Naming Technique of the Night

Jindai Yunzi sneered, "Stop hitting them, just let them hang here. Their goal is to provoke you into killing them, but I won't let them have the satisfaction. I want them to feel pain and the cold right here. Anyone else want to throw protein bars? If you do, you can hang here with them."

The prisoners saw these two Qing intelligence personnel and recoiled.

Qing Chen acted as if he hadn't heard anything, continuing to build the stone wall.

At night, Qing Chen paused his wall-building and suddenly stood at the edge of the pigsty, asking softly, "What's your names?"

"Zhao Mingke."

"Wang Yuchao."

"How long have you been here?"

"Nineteen years, three months, and three days. Every day, we counted with our fingers, afraid that we might forget, and our minds would go blank."

"Was it worth it?"

"There's nothing worth or not worth; we're too hungry daily to consider that."

"Hmm."

"Officer Qing Chen, do you regret it?"

"No, I don't."

"Do you know Zhang Wenqi?" Qing Chen asked.

"Sir, you also know Zhang Wenqi? He was one of the guards at Base A02, trained us harshly, but he'd go a bit easier at the crucial moment."

"Yes, before he died, he also said the words 'Success doesn't have to come from me'," Qing Chen stared calmly at the starry sky.

Zhao Mingke suddenly said, "Officer, you know the meaning of those words, right?"

Qing Chen shook his head, "I don't fully understand yet."

Zhao Mingke took a deep breath and said, "It means not just telling us soldiers to not fear sacrifice, but also telling commanders to not have a woman's benevolence. For any goal, sacrifice and bloodshed are inevitable. If you fear them, the victory you achieve will be a false one."

Qing Chen thought for a while, "Understood."

He continued to lower his head and build the stone wall, while Zhao Mingke and Wang Yuchao hung in the air.

The two suddenly heard something murmured from Qing Chen's mouth, but the howling cold wind made it difficult to hear clearly.

At some moment, the night wind stopped.

They heard the words clearly.

Return countdown: four days.

Zhao Mingke and Wang Yuchao lost the energy for small talk, their heads drooped, blood flowing from the wounds on their legs, barely keeping them awake.

All the prisoners passing by looked away, unable to bear the sight.

And that boy named Qing Chen still tirelessly built the stone wall over and over again.

Return countdown: three days.

Zhao Mingke and Wang Yuchao had fallen into a coma.

While unconscious, they were still muttering something.

No prisoner dared to get close, to hear exactly what they said.

And that boy named Qing Chen was nearing his limit.

There was food, but the biting cold was something a severely injured person couldn't withstand.

Qing Chen's face was flushed, a sign of a persistent fever.

It was the first time he had fallen ill since becoming a Knight.

Even the Knight's Body was struggling.

Return countdown: two days.

Zhao Mingke and Wang Yuchao's breathing was barely perceptible, yet they kept murmuring something.

Qing intelligence personnel among the prisoners, risking lashes, strained to listen.

In the cold wind, Zhao Mingke and Wang Yuchao murmured, "But you have to understand, my friend; we cannot face the darkness with gentleness, but with fire."

The Qing intelligence personnel were stunned, silently wiped their tears, then continued toward the quarry.

As usual, they carried the never-ending stones.

Living the repetitive life of suffering.

Return countdown: the final day.

Qing Chen stood in the night, gazing at the stars once more.

The vast stars in the sky, deep and immense as the sea.

"I'm sorry," Qing Chen said.

He was speaking to Zhao Mingke and Wang Yuchao, with no further explanation, just those two words.

Sorry for dragging you into this.

Sorry for not being able to save you.

Zhao Mingke and Wang Yuchao were already on the brink of death. Upon hearing those three words, they opened their eyes briefly, and with cracked lips, smiled, "It's okay."

Then they were silent again.

Those same four words again.

They had spoken twice to the Qing intelligence personnel, and those words had been returned twice.

But this time, life was given in return.

Qing Chen did not mourn. He continued to build the stone wall, feeling the desperate strength in his muscles, trembling, twisting, and surging.

As his body neared its limit, exhaustion strangely brought a feeling of exhilaration.

At some moment, just as he felt he was about to collapse.

A pure, fiery force from deep within him was suddenly ignited, surging through his entire body.

It was as if a warm current had flooded the icy Arctic night.

Qing Chen paused in shock.

He soon realized what it was.

It was the blood of a God that had been injected into him by the person who had once saved him in that valley.

A drop of God's blood, diluted to five milliliters, fully injected into his body.

It was something coveted even by masters capable of hunting Jindai Yunhe, who wished to keep a portion for themselves.

Qing Chen had heard of God's blood. More precisely, the secret history of the Federation families acknowledged that there had been only one God in this world...

Ren Xiaosu, who left his mark 599 meters up the cliff of the Green Mountain.

This was the God acknowledged by all families, for his blood could transform decay into miracles, his will was vast and boundless.

If this was God's blood, then it must be Ren Xiaosu's blood.

It was said that he was the first human to unlock the genetic lock and coexist with cancer cells throughout his body, his cells becoming alien nuclei, dazzling and magnificent.

Some speculated that the appearance of Transcendent individuals in this world was due to the immense will of Ren Xiaosu, affecting the entire world.

Before Ren Xiaosu's Awakening, there were not so many Awakeners. It was after his Awakening that Awakeners began to appear gradually.

When Qing Chen was injected with that drop of God's blood, it merely stabilized his injuries at the time.

He thought that was the end of it.

But now, with Qing Chen's will reaching a critical point, the diluted God's blood resurfaced, nourishing his physique with divine power.

God's blood was not something anyone could absorb. Only the qualified were worthy of its absorption.

Though Qing Chen was only absorbing one-tenth of it now.

Qing Chen pondered silently. Given the relationship between the Federation families and Ren Xiaosu, the only families that could receive the gift of God's blood were the Li Family and Qing's Family, as they had fought alongside the God.

So, the one who saved him and then handed him over to Jindai must belong to one of these two families.

But these details were not important.

Qing Chen felt the cold wind and the complex emotions deep inside him, sensing his body on the verge of collapse yet bursting with power.

The world fell into darkness.

But you have to understand, my friend; we cannot face the darkness with gentleness, but with fire.

Return.