“What do you mean, ascending to Domain Lord is a lie?!”
Bai Xiaodu's expression shifted, and his voice sank.
“Explain yourself!”
His ultimate goal was longevity, but his current realm only allowed him to extend his lifespan by a hundred years.
With a Domain Lord's lifespan reaching up to a thousand years, how could he be willing to stop here?
Faced with Bai Xiaodu's questioning, Galor shrugged and asked in return,
“Do you still remember your earliest memory?”
Bai Xiaodu thought for a moment, his expression flickering with uncertainty.
According to the memories he had after regaining full consciousness, he had been raised in an orphanage on a war-torn planet.
Of course...
...that was only his cover story.
Galor smiled.
“Reluctant to speak? Let me help you remember.”
“Your earliest memory should be inside a tube of nutrient fluid. It might be blurry or fragmented, but you must remember that viscous feeling wrapping around your entire body.”
Bai Xiaodu neither admitted nor denied it, merely watching him in silence.
Not only did Bai Xiaodu know he had been encased in nutrient fluid,
but he also clearly remembered looking through the transparent glass of the fluid pod.
He had seen row upon row of nutrient tanks containing infant embryos.
At that time, Bai Xiaodu had already regained full consciousness and his past memories.
He had instantly realized his situation.
He was likely being cultivated as some kind of test subject, or perhaps as mass-produced, cheap expendables.
Though it felt hopeless, Bai Xiaodu had no intention of giving up.
He began doing simple exercises inside the nutrient tank, silently gathering his strength.
Living like an oversized rat might at least let him survive a bit longer.
However, an accident occurred.
For some unknown reason, the spaceship crashed.
Amidst the sea of fire and wreckage, Bai Xiaodu took the opportunity to crawl out of his nutrient tank.
In just a few days, he grew from an infant embryo into the likeness of a seven- or eight-year-old child.
At first, his limbs were clumsy, but soon he was running faster and faster.
As he ran, he came upon a tragic battlefield where a battle had only recently ended.
Bai Xiaodu stripped the blood-stained clothes from a corpse to drape over himself, then found a rushing river.
Recalling some wilderness survival shows he had watched in his past life, he decided that if he couldn't find any sign of civilization, he would just follow the river.
As days turned to nights, Bai Xiaodu was fortunate enough to survive, avoiding being chewed up as a light snack by the tigers and leopards along the way.
Instead, he was found by a kind-hearted gatekeeper, which practically saved his life.
Unfortunately, before long, the war escalated, the small town was destroyed, and the orphanage ceased to exist.
Galor looked at Bai Xiaodu's face and sighed.
“You are truly good-looking, and your eyes are bright and full of confidence.”
“Though I don't know where you went after the spaceship crashed, I am certain of one thing.”
“Someone who loved you very much must have raised you.”
With that, Galor gave a self-deprecating laugh.
“My luck wasn't quite as good. After I regained consciousness, I managed to escape with a girl of our clan. Unfortunately, we were caught by the rebels.”
“Dragons are naturally lustful, and we silver fox-kin are usually very good-looking, so those rebels sold us to a local dragon outpost.”
Bai Xiaodu couldn't help but frown.
Even without the other party saying it, he already knew what their subsequent situation must have been like.
Galor, as if reading his mind, smiled.
“Naturally, it was miserable. Dragons are inherently brutal; any slight drop in their mood would result in beatings and torture.”
“On our very first night there, that girl was almost dragged out and violated by the guards.”
“I resisted with everything I had, and both of us were beaten bloody until our screams drew the attention of the patrols. While she was indeed saved, my face took a heavy blow. That was how this half of my face was ruined.”
“Tsk, she wrapped her tiny self in her tail, crying with her head down before me. Blood and tears mixed together, and her body wouldn't stop shivering.”
“She would fall asleep only to be jolted awake by the pain, tossing and turning, unable to rest. After suffering through a few hours in a daze, she shook me awake and solemnly begged me to strangle her to death.”
Bai Xiaodu froze.
Galor continued.
“I refused her very sternly, telling her that as long as we were alive, there was hope.”
“But when I woke up, all that lay beside me was a cold corpse.”
Galor rubbed his temples.
“I cried for days back then, but thinking about it now, it was for the best. She was liberated, and it was all over. Given the brutal, sadistic nature of the dragons, living would have only been a fate worse than death.”
Having heard everything, Bai Xiaodu was left speechless.
The other party had mentioned the nutrient tube and the spaceship, and his identity as a fellow clansman was confirmed.
This greatly reduced any suspicion.
He had originally thought his own past was miserable, but now it seemed he was actually among the fortunate ones.
Bai Xiaodu looked up, gazing seriously at Galor's calm face.
As someone of a transcendent rank, scars like these on his face could easily be restored with some basic healing spells.
And yet...
“She was liberated, but it seems your heart has yet to find peace.”
Hearing this, the ruined half of Galor's face contorted into a deeply sinister smile.
“Naturally.”
“That is why I have been striving to grow stronger, and why I have been constantly searching for my compatriots.”
“Bai Xiaodu, we are brothers.”
Rate on N.U.
