No one believes a shooting star shines brighter than the full moon, yet the former captures human interest far more readily. Clearly, brightness is not the key. My eyelids felt incredibly heavy… My mind was terribly muddled…
Opening her eyes, the first thing Ke Yiyi saw was the uniformed young woman seated opposite her. The young woman’s gaze was fixed on her computer screen, her expression one of profound concentration. A dark purple butterfly, tinged with deep pink, rested delicately on her shoulder. It then unfurled its wings, fluttered into the air, and finally settled on Ke Yiyi’s own shoulder.
“You’re awake?”
Noticing the subtle shift in the person opposite her, the young woman set her laptop aside and rose to approach Ke Yiyi.
“Saichi… how long have I slept?”
Ke Yiyi slowly sat up, the world around her rapidly righting itself.
She realized she had been reclining on a long bench, her back supported by the wall, a portable inflatable pillow cushioning her head.
Her gaze swept around, taking in the dappled sunlight filtering through the leaves of a large tree nearby. She had been resting in its cool shade, enjoying the gentle breeze. Finally, her eyes settled on Yagami Saichi.
“Approximately fifty minutes.”
“I’m utterly useless… to have fallen asleep at a critical moment like this…”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
Yagami Saichi reached out, lightly touching Ke Yiyi’s forehead, then handed her a small box.
“One tablet before bed, every day.”
“What is this?”
Ke Yiyi hesitantly took the box. Inside the clear plastic container were dozens of small, thin tablets.
“Medicine.”
“Medicine?”
Ke Yiyi’s face registered surprise; she couldn’t comprehend why she had suddenly fallen ill.
“A sudden rise in blood pressure, triggered by emotional fluctuations, has compressed your optic nerve, causing vascular spasms and intermittent blindness. A detailed examination will be necessary after the operation concludes.”
Yagami Saichi gently closed Ke Yiyi’s fingers around the box, securing the medicine to prevent it from falling.
“No… I still need to go to the observation team…”
Ke Yiyi slowly rose to her feet. Finding herself largely unharmed, she prepared to head to the observation team, but a quick pat down of her person revealed neither her identification nor her communicator.
“Saichi, have you seen…”
“Your ID and communicator.”
Yagami Saichi settled her laptop back onto her knees and raised her left hand. In her palm lay the very items Ke Yiyi knew all too well: her own identification and communicator.
“Thank you, Sa…ichi?”
Just as Ke Yiyi reached out to take them, Yagami Saichi lowered her hand, not passing the items to her.
“Confiscated for now.”
“Saichi, please don’t… hinder my work. There are duties awaiting me with the observation team.”
She had initially intended to say, ‘don’t mess around,’ but upon seeing Yagami Saichi’s utterly serious expression, she felt as though she were the one being frivolous and quickly changed her wording.
Yet, no matter the choice of words, Yagami Saichi remained unmoved.
“Your work merely involves patrolling. It makes no difference whether you are there or not.”
Yagami Saichi’s gaze remained fixed on her screen, her demeanor as calm and unperturbed as ever.
“Your superior has granted you leave, permitting you to begin your rest.”
“Huh?”
Ke Yiyi found this utterly incredible. What could possibly have prompted Lan Xifang to grant her leave?
“Here.”
Yagami Saichi produced a folded piece of paper and handed it to Ke Yiyi, who accepted it with a touch of hesitation.
The note bore Lan Xifang’s distinctive handwriting, its content essentially urging Ke Yiyi to rest well, to avoid excessive worry and mental strain, and assuring her that all matters would be handled by Lan Xifang herself, so Ke Yiyi shouldn’t overthink anything.
Lan Xifang’s handwriting was unmistakable. The script of the Blaze Clan was notoriously difficult to write continuously in a Western-style florid hand, yet Lan Xifang excelled at this very technique. Within a sequence of her elegant flourishes, the third character of every sentence would invariably appear as a distinctly different, ‘alien’ character before seamlessly reverting to the connected, ornate style.
Ke Yiyi folded the message and slumped back onto the bench, a picture of dejection.
Pressing both hands to her forehead, she bent forward and let out a heavy sigh.
‘I didn’t even ask that child’s name… It’s all my fault…’
“Why the sigh?”
“If only I had stayed with that child then…”
“That would only have added another corpse.”
Yagami Saichi’s fingers danced across the keyboard, the soft ‘clack-clack’ echoing under the tree. The laptop, connected to the emergency power supply of the police car parked behind the tree, emitted a faint glow in the shade.
“The assassin used ‘Gesadu Langji’ armor-piercing rounds. Penetrating two people would not have been a difficult feat.”
“Huh? An assassin? Armor-piercing rounds? What happened?”
Ke Yiyi, bewildered by what had transpired during her sleep, calmed herself before questioning Yagami Saichi about the events. Yagami Saichi, in turn, provided explanations one by one.
From the assassin’s corpse to the aftermath, Yagami Saichi elucidated every detail, as all these reports ultimately converged at the Imperial Guard Bureau behind them—now more accurately called the Vega Worldly Affairs City Police Department.
Ke Yiyi’s spirits sank. Compared to a matter as monumental as territory exchange, the girl’s death seemed a tragically insignificant detail…
Lan Xifang had specifically dispatched Gan Lan to retrieve immigration documents earlier, yet the moment the girl died, everything related to her became utterly neglected…
Ke Yiyi harbored no desire to blame anyone. This was, after all, a complication that had arisen from her own recklessness during the territory exchange. From beginning to end, everyone’s efforts had been dedicated to resolving the trouble she had caused. She was profoundly grateful for everyone’s help, be it Lan Xifang, Polaris, or even Man Dage.
She knew she couldn’t demand anything more, yet the girl’s death left her unable to find peace.
Under normal circumstances, Vega would provide compensation to the girl’s family… but her family was on Xuanji Star… No, her family was already dead, so this compensation would likely not be issued either…
‘Sigh… what have I done!’
From the moment she signed the immigration documents, the girl had become a citizen of Vega. Vega police were sworn to protect Vega citizens, yet Ke Yiyi had protected nothing… merely standing there…
“It’s not your fault, you’re a victim too.”
Yagami Saichi took two bottles of mineral water from a nearby box and offered them to Ke Yiyi. She assessed the water’s temperature, ultimately handing Ke Yiyi the less chilled bottle.
“Here.”
Ke Yiyi looked at the text on the bottle. It was ‘Lanzhou’ mineral water, and a line of red characters was printed on its side: ‘Never forget the Lanzhou Massacre.’
This mineral water was named ‘Lanzhou’ because its original production site was located in Lanzhou. After the World War, owing to the Lanzhou Massacre, the reconstructed manufacturer, though no longer situated in Lanzhou itself, continued to use the name ‘Lanzhou.’ Every newly produced bottle of mineral water still bore the inscription ‘Never forget the Lanzhou Massacre’ on its side.
“Your boyfriend brought it earlier.”
“Huh?”
Ke Yiyi struggled to swallow the water in her mouth, gazing at Yagami Saichi with astonishment. The image of Man Huaizhi flickered in her mind, but she quickly dismissed it.
“Who?”
“Someone wearing a mask. Couldn’t see their face, but the mask was quite stylish.”
‘Was it Li Yuyi? Ke Yiyi didn’t think his mask could be described as “stylish”…’
“Why would you assume he’s my boyfriend?”
“Because his eyes were filled with affirmation for you.”
Yagami Saichi’s fingers tapped rhythmically on the keyboard, a flurry of clacking sounds echoing from her fingertips.
“He’s the first man I’ve seen give you anything since we met at the police academy.”
“Is that so?”
Ke Yiyi sighed. What was there about her that would warrant such a gift? She hadn’t even managed to save a child…
“You didn’t either…”
Ke Yiyi’s expression shifted dramatically, and she abruptly cut herself off.
She had merely been feeling dejected and spoke without thinking, but midway through, she realized her grave error. It was true that no men had given Yagami Saichi gifts during their time at the police academy… but that was a truth best left unsaid…
She stared at Yagami Saichi, still shaken, terrified that her thoughtless words might cause the other woman intense discomfort. Despite the years that had passed, Ke Yiyi remembered vividly that Yagami Saichi had developed a stress-induced mental disorder after ‘that incident’… ‘I’m truly useless… to have spoken so carelessly in the spur of the moment…’
Yagami Saichi calmly met the gaze of the terrified Ke Yiyi, her face betraying not a single ripple of emotion, as if Ke Yiyi had merely uttered the most ordinary of remarks.
“Yes, [censored], it’s normal for men to distance themselves from me.”
Her face, as placid as still water, instilled in Ke Yiyi a sense of unfamiliarity. Especially when she spoke the [censored] words so calmly, Ke Yiyi felt that Yagami Saichi seemed vastly different from her past self.
“I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have…”
“There’s no need to apologize. It’s an objective truth; its existence isn’t negated by silence. I’ve grown capable of viewing all of this with equanimity, accustomed to facing the strange looks of others.”
Ke Yiyi was at a loss for words. ‘If only I had remained silent just now… It’s all because my mind is so muddled… I even thought Yagami Saichi was messing around earlier, but I’m the one who’s truly out of line… No, this isn’t just messing around; it could be considered malicious harm.’
“Oh? Ke Yiyi, you’re awake?”
Ke Yiyi glanced to her side. A figure rounded the corner of the building—it was Gudang Weixiao, carrying her medicine box.
The moment she spotted Ke Yiyi, Gudang Weixiao ran over with a smile. However, upon seeing Ke Yiyi’s somber expression, she assumed the sadness was for the girl, and her smile vanished instantly. She stood helplessly by the bench.
“Are you… alright, Ke Yiyi?”
“I’m fine, what’s wrong?”
“I came to check on you, to see if you’re feeling better. Did you take the medicine I gave you earlier?”
“Not yet.”
Ke Yiyi paused, slightly stunned. Had the previous medicine been left by Gudang Weixiao? Had she also come to Worldly Affairs City?
“Just one tablet before bed. Make sure to rest, and don’t overthink things.”
Observing Ke Yiyi’s surprised gaze, Gudang Weixiao also fell into confusion, but she quickly grasped the source of Ke Yiyi’s astonishment.
“Shizuku, Ai, and I all came to Worldly Affairs City to assist. I was the one who examined you earlier.”
“Thank you!”
Ke Yiyi couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion. She lowered her head, pondered for a moment, then asked, “That girl…”
Gudang Weixiao sighed and shook her head.
“Died instantly on the scene. There was no hope of saving her.”
“I know… I mean her body…”
“It will be buried soon, but her parents refused to attend.”
“As expected…”
Ke Yiyi knew that the man and woman were not the girl’s biological parents, but her abusers. As people from the Xuanji Star side, they would not possibly attend a Vega funeral.
“Can I see her?”
“I’m afraid not. There are restrictions on viewing bodies after an autopsy. You know the relevant procedures…”
Ke Yiyi said nothing. Every non-natural death of a Vega citizen required a death certificate issued by the autopsy team. Although she was currently an observer, she did not have the authority to view a body that had already undergone an autopsy.
“She must have been covered in injuries!”
Ke Yiyi shook her head. She had seen the girl’s wounds with her own eyes… Now, with the body torn to pieces, those injuries would likely be unrecognizable.
“Yes, there were many signs of violent abuse, and…” Gudang Weixiao suddenly stopped speaking, clearly not wanting to distress Ke Yiyi further, but she eventually continued. “She was pregnant.”