Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 55

Chapter 55 – I’ll Just Follow You

Four hours had passed since the simulation battle started, and participants were slowly beginning to understand the basic functions of the anti-detection system.

Once they got used to the system, the nature of the battle shifted from hide-and-seek to actual combat.

While Saturday clearly had better control of his mech than the others, ever since the split within the former self-defense squad he had become the common enemy of many people. With only a handful of people left in this round, everyone unanimously teamed up against Saturday.

Saturday was only a little better at piloting than the others; in this situation, even his wits couldn’t help him escape the missile shower from his enemies. His mech was hit by a replicant missile and forced him out of the game, leaving the self-defense squad entirely defeated with nobody left on the field.

At this moment, all of Saturday’s hellish training suddenly became a joke in the eyes of everyone. Following his leave, the clapping and cheering in the main plaza grew louder.

Lin Jingheng squinted a little at the mechs hitting each other like bumper cars on the screen and put out the cigarette.

Monoeyed Hawk shook his head beside the commander and said: “You really are a conceited one. Let me tell you, Lin Jingheng….you either put everything down, dedicate yourself to fighting for the peace of the galaxy and become a saint, or you just don’t give a damn and beat up whoever the fuck you want to beat up. Go ahead and kill as much as you want. Why are you stuck in the middle like an indecisive little bitch? Oh, so you’re just full of hate and vendettas but you aren’t even throwing out an actual punch, and still out there talking big and righteous. What, do you think that would suddenly make you a decent person or something?”

He wasn’t satisfied even after the long rant, and pointed harshly at Lin Jingheng: “How embarrassing!”

Lin Jingheng tossed the cigarette away and responded blankly: “Sorry, was I supposed to be ashamed of something?”

The short-lived peace between the two didn’t even last through a half-time break before the familiar air of disagreement began to resurface. Lin Jingheng then suddenly remembered something and turned back to Monoeyed Hawk in a more serious tone: “Hey, I have a question for you.”

A sneer appeared on Monoeyed

Hawk’s face: “You think I’m gonna respond if you ask? What do you think I am? Zhanlu’s search engine?”

Lin Jingheng ignored him and continued: “Have you heard of the Nuwa Project?”

The sneer on Monoeyed Hawk’s face froze: “What?”

“When I was on planet Beijing, I had Zhanlu scan his DNA three times. All three times yielded no results.” Lin Jingheng carefully studied Monoeyed Hawk’s expression. “There’s an artificial protection system implanted into his brain, which got damaged the first time he injected the biochip into himself. Zhanlu found out about this, and that’s how I got the genetic information of his brain tissues.”

Within a matter of minutes, Lin Jingheng forcefully brought up a sensitive topic he mutually shared with Monoeyed Hawk, leaving the latter speechless.

“You spent so long keeping this secret, yet when you heard that I’d found out about it you did nothing except run away; you didn’t even bother asking me how I was able to confirm his identity. Your reaction is a little illogical here, old Lu. If I were to take a guess, it sounds more like there’s another secret you’re hiding underneath the secret, and you’re afraid to speak too much about it, right?”

Monoeyed Hawk’s cold smile remained on his face as Lin Jingheng spoke; the corner of his eyes shot a sharp gaze so strong it slowly ripped the facade off his face, revealing a hint of a man that had once lived through centuries of warfare.

“You’re not good with keeping secrets. Since you don’t like those popular IU wordplays, I’ll just say it straight up.” Lin Jingheng lowered his voice, and slowly asked: “What was the system inside his brain protecting? Where did it come from? Why doesn’t the genetic makeup of his brain match with his body? He…and you, what do you two have to do with the Nuwa Project?”

Lin Jingheng was slowly closing in like a wolf ready to hunt its prey. Monoeyed Hawk’s eyelids started twitching as he instinctively reached for the laser gun in his back pocket.

Yet Lin Jingheng had no intention to back down — this was the mech dock. The vast and boundless mental network of mechs was his territory, nobody could kill Commander Lin in a sea of mechs.

The two men stood in a deadlock for a few moments before a loud cheer from the central plaza broke the silence. The simulation battle was officially over, and unfortunately team “I’m Number One” didn’t manage to escape the fate of being in last place, and the crowd collectively called out “Disband! Disband!” in unison. This outburst eased the tension just in time.

Monoeyed Hawk was indeed a man not suited for keeping secrets. He hadn’t spoken a word since Lin Jingheng started questioning him, but his reaction and expressions already revealed the answers.

Lin Jingheng’s heartstrings tightened as he looked at the man before him. He then nodded slightly and said: “Okay, I have some ideas now.”

“If you still remember Lu Xin and all that he’s done for you, and if you still have any hint of conscience left in you,” Monoeye Hawk forced some words that were stuck in his throat out. “Then you better not ask about this again. It’s already been 30 years, this is none of your business.”

Lin Jingheng gave him a deep look before turning his back and making his way out of the dock.

“Stop right there!” Monoeyed Hawk howled. “Also if you don’t want Lu Xin’s ghost to start knocking on your door in the middle of the night, you better keep your dirty paws off my son, you disgusting thing!”

Lin Jingheng stopped and questioned his hearing for a second: “What did you say?”

“You didn’t hear me? Oh, let me say it again.” Monoeyed Hawk glared at him. “My Honored Commander Lin, you better stop treating everyone around you like uncultured swine that need to be educated. I know how you garbage Woltorians are with your smooth talks and shit, now you better stop using those underhand tricks and dirty seductions on my son, did I make myself clear?”

It was clear indeed; almost as clear as the ancient way of paying someone to break up with their child.

Lin Jingheng said: “What the hell’s wrong with you?”

Lin Jingheng then walked forward a few steps as Monoeyed Hawk’s words echoed in his head. He suddenly felt like that wasn’t enough of a comeback, so he turned back around a few meters away and added: “How about you go find some meds for that hopeless brain of yours?”

Just then, a security camera from the corner of the dock turned towards them. There were only a handful of people that had access to the cameras so it was obvious who was behind it.

Monoeyed Hawk’s senses heightened in anger. He turned towards the camera and yelled: “The hell are you looking at?!”

Lin Jingheng also shot a glance towards the camera without a word before walking off.

Lu Bixing let out a sigh as he watched Lin Jingheng disappear from the camera’s view. He turned off the monitor before the furious old man could say anything more and seriously wondered if Lin Jingheng and his dad were sworn enemies from past lives.

The spirits of the station’s armed forces were reignited by Lu Bixing’s simulation. Participants landed back on the station with a new motivation; their internal quarrels are no longer just petty fights, it became a battle of pride and honor.

From that day on, the relationship among the competing forces within the station became more complicated.

The anti-detection system also revealed more and more functions by the day. It began with a simple function that created radio clutter that grew increasingly more complicated; within a few days, the clutter became complex enough for a signal to create a mini-maze of noises surrounding the operation range of the anti-detection system. The technical demand to overcome the anti-detection system became much more difficult than the first day, and the simulation battles were forced to upgrade from a game of bumper cars into a game of war strategy.

At the same time, the number of teams participating in the simulations was shrinking significantly. The list of 19 teams that could barely fit on the scoreboard on day one shrunk to only a handful of teams.

Team members that were eliminated from the games would often get teased by and become the laughing stock of the audience, leaving them with a bitter taste of defeat. Usually, they would join a new team the next day in order to get their revenge from their opponents the day before. When a team disbanded, members often parted ways and joined separate teams due to differing opinions and personal reasons, so it was common to see old teammates become enemies by the next day. The complicated relationships among the former team members created more variables on the battlefield.

Betrayal, new allegiances, internal affairs, and spying were now a part of the games.

The veterans of teams that managed to survive until now were also faced with the new challenges of assimilating new members every day. They were forced to reevaluate their status in their own teams and reconcile with internal disputes, which led to the establishment of a management system and rules within their teams. Some went even as far as creating internal hierarchies to better manage their ever-expanding teams.

While the high-intensity physical training every day was considered inhumane, participants of the simulation battle found their motivation in the adrenaline of every day’s games; the audiences also played an important role in boosting their egos.

Residents of the station were now like dedicated sports fans of ancient times. They wouldn’t even spare a moment to watch their old movies and would gather up every day at the exact same time in front of their screens to watch the live broadcast of the simulation battles. Unfortunately, they were not the best audience; they would boo at every little mistake on the field and even pick fights among themselves for having opposing opinions. Under this environment, the leftover teams were no longer just playing games on the field. Aside from the four and a half hours of high-intensity training every day, they would often find time to gather up for strategy meetings in order to one-up their opponents the next round.

In the past, these half-assed pilots would be concussed for a week after one disconnection from the mental network in space and receive the gift of PTSD. Now, nobody would call it a real fight if they didn’t disconnect at least a few times during the simulation. Even the four students who were in charge of fishing up mechs saw an average of 15% increase in mech sync compatibility.

By the time there were only three teams left, Lu Bixing announced that the anti-detection system tests were completed and were now ready to be implemented. Thus, simulation battles would besuspended.

Among the three surviving teams, Saturday’s had the least amount of people. Ever since Day 1, the Self-Defense Squad had become the common enemy of all teams as if everyone had some personal vendetta against them. Simulation battles would always start off with all teams joining in to eliminate the Self-Defense Squad first. Even under these circumstances, the Self-Defense Squad somehow managed to make it to the final three. After playing the role of a punching bag for so long, members of the Self-Defense Squad began to reveal their talents and outshined the others; they toughened up to be a small group of strong fighters on the field.

The Golden Warriors was the team that had the most members. Perhaps simple-minded people were drawn to the word ‘golden’ — the team would always have a small fleet of a hundred mechs flying during the simulation battles. The leader of the Golden Warriors was a reserved woman called Foucault. She was a rare regular of the fleet back when Old Fart was still in charge of the station. Foucault seldom shared her thoughts nor spoke, but she was always around when important things were being discussed, so naturally, people remembered her as an experienced but dependable woman.

The last team was called the Iron Knights. Despite its noble-sounding name, they were the most morally shady team of the bunch. The Iron Knights were the first ones to send out spies and infiltrate the other teams to bring them down. Their boss was a man that everyone called Weasel, who was rumored to be an infamous pimp who roamed the underground black market when he was young. Almost two hundred years later, the same man kept his manipulative and crooked nature.

Lin Jingheng took Lu Bixing out with Zhanlu on the Model 3 and spent three days to properly install the anti-detection system. They did one final operational test before they left, and the results surprised even Lin Jingheng himself.

When the anti-detection system was fully operative, anyone that caught the signals from the space station would receive a clutter of over 300 different alternative signal sources, making the chances of them discovering the station one in three hundred.

And what was the process of installation like? If it was in Wolto, the project would have to go through at least six hearings to be approved by the Military Council before construction even begins. Then from the start of construction to the final check, it would take at least one year. Before the operation could officially begin, the Council would appoint an examination team to do testing for at least another six months. In addition to frontline testing, academic scholars, scientists, and engineers would also jump in to push for amendments or other changes. The back and forth argument could go on for another few months. For a project as complex as Lu Bixing’s anti-detection system, it would take at least two years and a few million First Galaxy currency to successfully complete.

Lin Jingheng manually made the final adjustments based on his Interstellar Navigation Map. He quietly praised the system in his mind, feeling a little proud of the final product. To him, Lu Bixing was like a rare bud that bloomed into a colorful flower on his own despite almost losing his way in the dry soil and harsh environment.

Commander Lin gave a rare show of praise: “If you were in the Silver Fortress, I’d kick out the entire engineering team right now.”

Lu Bixing responded humbly: “This is still really rough and only temporary. It wouldn’t be hard to break through the system after encountering it a few times.”

Lin Jingheng stared at the anti-detection system and quickly outlined a few plans for ambush in his head. He then casually asked: “What do you plan on doing after this?”

“Build another school, I guess.” Lu Bixing said. “I’m still a little bitter about Starry Sea Academy ending like that.”

“You can build your school anytime once the war is over; that shouldn’t be a problem.” Lin Jingheng answered as he pulled up a map on his personal device to make notes. “Maybe the Union won’t be the same Union after this war — have you thought about where you’ll go after this? If we leave the station one day, would you want to find another safe refuge to stay at, or become a military engineer?”

Lu Bixing answered without a second thought: “I’ll just follow you.”

In the past, Lin Jingheng would brush off this comment and not think too much about it. Yet after the whole rant from old Lu the other day, his gaze subconsciously moved towards Lu Bixing.

Lu Bixing’s bright eyes moved slightly out of nervousness as they met with Lin’s gaze. His pupils almost seemed to glisten under the soft light as he awkwardly reached a hand up to rub his nose.

Suddenly that “I’ll follow you” a few seconds ago sounded a little more suggestive.

Fuck you, Monoeyed Hawk; Lin Jingheng blankly cursed in his head.

Both of them clumsily pulled their gaze away from each other as the awkwardness filled the air.

Lu Bixing scrambled to find a distraction and said, “We only have three teams left on the station now, there’s no point in having them continue fighting amongst themselves. I’ll drag them out for a final simulation tomorrow — can you help out a bit and be their test?”

Lin Jingheng didn’t even really catch what he said, and instinctively responded: “Sure.”