Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 146

Chapter 146 – All the Smarter People Have Failed in the Past

Many years ago, the head of the house used the excuse, “The Silver Fortress is doomed to become the eye of the storm” to forcefully send Lorde back to Wolto by pulling strings with his mother, who was the principal of the Black Orchid Academy at the time. The young Lorde thought everyone was being unreasonable and hateful towards the Silver Fortress.

He didn’t understand why he couldn’t be like the Silver Ten and leave without a word and use his own actions to demand an explanation for their Commander’s death. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t persist on finding out the truth, nor did he understand why he had to escape like a coward. He didn’t know why he couldn’t stay with his other comrades and uphold their own territory and pride even after their commander was gone.

Lorde sometimes felt as if nobody treated him as a person; it was like his family and social circle had to control his every move down to what he ate every day, even when he was a legal adult. He felt like a pet that only needed to learn how to sit and shake hands to live a good life. Yet he couldn’t disobey the requests because he knew that his life in the future and even his status as an honorary graduate of the Black Orchid Academy would mean nothing if he left the family. Even the fact that he once stood beside Commander Lin was a privilege given to him by his family.

There were many people like him on Wolto; they all looked flawless on the outside and were given the most elite education. They appeared to be well-mannered and presentable people who carried the desire to be celebrated by the billions of citizens in the Union across the boundless galaxy. They would quietly drink their milk and do their jobs as society wanted them to while carrying this heavy melancholic burden in their hearts.

This heart-wrenching pain haunted Lorde for many years until the invasion of the Silver Fortress and the fall of Wolto. Chief Woolf had personally directed the escape from the capital planet and because Lorde was a family acquaintance, he was reassigned to the safest position–the bodyguard of Chief Woolf. He slowly grew familiar with this Chief of the Union and would hear the old Chief talk about the past and future of the Union that reignited the fire inside his heart.

Six months ago, after the Glory Troops surrendered, the Union reestablished the Wolto navy once the capital planet was reclaimed. Despite not making a name for himself over these years, Lorde still had built some reputation in the time he spent around government officials in the City of Angels that increased his value as a human resource. He was promoted to colonel and assigned to be under General Duke near the border of the First Galaxy as a ‘dowry’ between the Union troops and the Central Militia forces.

Out of courtesy, Lorde paid the old Chief Woolf a visit with his mother after receiving his promotion, thanking the chief for taking care of him all these years.

Woolf had caught a cold during the time of the visit and stayed home, so he invited the guests into his mansion and asked Lorde to take him out for a walk in the mountains. The old chief suddenly spoke up during the middle of the walk and said to Lorde: “People in my generation are all gone now, and I don’t know how far I’ll be able to walk down the road with the Union. Do you think there will be people in the future who will walk down the same path that my generation paved the way for?”

He fell into silence after this line and clenched Lorde’s hand tightly as he continued: “I hope for the Union to wake up from the nightmare called Eden. I hope that the Union will be able to maintain a balance with the Central Militias by keeping each other in check, even if they…even if these galaxies want independence. I hope that chapter of human history that keeps rewinding and replaying will end with our generation. The rest of you all—as the ‘survivors’ of this world, can discover your own paths to take….if one day I betray this ideal, then it wouldn’t be out of my own will. My child, I need you to do something for me.”

Lorde asked in confusion: “What can I help you with?”

“Go to the Eighth Galaxy and find Lin Jingheng.”

Lorde’s mind went blank momentarily; it had already been two decades since he left the Silver Fortress, which was longer than he had spent running around in the fortress. Even during times of war, the lives of many military officials were not all consumed by the flames of violence and were instead victims of the turbulent storms. Some people who were less fortunate were swallowed by the raging tides and died only to contribute to the number of casualties on the frontlines. Others followed the right teams and were fortunate enough to play the role of the belated hero that arrived at an empty battlefield, silently collecting some experiences and living a dreadful life only to contribute more statistical data.

The frontlines, conspiracies, Lin Jingheng, breath-taking battles, and death…were all too far away from Lorde now. He had grown so numb over the years that even those legendary tales of his superiors surviving the battlefield that once boiled his blood were like tales of the past that no longer had anything to do with him. The young heart that had wanted to risk everything to follow that man also vanished over time; the most important thing to him now was how to get along with his new colleagues in the Central Militia.

Lorde almost thought he was hallucinating when he heard Woolf’s sudden and strange request, then asked: “What was that? You want me to look for who?”

“Remember my words.” Woolf’s grip clenched harder, as if he wanted Lorde to engrave these words into his heart. “If the day really comes, regardless of what you see or what you hear, don’t trust anyone around you and find a way to contact Lin Jingheng.”

“C-contact Commander Lin? But how?” Lorde asked confusedly, “I…what should I say to him then?”

“You don’t need to know, but you will certainly get your opportunity when the time comes. And I’m sure that day is not too far away.” Chief Woolf said, “When you see him, ask him….’does he remember the ‘A’ I gave him that year in the Black Orchid Academy’?”

“Commander,” Lorde said carefully to the communication screen that looked almost as if it had frozen up, “Chief Woolf once chatted with me in private and said that back in the Black Orchid Academy, he once gave you an ‘A’ in class, do you remember that?”

This line that passed through the long distance between timespace and arrived at the Milky Way City of the Eighth Galaxy was like roaring thunder that slashed the ground.

The thump shook Lin Jingheng’s heart.

Yet this slight tremble vanished through the tunnel of the wormhole.

Lorde looked at Lin Jingheng’s almost ethereal and expressionless face, suddenly remembering that this was the man he had once obsessively admired and loved when he was young. This sudden realization also made him aware that he had once been so close to the eye of the storm in this turbulent era, so close where he almost got swallowed up by the hurricanes of time. Yet these strange circumstances kept him away for two decades while the flood of fate pushed him out thousands of lightyears away from where he had once been. That young man pained with a burden gradually changed to the face of an austere young man.

Lorde let out a big sigh of relief after relaying the message that Woolf wanted him to say; it was both a relief that he had completed his mission, but also one for the fact that he suddenly became grateful for those ‘unfortunate circumstances’ that led him astray.

He almost became someone who was just another name on the list of heroic sacrifices.

In contrast, perhaps being a normal colonel in his life wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

Lorde utilized his title as the former Vice Admiral of Lin Jingheng to chat a little bit longer with his former superior, but was careful to not use up so much time that he caused suspicion. He wasn’t sure if he fully conveyed the message correctly; he didn’t have the power to contact Woolf after this with his status, and couldn’t tell if Lin Jingheng had understood and would trust him…because the harsh reality was that all the colleagues who shared his naive dream back in the Silver Fortress had virtually all sacrificed their lives in the name of the Pledge of Freedom.

But there were countless ears around him, so Lorde could only wipe the sweat off his palm and pass on the greeting to the Eighth Galaxy from his current boss, General Duke. It was a long and formal letter of interstellar diplomatic speech but with some interesting comments in between the words; the translation into colloquial phrases would be something like:

I, General Duke, am sending my warmest greetings to my old boss’s stone statue in the Eighth Galaxy, his legendary son, and ungrateful little bastard adopted son. I am also sending my greetings to my brothers that also fought alongside Commander Lu in the Eighth Galaxy. Woolf is old and senile, he insisted on increasing troops and patrols near the Heart of the Rose and even forcefully emphasized that he wasn’t targeting the Eighth Galaxy. As part of the ‘increased troops’ near the border, I personally fucking think that he and his damn boot-licker dog are all absolute idiots. But don’t worry, the Eighth Galaxy still has the face of Commander Lu so I will swear upon his name that I will not open fire unless you all do first. Feel free to set up a communication port near the border area so we can contact each other more often. We can even share Commander Lu’s embarrassing and heroic deeds in the past, listen to that immortal evil bastard child Lin-what’s-his-name shit-talk the Union; peace out to this world.

“Lin, do you think we can trust this person?” Lu Bixing asked after this short communication cut off. “What does ‘giving you an A’ mean?”

Lin Jingheng shook his head with a heavy heart: “He’s Woolf’s man.”

“Is the Marshal scared that people would change so much after two decades?” Captain Anakin of the Fourth Squadron asked, “I feel like his words were a little too forceful and awkward; if it was all an act it would be worthy of an award.”

Lin Jingheng shook his head again.

“Boss, you’re not scared of whether he changed, you’re afraid that Colonel Lorde himself doesn’t even realize he’s being used by someone,” Lee deduced from his superior’s expression. “With Woolf’s controlling personality, it would be normal for him to arrange a few spies inside the Silver Fortress. He understands you and wouldn’t purposely plant a spy or elaborate conspiracy beside you to make you suspect him. Someone with a clean background, slightly inexperienced, and with an idealistic character would be the best pawns for him to use against you.”

Lu Bixing’s eyes dimmed slightly as he heard the words ‘slightly inexperienced with an idealistic character.’

Yet this time, Lin Jineheng didn’t notice and only waved his hand: “Let’s play it by ear for now, at least we still have the wormhole as a natural barrier on our side.”

The Expedition Team’s mission this time was worrisome but not dangerous, even rather successful. They not only completed the test within the wormhole, they even built a two-way communication port near the edge of the First Galaxy with the help of the patrols that could connect directly to the base in the Milky Way City headquarters.

As the leader of the Central Militia, Duke was still a brave man even under the pressure of Woolf in Wolto. He openly welcomed private diplomacy with the Eighth Galaxy during a time where the Union government’s attitude was questionably hostile, even boldly shared the public network of the First Galaxy with their neighbors. Even though the signal was still unstable, it was enough for the Eighth Galaxy to check the headlines of the Wolto Daily every day.

Soon after, an exclusive article featuring Chief Woolf’s comments on the 306th Decree came out in the Wolto Daily and silenced the heated discussion after sharing interview footage of the chief speaking clearly on the topic.

Whether it was the Eighth Galaxy or the Union, a temporary time of peace finally settled in as the Freedom Corps seemed to also cut down their activities.

In these rare harmonious days, the humid air once again graced the lands as rain clouds took the stage in the skies, sending an air of a new rainy season across the planet.

Doctor Hardin needed to check up on Lu Bixing once every two months to collect data.

The doctor was extremely cautious about these checkups; even as the founder of the original Nuwa Project, Lu Bixing’s situation was still too unique even for him to comprehend.

It had been years since the last time Lu Bixing took out his chip, so the specialized biochip had already merged perfectly into his body. Everything from his body’s metabolism down to the cellular division process had changed with the biochip; nobody could predict what would happen if the chip was taken out–it could be completely fine today, but nobody could guarantee that there wouldn’t be any lingering side effects decades down the road.

Doctor Hardin pulled back a special gripping device, glanced at the number on it and commented: “Your control of your body and force is very precise.”

“I also started off with a learning curve.” Lu Bixing helped him put away the testing equipment. “It does take some time to get used to it.”

“You sacrificed the interactivity between biochips for your own safety, it’s certainly a smart move. That way, you won’t be affected by disruption signals as well. Prime Minister Lu, have you tested how much pressure you can withstand yet?”

“No, because this was a secret experiment, so I didn’t dare to push myself to test my limits. It would be a problem if I accidentally died in the process.” Lu Bixing openly admitted, “But if it is only getting shot by a laser gun through my chest, I can control my body enough to not bleed for at least three minutes. If there was a medical capsule nearby, that would be enough time to save myself. Also, I can stay up and awake without sleep for 23 days maximum. Even though I will still get tired, it is still within reasonable levels that I can control; I didn’t suffer a mental breakdown. I could also still maintain my focus with no visible side effects later.”

“Is this abnormal level of stamina also one of the reasons why you destroyed your research data but chose not to remove the chip?”

Lu Bixing waved his hand: “I don’t have enough power, I have to make it up with stamina. I was under a lot of pressure during that time, I had no choice.”

“I would suggest you not do this anymore, Prime Minister Lu. We don’t have a sample to reference from, so I could only draw out data and conclusions from your own data. Your lifestyle has been much more disciplined lately so your numbers were much better than before; if this is considered normal statistics, that would mean you have been stuck in an unhealthy state for an extended period of time before this. Nobody knows what will happen if you continue to live like that.” Doctor Hardin said, “I’ll follow Commander Lin’s request and send your physical report to his personal device later, do you have any problems with that?”

“Uh…..” Lu Bixing paused awkwardly as he lowered the tone of his voice timidly, “Just tell him about the improvement, can you keep the abnormal health part in the past a secret?”

Doctor Hardin didn’t respond immediately and said after a few moments, “Someone once told me that about half of the population in the Eighth Galaxy were vaccuocerebrals. That these people all dreamed of curing their disease one day, even at the cost of their own lives. Prime Minister Lu, I’ve had the honor to speak with you over these months and I believe that your research over the last nine years has scientific value for further research, so why didn’t you continue? You should know that if you succeeded, your Eighth Galaxy would become a superhuman galaxy; any average citizen here would be as powerful as a properly trained soldier from the Union. You could then use your power to overtake the Union.”

“Are vaccuocerebrals not human?” Lu Bixing gave him a smile. “Eden’s already gone, so why are you all still looking down on vaccuocerebrals? Piloting mechs isn’t the only job in this world, and it isn’t like these people can never pilot mechs, they just have a bigger learning curve. Who gave you these ridiculous ideas?”

Doctor Hardin: “……”

Lu Bixing watched the old doctor’s complicated expression and immediately understood that this was a poor old man who had once been threatened by Commander Lin and was left with a scarring trauma in his heart. He couldn’t help but let out a laugh at this thought, then with a mix of pity and guilt poured out another cup of tea for old Hardin as he asked, “Do you know how I felt when I first really looked into Zhanlu’s database?”

Doctor Hardin: “Hm?”

“Absolutely dumbstruck,” Lu Bixing said, “I discovered many technologies and sciences I never thought existed in this world inside his database. I’ve found a small portion to be delusional ideas I came up with when I was young, but the majority were far beyond my imagination at the time; there’s even a portion today that I can’t fully understand. I thought to myself back then, there sure are so many people who are smarter than me in this world– it was almost unimaginable. But those are all research topics that will never see the light of the day; even if records remain, they came with long danger warnings and official calls to halt the project from the beginning.”

“I was involved in over 60 projects back when I was in the White Tower, and over 90% of them never made it past the safety check. Everything else left was harmless research,” Doctor Hardin let out a sigh and spoke in a lower tone, “Those magical beans would reach the sky overnight, and the man-eating giants hiding in the clouds would descend to earth [1] . Every tiny step we make could fundamentally change the face of the world.”

“It wasn’t until I finally took the throne for myself that I realized this was a question the Union had already pondered over hundreds of years before I was born…no, perhaps it even started before the Interstellar Union was established in the old Sideral Era. The people that stood at the top of civilization had already recognized this problem longer before I had,” Lu Bixing said. “After the great Age of Exploration, human civilization had been steadily falling back. It wasn’t because humans are devolving as a species, it was simply because we were forced to put the shackles on ourselves.”

“Even as careful as we were, the Union still stepped on a landmine. Even the safest entertainment services were filled with danger,” Doctor Hardin said. “Who would have thought that Eden would turn into this kind of monster?”

“Right, and that was the second time I became awestruck in my life. The first time was when I dreamed about building a mech specifically for vaccuocerebrals, thinking I had solved the long-time problem of society, only to find out that my theory had already been proven wrong by someone else in the past.” Lu Bixing continued, “You will start to discover as you get older that all of your naive dreams you thought would change the face of humanity are all ideas people in the past have already thought of. Every single one of those ‘original’ ideas you came up with has already been proven wrong by your predecessors. And the reason why this world is in such a turbulent state right now is that those people who were all smarter than you failed in the past.”

Doctor Hardin, who had been exiled for hundreds of years due to the Nuwa Project understood this better than anyone else as goosebumps appeared on the old man’s skin.

“This is horrifying, doctor; I had thousands of ideas for the world’s future when I was little. When I built my first school in my younger days I spent all day bluffing in front of my students, but now that I finally have the power to realize all my dreams from the past, I’ve discovered that I’ve grown to be fearful of even mentioning them.” Lu Bixing lowered his voice as he spoke, “After so many years, my leadership of the Eighth Galaxy’s Engineering department has all been driven by circumstances beyond our control–if we couldn’t make this invention or develop that new technology, we would all die; this was something that we would talk over multiple times over meetings before getting to work. In contrast, a biochip that can change the structure of society and even the biological makeup of a living being is far too dangerous.”

Lu Bixing paused slightly, continuing on with the conversation while the doctor’s mind was wavering in these ethical questions: “I’m sure even Miss Lin of the Freedom Corps understood the dangers of the chip; when Lin was in a completely vulnerable state at the time floating under cosmic rays for over 30 minutes, did she not think about using the chip on him?”

Doctor Hardin didn’t even realize he was being led on by the young man before him and nodded his head honestly: “Indeed, we were all under the assumption that his brain had suffered irreversible damage at the time with no chance of recovery. Someone had suggested the use of biochips on him, but Jingshu forcefully shot the idea down.”

[1] A reference to the English fairy tale Jack and the Beanstalk.