Why Do All the Villains Look at Me Like This? - Chapter 4

When Colonel Shen’s starship arrived, Shen Zekai had already fallen into a coma. Meng Xuexiao exerted all his strength to pull him, ensuring that he didn’t collapse to the ground. The starship’s hatch opened, and a man in a sharply tailored suit stepped down. The man looked about eighty percent like Shen Zekai, and he exuded an aura that made others want to keep their distance.

Seeing Shen Zekai looking like he was barely hanging on to life, the man furrowed his brow deeply, and then his gaze shifted to Meng Xuexiao standing beside him. His frown deepened even further. It was a stern and sharp gaze, like a strict prosecutor examining a substandard part that had lowered the pass rate.

Meng Xuexiao was familiar with such a look. Before he transmigrated, many people had called him the caregiver aunt’s burden, saying that if it weren’t for him, the caregiver aunt could have had a better life.

It was true, if it weren’t for him pushing Shen Zekai away, Shen Zekai wouldn’t have ended up in a near-death state.

Meng Xuexiao lowered his eyes, his eyelashes trembling slightly. When Colonel Shen reached out to take Shen Zekai, he released his grip and stepped aside.

Even though Colonel Shen didn’t approve of him, Meng Xuexiao still spoke up, “Can I go up and wait for him to recover?”

Shen Zekai had become like this in order to save him, so out of both emotion and reason, he should follow him. Colonel Shen’s brow furrowed once more, but in the end, he didn’t refuse. The interior of the starship was vast, with complete facilities. As soon as Shen Zekai arrived, he was taken straight to the medical bay.

There were two soldiers standing in front of the door to the medical bay. When they saw Colonel Shen, they bowed and saluted, but raised a hand to block Meng Xuexiao, saying,“This is a restricted area. No unauthorized personnel allowed. Please wait in the reception room.”

The reception room was large, it could easily fit six E-rank military academy dorms. The sofa and bookshelf were all fully equipped, and a small dish of fruit and tea snacks rested on a beautifully carved wooden coffee table. But Meng Xuexiao didn’t touch any of it.

Whether before or after transmigrating, he had never been to a place like this. Even the sofa beside him was worth as much as a high-end craft item on the star net. Meng Xuexiao glanced at the school uniform he was wearing, now stained with blood and dust. In the end, he chose to stand in the corner, as inconspicuous as a dull, gray stone.

He didn’t know how long he stood there, but he vaguely heard the sound indicating that the treatment in the medical bay was finished. Only then did he slowly change his posture, but in the process, his legs, stiff and sore from standing too long, almost gave way beneath him.

He let out a low grunt, half-squatting on the ground to rub his stiff calves. The long standing had made his calves both numb and swollen. Every time he pressed on them, it felt like an electric current was running through him, and his round, pale toes involuntarily curled in response.

Then, he heard the sound of an argument outside the door.

“Shen Zekai, when will you finally realize that you are the only S-rank heir of the Shen family? Other people’s lives matter, but your life doesn’t, right?” Colonel Shen’s voice was harsh and sharp, yet it unexpectedly echoed with the voice of a neighbor from Meng Xuexiao’s memory.

Back then, he was only five years old. Because of low blood sugar, he couldn’t see the road ahead and ended up falling into the river. Without hesitation, the young man from the neighbor’s house jumped into the water to save him. Despite tripping and stumbling, he managed to pull Meng Xuexiao out and they both safely made it back to the shore.

The caregiver aunt didn’t even have time to wipe away the tears that had sprung to her eyes in shock, and she kept bowing to the young man in gratitude. Then she took Meng Xuexiao to thank the neighbor’s family in person and even brought a basket of vegetables from their own garden to give to the neighbor.

In front of the caregiver aunt, the neighbor said nothing. But when the caregiver aunt turned away with Meng Xuexiao and started walking back, Meng Xuexiao overheard the neighbor’s whispered words.

The neighbor pointed at his own son’s head. “Are you stupid? Almost risked your life to save some sickly child! Don’t go learning from that caregiver, doing what they call selfless devotion, it’s all nonsense!”

“I really don’t know what that caregiver was thinking. They say you raise children to take care of you in your old age, but this kid’s probably going to die before her, and she’ll be left to pay for the funeral herself. Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a loss!”

Five-year-old Meng Xuexiao turned his head to look at the neighbor, his lower lip nearly bitten white from his own pressure.

Then, he felt the caregiver aunt’s grip on his hand tighten, and she whispered to him over and over again, “The neighbor, he just has a clumsy mouth, he didn’t mean it, really, he didn’t…”

But Meng Xuexiao knew that neighbor did mean it. At the same time, he understood—he truly was a burden, he had always been weighing down the caregiver aunt.

Afterward, Shen Zekai and Colonel Shen spoke a few more words, but Meng Xuexiao had no intention of listening any longer. At least it was confirmed that Shen Zekai was recovering.

Next, he would probably be asked to leave the starship, right? He needed to check the route back to the academy.

Meng Xuexiao’s legs were still numb, but he had already stopped focusing on that. He kept one hand pressed against his calf,
while the other reached for his communicator to start searching.

Just then, the door to the reception room suddenly opened.

Behind the door appeared Colonel Shen’s face.

Seeing him, Colonel Shen instinctively furrowed his brow. When he noticed Meng Xuexiao’s actions, his frown deepened until his brows almost crossed each other.

Great.

He had once again proven, through his actions, that he really was a burden.

So… embarrassing.

“What happened to your leg?” Colonel Shen took a few steps closer to him.

“It’s nothing, just a minor issue.” Meng Xuexiao quickly pulled his hand back and stood as straight as he could. But in doing so, he accidentally pulled a muscle in his leg, and the numbness and soreness intensified.

His waist instantly collapsed, and he couldn’t help but let out a small, painful hiss.

Colonel Shen’s gaze sharpened, and his expression grew even colder. “When we boarded the starship, there was no sign of any issues. But now, with such a strong reaction, is this an injury from the kidnapping?”

“No, no, you’re overthinking it. It’s just a numb foot,” Meng Xuexiao quickly took a step back.

Shen Zekai had sustained such serious injuries but still held on until the starship arrived. He, on the other hand, was reacting so strongly just from a numb foot. If this annoyed Colonel Shen even further, just one word from him could get Meng Xuexiao expelled from the Federal Military Academy.

Meng Xuexiao regretted it a little, wishing he had just endured it.

But Colonel Shen’s sharp gaze swept over him, clearly not in a mood for conversation. He gestured to the soldiers guarding the reception room. “Move the medical bay here.”

A medical bay…?

At a time like this…?

Meng Xuexiao’s heart sank instantly. It seemed that Colonel Shen’s anger wasn’t over yet. He was going to compare the treatment data from the medical bay and hold Meng Xuexiao accountable for dragging Shen Zekai down.

Military families really do protect their own.

He had thought that after leaving that warehouse, everything would settle down. But it seemed like after escaping one trap, he had walked right into another. Meng Xuexiao quietly observed his surroundings, searching carefully for any possible escape route.

But there were none. Compared to the old warehouse, this place was far more advanced and secure, with countless soldiers stationed aboard the starship.

If he tried to escape, he’d surely be caught quickly, and the consequences might be even worse than before. He took a deep breath, deciding he’d have to take things step by step.

Soon, the two soldiers carried the medical pod over and placed it right in the center of the reception hall.

One of the soldiers, evidently on good terms with Shen Zekai, immediately showed concern after placing the pod down. “What happened? Why suddenly move the medical pod here? Is there an issue with Young Master Shen’s treatment…?”

Meng Xuexiao’s breath paused.

What he feared most had indeed happened, and now they were highlighting the matter directly to Colonel Shen.

“No,” Colonel Shen interrupted the soldier’s overly chatty questions.

But the way he spoke, half-explaining and leaving things incomplete, still left Meng Xuexiao uneasy. Meng Xuexiao felt like a prisoner strapped to a guillotine, the blade dropping halfway but suddenly stopping mid-air. This uncertainty was truly tormenting.

It would have been better to just end things swiftly…

In the next moment, Colonel Shen turned toward Meng Xuexiao, raised his hand, and pointed at the medical pod. “Get in.”

Meng Xuexiao’s overly anxious mind buzzed incessantly, to the point that even Colonel Shen’s voice sounded distorted.

Colonel Shen was asking him to enter the medical pod…?

Did he point at the wrong person?

The soldiers also looked puzzled, glancing at each other, then scrutinizing Meng Xuexiao from head to toe. “He… looks pretty healthy to me…?”

Even for soldiers, this medical pod wasn’t something one could casually use. Putting aside everything else, the therapeutic fluid inside alone was astronomically expensive. A mere few milliliters could equal an ordinary family’s total income for several years.

“That’s enough! Normal or not, you think Colonel Shen can’t tell? While you were still gnawing on salt blocks, Colonel Shen was already out fighting on battlefields!” one of the more sensible soldiers reminded the others.

Realization dawned upon the soldiers, and they quickly agreed, “Exactly! After all, it’s Colonel Shen. He must have his reasons for doing this!”

They turned toward Meng Xuexiao. “Then, please hurry and get inside.”

Though their words urged haste, the soldiers felt a pang in their hearts as they looked at the full pod of therapeutic fluid. If one day they could also earn a military rank, they’d surely grit their teeth and experience the feeling of healing inside a medical pod!

Their tone… was truly overwhelming. Meng Xuexiao felt exactly as he had earlier, when he’d wanted to check on Shen Zekai’s recovery but was blocked by the soldiers, completely powerless and without any control over his own fate.

Meng Xuexiao had no choice but to let the therapeutic liquid engulf his body. The cool liquid made his clothes cling tightly to his skin.

It was a bit cold.

Almost the moment this thought arose, the liquid began to slowly warm up at an extremely gradual pace, eventually reaching a temperature just slightly higher than his body heat—not scalding, not chilly, just perfectly comfortable.

It could even achieve this… As expected of the interstellar era, everything was so miraculous.

Layer upon layer of warmth surrounded him, giving Meng Xuexiao a sensation as if he were back in a mother’s womb. His taut nerves slowly began to relax, and drowsiness gradually welled up. The young man curled up and closed his eyes, hugging his knees, his silky black hair floating gently with the water currents, making his skin appear even paler—like ancient jade slumbering in the deep sea.

Colonel Shen watched him, one hand braced against the hatch of the medical pod, not daring to relax for even a moment, his mind stretched taut. What echoed in his mind was the last thing Shen Zekai had said to him, “Meng Xuexiao is very familiar with the Enforcer.”

Colonel Shen had been tracking the Enforcer for over a decade, yet even now, they only had fragmented information about them. Once, after learning that the Enforcer had set their sights on criminals, a major general had disguised himself as a hostage, mingling among the criminals in an attempt to investigate the Enforcer’s secrets.

However, no useful information was obtained, instead, the Federation’s star network was attacked. The entire Federation’s network infrastructure collapsed for a full month. During that time, confidential information from the Federation kept leaking out, and surrounding hostile forces took the opportunity to viciously carve away huge chunks of their power. Even after all the Federation’s programmers worked overtime to patch the massive breach, a message remained pinned to the top of all the Federation’s official websites. The content of the message changed every second. It was a list of criminals’ names and their execution locations.

It was clearly a public notice, a pre-execution announcement from the Enforcer. Arrogant, audacious—utterly humiliating for the Federation’s military—and yet, the military was helpless against the Enforcer. No one wanted to experience another network collapse like that again.

The Enforcer had practically become a taboo within the Federation’s military, and the pursuit of the Enforcer shifted from overt operations to secret ones. The Federation’s supreme leaders repeatedly emphasized to them. Do not provoke the Enforcer!

If a friend of the Enforcer were to suffer injustice or harm here, would the Enforcer trigger another network collapse? At that point, it wouldn’t just be Colonel Shen himself, even the entire Shen family wouldn’t be able to bear the consequences.

He summoned Shen Zekai, who had only just recovered and was still somewhat weak, and instructed, “Meng Xuexiao goes to the same school as you, right? Take extra care of him whenever you can.”

Shen Zekai nodded. Colonel Shen then seemed to recall something else and added, “How long were you two held captive? Has Meng Xuexiao eaten yet? Later, go out and buy some food—I don’t know what flavors he likes, so bring back one of each.”

“This kind of thing, must not be taken lightly.”