Death: So sorry for the delay orz, am going through final exams QAQ.
Editor: SleepyMango123
(Part Two)
“…Project Glory?” Shen Zhirou felt completely out of her depth.
Her fingers shook slightly as she took the flimsy piece of paper, and she faintly had a horrible premonition—the things on this piece of paper would turn her world upside down.
“Project Glory was created by my father together with his trusted aides and some members of the Central Committee. It is an S-rank confidential document. Oh, you may not know who my father is,” Ferdinand’s tone was somewhat scornful. “Ever since he ascended the throne, he has been known as ‘Banglin III’.” Shen Zhirou’s pupils suddenly shrank.
No matter how easy-going she was, there were still countless headlines and countless newspapers that told her what the name “Banglin III” represented.
“Ferdinand…” It seemed like the name Banglin III rang a bell, and she finally connected this name with the untouchable prince in the newspapers, “You are—”
“Project Glory is a dream for these old men,” Ferdinand was clearly very contemptuous. “They have done absolutely nothing. In regards to this empire, they enjoyed glory and wealth from the very beginning—acquired from the blood and tears of people from remote planets. Of course, their prosperity and wealth are built upon all of this. But they are still unsatisfied.”
Shen Zhirou’s eyelashes trembled. Her gaze slowly fell on that piece of paper, eyelids twitching. The movements were minute, but she felt as if she could hear a faint sound.
Because she was so nervous, even her slightest movements were extremely clear.
“Actually, you should also understand—after reaching the peak of wealth and power, what would you want next? Ancient books recorded many stupid and ignorant kings. What do they want after reaching the summit—?”
Ferdinand dragged out his words.
His voice—mocking, superior and aloof—was like that of a saint who was the only one awake in a world full of drunkards.
“Immortality.”
Shen Zhirou’s tears fell little by little, and dripped onto the thin paper. The transparent liquid slowly seeped in, deepening the color, as if corroding the pure white of the paper.
That sheet of paper already bore more weight than the paper itself.
“Since the beginning of the interstellar wars, thousands of years ago, the planets with advanced races invaded the planets with inferior races, and the melee spread to most corners of the universe. Although invasion is not good, it was indeed the beginning of the integration of interstellar culture. Then came the war of ethnic liberation.”
“In short, after thousands of years, the various races have finally begun to merge,” The corners of Ferdinand’s eyes drooped, and he seemed a little exhausted as he spoke. “Each race can barely get along with each other, and they all have specific abilities. In just the blood of the royal family, the gifts of foreign races—mind reading, high intelligence, and animal transformation—have been assimilated. Of course, these abilities are all very rare. Among all the innumerable races, one of them has always been a banned secret.”
“……Enough.”
Shen Zhirou spoke softly, exceedingly light—a sound issued through tremors, without a trace of strength.
“They are a very ancient bloodline that seemed to have appeared in the ancient earth age at the beginning of the interstellar wars,” Ferdinand thought for a moment. “This race has no name, or at least, we don’t know it. It’s not important anyway, so no one has looked into it. In any case, for Project Glory they are called “Sevier”, which translates as “precious food”.”
“Don’t you think it’s strange? Why are they called that?”
Ferdinand sighed and shook his head.
“The physical bodies and intelligence of this race seem to be mediocre, barely at the interstellar average—the same level as ordinary humans on the ancient Earth. Other than a more dazzling appearance, they don’t seem to have anything special. ”
“…Stop talking, please, stop talking!”
Shen Zhirou sobbed and clutched tightly at the paper.
“But one thing makes it inevitable for them to be destitute and displaced throughout their entire lives.” Ferdinand lowered his head and touched Shen Zhirou’s hair, cruelly gentle. “Later generations incidentally discovered that their flesh was quite magical and could rejuvenate human cells. It was the best material for studying ‘longevity’.”
“Soon, this race was massacred, and there were only a few survivors,” Ferdinand sighed. “Innate gifts rouse the envy of others. They weren’t powerful, but they possessed a priceless treasure that was destined to be coveted. When they were discovered, the tragedy that followed was certain.” Shen Zhirou pressed the paper tightly to her chest. Her sobs sounded like a kitten in dire straits—low, sharp cries of despair.
“Are you demons… do you still have humanity?!”
She couldn’t cry.
Apart from the explanation of the value of the “Sevier” race, there were only two simple lineage diagnoses on that piece of paper.
“Nian Ying, thirty-eight years old, adult female Sevier. ”
“Shen Zhifan, sixteen years old, juvenile male Sevier.”
The insulting use of ‘female’ and ‘male’ disgusted Shen Zhirou into speechlessness. Those high-ranking officials—for their own selfish desires—did not regard them as humans of the same species.
But, what was even worse was that she found she couldn’t do anything.
Her mother, her older brother…as well as her countless ancestors, had been treated and known as food, running, hiding and being displaced… but they had still been destroyed.
But she, like this, could only stupidly let her tears fall.
What could she fight against? The empire, the country she had believed in since she was a child?!
She had been deceived, hurt, and so stupid… She didn’t know anything, and lived so simple-mindedly every day.
No one had told her.
She thought she had already learned to bear hardship, learned to endure, and learned to grow up—but it turned out that she was still protected by her brother in a fairy tale.
“This is a copy of your mother and brother’s bloodline after they were sentenced. The explosion was simply a distraction; their true purpose was to capture the Sevier.”
Ferdinand’s voice was cold, as if he were thinking of something.
“Oh, and since there were some Sevier other than the ones on N-192, in order to wipe out any traces of the Sevier and their own disgusting actions, they went all the way and simply blew up the whole galaxy.”
“That is the truth of the so-called unknown cause of the N galaxy explosion case.”
“They are demons…” Shen Zhirou sobbed in a low voice. Suddenly, she raised her head, “Aren’t you also an accomplice?!”
“I’m not.” Ferdinand looked at her resolutely, “If I were, why would I help your brother—why would I erase his name from Project Glory?”
Shen Zhirou’s sobbing stopped abruptly, and she stared at him blankly.
“You—”
Ferdinand sighed and gently bent down and hugged her.
“I’ve never approved of these demons’ behavior, but they are still those with the highest authority in the empire,” Ferdinand murmured lowly, “They have already brought decay upon the empire— from the deepest roots, like a malignant tumor, saturating every inch of the country’s central authority.”
“I am the next successor. Actually, they don’t really like me, but I am justified, as—”
His voice was so resounding and powerful, righteous and awe-inspiring.
“I reject such sordid power and status.”
“Accepting this country from their hands means that I acknowledge this behavior, helping them conceal the truth—helping them keep their mouths shut.”
Shen Zhirou looked at him dazedly, tears still hanging on her eyelashes, on the verge of collapse.
“It is true that they gave me everything I have today, but it is precisely because of my conscience and my hope for this empire, that I want to overthrow them.”
“Your brother treated you very well and never told you—firstly, because the Sevier bloodline in you doesn’t seem to be strong, and secondly, because he wanted to protect you well.”
“You didn’t know this, right? He went to the underground mech arena back then because he couldn’t openly appear in this world, because he was a Sevier. Until I removed his name from the Project Glory, the both of you were fish that had slipped through the net.”
Shen Zhirou schooled her expression, not wanting to cry anymore.
“Do you know what the underground mech arenas are like? It really wasn’t easy for him. He lingered around the line between life and death countless times. He didn’t come to see you often, right? It was because on the days he couldn’t come, most of the time he was lying in bed, and didn’t want you to see that.”
“You have never seen him like that. His whole body was bound in bandages, deaf to the world, and his internal organs were in critical condition. But fortunately, he survived. He is truly good and talented as well.”
“As I valued his talent and pitied his situation, I erased his name and let him openly live within the empire.”
“Because of his gratitude to me, he chose to stand on my side.”
“He didn’t dare to tell you anything—he feared that you would be sad, or resentful. He once told me that he hoped you would never know, and he worked so hard anyways. As long as the empire was reborn, you didn’t need to know these things.”
“He’s a really good brother, isn’t he?”
Shen Zhirou’s last thread snapped.
“Why did those people do this? How can they even be called human?! Are people’s lives so insignificant?!”
“The tens of millions of people of the N galaxy…what do they know? They struggled so hard to live. At birth, they were already the descendants of a country defeated in war, but they still lived without complaints and regrets in that barren place—a planet that couldn’t even grow grass… in order to exist! And I…my mother…I…”
She choked, tears helplessly dropping down along with her voice.
“We are humans, living sentient lives… We are not food!”
The girl’s mournful voice was as sharp as thorns, each of them dripping with poison, reflecting a green glow.
“Why does my brother need to bear all of this… He did nothing wrong, we did nothing wrong. We were already living in the mud, and those people were living on the clouds, and yet they wanted us to die, just for their disgusting desires…”
She gripped the hem of her clothes tightly, her thin frame wracked with sobs like a blade of grass ravaged by the wind.
She remembered her mother’s last smile to her—she hadn’t even had time to see her mother’s body in the end.
If they had seen each other one last time, would she want her not to hate? Would she want her to live well without knowing anything?
…But how could she not hate this!
“Why can they be so evil, so disgusting… don’t they even have nightmares?!”
Ferdinand patted her on the shoulder, comforting her, then changed the subject.
“Your brother is a mech genius, and his ability is indispensable to me. I need his help, just as he did before, working hard for the rebirth of the empire.”
Ferdinand stretched out his palm to Shen Zhirou.
“He has amnesia now, so he may have forgotten all of that pain and humiliation. Together, let’s help your brother find his memory?”
Outside, the setting sun slowly descended, and he was plated in a layer of beautiful gold.