The Scum Shou’s Survival Guide

Cossen’s grip was so forceful his knuckles went white.
He shook slightly, and he opened his mouth, but was silent in the end. 

He wanted to ask, Are you telling the truth?

But he didn’t ask, because such a question was completely unnecessary.
The deep-rooted hatred currently in Roy’s eyes, his elated expression when he heard that Harvey was dead, his blood-soaked, deranged appearance…It all made it clear that everything he said was true.

 

 

Roy grinned cruelly.
“This is the truth you wanted.
I’ve told you everything…Are you satisfied?”

Cossen relaxed his grip on his collar and staggered back a step. 

This was the first time Roy had ever seen this proud, cold war god, the strongest iron-blooded man reveal such a panicked and helpless side of himself.
His heart was filled with hatred and envy, as well as a twisted pleasure!

 

If he was doomed not to be able to have this man, he could at least make him suffer, couldn’t he?

You will all regret treating me this way! 

The look in Roy’s eyes was insidious and ice-cold.
“Now you can go face Harvey’s dead body and feel guilty, hahaha…Oh, that’s right, is his corpse intact?”

 

These words finally seemed to rouse Cossen, pulling him out of that labyrinth of despair.
Harvey…He was still alone in the interrogation room next door.
He was gravely injured and was close to dying…

Cossen completely ignored Roy’s mocking laughter and taunting from behind him as he charged unsteadily out the door!

He flung open the door to the interrogation room next door.
In the spacious, silver-white metal room, only the metal bed in the middle of the room was covered in bright red.
The person on the bed had his eyes quietly closed, as if he were already dead.

Blood dribbled down the sides of the silver-white metal bed and onto the ground, forming a large red pool.
Along with the messy blood splatters, it painted an eerie, brutal picture. 

Cossen slammed a hand down on the emergency medical button with such force that he nearly slammed it right through the entire wall! Then he immediately ran over and flipped the switch next to the metal bed.

All of the metal bands securing Ye Ming in place retracted, but without the metal bands to hold him in place, Ye Ming’s entire body slid to the ground bonelessly.

Cossen quickly reached out to catch Ye Ming in his arms.
He stared at the wounds on his body.
Even his eyes seemed to burn at this sight, and his hands shook.

No, you won’t die.
You have a powerful physique of at least S-grade, and you have alien beast genes mixed inside of you.
You won’t die this easily. 

But deep inside, Cossen also understood that no matter how powerful Ye Ming was, after going through such torture and being given the separation serum, he was already nearing his limit.
Cossen had previously been interrupted by the sudden news and left him here alone without a care for him.
After such a long time, he might die merely from the amount of blood he’d lost.

But what hurt Cossen even more was that he had to thank the sudden arrival of that news, because without it, he would’ve already killed this person with his own hands.
Then there wouldn’t even be this tiny chance of redemption left.

He nearly killed him with his own hands…

When Cossen realized this, he felt his heart freeze over completely, so fragile that it could’ve shattered at a touch. 

I’m sorry, I finally realized you didn’t betray me.
I finally realized what you paid for it…You actually never betrayed us.

I’m sorry.

 

[Ding, Cossen’s blackening value -70, current blackening value 20]

In the blink of an eye, the medical squad quickly arrived.
They injected Ye Ming with a fast-acting blood coagulating drug and detected that he still had a faint heartbeat, and then they got ready to take him to the medical bay for treatment. 

Cossen wouldn’t hand Ye Ming over to them.
He stood up, carrying Ye Ming in his own arms.
He clenched his jaw and ordered, his voice deep, “Open up my emergency treatment cabin!”

The medical squad was stunned.
Cossen’s emergency treatment cabin was the most advanced first aid treatment facility, only to be used when the marshal’s life was in danger.
Yet now he wanted to open it for an infected prisoner? This wasn’t standard procedure; it was utterly absurd.

Feeling very dubious, they glanced at Ye Ming, who was covered in blood.
They didn’t understand what the marshal was doing, why he was doing all he could to save this traitorous monster that ought to be executed anyway…but ultimately, they didn’t defy his orders and went to open up Cossen’s personal medical cabin.

Cossen didn’t have the time to explain anything right now.
He carried Ye Ming, whose wounds had now been hastily seen to, and put him in the most advanced emergency treatment cabin.
Then he waited outside. 

Now, Ye Ming’s life was no longer in danger.

But Cossen still didn’t leave.
He stood motionlessly outside, like a devoted, loyal knight, personally guarding the door…Despite his shock and grief, he hadn’t completely lost all rational thought.

He knew Ye Ming’s identity as a traitorous infected was now out in the open.
Surrounded by the human military, he was in extreme danger at all times.
Even if Cossen didn’t kill him…the angry masses, the other soldiers, or anyone else who knew his identity would not allow him to continue living.

Cossen was currently the only one who could protect him. 

………………

Brody captured all the infected on the list, according to Cossen’s orders.
Under Cossen’s governance, commands travelled quickly through the military and were followed exceptionally well.
In a very short time, the vast majority of the infected whose names Roy had confessed had been captured.
A small number of them had been killed while resisting arrest, while the remaining few managed to escape due to their quick reactions, but they were added to the wanted list and were nothing to worry about now.

Once an infected’s identity became known, they would lose their value as a chess piece.

Brody received news from all over the place.
After taking care of everything, he finally went back to report to Cossen.
But to his great surprise, he couldn’t find Cossen in the interrogation room.
He wandered around and finally found Cossen in the medical bay after being directed there by a soldier. 

In order to rescue that infected that ought to die, the marshal had opened up his personal emergency treatment cabin, which could only be used in the most critical situations, and now he was even personally guarding it…The soldier who explained all of this to Brody wore a confused and terribly indignant expression.
Brody could tell that even though he was required to obey orders, he didn’t approve of Cossen’s actions internally.
Those who adored Cossen had never before expressed this sort of internal discontent and skepticism toward him.

Brody understood the soldier’s confusion and anger.
He couldn’t comprehend it either.
At this point, Cossen should execute Ye Ming and Roy together in restitution to the people and to the destruction of Fort Frederick.
Why had his attitude suddenly changed? Why was he doing all he could to rescue Ye Ming?

Brody impulsively rushed over and saw Cossen standing outside of the emergency treatment cabin with his hands behind his back, looking solemn.
His tall body was like a mountain that had been standing there for a long, long time…

All of a sudden, Brody was extremely angry.
Without thinking, he demanded, “What are you doing? You should kill him! Or are you still too softhearted to bring yourself to do it? If you can’t do it, then I’ll kill him!” 

When Cossen heard Brody’s voice, he slowly turned.
There was a look of profound pain in his dark red eyes.
His lips scarcely moved as he said, “You’re back.”

Glaring fiercely, Brody gritted out, “Yes.
Those infected have already been captured and killed.
This was your order.
It was also your order not to let a single infected go! And I think that you, as marshal, the highest ranking officer in the military, should remember your own words.
You said you’d never be softhearted again and would hold yourself accountable.
But now? You’d give this damn traitor special treatment just because you love him? How can you do this to everyone who died?”

 

As Cossen looked at Brody’s angry expression and listened to his hateful words, he didn’t get angry at all, because before he had known the truth, he’d felt the same way Brody did, except he was even angrier and more hurt.

Slowly, Cossen raised his hand, indicating that Brody should calm down.
Hoarsely, he said, “Yesterday you left before you could hear the entirety of Roy’s confession.
I think you’ll understand why I’m doing this after you hear what he said towards the end.” 

But Brody didn’t think that would change much.
Icily, he said, “What could he have said? Could it be that Harvey isn’t a traitor?”

Cossen stared intently back at him.
Solemnly, he said, “He isn’t a traitor.”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection.
If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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At first, it was fine.
Cossen was just questioning Roy.
Brody had been there.
But then, gradually…when Cossen asked about Roy and Harvey working together, things began to change.
Roy’s response and reaction made Brody’s expression freeze on his face a little, and he began to have a bad feeling, just as Cossen had.
Anxious, he continued to stare attentively at the screen.

All of Roy’s words, brimming with anger and hatred, reached Brody’s ears.

Brody’s complexion gradually changed from red to white.
His eyes were wide with astonishment.
He was speechless for a long time, even after the recording had ended…

How could this be the truth? 

Had all of his hatred these past few years been directed at the wrong person?

Harvey hadn’t betrayed them at all.
The one who betrayed them had been Roy all along.
And just as before, Harvey didn’t return to betray them, but rather to help them find the traitor.

Brody suddenly recalled that as he was tracking down the data signal, he’d discovered a hidden loophole.
At the time, he’d smugly thought Harvey had made a mistake.
But now, it seemed it was something he had prepared for them very early on.

He didn’t know Brody and Cossen had already seen through his disguise, and he knew no one would believe him, so he had no choice but to alert them this way.
That loophole was something he’d prepared for them all along! 

After he finished listening to Roy’s confession and then thought about these past events, he realized that Harvey had always been silently enduring everything, having no other choice…

Brody’s eyes were brimming with guilt and pain.
Slowly, he lifted his head and met Cossen’s somber, forlorn eyes, and he understood the pain and self-reproach deep in those eyes.

They had all wrongly blamed Harvey and done so much to hurt him.

If even Brody felt this guilty and upset, then what about Cossen, who loved Harvey dearly? Perhaps he wished he could kill himself. 

After a long moment, Brody sighed.
He saluted to Cossen, his attitude respectful once more.
“I understand now.
You were right to rescue him.
When he wakes up, I’ll apologize to him personally.”

The one he loathed was the traitor who double-crossed them, the traitor who caused countless deaths.
But Harvey wasn’t him.
Even if he was an infected, he still had a human heart.
He loved them and was loyal to them.

 

He’d never betrayed them…Harvey was more of a heroic warrior, more deserving of respect than some despicable humans.

Cossen nodded slightly and turned around, looking in the direction of the emergency treatment cabin again. 

My lover, when will you wake up? I think I owe you a personal apology too.

Brody noticed Cossen’s expression and couldn’t help but sigh deeply and turn to leave.
He knew Cossen didn’t want to be disturbed right now.
He needed some time to himself.

………………

[Ye Ming: Futuristic medical technology is so impressive.
They fixed me right up despite how serious these injuries were.
Oh…the only thing that hasn’t been fixed is my eye.
This is a residual effect of using the separation serum.
I can’t go back to my original appearance.
It’s not an injury, so naturally there’s no cure.] 

[888: So now anyone who looks at you will know you’re an infected.
Congratulations on shedding your disguise and turning into a pariah.
If you lined up all the people who want to kill you, the line could wrap around the earth a hundred times.]

[Ye Ming: How am I a pariah? Ge, there’s something wrong with your taste.
This is such a pretty eye, I’m about to fall in love with myself.
I’m very happy.]

[888: …]

He really wanted to ignore him! 

[Ye Ming: Seriously, when I first saw Xicks’s big eyeball, I didn’t think it looked good at all, just terrifying.
It scared me so bad I almost had a heart attack! I didn’t expect it to be so pretty when it’s small…Do you know what this proves?]

[888: You think I’ll enable you?]

[Ye Ming: This proves that the smaller something is, the cuter it is.
For example, little chicks, little ducklings, little piglets, little puppies, little kitties.
Waaah, tiny, moe things are so much cuter! Ah, whenever I think about it, I lose all of my HP.
I like tiny things! Oh right, just now you did enable me ^_^]

[888: …Then do you like it when your laogong’s thing is tiny?] 

[Ye Ming: Oh, that’s an exception…]

[888: Hehehehe.]

Ye Ming felt ultra-comfy soaking in the medical fluid of the emergency treatment cabin, and he fell asleep in a daze.

A full five days passed.
Ye Ming’s injuries had already completely healed, but he still did not wake from his deep sleep. 

Cossen brought him back to his home and took care of him personally.

The past few days hadn’t been easy for Cossen.
There were lots of things to take care of, the first being to stifle the news and not leak anything about Ye Ming.

 

Even though Ye Ming hadn’t betrayed them back then, his identity as an infected was still very sensitive.
With everyone’s current collective anger and hatred for the enemy, it was extremely dangerous for his identity to be out in the open.

Then, Cossen had people look diligently after Roy and not let him die.
Roy was a very important witness for this matter.
Even though Cossen really, really wished he could kill him right now, Roy would nonetheless be useful in clearing Harvey’s name. 

Roy should go on public trial and take responsibility for his crimes, letting the full truth become clear.

However, although they were keeping him alive at the moment, they would not give him an easy time.
Brody and the angry soldiers would give him a taste of a life worse than death.

Cossen was extremely busy.
All day, he was with the military and could only have robots help look after Ye Ming.
He only got to return at night.

That night, Cossen returned home again.
He gently lay down next to Ye Ming and held him in his arms.
He traced the contours of his face with his eyes, his gaze sad. 

I’m sorry.
I once vowed to protect you, but in the end I let you fall into Xicks’s grasp alone to be tormented mercilessly…

And when you came back, I wrongly blamed you and hurt you.

I broke my promise to you.

But you didn’t blame me.
In order to ferret out the traitor, you didn’t hesitate to sacrifice yourself once again.
You’ve always been the one I love dearly—this has never changed.
And yet it took me so long to find out… 

The pain in Cossen’s eyes was hard to stifle.
He dipped his head and gently kissed Ye Ming’s forehead, his gaze anguished.

Sometimes, the facts were just this cruel.
Often, when you finally understood the truth, the mistakes had already been made.

Ye Ming felt himself enveloped in a very warm embrace.
It was very comfortable, and he felt a slight tickling sensation on his forehead, as if a feather had brushed against it.
His eyelashes fluttered, and he slowly opened his eyes to see a stern, dashing face.

This was the man he dearly loved.
Right now, he was right by his side, treating him so tenderly. 

The look in Ye Ming’s eyes was reminiscent.
He was probably dead, which was why he got to see Cossen like this…Ye Ming had come back from hell, yet his soul still had the chance to return to heaven—he ought to thank the gods and not have any other excessive expectations.

Cossen watched as the young man in his arms opened his eyes.
His long, curly eyelashes slowly unfurled like a feather fan.
Finally, they parted to reveal those pretty, differently colored eyes…

Over the past few days, he’d been constantly thinking about how he should apologize to Ye Ming and what he should say to him when he woke up.
But when the time finally came, he suddenly realized that none of the words he’d been prepared to say would come out.
His throat was choked up…Even merely facing him had become so challenging.

What could he say? 

He hadn’t believed him.
He’d hurted him so badly.
Whenever he thought of what he’d done, his blood practically froze from the pain and remorse.
It hurt to even breathe.

Cossen pressed his thin lips together into a line.
His face was covered with sorrow and helplessness, and the anguish in his eyes nearly overflowed.

 

Ye Ming stared, dazed, at the man in front of him.
Why did Cossen seem so sad?

Ye Ming could feel Cossen’s warm embrace.
He could feel that heart beating powerfully inside that chest.
He reached a hand out hesitantly and gently stroked Cossen’s face…All of a sudden, Ye Ming realized he was still alive…This wasn’t a dream, nor was it heaven. 

He was still alive.

The man in front of him was real, too.

Ye Ming gazed into Cossen’s eyes.
After a long moment, he sighed softly.
“You know everything…”

He didn’t think Roy would be so kind as to tell Cossen the truth.
How could he, considering how much he hated and envied Ye Ming and how eagerly he smeared his name? But this was probably just wishful thinking.
The truth was that as long as Roy had been caught, it was very likely Cossen would find out the truth. 

He didn’t want Cossen to know any of it.
He didn’t want him to be conflicted or hurt.
But there were some things that just couldn’t be avoided in the end.

Cossen looked at Ye Ming’s eyes.
Although one of the eyes of the person before him was not human, it contained sincere emotions that belonged completely to a human…How could he have previously thought this was an act?

Originally, there were many questions he’d wanted to ask, but now he watched Ye Ming wake up and heard that one simple, understated line: You know everything.

And there was no longer any need to ask any of his questions. 

Roy had told the truth, and Ye Ming had always known everything.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to tell the truth…He didn’t say it because he knew no one would believe him, and he thought Cossen wouldn’t believe him, either.

So he had to use such an irrevocable method, not hesitating to take down the traitor alongside himself.

The sorrow and sadness in Cossen’s heart surged up violently and were difficult to contain.
His voice was low and hoarse.
“You’re awake.
That’s right…”

Ye Ming smiled faintly.
He pressed a finger to Cossen’s lips, his eyes gentle and bright.
“I’ve never blamed you.
None of it was your fault in the first place.
No one would’ve believed me…” 

Cossen studied Ye Ming’s tender expression and became even sadder.
The emotions deep in his eyes were somber and painful.

Earnestly, Ye Ming said, “I really didn’t blame you.
You were just doing what you should’ve done, doing your duty for the sake of humanity and victory.
My identity is at fault…The truth is I’m very glad you believe that human souls might still exist inside of these transformed monsters.
You said it’s not death but liberation…That was my first time hearing anyone say something like that to me and knowing that there was still someone who was willing to hold out a shred of hope for an infected…”

Cossen, however, felt even more pained.
He could have believed him in the first place…and yet he didn’t believe that he was the exception.

Ye Ming’s lips curved into a smile.
He seemed to be reminiscing about the past.
“When I left you, I thought…if I did what Xicks ordered, I would lose not only you, but also everyone else I loved and cared about.
Suddenly, my heart became conflicted.
I didn’t want to see such a tragedy occur…That was the moment I finally understood that my soul should be a human one.
It was like I’d suddenly broken out of my cage and was able to find my original self again.” 

“I don’t know who I was before, or what my identity was, but I know…I must have deeply, deeply loved everything about humans.
The desire to protect humans is embedded in my soul, and I couldn’t forget it even if I died.” Ye Ming looked at him.
“That I could find myself again…I’m already very satisfied.”

Cossen embraced him forcefully, the rims of his eyes stinging slightly.
He said resolutely, “It’s not important who you were before or what you look like now…I’ll never doubt you or let go of you again.
I’ll protect you.”

 

Making this kind of mistake only once is enough pain to last a lifetime.
From now on, I’ll never misunderstand you or hurt you again.

I’ll keep my promise and protect you with my life. 

Ye Ming felt Cossen’s firm embrace and smelled his unique, intoxicating scent.
He loved him so much and hated to part with him…but…they couldn’t be together.

Ye Ming gazed intently into Cossen’s eyes with a faint sadness.
He slowly said, “Honestly…you should’ve killed me.”

Cossen pursed his lips tightly, with pain in his eyes.
He once again recalled the sight within that interrogation room, and an acute pain stabbed at his heart.

Ye Ming smiled gently and shook his head.
“I know you believe me and want to protect me because you love me…but don’t forget who you are and what your duties are because of it.
You’re harboring an infected.
You’re…making an enemy out of the entire world.” 

“I don’t want to make things difficult for you.
I can’t change that I’m an infected.
I don’t know whether I’ll fall under Xicks’s control again or if I’ll hurt you…or maybe one day, I’ll wake up and my soul will be locked up in that shadowy corner again, and I won’t remember my original intentions, ignorantly becoming Xicks’s minion and hurting you and everyone else I love.” There was a profound sorrow in Ye Ming’s eyes, but his expression was calm.
“There are too many uncertainties.
I’m a dangerous, unpredictable factor.
You should draw a clear dividing line between us.”

“Not.
A.
Chance,” Cossen ground out from between his teeth.

Ye Ming sighed, looking sad and helpless.
“It’s not death, it’s liberation…”

My mission is already complete.
It all depends on you guys now… 

Only death can truly break me out of the confines of this body and grant me freedom.

These were the words Cossen had said to Ye Ming before, but when he heard Ye Ming repeat it now, asking to be freed, Cossen finally understood that kind of despair and powerlessness, as well as Ye Ming’s despair and powerlessness.

But…he didn’t want to give up, even if there was only a tiny shred of hope.

Cossen closed his eyes.
After a long moment, he finally opened them to look at Ye Ming, with an incomparably determined look to his dark red eyes, as if there were nothing in the world that could sway him.
His tone was serious as he said, “But you don’t need to be freed, only the unfortunate infected that have lost their wills do…You still have a human soul.
To me, you’re a true human.
You’re the one I love…You should trust that I can protect you.” 

“Please trust me this once, okay?” As Cossen said this, there seemed to be a hint of a plea in his eyes.

Ye Ming looked into Cossen’s eyes, dazed.
Suddenly, a faint ache emerged in the depths of his heart.
For the first time, he realized just how much pain his own blind devotion and self-sacrifice caused Cossen.

He only wanted to die, to be free.
He didn’t want to be controlled by Xicks anymore, didn’t want to suffer that awful pain anymore.

But wasn’t that a way to escape? 

And leave behind the person who loved him to bear that endless pain.

A long moment later, Ye Ming sighed gently.
He said, “I understand.
I’ll trust you.”

 

As long as you’re still willing to protect me, as long as you’re still willing to love me…then I will also trust you, and I won’t leave you to fight alone.

Cossen held Ye Ming in his arms tightly, his chest heaving.
He dipped his head and forcefully kissed Ye Ming’s lips.
Ye Ming was startled for a moment, but then he immediately parted his lips to return this passionate kiss.
They were like two desperate souls doing all they could to confirm the other’s existence… 

………………

Cossen kept the news tightly suppressed and began to plan how to commence with the trial against Roy.
He gathered evidence and prepared to clear the charges against Ye Ming.

The huge loss three years ago was a pain that was hard for the humans to bear, and the charges against Ye Ming had long been set in stone.
The people’s hatred of him was bone-deep.
It wouldn’t be easy to reverse the verdict.
It wouldn’t be sufficient to rely solely on Roy’s oral confession.

Not everyone trusted Ye Ming like he did.
The large majority of people who didn’t understand him only feared and hated the infected. 

Brody personally came over to Cossen’s residence to apologize to Ye Ming.

When he came, he looked embarrassed and uncomfortable.
When he remembered how he’d misunderstood Ye Ming and everything he did to him, he felt so ashamed he could hardly show his face.
Bluntly, he said, “S-sorry.”

Ye Ming looked at him, smiling, without a trace of blame.
“It’s okay.
I hid my identity first.
It’s not your fault.”

Brody became even more distraught upon hearing that.
He lowered his head, staring at the ground, at a bit of a loss. 

How could he not be sad being treated that way? But Ye Ming silently bore it all by himself, not wanting to make things difficult for them even the slightest bit.
His gentleness, his strength, and his radiant heart made one unable to help but feel ashamed.

And what had Brody done? He’d been so selfish and despicable…

Brody’s heart felt stuffy.
Suddenly, he couldn’t speak for how sad he was.

Ye Ming watched Brody, who was like this.
He felt like he’d returned three years into the past.
Back then, this young man had the same appearance—he looked icy, but in truth, he was a frank and somewhat sensitive person who felt particularly uncomfortable whenever he made a mistake. 

As he thought about it, anguish bubbled up in his heart again.
In the end, the cruelty of war had changed him.

Ye Ming said, “Honestly, I’m the one who let you down.
If only I could’ve escaped Xicks’s control earlier, then maybe I could’ve prevented that tragedy from occurring…and not cause you to lose your little brother…I liked him a lot too.
I’ve always felt very sorry about this.”

When Brody thought of his little brother, his eyes turned a bit red, but still he said, “It wasn’t your fault.
It’s Roy’s fault, that damned traitor.
He’s the one who deserves to die!”

Ye Ming looked at Brody’s eyes and said softly, “Don’t blame yourself.
I’m actually very grateful to you.
I’m an infected, and yet you’re still willing to believe in me, aren’t you? That’s enough.” 

Brody firmly proclaimed, “I’ll never let anyone slander you again!” He would make up for his mistakes by practical action! He would never let anyone slander or hurt Ye Ming again! At this point, that was the only thing he could do.

Ye Ming smiled and didn’t say anything.

 

Day by day, time passed.
Because Cossen was the one arranging everything, Ye Ming didn’t have to do anything.

He stayed at home all day, extremely leisurely and content, until one day when he went online and suddenly got a heads up from 888. 

[888: Go on the biggest discussion forum.
Congrats, after three years, you’re famous all across the universe again.]

[Ye Ming: Huh?]

[888: You’ll understand after you take a look, hehe.]

Ye Ming went to look and saw that a video of himself being interrogated in the interrogation room had been reposted one hundred million times.
In the video, he himself admitted that he was Harvey and cold-heartedly said that Xicks would kill them all and trample human territory… 

The video caption read: “Marshal Cossen has already covertly arrested the traitor Harvey, but he became softhearted and didn’t publicly execute him after interrogating him.
He couldn’t bear to kill that traitor.
For him, he blasphemed his own sacred duty and mission and secretly hid him.”

“He is a marshal of the military, and yet he loves an infected.
Even though this infected has done such unforgivable things, he selfishly harbors a sinner.
A person like him is no longer worthy of leading the human military!”

“We request that Cossen hand over Harvey, give him a public sentencing, and give the people an explanation!”

The number of reposts this video got began rising nonstop.
Two hundred million, three hundred million…It was the hottest topic on the front pages of every big star field’s discussion forums! People began to discuss it fervently! 

Some people questioned the authenticity of the video, but very quickly many experts confirmed that the video was absolutely real.

Some people questioned the truth of those words, not believing that Cossen would harbor a traitor infected.
But very quickly people retorted that if Cossen weren’t harboring him, then why, after so long, wasn’t he willing to report to the federal government and parliament that he’d arrested Harvey? Why would he hide the truth? Why didn’t he hand Harvey over?

Some people said that there definitely had to be unknown factors at play.
But immediately, others laughed derisively.
Cryptically, they said that perhaps there had been unknown factors at play during Harvey’s previous betrayal—how could Harvey have done something like that all by himself? Had the military’s marshal truly not been bewitched by that infected, to the point that he made a mistake?

Soon after, another video was uploaded.
This uploader was also anonymous.
They seemed to want to clear Cossen’s name; the video was of Roy’s confession. 

In a very short time, public opinion changed to some degree.
People said that Harvey had been wrongly accused, so it was utter nonsense to say that Cossen was harboring a traitor.
They said that those who slandered Cossen had gotten their faces slapped.

But those opinions hadn’t persisted for very long before they were drowned out by a larger wave of doubt.
Very quickly, people dug up Roy’s entire past.
They even dug up the fact that he’d worshipped Cossen fanatically since ten years ago.
They said that Roy had always secretly been in love with Cossen, so his words very likely only stemmed from jealousy.
And how could Harvey’s innocence be proven just based on a few words from Roy? Anyone could tell with a single glance that those words were said out of a hatred which stemmed from love.

Some comments were even more accusatory.
Some people believed that this was a smokescreen Cossen had created in order to shield Harvey.
Roy was only an innocent, unfortunate person who’d been turned into a scapegoat after a confession was forced out of him under torture.

If Cossen weren’t shielding an infected, why didn’t he just directly hand Harvey over and allow him to be put to trial instead of secretly concealing the fact that he’d already found him? But don’t forget that he himself had devotedly and righteously issued the order to kill him back then.
His actions completely did not align with his performance.
Wasn’t he acting one way in front of people and another way behind their backs? 

Humans were more ready to believe that an infected had betrayed them, rather than one of their own kind.

All sorts of outlandish, even more bizarre comments that could be said to challenge the limits of the imagination could be found everywhere.
The world was vast and filled with strange things.
When Ye Ming finished reading, he felt that that Cossen wasn’t the Cossen he knew.
He feared that he was some treacherous, despicable, shameless, depraved, vile person with the same name…

 

Countless people began to angrily call out online.
One after another, they requested that Cossen hand over Harvey, even if it was his dead body!

Ye Ming patiently spammed opinionated comments for a good several hours and heaved a sigh. 

[Ye Ming: Oh no, this is a real mess.]

[Ye Ming: So this was Xicks’s true objective.
It wanted to use me to defame Cossen.
The blow this’ll have on the human military can’t be any lighter than if it just straight up killed Cossen.
This tentacle monster is so good at toying with people’s hearts.
It really inspires in me a whole new level of respect for it ^_^]

The author has something to say: Xiao Ye: Waaaah, little kittens, little puppies, little chicks, and little ducklings are so cute.
I love them so much.
I love tiny things!

Cossen: I only have a large treasure.
My darling is gonna stop loving me, sad