Ling Chengrong settled down on Wuxing. Unable to see Song Xia and Song Ye, he wandered around, frequenting two places most often: the small tavern where he inquired about the mother and son's past with the tavern owner, and the orphanage where Song Ye had once stayed, where he often volunteered.
When Song Xia learned of this news, she could hardly believe it, because she couldn't imagine what it would be like for Ling Chengrong, the former top expert in the Federation and the marshal of the First Legion, to take care of those children.
Song Ye has already gone to another star region, which is a new policy and new area she has set up. Many pirates have already moved there. Now the new system is being generated, keeping Song Ye and her fellow disciples very busy.
Having finally found some free time, Song Xia decided to go and take a look herself. To her surprise, Ling Chengrong was doing a remarkable job, and the children were very well-behaved and obedient under his care.
"You've come." Ling Chengrong smiled slightly at her, then his hair was pulled by another mischievous child, forcing him to tilt his head to free himself.
Song Xia sat down next to her: "I didn't realize you were so patient."
"People always have to learn to grow and change."
"Don't you find it annoying?" Not all children are angels. Sometimes one child can drive you crazy, let alone a group of children.
"Sometimes, but when I think about how young they are and how little they can understand, I feel at ease."
"Are you just going to wait like this?"
"Well, it seems there's no better way."
Song Xia was also a regular here, and soon everyone came to visit her. The two of them didn't have time to chat. Ling Chengrong would occasionally glance back and think how much better it would have been if he had realized this before and spent time with Ye'er together.
Before long, it was lunchtime, and the two of them were busy again to take care of the children before finally putting them to bed.
“I heard that back then, Ye’er and the others didn’t have such good conditions, and the children didn’t have such an easy life.”
“Yes.” Song Xia nodded truthfully. “Back then, most children didn’t have enough to eat. To train their ability to compete with each other, only the one who fought the best got to eat. The loser would go hungry.”
"Ye'er didn't like to fight with people before."
"Yes, it took me a lot of time to get to Fog Star. When I found Ye'er, he was very silent, and the other children looked at him with fear. Later I heard that he almost bit off a child's wrist because of a piece of bread."
When Ling Chengrong heard this, he didn't think the child was heartless; instead, he felt sorry for him. How hungry and how much suffering must he have endured to do such a thing? He remembered that Ye'er didn't like bread when he was little, and he was speechless for a long time after hearing this.
"Later, after I gained power, I gradually began to provide some support to these orphanages."
"Back in the underground fighting arena, didn't you ever think you'd never get out and never see Ye'er again?"
“I thought about it, but I had no other choice. You know, I was very disappointed in you at that time and felt that I couldn’t count on you at all.”
Ling Chengrong said self-deprecatingly, "I couldn't be relied on back then, and your feeling was right."
Fortunately, we made it through.
Ling Chengrong looked up at the sky and said, "Yes, you and your son made it through on your own without relying on me at all. I was indeed useless and didn't care enough at the time."
Now that the Federation has collapsed, the pirates seem to have found a new way to survive, as if all their previous actions were useless, except for causing suffering to their families.
Seeing that he hadn't spoken for a while, Song Xia noticed something was wrong and sighed slowly: "You don't need to doubt yourself too much. If you hadn't been in charge of the First Legion, the Federation would be in even more chaos. At least you rescued those people who were harmed by the Zerg. I admire your selfless spirit. You always put yourself last. Not everyone can do that."
"But my family has to make sacrifices because of my stubbornness."
"There are gains and losses; nothing is perfect." Song Xia's tone gradually turned cold. What was she trying to do by giving Ling Chengrong this advice?
Just as Ling Chengrong was about to say something else, Roger walked over with a frosty expression, presumably having come up with results from his investigation over the past few days, and then suddenly punched Ling Chengrong.
Ling Chengrong retorted without hesitation: "What's wrong with you?"
Why didn't you tell me back then?
The two fought back and forth, and Ling Chengrong took a moment to growl: "You went crazy to protect Letia back then, so naturally the investigation had to be kept from you. How was I supposed to know she told you she was pregnant? Who told you to be so stupid and not have a single suspicion?"
Seemingly unable to bear being scolded, Roger hit even harder.
Ling Chengrong continued, "You're still so impulsive. Back then, you tried to break her out of prison, and when that failed, you left the military to become a pirate. Roger, how long are you going to keep going crazy? Don't think that just because you're on Mist Star I won't dare to arrest you. How many innocent people have you killed over the years?"
Rogge sneered, "Go ahead and arrest me if you dare. Let's see where you can take me. Anyway, my hands are already stained with blood, so I won't miss the chance to be a federal marshal like you. Do you know why I bought your son? It's to torture him, to use him to threaten you one day, so you can also taste the pain of losing a loved one."
These words successfully enraged Ling Chengrong. The person he felt most sorry for in his life was his youngest son. Yet, Roger had actually had such thoughts and had even given Ye'er a potion, making Ye'er fight for food like a wild beast. He was a madman.
“Rogge, it seems I still don’t understand you. Even if you hadn’t been deceived by Lettia back then, you would still have gone astray because your personality was twisted to begin with.”
"So what if I have a twisted personality? At least I'm happy. What about you? You only cause pain to your loved ones."
"Are you happy now? You've lived half your life in lies, Roger. Stop pretending. You're just trash."
Seeing this, Song Xia moved further away. These two were filled with hatred and their fighting power was beyond that of ordinary people. She didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.
They fought for an unknown amount of time, until both were too exhausted to move. On the surface, no one had won, but Rogge looked more pained, and Ling Chengrong stared at him with eyes as cold as frost.
It's not surprising. Although the Federation no longer exists, Ling Chengrong still finds Rogge's past actions extremely hateful. Even if the two clear up their misunderstandings, they can never go back to the way they were when they were students.
Before leaving, Roger made a harsh statement: "Ling Chengrong, you had better leave Fog Star. Considering that you weren't in the wrong back then, I might spare your life, but I won't let you have an easy time on my turf."
Song Xia sighed: "Aren't you leaving?"
"Now, I have nothing else to do but make it up to you and Ye'er."
“We are doing very well now and we don’t need you to make up for anything.”
"At least let me watch you from the sidelines."
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