Falling into the Abyss

Ethan’s past may have seemed long, but the simple retelling took less than five minutes to finish all the important events of that year. He avoided all the details that he didn’t think were necessary, and he didn’t involve any of his personal feelings. He was just like a robot narrating the events.

“He said he chose me because I was easy to use. I pointed a gun at him and tried to kill him, but I failed. Instead, he grabbed the gun and knocked me out, and when I woke up, I was surrounded by robot policemen,” Ethan ended his story flatly. Throughout the process, his gaze never left the retro pen in Hopkin’s hand, which kept moving as he noted stuff down. Then, he finally raised his eyes and glanced in Tanisiel’s direction.

The priest was staring at him emotionlessly, and for once, he was not wearing a smile on his face.

Hopkin raised his eyebrows. “So you didn’t betray the country on your initiative. However, even though you doubted him for a long time, you didn’t take any action? And after everything was revealed, you aided him in lying to help him escape?”

Ethan was stunned momentarily before he said, “Yes.”

“Just because he is the only Alpha who happened to like you, you would even throw away your country and your future?”

The evident scorn and irony in his words made Ethan clench his fist, and a burst of anger welled up in his heart. These people had forced him to talk about the thing he didn’t want to talk about most and forced him to tear open the deepest scar in his heart. And after that, they scorned his actions. He sneered and said, “That’s exactly it. I’m just that horny. Why? Are you going to arrange for me to have a special Alpha bed partner just to keep me under your control?”

His provocative words obviously made Hopkin very displeased. The old man frowned and gave him a vulture-like stare. “Young man, I advise you to think before you speak.”

Ethan knew he shouldn’t have been rude. After all, he didn’t know whether his behavior would affect his parents. He lowered his head and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“Chairman Hopkin, I think that’s enough.” Tanisiel suddenly opened his mouth, and all eyes fell onto him. “His narration is basically in line with the results of the intelligence investigation. I don’t think he is lying, and I don’t think it’s a problem to fall in love with one or two horrible people by mistake.”

“Not a problem? Lord Priest, maybe your Eve culture is different from Earthlings, but loyalty is the most important trait for us. It is intolerable for someone to sacrifice the country’s interests to satisfy their desires! He’ll accept anyone who is an Alpha. How do you know that if he participates in Project Zero again, he will not be bewitched by Alpha spies sent by other hostile forces?”

Tanisiel rose slowly and nodded to the president. “Chairman Hopkin, I’m willing to guarantee that he will never make the same mistake again.”

”Guarantee? If something goes wrong, no one will be able to take responsibility.”

”Maybe so, but your Project Zero can’t go on without the Eves’ God of Order’s egg,” Tanisiel’s tone changed subtly. His previous gentle and soft-spoken manner gradually filled with hidden needles. “At that time, the president will be furious. Can you take responsibility for this?”

The chief security officer and Gray Fur both stood up. The latter looked at Ethan with a hair-raising expression.

Hopkin left the room with several others, but Tanisiel did not leave, and neither did the chief security officer and Gray fur. Tanisiel approached Ethan and lowered his gaze to look at him for a moment. “Do you have any things you want to bring along?”

Ethan shook his head, not understanding the situation.

“Very good. Come with me.”

Tanisiel was about to bring Ethan out of the room when the chief security officer stopped him and asked, “Are you going to take him there now?”

“Yes. Is there a problem?”

“Someone needs to watch him. The next time you want to dispatch him, please let me know in advance.” It seemed that the chief security officer was unhappy. It was probably because Tanisiel wanted to take Ethan away without giving any advance notice, so it would be difficult to temporarily find a guard to watch him. However, at this moment, Gray Fur said, “I can go with them.”

Ethan’s back chilled when he heard the calm voice of Gray Fur, who was smiling broadly.

Gray Fur put a black collar around Ethan’s neck, which he was no stranger to, and roughly escorted him into a spacecraft. Tanisiel, who was in the same ship as them, talked to an Eve through the screen projected by the ten thousand function sphere. Ethan couldn’t understand the Eve language they were using. Still, he could see that the priest on the opposite side of the screen had light blue hair and appeared slightly older than Tanisiel. He was saying something angrily and loudly while Tanisiel rested his head on his hand absent-mindedly. Occasionally, he would respond lazily.

Hearing the commotion as they arrived, Tanisiel seemed to reply something casually before hanging up without waiting for the blue-haired Eve to finish speaking. He then turned to look at Ethan and smiled at him.

“Are you ready to go to Mars?”

Mars was much smaller than Earth. It glowed in the lonely universe, appearing fiery and beautiful. However, the planet’s interior had been hollowed out. This was where the largest research base in the solar system was built, and many of the Earth Union’s secret research was carried out here. Their spacecraft landed among several landing bays on the surface of Mars before gliding to the front of a building exposed to the air, with eight bridges connected to it. Their hatch was moored to one of the bridges. Through the narrow road’s glass corridors, one could see the boundless rust-red sky and a towering crater in the distance that had solidified into a dark shadow, forming a desolate and heartrending beauty.

This magnificent scene made Ethan pause his footsteps slightly until Gray Fur pushed him from behind. Although he had heard people often talk of the Mars Base, this was the first time he had come to this barren planet. Once upon a time, people on Earth thought that Mars was very suitable to be transformed into a second Earth. However, as warp drive technology developed, people began to pay attention to further planets instead of the ones right outside their doors.

There were several small elevators beside the huge elevator at the end of the bridge, which could accommodate several aircraft. Tanisiel walked to one of the elevator’s door locks, and the iris authentication scanner scanned his eyes. Soon, the perfect face of a male virtual AI appeared on the small screen——Leo, the mainframe of the Mars base.

“Welcome back, priest Tanisiel. Please confirm the identity of the other two people accompanying you.”

“Ethan Eldridge. This is his pass.” Tanisiel pulled a barcode out of the ten-thousand function sphere and scanned it in front of the code lock. “As for the other one, he is a guard of the Forbidden City, Corporal Maxim Ivanovic Vasilev.”

Gray Fur took out his security card and scanned it. Leo said with a smile, “Welcome.” Then, he opened the elevator door.

The transparent elevator sank straight into the heart of the red planet like a bullet, about ten kilometers below the planet’s surface. The entire underground had been hollowed out, and countless skyscrapers, like pillars of heaven, were covered with bright lights, rising from the remote abyss to the top of the planet’s crust. There were countless crisscrossing pathways between these pillars, like ropes of different thicknesses. Many aircraft followed the established orbit routes around the huge buildings, emitting a variety of neon lights.

The entire underground space was illuminated by the high-rise buildings, passageways, and many spotlights embedded in the rock walls, which almost gave others the perception that they were still aboveground.

The elevator quickly sank down the rock wall until it finally stopped at the end of a passage. After the door opened, a reception robot greeted them before leading them to an escalator. It then led them through a long corridor and turned a few corners as it floated in the air until it reached the tallest building in the center of the underground space. There were spiral floors inside the high-rise building, and the walls of each floor had different wallpapers. Several staff members walked through the corridor. Many people would nod and smile when they saw Tanisiel before focusing their curiosity on Ethan.

Ethan had read many reports about the research base, but it was only after seeing it with his own eyes that he finally knew how grand this place was.

“Every building here is for a different research project. The antimatter research center is in this building, and you two can’t set foot in other buildings unless you get permission.”

Gray Fur seemed to be amazed by the extensive research center. He secretly wondered how many research studies were being carried out in secret by the Earth Union? If antimatter research at this level occupied only one building, then what were they researching in other facilities?

Ethan was arranged to live in a well-equipped staff dormitory, while Gray Fur would live next door to him. A staff member escorted them over to settle down, while Tanisiel disappeared after he handed them over to the other man.

The staff member did not seem to want to talk to Ethan. All the necessary communication was conducted via Gray Fur. When Ethan asked him whether there was a hot water usage quota here, he turned his head to speak to Gray Fur, “Everyday, everyone is only allowed to use 150L of waters. Please try to use it sparingly.”

Ethan was relieved to learn that he didn’t have to live in the same room as Gray Fur. However, he also couldn’t leave his room at will. That staff member had only told his room’s pin to Gray Fur. This means that Gray Fur could enter his room at will.

This made Ethan a little uneasy because he constantly felt that Gray Fur wanted to kill him.

However, Gray Fur did not seem to want to cause trouble for him at the moment. After a slight warning, he went back to his room. When the door closed, Ethan could finally relax and go to lie on the single bed. An uncomfortable smell filled in the room, a bit like melted plastic, which made him feel a little queasy.

He thought about how he hadn’t managed to talk to Samuel before he left.

Thinking about Samuel’s character, he thought he probably wouldn’t worry about him too much……but if he knew that he went after following Tanisiel, Ethan was afraid that they would quarrel again. He had a headache just thinking about it.

This time, they did not mention the points for his mission but it was the most relaxing task he had gotten since he entered the Forbidden City. After all, Tanisiel had saved him so many times, so he would be unlikely to harm him this time.

In a daze, he was just about to fall asleep when he suddenly heard the door unlock. Ethan woke up and bounced out of bed like a rubber band, but was relieved when he saw who had come.

Tanisiel had taken off his modest priest robes and had changed to a simple white shirt and trousers. The door slammed shut behind him.

“So…” Tanisiel turned around and pushed Ethan flat against the bed, placing his hands on both sides of the Beta’s cheek. He looked at him with his head slightly tilted, an evil smile on his lips. “I finally have the chance to be alone with you. When I heard about your past……about your love history, I could feel your emotions change. Although you retold it indifferently, your internal thoughts really……released an exciting scent!”

Ethan was caught off guard and frowned. Nothing was exciting about that memory for him, so he was a little flustered and angry by Tanisiel’s reaction. He tried to push the priest away as he said, “Is that so? But I’m not interested now!”

Instead of letting him go, Tanisiel leaned down next to his ear and asked, “Who do you think is more attractive, me or Roland?”

Ethan couldn’t suppress his emotions and shoved Tanisiel hard. He was finally able to escape from the priest, and his green eyes blazed with anger. “In the end, you are still a priest. Can’t you act in a more priest-like manner!”

“What is a priest-like manner?” Tanisiel asked with an innocent expression.

Ethan felt gloomy. “How would I know! Probably……having a more pure heart and getting rid of your desire!”

“During those times on Neptune and on the Magic Flute, you didn’t seem to want me to have a pure heart or be rid of desire?”

Ethan blushed. “Isn’t that because you……” He didn’t dare to say the two words “seduced me”. He felt that they were not suitable words to describe an Alpha.

The priest began to chuckle, causing his body to shake. It was very different from the solemn and kind manner he had used previously. “You are like an angry rabbit right now. You’re really……very cute.”

When Ethan saw that the priest had suddenly become so unruly, his anger melted away instantly. It was probably because he thought that he was the only one who could see the priest act this way, so he felt a little happy. He sat back on the bed and said with a long sigh, “So what are you here for? What can I do for you?”

Then, Tanisiel slightly restrained his smile and sat up straight. “Tomorrow, I’ll take some blood samples, and then, I’ll let you try to touch the God of Order’s egg again. If this experiment goes well, you may become the first human in the galaxy to come into direct contact with antimatter.”