PUAA Chapter 6

Ten days later, without any findings, the rescue efforts were forcibly retracted, leaving everyone at a loss. Over a month had passed since the general’s disappearance; if he had sunk into the sea, he would have been devoured by fish, leaving no trace.

Yet, the young officer refused to believe it. In his eyes, the general was invincible. When he himself had been stuck in a quagmire, unable to escape, it was the resourceful general who had found him. This time too, he was sure the general would survive.

Besides, he hadn’t yet told the general his feelings.

He had to believe, and without doubt; otherwise, regret would completely consume him.

The young officer, distracted from his duties, took all his accrued and future annual leave to travel alone through islands and coastal towns in search of any clue.

The young officer was still that reckless officer, venturing alone into coastal casinos and underground cities, hoping against hope to find a trace.

He was afraid he might never find the general, and also feared that the general might have fallen from one dire situation into another.

But there was nothing, and the young officer thought perhaps the general was intentionally hiding his whereabouts to recuperate.

So, he visited every small clinic along the coast, investigating the purchase of alpha hemostatic gel.

Nearly four months had passed. The longer it dragged on, the harder it became to trace medical purchases, and the injured should have been able to communicate by now. The young officer’s resolve began to waver for the first time.

“Sheng Lan, you insisted on attending military school, you chose this path. What are you intending to do now, give up? How did I raise such a vacillating waste?” An angry voice came over the phone, his father, the strict military commander.

“I chose this path, and I will follow it. He’s the person I love, and I will keep searching, keep loving. Haven’t you always known, I am stubborn?” The young officer hung up and sat on the rocks watching the sea.

The salty sea breeze stung his skin, as if marinating his flesh with salt, then flaking off, merging into the night.

It was too cold in the winter; the young officer shivered uncontrollably. He stumbled up, accidentally falling back against the rocks, hitting the ground hard.

The flashlight came on, revealing a dark brown stain on the back of the rocks, like a scar carved by the sea breeze.

The shape of the rocks allowed the bloody scar to survive the tides and rain.

The young officer’s hand was cut, and as he trembled, touching that spot, fresh blood oozed from the rock’s scar.

This was the fifty-ninth small town he had searched, and suddenly the young officer laughed.

There were many such moments, igniting hope only to quickly disappoint. He had slapped countless familiar shoulders and intruded into many newly reunited families, the strangers’ faces, puzzled or annoyed, all indicating his impulsive and out-of-place actions.

Searching for someone who might be dead or alive was incredibly difficult, but the young officer seemed to have endless enthusiasm. If the fire was doused once, it just needed to be lit again.

So he got up quickly, running from the dark night towards the bright lights.

Rumors and gossip were easy to come by, and the young officer soon learned that at the edge of the village where Widow Omega lived, there was a mysterious alpha. He also uncovered more unusual things, such as sudden increases in the household’s expenses and frequent visits to a small, run-down clinic.

It wasn’t official treatment, and constant seclusion likely meant severe injuries. The young officer immediately contacted the medical team and the general’s deputy, then pacing outside the shabby house with a nearly worn-out cufflink in hand.

His heart beat so fast he wasn’t cold, but he was a mess, his clothes wrinkled and clinging to his body, flapping in the breezy gaps.

That night, he decided to take a hot bath and treat his hand.

At dawn, the support vehicles arrived, and clean clothes were delivered. The young officer walked out of the town’s only guesthouse, regaining his usual reserved and refined demeanor, as if the past few months of turmoil had been an illusion.

The car rode bumpily on the town’s patched-up roads.

The young officer silently pondered what to say upon reunion. He was always awkward with words, and this time he couldn’t afford to mess up. Just as he was rehearsing, a familiar figure flashed by the roadside.

“General!”

His voice sounded terrible, broken and hoarse, as if a wire had scraped through his throat and squeezed out the tone forcibly.

He had finally found his beloved.

The morning light shattered his composure; he saw the general’s gaze in the gentle light and shadows—distant, unfamiliar, with a touch of wariness.

The nightmare wasn’t just a nightmare; it was a premonition. The general had indeed retracted his affection. That look meant the general didn’t like him.

“Du Ruo, Du Ruo!” Surrounded, the general didn’t even glance at the young officer but struggled to chase someone else, and only then did the young officer notice the slim figure nearby.

That was the tender, slender omega, presumably the Widow Omega who had found the general.

He must be a proper omega, the young officer thought. The cut on his hand suddenly started hurting again.

The wound had already scabbed over, the hardest part had been endured, so why did it suddenly start to hurt?

“Let me go!” The high-ranking alpha’s combat strength was still formidable; the crowd was afraid to hurt him, not daring to use too much force.

As the scene nearly spiraled out of control, the young officer grabbed a sedative, steadily injecting it into the general’s neck.

“He’s not right, he’s not right, you go check on him, go see him!” The general, losing consciousness, clung tightly to the young officer’s hand.

Their moments of closeness were so few—just one hug, one kiss.

One hug had thrown him into turmoil, causing self-doubt for a long time, and one kiss had kept him restless, sleepless, yet sustained him through many desperate nights.

The young officer looked at his held hand, the scab on the wound cracking open, and the brown pupils of the initiator no longer held that little image of himself.

He’s not right, who is he, why didn’t you notice I’m not right either? The young officer finally smiled faintly, reassuring the general, “Please rest assured, General, I guarantee to bring him back safely.”

His hand was released, and the general lost consciousness. The young officer followed the uphill path to find someone. It seemed he was always looking for someone, yet walking in an endless circle.

What to do? He harbored uncontrollable resentment and hatred, and upon seeing Widow Omega, he lost his words. How could he blame this person, touching a tombstone with such sorrow in his eyes?

If it hadn’t been for him saving the general, the general would have long since frozen to death by the sea.

Unable to find anyone to blame, the pain fell upon himself, unable to be relieved or shifted.