When the two arrived at the location where supplies were distributed the day before, they discovered that their small organization had gotten into a conflict with a neighboring organization.
A robust middle-aged man, holding a weapon, pointed at the person opposite him and shouted, "Did you steal this? Have you no shame? You even steal things from children! Without this food, my son is only two years old. Would you rather he die?"
The one being pointed at and scolded was only fourteen or fifteen years old. He was covered in dust and dirt, and he didn't argue back, but he also didn't seem to want to return the things.
"Are you guys out of your minds? We agreed to not interfere with each other, and we even divided up the energy zones. How come you come here to steal things?"
A crowd of people had gathered around, clearly members of both organizations.
In this place, food is the most important resource.
To put it simply, it was just a teenager who stole a few things, but here, it could easily lead to someone's death.
Perhaps losing a life is a minor matter; it might even involve the division of territory between the two organizations.
The organization Qin Chu belonged to was not powerful; it mainly consisted of Qin Chu and the teenagers around him, along with some elderly, weak, women, and children. Qin Chu did not refuse to join.
Compared to these armed men on the other side, they were simply no match.
Moreover, they are indeed in the wrong now.
"Do you want to fight? If you do, then go ahead. If not, then shut up," Levi said coldly, glancing at the people standing around him.
The man in the lead was obviously very arrogant, but he calmed down a bit after hearing these words.
"You stole their food?" Levy asked, looking at the disheveled boy.
The boy didn't reply, but his attitude clearly indicated his agreement.
"Give it back," Levy said directly.
The boy was still a little scared, and when he heard Levi's words, he subconsciously glanced to the side.
Levi could tell at a glance that this was obviously not the boy's own idea, but that wasn't the priority. He simply said, "Return what you stole intact. If any items were opened, replace them with your own. Then apologize to the person who stole them."
But upon hearing this, the man who had spoken earlier couldn't hold back any longer: "Just give it back and that's it? You've got a good idea! My child has been starving for half a day! No way, you have to pay at least three times the amount!"
This is clearly an attempt to extort money based on the assumption that they have a legitimate claim.
“Impossible.” Levi gave him a smirk.
"Kid, you really think you're something special? You think you earned this territory on your own? If we hadn't been lenient with you, do you think you could have stayed here?" The man pointed his knife at Levi.
"Didn't you steal from others before, even blatantly robbing them! Now you're unhappy about being robbed?"
Someone else spoke up for the boy, and both sides immediately became enraged and started fighting.
In the midst of the scuffle, the man wielding the particle knife slashed at them, his target clearly Levi's shoulder.
Qin Chu stood aside and instinctively reached out to pull Levi when he saw this, but Levi calmly held his hand down.
As the particle blade slashed down, a sound of burning flesh filled the air.
Unexpectedly, someone was actually injured. The surrounding crowd fell silent for a moment and then parted to both sides.
After being stabbed, Levi nimbly turned around, snatched the knife from the man, kicked him to the ground, and pointed the blade at him: "Feeling better now?"
The man didn't dare to speak.
“Even if you slashed me ten times, it would still be the same situation, and I could still kill you,” Levy said. “It’s wrong of us to have our people steal things. Giving you back your things and letting you slash me once is giving your organization face. If you continue to cause trouble, things will be different.”
After saying this, Levi turned to look at the boy who had stolen the things and the others, and said in a deep voice, "Give the things back."
This time, no one shirked their responsibility, and they quickly gathered the necessary items and sent them over.
Without hesitation, they took the items directly.
Levi threw the knife on the ground: "Alright, let's just leave it at that."
Once everyone on the other side had left, he turned around and glanced at his own people: "Anyone who participated in stealing will have their next share of supplies halved. I don't care if you stole from others before or if you were robbed by others. Once you come here, you have to abide by my rules. If you don't want to, then get out."
Seeing his wounds and recalling how he had just subdued the man with the knife, everyone understood and lowered their heads to indicate that they knew.
Levi was satisfied then, and with his uninjured arm, he took Qin Chu's hand and walked back.
As we moved further away from the crowds, the surroundings quieted down again.
Qin Chu glanced at the wound on Levi's shoulder, remained silent for a moment, and then asked, "Why didn't you dodge then?"
“At first I wanted to dodge,” Levy said. “But then I saw the angle at which he slashed at me, and I remembered that you seemed to have a scar on your back, so I didn’t dodge.”
Qin Chu didn't say anything, feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
Levi's ability to anticipate and dodge danger is an instinct of the Star Beasts. So in the previous scene, as soon as the child got close, Levi realized he was in danger and picked him up.
But now, Levy has forcefully suppressed this instinct.
Seemingly knowing what Qin Chu was thinking, Levi said, half comforting and half explaining, "You could have dodged it if you wanted to, but you didn't, did you? I think I understand your intention. You were in the wrong, so taking a knife is like paying back. Besides, being injured can also make you beat someone back, which is a kind of deterrent."
He explained it very clearly, and indeed considered all the points that should be taken into account.
But Qin Chu felt even more uncomfortable hearing this.
This is not something Levy would consider; to be precise, Levy would not even think about these things, nor would he have any concerns about them.
Suddenly, Qin Chu felt a strange sense of absurdity.
The cabinet probably went to great lengths to get Levy into military school because they wanted to "tame" him to this extent.
After taking so many risks and escaping so many constraints, is Levy destined to end up on this path again?
Qin Chu couldn't help but wonder, would being with him ultimately make Levi unlike himself, or even turn him into the very thing Levi once despised?
Seemingly sensing that Qin Chu was in a bad mood, Levi said something else.
Qin Chu turned to look at him, her gaze sweeping over Levi's hair.
Levi's hair color remained a brilliant golden brown, but Qin Chu gradually painted it black in his mind.
He knew what that familiar yet strange feeling he'd felt for Levi when he woke up that morning came from; Levi now looked a lot like Qin Rui…
Qin Rui was raised by Qin Chu in the military camp, so he was influenced by military regulations and some of Qin Chu's personal style from a young age.
At least in front of Qin Chu, he would suppress all the unruly things in his nature.
However, Qin Rui was the result of Qin Chu's five years of patient teaching, starting from the age of ten. At that time, Qin Chu did not know that Qin Rui was Le Wei.
Kolevi is a well-rounded adult with his own way of doing things and his own personality and temperament.
Seeing him go through scene after scene, forcibly suppressing his exhaustion, and transforming himself into his current state, Qin Chu was not happy, and even felt a little stifled.
With a tightness in his throat, Qin Chu felt he had so much to say, yet he couldn't utter a single word.
After a long while, he only opened his mouth and said, "Let's go back first... and treat the wound."
Qin Chu didn't have many healing medicines at home, but luckily the healing medicines Levi bought on the aircraft were still there.
The wound wasn't serious for Levi and Qin Chu. Levi remained calm as Qin Chu poured disinfectant on the wound.
He lay on the sofa, stretching his back, and after a while turned his head to look at Qin Chu's somewhat serious profile.
"You didn't have any wound medicine at home, so did you not treat your wound back then?" Levi asked. Before Qin Chu could answer, he clicked his tongue again, "If you had treated it, it wouldn't have left a scar. Besides, with your personality, you definitely wouldn't want someone else to treat your wound."
Qin Chu did not answer.
He was extremely frustrated, which even led to a kind of inexplicable irritability.
After cleaning Levi's wounds, he took the medicine and walked to the side, turning to look at the window on the side and letting out a heavy sigh.
I want to ask, but I don't know if I should.
Levy clearly didn't want him to ask, or even to notice anything amiss.
Qin Chu wasn't sure what the consequences would be if he asked.
Levi was clearly exhausted. He had tried so hard to adapt to every scene in this world, and then he suddenly appeared and said to him, "Don't do this, I don't like you doing this."
This time, Qin Chu really didn't know what to do. It seemed like nothing he did was appropriate, and he could only wait for the mission in this world to end quickly.
"Let's take a break." Qin Chu walked over to Le Wei, lowering his eyes and said, "The scene hasn't changed yet, there might be some things to do later."
Levi did not refuse and followed Qin Chu's lead to the other cubicle.
Qin Chu also sat down. He didn't lie down, but leaned against the partition, staring blankly with his head tilted back.
Levi rested his head on his lap, lying on his side to avoid pressing on the wound.
They were so close that they could feel each other's body temperature and clearly hear each other's breathing and even heartbeats.
Qin Chu once thought this was the closest distance, but he never imagined that even when people are so close, there are still things they can't say.
The constant scene changes, coupled with the injuries he had sustained, had left Qin Chu's consciousness exhausted.
Even in such a frustrating state, he still managed to take a short nap.
Before falling asleep, Qin Chu told Noah about Levi's situation and asked Noah to help monitor the health of Levi's consciousness.
When Qin Chu woke up again, what appeared before him was still the dark gray partition in the cubicle.
He looked down at Levy.
Levi was clearly still half asleep, nuzzling his head against his leg and peeking at him through a crack in his eyes.
Seemingly recognizing him, Levi yawned and mumbled in a daze, "Brother."
elder brother.
Qin Chu hadn't heard this title in a long time.
This nickname most often appears in the world where Qin Rui is. After that, every time Levi uses this nickname, it carries a teasing or affectionate provocation.
But upon arriving in this world and hearing it again after so long, Qin Chu felt no relief, only a deep sinking in his heart.
Levy has woken up.
The questions and anxieties that Qin Chu had been suppressing for some time reached their peak with this address. He looked at Levi and asked in a deep voice, "Why do you call me that?"
Levi paused in his motion to stand up, then smiled casually, "Nothing, I just suddenly remembered..."
"Keep lying to me." Qin Chu's voice was tinged with barely suppressed anger. "Your hair turning black isn't a mistake on my part. What... what happened to you?"
Qin Chu barely managed to ask the last few questions.
He had long accepted that Qin Rui was Levi, but Levi was not entirely Qin Rui. Qin Rui was merely a part of Levi, or rather, a phase in his life.
Now Levi's hair has turned black, and he looks a lot like Qin Rui in his gestures and movements. He even calls him "brother" just like Qin Rui.
This doesn't mean Qin Rui has returned; it only signifies a more dangerous signal: Levi's consciousness has encountered problems again.