Belief of the Sun

Underground Base.

At the elevator.

The atmosphere seemed frozen as Colonel Slade stepped out of the elevator, blocking Ba Di's wheelchair from moving forward.

"Where... are you going?" Colonel Slade strode out of the elevator and stood in front of them. His eagle-like gaze swept over Jenny's beautiful, radiant figure before glancing at Ba Di.

A glance was originally a downward, sideways look. Colonel Slade's gaze was just like that, looking down at Ba Di from above.

A paralyzed man still gave him a faint sense that something was off, but no longer posed any threat or made him uneasy.

It felt as though a flame rose from Ba Di's heart, through his throat, only for him to force it back down.

If his ship had not unfortunately exploded and crashed here, leading to his discovery, no one would have dared look at him that way.

Such contempt, without the slightest shred of respect.

No matter how much knowledge Ba Di had contributed to the Underground Base, Colonel Slade had never respected a prisoner like Dean Bo Li did.

It infuriated Ba Di. Slade was more difficult to deal with than anyone else.

Of course, what Ba Di wanted was not his respect. It was simply that Slade had blocked him too many times. If Slade did not exist, Ba Di would have been able to bask in the sun long ago.

Ba Di deeply suppressed his anger, unable to reveal it in any way—not through his heartbeat, blood flow, pulse, or even the fleeting Brainwave from just now.

The joy on Jenny's face darkened. She stepped out from behind the wheelchair and snapped coldly, "Slade, I'm taking Ba Di to the Negative First Floor to bask in the sun. Do you have a problem with that?"

She deeply disliked Slade. The discriminatory looks he always gave Ba Di made her angry and disgusted with the colonel.

Slade's tall, powerful body was clad in military uniform, wedged in the elevator entrance like a stone pillar. He said in a deep voice, "As the head of security for the Underground Base, I have the authority to restrict this alien's movements."

"He may still be dangerous. I will not allow him to leave the Negative Fourth Floor."

Colonel Slade spoke with finality.

He had read the files containing the various cultural customs of Krypton that Ba Di had spoken of. He also knew why Jenny was dressed so unusually beautifully and wanted to go beneath the sun.

But he had no reason to indulge some premarital ritual. He was the head of security, responsible only for security.

"You..."

Jenny's body trembled. Her cold, beautiful face flushed red with anger as she gritted her teeth and pointed at Slade. She truly wanted to take off her high heels and drive their sharp tips into his face.

"Jenny, leave for a moment. Go check on the experiment with Dean Bo Li. I'll have a talk with Colonel Slade," Ba Di said gently.

Jenny listened closely to Ba Di. She stomped one high heel in dissatisfaction, glared fiercely at Slade, snorted heavily, then turned and left to find old Dean Bo Li.

She did not believe that she and Dean Bo Li together would be unable to get Ba Di upstairs to bask in the sun.

If worse came to worst, she could report directly to General Vick. It was only a marriage between her and Ba Di. General Vick would probably be eager for Ba Di to form closer ties with the entire Underground Base.

He would absolutely not stop something like this. She had already produced several experimental results, and Ba Di was currently creating the greatest possible value for General Vick.

Only Slade was using baseless reasons to stand in the way of her happiness.

Jenny hated him to the bone.

Ba Di watched with a faint smile as Jenny left in what seemed like a little tantrum to find Dean Bo Li. He only hoped Dean Bo Li had not yet noticed the effects the sun had on him and would still help him make Slade give up on stopping him from basking in the sunlight.

Ba Di's pupils drifted slightly upward. From his angle, he could only look up at Slade's hard jaw and composed face.

"Colonel Slade, may I ask why you guard against me as though I were a tiger?"

"You remain so harshly vigilant toward a crippled man."

Ba Di asked with a trace of dissatisfaction in his gaze, his brows slightly furrowed.

Slade lowered his gaze, meeting Ba Di's eyes as though looking down at him.

Slade's gaze was like a loaded gun with the safety off and a finger already on the trigger, like a leopard poised to pounce, carrying the air of explosive power at any moment.

"Ba Miu Luo Di, you are dangerous. My instincts tell me that you are dangerous."

Slade said "you are dangerous" twice because he truly considered Ba Di dangerous.

If Ba Di had not been paralyzed in a wheelchair and unable to move, Slade would have subdued or killed him first by whatever means necessary.

Because he truly was dangerous.

"Then am I still dangerous now? My limbs cannot move. I'm a useless cripple."

Ba Di mocked himself with a self-deprecating laugh.

Slade's expression stiffened. He hesitated, wavered, and even a trace of pity appeared in his eyes.

That sort of pity was sometimes even harder to bear than mockery.

No disabled person would like the pity of an able-bodied person, because you stood above them, looking down with sympathy.

They did not need pity.

They!

Were normal people.

Ba Di lightly shook his head in self-mockery, unmoved by it.

The imperceptible pity in Slade's eyes flashed away, and he returned to his hard, composed expression.

"I will not allow you to leave the Negative Fourth Floor. You are still..."

Slade had not finished speaking when he was interrupted.

"Am I still a threat?"

The self-mocking tone vanished from Ba Di's face as he spoke in a deep voice.

Slade fell silent. His silence was practically an acknowledgment of Ba Di's words. His limbs could not move, so what threat could he possibly pose? "Colonel Slade, I finally understand why you fear me so much and remain so wary of me," Ba Di said, his tone gradually rising.

Slade raised a brow. His wariness and instincts had no basis. They were simply a pure feeling.

"Because I have faith. Faith makes me steadfast. You would not understand the will of a race that holds the sun as its faith."

"Life, passion, vitality, hope, warmth, light, vigor, prosperity, masculinity, strength... rebirth!"

Ba Di's voice was firm and resonant, gradually growing fervent as he listed the sun's splendor one by one. When he reached "rebirth," he became exceptionally resolute, carrying the fierce conviction that no matter what stood in his way, he would carve through it.

This truly was his rebirth. Only if he could bask in the sun this time would it be true rebirth.

Slade seemed to see madness in his expression, his eyes flickering with a vicious light.

He had encountered religious people before and understood the terror of fanatics who treated life and death as nothing.

The Ba Di before him seemed to be the same.

"Colonel Slade, what you fear is not power. It is my will—my supreme and unwavering will, the will you lack."

Ba Di's gaze gathered with resolute light.

Slade seemed to see Ba Di's eyes shining like two suns, radiating brilliance, fervor, and supreme will.

Perhaps he was right.

For no reason, Slade found himself agreeing with his words.

What made him feel threatened was will.

It was also something he lacked, which was why it felt threatening.

"That makes it even more impossible for me to let you go to the Negative First Floor. You can marry Jenny here. I'll approve another room as your bridal chamber."

Slade spoke coldly. Such will was more terrifying than power. Once he had any opportunity, there was no telling what he might do.

Slade raised his vigilance toward this alien to an even higher level.

Ba Di's expression returned to normal, and he chuckled. "Let the sun shine upon me, cleanse my body, wash away all that has come before, wash away my past. Then, beneath the sunlight, I will propose to Jenny. I will marry Jenny. If possible, I hope to have two children, a boy and a girl."

"I said, no!"

Colonel Slade's eyes were already flashing with vicious light, his dissatisfaction with Ba Di clear.

Ba Di gazed calmly at Slade, speaking as though he were some great being who had experienced countless things.

"I do not mind living in this Underground Base in a paralyzed body."

"When you have seen the Star Battleship Planet Destroyer Cannon destroy a planet with a single shot, when you have seen countless bizarre races throughout the stars, when you have approached a black hole at close range and nearly been torn apart inside it, Colonel Slade, you will discover that everything you cling to is meaningless."

"To encounter a being who looks like yourself and be able to love one another is the greatest fortune."

Suddenly, Ba Di's eyes seemed to absorb light like a black hole before erupting with a frighteningly resolute, fearless, and tragic brilliance.

"Colonel Slade, the resolve of faith will be upheld with one's life."

Slade narrowed his eyes, glaring at Ba Di with the same vicious light as a leopard.

Their gazes seemed to heat the very air, and the atmosphere abruptly became ready to explode.

"I know I have value, so I offer that value in exchange for your permission for Jenny and me to love each other."

"But I will never allow you to stop me from bathing in the sun's radiance and insulting my faith."

"If General Vick can forsake my value, then I have nothing to say. I will die and let you study the remaining value of my corpse one last time."

"Today, here and now, I am going upstairs to bask in the sun."

"Otherwise, even paralysis cannot stop my desire to die."

"The sun is Krypton's faith. It cannot be changed."

"If you insist on stopping me, then death is my only choice."

The words that burst from Ba Di's mouth were filled with the most stirring and tragic indignation, making it clear that in this world, only his faith could not be insulted. It was a faith he would never abandon, even in death.

"Think carefully about how you will report to General Vick that you drove an alien who could lead you into the interstellar age to his death!"

Slade's face turned livid, and fierce light flashed in his eyes.

"You're threatening me?"

He had never imagined that a prisoner would threaten him with his own value.

Over the past half year, Ba Di had undoubtedly demonstrated enormous value that no one could ignore.

A broad road leading directly into the stars lay within the knowledge in his mind.

After Jenny continuously researched breakthroughs in biological genetics, Slade had practically come to understand it.

Ba Di's importance to this Underground Base was unparalleled.

What was more, all he wanted was to bask in the sun for a while.

His own importance, weighed against his faith's need to bask in the sun.

Anyone could tell which was more important.

It was only basking in the sun! If Slade stopped him and reported some damn intuition to General Vick, everyone would curse him bloody.

This time, Slade could not squeeze out another word of objection.

Because even if it reached General Vick, General Vick would at most tell him to be more careful, then let Ba Di sun himself to his heart's content.

A paralyzed man with religious beliefs wanting to get some sunlight was reasonable to the extreme. Stopping him would mean there was something wrong with your head.

"Slade!"

Rapid footsteps came from behind Ba Di. Jenny and Dean Bo Li jogged over to Slade with excited expressions, having learned that Slade was stopping Ba Di from basking in the sun.

Old Dean Bo Li tightly gripped Slade's arm, took a few breaths, then said excitedly to Ba Di and Jenny, "You can go up to the Negative First Floor!"

Slade still wanted to stop them, but Dean Bo Li held him back with one hand.

"Let them go. It's only basking in the sun." Dean Bo Li then said excitedly, "It worked, Slade. The Gene Serum General Vick wanted was a success."

Slade's body jolted, his pupils widening as he immediately forgot about Ba Di wanting to bask in the sun.

At the end of the day, it was only sunlight for the sake of religious faith.

Could a little sunlight turn him into a powerful monster who shot beams from his eyes, breathed ice, and flew? Obviously not.

Obviously, Slade could not have imagined it, and neither could anyone else, but after Ba Di spent long enough in the sun, he truly would be able to.

"Jenny, come back after you and Ba Di finish your business. The experiment still needs both of you."

Dean Bo Li waggled his brows, caught up in extreme excitement.

Slade no longer had any reason to stop them. Or rather, from beginning to end, he had never truly had a reason to stop them.

After Ba Di had made such great contributions in the Underground Base laboratory, no one would begrudge him this harmless act of religious faith.

He stared fixedly into Ba Di's pupils. Ba Di met his gaze with the firmness and persistence of a devout believer.

Ba Di was as steadfast as a rock, the bearing of someone with unshakable faith. Slade's narrowed eyes flickered with vicious light, yet he still could not see anything amiss.

Considering that Ba Di was still paralyzed and completely unable to act, that the Pulse Radiofrequency Needle continued to control his life, and that no human would help him because he was an alien, Slade ultimately agreed to let him go upstairs to bask in the sun.

Slade ordered two soldiers to monitor and follow them. He also used the radio to order the surface military base and the Negative First Floor to heighten their alert.

Only after he was sure there would be no problem did he follow the excited old Dean Bo Li into the depths of the corridor to see the successful Gene Serum.

A faint smile appeared on Ba Di's face, and he relaxed slightly inside as Jenny pushed him into the elevator. He watched Slade's back gradually disappear as the elevator doors slowly closed.