Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 159

Chapter 159 – ….Goodbye, Steak.

May 25th, Woltorian Time, was the Union’s Peace Holiday. It began as a celebratory day for the construction of the Memorial site, but it later became a memorial holiday for the lives lost during war. There were five consecutive days off and was the most important holiday in the first half of the Woltorian year. Families and friends would often gather during this time to celebrate with feasts and parties.

The year started with the Glory Troop pirates officially surrendering and retreating from the First Galaxy. The star of the Union, planet Wolto, brushed off the ashes of war and returned back to its glorious position as the center of the universe.

Lin Jingheng and the Silver Ten’s appearance in the Heart of the Rose was a flash of light like a shooting star gliding past the backdrop of the night sky, becoming the cornerstone of countless legends and myths of modern times.

The first half of this year was filled with miracles and hope; the distressed and desolated human society awoke from a long nightmare as they grasped the faint light of hope and vitality.

Yet the hopeful times didn’t last long. The later half of the year took a completely different turn. The Freedom Corps pirates once again appeared on-stage and knocked down all other pirate groups to become the new cancerous terrorist group of the world.

The new orders and laws from the central government grew more and more nonsensical as the ambitious Central Militias began nourishing their own agendas. Now, the two almost unbelievable assassinations dropped like torpedoes onto the tranquil surface of the First Galaxy and triggered another violent wave of events.

The perilous undercurrent of unrest made this Eve’s night feel extra cold.

“Can we stabilize the signals a bit more?” Lu Bixing asked. “Otherwise we could miss out on important information.”

“Prime Minister, we’re floating in space right now, don’t be so insistent on HD quality.” A soldier from the Tenth Squadron had been working as his subordinate during this trip and managed to get used to hanging around this superior. After this long trip across the galaxies, the soldier had grown familiar enough to chat casually, “The surveillance on the transfer portals around Wolto are very strict. We’re already stealing long-distance signals here and need to be careful of not exposing our coordinates. We should be thankful that we even have signals.”

Even the smallest mech wasn’t like a fly; if they didn’t go through passages legally, they couldn’t even close in and sail into the atmosphere. Of course, there was no way they could simply land on Wolto like that, so they could only watch from a distance.

“Careful,” Lin Jingheng said, “Woolf’s public funeral is scheduled to be held tomorrow. Captain Liu from the Heart of the Rose just sent me a message earlier and said that the generals of the Central Militias are already on their way; they should arrive by today.”

The now-jobless Wang Ailun successfully earned some pity and connected with the generals of the Central Militias like a powerless stray dog. He managed to even earn some trust over the last few days with his acting and smooth tongue, convincing the generals that gathered in the First Galaxy to attend this public funeral service.

Lee frowned: “And they believe Wang Ailun so easily? They should be more cautious than that.”

“It may not be that they believe his words. According to Liu, they only decided to come to the funeral service yesterday and left last night. Can’t you see? If they want to make it to Wolto within a day, they’ll have to completely ignore the galactic safety laws of the First Galaxy and sail through transfer portals with their mechs. With the Central Militias openly disobeying the laws like this, they aren’t here to share afternoon tea with the Union; it’s impossible for them to not bring in some arms.” Lin Jingheng took off his wristband and pulled a new box of condensed nutrients from the small fridge, splitting it among everyone for breakfast. “The Central Militias and Wang Ailun must’ve come to an agreement: one wants to lure them into the First Galaxy, the other fearlessly brings in their guns in hopes of looting some profits for themselves from the complicated political games within the central government.”

Lu Bixing quickly said: “I saw some steak in the storage of this mech, someone must’ve snuck it in and left it here the last time they got on.”

Lin Jingheng lifted an eyebrow at him: “Mid-sized grade mechs and below ban any open fire and all forms of sprays. Mister Engineer, did you swallow the safety manual whole into your stomach?”

The all-knowing AI Zhanlu chimed in: “What a nostalgic scene. Sir, the last time you said something like this, you turned on the humidifier inside a separate training room for Headmaster Lu.”

Lin Jingheng: “……”

Since when had this little shit’s talking ban expired?

Lu Bixing shook his head dramatically: “See that? Before he won me over, he’d call my name seductively and even turn on the humidifier in the mech for me like a yes-man that pampered me all the time. And now? He’s so well fed and satisfied that nothing’s refreshing anymore, so he’s giving me this kind of attitude instead. Look at your boss folks, this is the kind of man he is!”

A group of soldiers from the Tenth Squadron joined in the laughter and complaints.

Lu Bixing: “Isn’t it the Peace Holiday? Why do we still have to eat solid snot?”

Lin Jingheng wanted to laugh out of annoyance: “What does the Woltorian New Year have anything to do with you?”

Lu Bixing responded matter-of-factly: “It has something to do with you.”

Lee and Bayer, who were also snickering on the side, felt their hearts jump at this line and quickly exchanged a glance with each other. The Captains of the Silver Ten might have all looked like a bunch of unreliable hooligans on the outside, but they were still veteran soldiers who had once fought on the political stages of the Union’s central government. So of course they knew the hidden meaning of betrayal behind the two calendar systems.

Lin Jingheng wasn’t the only one in the Eighth Galaxy who still hadn’t grown used to the new calendar system and secretly checked the Woltorian calendar, but nobody expected the Prime Minister to suddenly bring this up in an open forum.

Lee didn’t know what Lu Bixing meant and attempted to steer the conversation away by pretending not to understand, beating around the bush with a straight face: “The Silver Fortress only observes the Peace Holiday; people may be celebrating at home but they also expect security to be stricter during this time. Holidays and special occasions are always the busiest time for us, right, Marshal?”

Lu Bixing gave him an understanding smile: “Hey, chill out, I don’t mean anything bad.”

Bayer looked around meekly: “We…to be honest, sometimes we do refer to the Woltorian calendar in private because we’d get days mixed up—do you mind, Prime Minister?”

“Of course I mind!” Lu Bixing answered honestly.

Bayer’s heart skipped a beat.

Lu Bixing’s expression softened up: “But eight billion refugees are using it, and even Jingheng uses it behind my back to the point where I would have nightmares every day. In those nightmares, you all told me this place is awful and no longer want to stay, so you all turned your calendars back and left me–but what could I do? The only thing I could do is find more official holidays on our calendar, ask the culture department to host more memorial events, and encourage big markets and industries to do sales and campaigns. We have to slowly overturn the Woltorian calendar from traditions and our culture. Don’t tell me you all can’t even remember your own paydays?”

Bayer also relaxed subconsciously along with him.

The corner of Lu Bixing’s eyes curled up more: “The Independent calendar is hard to get used to and difficult to remember, right? You all feel like you can’t even calculate your own ages, right?”

Bayer lowered his head and rubbed his nose timidly as the Prime Minister’s words hit the jackpot, unable to openly admit that the Prime Minister was right. Lu Bixing then held out his hands: “But what can you all do? The Eighth Galaxy is so great and your Prime Minister is so handsome, you all have no choice but to get used to it, am I right?”

Both Lee and Bayer laughed out loud.

Lin Jingheng looked at him and strangely remembered the Starry Sea Academy on planet Beijing-β, that con artist of a headmaster that kept pouring out chicken soup to his poor students, then suddenly felt something grow inside his heart–

He had left the noble utopian land of Wolto for the cold Silver Fortress, then fell into the Heart of the Rose and wandered into the faraway Eighth Galaxy; now, he returned to where it all began on a completely different path.

Lu Bixing had walked from beneath the starry dome of the ceremonial hall into the Milky Way City Command Post, and now seemed to have returned back under the same starry sky…but the sky above him was now much broader and eternal; it also didn’t cost six billion to build.

Both man and history trudged down the path of time across countless turbulences on this journey, numerous deaths and rebirths…only to return back to where everything all began.

Lu Bixing: “Marshal, the little engineer here thinks that building a temporary insulation layer to contain the fire is a trivial matter, so can we please grill some steak?”

A vague hint of a smile lifted from the corner of Lin Jingheng’s lips: “No.”

Lu Bixing, Lee, and Bayer all asked at the same time: “Why not?”

“Because there’s a limited stock of steak,” Lin Jingheng flipped through the galactic map nonchalantly, “If we finish everything today, we won’t have anything left on the 29th.”

Lee and Bayer looked at each other in confusion, not knowing what was special about the 29th; in contrast, Lu Bixing’s eyes widened.

“49 years old already.” Lin Jingheng’s gaze glossed softly over Lu Bixing’s clean hairdo down to his cheeks, as if giving his face a gentle caress.

At that moment, the alarm inside the mech rang out.

Zhanlu: “High-energy alert.”

The numbers on the mech’s energy detection steadily rose; Lee stood up abruptly as he watched the numbers climb: “It’s probably a heavy mech fleet, be careful not to sail into their firing range.”

Moments later, a fleet made up of hundreds of superdimensional heavy mechs with Central Militias’ symbols imprinted on their mech bodies sailed proudly toward Wolto.

Bayer muttered under his breath: “Are they marching for the funeral or planning on revolting, how did they even get in here?”

“That’s not surprising. Woolf just died, Wang Ailun got suspended from his post, the central government is anxious; I’m sure the Union troops don’t know whose order to take either,” Lee said. “It’s very likely that Wang Ailun used Woolf’s name to let the fleet in…and here I was thinking that with Woolf’s death, perhaps the Central Militias and Union could once again stand together and fight their common enemy.”

“Of course they will work together,” Lin Jingheng said, “but the last time they stood on the same side was because Woolf held the steering wheel behind them. This time, nobody could single-handedly take control of the situation, so the Central Militias might want to take this opportunity to fight for more autonomy and say in the Parliament.”

The defense system on Wolto had already activated during their short exchange. The anti-missile and defense shield on the capital planet were already turned up to maximum power while the Woltorian Guarding Fleets quickly gathered up into space and stood before the Central Militias.

Lin Jingheng: “Can we try hacking into their communication channel?”

“Let me try.” The already retired engineer Lu Bixing mumbled in response, “The protection the Central Militia uses is quite unique, I’ve never seen it before…”

Lin Jingheng frowned slightly: “I should’ve brought some technicians from the Third Squadron along.”

Just as the words left his mouth, the communication channel inside the small mech made a small sound. After a few seconds of noise, the channel quietly hacked into the Central Militia’s communication port. Lu Bixing swallowed his earlier words and performed beyond even his own expectations. The young man stood back up like a belligerent peacock as he gave a proud and slightly provocative look at Lin Jingheng. With his feathers extended proudly, he placed his hands in his pockets nonchalantly: “Done.”

The Woltorian Guard’s warning came from the noise behind the channel: “……Illegally armed fleet, this is a warning that if you come any closer, we will take it as an act of aggression and use force…”

The Central Militias’ side responded: “We are here in response to our invitation to the Chief’s funeral.”

The Woltorian Guards: “Without special permissions, armed starcrafts are not allowed inside the First Galaxy, your presence here is already a threat to the galaxy’s security!”

“Who said we didn’t have special permissions?” The Central Militia’s side openly lied through their teeth, “Secretary Wang himself personally handed us a signed copy of the permission from the late Chief Commander. The old Chief’s corpse is still out in the daylight and you folks in the Union are already restless in your seats? Now make way for us!”

Immediately after, the frontrow heavy mechs on the Central Militias’ side fired a round of particle beams. The Woltorian Guards didn’t expect them to be so aggressive and skip right into the action without even any chance of negotiations. With the leading mechs in front, the entire shield of the Woltorian Guard mech melted under the extreme heat of the particle cannons, immediately breaking up the formation of the fleet. Another wave of particle cannons then crashed into Wolto’s planetary magnetic field, sending a momentary disruption through the entire planet’s network.

Bayer blew out a whistle.

“Commander,” he didn’t catch himself calling the wrong title. “I’ve tried imagining in my head numerous times how things would look if back then, the Committee forced you to go back to Wolto for investigation. I wondered why we all had to disarm, why we couldn’t have just fought our way back from the Silver Fortress; even those useless nobilities in the fortress were willing to follow in your footsteps. Taking over the entire First Galaxy would only be a matter of days for us.”

Everyone–the Committee, Woolf, Lin Jingshu…every single one of them were distinguished and respected individuals, every single one of them were unafraid of using any and all means to achieve their goals. Only Lin Jingheng was the real fool deep down who clung to the baseline of morality, refusing to fall down any further.

He was like someone playing on the same board as everyone else but with his own rules; while everyone else was freely manipulating the rules of the game and extending their influences, he willingly tied himself up and restrained his every move.

Lu Bixing let out a sigh: “My Commander, you surely managed to stay until the end by using up all your luck. No wonder why you’re doomed to randomly choose a half-dead character to roleplay here.”

“Stop the nonsense.” Lin Jingheng stopped their chatter. “Give me the mental network, we’re sneaking in during this mess.”

The Central Militia gave a difficult multiple-choice question to the confused Union troops stationed around the capitol planet. They weren’t sure whether to listen to Wang Ailun and the former Military Council or follow the orders of the Woltorian government as they pondered this dilemma.

The Woltorian Guards were almost completely helpless at this time; they were completely wrecked the moment fire was opened, but neither side dared to use missiles—with a scale this big and a distance this close, once a galactic-grade missile opened fire, Wolto would become a defenseless eggshell under this destructive storm.

The Central Militia fleet’s cooperation during the exchange was flawless; now that first shot had been fired, the others no longer hesitated and fired three consecutive rounds of particle cannons from different angles directly into the center of the Woltorian Guard fleet. The entire Woltorian Guard fleet backed up while a lone mech that couldn’t flee in time got its shield completely melted. In addition, the armory of the mech received a direct hit and self-destructed in mid-air, breaking open a path within their own fleet for the enemy to pass through.

The shards of metal and pieces of broken mech flew off uncontrollably until the gravity of the planet and high-energy particles tugged on them like a massive game of tug-of-war, creating a deadly wave within space.

Despite being slightly unstable, Zhanlu’s mental network was still wide enough to expand silently throughout this mess. A lone Woltorian Guard mech running off aimlessly like a fly suddenly lost its main pilot; the backup pilot frantically attempted to regain control of the mental network only to be knocked unconscious against the wall by the sudden loss of gravity control within the mech.

The mech silently transferred over to a new pilot and dodged a wave of particle beams on the battlefield, sneaking out from the frontlines like a phantom in space.

The Central Militia once again fired a round of cannons; the disrupted magnetic field of the planet completely destroyed the communication system of the Woltorian Guard fleet. Nobody noticed two small mechs clashing on the edge of the battlefield the moment they passed by each other.

The soldiers of the Silver Ten reacted promptly and transferred onto the new mech within five seconds of the two mechs connecting.

“Marshal, be careful!”

Another Woltorian Guard mech that had been shot down careened full speed in their direction. Lin Jingheng, who was last to get off the mech, felt his arm be dragged by Lu Bixing into the new mech in an instant. Through the mental network, he cut off the connected docks between the two mechs and allowed himself into Lu Bixing’s embrace as he maneuvered both mechs into different directions.

Lu Bixing pulled the man toward himself, the mask on the two men’s space suit colliding under his force. Almost at the same instant, the door of the small mech rolled down while the air pressure inside promptly adjusted. The lone mech left behind crashed violently under Lin Jingheng’s remote control into the burning remnants of another mech and exploded into pieces.

Bayer stared mournfully: “…goodbye, steak.”

Lee had already taken care of the former pilots inside this mech with a shot of strong anesthetics for each person. After tying up all these hostages into medical capsules like shoving corpses into coffins, the small mech that had been stuck in the crossfire earlier swam out smoothly like a fish in Lin Jingheng’s hands. The small mech made its way through the chaotic confrontation of the two fleets without even a scratch on its outer body.

The next moment, the Woltorian Guard’s communication channel managed to recover some signals: “We can’t hold out, retreat!”

While piloting the mech within the Woltorian Guard fleet, Lin Jingheng slowly changed into the guard uniform: “This is the new director of the guarding fleet? I’ve never seen him; where did he come from? He must be a workshop director from the military factories.”

The Central Militias that had been holding in their frustrations for decades finally sent the Woltorian Guards running off like cowards with their cannons, giving a heavy slap to the face of the Union government. Without wasting any extra energy, they completely surrounded Wolto—over half of the heavy mechs took over all intergalactic terminals around Wolto while the other half blatantly landed on the Woltorian Guard fleet’s launching station.

Once the doors of the heavy mech opened up, a formidable parade of armed mobiles drove out, straight into the central city of the Union government.

The roads were empty; the army of the Woltorian Guards had set up an electric fence around the outside of the central government area, but in a situation where the terminals on land were already being taken over, the fences were completely useless. The parade of armed mobiles drove slowly through them as the fences backed off obediently like fearsome beasts without a backbone.

The trigger to the outbreak of war in the First Galaxy was at the tip of a finger—

Meanwhile, the Second Galaxy’s capital planet command post had just entered a new day. The soldiers were switching ships as the officials in the command post who had stayed up all night waiting for news were all preparing to order another cup of coffee. Suddenly, the power source of the command post shut down; a patrolling soldier’s eyes widened as he saw a security robot waiting obediently by the side shoot a laser right into the soldier’s head before they could react.

The Third Galaxy, countless armed mobiles suddenly drove into the main city in the middle of the night as powerful biochip humans rushed out of those mobiles like a flood of predators.

The Fourth Galaxy, the Fifth Galaxy….

Those biochip humans hidden within the crowd ripped open their harmless facades and flashed their sharp fangs at the clueless humans; all intergalactic transfer portals fell into the control of these people as they blocked off all long-distance signals.

Yet all the generals of the Central Militias still thought they had succeeded in taking over Wolto.