Chapter 142: Extra Story One

Chapter 142: Extra Story One

You are Locke Tang En.

You are the commander of the First Legion in the empire, also known as the God of War, and you carry the title of the Empire's Sword.

You exposed the conspiracy of the new emperor, Antonio Howard, and successfully helped the second prince, Alberto Howard, ascend to the throne.

Your prestige in the empire reached an unprecedented height, and the power in your hands made you the leader of the four legions.

But you aren’t happy, because you’ve lost your beloved.

You’ve been searching for Ji Jing for what feels like forever, looking in every corner of the universe.

In your darkest and most confusing moments, you were left studying every frame of the last footage before he vanished.

You’ve watched that grainy footage so many times, it’s practically memorized.

Everyone believed Ji Jing had been incinerated in the explosion, along with his mech, leaving no trace behind.

The fact that Ji Jing seemed to disappear 0.01 seconds before the explosion was likely just a glitch in the video feed.

They urged you to accept reality and move on.

But you refused.

Ji Jing vanished with the Silver Fox, which was made from demon silver—material strong enough to withstand an explosion. Even if the Silver Fox had been damaged in the blast, there should have been some remnants left.

But the real reason you knew Ji Jing wasn’t dead was that you knew his true form was a succubus, a succubus from the abyss.

Ji Jing must have returned to the abyss.

How else could you find the strength to go on?

Life without Ji Jing was too hard to bear.

Harder than the pheromone disorder during the sensitive period, like an endless, long night.

The pain compelled you to do something, so you made a bold decision—

You would go to the abyss to find Ji Jing.

But how to get to the abyss was an unsolvable problem.

For this, you studied a lot of knowledge related to this field, from science to metaphysics.

But no one could give you a definite answer, and not a single document clearly recorded the existence of other worlds or civilizations beyond the stars.

You swung back and forth between hope and despair.

Finally, you set your sights on random wormholes, those leading to the unknown, which might bring some unexpected surprises, right?

And so, you embarked on a path of courting death, recklessly venturing into unknown wormholes, surviving death in electromagnetic storms and spatial ruptures again and again.

From hope to gradual despair once more.

You thought of your family who were worried about you in St. Peter, including your elderly grandfather and your young Ji Tingyun.

He was your child with Ji Jing, the crystallization of your love.

He's already lost his dad; you can't let him lose his father again.

Finally, you decide to give up.

But as you made this decision, you feel as though your soul has been drained away, leaving only an empty shell behind.

On the return journey, you unexpectedly discover a random wormhole that isn't on the radar.

You spotted it with your own eyes.

It felt like a voice was whispering to you—

This random wormhole is special; maybe you should try it one more time.

And so, like a sailor bewitched by a siren, you lose the last of your rationality. With the mech's alarms blaring, you resolutely switch it to manual mode and head straight toward the center of the wormhole.

Intense pulling and dizziness overwhelm you, and you feel as if you're trapped inside a high-speed blender.

You feel like both your soul and body are being ripped apart.

A dazzling white light flashes before you, and then everything goes dark.

When you wake up again, you find yourself in a strange new world, having been transported into the body of a beastman named Xue Yi.

This Xue Yi is a snow leopard beastman, severely injured and cornered with no way out.

Before you can gather your thoughts, you're forced to jump off a cliff and plunge into the icy sea.

In a daze, a shimmering silver-white form glides closer, and you widen your eyes, trying to see it clearly, but your body is helpless, carried by the current until you crash into a reef, feeling a sharp pain on your forehead before losing consciousness again.

When you wake up this time, you've temporarily lost your memory.

You don't remember who you are or why you've turned into a snow leopard cub.

Shouldn't I be a human?

A question lingers in your mind.

You open your mouth, trying to voice your confusion, but all that comes out is a “yiyi” sound.

Your eyes widen in shock.

You can't believe that the soft, whimpering sound actually came from you.

Just as you're in disbelief, a handsome young man appears before you.

He seems delighted, hugging and rubbing you, even kissing your face several times.

You can understand what he's saying.

You hear him say, “Guys, look! I got a cat! It's a silver-tabby snow leopard!”

You're completely dumbfounded.

Deep down, you know that you should be a snow leopard, not a cat.

The kid seems to think you're something else.

You feel a little nervous and try to explain, but all that comes out is another “yiyi.”

Then you saw the merboy growing even more excited, hugging you so tightly that he didn’t want to let go.

You could hear his heartbeat through his chest, and your face flushed.

If it weren't for the thick fur covering you, you would probably have turned into a little pink leopard by now.

He carried you on his head as he swam toward the shore.

That’s when you realized his lower half wasn’t legs, but a sleek, silver-white mermaid tail.

Dazzling and beautiful.

The merboy brought you into a cave, and after getting on land, he transformed into a pair of legs.

Around his waist, he wore a short skirt made of shimmering merman silk, decorated with colorful shells. It was stunning.

As a small snow leopard cub, you barely reached his knees, and when you looked up, you sometimes caught glimpses of things you weren’t supposed to see.

So you nervously bit your tail and avoided looking up. This was your way of alleviating anxiety and tension.

But for some reason, this seemed to trigger another excited nerve in the merboy.

He hugged you, rubbing and kissing you, and then buried his face in your belly, inhaling deeply.

Alright.

Now your entire body was blushing, even through your thick fur.

Even with the thick fur covering you, you appeared to be emanating a strange pinkish hue.

However, the merboy didn’t seem to notice your odd condition.

After settling you in the cave, he brought you fish daily.

You felt that living off someone else like this wasn’t great, but right now, you were just a wounded snow leopard cub with amnesia.

So you had no choice but to swallow your pride and accept the merboy’s care.

You lay on a nest woven from dry grass, looking forward to the merboy’s return from hunting.

You found yourself instinctively drawn to him, longing to never be apart from him, even for a moment.

Yet, despite everything, a lingering sadness weighed on your heart, as if this perfect moment was nothing more than an illusion.

You didn’t even dare to delve into your lost memories.

Afraid that once the truth was revealed, you would have to wake up from this dream.

The merboy was right in front of you, but you felt that he was especially distant.

The merboy seemed to sense your sadness too, and though he couldn’t understand it, he was trying his best to comfort you.

He said, "Are you missing your mom? I can’t take you to her right now, but maybe you could think of me as your mom?"

Think of him as your mother?

You couldn’t even imagine it.

To cheer you up, the merman boy took you to a beach he was familiar with to play.

Together, you picked shells, caught small fish, built sandcastles, and chased the waves.

Everything felt so perfect it seemed almost unreal.

But before you could fully enjoy it, something felt off.

Your injuries were healing, and your body was growing at an alarming rate, almost doubling in size every day when you woke up.

Of course, this wouldn’t have been a problem by itself.

You just knew deep down that you weren’t really a snow leopard cub, but had become small due to some accident.

What scared you the most was that there seemed to be another presence inside you.

It was as if you took turns occupying this body, so when the merman boy talked to you about things that happened yesterday, you realized you didn’t remember anything.

You didn’t know if the other soul had discovered your existence, but this was enough to make you uneasy.

The merman boy even noticed that something was off with you. Sometimes he would pinch your face and ask why you were different from the "Mimi" from yesterday.

"Mimi"—the nickname he had given you.

You tried to protest, but all you could do was whimper, which didn’t exactly convince him.

The boy thought you had agreed.

Your body gradually exceeded the size of an ordinary snow leopard. But this wasn’t your true adult form.

Even the boy had to admit that he might have been mistaken.

No breed of cat could grow larger than a tiger.

Now you could effortlessly carry the merman boy on your back.

You saw some red marks on the merman boy’s body, and when you stared at those unsightly marks, the boy patted your head and complained, “What are you looking at? Don’t you remember licking me like that yesterday?”

Your mind went into overdrive.

You heard the boy continue to complain, “Really, you’ve grown so big, you’re almost crushing me!”

That’s when you realized the other soul was more obsessed with the boy than you were.

He would pin the boy down and lick him thoroughly, the dense barbs on the leopard’s tongue leaving red marks on the boy’s tender skin.

This was his way of declaring—

The boy was his.

You felt extremely agitated, pacing around the cave with your tail between your teeth, but it did nothing to calm you down.

You wished you could drag the other soul out and confront it once and for all.

But before you could act, disaster struck.

When you and the boy were out hunting, a giant black eagle, which the boy called the "Corrupted Beast," suddenly descended from the sky and attacked you.

The merman boy’s domain was the ocean, and he wasn’t suited for fighting on land.

Your body is now nearly that of an adult, though you cannot yet transform into human form, your combat prowess has already begun to show.

However, the black eagle is too cunning, not only does it possess sharp claws capable of tearing through flesh with ease, but it also has wings that allow it to soar through the sky.

Thus, you and the merboy are at a significant disadvantage, forced to dodge the black eagle’s repeated claw attacks as best you can.

In your struggle to protect the merboy, you once again bump your head while fighting the black eagle.

Then, all the memories come flooding back.

Not just your memories as Luo Ke Tang En.

But also the memories belonging to another soul, Xue Yi.

You not only recall everything together but also merge with all of Xue Yi’s memories.

Only now do you clearly understand this world of beastmen.

On this vast continent of beastmen, all mammals can transform into human form upon reaching adulthood.

What is referred to as fallen beasts are those whose beast cores have been destroyed, unable to revert to human form and gradually degenerating into mere animals.

As someone from a starfaring civilization, you find the concept of beastmen quite acceptable.

You also discover that the original host, Xue Yi, had some connection with the merboy.

Xue Yi, the king of the snow leopard clan, had discussed a marriage alliance with the merfolk clan leader half a year ago, with the merboy being the chosen candidate.

However, upon hearing of this arrangement, the merboy fled the engagement overnight.

After accepting the compensation from the merman tribe's chief, Xue Yi turned his attention to considering marriage proposals from other tribes, such as the Red Falcon Tribe, Giant Rabbit Tribe, Rocky Sheep Tribe, and Porcupine Tribe, among others.

Before the marriage arrangements could be finalized, Xue Yi had an accident.

During this time, you and Xue Yi have been sharing the body, each getting one day. In the course of spending time with the merman, Xue Yi developed feelings for him.

However, Xue Yi does not seem to share your memories from before you traveled through from another world.

He sees you as a hated intruder who not only occupies his body but also wants the merman he has his eye on.

Although you don't know why you have merged with Xue Yi's body or how to leave, when it comes to the merman, you certainly aren't willing to back down.

Because you both have fallen in love with the merman, Ji Jing.

Yes, the merman is not only named Ji Jing but also possesses the same appearance as Ji Jing.

Except in his merman form, where he has a shimmering silver tail.

Moreover, with his memories restored, Xue Yi can finally transform into his human form. When he looks at the calm water's surface, you also see through his eyes that the reflection looks exactly like you.

You can't tell if this is fate or just a strange coincidence.

In this world, the other version of you also loves Ji Jing.

However, now there are two of you, and both have a strong sense of possession.

So even though you share the same body, the two of you can't get along.

Neither of you was willing to share the merman with the other.

For a period after that, the two of you fought fiercely for control of the body.

To outsiders, you sometimes seemed like a person struggling with multiple personalities.

Not only did you talk to yourself, but you also fought with yourself. You even resorted to physical altercations, like your left hand fighting your right.

Even Ji Jing, who tried to mediate, couldn't convince the two of you to peacefully coexist.

At times, he was even dragged into your childish "Guess Who I Am" game.

But the merman always gave the correct answer.

While you were both arguing non-stop, danger was quietly approaching.

The corrupted beasts who had once sought the Beast Spirit Pearl now attacked Xue Yi again.

On this beastman continent, there had always been rumors that the Beast Spirit Pearl was a treasure bestowed by the Beast God, capable of helping corrupted beasts reshape their beast cores.

However, these rumors were actually fictitious.

There were seven Beast Spirit Pearls, held by seven Beast Kings, who together maintained the stability of the beastman continent.

And Xue Yi was one of them.

But this was a secret, because all beastmen believed in the Beast God, and they couldn't openly declare that the Beast God didn't actually exist.

Otherwise, the already struggling beastmen would lose all hope of survival.

At that moment, facing the many corrupted beasts, you and Xue Yi, who had been fighting for control of the body, finally decided to join forces once.

Your combat skills each had their strengths, and by playing to those strengths, your powerful mental strength combined with formidable fighting ability quickly defeated all the corrupted beasts in front of you.

After the battle, Xue Yi became fascinated by your presence and kept asking about your mental abilities.

The two of you achieved a brief harmony.

Except when it came to facing Ji Jing, the merman.

However, your goal was the same.

Although neither you nor Xue Yi were very good at pursuing someone, you at least had some experience. After some persistent persuasion from both of you, Ji Jing finally agreed.

Then, a new disagreement emerged.

Who would be the one to spend their life with Ji Jing, the merman?

You and Xue Yi argued endlessly, unable to reach a conclusion, so you left the decision to Ji Jing, asking him to choose.

Fortunately, the merman was much more clear-headed.

Although the silver-haired, gray-eyed figure he had been spending time with was just one, he could easily distinguish between the two different souls.

Both souls were good, but if he had to make a choice...

He looked at the man in front of him with silver hair and gray-green eyes and asked in return, "Luo Ke, are you sure the person you really like is me?"

At this moment, you were struck silent.

The deliberately hidden sorrow suddenly came crashing over you like a tidal wave.

Even if you didn’t say it aloud, you had to admit it to yourself—

The Ji Jing you deeply loved belonged to the succubi, not the merman.

Even though the Ji Jing in this timeline had the same appearance and similar personality, he belonged to Xue Yi.

Not you.

You still needed to keep moving forward and couldn’t stop here.

What if Ji Jing returned to the galaxy to find you?

As soon as this thought crossed your mind, everything started to blur…

When you were jolted awake again by the harsh sound of alarms, you found your mech trapped in the center of an electromagnetic storm.

You didn’t know how long it took, but you finally managed to escape the center of the electromagnetic storm.

By then, your mech was more than 90% damaged, and the thrusters had lost power.

One more small meteorite strike, and you would have been lost in the endless void of space.

For the next few months, you lay motionless inside the shattered remains of your mech, adrift in the relentless cosmic storms.

In the absolute darkness and solitude, you thought about many things.

You couldn’t stop thinking about your time with Ji Jing, and how he had once drifted in an escape pod for so long. Had he felt as lost and hopeless back then as you did now?

You also thought about your experiences on the beastman continent.

Looking back, you found yourself questioning whether those moments were real or just fragments of a dream born from your unconscious mind.

Regardless of whether those moments were real or just illusions, you realized that you didn’t belong in that world, and the Ji Jing from there wasn’t meant for you.

You should return to your own world.

If you hadn’t yet learned how to truly love, now was the time to start. To wait, with patience and hope, for the love of your life.

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