for that."
Konins chuckled with blood frothing at the corners of his mouth, but he didn't care as he continuing to speak, "That Ye Xiao... I know him."
Ling Chen's expression immediately changed. He pressed the gun barrel hard against Konins' forehead with his aura intimidating, and said in a deep voice, "Speak."
"You care about him? Ha." Konins seemed to have discovered something that excited him greatly as his breathing quickening and his chest heaving, "He's a tough one, didn't even groan when two of his ribs were broken—"
The last word was cut off as Ling Chen's foot pressed down harder on Konins' chest, breaking his ribs and causing his chest to cave in. Hearing Konins' pained groan, Ling Chen's eyes turned icy, "You tortured him?"
Konins found it difficult to speak, but he felt he had found Ling Chen's weak spot, ignoring the pain that felt like his lungs were about to explode with every word, "Of course! He's a killing machine trained by Silver Blade. After Silver Blade disbanded, the organization captured him and tried to get him to reveal Silver Blade's secrets. He kept his mouth shut, so we had to use some methods... He was locked up for three years! Tell me, what do you think happened in those three years?"
Noticing Ling Chen's pupils constrict, as if covered in frost, Konins laughed with delight and his eyes full of malice, "Does it hurt? So you have a weakness after all! People with weaknesses always die!"
After finishing his words, blood was already flowing down his forehead from the gun barrel pressing against it, but Konins was even happier, "He escaped to D Zone, and the organization wants him back, with a bounty of eight figures... I planned to capture you, then him... The disobedient should be chained up!"
With a "bang", Ling Chen didn't give him a chance to continue, directly ending his life.
Ye Xiao had already finished the fight and was clearing the area. Various weapons were scattered on the ground, and three armored vehicles were parked neatly. Jiang Cancan was excitedly hopping around, "Chen Ge, are you done over there? Haha, we've got three more vehicles of supplies! I propose we have four dishes tonight—"
He whispered the last word "soup" very softly as he noticed the terrifying look in Ling Chen's eyes as he turned around. Jiang Cancan cautiously took a step back and asked carefully, "Chen Ge, are you in a bad mood?"
Ling Chen threw the gun in his hand to the side, walked a few steps, and seeing Ye Xiao looking at him with concern, he raised his hand, "Come here."
Ye Xiao quickly walked over before standing in front of Ling Chen but he was not afraid of him, and asked with concern, "Captain, are you unhappy?"
Ling Chen didn't answer and just asked, "Was it tiring to walk over?"
Ye Xiao shook his head, "Not tired, you didn't drive far, I got here quickly."
Ling Chen, "What do you want to eat? Do you want sweet milk? How about cherry preserves? Or a grass-woven bird?"
Ye Xiao's eyes widened slightly, "Can I have them all? I want everything!"
Ling Chen felt his breath tighten with his vocal cords strained to the point of nearly cracking. He reached out to smooth Ye Xiao's slightly overgrown hair, his voice hoarse, "Mhm, we'll head back to the car in a bit. The Captain will give you everything. We can't let our Little Fuzzball go hungry."
After speaking, he looked down at Ye Xiao and asked softly, "The Captain wants to hold you for a moment, is that okay?" Ling Chen had always been the one to issue commands and make decisions, rarely seeking others' opinions. Yet, when it came to Ye Xiao, these words flowed out naturally.
Ye Xiao had always been generous with Ling Chen and almost never refused his requests.
This time was no different.
He leaned into Ling Chen's embrace and let him hold him.
Ling Chen buried his face in the crook of Ye Xiao's neck, feeling as though his heart was about to shatter from the ache.
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•
The completed novel is now available in my Ko-fi page.
If you appreciate what I do, please consider supporting me on kofi. Thank you!
•───────•°•❀•°•───────•