After the two of them returned home, they took a harmonious shower together. Lu Qiao was quite satisfied with Yan Qiu’s calm performance. After showering, Lu Qiao began organizing his suitcase.
Ever since he and Yan Qiu had been locked together, Yan Qiu had cleared out half of his wardrobe for him. Lu Qiao had brought some clothes of his own, while Yan Qiu had also stuffed some clothes into it for him.
Now that Lu Qiao had completely moved in, this half of the wardrobe would finally be filled to the brim.
However, although they called it “moving in,” once Lu Qiao officially entered the military, he would be living in the military camp full-time. Yan Qiu would be the same. Counting it that way, they would only be able to stay at the Yan family home for another half a month at most.
Lu Qiao dug out his holographic helmet. Thinking that this was still the gift Yan Qiu had secretly given him back then, his heart felt sweet.
The black ball of yarn buried at the very bottom suddenly caught Yan Qiu’s eye.
“Are you making clothes lately?”
Lu Qiao was startled. On reflex, he stretched out both hands and slapped them over the ball of yarn.
Yan Qiu: “……”
Lu Qiao: “……”
Yan Qiu silently stared at him, while Lu Qiao broke out in a cold sweat.
…After working so hard to hide it for so long, he still ended up getting discovered by Yan Qiu so easily! What a failure!
Lu Qiao pouted, reluctantly moved his hands away, and muttered, “It’s for you…”
“For me?” Yan Qiu froze.
Lu Qiao nodded and simply took out the half-finished piece.
The sweater was almost finished. It was pure black, and Lu Qiao had knitted it very carefully. Although it was not yet complete, it was already obvious that it was extremely intricate. He had not started the embroidery yet, but Lu Qiao had already designed the pattern.
Yan Qiu took the soft black sweater and looked deeply at Lu Qiao again. His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly.
“When did you start making it?”
“Before I went back to my hometown,” Lu Qiao said embarrassedly. “I wanted to give you something too, but I don’t really have anything worth giving you, so I could only make you some clothes.”
“I really like it.” Yan Qiu looked at him.
Lu Qiao glanced at him and smiled, muttering, “You haven’t even finished looking at it, and you already like it?”
Yan Qiu said seriously, “As long as it’s something you made with your own hands, I’ll like it.”
What was that? He really knew how to say sweet things.
But Lu Qiao was also encouraged by Yan Qiu and became enthusiastic. He happily bounced in place for a moment before saying excitedly, “I’m planning to embroider both sides of the sleeves. I’ll embroider ‘YANQIU’ on the left arm and ‘Number One in the Empire’ on the right arm, with a red background and gold trim! In the middle, I also want to embroider a huge lion’s head—isn’t that super cool?!”
Lu Qiao stared brightly at Yan Qiu, eagerly waiting for the man to praise him.
The smile at the corners of Yan Qiu’s lips froze.
After pondering for a second, he calmly nodded.
“Mm.”
Lu Qiao excitedly asked again, “Do you like it?!”
“……” Yan Qiu remained calm. “I like it.”
“As long as you like it.” Lu Qiao happily took the sweater back. “I’ll definitely finish it as soon as possible and give it to you!”
Seeing how enthusiastic he was, Yan Qiu chuckled.
“Okay.”
The next day, Lu Qiao went to the military headquarters with Yan Qiu.
Yan Qiu dropped Lu Qiao off at the same building they had visited before. Lu Qiao went to submit his application for the position of adjutant, while Yan Qiu left first to attend a meeting.
Lu Qiao arrived at the registration area and finished filling out the electronic application form in just a few minutes. When he came out, he ran into Seir and his friend.
Seir froze when he saw him. After greeting him, he asked with a smile, “What brings you here? Was there some problem with your registration last time?”
Lu Qiao smiled at him as well and answered without hiding anything, “No. I’m here today to submit my application for the adjutant position.”
Seir stiffened.
“…The adjutant application?”
Seir’s friend looked Lu Qiao up and down in surprise when he heard this.
“Yeah, that’s right.” Lu Qiao noticed that the people Ye Lan had sent were already outside waving at him, so he did not say anything more. “I have something to do, so I’ll go first.”
With that, he brushed past Seir and ran outside.
Seir turned around and stared at his back.
His companion asked strangely, “Who is that guy? Why have I never seen him before?”
In theory, Seir had met everyone he knew. Since he intended to compete for Yan Qiu’s adjutant position this time, he had paid particular attention to the candidates. Yet he had absolutely no idea who that young man was, nor which military corps he belonged to.
Seir said nothing. His expression darkened, and he turned around and strode toward the registration office.
His friend called after him and hurried along behind him.
When Seir arrived at the registration office, the person staying in the office today happened to be a girl he was fairly familiar with.
Seir steadied his breathing, put his smile back on, and walked over. After exchanging a few pleasantries with the girl, he could not help but ask bluntly, “Wasn’t the person who just came to register someone who hasn’t even passed the new recruit assessment yet? Why was he able to submit an application for the adjutant position?”
The girl hesitated before leaning closer and speaking quietly.
“He entered the military through an exemption from the assessment as a mental manipulator. He’s already officially registered.”
Seir trembled slightly, his face filled with astonishment.
“A mental manipulator?”
When Seir’s friend heard this, he immediately showed a look of disgust. He had always hated mental manipulators and was never willing to let one enter his consciousness. He looked down even more on those people who could be unconditionally admitted into the military simply because of a particular gene.
After thinking about it, he sneered.
“But that guy probably doesn’t understand the situation. I heard Marshal Yan hates mental manipulators the most. After all, Old Marshal Yan was harmed by a mental manipulator back then! There has never even been a mental manipulator in the First Corps. There’s no way Marshal Yan would choose him as his adjutant, right?”
The girl gave an awkward laugh.
“You don’t know? …Apparently, Marshal Yan is the one he’s locked together with.”
The man froze and said in shock, “…Those two?!”
“Mm.” The girl nodded, her expression somewhat complicated.
Seir stood where he was, clenching both fists tightly.
Mental manipulator.
Old Marshal Yan.
A certain possibility surfaced in his mind, and that possibility made him tremble slightly.
“What? Being locked together means…that?” His companion frowned. “Are he and Marshal Yan a couple?”
“I don’t know…” The girl laughed awkwardly.
Seir suddenly spoke.
“Maybe Marshal Yan encouraged him to apply for the adjutant position… They’ve known each other since they were students, and Marshal Yan has always admired him.”
After a pause, Seir raised his head and smiled.
“Marshal Yan must really hope that someone he admires and likes can always stay by his side, right?”
The moment his friend heard this, he immediately connected the dots and his expression darkened.
“Would Marshal Yan pull strings for him?”
Although adjutants had to undergo an assessment, the final candidates selected still had to be interviewed by several generals and marshals. The process was made public, but interviews were a very subtle form of assessment. If Yan Qiu wanted to manipulate things behind the scenes, disregard fairness, and simply choose the person he wanted, that was entirely possible.
Seir lowered his eyes and said awkwardly, “I don’t think Marshal Yan is that kind of person, but…”
He deliberately left the sentence hanging.
His friend thought back to the young man he had just briefly encountered. Remembering that beautiful appearance, his brows furrowed even more deeply.
Lu Qiao was taken to the military hospital by the people Ye Lan had sent. He was taken directly to the top floor, where the twenty most outstanding mental manipulators in the entire Empire were waiting for him.
Every one of them was older than Lu Qiao, but they all looked at him with extremely respectful eyes, which made him feel pressured as well.
Ye Lan had already told these people about Lu Qiao’s background beforehand, so after the two sides met, there was no need for further introductions.
Ye Lan led Lu Qiao into a room.
Four unconscious patients were lying inside.
Two of them had suffered amputations. One had only one arm remaining, while the other had only one leg left.
Seeing their condition, Lu Qiao’s pupils suddenly contracted, and his expression became solemn.
The twenty mental manipulators followed closely behind them.
Ye Lan explained, “We’ve already obtained the consent of their families. They’re willing to let these four soldiers serve as teaching demonstrations for us, as long as we can repair their consciousness bodies.”
For the families of these four soldiers, this was actually an extremely precious opportunity.
When Ye Lan had initially explained his intentions to the four families, those parents had nearly knelt before him, crying uncontrollably.
Once a consciousness body was shattered, there was essentially no difference from being a living corpse. They had already prepared themselves mentally for the possibility that they would never see their children awaken again in their entire lives.
Yet they had never expected that one day someone would tell them that their children now had hope of waking up!
Seeing those family members crying together in each other’s arms, Ye Lan’s emotions had been extremely complicated, but also deeply moved.
“Lu Qiao, your appearance really is an incredible thing,” Ye Lan could not help saying. “Ever since I came back, I’ve kept thinking about it. I’m truly grateful that you were born into this world.”
Lu Qiao was somewhat overwhelmed by the praise.
The mental manipulators behind them also could not help speaking up.
“Yes. We’ve been waiting for five whole years!”
“You have no idea. The situation of mental manipulators is extremely difficult, but if we can repair consciousness bodies, things will become much better.”
“Exactly. Our current situation is so awkward!”
“Awkward?” Lu Qiao questioned the word.
Ye Lan sighed and said, “It was fine before. But after what happened with Cheng Yi, everyone became afraid of us. The military cannot do without mental manipulators, because the enemy uses them, so we have to use them too. But the soldiers are also afraid that mental manipulators will betray them, because when a mental manipulator kills someone, it really only takes an instant.”
“But a situation like Cheng Yi’s is very rare, right?” Lu Qiao frowned.
When it came to betrayal, something like that could happen to anyone.
A brother who normally fought shoulder to shoulder with you could suddenly turn around and stab you in the back. Even if that person were not a mental manipulator, such a sudden and unexpected attack would still be fatal.
But could they really lose their trust in their companions simply because of one isolated case?
After all, this was only an extremely rare situation!
“Everyone understands that, but…” Ye Lan slowly said, “Maybe it’s still because mental power is too mysterious. Cheng Yi’s evolution brought about a transformation among mental manipulators, but how exactly did his evolution happen? If it happened once, could it happen a second time? If mental manipulators undergo a second transformation, just how terrifying could mental power become?”
Ye Lan looked at Lu Qiao.
“What everyone fears is our power.”
Lu Qiao’s body tensed.
But after a moment of silence, he shook his head.
“What should be frightening isn’t the power, but the person who uses it.”
He took two steps forward and stood beside one of the unconscious patients.
Ye Lan looked at him, a smile appearing in his eyes.
Someone used power to betray the people who had always trusted him.
Someone else used power to save one stranger after another.
What was frightening was not power, but humanity itself.
There was nothing wrong with that statement.
At the military headquarters building, after the meeting ended, Luo Ye and Yan Qiu walked outside together.
Yan Qiu suddenly asked, “Does Luo Yu usually mention Lu Qiao?”
“Why are you asking that?” Luo Ye found it strange. “No. He’s never mentioned him at all. What’s wrong? Did something happen yesterday?”
“He was very interested in Lu Qiao yesterday,” Yan Qiu said indifferently.
“You’re not seriously jealous over something like that, are you?” Luo Ye laughed. “Let me tell you, Lu Qiao is good-looking and adorable. Once he enters the military, he’ll definitely be extremely popular. You’d better get used to it early!”
Yan Qiu: “……”
After they separated, Yan Qiu boarded his aircraft and went to the military hospital instead.
After the aircraft landed, he stepped onto the ground. At the same time, Lu Qiao was being escorted out of the lobby by a crowd of people.
A full twenty mental manipulators—with Ye Lan, who was cheerfully watching the show, among them—all surrounded Lu Qiao.
Those mental manipulators were red-faced and extremely excited, looking like fans who had just met their idol. They practically wanted to grab onto Lu Qiao and refuse to let him leave.
Yan Qiu remembered what Luo Ye had just said.
Again:
“……”
Lu Qiao had just openly demonstrated his power in front of everyone. Aside from Ye Lan, he had also brought several mental manipulators along to follow his mental tentacles and touch the fragments of the patient’s consciousness body, allowing them to grasp some of the techniques as well.
The group of mental manipulators had gone completely wild.
So this was what it felt like to touch fragments of a consciousness body!
So this was the technique for piecing consciousness-body fragments together!
They had learned it! They had opened the door to a whole new world!
Long live Lu Qiao!
Lu Qiao was made somewhat embarrassed by the enthusiasm of these older seniors.
Ye Lan noticed the man standing not far away and suddenly asked, “By the way, is Marshal Yan willing to let you enter his consciousness?”
“He is.” At the mention of this, Lu Qiao revealed a happy smile.
“That’s good.” Ye Lan thought for a moment, then leaned close to Lu Qiao’s ear and said, “Only five mental manipulators have been locked together so far, but the powers of these five people are a little weak. They can’t even manifest a physical form inside someone else’s consciousness, so there’s one thing they’ve never been able to try. You’re so powerful, though. You could give it a try…”
“What? What is it?” Lu Qiao became curious and leaned his ear closer as well.
Ye Lan pursed his lips and smiled.
“Aren’t there many people online who have tried it…afterward, and still couldn’t unlock the lock? You could try ‘spiritual union.’ I think that should be deep enough, right?”
Lu Qiao looked completely bewildered.
“‘Spiritual union’? What is ‘spiritual union’?”
Ye Lan smiled.
“It’s doing it inside the brain.”
Lu Qiao remained completely bewildered.
“……”
Suddenly, he realized what Ye Lan meant.
He shuddered, and his expression went from shock, to stunned disbelief, to amazement…and finally, his entire face turned bright red with embarrassment.
“You—you’re joking, right?” Lu Qiao’s voice trembled.
“How could I be joking?” Ye Lan said calmly. “My lover and I do it like this all the time.”
Lu Qiao was dumbfounded.
Mental manipulators could even play like this??
Yan Qiu watched from a distance as Lu Qiao faced Ye Lan, his face bright red and his expression completely flustered.
His eyes narrowed.