Chapter 13: District Fourteen (Part 2)
Looking at the biological information storage chips scattered all over the floor, Charles’s brows tightened. He ordered the soldiers behind him, “Go pull the monitoring reports from every shuttle. Also send two people to check the aboveground surveillance.”
“Yes, sir.”
The sudden change disrupted everyone’s plans. After a long silence, Charles slowly said, “I’ve already sent people to look for him. He should be back later.”
“Then let’s wait for a while.”
Jin Chi’an walked closer to the messy desk. His gaze was unconsciously drawn to the carefully preserved photo frame on the tabletop.
Under a massive apricot tree, a girl was holding a young white tiger in her arms. Her eyes shimmered like falling meteors. Her smiling face was bright and bold, like warm sunlight capable of melting winter ice and snow.
Even through the photo paper, she made it hard for people to look away.
But Jin Chi’an was different. From the moment he picked up the frame, his gaze never moved away from the white tiger in the girl’s arms.
Seeing him staring in a daze, a gentle smile appeared in Charles’s eyes.
“He looks a lot like Felix when he was little, but Xiao Yi was much more obedient than that brat in my family.”
“Felix when he was little…”
Perhaps because he had never heard anyone talk about Felix’s past, Jin Chi’an seemed quite interested. He rather wanted to know what that white tiger, who acted spoiled and cute during his frenzy period, had been like as a child.
“That brat was fierce when he was little. Even with a dozen people serving him, he refused to eat. After he was sent to school, he loved bullying his classmates too. Relying on the strength of his beast form, he beat up every feline he disliked.”
Charles held his forehead, clearly unwilling to recall it.
Jin Chi’an, on the other hand, listened with great interest. The corners of his mouth unconsciously curved slightly.
“That does sound quite like…”
Seeing him in such a good mood, Charles was happy to use embarrassing stories about his younger brother to get closer to his sibling-in-law.
“Felines are all like that when they’re young. When Felix first arrived home, he carried a dirty yarn ball in his mouth every day. No matter how we pulled, he wouldn’t let go.”
As if remembering something amusing, Charles chuckled and continued, “Later, a stray cat stole the yarn ball while he was sleeping. Because of that, he even triggered a frenzy. In the end, he ran out by himself and searched for days before finding the yarn ball in a trash can. By then, it was already filthy beyond recognition.”
Seeing Charles talking to himself, a trace of suspicion flashed through Jin Chi’an’s eyes.
“When he first arrived home? You and Felix… aren’t biological brothers?”
“Of course not. My beast form is a cobra. We’re both children adopted by Father.”
Jin Chi’an swallowed the saliva that had gathered in his mouth, urgently wanting to know the answer to the question in his heart.
“Then when Felix was adopted, he was…”
“Report!”
The soldier who had just been sent out returned with news, interrupting Jin Chi’an before he could finish speaking.
“Reporting, Lieutenant General. Shuttle SN002 showed signs of use last night, but due to long-term disrepair, the user’s DNA was not detected.”
“Are there any results from the aboveground search?” Charles asked, his expression displeased.
“No trace of the child was found in the military garrison area. The user should have shuttled to the frontline combat zone.”
“Can the Sky Eye be used to search aboveground?”
“That may be difficult.”
The soldier looked troubled.
“The fighting has been tense lately. Any slight movement could make the enemy misunderstand it as a signal to begin battle.”
Charles folded his hands together, his thumbs constantly rubbing the backs of his hands. A layer of coldness covered his eyes, and his slightly furrowed brows made the situation appear especially grave.
“Let me go. I can find that child’s whereabouts.”
Jin Chi’an stroked Xiao Yi’s desk, sensing the unique mental power on it.
Their eyes met. Seeing the firmness in Jin Chi’an’s gaze, Charles nodded and instructed the soldier at the door, “Notify the ground troops to prepare their defenses and fully cooperate with the Allied Forces.”
Shuttle SN201 brought everyone to Aboveground Military Garrison Area One.
The vast Gobi landscape of the frontline came into view. The uneven ground was covered with traces left by fallen shells.
A miserable scream rang beside their ears.
Looking toward the source of the sound, they saw a half-beastified male lion beastman receiving treatment.
An entire bottle of medical disinfectant was poured onto his wound, where white bone was exposed. The crude medical facilities made it feel as if they had been transported hundreds of years into the past.
Seeing the confusion in everyone’s eyes, Charles patiently explained, “District Fourteen is the poorest region of Iskan. This place has been at war all year round, and its economic conditions are nowhere near as favorable as those of other planets. Leaving resources for the people of the underground city was a decision voted on by District Fourteen’s beastman soldiers.”
Charles looked at Jin Chi’an, whose expression had been touched.
“Feel free to ask for anything you need. I’ll have them prepare it.”
“No need. Let’s begin.”
Jin Chi’an spread out his mental network. Tens of thousands of mental tendrils extended across the ground.
Countless mental-power fluctuations surged into his mind. There was Charles’s powerful overflowing mental energy, and there were also weak ones, dying ones. It seemed as if every point of light that the consciousness cloud could sense carried emotion.
The mental power across the entirety of District Fourteen was filled with the aura of fear, yet amid the countless points of light, he could also sense soaring spirits.
Even the mental power that was fading away was nourishing the barren yet upward-growing life around it.
Sensing the gradual loss of his mental power, Jin Chi’an panted heavily. Finally, in a place piled with fading points of light, he found that special mental power.
“Found him.”
Jin Chi’an recovered from the excessive use of mental power and pulled up the aboveground map of District Fourteen that Charles had sent to his optical computer. He pointed to an area marked with a gray flag.
“He’s here.”
The District Fourteen soldiers gathered around them all changed from initial joy to astonishment. They did not dare breathe loudly as they looked toward Charles, whose expression had changed.
“That is the burial ground established by the enemy army.”
Charles sighed.
“District Fourteen is located in Iskan’s marginal star region. Zerg invasions have been continuous. During a war with the Kashemir several decades ago, they established a burial ground at the edge of the battlefield. They made whistles out of the finger bones of our beastman soldiers and threw them into the burial ground, letting the strong winds that blow there year-round sound them, echoing through the entire canyon.”
Hearing this, Qin Hua shuddered and rubbed the goosebumps rising on his arms.
“Kashemir again. As if looking disgusting wasn’t enough, their hearts are filthy too.”
Charles looked in the direction of the burial ground and was about to pray that Xiao Yi could return on the shuttle by himself when a voice shattered his hope.
“Reporting, Lieutenant General. Shuttle SN002’s signal has been cut off. It is suspected to have been destroyed.”
A soldier jogged forward and reported the situation to Charles.
Charles clenched his fists tightly, and the dilemma on his face remained unresolved for a long time.
Jin Chi’an saw his difficulty.
“Let us go. The interference there won’t affect us. Besides, this was originally our job.”
“Then I’ll have to trouble you to bring Xiao Yi back.”
Charles lightly patted Jin Chi’an’s shoulder and gave instructions to the surrounding soldiers.
After receiving the order, the soldiers pushed several old-fashioned motorcycles in front of Frontline Reconnaissance Team Two and introduced them.
“We are currently in a ceasefire stage. All mechas and other heavy combat equipment cannot appear in the frontline area. Only these few desert motorcycles are within the permitted range. Once you reach the burial ground, you’ll no longer be in the frontline combat zone.”
Qin Hua took a motorcycle from one of the soldiers. The moment he straddled it, dust that had accumulated on the seat for who knew how long rose up, choking him until he kept coughing.
“Cough, cough. What kind of antique is this?”
Although his mouth was full of disdain, his body was very honest. He drove the motorcycle around the area once.
Seeing that he had quickly gotten used to it, Xi Lian and the others also mounted their motorcycles one after another. Only Jin Chi’an remained frozen in place, at a loss.
“Um, I’ll just…”
“He can ride with me.”
Qin Hua drove the motorcycle to a stop in front of Jin Chi’an and gave him a look, signaling him to sit in the back seat.
Given a way out, Jin Chi’an did not hesitate. He straddled the back seat behind Qin Hua and was just about to place his hands on Qin Hua’s shoulders when he withdrew them under Charles’s stress-induced beastified gaze.
Remembering how much of a younger-brother fanatic Charles seemed to be, Jin Chi’an awkwardly squeezed out a smile at him.
Charles seemed to realize his own loss of composure and changed back to human pupils. He looked toward Qin Hua in the front seat with a hint of warning. Seeing Qin Hua excitedly rev the motorcycle until it roared, Charles could only say helplessly, “Be careful.”
Having received permission, Frontline Reconnaissance Team Two drove the motorcycles out at high speed. Waves of sand and dust swept across the barren Gobi desert as they gradually advanced toward the burial ground.
When the group reached the outer edge of the canyon, waves of desolate whistling circled around their ears. The strange sound was like the wails of the dead, making everyone shudder.
“No wonder the people of District Fourteen refuse to come to this place,” Xi Lian murmured, his face deathly pale.
Seeing that the beastmen in the team all had unpleasant expressions, Jin Chi’an hesitantly sent out his mental tendrils, extending them toward the burial ground deep in the canyon.
Immediately afterward, a whistle that had passed through countless layers of mountain rock and transformed into a tiger’s roar came through. Jin Chi’an was instantly dragged into an illusion.
He brushed aside the mist before his eyes. An orange tiger howled as it ran toward a couple who were opening their arms to him.
The woman with long hair picked up Little Orange and held him in her arms, affectionately smoothing down the fur he had rubbed into a mess.
Under Little Orange’s expectant gaze, the man beside her took out a tiger toy knitted from yarn from his arms. After the little tiger pounced and bit at it several times, the man stuffed it into his embrace.
Jin Chi’an tentatively took a step forward, but the scene before him vanished in an instant and brought him to another setting.
He saw that the original Little Orange had grown into an adult tiger, running across the open wilderness and mountains. A blond girl sat astride its yellow-and-black back, her hair flying freely in the gentle breeze.
Jin Chi’an took another step forward, trying to keep up with the tiger’s pace, but the scene before him suddenly changed once again.
This time, the tiger had transformed into a human form. Fluffy tiger ears grew from his unkempt medium-length hair, and quite a bit of dirt was smeared across his cheeks.
The tiger beastman leaned against a rock. After tidying his appearance, he dialed a video call on his optical computer.
In the video, that blond girl was also holding a young tiger in her arms. The moment the two tigers saw each other, smiles appeared on both their faces.
Jin Chi’an’s feet moved again. The scene before him gradually became covered by a thick layer of fog. In the end, he could only hear the faint voices of the people inside.
“He’s already grown so big… When I go back this time, it’ll be time to teach him how to hunt wild rabbits.”
“Mm. Come home early…”
The illusion completely dissipated.
Jin Chi’an returned to his senses. The mountain valley’s river ditch appeared before him in an instant. Only then did he realize that he was already standing on the edge of a cliff, his left arm being gripped tightly by someone.
Qin Hua, standing behind him, pulled him back while nervously calling his name.
“Chi’an…”
