Chapter 85- Zhaoqi, The Grey Pigeon
He Ruge was worn down by Xi Guican and could only change his male protagonist’s rebirth wish-fulfillment story into a pure love story.
Now the difficult part came: for an author who struggled with naming, sometimes it took ten seconds to come up with a plot twist but ten days to name a character.
Should he really name the protagonist “Xi Guican”? However, military-themed stories in the interstellar era were usually written in a realistic autobiographical style.
If he directly named the protagonist “Xi Guican,” would it cause misunderstandings, or worse, anger among Xi Guican’s fans, who might feel their idol was being fantasized about by others?
Xi Guican rested his chin on He Ruge’s shoulder, watching as He Ruge’s slender fingers slid across the screen, clearly lost in thought.
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“How about calling him No. 20?”
“Only those who were involved in those events know that my code name was No. 20.”
Xi Guican’s thin lips came close to He Ruge’s earlobe, his voice low and hoarse, like a lover’s touch caressing the ear.
“Tell me, when someone sees their sins exposed to the public, do they feel a moment of panic?”
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He Ruge turned his head, meeting those murky blue eyes. Perhaps it was the mist from the hot springs that blurred his vision, or perhaps the other’s eyes were just too profound, as if they held a thousand words.
He Ruge’s thoughts dissolved into that deep blue, without communication. In that moment, he felt a spiritual connection, understanding Xi Guican’s meaning.
Only those who were involved in those events knew. It was unfair; those deeply guilty could tread on the corpses of the past and live comfortably, enjoying honor and power.
“Alright. He’s called No. 20. He’s an experimental subject with a tragic past. The antagonist of this story is a demon who has lost all humanity, the leader of the Janitors Organization. They organized human experiments prohibited by the Federation, transplanting insect wings onto the subjects. The batch of subjects that No. 20 belonged to was considered a failure, so they were thrown into the star war as cannon fodder, not only for disposal but also to cover their tracks.”
Inspiration flowed continuously as He Ruge whispered softly, “However, what the antagonist didn’t expect was that the experiments were not failures. No. 20 is actually a precious specimen. Each death is a rebirth, and he becomes stronger after each rebirth.”
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“He has an ability: each time he’s reborn, he can access someone else’s memories, change his appearance, and disguise himself as someone else. The first time he disguised himself, he posed as a low-ranking member of the Janitors in the star war and learned some secrets of the organization.”
“With each rebirth, he disguises himself as a member of the Janitors Organization, from a peripheral character to a core one.”
Xi Guican affectionately rubbed his face against He Ruge’s, whispering softly, “Why did you give him this ability?”
“Maybe it will cause discord within the organization?” He Ruge wasn’t sure.
“What do you think of this plot?”
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“It’s excellent.” Xi Guican hugged the person in his arms.
“Perhaps we can start by identifying the members of the Janitors Organization, adapting real people, and incorporating them into this story. Actually… I might have some guesses about their identities. Do you remember the final experimental kill list from the game?”
He Ruge naturally wouldn’t forget the “kill list” experiment. When he saw his own name at the top of the list, the shock in his heart was almost overwhelming.
“Your name appeared on the kill list in the game, but it was probably just the game’s dark humor. I didn’t see your real name on the actual kill list back then. Everyone on the kill list was a well-known figure in the interstellar community.”
“Although I can’t remember many of the names on that list, I can vaguely recall the first few. The people on the kill list were the targets the organization wanted to eliminate. As long as we find these people and combine their identities, can’t we follow the trail to find the mastermind hiding in the dark?”
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A cold smile crept up the handsome and stern face, unseen by He Ruge.
“Let me think… What was the name of the first person on the list? Ah, I remember now.”
“His name is Shang Zhaoqi.”
Shang Zhaoqi was organizing detailed information. If anyone could see his database, they would be shocked by the detailed information on various famous Federation figures.
Shang Zhaoqi was the head of intelligence for the Grey Dove Corps, a key figure in the Federation Military Intelligence Department. His presence had always been weak, perhaps due to his dovish stance. The military had always been dominated by hawks, and dovish individuals like him often felt marginalized and oppressed.
But Shang Zhaoqi never cared about these things. He was indifferent to fame and fortune, always willing to let his colleagues take the spotlight.
A narrow-minded, vengeful snake, the typical hawkish individual, with a hawkish attitude. He had sailed smoothly in the Intelligence Department for many years, except for one time when he met the monster called No. 20.
In fact, Shang Zhaoqi’s attitude towards the surveillance task on No. 20 back then was not to push too hard. No. 20 had just come out of the Star Sea Orphanage as an experimental subject, living under the watchful eye of the lab since childhood. He should naturally detest surveillance and the like.
No need to push No. 20 too hard or too tightly.
Shang Zhaoqi’s view was that they needed to let No. 20 feel the Federation’s goodwill. As long as they knew roughly where No. 20 was, they wouldn’t let him make major mistakes.
However, Zheng Chaochen didn’t see it that way. His inherent pride and cruelty made him biased against entities like No. 20. He wanted to closely monitor this little monster, from his daily routines to every aspect of his life.
Anyone who had contact with No. 20 had to be documented, as if researchers were recording data on lab mice.
One thing Zheng Chaochen didn’t say wrong was that No. 20 was inherently rebellious, with the blood of sin running through him. If not kept in check, he could easily commit irreversible mistakes.
For example, digging out the eyes of Zheng Chaochen’s most valued subordinate was essentially like digging into Zheng Chaochen’s heart.
When Zheng Chaochen had a stroke of bad luck, Shang Zhaoqi couldn’t help but laugh. In Shang Zhaoqi’s intelligence records, No. 20 was an extremely special existence, with a tragic past, astonishing talents, rapid rise, and rapid fall.
Like a shooting star, when he finally appeared before the world, it was also the moment of his downfall.
In fact, when No. 20 revealed that he had named himself Xi Guican, Shang Zhaoqi briefly thought that this young major had a bright future and a brilliant life.
What a pity.
Unfortunately, he suffered from Vortex Mental Self-devouring Syndrome.
Shang Zhaoqi felt sorry for Xi Guican’s downfall, because in these two star wars, the hawks were too dominant. With the onset of the star wars, most of the Federation’s resources were shifted to the hawks, and the majority of excellent commanders belonged to the hawks. Over time, the dovish faction’s influence would become increasingly weak.
Xi Guican was undoubtedly the most dazzling figure in the star wars. Although he refused the olive branch extended by the dovish faction, at the same time, he also rejected the hawks. He was a rare neutral presence. If the dovish faction could befriend him, it would be like gaining an ally to balance the hawks.
Shang Zhaoqi just happened to have information on “Xi Guican.” When his eyes fell on the words “recovering from illness,” he couldn’t help but shake his head, a look of pity for the talented.
Until he saw the latest intelligence—
Xi Guican had recovered.
This news was like a bombshell, alarming the upper echelons of the Federation and threatening to disrupt the precarious balance between the dovish and hawkish factions.
“Who is Shang Zhaoqi?” He Ruge asked curiously.
“He’s an old dove, in charge of intelligence in the military.”
Xi Guican stroked He Ruge’s waist-length black hair, “He’s from the dovish faction, and many of the names on the list belong to the dovish faction.”
“Great, now we have a crucial piece of information. The mastermind behind the scenes may be from the hawkish faction,” He Ruge said.
“Not necessarily, it’s possible that someone from the dovish faction is purging dissidents,” Xi Guican shook his head.
“How many can you remember?”
The kill list was crucial to breaking the deadlock, and He Ruge was feeling nervous.
Xi Guican hadn’t paid much attention to the kill list back then; he just glanced at it casually because he never intended to execute the mission.
“Three or four.”
He Ruge felt uneasy; it was very uncomfortable to let go of crucial clues right before his eyes. He couldn’t help but pin his hopes on the game. The game seemed to know a lot of things.
If he ignored the kill list that had been used to tease him, then the unplayed kill list from the game should be the original list, right?
Could he get the kill list from the game, and would he see Ruanruan again?
He really wanted to know but didn’t dare to investigate further. He was afraid that the past was the past, and the game was just a game.
Even though he knew that people couldn’t come back to life, He Ruge still held onto a glimmer of hope in the game, hoping for a miracle.
As long as Ruanruan was still there, even if it was the false existence of Ruanruan in the game, it would still be a comfort in the face of cruel reality.
He Ruge logged into the game on the light brain and carefully examined all the contents of the game, hoping to find parts he had missed about Ruanruan and the kill list.
However, he found nothing.
Huh, something seemed off—
[Dear player, your cultivation task is to use love to influence Xi Guican. There are many rewards for the task. To help players complete the task, this game has implemented language barrier-free conversion for you and provided interstellar identities and dual cultivation techniques. Each completed level will provide generous rewards.]
Generous rewards for each completed level.
He Ruge widened his eyes slowly, and a truth that seemed impossible but highly possible surfaced.
Could it be… these rewards were the key to breaking the deadlock?!
Just like when he opened the pink capsule toy in the game, all the items he drew were used. Given the nature of this trash game, these rewards after dual cultivation were probably what he and Xi Guican needed most right now.
He Ruge was greatly shocked. He raised his head blankly and said to Xi Guican, “I-I might know a way to get the complete kill list from back then.”
In the face of Xi Guican’s serious expression, He Ruge found it difficult to speak for a moment. He said with great difficulty, “But this may require you to cooperate with me in dual cultivation.”
Xi Guican’s blue eyes instantly brightened, and he cooperated eagerly, “I’m willing, I’m willing!”
He Ruge: “…”
He had a feeling that this was a conspiracy of that trash game.
Chapter 85- Zhaoqi, The Grey Pigeon
He Ruge was worn down by Xi Guican and could only change his male protagonist’s rebirth wish-fulfillment story into a pure love story.
Now the difficult part came: for an author who struggled with naming, sometimes it took ten seconds to come up with a plot twist but ten days to name a character.
Should he really name the protagonist “Xi Guican”? However, military-themed stories in the interstellar era were usually written in a realistic autobiographical style.
If he directly named the protagonist “Xi Guican,” would it cause misunderstandings, or worse, anger among Xi Guican’s fans, who might feel their idol was being fantasized about by others?
Xi Guican rested his chin on He Ruge’s shoulder, watching as He Ruge’s slender fingers slid across the screen, clearly lost in thought.
Advertisement
“How about calling him No. 20?”
“Only those who were involved in those events know that my code name was No. 20.”
Xi Guican’s thin lips came close to He Ruge’s earlobe, his voice low and hoarse, like a lover’s touch caressing the ear.
“Tell me, when someone sees their sins exposed to the public, do they feel a moment of panic?”
Advertisement
He Ruge turned his head, meeting those murky blue eyes. Perhaps it was the mist from the hot springs that blurred his vision, or perhaps the other’s eyes were just too profound, as if they held a thousand words.
He Ruge’s thoughts dissolved into that deep blue, without communication. In that moment, he felt a spiritual connection, understanding Xi Guican’s meaning.
Only those who were involved in those events knew. It was unfair; those deeply guilty could tread on the corpses of the past and live comfortably, enjoying honor and power.
“Alright. He’s called No. 20. He’s an experimental subject with a tragic past. The antagonist of this story is a demon who has lost all humanity, the leader of the Janitors Organization. They organized human experiments prohibited by the Federation, transplanting insect wings onto the subjects. The batch of subjects that No. 20 belonged to was considered a failure, so they were thrown into the star war as cannon fodder, not only for disposal but also to cover their tracks.”
Inspiration flowed continuously as He Ruge whispered softly, “However, what the antagonist didn’t expect was that the experiments were not failures. No. 20 is actually a precious specimen. Each death is a rebirth, and he becomes stronger after each rebirth.”
Advertisement
“He has an ability: each time he’s reborn, he can access someone else’s memories, change his appearance, and disguise himself as someone else. The first time he disguised himself, he posed as a low-ranking member of the Janitors in the star war and learned some secrets of the organization.”
“With each rebirth, he disguises himself as a member of the Janitors Organization, from a peripheral character to a core one.”
Xi Guican affectionately rubbed his face against He Ruge’s, whispering softly, “Why did you give him this ability?”
“Maybe it will cause discord within the organization?” He Ruge wasn’t sure.
“What do you think of this plot?”
Advertisement
“It’s excellent.” Xi Guican hugged the person in his arms.
“Perhaps we can start by identifying the members of the Janitors Organization, adapting real people, and incorporating them into this story. Actually… I might have some guesses about their identities. Do you remember the final experimental kill list from the game?”
He Ruge naturally wouldn’t forget the “kill list” experiment. When he saw his own name at the top of the list, the shock in his heart was almost overwhelming.
“Your name appeared on the kill list in the game, but it was probably just the game’s dark humor. I didn’t see your real name on the actual kill list back then. Everyone on the kill list was a well-known figure in the interstellar community.”
“Although I can’t remember many of the names on that list, I can vaguely recall the first few. The people on the kill list were the targets the organization wanted to eliminate. As long as we find these people and combine their identities, can’t we follow the trail to find the mastermind hiding in the dark?”
Advertisement
A cold smile crept up the handsome and stern face, unseen by He Ruge.
“Let me think… What was the name of the first person on the list? Ah, I remember now.”
“His name is Shang Zhaoqi.”
Shang Zhaoqi was organizing detailed information. If anyone could see his database, they would be shocked by the detailed information on various famous Federation figures.
Shang Zhaoqi was the head of intelligence for the Grey Dove Corps, a key figure in the Federation Military Intelligence Department. His presence had always been weak, perhaps due to his dovish stance. The military had always been dominated by hawks, and dovish individuals like him often felt marginalized and oppressed.
But Shang Zhaoqi never cared about these things. He was indifferent to fame and fortune, always willing to let his colleagues take the spotlight.
A narrow-minded, vengeful snake, the typical hawkish individual, with a hawkish attitude. He had sailed smoothly in the Intelligence Department for many years, except for one time when he met the monster called No. 20.
In fact, Shang Zhaoqi’s attitude towards the surveillance task on No. 20 back then was not to push too hard. No. 20 had just come out of the Star Sea Orphanage as an experimental subject, living under the watchful eye of the lab since childhood. He should naturally detest surveillance and the like.
No need to push No. 20 too hard or too tightly.
Shang Zhaoqi’s view was that they needed to let No. 20 feel the Federation’s goodwill. As long as they knew roughly where No. 20 was, they wouldn’t let him make major mistakes.
However, Zheng Chaochen didn’t see it that way. His inherent pride and cruelty made him biased against entities like No. 20. He wanted to closely monitor this little monster, from his daily routines to every aspect of his life.
Anyone who had contact with No. 20 had to be documented, as if researchers were recording data on lab mice.
One thing Zheng Chaochen didn’t say wrong was that No. 20 was inherently rebellious, with the blood of sin running through him. If not kept in check, he could easily commit irreversible mistakes.
For example, digging out the eyes of Zheng Chaochen’s most valued subordinate was essentially like digging into Zheng Chaochen’s heart.
When Zheng Chaochen had a stroke of bad luck, Shang Zhaoqi couldn’t help but laugh. In Shang Zhaoqi’s intelligence records, No. 20 was an extremely special existence, with a tragic past, astonishing talents, rapid rise, and rapid fall.
Like a shooting star, when he finally appeared before the world, it was also the moment of his downfall.
In fact, when No. 20 revealed that he had named himself Xi Guican, Shang Zhaoqi briefly thought that this young major had a bright future and a brilliant life.
What a pity.
Unfortunately, he suffered from Vortex Mental Self-devouring Syndrome.
Shang Zhaoqi felt sorry for Xi Guican’s downfall, because in these two star wars, the hawks were too dominant. With the onset of the star wars, most of the Federation’s resources were shifted to the hawks, and the majority of excellent commanders belonged to the hawks. Over time, the dovish faction’s influence would become increasingly weak.
Xi Guican was undoubtedly the most dazzling figure in the star wars. Although he refused the olive branch extended by the dovish faction, at the same time, he also rejected the hawks. He was a rare neutral presence. If the dovish faction could befriend him, it would be like gaining an ally to balance the hawks.
Shang Zhaoqi just happened to have information on “Xi Guican.” When his eyes fell on the words “recovering from illness,” he couldn’t help but shake his head, a look of pity for the talented.
Until he saw the latest intelligence—
Xi Guican had recovered.
This news was like a bombshell, alarming the upper echelons of the Federation and threatening to disrupt the precarious balance between the dovish and hawkish factions.
“Who is Shang Zhaoqi?” He Ruge asked curiously.
“He’s an old dove, in charge of intelligence in the military.”
Xi Guican stroked He Ruge’s waist-length black hair, “He’s from the dovish faction, and many of the names on the list belong to the dovish faction.”
“Great, now we have a crucial piece of information. The mastermind behind the scenes may be from the hawkish faction,” He Ruge said.
“Not necessarily, it’s possible that someone from the dovish faction is purging dissidents,” Xi Guican shook his head.
“How many can you remember?”
The kill list was crucial to breaking the deadlock, and He Ruge was feeling nervous.
Xi Guican hadn’t paid much attention to the kill list back then; he just glanced at it casually because he never intended to execute the mission.
“Three or four.”
He Ruge felt uneasy; it was very uncomfortable to let go of crucial clues right before his eyes. He couldn’t help but pin his hopes on the game. The game seemed to know a lot of things.
If he ignored the kill list that had been used to tease him, then the unplayed kill list from the game should be the original list, right?
Could he get the kill list from the game, and would he see Ruanruan again?
He really wanted to know but didn’t dare to investigate further. He was afraid that the past was the past, and the game was just a game.
Even though he knew that people couldn’t come back to life, He Ruge still held onto a glimmer of hope in the game, hoping for a miracle.
As long as Ruanruan was still there, even if it was the false existence of Ruanruan in the game, it would still be a comfort in the face of cruel reality.
He Ruge logged into the game on the light brain and carefully examined all the contents of the game, hoping to find parts he had missed about Ruanruan and the kill list.
However, he found nothing.
Huh, something seemed off—
[Dear player, your cultivation task is to use love to influence Xi Guican. There are many rewards for the task. To help players complete the task, this game has implemented language barrier-free conversion for you and provided interstellar identities and dual cultivation techniques. Each completed level will provide generous rewards.]
Generous rewards for each completed level.
He Ruge widened his eyes slowly, and a truth that seemed impossible but highly possible surfaced.
Could it be… these rewards were the key to breaking the deadlock?!
Just like when he opened the pink capsule toy in the game, all the items he drew were used. Given the nature of this trash game, these rewards after dual cultivation were probably what he and Xi Guican needed most right now.
He Ruge was greatly shocked. He raised his head blankly and said to Xi Guican, “I-I might know a way to get the complete kill list from back then.”
In the face of Xi Guican’s serious expression, He Ruge found it difficult to speak for a moment. He said with great difficulty, “But this may require you to cooperate with me in dual cultivation.”
Xi Guican’s blue eyes instantly brightened, and he cooperated eagerly, “I’m willing, I’m willing!”
He Ruge: “…”
He had a feeling that this was a conspiracy of that trash game.
