Can Ci Pin | The Defective

Author: Priest

Ship: Charismatic dumb space baby scientist x Calculating space mafia boss asshole

TL: beans Editor: @alterskyfall, @OSK_spice, @labocat

**PLEASE DO NOT REPOST**

Book 2 - Path of Thorns

Ch 49 - Please, Give Me a Response

Ecopods are as big as an average person, and Lu Bixing’s mech, nowhere near a high-end product, was not particularly large. In the violent storm of a self-destructing heavy mech and asteroid rain, Lu Bixing’s mech was like a tiny squirrel desperately jumping to pick up a pinecone falling off a big tree with its stubby legs.

The aftershock from the high-energy explosion brutally tossed the Ecopod out of range, even managing to rip the capture net of the mech as it came in contact with the pod. At such speeds, Lu Bixing was hesitant to forcefully pull the Ecopod in, and he resorted to closing the distance between himself and the falling Ecopod. Just as Lu Bixing managed to speed up and angle his mech so that its second capture net barely managed to reach Lin’s Ecopod, a remnant piece of debris from the destroyed heavy mech hit the corner of his own mech.

Before checking how much damage the collision had caused, Lu Bixing swiftly set up a communication line using his mech’s internal radio system, attempting to connect directly to the Ecopod.

“Lin, can you hear me? Please choose between losing some weight or dropping some speed here, I can’t hold on anymore!”

Lin didn’t respond, but Zhanlu’s voice reached Lu Bixing’s ears almost immediately after.

Zhanlu greeted him politely: “Good evening Headmaster Lu, it’s a pleasure to see you.”

“The pleasure isn’t mine! You and your master there almost scared me to death!”

“I agree with you, today was absolutely terrible.” In striking contrast to the destructive explosions in the background, Zhanlu’s voice remained calm and steady. “This Ecopod is created from my shapeshifting functionalities and cannot continuously provide proper nutrients and medical care like a proper Ecopod.”

“That’s fine, I have everything here…” Lu Bixing replied.

Zhanlu interrupted before he could finish: “And as a mech core without a mech body in a complete vacuum environment, the protection I can provide my master is equivalent to that of a mech’s built-in shield cover. My current battery power only allows me to maintain this function for three minutes, and we are now entering the countdown for the last minute; 59, 58…”

Lu Bixing yelled from at the top of his lungs: “Zhanlu---!”

Six-million First Galaxy currency a gram, and they’ve only managed to create this hot mess? Those rotten IU politicians, just how many of them were wasting their time sitting in those fancy chairs twirling their fingers?!

Unfortunately, this wasn’t a good time to complain about politics to an AI.

The safety system screamed warnings into Lu Bixing’s ears as he accelerated the mech to its limit. Piloting a small mech at full speed in an asteroid shower meant that if any object, regardless of size, collided with the mech during this time, the impact would be deadly. The force of the collision that would occur at these high speeds would be great enough to blow up the mech along with its pilot almost instantaneously. Yet despite the risks, Lu Bixing charged in with full force like a suicide team and managed to catch up to Lin’s Ecopod. The instant his mech passed by the Ecopod, he turned the mech around and reversed the internal gravity control inside the mech.

Within a split second, all unsecured objects within the mech, including the pilot himself, were thrown to the opposite side from the sudden reversal of gravity. At the same time, the Ecopod outside was pulled in by the gravitational field like dust into a vacuum.

Zhanlu’s countdown had 25 seconds remaining.

A screeching sound echoed throughout the mech as the capture net rubbed awkwardly against the main cargo door while Lu Bixing quickly opened the receiving dock.

However, the Ecopod wasn’t the only thing that the small gravitational field had pulled in. Aside from a few asteroid pieces, a broken cargo door managed to squeeze its way through and tangled itself onto the very inner part of the capture net. Almost maliciously, the cargo door made its way towards the receiving dock before the Ecopod. Lu Bixing was forced to get rid of it using a wave of particle cannon, but this also sent the Ecopod flying off.

15 seconds left in the countdown.

In a cold sweat, Lu Bixing violently pulled the gravitational control back into place, forcefully nullifying the artificial gravitation around the mech, and manually chased down the Ecopod. Amid the asteroids and space debris, Lu Bixing released a final backup capture net that finally landed right on the Ecopod.

Only 10 seconds left.

Lu Bixing fiercely activated the emergency brake on the automated piloting system just as his mech sailed right past the Ecopod. The mech stopped abruptly as the receiving dock reopened, letting the Ecopod slide in as the capture net retrieved its prey.

The dock sealed itself and quickly turned on the air pressure system to adjust the pressure conditions to be suitable for humans, which required exactly ten seconds.

Within those ten seconds, the small mech forced its way out of the self-destruction range of the heavy mech.

Lu Bixing jumped up and ran straight into the receiving chamber.

The door to the receiving chamber clicked to indicate that the air pressure adjustment was complete and slowly slid open. The moment the door opened, Zhanlu’s pseudo-protection system shattered; Zhanlu himself seemed to have used up all his battery power and returned to his default robotic arm form, lying quietly on the side.

Lu Bixing leaned wearily by the door and finally saw the person he had pulled in clearly. His legs felt like jelly as he stumbled over towards the man on the ground. He could feel his hands shaking as he reached out to Lin’s neck to check his pulse. The commander’s head rested gently on Lu Bixing’s hand, almost lifelessly.

“Please respond.” The voice that came out of Lu Bixing’s mouth sounded almost foreign. “Lin, please give me a response!”

It took at least ten long seconds before Lu Bixing finally calmed his shaking hands enough to feel a weak but clear pulse from the other man.

He’s still alive.

The emergency sirens inside Lu Bixing’s head finally stopped. Lu Bixing let out a deep sigh of relief and realized that the side of his hair was completely dripping in cold sweat. He picked Lin up and shoved him inside the medical capsule he summoned earlier. Lin was much lighter than he imagined. When the commander’s body touched his hands, Lu Bixing felt as if the skin that came in contact was as hot as a burning piece of coal.

The medical capsule carefully scanned its patient and gave a report of initial scan results. A flood of words appeared on the screen, making the list look almost like something one would see on the live comment section of a popular idol’s live concert. Among them, phrases like “Rainbow Virus”, “severe dehydration,'' “neurological processing overload” and “gunshot wound” stood out most heavily. It was clear to Lu Bixing that this case was many leagues above what non-medical personnel could handle, so he stepped back and let the automated medical system take care of everything.

This small mech that miraculously survived a life-or-death situation just a moment earlier near the self-destructing heavy mech was now battle-damaged from a number of small asteroids, due to the complete neglect of its pilot. The already damaged shield protection was now completely in shambles, and the collision with the asteroids created some ‘earthquakes’ within the mech.

Lu Bixing chased the medical capsule all the way to the sterilized medical chamber while attempting to regain some control over the rickety mech, letting it quietly orbit in the wasteland of death. The sterilized chamber closed its automatic doors in front of Lu Bixing, leaving only a small window barely large enough for his face to see through from the outside. Yet, even the small window took less than a minute to become completely useless as Lu Bixing’s own breath fogged up the glass.

He put his head down and rested his forehead on the glass window.

Lu Bixing just now realized that his mind that was previously burning with heat was now clouded with exhaustion as if all his sanity had been melted away.

Meanwhile, the IU’s top mech Zhanlu was curled up like a toy the kids from the base would carry around. Looking unbelievably powerless, the bloodstains on Zhanlu’s robotic arm made him look even more lacking aesthetically.

Lu Bixing glanced at him and thought, “What would you have done if I didn’t come?”

Zhanlu can only protect you for three minutes. After three minutes, you would be completely exposed to the space environment with your battle-worn flesh. Maybe you would die from cosmic rays, maybe from asphyxia after a few seconds; it’s been said that when humans are exposed to the harsh conditions of space, their blood vessels and a portion of their cells will burst. If that didn't kill you, the explosion from the heavy mech would evaporate all the water in your body, leaving you to rest forever in the wasteland of death like a lonesome star amongst the countless remnants of extinct comets.

Yet stars can be reborn, but what about you?

Didn’t you say the Ninth Squadron of the Silver Ten was just outside the periphery? Didn’t you plan out your every move down to the finest detail? Weren’t you going to use that garbage base as bait and destroy the Cayley pirates? Shouldn’t you be resummoning the Silver Ten, climbing up the ladder of bloodshed and corpses of your enemies, descending into the purgatory that is the IU right now like a savior to write a new heroic chapter for history?

The medical equipment continued to mechanically operate on an unconscious Lin Jingheng inside the chamber. Lu Bixing wiped off the fog on the glass window. As if desperately checking for something, he stared piercingly at the displayed vital signs and mumbled: “Why do you always need to put on such a strong facade?”

Lin Jingheng’s whole body ached.

The last gunshot on the heavy mech pierced right through his lower abdomen, and because the emergency ecopod-replacement Zhanlu formed lacked the anti-turbulence and balancing system a real ecopod would be equipped with, Lin lost consciousness the moment he was knocked off the heavy mech. However, the high fever and constant state of high alert kept his muscles tense and unable to fully relax, allowing delusions and dreams to invade his restless sleep.

Lin dreamed of a time when he was still a young boy in the Lu household.

Much of Lin Jingheng’s childhood was actually spent outside of the Lu household. He spent most of his early childhood following Lu Xin around his fleet, and when he enrolled in the Black Orchid Academy at age 14, school kept him in his dorm the majority of time during the year. Only during winter and summer breaks would he return to Lu Xin’s house for a few days like a guest.

Lin was never really fond of staying in Lu Xin’s house. The Lu household was large and busy; aside from the late commander himself, his vice admiral, secretary and sometimes even the entire fleet would walk in and out of this house like it was their own property. In fact, many of Lu Xin’s subordinates had their own permanent rooms in the commander’s house, and Madame Lu would sometimes bring her students back home as well. It was almost like a constant stream of random tourists visiting a popular tourist spot. Teenage Lin was a stingy and antisocial young man that preferred quiet times by himself, and he would often wish that he was deaf to this noisy environment.

Yet, all these things he despised as a child were now everything that he could no longer hope to reattain.

Lin was vaguely aware that he was dreaming, but the Lu household in his dream also felt a little too real. He looks down at his own hands; clean, long, and soft just like a young boy’s hand. These were the hands of a child that has yet to mingle with the cold and harsh winds of politics.

He hears a voice somewhere nearby and instinctively turns around to hide under a tree. Lin sees someone toss a pinecone down at him from the tree above, and catches it without lifting his head. “What are you doing?”

Commander Lu Xin is standing above him, sleeves all rolled up while leading a bunch of gardening robots to trim the tree leaves. Gardening robots all have a complete set of programs coded into their system with an exact plan of the entire garden; they are completely capable of finishing their tasks on their own, but of course, this manchild of a commander decides to come to join in the fun and mess with the robots.

“Don’t trim the branches on the top...hey, don’t give me that standard height thing, I’m the standard here!” Lu Xin complains to the robots as he pulls himself up the tree. He turns to Lin with a smile as he rests an arm against a thick tree branch and asks, “Do you like kids?”

“No.” Lin Jinheng answers with a straight face.

“Wow, so alienated.” Lu Xin says. “Listen here, a household needs to feel like a home, you gotta have some life around here...a kid, a pet, something. Imagine a few little things running around the house and playing with you, what’s wrong with having a little fun?”

15-year-old Lin Jingheng thinks the entire world is filled with idiots and has absolutely no interest in playing with children. He gives Lu Xin a sarcastic smile as he takes out a pair of noise-canceling airpods from his pocket. The rebellious teenager manually blocks off this rowdy commander, taking a seat under the tree and begins to flip through his copy of “Classic Military Strategy Analysis”.

The next moment, Lu Xin jumps to the ground like an excitable monkey and pulls the airpods out of Lin’s ears. Before Lin could complain, Lu Xin wraps his arms around the teenage boy’s slender shoulders and playfully whispers: “Your adoptive mother didn’t want kids before so I couldn’t even bring it up to her, thank god we have you now!”

Lin Jingheng responds insincerely, “It’s my pleasure to be your entertainment.”

“Thank goodness for your little shit attitude.” Lu Xin joyfully gives him a pat on the back. “When you first came, you were just a quiet and pretty little thing, your new mother grew fond of you almost right away. Except who knew you were such a cold little animal that couldn’t even warm up to her after so many years…”

Madame Lu was a gentle and reserved woman. She was a well-mannered but not enthusiastic person, leaving her relationship with Lin Jingheng as only adequately cordial. As a mature child, Lin Jingheng always thought of himself as a burden that Lu Xin brought home on a whim. He was constantly worried about causing trouble and consciously avoided bothering Madame Lu as much as possible.

With this shocking news from Lu Xin, the teenager blanks out in surprise. “So she doesn’t actually hate me?” he thinks.

This sudden revelation makes him a little uneasy. Lin feels like a caged animal with all the uninvited attention and sits restlessly under the tree.

Lu Xin, who is denser than all the solids in the First Galaxy compressed, doesn’t catch the subtle change in Lin’s demeanor. He pulls the boy closer and ruffles his hair zealously. “I told her yesterday that this little brick wouldn’t be warming up anytime soon, so we might as well bear our own little one to raise. And guess what? She didn’t object! If she doesn’t object that means she gave her silent approval, my boy! You’re going to have a little sibling!”

Lin Jingheng raises an arm to save his head from the overly excited gorilla.

“Oh? Are we getting a little jealous here?” Lu Xin grins back at him. “Don’t worry, you’ll still be daddy’s favorite even if we get a smaller one.”

Lin Jingheng stands up and gives him a blank stare. “Leave me alone.”

“Hey, jealousy isn’t cool!” Lu Xin calls toward Lin’s reddening ears. “Let me tell you, having a little one to call you big brother is a great feeling! They’ll follow you around like baby chicks, and they’re unbelievably gullible. Tell them anything and they’ll take it as the gospel...just like how you were when you were a kid! Hahaha….”

“Stop bothering me!”

Lu Xin’s laughter slowly fades into the distance as Lin turns his back and walks away. That laughter passes through time and memories, into the ears of Lin Jingheng many years later. Lin abruptly turns around only to see the once beautiful flower garden of the Lu household disappearing into stardust in the distance, and the familiar scenery shatters in his consciousness. He’s left with an exhausted and battered body from the violent winds of the world, but those strong hands that once wrapped passionately around his shoulders have already vanished into the fleeting tales of the past.

Sharp stinging pain in the head woke Lin Jingheng up. The sting was immediately followed by an indescribable feeling of dizziness, which made Lin subconsciously attempt to grab hold of something. Lin vaguely felt something beside him, and instinctively moved his head over to knock into something and relieve some after-effects of mental processing overload.

Yet instead of the anticipated pain, Lin’s head hit someone else’s hand. Lin’s head rested briefly on the palm of the hand before the person carefully brushed his sweat-drenched hair to the side and laid his head back in place. “Shh...just hold on a little longer, you’ll be better after a good rest. Don’t worry, I’m here...give him a shot of sedative please.”

Lin Jingheng opened his mouth in an attempt to protest that he had a tolerance to medicines like sedatives and hypnotics, but the syringe had already made its way in before he could actually complain.

He barely managed to force his eyes open a little, and hazily saw a familiar figure that looked almost like Lu Bixing.

Lin half-consciously thought: “Is this a continuation of the dream? First, the dad appears in this dream; now it’s the son.”

Lin knew the person was saying something beside him but couldn’t manage to decipher any words. He only felt the person’s warm hands carefully pressing on his temples and forehead, until his eyelids finally closed.

Lu Bixing was holding him down steadily beside the medical capsule. His hands remained on Lin’s forehead until he felt the breathing slowly become steadier, and finally, he let out a relieved sigh. Lin's fever had broken at last.

The bloodstains on Lin had already been cleaned since his condition had stabilized. Lin was finally out like a light, so still, that one could almost see the rhythmic pulse of his veins being injected with the IV. Lu Bixing wiped off the sweat on his forehead and blankly stared at the man inside the medical capsule for a short while. He caught himself almost immediately and awkwardly shifted his gaze before he started mumbling to himself, “Just how did you manage to turn yourself into this mess?”

Of course, Lin Jingheng wouldn’t answer.

So, Lu Bixing sneakily turned around and gently poked his temple. “Hey,” he called out.

Lin Jingheng’s head turned slightly in the direction of Lu Bixing’s finger. From the side of his pale face, Lin looked almost unhealthily thin. The small dry cracks on his lips and tightened brows even made him look surprisingly fragile for once.

Lu Bixing felt his heart pound heavily a few times, leaving the poor mech that barely made it outside of the asteroid region squirming a bit. He dumbly pulled Lin’s face back in place and accidentally brushed his finger against Lin Jingheng’s lips. Lu Bixing jolted instantly like a cat that had stepped on an electrical switch. He almost wanted to physically jump from his spot and run back as far as he could. Freaking out for a moment, Lu Bixing tried to explain to an unconscious man: “I...I wasn’t taking advantage of you okay, it was an accident.”

The tiny screen on the medical capsule monitoring the patient’s brainwaves didn’t seem too entertained by the young scientist’s ad-lib performance and displayed a line indicating that the patient was currently in a comatose state.

Scientist Mr. Lu found himself walking in circles on the side while he attempted to find a solution to this unexplainable condition of his racing heart. Unfortunately, he had no prior experience to reference to solve this problem and finally decided to give in to the scientific method like a true scholar. This genius of a scientist turned his head to an empty medical capsule and said: “Scan my current hormone levels.”

The medical capsule sent out a long probing needle and mercilessly poked into his veins. When the scanning results for an abnormally high level of phenethylamine showed up on the screen, the medical instrument shamelessly asked, “Have you consumed any medication?”

Lu Bixing stiffened up on spot: “...No, I’m not high.”

Dopamine, oxytocin, noradrenaline...scan results began popping up one by one following the initial questioning. Both science and his own endocrine system were telling Lu Bixing that his body was releasing massive amounts of hormones thanks to another unconscious man inside this mech.

Lu Bixing covered his eyes in shame.

A feeling unknown to him for more than 30 years had been solved by a random medical machine. Suddenly it was as if his whole life had an answer, and he was overwhelmed by this newfound revelation. Lu Bixing couldn’t even bring himself to look at Lin Jingheng anymore and ran straight out of the medical chamber.

Lin Jingheng woke up 12 hours later. He was able to tell from the lack of response in his head that his connection with Zhanlu had already been cut off, and that he was laying inside a medical capsule. The wounds on his body had all been treated, and his skin felt clear of wet blood. He even noticed that someone draped a thin blanket over him.

He only remembered that he was knocked out by the self-destructing heavy mech. Who could have possibly picked him up in that situation? Independent pirates?

Lin Jingheng stretched out his arms and legs before pulling out the IV. He carefully tried examining the network within the mech and was able to conclude that the pilot’s psychological state wasn’t completely stable. The connection strength fluctuates, which would make it easy for him to gain control if he desired...However, this could also be another trap.

Lin Jingheng didn’t jump right into the action. Instead, he grabbed the neatly folded clothes beside him and checked them thoroughly to make sure they weren’t bugged before tossing them onto himself.

He cautiously pushed open the door of the medical chamber, finally seeing that ‘mentally unstable pilot’.

The mech wasn’t very big. While still in contact with the mental network, Lu Bixing could sense any little thing happening within the mech. He already knew that Lin Jingheng woke up the moment Lin opened his eyes. In the short span of a few minutes, Lu Bixing’s hands were already drenched in cold sweat. Yet he still attempted to put on a surprised look and greet Lin casually: “Finally awake, huh, how do you feel? Zhanlu’s out of battery and the backup energy on this mech is probably not enough to power him; it looks like he’s going to have to wait until we get back to the base before he can wake up.”

Lin Jingheng was completely taken by surprise; he thought he was hallucinating from sleeping too long, and dumbly asked: “How did you get here?”

“Beijing lost signal on the positioning system, so I came out to find you and just happened to see you bomb the transfer portal.” Lu Bixing’s expression cooled down as he continued. “Lin, I think we need to talk. How could you…”

Lin felt a vein jumping on his forehead and interrupted him: “So you said you detected the energy wave caused by the explosion of the transfer portal, and then decide to come out and find me?”

“I saw…” Lu Bixing said.

Lin suddenly felt as if his blood was boiling from fury: “You entered the wasteland of death and made at least one transfer in the wasteland!?”

Ch 50 - Lin Jingheng is Absolutely Terrified of Him

“Who gave you permission to come out here?” Despite making an effort to keep his voice calm, Lin’s outrage was more than obvious from his tone. “Why are you wasting your time locating me instead of training your circus back at the base?”

This question hit the bull’s eye, leaving Lu Bixing completely speechless.

“Do you not know what the ‘wasteland of death’ is? And how dangerous it is to make an emergency transfer in that place? You saw all the remains of dead mechs and didn’t even think about how there could be pirates ahead of you? And yet you decide to fly out here with this piece of…” Lin slammed his hand onto the wall of the mech furiously. The poor mech vibrated in shock from the sudden attack and responded weakly with a hiccup.

Lin Jingheng then remembered that this foolhardy man in front of him also had a history of injecting dangerous biochips into his own body and grew even more agitated to the point he could almost feel his veins pop.

“How reckless can you be!?”

“...” Lu Bixing went silent.

He didn’t even get the chance to speak and the man before him had already stolen his lines. Unable to respond, Lu Bixing could only nod and listen to this scolding.

The urge to give Lu Bixing a beating was strong, but the young scientist was already far past the age of being treated as a child. Lin Jingheng reluctantly swallowed up his anger.

In less than a month, Commander Lin had already forced himself to resist the urge to punch Lu Bixing twice. After a bitter taste of internal backlash from repressed frustration, Lin turned to Lu Bixing and announced coldly, “Step aside, let me take charge of the mental network.”

Finally catching an opportunity to speak, Lu Bixing shot him a gentle smile and said, “Let’s see you try.”

A handful of robotic arms reached out from the medical chamber just as Lu Bixing spoke and firmly grabbed onto Lin Jingheng’s limbs. Staying in the void of outer space for long periods of time can often take a toll on a person’s psychological stability, making restraining equipment a standard amenity in all mechs. The built-in restraining system in a mech was strong enough to hold down the force of multiple adult gorillas and was all under the pilot’s control.

Lin Jingheng was the speechless one this time: “...”

He’s getting more rebellious!

“Mhmm.” Lu Bixing casually strolled over as he commanded the restraining system to pull this troublesome patient back into his medical capsule. He leaned in beside Lin Jingheng’s ear, and snobbishly said, “I’ve heard the damage caused by involuntary disconnection from the metal network is pretty intense. Neurological shock is considered a lighter consequence, but sometimes a pilot can die from brain damage if the resistance is too strong. You know I’ve never really personally experienced it, is this true? Hey commander, would you like to demonstrate for me?”

Lin Jingheng snapped, “Lu. Bi. Xing…!”

“Hm?” Completely unfazed, Lu Bixing ordered a cup of water from the medical bots and sat himself down next to Lin Jingheng. He gulped down the water as if he were preparing for another long lecture in school and began: “You know, commander, I’ve noticed that you’re an extremely unreasonable person. That’s not good. People always say you shouldn’t waste your time talking to a brick wall, but I disagree. That sounds like some outdated feudalism bias. Look, this poor mech doesn’t have much fuel left and we have a few more days on the clock before we can return to the base at this rate, so why don’t we spend some quality time and talk things out?”

Lin Jingheng had never felt this furious in his life.

“Let me go, you really think I’ll just sit around quietly and let you do whatever you want?!”

Although Headmaster Lu’s personal understanding regarding this issue of the commander having a crush on himself deviated slightly from the truth, it was surprisingly not too far off. Lu Bixing remained completely undaunted by this threat; in fact, he even found himself holding his hand out and welcoming this bluff: “Oh no I’m so scared, what are you going to do? Come at me!”

Lin Jingheng: “......”

Cute little baby chick my ass, mister all-talk and good-for-nothing ex-commander of the IU; you really can’t trust anything Lu Xin says. Are you seeing what kind of disaster you left behind, Commander Lu?

Lu Bixing sat up and prepared himself for another long speech: “So we can start by discussing the phenomenon of stubbornness, then to the nature of this specific trait of yours…”

“Leave!” Lin Jingheng hissed in opposition.

“That I can’t do, I’ll leave after I finish talking.” Fortunately, Lu Bixing had developed incredible patience from dealing with problematic students daily in the past and started pulling out receipts at the agitated commander. “Let me ask you, Lin. Beijing was still within our internal network range when you first detected those space pirates, so why didn’t you send a message back to the base?”

Of course, Lin Jingheng wasn’t going to answer like a good student, so he gave this uninvited lecturer a small snort instead.

Lu Bixing continued, “That’s because you don’t trust us. Not me, not anyone at the base. You think it’s pointless to tell us because we’re powerless against those pirates and are weak enough to scare ourselves to death. That’s why you decided to go in and handle everything on your own, right? But have you thought of why you were willing to risk your life on your own to protect these hopeless low-lives?”

“Venturing off to beat up a space pirate count as risking my life? I just can’t stand that dude, so I took him out while I was at it. Don’t bring this up in the future; it’s almost embarrassing.” Lin Jingheng sneered back. He then paused and took a deep breath before pulling up the most self-restraint in his life to say: “If you let go of my restraints, I can pretend none of this happened.”

Lu Bixing cooly responded: “Thanks handsome, but you’re better off laying down and reflecting on yourself and your actions.”

Lin Jingheng: “.........”

“So you ‘just happened’ to catch a high fever while being severely dehydrated, and ‘just happened’ to accidentally turn yourself into a floating corpse in outer space.” Lu Bixing said. “Oh right, and you just happened to turn yourself into a skeleton with a muscle tissue solvent, did you also plan on casually sending yourself to the afterlife in your flawless strategy? Look at this impressive list of personal achievements in such a short span of time, and you have the guts to snap at me by telling me exactly what I was going to say to you? We say that a guilty conscience needs no accuser, but Mister Lin Jingheng, you’ve completed redefined this phrase and ascended to another plane. You’re a living miracle in that sense, you know that?”

Lin Jingheng closed his eyes and turned selectively deaf. He started distracting himself by picturing different ways he could beat up this little shit in his mind to ease his anger. Yet Lin’s silent protest wasn’t exactly working. Unfortunately for him, Lu Bixing was a professional at talking to walls. He’s dealt with so many uncooperative kids in the past that he knew exactly how to deal with Lin Jingheng; Lu Bixing almost had this skill mastered to a form of art, he could somehow find ways to talk for hours without getting irritable regardless of whether or not he received a response from the other party.

In the end, he managed to physically talk Lin Jingheng back to sleep.

Finally, Lu Bixing finished talking and carefully released the medical restraints. He leaned over and thoroughly checked Lin’s wrists and ankles, then relaxed a little when he saw that Lin didn’t attempt to forcefully break the restraints. Lin Jingheng wasn’t someone that would waste energy on pointless things.

Lu Bixing rested his forehead in his hands and took a deep breath.

This is so agitating. He thought.

So much that even I was running on adrenaline.

But thank goodness this man was unbelievably absurd in completely weird ways, otherwise, Lu Bixing wouldn’t know how to face him.

Ever since he was born, Lu Bixing had spent most of his time fighting against fate and the world. When other people were just learning the sweet taste of first love, he was struggling to learn how to walk. While others were living happily in the lucid dream that is the mortal world, he was yearning to leave the atmosphere from the bottom of his heart.

Time was invaluable to Lu Bixing, so he was always running, never stopping to look at the world around him. Lin Jingheng was the first person in his 30-year life that tingled his otherwise uninterested heart, and the only person he truly became close with.

Lu Bixing turned his gaze back down to Lin Jingheng and cooled his head when he recalled the numerous wounds and scars under that thin shirt. A new feeling of countless unexplainable emotions resurfaced as he looked into the other man’s face, and Lu Bixing thought to himself: How am I supposed to face you?

After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, Lu Bixing’s repressed curiosity overtook his conscience. As if trying to touch a deadly flytrap, Lu Bixing slowly reached down to hold Lin’s hand.

This hand was cold but also stiff. Even though it was relaxed, Lu Bixing could still feel the rigid bones of each joint. There were still some wounds and scars in the palm of his hand and some rough calluses near the tips of his fingers, yet despite these, Lin’s hand was unmarried and kept clean.

Lu Bixing lightly held onto Lin’s hand for a little while before closing his eyes to savor the feeling. He could clearly feel at the moment their hands touched that a mysterious force of energy was making his blood boil, making him feel the heat all the way up to his chest. Lu Bixing suddenly jolted back to his senses and grabbed another cup of water to calm himself back down.

He stood up and took a few strolls around the capsule until he managed to mentally stabilize himself. Lu Bixing then pulled up the ship’s log from his personal device and started recording this newfound ‘mysterious experience’ in his journal as if he were writing a scientific report. At the end of the report, he added in a few subjective lines about his own thoughts regarding this experience:

“Physically I was just sitting there, but psychologically I felt as if my consciousness left my body and danced around the mech multiple times already. The heat in my chest kept stimulating my endocrine system, and it’s like I breathed in too much laughing gas; even breathing makes me want to smile.”

“Are human relationships always so tricky and full of afterthoughts? Unfortunately, social etiquette among grown adults requires people to maintain a comfortable distance with each other unless they are in a mutually special relationship, making this difficult to test. Randomly picking up and caressing another person’s hand sounds like something a pervert would do, but I can’t find any controlled group experiments to draw references from.”

“What else can you feel when you’re in love?”

Yet this ‘love’ of his has a notoriously bad temper. When Lin Jingheng woke up the next day, a cold war began.

Lin Jingheng’s physical condition was top-notch; within 48 hours, whether it was the rainbow virus or the tissue dissolvents, everything had completely metabolized out of his system. Two days of deep sleep also completely wore off the after-effects of processing overload; Lin Jingheng was almost ready to beat up two more Primal Aliens.

Lu Bixing had no more excuses to keep Lin inside the medical chamber, but fortunately still had many tricks up his sleeves to deal with this erratic commander.

For the record, a pilot’s authority in a mech is unyielding, especially inside a small mech.

The minute Lin stepped out of the medical chamber, the entire mech was already filled with announcements personally recorded by Headmaster Lu himself on Interstellar Transportation Safety.

When Lin sat down, he would find a tiny speaker slowly creeping up behind his chair; when he was standing by the wall, another speaker would drop down from the ceiling; anywhere he went, Headmaster Lu’s voice would follow him around like a pestering fly.

When the commander finally reached his limit and pulled up a pair of noise-canceling headphones from his personal device, he found himself completely defeated when a certain familiar voice greeted him gleefully from his own headphones: “Good morning, Lin! Sorry but I hijacked all electronics within this mech except Zhanlu, and that includes your personal device too. All hail the greatness of science! Now, let me play the newest edition of the Interstellar Transportation Safety Guide in audiobook format, Section 1…”

Lin Jingheng: “............”

These pranks are getting way too creative!

Lu Bixing feared getting hit and hid in the small cafeteria on the second floor while constantly monitoring Lin through the mental network in secret.

At the same moment, the automated navigation system indicated that they were now entering the terminal back to the base and had successfully reconnected to the internal network. Lu Bixing didn’t have time to relax as he saw a flood of messages pop up the moment their connection was back; Monoeye Hawk, knocked out a day before, had woken up to see that his son ran out. Thinking that the little rascal went out and eloped with a certain someone, he swelled into a pufferfish and wrote a 10,000-word complaint filled with artistic curses.

Lu Bixing frantically closed his inbox to realize he somehow lost track of Lin within the short time he was distracted. He quickly scanned through the engine room, bedroom, medical chamber...and even shot a glance inside the restroom but didn’t see Lin anywhere. He freaked out at the thought of Lin jumping out the mech to escape his pestering and jumped out from his hiding spot to look for his commander.

The moment he opened the door, Lu Bixing felt a hard grip on his shoulder. A strong force locked his arms behind him before he could turn around and pushed his entire body against the door.

Lu Bixing immediately raised a white flag: “Okay I give up, I give up! Human civilization is at its peak in the New Sidereal Century my friend, you can’t just rely on violence as a solution to every-...uh…”

“You better shut up.” Lin Jingheng commanded.

Lu Bixing closed his mouth and turned his head back to give Lin a bright smile.

“One more word from you,” Lin Jingheng pressed him down harder and leaned closer in by Lu Bixing’s ear. “And I will make sure they become your last words.”

“I’ll say it even if it becomes my last words.” Lu Bixing’s expression suddenly dropped. He looked sincerely into Lin Jingheng’s eyes. “Lin, I’ve been worried about you ever since I got the news that Planet Egret had been destroyed. I was so worried that I couldn’t sit still and had to find you the moment the high-energy particle waves passed. When I saw the leftovers of the transport portal and the countless shattered spaceship, I had the mech scan for remnants of Beijing and its communication portal. Do you have any idea how I felt at that time?”

The sudden change in tone managed to catch Lin Jingheng off-guard.

Lu Bixing continued softly: “I’ve never experienced that kind of nightmare. Have you ever thought that you could make the people that care about you worry?”

Lin Jingheng loosened his grip at these words.

“Maybe it’s because I’ve been connected to the network the past two days, but I haven’t been able to sleep well lately. I had a dream last night that the capture net ripped, and I wasn’t able to bring you back. I knew that Zhanlu could only last a few more seconds, but no matter how hard I tried I just couldn’t catch up to you.” Lu Bixing turned around and carefully adjusted his clothing. He held his hand out as if he were about to spill his whole heart out.

Lin Jingheng subconsciously took a step back.

“I’m not saying these things to scold you, I just wanted you to know how I felt. My heart hurts.”

A split second of shock appeared on Lin’s face but was quickly wiped away as Lin intentionally covered it up. He turned around and left without a word, walking faster than if he were running away from a massacre.

Lu Bixing kept his stance and watched Lin JIngheng leave with the same kind of shock, thinking to himself: “And he just retreated like this? I haven’t even gotten to the most important lines yet.”

Self-proclaimed scientist Mr. Lu is quick to write up a second report: “I just realized he’s a very passive person and never looks at his true feelings. Of course, that means he’s also much worse at expressing them. Despite that, he’s surprisingly easy to get along, and once you know his weakness, you can determine which of his threats are fake.”

According to his observations and logical deductions, Mr. Lu is convinced that he is the sole weakness of Commander Lin. Suddenly Lin JIngeheng’s threats just sounded like scolds to a child, and Lu Bixing grew more fearless now that he had a solid plan to deal with this man. And experimental results did prove that Lin Jingheng indeed would not actually do anything to harm him. Lu Bixing secretly calculated that the most violent confrontation he experienced from Lin was less than 100 Newtons in force; to an average adult man, it was clearly nothing more than some friendly hitting.

At the end, Lin JIngheng grew almost fearful of him.

With Zhanlu completely useless in hibernation mode and inside a mech piloted by Lu Bixing, there was no room left for Lin Jingeheng to be alone. Lu Bixing was literally everywhere he went, and for the first time ever Lin Jingheng desperately wanted to return to that garbage base. When he heard that the network could finally see the base from their location, Lin Jingheng at long last let out a sigh of relief.

“Look!” Lu Bixing suddenly jumped out from the back and grabbed onto Lin’s shoulders to drag him to the window.

Lin was in the middle of rehabilitation training. Even though the solvents had completely left his body, the effects of artificially dissolving muscle tissue still required him to rebuild his strength manually. He had just finished a session and was drenched in sweat. Lin Jingheng already disliked physical contact, and instinctively stepped away as Lu Bixing invaded his personal space.

Lu Bixing glued himself to Lin Jingheng and lowered his head down to sniff at Lin’s neck. “You’re fine, there’s not much sweat and it doesn’t smell. By the way, why did you turn down the temperature in the training room again? Isn’t it cold?”

Lin Jingheng could feel his skin start to get goosebumps and he shoved Lu Bixing away. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Don’t you know it’s not good to work out in a cold room? “Lu Bixing looked at him innocently. “Oh well, I’m not here to scold you today. Here, take a look outside!”

At a distance that was visible to the human eye, a line of mechs was circling around the base. They all continuously accelerated and decelerated in an orderly fashion, forming a small phalanx in space.

Lu Bixing giddily turned on communication and Saturday’s face popped up immediately on the screen.

“Oh, you’re ba-” Saturday was at first filled with excitement before shifting to a more serious expression when he saw Lin Jingheng standing not too far behind Lu Bixing. “We’re in the middle of training right now. All the pilots that joined in the building of the stellar protection system have officially enlisted in the Self-Defense Squad. We’ve been getting more and more enlistments every day since then, we’re almost out of mechs for everyone so we’re taking turns to train!”

Lin Jingheng raised an eyebrow.

“We can protect our home!” Saturday exclaimed.

Ch 51 - Era of the New Sidereal Calendar

Social status and a proper governing system were completely nonexistent in the past; to the residents of the Old Fart’s space station, they were just lackeys that followed their boss around like a street gang ready to pick a fight. But even among a group of delinquents, at least one person would have the ambition to move up the social ladder and seize any opportunity to open a new path for everyone.

In the beginning, Saturday was just dragging along a bunch of his own lackeys to help Lu Bixing fix the main power source of the base. Now, even though he was just striking the iron while it’s still hot, he had somehow managed to build a real Self-Defense Squad.

It took a total of one week for Lu Bixing to return to the base with Lin due to the lack of fuel on their way back. During this week, Saturday assigned roles and ranks within his team of newly enlisted soldiers and even compiled a Self-Defense Force Regulations Manual with the help of Headmaster Lu’s four students.

With a solid structure and framework of operation, the Self-Defense Squad was starting to look a little more cohesive.

Despite all their efforts, however, this newly formed Self-Defense Squad was still nothing more than a group of kids playing war games in their backyard in the eyes of Commander Lin. They say unity is strength, but even ants can build an impressive underground fortress out of sand with their sheer amount of power. Lin Jingheng felt like a microbiologist looking at them through a microscope; while the feat was impressive, nothing could guarantee that this fortress they built from scraps and dirt would be able to withstand a real storm.

“We train for six hours a day, starting with the basics of mech piloting and fixed-point patrols. We’re not that experienced with this, so any advice on what we should do next would be appreciated!” Saturday said enthusiastically to Lu Bixing as he entered the mech station with his team of trainees. Perhaps Saturday had gained some confidence after recently being appointed captain of the Self-Defense Squad, or perhaps he had heard too much gossip, but even the cold Commander Lin suddenly became a little bit less distant in his eyes. Saturday mustered up his courage and initiated a conversation: “Commander Lin, did your...uh, that fortress thing...do the same kind of training back then?”

Lin's stoic reply came while carrying Zhanlu: “No, professional galactic soldiers of the IU don’t do training for individual tasks. The Security Commission of the IU Council required all soldiers of the IU undergo non-specified training at least ten hours a day.”

“No-non specified…?” Saturday looked at him dumbly. “Does that mean they can totally just slack off in training?”

“Maybe.” Lin Jingheng responded coolly. “At least, I believe they slacked off more than just a little, otherwise they wouldn't have been so weak and useless.”

Lu Bixing took the chance to ask: “What about the Silver Ten? Do they follow the standard training requirements?”

“No. The Silver Ten has a total of 6 hours of sleeping time and 3 hours max reserved for meal breaks, internal affairs and repair or maintenance. Aside from special circumstances, we don’t get that much free time.” Lin Jingheng walked past the two without batting an eye towards the Executive Building. “Besides, it’s not like those space pirates rest either.”

Lin Jingheng’s words were meant to discourage Saturday from attempting the impossible.

Compared to the well-off families in the First Galaxy that could afford to send their kids off for proper military training at a young age, these congenitally defective bean sprouts of the Eighth Galaxy are in no shape to call themselves a legitimate military unit. They really think they can become heroes overnight just by coming up with some cool catchphrases and putting on a cape; what kind of joke is this?

Out of consideration for Lu Bixing’s friend, Lin purposely shot them down in a more roundabout way to avoid hurting some fragile feelings. Unfortunately, Saturday was not familiar with this unique Woltorian way of speech and started calculating these times on his own personal device.

“Hey, did you get that?” Lu Bixing nudged him.

“I think…he meant that we’re not training enough?” Saturday responded dubiously.

In more regrettable news, Lu Bixing also completely misinterpreted the commander’s words: “What he’s saying is, if you guys can train up to the standards of the Silver Ten he’ll personally train your squad. Have you ever heard of the Silver Ten?”

Saturday shook his head.

Lu Bixing continued: “The Silver Ten are the real elites of the IU. Back before they disbanded, they were the powerhouse of the Silver Fortress. Space pirates wouldn’t even dare step inside the eight galaxies because of them. They’ve never lost a single battle and were known as the ultimate guardians of the eight galaxies...so, what do you say?”

Saturday’s eyes brightened at every word that came out of him.

Lu Bixing leaned in closer to Saturday, and in a tone that sounded no different than a shady missionary of a cult, he whispered: “Do you want to become the new Silver Ten?”

Saturday almost found himself saying yes, but then collected his senses. “But...but we’re just a bunch of outlaws.”

“No buts.” Lu Bixing’s expression hardened. “Haven’t you ever heard of that ancient saying? ‘Real men don’t turn back.’ Keep moving forward. If the IU says you’re trash, does that mean you’re trash? Look at Wolto right now, it’s completely beaten up, why are you still hung up on those outdated social values?”

Saturday, inspired by this pep talk, ran off energetically as if he had injected steroids. High on adrenaline, he even forgot to ask why the Old Fart didn’t come back with Commander Lin.

Pleased by his successful marketing, Lu Bixing strolled behind him for a few steps. As Saturday’s silhouette began to disappear, Lu Bixing slowly picked up his own pace and rushed excitedly to find Lin Jingheng.

Lin Jingheng felt like some weird greater power had been messing with his luck lately. He had barely managed to escape the endless chatterbox from the exhausting journey back to the station, and now he found himself being greeted by a visibly displeased Monoeye Hawk near the Executive building.

The bird boy on a pirate ship, the Nuwa Project, and Lu Bixing’s bizarre genetic profile...Lin Jingheng had too many questions. Upon seeing Monoeye Hawk, he hurriedly called him over: “Perfect timing old man, I need to speak to…”

“I have nothing to talk to you about!” The hotheaded Monoeye Hawk didn’t even let the other man finish. “Little bastard, I knew you were shameless before but I can’t believe I underestimated just how shameless you could be!”

Lin Jingheng looked baffled: “What now, did I step on your tail while I was sleepwalking?”

Monoeye Hawk howled: “I’ll never let you have my son; I swear you better give up for good!”

Regarding Lu Bixing’s true identity, the two of them had already come to a silent agreement on how to handle the information. Lin Jingheng wasn’t sure what got to this old feline that made him bring up this issue again but couldn’t be bothered to find out, so he just sneered back: “And what makes you think you can tell me what to do?”

Lu Bixing overheard the two bickering again from behind and dashed over to break up the commotion: “Dad, he’s already exhausted from this trip, let him rest!”

Monoeye Hawk: “...”

Lin Jingheng could feel that he was reaching his limit. One more word from Lu Bixing and his head might physically explode. He quickly ran off, not forgetting to leave the angry parent a parting line before he disappeared into the building: “You should keep a better eye on ‘your son’.”

To Monoeye Hawk, this was a direct provocation. “I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” he yelled back.

Lin Jingheng hummed back airily as he stepped into the elevator, not taking any of the threats to heart. The two somehow managed to bicker despite being on completely different wavelengths, successfully deepening the misunderstanding between them.

Lu Bixing saw that Lin ran off faster than a jackrabbit, leaving him in the lobby with his own dad ready to hand him a bloody scolding. Sensing that it wasn’t a good idea to stick around, Lu Bixing quickly blew a kiss back at his dad: “Hi dad, haven’t seen you in a while, I missed you a lot!”

The little rascal ran off before waiting for his beloved father to respond.

After managing to escape the chaotic father-son duo, Lin Jingheng went straight to the underground chamber and installed Zhanlu back onto the Model 3 to let him recharge. Before even taking the chance to sit down and take a sip of water, Lin Jingheng immediately made his way towards the private prison.

Mister Spencer had already spent a month in this prison cell. Aside from the robots that periodically came in to deliver meals, he hadn’t seen any living things since he got locked up.

At the sight of a living person, he jumped up and pulled up all the pride of an interstellar smuggler--to beg at the feet of Lin Jingheng.

He cried: “Sige! Bro! I was wrong...I reflected over my actions for over a month here. I’m garbage, I owe Monoeye Hawk and all his brothers my life. If it wasn’t for the fact that I still have all the luggage here on this station to carry, I would cut myself up and repay with my life, I…”

Lin Jingheng wasn’t down to play physical tug-of-war with him, so he pulled out a gun and pointed it at his head.

Spencer immediately let go and backed off while attempting to squeeze out a friendly smile from his face, despite it being filled with tears and snot.

“Speak properly.” Ling Jingheng demanded.

“Listen bro,” Spencer calmed down a bit and lowered his voice. “Do you know what the situation is right now? When people are in the desert without water, even urine is valuable...I’d like to think I’m at least more useful than a puddle of pee, right? I can kneel down below everyone, or if that doesn’t work out, you can even rob my ancestors’ graves. Our home has always been here on the underground terminal since many generations ago...all my relatives are here! As long as you spare me I’ll do anything! Please let me out, I promise and swear on the graves of my family that I will not say anything to anyone! If I do, you can shoot me into swiss cheese!”

Despite having experienced people begging for their lives before him in the past, even Commander Lin himself couldn’t say that he had seen anyone invite him to rob their family’s grave. Perhaps the word “shame” really didn’t exist in Mister Spencer’s book, and Lin felt his eyelid twitch in frustration: “What can you do?”

“I have a spy in the pirate fleets.” Mister Old Fart sat up straight. “Really, I do. I picked up a birdman many years ago- a human head with a bird body but looks almost exactly like a human if you dress him up. I saved him once, but now he’s in the hands of the space pirates. I got my intel about the invasion into the Eighth Galaxy from him.”

Lin Jingheng’s heart skipped a beat, but he remained emotionless on the outside: “Spew out more bullshit and I’ll turn you into your favorite swiss cheese right now.”

“P-please don’t! I’m not lying!” Old Fart panicked. “You don’t believe me because you’ve never seen a real birdman right? Let me tell you, these genetically engineered human pets were extremely popular in the black market years ago. These pirates that were out to end bloodlines would go around and collect all these disabled people, then genetically engineer them into these awful half-human half-animal pets to sell to equally creepy rich buyers. Hybrids of humans and birds aren’t even that uncommon, there are also human snakes…”

Lin Jingheng interrupted irritably: “I know what genetically modified human pets are. They can’t survive outside of their individual breeding tanks; do you think I’d fall for your lies?”

“See bro, this is the part you don’t know. Think about it: we’re at a time where space travel is just like taking a stroll outside your own house. Body transplant? That’s nothing. If people really wanted to do it, it’s completely possible, it’s just that nobody does it.” Old Fart grinned in response. “The IU doesn’t do this because of ethics and whatnot. Space pirates don’t do it because of money. The faster it dies, the faster it sells, it’s all marketing! Why would we waste our energy to genetically modify something that can live for hundreds of years for a one-time transaction? Besides, the market for those special breeding tanks and supplies don’t generate much revenue either, only a fool would invest in something like that.”

Lin Jingheng taunted back with a sneer: “I’m surprised you guys learned microeconomics.”

“We didn’t, just bullshitting here. But the concept behind it is all the same.” Old Fart lowered his head. “Except someone broke the rules later. Probably an idiot or some crazy rich guy with too much time on his hands that wanted to show off. He spent a crazy amount of money...I’m not sure how much, but rumors said it was record-breaking. This guy grabbed a whole group of people to do research on human body transplant and called it the ‘Nuwa[1] Project’.”

Lin Jingheng lifted his gaze: “Nuwa? What a shameless name.”

Old Fart viciously nodded in agreement: “Isn’t it?! But unfortunately money does drive the world here. Even though technology is improving rapidly, it’s the money that decides where the future of research and technology goes. This project succeeded in the end, they even managed to create a group of genetically modified pets that could live outside breeding tanks like a normal human and maintain the function of a human brain in some cases. That’s where the birdman came from.”

“That birdman,” Lin Jingheng asked suspiciously. “What’s his name?”

“Huh?” Old Fart couldn’t comprehend the question. “What’s the name of the birdman? Birdman…it’s just a birdman, like a pet…”

“And then what?” Lin Jingheng once again interrupted.

“So like I just said, they broke the rules. If you have money you can buy yourself an extra bowl of food, but you can’t just break someone else’s bowl, you know? So this thing...the Nuwa Project, was eventually discovered by the masses. Collectors started to follow the project like crazy, but as for the merchants of the black market, everyone was upset at this new imbalance. As for others, many were just interested in this technology and tried to get on the bandwagon. It was like the whole world was after the people of the Nuwa Project...at the end, nobody involved in the original Nuwa Project was left. They were all killed, including the pets created from these experiments. That birdman just happened to be lucky and survived.”

Lin Jingheng caught right onto this bullseye and asked: “How did he manage to survive? And how did the information on this project leak in the first place?”

This time, the talkative Old Fart didn’t respond immediately, and he looked away slightly.

However, he visibly curled up in fear when Lin Jingheng’s finger slid to the trigger of the laser gun, and finally answered weakly: “That birdman used to be a disabled orphan that nobody wanted. He had a few siblings that were also disabled, so those black market merchants disguised themselves as an orphanage and raised them for a little while. After they found out that it was too costly to cure their illnesses, they sold the group of orphans to the Nuwa Project. Aside from the birdman, none of them survived; two died in the lab, two others successfully became pets, but neither can live outside of their breeding tanks and they were sold to the black market.”

Lin Jingheng followed up: “How did you know?”

“People that go through the underground terminal all need to pass through my supply station. Whether it’s the Nuwa Project or the whatever project, nothing escapes my eyes.” Old Fart paused for a few seconds before continuing, “I got curious so I asked to visit the lab. I’ve been business partners with them for many years so they couldn’t really say no…”

“That’s when you found the birdman and even communicated with him while people weren’t watching,” Lin Jingheng said. “How did you communicate with him? You can read a bit of lip language, right? So you were the one that let the birdman escape.”

“I... uh, had a little too much to drink at that time and didn’t think about it.” Old Fart roughly wiped dried tears from his face. “he told me his two siblings that survived got sold to a big name space pirate and wanted to go find them. He begged me to take him out to the black market, and I was moved by his story…”

“Shut your trap, don’t give me that bullshit.” Lin Jingheng cut him off harshly. “The underground terminal’s toll price is determined by your total profit. You think I don’t know? Genetically engineered pets are your largest source of income; you’re the one that’s scared of breaking the rules and carrying the name of a traitor, aren’t you?”

Old Fart’s face turned slightly blue: “Uh....this is a bit…”

“You took the birdman out to the peripheral black market and sold him to the space pirate like he wanted you to. Do you have any idea who that buyer was?”

The Old Fart shook his head: “It’s a common rule within the black market to not disclose anyone’s identity, but there are very few who were obsessed with buying genetically engineered pets so…”

“You took him out to the black market and sold him to the pirates only after the Nuwa Project was completely obliterated and all test products were killed. You caught his interest with ‘the only surviving pet from the Nuwa Project’ and sold the birdman at a good price. The birdman was even grateful to you for helping him. Mister Spencer, you're unbelievably manipulative for an underground merchant, no wonder you managed to live so long.” Lin Jingheng tapped Old Fart’s forehead with the gun. “What happened after?”

Old Fart stammered: “I-I haven’t seen this birdman for about 30 years. When I sold him, I told the buyer that this thing was very smart and was raised in the lab, so he knows how to repair and maintain breeding tanks. Taking him home meant he would never need to buy supplies from others and could just produce the materials on his own…”

Lin Jingheng slowly cracked his knuckles as the man spoke. Primal Alien kept genetically engineered pets behind other people’s backs; he wasn’t in a position to openly disclose his hobbies, and probably hosted multiple failed experiments on his own. No wonder that bird boy had so much freedom, he was like Primal Alien’s personal caretaker for his pets.

“Regular genetically engineered pets only live about two to three years at max even if you take good care of them. The birdman’s siblings are probably all dead now.” Old Fart lowered his voice even more. “I didn’t think he would live that long with the pirates. I took some men with me to the peripheral black market to collect some merchandise, and ran into the birdman in an auction...he couldn’t speak nor read nor understand sign language, so that pirate probably thought he was just taking a bird out for a walk. I was surprised this birdman still remembered me. He stepped on my foot when I passed by, and then told me in lip language while he kneeled down to clean my shoes that the pirates planned to invade the eighth galaxy in two months.”

“How long ago was the Nuwa Project?” Lin Jingheng asked.

“Around 30 years ago.” Old Fart tried to recall. “Regarding when they started...I’m not exactly sure, but when I discovered them for the first time they had already succeeded in their experiment. That was about....28 years ago.”

Lin Jingheng: “Who’s the sponsor?”

“This I really don’t know.” Old Fart said. “This...okay, I’ll admit I was the one that leaked the project, but everything else after was beyond my control because I didn’t mingle past that. But I suspect that the mysterious sponsor also had something to do with the silencing afterwards since they managed to clean everyone up.”

Lin Jingheng stood in silence.

Old Fart carefully studied Lin’s face and butted in: “I’ve helped that birdman before and the pirates don’t know. He can be my little spy, so if you just let me out of here I’ll find a way to contact…”

Lin Jingheng gave him an extremely complicated look before he turned around and walked away, leaving the poor man’s cries to echo in the prison cell.

Dirty soils of corruption and immoral conduct are all too vast within the galaxies. Even when a miraculously pure flower manages to grow from these filthy roots, it doesn’t always bloom in peace.

This is the Great Era of the New Sidereal Calendar.

Lin Jingheng connected to a rebooted Zhanlu’s mental network. “How’s the Model 3?”

“Compatible.” Zhanlu responded. “The energy source is also sufficient.”

“Good.” Lin Jingheng scanned the entire space station through the mental network. “I’ll complete a survey map within 24 hours and prepare for long-distance communication. Aris Von is sure to react when he realizes Primal Alien hasn’t returned.”

Zhanlu: “Understood.”

Lin Jingheng took the elevator straight to the Executive building’s guest room. He looked down to see the Self-Defense Squad doing physical training like a bunch of kids in P.E. class, completely oblivious that they had less than two months left.

Ch 52 - That Sounded a Little Weird

4:00 A.M.

Lin Jingheng woke up from an efficient four-hour nap and turned in the completed navigation map of the station to Zhanlu. He left the final correction of the map to the AI and jumped right into intensive physical rehabilitation training.

An hour and a half later, Lin Jingheng walked out of his training covered in sweat. Through the mental network of Zhanlu, he caught a glimpse of Saturday herding his Self-Defense Squad around the mech dock like a bunch of chickens. Lin Jingheng could barely make out that they were doing stamina training; he looked down at his watch and noticed that the squad had copied the training schedule of the former Silver Ten.

Lin Jingheng casually took a cold shower and shoved a pack of condensed nutrients down his throat. Rehabilitation periods for military personnel required a rigorous and precise diet plan relative to the amount of physical training. Normal food can’t be prepared to meet the exact requirements of the diet plan, so people in rehab relied on these specially designed condensed nutrient bars for their daily intake.

While most normal condensed nutrient meals have some artificial flavors in the mix, the ones that Lin was currently eating only had a mild salted taste. If anyone were to describe it, it was almost like eating snot; as if one was tasting all the misery in life, leaving only an empty void in one’s soul after consumption.

Lin Jingheng finished this mortal life’s worst breakfast and changed into a new set of clothing. He made his way across the space station as the artificial dawn broke and went straight to the receiving dock. Now that the route map was completed, his next task was to collect data on the high-energy waves caused by the explosion of Planet Egret to deduce the military firepower of the Cayley Pirate Fleet.

Saturday saw him from afar while taking his crew on their morning run and had the urge to show off to the commander. Vacation got a sudden kick by the captain beside him and yelped like a conch, dragging the others to whine along with him.

“What, are you fools still hungry or something?” Saturday scolded them, annoyed.

The squad that Saturday dragged along were already at their limit after a little less than three kilometers of running. They were all starting to fall behind and even running off track, completely drained of energy.

“Start over and call louder!” Saturday exclaimed.

At his command, the squad of exhausted souls started calling out their numbers in cracked voices that sounded like a choir of death.

Meanwhile, Lin Jingheng thoroughly ignored the choir and stepped into the elevator to the receiving dock.

Lin Jingheng scrunched up his brows as the elevator door closed, noticing that the buttons didn’t work. Before he could complain about the elevator being broken, a familiar and headache-inducing voice rang from the elevator’s announcements: “Thank you for taking the intelligent robotic elevator. To activate the elevator’s functions, you must greet the elevator-- Good morning, Mister Lin.’

Lin Jingheng: “...”

The ‘elevator’ kindly advised: “We recommend that you respond, ‘Good morning, my sweet elevator.’”

Lin Jingheng’s eyes twitched in annoyance as he disdainfully pulled up the station’s main operation authentication from his personal device and forcefully started the elevator.

“Okay, I know you said it in your heart already….uh-”

Lin Jingeheng then proceeded to mute the announcement.

Unfortunately, Lin Jingheng didn’t manage to escape ‘Mister Elevator’ for long when he saw Lu Bixing waiting for him in front of the main control room.

Lu Bixing was someone who had always been conscious of his appearance. Though for some reason, today he went the extra mile to dress himself up, looking nothing less than a model ready for a walk down the runway.

“People all need a sense of humor and should at least know how to have some fun. Hey commander, don’t you think your life’s a little bit bland when you’re so serious all the time?”

Lin Jingheng had learned his lesson and didn’t dare to offend the other man. He purposefully removed his gaze from Lu Bixing and walked inside the main control room: “Not at all.”

Lu Bixing followed behind and asked: “You always just drink and stare off into space when you have free time, don’t you have any other hobbies or interests?”

Lin Jingheng carefully chose his words: “I do.”

Lu Bixing’s four students all got up relatively early in the morning and were already gathered in the main control room by the time Lin walked in. They were sitting around a round table with all their personal devices out, a cluster of notes and mathematical equations covering the area around them. It seemed like they had been working on their homework for some time, and even left some breakfast on the table.

The students instinctively stood up from their table and turned around the moment they saw that Lin Jingheng had walked in. White hastily swallowed the bread in his mouth and mumbled a short greeting as well.

Lin Jingheng only cooly gave him a nod and before proceeding into the database room.

Lu Bixing pulled Lin’s arm over before he could walk away and said, “You’re looking for the data on the high-energy waves, right? Hey kids, gather up! He’ll be checking your homework today, so everyone come and present your reports on the Egret invasion!”

The four students turned to each other with the same faces of despair; White, who was still swallowing the piece of bread he stuffed in his mouth, choked at his teacher’s suggestion and almost physically became the first sacrifice among the group.

Lin Jingheng didn’t come to listen to a bunch of dumb kids’ academic presentations and shot Lu Bixing a miffed look. Yet Lu Bixing seemed completely oblivious to his visible displeasure and returned his look with a smile as bright as the sun itself. Lin could almost see the invisible dog tail behind him wag passionately.

Unfortunately, Lin Jingheng couldn’t bring himself to upset this big animal beside him. He let out a big sigh and crossed his arms without a word, preparing himself to check each student’s homework.

The four students nudged each other for a while trying to decide who would have the privilege of going first. Huang Jingshu finally volunteered after seeing that nobody else could decide, and with a voice almost too gentle for a self-proclaimed gangster of the Eighth Galaxy, started reciting her report: “According to reliable sources, the space pirates invaded Planet Egret a week ago. The high energy caused by the explosion turned into particle waves that passed by the space station…”

Lin Jingheng interrupted: “Your main point.”

“M-Main point?” Huang Jingshu panicked a little as she flipped towards the back of her report. “Oh, I...I used the triangulation method to deduce…”

Lin Jingheng interrupted her once again: “The triangulation method is an academic model used for research purposes. In order to properly use it in academia, it omits a lot of variables and is not practical in real life situations.”

He remembered that this girl was also named “Jingshu”, like his sister, and subconsciously brought out more patience for her. Lin Jingheng tried to explain in a tone he considered gentler, and then added another question at the end: “Did you use any other models?”

Huang Jingshu’s face turned bright red, and she went completely silent.

Lin Jingheng gave her half a minute before giving up and called out: “Next.”

White stuttered: “I...I also used the triangulation model, and used the Cruz splits inside…”

“Bullshit. Next.” Lin Jingheng said.

“I looked up the planet profile and orbit of Egret.” Mint cleared her throat and peeked at Lin Jingheng from behind her report. The commander stood above her intimidatingly, looking as if he was ready to cut her off at any moment. She scanned a few seconds to muster up her courage and continued: “The mass of the planet is…”

“I know what the mass of Egret is.” Lin Jingheng said.

“I created a few simulations of the invasion based on the planet mass scale.” Mint replied.

Lin Jingheng lifted a brow at the statement: “Using what?”

“An astronomical calculator.” Mint said sheepishly.

Lin Jingheng’s mouth curled up slightly into a snooty smile: “I recommend you use an arithmetic calculator for kids, those are easier to use. Next.”

Little Rickhead witnessed his peers get shot down one by one by the invincible commander and froze on the spot realizing he was the only one left. He whimpered with a face that looked like it was about to break down into tears and said “I...I don’t know how to do this.”

Lin Jingheng nodded in a graceful demeanor: “I appreciate your straightforwardness, saves everyone a lot of time.”

The commander then gestured to dismiss the students, turned his back, and made his way towards the database room like the biggest bastard in the universe.

Lu Bixing finally understood what he meant by having interests and hobbies: all the dumbasses in the world were victims for Commander Lin’s entertainment.

He gave a deep sigh and led the disheartened students to Lin Jingheng’s side.

Commander Lin gave silent approval for the students to watch him analyze the data. Lu Bixing took the opportunity to give a lecture to the students, strategically utilizing Lin as a live demonstration. Lin Jingheng remained focused and unbothered by the noise around him; his pace remained steady and fast while endless lines of data made their way directly into his personal device.

Back when Lin Jingheng was still in the SIlver Fortress, space pirates were always his number one enemy even if he didn’t know who he was fighting for. Analyzing and combating these space pirates became almost second nature to him, to the point where he was able to digest a large amount of data without the help of an AI.

By the time Lin Jingheng reached a stopping point, the artificial sun was already on the other side of the station. His eyes never left his personal device even as the students walked off like zombies from overworking their brains. He sat in solidarity until he noticed a mug slid over quietly beside him; Lin Jingheng reached over to the mug without looking and took a sip. The moment he noticed the liquid inside the mug wasn’t water, Lin Jingheng shot up from his position, shoved the mug back to the delivering hands and spat the liquid out at the nearest water fountain.

Lu Bixing stared at the cup of sweetened milk that got shoved back in wonder and took a sip. He didn’t taste anything out of the ordinary, and asked: “What’s wrong? Do you not like sweets or are you actually lactose intolerant?”

“Nothing in particular.” Lin Jingheng answered as he poured himself a cup of water. “I’m fine with water.”

Lu Bixing’s gaze fell onto Lin Jingheng’s loose dress shirt and he responded in realization: “Are you on a diet to regain your muscle mass?”

Unfortunately, Lin JIngheng wasn’t particularly keen on discussing his own body with another man. He ignored Lu Bixing and turned back to reorganizing his analysis.

Lin Jingheng’s hands pressed down onto the main engine of the control room as he leaned in to review his data. His shoulders rose slightly as he leaned forward, creating an aesthetically symmetrical line across his back. The light from the artificial dawn of the station gently shone from in front of him, coincidentally passing through Lin Jingheng’s thin dress shirt and vaguely outlining his lean waistline.

Lu Bixing’s gaze instinctively followed downwards; he took a few steps back and eyeballed the waist, suppressing his urge to reach out and touch it. “Ahem...why didn’t you think about the consequences before you gave yourself that shot of muscle solvent?” Lu Bixing awkwardly asked.

“Why do you have to much to say?” Lin Jingheng responded hopelessly.

Lu Bixing carefully made his way towards Lin Jingheng. A fresh fruity smell passed through the air as Lu Bixing leaned in a little too close, and Lin Jingheng subconsciously tucked away a little.

Seeing that he didn’t sneak over successfully, Lu Bixing reluctantly ate the piece of apple he intended to shove into Lin’s mouth. “You know, I think it’s fine to not eat so much of that other stuff, don’t be so harsh on yourself and the world. What do you like to eat? Do you prefer sweet or spicy? Do you like meat or vegetables? Do you have anything else you don’t eat or drink besides beer?”

Lin Jingheng: “...”

Lu Bixing was always kind of annoying for as long as Lin Jingheng knew him, but he always knew his own boundaries. Lu didn’t cross any lines, so it was all still within the realm of tolerable behavior to Lin Jinheng. And sometimes, in instances as rare as seeing a meteor shower with the naked eye, he would admit to himself that he found Lu Bixing’s passion just a bit cute.

Yet recently, though unsure if it was just his own imagination or other issue, Lin Jingheng felt as if he were becoming overly tolerant of this child. It almost felt like Lu Bixing was getting a little too comfortable around him.

“Ares Von’s heavy mech fleet can almost rival that of a professional IU Military fleet.” Lin Jingheng forceully changed the topic with a straight face. “The loading capacity for heavy armory is much greater than the IU, making them more deadly as a fleet. Their defense is also much stronger, but my theory is that they also sacrificed a fair amount of dexterity and flexibility in the process. The anti-detection system you mentioned before could work here. If you want to stay here and talk about it, I’ll give you 15 minutes. If not, leave.”

“The framework’s already completed.” Lu Bixing said. “The robots are on the job right now, all we need to do is to send it off to the energy tower when it’s ready, you don’t need to worry.”

Lin Jingheng’s expression relaxed a bit.

Lu Bixing then continued before Lin Jingheng could be relieved: “Hey Lin, do you not smile a lot because you think you look better when you put on a serious face?”

Having no words to respond, Lin Jingheng pointed towards the door and suggested Lu Bixing to leave.

Yet not only did Lu Bixing not leave, but he also even pulled another chair over and sat down beside Lin Jingheng.

His curious and excitable gaze gave Lin Jingheng chills; Lin Jingheng felt as if he were the main specimen of some weird scientific experiment and asked defensively: “What else do you want?”

Lu Bixing felt a familiar challenge from the man before him.

It was as if the universe’s most unapproachable people and worst personalities were all his students; Lu Bixing always found himself drawn to these type of problem students. And even though Lin Jingheng was exceptionally infamous on both accounts, Lu Bixing found himself especially drawn to him.

Even Lu Bixing himself had to wonder what this unexplainable inclination toward assholes said about his taste in men. He fiddled a little before deciding that if he just answered with “I want to talk,'' the man in front of him would not hesitate to just walk away, so he strategically drew Lin Jingheng’s attention away: “So what’s it like on Wolto?”

Lin Jingheng was indeed caught off guard; he felt like someone had jabbed the softest point in his heart with a needle.

The former Lu household was less than two kilometers away from the Parliament Building of the IU. From the top floor of the building, one could clearly see the wonderland-esque forest behind the Parliament where Lu Xin’s mansion rested. Yet the child that was supposed to be born in that house with the love of his parents and family was now asking what Wolto was like; he was even naive enough to think Wolto also had crowded living conditions and streets of poverty.

Lin Jingheng’s internal dilemma earlier about whether he was spoiling the boy too much suddenly vanished. He completely forgot how much he wanted to give Lu Bixing a beating and was now filled with a burning desire to give the world to this child.

“Wolto’s population is sparse.” Lin Jingheng carefully weighed his words. “Aside from the central shopping center, there are almost no skyscrapers or tall buildings.”

“Why?” Lu Bixing questioned. “Don’t those big shots all love to stand tall above everyone else?”

“Some people do, some people don’t. Those that don’t won’t go out of their way to step up the ladder, but they also don’t want others to step above them either.” Lin Jingheng slowly relaxed his back. “Everything on Wolto was more or less a micro- of the entire IU. The result of a gridlock in power from all directions was the height limit of buildings on the planet. Except for the central business district, no buildings were allowed to surpass the air terminals. 3/4th of the entire planet was covered by decorative plants, it’s essentially a giant horticultural garden.”

Lu Bixing, being a full-grown rural child from the Eighth Galaxy, had never seen the First Galaxy outside of movies and books. Most of the photos and footage were concentrated within the Parliament due to the strict rules the planet had on photography and videography. He found Lin’s description a little hard to believe, and asked: “Isn’t that inconvenient though? I meant like using living facilities and such.”

“Wolto’s different from other places. There were no private properties on the capital planet. All property and land are subsidized and given by the government based on ranking and profession. Everything from the size of the land and distance to neighboring property had their own set of rules. Most would rather live further away than to cause trouble for their neighbors. All living necessities were provided by designated service personnel in charge of each area. If you needed anything, you could just contact them through your personal device; as long as you weren’t breaking the law, they would essentially take care of everything for you. The air terminals are semi-privatized and extremely convenient too, so there was no need for public facilities.”

Lu Bixing was first shocked by the aristocrats’ high standard of living, and then struck by a guilty conscious concern that he wouldn’t be able to provide for this formerly well-off Commander. He then timidly asked: “Was your home also the same?”

Lin Jingheng sat in silence for a while before vaguely nodding: “About the same.”

Commanders of the IU all had their own personal mansions, but Lin Jingheng only ever went to his own ‘house’ once after its completion for ceremonial purposes to record a genetic lock. He then threw it to a bunch of robots to clean up the house and left; he couldn’t even recall the address of the place anymore. Ever since Lin took charge of the Silver Fortress, he had never taken a vacation. Every once in a while, he would return to Wolto for business, but would only stay in hotels for a few days before he returned. To him, Zhanlu’s mech felt more like a home than the mansion.

Lu Bixing added: “Then...don’t you feel a little uncomfortable staying in this busy station?”

“Not really.” Lin Jingheng said. “Just a little noisy.”

Of course, the rowdy little space station couldn’t compare to the capital planet where every individual had their own manor.

Lu Bixing pondered for a second before asking: “Why did you leave the IU then? And how did you manage to wipe your existence out of Eden?”

Lin Jingheng casually skipped the first question: “Eden is still a man-made technology at its core. It’s not perfect, there’s always a loophole.”

“But what about your family? Won’t they be worried?” Lu Bixing continued.

Starting from the topic of Wolto, Lu Bixing carefully manipulated the conversation slowly back onto Lin Jingheng himself. Unfortunately, Lin Jingheng was not an easy prey. Lin Jingheng pretended he didn’t hear the overly personal question and returned: “And the Hawk never let you leave the Eighth Galaxy even after so many years?”

Luckily Lu Bixing didn’t try to force the conversation and answered: “Yeah, I can’t even mention it to him. He’ll freak out like an angry cat if I say anything. It’s like I have a bounty on me or something, if I step into any of the other seven galaxies I’d be caught immediately.”

Lin Jingheng: “...”

His wild guess wasn’t entirely wrong.

“And you’ve never tried running away by yourself?”

“I did.” Lu Bixing said. “I ran to Planet Beijing and found you...to be honest my goal wasn't to stop at Beijing, but I accidentally opened up your ecopod at that time and felt bad, so I decided I had to be responsible and take care of you. I didn’t think I’d end up staying for that long either...took in a couple students and even sold my mech for a school. Plans always get interrupted by unforeseen changes, so my plan to travel around the IU was forced to a stop.”

Lin Jingheng grew a little suspicious. Lu Bixing’s mech designs were unique and out of the ordinary; despite not being a properly trained professional, his academic foundations were strong. It wouldn’t be hard for him to feed himself even without a proper ID or passport, and his sociable personality would make it easy for him to find people willing to help him out. On top of that, Lin Jingheng is aware how recklessly courageous this child was from all the times he injected biochips into his own body. Taking a mech to travel the seven galaxies wouldn’t even be considered a dangerous adventure, but Lin Jingheng couldn’t think of any way that Monoeyed Hawk was able to keep him on planet Cayley for over 20 years.

While Lin Jingheng pondered, Lu Bixing stretched his arm behind his head and leaned back. “Now that I think about it, that would’ve sucked if I had just died on Beijing. I haven’t even traveled the eight galaxies nor had a lover; my life would’ve been a waste.”

The terrifying stories of the Nuwa Project and the human transplant experiments loomed over Lin Jingheng’s mind. He felt his throat tighten, but attempted to ask nonchalantly: “You haven’t even dated anyone yet? Then what were you doing for 20 years on Cayley, just playing with your mechs?”

Lu Bixing heard the stiffened tone in his voice, completely misunderstood and excitedly thought to himself: “This awkward piece of rock, what a roundabout way to ask my dating experience!”

”I’ve been saving up my luck for the fated one.” He gave Lin Jingheng a playful wink. “Saved a little everyday, and after so many years I finally met you, commander.”

Lin Jingheng: “...”

Something about that line definitely sounded off.

Ch 53 - Have You Kissed Him Yet?

Lin Jingheng wasn’t sure what to make of that.

To be perfectly honest, even someone as dense as Commander Lin could tell that the line sounded a little suggestive; though he could just be overthinking, and the speaker had no intention for it to sound that way.

There were two reasons to reasonably doubt this. First, Lin Jingheng wasn’t someone that was known to engage in small talks, and his antisocial nature gave him even less experience in the dating scene. Even at his age, he’s almost never had any experience with flirting so casually, so it was hard for him to grasp the intention of the speaker. Second, Lu Bixing was naturally more sociable and amiable; it was hard to tell if he was just being overly friendly and joking around.

The silence between the two dragged on as Lin Jingheng pondered, making the atmosphere around them grow more awkward by the second.

Lin Jingheng: “Uh…”

Lu Bixing: “You…”

They both spoke and closed their mouths at the same time, then stared at each other in bewilderment.

The atmosphere certainly just got more awkward.

Just then, a chorus of loud screams pierced through the walls of the control room and broke the silence. Lu Bixing and Lin Jingheng turned to see Saturday’s group of drained out self-defense squad cheering from the top of their lungs at Saturday’s command down near the dock.

Lu Bixing took the opportunity to regain his stature and gave Lin Jingheng a playful slap on the hand.

Lin Jingheng: “...”

“Jinx! Did you know about that ancient saying? If two people spoke at the same time they have to hit each other. The first person to get the hit gets good fortune, while the one that got hit gets love fortune.” Lu Bixing skillfully explained. “Here’s a bit of my love fortune, you’re welcome.”

Lu Bixing couldn’t bring himself to look at Lin’s expression now and was ready to leave on that note. He felt like he was in an ancient movie where the next scene would be the part he gets pressed down by the token bad boy for a kiss.

“Wait.” Lin Jingheng called out.

Lu Bixing stopped before the doorway and nervously turned around with a tiny bit of hidden excitement. He saw Lin turning his gaze away and slowly took a sip of his water before speaking up: “Your friend...the one that took that noisy bunch out running for a whole day.”

“Saturday?” Lu Bixing responded without a thought. “Oh, he’s…”

Lu Bixing stopped himself and forcefully closed his mouth before he could say: ‘he’s straight.’

“What?” Lin Jingheng raised a brow for a second before continuing. “Whatever, that’s not important. Anyway, I think he misunderstood something. The Silver Ten didn’t become the top unit because they went through harsh training, it’s because they were the elites that could withstand hours of intense workout. He completely mixed up the cause and effect here, he’s going to drive these guys out.”

Lu Bixing’s expression brightened up and he said from the doorway: “Hey commander, is this a free personal lesson for you?”

Lin Jingheng already met his social quota for the day from the talking and returned to his regular antisocial bubble.

Lu Bixing strolled away giddily. If the elevator didn’t have a security camera, he almost felt like he could dance around the building.

Exploring this new feeling of love and relationship with Lin was as exciting as the first time he flew out of the atmosphere of planet Cayley. Every new discovery was a new experience for Lu Bixing; he may theoretically know how the physics of outer space works but going outside to see how astronomical objects work in action first-hand was a completely different kind of feeling. Likewise, each new contact with Lin filled him with overwhelming joy.

Yet reality was anything but peaceful. A gentle touch can deliver warmth in the cold rain, but it wouldn’t be enough to save a fragile nest from an upcoming storm.

When Lu Bixing passed on Lin’s message to Saturday, the reaction was surprisingly negative.

Objectively, Lin Jingheng’s advice was appropriate and just. Military discipline is not something that can magically appear from mere brainwashing yourselves with reciting some inspirational lines for a few days. Real discipline is built and shaped both by the environment and mental development of the individual, often requiring long periods of related education, scientific administration, and self-management.

Yet Saturday wasn’t one to believe in raised elites nor following procedures; if he did, he wouldn’t have picked a fight with some dozens of people and dragged them all before Lu Bixing.

Saturday stood silent for a little while and asked: “What should I do then?”

“I suggest maybe not doing standard military training right now.” Lu Bixing said. “Instead, you can put the squad into small groups, have them compete in a triathlon to decide who gets to use the mechs first. It’s best to try and use a reward system to your advantage and start off slow, it’s much more effective than forcing them to train. You can’t expect to build a city overnight.”

This time, Saturday pondered longer before responding: “The Cayley Pirates already made their way to Egret, do we even have the time to take it slowly?”

“We can’t help that, it’s just the situation right now. But we’re already doing much better than the time we struggled to even find mech pilots.” Lu Bixing answered. “I’m trying to build a reflective anti-detection system to further secure the station. In case the pirates make their way over, we can try a temporary blockage with a guerilla strategy…”

“Okay bro, that’s enough. I may not be the brightest one here but I’m also not stupid. I thought about it again last night, what Commander Lin told us the other day, and realized what he’s trying to say. ‘Even the IU fleet can’t do anything, you guys should give up’, right?” Saturday interrupted. “I don’t believe that. You told me to look forward and don’t turn back. I tell myself this everyday, and now you’re telling me to fucking give up and back off?”

Lu Bixing tried to talk some sense into him with a calmer tone: “When I asked you to be like the Silver Ten, I meant for you guys to learn their discipline and attitude, not to copy their training schedule. There’s always a procedure to everything, even the Silver Ten had their times when they were first enlisted.”

Saturday shook his head and said: “Maybe I’m just a wimp that’s easily traumatized, but I’ve never been able to go to bed at night feeling satisfied with myself and my life all these years. I always feel like everything will be taken away from me the next day even if today was peaceful and well; headmaster Lu, you were the first person that made me feel like I could really be in charge of my own life.”

Lu Bixing was stumped; Saturday’s concern was valid, and he couldn’t disagree. At the end of the day, the Self-Defense Squad was created for and by Saturday and his crew. Lu Bixing knew that as much as he could help and advise them along the way, he was just a traveling scholar that didn’t have much of a say on the operations of the actual squad.

“But nobody in the squad had ever been enlisted in a military unit before, have you thought of that? It doesn’t seem too realistic to force them to get accustomed to the strict military style operations. And even for you, are you sure you can adapt to it?” Lu Bixing said.

“I can!” Saturday responded with great confidence.

Unfortunately, the cruel reality doesn’t always work in favor of people’s wishes no matter how strongly they wished for; commander Lin’s words proved themselves to be correct.

Day 2 of the Self-Defense Squad training.

Lu Bixing’s students all gathered around the main control room and dumbfoundedly watched Lin Jingheng complete a full analysis on the Cayley pirates’ total military power and formation, as well as a battle simulation on a supercomputer. During this time, Lu Bixing’s attempt to lure commander Lin in with fresh BBQ ended in vain.

The average attendance of the training dropped by one fourth due to overwork and illness from the previous day. The entire station’s medical capsule was completely occupied by these absentees.

Day 5 of the Self-Defense Squad training.

The Model 3’s repairs were officially complete as Zhanlu successfully connected to its core. As people watched it take off in awe, the enormous body of the mech covered the artificial sky and soared majestically above the base. During its test flight, the mech roamed the artificial atmosphere like a giant star surrounding the space station.

Right before its takeoff, Lu Bixing came over to lure Commander Lin with a fancy piece of panna cotta cake. The cake itself was carefully decorated with flowers that could almost be used as an advertisement photo, but unfortunately, Commander Lin didn’t even bat an eyelash at it. Seeing no reaction from his target, Lu Bixing called from the back, “It’s your birthday today!”

A few steps later Lin Jingheng’s late reaction finally caught on, and he slowly turned his head around.

“What?” he questioned.

“Your birthday, the official profiles from the Union said it was on the 10th.” Lu Bixing explained as he looked at Lin’s blank stare. The lack of reaction made Lu Bixing start to doubt himself a bit, and he slowly pulled back the cake. “Is the official source wrong?”

“...No.” Lin Jingheng responded immediately. He stood paralyzed for almost a minute before he finally mustered up the courage to walk back towards Lu Bixing. Lin Jingheng picked up the little fork and shoved a small piece of the cake into his mouth with a hollow stare as if he were taking poison. Almost immediately, his personal device responded with an “overconsumption of sugar” warning. This was the first time he had ever broken his diet during nutritional rehab.

Lin Jingheng stuffed the rest of the cake down hastily and gave Lu Bixing a quick glance of gratitude before he ran off uncharacteristically quickly; he even forgot to return the fork.

Lu Bixing’s spirits soared into space, yet the same excitement crashed back down to earth when he saw the hopeless state of the Self-Defense Squad. Today’s attendance officially fell below 50%, and neither the uplifting chants of the squad nor the small victory against the high-energy particle waves were able to motivate people anymore.

Day 7 of the Self-Defense Squad training.

The physical equipment of the anti-detection system is partially complete while the Model 3’s test run also came to an end. Lu Bixing carefully rearranged the mech dock to open up a parking space for the Model 3. By the time the Model 3 returned, Lu Bixing was ready to welcome commander Lin back with a fresh bowl of soup. Lin Jingheng saw the bowl of soup and felt a little warm in the heart, but instinctively tried to hide away. Lu Bixing saw the opportunity and tried to shove the soup over until Monoeyed Hawk coincidentally caught the boy red-handed on the spot and turned the entire situation into another storm of endless scolding.

At the same time, voices of disapproval began arising from within the Self-Defense Squad. Under Saturday’s forceful and aggressive style of management, people were starting to talk under the tables and gather up against him.

Day 8 of the Self-Defense Squad training, 5:00 A.M.

Saturday came out on time only to see a handful of people that initially followed him showed up by the dock. The entire station was eerily quiet like a silent taunt. There were only a few elderlies up at this hour out for walks, occasionally giving weird looks towards the squad like a bunch of old crows watching a prey on its last breath.

“Boss,” Vacation spoke up weakly as he saw that nobody around had the guts to talk under Saturday’s deepening gaze. “I tried calling them but they won’t come. They said.... they said that you…”

“What about me?”

“They said you were unreasonable and rude, and that you’re not actually doing this for the station. They were saying it’d be better if we could just have Professor Lu come in and teach us how to fight with mechs instead of running around the dock like headless chickens everyday. And that you wanted to try and be boss while that old fart isn’t around…” Vacation’s voice grew more timid. “They even said that hemorrhoids were a lie, there was no way someone could go out for so long and not come back, so maybe you were the one that took him out.”

It wasn’t that people didn’t notice their former boss completely disappeared for a month, it was simply that nobody really cared and even made fun of him for the hemorrhoids. They all knew the kind of person the Old Fart was; he doesn’t get much trust from people but still likes to play the social game, so he always has multiple backup plans and hidden escape routes that only he knows. He was always paranoid about people following him when he’s out patrolling, so he would come and go without a trace; going missing for a few months wasn’t anything new for him. But when he left this time, it was as if the entire space station had undergone a revolution. Naturally, people started having their questions.

Surprisingly, they were not concerned about Lu Bixing and the outsiders. Despite the trauma from Lin Jingheng still lingering among the people, Lu Bixing was like a savior from the outside to the station. All the changes that he brought, from fixing screens to helping them face the challenges of invasion, were like little miracles of ancient myths that colored their monochrome lives. People can easily embrace the missionaries from foreign land but are often much more judgmental and harsh towards their own kind.

The people that hid under the protection of the station were both fortunate and unfortunate. They were fortunate in that the Old Fart’s advance preparation saved the station from disaster. Their misfortune was that the fluke deepened their inferiority complex and turned their heads away from the world outside. They were becoming too spoiled by staying within their comfort zone.

This disorderly crew only managed to last half a month before they returned to their apathetic and lazy nature. Ironically, while their combat abilities were close to nothing, their ability to fight amongst themselves was incredibly strong.

Vacation asked carefully: “What should we do, boss? Should we.... go ask Professor Lu?”

Saturday’s expression hardened without a word. He had already proclaimed in front of Lu Bixing that he was able to handle the training, there was no way he could bring himself back in less than a week to admit that he was wrong. Besides, what can Lu Bixing do anyway?

Saturday thought he was just training a bunch of animals, holding up some nice rewards and fooling them into running. This was not the result he was expecting. He bit his lips and looked up towards the artificial sky that was now fully sunlit. He finally experienced the helplessness and solidarity at the edge of a cliff.

Vacation gently asked: “Boss, should we still train today?”

“Yes!” Saturday grinded his teeth. “Why shouldn’t we train?”

He immediately made the first step and began his run. Saturday dragged the rest of the self-defense squad behind him, took a deep breath and released all the air in his lungs as he exclaimed: “Let’s go, Defense Squad!”

Lu Bixing was waiting for his students in the main control room. He leaned by the window to watch Saturday and his crew run off into the distance, and then casually scanned the calendar by the corner of the room; there was only one month left before the deadline Lin Jingheng gave him.

The mechanics behind long-distance communication was quite similar to scanning. It required sufficient energy supply, a large enough mental network, and an accurate mapping of the transfer portals. Lin Jingheng had previously scanned through all the transfer portals around the underground terminals that lead directly outside of the periphery and left a long-distance communication device on each portal. That way, Zhanlu’s communication range could pass through the devices and extend outside of the periphery and scan for its target. If both parties had already set up a secret key prior to communication; once the keys were successfully paired up and the first transmission was received, the long-distance communication gateway would then be opened.

Lu Bixing understood the completion of the military survey map and repair of the Model 3 meant that Lin Jingheng was now fully prepared to send out long-distance communications anytime. The only reason why he hadn’t been because the commander was not someone to take back his words, and was keeping his promise of three months.

Mint was the first to arrive, and made her way toward Lu Bixing: “Headmaster, I don’t think there’s hope for these guys anymore. I kinda feel bad for what’s his face.”

Lu Bixing glanced back at her with a blank expression: “Who?”

Even at around 16-17 years old, Mint still looked like a thin but tall preteen child. She stood on one leg with another playfully tiptoeing on the ground, and spoke with a piece of gum still in her mouth: “No one...why are you acting like an old feudal disciplinary teacher? We’re not gonna help you anymore if you keep being like this.”

Lu Bixing was confused: “What were you guys helping me with?”

“Fooling the eyes of old man Hawk!” Mint said. “he told us to report to him immediately if commander Lin comes close to you and will reward us for that. Hey teach, does your dad have some major empty nester old man syndrome or something?”

Lu Bixing: “...”

“By the way, teach, do you really have a crush on commander Lin? Dang, he’s so scary I can’t even look him in the eye, you sure have some guts.” Mint casually spoke like a little gangster while blowing up a bubble with the gum in her mouth without breaking a line. She popped the bubble and then asked curiously in a very small voice: “Have you kissed him yet?”

Lu Bixing almost choked on his own spit.

“What, really? Are you old folks all this wimpy? Man, back when I was in Beijing I’d go out to cheap bars with a bunch of friends. I’ll chat up with whoever buys me a drink, and if they look good I’ll try with a kiss first, if it feels right we hit it up; if it doesn’t, oh well. It’s pretty efficient.” Mint said. “You know your old man Hawk probably screamed through two full therapy sessions already from all this time. You haven’t even kissed him yet, what do you guys even do when you’re together then?”

The elevator door opened as Mint finished her sentence, and Lin Jingheng casually walked out. He just stepped out of the shower after his morning training, his face still pinkish from the steam and hair still damp, unintentionally sending off some subtle hormone stimulants.

Lu Bixing’s eyes naturally landed on his lips and instantly felt kind of uneasy. He forced his gaze off and turned scoldingly towards Mint: “This isn’t something a young girl like you should be saying. Just because we aren’t in Beijing anymore doesn’t mean school rules don’t apply, hand in your homework from last night and go write your report!”

Lin Jingheng never really saw Lu Bixing mad and stared at him bewildered for a few seconds. Then perhaps he thought Lu Bixing scolding a little girl was kind of funny. A very subtle but visible smile lifted on his face: “I thought you said you were going to test the anti-detection system?”

It was as if the young scientist opened up pandora's box in his mind; a flood of all the written and visual scenes of kisses he’d ever seen ran through his head in an instant. He awkwardly cleared his throat, stood up straight and said: “It’s right here, you can follow me...I originally planned on doing a test run on land, but I just thought of a better idea.”

Ch 54 - Why Are You So Good To Me?

A myriad of thoughts unsuitable for children raced through Lu Bixing’s mind as he spoke. He forcefully suppressed the urge to lift up a smile but didn’t quite succeed in hiding his excitement, making him look like a child that had just committed a prank behind the backs of unknowing eyes.

Lin Jingheng stopped in alarm.

“What’s wrong,” Lu Bixing innocently asked

Lin Jingheng shook his head and walked quietly behind Lu Bixing into the workroom. He felt as if he had too much free time lately and paid a little too much attention towards Lu Bixing, making him overthink every little thing the boy says or does.

Luckily, Lu Bixing was quick to switch back to work mode.

“I think I’m going to do a test in outer space, within the limits of our internal network.” Lu Bixing led Lin into his workroom and started explaining the basics of his anti-detection system. “Look here, the internal network of the space station only covers the range of four sailing days around the station. Thankfully, it’s large enough for smaller mechs to do small-scale battle simulations.”

Lin Jingheng lifted a brow without breaking his expression.

“My plan is to divide the self-defense squad up into multiple smaller teams to practice on real mechs and split them up into two factions. During the drill, all participating mechs will open their communication terminals and send coded signals to simulate long-distance communications. They can then choose to use the anti-detection system to hide their coordinate points or try and hack into the system to find their opponents. How’s that? We can both train the squad and test the anti-detection system in real-time in a simulation battle.”

Contrary to Lu Bixing’s approachable and gentle appearance, deep down he still had a stubborn nature. While he was good at making negotiations and reasonably understanding he wasn’t about to back down on this round; to him, the self-defense squad were still soldiers.

Lin Jingheng only nodded helplessly at the suggestion and said, “Hm... good idea, play space hide-and-seek with a bunch of gorillas.”

Lu Bixing stopped a few meters away and turned around to face Lin Jingheng under the warm white light of his workroom: “Hey Lin, I know I asked you this before...when you found those space pirates near the underground terminal, why did you bait them out before they reached us? With the time you had back then, you could’ve returned back to the station, finished up at least half of your surveying map and left. You had all the hidden terminals and recharge stations on hand, why didn’t you just abandon this place? Do you really think those people are just gorillas?”

“No, that’s just a figure of speech.” Lin Jingheng didn’t even bat an eyelash. “I didn’t mean to insult gorillas.”

Lu Bixing kept his eyes on him.

“In any case, why would I abandon this place?” Lin Jingheng walked past him and out the door slowly. “I’m not the one hiding, it was always the space pirates hiding from me. There’s no reason for me to give them free resources. Primal Alien? Hmph...who does he think he is?”

Lu Bixing let out a big sigh as he watched Lin Jingheng stroll out the door. This was the first time he was met with this level of stubbornness, and Lin Jingheng had proven to be much harder than a rock. He felt as if he was hitting on a cold, hard surface of a ceramic table. He could almost feel the coldness in his mouth and licked his lips subconsciously, wondering if the same mouth that spewed out these harsh words was also cold to the touch.

Lin Jingheng’s voice from the staircase pulled him back to reality: “Your ‘Self-Defense Squad’ only knows how to sail on fixed paths right now, don’t even think about putting them in drills or simulation battles. Do you have any other backup plans?”

Lu Bixing immediately followed over: “I’ll think of something.”

“They’re a bunch of fools in a crowd, what else can you do?”

“There are ways to herd sheep and ways to domesticate wild animals.” Lu Bixing said. “I may not be the most reliable person, but I’ve always pulled through at the end, right? Just trust me this once, please?”

A call from Mint came into his personal device the second Lu Bixing finished: “Hey teach, a few of the self-defense squad people are looking for you.”

Lu Bixing’s eyes remained on Lin Jingheng as he responded: “Give me one second.”

Lin Jingheng couldn’t imagine how that old cat managed to raise this child to be such a character. Despite being incredibly naive at times, Lin Jingheng found himself unable to move his attention away from this boy. He would much rather have Lu Bixing bother other people, but when trouble came to find him, Lin Jingheng wasn’t willing to give attitude as long as Lu Bixing stayed within his lane.

About half a minute late, Lin Jingheng finally gave up and waved him off: “Do whatever you want.”

Lu Bixing broke out into a big smile, and lowered his voice slightly: “Hey Commander, I noticed that ever since the day we met, you’ve never really said no to my requests, why are you so good to me?”

Lin Jingheng couldn’t answer this question for various reasons, so he ignored the question and walked off with his hands in his pockets.

Lu Bixing gave a little pout and realized he actually found this asshole attitude from Lin kind of refreshing. He made another mental note to himself: the ancient saying about love blinding people was correct. Hormone activities stimulated by love can suppress negative feelings in the brain, making it possible to see the flaws of your target as cute gestures.

Lu Bixing then asked giddily: “Are you asking me to repay you with my body?”

“Leave.” Lin Jingheng answered coldly.

And then Lu Bixing left with great satisfaction.

Today, all the little groupies that were upset with Saturday’s training sent their own messengers to visit Lu Bixing, making the main control room exceptionally busy. Some came to get lessons about mech piloting, others came in to complain about Saturday; there were even a few that came in an attempt to build up their social links with him.

The fixed night patrolling schedule also turned into a mess because the groups refused to communicate with each other.

Three waves of patrols came in at noon within a span of ten minutes; the fight for patrolling rights sparked off on the dock and almost blew up the mech rail. By the afternoon and evening, the dock was dead silent, leaving only a lonely artificial sun up in the sky.

Soon after, what was left of the Self-Defense Squad was just Saturday and his small group of followers. Everyone else started grouping up on their own in this small space station; within a few days, countless informal armed squads appeared like pimples during a massive breakout.

Embarrassing names like “The Space Tigers” and “Galaxy’s Ultimate Fleet” started appearing on the sign-up lists of the mech dock. It was truly a living nightmare.

Lin Jingheng decided to completely ignore this hot mess and delved straight into work now that Zhanlu’s energy problem was solved. He would travel between the two recharge stations and the main station every day to check on stock and fuel, carefully preparing for the last battle that could happen at any time.

However, the issue with the warring groups of the space station wasn’t just the groups themselves; they were taking up too much energy in their cockfights. The main energy source that powered the mechs was the same recyclable energy used by the other residents of the station for their daily lives.

Before the era of the warring groupies, there was fixed schedules and times to launch off the mechs that allowed for enough energy to circulate the rest of the station. Now, on top of the chaotic atmosphere and the fights on the docks, there were also problems with blackouts on the main station.

The few hundred thousand residents of the space station already grew accustomed to their comfortable lives with sufficient energy supply throughout the day; the sudden blackouts after a month of stable energy supply led to another small group of dissatisfied elderly to march onto the mech dock for complaints.

Faced with the young delinquents of the armed groups who were already busy fighting amongst themselves, the addition of these elderly complaints only fueled their frustration. They cursed out the old folks with little to no patience, causing another storm of complaints throughout the rest of the space station.

When Lu Bixing fixed the energy tower, there were many different options he could’ve used to rebuild the system but settled with the circulating recycled energy system. Maybe he already foresaw the uproar that this could cause if people don’t conserve energy, and purposely kept quiet to let the residents solve their own problems.

Either way, the current reality was that whoever abused the armed mechs of the station and messed with the energy circulation, that person would be responsible for bringing the rest of the population down.

When another blackout cut off the peaceful civilian’s little movie, it became a riot.

The angry civilians crawled out of their little huts and stormed the streets, finally surrounding the mech dock completely. Regardless if anyone was “The Space Tigers,” “Invincible Dragon,” or “The Galaxy’s Baddest Boys,” whoever stepped foot on the dock were greeted by violent beatings from the furious residents.

By the time Lu Bixing made his way over on his shift, The Space Tigers were almost beaten to toothless tigers.

“Ok, ok, that’s enough.” Lu Bixing pulled the old cinema lady back before she could storm further ahead. “Lady, please! Calm down! Stay in line! Watch your blood pressure, let’s talk it out first.”

The old cinema lady pulled her mop up and hit it firmly on the ground as she announced: “I don’t care if you’re a self-defense squad or a suicide squad, follow the rules we’ve set for launching mechs or we won’t let you down anymore!”

Lu Bixing turned his face toward the battered-up groupies in an elegant fashion. “That’s right, we need order here. Where’s civilization if there’s no order?”

But who would set the order?

None of the armed groups were willing to surrender authority to the other and started bickering again in the faces of the increasingly annoyed civilians.

“We only have so many mechs here and so many people, who should we all listen to? Have you guys even counted your people?”

“I don’t care who you guys listen to, just don’t bother me when I’m watching my movies.”

“Then why don’t you guys send a group to fight for it? No rules on method, whoever wins gets to command the losers.”

“That’s right, fight!”

The bosses of the Space Tigers and Invincible Dragons both had their heads pressed on the ground. Lu Bixing watched as their heads got pushed closer together like they were being forced into marriage, and finally said: “I do have an idea to fairly settle this.”

On the evening of the third day, Lin Jingheng returned with a fully loaded Model 3 of weapons and backup mechs to a sports festival in the space station.

The operation range of the anti-detection system was turned down to the smallest radius for operational testing. Outside of the artificial atmosphere, numerous mechs equipped with simulation missiles were going in and out of the mirrored terminal created from the anti-detection system like a bunch of overly excited rabbits jumping into a hole.

“Sir, it looks like they’re doing an interesting exercise,” Zhanlu said.

“No, I think they’re hosting a ‘Paralympics for dementia patients’ here.” Lin Jingheng responded emotionlessly.

Zhanlu went silent for two seconds: “Hahaha.”

“That wasn’t a joke, who said you can laugh?” Lin Jingheng’s brows lowered. “Analyze the anti-detection system and stay away from them, or you’ll end up getting dragged into that mess.”

Zhanlu’s mental network easily covered the anti-detection system in battery-saving mode. The Model 3 made its way to the other side of the station and landed on the dock. Unlike the other times it landed, there was not a single soul waiting to see the Model 3; civilians and armed forces alike, all their attention was on the big multimedia screen in the central plaza.

Lin Jingheng could hear Lu Bixing’s voice from afar: “Invincible Dragon 4 needs to watch their ammunition supply. Even though it’s just a simulation missile, we limit the amount of supply a mech can carry just like they would in a real battle. If Number 4 continues to fire out all their missiles like this, they will be out in no time…Self-Defense number 1 and Thunderbolt Emperor 3 collided, but don’t worry, the defense shields are opened to the highest power during these drills, and we’ve set a speed limit for the mechs so there won’t be any damage to the mech itself. Self-Defense 1 is Saturday, right? Nice move, he also managed to overtake his opponent’s mental network during the collision...wait, here we see the last mech of the Supreme King get shot down, making them the first team to be completely wiped out this round. They scored relatively high...Oh! The mech lost control, perhaps the pilot lost consciousness-- Jingshu, send in support!”

Lu Bixing himself was on a mech, commentating while working on the anti-detection system. He tasked the four students with the job of maneuvering the mechs back out of the drill zone when pilots got knocked unconscious. Their inexperience in piloting would sometimes cause the mechs to quiver as they slowly moved the mechs and pilot outside, looking way more nervous than the participants of the simulation battle.

At the corner of the multimedia screen, the scores of all the teams were listed. The scoring system was complex, but the bottom three teams with the least scores were all marked in red. Almost every three minutes, Lu Bixing would call out and comment on the last three: “Team ‘I’m Number One’ is currently in the last place, but don’t worry friends, you still have chances to move up now that the Supreme Kings are out of the game. Also, one more thing, the last place team of this match will be disbanded, and all members of the team will no longer be able to form another group. So your choice is either to leave the station or join other existing teams.”

Lin Jingheng lit a cigarette as he leaned on the Model 3 and watched this chaos before him unfold. He was starting to see where Lu Bixing was going with this-- pulling these folks together and forcing them through military training would be too late already. They didn’t have the luxury to take things step by step with the clock ticking; there was no way anyone could turn these station rats into elite soldiers overnight. The entire station was already a mess, so Lu Bixing took the opportunity to fuel the mess by creating this situation where they were forced to fight for their own interests; with the right kind of management and leadership, they could even turn internal conflict into something more meaningful.

Perhaps compared to putting the rats to drown in a dead silent pond, starting a storm and forcing them to move was the better option. At the end of the day, Lu Bixing’s goal was to give them a chance of survival during war and not to save the world.

Sounds of footsteps came in and a hand helped itself by pulling out another cigarette from Lin Jingheng’s pocket: “You finished supplying the Model 3 already? How does it compare to the Primal Asshole?”

Lin Jingheng knew immediately that Lu Bixing spilled the beans about Primal Alien to Monoeyed Hawk. He blew out a cloud of white smoke and stood for a few moments, unsure whether to cry or laugh; it seemed as though Lu Bixing really believed that praising him a bit more in front of the Hawk could ease the tension between the two.

“Not as good as that one.” Lin Jingheng said. “The Model 3’s been eliminated from standard fleets for too long, there are differences in hardware that I can’t fix. But the main core is Zhanlu now, so that should be able to make up for some shortcomings.”

Monoeyed Hawk snorted coldly: “You got a heavy mech now, but what if things don’t go as planned? What will you do if those old dogs of yours already got captured by the space pirates and are completely wiped out?

“Chances are slim. If it does end up at that point, it’s probably just their fate.” Lin Jingheng tapped the ashes off the cigarette. “The SIlver Ten swore their loyalty to me, not the IU.”

Monoeyed Hawk raised a brow: “What do you mean?”

“It means that without my order, even if the Parliament of the IU gets blown into pieces right before their eyes and all the council members are beheaded, the Silver Ten won’t move a finger.”

Monoeyed Hawk was shocked: “In other words, you raised a private army...right under the eyes of the First Galaxy in the Silver Fortress?”

“I wouldn’t say that’s illegal?” Lin Jingheng said nonchalantly. “I took the salary and payment from the IU for all these years and fought for them. I don’t owe the IU anything.”

The Monoeye Hawk looked at him with mixed feelings.

The first time he heard about Lin Jingheng, the commander was still a child. Lu Xin himself sent a photo he snuck while the boy was asleep, proudly showing off to the world that he snatched a son. Rumor had it that the Lin family left a pair of twins that were still underage at the time; the brother was taken by the military council and given to Lu Xin while the sister was taken in by the Eden Committee. The history behind the Lin family was a top-secret case kept by the IU. Nobody knew what happened, but everyone knew that the little boy in the photo would not have an easy life ahead of him.

Lu Xin would always show off his son, and Monoeyed Hawk’s impression of the boy was that he was a quiet child. Aristocrats from the First Galaxy tended to be like that; refined and delicate even from his appearance, and very polite...until the day of the revolution of the IU.

Monoeye Hawk used to think that everyone in Wolto was fake and pretentious, that they were all just well-dressed monsters at heart.

Until he really met Lin Jingheng.

“I don’t get you.” Monoeyed Hawk said. “Didn’t you want to wreck shit up back then?”

The main screen showed that three other teams were also eliminated from the game within this short span of time. Lin Jingheng shot a sharp gaze at Monoeye Hawk at the phrase “wreck shit up” and didn’t deny.

Monoeyed Hawk wasn’t sure how Lin Jingheng managed to assemble a private fleet, but the entire combat fleet and military power of the IU were centralized on the Silver Fortress. If Lin Jingheng were to revolt anytime during a pirate invasion, the IU would’ve already been wiped out and the decades of peace wouldn’t have come.

“Then why didn’t you…” Monoeyed Hawk said.

“Why didn’t I do it earlier?” Lin Jingheng glanced at Monoeyed Hawk as if he didn’t want to answer, but still interrupted the older man with his response, “If the Silver Ten revolts, the pirates would take the opportunity to come in. On top of that, Lu Xin’s ex-officers who were betrayed by the IU would also join in the mess, it’d be small-scale warfare at that point.”

If that happened, Lu Xin would probably crawl out of his own coffin in anger.

Surprisingly, Monoeyed Hawk understood the unspoken words.

Lin Jingheng paused, and then laughed self-mockingly: “Although the situation isn’t that much better now, you can just take it as my own conceit.”

Ch 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; 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 laughingstock 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 oversaw the process of fishing up mechs experienced 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 be suspended.

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.”

Ch 56 - Are You Trying to Comfort Me?

“Sir, this doesn’t follow your normal behavioral patterns.” Zhanlu’s voice echoed inside the empty Model 3. “What inspired you to make this decision?”

In a deserted area about ten sailing days away from the space station, Lin Jingheng stood inside the cockpit of the Model 3, eyes on the radar already filled with enough clutter to look like a giant kaleidoscope in space.

The three teams of the space station gathered anxiously at their designated hiding spots. The Model 3 turned off its weaponry system and only kept a replica cannon. A replica cannon was just a special type of electromagnetic wave that placed a marking on mechs to indicate that a mech had been hit. Once it reached a certain magnitude, it would indicate that the shield system was broken.

It was essentially a hilarious toy for kids.

Lin Jingheng felt like a big bully holding a tiny water gun in front of a complex intersection ready to play hide and seek with a bunch of grade school children. Yet Commander Lin was completely unaware that these children hiding behind the walls of the alleyways were legitimately scared of this water gun.

For the next four hours, the commander’s job was to tear down the maze and find the children so he could gently splash some water on their soft round butts- Oh, and he couldn't hit them too hard or it might startle the little almonds inside their heads.

To make matters worse, the whole embarrassing process would be fully recorded and replayed in front of everyone after the game. Thankfully, they were already far enough from the range of the internal network, so they were unable to stream the content live.

The almighty and fierce Commander Lin had stood on top for many years and found his reputation down all over the floor today.

There was almost nothing more important in the universe than a man’s pride, so Lin Jingheng quietly put on an expressionless facade before Zhanlu and said: “The remaining three teams from the station can be compared to the result of natural selection and self-categorization. They managed to split into three main types of teams: high adaptability and flexibility type, steady defense type, and mobile assault type. They each have their own strengths, so if they learn how to cooperate and use the anti-detection system to their advantage, it’s possible to draw out their potential.”

“That wasn’t how you evaluated them last time,” Zhanlu ripped off his facade with no tact. “Last time you said the remaining three teams were representations of the three toxic tumors of human society-- the vile and manipulative bad eggs, the foolish majority, and the daydreaming fools that don’t know their own limits.”

“......” Lin Jingheng remained silent for two seconds. “That was a joke.”

This time, Zhanlu didn’t laugh; instead, he responded at a loss: “According to the context and your usual speech patterns, I don’t think that was a joke.”

Lin Jingheng’s tone of voice was starting to grow annoyed: “The biggest difference between a human and an AI is that there is no fixed pattern to a human’s speech and actions.”

Zhanlu rebutted with reason: “Sir, it seems like sociology and psychology are not your field of expertise. In fact, research on human behavior patterns began very early in ancient Earth society. There is evidence to show that there is internal logic behind all seemingly complex human behaviors; for example, based off of your personal data the next thing you will say to me is…”

Lin Jingheng: “Shut up!”

Zhanlu: “...Shut up.”

The top AI of the Interstellar Union and his master spoke at the same time. Zhanlu paused for a moment before responding dutifully: “Understood, carrying out ‘shut up’ order.”

Lin Jingheng: “......”

The commander was very tempted to take Zhanlu off the Model 3 right now and reinstall him on a more appropriate hardware: a stationary workout bike.

“Everyone should know the rules already,” Lu Bixing’s voice came up inside all participating mechs. “In the past games, no participants had administration access to the anti-detection system; this time is different as I’ve opened up partial access to the system to everyone on the field. This time, your opponents are not each other, it will be Commander Lin only. To put it simply, the past games were a game of survival that allowed everyone to take the role of the hunter and prey, but this time the only hunter is Commander Lin, whose goal will be to capture every single one of you regardless of team allegiance.”

Sadly, nobody was more excited about the seemingly easier game rules and were instead more nervous than before.

“Starting today, we will no longer eliminate anyone from the game.” Lu Bixing continued. “The scoring system will continue, but from now on the last place team will be put in charge of patrolling the space station until the next game. I will remind everyone once again that the patrols are a long and tedious process. Patrollers are the first in line at the limits of the space station, and in certain areas patrollers will lose signal to communicate between one another. In these situations, those that have weaker mental stability can often experience anxiety, high blood pressure and other psychological unease that can affect your future performance on mechs. In other words, losing here once might cost you more than just your pride, so please be careful.”

Saturday’s eyes lit up, Foucault was finalizing her team’s formation, and Weasel was already starting to use his administration access to the anti-detection system to check up on the positioning of the other two teams. A thought ran through Weasel’s mind as he located the other teams: it doesn’t matter if they got wiped out since it was just a simulation, so as long as the other two teams performed worse than the Iron Knights, they could naturally escape the fate of being in last place.

“Lin, you said before that the combat experience and ability of space pirates were far greater than we ever imagined,” Lu Bixing’s voice rang up inside the Model 3 as if he was just speaking right by Lin Jingheng’s ears. “If the pirates really managed to scan through this area with their long-distance radar detectors, I want to know if my anti-detection system could really stand a chance against them; so please, don’t go easy.”

Lin Jingheng’s eyes looked up towards the communication screen and saw Lu Bixing hastily add: “I meant don’t go easy on me but try and be a little less harsh on the others.”

“Don’t go easy on you?” Lin Jingheng said.

Lu Bixing interpreted some strangely suggestive meaning from that line, gave a quick smile in response and cut off the communication with a bright red face.

Lin Jingheng: “...”

The commander stood dumbfounded for a split second before he let out a sigh and poured himself half a glass of rum.

And thus, a massacre began as the commander felt an awkward unease tingled his otherwise dense senses.

“Hey Saturday,” Holiday’s voice came up from the telecom. “The Weasel’s men are moving towards Foucault’s team, are they planning on working together?”

Saturday examined the map carefully for a moment: “Foucault’s team has the most people, making them the easiest target to locate. If I was in the commander’s place, I would target them first.”

Holiday didn’t quite follow the logic: “Then why did the Weasel…”

“To cover up and steal fame.” A member of the Self-Defense Squad answered. “We’ve been fighting for so long already, can’t you tell? They’re pretending to seek alliance right now, but the moment Commander Lin locates Foucault, the damn Weasel will backstab her and destroy their fleet from the inside. It wouldn’t be easy for the Model 3 to make its way around the sea of mechs, so Foucault’s team would become the best defense for them. They can hide behind the Golden Warriors and attack the Model 3 in a guerilla fight; there’s also a transfer portal right behind them, so they can retreat anytime they want.”

“Weasel wasn’t part of the patrol that last time.” Another Self-Defense Squad member spoke up. “He has no idea what it’s like to fight against Commander Lin.”

“What’s it like?” Saturday asked.

“His mental network…” The squad member’s voice began to tremble a little as he continued. “The moment his mental network scans through, you would feel like a weed grass growing out of a field waiting to be cut down. It was like a giant scythe cutting through a field at a speed you can’t even see, there was no way for you to hide; by the time you realize, you’re already done for. When you get forcefully disconnected from the mental network, it was like you fell into a sea of ice, and then into a complete void where your body won’t even respond to you as if you were dead. This was nothing like how we normally disconnect...Boss, I was only around the sidelines at the time, there were other people that faced the commander directly still on the station. Forget about piloting mechs, some of them are still traumatized to the point they can’t turn off their lights at night. Weasel has no idea that even with their firepower, there’s no way they can hit the Model 3 outside of the heavy mech’s mental network range. Once they enter the range, there’s no way for them to get out.”

“Don’t worry,” Saturday reassured his team. “We still have the anti-detection system on our side. Listen to my orders, everyone spread out, but keep your formations!”

“Saturday, the Model 3’s on the move!”

Under the anti-detection system’s monitoring function, the route of the Model 3 appeared in front of all three teams. It started making rounds outside of the system’s range before finally settling near a transfer portal.

“Hey boss, what is he doing?”

“Don’t stand around the transfer portal, move away.” Saturday commanded. “Spread out a little more.”

“We can’t spread out more” Holiday said. “We’re not inside the station’s network range right now so our communication is fixed-point, if we spread out even more we won’t be able to reach each other’s signals!”

Saturday’s gaze remained still on the minitor as he spoke: “I heard that these frontline generals have experienced more battles than all the meals we’ve ever had in our lives combined. They’re so used to the battlefield that they can sense any little changes. The people that were in the simulation battles are all scared of him, so they must’ve prepared an escape route by the transfer portals and are waiting to run at any given time. But heavy mechs are able to scan signals through transfer portals…”

Before he could finish, the Model 3 suddenly made a transfer as Saturday’s heart skipped a beat.

In the next instant, the Model 3 appeared out of nowhere behind the Weasel’s fleet. Weasel was still executing his master plan and didn’t even have time to react; within a matter of seconds, the entire Iron Knights fleet froze on the spot. At the same time, the monitor signals indicating Weasel’s entire team completely disappeared from the screen. Lin Jingheng didn’t even touch the cannon and straight up swept the entire fleet’s mental networks.

Due to having dirty tricks up their sleeves, all of the Iron Knights’ cannons were aimed at their allies ready to fire. The moment their mental networks were taken over, all replica cannons opened fire towards Foucault’s Golden Warriors.

Thankfully, Foucault already had some precautions about Weasel’s team and had part of her team waiting outside the fire range and was able to avoid running into the crossfire the moment the Model 3 appeared.

Saturday caught the opportunity and immediately sent a set of coordinates to his team’s mechs: “Everyone, retreat to the nearest transfer portal and get ready to make a transfer!”

Even while facing Lin Jingheng, Saturday was fearless.

Holiday’s face turned pale at the command: “Saturday, are you crazy?”

“If we don’t attack now, we’ll be the ones running next, hurry up!” Saturday charged forward, and the rest of the Self-Defense Squad followed. They’ve been through too many hardships with Saturday that following their leader already became an instinct.

During this short span of time, the Golden Warriors were already almost completely wiped out by the Model 3. The survivors began retreating towards the transfer portal in an attempt to escape. Before they could reach the portal, the Self-Defense Squad suddenly appeared and charged towards the Model 3. Behind the surviving Golden Warriors, the Self-Defense Squad were like a swift dagger that shot out from the depths of darkness towards its prey.

Saturday’s eyes locked on the Model 3 through his mental network, his focus strong enough that he managed to reach his all-time highest sync rate with his mech. The Model 3 was like a giant glistening pearl in space; Saturday pulled up his mock cannon and fired towards it. Even if it was just a little scratch, if he could manage to hit the Model 3, he would earn a significant number of points for his team even if it meant he’d be swept off his mental network the next second...

His field of vision blackened. The next second, Iron Knight mechs under the Model 3’s control blocked right in front of his cannons. Saturday’s chest tightened as he sensed a foreboding feeling when he realized he wouldn’t have time to retreat. Within a blink of an eye, Saturday felt as if something covered his mental network followed by a strong feeling of suffocation; Saturday’s head buzzed, his sync level with the mech drop from 75% straight down to 0 as he lost consciousness.

Seeing that even the sharpest knives of the Self-Defense Squad couldn’t stand a chance, the surviving mechs all hurried back to try and escape using the anti-detection system.

They were too late. The Model 3 had already hacked into countless mechs previously, and naturally gained administrative access to the anti-detection system. Lin Jingheng, the most terrifying hunter of this game, slowly took off his blindfold inside the Model 3 and looked around the field. Within less than 40 minutes, the field was completely emptied with no one else to be seen.

The drill estimated to last for four hours ended in less than 40 minutes. All three teams were completely wiped out with the same exact negative scores, making it impossible to rank them.

The four students monitoring the drill didn’t even have a chance to show off their piloting skills and stood dumbfoundedly without a word. Whether it was the armed forces of the station or the anti-detection system, months of training meant nothing in the eyes of someone who’d been on real battlefields. Everyone was speechless at how vulnerable and hopeless the armed forces were before a real soldier.

After what felt like an eternity, White’s voice broke the silence in the communication channels: “Hey teach, d-does this mean it’s over?”

“Uh,” Lu Bixing answered arduously. “...Okay, drill’s over. Clean up the field and take care of the injured.”

Following another 30 seconds of silence, Lu Bixing quickly changed his tone and said calmly: “There were three fatal mistakes made today. First, the transfer portals; when we were installing the anti-detection system two days ago, I noticed that commander Lin purposely avoided all routes that connected directly to the portals. If it wasn’t for this, I’d presume they would be wiped out much faster today. I didn’t even think about security locking the portals with a passcode...heh, sorry, I got a little too conceited from a few words of praise. Second, the battle awareness of the teams was not ideal. The Iron Knights and Golden Warriors were already raising their white flags before the battle started and stayed close to the transfer portals, that was why they were the first to be located by the Model 3. The Self-Defense Squad was too reckless and underestimated their opponent. They didn’t catch on that all the portals within the vicinity were under the control of the Model 3 and jumped right into the trap. Third, the anti-detection system didn’t have a secondary security code. Without that, once a mech gets hacked, the enemy will be able to obtain all information and access to the system, making it their own. This was my mistake.”

Huang Jingshu carefully called out: “Teach…”

Lu Bixing laughed: “What? Don’t worry, I’m fine. Hurry up and clean up the field, I still need to adjust the anti-detection system.”

The students were now experts at cleaning up after the drills and took care of all injured persons in a timely manner. Inside the vast interstellar maze, Lu Bixing sat by himself in his mech and reviewed the data from the simulation game earlier.

He couldn’t say he didn’t feel defeated.

Ever since he made the three-month promise with Lin Jingheng, Lu Bixing had been living inside his workroom in the mech dock. When the commander got up every morning before sunrise for his physical training, he was also up in his workroom working on his project. He poured out all his blood and sweat for this project, yet that still wasn’t enough.

After all, he was still young.

Lu Bixing let himself space out for a minute before he rubbed his face and recollected his feelings. He turned all his efforts from the last few months into a light feather of emotions and blew it away. Lu Bixing had learned two important lessons while he was a young teen: to not care too much about his own feelings, and not care too much about the amount of time things took.

Feelings are subjective and controllable, but time...people can do nothing, and time will still pass. Lu Bixing believed that to say that you gave your time away was a little too conceited.

Just then, a connection request came in. Lu Bixing looked up and found the Model 3 already waiting nearby, with the mech dock opened towards him.

Lin Jingheng stood by the loading dock’s main entrance and watched as Lu Bixing’s little mech slowly parked inside through the glass windows. The commander’s face was still as expressionless as usual, but he already cracked his knuckles behind his back a few times while silently contemplating if he had been a bit too harsh.

Lin Jingheng had noticed the problem with the portals during the installation but didn’t mention it to Lu Bixing and only adjusted it quietly by himself.

He was well-aware of his bad habit of nitpicking every little problem in front of him, so he purposely held back in front of Lu Bixing. The transfer portals were like a double-edged sword that didn’t seem like a major flaw in Lin’s eyes; to him, it could even be used as a tool to lay out traps during an actual battle. In fact, traps in the transfer portals had been exactly how the Primal Alien died...he just didn’t think that Lu Bixing would ask him to join the station’s drill games.

“I should’ve just hung around a bit longer.” Lin Jingheng thought. “At least for about four hours before I went in.”

The air pressure adjustment was complete, and Lu Bixing came out from his mech. Lin Jingheng froze up a bit as he saw him from afar.

Lu Bixing walked over, and the two looked at each other in silence.

Lin Jingheng then took the chance to speak first: “To complete a project from start to finish is an extremely hard task. From brainstorming to designing, and then building to completion, every step requires a systematic process to achieve. You also often need to pay attention to every detail to make sure all functions run successfully, which requires a large amount of time and effort. In contrast to that, finding one loophole is much easier, because nothing in this world is perfect. Finding loopholes and bugs is also an important process, but if anyone thinks they are better than someone for nitpicking for these loopholes, then they’re simply fools…Uh, you don’t need to worry about them too much.”

LIn Jingheng remembered that Lu Xin would wrap his arms around his shoulder and talk to him when he was younger whenever he ran into something that upset him. He subconsciously wanted to try and imitate that gesture, but because he wasn’t an extroverted person that fancied physical contact, Lin’s hand stopped in midair awkwardly as he contemplated where to place it. The longer Lin Jingheng held his hand out, the louder Monoeye Hawk’s shady cult rant replayed in his head.

Lin Jingheng could also feel cold sweat covering his palm.

Lu Bixing looked a little surprised. He suddenly grabbed Lin’s hand and stared into the commander’s eyes as he asked: “Are you trying to comfort me, Commander?”

Lin Jingheng instinctively wanted to pull his hand back but felt a little awkward doing so and completely froze up on the spot.

Ch 57 - He’s Starting to Loosen Up

Even though the famous young scientist Mr. Lu Bixing was an inexperienced oddball that spent most of his life building a relationship with his own scientific experiments, he still maintained the adventurous spirit and ability to act. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but that wouldn't stop him from pursuing his desires.

He immediately sensed Lin Jingheng’s unease, and soon discovered the fun in teasing a stoic show-off. Lu Bixing took the opportunity to ask for a little more and took a step further to wrap his arms around the commander.

Lin Jingheng: “...”

It started off as a whim of the moment to mess with Lin, but Lu Bixing found himself mesmerized by a completely unexpected sensation. The commander’s body was not as he imagined: Lin’s chest was firm, and waist thinner than its appearance. Lin Jingheng’s spine was straight and upright like his character. To Lu Bixing’s surprise, this body wasn’t as cold as the soul inside it; there was warmth that also penetrated through the fabric of his clothing. Lu Bixing was suddenly captivated by the warmth of this accidental embrace.

Lu Bixing felt like he just got electrified. He could even vaguely smell the rum from the other man’s breath beside him...until Lin Jingheng held his breath the next second.

Lin Jingheng finally stepped backwards, and an unnatural sound of his overly stiff joint cracking broke the silence.

While Lu Bixing didn’t feel like he’d had enough of the embrace, he slowly let go in fear of accidentally cracking another bone. He backed off a few steps before he remarked casually: “I didn’t know you were so kind.”

Lin Jingheng just got a kindness label slapped onto his face and naturally wanted to reclaim his honor by giving Lu Bixing a scolding but couldn’t find a good reason to. He’d never put up the front of a commander in front of Lu Bixing, and a hug really wasn’t an inappropriate act that called for him to be mad.

Stuck in an awkward situation, Lin Jingheng took a deep breath and decided to play along and pretend nothing happened. He responded coldly: “I just didn’t want you crying over it.”

The commander then turned around and put his signature anti-social attitude back on. Lu Bixing let out a sigh in relief in his mind as he secretly savoured the feeling of embrace from earlier, feeling as if his heart would combust.

Just as the two men were busy pretending nothing happened, a medical capsule quietly rolled out from the medical chamber of the Model 3 towards Lu Bixing. Zhanlu’s voice then broadcasted within the mech: “Headmaster Lu, I detected that your heart rate is unusually high, your blood pressure and body temperature also rose. Do you need some medical attention?”

Lu Bixing: “...”

Lin Jingheng shot a glance back at him in surprise.

Lu Bixing ran back in embarrassment: “I....I need to go passcode lock the transfer portals.”

A human-form Zhanlu walked out from the walls of the Model 3 and gave a confused look at Lu Bixing’s silhouette. He started scanning through his internal database in silence, and after a few moments, came to a revelation: “Sir, after logical deduction, I came to a conclusion regarding Mr. Lu. I can share them....”

“I don’t need to know, keep it to yourself.” Lin Jingheng let out a sigh and held up an empty glass to Zhanlu.

Zhanlu skillfully poured some rum and ice into the glass.

On the other side of the Model 3, Lu Bixing took a random mech from inside the dock and disappeared into a transfer portal.

Lin Jingheng also didn’t seem to be in a rush to return to the station. He just stayed in the quiet space environment as he slowly sipped his rum.

Zhanlu reminded him: “Sir, while I relaxed some of your dieting restrictions based on your rehabilitation progress, you will be hitting your alcohol limit for the day if you continue to drink.”

Lin Jingheng responded slightly absent-mindedly: “Then put the bottle back in the cellar, I’m done.”

Commander Lin’s drinking and smoking habits were only picked up from veteran soldiers in the past and not an addiction. He would take them when offered but would never actively seek them out. During rehab and dieting, he wouldn’t even touch a wine bottle; and while on a mech, Commander Lin will also not turn on any open fire.

During the dieting period, Lu Bixing was like a pranking child attempting to find out what the commander’s favorite food was by interrupting his diet. Lin Jingheng never responded because he wasn’t sure what his preferences were either; to him, the process of eating was just another task -- he would just eat whatever was most convenient and whatever was written on his nutrition plan.

He didn’t like reading novels and hated socializing. Back in the Silver Fortress, he would even block out all non-military news on his devices. The only celebrity he recognized out of the entire eight galaxies was Yevgeniya, even the last movie he ‘watched’ was at least 20 years ago. The movie had been a propaganda film sponsored by the Military Council meant to promote recruits, which then led to old Commander Woolf to drag a team of active officers including Lin Jinghing himself to attend the premiere showing of the movie. Lin Jingheng showed up at the premiere for a few photos, then proceeded to fall asleep for the next two hours while the movie aired.

The only thing that could be considered an entertaining pastime for Lin Jingheng was the built-in mini games of a mech’s piloting software. Sometimes during long intergalactic expeditions, he would play a few games with the mech during downtimes. Lin’s personal favorite was a bombing game that tested the player’s concentration. The game sets up virtual targets randomly within the range of the mech’s mental network, and the player must destroy the target within a limited timeframe. For people that didn’t have a high enough sync rate with the mech, it would be difficult to get past the first round. And of course, the virtual target Lin Jingheng chose for his games was the Parliament of the IU.

“I’m a pretty boring person, aren’t I?” Lin Jingheng said out of the blue.

“By human standards, that’s not entirely correct.” Zhanlu responded fairly. “You become considerably livelier when you’re criticizing others.”

Lin Jingheng forced a smile: “Okay, so you’re saying I’m just unbearable.”

“You are indeed not an easy person to get along with.” Zhanlu tilted his head slightly. “Sir, you look a bit vexed, just like the first time Miss Penny confessed to you.”

Lin Jingheng’s brows twitched a little as he finished the rest of the rum in his glass.

Zhanlu continued: “I’ve heard that when humans choose their partners, they often have an ideal image or type in their mind. According to my observations, your type seems to be close to what Miss Penny was like.”

Lin Jingheng almost choked on his rum, causing him to cough violently. “How come I didn’t know I had a type?” he asked in shock.

“You were very kind and patient to Miss Penny, far more so than how you treat others you considered friends. You would go out of your way to protect her and consider her feelings; on top of that, you hardly ever used harsh words in front of her or even made her a target of your unique sarcasm...this is very unusual for you.” Zhanlu reasoned, “Planet Beijing’s incident was indeed a tragedy, sir, I am sad for your loss on your behalf.”

Lin Jingheng didn’t respond immediately. His gaze fixed toward the direction of Beijing through the Model 3’s network; yet there was nothing to be seen aside from darkness, as if the once populated planet had just evaporated into the vast sea of outer space. Lin Jingheng spun the empty glass on the table and spoke in a lower tone: “I don’t like Penny; I’ve already rejected her. I... never really had much to say to her either.”

The truth was that Lin Jingheng had always felt uneasy around Penny. It was as if he was back at the Black Orchid Academy’s modern history class where he would always get distracted but still had to be careful to not get caught dozing off; he didn’t want to be caught breaking a girl’s fragile heart, and it was more exhausting than he would ever admit.

“I was…” Lin Jingheng paused to search for the right words. “I was just thankful she thought so highly of me, it’s rare for people to have such positive opinions toward me.”

“This isn’t a very fair assessment, sir. Miss Yvgenia’s confession was far more passionate than Miss Penny.” Zhanlu answered, “During the Freedom Day Parade that year, she personally stepped down the stage to see you. I kept the relevant data from that encounter and concluded that her physiological state at that time was very similar to Headmaster Lu’s state just earlier; however, I don’t recall you ever thanking her.”

The last sentence made Lin Jingheng even more distressed. He answered exasperatedly: “Yevgenia is the social butterfly of the IU Parliament and famous actress. Faking a few heartbeats isn’t that hard for her; a seat in the Parliament or a whole week’s worth of headline news would make her much more excited.”

“Hm, so you agree that ‘politics sullies love’. It seems as if your views on affection and sentimental value are as reserved as you present yourself.” Zhanlu picked up the emptied glass. “Then what about your former Vice Admiral from the Silver Fortress, Mr. Lorde?”

Lin Jingheng’s eyes widened slightly: “What?”

“The Vice Admiral is very introverted and not good at expressing his own feelings, but everytime he passed by you, his heart rate would increase an average of about 10-15%.” Zhanlu continued without even realizing he was throwing a bomb out. “His gaze was always following you. Everytime you leave your office, he would always give you another glance before he locked the door after you.”

Lin Jingheng stared at him in wild disbelief.

Zhanlu nodded understandingly: “Okay, according to your expression, you didn’t think your Vice Admiral was any different than an AI aside from the fact that you can’t toss cigarette ashes on him...Mr. Lorde has my condolences, I hope he is doing well right now.”

Lin Jingheng leaned back in his chair in frustration and decided to stop responding. Talking to Zhanlu didn’t take the stress off his shoulders -- if anything it only increased his stress level.

Lu Bixing updated the anti-detection system in almost no time and reorganized for a second simulation game...or perhaps a better term would be another one-sided massacre.

The second simulation lasted a total of 50 minutes, again with the three teams scoring in the negatives. Lin Jinghehng discovered another loophole this time: when approaching a fleet the size of the Golden Warriors, the massive scale of the fleet would collectively produce a weak but detectable siphonage of energy waves. The fleets were so used to sticking close to each other that commander Lin caught them red-handed once again.

Like the previous simulation, the highlight of the simulation was still Saturday; being the token mascot of what Commander Lin dubbed as ‘the fools with big dreams’, Saturday fully lived up to that moniker by continuously charging forward for an attack. This time, he even brought a few of his men straight into the range of the Model 3, getting more and more aggressive every attempt. Though of course, despite having the courage to challenge his enemy, he was still no match for Commander Lin.

The third simulation lasted an hour and thirty minutes. This time, Lin Jingheng didn’t open fire. Weasel and his squad attempted to cheat by attempting to install a spy cam onto the Model 3 the night before the game, in hopes to monitor Commander Lin piloting the mech the next day.

Of course, poor Mister Weasel had no idea who he was up against, and foolishly tried to one-up the top AI of modern times with an ancient spying trick. Lin Jingheng didn’t call him out for him, and instead decided to give him a lesson on the battlefield. Using Zhanlu’s hidden communication terminal, Commander Lin counter-hacked into Weasel’s mental network. The three fleets stared dumbly at the still Model 3 on their maps, completely unaware that there was already a Trojan Horse among them. At the end, under the disguise of Weasel, Commander Lin lured the three fleets together and eliminated everyone without moving a finger by letting them slit their own throats. Thus, Lin Jingheng personally demonstrated to Weasel’s team that deception during war is fine, but you’d better educate yourself first.

The Iron Knights fell to the last place and were put on station patrol.

By the fourth simulation game, the anti-detection system was almost near-perfect. This time, both the Golden Warriors and Iron Knights had learned their lessons and remained hidden inside the anti-detection system in hopes to last four and a half hours on the clock. After a few hand-in-hand fights against the fleets, Lin Jingheng already had a decent grasp of their characters. He rounded a few times within the signal range of the anti-detection system to lure out Saturday and was not disappointed. Saturday was also perhaps a suicide squad candidate in another timeline; despite experiencing the pain and torture of having his mental network stripped away multiple times, his desire to gain some points off Commander Lin had not been crushed.

Lin Jingheng answered his bravery and demolished the entire Self-Defense Squad. The commander even underhandedly used the mental network to threaten Holiday to sell out the other two fleet’s coordinates.

From that day on, it was as if Lin Jingheng had his eyes locked on the Self-Defense Squad. Every time they entered the field, he would always target the squad first and then deal with the other two fleets while he was at it. This cost the Self-Defense Squad not only their points on the scoring board, but their semi-permanent position being in the last place also forced them to become professional station patrollers.

Saturday and his crew had been floating in space for about two weeks, feeling as if they'd turned into the satellites of the station.

When Lu Bixing came in to deliver supplies, all he found was a bunch of mechs floating like dead corpses in midst of space. The members of the self-defense squad were either all gathered up playing cards or playing the mini games on the mechs. Even Saturday himself gave up on attempting to gather the team up for physical training and holed up in a corner of the mech after setting it on autopilot to sleep.

After three tries to communicate with the squad with no response from any of the mechs, Lu Bixing hacked into Saturday’s mental network and blasted a loud heavy metal track inside the mech. Saturday shot up from the deathly sound of the music immediately; and to make matters worse, Lu Bixing even turned off the internal gravity control of the mech, which made Saturday run headfirst into the ceiling of the mech. Unable to get a hold of himself in zero gravity, Saturday bounced around the mech like a rubber ball until he finally settled back down and almost puked on the spot.

“Good morning, Saturday”, Lu Bixing greeted him energetically. “Nice dance moves you got there, but you might want to do something about those flowery pants.”

Saturday yelled back: “Give my network back to me, I’m going to fucking puke!”

At the end, he only managed to puke out some acid from his empty stomach.

“Yesterday? I didn’t eat anything yesterday, just took a few sips of wine last night and fell asleep. I’m getting tired of the condensed meals.” Saturday said as he cleaned himself up. “I can’t even remember what a freshly cooked meal tastes like anymore.”

“Interstellar expeditions often take months to complete,” Lu Bixing said. “You’re going to have to get used to it.”

Saturday sneered back: “Hell no, real soldiers deal with that to protect their homes. I’m dealing with this because we have no military.”

Lu Bixing’s eyes widened as he studied Saturday’s expression through the screen: “Do you actually think Lin is targeting you specifically?”

“No,” Saturday shrugged. “He doesn’t need to target me specifically, he probably just thinks I’m the easiest to beat up, so it’s always me first. What am I to him anyway? I’m not that skilled and can’t even work with the other teams.”

Lu Bixing responded: “Maybe he just wanted to give the task of patrolling to you…”

“Right, just send me off to this long-distance job in the middle of nowhere. Isn’t this just the same as house arrest? Here, bring the dog food over, mister prison guard.” Saturday interrupted and opened up the receiving dock for the supplies. “By the way, professor, this can be the last time you send us supplies to us, and maybe think about finding someone else to take over for us. We’ll stay for another night today and I’ll bring our squad back tomorrow. I’ll disband the Self-Defense Squad when we get back to the station so nobody has to deal with this mess anymore.”

“You’re giving up?”

“I’m giving up. I didn’t listen to you back then because I was too naive. People were right, you won’t know that you weren’t made for something if you didn’t at least try.” A dead mouse feels no cold; Saturday shrugged as he watched the supplies roll into his mech. “Did that old fart die? Or did he get locked up?”

Lu Bixing was stumped in surprise.

“What, am I really that stupid to you?” Saturday continued apathetically. “Whatever, not that it matters. Technically I was raised by him, but in reality he just kind of threw me into the space station and left me to survive on my own until I was old enough to start working for him. Whether he dies or not is really not my problem. I think some other people also figured it out, they just didn’t say anything about it. When a person...or people, have no dignity as humans and are only just surviving without a goal, life itself means nothing besides coldness. That asshole was this kind of person, and we were all the same too.”

The people on this space station were like the lowest hierarchy of citizens on ancient Earth civilizations. They struggled to get by every day, their survival instinct forced their emotions and feelings into a narrow stream of water that flowed through their bodies. They’ve never understood civilization, nor do they care who the ruler of the land was; being able to live another day was all that mattered.

“We didn’t kill him or torture him, don’t worry. It’s just not safe to let him out right now.” Lu Bixing answered. “The others were accusing you of assassinating Mister Spencer…”

“They’re just looking for excuses. Some people have even said I’ve slept with him before.” Saturday shook his head and laughed. “And you, you really are...pft. I don’t even know what to say to you, why do you take everything so personally?”

The two looked at each other for a while in silence until Saturday stood up to organize the supplies: “I did think about bringing that old man down before and taking over this station. I was just a kid back then and thought I was strong, but now I understand.”

Lu Bixing’s eyebrows lowered as he looked at Saturday’s thin silhouette through the screen.

“These garbage in the station are completely hopeless, raising them like pigs was the best solution. I’m also a pig, I was just silly enough to think I can fly.”

Outer space was a place that magnified negative emotions, making it not an ideal place to have a deeper discussion. Lu Bixing decided to return back to the station and cancel the next simulation battle until Saturday returned; he needed to have a talk with him.

Yet before he could make a landing on the station’s dock, he could already feel Zhanlu’s extensive mental network.

This time, Zhanlu did not constrict his range; the AI’s vast network spread to its absolute maximum. Like a giant web that captured anything within its range, Lu Bixing could almost feel it taking away even his breath. The network was reaching as far as a few of the nearest transfer portals and beyond. Lu Bixing pulled himself back to reality and quickly turned his head over to the calendar to find that someone had circled the date for tomorrow on it.

The Three-Month promise was coming to an end.

Lin Jingheng already set up everything he needed for long-distance communication; by the time the clock struck 12, he would send a signal outside the station.

The station would become a bird nest resting at the edge of a cliff, ready to fall at any given moment.

While Lin Jingheng didn’t say anything explicitly, he had been helping Lu Bixing train the armed forces. After a while, Lu Bixing almost bought into the delusion that maybe, just maybe, the commander was loosening up a little and starting to grow attached to the station.

However…

Ch 58 - Fate No Longer Gives You A Choice

Lu Bixing stared at the calendar in a daze. There hadn’t been any markings before he left to deliver supplies to Saturday, so someone must’ve added that while he was gone.

He turned his head towards the other side of the mech dock; the executive building was just right ahead past a short alleyway, and the light inside Lin Jingheng’s room was on.

Ever since Zhanlu had accidentally outed him the last time, Lu Bixing hadn’t spoken to Lin Jingheng in private for a while.

The first few days after the incident, Lu Bixing’s dreams were haunted by Lin’s shocking expression replaying endlessly in his mind. The level of awkwardness was definitely high enough to be ranked within the top 10 most awkward experiences Lu Bixing ever had, making him restless around Lin Jingheng for a short while. Thankfully, shame was still a developing concept to the youthful headmaster Lu, and he was ready to have an intellectual discussion on social relations in theory and practice with Lin Jingheng after a few days.

That was when he found out that Lin started actively avoiding him.

Lu Bixing suspected that Lin Jingheng had some sort of secret invisibility powers; the commander somehow managed to make the Model 3 completely disappear when he wasn't drilling the armed forces. Not even radar could track that monstrous ship when it disappeared. Lu Bixing finally learned why Lin was indifferent about the anti-detection system in the beginning; if everyone in the Silver Ten could just appear and disappear at will, there really was no point to go out of their way to set up another line of security.

Yet right at this moment, the lights in Lin’s room were on...and judging from the brightness, it wasn’t just a desk lamp for work.

This usually meant that he’s expecting a guest.

Lin was waiting for him

Yet Lu Bixing circled around the alleyway between the dock and the building pondering his dilemma and hesitated.

When they first arrived, Lu Bixing’s goal wasn’t that ambitious. He simply wanted to do his best to lower casualties in the war as much as possible; in the best-case scenario this station managed to survive, and in the worst it was just misfortune out of his control. He even restrained himself from messing with Lin’s plan and wanted to create a balance between the two conflicting sides of interest.

Unfortunately, he was just an inexperienced daydreamer without the ability to detach his personal feelings from reality.

In the three months he spent on the station, Lu Bixing watched these weeds of life on the station struggle and grow with his own eyes. They rebuilt this dumpster of a station together to what it was today; the names and faces of everyone living here were engraved into Lu Bixing’s mind; he could even remember their individual stories. However, both his father and Lin Jingheng knew very well the unspoken rules of this place and never bothered to learn the names of everyone they saw. They were aware that attachment and bonds would hold them back, and the more attached you grew the harder it would be to sever the links.

Lu Bixing had faced many adversities and challenges since he was little, but also received a lot of love and compassion. These were the unbreakable source of power gifted to him in the beginning of life, carrying him into the future that allowed him to become the optimist he was today. Even with the tragedy of his family and home, he was able to move forward and believe that good things will await in the future.

But...maybe he was wrong.

Night fell at the station, less than three hours away from the promised day. Foucault and Weasel had both only learned how to hide in the anti-detection system, and Saturday planned on disbanding the Self-Defense Squad. They had worked their hearts out to protect their homes but were still not able to make it in time.

Everything had come to an end, and Lu Bixing no longer had any way to satisfy both sides.

He wasn’t sure if he should go up and beg Lin Jingheng once more.

Three months was the absolute maximum time Lin Jingheng could give. This was based off of a famous study of war strategy proposed by Commander Lu Xin called the “Hundred-Day Hypothesis”. It stated that in a hypothetical situation where the galaxies entered a state of total war where communication networks become obsolete, the first to fall would be the people that relied too heavily on communication. Due to the complex environment of outer space, unless you were a complete psychopath like the Cayley pirates, most people would choose to act more conservatively on the battlefield. Each side would begin to expand their political holdings and authorities surrounding their command headquarters, and the number of armed confrontations would also drastically decrease. Usually it would take around three to four months before a new structure of the war arose, and due to the changes in the war situation it would become much harder to survive if any side remained under hiding at that point.

Lu Bixing didn’t want to test if Lin would make another concession for him due to personal feelings. Logically, he knew he shouldn’t hold the commander back anymore...but what about the people on the station?

Saturday, Holiday, Ms. Foucault, Weasel, Ms. Plump, old cinema lady...do they really all deserve to be swallowed up by this damned time of war?

“Professor Lu?” Lu Bixing heard someone call his name from behind and turned around; it was Ms. Plump.

Ms. Plump was dressed very casually, with slippers still on her feet and a towel still on her head, while carrying two large bags. She asked him curiously: “I saw someone walking back and forth from my place so I took a peek outside and found that it was you. What are you doing out here so late?”

Lu Bixing gave an awkward smile: “And what brings you here?”

“Ugh, it’s those old folks again.” Ms. Plump said. “They’re always out there messing with something. They said it’s New Year’s today and wanted to celebrate, so they made me bring them some cake by midnight. Seriously, these old folks don’t have teeth anymore and still want holiday cake? Don’t they know that one year passed is one less year they can live?”

Lu Bixing became speechless and quickly turned his gaze back to the calendar on the dock; he had paid so much attention to the deadline that he forgot that today was the last day of the year.

No wonder Saturday insisted on staying the night before he returned to the station.

Ms. Plump continued to rant on her own as she scrambled through her bags to pull out a small box. She handed the box to Lu Bixing, who immediately knew that it was a lunch box cake. A lunch box cake was a type of dessert that originated from ancient Earth that became widely popular during the New Galactic Age of Exploration; the cake itself didn’t have a fixed shape and was usually handmade, which usually included multiple layers of varying sweets combinations. It was convenient and easy to eat without having to pull up a table during long expeditions.

There was even a chocolate writing on the top layer that said, “Happy New Year”.

“Did you eat yet? Here, have this for supper.” Ms. Plump shoved the box into Lu Bixing’s hand and gave him a firm slap on the back. “You’re still growing, young man, better eat this up. When my son was your age, he was way bigger than you, at least 230 kilos.”

Lu Bixing laughed dryly. “230 kilos is a little bit of a stretch, I’m fine staying on the thinner side. Thanks.”

Ms. Plump waved at him and went off towards the residential area.

She was single and unmarried, but rumors had it that she’d had a baby boy in the past who passed before he could reach 10 years old. In her mind, the little boy that couldn’t make it probably grew up to be a large and strong man and was perhaps waiting for her to come back home to celebrate the eve with family.

Lu Bixing took a deep breath as he looked at the wriggly writing on the cake and made his way towards the executive building.

I really shouldn’t have learned all their stories, he thought.

Ten sailing days away, the Self-Defense Squad’s mechs were all gathered up to celebrate the quiet new year. These folks had taken their naps in the day and were all unusually energetic as they all sat around to chat.

Holiday took a bite off his condensed meal while holding his rabbit ashes and exclaimed: “Mine’s tuna flavored this time, I heard it’s good luck to have fish for new year’s!”

“Where did you hear that from, huh? What kind of tradition is that you’re just making things up again right?”

“It’s a tradition from ancient Earth,” Holiday answered like a buzzing bee. “My mom told me about it.”

A sea of laughter flooded the communication network as he finished, and Holiday angrily tried to defend his statement as the others started throwing out dirty comments and mockery.

Saturday didn’t join in the chat with them. He was laying on the control panel of his mech with his eyes closed, looking far off into space through the mental network. The network was still collecting random signals and energy waves from the vast universe and making marks on the signal reports.

The noisy channel suddenly quieted down, and Saturday heard someone call his name.

“Huh?” Saturday responded. “What were you guys saying?”

“Are you really going to disband the Self-Defense Squad?” A member asked. “I don’t think we’re any worse than the others, to be honest. Foucault has more people, and Weasel...we’re at least stronger than Weasel, right? None of them are in a hurry to disband, why do we have to be the first?”

“I never even dreamed that I could pilot a mech into space one day, or even participate in patrols and drills.” Another member added, “Wouldn’t it all be a waste if we just disbanded now?”

“We didn’t have our physical training today, so I didn’t get to exercise, and it feels really weird.”

“Hey boss, what are we gonna do after we disband?”

Saturday turned away in frustration without a word. Then, after a moment of silence he said, with his back still facing the camera: “Do whatever you want, you can join other teams so at least it wouldn’t feel like your training was a waste.”

Holiday declared: “But we only want to follow you!”

Saturday felt a loud thump in his chest and could almost feel his eyes watering. He held it in by staring hard at the energy graph on his mech and didn’t respond.

But nobody else seemed to know how to keep quiet; after Holiday’s proclamation, the rest of the Self-Defense Squad started adding in their own comments.

“We only joined the Self-Defense Squad because we wanted to follow you. If you weren’t our boss, nobody could make me get up at 6am every morning to run and jump.”

“I don’t like Weasel, and Foucault has too many people over there. Even if I join it’d just be following a crowd of dead fishes, not fun.”

“Boss, is this even a question?”

“Hey Saturday, I must say…”

Saturday felt like his vision was getting blurrier by the second, as if the graph in front of him was also starting to wobble. He turned his head down and wiped the tears away- then he saw it, the energy graph really was moving.

The complex lines on the graph were rippling like ocean waves, indicating that the outermost layer had the largest degree of fluctuation. Then, the screen above automatically listed lines after lines of calculations that he couldn’t understand. Saturday stood dumbfounded at the screen and thought: “What was this thing supposed to mean again?”

Within the next instant, he jumped up and opened up his personal device to search for the manual for dummies that Lu Bixing made for them. He pulled it up and compared it side by side with the graph monitor, until he found the exact graph from the manual to reference from. Saturday’s eyes shifted towards the caption on the manual that read “Unidentified mech (armed fleet) is closing in.”

“Everyone keep quiet!” Saturday yelled in alarm into the chat as he quickly pulled up the monitoring function of the anti-detection system. On the very outskirts of the system, he saw the forbidding shadows of a few mechs moving towards their direction. “Send a message to the station, there are unidentified mechs closing in...at least ten...no, more than that! Everyone, check your shields and armory, quick!”

Inside the station, Lin Jingheng opened his room door to an expected guest.

Lu Bixing instinctively pulled his hand out for a greeting, but then remembered the cake he brought and said: “Today is New Year’s Eve, so I....uh, thought I’d share this cake with you.”

He then suddenly remembered something and peeked inside Lin’s room: “Also, um…”

“Zhanlu’s not here, don’t worry.” Lin Jingheng stepped aside to let Lu Bixing in and said, “I left him inside the Model 3.”

Lu Bixing, the same AI maniac that used to be head over heels for Zhanlu, let out a big sigh of relief in his mind. He was starting to feel like he was becoming more anti-technology by the day.

There was a 3D navigation map opened on Lin Jingheng’s desk that extended from the top of the table all the way up to the ceiling; the commander closed the map and pulled up a chair for Lu Bixing by the table. He thoughtfully poured a cup of coffee for him and went straight to the point: “I’m assuming you saw the calendar already. You came here because you wanted to talk to me, have you decided what you’re gonna say yet?”

Lu Bixing froze up for a second before his shoulders relaxed in defeat: “...No. I just got back from sending off supplies to Saturday and haven’t eaten yet, let me fill my stomach first.”

Lin Jingheng wanted to offer him something to eat until he opened up his fridge and saw an entire shelf full of neatly stacked nutrition bars. Even the tiny lunch box looked more appetizing at this point, so he gave up and closed the fridge.

“Don’t just watch me eat,” Lu Bixing handed him an extra spoon and nudged Lin with his feet under the table. “Here, have a taste.”

Lin Jingheng didn’t move.

Lu Bixing sighed, scooped up a small piece with the spoon and shoved it right to Lin’s face: “Come on, just one bite.”

Lin Jingheng first moved away on instinct, then finally let out a long sigh before admitting defeat and took a bite off Lu Bixing’s hand as if he were taking an off-putting medicine.

Lu Bixing’s gaze slipped from the spoon to Lin’s lips before he forced himself to look away. He turned to the clock on the edge of the desk; it was two hours and ten minutes away from midnight.

“We still have a bit more time, so let’s talk about something else first.” Lu Bixing suddenly spoke. “I’ve been looking for you these past few days...ahem.”

Lu Bixing cleared his throat and sat up straight like he was going into a job interview: “Last time I went to look for you…...the time I locked you in the medical chamber actually, I did a full body scan on myself while you were asleep.”

Lin Lingheng: “...”

He wasn’t sure how to respond to this strange ice breaker.

Lu Bixing also noticed how much it sounded like a final will from a terminally ill patient to his friends and family and rubbed his nose awkwardly before he continued: “......I found out that my hormone levels were abnormal at the time.”

He quickly shot a glance at Lin Jingheng before mustering up the courage to look directly into the pair of grey eyes before him. His words were starting to scramble up but continued: “I don’t...I don’t have too much experience, but according to theory, my conclusion is that…”

Just then, his personal device started flashing an alarm in red.

Lu Bixing almost choked on his own words. Just as he was about to turn off his device, he saw the red signal that indicates a connection request from the main contact station.

The next moment, as if the entire mech dock woke up from slumber, all the alarm systems went off at the same time. The loud alarm pierced the quiet night of the space station and lit up numerous residential lights. Lu Bixing quickly turned his head towards Lin Jingheng.

“I haven’t sent out the signal yet.” Lin Jingheng stood up and opened up the window. “Even if I did, it would still require the Ninth Squadron to accept the connection before we could set up a communication terminal. I’m thinking we just ran into a small scouting squad from Cayley’s fleet...head over to the contact station immediately.”

Lu Bixing ran off before he could finish.

On the table, the New Year’s cake was left mostly uneaten with only a small scoop in the corner.

The patrolling route was way beyond the signal range of the station’s internal communication network, so Saturday and his squad had to use the transfer portals to send in a fixed-point signal to the main contact station.

“What’s the situation right now?” Lu Bixing asked from the contact station.

Saturday’s voice was tensed up as he answered choppily: “Your anti-detection system just detected that a fleet of mechs were approaching, but we can’t really see...it could be pirates...not sure how many...What did you just say, Holiday? Oh, right! They’re sending out some sort of scouting signal...let me check, these kinds of signals…”

“Electromagnetic rays,” Lin Jingheng finished his line. “Also known as the minesweeper. It’s one of Prince Cayley’s favorite tools.”

Saturday audibly gasped.

“Don’t worry,” Lu Bixing followed up quickly. “The problem with the energy siphon was solved last time; the electromagnetic waves can’t detect you guys. We don’t have the station’s outer network opened, it’s highly likely that they are only here by coincidence…”

“Right, a coincidence. They won’t detect anything, so they will either retreat or continue forward.” Lin Jingheng interrupted. “The Primal Alien’s fleet was completely demolished, Prince Cayley must be walking on his toes right now. He has reason to suspect that there is a powerful fleet hiding along the edge of the Eighth Galaxy. He’s going to be more careful now that he lost a subordinate, which is why I’m guessing he is sending out small teams of scouting squads right now. It shouldn’t be more than 15 mechs total, don’t worry, check again.”

Fifteen mech were like 15 little flies to commander Lin, but it wasn’t enough to give Saturday reassurance. The Self-Defense Squad only had 30 total mechs, and their opponents were experienced space pirates that wouldn’t show mercy on the battlefield; they stood no chance against the pirates.

Saturday stuttered: “They...they’re still closing in, w-what should we do?”

“If you want, you can continue hiding.” Lin Jingheng said, “But I suggest you cut off communication right now.”

Saturday: “Huh? W-what did you say?”

“If they continue forward, it’s possible they’ll pass the anti-detection system by chance.” Lu Bixing explained, “And if that happens, your fixed-point communication right now will be located.”

“Or you beat them up before that happens.” Lin Jingheng added coldly and commanded, “Zhanlu, send the locating signal to the Ninth Squadron.”

The next instant, the Model 3 slowly lit up in silver light. A powerful energy wave followed through the numerous transfer portals like a giant interstellar ripple caused by a station-sized torpedo dropping into the sea of stars.

At that moment, Saturday saw that the squad of pirates suddenly stopped and switched their formation. They carefully raised their nightmarish flag of Cayley fleet as they moved forward in caution. Saturday could feel himself breaking down: “C-commander Lin, you said to beat up who?? Ahh! Shit, they’re opening up with a damn missile!”

“Congratulations, fate no longer gives you a choice.” Lin Jingheng turned around and pressed Lu Bixing’s shoulders firmly. He pulled out a pair of plain white gloves from his pocket and slowly put them on as he walked off, “This is a ‘sacrifice’ made by a small squad of scouting pirates. Call up your other two wimpy fleets...those losers don’t know how to make emergency transfers, so we’ll need to go through portals right? That’ll take us about three hours to get there, which should be enough time...how fast can you gather them up?”

Lu Bixing took a deep breath and said: “Maybe around 20 minutes.”

“Okay.” Commander Lin experienced a moment of cultural shock at this number and slowly nodded helplessly: “Twenty minutes; tell your elderly tour squad friends to put on their broken dentures, shave their armpits clean, and follow me when they’re ready.”

Notes

[←1]

Nuwa: The goddess of creation in Chinese Mythology, and mother of mankind.

Table of Contents

Book 2 - Path of Thorns

Ch 49 - Please, Give Me a Response

Ch 50 - Lin Jingheng is Absolutely Terrified of Him

Ch 51 - Era of the New Sidereal Calendar

Ch 52 - That Sounded a Little Weird

Ch 53 - Have You Kissed Him Yet?

Ch 54 - Why Are You So Good To Me?

Ch 55 - I’ll Just Follow You

Ch 56 - Are You Trying to Comfort Me?

Ch 57 - He’s Starting to Loosen Up

Ch 58 - Fate No Longer Gives You A Choice

Notes