To Get Home, I Need to Stay Alive

Could it be... could it be that I've transmigrated into a world of Western mythology? Han Xu thought, staring wide-eyed.

Gus's sudden display truly shocked him, but he quickly recovered. Transmigration itself was already unscientific, and since magic and battle aura existed, what was so surprising about transmigrating into a mythological world?

Still, seeing someone conjure a pair of wings out of thin air was quite novel. He tossed aside the towel draped over his head, jumped off the bed, walked over to Gus, and cautiously reached out to stroke those feathered wings.

Tsk, tsk. They felt just like the geese back home~

Gus grumbled inwardly. Didn't I spread my wings before? Why is he acting like this is the first time he's seen them? Yet when he saw Han Xu's sparkling eyes, he could not help smiling slightly. "Your Highness, I didn't lie to you, did I? Once you—hiss..."

He suddenly sucked in a sharp breath and stared incredulously at the feather in Han Xu's hand. The expression on his face was beyond wonderful. His Highness... His Highness had actually plucked one of his...

"Did that hurt?" Han Xu asked, looking up at Gus's constipated expression.

"Yeah!"

"Then it really is real..."

"..."

Gus's eyelid twitched wildly at that. He retreated a few steps, then, deciding that was still not safe enough, swished his wings away.

Han Xu ignored him and played with the thing in his hand, marveling to himself. This really is eye-opening. This is the good thing about transmigrating—you always get to see things that utterly shatter your worldview...

"Oh, right, Gus..." He casually tossed away the feather and asked gossipy, "You mentioned the Angel King before. He's basically your God or something, right? His wings must cover his entire back, yeah?" Han Xu shuddered as he spoke. He had trypophobia; imagining a back covered in wings all the way down to someone's heels made his skin crawl.

Gus glanced painfully at the feather on the floor, then frowned in confusion at Han Xu's words. "God? What's that? And who told you the Angel King has wings all over his back? He's the same as me. He only has one pair!"

Now it was Han Xu's turn to be confused. Pinching his chin, he furrowed his brow. That's not right. Don't more powerful people have more wings? Isn't that how it works in novels?

He raised his head and asked Gus again, "Hey, Gus, why does the Angel King only have one pair of wings? Is it because he's too weak?"

"How could that be? Your Highness, the Angel King is the strongest person in all of Angel Civilization!"

"Angel Civilization?? Are you sure it isn't called Heaven?" Han Xu raised an eyebrow.

"Why would it be called Heaven?" Gus said in confusion. "We are angels. Angel Civilization has been our name since long ago. After tens of thousands of years of development and ever-improving technology, we've entered the Gene Era. The name suits us perfectly..."

The more Han Xu listened, the more wrong things sounded. He hurriedly raised a hand to interrupt him. "W-wait... Technology? You're angels. Isn't this supposed to be a mythological world?"

There were some strange-looking things in the Bedroom Palace where he lived, but he had been too busy thinking about getting home over the past two days to pay them any attention.

"..."

Gus glanced at him sidelong and clicked his tongue. "Um... Your Highness, you aren't messing with me, are you? Didn't Instructor Allen already explain all this to you?"

"Get to the point!" Han Xu urged.

With a sigh, Gus said listlessly, "This isn't some mythological world. It's an age where technology reigns supreme. Angel Civilization gradually developed from the Cold Weapon Era, the Pre-Nuclear Era, and the Aerospace Era into today's Gene Era..."

Holy shit, did I just transmigrate straight into the future?!

Han Xu thought in shock, then suddenly felt that something was off and hurriedly asked, "Gus, then what was with your wings earlier? Even if technology advanced, it couldn't have changed an entire species, could it? Was it some kind of... hybridization technology?"

At that, Gus proudly puffed out his chest. "Although quite a few civilizations in the universe have entered the Gene Era, only we angels possess Wings Gene Technology. We can fly through the air without relying on external equipment. Speaking of which, we have the Angel King to thank for that~"

"Oh? How so?"

"Tens of thousands of years ago, because technology was still underdeveloped, our research into Angel Gene was nowhere near as complete as it is now. When fighting other forces, we still needed aircraft. Not only was individual combat strength weak, but maneuvering was also extremely inconvenient.

"The Angel King saw this problem and spared no expense, strictly ordering the Scientific Research Council of Tiangong Technology to upgrade Angel Gene. Only after a very long period of research did we gain what you see now. So, Your Highness, this wasn't a change in species. We merely added certain things to the genetic code!"

"...Y-you said tens of thousands of years ago?" It took Han Xu a long while to react. He could scarcely believe his ears. "The Angel King ordered research into Angel Gene tens of thousands of years ago? He's still alive now?" Then he added, "And you fucking say this isn't a mythological world?"

What did tens of thousands of years even mean? How could a person possibly live that long?

"Once people enter the Gene Era, their lifespan naturally breaks free of its shackles. Some ordinary people can live for a thousand years, let alone the Angel King, who is a Second-generation Angel. What's so strange about living tens of thousands of years?"

What the hell do you mean, nothing strange? China's five thousand years of glorious civilization already made us feel damn proud, but some random Second-generation Angel could live for tens of thousands of years? Wasn't that complete bullshit?

Han Xu had only wanted to ask whether the Angel King truly had wings covering his whole back. Who knew Gus would reveal something so shocking?

Could technology really become this incredible after advancing to a certain point? Living for tens of thousands of years was no big deal? That was just too... Wait, living... living for tens of thousands of years?!!

As if he had thought of something, Han Xu suddenly froze...

Gus did not notice the change in his expression and continued talking to himself. "The refinement of Angel Gene lets us use the Gene System within our bodies to harness Dark Energy drifting through the outside world, giving us powerful individual combat strength. It was by relying on this that Angel Civilization defeated certain forces in the universe and dominated its own territory!"

"Of course, resources are precious, and they all belong to the Angel King alone. He grants them according to one's ability or the military merits one earns on the battlefield. So, if you want greater strength or want to live longer, you must make corresponding contributions. Otherwise, you can only be like ordinary angels, living out less than a thousand uneventful years before slowly growing old..."

A bitter smile appeared on his face. How wonderful would it be if he could follow the Second Prince? He could accompany him in battle, earn military achievements, gain his favor, receive resources to further upgrade his genes... Sigh~

After sighing, he turned to Han Xu and froze. He had finally noticed something was wrong. "Your Highness, what... what's wrong with you?"

Hearing Gus's question, Han Xu waved to indicate that he was fine. He walked over to a small stool and sat down, his furrowed brow and hurried breathing revealing the turmoil in his heart.

Thinking carefully about the world he had originally lived in, humanity had gone from the Cold Weapon Era to being able to explore the universe in just a few centuries after the Industrial Revolution. If he too could live for tens of thousands of years, could he perhaps find a way home with the help of Angel Civilization's existing technology?

The more he thought about it, the more possible it seemed. Wasn't that hundreds, even thousands of times more reliable than recklessly trying to transmigrate back? The wait might be very, very long, but at least there was a tiny bit of hope, wasn't there?

"Gus, can technology... really let people live for tens of thousands of years?" He looked up and asked eagerly.

Though he did not know what had happened to His Highness, Gus still nodded heavily. "Yes, Your Highness!"

Han Xu let out a long breath and clenched his small fist, incomparable joy gleaming in his eyes. "That's wonderful..."

"Your... Your Highness..."

"Gus!" Han Xu cut him off, his eyes sparkling. "Tell me more about Angel Civilization. The more, the better!" He had developed an immense curiosity about this world.

"...Yes, Your Highness..."

Angel Civilization was an autocratic society. As the ruler of Angel Civilization, Angel King Hua Que was now advanced in years, yet he still maintained a balance over power and resources while monopolizing them for himself. He was the greatest beneficiary of Tiangong Technology.

He had four sons. The First Prince was named Hua Ye, and his status as the legitimate eldest son gave him resources and standing unavailable to the other princes. However, he was cruel by nature and obsessed with pleasure. Whenever Gus mentioned him, he hemmed and hawed, only revealing these details after Han Xu ordered him to.

The Second Prince, Hua Tuo, was no ordinary man. Intelligent from childhood and much like Hua Que in his youth, he had many followers and immense influence. He was smooth and tactful, able to please the ruler above while treating worthy men with courtesy below. He never defiled or preyed upon female angels, thirsted for talented people, and was the most ambitious among the princes. He was also the strongest contender against Hua Ye in the Heir Apparent Position Struggle...

"...W-what did you say? There's actually someone named Hua Xiong? You're not joking, are you?"

When Gus said that one of the princes was named Hua Xiong, Han Xu, who had been wearing a solemn expression, could not help violently twitching the corner of his mouth.

The Angel King and his sons having names arranged similarly to Chinese names was strange enough, but now there was even someone called Hua Xiong.

Who was Hua Xiong? As a Chinese person, there were probably very few who did not know that name. Han Xu really wanted to see what kind of country bumpkin could have such an imposing name.

?!!

Han Xu's eyes suddenly widened. He shot to his feet, grabbed Gus by the arm, and stammered, "D-don't tell me I'm that hillbilly... No, wait, my name is Hua Xiong..."

He was slowly accepting his new identity. Compared with his grand plan of returning home, the name Hua Xiong was nothing, but he would still be extremely resistant if people kept calling him that.

"No, Hua Xiong is the Fourth Prince!"

Gus's words made Han Xu release a heavy sigh of relief. Thank goodness, thank goodness... That scared me to death! Still, that Angel King really was something to come up with a name like that...

"So that means I'm the Third Prince? Then what's my name?"

Gus's expression changed this time. His eyes widened as he felt more and more that His Highness had been acting strangely these past two days. His words and actions were vastly different from before, and only now did he realize the true reason.

C-could it be that His Highness had gotten himself injured badly enough to lose his memory these past two days? How could this happen!! If the Angel King found out, heads would roll.

"Your... Your Highness, y-your name is Hua Zhen~ Don't you remember?" he asked cautiously.

Han Xu pinched his chin and savored the name carefully before nodding in satisfaction. "Hua Zhen... Mm, not bad!"

"Your Highness, don't scare me like this!"

Ignoring Gus's foolishness, Han Xu walked to the floor-to-ceiling window of the Bedroom Palace and stood there, gazing at the brilliant starry sky outside as he considered his own thoughts.

From Gus's words, it's clear the Heir Apparent Position Struggle between the princes is extremely fierce. Fortunately, the guy I transmigrated into has a Second Brother, which greatly reduces the chances of me getting dragged into the princes' struggle for the heir apparent position!

Han Xu was no stranger to palace intrigue. It was a standard plot in ancient court dramas. To seize the throne, princes would stop at nothing, and few of them met good ends. There was no such thing as the winner becoming king and the loser becoming a marquis. It was either kill or be killed. Only an idiot would involve himself in that.

In that case, from today onward, my name is Hua Zhen! Looking at the pale light on the horizon, Hua Zhen smiled slightly. Only by staying alive can I have hope of getting home, right?

"Your Highness, do you still remember who I am?"

"Get lost!"