Can Ci Pin - - - Chapter 79

Chapter 79 – It was so Soft, so Scorchingly Hot.

“Closing the launching door—”

“Begin air pressure adjustment.”

The functions inside the mech began following their procedures meticulously. Lin Jingheng already thought he couldn’t trust people, but little did he know that AIs were just as untrustworthy!

He was baffled but also understood Zhanlu’s unspoken words; this was the first time he clearly touched on the will that Lu Xin had left him 30 years ago and was filled with complicated emotions. Before he had the chance to dwell on these feelings, he heard footsteps closing in; that’s when it finally clicked his mind that Lu Bixing had been acting this whole time, and the sly little Zhanlu didn’t even report that to him.

All the complicated emotions burned to ash from anger as Lin Jingheng subconsciously pushed on the cover of the ecopod, ready to beat Zhanlu up into a bunch of useless metal. Thankfully he still had some sense left and immediately remembered that he’d already taken off his isolation suit and pulled his arm back as he frantically turned on all the digital locks inside the ecopod.

Lu Bixing’s footsteps stopped right outside his ecopod.

He heard Lu Bixing say with a very calm voice: “It is a bit dizzying, I’m not too used to this…Zhanlu, the range of your mental network is too big; I’ve never seen such a complicated network even in those heavy mechs, is this the contracted version?”

“Yes, it is a pleasure to serve you,” Zhanlu said, “Headmaster Lu, I don’t advise you to do this.”

What does he want to do?

The fake experimental ecopod did not have a transparent cover so it was impossible to see what was happening outside; Lin Jingheng’s heart raced as he listened in to the conversation.

He then heard Lu Bixing respond very reasonably: “I don’t have a choice right now unless you have a better suggestion, otherwise I won’t be able to control this insane asshole. By the way, he locked the ecopod, how do I open it up?”

Lin Jingheng: “Lu Bixing, you…”

“Oh, I got it, thanks.” Lu Bixing’s talent and skill in mechs were unparalleled. It took him only a few moments to figure out how to use Zhanlu’s mental network to dig deep into every corner of the mech. Then, he utilized his hacking skills in picking locks all over the galaxy to break open all the digital locks inside the ecopod with the masterkey called Zhanlu.

A round of clicking sounds rang out, and without any other option, Lin Jingheng resorted to holding the door down with his own two hands.

Lu Bixing tried to pull the cover up only to see that last ‘human lock’ wasn’t that easy to break through.

Lu Bixing: “Hey, let go.”

Lin Jingheng: “You go away!”

Lu Bixing sighed: “Don’t you think we look a little silly right now? Like a zombie and a grave robber fighting over a coffin cover.”

Lin Jingheng wished he could summon a glass cover that could separate itself from the rest of the world and shove Lu Bixing behind it like a rose that would never wither from fairytale stories. His hands trembled from the high fever, the veins on his arms popping in desperate exertion while the gross feeling of illness rendered him speechless for a few moments.

“Not letting go? Okay.” Lu Bixing wasn’t a fan of playing arm wrestling with others and gave up very quickly.

Soon after, Lin Jingheng felt the entire ecopod moving as it was pushed by Lu Bixing somewhere. Buzzing noises rang outside, immediately followed by a strong light that shot right into Lin Jingheng’s eyes. His pupils shrunk as he stared straight into a robot with headlights on its head–as a respectable technology personnel, young scientist mister Lu Bixing never resorted to violence and instead commanded a bunch of tiny robots to disassemble the ecopod.

A hand reached over and covered the strong light on the robot’s head. Lu Bixing shooed away the robot after it finished it’s job: “Don’t flash the right into his eyes.”

A…hand…

This shithead Lu Bixing took off his isolation suit!

The usual smile on Lu Bixing’s face was gone, the naturally curled up corner of his mouth bit down tightly. His dark pupils were lightless like a black hole; Lin Jingheng instinctively shrunk back as Lu Bixing leaned down into the ecopod, but the small space within the pod didn’t give him very much space for movement.

Lu Bixing grabbed his wrist; the skin on the wrist was eerily hot but still intact, not yet to the point where skin would rip off with a gentle touch.

Lin Jingheng squeezed out a line without moving his lips; his voice stuck deep in his throat as if he was afraid any movement would give way for the virus to spread: “Are you crazy?”

Lu Bixing stared at him and thought, he really is very good-looking. Even on Wolto where everyone could get easy access to cosmetic surgeries, he was still considerably among the outstanding ones. His features might not be completely perfect, but they all matched into a unique aesthetic that could earn him more than a few glances from other people. Just from the outside, Lin Jingheng was extremely well-packaged.

But was the fine packaging really keeping something like this inside? A heart so cruel and so unreasonable.

History books said that in the lesser-developed eras back in ancient times, people must live together in order to survive and obtain basic necessities. Which was why organization and law were always more important than humanity; dictators that stood above others were also often lacking empathy and ruled their territories by their own standards. They treated everyone around them as if they were animals that had no decision-making power on their own, who only needed to breathe, living creatures without free will.

Commander Lin’s personality fits this characteristic quite well.

Lu Bixing: “You’re the crazy one.”

He suddenly pulled Lin Jingheng out of the half-dismembered ecopod—this was normally impossible for him to do, but the Rainbow Virus and cramped space of the ecopod helped him out. Lin Jingheng’s legs got stuck within the half-opened ecopod, and his upper body was pretty much exposed outside of the pod as Lu Bixing dragged him out. His arms were still trembling uncontrollably from soreness. Lu Bixing held onto his wrist and pressed him down against the half-opened ecopod as he captured the Union’s harshest lips.

“He might beat me up.” The scene of Lin Jingheng kicking William Yu’s guts out flashed across Lu

Bixing’s mind, which then disappeared as an unknown force swept through his head while his consciousness left his body.

The lips were one of the most sensitive and thin-skinned parts of the human body; Lu Bixing had known this fact before, but didn’t understand what it meant.

It was like the first time a colorblind person saw the world in full color, like someone who was used to talking out loud speaking directly to an AI on a mental network for the first time–sparks of flames ran all through his nervous system, exploding to his vision to the point the world seemed to flip over. The physical contact he was so used to suddenly gained a new meaning as he felt all the nonsense he’d thrown at Turan before shattering into pieces.

This man’s lips weren’t cold like ceramic as he had imagined.

He didn’t realize they were so soft, so scorchingly hot.

Lin Jingheng’s entire body was stuck by the unfortunate cover of the ecopod, his head about to hit the inner walls of the ecopod. Unable to dodge, he lifted his arm that Lu Bixing was still grabbing onto in an attempt to break out and hit right on the cover of the ecopod. As Lu Bixing’s grip loosened, Lin Jingheng pushed him away in shock and horror. The emotions exploded like two missiles in his mind, the hyperenergetic particle waves of the missiles expanding in his head like a tsunami that swallowed up his senses.

The two separated and fell into an awkward silence simultaneously.

Zhanlu’s voice came from the cockpit: “Sorry, my mental network only keeps a video recording of everything within the last ten days before they get replaced and deleted, should I keep that last scene in the permanent file?”

This line summoned both of their wandering souls back.

Lu Bixing’s face turned bright red as he cleared his throat and said with a slight stutter: “N-no, thanks…uh…Zhanlu, I need to have some words with him in private.”

“Okay Headmaster Lu,” Zhanlu’s robotic arm swam off obediently and left an extra comment before he disappeared, “you really are much more well-mannered than my master.”

Lu Bixing: “….”

It isn’t really something to be proud of to win against Lin Jingheng in this aspect.

He sat on the ground with one hand still holding gently onto Lin Jingheng’s wrist as he relaxed his legs: “Hey Commander, if I was lucky to not get infected before, then I’m sure I eliminated all possibilities of not contracting the virus just now, right? And if I didn’t contract the virus for reasons other than luck, it’s probably because my body changed back when they were piecing parts together for me and now I can’t contract it, so I wouldn’t need to be quarantined anyway—but either way, you shouldn’t have any more reason to send me off again, right?”

Lin Jingheng was already having trouble breathing; still hot with anger he couldn’t even talk, and let out a violent cough as he choked on his own words.

Lu Bixing sighed and crawled over to lift the cover of the ecopod to let Lin Jingheng be able to at least sit down properly.

And just before Lin Jingheng had a chance to start scolding him, he suddenly raised his arms and gave the man in the ecopod a hug.

Lu Bixing bent down slightly as his arms wrapped around Lin Jingheng’s shoulders. He buried his face into the commander’s shoulders and took in a deep breath as his grip tightened like a snake grabbing onto its prey: “Commander, do you have anything you care about deeply in your life? Anything that you want to protect at all costs? You said that the Eighth Galaxy was a desert land that you could give up whenever necessary, but I don’t think that’s quite right. To you, the Seventh Galaxy, Sixth Galaxy…even the capital planet Wolto, everything is disposable at ‘necessary’ times, right?”

Lin Jingheng was speechless.

“Is there a planet or place in this world that you are deeply connected to, so deep to the point where you can smell the soil of the land in your dreams, somewhere that makes you think that you must return no matter where you wandered to to spend the rest of your life at? Is there anyone…family, friends…even anyone that you crush on or love–I really don’t mind–that still lingers in your heart? Anyone that you will worry about if they are doing okay after you leave, so no matter what you do you will drag yourself back to their side just so you can look at them again?” Lu Bixing slowly shook his head, “There isn’t, is there? Lin, sometimes I just think you got too used to being the commander of the Union; any time you run into problems, you would just casually fulfill your duties and die if you die without any regrets, right? Even someone like my dad placed part of his hope for the end of this restless time onto your shoulders, but he doesn’t know that you actually don’t want to take on this responsibility.”

Lin Jingheng: “I…”

“I’m not done yet,” Lu Bixing cut him off coldly. “Ask questions at the end of the lecture–hey Mister Hero, have you thought about how I would feel if you knocked me out and sent me onto an autopilot mech back? Or am I just a stone-hearted idiot that would find all means to live on in your eyes?”

The corner of Lin Jingheng’s mouth twitched a little.

“Do you think that I was just joking around and finding some pastime when I said that I liked you? That even if I was serious that I’d forget about it in a few days?” Lu Bixing paused and lifted the back of his hand as he placed it against Lin Jingheng’s fevered face. As if he was repeatedly bringing up and swallowing back down his next words multiple times, he stopped for a few moments before slowly saying, “You’re the first person that I’ve known and maintained a relationship with for six years, the person that I’ve gone through life and death situations with, and the first person that I’ve liked this much. Can you get it through your head and look at me…Lin Jingheng, did you know that you’re a heartless piece of garbage?”

The weak are scared of the brave, and the brave are scared of the fearless.

For someone like Lin Jingheng, showing any hints of his likes and preferences was already a rare sight; to be open about his emotions was an even more difficult challenge. For someone like Lu Bixing to be able to bring his heart out without any shame was the ultimate act of fearlessness to Lin Jingheng.

That’s why he couldn’t return a blow and found his armor and weapons completely shattered.

The first time Lu Bixing kissed him, it was just a very quick gloss over his lips. For one, the position had been a bit awkward, but the main reason was because Lu Bixing wasn’t an expert in this field, like a newbie chef who had completely forgotten the menu as he hastily tossed the ingredients into the pan.

He wasn’t sure how the second time happened. It was perhaps due to Lu Bixing’s anger that caused him a shortness of breath for a moment, or perhaps it was a natural response from the intertwining breaths of air and gazes. This time, he was like a clueless cub drawn in by a scent; he circled around the prey he’d never seen before and explored around carefully until he tasted a bit of sweetness, then followed his instinct into a whole new world.

Maybe it was because the ecopod numbed his limbs, maybe it was due to the effects of the mutated Rainbow Virus; Lin Jingheng found it difficult to resist. For the first time since he enlisted in the military, Commander Lin experienced total defeat first-hand.

There was a hard shell inside his chest where he kept all his suppressed emotions and thoughts he was too scared to face locked up, thinking he wouldn’t be affected as long as he pretends it’s not there. After a while, he even forgot he had this locked box inside of him. Yet little did he expect for someone to pull it out so suddenly and spill the contents everywhere; the empty hole in his heart was immediately filled by the person who barged in. The icy door to the castle was like it finally reached its limit and began melting after years of isolation.

“How can this happen?” Commander Lin, who had never before had a route of return nor a person to fight for, was completely stumped as he thought in his head, “this isn’t right.”

Back on Qiming, Weasel had managed to bring back some normal saline with his knowledge of the place and sent a few members of the Self-Defense Squad to deliver the ‘vaccines’ to every family. At the same time, he continued to bluff with the explanation of ‘the original vaccine takes effect too quickly and can cause damage to the human body, so the ones that are being passed around right now were brought back from other galaxies. They are much tamer and less harsh on the body, but for people that have already been infected they may not take effect until at least a week or so later.’

The most effective cure to an uncontrollable society is “hope”; one dosage and the riots outside the hospital all disappeared back to their homes. The residents carefully listened to the viral prevention instructions given to them. The sterilizers that could be incorporated into artificial rain already ran out, so the Silver Ninth Squadron had to resort last minute to a strong oxidant with a powerful stench. They let the self-defense squad, in their isolation clothing, spray the streets from the armed mobiles. For a while, the empty streets began to seem as if order returned.

Saturday disinfected himself inside the sterilization room and took off the isolation suit. He had never been this exhausted in his life, and didn’t even have time to spare to eat as he picked up a nutrient bar to shove in his mouth while leaving the facility.

“Where’s Captain Turan?”

“Down in the prison.”

Saturday nodded a bit and walked quickly down towards the prison cells with a heavy heart.

The situations of quarantine rooms inside the hospital were not looking too optimistic. Residents of Milky Way City were already physically unfit, and the number of deaths within the first 24 hour after the pandemic had already become uncontrollable. If this continued and the news spread, Weasel’s lie would be completely exposed.

A man’s voice rose from not too far away the minute the elevator door opened.

The man sounded a little weak but maintained a peaceful voice: “I’m not lying, Captain. My faith asks me to always maintain honesty no matter whom I face. The organization is doubtful of teaming up with the Glory Troops so I was stationed under Prince Cayley before the war as what you may call a ‘wise man’–not even as a ‘prophet’, because I was virtually sent into exile by them. I have no idea what their military holding is like within the Union nor do I know what happened outside the borders; this is a serious situation that affects lives, all I wanted to do was help.”

Turan revealed her true form; tired of putting on a good-girl facade, she sneered back: “And what do you crazy men of this evil cult know of any serious matter that affects lives? Stop giving me bullshit, if you don’t tell me the truth, I’ll let you taste first-hand the great ten tortures you pirates invented among yourselves!”

Hope let out a small sigh: “The organization had been living outside of the Union’s borders for too long, their faith slowly became tainted as their actions grew more extreme. I’m very upset, but our original doctrine was not like this, Captain; we just want to pave the way for mankind in the future.”

Turan laughed out loud sarcastically.

“A place like Milky Way City where flowers bloom and crops are ripe year-round, where any living being can thrive in its natural environment, only mankind is forced to starve and struggle to survive.” Hope said softly, “Captain, don’t you think this is wrong? I was born to save them from poverty and this hardship, I will not take any human lives lightly—if you have time to interrogate me here, I would suggest you find alternative methods to solve this disaster.”

Saturday’s hasty footsteps stopped.

Hope’s last line was something he’d thought about when he was searching for contractors in the city earlier; the accidentally-connected thoughts resonated against each other, almost urging him to defend Hope in the spur of the moment.

Just then, more sounds of footsteps came up behind him and pulled his attention back to reality. Saturday turned to see Foucault walk up towards him with messy hair reeking of the smell of disinfecting spray, clearly indicating that she just stepped out of the isolation suit. She didn’t even bother with a greeting and asked immediately: “Saturday, did Captain Turan give any orders?”

Saturday quickly responded: “What happened?”

“There’s a man who disguised himselfas a pharmacy nurse to see his child inside the quarantine room–I can’t fucking believe this, there are still human nurses in this damn Milky Way City! The worst part is that child’s already dead. We don’t have the vaccine and the people who were left in quarantine can only wait until they die, and he found out!”

A lie will forever be a lie.

Saturday shivered in fear.

Outside Union territory, the AUS and Freedom Corps were still in the midst of battle. Lu Bixing snuck onto the broadcasting system the Freedom Corps used to threaten the AUS through the hacked internal network.

“This broadcasting system is on the homebase and requires a passcode and identity check to use,” Lu Bixing said, “there sure are quite a few traitors within the AUS, so the Freedom Crops must have a spy in there. They must’ve sent in a bait first to connect with the spy and sent the majority of the AUS fleet off, then brought in their own fleet to take over the headquarters….Okay, I’m going in.”

A technician hiding in the dark is an extremely dangerous enemy; while the two pirate fleets fought desperately in the mess, Lu Bixing had already invited himself right into both sides’ communication systems.