What was the feeling of shooting oneself?
Jiang Jianming actually did not perceive it clearly. At that moment, all of his consciousness was focused on maintaining his momentum under the dense flow of crystal particles. The bullet pierced through him with intense pain, and his consciousness flew away in the next instant.
It was also intense pain that pulled him back from the void.
Every inch of his body felt like it was crushed, as if he was sinking in an endless quagmire, unable to move.
Jiang Jianming was in such pain that he almost wanted to pass out again, but the only thought that flashed in his mind was: He was still alive, which meant… he had won the bet.
He struggled several times, barely maintaining a trace of consciousness, until he gathered enough strength to open his eyes.
This time, Jiang Jianming finally saw clearly where he was.
The former founding commander lay deep within the crystal transformed His Majesty. But this time, he was not completely swallowed. The surrounding crystals no longer pulsed, and everything was deathly silent.
“Rya… cough cough cough…”
Speaking became incredibly difficult. Jiang Jianming breathed heavily, his fingers spasmodically clutching the crystal beneath him, “Ryann…”
The surrounding light was dim. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead against the cold crystal, closing his eyes and emptying his senses.
His mental power conducted along the invisible crystal particles, attempting to sense a familiar presence from these crystals that had lost their temperature and the unmoving flesh.
This was Ryann’s body… a part of Ryann.
When it had once held him, it had been warm and soft.
But now, Jiang Jianming’s spirit could only touch the consciousness fragments on the verge of extinction. Cold, withered, lifeless, without response.
Ryann…
In just a few seconds, Jiang Jianming’s lips had turned a grayish color. He still kept his eyes closed, but his breathing became increasingly chaotic, and his entire body began to tremble as if from cold.
This body had long been riddled with holes, now merely stitched together by Ryann. Any forceful movement would inevitably cause it to fall apart.
Yet in this condition, he still had to mobilize his mental power to repair another consciousness that had already fallen apart.
The danger was no less than trying to stop a runaway machine with bare hands – either successfully stopping it or being ground into a puddle of blood.
Jiang Jianming forced himself to stay calm. Following the feeling of operating a mecha, he forcefully pressed down his mental power.
Ryann’s subconscious seemed to recognize the lover’s mental power. Those consciousness fragments trapped in madness first became agitated, then gradually calmed down, obediently allowing his manipulation.
But…
Jiang Jianming gave a bitter smile. His vision was already beginning to blur. With this broken shell, how much longer could he persist?
“Ryann, wake up… Wake up,” he gently stroked the crystal beneath his fingertips, his voice trembling. “I can’t hold on much longer… You must wake up by your own will and see me…”
However, in the next moment, a sharp crackling sound suddenly reached Jiang Jianming’s ears.
He suddenly looked up, watching with his own eyes as a translucent crystal prism abruptly pierced from the outside, bloodily stabbing through the flesh and bone tissue connected to the crystal!
Followed by a second, then a third!
“—!”
Jiang Jianming’s pupils contracted.
Deep within the Crystal Nest, amidst the white, hazy storm, countless crystal particles gathered towards the location of that former human emperor.
The mother nucleus perceived his weakness and deemed this the perfect opportunity. Crystal particles frantically released attacks, attempting to completely tear apart the body that Ryann had been transformed into!
In the blink of an eye, another crystal prism broke through this crystal space.
Accompanied by a piercing crack, its tip almost suspended in front of Jiang Jianming’s raised eyeball!
No, there was no time left.
If things continued this way, before he could slowly awaken Ryann’s consciousness, the latter would be devoured to death by crystal particles!
“…”
Jiang Jianming breathed rapidly. He stared at the chilling crystal prism for two seconds.
The next moment, he suddenly propped up his body and directly rammed the sharp point with his chest cavity!
Clang!!—
There was no pain of tearing the body, only a crisp sound in his ears.
Just a second before the crystal prism was about to pierce the disabled human, a flame-like color suddenly burst out, breaking the prism in half.
“Jiang… Jian… Ming!!”
A voice of rage near madness came from the depths of spiritual consciousness.
Inside the originally dead and colorless “monster” body, a scarlet-gold color suddenly burned. That color spread like a wildfire, and a terrifying aura awakened with it.
Accompanied by crisp “crackling” sounds, the white crystal clusters piercing deep inside broke one by one.
“I’m here,” Jiang Jianming blinked his eyelashes, breathing palely. “I really had no other choice but to take some extreme measures…Umph.”
The scarlet-gold crystal extended from his back, viciously covering his mouth.
In the depths of consciousness, that voice ground out between clenched teeth. “Shut up, I don’t want to hear you talk.”
Jiang Jianming curved his eyebrows and smiled, but the smile quickly faded. He weakly tilted his head, closed his eyes, and let Ryann slowly lay him down in the generated crystal.
…His condition was extremely poor, and he would truly pass out if he did not catch his breath soon.
Ryann might be furious to the point of madness, but he also knew that Jiang Jianming had risked his life to pull him back from the edge of consciousness dissipation. No matter how fierce his attitude appeared, his crystal bones did not stop for a moment, sending the energy needed to maintain life into the body in his arms.
Those attacking crystal particles instead became nourishment. In recent years, the Crystal Nest had not dared to provoke him, and it had been a long time since it had captured such vibrant crystal particles.
Jiang Jianming also remained silent. His mental power continued to penetrate deep into Ryann’s consciousness, smoothing out those turbulent spiritual cracks one by one.
The two were silent in the isolated depths of the Crystal Nest. One healed the other’s body, one soothed the other’s spirit. Merged into one, blending like water and milk, no worldly thing could disturb them.
Time flowed slowly.
Until a moment when Jiang Jianming vaguely felt the ground’s tremor, and the entire Crystal Nest began to shake.
He keenly opened his eyes, and at the same time, Ryann’s crystal retreated from his body.
Suddenly, a pair of human arms embraced him from behind.
“Don’t look back,” a hoarse voice said.
It was no longer transmitted from the depths of consciousness, but genuinely, from a human mouth—Ryann Kaios’s voice!
Jiang Jianming’s heart trembled, and he instinctively tightly gripped that familiar hand. “Ryann!?”
A light sensation passed through his shoulder and neck. Someone gently rested their chin on his shoulder, with curly white-gold hair tips swaying at the edge of his vision.
“Commander…long time no see,” that voice carried a slightly relieved laugh, “How are you? Did you miss me? Do you like that crystal bone ring?”
Even Jiang Jianming, who prided himself on being aloof, almost burst into tears at that voice.
He didn’t even hear what Ryann said, choked up and calling out “Your Majesty”, and turned back—
“…..”
“…………”
Jiang Jianming’s eyebrows twitched stiffly.
Behind him was not the Emperor’s full body, but still a large expanse of flesh and crystal-merged substance.
Only a pair of arms had grown out of the crystal, which had just been embracing him and now opened their fingers somewhat innocently.
A human head had also grown from the crystal, indeed the devastatingly beautiful face of Emperor Kaios, but the neck transformed into crystal halfway, with no upper body.
The rest of the human torso was completely nowhere to be seen.
Green eyes and black eyes met directly.
Two people. No, one person and a head. Actually, not quite right—one person and something non-human…
In any case, they stared at each other expressionlessly.
Ryann: “I told you not to look back.”
“You can only…”
Jiang Jianming’s expression was subtly nuanced as he delicately asked, “Only your head and hands can return to human form?”
Ryann’s expression was cold. “No clothes.”
Jiang Jianming fell silent again.
He imagined the founding Emperor battling the Crystal Nest completely naked, or naked with only his private parts covered by crystal bone.
Hmm… well, how to put it?
Actually, if the Commander were to choose, he would prefer a comedy over a horror film. But His Majesty cared about appearances, so he couldn’t force the issue.
“Alright then, just stay like this. I’ll try to get used to it.”
Jiang Jianming decided to move past the topic, composing himself and attempting to stand up with effort, “I’m not sure how much time has passed. When I fired the shot, there were still twelve hours left before the Pangu’s Axe was fully charged…”
As he spoke, he tried to straighten up. Unexpectedly, the moment he raised his upper body, he felt a heaviness in his chest, accompanied by a tinkling sound, and almost lost his balance and fell forward.
“Jiang!”
Ryann’s expression changed, quickly supporting him, “Move slowly. Your body can’t handle much movement yet.”
…No, it wasn’t just a body issue.
Jiang Jianming narrowed his eyes and looked down, only then belatedly realizing he was wearing the marshal’s military uniform from the early days of the new empire.
His chest was adorned with numerous medals, both familiar and unfamiliar, clearly honorary awards bestowed by His Majesty after his departure.
Ryann seemed slightly embarrassed, averting his gaze and clearing his throat. “Cough…Do you like it?”
Jiang Jianming: “.”
…Thank you, but damn, it’s so heavy.
The Commander’s body was originally frail, having been “dead” for many years, and being able to move was already difficult. This military uniform laden with medals was enough to suffocate him.
Jiang Jianming helplessly removed the broad, magnificent outer garment, only then feeling somewhat relieved, “Can Your Majesty estimate how long it’s been since my base body died?”
Ryann: “No, I was almost unconscious before, and you were in a coma for a while too. We have no sense of time.”
Saying this, the scarlet-gold crystal slowly brought something over, “Ask about this.”
Jiang Jianming’s eyes moved.
In this eerie crystal world, the object before them seemed jarringly out of place. It was a complete set of precision equipment, stacked to over a meter high, looking like a mysterious box.
Jiang Jianming half-knelt before the machine, examining it carefully. Even while wrapped in Ryann’s semi-transparent crystal, he could vaguely make out the Black Shark Base logo engraved on the device.
He immediately understood.
This was the exact set sent in by Black Shark Base decades ago, maintaining the consciousness projection of the two of them.
According to Sylph, with effort, they could even achieve two-way communication. Although it was often communication that barely qualified as basic, almost like talking past each other…
Jiang Jianming: “I’ll try.”
The crystal obediently receded, revealing the original appearance of the device.
Jiang Jianming’s sharp eyes immediately spotted the exposed pale gold spiritual thread. He reached out, pulled it out, and pressed the end against the back of his head, closing his eyes and letting his consciousness seep in.
There was silence for a long time.
Ryann didn’t disturb him, patiently extending his head from the crystal, staring unblinkingly at the Commander’s back.
He couldn’t help it. He hadn’t seen this person alive for so long. No matter how much he looked, it wasn’t enough. He even became more greedy with each look, only wanting to… swallow him forever.
This was also why Jiang Jianming had such excellent psychological resilience. Being stared at from behind by a head embedded in crystal with such a bizarre gaze, he was completely unfazed.
After about five minutes, he suddenly opened his eyes and turned around, speaking in a deep voice. “Fifteen minutes until firing!”
Ryann narrowed his eyes. “Success rate 60% to 68%?”
“That was me making it up. The conditions for estimation were not sufficient, and the winning probability cannot be calculated.”
Jiang Jianming struggled to stand up, supporting himself with his knee, “Does Your Majesty still have the strength to move forward?”
Ryann’s crystal supported him, “Of course.”
They exchanged a look and said nothing more.
Because both of them knew very clearly.
Before the earth-shattering deception brought by that shot, the Commander’s serious talk about the final stage of the White Bird Plan was, of course, fake.
The probability mentioned was also fake.
But there was something true in those words.
For instance, if the Pangu’s Axe could not destroy the mother nucleus in one strike, someone must come to personally complete this task, at any cost, to lock down the probability of victory.
And also, the Commander had once promised that he would fight alongside all of humanity until the very last moment.
