Afterword: The Power of the Heart

Let's rewind to the spring of 2032, after the Quick Knife Special Task Force's pre-battle mobilization meeting.

Jiang Bailu found a veteran who was 44 years old. Because of his excellent combat skills, he was still working on the front line. Even though the expedition had ended, he still had no intention of retiring.

--His name was Hart Boxing. Before the Expedition, he was a communications officer in the Sperm Whale Warband. He had also served as a telephone line engineer, a tunnel electrical engineer, and a local militia member in Thirty-first District. In addition to these roles, Uncle Hart also worked part-time as a firefighter for a few months after the Expedition ended.

Bailu came on behalf of the nameless people. She was twenty-six years old and, in addition to her duties as a passenger, was also responsible for miscellaneous affairs of the corps.

For example, this time, before the autumn harvest officially begins, she needs to find Mr. Hart and have a good talk about the veteran's Polarized Sextant material review.

In a secluded corner of the [JoeStar] club, in a relatively private window seat, Bailu, holding a notebook and a voice recorder, poured tea and served water to the uncle in front of her.

The man looked stern and weathered.

He was wearing a khaki jacket and a loose shirt. He had a bright red birthmark on his right chin that stretched to his left chest, and many other scars on his face.

He was a typical European, with a long, straight nose, prominent brow ridges, deep-set eyes, and small eyes. If he squinted intently, his emerald-like pupils were almost completely invisible.

His lips were thin, and there was a deep scar on his mouth and nose. His face was also asymmetrical, as if he had suffered a severe stab wound in his early years and had not had time to be treated with Universal Elixir. A knife had cut open his mouth and jaw, and since then he could only use the left half of his molars to crush food. His jaw and masseter muscles above his temples had developed in this way for many years, resulting in a complete asymmetry between the two sides of his face.

"What do you want, little angel?" Mr. Hart's smile resembled that of a ruthless bandit; he was strangely ugly and oddly fierce.

Bailu felt a little apprehensive, unlike her Big Sister. She lacked the trials of blood and fire—when communicating with these veterans, she was always intimidated by their strange appearances and spiritual pressure.

"Mr. Hart, this is me."

Before Bailu could even introduce herself, Hart already knew the girl's true identity.

"You and the War King look a lot alike. We must have met more than once. Don't be so formal—I recognize you. We can talk directly about anything."

Quick Blade is a dynamic team. During the expedition, this Special Task Force is a great training ground for the elites of various battle groups. People come and go, and Bailu naturally can't remember the names of these soldiers. But there can only be one War King, and Bailu has long become the focus of attention in the eyes of the Quick Blade soldiers.

Bailu immediately opened her logbook and explained the main content of the meeting.

"Mr. Hart, the boardroom counter has assigned me a home visit specifically for you."

Hart interrupted, "It's a family visit, isn't it?"

Bailu nodded, then suddenly felt a little guilty. "Yes."

Hart: "It has nothing to do with my career, right?"

Bailu: "Uh, I'm here representing the Nameless Ones. I have to be responsible for every single member of the Fast Knife Warband."

Hart: "Answer me, Bailu Dew Conscript, you're not officially in the military yet—will this home visit affect my military career?"

"Perhaps..." Bailu didn't know how to continue the conversation, so she decided to get straight to the point. "Let me put it this way..."

"Let me put it this way, Mr. Hart. You had a follow-up examination at the Council of Five Kings's inpatient ward last week. You have a congenital Heart disease."

"When you were transferred to Quickblade, the Sperm Whale Warband's HR specialist had already mentioned this matter. I must confirm it again; the Organization Department needs to begin its work."

Hart still wouldn't give Bailu a chance, not wanting the girl to finish speaking.

"I won't hold the chapter back."

There's no way to deal with Bailu--

--She wasn't there to cause trouble for Mr. Hart. On the contrary, this veteran had exceptional combat skills and a strong will to survive. In the Quick Knife team, he had medals from the expeditionary era and was the soul of the combat group in the barracks, uniting the troops.

He was an elder brother, a banner, and also the spiritual leader of more than a dozen quick-knife warriors.

"You've had six surgeries in the last two years, Mr. Hart," Bailu read aloud from the diary, "Because of this deformed heart, pleural abscess caused by a pulmonary artery tumor, infectious myocarditis, and chronic congestive heart failure."

"This isn't the first time. Universal Elixir and surgery can temporarily restore your energy, but..."

"Actually, it's not just that." Hart held out both hands, holding a silver pipe. His fingers were drumstick-shaped, a complication of a severe cyanotic congenital Heart disease he suffered as an infant. "My fingers used to frequently lose their trigger guards; they were so clumsy. That's the only thing I hated about them. Everything else was tolerable."

Bailu continued, "If this were in the mortal world, Mr. Hart..."

"I don't even qualify to join the warband, I know, little angel, I know what you're trying to say." Hart's tone was very calm. "There might be a way to cure it before the age of five, but I'm almost forty-five, and even Universal Elixir can't cure me."

Bailu fell silent; she didn't know what to say.

After a while, she finally composed herself and asked the question again.

"Mr. Hart, I don't know you. Can you tell me your reasons? Why do you insist on participating in the autumn harvest?"

Hart Boksin did not answer immediately.

He held the silver pipe, his hands calloused as much as the wounds in his heart.

He took a deep breath, deliberately turned his head to the side, and the smoke he exhaled drifted out of the window.

"Do you have time, Miss Jiang Bailu?"

Bailu: "I have a whole day, and I have plenty of patience to outlast you, you brute."

"Why don't you listen to my story?" Mr. Hart rubbed his knuckles, a smile on his face. "A very ordinary and simple story."

Bailu picked up her diary, turned to a blank page, and turned on her voice recorder.

"Speaking."

"I was born into a mixed-race family. My grandfather was a mixed-race member of a local war gang in Thirty-first District called the Airdou —you probably haven't heard of it. The Airdou octopus subfamily is a subfamily of cephalopods."

"Simply put, I have an octopus Grandfather, and I have some hybrid blood in my body."

"The Airdou people have been entrenched in Thirty-first District for centuries. There is a large city in the Peacock Strait, where I was born in Helen Port."

"They have octopus heads, slippery limbs, and three hearts."

"One central focus, two prominent cheekbones, well-developed brain and nerves, and a strong physique."

"With this clan as the main force, the Madness Butterfly Sect has spread throughout Thirty-first District. The vast majority of the Airdou people have become cultists, including my Grandfather and father. The cult is called the Spiritism Society, and these octopus hybrid cult members call themselves Mind Flayer."

"My mother was a clerk in the Tunnel Transportation Department of Thirty-first District. During a money-for-power transaction, my father took a liking to this ordinary woman, forced her into marriage, and gave birth to me, this freak."

"Mixed-race blood modified me; it turned me into a deformed being, and that's how I developed my Heart disease."

"When I was born, the doctor said I wouldn't live long. My father asked the family maid to throw me into the sea north of Helen Port, to feed the fish in the Pompeii Sea."

"But I didn't die, because at that time, the human trafficking business in Thirty-first District was very lucrative, and the market prospects were very good. So she took me to Hexagon Alley —the largest human flesh trading market in Helen Port."

"Although I looked very weak at the time, the maid spent some money to use White Lady's products to temporarily restore my strength, and then casually sold me to a poor family. They were my first adoptive parents."

"Any memories I have of this family come from the Sperm Whale Group warriors who later told me—"

"--After I arrived at my new home, I didn't seem to receive proper care. Because of my Heart disease condition, I often found myself in a state of Gate of Death."

"At first, my adoptive parents took care of me. I could find a lot of pediatric diagnoses at home. But after we went to a big hospital and got the results of the heart defect test, they stopped treating me like their son."

"I was only six months old at the time. A medic from the Sperm Whale Group was leading a group of twelve militiamen to investigate criminal cases in Hexagon Alley. They happened to come across my adoptive parents' house to ask for clues. This medic sister noticed that I had cigarette burn scars and needle pricks on my body."

"She only confessed to me when I was older—"

"--After my adoptive parents learned about my physical condition, they stopped caring about me and thought they had bought a cheap thing. So they took their anger out on me, burning me with cigarette butts and stabbing me with a syringe after I had taken drugs."

"That's what she said. She would always cry when she talked about these things. I remember it very clearly—but I've forgotten what she actually said. I can't feel it. I can't remember the pain. A baby can't hold onto anything."

"And so, the medic from the Sperm Whale Group adopted me; she became my second mother."

"As I grew up, my mixed-race blood transformed my body, making me stronger, but also causing more and more heart problems."

"I like to run, I like to climb and jump everywhere, I like the feeling of blood flowing through my body."

She chased after me, and every time she caught me, she would warn me to stop her—

"--Every step I take in my life as I race forward leads to death."

"Back then I didn't know what [death] meant, and perhaps I still don't understand its specific meaning now."

"I'm so distressed. I think to myself, 'This heart is truly wicked—'"

"--It's always holding me back, it's always getting in my way, what's wrong with it?"

"I spoke to this mother."

"I'm saying, Mom, can I get a new heart? A stronger, more powerful heart that won't hurt?"

"My mother was helpless too. At first, I thought she was lying to me—that any illness could be cured with Universal Elixir, so why couldn't mine be cured?"

"When I grew a little older, and could run to farther places, even to the Helen Railway First People's Hospital, I realized that what my mother said was true."

"I am a bastard, a mixed-race person, and my heart cannot be matched."

"The mortality rate of children born from hybrids and humans is far too high. Even if I could find another mixed-race person to provide a heart transplant, there's no guarantee of a match."

"When the nurses at the station heard my story and took me to the outpatient department, the doctor gave me blood tests and said that my case was extremely rare, occurring only once every few decades, and that it was a miracle that I had survived."

"I have a knot in my heart, not because of my Heart disease, but because my mother lied to me."

"She is not my biological mother. She is hiding something from me. I am a bastard, and she is a pure-blooded Homo sapiens."

"On my fifteenth birthday, I finally asked her about it, and she told me the whole story. She named me Hart (literally: heart), and the day she brought me home was my birthday."

"Back then, I was a complete idiot. All the grievances, all the resentment, all the suffering I had endured from illness over the years, I blamed it all on my biological parents—I was conquered by a strange pain, I was controlled by it."

"I ran to the gathering place of the Airdou people's Religious order, to these Blood-giving aristocrats, I wanted to ask them clearly—where are my father and mother?"

"But this one question brought utter disaster upon my mother."

"At that time, I was studying at Helen Second Middle School. Although I had to go home on time at night, no one was home. My mother, who worked in the medical unit of the Sperm Whale Group, often had to work the night shift for security patrols."

"I've decided to act at night. Anyway, Mom won't know. I just need to get back before dawn."

"I ran to Hexagon Alley, knowing it was a place where the human flesh trade was conducted, and perhaps I could find someone to buy and sell me. I squatted near a gambling den nearby, waiting in a dead corner at the end of the alley, until two Blood-giving aristocrats came out—they both had cold blood, wet tentacles on their chins, hairless skulls, and high-rising bulges on their soft heads."

"My blood tells me it must be these people."

"I stopped them, but I didn't know how to start the conversation, what to ask?"

"Ask these two strangers? Ask them? Who is my father? Who is my mother? Ask them these meaningless questions? I don't even have any clues, any evidence."

"In a moment of anger and pain, I blocked the alleyway, preventing the two Blood-giving aristocrats from leaving. They were agitated—as if their good deed had been interrupted."

"At that moment, my mother found me--"

"--She was patrolling the Hexagon Alley area with three fellow soldiers. While talking to acquaintances in the shops, she suddenly heard about me. She knew I hadn't gone home that night and was just loitering around the neighborhood."

"When she arrived bearing the insignia of the Legion, the two Blood-giving aristocrats were completely thrown into a panic. The later mission log stated that these two Spiritism Society Blood-giving aristocrats had just completed a drug deal and were immediately found by the Legion, leading to a shootout."

"In the narrow alley, I find it hard to recall what happened."

"The gunfire kept going, illuminating the dark alleyways with flashes of light. Every time it rang out, my heart ached."

When I came to my senses again, it was already noon the next day.

"I was in the military medical station, and my mother was lying in bed, unable to speak."

"The uncle in her work group said that she was shot twice in the head, and the two bullets left very serious psychological damage, but she didn't die and should be able to get out of bed in good health, she just needs time to recover."

"She was almost forty years old at the time. She stared blankly at the ceiling, and I couldn't wake her no matter how I called her. Later, she never woke up again. It was as if her soul had slipped out of her body and would never come back."

A week later, the doctor diagnosed her with brain death.

"Without my mother's care, I never had the chance to go to school again. I want to know why."

"Why would the doctor lie? She could have lived, so why did she suddenly stop waking up?"

"I'm always slow to realize things, always a step behind. It wasn't until three years later that I figured it all out."

"I applied for a job as a laborer at a tunnel transportation company, starting from the most basic porter position. I learned some skills from an electrical engineer, and then I wanted to join the militia, find a job in the city's subway system, even if it meant starting as a firefighter, I was willing to do it, even if it broke my heart."

"Upon arriving at the militia's outpost, I found a research report on the psionic biology of the Airdou people. I learned that these monsters possess an incredibly powerful psionic talent. These octopus freaks have two memory systems. Just like their name suggests, they are Mind Flayer —they can absorb a portion of Homo sapiens's consciousness."

"I gradually learned about the Madness Butterfly Sect and the hybrid clan of the Airdou people."

"My heart has brought me so many illnesses; I thought I had suffered enough."

"Until I figured out the real cause of my mother's death—this mental torment, which transcended physical pain, almost drove me insane."

"My mother didn't die from those two bullets, no."

"When she was on her deathbed, someone released Mind Flayer into the Sperm Whale Group's medical clinic, and just like that, she was taken away silently."

"Just because she came to me with the chapter insignia, just because she glanced at these Blood-giving aristocrats."

"Just because she was meddling, she drew her gun on these nobles. She was worried about my safety and said a few extra words."

"At that time, I thought to myself, I must find my biological parents."

"I'm going to kill them. I'm going to slaughter these Airdou people and their freak masters, from the War Gang to the Religious order, not a single one can be spared."

"I swear to God, as long as I live, I will keep running."

Even if my heart tells me that every step I take is a path to hell.

"I've been fighting since the militia days, and when I joined the Sperm Whale Warband, I took over my mother's mantle."

"For one goal, for revenge, to find my biological parents, I'd rather kill the wrong people than let them go. Only when all these Airdou people are wiped out will this matter be over."

"For me, only this heart is trustworthy. Mind Flayer are almost the nemesis of Homo sapiens. My companions will be mind-controlled, and they will suddenly become mentally impaired in a very short time, just a few minutes, obeying these octopus monsters at will—in that era, the Sperm Whale Legion was no match for the Spiritism Society Sperm Whale Warband."

"I've been fighting them for over twenty years. My mouth has been ripped open by the enemy, half my face has been replaced, and there's not a single good piece of flesh left on my body—but I'm not afraid of these monsters. Their talents are useless to me because I'm a bastard, and I have this kind of blood too."

By the time Mr. Hart Boksin finished speaking, the grass in the pipe had burned completely dry.

"My lovely little angel, until the War King came to my side. I finally wiped out these blood-soaked monsters, and I finally saw the dawn of a new day."

Are you here to persuade me to stay?

Bailu Lu pursed her lips, tears welling up in her eyes. She grasped Mr. Hart's hand, but asked him to pull her palm to his chest, to his deformed heart.

Hart continued.

"I have many wonderful things--"

"--There are military dogs as companions, and a litter of stray cats, but they won't live past ten or eight years. Before the BOSS's golden age arrives, most new comrades who come to the warband to report for duty will not live as long as these cats and dogs."

"To fill this heart riddled with holes, I have spent my entire life on a path of revenge. Later, I fought alongside the War King for over two thousand kilometers until the end of the expedition. My heart has not let me down."

"My ugly face would scare any child to tears. You turned pale the moment you saw me. I know I'm not cut out to be a teacher."

"I am a soldier, and all I can do is fight."

"Don't leave me here, I don't want to die in a coffin--"

"Please, I want to run forward. I've been running for so long, I don't want to stop."

Can you hear my heartbeat?