Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 106

Chapter 106 – A Damned Bloodline

The twins could never have imagined that there would be a day where they would be forced to hide under the Committee and use a protected portal in the Eden lab to send out their long-distance signals.

The massive long-distance communication network passed through countless portals like a fish in the water, leaving a signal on every portal it swam by. When the rest of the Silver Ten teams passed through the portals carrying their keys, their mechs would automatically pick up the signal and create a channel between both parties. During this time, the sender end would not be allowed to change their coordinates so the twins had no choice but to settle in the lab temporarily.

Lin Jingshu prepared a deluxe guest room that was almost comparable to a VIP room for a top politician in the Union. Thomas walked in like a curious peasant and stretched his back lazily, then turned to the mirror and made a victory sign above his head: “This is super fancy, glad she’s so generous!”

Poisson eyed him quickly–almost all mechanics who grew up together during their teenage phase have made codes that only they could understand at some point. Theirs had started off as a joke in spy games to “save the world,” but most of it later turned into useless codes they used in games or exchanging adult videos.

The sign for the twins to start speaking in code was to make a victory sign above their head; every sound in a sentence they spoke followed a certain pattern and could be rearranged into a new sentence.

Thomas’ line earlier meant: “Is there surveillance?”

Poisson: “Let me try finding it.”

“Be careful, I secretly scanned a researcher earlier, the radiation on him was more like what I’d expect from a signal post for communicating with all the lab equipment. I thought they’d made a mini Eden inside the lab at first, but the radiation is way above the safety threshold of the Union standard. My personal device later sent out an alert that this thing might be directly controlling the brainwaves of the person.”

“Opium.”

“Yup, opium.”

“With how highly protected the Eden Labs are, how could they possibly let any unrelated personnel inside like that? And none of the researchers have complained about it, Lin Jingshu supposedly shouldn’t have this kind of control over them.”

“Do you trust her? She is Commander’s only sister.”

“…….A sister he hasn’t contacted in decades.”

“Then the Gordon family sure is cursed. Do you think old man Gordon is still alive?”

“If she really is dangerous and cunning enough to obtain control of Eden behind the backs of everyone in the central government, do you think she would be that careless and let us find her weakness the moment we walked in the lab?”

“Why do you say it like we’re about to get silenced?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Do we really need to risk our lives and stay here?”

“If we leave, who’s going to receive the messages and connect the networks for the rest of the Silver Ten?”

Thomas laid haphazardly on the soft bed inside the suite and rolled around like a restless child. Yet his gaze peeking out from the pillow was heavy as he looked at his brother. He mumbled like a tired rural soldier complaining about enlisting into the military and whined about wanting to go back, but the translated code was: “I was going to say, we barely received the order from our commander to activate the backup central and the portals around the City of Angels were immediately shut off. Who could have such an immediate reaction? Who’s been keeping an eye on us?”

The two had been working with the guards of the old Chief; Lin Jingheng had personally handed a letter of recommendation to secretary Wang, and the old Chief personally arranged their new positions in the team. Aside from them, nobody knew that these two were the famous engineers from the Silver Third Squadron, and even Thomas himself bragged about being a dandy that fit in seamlessly with the rich boys of the Wolto elites…

Then…who could it be?

A chill ran down Poisson’s back so cold he felt as if he was floating in an icy ocean, the ocean water consuming his limbs with no escape.

Poisson fell silent for a moment before he spoke up: “don’t embarrass yourself in front of Miss Lin…I haven’t watched the news in days, give me a few minutes of quiet time.”

Of course, he didn’t really want to watch the news, the decoded message was: “Does Miss Lin have anything to do with opium? Perhaps…she is the mastermind behind them?”

Thomas faked a laugh and responded: “how would I embarrass myself, isn’t the commander’s family one of us too?”

If that’s the case, what would the Commander think if he found out?

Poisson didn’t respond, and in fear of surveillance inside the room, he sat on the side and pretended to flip through the news on his personal device as he had mentioned earlier.

The ‘news’ nowadays was merely rumors from unreliable sources. Ever since the network was destroyed, mass media collapsed and people could only gather among themselves to create small internal networks with the help of network engineers. Different providers had different contracts and terms of uses, but under specific conditions they could still connect with each other and pass on information or sell illegal drugs and products–essentially, they were the dark side of the internet.

Unfortunately, they were only left with these underground networks now.

Poisson skimmed through this pointless news with his mind still stuck on this fearsome little sister of Commander Lin; that was when something suddenly caught his eye.

Thomas noticed his brother freezing up and leaned forward to see what had happened.

It was a video recording that was going around the internet titled “The secrets to the fall of the Silver Fortress that you didn’t know about (military video record included)”.

Military-grade visual records were considered a top-grade technology difficult to recreate by the public, making these videos much more valuable as news sources.

The video seemed to be taken inside a mech launching dock from a mech that forgot to turn off its recording after an irresponsible pilot left. The camera pointed towards a mech parked right across from it that clearly displayed the model and number of the mech.

In order to stage a peaceful coup in the eyes of the public, the Glory Troops had been very active in their propaganda in the underground networks ever since they took over Wolto. Therefore, a lot of people recognized that the mech on the camera belonged to the President of the pirate group.

In the next instant, the President himself appeared on screen as he spoke with his secretary. Poisson quickly opened up his lip-reader app on his personal device and deciphered their conversation.

The President said: “How did the news of him being in the Eighth Galaxy get leaked to the AUS?”

His secretary responded: “It’s likely an accident, but this is bad. We used these rabid dogs in the AUS back then and fooled them into the Union to become sacrificial lambs for him, but now they must’ve realized they were fooled and will likely take vengeance on him.”

The President then said: “Lin Jingheng is our old friend. He’s helped us greatly for so many years to let us reach our status today, so we have to to help him out. We’re stuck in the First Galaxy right now with no reach over there, see if you can use the old Union military to hold out those dogs from the AUS for now.”

The secretary responded with something, but due to the angle of the camera it was impossible to see their faces anymore, and the video promptly ended.

This news spread like the virus within the underground networks and riled up waves of unrest.

What does “Lin Jingheng is our old friend” mean?”

An hour later, another military recording with a full analysis appeared in the trending topics.

The video was a clip of Lin Jingheng chasing down the AUS near planet Alpenglow that skillfully avoided catching the AUS logo on camera. It was short and quick, the viewers could only make out that there were two forces fighting each other and not who or why they were involved.

Under the video was a long analysis report on the battle style of the Silver Ninth Squadron and the impossibly large mental network range of the old Model 3.

Of course, most people didn’t understand what a battle style analysis is and wouldn’t know what the standard radius of a heavy mech’s mental network should be, but everyone believed it after drawing the same conclusion from the two military recordings–Lin Jingheng was still alive in the Eighth Galaxy, and was formerly a spy for the Glory Troops.

Nobody questioned whether or not the logic made sense; the public weren’t inquisitors and had no obligation to make sure all the evidence lined up.

If they wished for something to be true, then it would be the truth in their eyes.

Everyone who had lost Eden to the war were like stray dogs on the street, yet suddenly they found the answers to why the unshakable Silver Fortress fell and why their lives had been destroyed.

Prior to this, they hated the uselessness of the Union government and the foreign pirates who took over their homeland…and the anger towards the pirates would sometimes even split into two camps as people fought over whether the AUS or Glory Troops should be responsible for everything.

But now, their anger and frustration united into a stream of rage as they turned towards one common target–Lin Jingheng.

The rabid dogs howled in unison as they exploded in rage.

The angry voices of the people quickly shook the grounds of the Union government.

Three hours later, the central government of the City of Angels made a long public announcement that essentially meant “the government is still currently investigating the situation and will not be easily talked into dispatching troops.”

Yet the hidden message in this speech was quite clear–Lin Jingheng ‘died’ in the First Galaxy and was supposedly under the surveillance of Eden. How could anyone forget how much time and effort the Union had put into his memorial back then? If the rumor was true, shouldn’t the City of Angels step up and explain themselves?

The attitude of the central government therefore confirmed that Lin Jingheng indeed had a way to escape from the control of Eden.

Meanwhile, in the Seventh Galaxy–

“General, the AUS is retreating and gathering more troops, could it be that rumor is true?”

Before the war, the seven galaxies had no military autonomy. All stationed troops outside of the First Galaxy were called the “Galactic Base Central Militia” that had no real authority and were essentially decorations around the galaxies. Without the order from the Council or the Silver Fortress, they were not allowed to dispatch any troops nor open up their armories; a general assigned to a central militia force was essentially exiled.

The ‘exiled’ general of the Seventh galaxy was a portly middle-aged man named Ankur, an old subordinate of Lu Xin who was a little over 200 years old. He had been oppressed by the young Commander Lin Jingheng and sent to the Seventh Galaxy.

He was a man who usually wouldn’t show his hand easily and was rather easy-going, so he managed to maintain a good relationship with both the central militia inspection commission and the local government after moving to the Seventh Galaxy. The old general didn’t cause a lot of trouble for the local authorities and acted as if he planned on retiring in the galaxy.

Nobody would have guessed that the minute war broke out, Ankur would forcefully make his way into the inspection commission and demand military autonomy. Within a short time, he took control of the entire armed forces in the Seventh Galaxy and made them into his personal military troops.

The AUS forces in the Seventh Galaxy had been held back by the aggressive forces of the general, and it was precisely due to this that the Eighth Galaxy had a short break from the pursuit of the AUS.

“Lin Jingheng,” Ankur tapped the table rhythmically and said, “it’s most likely true, I got the message from Yelvich.”

A soldier asked: “What should we do then? Why don’t we just wait until both the pirates and the traitors fight it out?”

Ankur groaned as he stood up and walked in front of the large intergalactic map. He squinted his eyes and breathed out a cloud of smoke: “But I’ve heard….Zhanlu is in his hands. That was Commander Lu’s most prized weapon; how will I face my old comrades and the commander when I die if it falls into the hands of the AUS?”

The young soldier always enjoyed hearing the old stories of tragic heroes and looked up at the general with excitement in his eyes.

Ankur let out a deep sigh: “He was raised by the hands of the commander…how disappointing.”

By the end of September, NSC 276–the later generations also called it the first year of the new Era– the first missile fired by the AUS dragged the Eighth Galaxy out under the spotlight of this warfare.

The AUS forces pushed through the border of the galaxy, Captain Turan personally entered the frontlines to defend the terminals leading to the Eighth Galaxy. Using dwarf planet Transition as the base, Turan’s forces carried out a series of counter attacks against the pirates. Meanwhile, the central militia of the Seventh Galaxy remained within their territories while they ceased fire against the AUS.

Built and expanded on the legendary Silver Ninth Squadron, the Eighth Galaxy Galactic Forces displayed a fearsome vitality and aggression on the battlefield with the invading pirates.

In the beginning of October, dwarf planet Transition fell into enemy hands. Turan feinted a retreat to lure the AUS fleet in an ambush, which later went down in history as one of the most famous battles, ending with a decisive victory to the smaller Eighth Galaxy Forces. The entire battle lasted a total of 48 hours with the total annihilation of a fully armed heavy mech fleet of the AUS.

Mid-October, under the silent approval of General Ankur from the Seventh Galaxy Central Militia, the AUS expanded their forces by deploying more troops from the Fifth and Sixth Galaxies. The Eighth Galaxy forces were pushed to the edge and returned to the defensive as they retreated eighteen sailing days back from the frontlines.

By the end of October, the voices of complaints within the Union grew louder than ever. Even though Lin Jingheng himself hadn’t appeared in public and all evidence of him being alive was still just speculation, the man was alive and well in the minds of the people’s delusions. The rumors had already made their way into everyone’s hearts as they painted him into a demon from ancient myths through their anger.

The Prime Minister of the Eighth Galaxy had made a few appearances to ease the angered crowds with no luck–the Eighth Galaxy was sewage in the eyes of the Union. These sewer rats were uncultured and the image of the Prime Minister was less than appealing, who would want to listen to what they have to say? Could they even speak in the standard Union accent?

Villains always emerged from the poor and disadvantaged, so no wonder the Eighth Galaxy became a hub of demons and evil during a time of war. As the homebase of criminals, the Eighth Galaxy held up their flags of rebellion to fight against humanity and society like madmen, truly despicable!

General Ankur of the Seventh Galaxy had been swarmed by heated debates and discussion for the past month, and finally decided to deploy his troops carrying the anger of the people to the border between the Seventh and Eighth Galaxies.

“Prime Minister Edward, our supplies won’t last if we continue like this.”

“If Alpenglow hadn’t been destroyed, we could’ve eased the pressure of supply shortages within six months, why are we suddenly caught in this mess?”

“The draft around the galaxy has been receiving a lot of responses. Virtually every newly settled person is eagerly signing up to fight for the military, but galactic forces aren’t land forces and we can’t send people off to the frontlines with just basic training.”

Stressed out, the Prime Minister started throwing all options on the table: “What about those training mechs Professor Lu and his students were working on? If we don’t have time we can produce an emergency batch of those!”

“Our factories are not prepared for that yet, Prime Minister! Our missile inventory is almost empty, and even the Central Militia of the Seventh Galaxy are making their way over. If this continues we wouldn’t even last until the Silver Ten arrives!”

Prime Minister Edward stood up abruptly and announced: “I’ll go meet with the central militia personally! Prepare a starship and mechs for me, I’ll head off today! Aren’t they all old subordinates of Commander Lu Xin? The Independent Navy of the Eighth Galaxy was also soldiers under the late commander, I’ll speak with them as former comrades. We can’t just sit here and wait for death, don’t we also deserve to stand up and speak for ourselves!?”

“Prime Minister, that’s too dangerous!”

“Please calm down, Prime Minister…”

Monoeyed Hawk felt his head ache from the commotion and quietly left the meeting room to give himself a cigarette break, only to bump into Lin Jingheng right outside the door.

He wasn’t sure how long Lin Jingheng had been standing there, but the commander stood silently as he listened into the conversation without going inside.

“I was here to discuss preparation for war since our supplies are being used up at a faster pace than we all expected.” Lin Jingheng pulled out a cigarette from Monoeyed Hawk’s pack and gestured for the latter to light the fire for him. Monoeyed Hawk rolled his eyes but still lit the cigarette as Lin Jingheng leaned his back onto the wall and said, “It seems like the Prime Minister is now regretting his decision to let me stay.”

“If his head was clear right now, he wouldn’t think that,” Monoeyed Hawk responded almost emotionlessly, “If you were to leave the Eighth Galaxy, you can disappear and hide on your own, who’s stopping you from going anywhere you want? Then look at the Eighth Galaxy, can it also disappear like you? Those oversized infants who grew up in Eden have nowhere to let out their anger so they’re also directing their fire at the Eighth Galaxy; we’re the common target for everyone. The truth is that these babies don’t dare to rebel against the people that are stepping on them and can only let out their frustration on the people they can’t step on. I know this for a fact.”

Lin Jingheng remained silent in the cloud of smoke.

Monoeyed Hawk: “The central militia of the Union…”

He closed his mouth almost immediately after uttering those words and met his gaze with Lin Jingheng. Both of them knew in their minds–the Seventh Galaxy Militia had the power to tip the scales of the warfare in the Eighth Galaxy right now. Even if they chose to remain as bystanders, they could greatly increase the chances of the Eighth Galaxy’s survival.

The top commander of the Seventh Galaxy Militia was General Ankur, a former subordinate of Lu Xin. To him, one hundred old Prime Ministers of the Eighth Galaxies would be worth nothing against one Lu Bixing.

If they knew…

Monoeyed Hawk and Lin Jingheng both opened up their mouths at the same time.

Lin Jingheng: “No.”

Monoeyed Hawk: “If you dare use my son…”

Monoeyed Hawk only realized what Lin Jingheng said halfway through his sentence and stared in shock with a cigarette in his hands.

A shadow flashed across the commander’s face. He had chosen to hide Lu Bixing’s real background to protect the young man in the past; even when they were stuck inside the same mech together as they searched for the vaccine to the mutated Rainbow Virus, he had ordered Zhanlu to send Lu Bixing’s information to all of Lu Xin’s old generals.

However….

What would Lu Bixing think if he were to find out about this damned bloodline?

What would he think of this one-sided protection that Lin Jingheng had decided on his own? Would he think that their relationship…was all because he was Lu Xin’s son?

What am I supposed to say to him? Lin Jingheng thought.

Monoeyed Hawk stared at him for a while and gradually saw a hint of emotion from the young commander’s face.

Lin Jingheng turned his gaze away in a hurry and said: “Does it look like I would bow down to a useless old man like Ankur? What a joke, I can still crush him even if I only had a broken mech.”

He turned around and left without another word, then contacted the command post: “Tell Lu Bixing to come see me.”

After half a minute, the worker at the post responded: “Commander, the frontline mechs are gravely damaged, so Professor Lu took his engineer team out to the frontlines for emergency repair.”

Lin Jingheng felt his head combusting.