Chapter 13.1 - Opposition

The youth’s pale face and horrified expression stabbed through Brandon’s impregnable outer shell like a sharp knife, hitting straight to the softest depths of his heart. It brought about a dull pain, making him stay his step.

Brandon hadn’t expected that Ji Ling would be so afraid of him...

In fact, he had only wanted to comfort him.

Brandon looked at the fear in the youth’s face, neither advancing forward nor retreating. After a long time, he uttered in a hoarse voice: "Don't be afraid."

Ji Ling retreated back until he could go no further. With his back against the cold wall, he looked at the tall man in front of him fearfully, already prepared to get beaten… Who knew Brandon would suddenly stop, and tell him to not be afraid? Ji Ling was dazed for a second, and his eyes couldn't help but look at him suspiciously.

He glanced quietly at Brandon's fierce and ruthless face, saying to himself, I screwed Ning Yu over this much, and nearly even used the gene breaker. Of course you’d be angry, right? Even before mentioning anything else, Ning Yu is still your comrade-in-arms! My accomplice, Deng Dong, was almost beaten to death by you, so how could you possibly spare me as the culprit?

As if I could not be afraid!

When he thought that he’d likely be beaten to a pulp by the marshal’s wrath and sent back to the re-spawn point, Ji Ling's legs went a little soft. He said, “If you touch me, my father won’t let you off!”

Ji Ling stared fixedly at him stubbornly, but his trembling body completely exposed his emotions inside…

Brandon: "…"

He looked at the youth’s face. It was clearly full of uncontainable fear, but he still put on an arrogant and stubborn facade. Brandon didn’t know whether to get angry or laugh… He felt helpless from the bottom of his heart, as it overflowed with sympathy and love.

If this was him before, he’d only feel disdain and disgust upon seeing this scene, thinking that this was just another cowardly rich kid, greedy and evil. Death wouldn’t even be enough for this kind of person.

But now, Brandon could no longer think anything ill of the youth.

The boy’s fear at the moment was real. He was born on the extravagant and prosperous Empire Star and spoon-fed since he was young. In essence, he was just a timid child afraid of pain. Despite being raised looking preciously fragile, Ji Ling had still been capable of stepping through fire and danger, and risking his own life, to appear in front of him when everyone else had given up.

He'd saved a man who had looked down on him and hurt him.

How kind was that?

Just how much courage did that take?

Although the young man looked no different from other rich kids on the surface, the courage and kindness that he had brought forth at the most critical moment was not inferior to that of any soldier protecting the country. His fearless heart shone brighter than anyone else’s… It’s just that he had not received any of his due respect and honor.

Everyone saw how good Ning Yu was, but no one saw it in him.

That was too unfair.

This was so painful that it felt like there was a hand gripping Brandon's heart.

He looked at the youth who was alert and fearful. Although he very much wanted to advance forward, he was afraid he’d frighten him. A while later, Brandon forced his mouth open, in an effort to show he wasn’t angry, and gave a rarely-seen stiff smile. He said slowly, "I won't touch you."

Ji Ling looked at Brandon's ‘rigidly abnormal’ savage smile. He suddenly felt even more scared!

He had never seen Brandon smile at him in either of his lives. Brandon was originally a serious character with a steel expression, and a cold-blooded image. He seldom smiled towards his friends and subordinates, so there was no way he’d give a pleasant smile to a rich kid like him. It was already a blessing to just get a look of disdain and indifference…

So, big bro, your smile looks like the one you'd give to send me to the gallows…

Ji Ling swallowed, and looked at him warily, saying: "You… Then what do you want to do…?”

Brandon turned bitter seeing that he had not only failed to appease the little fellow, but ended up scaring him into putting his guard up even more.

Most of the people he normally had contact with were his own men. The soldiers on the battlefield were all thick-skinned, and not afraid of getting roughed up. No matter what kind of drills he did with them, he never needed to spare a worry about their emotional state. His friends were all like-minded and strong in character, so getting along with them was easy and care-free. As for his enemies, all he needed to do was be direct and ruthless with them.

Comforting people was something he had never come across…

Especially comforting a pampered and scared child like this. Even speaking a little louder might frighten him into crying ...

To Brandon, this was more difficult than any treacherous battle.

Moreover, the other party obviously didn’t trust him, and resisted…

Like a small frightened little animal.

Brandon gave a wry smile. He looked at Ji Ling and said as gently as possible: "I know this wasn’t your idea. Deng Dong took out the gene breaker, right?"

Ji Ling looked at Brandon surprised, almost coming to the conclusion that Brandon had an omniscient view of things. How did he know that Deng Dong was the one who brought out the gene breaker? And more importantly, why is he helping me shift the blame?! What is up with this weird face and comforting tone?

Shouldn't he have beaten me up indiscriminately, and left with Ning Yu in tow?

Ji Ling suddenly remembered each and every one of those rascals before not acting normal. It couldn’t be that Brandon isn’t normal either, right?! This idea made Ji Ling almost want to cry his eyes out. Compared with facing an unpredictable Brandon, he suddenly felt that he might prefer being directly beaten up…

How hard was it for him to complete a mission? The second run was so much harder than the first run. Now, he even had to face a group of bosses who didn’t play according to their usual strategies… It was completely incomprehensible.

Thinking back on all the things that had happened since his rebirth, all sorts of sadness welled up suddenly in his heart. He could only feel his eyes stinging like heck.

Brandon saw the youth’s eyes reddening all of a sudden, as if he had experienced a great injustice, and was at a loss. I… I’ve already put in a lot of effort to comfort him, so why does it seem like he feels even worse?

What did I say wrong?

Brandon took a deep breath and looked at the aggrieved young man with red eyes in front of him. If people who didn’t know the situation saw this, they’d think he had scolded him harshly… However, the fact was, he hadn’t even been able to say a word of that.

Just when Brandon’s head was starting to hurt, and he was at a loss from not knowing how to continue talking…

The sound of a cane tapping gently on the metal floor was heard from behind him. Following that, an elegant and magnetic voice echoed insipidly: “Oh? It looks quite lively here."

Brandon's pupils suddenly contracted. He slowly turned back to look at Carlos' refined and profound face. The man was smiling, but not.

A deep chill suddenly emerged in Brandon's eyes. Just now, he had been so focused on talking to Ji Ling, that he had unexpectedly forgotten to be vigilant of his surroundings; he hadn’t even noticed when Carlos appeared.

His first reaction was to pull Ji Ling over, wanting to protect the youth first.

As a result, Brandon had only just raised his hand, when he saw the panicked teenager across from him. Like a nimble rabbit, Ji Ling had quickly flown past him and jumped into Carlos' arms.

Brandon's hand was left hanging in shock.

Carlos also seemed a little surprised when Ji Ling had ‘thrown himself into his arms,’ but he soon revealed a gentle expression. He conveniently raised his hands to bring the youth into his embrace, as he lightly patted the boy’s shoulders to calm him.

Brandon gradually returned to himself, covering up the gloom that flashed in his eyes. Looking at Carlos with a cold expression, he clenched his fists. He had almost forgotten that Carlos had yet to reveal his true face, and Ji Ling still believed in him foolishly...

Ji Ling clutched Carlos' coat tightly, and said with his eyes red: "Uncle Carlos, save me!"