Chapter 56: Return in Glory
The system’s eyes went wide.
After two seconds of stunned silence, it burst out: [—Wait, what?? Why?? What did he even do?! How are you two together all of a sudden?! When did this happen!?]
They had just fought an epic final battle, passed out for two days, and only just woken up!
What crucial step had it missed??
Qi He let out a slow breath, easing his mind from the system’s deafening voice, and gave it a brief summary of events:
“I felt kind of moved, so I kissed him. Then we made it official.”
System: [……]
That… sounded like an explanation, and yet not at all.
And the reactions around them came crashing in from all directions.
Yang Cheng’s face screamed “You two are WHAT now?!”
Guan Shangchun dropped the act entirely, smiling coolly as he stared.
Xi Moqing looked surprised and tugged lightly at his military cap.
Gong Lianyu was still hanging off the boarding pole, neck twisted in disbelief for several seconds before shouting—
“…Huh?! Yan Chuanbai, you already confessed?!”
Zhuge Dun froze for a moment, then grabbed Le Yunyu by the arm. “What?”
Le Yunyu couldn’t bear to look and shut his eyes.
Shu Ling wisely distanced herself from the battlefield, silently watching the show.
The military officers were all dumbstruck as well.
Only Zhong Panqing frowned slightly. “…What are they so shocked about?”
General Gong took in everyone’s reactions, digested them for a couple of beats, and turned to say: “The affairs of young people are becoming increasingly… complicated.”
Yan Chuanbai then raised their clasped hands.
He swept his gaze around and nodded solemnly. “Thank you all for your blessings.”
Qi He: “……”
Everyone: “……”
The system couldn’t hold it in: [Who exactly blessed you??]
Qi He analyzed calmly: “In his mind, anyone who didn’t jump out and start cursing must count as giving their blessings.”
That said, he still let Yan Chuanbai hold his hand.
Yan Chuanbai glanced down at him, and a small smile tugged at his lips.
Then, with his fingers still clasped around Qi He’s hand, Yan Chuanbai turned back toward the group. The corner of his lips curved upward — with that particularly provoking air of his.
“Let’s leave it at that,” he said lightly. “We’ll be heading off first.”
And with that, the two of them boarded the helicopter together.
Bang. The cabin door shut.
Everyone drew in a sharp breath, eyes practically burning: “……”
…5S-level. Can’t beat that. Forget it. Just forget it.
General Gong herded the rest of the military officers away with a wave, though even he felt a flicker of irritation. Taking two deep breaths, he turned to Zhong Panqing and remarked:
“It was the right decision that he didn’t come to Headquarters back then.”
Zhong Panqing maintained her composure. “Everything happens for the best.”
—
They boarded the helicopter, which was piloted by a flight officer.
The two sat in the back row.
The aircraft headed straight toward Base I, and Yan Chuanbai still hadn’t let go of Qi He’s hand. Qi He didn’t notice; he was still digesting the sheer amount of new information when he asked:
“What’s the deal between you and Guan Shang?”
A slightly rough fingertip brushed lightly over his knuckle. Yan Chuanbai made a faint questioning sound — “Hmm?” — then said bluntly, without the slightest attempt to hide it:
“Isn’t it obvious? Rivals in love.”
He added casually, “Now you know why we never got along.”
“……”
Qi He drew in a slow breath — so it wasn’t because they were both constantly provoking each other?
The system spoke up, smug and aloof: [He, He He.]
The cabin fell silent for a while.
After reshaping his entire understanding of the situation, Qi He suddenly remembered something. He reached into his pocket, found the “seedling device,” and reconnected it to the system.
“Your precious watch?”
A voice sounded right next to him.
Yan Chuanbai’s gaze fell on it, one brow arching slightly. “Can I take a look?”
Qi He’s fingertips paused for a second. Then he unbuckled it and handed it over. “Sure.”
[!?]
Yan Chuanbai’s lips curved faintly as he turned the device over in his hand. His gaze was deep, unreadable — he looked like he was just idly toying with it, yet his eyes never left it.
System: [.]
Qi He sat beside him, noticing how the system had gone utterly silent. “Why are you holding your breath? Isn’t he your ‘male protagonist’?”
The system held its breath even tighter: […Don’t know. But this situation feels… subtly awkward.]
And also like a crisis — one where there was nowhere to hide.
Yan Chuanbai played with it for a moment, then asked casually, “You treasure this thing so much — what can it do?”
Qi He replied, “Quite a few things. For example, it tells time.”
The watch face froze for half a second before, with reluctant precision, displaying the current time.
“It also comes with a compass.”
The display switched to a compass.
“And navigation…”
[—I told you it doesn’t have navigation!]
Yan Chuanbai looked genuinely impressed. “Oh, it’s voice-activated too.”
[……] said the system.
“……” said Qi He.
Yan Chuanbai studied it a few seconds longer, then handed the system back. “Pretty feature-packed. No wonder you treasure it.”
The system was completely mute by now.
Qi He clasped it back onto his wrist and lowered his gaze. Thinking of that “binding”… that “plotline”… his fingers brushed lightly over the surface, before he looked forward, almost absently.
“Of course,” he added, “it’s got a few hidden functions too.”
The hand beside him tapped lightly against his own, but Yan Chuanbai said nothing more.
—
An hour later.
The towering walls of Base I finally came into view. The helicopter passed overhead, heading straight for the central landing pad.
By now, it had been nearly a week since they’d left the base…
Qi He sighed softly at the thought and glanced down.
Then his gaze suddenly sharpened.
In the open square at the center of the base stood a sea of people.
At the very front were Yu Tianxing, Xia Jiu, and Yu Jiang, holding up a long red banner.
As the helicopter drew closer, the words on it came into view—
“Heroes! Heroes!”
“Warmly welcoming Qi He and Yan Chuanbai home in glory!”
They must have spotted the helicopter approaching.
From the crowd, Ji Yan raised a hand and shot a heart-shaped ring of fire into the air.
Yu Jiang tilted her head back, and with a cheerful “puchi!”, sent up a column of water.
“Welcome, welcome!”
“……”
The two inside the helicopter stared wordlessly for several seconds.
After a pause, Yan Chuanbai said evenly, “Maybe we should turn around.”
Qi He agreed, “Yeah, I’m fine with that.”
The pilot blinked. “Huh? Where should I turn to then?”
Yan Chuanbai gazed down at the crowd for a few seconds. Whatever he thought of made his expression calm again.
“…Forget it. Land.”
—
The helicopter touched down on the pad.
A group of people immediately swarmed forward. The door opened, and as soon as the two stepped out, they were greeted by Yu Tianxing standing proudly at the front — wearing a handmade, multicolored paper hat. He beamed.
“Welcome back~! Heroes of humankind, pride of Base I!”
Qi He stared at that all-too-familiar craft project…
Yan Chuanbai gave it a glance and said bluntly, “You organized this?”
Yu Tianxing let out a carefree laugh.
Beside him, Yu Jiang was still spurting water cheerfully, while Xia Jiu had a paper party whistle in her mouth.
She blew it twice — toot, toot — then let it dangle lazily from her lips as she drawled,
“Yeah, he said we had to celebrate you two.”
Yan Chuanbai looked at them for two seconds, then calmly took Qi He’s hand again, sweeping his gaze across the crowd.
“Thanks. We accept your blessings.”
“……”
Everyone fell silent at once: ?????
Two seconds later—splash! — a water jet exploded into a burst of spray.
A sudden jet of water splashed straight into Yu Tianxing’s face, jolting him awake from his daze. He blinked in disbelief, staring at the two clasped hands before his eyes, then at Qi He’s calm, unprotesting expression — and finally at Yan Chuanbai’s natural, at-ease demeanor.
“…What?” he managed.
Yan Chuanbai’s lips curved, his tone warm and pleasant. “You even went to the trouble of preparing a celebration for us. Very thoughtful.”
Yu Tianxing’s smile froze solid on his face.
Even the system couldn’t take it anymore: […Yan Chuanbai really is a dog, isn’t he.]
Qi He accepted this calmly. “Didn’t I tell you that long ago?”
The crowd in front of them went silent for a few heartbeats—then exploded into chaos!
Shocked looks and voices tangled together, familiar faces among them.
Meng Yan’s wood-type ability sparked involuntarily as she blurted, “Grass (F*ck)?”
Zhou Ziqian gaped. “Brother Yan, you denied it back then!”
Mo Jiayan shouted, “Captain! I told you they were totally a thing!”
Yu Jiang’s cheeks flushed bright red; she tugged at Yu Jin’s sleeve and whispered, trembling with excitement, “What are they saying? What celebration of a possible pregnancy?”
The rest of the crowd collectively: Holy sht!*
“Colonel Yan and Instructor Qi are a couple?!”
“But didn’t they always fight like cats and dogs?!”
…
Yan Chuanbai, one hand tucked into his pocket, calmly surveyed the commotion and absorbed the flood of words with serene composure. “Thank you. Thank you, everyone.”
Qi He turned his head toward him: “…”
“System,” he murmured, “the zombie virus probably couldn’t invade his brain because it’s never encountered this kind of… structure, right?”
[He, don’t ask me. You two are basically the same.]
After basking in the collective reaction to his “announcement,” Yan Chuanbai finally seemed satisfied.
The crowd of onlookers was eventually dispersed by a weary Yu Tianxing, who glanced again at Yan Chuanbai — still holding Qi He’s hand — and twitched at the corner of his eye. Steering the conversation back to business, he said:
“…Anyway, you two should rest for a couple of days first. Everything’s running smoothly at the base — the full-alert lockdown has been lifted, and the ability teams have resumed taking missions outside the city.”
Yan Chuanbai gave a quiet “Mm,” indicating he understood.
Qi He suddenly spoke up. “The report about the Source — Headquarters should’ve sent it to you as well, right?”
Yu Tianxing froze, his expression turning serious. “Yes. I didn’t expect… it turned out to be through water-cycle contamination.”
The fastest — and most troublesome — transmission method.
Qi He thought for two seconds, then said, “Our base has an advantage. From here on, we’ll probably need to prepare to accommodate more survivors.”
Everyone paused slightly, then turned to look at him.
Other bases had to burn through huge amounts of crystal energy and rely on advanced tech to purify their internal water systems.
But their base had an S-class water-type purifier ability user—
Yu Jiang, sitting in her wheelchair, blinked in confusion: “?”
Qi He didn’t elaborate further. “We’ll head back first.”
With that, the two of them started walking toward the high-rise building.
By now, it was evening. The crimson-gold sunset slanted across the horizon. After walking a short distance, Qi He turned back to glance—Yu Jiang was still in her wheelchair on the far side of the square, her figure rimmed in gold by the dying light, her long, flowing hair glowing like clouds catching divine radiance.
He smiled faintly, then turned forward again.
They could finally rest for a while.
Next, it would be Yu Jiang’s stage.
—
Back at the high-rise, they took the elevator up.
It stopped first at the 28th floor. Ding! The doors opened. Qi He stepped out and said to Yan Chuanbai,
“I’ll head back first.”
Yan Chuanbai looked at him. “Mm.”
He said no more—but didn’t look away either.
As the elevator doors began to close, snap! he pressed the button to stop them. He looked at Qi He for a few seconds, as if he wanted to say something, then finally released a breath and pressed the button again.
“…Never mind. Get a good rest tonight.”
Qi He: “?”
Yan Chuanbai’s hand had already withdrawn. “Good night.”
The elevator doors shut with a clang right in front of him.
Qi He stood still for a few seconds before turning back. “System, do you think he wanted to tell me something?”
The system didn’t feel like enlightening him: [Just small talk.]
A few steps later, he reached the door.
Qi He put the thought aside for now and went inside. After several days of travel and dust, the first thing he did was grab a clean set of clothes and head for a shower.
By the time he came out, the sky outside had darkened.
Scattered bits of light glimmered on the window glass.
Qi He towel-dried his hair, then sat down at the foot of the bed, facing the floor-to-ceiling window. The system was curled up on the blanket beside him, a tiny sprout poking from its head—looking more and more like a little Ram creature.
[What are you thinking about?]
“I still feel like he wanted to tell me something.”
[……] Probably some flirty nonsense.
“You think,” Qi He said after a moment’s thought, “was he trying to ask me about you—and about the script?”
The little Ram went completely silent.
The more Qi He thought about it, the more convinced he became.
Back on the helicopter, their conversation had been full of hints. Yan Chuanbai had long sensed there was something off about him—something the two of them had tacitly known and tested several times.
Qi He wanted to let Yan Chuanbai know the truth about the plot.
But the last time he’d tried to bring it up directly, the other man had—whether deliberately or not—dodged the question.
“System,” Qi He said, half musing, “if we destroy the main program first, and then I tell Yan Chuanbai about the script, would the worldline still collapse?”
[No idea.]
Qi He narrowed his eyes, staring up at the edge of the ceiling, weighing it. “If I come out and say it straight, it’s a bit risky. Let me think… there must be some kind of bug I can exploit—”
— One that would let him hint at his identity and the existence of the script, without causing the worldline to unravel even if he said it aloud.
The system strained its code-filled brain: [Pretty sure there isn’t.]
Qi He didn’t answer right away; his thoughts kept turning for a moment.
Then he said, “I’ve got it.”
[?]
The corner of Qi He’s lips curved, his eyes reflecting the scattered glow on the floor-to-ceiling window. “I’ll just create a new instance for myself.”
[……What do you mean?]
“I’ll write myself a fake script. If I start acting out of character—doing things that look like I’m following some kind of mission—then Yan Chuanbai will eventually call me out on it. That way, he’s only exposing the script I made up, not the real worldline script.”
Qi He laced his fingers together. “I can use my own script as cover—to test the waters, to offer a half-truth that skirts the edge.”
In gaming terms, that was called layering armor.
The system’s mechanical processor spun several cycles: [……So how exactly are you going to act out of character? What kind of script are you creating?]
“Too lazy to write a new one from scratch,” Qi He replied, standing up and setting the system on the nightstand. “I’ll borrow one from the old scripts.”
The system instantly sensed impending doom: [Wait—borrow which one?]
Qi He gave the room a quick once-over. “We’ll go with… whatever suits the setting.”
And with that, he strode to the window, pushed it open, and slipped outside.
[——!!!]
Click. The window latch snapped shut.
Inside the 29th-floor apartment, Yan Chuanbai had just pulled on his shirt. Hearing the noise, he looked up sharply—only to see a familiar figure flip inside and close the window behind him with a thud.
Yan Chuanbai froze for half a beat, then relaxed.
One hand slipped casually into his pocket, his half-lowered eyes glinting with an easy, bright amusement. “If you wanted to come in,” he drawled, “you could’ve used the door. My place is always open to you.”
Qi He landed lightly and took a look around the room.
The moment he arrived, he was already in character.
He ignored whatever Yan Chuanbai was mumbling and turned his gaze back toward him. “Turn off the lights.”
“?” Yan Chuanbai paused, puzzled.
He didn’t understand, but he obeyed. Turning around, he switched off all the lights in the room, leaving only a faint strip of ambient glow and the scattered shimmer seeping in from outside the window.
Once he finished, he straightened up and asked, “And then?”
The script Qi He had chosen to borrow was one that perfectly matched the original character’s style—
『…you decide to just go for it—rip off your white shirt and stand in front of Yan Chuanbai, teasingly—▇▇▇▇』
Qi He looked at him for two seconds, then raised a hand and casually stripped off his own shirt.
“Come here, Yan Chuanbai.”
“……”
Yan Chuanbai’s breath hitched sharply.
————————————————————
Author’s Note:
System: He doesn’t think this is OOC at all!
Yan Chuanbai: I did great today. Do I get a reward?
Genius!