Someone was determined to stop any further investigation, but the more they tried to obstruct him, the more unstoppable he became.
No matter what instruction came from Emperor Star, Gu Lin carried on as he had planned, undeterred and unfazed by any message sent his way. His persistence finally made some people unable to sit still.
What is the simplest way to make someone abandon their purpose? By ensuring they can no longer act. And the most effective way to achieve this? Make that person disappear. However, causing such an incident at this critical moment would be too conspicuous, so they devised a way to trap him instead.
You want to uncover the truth? Then let’s reveal part of it. As for whether you can escape from this “truth”, it is not our concern.
Gu Lin fell into a dream. Perhaps it was the influence of recent events, he kept reliving memories of the past. Those were secrets he had buried deep in his mind, but they kept resurfacing night after night.
Sometimes, when he woke up, he couldn’t tell if he was in the past or the present. If it wasn’t for the scent of familiar pheromones, he wouldn’t have been able to pull himself from the nightmares instantly.
Once again, he dreamed of the past. He knew he was dreaming, but he couldn’t control himself. Hatred filled his heart, directed at both the person before him and the filthy world around him.
Back then, his life was consumed by darkness. He was trapped in the world’s darkest corner, never to see sunlight, with nothing but darkness in sight.
In that place, hearts were dark, the environment was dark, even the pain was dark. His eyes stung, but no matter how much his body ached, he refused to cry. In that place, tears only made life more miserable.
He stood among broken walls and ruins, watching as a helpless child endured unimaginable suffering. For a moment, he even wondered if this scene had repeated itself before—if an older version of himself had once coldly watched his younger self suffer.
His heart had grown numb, unable to feel pain. Even hatred had lost its color. He thought he would be filled with rage at such a scene, that he would break down, but no. Strangely, he found that the mirror of despair he couldn’t escape had quietly lost its hold on him.
It was probably because of that person. That person’s arrival was like a ray of light piercing his dark world. At times, darkness can be terribly fragile, just a sliver of light is enough to make it retreat.
Sunlight is always warm. He didn’t know when it had first shone on him, but as it touched his body, it drove away the cold and pulled him from an endless abyss.
Gu Lin woke up. This time, he didn’t feel any discomfort upon waking up. Instead, he felt refreshed, as if something that had bound him had finally been released. His whole body felt lighter.
The warmth in his arms was like sunlight. Gu Lin tightened his embrace. Through his clothes, he listened to the heartbeat that calmed him.
This was his light, his redemption.
He held the person in his arms closer and embraced the only light in his world.
Li Shu woke up.
How could he not have noticed Gu Lin’s abnormal behavior recently? He had been waiting for this person to give him an explanation for a long time. Even though he had guessed most of the truth, he still wanted to hear it from Gu Lin’s own mouth.
At this point, how could Li Shu not understand why the happiness value was always negative in the original plot. It was probably because of those experiences. With a past filled with such experiences and a heart harboring such a big secret—without true release, no matter what was gained later, there would always be an emptiness inside.
The missing piece, the lost thing, could never be recovered. But he would find a way to make up for that past.
The burdens Gu Lin shouldn’t have had to bear and the weight he shouldn’t have carried—he would find a way to help him put them down.
The past could not be changed, but the future was theirs to shape. Now that he knew what was wrong and the impact it had on Gu Lin, he wouldn’t let Gu Lin continue to carry this alone.
He reached back and held the uneasy person, feeling him tense slightly.
“Did I wake you?”
The man’s muffled voice came from above his head. Li Shu shook his head. Due to their position, he couldn’t look up at the man’s expression.
“I woke up on my own. Do you have something on your mind?”
The night provided the perfect cover, and Gu Lin was grateful that Li Shu couldn’t see the look on his face in the pitch-black darkness.
After a pause, Li Shu spoke again. “Is it hard for you to talk about?”
“It’s not that I can’t say it. I was just thinking about some things from the past.”
Maybe it was the cover of darkness or perhaps the right atmosphere, but in that moment, the secrets he had never planned to reveal felt an overwhelming urge to be released.
He wanted to share everything with Li Shu, the good and the bad.
“Back then, I thought I was on some deserted planet. The only people around me were those in white coats or others like me… experimental subjects. For a long time, I thought that was just how life was.”
Like a walking corpse, he repeated the same tasks every day. The only change was seeing familiar faces disappear, only to be replaced by new ones.
Later, as he grew older, he learned more. It was around then that he realized the place he was in shouldn’t exist, and neither should he or the others like him.
He was in great pain during that period, which was the inevitable result of a major shock to his original worldview. In his daze, he didn’t even know what he did. When he came to his senses, almost the entire base had been destroyed.
Those who had inflicted endless suffering on them had met horrific ends. Before dying, they might have tasted a bit of the agony they had once inflicted on others. He looked around and only a handful of survivors remained.
This was the experimental subject’s revolt. In the final end, only he walked away alive.
“In fact, I don’t remember many of the details. Over the years, I buried it deep within my memory. I thought it was over, that no one would bring it up again. But twenty years later, I encountered the same scenario again and in the same place.”
Li Shu silently tightened his hold on him.
Gu Lin murmured, “Back then, we destroyed everything. These things should not exist…”
Perhaps those who had given their lives for it never imagined that one day, these people would return. Maybe they had never truly disappeared from this land.
“Gu Lin.”
Li Shu broke free from his arms. Gu Lin panicked and quickly reached out to grab him, but his hand was brushed aside halfway. “Shu…”
“Gu Lin,” before he could say anything, Li Shu leaned down and cupped his face, their eyes meeting. In Li Shu’s gaze was a steady, unwavering resolve. “This time, we will find the true culprits and uproot them completely. This time, I am with you!”
‘This time, I am with you.’ Gu Lin savored these words, finding a hint of sweetness amid his endless suffering. The shadows that once cloaked him were gently pushed away by slender, white hands, and the darkness around him receded. Sunlight poured in, and the whole world became bright.
He stood up and tightly embraced the person who had entered his world like a radiant light, vowing never to let go.
After opening up, Gu Lin seemed to be injected with infinite motivation. He swept away his previous decadent state and devoted himself more fully to investigating the people behind the scenes.
Now that the fog before him had cleared, Gu Lin realized he had unknowingly fallen into the enemy’s trap. No wonder he had been dreaming about the past so frequently. If his mind had wavered, he might have been pulled deeper into the quagmire, unable to escape.
Although he had escaped from that place, its mark still lingered on him. Those who knew about his past must have something to use against him. This time, it was a silent intrusion into his dreams and no one could know what could happen next time.
With this in mind, both Li Shu and Gu Lin agreed that it was best to resolve this matter as soon as possible.
Fortunately, they hadn’t walked away completely empty-handed recently. They had broken into several bases of that faction and gathered some useful information, such as evidence that there was an insider within their own side.
This spy wasn’t someone who had infiltrated later—they had been there from the start, even before Gu Lin’s incident. These people had already infiltrated the Empire’s ranks.
After years of infiltration, this faction had grown into something unimaginably large, like parasitic vines, rooted deeply in the Empire’s flesh and blood.
They had not made any moves all these years, and no one knew what their ultimate goal was.
After following the clues and peeling back layer after layer, they finally traced everything to one person. It was someone who was currently within the military, and acting under orders from the Emperor to assist Gu Lin in thoroughly investigating this matter.
Gu Lin acted decisively. He did not give Marshal Lin any chance to react and directly led his men to capture him.
“Gu Lin, what do you think you’re doing?!” Marshal Lin looked at the fully-armed men in disbelief. He had already been restrained, and there were power-suppressing cuffs locked around his wrists.
Gu Lin didn’t waste words on him. He nodded to a nearby soldier, who gestured, “Take him away!”
“Gu Lin, you have no right to take me!” Marshal Lin never expected that Gu Lin was so bold and arrested him without saying a word. If Gu Lin had hesitated even slightly, he would have been alerted and managed to foil his plans.
He glared at the man in the military uniform with resentment. This man had long shed the innocence of his youth, becoming a towering soldier who had climbed to the peak of power through his own strength.
If… if it weren’t for the fact that he was the only successful example and had been somewhat obedient over the years, how could they have ever allowed him to rise step by step to where he was now?
Regardless of Marshal Lin’s regrets, it was too late now. Gu Lin was determined to see this through to the end. Back then, he had single-handedly forced these people into hiding; now, with the addition of the Chiyan Legion, he could accomplish much more than he ever could before.
At first, Marshal Lin wasn’t worried. He had prepared many back up plans; even if Gu Lin captured him, what could he really do? The most he could manage would be to keep him detained.
But he never could have imagined that his backups were also completely eliminated after his capture. With the system as a cheat, there were no secrets in this highly developed information age.
With another base cleared out, Li Shu put a hand on Gu Lin’s shoulder. Gu Lin looked back and kissed his forehead.
I am so grateful to have you by my side every step of the way.
