Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 171

Chapter 171 – An Unprecedented Migration

“We need to get these Woltorians off the mechs as soon as possible otherwise they’ll end up burdening us if we really have to engage in battle. One emergency warp would end up costing half of my medical supplies.” Lin Jingheng said, “Send them off in batches. It’s easy to disrupt the wormhole’s signals and difficult to maintain stability, they’d be easy targets if we sent them all in at once. If anything happened along the way, they’d be cattle waiting on the butchering board….Poisson!”

“Marshal, Poisson and his crew are busy taking apart that activator,” Captain Liu from the Silver Sixth Squadron’s voice rang out like a ghost in response, “I have a few wormhole specialists from the Expedition Team on-board my fleet, do you need them to help?”

“Where the hell did you come from?” Lin Jingheng almost jumped at his sudden appearance.

Captain Liu, who was already used to this treatment, simply responded with an innocent but bitter smile.

“Yes, tell them to write up an evacuation plan immediately. I need it to include all details from transport frequency, batch scale, and method of transport for all the refugees, prioritizing the safety and efficiency of the transport.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Send a dispatch order to Turan as well, I need to pull out some backup from the Eighth Galaxy.”

The soldier in charge of sending the order froze momentarily: “Marshal, the backup will have to go through the wormhole too, will they make it in time?”

Lin Jingheng pressed on the bridge of his nose in exhaustion: “If they can make it, great, if not, that’s just our luck. Give me an estimate of all military supplies and arms from all fleets present right now. Ho…where’s that AUS old man with the really long name again?”

“You can simply call me Harris, Commander Lin, no need to be so courteous.”

Perhaps the word ‘courteous’ didn’t exist in Commander Lin’s dictionary, so he didn’t hesitate to lift an arm and pull out a massive galactic navigational map in response. The center of the map was the Heart of the Rose where they were currently stationed; all of the closest intergalactic terminals near the Heart of the Rose were circled out as he spoke up: “There’s nothing around the Heart of the Rose, which the Freedom Corps knows just as well as we do. If Lin Jingshu hasn’t died under Woolf’s guns yet, she’ll eventually make her way over.”

Harris nodded quietly in understanding.

When the Eighth and First Galaxies cut off communication, the Eighth Galaxy had once faked a believable shutdown of the wormhole. The abnormal energy waves caused by the massive disruption had completely annihilated all of the artificial equipment within the area, transforming the place into a real deserted land. To the AI version of Woolf, this place was a true vacuum.

It was a perfect temporary base for the Alliance troops, and similarly the perfect fortress for biochip humans.

“The AUS’ warp disruption technology could be useful, so you’ll all be the first line of defense watching the transfer portals.”

Harris bowed slightly: “My pleasure.”

Lin Jingheng lifted his head and finally locked his grey eyes on Harris’ face through the screen. He fell silent for a few moments before continuing: “You guys don’t have enough men on hand and are with very limited firepower, so I’ll send over a fleet of backups–First Galaxy’s Border Patrol fleet, Old Duke’s subordinates, anyone still alive?”

Someone immediately responded through the channel: “Yes, Commander Lin!”

“How many troops do you all have left?”

“Yes, sir! Minus the spies and traitors from the Freedom Corps and the brothers that lost their lives during the confrontation, the First Galaxy Border Patrol still has a total of 28 heavy mechs, 73 mid-sized escort mechs, and 106 backup small mechs! This used to be our territory, we will be more than happy to stand on the frontlines.”

“Okay.” Lin Jingheng nodded. “I need you all to become vanguards once again to support our temporary ally, any problems?”

Despite calling it backup support, it was actually a way to keep an eye on the AUS. Hope smiled and didn’t mind the implications–if Lin Jingheng were to fully place his trust in anyone, he wouldn’t be Lin Jingheng anymore.

“Then, my fellow comrades, we’ll contact each other through the communication channel.” Harris turned and got ready to depart.

“Wait,” Lin Jingheng suddenly called him out in a unfathomable manner, “Prophet Harris, Lin Jinghshu ran away with her tail between her legs back on Wolto because she didn’t foresee Woolf’s last trump card, but there’s no way she couldn’t have seen you coming.”

Harris was stunned.

“Using Wang Ailun to lure the Central Militia down to the ground so that she could capture them all at once, then using all galaxies that had been taken over by pirates to force the Central Militia to surrender–even though this plan looks workable from the outside, it didn’t consider a lot of variables and problems that could arise. For example, what would happen if the AUS put a foot in the mess, what if the Union Troops and Central Militia didn’t engage in conflict up in space, or what if the people on the ground escaped up to space? To make matters worse, what if these old generals were truly iron-hearted and cold-blooded enough that they’d rather give up their family and homes than surrender, swearing to fight against her to the end?”

Zheng Di’s voice rang out from the channel: “Hey hey hey, who are you badmouthing under your breath again? We still have arms on our hands and can fight, so as long as we have a small ray of hope we have a chance to get our revenge. We’d be really stepping into our own coffins if we disarmed. Besides, we might as well be dead if we betray our morals and become a biochip human! Even if they kidnap my daughter and bring her up to me, my stance will not change! How dare you call us iron-hearted and cold-blooded!?”

“Old war veterans would usually think like him,” Lin Jingheng ignored Zheng Di and continued on, “Lin Jingshu wouldn’t have been so careless as to not consider this possibility. She didn’t climb her way up by cheating, so she must’ve kept another trick up her sleeve to prepare for facing a proper military unit. Unfortunately, Woolf came out of nowhere and flipped the entire game board, so she never had the chance to show her card. We’re still lacking knowledge in the department of biochip technology, so don’t go in like naive fools. We all need to prepare for the worst.”

Harris gave him a deep look: “Thank you for your advice.”

This time was such an emergency situation that the Silver First Squadron had no spare time to do pre-war information gathering for Lin Jingheng, yet the commander knew his enemy too well.

Harris let out a sigh and waved his subordinate off; the small AUS mech fleet slowly followed him and sailed out of the Heart of the Rose.

Lin Jingheng watched them leave through the mental network then turned immediately: “Old Zheng, you also need to stop chit-chatting in the back, get over here to take the second line of defense.”

General Zheng became Old Zheng, but the Commander of the Second Galaxy didn’t complain and instead slid over to listen to the orders.

Back when the Union’s military authority was highly centralized in the hands of the Military Council, the Silver Fortress had been in charge of dispatching and arranging all troops while the Central Militias of all galaxies remained on standby at all times. Lin Jingheng was used to sending out his commands, and all the old veteran generals were used to listening to this arrogant little boss yap out orders. When they ran into problems, Lin Jingheng wouldn’t hesitate to fire back; everyone present was his senior, and with Lu Bixing playing the mediator beside him, the most they could do was spit at each other through the screens.

Lin Jingheng was a master of efficiency; the evacuation plan for the refugees had just been passed when he almost simultaneously delivered a complex and interlocking blueprint of a ‘fortress’ among the Alliance around the Heart of the Rose.

“Marshal,” a somewhat familiar voice called. Lin Jingheng lifted his head in surprise to see that the Expedition Team’s technician representative was Mint, who also followed the Sixth Squadron out. “We’re done with preparations for sending all unarmed personnel through the wormhole, when should we take off?”

“If you’re all ready then leave now, don’t waste time here.”

“Yes, sir.” Mint was clearly prepared as she got ready to take off.

“Wait, kid.” Lin Jingheng took a quick glimpse at the Prime Minister beside him who looked as if he had something to say, then under Mint’s unreserved and shocked expression, gave her a reminder, “Stay safe and come back as soon as you’re done, we’re short on wormhole technicians here.”

The first fleet of Woltorians sailed into the wormhole under his single command.

Mint followed as a technological advisor with the Sixth Squadron and the individual in charge of escorting these poor souls that had left their homeland into the Eighth Galaxy.

People gathered silently before the screen as they all gazed toward the direction of the First Galaxy…of course, nothing could be seen aside from a void of darkness.

The government clearly said that this was only a temporary refuge during wartime.

But when would this war end? The world was virtually taken over by the biochip humans of the Freedom Corps, and on top of that there was a terrifying super AI looming above their heads; this was even more horrifying and insane than the pirate invasion of the Union twenty years ago. Was this truly a situation that could be overturned and fought by mere humans? How long could the refugees in the Eighth Galaxy stay safe?

Even if the heavens pitied their loss and let them return to the First Galaxy one day, Wolto was no more.

Yet, nobody cried. The starship was deathly silent in an almost heroic solemness–these people on the starship were volunteers from the Woltorian refugees who had stood up to enter the land of the unknown for their friends and family. The entire First Galaxy was turned upside-down, anything could happen at this time; nobody dared to say that the wormhole would be completely safe.

It was possible that the wormhole zone had also been tampered with by their enemies; they could be shredded into fresh meat by the warped timespace the moment they stepped inside.

“Don’t you think the scene feels a little familiar?”

Mint turned around to see that the person standing behind her was Rickhead.

“I heard the technician the Expedition Team sent in was you, so I requested to join the fleet.” Rickhead smiled; the military uniform on him also seemed to have turned the silly and tall young boy into a dependable young man. “I’m the captain of the escort team.”

Huang Jingshu was a little vaccuocerebral girl from the slums, Mint was an orphan, White was a rural landlord’s son in the Eighth Galaxy, and Rickhead was a little street gangster that only knew how to speak through his fists. Their future back then had already been painted for them; a vaccuocerebral would perhaps grow to detest society due to oppression, the greedy young girl from the orphanage would perhaps earn some black money by stealing some knowledge, the little rural noble’s family was ready to migrate to another galaxy to become a secondary citizen.

“As for me,” Rickhead said, “I might end up becoming one of the punching bags in underground territorial conflict or get sent to prison. I can’t even tell which life would be better at that point, if only parallel universes existed.”

Mint asked: “What?”

“Parallel universes, you know those popular tropes in ancient novels,” Rickhead continued, “like maybe I’ll die in the line of duty and my soul transmigrates back to planet Beijing when I was still only seventeen. Then as someone who came from the future, I could completely change the fate of everyone else around me in this parallel universe.”

“I’d like to think you deserve to get transmigrated back to when you were still a fetus,” Mint said. Despite walking down completely different paths as young adults, the four of them always treated each other like real family. Of course, Mint didn’t hesitate to insult her brother when necessary, “Please develop your brain properly. Tsk, why do you always have to say such pessimistic words…we’re nearing the wormhole, everyone, get ready!”

Rickhead lightly pressed a hand on her shoulder.

Both in and out of the wormhole, everyone held in their breath.

Lu Bixing looked up to stare at a lit-up signal light. The escort team would keep sending out signals to the outside, and as long as the light stayed lit, the team would be safe.

Outside the wormhole, the second batch of refugees were also ready to enter the wormhole in an unprecedented mass migration.

They all faced the uncertainty of life and death.

The first evacuation team completely vanished into the wormhole. The signal light began flashing; nobody dared to speak up within the entire communication channel.

The Alliance troops felt as if their hearts sank every time the light went out, waiting until at least a small glow came back before their heartbeats could return back to normal.

This anxious waiting lasted for about half an hour until a small ‘ding’ rang up within the communication channel. It was followed by a long line of noise that almost made the soldier in charge of monitoring the signals jump on the spot.

“Stay calm.” Lu Bixing pressed a reassuring hand on the soldier’s shoulder. “Decode the signal.”

“Prime Minister, it’s…there’s a sound message.”

“Time flows differently within the wormhole; slow down the sound message’s playback.”

The soldier’s throat rolled uneasily as he followed Lu Bixing’s orders robotically with a blank mind. After that noise had been slowed down significantly, the sound was finally clear enough to hear.

“We came from the capes, sealed-off and voiceless mountain ranges.

On the grasslands abandoned by starlight, we sparked the blaze of freedom—”

The Eighth Galaxy’s Independent Navy’s anthem rang out, the signal had been stabilized.

The natural wormhole was safe to pass!

The communication channel was filled with cheers of joy like a galactic holiday.

Lin Jingheng let out a discreet breath of relief; thank goodness, at least this meant that they could wait for the backups to arrive and have a place to return back to.

It wasn’t until now that he finally realized his throat was dry from all the meetings. He turned to a corner and pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, sinking deep in thought to consider if there was anything else he had missed.

This was the first time Lin Jingheng openly broke the rules on the mech after decades of commanding galactic troops.

Suddenly, a hand reached over and took the cigarette from him.

“Open fire, smoking, and aerosols are all prohibited on space mechs. I’m taking this, Marshal.” Lu Bixing took in a small mouthful of smoke playfully as he took it away, then tossed it onto Zhanlu’s robotic hand. He then handed a cup of warm water to the commander and said, “Look, your lips are drying up, have some water before they crack.”

Inside the communication channel, the General of the Sixth Galaxy who was already in position overheard this line and praised: “Lu…ah, I don’t really want to call you Prime Minister Lu, that sounds too distant. Can I call you Bixing?”

Lu Bixing agreed without hesitation.

“Attentive and thorough with everything you do.” The General of the Sixth Galaxy was normally reserved and quiet, so it took him a while to dig up some good words from his own vocabulary bank. He complimented Lu Bixing in a dry voice before letting out a sigh, “And you sure have a good temper, much better than Commander…your father. I’ve met our brother Monoeyed Hawk from the Eighth Galaxy once, he’s also another mouth full of bullets. Sheesh, who are you like? Professor Muller?”

Lin Jingheng stood a few steps away and studied the young man before him as he heard the question: “He’s not like any of his elders, he grew up like this himself.”

This was the short silence before the storm; these old generals finally had a break and began chatting among themselves within the channel. They started asking how Lu Bixing was over in the Eighth Galaxy, had it been rough over there? Did his adopted father Monoeyed Hawk take good care of him? After learning that Monoeyed Hawk had already passed, the channel was filled with another few minutes of whimpering and sobbing.

General Nagus from the Third Galaxy said: “Our old comrade already stepped off the stage at a young age, yet we old useless ones are still out here wasting space. Ah, don’t worry, good child, if that little bastard Lin Jingheng pisses you off in the Eighth Galaxy, you can come talk to us anytime.”

Lin Jingheng let out a mocking snort: “You guys?”

General Nagus also realized his phrasing earlier was a little awkward and jokingly responded: “Man, why did that line sound like I’m marrying off my own daughter?”

Lin Jingheng: “……”

He swallowed the insult that was already waiting at the tip of his tongue and took another sip of water.

The rest of the crew from the Eighth Galaxy followed his lead and pretended to not notice; only Lu Bixing held in his laughter and gave a playful wink at the commander.

The two hadn’t had the chance to speak in private after that chaotic situation earlier. On the outside, it seemed as if their relationship was simply a partnership between an executive minister and a military marshal; Lin Jingheng suspected that if these old generals knew the truth, this old circus would put on a show and dramatically point fingers at him about how much of a disgraceful child he was.

Lu Bixing reached an arm out and placed a hand suggestively on Lin Jingheng’s shoulders as he responded, unashamed: “He’s very good to me and always takes good care of me. He lets me do what I want and always gives in to me…in various aspects.”

Lin Jingheng could hear the mischief behind the ‘various aspects’ part in the last line and kicked the young man in displeasure.

Zheng Di gave an understanding smile in response, then let out another sigh: “Anyone could treat you poorly, but he will never do so. You know, back then, Commander said that Professor Muller was busy with work and didn’t like children, so he complained that his dreams of holding his own child in his arms was crushed. He raised Jingheng like his own child; he wouldn’t stop mentioning the boy even when we chatted in private. It got to the point that even one of our female colleagues commented once that Jingheng wasn’t even like ‘his own child,’ it was more like ‘he personally gave birth’ to this child. The whole fleet even knew how many centimeters the boy grew in a year.”

Lu Bixing’s eyes lit up excitedly and continued pressing on for them to talk more about Lin Jingheng’s childhood.

Lin Jingheng growled angrily: “Don’t you all have better things to do?”

Zheng Di clearly didn’t like little Lin’s ‘holier than thou’ attitude and dramatically answered: “When Commander first picked him up, he was like a baby with a big head who ignored everyone around him. Kid was also a picky eater, he hadn’t grown a centimeter or even gained a kilogram over the first year. Commander worried about him every day and even asked a few pediatricians for advice; the doctors said ‘the kid’s fine,’ and ‘the kid’s certainly fine.’ At about twelve years old, the kid was like a fully fertilized sprout that grew over ten centimeters within the span of a year. Man, it was like stretching out rubber; his bones and flesh couldn’t keep up so he was as thin as a twig. This kid would cover himself up in layers of clothes like a ball just to make himself look like a healthy child. Oh, he even snuck hangers inside his jacket once to give himself wider shoulders, but Commander didn’t know, so one time he smacked right on the kid’s shoulder, beep—”

Lin Jingheng blocked off Zheng Di’s screen from the channel with his pilot’s permission.