Revolution, Revolution (1)
Chapter Summary: The revolutionaries at Haiyingsen Campus start causing trouble. The Allied Forces attack Haiyingsen, which is controlled by the students.
Volume Three: Revolution, Revolution
I woke up the next day to the sound of artillery fire. Buildings were shaking, and many people were shouting. I went outside and found the parade ground crowded with people.
"Gratian! The Allied gunboats are attacking!"
"The firepower is fierce! The enemy has occupied the low Earth orbit..."
How long can our defense system hold out?
"Not sure... We're calculating! Approximately forty-eight hours!"
“That’s enough,” Gratian said. “Everyone, calm down. This attack won’t last that long. At most, they’ll stop attacking in seven hours.”
“Caesar,” he said, standing in the middle of the crowd, immediately noticing me standing at the very back, “have you finally come to your senses?”
I shook my head. "You are making an enemy of your own country."
“Not entirely,” Gratian said. “The Speaker is preparing for parliament. The members have already gathered in the auditorium, and the election is next. A democratic election. According to the Alliance’s constitution, we have the right to remove the old government and elect a new one in accordance with the will of the people.”
"The people?" I said. "That's strange. A student organization trapped in a school that briefly brought a city to a standstill is claiming to represent the people and fulfill their wishes."
"If you won't help me, at least don't become a burden to me."
The scene was quiet. The students kept glancing in my direction.
I hesitated for a moment, then said, "I... I didn't mean that."
He looked at me without saying anything.
“Gratian, you said their attack would only last seven hours at most.”
"Yes. Io's army is lightly armed, designed to defend Earth. They are fast and can return to Heyson immediately. But the designers of Earth's defense system obviously did not consider the possibility of Heyson being occupied; Io's army is not armed enough. The next wave of troops from the Pluto base will take another 72 hours to reach Earth."
So, what can these students do in such a short time? "You've only delayed your demise."
“I don’t think so. Sixty-five hours is enough time for the councilors to finish voting. At that time, we will broadcast to the entire human star system,” Grati said. “Of course, there will be dissenting voices, but that’s okay, once the legal procedures are completed…”
A louder explosion drowned out his speech; a cloud of dust rose with a soft thud across the playground. The tiny downy hairs on the green grass swayed listlessly.
The firepower attack ended in less than half an hour. The weapons reserves of Io were even more strained than we had imagined. Above Heyson Forest, a fluorescent blue dome covered the airspace like a mist; the wind had died down. Buildings had collapsed into ruins due to the tremors, and among the gleaming rubble, squads of militiamen, guns at the ready, cautiously patrolled, surveying the damage to the city. Civilians unwilling to fight were housed in air-raid shelters, and bunkers prepared for war rose from the ground, launching numerous drones and airships carrying ammunition. Machine guns peeked out from the bunker's openings, and radar networks were deployed.
"Areas A through G have been cleared and found to be normal. Duplicate areas have also been cleared and found to be normal."
"Command center received. Thanks for your hard work." The girl wearing a headset yawned and said. So far, everything had gone smoothly, and her job was easy. "Glatian, all citizens have been safely evacuated. Supply and energy lines are functioning well and have been switched to directly supplying resources to the Central University campus."
"But the allied forces have already occupied about 70% of low Earth orbit, which will affect our external supplies to some extent," she said.
“Abandon space resupply,” Gratian said. “Activate cruise mode in Hyysen City and go to the Earth’s surface to collect supplies.”
"But considering the total population of Haiyingsen, relying solely on ground supplies..."
"Space resupply relies solely on interstellar merchant ships from outside the solar system. The trade season is over, and there's no point in continuing to depend on those negligible supplies in the air. The major cities on the surface are sufficient to supply Haiyingsen."
"Understood." The girl straightened her back and typed in a series of commands.
“Um,” the girl suddenly leaned down in front of the computer, a little shy, and quietly turned her head to look at Gratian, “when will Group A’s patrol end? Chairman, it’s been quite peaceful today, and it doesn’t look like anything bad will happen.”
Gratian stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the partition of a computer in the control room. He glanced up and asked, "What do you need?"
"It wasn't me... Ah, okay, it was me." The girl blushed. "My boyfriend patrols with Group A. Today is his birthday. We had planned to..."
“Go,” Gratian said. “Group A can be disbanded.”
The girl's eyes lit up. "Thank you, Chairman!"
"Something feels off," I muttered as I walked into the campus broadcasting room, which was being used as a makeshift command center, carrying my coffee cup.
Gratian snatched the cup from my hand. He smelled it, frowned, and said, "The coffee isn't hot enough."
“I think so too. Although the garrison on Io is the highest-paid and least productive bunch of spoiled brats in the entire alliance, generally speaking, their fathers send them into the army just to build up their resumes. But to surrender to a student riot organization so quickly is really shameful,” he said.
Gratian pulled me along, stepping out of the sprawling school gates to go on patrol. As far as the eye could see, there was a glittering wasteland, and Haiyingsen was flying over the ocean, the sun glistening in the sunlight.
I said, "You know something's wrong, yet you still let them go on their date!" More than one couple had already walked past us.
"Gratian!"
"Hello, Chairman!"
They greeted us with smiles.
Gratian nodded aloofly, and I forced a smile, trying to soften the atmosphere.
“They’re not capable of handling emergencies. After all… they’re just a group of students,” Gratian said. “Let them relax. If something does happen, it’s primarily my responsibility. I should be the one to deal with it.”
You're talking like you're not a student yourself. I'm speechless.
The helicopter roared overhead, whipping up a strong wind. As he walked, he explained the city's defenses and troop deployment; he kicked a pebble. The pebble rolled to the corner of a building and came to a stop. Suddenly turning, Gratian pressed down on my shoulder and said:
"Caesar!"
Yes, yes.
"There's something I've always wanted to tell you! I've wanted to tell you for a long time!" He looked into my eyes with utmost seriousness.
"Wait, wait..."
I was filled with fear and panic; the instinct to escape began to gnaw at my veins. He was so serious about telling me something; my intuition told me I probably didn't want to hear it. I struggled, "Um, Gratian, it's getting late, let's go back."
His eyes were icy blue, his tall stature blocking out the light. I looked into his eyes, and in the shadows, the pure color of his pupils was a deep, almost blue, azure, azure. I thought of the lake where Phaethon drowned; that night, too, was bathed in such a deep blue light, as Phaethon's body fell, and fell again.
I shoved Gratian away abruptly. He looked at me with a clearly hurt expression. "Why?"
Why, why?
It suddenly occurred to me that Gratian was the child I created using Phaethon's genes.
My deceased brother's genes.
A deafening roar. I saw tiny, scattered black dots fall from the massive belly of an airship against the pale sky. A long, thin gash had been torn open in the airship's belly, and the munitions, like dust, trembled and drifted towards the ground. I lost my footing, and Gratian grabbed me. The munitions that landed first charged towards us, guns at the ready, shouting and yelling.
“Caesar, there’s no time left. Whether you like it or not, I still have to say it: I… I love you…”
"Rebels! Prepare to die!"
"Damn it! Don't you know how to read the room, buddy?!" Gratian roared, pulling out his pistol and firing three shots in quick succession, disarming the charging gunman whose mouth was agape. "I'm begging you, we can talk later. Okay?"
[□□] nodded. Gratian turned around with satisfaction.
A larger blast of air knocked us both to the ground. I covered my face and said, "Gratian, why don't you get down to business? Look, a huge wave of allied troops is coming over there."
"Then you have to swear to me that one day you must give me an answer. Otherwise, I will keep waiting and waiting."
"Okay... but what's the answer?"
"Caesar, do you love me?"
"Is this it?" I was pressed beneath him, and through his arms I could see the rainy sky. The sky was clear, but rain clouds drifted in, and a sun shower began to fall over Haiyingsen. "I can tell you now. I love you, Gratian."
"Just like you loved Phaethon."
"Yes. Just like I love my brother, I love my only blood relatives."
“You’re a liar, Caesar.”
My eyes widened.
A shout came from the small walkie-talkie hanging on Gratian's body: "Gratian! Gratian, the near-Earth orbit has been completely blocked by the Allied forces! Right now, Io's army is airdropping into the city in large numbers from the air defense gaps in Sector G!"
How long does it typically take to repair a crack?
Forty-eight minutes!
"Very good. Start the automatic patching process immediately."
"Then... what about Sector G? Should we just leave it alone? Should we detonate the heat-sensitive mines we planted earlier?"
"Don't ask! There are other plans! Don't detonate the landmines for now!"
"yes!"
Sunlight streamed back into his pupils, and his eyes returned to their pure, bright color. I heard the sound of the helicopter suddenly increase in volume.
I recognized the sound as the rotor of an Allied helicopter jamming. The helicopter's engine was screeching. Thick smoke billowed from the pale blue sky, where a thick layer of white clouds had appeared.
“It’s going to rain.” The sun was blazing and hot. “It’s a sun shower,” Gratian said.
A helicopter loomed larger in view. Its wings were clearly blown off, and the fuselage plummeted downwards, enveloped in dark gray smoke. It failed to crash to the ground; a bomb exploded on its silver fuselage. It was hit by a Haiyingsen anti-aircraft missile, and the golden-red sparks rapidly expanded into a massive fireball before the helicopter was annihilated in mid-air.
"Patriot F-1450!" Gratian shouted the helicopter model. "The Allied forces are finally about to begin their ground offensive!"
The rain began to fall, the smell of water droplets mingling with the particulate odor of engine oil, saltpeter, and mineral dust. "Team B! Team B, get to Sector G... What, you're asking where Team A is? They're on a date with their lovers! I'm in command now! Seal off Sector G, no firing! Repeat, no firing!"
"Finally here. I've been waiting for you for so long." He muttered to himself during the brief pause when the walkie-talkie was switched off.
He turned on the walkie-talkie again. "Groups B, C, D, and E. Line up in front of the City Hall! Groups F and G on the flanks, bring submachine guns and motorcycles... Idiots! The City Hall has communications towers and an armory. What's in the school? Are you even there? The school doesn't need to be defended!"
“Sector G has been cleared out,” he said as he ran. “Caesar! Come with me to City Hall! Don’t stay here.”
I ran after him, and about fifteen minutes later, Gratian looked up and saw the Allied airships, loaded with guns, slowly sewing up their bellies and flying away with their tail rotors swaying. He turned on his walkie-talkie and said, "Control center. Turn on the thermal radar."
"Received." It was still a student's voice, a boy, who hesitated a bit this time. "Chairman. More than a hundred heat sources have been detected in Zone G... no, I estimate there are more than a hundred and fifty."
"Yes. Those are Allied soldiers. The garrison of Io."
"Are we... are we going to kill them all? But there are so many people, all at once... are we really going to kill them all at once? We..."
"Detonate the landmines." His voice was gentle and kind. "Otherwise, we'll be the ones killed."
The boy's voice trembled slightly. "Yes, sir."
I imagined the boy biting his lip. This boy seemed to know Gratian's battle plan. I glanced at Gratian; his face was tense.
Immediately afterwards, a huge heatwave swept across the sky, rolling pillars of fire illuminating the gray-blue buildings constructed of steel and concrete. Gratian reached out and covered my ears. He released his hand, and I could no longer hear; the world around me was filled only with a silent buzzing sound.
“It’s alright now,” he gestured.
After a brief period of deafness and dizziness, I realized it was caused by a high-energy explosion at close range. I saw a thin line of blood trickling from beneath Gratian's ear. I cried out, as if I had made a sound. Or perhaps not. I ran my fingers over the bloodstains; my fingers became covered in blood, and I tried to wipe it away, but the more I wiped, the more blood appeared.
"...I'm fine." He took out a tissue and wiped away the bloodstains, then pressed it against his ear canal to absorb the mucus and blood.
My hearing gradually returned. He said, "It's probably an inner ear injury. The eardrum should be fine. Because I can still hear, well, it's okay even if something is wrong. My wound will heal quickly. You know that."
“You should have covered your ears just now.” I was a little angry. Although I knew that if he had done that, I would have been the one who went deaf just now. And I would have become completely and irreversibly hearing impaired.
He seemed not to hear him. "The Allied forces have actually equipped themselves with sonic bombs this time," he said.
The heat-sensing landmines just now killed hundreds of Allied soldiers and also made their sonic weapons very effective.
“A suicide attack,” he sneered. “But it did have some effect. It was pretty effective.”
Gratian arrived at the city hall entrance. In the square, students were gathered in groups, most still wearing the sportswear and white skirts favored by Central University students for weekend outings. It looked more like a club social than a battle; the students seemed to be holding a grand dance party, if one ignored the submachine guns they each carried. Gratian bit the tip of his whistle and blew it. "Line up! The battle plans have been sent to your terminals. Remember, the Allied forces will place the tank units at the forefront; tanks have difficulty turning, so when you approach the tanks, immediately split into small teams and pass through the gaps between the tanks. Then, the motorcycle units will flank from both sides, coordinating with the frontal forces to annihilate the enemy. That's all."
"Did you understand?"
"Understood!!" the students shouted, heads held high.
One side of the dark green iron-hulled tank was adorned with a bright silver Allied emblem; the emblem was the scepter of Moses, which parted the seas, entwined with two ferocious Egyptian serpents, with the prophet's scepter lying horizontally, thrusting forward, pointing towards the front where the tanks were surging together.
In front of the city hall square are wide, gently ascending steps. The tank tracks tremble slightly, and the massive metal objects they carry quiver as they appear on the horizon at the edge of the field of vision.
Dust filled the air, and yellow haze obscured the azure sky.
The cumulonimbus clouds had dissipated. I looked up; the air was dry. Invisible electromagnetic signals were probably swirling in the scorching air above the battlefield. In the distance, several snipers peered out from under the open hatches of tanks. "Number 11, Number 11, in position. Tank formation complete. Repeat, tank formation complete. Over!"
I felt my skin was soaked with sweat. I was having trouble breathing. The Allied tank force came to a sudden stop.
"Gratian!" I shouted, "They're preparing to attack..."
The next second, my eyes widened.
"Charge! Charge with me! Only thirty seconds, hurry! Hurry!" Gratian, gun in hand and a bag with a yellow high-risk symbol on his shoulder, pulled a grenade from the bag, bit it open, and threw it.
A loud bang, and sand and gravel filled the air.
The students rushed over, chattering and shouting like a group of restless little animals.
I saw a giant, pale purple net, faintly glowing, unfurling in the stagnant air; purple light, no, not purple light, but ultraviolet light with energy far greater than purple light. I rubbed my sore eyes; I had only stared at it for less than two seconds before my eyes began to ache unbearably; the wavelength of the light was beyond the range that the human eye could perceive.
The ultraviolet light network destroyed the circuitry of the tank's built-in AI-powered automatic command system, incidentally burning out the radio communication station. The tank's towering gun barrel drooped and retracted, like the trunk of an elephant after drawing water. This process lasted thirty seconds, during which the Allied forces were probably frantically switching the automatic command system back to manual.
I don't know how Gratian cracked the code to Haiyingsen's special weapons depot; the ultraviolet network is part of Haiyingsen's ground defenses and has never been opened since its construction. If Haiyingsen were a woman wearing a thousand layers of water-white gauze, then this poor virgin has probably been shamelessly stripped naked by this little brat.
A bullet whizzed through the side panel of a tank. Before the Allied soldiers inside could react, a group of children—no, a group of soldiers—rushed up to them and bound their hands and feet.
It's too chaotic here; it's not suitable for an unarmed civilian like me to linger. I ran, panting. When I realized the bullets weren't hitting me, I felt relieved, but then slowly grew bored. The battlefield was a chaotic scene. I watched Gratian's golden, gleaming figure shouting at the head of the column, and an inexplicable sense of loneliness enveloped me. Running turned into a stroll. I weaved through the chaotic spray of bullets all around me. On a tank, an Allied soldier in a dark green and silver uniform pointed his gun at me. "Name. Number. Which team are you from?"
I raised my hands. "I am a citizen of Haiyingsen. My name is Caesar Ganimed."
“I have been kidnapped by rioters. Their leader has designs on me.”
"Their leader? You know the leader of this rebel group?"
Of course I know him. How could I not know Gratian?
“Come here. Come with us.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me toward the rear of the Allied forces. A group of students quietly circled around to the back of the tanks; the boy at the front, with a dark walkie-talkie hanging from his right ear, glanced at me, startled. I winked at him.
"What's wrong?" the Allied soldier asked sharply. "Are your eyes bothered?"
"Yes. Sorry, there's too much dust on the battlefield."
The Allied soldier sneered. "Mr. Ganimede. I know you, PhD in Biology from the School of Life Sciences at Central University, leader of the gene-editing engineering experimental group. You created that monster, Glatian, didn't you? Don't try anything funny. We'll arrest you first, and then we'll arrest Glatian. You and that monster you raised will both be on trial!"
The student swung his hand backhand at me from behind. The soldier collapsed in front of me.
"Thank you," I said.
The student said, "You're welcome," and forcefully dragged the unconscious soldier to the side.
"Wait, let's... let's not kill anyone anymore," a student suddenly said.
"Huh? But... that's not what Chairman Gratian meant..."
"Let him kill himself if he wants," the voice held a hint of fear. "Do we really have any hope if we keep fighting like this? Who will take responsibility then?"
“Yeah. I’m increasingly convinced that we’re going to get caught by the government sooner or later,” another student said.
I shuddered. Turning around, I saw the children laughing and joking around a group of captured Allied soldiers. The soldiers stared blankly at the corpses of their slain comrades lying stiffly beside them, saying nothing. The students were excited. What had they been saying? Had I misheard?
A student waved at me, "Sir! The Chairman is fighting at the front. He will surely bring us victory!"
I must have misheard. Shrinking my neck, I continued walking forward. The Allied rear command post should be there.
"Oh no! Gratian, they're ready—"
In the last rank of the Allied forces, the tanks' menacing gun muzzles stood erect again, like Death slowly casting its lowered eyes upon the world ahead. Gratian's infantry had already crossed the tank formation and cut deep into the Allied lines; mines and bullets made the tanks in the first few ranks twitch helplessly in pools of blood, like large carnivorous animals whose joints had been dislocated.
"Gradius! Gradius!"
"Where are you? We can't hold on any longer! You need to think of something—Gratian!"
"I heard you! Stop yelling, it's too noisy!" Gratian's voice rang out. "What's the panic? Groups B, C, D, and E, report back, where are you now? Has anyone fallen behind?"
"Chairman, we've already engaged the Allied infantry in the rear. Everyone, follow!"
“Very good.” Gratian’s conversation with the students was played aloud, as if he were deliberately trying to let the Allied forces hear it.
The channel was filled with screams and the rumble of artillery fire. "So what if it's a tank cannon? You think we're afraid of you?" Gratian's rustling voice was like air rubbing against a gleaming blade.
The last Allied tank unit split up, with some advancing and others retreating.
"You, you, you, hey, it's you. Don't go, which club are you in? Swimming club? Do you know how to use a rocket launcher? No? No problem, I'll teach you."
The voice of Gera's proposal rang out again, startling a few crows at the end of the swaying, withered branches on the battlefield.
"Bring up my rocket launcher!"
He said loudly.
The Allied forces ceased firing. Soldiers were scattered across the gray field, like sparse, uneven reeds. A group of female student council members, wrapped in white hooded long-sleeved shirts for sun protection, rolled up their sleeves and wore sandals as they pushed over a rumbling metal cart. On the rusty steel frame, the "Stinger W2022" resembled a large eagle with its neck outstretched, elegantly folding its wings. A cold glint flashed along the sharp edge of the gray-blue glass spieseye behind it.
As soon as the "Stinger" missile was fired, I took off running.
I was quickly thrown back by a wave of heat, and looking back, I saw that the last rank of tanks that had charged forward had been reduced to scrap metal. Students, armed with submachine guns, were locked in combat with Allied infantry; the Allied side was firing densely, while the students' side was firing increasingly sparsely.
Allied communications were restored. The soldiers who had fallen on the yellow sand rose and charged toward the city hall on higher ground. The students' frontal defenses were broken. The first Allied soldier broke through the blockade, detonating a micro-explosive. One of the red dots hovering in the air went out, and a corner of the ultraviolet light network collapsed. To the left, a locked tank restarted, its signal lights flashing. A bullet flew past, piercing the behemoth through its belly. An Allied soldier twisted and fell onto the steps of the city hall, blood dripping down the stairs. Gratian carried a magazine on his right shoulder and a pistol on his belt with his left.
“Caesar—Caesar—!” I heard him call. He was looking for me. I crawled forward on my belly in the sand, where the withered grass was buried.
I felt the ground beneath me tremble. On both sides, students roared over on motorcycles strapped with explosives, their bodies also adorned with thick metal bullets.
"Bomb! Take cover!" Upon receiving the order, the Allied soldiers rushed forward in unison.
"Fire!" It was Gratian's voice.
The Allied commander realized they had been tricked. Soldiers frantically rose to their feet, a hail of bullets shattering their skulls; the motorcyclists nimbly sped across the sand, the explosives strapped to them merely decoys. Gratian had no intention of using them; the students paired off, one riding, the other firing from behind. The Allied soldiers were trapped in a blood-soaked cage, the surrounding corpses piling up, the sand becoming slick and the thick stench of blood filling their nostrils; their hands covered in blood, they struggled to pull away the thick, pungent red mud, their bodies riddled with bullet holes, falling back into the blood-soaked pit. A lame soldier carried the body of his comrade back, the corpse having shielded him from the bullets, but then, a slightly shorter figure appeared, wearing an Allied dark khaki beret and a dark green uniform with silver trim; the man was thin. He appeared at the rear of the battlefield, emerging from the Allied command post. I saw him pull out his gun and, without hesitation, kill the first Allied soldier who withdrew from the battlefield.
For a moment, the battlefield fell silent. Gratian's voice, which had been giving commands, also disappeared. Everyone looked in that direction.
The second soldier ran to the rear; it was the lame one from before. As soon as he was off the battlefield, he threw down the body of his comrade, whom he had used as a human shield, and embraced the corpse, weeping bitterly. The thin man walked up to him. The soldier looked up blankly, his eyes widening. A small red hole appeared between his eyebrows; the back of his skull had been shattered. The soldier fell backward. Then came the third, the fourth. The thin man walked up to the soldiers who had fled to the rear and opened fire on them. Until no one dared to run anymore.
Gratian also appeared. Sitting on the back of a motorcycle, he licked his dry lips. "Ever since the battle started, I've been thinking: who's the commander of the allied forces on the other side? This guy's got some skills." He laughed, revealing two small fangs.
"Oh, it's you, Mr. Estravan."
“Have you made enough of a scene, Gratian? Generally speaking, I don’t like to meddle in other people’s business or teach those who are not under my jurisdiction a lesson. But you should also think about Caesar.”
His smile faded. "Where is he?"
"I have no idea."
I forgot to make a sound. Because I saw someone sitting on the front seat of Gratian's motorcycle. Yang Luo. The gentle prosecutor sent by the government to supervise us; her long black hair fell smoothly down her sides, and a neat purple metal hair clip was held in her bangs. I thought of the indignant email she had sent me earlier, asking how I could run into a school and associate with a criminal like Gratian who endangered the security of the Allied Powers?
Now she is also "colluding" with Gratian.
Oh, I remember now. Yang Luo, our lab supervisor, her regular workplace is this school. Haiyingsen Central University. She probably didn't have time to leave when Gratian locked down the school.
With an innocent and clear expression, she asked, "Gratian, should we negotiate with them?"
“It’s not ‘negotiation,’” Estravan said. “We just have some minor disagreements. It’s not any substantial conflict yet.”
He looked intently at Gratian, and extended his right hand. "Come back with me, Gratian."
“One hundred and seventy-four men have already died,” Gratian said. “Your soldiers and our soldiers. Do you still think this is a problem that can be solved by sitting down at the negotiating table and making empty promises?”
"You are the one inciting them. The students, and the allies in other star systems who are working hard to cheer on your campus revolution."
“I did not incite anyone. It was the free will that chose them.”
"Alright, then according to you campus revolutionaries, let's 'solve the problem practically'."
“There’s nothing to ‘solve.’ Estravan, the Allied army is already caged by us; you’re doomed.” Gratian thought for a moment and said, “You’re strange. I thought you were the one who deliberately suggested I should do this. ‘Your existence is of no value’—wasn’t that what you told me? Now, why are you worried about me instead…”
"You brat! Go back to the incubation tank and revert to your atom form!" a woman roared. A woman with long, slender legs ran over, carrying a capture tube.
The intense bio-waves immediately made Gratian's knees buckle. "You, you all..." he stammered in panic.
Ye Yuanchun shoved aside Yang Luo, who was blocking his way; the woman with long black hair fell off the motorcycle, and a mechanical arm extended from the capture tube, reaching towards Gratian.
Estravan pulled out his walkie-talkie and spoke rapidly, "Rear troops. You need to get to the front lines quickly; you can break out now."
The battlefield, which had been quiet for less than half a minute, erupted into chaos again.
I lunged at him. "...Caesar?"
“Caesar! Mr. Garniermed!”
I heard several people call my name. I didn't look at any of them, but just grabbed Gratian, who was lying on the ground, and, enduring the immense discomfort caused by the bio-waves, ran. I brandished the high-voltage stun gun I had picked up from the ground, yelling, "Get out of the way—! All of you get out of the way! Anyone who comes near us, anyone who dares to hurt Gratian, I…"
I broke through the soldiers and students.
My nostrils were filled with the smell of gunpowder and sand, almost filling my lungs. "Caesar, put me down." Gratian recovered quickly, surprisingly calm. "Estravan, I should have known he was a scoundrel."
I didn't say anything. I didn't want to speak ill of my close friend behind his back. Before I ran away, I did see Ye Yuanchun arguing loudly with Yang Luo.
——tbc——
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