Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 166

Chapter 166 – Disarm and Accept the Biochip

The most Doctor Hardin’s signal disruption could do was to buy them some time to take away all the unarmed personnel on ground. Letting Lu Bixing install it on a large scale amplifier didn’t mean it could dramatically change the situation of the battlefield. The front-row armed mobiles from the Freedom Corps pirates were completely crushed by the Central Militia amidst the chaos and turned into a physical barrier for the incoming biochip humans at the outer layers. The Central Militia soldiers were simply hiding behind the barricade to shoot down any enemies charging forward; the sounds of gunfire from outside had never stopped for even a second while the generals reorganized inside the building.

It wasn’t until Lu Bixing brought it up that everyone realized it was dead silent outside; the only sound was raindrops, slowly consuming the building with an eerie pressure.

Suddenly, Zhanlu’s voice rang out inside the Parliament building.

“Everyone,” Zhanlu began, “the signal disruption is weakening and the communication on land is currently under repair…repair completed. An unknown connection request is asking to call into the Parliament building, should the request be accepted?”

The crowd was shocked for the first second, then immediately realized it was a call from their enemy.

“Connect them,” Lin Jingheng answered through his teeth.

A three-meter tall 3D screen rose up from the middle of the parliament hall the moment Lin Jingheng made his command. The screen flashed momentarily until a man wearing the uniform for the Freedom Corps showed up on screen. Everyone noticed that not only the style of the uniform, but even the soldier’s salute was completely on the opposite side of the Union standard. From the crowd’s perspective, it looked as if soldiers were staring at a mirror man.

“Good morning, fellow generals and members of the Parliament, as well as soldiers and citizens. I am a generation five chip carrier, it is my honor to greet you all on behalf of my master, I…”

This unfortunate soul didn’t even get to finish his opening speech before Lin Jingheng interrupted mercilessly: “Who the fuck do you think you are, piss off! Let Lin Jingshu come out and speak to me herself.”

His gaze met Lu Bixing’s for a short instant as he spoke, and Lu Bixing immediately caught the message—the communication that was fixed was only the signal on land. If Lin Jingshu could really be forced to come out to speak, it would mean that she was very likely hiding on Wolto. On-land networks could not pass through transfer portals in space, so in theory it was traceable.

The generation five, due to the effects of the chip, was loyal to his own master of his own volition. The expression on the man’s face visibly twisted in disgust as he heard such offensive remarks: “How dare you……”

“Let Lin Jingshu come talk to me herself,” Lin Jingheng repeated each word, crisp and clear. “What, she dared to lock me up in a galactic prison for fourteen years, dared to say she wanted to turn me into a living model, but won’t even come out and talk to me?”

The angered expression on the soldier’s face suddenly stopped as if someone had pressed the pause button; the next moment, an unexplainable change arose on his face. His physical appearance didn’t change, but the demeanor and air of his expression shifted drastically as if he were possessed. The man lifted the corner of his lips, opened his mouth and spoke with a woman’s voice: “Jingheng.”

The whole scene was so bizarre that everyone watching in the building felt goosebumps crawling over their skin, even if they weren’t the person mentioned.

Lu Bixing’s pupils contracted in shock–what kind of technology was this?

Doctor Hardin had only ever mentioned that the biochips within the Freedom Corps were categorized into hierarchical levels. Due to his old age and deteriorating body, he couldn’t accept chip injection into his body, so Lin Jingshu could only keep him around her without killing him despite his clear opposition to her biochip empire. She imprisoned him and even kept him out of the later half of research for the chip. The most Doctor Hardin ever involved himself in with the research was up to generation two of the biochip, so he could only make educated guesses on what an even higher level chip could do.

Lin Jingheng shot another glance at Lu Bixing.

The latter’s gaze sank deep into thought and he shook his head discreetly in response. He had absolutely no idea how this ‘possessing’ function worked and couldn’t trace back its source.

“It’s been a while.” Lin Jingshu’s voice was clear but gentle, slightly deeper than her normal range when she spoke in public, with a hint of reservation in her calm tone. Yet this calm reserve sounded strangely distant and cold when she spoke to her one and only family, almost making the scene seem like an awkward reunion.

Lin Jingheng’s hands clenched into a fist behind his back: “I’m the one who hasn’t seen you in a while.”

“The Eighth Galaxy had never been recognized or treated fairly after a century of returning to the Union, but didn’t it already announce its independence?” Lin Jingshu said, “You’ve closed yourselves off for almost two whole decades; why can’t you all stay in your lane and move on without bothering each other? A storm is about to sweep through the Union and I’ve already given you all enough warnings to make the smarter choice; why do you all still force yourselves to join in this mess?”

Lin Jingheng sneered lightly: “Right, sorry to disappoint you again.”

“This is the third time.” Lin Jingshu’s gaze pierced through the shell of the generation five she wore, like a light of a raging fire beneath a frosted surface. “You were powerless and alone in the Eighth Galaxy during those years, and these people—these useless pieces of trash in the Union that only knew how to quarrel amongst themselves over political power, the conspirators that wrote their own names on the forbidden fruit while continuing to lie to the masses, every single one of them wanted to drag you out to be the sacrificial lamb. Only I worried for you; I sent you arms and supplies, a stage to help you resummon the Silver Ten, I even messed up the situation further to keep them from bothering you again, but you…”

“I was the one who let the Silver Ten stand on the frontlines in the battle against the Freedom Corps; a decade of warfare cost almost half of the entire Silver Ten fleet, almost making your biochip empire dream a fleeting one.” Lin Jingheng’s voice was calm, his expression showing slight hints of fatigue. It was as if he knew he was trudging down the path of no return and had no energy left to look back, recounting everything they could’ve done better to change the future. “Hm, that was the first time. The second was when you saved me from the hands of the AUS with all of your resources and kept me alive for two whole years with an elite medical team. I woke up and lied to you with fake amnesia; I lied to you for over a decade. Then, the first thing I did after I broke out of your imprisonment was to mess with your kidnapping plot near the border of the First Galaxy.”

Inside the silent Parliament building, the twin siblings finally faced each other beyond their countless facades and disguises.

“So what do you want me to say to you…that I wasted all your efforts and that I’m sorry?” Lin Jingheng’s voice was stuck in his throat like a fishbone piercing inside, “I’m not apologetic, I’m not sorry for a…space pirate that walked through trials of corpses, covered in blood from head to toe. The only one I’m apologetic to is the little Jingshu that once chased after the car and tripped on the road. What did you do to her?”

The generation five listened expressionlessly and suddenly lifted their lips in an eerie smile: “Her? You can’t find her anymore, Jingheng. You came late. Weakness is a sin; everyone that cried and waited for salvation deserved to die.”

After the twins were physically separated and cut off from each other by the Committee, the older brother that was in the First Military School worked hard with one goal in mind; he thought that one day when he finally had power, he would take her back from that wretched place. But as he ground his teeth, swallowed down the taste of blood in his mouth and finally reached that place of power to ask her “did you want to move back home with me,” he couldn’t say it in time. Instead, she told him: “I’ve already accepted Secretary General Gordon’s proposal, should I send the invitation to your house or to the Silver Fortress?”

If you came late, you missed your chance; it didn’t matter how hard you worked before.

Lu Bixing reached over and held onto Lin Jingheng’s wrist gently but firmly, carefully releasing that tightly clenched fist. He let out a sigh; Lu Bixing was never one to open his mouth and interrupt someone else’s personal business. He might be a smooth talker but he wasn’t necessarily a smarter persuader, so he had always remained a respectful bystander until now: “Miss Lin, I also know someone who was always late. He made me wait a whole sixteen years– by the time he came back, all others had already left me thousands of lightyears away…but this was someone who touched my soul and lived in my dreams, so what could I do? Thousands of kilometers away, hundred thousands, or even millions of lightyears away, I have no choice but to turn around and bring him back. If he’s the most beloved person to you, why can’t you put your hatred down for a second and give him another chance?”

Any words that were too emotional could be understood by the listener as true words from the depths of one’s heart; for someone that refused to listen, it was the lowest form of desperate begging.

Lin Jingshu clearly didn’t listen to these words and gave Lu Bixing a fake smile as she switched her tone to a courteous and professional manner: “I remember you, we met last time in the Heart of the Rose. You’re the Prime Minister of the Eighth Galaxy, right? You’re correct, though I don’t know what the Eighth Galaxy has that could make him give his life. But now that Jingheng has chosen you all, I shall also graciously give you all another chance–your Silver Ten fleet has already arrived outside of Wolto’s atmosphere; I can escort you all back home. Prime Minister Lu, I can send a small mech over to take you all out of Wolto right now as long as you swear to close up the wormhole and stay out of this. I can also promise in return that I will never touch the Eighth Galaxy while I’m alive, how does that sound?”

Lin Jingheng could almost laugh at the peak of his outrage: “You…”

Lu Bixing knew that every word that came out of this mouth now would become sharp double-edged blades that could leave an open wound in the heart of the speaker. He quickly pulled a hand up to interrupt: “Miss Lin, now that Wolto is being surrounded by the Central Militia, Union Troops, and the Silver Ten, I don’t think we’re the ones in this particular situation that need to be escorted out.”

Lin Jingshu let out a small laugh and responded: “It looks like Prime Minister Lu still hasn’t received the latest news.”

Her gaze scanned past all the generals of the Central Militias in the room as she spoke. She waved a hand, the image of the generation five chip carrier on screen disappearing, immediately replaced by a few live footage videos on-screen.

Everyone’s expression changed within that instant–all of the footage was from the capital planets of each galaxy in the Union.

The flags of the Freedom Corps took over all public areas, heavily armed robots filled all corners of the streets. From the footage, one could also clearly see all the mechs on standby just below the ozone layers of the atmosphere, cannons and missiles all pointing directly at the natural planets.

“This is my territory in the future, so I’m just as heartbroken as you all,” Lin Jingshu said. “But I have no choice, gentlemen. You all hold military autonomy in your hands, so I could only bring up these things to threaten you all—General Zheng of the Second Galaxy, I recall that there are about sixteen billion people on the capital planet, your girlfriend and daughter are still waiting for you to return…oh, your daughter is quite adorable. General Nagus of the Third Galaxy, a population of twenty-one billion on the capital planet; I like this traditional big family of all three generations under the same household, it’s lively…”

The general of the Third Galaxy ground his teeth and cut her off: “What do you want from us!?”

“You either disarm and accept the biochip,” Lin Jingshu smiled, “or I could fire three hundred missiles on your capital planet. I hope you make a decision soon; of course, if you want a bit of time to think about it, I also understand. I can fire the missiles one by one until you make up your mind.”

“I can blow up Wolto right now–”

“You could also do that; there’s only two billion people on Wolto anyway , I’d call it a steal.” Lin Jingshu didn’t even bat an eye. “I know you aren’t afraid of dying, but if you die, the Central Militia would be left without a leader and the Third Galaxy would be the physical blueprint of my biochip empire. As for me, I’m also not afraid of death; my flesh is worth next to nothing. If my flesh perishes, my consciousness will merge with an AI as my subjects continue to create more biochips and a new species of mankind that will last for generations to come.”

At that moment, an old and ghostly voice rang out: “Really?”

Even Lin Jingheng could feel a chill crawling down his skin when the voice rang out. Everyone inside the Parliament building turned their gazes simultaneously in the direction of the mortuary that housed Woolf’s corpse inside its coffin. The corpse of the old Chief was supposed to sit quietly inside until the funeral was over, but everyone present clearly heard it talk just now!