Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 145

Chapter 145 – The Events in the Past Were Not Forgotten

Wolto.

The reporter from the Wolto Daily carefully studied the old man in front of her. Despite trusting the words of the Prophet, she couldn’t help but hold some reservations at this situation. Woolf didn’t appear as sickly as rumors from the outside nor had he turned into a puppet; his aged face was still pinkish under the light with his eyes still bright and full of life, as if something exciting was about to happen. He greeted the reporter and asked her kindly to have a seat.

The reception room was filled with a unique kind of floral scent that the reporter praised: “The scent inside this room is very unique, what is it?”

“Black tulips, also called the Night Empress.” Woolf smiled, “I still have a lot of seeds with me, you can take some home if you like them.”

The reporter noticed that his smile wasn’t the typical diplomatic expression and was taken aback for a moment; the old man’s eyes were relaxed but glistened in the light as if there was a heartbeat inside. It was like his dream of many years was finally being realized as a joyous feeling filled his heart, the smile on his face reflecting his excitement that was almost contagious to the people around him.

The reporter suddenly asked a question that wasn’t part of the plan: “Chief, did anything good happen lately? You seem to be in a good mood today.”

Woolf smiled wordlessly and skillfully changed the topic of the conversation. After a short moment of small talk, the reporter’s gaze scanned her wrist quickly as a green light flashed across her hand. There was a new genetic scanner installed on her personal device that could pass through the Chief’s security check. This scanner had been scanning the old man’s genes quietly since the moment the two sat down in the room–this was indeed Chief Woolf sitting before her eyes.

He wasn’t a fake nor did he have any fatal genetic disease.

“Chief, let’s talk about the 306th Decree. I’ve heard that many people have been questioning your decision regarding this; especially the Central Militia, who have been delaying their dispatch to fight against the decree. Some people have even mocked you and said that you’re an experienced man who simply wanted to get through the day. That you knew our rural neighbors are scarier than any thieves so you decided to leave the pirates alone, to instead defend the frontlines in the Heart of the Rose at any sign of abnormalities.”

Woolf answered calmly: “If you noticed, the stationed troops near the Heart of the Rose have been steadily increasing, but it’s not forever ongoing. We’re simply meeting the standards of the border guards due to the accidental terminal within the Heart of the Rose, which turned it into an undeniable border territory of the First Galaxy. This is a fact we all have to admit, correct? The Heart of the Rose and directions outside of the First Galaxy are all part of the galaxy’s borders; we are simply treating both sides the same.”

“In other words, you’ve essentially acknowledged the sovereignty of the Eighth Galaxy.”

“There are still debates within the Parliament,” Woolf answered carefully, “but the Eighth Galaxy has already developed a physical moat between themselves and the Union, making it difficult for us to control. In addition, they’ve also been out of contact with the Union for sixteen years and have developed into an independent society. In terms of internal affairs, they have a fully functional government, military, and their own legal system that separates them from pirate organizations. They’ve even taken in large amounts of refugees before and are objectively just up to the point where even Lin Jingheng willingly acknowledges their existence. According to the Pledge of Freedom, the Eighth Galaxy had the right to back out of the Interstellar Union as long as the people had the will. We are simply acting out of self defense; there are reasons why we must treat the Heart of the Rose as a border territory outside of the First Galaxy…”

Wang Ailun removed his gaze from the surveillance camera and spoke to the person on his personal device: “The Night Empress is impressive; not only did it first confuse the individual’s memories, it eventually made the target delirious as they stepped deeper and deeper into a lucid dream until they became a puppet for you to control. The key point is that the target can still maintain enough cognitive ability to function like a conscious human being, able to reason away their abnormal behavior. This is even more discreet than biochips detectable by AIs and machines; even puppets are all automated in this great NSC era.”

The mystery person on his personal device took off the hood that covered their head to reveal Lin Jingshu’s face: “We are only successful because we have someone who had been serving beside him for almost two centuries and knew him well enough to make it happen.”

Her gaze turned as she spoke, then her mouth lifted in an eerie smile: “Though, the Night Empress can paint the dream of being a king, let some people be as rich as a galaxy, or even let them avenge their loved ones…but to remember his first love? What kind of silly joke is this? I can’t even relate such a foolish thing to the Chief Commander, this is some nasty black humor that I can laugh over for a whole six months.”

“My lady,” Wang Ailun tried to put on a strict face, “if you believe that authority, wealth, and blood can all be taken for granted but true love is simply a silly joke, I would have to question the political correctness of your statement.”

The two stared at each other through the screen for a short while before bursting out into laughter at the same time.

Lin Jingshu wiped off a tear that rolled down her eyes from laughter: “Be careful of that woman from the Wolto Daily, she’s more than just a reporter.”

“I know, she’s only a small lackey under Harris from the AUS.” Wang Ailun responded nonchalantly, “Since Harris had been exiled to the Eighth Galaxy until today, when he steps back on to the stage, I’ve been the main messenger between him and the Chief. He’s as easy to read as a book to me, he can’t possibly threaten us.”

“If the Secretary General says so, I’ll take your word for it.” Lin Jingshu said in a gentle tone, “But…don’t forget that an unreliable business partner would be tossed aside.”

Wang Ailun felt as if he had been licked by a venomous snake and almost broke the smile that still lingered on his face.

“This is just a reminder, don’t take it too personally.” Lin Jingshu once again switched to her proper demeanor. “The wormhole that’s been emitting abnormal energy waves for two weeks finally released a few insects, they should be chatting with Duke’s men right now. This old fox hasn’t reported to the Military Council yet, has he?”

Wang Ailun’s neck stiffened up.

He knew that those Central Militias looked down on him; he didn’t have any military feats or honor, never led troops, never fought a battle. Even if he became the Union Parliament’s Secretary General, which earned him superficial acknowledgement from the soldiers, these veterans still treated him as Woolf’s lackey behind his back.

Wang Ailun had been Woolf’s personal secretary since he graduated and worked almost two whole centuries as an AI beside the old chief, taking care of every little aspect of the chief’s life. Yet even that simple-minded Lu Xin knew to promote people that worked around him, pave the paths for their career, and provide opportunities; how could Woolf not know to do this as well?

It had been so many years, the old chief really thought he was no different than those AIs!

The Union Parliament would mean nothing if Woolf died now — there would be nobody who could hold down the Central Militias, not even the current Secretary General. Wang Ailun finally understood why the Eden Committee had been so insistent on not granting military autonomy to the eight galaxies back then.

Wang Ailun spoke carefully: “I’ll let them know that Woolf is old, and even if they rebuild Lu Xin’s memorial, it’s still simply a piece of rock. I’ll make sure they know who this era belongs to now.”

“Sure, Uncle Ailun, I’ll be looking forward to it,” Lin Jingshu said. “Thankfully, some of my men are also in the First Galaxy’s border guards, so I’ve already sent some people to rile up things for you. You’re welcome.”

The interview was reaching its end and Woolf had failed to expose any weaknesses. The reporter from the Wolto Daily also didn’t seem to notice anything wrong with the chief. Wang Ailun whispered an order to his men: “Keep an eye on her from day to night. If she does anything fishy, silence her immediately.”

The Eighth Galaxy, Planet Qiming.

“I don’t trust them. What ex-subordinates of Commander Lu Xin–I honestly don’t think even Commander Lu himself had a good eye for people.” Turan was the first to comment, “Didn’t we already have a case with Ankur before? What a coincidence, we haven’t even left the Heart of the Rose and already got ambushed by pirates? What are those border patrols doing, they said they increased their defense but still let these pirates in? Is Duke stupid or did he do it on purpose? He even sent out that pretty boy Lorde to get onto our good side. Marshal, look carefully with your own two eyes — that silly boy here looks like a monkey, can he compare to the million-dollar handsome face of our Prime Minister?”

Lin Jingheng: “……”

Whose Prime Minister?

Lu Bixing cleared his throat immediately and followed up: “If it was other pirate organizations that snuck in, it would be almost impossible. But if it’s the Freedom Corps, there might be a chance; opium users are all hidden in the dark and are scattered everywhere. Remember that day the Glory Troops surrendered, the dwarf planet got held hostage right before the eyes of the Union…Lin, can we trust this Lorde person?”

“Lorde?” Lin Jingheng slowly furrowed his brows as he spoke cautiously, “He was indeed my Vice Admiral in the past.”

Lu Bixing asked: “What exactly is the role of a Vice Admiral?”

Lu Bixing had learned a little about what a Vice Admiral was from Zhanlu, but this position was currently non-existent in the Eighth Galaxy.

If Lin Jingheng sailed out with a mech, he would always only bring soldiers from the Silver Ten without even batting an eye at other people. However, the entire Defense Department of the Eighth Galaxy had gone through a massive overhaul since the addition of the Silver Ten. Lin Jingheng hadn’t had much free time during the rebuilding of the military, and when he was finally given time to rest, he simply spent it all at home with Lu Bixing. The independent residential areas for Eighth Galaxy government officials were all fully protected with strict guards, so there was no need to hire a team of personal bodyguards at this point.

Thomas quickly answered the question: “Oh, a Vice Admiral? That’s just a position for show. The Central Government of the Union would equip every Union General with a bunch of people with pointless jobs. You know, like bodyguards, secretaries, and even more subordinates under them…I’ve heard rumors that the Commander Lee who took over the Silver Fortress after we left had eighteen vice-officers with him.”

“Isn’t it? It was like he was traveling with his whole family,” Turan sneered and licked the corner of her lips, “But thankfully the prey became big enough for an easy kill.”

The group collectively shivered in fear, only Captain Bayer of the Tenth Squadron glared at her in jealousy and frustration while carrying a grudge toward Turan for stealing his ‘business.’

“Lorde is a Vice Admiral by name, but his actual duties were simply managing the public mailbox of the Silver Fortress and occasionally speaking on behalf of the fortress. Sometimes he would also go back to Wolto for an errand; these noble-born soldiers like him all have very complicated family backgrounds and are like walking landmines if you aren’t careful around them, so Marshal didn’t like using them.” Poisson said, “Thomas and I followed our orders to stay in the City of Angels with Woolf, so we’re the ones that stayed in the First Galaxy the longest. From what I understand, Vice Admiral Lorde voluntarily resigned his position after our Marshal left the Silver Fortress and went back to Wolto, where he joined the Capital planet’s personal navy as an officer. He later fled to the City of Angels along with the navy when the war broke out.”

“That’s rather strange,” Lin Jingheng said, “I’m not fond of using them, but Ares Lee never said he didn’t like these delicate flowers. Lorde was an honorary graduate from the Black Orchid Academy and the son of the current principal of the academy; would an ass-kisser like Lee really send him off to a lower position like that?”

Since Lin Jingheng faked his death and escaped the Union, the Silver Ten had left the Union, the Silver Fortress suffered through an earthquake, and the temporary Commander of the Silver Fortress Ares Lee didn’t have the power to hold down the Fortress by himself. Naturally, the central government would have promoted someone within the Silver Fortress, raising them for a while before finally replacing this person with Commander Lee. With Lorde’s status and experiences as the former Vice Admiral, he was the uncontested popular candidate for this position; he would have had a much better future by staying in the Silver Fortress.

To resign and return to Wolto to become a little security guard didn’t seem like a decision anyone in their right might would make.

“When Poisson and I first heard this news, we pitied him. I even said that the Vice Admiral’s obsessive admiration for our boss was almost turning into madness, that maybe he planned on going back to Wolto to start his own ‘Commander Lin religion’,” Thomas pulled back his playful attitude and spoke concernedly. “But who knew that things would turn out like this five years later; the Silver Fortress got invaded, the entire First Galaxy fell into the hands of the pirates, and only the navy on Wolto was one of the first to escort the politicians to the City of Angels—hey, do you think maybe this luck…was actually secretly blessed by our Marshal here?”

It was common knowledge that practicing any other religion on the planet would perhaps yield some spiritual enlightenment.

But praying to Commander Lin would perhaps grant you a bloodbath.

So, was the Vice Admiral really a miracle survivor or was someone else behind him?

“Tell the Expedition team to set up a temporary communication port over there,” Lin Jingheng said, “I’ll speak to them.”

Temporary communication ports were easy to set up, all it needed was a simple signal transfer device to connect both ends of the tunnel. Mint swiftly ordered the AIs on the starship to finish the installation of the port. The signal wasn’t good enough to maintain real-time communication, so Lin Jingheng waited patiently for a few moments.

The moment his face appeared on screen, Lorde held his breath as complicated feelings flashed within his eyes. A while later, he finally spoke up in a slightly trembling and hoarse voice: “Commander…it’s been a while. I wish I could once again pour you a glass of un-iced rum.”

Lin Jingheng’s eyebrows pressed down as the Young twins exchanged a quick glance.

Lu Bixing noticed this discreet code-like exchange and asked: “What is it?”

Thomas lowered his voice to explain to Lu Bixing: “Commander never drinks his rum without ice, you should know, right, Prime Minister?”

Lu Bixing: “……”

He actually didn’t know.

Lin Jingheng had always been a role model adult in his eyes: he was always clean, organized, and disciplined. Even though he did drink and smoke, he did everything in moderation and maintained a strict standard for himself. In addition, he was never a picky eater–though he never drank beer in the past, he grew to not be nitpicky about it ever since he came back this time.

He wasn’t like this since he was born….Lu Bixing’s mind flew out momentarily as he vaguely recalled when he once verbally planned out his life with Lin Jingheng many years ago. One of the things on the bucket list was that he wanted to go to Wolto with the commander one day–to see the place Lin Jingheng grew up.

That night when Lu Bixing confessed in the hotel inside Milky Way City that he ‘could no longer return that person he’d kind of liked back again,’ Lin Jingheng had seemed to realize something and slowly stopped mentioning how they used to be in the past. Gradually, he began to readjust and learn how to deal with their new relationship every day.

The last few months had been calm and harmonious, but for some reason those events in the past that seemed like a different lifetime weren’t forgotten nor did they disappear. Recently, they had turned into grassroots that had been blessed by the spring breeze, quietly sprouting from the grounds and tickling Lu Bixing’s heartstrings at certain times.

“That was only back when he was in the Silver Fortress,” Poisson added a line as the sole standard of IQ and EQ of the Silver Third Squadron. “Here, the story is that whenever the Marshal had something he didn’t want Lorde to hear, he’d order the Vice Admiral to find some ice for him. After a while, it turned into ‘Commander won’t drink without ice’—but that’s not the point, the point is that Lorde is purposely saying the wrong thing, is he trying to hint at something?”

Bayer shrugged: “Looks like Lorde hasn’t grown up at all over these years either and still only knows how to make up these childish codes. He’s like those dumb minors who think it’s cool to join a shady cult.”

The member of the ‘shady cult’ and former Vice Admiral carefully said to Lin Jingheng through the screen: “Chief Woolf is still healthy and well, he even goes out for morning runs everyday. Two days ago when he showed up for a press conference he mentioned that he still wishes you well.”

If every word he was speaking was the opposite of its meaning, then it would mean that Woolf was nearing his end, was barely making public appearances, and was being kept under watch.

Lin Jingheng asked, unfazed: “Thanks for the wishes. The chief’s getting old and doesn’t even have family around him, so who’s taking care of him?”

Lorde said: “That would be Secretary General Wang AIlun.”

Wang Ailun had become the Union Parliament’s Secretary General and was keeping Woolf under house arrest.

Lin Jingheng’s gaze fell slightly: “The old chief’s almost 320 already, he still hasn’t retired?”

“He no longer deals with trivial matters and only signs important orders,” Lorde continued to communicate between the lines. “The Union’s internal affairs are only beginning to settle lately and the Central Militia are all stationed at their posts; we can’t survive without him.”

In other words, the Central Militia were being held down by Chief Commander Woolf right now. If they knew that Woolf had essentially stepped down from his throne, the Union would be in chaos.

Lorde was currently Duke’s subordinate; if everything he said was true, these were words that his colleagues and boss should never hear, which meant that he could only communicate through this method.

The wormhole delayed the conversation between the two sides; it took a long time for one side’s message to reach the other. Below the screen’s view, a layer of thin cold sweat covered the palm of Lorde’s hands.