TMWTGD CH1

Capital Star, the Marshal’s Manor.

Xie Jianwei: “This is already the fourth time.”

Clad in a tailored black military uniform with a row of stars adorning his shoulders, handsome in feature with a faint roguish smirk playing at the corners of his lips, the man seized his waist in an iron grip. “Just one more kiss.”

Leaving no room for refusal, he leaned down and sealed his lips. Unlike the gentle, fleeting touches of the previous three, he forced past his teeth and entangled with his tongue, sweeping through like an army conquering a battlefield—domineering, fiery, steeped in profound love and fierce possessiveness.

Xie Jianwei let out a muffled groan, pressing down on the hand roaming recklessly across him. “Lu… Lu Li.”

The trembling inflection in his voice only stoked the man’s fervor, his voice husky and lingering with desire: “…Just a moment is all I need.”

Three hours later, Xie Jianwei stared at the rumpled military uniform, the disheveled desk, and the self-cleaning sofa…

Like hell it was just a moment.

Still, he had finally managed to coax the man out the door.

There was an important military drill on Planet Flo this afternoon. Even for the Marshal, traveling at maximum warp from Capital Star to reach the venue on time required at least two hours; Lu Li had no choice but to depart.

Catching his breath, Xie Jianwei braced himself and stood. Though his physical constitution was an Empire-certified S-rank excellence, it still paled before Lu Li’s SSS-rank monstrosity.

After hours of roughhousing, the Lord Marshal departed impeccably dressed for another galaxy, while the Military Advisor’s legs trembled so badly he could barely stand… Comparisons truly were odious.

After resting for a moment, Xie Jianwei washed up in the shower, changed into clean clothes, and stepped out of the Marshal’s Manor.

Capital Star was in the dead of midsummer. Midday sunlight shone with dazzling brilliance, golden rays beating down in waves of heat fierce enough to scorch the world.

Bai Yun, waiting outside the manor, felt as though he were about to be baked into a dried corpse. Fortunately, after several minutes, that tall, elegant figure finally emerged.

Back during the Federation era, Third Young Master Xie Jianwei had already been renowned throughout the Milky Way.

He was born of noble lineage. His father was the Speaker of the Council, his mother was the Minister of Etiquette and Protocol, and his two elder brothers were both high-ranking officials. Whether it was the Xie family or his maternal Shen clan, both stood among the foremost aristocratic lineages in the Galactic Federation.

From birth, Xie Jianwei had drawn all eyes, possessing an exceptionally rare spiritual power assessed at SSS-rank.

This signified that once grown, he would command unmatched intellect, transcendent logical deduction, and formidable leadership.

Even more astonishing, he also possessed an S-rank physique, truly a peerless paragon of civil and martial mastery.

Living up to expectations, he displayed talents that astounded the world at age seven, graduated from Capital Star’s premier academy at age twelve, and entered the Federation Research Institute that very year to assist Professor Yang in developing the God of War. Two years later, he proposed the Anti-Control Energy Enhancement Theory, resolving the energy crisis that had plagued the Galactic Federation for decades…

At age eighteen, he became the youngest First-Class Academician in the history of the Galactic Federation.

At age nineteen, his name was permanently etched onto the left breastplate of the God of War as its principal creator.

Three years later, the Federation collapsed. Alien invaders struck, plunging the Milky Way into devastation and misery. It was then that a shocking scandal erupted alleging that the Xie family had colluded with the alien races. Under the boiling wrath of the populace, that towering tree collapsed with a crash.

Everyone assumed Xie Jianwei would fade into obscurity amidst the upheaval. Yet two years later, from the remote galaxy 67865, an unnamed army rose like a sudden storm, sweeping away the malevolent Hundred-Limbed race and liberating three fallen star systems in a mere six months!

A year later, the name of the army’s leader, Lu Li, reverberated across the galaxy!

God of War Lu Li. Invincible in offense, undefeated in battle!

And beside this “God of War” stood an elegant, poised young man, unyielding as a pine and serene as bamboo. It was none other than the long-vanished Third Young Master of the Xie family: Xie Jianwei.

No one knew how Xie Jianwei had crossed paths with Lu Li, let alone how they had fallen in love. But everyone knew that together, they had saved humanity, repelled the foreign invaders, and rebuilt the Milky Way!

Bai Yun did not meet Xie Jianwei’s eyes. Snapping his heels together, he offered a flawless military salute.

Even though Xie Jianwei had surrendered all official titles after the Empire was established, choosing to stay in the Marshal’s Manor as “the Marshal’s lover,” Bai Yun would never forget Military Advisor Xie—the man who had calmly analyzed every battlefield across countless campaigns, leading them out of mortal peril and bestowing upon them boundless glory.

Lu Li was their soul, but Xie Jianwei was their faith!

Thus, no matter the time, no matter his own rank, whenever he saw Xie Jianwei, he would salute him.

Even if above an Admiral stood only the Marshal, and there was only one Marshal.

Xie Jianwei furrowed his brows. “Mind your station.”

Bai Yun responded, “Sir, yes, sir!”

Glancing at him, Xie Jianwei said no more. Stepping onto the aircraft, his expression turned somber. “To the Backyard.”

The “Backyard” referred to the back quarters of the Imperial Research Institute. It was a codename; the Research Institute itself was already an exceedingly classified facility, and this Backyard was more secretive still.

It was the core of the Empire, the Marshal’s private sanctum. Research conducted here was undoubtedly at the cutting edge, but not necessarily suitable for public knowledge.

Xie Jianwei naturally knew of the Backyard’s existence, yet since the Empire’s founding, he had never set foot here. Even when Lu Li repeatedly invited him and offered to place the entire Institute under his command, Xie Jianwei had declined.

Yet now, he had deliberately maneuvered Lu Li away and come to this place alone.

Had someone else driven him, they might have suspected discord between him and Lu Li, fearing a brewing crisis.

Bai Yun, however, harbored no such doubts. Because this was Xie Jianwei—the faith of everyone, including the Lord Marshal himself.

Though it was Xie Jianwei’s first visit to the Backyard, it felt entirely familiar. After all, he had drawn the blueprints himself; even without ever setting foot inside, the layout of the entire base was etched in his mind.

The researchers he passed along the way kept their heads down respectfully, attending quietly to their duties without sparing a second glance.

Striding straight ahead, Xie Jianwei cleared several security checkpoints and arrived at the deepest sector of the base.

Bai Yun lacked clearance for the final blast door.

Turning slightly, Xie Jianwei told Bai Yun, “Wait outside.”

Bai Yun saluted, “Understood!”

Standing alone before the sealed silver door, the security system performed a full-body scan. Having verified his genetic sequence, the door slid open slowly.

In contrast to the bright corridor outside, the interior was pitch-black. Xie Jianwei wasn’t surprised in the least. He strode inside, his expression steady, though his pupils contracted sharply.

As he stepped through, illumination flared across the room. A young man bustling before a terminal looked up, freezing in absolute shock the moment he saw him: “Y-Your Excellency…”

The youth trembled so violently he couldn’t form a coherent sentence. Xie Jianwei swept a cold glance over him, his voice low and stern: “Reckless fools!”

Terrified, the youth nearly collapsed to his knees: “W-We were only following orders…”

Ignoring him, Xie Jianwei’s face was coated in frost as he raised his eyes toward the man suspended inside the cylindrical container.

It was an unclad man with defined brows, starlit eyes, broad shoulders, and a lean waist. His bare physique radiated an intimidating sense of power—an undeniably flawless form, and one Xie Jianwei knew intimately.

After all, having shared a bed for a decade, they likely knew each other’s bodies better than their own.

This was Lu Li, yet not Lu Li.

Because he was merely a clone.

A “Lu Li” created by Lu Li himself.

Taking a deep breath, Xie Jianwei averted his gaze and scanned the staff within the laboratory.

All unfamiliar faces, and exceedingly young.

Cloning was hardly high-end technology; Xie Jianwei had been capable of independently analyzing this biotechnology at age twelve, so there was no need to recruit top specialists.

Yet this laboratory was nestled in the deepest sector of the Backyard, guarded beneath layer upon layer of security.

The reason? Simply because the cloned subject was the Empire’s Supreme Military Commander, the hero of humanity, and his lover.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Xie Jianwei reviewed the experiment logs, his expression turning increasingly frigid.

Just as he suspected.

Partitions had begun forming between Lu Li’s personalities.

His memories were no longer shared, the independence of each persona had strengthened, and all of these Lu Lis wanted to become separate individuals.

Exiting the Backyard, Xie Jianwei boarded Bai Yun’s aircraft and dialed a sequence of numbers.

A delicate and striking young man appeared on the holographic display: “My Lord!”

Xie Jianwei cut straight to the chase: “What is the progress?”

The young man said, “The Lord Marshal’s condition is rather unique, not a typical case of schizophrenia. I…”

Xie Jianwei cut off his rambling: “Two hours. Give me a proposal.”

The young man blinked: “Th-This…” Realization struck him: “Did something happen?”

Xie Jianwei said, “He has already begun manufacturing clones.”

The young man gasped in surprise, “The Lord Marshal’s memories have partitioned?”

Xie Jianwei nodded. “He will likely receive word tonight. I want results before then.”

The young man’s expression turned grave as he spoke cautiously: “There is no need to rush so desperately… Even if their bodies are separated, the Lord Marshal…”

Xie Jianwei narrowed his long, slender eyes: “I can accept whatever he becomes, but I will not permit him to harm himself.”

What those splintered personalities were planning, and the secret concealed within those clones, Xie Jianwei understood completely.

He wanted to kill himself—to slaughter his other selves.

Xie Jianwei would never allow Lu Li to face any danger, even if that danger was manufactured by Lu Li himself.

Hearing this, the young man’s expression turned solemn. He hesitated briefly before finally speaking: “There is actually a proposal, though it is still somewhat unrefined…”

Xie Jianwei: “Speak.”

The young man said, “My Lord, you possess a rare SSS-rank spiritual power, which theoretically allows you to interface with and influence the spiritual force of others…” Pausing, he spoke in a single breath, “I can simulate an appropriate magnetic field to bring your spiritual consciousness into direct contact with the Lord Marshal’s. That way, you can directly confront his different personalities and uncover the root cause behind the split.”