Chapter 58

Lu Bixing was dazed under the calendar for a while. He remembered that before he went to deliver supplies to Saturday, there was no such mark on the calendar. It should have been added temporarily.

　He looked back and saw that the mecha was directly opposite the station. Two doors and a path away was the administration building. Lin Jingheng's room was lit with lights.

　Since Zhan Lu accidentally exposed it last time, Lu Bixing hasn't spoken to Lin Jingheng alone for a long time.

　In the beginning, whenever he closed his eyes before going to bed every day, he would think of Lin Jingheng's complicated and surprised look. In terms of the embarrassment of this matter, it ranked in the top ten in Lu Bixing's personal experience. It was very difficult to get off the stage. He was so embarrassed that he avoided Lin Jingheng for several days. Fortunately, Principal Lu was still young, and his youthful face always had amazing elasticity. After a few days, he adjusted his mental state and planned to go to Lin Jingheng to have a talk about "integrating theory with practice."

　Then he discovered that Lin began to avoid him.

　Lin Jingheng may have some special stealth function. Driving such a huge vehicle like the Chongsan, he can actually appear and disappear. Except for routine exercises, at other times, this person disappears without any trace, and cannot be located using any black technology. At this point, Lu Bixing finally understood why Lin didn't use such an important prop as the anti-tracking system in the first place. If the Silver Ten Guards could do this stunt of disappearing out of thin air, then they really didn't need to have so many layers of insurance.

　At this time, the lights in Lin Jingheng's room were on... and judging from the brightness, he was not turning on the small lights he used when working at his desk.

　This is usually preparation for receiving guests.

　Lin is waiting for him.

　But Lu Bixing wandered on the path between the administration building and the mecha station for a long time, and felt a dilemma.

　A long time ago, Lu Bixing's goal was not high. He just wanted to do his best to reduce unnecessary casualties in this war. He was lucky to be able to save this base. If it was not as expected, he would have to resign himself to fate. He thought about not disturbing Lin's plan as much as possible, and it was best to take into account the overall situation and the local situation.

　But after all, he doesn't have Lin Jingheng's heart that can jump out of the mortal world at any time.

　After three months of getting along day and night, he watched these weed-like beings struggling repeatedly in the sinking state, watching them try to stand up like humans, fall down, and then roll to the ground. Together with them, he transformed the base like a shabby station. As they are now, they can call almost everyone by name... Lin Jingheng and One-Eyed Eagle know the "rules" tacitly and never ask about other people's names and biographies, because they know that they are all glue. It sticks to people together. If you stick too much, it will be difficult to let go.

　Lu Bixing has endured a lot of hardships since he was a child, and he also received a lot of love. They gave him a deep foundation at the beginning of his life, so much so that even though his family was ruined, he was still able to heal his scars and forget about the pain. I believe Things will always turn around and develop for the better.

　But he might be wrong.

　At this time, the base was shrouded in darkness, and there were less than three hours before the three-month contract expired. Foucault and Weasel learned how to hide in the anti-tracking system and will disband the Self-Defense Forces on Saturday. They tried their best, but they still didn't have time to grow into human beings.

　Now that the matter has come to this, Lu Bixing no longer has a way to have both ends.

　He didn't know whether he should go up and ask Lin Jingheng.

　Three months is the biggest concession that Lin Jingheng can make. This is based on the famous "Hundred Days Hypothesis" in the history of interstellar warfare, proposed by General Lu Xin and read by Lu Bixing - if a highly destructive all-out war breaks out between the interstellar , when the communication network is interrupted, all parties that rely too much on information will be slowed down. Due to the complexity of the cosmic environment, after the communication network collapses, except for Prince Gloria, who is completely insane, everyone will be cautious and radiate their sphere of influence from their respective strongholds to the surrounding areas. The scale of the conflict will also be greatly reduced, usually in After three to four months, the new pattern will take initial shape. By then, things will change rapidly, and it will be really too late if we don't show up.

　Lu Bixing didn't want to test whether Lin would make concessions for his personal feelings. Due to emotions and reasons, he should not delay General Lin's steps any longer.

　But... what about the people at the base?

　Should Saturdays, holidays, Sister Foucault, Weasels, Fat Sisters, old movie ladies...should be quietly swallowed up by this damn era?

　"Teacher Lu?" Someone called him from behind. Lu Bixing turned around and saw that it was Fatty Sister.

　The fat lady was dressed very casually, slipping on slippers and slipping out. She had an absorbent towel wrapped around her freshly washed hair, and she was carrying two big bags in her hands. She was looking at him strangely: "I saw it from afar. Someone was walking back and forth here, and I finally saw that it was you. It's so late, what are you doing here?"

　Lu Bixing smiled bitterly: "What are you doing again?"

　"Well, it's not all those people. "I'm an old man," said the fat lady. "He behaves like a monster every day. He insists on celebrating the New Year today and asks me to deliver cakes to them in the middle of the night. If you ask me, these old people have lost all their teeth. How can I celebrate the New Year?" What a bullshit year, don't you know that one year is less than the next?"

　Lu Bixing was stunned and looked up at the calendar hanging on the mecha station. It turned out that he only paid attention to the dead line and didn't look at the date carefully. The last day of the year...

　No wonder the man who planned to disband the Self-Defense Forces insisted on spending this evening before returning home on Saturday.

　While cursing and complaining, the fat sister opened the food bag in her hand and took out an insulated lunch box and stuffed it into Lu Bixing. Inside was a traditional "lunch box cake" that originated in the Earth Age and was Popular in the Age of Discovery, this kind of cake has no shape and is usually made by hand. The cake maker stacks the ingredients layer by layer in the lunch box as he likes, and digs in with a spoon to eat. It is simple and friendly.

　The fat lady also drizzled chocolate sauce on the cake and wrote "Happy New Year".

　"Have you eaten yet? Take this back for a midnight snack." The fat lady gave him the lunch box, raised her hand and slapped him on the back, "I need something for midnight snack. He's quite a big boy, but he's so skinny. Monkey-like - when my son was your age, he was much stronger than you, weighing more than 230 pounds."

　Lu Bixing laughed dryly: "This goal is too far away, I'd better be slim, fat lady, walk slowly . "

　The fat lady waved to him and walked towards the residential area.

　She lived alone and had no children. It is said that she once had a little boy, but he died when he was less than ten years old. The boy who died in infancy grew up in her imagination, and according to her taste, he grew into a burly man weighing more than 200 pounds. He might be waiting for her at home to keep vigil with him.

　Lu Bixing looked down at the crooked handwriting on the cake, took a deep breath, turned and walked towards the brightly lit administrative building. He thought: "I shouldn't know those stories."

　Ten sailing days away, a group of self-defense force mechas gathered. Together, this group of shrimp soldiers and crab generals had enough sleep during the day, set the time, and got together to brag and fight, waiting for the New Year without bells.

　During the holiday, he held the ashes of his beloved rabbit, opened a compressed nutritional meal, took a bite, and said happily: "This one is tuna flavored. It is the most auspicious to eat fish during the Chinese New Year."

　"Who told me, where does this tradition come from ? "Are you making this up?"

　"The tradition of the ancient earth era," the famous mommy said hummingly during the holidays, "this is what my mother told me."

　There was a burst of laughter in the communication channel, and there was an outburst of all kinds of obscenities. They came out and argued with them angrily.

　Saturday made no sound, lying flat on the control table of the mecha, closing his eyes and looking out with his mental net. The surroundings were covered with light beams emitted by his companions' mechas, and the mental net was still receiving a steady stream of light from the universe. Energy and waves are half-understood lines drawn on energy monitoring charts.

　At some point, the communication channel suddenly became quiet. When Saturday came to his senses, he heard someone calling him.

　"Ah?" he asked, "What did you just say?"

　"Are we really going to disband the Self-Defense Forces?" A member of the Self-Defense Forces asked, "Actually, I think we are no worse than anyone else. Even if Foucault and his friends have more people, weasels - we always Better than the Weasels, right? They were so shy that they refused to disband. Why should we disband first?"

　"I never dreamed that one day I would be able to fly a mecha into the sky and conduct patrols," said another self-defense team member. , "If we are disbanded like this, isn't our previous work in vain?"

　"There is no physical training today, I haven't moved all day, and I am still very rusty."

　"Brother Saturday, the Self-Defense Force has been disbanded, what will we do in the future?"

　Saturday was silent for a moment, then turned over impatiently, turned his back to the communication channel, and said angrily: "What should I do, what should I do? If you are unwilling, you can join other teams, so that you will not feel that your previous work was in vain."

　It's a holiday . He blurted out: "But we just want to follow you!"

　Saturday's heart froze, and the tears almost stopped falling. He held it back with all his strength. He stared at the energy monitoring chart on the mecha with wide eyes, trying to let the tears dry naturally. He gritted his teeth and remained silent.

　But those people still refused to shut up, and when he started to speak, the self-defense team members started talking behind him.

　"I originally wanted to join the Self-Defense Forces because I wanted to follow you. If it weren't for you, who else would have made me get up at six o'clock every day and run and dance?"

　"I can't stand weasels. There are too many people in Foucault's place, so it's okay to sneak in." Fishing in troubled waters is boring."

　"Brother Saturday, is there still a discussion on this matter?"

　"Xiao Liu, let me tell you..."

　Saturday felt that his eyes were about to burst, and even the energy monitoring chart in front of him started to shake. Unable to bear it, he lowered his head and wiped his eyes vigorously - then he saw clearly that the energy monitoring chart was indeed moving!

　The complex lines rippled back and forth like water waves. The outermost line fluctuated so much that it almost spread outside the monitoring chart. Rows of formulas automatically popped up on the screen, as if the screen was being refreshed, and I couldn't understand a single word. The rationality and emotion in Saturday's mind were not yet separated. After a moment of confusion, he thought to himself: "What does this thing mean?" He

　jumped up suddenly, pulled out his personal terminal, and found the simple instruction manual Lu Bixing made for them. He came closer to compare the surveillance pictures, and then he was horrified to find an identical image on the "Instruction Manual", with the label underneath seemingly saying "Unknown mecha (armed) is approaching."

　"Stop talking nonsense now!" Saturday shouted at the gloomy communication channel, and quickly turned on the monitoring function of the anti-tracking system. At the far outermost periphery, he saw several shadowy and ferocious mecha silhouettes, "Send a message to the base. "Xin, there are unknown mechas approaching...ten...no, more! Check your defenses and weapons and equipment!"

　In the base, Lin Jingheng was waiting in the room and opened the door for Lu Bixing.

　Lu Bixing raised his hand to him a little awkwardly as a greeting. He glanced at the lunch box cake in his hand, and seemed to have found a reason: "Today is New Year's Eve, I came to see you... uh, share a piece of cake."

　Speaking of this, he remembered something again and glanced at Lin Jingheng's room: "That..."

　"Zhan Lu is not here, don't worry." Lin Jingheng turned sideways and motioned for him to enter the room, "I left him in Chongsanli."

　Lu Bixing - a super AI fan who once coveted Zhanlu - breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that he has been a bit anti-tech lately.

　On Lin Jingheng's desk was a three-dimensional map of interstellar routes, which extended from the desktop to the roof. He put his hand away and motioned for Lu Bixing to sit down. He poured him a cup of coffee and said straight to the point: "You saw the calendar, you come now. Did you think about what to say when you came to me?"

　Lu Bixing choked for a moment, and his tense shoulders slumped: "...No, I just came back from Saturday and haven't eaten yet. Just wait for me. Lin Jingheng

　wanted to entertain him, but when she opened the freezer next to her, she saw that the whole cabinet of nutritious meals was neater than the bricks on the wall and not as sincere as the lunch boxes and cakes, so she had to give up.

　"Don't just watch me eat," Lu Bixing took an extra spoon and touched him lightly with his toes under the table. "Have a taste."

　Lin Jingheng didn't move.

　Lu Bixing sighed, dug out a small piece, and handed it to his mouth: "Give me some face."

　Lin Jingheng first frowned and turned his head to avoid it. After a stalemate for two seconds, he had no choice but to let out a long breath. He took a bite from his hand as if he was taking poison.

　Lu Bixing's eyes slipped from the spoon and landed on Lin Jingheng's lips. Then he moved away forcefully and stared at the clock on the corner of the table - it was still two hours and ten minutes before midnight.

　"There's still time, let me say a few words first," he suddenly said, "I've been trying to find you these past few days...cough!"

　Lu Bixing cleared his throat forcefully and sat up straight, as if A serious interview was ongoing: "The last time I went to see you... was when I put you in the medical cabin. I conducted a full-body scan on myself while you were sleeping."

　Lin Jingheng: "... "

　This unique beginning made him not sure how to answer the question.

　Lu Bixing touched his nose and realized that what he said sounded like a terminally ill patient saying goodbye to his relatives and friends. He cleared his throat again and said, "...I found that my hormones were abnormal at that time."

　He glanced at Lin Jingheng quickly, his eyes swaying up and down. After a few times, he finally summoned up the courage to stop on those gray irises. Lu Bixing said a little incoherently: "I don't... don't have much experience, but according to theory, this conclusion should be..."

　Right there At this time, the personal terminal on his wrist suddenly lit up red like a searchlight.

　Lu Bixing almost choked to death after being interrupted. Just as he was about to forcefully close the personal terminal, he saw a blood-red alarm - a remote fixed-point transmission from the mecha contact station.

　The next moment, the liaison station of the mecha station suddenly woke up. All the lights were on, sirens came from the speakers buried underground in the entire base, countless extinguished lights lit up, and the silent base was filled with noises. Lu Bixing fiercely He looked at Lin Jingheng.

　"I haven't sent a message to the outside world yet," Lin Jingheng stood up and opened the curtains. "To say the least, even if it is sent, it will still require a response from Bai Yinjiu to establish a long-distance communication channel. It should be someone like Yuan Yiren who was ordered to work in the Eight Galaxy. The small team searching at the edge - go to the contact station."

　Lu Bixing turned around and ran away before he could finish.

　The "Happy New Year" cake was left on the table, a corner of it had been taken away, and only the words "Happy New Year" were left.

　The long-distance patrol is ten navigation days away and far beyond the base's internal network. On Saturday, they used jump points along the way to contact the base's liaison station at fixed points.

　"Saturday, what's going on?"

　Saturday's voice was very tight and came intermittently: "Your anti-tracking system just saw a mecha team approaching, but it couldn't be seen clearly... It might be pirates... Nope. How many people do you know? What are you talking about during the holiday? Oh, yes! They seem to be emitting a detection signal... Let me check, this signal is..."

　"Wallen ray," Lin Jingheng answered him, "also called minesweeping probe, used by Prince Gloria's Guards."

　Saturday took a visibly deep breath.

　"It doesn't matter," Lu Bixing said quickly, "the energy siphon problem of the anti-tracking system was solved last time. The Walron rays can't locate you, and the base's external network is not open. Their proximity should be just a coincidence..."

　"Well, a coincidence. They can't detect anything. They may return or continue deeper." Lin Jingheng interrupted him lightly, "Yuan Yiren's troops were completely wiped out. Prince Gloria must be in panic. There is reason to believe that there is an ambush at the edge of the eight galaxies. Armed with a deadly weapon. Aresvon lost a Yuan Yiren and will definitely be more careful in the future. In order to avoid risks, I guess the detection team he sent will not exceed fifteen small mechas. Don't be nervous. Confirm it once."

　Fifteen small mechas were like fifteen flies in his mouth, but they couldn't comfort Saturday - because the Self-Defense Force only had thirty mechas, and the opponent was a murderous interstellar pirate. They were the Yakuza group who were killed without even having time to protest.

　Saturday: "He...he and the others are still approaching. What should we do?"

　"You can continue to hide if you want." Lin Jingheng said, "But I suggest you cut off communication now."

　Saturday: "Ah ? W-what?"

　"If the opponent continues to go deeper, they may accidentally cross the anti-tracking system," Lu Bixing said, "Your long-range signal passing through the jump point will be located." "

　Or kill them before that. " Lin Jingheng finished speaking coldly and ordered without explanation, "Zhan Lu, send a positioning signal to Baiyin Jiu."

　Zhong San in the mecha station made a soft "buzz" sound, and the entire machine body was filled with silver light and powerful energy fluctuations. Countless jump points rippled out like water, and it was as if a torpedo had fallen into the calm lake water, which was about to explode.

　Saturday saw the pirate team that was cautiously exploring around suddenly stopped, suddenly changed its formation, became heavily guarded, and revealed the nightmarish flag of Prince Gloria's Guard on the fuselage. He almost collapsed: "Lin, Lin Lin General, who will kill whom? Damn it, they used missiles to clear the way!"

　"Congratulations, fate has given you no choice." Lin Jingheng turned around, pressed Lu Bixing's shoulder, and took a shot from his pocket. A pair of snow-white gloves was put on his hands as he walked, "This is the 'sacrifice' of a group of pirates who are exploring the way, so that your two shrinking teams can gather... Those losers can't make an emergency jump, so You have to jump to a fixed point, right? It takes about three hours to rush there, which is almost enough - how long does it take to assemble?"

　Lu Bixing took a deep breath: "Maybe twenty minutes." "

　Okay," General Lin was shocked by this number. After a moment, he nodded helplessly, "In twenty minutes, let your elderly suburban tour group put on their dentures, clean their bladders, gather and follow me."