Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 176

Chapter 176 – Where Will the Future Lead?

The Alliance in the Heart of the Rose was quick to catch up to Lu Bixing’s pace. The initial panic was also interrupted by orders as the Alliance quickly reassembled.

Both sides began to fight for control over the area near the wormhole zone as they all mingled into a mismatched battle.

Yet, as the core figure of the entire warfare, Lin Jingshu remained relaxed and laid back as if she was simply a spectator. She only moved her lips and gave out occasional orders; in addition, her commanding ship was being piloted by her subordinate biochip soldiers. Even if the world outside self-destructed before her eyes, as long as the gravity system within her mech was still functional, she had her own way of getting what she wanted from this war.

She had a bouquet of Azure Seas that she obtained from an unknown source. Lin Jingshu carefully removed the excessive leaves from the flowers, attempting to arrange them a certain way in the vase. Yet for some reason, the more she culled and intermingled the flowers, the further off it looked from her expectations; the expensive flowers were arranged like wildflowers on the street by her hands. She studied it carefully before deciding that it looked like a bunch of weed grass bitten by dogs and pushed it aside.

Their whole family was filled with people of cold and tough natures, all of them immune to romantic aestheticism.

“Master, shall we follow our plan and launch our next round of attack? If we continue to be pushed back like this, we’ll likely be sandwiched in between our enemies once Woolf’s AI Troops sail over.”

“Stay calm.” Lin Jingshu took a glimpse at the military recording and said softly, “They’re at their limits.”

Lin Jingshu was right: the Alliance was currently only powerful on the surface and draining inside because Lu Bixing was reaching his limit. The ‘infected’ mental network kept charging in endlessly, wave after wave from these countless Alliance Troops, putting all the pressure onto his shoulders. If his body hadn’t been modified by the biochip into a ‘superhuman’ that could stay awake for twenty-three days straight, by this point his brain would have been crushed into mashed potatoes.

Of course, the worst part of this job was that nobody could switch in for him.

Lin Jingshu started her heretical speech on her own public communication channel. After being notified that she had been blocked off by the technicians of the Alliance, she began sending communication requests restlessly to Lin Jingheng’s commanding ship.

Lin Jingheng rejected her three times already, but the fourth request quickly arrived again.

The telecom technician on the commanding ship shot a glance at him for orders and got ready to reject the request once again, only to see Lin Jingheng hesitate for a moment.

Lu Bixing’s pupils were already slightly out of focus from exhausting his mental strength. He didn’t even bother saying a word and reached an arm into the medical capsule to receive an injection of another relaxant. Lin Jingheng touched the young man’s arms and felt those muscles tense up like steel–this time, neither of them had the right to scold each other.

Yet if this continued, even if superhuman Lu Bixing could last, Zhanlu might not be able to keep up.

Lin Jingheng suddenly turned back and ordered: “Take the call.”

Lin Jingshu had run away before he could open his eyes in the galactic prison. When they reunited in the First Galaxy later, Lin Jingshu had once again hidden herself behind a mask. Even with their trip out to Wolto this time, she had continued to talk to them through her subordinate biochip humans. When they finally saw her reveal her true face, they discovered it was once again another decoy–

Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t even been able to see her face.

Lin Jingshu wore an old cotton shirt that looked like it could have been on trend ten years ago but slightly outdated by today’s standards; though a beauty still maintained an air of composure even if she dressed in a trash bag. This slightly antique look highlighted a youthfulness in her demeanor, almost as though she was still that hard-working student back on Wolto–matching up seamlessly with Lin Jingheng’s own memories of her.

It wasn’t until he saw her true face that Lin Jingheng suddenly realized the puppet she’d plastered her face on earlier truly didn’t look like Jingshu at all. The puppet’s act was too superficial and awkward, almost a little too dramatic, and lacked the slight confidence behind her actions.

When he accepted this communication request, he was hoping to buy some time for the Alliance Troops by finding a way to mess with the enemy’s psyche.

Yet now as he looked into Lin Jingshu’s eyes, he knew in his mind that this was an impossible task.

Her eyes were also a deep grey color; they always seemed naturally larger with an elegant and concave curve down the tail of her eyes. Her pupils were clear and bright, the confidence behind her seeped out as she clearly understood what she was doing. And, like the Alliance Troops, she felt that there was value in what she was fighting for.

“Hi, Jingheng.” She gave a smile as she greeted her brother cheerfully, “Thank goodness siblings are the same blood without legal obligations to support each other. We don’t need any sort of legal procedure to cut relationships off either, only a farewell in words between us.”

Lin Jingheng studied her briefly before responding softly: “My reinforcement dispatch order had already been sent back to the Eighth Galaxy days ago–the fleet should be arriving any time now. You still have Woolf behind your back, you can’t pass through the Heart of the Rose; if you disarm immediately, we can hold off Woolf’s fleet temporarily and can at least guarantee that you’ll stay alive.”

“And then wait until you all put me on trial?” Lin Jingshu responded calmly, “I’m here to destroy an old world order, only to have this old world use its long outdated values and morals to determine that I am guilty; don’t you think this reasoning is quite ridiculous? By the way, Jingheng, don’t try and fool me because I’m not an expert. Regardless of if it’s a signal message or reinforcement, I’m pretty sure you don’t control the time it takes for these to pass through the wormhole. Can’t you at least be a little bit more sincere with your lies?”

Lin Jingheng: “I certainly can’t control it, so are you going to use your life to gamble with me?”

“My luck isn’t particularly great,” Lin Jingshu said, “but it seems like I have no other choice. I still have to try. The crazy old Woolf’s calculations stole the initiative from my hands, so this is my only way out.”

The relaxant on Lu Bixing’s body was beginning to take effect; the symptoms of mental exhaustion were slowly disappearing, his ears capturing a bit of the conversation amidst the chaos in his head. He suddenly felt a slight urge to laugh as if the Heart of the Rose had turned into a giant roulette, as these two faced each other across the table with all of their lifetime’s assets behind them, battling to see who’s a better cheater in this fated game of luck.

Lin Jingheng answered in a deep voice: “A madman deserves not a single path into the future.”

“Burno was tried for heresy and burned at the stake [1] ; when the world tried Doctor Hardin for anti-humanity crimes and secretly pursued Laura, they also thought those two were madmen. All of you have simply been brainwashed by this so-called ‘civilization’ of yours,” Lin Jingshu looked right into his eyes as she answered. “Mankind is constantly changing their environment to suit their needs and refuses to evolve themselves; if this continues, development will eventually reach its limit. One day into the future, we’ll be like ancient humans no different than mutated gorillas and become powerless to stop the catastrophes we’ve bestowed upon this world. Did you think everything would end after the Committee collapsed? When years later you see Eden version two, three…or other similar products emerge, you’ll finally realize that I was right.”

“Doctor Hardin and Laura didn’t carry bloodied body bags over their shoulders like you, and Laura’s earliest biochip was not meant to be used for criminal acts!”

“Because both the Doctor and Laura were wrong.” Lin Jingshu said, “They simply wanted to solve society’s problems on a superficial and technical level; they were treating an open wound through a layer of bandages. As for Laura’s ‘evolution model’, that’s even more laughable; biological evolution won’t solve anything. The average human nowadays can live up to 300 years, but how much stronger are they than our ancestors that could only live short of 100 years? Her evolution theory will only create more societal discourse and more warfare–am I right, Prime Minister Lu?”

Lu Bixing had no spare moment to respond.

Lin Jingshu gave him a long look before speaking up: “Unaffected by the biochip, don’t tell me you’re a vaccuocerebral. If vaccuocerebrals could simultaneously remotely control dozens of mechs like you, they wouldn’t have to hide in the Eighth Galaxy. I guess whatever that piece of information Wang Ailun got his hands on was true and you really do have the complete Nuwa Project in your hands–but it seems like you’ve given up on it, otherwise you wouldn’t be fighting all alone right now.”

Lin Jingshu’s words were like a sharp needle that stabbed right into the darkest corner of his heart. Lu Bixing wanted to cough up blood, yet amidst this violent rainstorm outside, Zhanlu’s voice suddenly rang out within the mental network: “I’m sorry Headmaster Lu, my mental network is already overloaded and is about to break down; please prepare yourself.”

Lu Bixing was going mad: “Prepare for what!? Can you at least pull out that fighting spirit of yours to try and hold out a bit longer?”

Zhanlu: “Sorry, I have no fighting spirit, only a countdown. Thirty-second countdown ready to start—”

Only Zhanlu’s mental network was wide enough to give a panoramic view of the entire battlefield; a normal heavy mech’s mental network wasn’t as vast. If the Freedom Corps decided to spread out their troops, Lu Bixing would have no way to chase every one of them down by himself, and the Alliance Troop’s line of defense would break down immediately.

Lu Bixing: “Think about your little Popcorn, your chameleon, and the house you worked so hard to clean up! It’ll all be gone if you break down now!”

Zhanlu agreed amidst the countdown: “Ah, yes—twenty-one, twenty…”

Lu Bixing: “You can do it!”

Zhanlu: “Eighteen, seventeen–I can’t.”

Lu Bixing was in despair: “Why can’t there be a relaxant for mech cores!?”

Because Zhanlu was at the brink of destruction, everything from his mental network down to his own basic system was already extremely unstable. Perhaps some strange malfunction had occurred within his computing functions, but he automatically classified Lu Bixing’s last line as a joke and answered: “Yes, hahaha—ten, nine, eight….”

The Freedom Corps fleet seemed to also feel Lu Bixing’s power declining as they launched a more violent wave of mental network attacks than before. The entire Alliance defense line was forced to move back in retaliation.

Zhanlu: “Five…please disconnect from the mental network immediately, or you will be hurt…four…”

A large fleet of infected mental networks tossed all of their access onto Lu Bixing; he felt as if a long needle dug deep through his temples.

Three, two—

“Headmaster Lu!”

Lu Bixing pulled out one tiny bit of consciousness at the very last second and disconnected from Zhanlu’s mental network. The massive network from the commanding ship disappeared as Zhanlu’s robotic hand hung still on his shoulders like a robot without any batteries. Lu Bixing’s legs fell asleep but Lin Jingheng pulled him back up the next instant.

“Looks like you lost,” Lin Jingshu said as she smiled, “if you disarm now, I can at least promise to spare your life.”

Yeah, fuck you , Lin Jingheng thought.

He immediately cut off the communication and sent out another order: “Contract the defense line; from now on, nobody is allowed to open fire if you’re unsure if you’ve been affected by the biochip! All of you are going to become physical roadblocks!”

The commanding ship reactivated its default mental network which was significantly smaller than Zhanlu’s range and could not cover certain areas. Yet it wasn’t time to mourn as Lu Bixing pulled out another relaxant and struggled to shove it into his arms. A muffled grunt of pain rolled out of his throat.

The next moment, he felt someone gently press their lips against his own, like a consoling kiss that disappeared the next moment. Lu Bixing curled his fingers instinctively and felt Lin Jingheng connect onto the commanding ship’s mental network. The commander’s control was extremely stable and precise as he meticulously handled the mech’s mental network, perfectly keeping a fine line that allowed him to shoulder exactly half of the burden of control without kicking off the second pilot.

It was like years ago, back on that Old Fart’s space station, when Lu Bixing helped his student Huang Jingshu pull back the mech that was flying out of control.

“Locate the enemy’s commanding ship from the communication signal earlier.” Lin Jingheng didn’t hesitate to toss the plan to overwatch the entire battlefield now that they no longer had the hardware requirements to do so and decided to pursue Lin Jingshu. “You focus on handling their biochip disruptions, I’ll take control of the rest.”

This was the first time Lu Bixing witnessed Lin Jingheng piloting mechs from this unique angle. The sensation of contact through the mental network was a unique and unexplainable experience; the mech felt like an extension of his five senses but also not at the same time, it was a strange feeling of synthesis. He felt as if every nerve in his body had quietly but surely connected with the man beside him.

Within the next moment, the commanding ship sailed out of the lines of fire at an almost impossible angle; the Silver Ten fleets within the Alliance were his most trusted soldiers who knew how to cooperate without any verbal orders and immediately followed behind. Lu Bixing made sure their mental networks were protected from hacking and quickly located Lin Jingshu’s heavy mech. This time, Lin Jingheng’s missile didn’t miss.

Yet a Freedom Corps mech suddenly appeared; whether it was voluntary or the effects of the biochips, the mech took the missile head-on for their ‘queen bee’ and perished in space.

The site of the explosion was extremely close to them; after the explosion, the remnants of the mech flew out at an alarming speed along with a deadly aftershock. Lin Jingheng had no choice but to dodge the attack and lost sight of his surroundings for a brief moment. When he finally regained his position, Lin Jingshu’s commanding ship had already been completely surrounded by her soldiers.

At this very moment, a wave of high-energy particles shot out through the wormhole and stunned the entire battlefield.

Lin Jingshu felt the corner of her eyes twitch.

Lee called out: “Are the reinforcements here?”

Only Lin Jingheng, who was perhaps too used to coexisting with his bad luck, managed to remain calm and unaffected as he fired a second missile from an extremely harsh angle. The pilot on Lin Jingshu’s mech jumped in panic and didn’t dodge the missile, letting it hit right into the armory of the mech. The biochip pilot frantically worked to detach the armory from the commanding ship.

Boom–

The aftershock of the armory’s explosion crashed onto the mech shield; the artificial gravity system on the mech temporarily malfunctioned, sending both the flower and the vase that held Lin Jingshu’s Azure Seas flying. The flowers and drops of water floated in mid-air, the unstable light inside the mech flashed a little rainbow through one tiny drop of water.

Lin Jingshu reached a hand out from her protective airbag and grabbed a single flower.

That was when everyone got a clear look at the people who came out from the wormhole–it was only a small scale escort team.

It wasn’t the reinforcement troops, but Rickhead’s escort team that had sent the first batch of refugees to the Eighth Galaxy.

“How unfortunate, blind fire.” Lin Jingshu lifted an eyebrow. “So it looks like history is on my side now. History may go in circles sometimes, but every once in a while it makes the right decision.”

Lin Jingheng’s experiences on space battlefields told him immediately the scale of those particle cannons earlier couldn’t possibly be the reinforcements he had called. Yet even with little expectation, now that he finally saw these little mechs with his own eyes, he still couldn’t help but let out a long sigh.

Lu Bixing, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief and attempted to ease the tension as he spoke through the mental network: “Say, next time if we run into disagreements in our household, let’s decide who to listen to with rock-paper-scissors, how about it?”

Lin Jingheng responded by lifting a hand and ruffling the young man’s messy hair: “Go after her.”

The Freedom Corps fleet was already one line of defense away from the wormhole right now. Lin Jingshu took a look through the military camera at the weak little line of small mechs and said: “Crush them.”

Lu Bixing: “Vitas, move!”

The young Prime Minister who hadn’t spoken in a while suddenly hollered into the communication channel, voice cracking as he cried.

Vitas–Rickhead–heard this hoarse cry and picked Mint up like a kitten to shove her into an ecopod. He pressed her down with a single hand to stop her futile struggles.

Then, as if mumbling to himself, he said under his breath: “Man, I can’t do it, Teach.”

That year in the Starry Sea Academy, the last homework Lu Bixing had left for the school was unheard by the four students who had snuck out of the school.

The topic of that homework was: ‘Where I think humanity will go in the future.’

That’s too broad of a topic for us, Professor Lu .

Mint stared in shock as the ecopod locked before her: “Rickhead you damn asshole, how dare…”

Her unique Eighth Galaxy-style cursing was sealed into the ecopod with her. The next moment, her ecopod was set with a tracking device as it was pushed out of the mech.

Rickhead turned around and announced: “Open fire!”

The escort team had disarmed most of their cannons and missiles in order to safely send a mass of unarmed refugees into the Eighth Galaxy; to avoid risks of any accidents along the way, they chose to give up a large portion of their armory, leaving only enough missiles to fire one round.

The biochip humans of the Freedom Corps were blocked off momentarily, allowing Lin Jingheng to once again lock on their commanding ship from behind.

Lin Jingshu snapped the flower in her hands: “How annoying. Fine, we’re going all out too.”

Soon after, countless little mechs shot out of the Freedom Corps’ heavy mech fleet like an arsenal. Each individual mech was equipped with its own mental network as they spread out like ants throughout the battlefield.

Each Alliance mech was facing at least three or four simultaneous mental network hacks that layered on seamlessly. Lu Bixing’s earlier toss and catch method to disinfect the networks was no longer effective.

They had been completely blocked off by the tiny mechs overlaying on top of each other.

The heavy mechs from the Freedom Corps then sailed full-force towards the small escorting team like a sports car railing through a row of ping pong balls, sailing right into the wormhole zone.

Yet, as the fleet closed in to receive a wormhole warning, the abnormal energy siren pierced through the mech fleet.

The frontmost mech of the fleet was already too far in and had no time to turn back, crashing right into the cannonfire just outside the wormhole and exploding into fireworks.

Lin Jingshu lifted her head in surprise.

The Eighth Galaxy reinforcements had finally made it at the very last second.

The biochip humans immediately responded with the same strategy and attacked with their mental network, only to discover that the reinforcement’s average mental strength was far lower than a proper human military unit. Yet despite constantly shifting between backup pilots on the network, none of these newcomers were affected by the biochips.

[1] Reference to Italian Philosopher Girodano Bruno, who was burned at the stake by the inquisition for his works on the Copernican model of the universe, in which he insisted that the universe is infinite and therefore had no ‘center’ which went against Catholic Doctrines taught at his time.