Chapter 24: High-Risk Experimental Subject  

Jue wasn’t accustomed to eating candy or biscuits—such supplies were rare for him.  

During wartime, sugar was one of the most critical strategic resources. A lump of white sugar could be traded for a child or a woman, while a can of syrup could save a starving person on the brink of death after four days without food or water.  

He had never developed a habit for such things. Even when he occasionally obtained them, he would distribute them among his subordinates or the younger children.  

Jing Rong lay quietly on the ground, recalling the children’s words from earlier that day.  

“My mom said the Chief is amazing. Back then, the guerrilla forces on the western front had run out of ammunition and supplies, but the Chief said he was young and less likely to be killed. He could go out and scavenge supplies from the piles of corpses.”  

“He brought back so many useful things—used bandages, metal shavings, things he could melt down later. He saved enough people to form a whole special operations team.”  

Following the children’s descriptions, 626 pinpointed that timeline.  

Jue was slightly older than in the last memory—a little taller, though not by much, but noticeably thinner.  

His red hair was chopped unevenly and messily, his military uniform patched all over, yet the fabric below his knees was worn through, revealing his emaciated, pale legs.  

Like a wandering spirit, he drifted across the decaying, desolate, and scorched earth, trudging from dawn till dusk with a load twice his size strapped to his back.  

As an SSS-Rank, he was safer than others, more resistant to hunger, so he could go longer without eating. He had consumed everything—tree bark, ash, even crow meat.  

Long ago, he had numbed this body’s cravings for ordinary sustenance.  

And in the laboratory, it was even worse.  

He hungered for everything, greedily seizing every opportunity—devoid of emotion, devoid of hesitation. On the battlefield, he learned the language of the Auerke People. During every experiment, he would silently observe with his blue eyes—the precise spot where each needle pierced, the fragments of information revealed in the researchers’ passing words—before transmitting it all outward.  

He, too, had turned himself into a tool.  

Jing Rong said, “I didn’t make it too sweet. I extracted the syrup from a fruit native to your snowy mountains.”  

Seeing that Jue had finished, Jing Rong reached out again, offering him the remaining pieces, feeding them to him.  

Jue kept his eyes closed, silent, slowly eating the second piece Jing Rong gave him before murmuring, “No more, Brother.”  

“Alright.” Jing Rong didn’t press further. Just as he was about to take the plate of biscuits away, Jue reached out and stopped him.  

“Brother, leave these for me.”  

Jue’s eyes remained shut, faint glimmers of light catching beneath his lashes. “It feels like I’m dreaming.”  

This dream was far better than anything he could have imagined.  

Jing Rong said, “Alright. Keep them. I’ll make more later. There’ll be many more flavors.”  

Jing Rong added, “Do you remember? We’ll go to Oakvilleke together.”  

*  

Their affairs in Jieke Town were swiftly settled.  

You Tier would accompany them on the War Train to the western front, while the town’s matters were left in the hands of the blacksmith from before.  

This winter, they needed to recuperate quickly, then use methods similar to those in Jieke Town to liberate and occupy more war-torn locations, expanding their influence endlessly. Their goal was to save as many people as possible—to gain more leverage for a ceasefire.  

And they had to act fast.  

Once winter passed, the Auerke People would repair the railways and return in full force.

“Alright, just drive it the way I taught you, and make sure to control the boiler temperature properly.”

Jing Rong was in the cab, personally instructing several guards on how to operate the train, with Jue listening nearby.

In seventy-two hours, they would traverse the entire western front and reach the farthest edge of the combat zone at Bivdock, beyond which the mountains would be sealed by heavy snow.

The further west they went, the sparser the fighting became. Most Orc Soldiers had already withdrawn from the front lines, and this winter, the Adjudicator would not descend.

“The Olke Empire still has many extreme weapons. Avoid combat whenever possible, especially their aerial weapons.”

Jue unfolded a map and carefully briefed You Tier, who was set to disembark at the next stop. “Build underground shelters. Their surveillance capabilities are very limited in winter, but they’ll become useless come spring. Wait for me to return.”

“Understood. We’ll definitely wait for you.”

You Tier saluted him, then suddenly sensed something amiss. He glanced at Jing Rong by the window.

The black-haired, black-eyed Adjudicator had just quieted down, lighting a cigarette as he listened to the radio.

You Tier lowered his voice and asked Jue, “Will that gentleman not be returning with you?”

Jue froze.

He hadn’t considered that question.

From a status perspective, Jing Rong was a prince of the Olke Empire. With the former Crown Prince Lainz severely injured and his Mental Power shattered, who the next Crown Prince would be was obvious even to a child.

Nothing and no one in this world could restrain that man. He acted entirely on whim. Jue might hold his interest temporarily, might keep him around for now, but he had no idea how much longer that would last.

Jue’s fingers twitched in the air before clenching into a fist.

The Chief could not tolerate things slipping beyond his control.

The Chief could not tolerate the possibility of someone he had chosen leaving him.

But when it came to Jing Rong, he simply didn’t know what to do.

The train rumbled onward, its whistle echoing far into the distance.

The next stop was a straight-line distance of two hundred kilometers from Jiek Town. You Tier and his newly reorganized team disembarked there.

Jing Rong handed You Tier a batch of medicine he had urgently prepared: “Remember to apply these eye drops daily. If recovery goes well, you might not need surgery to remove the cataract.”

You Tier clung to the train door, nodded at them, gave Jing Rong a deep look, then leaped onto the platform.

The others gradually disembarked as well.

Jue remained by the door, watching through the thick window glass.

Though the fighting grew sparser the further west they went, battles were still inevitable.

Jing Rong said, “Don’t worry. There won’t be any problems.”

He adjusted his headphones, listening to the Olke Empire’s radio transmissions, which had been under 626’s surveillance. “They think the War Train’s tracks were cut off due to a massive landslide caused by an earthquake. Our movements are safe for now.”

Jue nodded, his anxiety easing somewhat after hearing this.

Only the two of them remained in the carriage now.

On the table lay a freshly baked box of gingerbread cookies Jing Rong had made. Jing Rong himself stood with arms crossed, head bowed, intently listening to the radio, occasionally picking up a pen to mark something on the map.

Jue took a gingerbread cookie and popped it into his mouth.

Today’s batch had cocoa powder and chocolate mixed in. For a moment, he was transported back to a familiar scent.

Jing Rong looked up and smiled at him.

Jue suddenly remembered—this was the aroma that had filled the capital outpost every day. The fragrance of coffee, the warmth of the hearth.

Jue opened his mouth and said, “Brother, I…”

He wanted to ask him if, after visiting Oakvilleke, he would still be willing to follow him back.

Though the people here on the Isle of Blazing Fire were poor and backward, though he, as their Chief, was equally destitute and had nothing to offer, he would give everything he had for him.

Jue didn’t voice the question. Instead, he gazed intently at Jing Rong’s face. The Adjudicator’s smile was utterly captivating, and the winter sunlight streamed through the window, casting stripes of warmth upon him.

He clenched his fist again.

Better not to ask.

He would hide a pair of shackles, a set of chains, to bind this man directly and drag him back to his side. He wanted that smile to be his alone, those calm, dark eyes to gaze upon no one else for the rest of their lives.