Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 165

Chapter 165 – Big Brother

Despite also being a touchy-feely person, Lu Bixing knew the line between an intimate private relationship and social etiquette. In addition, the young man wasn’t shameless enough to break the atmosphere in a public place like this.

This playful iron fist from Zheng Di completely knocked the senses out of Lin Jingheng for an instant as the latter totally forgot to struggle out of this unexpected skinship. The rest of the soldiers watching on the side felt as if their souls had escaped their bodies in shock.

Yet Zheng Di didn’t seem to be satisfied with just one pound; he gave the young commander a few more punches containing all of his frustrations over the last few decades. Lee’s eye twitched as he heard the pounding sounds coming from inside the building.

Zheng Di: “You should’ve at least said something during all these damned years! Are you mute or dead!?”

Lin Jingheng felt as if his organs were about to be pounded out of his body. Lu Bixing stared at him from the side, witnessing the commander’s face turn from pale white to red then back; his heart almost stopped beating in fear that his commander would snap on spot before all these people and shoot General Zheng right in the head.

Lin Jingheng clenched his fist and pushed Zheng Di away with his hand. Lu Bixing was ready to break up the fight, only to see that Lin Jingheng had fallen silent for a few moments and didn’t show any sort of extreme reaction. The latter simply said airly: “You’re saying you’re not useless?”

Zheng Di: “……”

This child here was a real ass; he wasn’t pretending to be difficult, he certainly deserved more than those few punches earlier.

“I don’t intend to look down on anyone here, but…did any of you have military autonomy back then to dispatch and summon your own fleets? What about a say in the Union Parliament? Did anyone have a powerful family background? Did anyone have a dependable ally to work with?” Lin Jingheng’s blank gaze scanned across the colorful faces of the Central Militia Generals as if he was simply stating a hard fact. “The answer is no. Regardless if that list was ever exposed or not, you all were dangerous personnel in the eyes of the Committee that carried Lu Xin’s name. Even if nobody died, you would all eventually be forced out of the main political stage. I was different; I hadn’t even graduated back then and had a ‘clean’ history. In addition, Lu Xin was my legal guardian appointed by the Military Council. It was never my own idea to be his adopted child.”

Because he was Lin Wei’s son, the honorary graduate of the Black Orchid Academy.

Even though Chief Woolf never personally adopted him, they all knew that for the next two centuries, whether Lin Jingheng became a young soldier of high potentials or an average joe, the Union had a position at least in the ranks of a Fleet Admiral reserved for him–both in name and in a literal sense.

As for the Eden Committee, a young and noble-born man who was hot-headed and rebellious enough in personality to climb up the ladders of authority for his own ambition was the perfect guard dog in their eyes. The young man was a natural politician and soldier who was willing to cut off his connection with his own adopted father, and his ability to beat up space pirates like play toys was the icing on the cake served to the Committee.

“This was all only a part of the game I played with the Committee of out-witting each other. As for why I sent you all down to the Central Militias…tsk, can’t you all look at the time now, why am I supposed to join you old men in your afternoon tea chats?” Lin Jingheng sneered the insult without hiding, but removed his gaze from those eyes filled with complicated emotions hastily. Then, as if purposely distancing himself from the uncomfortable atmosphere, he continued in a tone a few degrees colder, “Stop writing your own sob stories and forcing your silly tragic hero scenarios onto me. How old are you all anyway, these imaginations….”

Lin Jingheng’s expression hardened as he got ready to turn around and take a few steps back from the crowd, but these words that were about to be shot out like ice were suddenly cut off with a muffled sound.

Lu Bixing came up from behind and pulled the commander over; Lin Jingheng couldn’t turn his head in time and felt a force from behind that pushed him back to face the generals.

Lu Bixing’s grip was strong, but his voice soft and gentle: “Then was I also assuming things when you came to the Eighth Galaxy to look for me, stayed on Beijing-β with me for five years, then decided to keep me in the dark after the situation outside changed and even deleted all the relevant data in Zhanlu?”

Lin Jingheng: “……”

Zheng Di let out a sigh and turned to study Lu Bixing for a while before shifting his gaze to Lin Jingheng’s awkward standing position: “I remember…I was with Commander on our way back to Wolto that day when he received a call from the principal of the Black Orchid Academy. That was when he first found out that you applied to the First Military Academy of the Union behind his back and got accepted. I can still clearly see his expression from back then: his eyes widened like his eyeballs were about to pop out of his socket as he repeatedly asked the principal multiple times, ‘are you sure? He’s still only fourteen’.”

Children in the Union finished their primary education at around ten years old and then spent the next decade under the leadership of Eden to explore various career opportunities. They experienced professional training for each career and then discovered their own paths along the way; after they decided, they could apply to the higher institution of their choice and would take the necessary entrance exams.

For a top class institute like the Black Orchid Academy, the number of applicants every year was only as abundant as that of snowflakes in fall; only applicants that really knew their paths and had a clear outline of their future career and understanding could write an application that truly satisfied the admission officers.

“The Commander probably never told you that the old principal showed him the personal statement you submitted in private. It’s the Black Orchid Academy, so of course many people would mention wanting to be a ‘guardian’ of the Union, but you were different. You wrote that if a flood like the ancient apocalyptic myths was to threaten the world as everyone ran for their lives, you were willing to be the one that stood against the current and become the first person to be swallowed by the flood.”

Lu Bixing’s original intention was to break the stage and not let Lin Jingheng miss this opportunity to come to terms with these old generals.

But after hearing about how the young commander wanted to be ‘the first victim to be swallowed by the flood,’ he felt as if something touched a chord inside his heart.

Lu Xin wiped out the nest of the pirates within the Eighth Galaxy all by himself and earned an honor that would go down in history at a young age. He would have been the future Chief Commander of the Union if he had shown even the slightest interest in working toward the greater good and had played by Wolto’s game rules, to be a little less reckless, rather than constantly thinking of flipping the tables for those hopeless vaccuocerebrals in the Eighth Galaxy.

The first time, he gave up the Silver Ten. The second time, he gave up the opportunity to have his name recorded on the forbidden fruit’s list.

Lu Xin was born in the utopia of the grand unification dream and didn’t have to worry over various ideologies like the people of the last generation. His duty was to protect the starry skies. Perhaps he never had as many worries as those people who stood on top of the White Tower.

Lu Xin was, simply, the man who willingly became the first person to be swallowed by the flood.

He was the one that once took Monoeyed Hawk, William Yu…countless people against the currents, fighting against those malignant storms and raging waters.

He was one of Lu Bixing’s two fathers.

“The old principal said that while childish and naive, it made him think of the Commander.” Zheng Di’s voice softened, “I always thought that you grew up and forgot those childish words over the years, but now that I look at it, it was actually us old folks here that couldn’t let go of our heart’s unease and froze up over time. We only thought about how we wanted out payback from the Union after all these years of oppression and forgot who we really were. Jingheng, everyone’s guilty for pushing the Union down this wretched path today except you. I’m sure that if Commander was still alive, he would say the same thing.”

Lin Jingheng’s body subconsciously stiffened.

Lu Bixing’s heart was suddenly filled with pride as he blurted out: “I acknowledge on behalf of the Eighth Galaxy…big brother.”

You took me home, you let me touch the hand of the father I’ve never met.

So in the place of this father I just met, am I allowed to say to you that you are my pride and joy?

This sudden ‘big brother’ was more effective than any biochip disruption and immediately froze the struggling Marshal of the Eighth Galaxy on the spot, turning him into a statue.

Back when Lin Jingheng returned to the Eighth Galaxy after a decade of imprisonment and discovered that Lu Bixing had dug up his own family history, he once jokingly asked the young man to call him by those words to no response. He could also feel Lu Bixing’s silent reluctance at the time; later, Lin Jingheng read the atmosphere and didn’t bring it up again. When he finally heard Lu Bixing confess his own hesitance to accept his true family background, the Marshal even thought that this little wishful thinking in his heart would become a fleeting dream for the rest of time.

Finally, Lin Jingheng turned his head back in disbelief. A single ‘what did you just call me’ was stuck in his throat, unable to come out. Before he could even recollect his thoughts, he felt another push on his shoulder by the Third Galaxy’s General: “You’ve had this bad habit of not saying what you feel since you were little, and this shitty attitude surely didn’t get fixed over these last decades.”

“What, do you get high off being forever alone or something?”

“You little brat, who do you think you are? Who do you think we are?”

“Who asked you to shoulder all the burden by yourself?”

Lu Bixing used his biochip to cheat and secretly held the Marshal down so he couldn’t escape. It was unclear whether Zheng Di pulled off a single glove or some sort of invisible barrier, but within a few seconds, that large ‘do not touch’ banner that had been hanging over Lin Jingheng’s head for most of his life was suddenly dragged down by the crowd. These old generals that had been pointing their guns and fighting with him over the last years finally stepped over that personal boundary surrounding the young commander, dragged that tough-skinned and stubborn little wolf out of his cave and gave him countless slaps and pounding like friendly banter.

Lee and Bayer exchanged a quick glance, feeling the corner of their eyes warming up.

The City of Angels.

The Union had once used this fortress as a temporary command base during the war, but once Wolto was reclaimed, the refugees also moved back to their homes.

According to Chief Woolf, the City of Angels was one of the founding cornerstones of the Union that also served as a powerful fortress of protection during wartime. Its value as a memorial site was unparalleled and was planned to be remodeled into one open for public visitation.

The current City of Angels served mostly as a military fortress rather than a space station for residential purposes; the basic structures of the public museum site were currently under construction around the corners, with only very few workers around the quiet fortress monitoring the construction progress.

The Great Prophet Harris of the AUS made his way through the supply station of the City of Angels inside a disguised starship, sailing through the same secret terminal that the AUS pirates had once used to visit Chief Woolf during the war.

Prophet Harris chose to revisit this site because the ‘Night Empress’ mentioned in Woolf’s interview sent an uneasy feeling through his heart.

The backyard garden of the Chief’s temporary mansion in the City of Angels, filled with black tulips, was called the Night Empress Garden. A wordless stone tablet rested amidst the garden, supposedly in memory of a certain individual. The old Chief was growing senile, so out of respect nobody dared to ask or discuss this in public. But it also didn’t seem to be that big of a secret.

Harris once asked Woolf what was buried under the stone tablet.

Woolf placed the seed of a black tulip into his hand at the time and said, “Nothing much, just the seed of a flower.”

The automated AI system and cannons that guarded the entrance were kept active, scanning every entry loyally to this day.

Everyone beside the great Prophet held their breaths.

The Prophet chose to remain silent for the greater good even after realizing he had been used by Woolf during the war, but he had always been repulsed byeverything the late Chief had done. After regrouping the AUS, Harris single-handedly cut off connection with Woolf to quietly rebuild his organization over the years. Nobody knew if this terminal was still safe to pass through after all this time, and nobody knew if Harris’ wishful thinking was simply a waste of time.

Perhaps Woolf’s body really was declining before his death and the Night Empress was simply a symbol of his impaired consciousness.

The AI poked out a detection needle and scanned the disguised starship; that five seconds of waiting felt like an eternity while Harris held his breath, feeling as if those cannons around the starship moved to take aim.

Moments later, a small ‘ding’ rang out followed by a green light, indicating that they passed the security check.

Harris let out a heavy sigh of relief as he followed the rest of the supplying merchant ships into the terminal.

Inside the terminal was another secret terminal that connected directly to Woolf’s temporary Chief Office; it was protected by ten layers of passcodes. The small team was already stuck on the first layer.

“No luck, Prophet. It seems like the old passcode’s permissions were cancelled.”

Harris strolled over: “Let me see.”

“Prophet, Wang Ailun should also know about this secret passage as Woolf’s right hand man back then. We don’t know what role he plays in this at the moment, could it be possible that he betrayed Chief Woolf?”

Harris frowned; his mind was unsure as well. Suddenly, something flashed before his eyes.

“Prophet, be careful!”

Harris was shocked, but before he could react, a little signal that showed ‘passcode verified’ popped up for a few seconds and opened the secret terminal before them.

“It’s a DNA check! Prophet, you were right!” A follower of the AUS spoke up joyfully, “Woolf purposely mentioned the Night Empress for this reason, he even set your DNA as the passcode to the terminal, which means this was set up for you!”

Harris gave a weak smile in response while his heart that had dropped in relief once again gathered up cautiously. He never knew whether he was walking into one trap or another when it came to dealing with Woolf.

The rest of the journey was smooth and easy as they made their way to the temporary Chief’s mansion, where Harris led his team into the Night Empress Garden.

It seemed as if the blooming season had passed; all of the Night Empresses in the garden were withered lifelessly, revealing the solid stone tablet in the center. Harris’ throat rolled gently as he said: “Dig it up.”

The followers beside him walked up and pulled out their engineering robots, digging up the stone tablet within a matter of seconds.

“Prophet, look!”

The side of the stone tablet buried under the soil was revealed to be a safe.

“Prophet, it looks like an activator inside. It’s currently asleep and needs a password for activation.”

Harris asked: “Can you tell what it activates?”

The followers all looked at him and shook their heads without a clue: “Not sure…but if it’s an independent activation key, it must be some sort of large-scale AI network, right?”

Harris entered ‘Night Empress’ and received no reaction.

He frowned and attempted a few more times with ‘black tulip’, ‘Lin Ge’er’, ‘Woolf’, ‘Harris’, and more with no luck.

“Prophet, the City of Angels is still part of Union territory and it’s unsafe to stay here for long. How about we take this thing out and go back? We can ask a specialized decoding team to help us out.”

Harris nodded and asked his followers to carry that safe disguised as a stone tablet back.

Suddenly, he stopped and recalled something: “Wait!”

It’s nothing much, just the seed of a flower……

Harris swiftly entered the word ‘seed’ on the activator–

After a muffled buzz, a strange feeling ran beneath his feet. That instant, Harris almost thought the entire City of Angels was about to ‘come alive.’

The digital butler AI system inside the temporary Chief’s mansion was instantly replaced by an unknown program; a familiar sigh rang out through the sound system playing the gentle music inside the garden.

Harris was startled; chills crawled up his spine.

That ghostly voice said through the speakers: “Long time no see, Harris, you’re here.”

Harris’s trembling lips responded: “Woolf…..”

Wolto, inside the Parliament Building—

“Are you all done yet?” Lin Jingheng finally pulled his cold but visibly exhausted face back up after a while of messing around. “Get back to business!”

Bayer cleared his throat and stood up to help his boss sweep the stage clean: “Marshal, if everything goes smoothly according to our plan, Liu and Poisson should have already arrived at Wolto. As long as they’re here, the Union Troops and Central Militias outside the atmosphere should be able to sit still for now.”

“Oh thank heavens,” the general of the Fourth Galaxy said. “In other words, even though we’re stuck down here, the battlefield in space is still in our hands, so it’s actually not as bad as we thought? If the Union Troops and Central Militia don’t fight, and are able to team up with the Silver Ten from the Eighth Galaxy, I doubt the Freedom Corps will be able to cause any big trouble up there.”

“I’m less optimistic,” Zheng Di admitted in a stern voice. “The majority of the population still lives on land. Fellows, it would still be dangerous even if we flipped the situation where we took over land and left space in the hands of the pirates. These pirates would not hesitate to blow up planets while we would; our soldiers have this weak spot and will never fire a missile on the ground, so we’re stuck in this stalemate.”

If it did end up becoming a long stalemate, it would be impossible for galactic soldiers to outlast the unrest on ground.

Lu Bixing let out a sigh: “To be honest, if it did end up becoming a long stalemate, I actually do have experience building small ecosystems inside mechs. I’d be even more concerned if the enemy refuses to even maintain a stalemate…by the way, did the fire outside stop? It’s significantly more quiet now, what happened?”