Lu Ming intercepted He Yuan the next day on his way to the assignment hall. "Du Ling about that time..."
He Yuan did not give Lu Ming the time of the day and walked right past him. Lu Ming was popular in this base so direct confrontation of any sort would not end well for him.
Lu Ming stumped his foot in aggravation and chased after He Yuan. "Du Ling, why won't you let me explain?! We didn't have any choice back then and brother Jian was confused due to fear."
He Yuan had to hold himself back so he wouldn't turn around and snap Lu Ming's neck like a twig. What a great way to explain away all the horror the both of them put Du Ling through -'Du Jian was confused due to fear'- Even a toddler could lie better than that!
Lu Ming clenched his fists tightly at his sides. "Du Ling! You claimed to love me very much, now you wouldn't even look at me and let me explain!"
He Yuan froze and then burst into humourless laughter. Lu Ming was one manipulative bastard. Du Ling might have not been aware but He Yuan could see it clearly. That was what their relationship had been all about.
Lu Ming manipulating Du Ling and Du Ling accepting it because he thought that was love. Lu Ming was his first everything, how could he have known better?
He Yuan turned around. He was about to stalk over to Lu Ming, grab him by the neck and fling him at least five miles away when a voice came from behind him.
"Squad leader Ling?"
He Yuan turned around again as Xiao Yu came into view. "Who's this?"
He Yuan straightened. "A delusional fool," He said as Lu Ming's eyes widened in hurt and then he turned around to walk away with Xiao Yu beside him.
Lu Ming looked from He Yuan to Xiao Yu as they walked away and narrowed his eyes.
When they got far enough, Xiao Yu leaned closer to He Yuan. "Squad leader Ling, that man is not a very good person, you should stay away from him."
He Yuan chuckled. "I thought you didn't know who he is?"
Xiao Yu's eyes widened dramatically. "Of course I do! I was just pretending, to get you out of there. Look here, he's quite popular in this base. Both him and his lover, who is the head scientist and was once part of the GHGD project.
-I heard that anyone who offends them either mysteriously disappears or turns into a zombie!"
He Yuan shook his head helplessly. "Xiao Yu, it's not been up to twenty four hours since we checked into the base and you're already hearing stuff."
Xiao Yu nodded firmly and folded his hands at his back. "The best way to acclimatize into a new environment is through the gossip!"
"I thought gossips were unreliable?"
"They are!" Xiao Yu waved for extra effect. "But when it's from me, then they're not. I'm very good at deciphering gossip."
They soon arrived at the assignment hall and walked in. When He Yuan received his card, he frowned. "I already have a team, why did I get assigned to a different team?"
Some of He Yuan's team members, who were scattered, around looked over. Liu Bao's face morphed into an unhappy frown and Xiao Yu froze.
The man behind the desk smiled brightly. "I know but it seems your work as a squad leader was recognized and you were assigned to the Nova team."
The eyes of the team members widened. The Nova team was the best team in the military base! The fact that someone from a different base was assigned into that team was an honour.
Although they were unhappy at losing He Yuan, they still congratulated him. This was a huge promotion. Liu Bao looked conflicted and Xiao Yu clenched his teeth.
Others may not know but he was aware that the Nova team belonged to that Lu Ming man. If he hadn't seen the man talking to squad leader Ling a while ago, he would have thought nothing of it but now...
He held He Yuan's arm and pulled him outside the assignment hall. Liu Bao stared after them and her look of confliction morphed into sadness.
"It's a setup." Xiao Yu said immediately they stepped out.
He Yuan nodded. "I know." How could he not? He was already expecting such a thing to happen. Lu Ming felt threatened and Du Jian hated Du Ling with everything he had. Of course they'd want him under their watch at all times.
He Yuan scoffed and walked back into the hall. "I refuse. I already have a team, what kind of squad leader would I be if I abandon my teammates?"
"Oh that's fine," A voice said and Lu Ming stepped into the hall with a smug smile. "We could just merge both teams. This should satisfy squad leader Ling right?"
He Yuan grit his teeth. He should've flung Lu Ming away when he had the chance. The man was like a cockroach -disgusting and always appearing where he's not supposed to. "The Nova team is the best in this base. Why would you want to merge with a random team from a destroyed base?"
Lu Ming shrugged. "I've always admired squad leader Ling's methods. Besides, doing this would reassure the people of former base Beta that we have fully accepted them into this base."
He Yuan had nothing to say to that. Lu Ming was not the top of his class for nothing. If he still refused it would inadvertently send the message that base Beta had come into the military base with some sort of hidden agenda. "Fine."
Lu Ming's smug smile increased, He Yuan's team members cheered happily, the people around cast envious gazes at He Yuan's team, Liu Bao didn't know whether she should be happy at becoming part of the top team or unhappy at He Yuan's attention towards Xiao Yu and Xiao Yu was glaring daggers at Lu Ming.
He Yuan spent the next few weeks scouting and scavenging with the Nova team. Lu Ming kept watching him like a hawk, Xiao Yu watched Lu Ming like an eagle and Liu Bao kept sending the three of them confused and suspicious gazes.
He Yuan also used the opportunity to hone his psychic ability, he made sure not to overdo it and practice when Lu Ming wasn't paying close attention. He didn't want Du Jian finding out that they had the same ability until he was a little more confident in his skills.
On the second month of their arrival, He Yuan received an instruction summoning him to the research facility.
He Yuan chuckled. Du Jian must have been expecting him to rush over and confront him the minute he entered this base, just as Du Ling would've done. The man was probably disappointed that He Yuan did not have his time.
He stretched as he got out of his bed. Each member of the Nova team were assigned their own rooms. As the best team in the base, they received the most resources. This was probably the only good thing about being on that team.
Once He Yuan arrived at the facility, he was led straight to Du Jian's office and told to go in. He raised a brow at that, weren't they supposed to inform the owner of the office of his arrival?
He wasn't really scared of them ganging up on him as he could use his ability to catch them off guard and buy himself enough time to escape from their siege.
"Ngh... Bro..ther.. Ji..an ..Ah.... Uh."
As soon as He Yuan entered the office, he almost burst into laughter. Du Jian was balls deep in Lu Ming, pounding away at his insides as the desk creaked violently.
He Yuan knew Du Jian did this on purpose. He wanted to see Du Ling hurt by the fact that the both of them had betrayed him and then got together.
Too bad he wasn't Du Ling. He was He Yuan and he enjoyed a good show, even though he disliked the actors.
888 groaned in exasperation and He Yuan's smile increased as he made himself comfortable. Folding his arms across his chest and leaning against the wall whilst watching the clowns display.