Geng Ji

Biodata

Background / History

Geng Ji serves as one of Si Jinyan's two principal aides alongside Qiu Rui. He is trusted with sensitive military and political matters, including monitoring crises, handling the Marshal's affairs during his hospitalization, and discussing threats from the Emperor and Imperial council. 6 11 33

Though an Imperial citizen, Geng Ji openly condemns the council's attempt to coerce the Gagole Region into granting resource access. He believes force should protect people rather than enable colonial aggression, and immediately suspects that the council and Emperor are using the dispute to weaken Si Jinyan politically. 6

His younger brother, Geng Xing, was involved in a kidnapping incident in which his gland was removed. He awakened after a month-long coma with severe memory damage and the mind of a young child. Geng Ji retaliated by torturing those responsible to death, an event that explains his exceptional protectiveness toward Geng Xing. The epilogue later reveals that Geng Xing had initially arranged the kidnapping himself, though genuine enemies entered the scheme and caused the incident to escalate beyond his control. 13 138

As Yao Di's Aberrant Form experiments expand, Geng Ji becomes a central investigator in Si Jinyan's faction. He obtains recordings, samples, and other conclusive evidence that the Emperor has used diluted blood taken from Si Jinyan to conduct mass human-modification experiments. 97 98

Appearance

Geng Ji is a uniformed military man whose relaxed demeanor makes him appear more like a “handsome hoodlum” than a conventional soldier. 11 12

• Often carries himself with a careless slouch and his hands behind his head. 12
• Resembles his younger brother, Geng Xing. 13
• Usually wears an easygoing, smiling expression, even in tense circumstances. 11 23

Personality

Geng Ji is outspoken, irreverent, and fond of provoking reactions. He teases Si Jinyan about Chi Li, calls Chi Li the Marshal's “new pet,” and falsely tells Chi Li that Si Jinyan's injured leg was amputated solely to gauge his response. 6 8 12

Behind that flippancy, he is politically aware, observant, and fiercely loyal. He recognizes that Chi Li reacts to violence with abnormal composure, later questions the unexplained deaths among the mercenaries who abducted Chi Li, and warns Si Jinyan that keeping an exposed enemy spy nearby poses serious political and security risks. 11 23 33

Geng Ji is willing to confront Si Jinyan directly when the Marshal's judgment or health is at stake. His anger over Chi Li's imprisonment stems from fear that Si Jinyan's dependence, blood loss, and declining control will ultimately endanger both of them. 50

Although initially distrustful of Chi Li, Geng Ji comes to recognize his combat ability and practical value as an ally. After treating Chi Li coldly following his recapture, he later resumes teasing him as the Marshal's wife, arms him for the Aberrant Form mission, and argues that Chi Li is more capable than many of their soldiers. 53 97 111

Geng Ji is deeply affected by any perceived threat to Geng Xing. When Si Jinyan invokes Geng Xing during an argument over bringing Chi Li on a dangerous mission, Geng Ji immediately falls silent and withdraws. The later revelation that Geng Xing engineered the initial kidnapping to expose Geng Ji's buried feelings recontextualizes the intensity of his guilt and protectiveness. 111 138

Abilities & Skills

Military Operations and Crisis Management

Geng Ji is entrusted with operational responsibilities when Si Jinyan cannot act personally.

• Monitors major incidents from the rear and takes charge of Si Jinyan's immediate affairs while Qiu Rui manages the wider aftermath. 11
• Receives and reports sensitive political intelligence concerning the Gagole resource dispute and the Imperial council's maneuvering. 6
• Is considered capable of handling covert “bloodshed and covering up traces” that Si Jinyan cannot address publicly. 33
• Helps formulate and refine the plan to infiltrate Yao Di's experimental base, rescue the prisoners, and delay the enemy until reinforcements arrive. 119 122
• Leads the open infiltration group with Chi Li while Si Jinyan takes a covert route toward the enemy base. 122

Observation and Investigation

Geng Ji notices details others overlook, particularly inconsistencies surrounding Chi Li.

• Detects that Chi Li is much calmer than ordinary civilians after the West City hostage crisis. 11
• Privately suspects Chi Li's connection to the deaths of six mercenaries after Chi Li returns from the coast with no visible injuries. 23
• Understands Si Jinyan's emotional attachment to Chi Li more clearly than Qiu Rui does. 33
• Presents recordings, samples, and genetic evidence proving that Yao Di's faction is creating Aberrant Forms from repeatedly diluted “Progenitor” blood originating from Si Jinyan. 97 98
• Helps investigate the Country E village experiments and identifies the moral implications of Yao Di's use of remote civilian communities as test sites. 117

Combat and Anti-Aberrant Operations

Geng Ji is an experienced combat operative who can act decisively in volatile encounters.

• Equips Chi Li with weapons effective against Aberrant Forms and advocates for allowing him to join the search mission. 111
• Arrives with reinforcements during the Country E operation after encountering multiple Aberrant Forms en route. 117
• Attacks Liasuo's soldiers to stop them from removing the Gu King and assists Chi Li by restraining Liasuo's attendants during their confrontation. 118
• Survives the final confrontation surrounding Yao Di's Aberrant Form forces alongside Si Jinyan's other allies. 129

Relationships

• Si Jinyan — His superior, confidant, and close subordinate. Geng Ji supports Si Jinyan politically but challenges him when his attachment to Chi Li and worsening instability threaten his safety. He remains one of Si Jinyan's most active allies in exposing Yao Di's experiments and organizing resistance operations. 6 33 50 98 122
• Geng Xing — His younger brother. Geng Ji is extraordinarily gentle and protective toward him after Geng Xing's kidnapping and lasting trauma. Geng Xing's later admission that he initiated the kidnapping, partly to force Geng Ji's concealed feelings into the open, reveals a more complicated foundation beneath Geng Ji's guilt and devotion. 13 111 138
• Chi Li — Initially teases and tests him, then assists him during Si Jinyan's hospitalization. Geng Ji gradually grows suspicious of Chi Li's concealed training, survival, and possible role in the mercenaries' deaths. Although he becomes distant after Chi Li's recapture, he later recognizes Chi Li as a capable ally, supports his deployment against Aberrant Forms, and works with him on the rescue of their missing comrades. 11 12 23 53 97 111 119
• Qiu Rui — Fellow right-hand man to Si Jinyan. They discuss Chi Li's exposure and Si Jinyan's unusual decision to handle the matter personally. 6 33
• Lu Jiu — Shares concern over Si Jinyan's instability and the danger of keeping Chi Li nearby. 50
• Yao Di — Geng Ji regards the Emperor with contempt for his political schemes and later with fury after uncovering his large-scale experiments on living people. 6 98
• Liasuo — Opposes the Imperial agent during the Country E Gu King incident, stopping Liasuo's men from seizing the Aberrant Form and supporting Chi Li during the resulting fight. 118

Story Role / Major Arcs

Gagole Political Crisis

Geng Ji briefs Si Jinyan on the Emperor and council's plan to pressure the Gagole Region for its rare metals. He views the proposal as imperialist aggression and fears it is also intended to accuse Si Jinyan of treason and seize his military authority. 6

West City Hostage Aftermath

After Si Jinyan is shot protecting Chi Li, Geng Ji authorizes Chi Li to remain outside the operating room, ensures that he eats, and temporarily oversees the Marshal's affairs. During this period, he notices Chi Li's trained composure and begins questioning his background. 11

Hospital Prank and Geng Xing's Introduction

Geng Ji falsely claims that Si Jinyan's leg was amputated, exposing Chi Li's concern for the Marshal. Soon afterward, he introduces Geng Xing and reveals the trauma that made him so protective of his brother. 12 13

Suspicion of Chi Li

Following Chi Li's abduction and return, Geng Ji reassures him that Si Jinyan will not harm him while privately examining the inconsistencies in his survival. He later warns Si Jinyan that Chi Li's identity and actions have made the situation impossible to contain indefinitely. 23 33

Opposition to Chi Li's Imprisonment

After Si Jinyan abducts and chains Chi Li in a secret base, Geng Ji openly objects. He warns that Chi Li cannot be trusted, that Si Jinyan's blood extraction and pheromone dependence are worsening his condition, and that Si Jinyan may kill Chi Li if he loses control completely. 50

Exposure of the Aberrant Form Experiments

Geng Ji gathers and presents evidence that Yao Di has used Si Jinyan's blood as the basis for mass human-modification experiments. He reacts with open fury to the scale of the atrocities and initially proposes locating and killing Yao Di, though Si Jinyan urges restraint while their evidence prevents the Emperor from acting openly. 97 98

Country E and Gu Rearing Investigation

Geng Ji joins Si Jinyan and Chi Li in Country E after Aberrant Forms appear around the isolated village. Learning that Yao Di's forces recruited and experimented on impoverished civilians, he condemns the Emperor's exploitation of people unable to defend themselves. When Liasuo attempts to seize the Gu King, Geng Ji attacks the Imperial soldiers and blocks their efforts to take the creature. 114 117 118

Rescue Operation Against Yao Di

After receiving proof that missing mercenaries and soldiers have been tortured inside an Imperial experimental base, Geng Ji collaborates with Chi Li on a rescue strategy. He refines the infiltration plan, presents it to the officers, and travels with Chi Li to the negotiated meeting site, from which their forces begin the hostage-rescue operation. 119 122 123

Epilogue Revelation

Years later, Geng Xing reveals to Si Chi that he deliberately arranged the kidnapping that transformed Geng Ji's life, though actual enemies infiltrated the plan and created real danger. The revelation establishes that Geng Ji's fierce protectiveness has long been intertwined with guilt and feelings he had concealed from Geng Xing. 138

Trivia

• Geng Ji is the only close subordinate who continues treating Chi Li casually rather than becoming increasingly deferential to him. 15
• He is perceptive enough to realize that Si Jinyan has softened because of Chi Li, while Qiu Rui fails to understand the Marshal's personal motives. 33
• He sarcastically calls Chi Li “Marshal's wife” after their later reunion, showing that his teasing manner ultimately survives their earlier distrust. 97
• Geng Ji reacts sourly to Si Jinyan giving Chi Li one hundred rare bullets made from naturally shed merfolk scales. 113