Chapter 1: The Return

"Traitor!"

"Betrayer of the organization! Get out of our country!"

"After all the resources our Dragon Nation invested in you, you went to serve as a scholar for Albion!"

Jiangcheng International Airport, Terminal One.

A crowd had gathered around a private jet, brandishing signs labeled "Traitor" and "Scoundrel."

Aboard that plane was Feng Xu, the "internationally renowned scholar."

The door opened, and a man in a brown suit, hair slicked back, appeared at the top of the stairs. At twenty-six, his face was gaunt, brows pressed low over his sharp eyes as he gazed eastward toward his homeland.

"Six years... My motherland."

Feng Xu furrowed his brow and exhaled a long, weary breath. "Father, Shuyi, I'm home."

"I don't know if you can accept who I've become."

Seeing the crowd below, brandishing signs calling him a traitor, Feng Xu felt a bitter ache within. Yet he had no choice.

Six years ago, he'd developed an air defense system that stunned the world. As a reward, the research institute offered his family a trip to Albion. His father, busy with business, stayed behind, so Feng Xu went with his mother.

But just as they were preparing to return, the Albion Special Security Bureau intercepted them. They threatened Feng Xu: serve Albion or his mother would die on the spot, and he’d never return home.

For his mother's sake, Feng Xu agreed.

At a press conference, Albion boasted of recruiting Feng Xu for a million a year, and Feng Xu publicly announced he would serve Albion.

The news shocked the entire nation.

A scholar raised by the state had defected? Outrage exploded. All of Feng Xu's family history was dredged up online for public scorn and abuse.

Vile insults poured in. His father's company collapsed under the pressure. His father sent him a letter, taking all the blame upon himself as a failed parent, and committed suicide in remorse.

When Feng Xu received that letter, he knelt for three days and nights.

Yet even as he served Albion, Feng Xu risked everything to smuggle vital research results back to his homeland in ingenious ways.

In recent years, the nation's three-kilometer sniper scope, fragment-resistant vests, rapid medical units, and field rations—all were Feng Xu's work. The research institute kept this secret, hiding the origins to protect him from Albion's suspicion.

To keep Feng Xu safe, the institute never defended him publicly; instead, they guided public outrage toward the Feng family. It was the only way. Had they done otherwise, Feng Xu would have been in even greater danger.

Today, Albion had permitted Feng Xu a one-month return home, allowing him to move freely—because his mother was still in Albion, so they held no fear of his defection.

Seeing the growing crowd protesting his return, Feng Xu felt helpless.

He had risked his life countless times to provide his homeland with valuable research, always on the brink of exposure.

Yet now, home at last, the only ones to greet him were ignorant, jeering masses.

This must be the helplessness of walking a path between worlds.

Drawing in the sweet air of his homeland, Feng Xu steadied himself and descended with his luggage.

No sooner had he stepped off the plane than a man of similar height approached, a smirk of disdain and mockery on his lips.

"Feng Xu, long time no see."

"When I heard you were coming home, I organized a welcome party for you right away."

"As a classmate, I think I’ve done right by you, haven’t I?"

Feng Xu recognized him—Liu Jun, a former university mate. Feng Xu had left after his freshman year, recruited into the research institute.

"I'll pass. I have things to attend to," Feng Xu replied coldly.

There was a press conference to attend, his father's grave to visit, but above all—

Feng Xu clenched his fists.

Back then, someone had used his situation to force his father to surrender the company, hurling venomous words that drove his father to death. His mentor, the old scholar, had told him all of this.

Noticing the strain on Feng Xu's face, Liu Jun smiled with malicious delight. "Your ex-wife and daughter will be there—you sure you won’t come?"

Feng Xu froze.

Ex-wife? Daughter?

He recalled the photo sent by his father—a mother and daughter, his wife Pang Shuyi and his daughter Feng Xiaoxiao. At the time, Pang Shuyi was pregnant, so he hadn’t brought her to Albion.

Six years had passed; his daughter was born, but his wife’s fate was unknown.

Yet this man calls her his ex-wife?

A sharp pain gripped Feng Xu’s heart.

Had Pang Shuyi taken their daughter and remarried because of his status?

An ache like a knife twisted in his chest.

Pang Shuyi, did you never truly know who I am?

Feng Xu's heart felt leaden, as if a wall blocked every beat and breath.

"Time. Place," he said hoarsely.

"A welcome party, of course, tonight. And the venue? The Golden Splendor Hotel. Only the best for an international scholar like you," Liu Jun replied with sly insinuation.

The hidden barbs in Liu Jun's words did not bother Feng Xu. He would have to attend—the matter with Pang Shuyi needed to be explained.

But not now.

His mentor had arranged to meet him at the cemetery.

After stowing his luggage at the hotel, Feng Xu went straight to the graveyard.

It rained softly as Feng Xu stood before his father's tombstone, umbrella overhead, heart heavy with grief.

He had been through so much these years.

To protect his research and his mother's life, he had done what was necessary.

He had hoped to one day return and explain things to his father, never expecting his father would die harboring resentment, forever silent beneath the earth.

"The Qi family!"

Feng Xu clenched his fists, his throat parched, rage rising in his chest.

If anyone had benefited most from his father’s death, it was the Qi family—the medical research clan once subordinate to the Fengs, now usurpers who caused his father's death and seized the CEO's seat.

They could never be forgiven.

The family legacy must never fall into the hands of outsiders.

This was Feng Xu's final promise to his father.

As dusk settled, mourners came and went in the cemetery.

Among them, a man finished his own family rites, then approached Feng Xu with a sneer.

"A traitor still dares come to pay respects to his old man?"

"Aren’t you afraid your father will be so angered in the underworld he can’t even reincarnate?"

These days, Feng Xu carried the brand of traitor and scoundrel, a magnet for scorn wherever he went.

But this was not some ignorant stranger.

It was Zhang Daoran, his junior fellow apprentice from the same mentor.

Feng Xu stared coldly. "What’s your point?"

Zhang Daoran strode up, kicking dirt over the incense sticks at the grave.

"You’re not worthy to honor Scholar Feng."

Feng Xu’s father had been a respected scholar, later founding a company for civilian research that brought great benefit to the people. Yet the scandal surrounding Feng Xu made everyone forget his contributions and drove him to his death.

In the research institute, his father had held great prestige, and Zhang Daoran had greatly admired him.

But Feng Xu’s actions were contemptible in everyone’s eyes.

"What kind of shamelessness does it take to come back here?"

"Trash like you has no right to return to our country!"

Standing on the moral high ground, Zhang Daoran looked down his nose, full of self-righteous disdain.

The words "trash," "scum," and "unfit to be human" poured from his lips.

Stepping forward, Zhang Daoran slapped Feng Xu’s face with a mocking smile. "Since you chose to be Albion’s dog, you should stay there. Here, dogs get beaten."

With a sharp crack, he struck Feng Xu across the face, leaving red finger marks.

"Ha! Ha! Ha!"

"Hey, cemetery warden, what are you staring at? How can you let a traitor in here?"

The cemetery manager hurried over, sizing Feng Xu up with a dark scowl.

"You bastard! You shameless traitor!"

"Get out—now! If it weren’t for the rules, I’d break your traitorous legs myself!"

As his words faded, the cemetery lights blazed on, and several official cars pulled up outside.

"Zhang Daoran! You go too far!"

"How dare you insult a state-appointed Special Scholar!"