Chapter 50 The Sound of Silence

Fu Qinghai left the medical room. Gult, who was guarding the door, came over and handed Fu Qinghai a tablet, saying:

"Qingshan, this is the final post-war summary report. You may not have read it yet."

"Okay." Fu Qinghai took it and started flipping through it.

Yo... After reading the post-war summary report, Fu Qinghai realized that the Word Bearer wearing Terminator tactical dreadnought armor whom he killed was actually the commander of the transport fleet, Darren Klofer.

However, this achievement has to be put a little bit behind, because the first one was killing a hell beast.

Seeing this, Fu Qinghai couldn't help but feel ashamed. The Hell Beast and the ancient warrior Hiller had already fought a fierce battle before he and the Howling Banshee used a strategy to kill it together. The Eldar girl Salamander Uslan definitely made an indispensable contribution to this, but the alien could not be mentioned in the report, so it became that the Hell Beast was killed by the ancient warrior Hiller who had already sacrificed and Fu Qinghai.

Gult said, "Qingshan, you killed a captain of the Word Bearers. It's a pity that the guy has probably been destroyed by orbital bombardment. Otherwise, you can use his weapon as a souvenir of your battle."

Fu Qinghai shook his head. He was not very interested in these so-called "battle souvenirs" that only served to show off but had no practical use.

Besides, the enemy's weapons were nothing. He even knew a man who liked to cut off the enemy's body parts as souvenirs.

After saying goodbye to Gourt, Fu Qinghai returned to his personal rest cabin to rest for a while.

Put the real trophy - the Valyrian steel sword Heartbreaker - into your weapons box.

Fu Qinghai looked at the simple black long sword. Judging from the size of the blade and the hilt, it should be a long-handled sword, also known as a "big sword". Its size and weight were between a two-handed giant sword and a one-handed rapier.

Of course, this is relative to ordinary humans. For an Astartes, holding the Broken Heart in his hand is equivalent to a combat dagger.

Fu Qinghai closed the weapon box, took off his huge power armor, changed into a simple and loose gray robe, and went to the restaurant on the cruiser.

Fu Qinghai walked into the empty restaurant, picked up a few random dishes, and was about to find a place to sit down when he heard someone shouting from the side:

"Hey, White Scars warriors, this way!"

Fu Qinghai, who was holding the food, turned around and saw three Extreme Warriors sitting at the dining table and eating.

Among them, the one waving at him was a young warrior with golden curly hair.

"Here, come sit over here."

Fu Qinghai walked over and the golden curly-haired man asked him to sit down.

The young man wearing power armor, with blue eyes and golden curly hair, smiled warmly and said,

"Hello, warrior of the White Scars. Let me introduce myself. My name is Papastathopoulos, you can call me Papa."

Fu Qinghai looked at the familiar golden curly-haired man, nodded, and said,

"Qingshan, my name."

"Welcome to the Sotharan, Qingshan. Let me introduce you. The man sitting opposite you is called Dunlop."

The golden curly-haired Papa pointed at a middle-aged warrior with a pale, short-haired face who was sitting opposite Fu Qinghai.

The soldier had a resolute and serious expression on his face, and was eating his food in silence and meticulously. Hearing this, he raised his head, nodded to Fu Qinghai, then lowered his head and continued eating.

Then, Papastathopoulos pointed to the brown-haired soldier sitting opposite him and said,

"This is Abner Willard. They are both my teammates."

Abner Willard noticed that Fu Qinghai seemed a little uncomfortable with Papa's familiarity, so he smiled and explained,

"Don't mind, White Scars warrior. Papa was a new recruit who was promoted two years ago. He has no experience fighting with the Fifth Legion, so he is more curious about you."

Fu Qinghai said he didn't mind, but he was surprised by Papa's next words:

"Do you still remember me? We made an agreement."

Fu Qinghai was surprised and asked, "Have we met before?"

Papa nodded affirmatively and said:

"On the surface of Planet Loswell 7, do you remember that move..."

As he spoke, Papa raised his hand and started gesturing at the dining table.

"You did this... that... two moves, and you killed the Word Bearer."

"Oh..." Fu Qinghai suddenly realized.

He remembered that it was the Ultramarines he met when he followed Gult's Stinger Squad and just broke into the Word Bearers trench. At that time, the other party was wearing a helmet, and his voice filtered through the loudspeaker was also different from the young and slightly shrill voice now.

Willard, who finally understood, smiled and said,

"You better be careful, Qingshan. This guy is obsessed with fighting. He will definitely pester you all day long."

Sure enough, after dinner, Papa invited Fu Qinghai to the training cage for a sparring match.

Fu Qinghai accepted everyone who came, as he had nothing to do anyway.

Besides, Ogedei had already anticipated this situation, but Papa's purpose was simpler, he just wanted to exchange martial arts.

According to Ogedei's past experiences and assumptions, the White Scars would definitely be provoked and given a humiliation if they arrived at other legions' territories, so he selected the man with the strongest melee weapon combat ability to go there, just to avoid embarrassing the White Scars.

Just as he was about to get up and head for the training cage, the taciturn Dunlop suddenly said:

"Qingshan...you are that Qingshan!"

Fu Qinghai was stunned when he heard this. Which Qingshan? Does it mean there is a second Qingshan on this ship?

The two companions also looked over in confusion.

"You are the Qingshan who killed the Hellbeast and the Word Bearers commander in the post-battle summary report of the landing battle."

Dunlop said.

"Oh, I remember it too... My God, you look so young." Willard also reacted and looked at Fu Qinghai again with surprise.

After reading the post-war reports, they imagined that "Qingshan" should be a century-old veteran with a weathered face and many battles. For a moment, they did not think of the soldier in front of them who was as young as Papa.

"I used some tricks, luck, luck..."

Fu Qinghai still has to be humble here. He really does not have the ability to confront the Dreadnought head-on. He is afraid that these Extreme Warriors will get too excited and find him a Dreadnought to fight against, but that is unnecessary.

Dunlop, a middle-aged soldier with a short white haircut, patted Papa on the shoulder and said:

"I won't go over to watch the fight. The outcome is already determined."

Golden curly-haired Papa looked unconvinced.

…

"Bang!"

Papa was knocked to the ground for the third time.

"Qingshan, you are cheating, this is not fair!"

Papa, who was sitting on the ground, shouted.

At this moment, his golden curly hair was wet with sweat, and strands of it stuck to his forehead.

Fu Qinghai casually swung his knife, put the training weapon back in place, and said casually:

"How else do you think I killed the Hell Beast? Was it a fair fight?"

Just now he pretended to be in a sword-fighting stance, using the steps and distance of a sword-fighting, and then after blocking Papa's sword, he used a shoulder-butt move like Tieshankao to hit Papa's chin.

These tricks have been used to death on Albus Lang.

Defeating Papastathopoulos did not give Fu Qinghai any psychological satisfaction, nor did it bring any improvement to his martial arts. It felt like teaching a child a lesson.

Fu Qinghai said: "Let's stop here for today. I'm going back."

After saying goodbye to Papa, Fu Qinghai returned to the rest cabin and changed his clothes, exchanging his tight training suit for looser casual clothes.

Fu Qinghai then walked out of the rest cabin. It might have been the rest time of the warship, and there were few crew members in the passage.

Fu Qinghai strolled around the warship casually, but this time he was not accompanied by Vlahos's aide-de-camp, who was now very busy.

Fu Qinghai walked to the outside of a hall that looked like an auditorium and found it messy inside, with various musical instruments and painting easels placed there. A group of men and women in different clothes were inside, some talking in low voices, some talking loudly.

He doesn't look like a soldier at all.

Just then, Gult, who was wearing armor, came towards them. He saw Fu Qinghai looking inside, and explained in a low voice:

"Those people are the recorders. You should know that there are probably some in your White Scars' expeditionary fleet as well."

"oh."

Fu Qinghai understood.

Although there was no recorder on the Dagger frigate, it did not prevent him from knowing about this group of people.

In the middle of the Great Crusade, at the suggestion of Prime Minister Malcador, the Emperor sent literary and artistic workers from Terra and various major ruling regions to join the Great Crusade and record and praise the Empire's expeditionary achievements in various ways.

In short, it is to carry out political propaganda, to publicize the legitimacy and justice of the Empire's recovery of humanity's lost colonies. Like the preachers responsible for spreading the truth of the Empire, they are a standing non-military unit in each expeditionary fleet.

A narrator is somewhat similar to a reporter, but not quite a reporter.

Although they are doing the work of journalists, the recorders themselves may be photographers, documentary directors, writers, poets, etc.

When these people first arrived at the expedition, they seemed out of tune with the professional soldiers. They were curious about everything, free and undisciplined, undisciplined, and did not know what it meant to follow orders.

Leman Russ, the Primarch of the Space Wolves, even proposed giving these people weapons and sending them to the front lines as cannon fodder.

"These guys have been much quieter recently." Gulte looked at the low pressure inside and explained:

"The rebellion of Warmaster Horus has turned the entire empire into a mess. These people's mindsets have been impacted, and they are in a state of fear all day long. They are no longer as leisurely and elegant as they were at the beginning, which makes it much easier for us to manage them."

Fu Qinghai nodded to show his understanding.

During the Great Crusade, throughout the galaxy, wherever the Terran Astronomican could shine, no matter if it was alien forces or old human colonies that were unwilling to surrender, they were basically no match for the Astartes Legionaries, except for the Battle of Ullanor with the Orks. However, the Chroniclers had not yet joined the expedition fleet during that battle. By the time they arrived at the expedition fleet, the Human Empire was already invincible throughout the galaxy.

Following the expedition fleet is a very honorable job. Those who can become recorders must have some connections within the empire. Many recorders come from families that are famous and prestigious in Terra.

As a result, after the Horus Heresy broke out, these people were unable to return to Terra and their respective families, and had to follow their fleets to participate in suppressing the rebellion. They used to only need to hide in the back and recite poems and compose couplets, but now they had to go straight to the front line. It was inevitable that they felt a little anxious all day long.

"They usually like to gather in this auditorium. Before the rebellion, the commander specially designated this area for them to drink, brag, chat and gossip. These guys can't survive without socializing for a day."

"Somehow, the post-war report on Planet Loswell 7 has spread among the recorders. They know that the Ultramarines suffered heavy losses, and now they are even more worried and scared. Well, as long as they don't cause trouble, I don't want to waste my time here. Just ignore them, Qingshan."

As a simple and self-disciplined Astartes monk, Gulte naturally had no good face for this group of people with connections in the arts. He complained to Fu Qinghai for a while, patted Fu Qinghai on the shoulder, and went to do other things.

Fu Qinghai was not so resistant to the recorders. There was nothing wrong with having some fun in one's spare time. After all, there is a saying that goes,

Power is temporary, but laughter is eternal.

Fu Qinghai is studying and training so hard now, on the one hand to satisfy his curiosity, and on the other hand to survive better in the reincarnation world.

He is still an earthling at heart. If he were not forced by the pressure of survival, he would not be willing to be bruised and battered in the training cage every day, or to be killed in the sea of ​​blood and corpses.

Fu Qinghai, standing at the door of the auditorium, hesitated for a while.

I thought, well, I have nothing to do anyway, and I am bored right now, why not go in and take a look?

Just treat it as a post-war psychological adjustment.

Fu Qinghai walked into the auditorium.

The moment he walked into the auditorium, several pairs of eyes were staring at him.

Other crew members on the battleship would often come here to have fun, but there would almost never be any Astartes coming in, and the Space Marines would avoid this place as much as possible.

As soon as Fu Qinghai entered, a man in a black tuxedo came to him with a tray, respectfully handed him the wine on the tray, and said,

"Welcome, Lord Astarte. Your arrival brings glory to the Hall of Inspiration."

Fu Qinghai casually took a glass of wine from the tray, holding the exquisite goblet in his hand, and asked curiously:

"You call this place the Inspiration Hall? Are you a waiter here?"

The black-haired ponytailed man in a tuxedo immediately explained:

"Oh no, no, no, you misunderstood, sir. There are no waiters here. Everyone has to rely on themselves. My name is Hall Kemp. You can just call me Hall. I am a composer."

Fu Qinghai took a sip of the wine in the glass, smacked his lips, and said:

"This wine is really not very good."

It feels even worse than the ordinary sparkling wine on Earth in the previous life. I wonder if the taste of humans in the future has changed or what.

Hall Kemp laughed and said, "I agree with you. These wines are only fit to appear in the sewers of the hive city. But there is no other way. The supply line between the Sotharan and the rear has been cut off long ago. These wines are the last bit of stock. If you hadn't come, I wouldn't even be willing to take them out to entertain you."

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

Then, the black-haired ponytail man continued,

"To answer your question, we call this place the Hall of Inspiration because it once brought us endless inspiration. We gave speeches here, argued here, and recited poems here. This place once gave us endless creative passion... Well, at least that was the case before the rebellion."

At this point, Hall sighed.

Fu Qinghai looked around and found that most of the recorders had anxious and sad expressions on their faces. The super hearing granted by Astartes allowed him to hear that what they were discussing was not various arts, but their speculations about the war situation on the front line and their confusion about the unknown future.

Of course, there are also many people who try to find joy in misery, complain and make fun of themselves, drown their sorrows in alcohol, or give up on themselves. Artists are often more sensitive and fragile.

"Hmm..." Fu Qinghai did not comment. He came here to kill time, but it was obvious that most of the recorders looked a little depressed.

Fu Qinghai lowered his head and clinked his glass with Hall's, then drank the remaining wine in the glass.

Seeing that this Astartes seemed to be easy to talk to, Hall boldly asked:

"Sir, the people here are very curious about you... Well, no offense, what I mean is that there are very few Astartes willing to come to the Hall of Inspiration, and you are one of the few. I really want to know, what is your purpose of coming here?"

Fu Qinghai put the empty wine glass back on the tray and said,

"I just came here to have some fun. By the way, can I use the piano?"

Uh, have…some…fun?

Hall Kemp was a little stunned for a moment. This was the first time he heard these words from an Astartes monk. He replied subconsciously:

"Yes, of course..."

When I came to my senses, I found that Fu Qinghai had walked towards the black grand piano placed in the middle of the hall.

Fu Qinghai walked through the crowd that was gathered in twos and threes. These men and women, dressed in different styles, saw a tall Astartes coming, looked at him curiously, and made way for him.

Astartes stood out from the crowd.

Fu Qinghai walked slowly to the piano, pulled out the stool and sat down.

He placed his hands in front of the black and white piano keys, thinking for a moment, and recalling the pieces he had practiced in his early years.

"Hey..." Hall Kemp raised his half hand and stopped it in mid-air. He was just about to remind the Space Marine that the black grand piano was a replica of an ancient Terran musical instrument. It was a very precious antique and should not be damaged.

However, as a composer, when he saw Fu Qinghai starting to play, he knew that he could play this instrument, and he immediately kept silent.

Attracted by Fu Qinghai's actions, many people in the auditorium focused their attention on him. They looked at this little giant Astarte sitting in front of the piano, and couldn't help but whispering. They kept looking at him with curious eyes, wondering what he was trying to do.

Fu Qinghai closed his eyes and thought for a while, then opened his eyes and pressed lightly with his fingertips.

Accompanied by the deep and melodious piano music, Fu Qinghai sang softly:

"Hello darkness my old friend,

I've come to talk with you again..."

The deep, magnetic voice echoed in the auditorium, and the originally noisy auditorium suddenly became quiet.

"Wow..." Some people whispered in low voices.

"What did I see? I saw an Astartes fucking singing." A woman whispered in surprise.

"He can also play the piano... God, I thought they were all violent machines with only their minds filled with killing." Another woman said, covering her mouth.

"Shh...Quiet!"

Fu Qinghai ignored the whispers and continued to sing with his shoulders relaxed:

"Because a vision softly creeping,

Left its seeds while I was sleeping,

And the vision that was planted in my brain

Still remains

Within the sound…

of silence! "

Fu Qinghai controlled and slowed down the BPM of the original song of "The Sound of Silence" a lot, playing and singing it slowly at a slower tempo.

Like many children, Fu Qinghai was forced by his parents to practice piano when he was young. However, the reason he occasionally persisted was not for the exam, but to be able to play some of his favorite pieces, such as "The Sound of Silence".

I simply felt that the lyrics were appropriate at the moment, and I didn't know if it was in line with my own mood or the atmosphere in the auditorium.

Perhaps it is this unknown road leading to Mars with an uncertain future.

"'Fools' said I,'You don't know

Silence like a cancer grows.

Hear my words that I might teach you,

Take my arms that I might reach you.'"

As Fu Qinghai continued to play and sing, the Inspiration Hall became so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, with only the sound of his piano echoing.

The narrators also changed from being surprised at Astarte's singing to appreciating the song.

"Ah, this… this, this…"

Composer Holkamp's scalp was tingling and his whole body was trembling with excitement.

The lyrics and music of this song were like heavenly music to him.

"And whisper'd in the sounds...

of silence."

After singing the last line of lyrics, Fu Qinghai pressed the last piano key with both hands.

There was silence in the entire auditorium at first, and then it broke out into thunderous applause and cheers.

"Great, perfect!"

"Impeccable performance!"

"Your Majesty, isn't it rumored that the Astartes are brainwashed when they undergo transformation? How come he also understands music?" a man asked in confusion.

"I have been aboard the Sotharan for two years. How come I have never seen this Astartes before?"

"I've heard of him. He's a warrior from the White Scars Legion, which is said to be a Space Marine Legion from a barbaric planet."

"Wow, he speaks Low Gothic really well then." A woman whispered, covering her mouth.

"This soldier looks so young. Could it be that he has not completely forgotten his memories before the transformation? Well, I can write another romance novel based on this beginning." Another woman has already begun to imagine a small drama in her mind.

In fact, Fu Qinghai's performance was not so perfect, and he even played a few notes wrong. It's just that the fact that the Emperor's superhuman soldiers could play the piano brought too much shock to the recorders, and many people did not know much about this antique musical instrument, so there were a lot of exaggerated praises.

A woman wearing a black halter-neck backless evening gown, with a complicated and gorgeous bun, revealing a large area of ​​snow-white skin, holding a goblet, and with delicate makeup, took a sip of wine and whispered:

"He looked quite handsome, what a pity..."

"What a pity?" A companion next to him joked with a smile.

"Of course you know what a pity it is, Claire. It is said that the Astartes do not have that kind of desire."

"Haha, even if you have that desire, are you sure you can bear it?"

Fu Qinghai stood up from his bench. Holkamp, ​​who was not far away, hurried over and said eagerly,

"Amazing performance, amazing song. Can I know its name, sir?"

"The Sound of Silence, that's the name of the song."

"The Sound of Silence..." Holkamp smacked his lips at the name, looking satisfied. Then he immediately asked:

"Is this a song you wrote?"

"No, it's not. It's an old ballad from my hometown."

From the Earth tens of thousands of years ago, now Terra.

"This song is so great, I... I can't find the words to describe it." Holkamp was so excited that he was incoherent.

The position of "The Sound of Silence" in the history of music is indeed difficult to define. It can be called a folk song, but it is deeper than folk music; it can be called rock music, but it is more melodious than rock music, and the lyrics have a psychedelic flavor. It is a representative work of the American "Beat Generation" period. No wonder the composer Holkamp could not find a suitable adjective to describe it for a while.

Many people gathered around enthusiastically, intending to chat with Fu Qinghai, and some wanted to interview Fu Qinghai, but Fu Qinghai didn't want to deal with them. He waved his hand, avoided the crowd and walked towards the auditorium door.

Holkamp stood there, still feeling unwilling, but then he thought that since he had handed the soldier a glass of wine right at the start, he thought they had some friendship, so he quickly chased after him.

Hall chased to Fu Qinghai and asked in a low voice:

"Sir, I still don't know your name?"

"Qingshan, my name is Qingshan." Fu Qing said as he walked along the beach.

The name sounds different from the style of the Ultramarines, Hall thought to himself.

Hall added:

"Excuse me, can I have the sheet music for this song? Sorry, I just love it so much."

Fu Qinghai paused and thought for a moment, then nodded and said, "Okay."

Then he continued walking out.

Hall quickly asked,

"Then where can I get this music score?"

Fu Qing posted his cabin number and walked out of the auditorium without looking back.

And in the crowd behind Fu Qinghai, a woman with big black wavy hair was looking at his back meaningfully.

…

　Sorry, fellow book lovers, this chapter of 7,000 words counts as two chapters combined into one, making up for the two chapters on Saturday and Sunday.

　　Note: As mentioned earlier, the Low Gothic language commonly used in the Human Empire is almost equivalent to English.

(End of this chapter)