The Past Before Jiang Sili returned to the military and rose through the ranks, the Jiang family in Capital Star owned a chain of shopping malls. They were wealthy merchants, but far from a powerful financial clique.
When he defected and joined the interstellar pirates, the Academy expelled him and placed him on the most-wanted list. Overnight, the promising young officer became a fugitive. The Jiang family's status plummeted, and they were spat upon by the public. They were forced to close hundreds of malls, surviving only on distribution profits from other planets. The family went into seclusion, disappearing from the public eye.
Yet, the Jiangs were an exceptionally united clan. They believed the family was the source of all strength. They insisted that Jiang Sili had zero contact with them after leaving, rendering military interrogations fruitless. Meanwhile, Jiang Sili refused all private financial aid from his family, cutting ties completely to live the life of a White Wolf.
He took commissions from black market brokers to steal cultural relics and luxury goods—a "Robin Hood" existence that felt like something out of an ancient legend. But in his heart, he knew it was a crime. It ran counter to the decade of education he had received. He was the only family member to manifest a spiritual form—an S-rank one at that. He had been their hope.
…
Jiang Sili’s inner struggle was a constant, agonizing tug-of-war. Each time he followed Jiang Zhaoyuan into the trenches to rescue hybrid infants, or buried a young body on a hillside, the pain intensified. He couldn't be a purely good man, nor a purely bad one. He wavered, leaving both himself and his family in an awkward limbo.
The existence of hybrids was a social reality that everyone knew but no one spoke of. Confronted with the atrocities of the Zerg and the destruction of human families, even those who pitied the hybrids stayed silent.
Jiang Zhaoyuan never shared his hesitation. Aside from robbing museums, she worked as an Underground Guide, sprinting between planets. One successful trip could buy three months of formula for the entire nursery. She was too busy to indulge in melancholy.
The primary reason the White Wolves had never been caught was that their field members inherited the Zerg's mimicry ability, using mental power to alter their faces and pupils. Unless their biological data was obtained, they were unrecognizable.
The second reason was that the G13 Legion General responsible for hunting them hadn't tried very hard. After seeing Jiang Zhaoyuan picking up abandoned children, she had looked away and let them go.
"G13 is a cursed legion," Zhaoyuan told Jiang Sili while ordering him to move furniture. Since the Empress took the throne, the legion had suffered defeat after defeat. Commanders, no matter how ambitious, were crushed by reality and resigned in shame.
But Zhaoyuan eventually frowned. "Recently, a newcomer arrived. She’s making a lot of noise. Quite a few pirates have been caught by her."
…
The first time Jiang Sili met this renowned newcomer was in a meticulously laid trap. A high-risk, high-reward mission appeared on the black market: a 60-million credit heist of jewelry being transported to the Ankor Star auction.
It was a trap. There was no jewelry. Waiting on the heavily guarded transport ship was the young Asu Ment.
The White Wolves retreated instantly, jumping through space without regard for fuel costs. Jiang Sili’s memory of that day was a blur of shattered glass, flashbangs, and the shouting of the incompetent G13 soldiers.
Amidst the chaos, Asu Ment’s blonde hair shone brilliantly. Her eyes were determined as she swung her scimitar, severing the jump engine of Jiang Sili’s warship. She pursued him through a debris belt, relentless. Jiang Sili escaped only because he knew the debris belt’s patterns better. Asu Ment’s ship was struck by a falling rock and crashed.
"Thief! Scum! Face me if you have the guts! Are you only capable of running?" The younger Asu Ment, then a Major, screamed through the communication channel.
"Traitor!!!" her voice boomed like a giant bell.
Jiang Sili watched her through the monitor—furious, hair almost standing on end—and felt a strange surge of emotion that he ultimately forced into silence.
…
Years later, G13 and the ambitious Major—now a Colonel—stayed hot on their heels. She had turned the "useless" G13 soldiers into an elite squad, capturing major pirate groups. She was one step away from becoming a General. She wanted the "Golden Apple"—the traitor Jiang Sili.
One day, Zhaoyuan told Jiang Sili that members were trapped on a planet by G13. Jiang Sili went to the rescue. It was another trap. Asu Ment had leaked news of her absence to lure him out.
The two fought from the planet’s surface to the edge of the universe. Eventually, their warships collided and crashed onto a desolate planet filled with ancient, crumbling iron ruins. Jiang Sili was stranded, his terminal lost in the wreckage.
Asu Ment stood up, hands on her hips, triumphant. "I finally caught you! You’re not running this time!"
Jiang Sili looked at her. In all these years, no one—aside from his family—had "cared" about him with such persistence.
"Say something! We've been fighting for years and I've barely heard you speak," Asu Ment followed him, chattering like a toy car in a mall.
"What do you want me to say?" he finally asked.
It was the first time they truly looked at each other. Despite the years, he still looked like a university student—pretty but dangerous, but not cruel.
"Talk about how you ended up on this path," she said, genuinely curious. Her life was a straight, successful line. She couldn't understand someone like him.
"Does the answer matter to you?" Jiang Sili countered.
"I’m just curious," she shrugged, sitting on a large rock. "I came from a small planet and worked my way up. You were born in the Capital. You could have had money and power far beyond anything a pirate group offers."
Jiang Sili fell silent. "At certain moments, some things are more important."
"Like what?"
"Colonel, if the military exists to protect civilians, does that mean we are allowed to harm other innocent lives? To turn a blind eye to every atrocity?"
"Fine, if you don't want to talk about it," she huffed. She hated riddles. "Does discussing this even have an answer? I walk the path I believe is right. I don't waver."
Her words were a sword, piercing his reality. He did waver. He was "hypocritical and weak."
As the roar of a rescue warship sounded above, Jiang Sili looked up. "Colonel, have you ever been to the Zerg border battlefields at night?"
"What?" She looked at his clear jawline.
"Late at night, after the gas clears, there is something disgusting that no one wants to admit exists. You should take a look if you get the chance."
Asu Ment sensed something was wrong. She tried to yell at her approaching team to stay back, but she couldn't move. Neurotoxins. Jiang Sili’s Teng-Snake ability had paralyzed her. Everyone had forgotten he possessed this trait because he had never used it against her before.
"Damn useless..." she cursed herself and G13.
Jiang Sili walked out of the shadows. He leaned in close, seeing the fine down on her cheeks. She was flushed with anger, radiating warmth like a small sun.
"Get lost! Stay away from me!" she snarled, her voice being the only thing still working.
Jiang Sili smiled. His long lashes almost brushed her eyes. He reached down and touched her stiff hand. His hand was cold as jade; hers was warm and slightly damp. The contact sent a strange jolt through both of them.
"Asu," he said, dropping her rank. "See you next time."
He strolled past the paralyzed G13 soldiers—who had incompetently left their warship unlocked—and flew away.
…
Months later, Jiang Sili took the children to an underground black market. He met a shop owner, a Zerg female who had escaped the Hive Mother’s control.
"New order," the owner mentioned. "A human military officer wants toxin training and protective gear. Tall, blonde, very bossy."
Jiang Sili knew exactly who it was. "You're lucky," the owner added, "she's coming back today for an anti-toxin serum."
Before Jiang Sili could leave, Asu Ment burst into the shop. "You! Why are you here?" She went into a combat stance.
"No fighting in my shop!" the owner barked.
Asu Ment backed off, glaring at Jiang Sili. He smiled. "Don't worry, you'll have a way to deal with me next time." He glanced at the serum on the counter.
Just then, the hybrid children ran out from the back, wings fluttering, grabbing Jiang Sili’s legs. They looked at the stunned Asu Ment with fear.
"Are these your children?" Asu Ment gasped. "Zerg? Hybrids?"
She did the math on his defection date. "You defected before you were even an adult! Did you hook up with a Zerg female before graduation?!"
Jiang Sili: "...?"
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