The Eleventh Year of Making Hate with My Lover - Chapter 18

Stepping out of the restaurant, they were greeted by a deep, heavy night sky illuminated by bright city lights.

Shen Wang felt a light buzz from the alcohol, a faint flush tinting the corners of his eyes. As the car rolled past the Interrogation Building, he turned to Guan Heng: “Would it be convenient for me to go inside and take a look?”

Guan Heng blanked momentarily: “Right now?” He pursed his lips, knowing exactly what or rather, who prompted the request. He mumbled under his breath: “Fine, I guess a love-struck fool remains a love-struck fool, even when his brain is thoroughly broken.”

Guan Heng cleared security and unlocked the heavy entrance doors for him. Wu Que was being held in a confinement cell on the second floor.

Inside the cell, Wu Que sat perched on the edge of the cot, resting his chin against his knees. He had tilted his head sideways, staring spacey-eyed at his own shadow stretching across the floor.

Three days ago in the interrogation chamber, that orb of pure white radiance had morphed into a distinct human silhouette, whispering a greeting in a frequency only he could intercept: “Welcome back.” Wu Que held no affection for this entity; in fact, his immediate instinct upon witnessing its presence was to distance himself entirely.

“The absolute second your systems registered my presence here at the Base, you should have deduced precisely what transpired,” the translucent silhouette offered with a mild smile. “I must convey my profound apologies for executing this unauthorized directive without your explicit consent, but I wagered it would bring you an immense degree of satisfaction.”

Wu Que maintained a completely flat expression throughout the exchange. To Qi Ming, who was actively conducting the audit across the table, the Inspector simply looked like he was daydreaming. The officer was forced to repeatedly rap his knuckles against the tabletop, sharply reminding the Chief Inspector that they were actively in the middle of a formal interrogation.

“Continue your analytical summary,” Wu Que offered casually, adjusting his posture to lean back lazily against the structural backing of the chair. Had his wrists not been locked in heavy bindings, Qi Ming would have genuinely assumed he was the one being subjected to an investigation.

“…Regarding the operational metrics of City C, you…” Wu Que’s gaze tracked the rapid movement of the man’s mouth, before drifting right past his shoulder once more to study the translucent entity hovering behind him.

“…Though I command absolute certainty that you will treat my counsel with total disregard, I still harbor the sincere hope that you will refrain from exiting the perimeter of the Base in the near future. Based on my current data harvest, the Phoenix Research Institute is actively engineering tactical maneuvers to your detriment. This facility remains a relatively secure domain,” the silhouette noted. Stepping forward, the warm, gentle presentation of his gaze felt almost physical.

He extended a hand, seemingly intending to lightly pat Wu Que’s hair, but observing that the latter continued to study him with an utterly emotionless gaze, he abandoned the trajectory. Instead, he stroked his own chin, appearing immensely satisfied with the monumental decision he had executed: “After all, I have successfully returned him to your side.”

……

“Knock, knock.” A light tap against the heavy metal door effectively shattered Wu Que’s trip down memory lane. A youthful medical professional pushed the door open and stepped into the room.

Wu Que’s eyes narrowed into slight slits. To him, this individual was equally unappealing.

The visitor was the Base’s most celebrated psychologist, named Bai Yan. His specialized mandate was to stabilize and decontaminate the psychological matrices of high-tier Evokers following the severe mental trauma incurred during the clearance of pollution domains.

Beginning a few years prior, Bai Yan had adhered strictly to the Base’s administrative schedule, conducting routine psychological evaluations on Wu Que to ensure the top-tier Evoker didn’t experience a sudden catastrophic mental break.

Bai Yan possessed a pair of remarkably striking green eyes the type of gaze that radiated profound affection even when looking at a stray dog. Yet, the look Wu Que leveled against him held no more significance than if he were staring at an inanimate piece of roadside debris.

Bai Yan, thoroughly accustomed to this icy reception, remained entirely unbothered. His gaze swept across the surface of the desk, locking onto a portion of blueberry cheesecake, a mild smile playing on his lips. Even when subjected to formal confinement, the Base systematically extended premium luxuries to Wu Que providing delectable gourmet rations, post-meal confections, high-pile bedding, and a functional holographic interface to stream cinema selections. This domain bore zero resemblance to a punitive holding block.

It was an explicit paradox: the administration was profoundly wary of his capabilities, yet desperately compelled to curry his favor.

Resting immediately adjacent to the small cake was a single page extracted from an administrative dossier, displaying a highly structured task matrix anchored by a prominent, stylized letter: S.

“Has no individual ever informed you that auditing another person’s confidential documentation constitutes a severe breach of basic etiquette?” Wu Que’s tone was as razor-sharp as always.

“My sincerest apologies a mere reflex of my professional conditioning,” Bai Yan responded smoothly, displaying zero genuine contrition. Instead, he tilted his head: “Is this the specific operational directive the upper echelon is deploying you to execute?”

“Yes. They expect me to redeem my alleged transgressions through active service.” Wu Que let out a low, mocking scoff, idly rattling the silver handcuffs tossed onto the bedside table.

Bai Yan couldn’t help but chuckle softly: “If a task runs contrary to your desires, exists there a single individual within this facility who commands the structural leverage to compel your compliance?”

Wu Que offered neither a confirmation nor a denial; his acceptance of this specific deployment was entirely voluntary.

Bai Yan continued: “Let me execute a diagnostic hypothesis… Deep within the coordinates of this specific assignment lies an artifact you desperately desire to harvest.”

Wu Que’s elegant brows arched slightly: “Formulating a correct deduction yields zero material rewards from my systems. Conclude your evaluation matrix and exit my domain immediately; your presence is a severe eyesore.”

Shrugging his shoulders with total nonchalance, Bai Yan flipped open his specialized medical chest, extracting a diagnostic stethoscope before smoothly activating his innate mental capability.

The moment Shen Wang arrived at the viewing pane anchoring the confinement cell, he caught sight of Bai Yan actively executing the psychological evaluation. From his exterior vantage point through the glass, the psychologist’s broad shoulders completely occluded the majority of Wu Que’s physical frame, leaving only a small fraction of his profile visible. The man’s eyes were closed as the two maintained a remarkably close physical proximity.

Shen Wang leaned lazily against the structural framework of the corridor, opting not to breach the room. His eyes swept across the interior layout, noting with a trace of dark amusement that the luxury of this block stood in stark contrast to his own spartan cell.

The confinement cell was engineered with flawless soundproofing, prompting Guan Heng to loudly badger him from the corridor: “Oh, isn’t that Doctor Bai? Well, well… visiting another man’s quarters at such an ungodly hour.”

He pivoted his torso, directing a loaded click of his tongue toward Shen Wang: “Look at that view. Did you orchestrate this entire detour simply to watch the two of them interact?”

Shen Wang was fully aware his companion’s thought trajectory had veered into completely absurd territory, yet he harbored zero desire to offer an administrative clarification. His eyes remained locked on the diagnostic equipment resting in the doctor’s grip: “Is he suffering from a physical ailment?”

Seeing that his attempt to instigate a dramatic reaction had completely failed to register, Guan Heng grumbled: “How could that be possible? Bai Yan operates as a psychologist. It’s likely just his baseline mental stability fluctuating under pressure.”

It appeared that despite Wu Que commanding a monumentally powerful capacity to stabilize external matrices, he remained fundamentally incapable of executing a psychological self-cleansing on his own system.

Shen Wang offered a flat nod, delivering a neutral statement: “Let’s depart.”

The moment the echoes of their footsteps faded entirely from the corridor of the Interrogation Building, Wu Que slowly blinked his eyes open. Bai Yan disengaged his capability, smoothly retracting the stethoscope: “Excellent. The analytical output indicates your mental fluctuations remain well within standard parameters and are steadily transitioning toward a placid baseline. Has some highly delightful incident transpired recently?”

Wu Que lifted his eyelids to look at him, his presentation entirely lukewarm: “If you execute an immediate departure from my sight, my delight metrics will experience a significant surge.”

“Understood,” Bai Yan elongated the syllable with an amused hum, apparently in complete agreement with the sentiment. Yet, as the reinforced door slid open, he paused, casting a parting smile over his shoulder: “I received word that the two of you were apprehended and brought back to the facility in tandem. I confess myself immensely curious as to how you two still manage to coexist under the same roof with such absolute serenity. I believe I shall pay him a personal visit in the coming days.”

Both individuals held flawless clarity regarding exactly whose identity was being referenced.

Had he omitted the topic, the atmosphere might have remained stable, but the mere mention of it caused an icy, ominous smile to bloom across Wu Que’s features: “I strongly advise against executing that course of action.”

Shen Wang returned to his assigned quarters a minimalist apartment unit allocated to him by the Base’s logistics network, situated directly beneath Guan Heng’s residence. Following their parting, Shen Wang realized with a jolt that he had neglected to collect his backup key card from the administrative block. Given the late hour, the logistics desk was guaranteed to be entirely unstaffed.

Am I truly reduced to seeking shelter in Guan Heng’s quarters for the night? Staring flatly at the reinforced door panel, a sudden, inexplicable muscle memory surged through his system. Extending his hand instinctively toward the narrow seam separating the unit’s entry placard from the structural wall, his fingers brushed against a concealed recess and smoothly extracted a physical spare key.

The lock disengaged with a clean chime, the automated living room illumination cycling online as he stepped across the threshold, methodically cataloging the layout of the space.

The interior design adhered to an exceptionally sterile, minimalist aesthetic entirely devoid of distinct character pieces, dominated by muted, pale color palettes. Following a cursory cleanup routine, he threw his frame directly onto the mattress, rolling over to extinguish the illumination anchoring the bedside table.

Yet, as if driven by some bizarre, external compulsion, his hand bypassed the power switch entirely, drifting downward to pull open the storage drawer nesting beneath the nightstand.

Resting quietly at the bottom of the drawer was a physical notebook.

The lingering fog of sleep was instantly dispelled by a surge of curiosity. In a highly modernized era defined by digitized streams, the reality that an individual still actively committed data to a physical paper log was remarkably archaic. The entries were exceptionally sparse, consisting of a mere handful of characters per log.

317/08/28 — Clear

I have suffered a total cognitive fracture. My primary attending medical officer indicates that my mental matrix sustained severe trauma during a tactical deployment, leaving my physical shell comatose on a hospital cot for an extensive epoch before my consciousness initialized. He informs me my designation is Shen Wang an S-rank Evoker holding active office as the Captain of the Tactical Enforcement Division’s Sixth Squad within the Tianshu Base.

The current calendar year was 318; this data packet constituted a record from exactly one year prior.

317/09/03 — Clear

A continuous rotation of individuals have materialized over the preceding days to audit my status. It appears my historical interpersonal metrics were highly functional. They universally counsel me to prioritize my baseline physical rehabilitation and refrain from fixating on missing data points.

317/09/28 — Severe Torrential Rain

Following a full month of absolute confinement within this medical facility, I did not anticipate an additional visitor would manifest at my coordinates. The external downpour is immense; a few strands of his hair were plastered wet against his profile, giving him a distinctly unglamorous appearance. To be precise, I remain entirely uncertain if his objective was to conduct a standard welfare check he simply stood anchored beyond the threshold of the doorway, making zero moves to breach the room or initiate a verbal exchange. He merely leveled a deeply profound, unreadable gaze against my face, before departing with an aura of distinct, lingering regret. I omitted a critical observation: his aesthetic presentation is strikingly beautiful, and his eyes are exceptionally singular.

317/09/29 — Overcast

I audited Doctor Bai regarding the precise identity of that visitor. Doctor Bai indicated his designation is Wu Que, and he operates as my… ex-wife.

An indescribable, localized surge of elation rippled through my emotional matrix upon absorbing the data. He and I genuinely entered a formal marital covenant in our shared history? Yet, following the initial wave of delight, a distinct layer of dejection settled over my systems. After all… he is an ex-partner.

I pressed Doctor Bai for the precise parameters that precipitated our legal separation. I command absolute internal certainty that the initiative didn’t originate from my end; the mere sight of his physical form causes my pulse to spike rapidly. I still harbor profound affection for him. Upon absorbing my disclosure, Doctor Bai merely executed a casual shrug of his shoulders, noting that our emotional matrices were fundamentally incompatible, that the man harbored zero genuine affection for me, and counseled me to permanently terminate this line of romantic fixation.

317/10/08 — Light Rain

He appears to harbor a profound, unvarnished aversion toward my presence.

317/10/09 — Clear

I was formally discharged from the medical wing today. Yet, certain structural realities may diverge drastically from the baseline data presented on the surface. Perhaps… I am merely a displaced phantom who has illegally usurped another soul’s physical vessel.

The diary entries terminated abruptly at this coordinate; following his discharge from the medical wing, not a single additional line had been committed to the pages.

Shen Wang’s emotional matrix experienced a sudden, heavy plunge. The host from a year prior appeared to have encountered the exact same absolute void regarding his historical memory. Could it be that the previous inhabitant of this vessel operated as an identical entity to myself…?

He was profoundly jarred by the terrifying implication of the hypothesis.

What catastrophic sequence of events had truly transpired during the course of the year 317? And what structural anomaly dictated that one year later, the consciousness commanding this physical form belonged explicitly to him?

Shen Wang restored the log to its original coordinates, extinguishing the illumination, yet his physical form continued to toss and turn restlessly across the mattress.

Tomorrow requires an exceptionally early awakening to attend the theoretical lecture series… Shen Wang forced his system to initiate a sleep routine.

To look at the situation objectively, the arrangement carried a distinctly abstract, almost comedic layer of absurdity. The Base mandated that all newly initialized Evokers undergo a rigorous, three-year comprehensive theoretical curriculum. For instance, Lang Xi had only entered the discipline this current year, classifying him as a baseline first-year novice. His placement within the Sixth Squad operated purely as an internship framework; only upon clearing the formal three-year evaluation matrix would he be officially integrated into the permanent roster of the departments. As for Shen Wang despite retaining his executive rank on paper his cognitive fracture dictated that the administration required him to re-consume the entry-level coursework and re-sit the baseline examinations.

The administration likely feared his ideological foundations were compromised, leaving him highly susceptible to being psychologically re-routed by the manipulation of supernatural anomalies…

His current existence was truly an exercise in profound misfortune.

The academic block sat in close proximity to his apartment complex, requiring less than a twenty-minute commute back and forth. Encountering Guan Heng along the transit path routinely resulted in the latter delivering a barrage of mockery, laughing at the reality that an operative who had logged years of active field service was reduced to sitting amidst the raw recruits once more.

The instructional material over the preceding days had centered entirely on rudimentary foundational knowledge the structural origins of supernatural capabilities, the environmental synthesis of anomalies, and the operational mechanics of the mental nucleus.

The entire lecture hall contained a mere dozen individuals, constituting the entirety of this year’s incoming class. According to historical protocols, the talent harvested by the Base was subjected to layered, hyper-stringent elimination matrices, selecting one elite asset out of ten thousand candidates. However, the present era operated under vastly different pressures; the structural footprint of supernatural anomalies was expanding exponentially every day, leaving the fresh blood supply of capable Evokers dangerously depleted. The administration had entirely abandoned the preliminary screening filters the moment a candidate displayed a remotely viable baseline potential; they were immediately scooped into the roster.

It was entirely evident that the audience consisted of pristine blossoms who had yet to be broken by the grim realities of the field. Their eyes were universally clear and unblemished, projecting a hyper-intense curiosity and an elevated sense of honor regarding an Evoker’s baseline mandate, regularly hoisting their hands to respond to theoretical inquiries.

Meanwhile, Shen Wang was dead to the world, snoring beautifully in the absolute back row.

En route to the lecture hall that afternoon, his path crossed once more with the medical professional he had observed inside the confinement block. The man appeared to recognize his identity immediately, stepping forward to offer a highly polished, polite greeting.

Shen Wang extended his hand to return the gesture, maintaining standard social etiquette.

Was this individual the exact ‘Doctor Bai’ referenced throughout the diary entries?

While Shen Wang methodically audited his presentation, Bai Yan was simultaneously running a diagnostic assessment on his posture. The doctor thought to himself that while Wu Que had explicitly prohibited him from orchestrating a private interaction with Shen Wang, stumbling into each other in an open corridor couldn’t technically be classified as his infraction.

Bai Yan opened with a probing inquiry: “What a remarkable coincidence, Captain Shen. I received word that your system encountered a minor disruption, resulting in a localized impact on your memory banks. Should your schedule permit, would you care to schedule a consultation at my department?”

Shen Wang mirrored the probing tone, delivering an identical measured response: “The impact is indeed somewhat noticeable. I shall certainly arrange a visit to your coordinates in the coming days. When my brain sustained that severe trauma a year ago, it was entirely due to Doctor Bai’s meticulous intervention that my systems recovered.”

Bai Yan’s deep green eyes crinkled slightly at the margins, a nearly imperceptible sigh of administrative relief escaping his posture: “There is absolutely no requirement for such formal courtesy. While deploying the term ‘welcome’ feels distinctly inappropriate given the context, you are cleared to access my coordinates at any interval. Psychological Department, Examination Room 02.”

Following a brief exchange of standard platitudes, the two dissolved the interaction and departed in opposite directions. Shen Wang stared at the retreating silhouette, his thoughts spinning rapidly; his intuition blasted a clear signal that this doctor held an immense repository of classified data.

…

“Boss~ Boss! Terminate your sleep cycle immediately… Look at this, I’ve successfully cleared the final stage of my new game…” Lang Xi lightly nudged Shen Wang’s forearm with his elbow.

“Cease your vocal emissions,” Shen Wang muttered, shifting his torso into a fresh sleeping posture.

Lang Xi’s assigned desk sat directly adjacent to his. While the Captain spent the lecture executing a sleep routine, the youth’s presentation wasn’t a single fraction better; the kid was the literal blueprint of a rebellious adolescent.

“…Supernatural anomalies rely explicitly on harvesting the concentrated malice of baseline humans and consuming the mental nuclei of active Evokers to catalyze their evolutionary cycles…”

“Lang Xi! What exactly are you muttering under your breath back there…?”

“Let me present an inquiry to your position: given that both groups are fundamentally human, why does the inherent malice generated by an Evoker fail to function as nutritional fuel for an anomaly’s evolution?”

Standing before the lecture podium, Li Lan slammed her palm flat against the wood in a fit of absolute irritation. Managing the chaotic influx of mission logs and data transfers within the Information Department was already a non-stop migraine; being additionally saddled with the administrative burden of instructing this pack of children was pushing her limits.

What amplified her fury to an even greater degree was the reality that entry-level training was supposed to center primarily on live-combat capability drills. Such courses were historically mandated to be personally instructed and led by veteran, high-tier Evokers possessing extensive operational experience.

Yet, given the catastrophic frequency of recent anomaly manifestations, the Base’s active roster was stretched so dangerously thin that every single operative had been deployed to the field. The solitary two assets who had been dragged back to headquarters and should have commanded an absolute abundance of leisure time one had been ordered to neutralize an S-rank pollution domain and was currently listed as missing in action, while the other was actively caught dead to the world in the back row!

The administrative justification provided by the upper echelon dictated that the Captain of the Sixth Squad, Shen Wang, could not be definitively cleared of potential psychological volatility, requiring a prolonged phase of localized surveillance.

The term “potential psychological volatility” was remarkably loaded. In Li Lan’s historical memory, Shen Wang had universally projected a highly temperate, gentle disposition, entirely devoid of problematic incidents barring certain wild rumors she had intercepted in the past.

“Because… because… because any Evoker who harbors malicious internal metrics is summarily executed on the spot by internal affairs? Leaving zero opportunity for an anomaly to harvest their matrix?” Lang Xi offered a wild guess, executing a graphic throat-slitting motion with his hand.

“An absolute distraction every single second!” Li Lan’s anger spiked. “And you—”

The laser chalk resting in her fingers was launched with absolute aerodynamic precision, charting a direct trajectory straight toward Shen Wang’s forehead: “Absorbing zero data points from the curriculum. Command you any awareness that by the day after tomorrow, your operational mandate dictates you must venture out to rescue your ex-wife?”

Shen Wang didn’t even bother to lift his torso; his fingers snapped upward with flawless precision, catching the incoming projectile cleanly between his knuckles. Then, he slowly raised his head, his eyes still heavily glazed with lingering sleep.

“Rescue… who?”