Chapter 28: I Will Take Responsibility

Chapter 28: I Will Take Responsibility

On this day, Ge Xiaolun was weighed down by sorrow, tormented by the consequences of his own misjudgment. He sat in his tent, unable to free himself from his gloom. Outside, a soldier stood in the rain, leading a woman clad in a black trench coat.

Suddenly, Ge Xiaolun was startled awake by a familiar voice—the voice of his captain. Di Leina, the ever-cheerful goddess, had returned. He rushed out of the tent, and sure enough, there stood Lena, his commander from the Super Soldier Unit, waiting in the rain. He hurriedly invited her inside, concerned she had been caught in the downpour. Since it had been so long since they’d last met, there was no talk of official matters. Instead, Ge Xiaolun called Zhao Xin over, and together they settled in to catch up.

“Oh, Sister Na, you’re finally back!” The voice arrived before the man himself, so distinctive it could only be Zhao Xin.

“I wondered who it was—turns out it’s Lightning Xin,” Lena answered, clearly recognizing the voice outside.

“Of course it’s me—Lightning Xin himself!” Zhao Xin strode in and sat down with a flourish.

“Only three of us from the Super Soldier Unit are together now. I wonder how Rose and the others are doing,” Ge Xiaolun said, a little forlorn. It had been nearly half a year since he’d seen his teammates.

“Don’t worry, Xiaolun. Rose is a master of wormholes. You—no, scratch that—even if something happened to Zhao Xin, nothing would happen to her,” Lena replied. She’d originally intended to say that not even trouble befalling Ge Xiaolun would faze Rose, but remembering Xiaolun’s undefeated body, she realized nothing really could happen to him—so she settled on Zhao Xin instead.

“Come on, Sister Na, is that any kind of comparison? I’m Lightning Xin—no one can catch me!” Zhao Xin exaggerated, feigning indignation.

“I was just saying, don’t take it to heart, okay?” Lena grew a little embarrassed herself, realizing it probably wasn’t right to poke fun at him the moment he arrived.

The next day, Ge Xiaolun, Zhao Xin, Di Leina, and Angel Zhixin gathered in a tent. The atmosphere was pleasant as everyone listened to Zhao Xin recount his journey in life, falling into a comfortable silence afterward.

Suddenly, Di Leina broke the quiet. “I was the one behind the nuclear explosion. I don’t want to explain myself.”

“You need to explain,” Ge Xiaolun replied, his voice low and heavy.

That final conversation between the Sun God and the Earth God ended in failure.

Lena wanted revenge—she sought to destroy the Tiamat, but the blow would be so powerful that Earth itself would be caught in the crossfire.

Ge Xiaolun, of course, refused to agree. In the end, Di Leina gave them seven days to consider her proposal.

During these few days, Yun Yang was unusually carefree, wholly unaware that a goddess of nuclear fusion was plotting to blow up the Earth. He spent his days fighting the Tiamat alongside the angels, waiting for the completion of his Black Armor. Though his Black Armor was little more than an enhanced computer, devoid of other functions, it certainly looked impressive.

Strength is a matter of the era, but style lasts a lifetime. As shallow as the sentiment might be, it underscored the importance of looking good.

Since Yun Yang’s arrival, life had become increasingly difficult for the Tiamat. Previously, the angels would seldom unleash their powerful moves, as their energy replenished too slowly. Now, they could roam the battlefield freely, returning to Yun Yang as if to a fountain, emerging fully restored and unscathed. It was almost too good to be true.

The Tiamat commander on the Northern Star was nearly driven mad with worry—his hair turning white with anxiety. Every day brought new losses, but precious few victories. The relentless assaults tormented them. He couldn't fathom why, when they invaded Earth, there were so many gods, spirits, and angels here—and not one of them harbored any goodwill toward the Tiamat. Even Morgana herself was playing her own game.

That evening, Yun Yang returned to the courtyard with the angels after a day of battle. The angels had been out hunting Tiamat; though they hadn’t felled many, it was progress—after all, they never used to leave the Northern Star.

Yun Yang promised them he would develop a program to let them share his energy, enabling them to unleash their full solar bombardment at maximum power. In fact, his Quantum Domain could already allow them to do so, but unfortunately, he couldn’t fly—and the domain had strict range limitations. The angels, being aerial fighters, moved too quickly to stay within its bounds.

The next day, after a night of intense effort by five angels, the energy-sharing program remained unfinished, leaving Breeze—who was the youngest and weakest—particularly distressed. All the angels stationed on the Northern Star were warriors, not researchers. Though they were no slouches, developing a sacred code in such a short time was a tall order. In the end, the girls agreed to let it go and return to the city.

Finally, at midday one day, a soldier came looking for Yun Yang, telling him to follow—there was a surprise awaiting him.

Thinking it must be the Black Armor, Yun Yang followed eagerly, traversing a series of vehicles—on foot, by car, by helicopter, then by car again—until he arrived at the foot of a great mountain, before a heavily fortified underground base.

Inside, he felt as though he’d stepped into a science fiction film: black stones floated in midair, and a set of black armor hovered within a pillar of light, its workings a mystery.

“This is the Black Armor we at the Northern Star’s Great Wall Base have built just for you. It doesn’t have any special functions—only an incredibly fast computation speed. In terms of computation alone, even Sergeant Rose’s Black Armor can’t quite match it.”

“That amazing? Doesn’t that make me invincible?” Yun Yang muttered excitedly.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. All it has is raw processing speed. Since we don’t know what your genetic engine can do, there are no preloaded programs. You’ll have to rely on your own calculations to activate any functions,” the researcher warned, his face making it clear that Yun Yang shouldn’t celebrate too soon.

“It’s fine. As long as I have the speed, I can figure the rest out myself,” Yun Yang replied, unconcerned.

By the time he returned to the courtyard, it was already afternoon. The angels were out, so Yun Yang decided to seek out Rose. Now that he had the Black Armor, he could pinpoint the location of the Super Soldier Unit—and Rose was the only one he really knew. It wouldn’t make sense to look for anyone else.

That evening, after recharging the angels, Yun Yang set out on his quest to find Rose.

Black Armor truly lived up to the name; its ability to conceal information was unmatched. Even with internal codes, it took over an hour of calculations to locate Rose—an astonishing feat.

Once her whereabouts were known, Yun Yang didn’t hesitate and teleported straight to her. Rose was sitting on a camp bed, clad only in a tank top and shorts, lost in thought and so distracted she didn’t even notice him arrive.

Seeing her so unresponsive, Yun Yang decided to tease her. He quietly circled behind, covering her eyes, intending to say, “Guess who?”

But before he could utter a single word, Rose spoke, her voice trembling slightly, “Yun Yang, is that you?”

Yun Yang was taken aback. What was with this girl? She’d never been like this before. Dropping his playful act, he gently turned her to face him and said softly, “Yes, it’s me—I’m back.”

Rose reached out to touch Yun Yang’s face, then, with a look of disbelief, embraced him. As a man, Yun Yang naturally didn’t push her away, but awkwardly wrapped his arms around her in return.

After a long moment, Rose blushed and released him, explaining, “It’s just been so long. No—seeing you alive after all that happened in space, I couldn’t be happier.”

Yun Yang could sense Rose’s affection for him, but he couldn’t quite understand how it had blossomed so quickly. After all, they’d only known each other for a week at most. Was it a case of love at first sight? He touched his own face—perhaps it was possible, since he’d felt the same, though he hadn’t shown it.

That day, Yun Yang and Rose talked for hours—she spoke of Morgana, of Angel Yan, of Pan Zhen, of the threat of the giant wolves, and finally, of how she thought of Yun Yang every day. For Rose, this was as close to a confession as she could manage. She truly longed for someone to rely on. A girl, alone, defending the entire Giant Gorge City, constantly facing attacks from the giant wolves—it made her yearn for a support.

Hearing her words, Yun Yang gently embraced her shoulders and whispered, “Me too. I think of you every day.”

He went on to tell her everything—how he’d awakened his genetic engine, how Pan Zhen had abandoned him, how he’d returned to Earth and met Old Li, how he’d upgraded his weapons and fought the giant wolves and Tiamat, and finally how he’d obtained the Black Armor and come straight to her. He deliberately omitted any mention of the angels.

The next morning, Rose awoke to find Yun Yang lying beside her. She blushed. They’d talked late into the night, as if trying to fit a lifetime of conversation into a single evening. Eventually, Yun Yang had succumbed to exhaustion and fallen asleep—though there was another bed available, neither of them mentioned it, and nothing else happened.

Rose gently nudged Yun Yang awake, her eyes brimming with tears. He was momentarily confused—what had happened last night to make Rose look at him this way?

After thinking for a moment, he realized he must have forgotten something important. Guilt flooded him—how could he have forgotten? Determined to make it right, he declared with heroic resolve, “Don’t worry, Rose. I’ll take responsibility. You can count on me.”

At this, Rose burst out laughing, finding it all too amusing.

“You said it yourself—you’d better take responsibility!” she replied, patting her stomach and feigning discomfort.

Yun Yang was certain nothing had happened between them the night before, yet the situation didn’t quite look that way, leaving him completely bewildered.