Yang Chen tore apart the remaining cigarettes, scattered them into a pile, and distributed them one by one, leaving only one to light. He took a puff and exhaled the smoke, speaking lightly: "I won't smoke much anymore. Your sister-in-law said, if we want kids, I must quit smoking; I'll have to quit drinking too."

Yang Chen's gaze swept over the graves, and no one could answer him.

He took two more puffs and threw the cigarette into the fire, saying, "Enough, just a little indulgence will do, let's drink!"

Yang Chen opened a bottle of liquor, gulped down two mouthfuls, and felt the spicy taste flow throbbingly down his throat into his stomach, burning fiercely, like knives scraping his throat and intestines.

Yang Chen squinted, smiled, and said, "What a taste! Now this is the kind of liquor a guy in the Guard would drink!"

This taste reminded Yang Chen of when they were young recruits in the New Guard, sneaking drinks in the dormitory.

The first time they were inexperienced, sneaking drinks in the dorm until Instructor Zhuo Jingyu smelled the alcohol and made them crawl during the reprimand.

The second time they smartened up and went to the woods to drink.

Eventually, they went directly to the riverside to drink, washed up afterward, and with a little soap, not a trace of smell remained.

Back then everyone was still naive about missions, full of reckless enthusiasm.

Later on, they understood that all missions were drenched in blood.

Every action inevitably comes with bloodshed.

That so-called zeal indeed needed to be exchanged with blood.

Over the years, only three brothers remained beside him.

Yang Chen felt an indescribable sadness in his heart.

He took another swig, looked at the fire nearly burned out, and said: "They say when you burn paper money, if someone comes to collect it, a whirlwind will come; but you guys are completely still, does that mean you don't need it? Or rather, are you not dead at all, somewhere waiting for me to find you?"

Yang Chen laughed and said: "I knew it! Rest assured! I've found your sister-in-law, I won't leave you behind. No matter what, I must find you; alive, I'll see you; dead, I'll find your bodies!"

"Only…" Yang Chen sat cross-legged, looked at the tombstones, and said: "We don't even know your current situations; even if you're wandering like Ye Xin after losing memories, you'd be better off showing yourselves, as long as I can see you, I absolutely won't abandon you. You bunch of rascals, where the hell have you run off to?"

"Did you know Night Fire is unconscious? Only Night Fire, Sword Edge, and Mastiff are left by my side now. Mastiff listens to me, so I don't worry about anything. But Sword Edge has a hot temper, always causing trouble for me. You absolutely have no idea, that rascal Sword Edge is dating my sister, damn him, I really want to kick him! Finding a woman among our own people, I reckon he needs a beating! And Night Fire, he's quite stable, but I was careless this time, letting him get injured. We don't know the situation now, but I fear he'll be infected by parasites; you don't understand how terrifying those parasites are, once infected it's almost incurable. Now he's just in a coma… but I've gathered the national experts, yet they still can't figure it out."

"They're the last three brothers left by my side, I cannot allow Night Fire to have any accidents! But watching him lying on the hospital bed, covered in tubes, my heart suddenly… this shouldn't be our end, our lives shouldn't end this way. Brothers, if you can hear me, bless your brother Night Fire to overcome this crisis!"

After speaking, Yang Chen tilted the bottle and gulped down all the liquor.

He didn't expel the alcohol, just felt it coursing through his body, numbing his nerves, making the world sway.

"Let's go!" Yang Chen stumbled to his feet, the strong drink making it hard for him to handle.

"Brothers, I'll visit you another day!" Yang Chen waved to the tombstones, turned around, and looked at Sun Yue.

He tossed the keys to Sun Yue and said: "Take me home, I've been awake all day, I need to go back and rest."

Sun Yue tried to support Yang Chen, but he was refused.

"I'm not that drunk, let's go!" Yang Chen turned to glance at the tombstone, speaking lightly.

Sun Yue, helpless, could only follow behind Yang Chen.

After taking Yang Chen back to his residence, Sun Yue hurried to the third laboratory.

Inside the third laboratory, everyone was busily working, studying every possibility, trying to find a breakthrough.

Yang Cao was particularly absorbed, slicing the tentacles of a strange fish into sections for careful observation.

Sun Yue also changed into lab attire, assisting Yang Cao with various experiments.

To say, after working with Professor Qian for some time, Sun Yue had developed good research skills.

…

Thus, the work continued, everyone busied themselves, hoping to uncover the reason behind Night Fire's coma as soon as possible.

The next day, the first thing Yang Chen did upon waking was to go to the hospital to check on Night Fire's condition.

Finding no progress, he drove to the Ye family.

The Ye family.

Inside Master Ye's study.

Yang Chen and Master Ye sat facing each other, playing chess, neither uttering a word, engaged in a fierce battle on the board.

After a long while, Master Ye sighed and bitterly smiled, saying: "The new wave pushes the old, but your aura of aggression has grown."

Yang Chen placed down a chess piece, and said lightly: "I've just been a bit emotionally unstable lately."

On the board, Yang Chen's black pieces resembled a black dragon, sweeping across, leaving white pieces shattered, only able to cling to corners, facing inevitable defeat.

"Life and death are predestined, wealth is fated, some things need to be seen through," Master Ye advised.

Yang Chen sneered, stared at Master Ye, and said: "Weren't you seeking immortality, letting Shangqing Sect use you, filled with parasites back then?"

"Uh!" Master Ye looked embarrassed.

"You all said Ye Xin was dead back then; I didn't believe it, searched all over Da Yan Jiangbei, traversed every land in Flame Country, eventually didn't I find her?"

Master Ye couldn't help but raise his eyebrows.

"Living beings, if controlled by fate, what difference do they have from fish in water? They go wherever the flow takes them, where's the pursuit? Living is about pursuit and resisting fate; my reason for being is to control destiny. When heaven is unjust, fight against heaven; when earth is unjust, fight against earth; when people are unjust, fight against people! Only by growing stronger can I protect myself, the people around me, and those I love!" Yang Chen said resolutely.

Master Ye sighed, seemingly deflated, "Indeed, as the old sage said, you're akin to the Ziwei Star descending, an emperor in form!"