Who is he, really?

Mu Li had another trait besides good looks.

That trait was being obedient.

He had been a well-behaved child since childhood.

If his parents told him to go east, he never went west; if his teacher told him to preview, he never delayed it until after class.

This personality did not count as a world-shaking strength in ordinary times, but in this cage, it appeared exceptionally precious.

At least he would not make a great fuss out of panic, nor would he do foolish things out of bravado.

Mu Li looked at the black-haired teenager in front of him with those eyes still carrying traces of tears, tried hard to keep his voice from shaking too badly, and asked in detail:

"Where is this? Who are you? How can we leave here?"

Seeing that he was so obedient, and the questions he asked were also to the point—

without screaming, breaking down, or desperately banging against the bars like the previous few teenagers who had woken up—

the black-haired teenager was quite satisfied.

He slightly adjusted his sitting posture, turned his head, looked directly at Mu Li with those calm black eyes, and replied:

"This is the secret base of the Evil God's fanatics. They plan to sacrifice us to the Evil God in ten days. So these days they are crazily catching people. In fact, the people you see are only a small part."

Hearing this, Mu Li leaned against the bars, slowly hugged his knees, and curled his body into a small ball.

He buried his face in his knees, and his shoulders began to tremble slightly.

"It seems I can't go back."

His voice came out muffled from between his knees, carrying a thick nasal tone:

"Mom and Dad, I miss you so much."

After saying that, Mu Li sobbed softly.

The black-haired teenager looked at his appearance and was silent for a moment.

He was probably not good at handling such scenes, and reached out to pat Mu Li's shoulder rather unnaturally.

The force was somewhere between comfort and brushing off dust.

"Rest assured, I heard the Federation has already sent people to rescue us. We will definitely escape successfully. By then, you will be able to see your mom and dad."

This word of comfort from the black-haired teenager had not yet exchanged for Mu Li stopping his crying.

Instead, it made Mu Li suddenly raise his head.

That pair of eyes washed by tears were red all over, and the tip of his nose was also red, yet there was no comfort-derived peace of mind in his gaze.

Instead, even deeper despair surged up.

Mu Li looked at the black-haired teenager, and his tears fell even more fiercely, rolling down his cheeks in large drops and smashing onto the ground.

"The Federation?" His voice trembled. "They won't."

In the eyes of the Federation, the Landon Star was merely a sesame-sized, insignificant remote industrial planet on the star map.

Its value was limited to that pitiful amount of industrial tax paid annually, and its existence being remembered occasionally when cheap labor was needed.

The Federation's fleet would not make a detour for it.

The Federation's officials would not work overtime for it.

Even if the Federation's rescue team set off, it would be pushed back countless times in the priority sorting.

Therefore, the Starfolk of the Landon Star basically had no favorable impression of the Federation.

Even some families who lost loved ones in industrial accidents harbored extreme resentment toward the Federation.

Resenting its indifference, resenting its neglect.

Resenting it for treating the Landon Star as a disposable tool.

The black-haired teenager listened quietly until the end.

A trace of complex emotion flashed in those black eyes.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to refute, but found that he truly did not have any sound reasons to stand on.

He was silent for a while.

In the end, he only gave a low "hmm" and didn't speak again, just quietly sitting beside him.

The other teenagers also curled their bodies up and buried their heads deeply in their knees.

Bout after bout of suppressed weeping rose and fell.

The time they had been captured was earlier than Mu Li's, so early that they could no longer remember how many days they had been locked up.

Those who should have made a fuss had already done so long ago.

Those who should have resisted had also resisted.

What they obtained, however, were lessons harsher than the last.

Being electrocuted, being whipped, being starved for days and nights on end, until that bit of the desire to survive's sharp edge was completely worn flat.

Now, their hearts utterly numb, all they did was sit here quietly and wait to die.

"Ding—"

A clear, crisp chime came from the direction of the door.

It was a small, delicate golden bell hanging on the door.

It wasn't there for decoration.

It was an alarm bell.

Ordinary people couldn't hear its sound from far away at all.

But people with powerful Psychic Power could hear it clearly, even through more than ten walls.

It was the first line of defense the fanatics had set up to stop the pretty boys they'd captured from escaping.

Simple, but effective.

"Looks like someone else got captured."

Mu Li heard the black-haired boy beside him say quietly. His tone was different from the one he'd used when comforting him earlier.

The door slowly opened.

This time, it opened in a completely different way.

Before, the people responsible for delivering the boys had been utterly brutal.

They'd kicked the door open, grabbed the newly captured boy like a piece of cargo, and tossed him into the cage.

Then the iron door slammed shut with a clang.

The whole process took no more than ten seconds.

But this time, someone gently pushed the door open by hand.

Their movements even carried a hint of cautious restraint.

Could some important figure have come to see them?

A sharp glint flashed in the black-haired boy's eyes.

He straightened his back without drawing attention to himself and curled his fingers into a fist.

The first to enter were two people covered from head to toe in black cloaks.

They were the believers specifically tasked with receiving the newly arrived pretty boys.

Usually, they were extremely overbearing toward them.

But now, their demeanor was strangely deferential.

Their shoulders leaned slightly forward, their steps light and quick, as if clearing the way and guiding someone in.

"It's so dark in here. I want it brighter."

The instant that voice rang out,

the black-haired boy was struck as if by an invisible bolt of lightning.

His body stiffened abruptly, his pupils contracting sharply.

For the first time, a storm surged through those usually calm, dark eyes.

The black-haired boy stared blankly toward the door. His lips parted slightly, then closed again. His Adam's apple bobbed once, then twice...

He raised a hand and touched his face with trembling fingertips, unable to believe it.

Warm liquid was silently welling from his eyes.

It ran down between his fingers and dripped onto his sleeve, leaving a small, dark, damp patch.

—He was crying.

—He was actually crying.

—How could this be?

How could he start crying just from hearing a voice?

The black-haired boy wiped away his tears and stared at the door ahead.

—Who... exactly was he?