Chapter 242

Chapter 242

Starting from the moment Faceless reached out and grabbed Ye Mo's shoulder.

Ye Mo's attention shifted from the crystal to Faceless. He snapped out of his trance, somewhat surprised, and grabbed Faceless's arm in return, looking like he had a lot to say.

But he paused, staring at Faceless for a few seconds until Faceless's body grew even stiffer, then spoke seriously, "I was practicing what we learned in class—infiltration."

Faceless nodded solemnly as well. "Mm."

They tacitly glossed over the fact that Ye Mo had been sneaking around outside while Faceless had been lurking inside.

But after a moment, Faceless couldn't help adding a worried reminder, "But you still need to be careful, especially in rooms with blind spots."

"Check a few more times, or enter quickly from the side."

Faceless, with his extensive experience, had used that very spot to take down countless would-be infiltrators who weren't skilled enough.

Ye Mo nodded quickly to show he understood, then started chattering away.

"Uncle, are you hurt? Adelaide said you were fine, but I was still worried. And your friend, is he okay now? Will you be staying long? You never go out. We could go play in the garden—it's the prettiest time of year, but hardly anyone's there because of Pawpaw. He doesn't bite, but he likes to pounce on people, and everyone thinks he's a bit chubby..."

Faceless struggled to reply dryly between Ye Mo's words, "Not hurt. He's fine. I don't know. Is he? How heavy is he?"

But as they went back and forth, his tense body gradually relaxed. Before meeting, Faceless had been anxious, sometimes waking from dreams where Ye Mo confronted him, but now that they actually met, it didn't seem so bad.

So why had he agonized over it for so many days? Faceless looked at the talking Ye Mo, feeling a bit regretful.

Ye Mo stopped talking mid-sentence. He opened his arms and stepped forward to hug Faceless.

"Welcome home, Uncle."

Faceless's body instinctively tensed, then relaxed. He wasn't used to such close contact with anyone, not even Zero Three, with whom he had traveled side by side and entrusted his life, yet they still gave each other space.

It had been a long time since he'd been hugged. The feeling was unfamiliar and dazed. When was the last time?

Faceless bent down, trembling slightly, and placed his hand on Ye Mo's slender back, returning the hug.

There was a knock at the door. Ye Mo pulled away from Faceless and looked over.

Adelaide stood by the door, giving Ye Mo a stern look. "Little Prince, we'll discuss why you're here later. There's a meeting about to start, and I've just prepared some afternoon tea. Perhaps someone would like some tea."

Ye Mo obediently went over to follow behind Adelaide, not forgetting to bring Faceless along. "My uncle and I would both like some. I can wait for him."

Adelaide looked apologetically at Faceless. "Faceless, do you have the time?"

Faceless nodded, a little embarrassed. "It's fine. I'll do whatever Ye Mo says."

Before leaving with Adelaide, Ye Mo remembered something and glanced back at the crystal on the table. The meeting room was already filled with people. The last person to enter stood by the door, noticed Ye Mo looking in, smiled at him, and gently closed the door.

Ye Mo withdrew his gaze, still a bit lost, his steps unconsciously slowing.

Adelaide gently brushed off a smudge on Ye Mo's shoulder and sighed inwardly as he watched Ye Mo grow quiet. *Well, the little prince is still young.* He cleared his throat softly. "Perhaps someone would like to help me prepare the afternoon tea."

Ye Mo immediately circled back to Adelaide's side, responding eagerly like a lively pony. "I do! I do!"

Mrs. Ye had really raised him well—he was always willing to help.

Adelaide smiled warmly. "That would be a great help, little prince."

Ye Mo enjoyed tending to flowers, arranging them, and was interested in cooking. He’d follow Adelaide around to learn anything, often sincerely praising how amazing Adelaide was. Even if it slowed things down or caused a little trouble, Adelaide was happy to have this little shadow.

...

Faceless said to Zero Three again, "I'll be back a little late—"

Zero Three was staring at a light screen in front of him. The doctor said he could play for a while each day. He interrupted Faceless, "Alright, alright, I know. You're going for afternoon tea with the little prince. That's the third time. Can you be quiet?"

Faceless awkwardly adjusted his clothes. He wasn't used to it. These clothes were prepared by Adelaide, so naturally there was no mask to hide his face.

But he tried his best to seem more reliable, like an elder should.

Zero Three glanced at him. Faceless was dressed like the kind of young master he had once imagined.

When Faceless opened the door, Zero Three instinctively turned his head. The sunlight outside flooded in, engulfing Faceless's figure, leaving only a vague outline of his face and silhouette, as if walking into the light.

In that moment, Zero Three suddenly realized—they could truly walk freely in the sunlight now. The feeling was... wonderful. No, it was utterly wonderful.

Faceless looked at Zero Three in confusion, hesitating whether to close the door and leave. Finally, he asked, "Is something the matter?"

Zero Three turned away, swiped the light screen, and said bluntly, "If there's any good food, bring some back for me."

Faceless nodded. "I will."

"You're not actually taking that seriously, are you? Don't. That'd be too embarrassing."

Faceless looked troubled. "But Ye Mo would be really happy to see you too. He wanted to visit, but he didn't want to disturb you. I said I'd ask, but I have a hard time refusing him."

"Could you at least act like a proper elder?"

Faceless looked distressed. "But I can't help it."

...

Baide crouched like a big cat on top of a mech.

He hooked a flight unit near him with his sword tip, flung it away, then crouched back lazily. "Mission complete."

Behind him, the insectoid that had just attacked was being restrained by several warships, being dragged away from Baide.

"Is your current mission just to throw us out?"

"Too leisurely. Bad review."

"I've thrown up three times in twenty minutes, and you call that leisurely? Only Emperor Bode thinks it's leisurely! We're on the brink of life and death every second."

"Is this Emperor Bode's front line? Why is there a large mech like this here? I remember Grath's front line hasn't deployed these large mechs yet—only outsiders use them."

"You missed a lot of plot. Emperor Bode wanted it, said it felt just right to stand on. So he got it, and when he came back, he actually left it there just for standing."

After a while, Baide finally stood up and rolled his shoulders. "This is the right amount of exercise for an old man."

He then sighed, "If only Arnold were still here."

"Are you saying that if Prince Nolan were here, you wouldn't have to work?"

"But it's really too much to make an old man work so hard (in Baide's tone)."

"As expected of Emperor Bode. But lately things do seem a bit easier, or is that just me? If Prince Nolan were here, Baide wouldn't have to lift a finger."

The tension on the battlefield was easing—not only did the frontline soldiers feel it.

People behind the defensive lines also sensed the change. Occasionally, they would see warships withdrawing from the front, a sign that there was now enough troop surplus to rotate fleets and give soldiers a rest.

Reports of destroyed camera drones and Zerg breaking into residential areas grew fewer. Schools also relaxed their restrictions, allowing children to attend a few days a week.

Even Ye Mo, who had been somewhat uneasy at first, had fully calmed down after being knocked away several times while viewing through Baide's perspective. He started happily doing other things and only checked the frontline occasionally.

Norton no longer stayed on the battlefield constantly. Arnold had returned from Baide's side.

So even though this was the epicenter of the Zerg assault, Norton now had spare time. Norton, who had never been seen at meetings before, now made an appearance. It seemed he would soon be able to step away from the front for a while.

Today's meeting was about troop rotation arrangements.

The meeting was convened on short notice in the command center of a certain legion's flagship. About a dozen Corps Commanders who could attend were gathered.

Norton sat at the head of the table, barely participating. He listened half-heartedly—if he had to handle everything himself, the Empire would truly be raising a bunch of incompetents.

He let his gaze wander around the command room.

The venue had been mostly tidied up for the meeting, but some documents were still piled on a command console nearby.

Those were probably files ordinary soldiers had no access to—only the Corps Commander could handle them. But the meeting had been too rushed, so they were temporarily left there.

That was no big deal. Norton didn't care about such details. On the front, they had even held meetings in the middle of heavy bombardment.

The meeting proceeded normally. Most participants were used to this format.

Just as Norton was about to look away, his eyes lingered on one of the documents.

It was a letter, half-unfolded.

To prevent leaks, Corps Commanders could only communicate directly with other legions on the front and rear command posts, so they were allowed to write letters to keep in touch with their families.

Norton wasn't one to pry into his subordinates' privacy, but the handwriting in that letter felt familiar even from a quick glance.

It looked very much like Ye Mo's handwriting. The front part was neat, but the later part was somewhat sloppy—that was also one of Ye Mo's habits.

Norton suddenly realized this was Ye Zhiyuan's flagship. That letter must be from Ye Mo.

But why had he never received a letter from Ye Mo?

Norton withdrew his gaze, deciding not to read the content. But as his eyes passed over Ye Zhiyuan, they unconsciously lingered.

His gaze was almost unguarded—sharp and full of presence. Ye Zhiyuan had no choice but to pause and look back, silently asking if Norton had any orders.

But Norton said nothing, only shifted his piercing gaze away.

Ye Zhiyuan, puzzled, had no choice but to turn back to the discussion.