The Fake Son Wants to Live [BL]

Chapter 178: Chapter 178 - Never abandoned

The man’s expression crumpled with the weight of memory as he rubbed his forehead, his pale fingers trembling slightly.

”She wanted to explore this world...” he began, voice raw. ”You see—your mother—she was a scientist. Exceptionally talented in gene editing and modulation. One of the finest minds of our time.”

His gaze dropped for a moment, as though looking into the past. Jian stood frozen, saying nothing. The air between them was thick with everything unsaid.

”She became so excited when the path to Earth finally opened up. Even though she was carrying you—three months along—she insisted on going. She said it was a chance that would never come again.”

He laughed bitterly, without joy, the sound brittle.

”We argued. Over days. Nights. I tried to explain the risks. Earth was no longer the innocent planet we once knew. Civilizations had risen and fallen. They had weapons, empires, bloodied hands...”

He looked up, straight into Jian’s eyes.

”But she didn’t listen. She believed it was still beautiful. Still pure. She had always... seen the good in things.”

The man’s face twisted as he swallowed hard.

”She... snuck out. Left the planet in secret. Without a guard, without permission, without even telling anyone except one of her old aides. She... she was impulsive that way. Stubborn to her last breath. I could never control her. Never really wanted to either...”

He let out a hollow breath and then gave Jian the faintest of smiles, but it was sad, fragile.

”So I did what I could. I sent troops after her. Quietly. I told them to find her, to protect her. She was too important... you were too important.”

His voice broke then. His hand went to his mouth, as if trying to hold back the tremble in his lips.

”But the unthinkable happened.” His breath caught. ”The black hole—the same one that opened—closed just moments after she crossed through.”

Jian’s heart stopped in his chest. His breath stuttered.

”Our forces... they were left outside. Trapped. The entry point was gone. She was stranded, alone, on Earth. And then... we lost contact.”

The man looked at him, his eyes red now, glimmering with unshed tears.

”I never heard from her again.”

He blinked rapidly, voice cracking more with each word.

”But we learned that you existed... through Xing Yu.”

Jian’s chest clenched.

”He felt it, you see. When you were born. Your souls—somehow—they bound. He said he felt you come into existence. He insisted you were alive. He believed it with everything in him.”

A tear finally rolled down the man’s cheek, glittering like liquid crystal.

”He begged us to search. He never gave up. He argued until the council agreed. When the black hole reopened, we acted immediately. Sent a search party the very moment it was stable enough.”

His hands fell helplessly to his sides, and his shoulders shook.

”It took us sixteen human years to find you.”

Jian couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak.

The man smiled through the tears, broken and radiant all at once.

”But we finally found you.”

Jian clenched his hands tightly, knuckles turning white. ”Why did Xing Yu feel it?” he finally asked, his voice stiff and low. ”Aren’t you guys supposed to be... good with technology? Shouldn’t you have just tracked her? Or me?”

The man gave a soft, almost embarrassed laugh as he wiped his tear-streaked face with the back of his sleeve. ”Yeah... we are. But not that great. Not as great as we like to pretend.”

Jian didn’t laugh.

The man glanced up at him again, this time with a small shake of his head. ”We’re still improving, Jian. Farians aren’t all-powerful. We’re advanced, yes. But we can’t contact galaxies that are too far out. The distances... the gravitational fields, dead zones, cosmic radiation. Earth turned out to be one of those galaxies. A quiet, unreachable one. We lost all signal once the black hole closed.”

He took a moment to breathe, to steady himself.

”But Xing Yu felt you... because he is your born soul mate.”

Jian blinked.

”What?”

The man’s voice didn’t waver this time. ”Your soul bound to his the moment you both came into existence. It’s rare, but it happens. A one-in-a-billion phenomenon. He felt you from the moment you were born. That’s why he was the first to know. The only one who truly believed you were alive.”

Jian felt his heart lurch painfully in his chest, like something was crawling up from the inside. He didn’t know what to make of that. Of any of it. So he kept his face neutral and simply said, ”Oh.”

But another question burned at him—one that had haunted him even in his past life.

”If you were such a powerful kingdom,” Jian asked slowly, his voice now sharper, ”why didn’t you send more troops to search for me?”

The man tensed.

Jian stared, his gaze growing colder.

”If you had sent even half as many people as the Graylings did, you would have found me sooner. You say you were desperate—but you only sent one team. Xing Yu’s team.”

He let the accusation hang in the air.

It wasn’t just curiosity. Jian remembered. He remembered what that team had gone through. Just barely a hundred of them. Fighting endless hordes. Taking on missions no human could understand. Sacrificing themselves over and over just to clear out Graylings, protect survivors, and somehow—somehow—find him.

If they had really wanted to find him, if they had really wanted to save him... why send so few?

His eyes narrowed as he took a step forward, face unreadable.

”If I was really that important... if I was your son... then why didn’t you send more?”

His so-called father let out a bitter smile, lips trembling slightly as he exhaled.

”Because the moment any larger force tried to enter the black hole... it would close up.”

Jian didn’t speak, but his expression hardened.

The man paused, his gaze distant, as if watching the past replay behind his eyelids. ”That was the mistake your mother made. She took a large exploration ship. State-of-the-art. Too large. The moment her ship entered the black hole, it was like... like watching a beast clamp its jaws shut. The hole swallowed her up and sealed behind her like a behemoth whose hunger had been briefly sated.”

His voice cracked at the end, just a little. Jian caught it.

”So we had to be cautious this time,” the man continued, softer now. ”We only sent in Xing Yu’s force. The smallest, fastest, and most talented we had. The most powerful. The ones we believed could make it through and—if we were lucky—bring you back home.”

His hand reached out again, as if to touch Jian’s arm. It hovered mid-air, shaking slightly. But he stopped himself before making contact. Slowly, that hand lowered back to his side.

”We never abandoned you, my little one...” His voice trembled, the words spilling out raw. ”We were always searching for you. Always thinking of you.”

Jian stared at him—at this man, this stranger who claimed to be his father.

The words were gentle.

But they didn’t erase the years of being alone. Of waking up in cold places, trusting the wrong people, nearly dying in a cage. They didn’t erase the scars.

He didn’t know what to feel. So he said nothing.