Chapter 8: Loving My Brother's Kiss

"Brother."

Seeing Han Yi's face clouded over, Han Jiaojiao thought he must be upset since those people were his uncles related by blood.

"Brother, don't be sad, you still have me."

Han Yi's heart softened a bit. He hadn't expected that his sister, though trembling with anger herself, still remembered to comfort him. Although he wasn't sad at all... the feeling of being protected by his sister was pretty nice.

"Mm, Jiaojiao, you are so good to me. Having you is enough."

This was supposed to be a very sweet remark, yet upon hearing it, Han Jiaojiao's face turned sorrowful, her expression filled with immense sadness.

She clutched at Han Yi's clothes, burying her face in his chest, her voice choked up: "...I'm not good to you at all... not at all... Brother, I'm sorry..."

Han Jiaojiao was in too much pain.

The torment of her memories never ceased. She couldn't forget how she had berated him, how cruelly she had treated him, cursing him day after day...

She refused to live in his room and wouldn't eat the food he brought back; to escape his control, she joined the Special Training Team organized by the base with Su Xue while he was away from the base. The compressed biscuits they were given in the Special Training Team were dry and hard; she had forced herself to eat them for half a year, while the food he brought was thrown out the door every time. Later, when Su Xue persuaded her that rather than throwing the food away it would be better to give it to those in need, she found the argument reasonable and agreed. With Su Xue's arrangement, all the provisions Han Yi brought were sent to the Special Training Team. Because of this, the team leader began to take special care of them, and the tasks assigned to them were relatively easy.

See, she was clearly benefiting from her brother's kindness, yet she had never shown him a kind face.

Han Jiaojiao felt that she had the heart of a brute!

Han Yi's expression darkened. It seemed that ever since Han Jiaojiao woke up, she had often shown him this guilt-riddled expression.

He didn't like to see her like this. Because when he did, it hurt. It was a heavy kind of pain.

Han Yi gently stroked her face, coaxing, "...My Jiaojiao is of course the best..."

Suddenly, Han Jiaojiao looked up. Even though her face was still streaked with tears, her eyes were smiling, and she pouted as she said, "Of course! Not only am I the very best, but I will also be very good to you in the future! You can't just leave me behind! Understand?"

Han Yi chuckled and couldn't help but gently kiss her brow.

"How could I bear to leave you..." His lips murmured against her smooth forehead. Raising you for so many years, protecting you for so many years, loving you for so many years, how could I bear to leave you...

Han Jiaojiao touched the place he kissed, giggling with pride, "I won't wash here when I clean my face tonight."

Han Yi's eyes darkened, "Do you like being kissed by Brother?"

Han Jiaojiao wriggled shyly in his arms, unwilling to answer.

Han Yi hugged her even tighter.

The siblings laid on the bed and talked some more about the topic of the end of the world. Han Jiaojiao didn't want to mention the grudges from her past life, so she dared not go into too much detail, fearful that she might say too much and slip up. She just kept emphasizing to Han Yi how chaotic the world would become, how scarce resources would be, that even a bottle of water would be precious, not to mention food, oil, guns, ammunition, cold weather gear...

Han Yi was extremely perceptive. He naturally sensed that his sister was hiding something from him, but considering that she had just begun to depend on and trust him, he didn't want to press her too hard. After all, they had a lifetime ahead of them.

Han Yi then asked a few more questions, mostly about the situation in the North. Han Jiaojiao was impressed, thinking to herself that he was indeed her brother, asking questions that were right to the point, unlike her, who only thought about food and drink.

"...That was the place that held out the longest, but there were too many alien species, and in the end, they still chose to evacuate. I heard that there was chaos during the evacuation, and it seemed to be because some people were fighting for power... Afterward, they established two bases, one called Beicheng Base, the other Lingchuan Base, and we went to Beicheng. I'm not too clear on the affairs at Lingchuan Base... As for Beicheng, uh, the leader of the base is surnamed Ji..."

Han Jiaojiao felt a bit embarrassed since she didn't even know the names of these people. At the time, what did she care about these matters? Other than her brother, the person with the highest position she knew was the Special Training Team captain.

Han Yi pondered for a moment. "Surname Ji, huh..."

"Yep! Oh, right, the Han Family always seemed to want to cozy up to the one surnamed Ji, but that person never gave them the time of day!" Han Jiaojiao remembered a detail, how quickly her brother had taken her to meet Yan Xiao after entering the Beicheng Base in her previous life. At that time, Yan Xiao was furiously cursing the Han Family, saying they deserved it. He said that even if those old folks had arrived at the base early, they still couldn't see Ji, it was a wasted effort!

Imagining how the Han Family was snubbed at the base and finding it very satisfying, Han Jiaojiao said with schadenfreude, "Old and young, they didn't have even one Superpower User among them, so they definitely wouldn't be favored at the base!"

She wasn't very clear about how the Han Family folks lived since that information about the Han Family not having a Superpower User came while she and her brother lived together, through news brought by Yan Xiao. Later, when she joined the Special Training Team, she had never interacted with the Han Family again, until her brother died, and nobody from the Han Family appeared...

Han Jiaojiao sneered in her heart: Those cowards, they must have been scared of being implicated by my brother so they quickly hid away, right?

Han Yi saw the changing expressions on her face, sometimes joyful, sometimes dismissive, and he became increasingly skeptical. What sort of dream was it that could so deeply impact a person's emotions even after they woke up?

Not wanting to see her dwell in that state, Han Yi continued asking her other questions.

"...So, does brother have an Ability?"

Han Jiaojiao's attention immediately returned to Han Yi. She instantly took on the demure demeanor of a shy young girl, her eyes shining brightly as she looked up at Han Yi with undisguised admiration. "Of course, brother has an Ability! Brother's Ability is the most powerful! Brother is the best!"

"Abilities are super useless when they first awaken. For example, a Fire Type Superpower User might struggle for ages and still not manage to light a cigarette! And many people hurt others or themselves by accident because they can't control their own Abilities. There was one Wind Type Superpower User who accidentally got blown into the sky and then fell to their death. But brother was amazing, super powerful right from the moment his Ability awakened! Brother's Ability was Psychic Type, which allowed him to see alien species from afar and avoid danger by choosing the safest paths. We almost had no injuries at all on our way to the base!"

Every time Han Jiaojiao mentioned something about Han Yi, she couldn't contain her excitement. Her soft little mouth opened and closed as she chirped on and on like a little bird.

"And brother isn't like other useless Psychic Type Ability users. They sweat buckets and get exhausted from just a short use of their Ability, but brother could use his for a long time without even blinking his eyes! Ah, those people were so useless, not even comparable to one of brother's fingers. But later, I heard those people all disappeared. Some said the base took them to conduct human experiments, true or false, I'm not sure..."

Han Yi couldn't help but laugh when he saw Han Jiaojiao acting like he was number one in the world. "Then what about brother? Wasn't he taken for experiments?"

Han Jiaojiao rolled her eyes, "How could that be possible! Brother is so powerful, even if they wanted to take him, they wouldn't dare!"

In the previous life, Han Yi was indeed so powerful that it was otherworldly. His Ability was both offensive and defensive, and the small teams he led always returned with the fewest casualties and the most gains. The base valued him greatly but also became wary of him. However, when someone becomes so powerful, no amount of tricks will avail.

If it weren't because of her, if it weren't because of that alien ring—