Three months passed.
Neither Dongying, who fully supported the search and rescue, nor Huaguo, who had invested heavily, received any news about Chen Jinzhao.
They had even found the wreckage of Toscano and Joanna, but no trace of Chen Jinzhao was found. By this point, everyone understood that Chen Jinzhao could no longer be in this world.
In the past three months, many significant events had occurred in the world.
For example, Baiji and Xinluo had exchanged fire in the ceasefire zone, resulting in heavy casualties on the Xinluo side, and eventually a ceasefire under international mediation. This battle had severely weakened Xinluo, making it impossible to recover in less than three to five years. However, in the rapidly changing new era, keeping pace with the times was extremely difficult.
Dongying, on the other hand, had been repeatedly showing goodwill towards Huaguo and consistently defying orders from Mitelli.
This was because Dongying realized that Huaguo's rise was unstoppable.
If they wanted to continue their prosperity for another century, their only hope might be to rely on Huaguo and return to their historical position.
Of course.
More than half of Dongying's population still harbored animosity towards Huaguo, wishing to stifle Huaguo's rise.
With internal conflict on both sides, Huaguo's timely intervention to assist one faction would be enough to keep the formidable enemy, Dongying, preoccupied, let alone form resistance against Huaguo on the international stage.
As for the Mitelli side, Miller's unauthorized actions that led to the exchange of fire had triggered a series of negative consequences, causing Mitelli's international image to plummet. Consequently, the Mitelli leadership decided to reassign Miller to a nominal position where he would spend the rest of his life.
Some people had seen Miller afterward. He had lost his former intelligence and appeared as a drunkard every day, often muttering strange phrases like "scholars ruin the country," "one wrong step leads to endless mistakes," and "heaven intends to destroy Mitelli."
In addition,
Those close to Chen Jinzhao had also been frantically busy over the past three months.
In the last three months, Wu Lingyun had barely seen her father, Li Qiutao, who seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Yu Mengzhi, Tao Qiyue, and Xu Yaoyao had personally traveled to Dongying to mourn the deceased Chen Jinzhao in that sea area.
Meanwhile.
Yu Mengzhi's belly was growing larger day by day.
This caused Li Buyan considerable distress. After all, his granddaughter was not married, and an unmarried pregnancy would inevitably affect the Li family's reputation. However, Li Buyan also understood that this was Chen Jinzhao's only offspring. If he insisted that Yu Mengzhi terminate the pregnancy, his granddaughter might fight him to the death.
He could only let events unfold.
Upon learning that Yu Mengzhi was pregnant with Chen Jinzhao's child, Qin Fengwu drank for an entire night. The next day, he approached Yu Mengzhi and offered to take care of her and Chen Jinzhao's child for the rest of his life, hoping for a chance with her.
Yu Mengzhi did not give Qin Fengwu any opportunity.
Xu Jinsong clearly saw Qin Fengwu leave Chen Jinzhao's house in despair, his hopes utterly shattered.
Chen Jinzhao was gone, but life had to go on.
On a bright, sunny morning, Tao Qiyue paid her respects at Chen Jinzhao's grave with flowers and resolutely headed south.
Xu Nianqing immersed herself in her latest research, attempting to numb herself and forget the unpleasant events.
Xu Yaoyao returned to school, seemingly having overcome her grief.
Wu Gang, who had once considered Chen Jinzhao his life's goal, visited the capital after being discharged from the hospital. He then returned to the Zhulong Special Operations Team, attempting to shoulder the burden with his slender frame.
It was also in this year.
A young man named Luo Feng joined the Zhulong Special Operations Team after passing the selection process.
The young man's gaze was resolute, his eyes shining with the fire of ambition. People saw in him the shadow of the Chen Jinzhao of the past.
However—
Everyone understood that Chen Jinzhao was unique and would never appear again.
The name Chen Jinzhao was gradually forgotten by the world.
...
South of Dongying, on the furthest island from the main island, most of the inhabitants were local fishermen.
This island had once been a vassal state of Huaguo but, due to historical reasons, eventually came under Dongying's jurisdiction. However, the locals still held a slight sense of belonging to Huaguo, however insignificant. In this small fishing village, individual houses stood in rows.
Inside one of these houses.
A young man suddenly opened his eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling.
Beside the wooden bed, a young girl kneeling on the floorboards observed the young man with surprise, asking about his condition in the Dongying language. The young man looked at the girl blankly, and the girl gestured, trying to make him understand her words.
The young man's gaze remained vacant.
Seeing this, the girl could only get up and run out of the room to call her grandfather.
The kind-faced old man, who had learned Huaguo from his own grandfather, saw the young man sitting on the bed and staring blankly as soon as he entered the room. He cautiously inquired, "You're awake. Do you remember who you are? If you can tell me, perhaps I can help you."
"I..."
The young man's face bore burn marks, making it difficult to discern his original appearance.
He clutched his head and said with pain, "Who am I?"
The old man exchanged a look with his granddaughter and then shook his head slightly.
The two did not give up and continued to ask the young man about his identity, but the young man had no idea who he was.
He couldn't remember anything at all.
The old man expressed his helplessness and, pulling his granddaughter out of the room, lowered his voice, saying, "The person inside is likely from Huaguo. Why don't we send him back to Huaguo? Perhaps someone there will know his identity."
"Grandfather, we can't!" the girl said.
"You should see how severe his injuries are. He only woke up after three months, and he has many terrible wounds. If my guess is right, he might be related to that exercise three months ago. Weren't fierce-looking people looking for someone here a while ago? The person they were looking for might be him."
"If we go around looking for people, he might be in danger."
The old man hesitated, then finally said, "Chihō, you also know that the people outside might be looking for him. Perhaps he has a deep blood feud with Mitelli and is someone Mitelli wants to kill. We have a Mitelli military base on our island."
If the Mitelli military discovered him, they might all be annihilated.
When Shanli Chihō heard "Mitelli," her brow furrowed. The old man's gaze also darkened. Years ago, Shanli Chihō's mother had been violated by a Mitelli soldier. Her father went to argue with the soldier, and then both of them vanished.
Everyone knew what had happened, yet there was nowhere to seek justice.
It was precisely because of this that Shanli Chihō did not want to hand over the young man, fearing he would be harmed by the Mitelli military.
The old man sighed.
"Alas."
"He's already so badly burned that no one should be able to recognize him. As long as we're careful, no one should find out."
Shanli Chihō's face lit up instantly.
"Thank you, Grandfather!"