Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 132

Chapter 132 – The Silver Ten Belongs to Who?

The Eighth Galaxy Forces had barely heated up their cannons a second ago when they witnessed the Silver Ten fleet crash into the frontlines and heard this miraculous voice. Everyone was stunned as soldiers, mechanics, and non-military personnel stared at each other in shock. Nobody could tell if it was a mass hallucination or reality, nor did they know how to react and waited patiently for their Prime Minister to break the silence.

But their almighty Prime Minister turned into a wax statue on the spot and stood motionlessly in his mech.

That instant, Lu Bixing didn’t experience any sort of overjoyed emotions or disbelief; he didn’t even have time to consider the possibility of a fake as his emotions and cognitive process suddenly stopped for a few seconds. Only a sense of fear consumed his thoughts while chills ran down his spine, cooling down his body temperature and freezing up his organs.

He slowly turned his gaze in an attempt to see everyone else’s reactions to get a sense of how he should break the ice, only to discover that he couldn’t even see the faces around him clearly. He was sure he wasn’t crying and nothing was wrong with his eyes, but it was as if all of his senses were still stuck inside the wormhole and jumbled up in spacetime. Everyone’s faces around him blurred into similar blots of color that seemed to be floating further and further away from him.

A solitary thought popped up in his mind as he stared at the screen: Am I finally going crazy?

Eleven Independent Years had passed. Over thousands of days, Lu Bixing made many enemies along the way; yet his biggest foe wasn’t poverty nor unrest within or outside of the galaxy, it was himself. He was like a lone man walking on the edge of the cliff, constantly forcing himself to maintain a balance between sanity and madness while he held a leash on his own neck. He made sure his soul wouldn’t explode from stress, wouldn’t sink deep into madness, wouldn’t boil it in passion, and wouldn’t die in the midst of chaos.

Lu Bixing was a master at brewing his chicken soup for the soul to feed others, and the most common ingredients of the soup were often fabricated stories of encouragement or real tales of ancient successes. Naturally, he became a well-read individual of these stories from the past. These narratives of the world would quickly sound like one another, so it wasn’t hard to find people that shared the same experiences across the vast universe. Lu Bixing had also once followed the long history of mankind, finding a few people that had suffered similar experiences of swimming against the currents of time to find some peace in his own heart.

These forerunners of the past had told him stories of rebirth from the ashes of the immortal fire, others told him tragic tales of spirits and souls that perished in the trials of time. Lu Bixing gradually discovered that he could no longer empathize with the former while the latter would often touch a chord in his heart as he slowly embraced despair.

Words and stories were all dead objects that left a permanent mark in the world, the only thing that changed with time were the perspectives of its audience; this was something that Lu Bixing understood logically. Lu Bixing had been like a man walking along the edges of death; he was afraid of going mad. He was afraid that once the seven marks on his desk were completed, there would be nothing else left that could save him from stepping into madness.

Yet at the same time, he also thought: This isn’t the time to go crazy!

There was the unstable wormhole area behind him and a chaotic battlefield before him; regardless of what happened, he still needed to ensure everyone he brought out of the galaxy with him returned safely.

His restless thoughts circled around all eight galaxies within a few seconds of time in reality.

The three forces locked in combat didn’t hear the nuclear explosion inside Lu Bixing’s heart. The active wormhole zone in the Heart of the Rose was a natural shield that protected the Eighth Galaxy forces, so neither the Silver Ten nor the Central Militia that passed through the Heart of the Rose earlier noticed their existence.

The Silver Ten viciously pushed out both the Union Forces and the pirate fleets and stood between them like a sharp double-edged sword. They created a small opening as they watched the poor civilian starship from earlier flee the battlefield.

Woolf pushed a guard away and walked before the screen in front of the Wolto command center in a struggle, then yelled into the communication channel almost in a shriek: “Who are you? Answer me!”

A moment of silence followed until the calm voice from earlier answered in a flat tone: “The Silver Ten.”

Chatter and shock consumed the galactic frontlines.

Among the Eighth Galaxy Forces that were still hiding in the dark, a few former Ninth Squadron soldiers felt their eyes tear up. Lu Bixing tasted a hint of blood in his mouth as he dumbly realized that he had subconsciously bit into his tongue.

The person on the other side added: “Silver Second, Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth are absent today due to unforeseen circumstances. The former Eighth Squadron only has one person left so I’ve reassigned them to the Tenth Squadron. It’s been years of hard grinding for all of us so I apologize for our broken fleet, I hope you all don’t mind.”

Woolf’s dry lips trembled in fear and shock as he continued questioning: “Who’s the commander?”

“Please wait, the commanding ship was stolen from the Freedom Corps. The communication system has been damaged over the long travel so we’re attempting to fix it right now…ah, there we go.”

Woolf took in a breath of cold air while the strong heart that had been shielded in iron for over 300 years skipped a beat and almost sank to the ground. The dark screen before him flashed a few times with the unstable signal; soon after, a new communication request passed through as the face of a man appeared on the screen.

He had cleaned himself up during the long journey. A simple dress shirt and long pants somehow made him look hale and hearty despite his injury, the signature white gloves covering his hands gave off an air of unquestionable authority. Aside from his slightly long hair that he hadn’t had time to fix up, this ghost of a man that had been lingering in the hearts of everyone for the last sixteen years looked no different than before.

Lin Jingheng.

He was like Napoleon escaping from Elba — not even hell could imprison him. A single command from him could still call upon a fleet of followers that would give their lives for him.

Lu Bixing suddenly closed his eyes as if boiling water had been splashed into his pupils as he slowly collected himself back together.

“Prime Minister, this…is this even possible? Is this real?”

“It’s Commander Lin!”

“Minister Lu, did you see that? It’s Commander Lin!”

Zhanlu asked kindly: “Headmaster Lu, do you need medical assistance?”

Lu Bixing mustered up all his energy and held out a hand: “I…need a relaxant, give me a Number 6.”

Relaxants were important supplies for galactic soldiers and had been through a number of upgrades over the last few years in the Eighth Galaxy. While reducing the side-effects of the relaxants, scientists also developed alternative versions for different purposes–number 6 was a specific type with higher amounts of sedatives created specifically for people who suffered extreme emotional instability from human-mech connections. It was designed to neutralize chemical reactions that caused emotional instability while removing the effects of stimulating the brain by external forces, allowing people to maintain a stable mind for a total of twenty minutes.

A single shot of the drug quickly suppressed his unrestrained thoughts; his blood pressure rose dramatically and his eyes filled with redness, breaking his naturally warm and calm demeanor. His bloodshot eyes looked almost fearsome for a second until the effects of the drug settled in his body; he tucked away his senseless emotions and watched the battlefield afar in a composed manner.

“Hold the fire,” Lu Bixing said, “Vanguards, keep the cannons up and remain on standby. Engineering Department, keep an eye on the wormhole to ensure it is safe for retreat.”

“Yes sir.”

“Headmaster Lu,” Zhanlu suddenly spoke up, “regarding the personal order you gave me earlier, I have completed my search and sent the results to your personal device. I believe this case has exceeded the boundaries of personal business and will create a significant impact on the current situation before us, I suggest you take a look at it right away.”

Lu Bixing almost couldn’t recall what this ‘personal order’ was for a second, but out of trust for Zhanlu’s judgement he still looked down at his personal device–

He had been interrupted by the wormhole earlier and couldn’t give Zhanlu a full order to compare the DNA in his brain to the database with search options…he didn’t even have the chance to select the target sex of the search results.

The result indicated that his genetic makeup confirmed he was Lu Xin’s biological offspring. Zhanlu’s association analysis function was powerful enough to automatically refine the search options and compared his DNA to Monoeyed Hawk and Madam Lu’s genes as well. All three results appeared clearly on his personal device as he stared blankly at the virtual screen.

No wonder why he could never find that “mother” of his; this woman had been a fabrication of Monoeyed Hawk all along. No wonder why he, as the son of one of the most powerful men in the Eighth Galaxy, had to suffer such a rough childhood. No wonder why someone with a strange sense of aesthetics like Monoeyed Hawk would suddenly pick up the surname “Lu.” No wonder why someone as cold and reclusive as Lin Jingheng would be willing to give him a whole lifetime’s worth of kindness…and he had thought for years that it was because he had truly won his way into the commander’s heart.

No wonder why Zhanlu’s database had been wiped clean by those two men.

After having a crisis over his sanity, Lu Bixing realized how that he didn’t even truly know who he was. Yet thanks to the effects of the number 6 relaxant, Lu Bixing was able to remain calm and unfazed. Even if the world around him were to collapse at this instant, he would simply think: Oh, I see.

“That makes sense,” Lu Bixing closed off the screen on his personal device and responded to Zhanlu in an almost distant and unbiased tone, “You’re right, this is indeed a game-changing piece of information.”

After twenty whole Woltorian years and a whole galaxy’s distance away, Lin Jingheng gazed upon his most respected former senior, boss, and mentor with billions of lives at his back.

Woolf’s chin twitched subconsciously at the gaze.

Lin Jingheng nodded at him and said in an almost disrespectful tone: “Thanks to you, Chief, I didn’t expect to see you again during this lifetime.”

At this time, someone from the pirate side entered the channel quietly and interrupted with a haughty voice: “Commander Lin, you do need to thank Chief Woolf for everything that happened to you up until today.”

The voice seemed to be manipulated through an old voice changer that almost sounded like a broken robot. It was difficult to tell whether it was a man or woman speaking, but the strangeness of the tone made it more than obvious that it was a fake voice.

Lin Jingheng lifted an eye: “And who are you? If you want to wage war, then wage war, murder your enemies then murder them; did your parents not teach you that you can never hide behind a mask for the rest of your life?”

Lin Jingshu’s whole body trembled behind the voice changer as she spoke into it: “You’re right, I’m a piece of garbage that never had parents who raised me; excuse my vulgarity, Commander Lin. Although, I do need to give you a warning; a person can be uncultured, but they cannot be disobedient. Dying in the same pit twice would be well-deserved for a rebel like that.”

“I didn’t know that space pirates are now courteous enough to give me free advice upon our first meeting.” Lin Jingheng turned back towards Woolf with a faint smile, “So how is it, Chief? Do you also have a gift for me?”

Woolf waved off his secretary trying to help him in the back and fixed his posture as the panicked demeanor from earlier vanished within an instant.

Woolf responded sternly: “My present for you is the peaceful future of mankind and a new Union–Jingheng, I won’t ask where you’ve been the last few years, but you certainly arrived at an interesting time. The Glory Troop’s surrendering ceremony is scheduled to be held 24 hours from now; the memorials of the Union will also return back to the lands of Wolto. The new Union will realize the true meaning of the Pledge of Freedom. We will finally achieve true freedom after breaking out of the shackles of Eden; the eight galaxies will become equal states that are economically independent. Your dreams, my dreams, and humanity’s dreams will all be realized–how is this for a present?”

The smile on Lin Jingheng’s face disappeared as he stared coldly at the old Chief.

NSC 270, when Lin Jingheng planned to fake his death and escape the Union, his universal bad luck had once again acted up and dragged his ecopod into the spatial distortion within the Heart of the Rose by accident instead of following its original path. Looking back now, it seemed to be an active wormhole area that coincidentally connected near the edges of the Eighth Galaxy.

Lin Jingheng had recalled the battle against the AUS years ago with the Seventh and Eighth Galaxy Forces and concluded that the secret terminal they’d kept must’ve been exposed. Therefore, Turan wouldn’t leave it open and must’ve sealed it off very quickly after they realized what happened. In other words, the Eighth Galaxy was now a completely isolated land with hundreds of years of sailing between the closest transfer portals and the seven galaxies, so his only choice left to return was to try his luck once again through the forbidden zone. Of course, he didn’t expect to run into this mess during his trip.

He had been traveling from the Sixth Galaxy while reorganizing the Silver Ten, so he was filled in to an extent on the current situation by his old subordinates. Most places had been much more peaceful nowadays ever since the AUS left the battlefield. Social order slowly but gradually returned as the survivors of the war began to settle into their new lives. If it wasn’t for Lin Jingshu’s Freedom Corps, then following the surrender of the Glory Troops, this decades-long unrest would have officially come to an end.

Woolf was right.

The old Chief looked at Lin Jingheng; he knew that the forbidden fruit was in the hands of this young commander.

Lin Jingheng had survived the battle of the Seventh and Eighth Galaxies; of course Woolf wouldn’t expect him to still be oblivious to everything. Lin Jingheng and the AUS were the only two existing entities left in this universe that knew his secret and held the hard evidence to prove it.

But so what?

Lin Jingheng could announce it to the whole world and destroy the Union’s relationship with Lu Xin’s old subordinates in the Central Militia; he could destroy Woolf’s entire military career, but what would be the point? The Freedom Corps could still loot off the internal conflict, the other space pirates could regroup during the unrest, and the eight galaxies would once again return to endless warfare.

A peaceful and new Grand Era birthed from the depths of the abyss was about to begin. Even if they all knew that this new chapter in human history would be built on lies and conspiracy, who cared?

The beacon of peace was finally at the horizon — would Lin Jingheng destroy the bridge to harmony at the last minute?

Woolf turned to give a small gesture to Secretary Wang to remain silent–Hope wouldn’t take his chances and Lin Jingheng wouldn’t either.

The Freedom Corps were merely holding a scarcely populated planet hostage, and in comparison, Woolf was holding the entirety of mankind as hostage.

Lin Jingshu sneered behind her strange voice changer and said: “The Union government…Commander Lin, perhaps you should not only think of the future, so what about all the citizens and soldiers that lost their lives in the Seventh and Eighth Galaxies? What about all the comrades that once fought alongside you? Don’t they deserve a fair explanation as well?”

Woolf gave a harsh rebuttal: “You have been forcefully pushing your highly addictive biochip drugs, kidnapping and violently massacring innocent people; what an insult to hear the word ‘fair’ come out of your mouth.”

“I insulted ‘fairness’, but wouldn’t you say that you’ve also insulted mankind’s future, Chief? If you really cared about the rights of your citizens, why don’t you postpone the ceremony and send out more support to Serbia instead?” The voice behind the voice changer grew sharper. “Commander Lin, do you really want to let a man like this hold the future of the Union in his hands?”

Lin Jingheng finally couldn’t control his temper when he heard her speak: “Then what am I supposed to do? Hand the whole world into the clutches of biochip drugs?”

Woolf smiled: “Welcome back to the Union, Jingheng. You must be a blessing from the heavens to the new Union; we need the blades of the Silver Ten to slash through the last pieces of darkness before the dawn of the new Era.”

Lin Jingheng turned his head immediately and didn’t hesitate to burst the old man’s bubble: “I don’t have that intention either, Chief Commander. Please don’t put words into my mouth.”

The refugees had all successfully fled the battlefield during this three-way conversation. Lin Jingheng gestured at his troops as the Silver Ten all followed him like fishes into the depths of the Heart of the Rose.

Lin Jingshu couldn’t control her panic at the moment and called out to him through the voice changer: “Wait, where are you going?”

Lin Jingheng didn’t answer and used action to give his response; he didn’t plan on helping either side as the Silver Ten fleet sailed past the other forces.

Woolf shot at glance at Wang Ailun, and the Union Forces opened fire the next instant as they shot right into the Freedom Corps fleet.

Lin Jingshu: “Nobody is getting away with this!”

The Freedom Corps quickly pulled their fleets together and fired aimlessly towards both the Union Forces and Silver Ten before them.

Lin Jingheng’s expression grew grim: “Bastard, you really want to die in my hands!?”

Woolf announced loudly through the channel: “The Silver Ten had always been the pride of the Union, Jingheng, it seems like someone won’t allow you to be the bystander here!”

As soon as he finished, the Freedom Corps seemed to suddenly trip over themselves as a crowd of fireworks exploded within the depths of the forbidden zone. Hundreds of particle cannon beams shot out like a tsunami and cut off the Freedom Corps without warning; countless shields weren’t able to be set up in time before they all melted under the layered cannonfire as the blast ricocheted towards the Union Forces and Silver Ten.

Woolf’s eyes twitched as the alarms inside the Union Forces mechs rang out: “Who is it now?”

An orderly fleet that the world had never seen before quietly sailed out from the depths of the Heart of the Rose.

An unknown connection request joined in and appeared on all mechs present as the young Prime Minister of the Eighth Galaxy took a good look around his screen.

Lin Jingheng stood up abruptly and knocked over a half-filled wine bottle, almost drowning his temporary communication screen setup in alcohol.

“The Silver Ninth Squadron isn’t absent today, Commander.” Lu Bixing locked his still-bloodshot eyes onto Lin Jingheng. “The Silver Ten belongs to the Union? Sorry, but I also have an objection.”