Chapter 74 – “It’s been a while, big brother.”
Novel Title: 龙血 (Dragon Blood)
Author：水千丞 (Shui Qian Cheng)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 单鸣 (Shan Ming -MC), 沈长泽 (Shen Changze -ML)
*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*
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Tiger Shark raised his fist and smashed it onto Shan Ming’s face, sending his body flying back. His back hit the Hummer’s body with a strong force and he fell to the ground.
Shan Ming got up from the ground and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Tiger Shark shouted majestically: “You fucking say that again!”
Shan Ming glanced at the crowd calmly and said in a deep voice, “I said that it’s better if you don’t know about this.”
Without further ado, Tiger Shark punched Shan Ming again. After beating Shan Ming to the ground, he cursed angrily, “You bastard! You are a member of the ‘Peregrine Falcon’. Now because of your deliberate concealment, everyone’s life is threatened. What is it that is better for us not to know? Nothing is ‘better’ at all right now. We need to know the truth!”
Shan Ming looked at the anger and disappointment on Tiger Shark’s face, as well as the suspicion and annoyance on the faces of his comrades-in-arms. He felt a little uncomfortable. But he knew that if he told them the truth, Shen Changze would no longer be able to stay with ‘Peregrine Falcon’.
First, Tiger Shark and Ayer are emotionally unable to accept Shen Changze’s true identity. And secondly, Shen Changze will bring unpredictable danger to ‘Peregrine Falcon’.
He is unwilling to hand over the son he has raised for ten years to other people.
But looking at these comrades-in-arms, brothers, and friends who he shared life and death with, he felt the condemnation of his conscience for the first time.
For his own selfishness, he kept concealing things about Shen Changze and brought danger to them. Now that he has implicated Job and Pell, who else will be targeted in the future?
Those people who are after Shen Changze would never give up. It can be seen from the way that Tang Tingzhi and House have been overlooking them for so many years. In the future, things will only intensify.
He selfishly wanted to keep his son by his side. But that son was a threat to others…
He has been avoiding thinking about this day where he had to make a choice between ‘Peregrine Falcon’ and Shen Changze. He will have to make a choice sooner or later. This is just the beginning.
Maybe he was wrong from the beginning. He should have given Shen Changze to Tang Tingzhi ten years ago.
What should he do now?
Baba, I don’t want to leave you.
Baba, I want to be with you forever.
Baba, no one can separate us.
Baba, I love you.
The child’s words full of trust and dependence on him still echoed in his ears from time to time.
He has always been a decisive person. He never hesitated in doing things. If he has hesitated about one thing in his life, it is the choice he has to make that made him feel utmost uncomfortable. And that is now.
He clearly realised that he had done something wrong.
He shouldn’t have kept the child by his side back then. Now that it has gotten to this point, he was reluctant to let him leave him.
It’s just that he didn’t show these entanglements on his face. A man has to bear the consequences of every decision he makes. He shook his head and stood up from the ground. He mustered up the courage to look into Tiger Shark’s harsh eyes and said clearly, “I really can’t tell you what his identity is. It is top secret in China. The truth can only satisfy your wishes. But curiosity will do you no good.”
Ayer gritted his teeth and said, “There are no consequences which ‘Peregrine Falcon’ dare not bear. If this is your own business, we will never intervene. But now it is obviously related to the safety of other people. Pell and Job were almost killed. The kidnapping has something to do with Shen Changze’s identity, right? Tang Tingzhi, including House, probably has been targeting Shen Changze all along. For ten years, how many things have you concealed from us? Until now, you are still clinging on to these secrets. Did you not value us? What are we in your eyes?! Shouldn’t you give us an explanation?”
Shan Ming felt that his mind was confused and he couldn’t make up any more reasonable stories. Any story would be self-defeating in the face of their accusations. He didn’t want to lie to these comrades he trusted.
But he couldn’t speak so he could only remain silent.
After a suffocating silence, Shan Ming heard Tiger Shark sigh in disappointment. He said in a slightly tired tone, “Let’s go to a nearby village to find a place to rest. Since they can block us here, they will definitely know where we are.”
Everyone returned to the car. Only Shan Ming stood there stiffly.
Koski had already closed the car door but seeing that Shan Ming was still in a daze, he opened the car door again and gave him an annoyed look. He then roughly dragged him into the car.
They found a small village and rented a few houses. They bought some local food and went to rest after eating.
Shan Ming was sleeping on the sofa in the living room. In the middle of the night, he gently opened his eyes and walked out of the room. There were people guarding by the door. He looked closer and found that it was Dino and Lily.
Dino was smoking a cigarette with his feet up and when he saw him coming, he asked, “Want one?”
Shan Ming took the cigarette from his hand and lit it. He then squatted beside him, staring at the moon in the sky in a daze.
Dino jumped up from the ground, “I’m going to the bathroom.”
Lily is shining a flashlight on her toenails as she carefully trimmed them.
Shan Ming leaned over, “You have time to do this too?”
Lily didn’t even raise her head, “Of course…” Before she finished speaking, she felt a numbness in the back of her neck and then her eyes went dark as she passed out.
Shan Ming hugged her limp body and placed it on the ground. He then stood up and walked towards Dino.
Dino was standing at the base of the wall with his back to him, humming a weird tune.
When Shan Ming approached him step by step, he suddenly stopped humming. Dino said without looking back, “Stand there and don’t come over.”
Shan Ming paused.
“I’m not fucking interested in whatever it is that you’re hiding about. I usually hate thinking about these meaningless things. As long as I have missions, money, and women to sleep with, I don’t care about the rest. I know what you are going to do. If I were you, I would go too. So you just go. If it is any ordinary day, I would entertain you but I really want to pee right now. So don’t bother me.”
Shan Ming said nothing. He turned and left.
He ran to the parking place and took out the key from under the floor mat. He then quickly started the car, slammed on the accelerator, and aggressively drove the Hummer out.
Shan Ming turned on the computer while driving. The miniature tracker he stuffed in Shen Changze’s hand was the latest product of the US military factory. Its anti-interference rate of electronic communication was as high as 69%. Even if it was smashed, it could still transmit the last data to the satellite receiving station. He began to use the computer to search for Shen Changze’s location.
After about five to six minutes, the tracker was finally located. Shan Ming transmitted the data into the car and then drove straight towards the destination.
After Shen Changze and Tang Tingzhi got into the car, they were placed in the back seat with people sitting on their left and right sides, sandwiching them in between.
Shen Changze tried to move the handcuffs on his hands. They were two round metal rings connected together which were thicker than fingers. They were covered with a black fibre sheath. They were not heavy but not light either. He felt that if he becomes a Dragon Blood Man, he will definitely be able to break free from them.
Tang Tingzhi seemed to have sensed his movement and said to him in Chinese, “Don’t mess around. It is equipped with high voltage.”
Shen Changze couldn’t help looking at the handcuffs on the two of them.
Tang Tingzhi followed his gaze and explained: “I don’t have that one on mine. But you do. It’s specially designed to deal with Dragon Blood people. Even if you have armour, ten thousand volts of high-voltage electricity can still burn you into ashes.”
“Who owns the control switch?”
“I’m not sure. Maybe they all have it.”
“Hey, what are you two talking about?!” the person next to him yelled, “You are not allowed to talk to each other casually. And even if you do, you are not allowed to use your own damn language.”
Both of them kept their mouths shut.
There was no talking between them all the way. The car drove them into a small town. They passed through the town and they had to walk for a while. They then entered an abandoned industrial area. Judging from the discarded equipment piled up on the ground, this place should have been a small town before. It should have been a large-scale rubber processing plant.
In the end, the car stopped in front of a large factory building. The two got out of the car and walked into the factory building with guns pointed on their backs.
The inside of the factory building has been transformed into a medical laboratory. The air is filled with the smell of disinfectant and there are researchers wearing anti-bacterial suits in a transparent laboratory checking something around a person.
Looking at everything in front of them, the two of them couldn’t believe how Tang Jingzhi managed to make such a big business in a foreign country. No wonder he was crazily amassing money.
“It’s been a while, big brother.” The ghostly voice floated over and immediately echoed in the empty factory building.
The two looked up together and there was a young man in a white doctor’s uniform standing at the guardrail on the second floor. His appearance was somewhat similar to Tang Tingzhi’s. But compared to Tang Tingzhi’s indifference, this person looked a bit gloomier. There was a slight ironic smile on the corner of his mouth and his deep eyes fixed on Tang Tingzhi.
Tang Tingzhi said calmly, “Jingzhi, you have committed treason.”
Tang Jingzhi stepped down the stairs step by step with his long legs. He chuckled and said, “So what? Those old men’s outdated rules and fixed ideas will only hinder my talents. They are too meticulous. I’m so bored to be with you. It’s such a waste of my time. So I want to form my own team and I will prove to you who is the most outstanding person in this field.”
Tang Tingzhi shook his head, “I used to think that you were just ignorant. But now it seems that your thinking has serious problems.”
Tang Jingzhi sneered and said, “I, on the other hand, think there is something wrong with your thinking. You are an idiot who has been brainwashed by the government. Those people don’t care about the results of research at all. They only care about their own political achievements and status. But you contributed your mind to these mediocre people. I really don’t know what is the meaning of living for a person like you. Don’t you have your own desires?”
Tang Tingzhi said seriously, “I don’t contribute to those officials. I contributed to my country. After all, selfish desires are insignificant. Whether they can be satisfied or not, they mean nothing. The meaning of our birth is to serve the country. Why do you have to violate that?”
Tang Jingzhi sternly said: “It’s ridiculous! Tang Tingzhi, you are both ridiculous and sad. They created me without my consent. It doesn’t mean that I have to listen to them all my life. I will do what I want. Unlike you, who live according to a script written by others!” He suddenly pointed at Shen Changze, “You think the meaning of his birth is the ‘National Weapons Program’. But you should ask him, does he agree to be one?”
Shen Changze looked at him coldly.
In his opinion, neither the stubborn Tang Tingzhi nor the extreme Tang Jingzhi is normal.
Tang Tingzhi looked at his own younger brother. He displayed bafflement in his eyes as if he couldn’t understand him.
Tang Jingzhi grabbed his collar and stared into the depths of his brother’s eyes with a deep look, “Since you have caught up with me, you have only two choices now. You either stay here and help me or die.”
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Next update: 2023.–.–
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