Alex

Not long after, Sawa returned with the physician, with Adora following close behind and taking the lead. Behind them came two Nova Centurions.

As Adora entered the room, her eagle-sharp gaze immediately swept toward Alex. She did not believe Alex had truly lost his memory. Yet to Adora’s surprise, his pitch-black eyes were brimming with tears, while his gaze was filled with confusion.

Alex’s mind was completely blank. He could not remember anything—his name, his origins, everything about himself. Having lost everything, Alex had even forgotten pain. Yet for some reason, tears kept streaming down his face, and his heart felt as though it were being torn apart.

Seeing her mother standing blankly in the doorway, Sawa was somewhat surprised and instinctively turned to look at Alex in the room. Once again seeing his eyes, those clear eyes veiled in mist, Sawa felt her heart clench.

"Who are you?" Alex blinked, forcing his tears back into his eyes. He hesitantly glanced at Sawa before asking, his voice rising slightly.

Hearing his voice, Adora immediately snapped out of it. Rather than answering Alex’s question, she turned to the physician who had accompanied them.

The physician respectfully nodded, carried his medical case to Alex’s bedside, and reached out to take Alex’s right hand for an examination. Alex recoiled and dodged him, an instinctive reaction born of simple self-protection.

"What are you trying to do?" Alex pulled back his right hand and looked up at the physician standing beside the bed.

By then, Sawa already believed that Alex had truly lost his memory. She hurried to the bedside, took his right hand, and softly reassured him, "Don’t worry. He only wants to examine you."

Alex had a "natural" fondness for the first person he had seen upon opening his eyes—Sawa. Hearing her words, he trusted her without realizing it. After carefully looking at the physician and seemingly confirming that he meant no harm, Alex finally held out his right hand.

The physician gave a bitter smile and did not think much of it as he began the examination in earnest.

Nearly half an hour later, the physician finally finished. He gave Alex a complicated look, then turned to Adora and said, "There is nothing wrong with his body. In fact, he is exceptionally strong…"

"We only want to know what exactly is wrong with him!" Before the physician could finish, Sawa impatiently interrupted him. She pointed at Alex’s head, making her meaning clear.

The physician turned toward Alex, his brows knitting slightly. After a long silence, he said, "There is nothing abnormal about the structure of his brain. Everything is completely intact."

"So that means he hasn’t lost his memory?!" Upon hearing this, Adora immediately prepared to have the Nova Centurions make a move. But when she saw the undisguised confusion on Alex’s face and the deep loneliness in his eyes, she stopped. She turned to the physician in confusion. Anyone who saw Alex at that moment would believe he had truly lost his memory.

However, the physician shook his head. Just as he was about to speak, he closed his mouth again. After considering his words for a moment, he said, "Although his brain is completely intact, his consciousness may have suffered an enormous shock, causing his current condition…" After pausing, he continued, "You could call it amnesia, but in reality, it is more like confusion—a disorder of consciousness."

"I don’t really understand." Sawa was utterly confused. She turned to Alex, who was staring blankly into space, and felt a pang of heartache.

The physician glanced at Adora, who was equally confused, and gave a bitter smile. "To put it simply, amnesia can gradually improve through treatment. But a disorder of consciousness cannot. It cannot be treated."

At those words, some movement finally appeared on Alex’s expressionless face. He turned toward the physician, and a faint hint of despair showed in his calm eyes.

Sensing Alex’s gaze, the physician turned toward him. Something stirred in his heart, and he comforted him, "Perhaps there is a treatment. We simply do not know of it." With a slight smile, he added, "The universe is vast. There will always be things we do not know."

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, three more months passed since the physician’s last examination.

That day, in a room within the queen’s residence on Xandar, Sawa and Alex sat facing each other. Between them, the round dining table was laid with delicacies that gave off tempting aromas, as well as an opened bottle of Xandar wine. Beside each of them was a glass filled with pale yellow wine.

"Alex, you’re incredible!" Sawa looked at Alex across from her with delight. Raising her glass, she exclaimed excitedly, "It’s only been three months, and you’ve already risen to become a Two-star Nova! I admire you so much!"

The amnesiac Alex had no name. At first, Sawa had wanted to give him one based on her own preferences. But after thinking it over, she gave up on the idea. She went to great lengths to investigate Kyln Prison, and only then confirmed Alex’s name. Without giving it much thought, Sawa continued calling him Alex. As for the rest of the information in the records, she pretended not to have seen it.

Alex looked at Sawa, a faint smile curving his lips, but he said nothing. In his mind, he was recalling everything that had happened over the past three months.

Ever since waking up, Alex had discovered that he had lost his memory. No, that was not quite right—the physician had called it a disorder of consciousness. But to Alex, the difference was negligible. Either way, he had forgotten everything, absolutely everything, leaving behind only his body’s instincts.

Losing his memory did not mean becoming an idiot. On the contrary, Alex felt that he was very intelligent, especially when it came to his body’s instincts. When he had first awoken, he had known nothing about himself, and even his ability to speak had been a bodily instinct. But after taking some time to adapt, Alex discovered that his body was full of secrets, and its instincts were powerful and mysterious.

The first was language. Alex was certain that when he had first awoken, he only knew the Nova language. But after encountering other Alien Languages, Alex was astonished to discover that he seemed to know them as well! Then, in less than a week, Alex learned and mastered dozens of alien languages.

The second was a special ability. During a battle after joining the Nova Corps, Alex accidentally discovered that his body seemed capable of absorbing energy, whether kinetic energy, thermal energy, or other forms of energy. For certain reasons, Alex chose to conceal this ability and told no one about it.

After discovering that he possessed this ability, Alex knew that before his "amnesia," he had definitely not been an ordinary person. From things Sawa had carelessly let slip, Alex even suspected that he might have been a bad person in the past.

"I’m not you!" Thinking of his past, Alex gently shook his head and muttered with a resolute expression, "I’m Alex now!"