A Fated Encounter

"So that was how Ge Xiaolun got talked into joining?"

Long Qian, who had been listening intently, nodded in confusion.

Since Ge Xiaolun liked Qiangwei so much, maybe he could give him a hand. As long as Ge Xiaolun did not steal Yan from him, it was fine. Better yet, he could trick Zhi Xin away too.

How was that bastard Zhao Xin worthy of adorable Zhi Xin?

"How am I supposed to help him?!"

Long Qian frantically thought up plans, trying to find a way to help without joining the Xiong Bing Lian and getting himself killed.

"Forget it, forget it. I'll just let nature take its course."

Unable to think of anything, he shook his head helplessly.

Just as he was about to leave with his food, he overheard Ajie and Qiangwei talking again.

"Ajie, aren't you meddling a little too much? You tell people everything and promise them everything. You'll find them girlfriends—why not find them wives too? There are girls coming next, and they'll want partners too. Are you going to find them husbands as well? Since when did you become a matchmaker?"

Qiangwei was somewhat angry now, glaring furiously at Ajie as she spoke.

She had not said anything earlier only because she could not be bothered to.

"No, it's not like you have a boyfriend either. That guy is the Galaxy Power, the future lord of the Milky Way. Are you worried he won't be good enough for you?"

Ajie could tell Qiangwei was not truly angry, so he shamelessly teased her again.

"If any of the next recruits need boyfriends, we can introduce them to someone too. It's not something I need to worry about anyway. The chief said to recruit them, and he'll make the other arrangements himself."

"Hmph, I don't care. I won't allow you to use my private life to tempt anyone else again. Not even to trick them, or I'll beat you to death!"

Qiangwei snorted. Whenever she thought of Ge Xiaolun's foolish look, she was speechless. If he were even a little more normal, with even a bit of manliness, she would not be this bothered.

The wars of the future would be brutal. As Super Gene warriors, they could not retreat in the slightest, not even once.

Only their unyielding spirit could inspire more people and keep more people from falling into despair.

If even they, as Super Gene warriors, shrank back, feared war, and feared death, then Earth would truly have no hope. Huaxia would have no hope either.

That was why Qiangwei despised people like Ge Xiaolun the most—cowardly, afraid of battle, caring only about their own interests and their own little patch of land.

"Alright, alright, but don't hold it against them. They used to be perfectly ordinary people. Being afraid of death is only natural. Even I'm afraid of dying. It's only because faith stands above everything else that I can overcome my fear of death.

"But they're different. You need to distinguish between soldiers and ordinary people. In wartime, refusing to surrender, refusing to betray the country, and still believing in the nation and its soldiers is already remarkable. They need to grow. They need time. No one can say for certain what the future holds.

"The past cannot be held onto, but the future can be changed. You need to help them complete their transformation.

"As a Party member and an outstanding soldier of the Republic, you should have faith in your future comrades instead of rejecting them."

As an outstanding Party member himself, Ajie began lecturing Qiangwei.

"Got it, got it. You're so annoying, going on and on. With how naggy you are, can you even find a wife?"

The moment Qiangwei heard Ajie fussing like an old woman, she grew irritated and immediately launched a personal attack.

Since she could not win the argument, she might as well hit him where it hurt.

"Tch. You're clearly already in your thirties, yet you still pretend to be young. Aren't you ashamed?"

"Y-you, don't make personal attacks. This is a personal attack, you know? And I'm only thirty-one. How am I in my thirties? I'm still very young. Do I need to pretend?"

Ajie immediately retorted after hearing Qiangwei say that.

Of course, he would not get angry over it. They had known each other for more than ten years and were used to bickering.

"You're thirty-one by actual age, thirty-two by nominal age, nearly thirty-three, pushing thirty-four, and almost thirty-five. How are you not in your thirties?!"

"Y-you might as well say I'm pushing forty."

"Pushing forty would be too exaggerated. It's unrealistic!"

"I can't be bothered to argue with you. Who's next? Liu Chuang, right? He's not far from here. Are you going, or am I?"

Ajie could not be bothered to keep squabbling with Qiangwei. They needed to finish the important mission first.

Lianfeng had settled the Shenhe Sniper, Qi Lin. Dukao had personally gone to find Cheng Yaowen, the Heart of Daichi. The two of them would handle the rest.

Rui Mengmeng worked odd jobs at a restaurant and would be easy to talk into it. Only Zhao Xin and Liu Chuang might be a little harder, but with his methods, they would be easy catches.

"Forget it, you go. I don't have your way with words. Honestly, keeping you as an instructor at the Super Seminary is wasting your talent. You should work in the Strategic Deception Bureau. You'd definitely thrive there. You could talk even experts into a daze."

"Watch what you're saying. I'm offering strategies for the country. What do you mean, talking people into things? Besides, what I said was true. Whether they can reach the level I described is their own problem."

Ajie showed a rare smile at Qiangwei's words.

"Damn... where am I supposed to stay tonight? I can't use my ID."

After leaving the café, Long Qian became lost again.

Being undocumented with no ID really was troublesome. His identity information was completely useless in this world.

He probably could not stay at a hotel, but he looked down on inns. He was a man holding a fortune now—how could he stay somewhere like that?

As he wandered around, he ended up near the Feiliu District police station.

"Hey, you there, wait a moment..."

Suddenly, someone called out to Long Qian.

"Huh, Qi Lin? It's you. Are you alright? Your injuries healed?"

Long Qian turned around and saw Qi Lin waving at him. Once he recognized her, he relaxed. He had thought Qiangwei and the others had found him.

But as someone with a Super Gene, those injuries should not have been much of a problem for Qi Lin.

"Mm. You still haven't told me your name!!!"

Qi Lin had been thinking over the past two days about where the man from that night had come from. She was certain that he had not been insane.

So, the moment she was discharged from the hospital, she went to the police station to look for information related to that day. Unfortunately, the police car from that night had been completely destroyed, leaving behind neither records nor footage.

She had just finished the paperwork at the station and come outside when she spotted Long Qian wandering around.

"Oh, my name is Long Qian. Long Qian as in a dragon lurking in the abyss."

Long Qian remembered quite a lot of Qi Lin's information after thinking about it later.

Although he did not remember the entire plot, he still recalled most of it.

Especially that line: "You expect me to be your woman?" It had left quite an impression on him and helped him remember a lot of useful information.

After all, if he could remember a line from a novel, movie, or television drama, it had to have something special about it.

He had to admit that the Qi Lin before him now looked much the same as her later character model. Her white uniform in particular was eye-catching, and it triggered many memories that suddenly came flooding back.

As for why he had not recognized Qi Lin immediately that night, it was for the same reason. The early version of Qi Lin had left his memories somewhat muddled. The timeline was too long, and he could not remember many people's faces. But he had seen far too much of her later appearance while scrolling through Douyin, so he remembered that clearly.

"Is your home in Feiliu District?"

Qi Lin asked despite already knowing the answer. She wanted to hear Long Qian answer a second time and see whether she had misheard him that day.

"Uh... if I said my home was gone, would you believe me???"

Long Qian had thought Qi Lin had not heard him that night, but one thing was certain: she had seen him run out of his villa.

"Uh..."