In the bustling city, Evenheiler watched as Lei Ting vanished.
The faint smile on his face faded along with the departure, his gaze flickering with a hint of gloom.
For several years, having recovered his memories, he had been feigning as though he were still lost in the fog. This masquerade was a tightrope walk; he did not dare let Lei Ting perceive even the slightest anomaly.
It was difficult, especially since Lei Ting no longer deliberately avoided mental telepathy as he once had.
But for Evenheiler, it was not impossible.
As a former top super-soldier of the Human Federation—an esper specifically trained in intelligence and infiltration with a mind-specialized ability—he did not fear his own thoughts leaking, even when facing a "Double S" rank like Lei Ting.
On the contrary, after regaining his memories and self-control, Evenheiler had spent these years maintaining contact with Morgan while subtly coaxing a significant amount of information out of an unsuspecting Lei Ting.
Yet, at the same time, he realized... he was still missing a portion of his memory.
*Strange. Who is "Lei Li"??*
Though he vaguely remembered the name... why did Morgan say the boy was his child? Wait, he had a child?
Evenheiler quickly grasped a reality: he did indeed have a child, but the boy had not grown up by his side. Furthermore, the relevant information must have been excised from his own memory by his own hand.
Given that a large-scale memory excision could leave gaps in continuity, the time between learning of the child’s existence and their separation—followed by the memory wipe—must have been very short. At the very least, it was impossible for the child to have been born through natural means.
As for the child’s other father...
...It was absolutely that bastard Lei Ting!!
Evenheiler rubbed his brow.
The union of two ultra-high-order espers resulting in a viable embryo was nothing short of a miracle... no, it truly *was* a miracle.
And this child, the miracle of their lives, had grown up with a complete lack of parental guidance.
Even though both his fathers were still alive... or rather, one had died, the other had killed him, and now that second one was presiding over a massive project. According to the information he had teased out, that fellow was now effectively the uncrowned king of the galaxy.
Meanwhile, "Lei Li" had been raised by the Resistance, using the name "Kang Li." Now twenty-two years old, he had lived his entire life on Gaia, likely without even knowing his true surname.
A few months ago, Kang Li had a dream—suspected to be a prophetic dream triggered by some form of extrasensory perception.
He sensed a blood-related clue in the direction of the "Silver Core," and thereafter insisted on following Morgan and the others on their mission to the galactic center.
Initially, Morgan had refused. But halfway through the voyage, they discovered that this little brat... no, this *young* little brat had actually smuggled himself onto the ship.
Left with no choice after a heated confrontation on board, the group had to bring along this clever, flighty, proactive, and supposedly highly capable bastard.
Incidentally, the boy was an Alpha. He usually went by the single name "Li," and his superpower level was "A," though this was apparently only because a lack of energy during his developmental phase prevented him from reaching his peak level for the time being.
As for the ability itself, it was called "Honed Blade"—a name Lei Li had chosen himself, which was a bit chuunibyou.
The external manifestation of this ability fell under the Material and Energy categories, specifically the creation and manipulation of a golden energy that could be finely shaped.
Given that the energy was extremely destructive but difficult to stabilize once it moved a certain distance from the user, Lei Li preferred to shape it into various cold weapons for close-quarters combat.
Good grief. If this were a game, this kid would be the protagonist of an RPG with a complicated backstory.
The kind where the final boss is his own father.
Evenheiler let out a long sigh, feeling a headache coming on.
That memory excision was perfectly smooth, definitely his own handiwork, so much so that he hadn't even noticed the discrepancy himself.
And the chaotic mental state he had been in before his "death" seemed to have caused him to forget other details...
But fortunately, he still remembered "Gaia," and he likely hadn't leaked any information about it to Lei Ting.
He had stayed on Gaia for a long time. While there, he had seen many "Spiritual Echoes" of natural humans.
That planet was embedded between the "Spirit Depths" and the physical world through some unknown means, drifting along with the galaxy.
In the highest-level classified files, its name was...
...[Forged Reality: Planet Gaia].
On that planet, many Spiritual Echoes of former "natural humans" remained, moving about in the forms they held in life.
However, their self-will and presence would fade synchronously—from being visible to everyone, to being visible only to some, then only to the strong, then only to espers with mental specializations. Finally, when no one could see them anymore, they would completely become "them," and "they" would merge into the planet, adding another layer of strength to this forged "reality."
Incidentally, natural humans were not Original Humans. Although their ancestors had not been genetically modified, their life forms had still undergone certain changes due to the new environment during the two hundred years between the initial extinction crisis and the death of the last natural human—a period that supposedly shouldn't have changed much.
A more stoic, perfect psyche caused their birth rate to drop year by year. Their eventual extinction was not difficult to understand.
Now, there were likely very few natural human Spiritual Echoes left on that planet.
Even among those remaining, few could be observed.
However, according to Morgan... Lei Li could see them.
Evenheiler swore his own mental traits weren't that sharp. Lei Li’s terrifying sensitivity and observation skills were undoubtedly inherited from his other father!
...And that man, who currently only possessed a shred of humanity when facing Evenheiler, could hardly even be considered "human" at any other time!
*Tsk!*
Evenheiler sighed deeply and lay back down.
Morgan had said before that he would enter the newly established "United Starport" and try to find an opportunity to fish out certain "S-rank" Spiritual Echoes, then find a way to restore Evenheiler to the form of a normal person, a normal living being...
...Until an opportunity to escape the current situation arrived, Evenheiler decided to temporarily stop thinking about the complicated reality.
Galactic trends, extinction crises, sons, and little bastards who silently decided to sacrifice themselves—it was all truly irritating.
But then again... speaking of people who "silently decided to sacrifice themselves"... wasn't that exactly what he used to be?
Before closing his eyes, Evenheiler suddenly gave a bitter laugh.
Now, he truly understood Lei Ting’s past anxiety, resentment, pain, and helplessness.
And although he did not possess that ultimate, overwhelming power, he would still do his best to change everything!
Only, before that...
...He always felt as though he had overlooked something?
***
Morgan and the others from "Gaia," carrying Human Federation transit clearances, quickly blended into the crowds of the "United Starport."
Regarding the eerie silence of the place, they turned off all external audio notifications on their electronic devices and followed suit, keeping all communication within internal channels.
Before long, the group split up. Some went to discuss business, some to talk cooperation, and others to gather information.
Morgan kept Kang Li by his side and headed to a multi-purpose entertainment and dining establishment that did not serve any hallucinogenic, addictive, or chemically stimulating food and drinks.
On the way, Kang Li tried to slip away several times, but Morgan remained vigilant and held the boy back.
Currently, they were sitting in a corner booth, drinking beverages while waiting for their food, their ears pricked to eavesdrop on the conversations of the various races around them.
Through their rapid mental processing, a vast amount of intelligence—both secret and mundane—was filtered. Such noisy, undisciplined social settings were always the best places to gather information.
But as the work progressed, Morgan realized he was the only one doing it seriously—Kang Li, sitting across from him, was spacing out.
Like the other members of the Resistance over the years, Morgan didn't show any dissatisfaction toward the child they had raised; he simply tapped Kang Li’s arm on the table.
Kang Li snapped back to reality, nearly knocking over his drink.
A large hand with distinct knuckles and calloused joints reached out from the side. Moving like lightning, it caught the sealed drink container and gently placed it back on the table.
A deep, cold, and indifferent voice spoke from the source of the hand: "Be careful."
"Ah, thanks," Kang Li thanked him subconsciously, looking up.
He saw an Orion man sitting at the adjacent table.
The man had a handsome face—he looked young, yet he carried the maturity and slight weariness bestowed by time.
A head of jet-black hair with frosted temples was tied back, the strands cascading down to his waist.
A few silver-black locks draped over the shoulder of his crisp Human Federation soldier's uniform. Combined with a tall, straight, and robust physique that was evident even while seated, and a calm, majestic aura that made a common uniform look like a general’s regalia...
This man was enough to attract any race with an aesthetic similar to Orions. *This big brother doesn't look like an ordinary person!* Kang Li thought.
The noisy shop seemed to quiet down because of those deep black eyes. Kang Li felt a strange sensation rising in his heart.
That feeling made him want to pull his attention away from everything else and focus entirely on this seemingly extraordinary person. Consequently, he failed to realize why the appearance of such a man hadn't attracted the attention of anyone else in the room.
And of course, since he didn't look back, he didn't realize... just how stiff the expression of Morgan, the leader of the Human Federation Resistance sitting across from him, had become at this moment.
It was a blankness of the mind that defied exaggeration.
The eerie silence, carving out a small sanctuary amidst the noise, lasted for several minutes until a service drone drifted down from above. As it descended, it deactivated its outer protective field and placed several fragrant, well-presented Orion-specific dishes on the man's table, along with...
...A glass of freshly squeezed juice with ice, topped with a small holographic umbrella built into the cup??
"...?"
Such a formidable-looking person had ordered a healthy drink so full of childlike whimsy...
For a moment, Kang Li was dazed.
---
