Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 150

Chapter 150 – I Only Have You

Mail from the Beijing-β Anti-Missile Lab was always labeled as urgent when received. Lu Bixing stared at this “urgent message” for five minutes but couldn’t process its meaning. He then turned down the temperature inside the room five degrees lower in frustration, thinking about how he wanted to drag these directors of the lab over for a scolding and show them how a proper report should be sent to their superiors.

“Zhanlu,” Lu Bixing said, “It’s been a while since anyone went up the attic, how’s the room up there? Give me a detailed data reference.”

The robotic arm hung from the ceiling like a little poltergeist and answered: “Headmaster Lu, all the rooms in the house including the basement are all being managed by myself. If anything is wrong, I will report and request for repair.”

Lu Buxing’s hands carrying the teacup stopped in midair as he slowly turned around and adjusted the room temperature back up.

“……has he eaten yet?”

This was their little household tradition–Lin Jingheng would only switch his diet to condensed nutrients for long business trips outside the planet, but they would always eat proper meals when they were on the capital planet. It wasn’t because they had a preference of taste, but the act of sharing a dining table together had a sense of ceremonial significance; even if they didn’t speak and simply split the last sausage in half to share between the two of them, it would feel as if they truly spent the day together with each other.

Zhanlu’s robotic arm disappeared from the ceiling. One minute later, it reappeared as the AI reported back: “The dinner I left was only half eaten. He said he’s done and asked me to take away the rest.”

Lu Bixing nodded his head hurriedly and blanked out for a few moments before suddenly asking Zhanlu as if he had just woken up from a dream: “By the way, where does he sleep?”

He added before Zhanlu could respond: “Bring my pillow into the study, let him sleep in that room.”

Zhanlu snailed away immediately. Moments later, the little robotic arm carried a pillow in its hand and rounded the study like a lost lamb before finally reporting: “Master Lin said ‘don’t bother me, get out.’”

Lu Bixing picked up his pillow and sighed: “Then go clean up the attic for him and send a blanket up there…also his clothes for tomorrow.”

As a mech core under repair, if there was any bit of pride as a galactic weapon left within Zhanlu, this would’ve been a great time for this AI to offer a middle finger to this nosy master.

Thankfully, Zhanlu had no dignity.

He obediently transformed into his human form, cleaned up the clothes and prepared the blankets to deliver up to the attic.

Lu Bixing asked after he returned: “How was it?”

Zhanlu responded in his usual deadpan tone: “He ignored me and blocked me off from the attic. Sorry, Headmaster Lu, I’ve been banned from going upstairs, would you like to try hacking into the household system?”

Lu Bixing: “……”

“Oh,” Zhanlu suddenly spoke up, “I can go up now.”

Lu Bixing lifted his head slightly, a little spark of light appearing in his eyes.

Zhanlu said: “The Command Post sent in an important message to the military, grade 3S; the priority of the report surpasses the household blockade permission.”

The sparks of light in Lu Bixing’s eyes instantly dimmed down like two tiny stars that were wiped away by a violent storm.

Zhanlu: “Message shared to the Prime Minister simultaneously.”

Lu Bixing lowered his head hopelessly and said: “Oh, sure.”

“The second wave of dispatched troops from the Union arrived in the outer layers of the Heart of the Rose. Initial report stated that it was a large fleet of over 300 superdimensional heavy mechs carrying an enormous artificial space station with a mid-sized fortress body. They are currently preparing to dispatch all of them into the Heart of the Rose. General Duke sent a message and said that the dispatch of the fortress in question has not been approved by the First Galaxy’s Central Militia. He brought up his concerns to the higher-ups but the central government used the Border Defense Law to shoot him down; he said he is sending his apologies and explained that the current arrangement of troops do not reflect the Central Militia’s attitude towards the Eighth Galaxy.”

Lu Bixing’s already soulless gaze darkened even more as he forcefully pulled his floating consciousness above his head back into place, asking in a deep tone: “It’s been six days since we sent out our request to speak with the Union, and there’s still no answer?”

“No.”

Lu Bixing continued slowly: “And we can’t determine whether it’s the Union central government who were refusing to talk or if the ‘border patrols’ in the First Galaxy were the ones that intercepted the message.”

From the perspective of the top executive representative of the Eighth Galaxy, Lu Bixing felt that the Union’s refusal to speak to the Eighth Galaxy was abnormal–especially negotiation under the table. The Eighth Galaxy was no match to the Union in sheer size and population; the most pressing concern for the Union right now could not be this little galaxy.

Following this logic, the purpose of the 306th Decree was quite a plate full of food for thought.

Most of the information they had received as of now were one-sided reports from Duke. While Duke seemed to be actively engaged in maintaining a relationship with the Eighth Galaxy and had very strong emotional ties with Lu Xin…Ankur had once shed tears in front of Lu Xin’s stone statue as well.

“You can go off now,” Lu Bixing told Zhanlu. “And tell him that I will call up a meeting tomorrow regarding this situation, remind our Marshal to arrive on time for the meeting.”

Zhanlu was about to pass through the wall when Lu Bixing called him up again: “Oh, wait….”

“……He drinks a glass of water before bed, make sure to not give him cold water.”

The First Galaxy.

A starship sailed out from Wolto and landed on a supply station near the edge of the First Galaxy. The moment the starship landed, the passengers all swarmed out and walked into the restaurant in the station.

A woman looked around the restaurant for a few moments before deciding to walk into a small private room. There was already someone sitting inside the room; she bent down and exchanged a few words with the individual inside before sitting down to share the table. She then closed up the little divider beside her seat.

“This is the footage of the interview I had with Chief Woolf,” the woman scanned her surroundings a bit before connecting both of their personal devices. The data transfer lasted only one second. “First-hand sources, recorded while I was interviewing him. It’s raw footage.”

The man sitting in front of her asked: “Are you sure it’s him? And that he was conscious the whole time? You’re sure that he wasn’t threatened by anyone during the process?”

“At least… I didn’t notice anything wrong when I visited the chief’s mansion.”

The woman was the reporter from Wolto Daily.

The Wolto Daily had always been a loyal spokesperson for the Union government. Before the war, the Eden Committee in the central government were the ones that controlled the media and public opinion. Now that the Council had taken over, the Wolto Daily had become walking propaganda for the military.

As one of the pillar supporters of the Wolto Daily, it didn’t take much for the female reporter to obtain the exclusive interview rights with Chief Woolf, allowing them to write up an interesting report in regards to the controversial 306th Decree. Chief Woolf spoke clearly and sternly in the interview footage and did not show any visible health concern. His expression was as calm and collected as usual, settling the ‘Woolf turned into a puppet’ rumor the moment the interview was made public.

Thus, people’s attention naturally went towards the 306th Decree itself.

“The 306th Decree is clearly targeting the Eighth Galaxy. There are many guesses and theories arising about the purpose of this particular order from the Military Council; some have said that the Eighth Galaxy’s declaration of independence itself put a bad image on the Central Militia throughout the galaxies. If the Union government silently acknowledged the sovereignty of the Eighth Galaxy, it could potentially be the starting line of a chain effect of other galaxies claiming independence, which will become difficult to handle. Others have said that the transfer portals to the Eighth Galaxy had been completely shut down for years, so they’re not the Union’s primary concern right now. 306 looked like an order targeting the Heart of the Rose on the outside but is actually the Union government pointing their guns at the Central Militia; this whole thing is another giant gamble in the long-term power struggle between the central government and the Central Militia forces. Woolf wants to reconsolidate power and strip military autonomy from them and is using 306 as a warning.”

“These are all baseless guesses,” the man said. “Even though it makes sense to cast aside a tool that’s served its purpose, have they really used all their tools to their extent yet? The Freedom Corps is still watching from the shadows and the drug market is still seeping deep into the Union, so how could Woolf toss aside the Central Militia that he spent so long gathering up?”

The reporter hesitated: “There’s another rumor that said Woolf was forced to make this decision because the Eighth Galaxy already conquered the natural wormhole. The Eighth Galaxy had built a powerful military state outside of the Union these years and was eyeing the Union as they prepared to expand their reach.”

The man frowned slightly.

“But this theory was immediately shot down by other conspiracy theorists the moment it was mentioned.”

“Hm, why is that?”

“The Silver Ten, did you forget?” The reporter let out a sigh and lowered her voice, “A great portion of our main troops fell at the hands of Lin Jingheng because we got misled by people who calculated behind our backs. If it wasn’t for Prophet Harris, perhaps our organization would…those foolish followers today praised Lin Jingheng like a god because of this. Ironically, they were also the same ones who used to believe he was the mastermind that conspired the fall of the Interstellar Union. Also, during those most chaotic years when the Freedom Corps were using violence and force to promote their opium chips to the people, I’ve heard that the Silver Ten were the ones that took care of fighting off the pirates in areas that the Union troops couldn’t reach. Even though they didn’t follow direct orders from the Union, they were still an undeniably powerful force fighting against the spread of opium. The day the Eighth Galaxy announced their Independence, the Silver Ten appeared and followed Lin Jingheng back to the Eighth Galaxy. That mysterious Prime Minister of theirs even slyly placed Lu Xin’s statue at their front door to create a natural layer of protection. I don’t know if the Eighth Galaxy really is looking at the Union with hostility, but those fools that had their lives saved and are being protected by them sure don’t believe our neighbors are our allies.”

The man asked: “What else is there?”

“There’s another piece of important information. Underground sources said that it’s very likely the Nuwa Project succeeded in the Eighth Galaxy and they’ve already organized a real superhuman military fleet.” The reporter said, “We can’t prove whose son this Prime Minister of the Eighth Galaxy is, but it’s confirmed that he is immune to the Rainbow Virus.”

“Where did this information come from?”

“I have a friend that works alongside a higher-up official in the Military Council who overheard this during a meeting,” the reporter answered. “The exact sources of this information are unknown, but it’s a conversation being discussed by the higher-ups. Go back and inform Prophet Harris, tell him to prepare himself and he will know what to do.”

The two finished their quick exchange as the dining table displayed a notification message that showed all the numbers of the starships that were ready to take off, asking all passengers to board.

“I’m leaving.” The man looked intensely at his comrade, “For life and nature.”

“Life and nature.”

The man quickly left the restaurant and didn’t notice that a plain-looking shorty had stood up from the private room next door and quietly trailed behind him.

Wolto.

Wang Ailun poured a glass of red wine and toasted to himself in mid-air: “That woman already sent the information to Harris. Lu Bixing’s immunity to the Rainbow Virus was even a piece of information we probed from the prophet himself, so he’ll understand the moment he hears it. Harris is afraid of war and has always been biased toward the Eighth Galaxy, so he’ll find a way to get in contact with the Eighth Galaxy. I’ll simply cooperate with him for a little at the time, just a little; are you sure the Eighth Galaxy will cut off communication and close off the wormhole area? What if they feel threatened and decide to take the initiative to attack?”

Lin Jingshu’s figure appeared above his wrist like a virtual human figure, carefully sculpted like fine art.

“No, the Silver Ten cannot possibly do something like pointing their cannons at the Union. I’m sure this isn’t the first day you’ve known the fool Lin Jingheng, who always acts at the wrong time.” She said coldly, “Besides, with a gem of a predecessor like Ankur, would they even dare to trust the Central Militia? One side is the hostility from the Union government, the other is a snake called the Central Militia sharing a bed with the Union. A decade and a few years is not long enough to change the ideologies of a generation of people. The Eighth Galaxy has a large population of Union refugees; as long as their Prime Minister still has some brains left, they would know how to avoid getting themselves involved in the mess inside the Union.”

“I’ll take your words as a blessing,” Wang Ailun said. “The best case scenario is that their useless technology can advance to a point where they can blow up the wormhole area. Without this variable called the Eighth Galaxy, I’m sure our future endeavours will be much smoother—cheers.”

Milky Way City, the Home of Commander Lin and Engineer 001.

Lu Bixing curled up on a small couch in the corner of the study, unable to sleep. The couch was too small for him to stretch his legs out, so he was left with dangling his feet off the couch or curling up on it. It was rather strange, to be honest; before Lin Jingheng came back, he slept in the study every day and had never cared about the issue of having his limbs dangle off the small couch at night. He didn’t even mind not having enough room to roll around because by the time he rolled off, it normally meant it was time to wake up. It had only been half a year since he moved back to his actual bedroom to sleep, but he already felt the adjustment take a toll.

Starlight gently peeked through the windows and cast a thin layer of glow inside the study, the clock inside the room already passed the midnight mark into the deep night. The night felt like a whole year of time as Lu Bixing sat on the couch like a drug user with no food to satisfy his sudden episode, perhaps only able to catch a breath until the next morning’s meeting.

Lu Bixing laid back down on the couch and struggled to find a comfortable position a few times before he came to the conclusion that insomnia had hit. He opened up his personal device and pulled out a photo album.

A life-sized 3D projection appeared in midair. Lin Jingheng was laying on his side, blanket covering only up to his waist, half of his face buried in the pillow with a hand resting on the side–it was a photo Lu Bixing had snuck in the middle of the night during another episode of insomnia.

Lu Bixing stared at the projection from his personal device and reached a hand out; there was also a hand reaching out in the projection that overlapped perfectly with his own as he reached to touch the palm of Lin Jingheng’s hand. The palm was one of the warmest exposed parts of the body; the commander’s warmth was always hiding under a layer of rough blisters that gave off a strange sense of deep love every time Lu Bixing touched it. The Lin Jingheng in the projection suddenly clenched his fist and grabbed the harasser sneaking up on him in the middle of the night, pulling the other hand in the projection into his embrace and placing a gentle kiss upon it. Without opening his eyes, the commander whispered: “Stay put.”

Lu Bixing grabbed onto the jacket in his arms that had been thrown at him earlier in the day as he carefully embraced this virtual projection. He lifted the corner of his lips up instinctively, but the smile vanished almost as soon as it appeared. He closed his eyes, pressed his nose into the jacket and took in a deep breath, wondering: “What should I tell him in the meeting tomorrow?”

The Union, Eighth Galaxy, the 306th Decree increasing more troops, the mysterious position the Central Militia played in all of this….

The album inside his personal device followed its default settings and returned back to the first image after reaching the last.

Lu Bixing didn’t mind it and let the album play through the footage and photos automatically. He saw a little boy walk into the house with his head looking down, the features on his face were still the same as they were today, just a bit more grim and closed-off. He was like a little animal that was upset by someone as he unenthusiastically opened up the door to his room. Then, a small click rang out; the little boy was startled and backed up towards the door. Soon after, an adult-sized toy mech floated out of the room like a giant egg that was even decorated with cartoon features on the outside. The bright green replica mental network spread out of the ‘egg’ and covered the little boy in glowing lights. A a man’s voice suddenly rang out: “Surprise! Happy Birthday!”

The little boy gradually grew up into a young teenager that sat on the sofa with his legs crossed, reading a book as he spoke to the person off-screen nonchalantly: “By the way, the Black Orchid Academy asked me to report in early next month…what are you doing? Are all of you adults so excitable all the time….no, I just filled out the application because I saw the new student recruitment. It’s not even that important, am I supposed to report everything to the world? Didn’t you see that I forgot about it too…they asked me to go so I might as well, right? Get a random military rank or something while I’m at it, I get paid for it anyway……”

The young boy dressed in the Black Orchid Academy’s uniform turned with an annoyed expression: “I don’t need you to send me off, that’s embarrassing!”

The teenager clipped the pin that had been sent to him along with his scholarship in between his fingers and flung it up the air. A small clicking sound of the metal rang as the pin flew up; teenager Lin Jingheng let out a slightly mischievous smile as he placed a hand near his lips, making a little gesture of pulling a zipper by his mouth.

Lu Bixing smiled subconsciously in response.

After that, the video recording that followed the growth of this young boy suddenly stopped. The next photo in the album was dated about two or three years later; the teenager seemed to have hit a growth spurt during these years and had grown significantly taller. Those small and thin shoulders expanded into the shape of a young adult as the school uniform turned into a proper military uniform at the graduation ceremony of the Black Orchid Academy. As the honorary graduate of the class, his expression was blank and distant; those grey eyes squinted slightly as he saluted the audience, showing a hint of coldness behind those pupils.

His life was constantly in a storm of blood and violence as he gradually made his way up the military ladder, walked into the Silver Fortress with a grey history…

Lu Bixing didn’t know when he fell asleep. Perhaps he had been watching the footage before he slept; his dreams were all over the place while he was half-unconscious on the couch. The first dream was that bright smile on the young boy’s face, the next was those frosty grey eyes in adulthood, then he would be following the commander in the lonesome galactic patrol in the empty universe, then it would return back to the graduation ceremony in the Black Orchid Academy…Lu Bixing would be chasing him from behind, calling his name until he was out of breath before he could reach that young officer’s shoulders.

The Lin Jingheng in his dreams turned his head and grabbed onto his wrist tightly. With a familiar and nostalgic tone, he said: “I only have you now.”

Lu Bixing’s leg fell from the small couch and hit the floor. He was suddenly woken up from his dream as the jacket he held in his arms fell to the ground.

The clock on his personal device indicated that it was only half an hour before sunrise; the horizon of Milky Way City already showed the hints of glowing light.

Lu Bixing sat dumbly for two seconds on the couch before he pulled himself up as if still sleepwalking, dragged his legs that were still asleep and ran out of the study toward the attic.

The locked attic turned him away, but the locks at home were actually not hard to break into; any IT student could hack into it within five minutes and unlock the door. Yet mister Engineer 001 felt as if he forgot to pack his brain and broke through the attic door with force without even thinking.

The digital butler’s voice sounded almost tired and helpless as the warning came up: “Headmaster Lu, this is also an act of vi….”

Lin Jingheng was sitting by the window in the attic with a cigarette in his mouth; separated by all the old junk inside the room, he turned his head in shock.

The door cracked as the digital lock was completely rendered useless. The door wobbled weakly before it fell to the ground. The next moment, Lin Jingheng was pulled down from the window.