Cat and Rose - Cat & Rose - Chapter 48 - limitless (1)

Chapter 48 – limitless (1)

Ling Yi put away the photo and gazed at the boundless darkness outside the window.

He always possessed a special kind of telepathy when it came to Lin Si, but the moment they entered the subspace, this sense was completely and utterly torn off, just like how the signal of the ship could no longer connect to the Voyagers.

His vision had fogged up slightly. He reached his right hand and pressed it on his chest, feeling his heartbeats, knowing he had forever lost the certain things he had.

The sullen children who ran away from home could always go back if they wanted to, but he could not—this was a voyage where one could only move forwards.

He could die, he could never be able to return, he could be buried on a foreign planet, become dust within the sea of stars, or lose himself within a black hole. If that happened, Lin Si would not be able to see him return.

After a long period of time, he sobered from his trance, lifted his wrist to open his communicator, and saw a few unread messages on the screen.

The sender was Lin Si.

He looked silently at that name for two minutes, then tapped open the message.

Originally, he wanted to leave while Lin Si was still sleeping, so he did not expect he would still see him. The message was very short, and he could even see a mistake in the spelling. Since Lin Si never made mistakes like these, he must have written it in a hurry.

I wanted to ask you why, but couldn’t make it.

Protect the people on the ship, then come back safely.

Take care of yourself.

Ling Yi’s entire body began to tremble. His field of vision swiftly blurred, and tears began to fall in large drops.

He rubbed away the tears that blocked his vision, but new ones only surged out endlessly. His face was cold, and his pretty black hair looked like it had been rained on.

I’m sorry. He replied to Lin Si’s message.

I regret it already. I was wrong.

But I really have to go.

I cried until my hair’s all wet, but you can’t see.

In the subspace with no network, the message failed to deliver. In front of each message, several exclamation marks appeared that pierced his heart..

In his short life up till now, this was the first time he knew of a pain that was akin to a knife being twisted in his heart.

After a very long time, he sealed away all his emotions, washed his face with cold water, then knocked on the door of the master control room.

Slightly surprised, the Colonel asked, “You’re here—is there anything you’re uncomfortable with? Feel free to tell Svena.”

Ling Yi shook his head, his voice very calm. “No, I’m good.”

The Colonel smiled. “Then why have you come to find me?”

After he spoke, the Colonel looked again at Ling Yi’s not-so-great complexion, and said with concern, “Is the taste of homesickness awful?”

Ling Yi nodded.

The Colonel said encouragingly, “It’s okay. Back then, when I left to join the army, I was assigned to the Los Angeles base and could only come home once after more than half a year. I felt awful for a long time too. Everyone’s like that, it’ll get better. In the end, you’re still a kid, so you’ll have to grow up.”

“I know,” said Ling Yi, “I’m here for something else today.”

“Hm?” said the Colonel.

Ling Yi spoke slowly, but his message was clear and concise, “During exploration and voyage, there will be many dangerous missions that can reduce our numbers, but I can do it… I know because of Lin Si, you’ll be concerned over my safety, but Lin Si can’t do anything here, so I hope when there’s a dangerous mission, you can consider me as your priority.”

“No.” The Colonel shook his head firmly. “You’re still too young.”

“I want a rank in the military,” said Ling Yi.

The Colonel looked into his eyes, his expression turning serious.

He could hear it—although Ling Yi’s tone was calm, it was resolute.

The Colonel closed his eyes, as if he was contemplating something. “You’re already an adult. Boys your age should be like this…very good. You’re right, no matter how capable Dr Lin is, he can’t do anything here.”

“I have a certain level of promotional authority. When we’re finished with the mission and return to the base, there will also be official evaluations, as well as awards…” said the Colonel. “I’ll give you a chance.”

“Thanks,” said Ling Yi.

“That sounds a bit wrong.” The Colonel raised his eyebrows. “Since you don’t want to be our darling baby, then from today on, you’ll be my subordinate.”

Ling Yi pondered those words, then gripped his right hand into a fist, placed it on his left shoulder area near his chest to perform the standard Voyager military salute. “Yes, Mr Colonel.”

The Colonel cackled heartily, reached out his fist and bumped it against Ling Yi. “I wish for a bright future ahead of you.”

Ling Yi let out a laugh.

His features were still as pretty as before, accompanied by a distance and mysteriousness that was uncharacteristic of a human. When the corners of his scarlet lips were raised, there was a kind of beauty that made one’s heart and soul tremble, while the expression in his eyes were mild and light, which made the Colonel constantly feel like the Ling Yi today was different from before.

The Expeditioner’s days in the subspace were peaceful and quiet.

Train, rest, mobilise, train, rest.

After most people left, Ling Yi was still at the shooting range.

He closed his eyes, pulling the trigger a dozen or so times consecutively. He did not even show an expression of joy when he saw the bullet holes in the red centre of the target.

The cool light projected the shadow of his side profile on the transparent dividers, the black military uniform cropped out his slender figure, and there was not a string out of place in his outfit. His expression was nearly ice cold, only the soft, black hair that fell on his shoulders revealed some gentleness.

He did not know when, but Lucia had been standing behind him all this time. At this moment she finally opened her mouth. “It’s time for you to rest.”

“Thanks,” he said to Lucia.

A day’s worth of training had been completed. He placed the training equipment back to its original place, thinking about the things he did today—he felt it was satisfactory.

He wanted to grow up in a place without Lin Si, but he wanted to do more than just growing up.

He did not want to rely on Lin Si anymore and even wanted to share burdens with him, so he needed to obtain some kind of authority. And in this current environment, authority was directly related to military ranking, and military rankings were linked with merit. Merit was not handed out on the base, but it could be on the expedition.

When he left the shooting range, he saw another soldier who stayed behind for extra training like he did. His accuracy was not very high, so perhaps to improve these faults was the reason why he gave himself additional training.

Ling Yi walked over.

“The muscle you should contract should be this one, specifically here. That way, your wrist can relax a lot more.” He pressed a certain spot on the soldier’s right arm, his expression sincere as he taught him to release a steady yet quick shot.

The soldier looked at him with gratitude. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Ling Yi smiled. “You’ve actually overtrained yourself a bit. You should rest well.”

The soldier nodded.

Ling Yi returned to his room to wash up and prepare to sleep.

His daily routine was very methodological, and his daily training would be controlled within the limits of how much his body could handle.

Just like the final message Lin Si sent him.

If he could, help out the people on the ship, and take care of himself.

Lastly…complete the mission, and return home.

Before he went to sleep, he took out a pale amber-coloured perfume bottle from the bedside drawer, spraying it once in the air.

The mild, sparse scent of costus root gradually diffused, creating an illusion, as if Lin Si was right here by his side.

As he closed his eyes, he repeated the Colonel’s blessing in his heart: I wish for a bright future ahead of you.

The author has something to say:

Had a day full of classes, so I’m late qwq

On Friday I have an exam on data structure I need to study for =w= So no update tomorrow, I will update on Friday night instead.

Thank you for reading on myeasynovel.com