Chapter 15: Majestic and Solitary

"Wheeze, wheeze." The sound of breathing filled his eardrums as Lu Yuan flailed his limbs in a panic. The cold vacuum chased away the remaining warmth from his combat suit, quickly eroding what little heat was left inside. The sweat, blood, and tears that shot out turned to thin ice, freezing onto Lu Yuan's body.

The faceplate was creaking and cracking. Lu Yuan crossed his arms in front of his head and crashed through a piece of prefabricated panel. Debris swirled densely around the outer edge of the passage, tearing through the spacesuits of those who had passed through here. A single screw, just the length of a finger, could easily end countless lives. Lu Yuan couldn't turn back, but he knew the Coronal was now spewing out an uncountable amount of debris; perhaps an entire section of it was rumbling and detaching.

He had always wanted to know where the fleet had gone. Now, in space, Lu Yuan finally caught a glimpse of the grim scene outside the Coronal.

One by one, landing ships marked with the imperial seven-pointed star were released from the mother ship, rushing toward the Coronal, which was still fiercely defending itself. Many exploded mid-flight, turning into brilliant fireworks, while more successfully attached themselves to the hull, continuously giving birth to dazzling little suns—these were all suicide torpedo boats shaking the Coronal's proud armor.

After drifting for a long time, Lu Yuan witnessed one battleship after another disintegrate into ashes, flames roaring and illuminating half the cosmos. He stretched out his fingers, shielding his eyes from the blinding light; that single burst of brilliance represented the lives of thousands melted within it.

Lu Yuan was struggling to slow his breathing. He wasn't afraid of death; he wanted to find evidence that their fleet was not losing the battle. He widened his eyes as groups of fleet sailors and imperial soldiers rolled past him, along with numerous sparkling ice sculptures. He gazed deeper into the distance, hoping that the "Xijiang," "Dongshan," "Changhe," and "Yangcheng," representing the fleet's majesty and power, would leap out from the void, unleashing a fleet of invincible warships to slash at the imperial fleet.

But Lu Yuan saw nothing.

The mist from his mouth and nose began to condense on the inside of the faceplate. The power of his combat suit had dropped to dangerously low levels; it could no longer recycle oxygen. Lu Yuan was breathing laboriously, nearly choking on the excess carbon dioxide, as if invisible giant hands were squeezing his neck. He struggled to move his arms, but it was impossible; the combat suit had frozen to the point of immobility.

In his eyes, countless stars glimmered, and his vision was engulfed in flames. His thoughts began to loosen. He suddenly wondered if dying embraced by the stars could be considered one of the most magnificent ways to die. Even if the price was his soul forever lost in the boundless void. But as a citizen of the Alliance, wasn't he born in the starry river and buried in it as well?

Fate decreed.

"Bang~" Lu Yuan collided with something hard, almost shattering his lungs. Through the dim light of his helmet, he realized he had pressed against the outer surface of a ship. He exerted all his strength to slide his arm into a narrow gap. This wasn't to struggle for survival; Lu Yuan no longer had the strength or interest to do so. Ever since the news of her loss in deep space reached him, he had felt utterly alone, but he had a responsibility to help others survive.

Now, his responsibility had ended—or perhaps it had never begun.

Lu Yuan secured himself in place, gazing at the Coronal, wrapped in the fires of battle. Yes, he just wanted to see as much of this ship that held all his dreams as possible, this beautiful and proud vessel.

A stream of brilliant antimatter beams shot toward the Coronal, resembling a radiant sunset before the night descended, as the sun had yet to set. Countless components of the Coronal were flung toward the dark void, as if a brush dipped in crimson paint swept through the galaxy.

The bright halo of the Coronal bloomed like flowers, reminiscent of his hometown, the famous "Radiance" of the Celestial God Star. Every time the sun rose, the starry mirrors on the ground reflected the sunlight, and from the perspective of space, they resembled magnificent five-petal golden flowers blooming throughout heaven and earth.

This largest warship in human history was already scarred and battered, with explosions rumbling continuously. It let out low, mournful howls, finally unable to bear the burden any longer as its bow dipped down. Then, a bluish glow caught Lu Yuan's eye—ah, it was that light monument.

This monument, which held the hope of the entire expedition fleet returning home, still stood quietly at the edge of the burned sky, allowing the black tide to surge past. Majestic and solitary, the six rotors of the monument extended like a hexagram, but the blue light it projected was fading. The stable area for the ship to jump had quickly dwindled, leaving only a pool of azure light in the center of the rotors, like a pearl once harvested now closing its shell, with only a faint shimmer of its luster remaining.

The ship Lu Yuan leaned against was still firing continuously, its side-mounted cannons blasting away in unison, the fierce recoil causing the barrels to automatically retract and advance. The wind from the cannon's mouth nearly blew Lu Yuan away. Large clumps of plasma transformed into colorful ice blocks, released onto an invaluable machine created using resources from an entire planet, only to explode into a more dazzling display of fireworks.

The oxygen level had dropped to three percent. Lu Yuan knew the time was running out, so he took a deep breath and waited in silence. Suddenly, a blue-white figure flashed past, and Lu Yuan felt something tugging at him. He turned his head dully, his vision foggy and unclear, but he sensed someone shouting loudly at him through the visor, and warmth flowed across his face.

The fog inside the faceplate cleared slightly; it was Zhang Yueyang! This resilient paratrooper was right in front of Lu Yuan, desperately pulling him along, his arm repeatedly gesturing, urging Lu Yuan to hang on.

Lu Yuan's strength returned slightly, and he quickly understood that Zhang Yueyang was connecting the energy from his combat suit to Lu Yuan's! He was transferring power! He was trying to save him!

Lu Yuan suddenly felt furious and forcefully bent his elbow to tear away the transmission line that was draining his friend's life, but Zhang Yueyang held onto Lu Yuan's hand, refusing to let him succeed. Zhang Yueyang's face appeared before Lu Yuan, and behind him was a cacophony of gunfire. He was frantically mouthing words, and following the direction of Zhang Yueyang's finger, Lu Yuan vaguely saw a sealed airlock—perhaps a rescue door?

Without thinking, Lu Yuan shook his head, signaling for him not to waste energy on him. He moved his lips silently, saying: you go, I stay.

But how could Zhang Yueyang give up on Lu Yuan? Several droplets of water swayed in his helmet as he summoned all his strength to pull Lu Yuan along, resolutely guiding him through the ship's hull, his surroundings becoming the boundary between light and dark, inching toward that airlock that might never open.

Lu Yuan's consciousness began to blur again. He weakly twitched his nose; oxygen was exhausted, and he limply released his arms. Strangely, he felt little pain; instead, there was a warmth, as if he experienced a delightful release. A series of images floated through his mind. Ah, Lu Yuan saw his classmates tossing their caps at the graduation ceremony, even recalling the salute he gave when the officer presented the paratrooper sword...

Then, he slowly froze on her fading face.

"Hello, Lu Yuan. How about we take a stroll together? Staying in the training field for too long makes you age quickly!" She smiled brightly, extending her hand. The bass player in the nearby band was badly tuning the chords, making a terrible screeching noise. No wonder she couldn't wait to get outside; perhaps she simply hated the oppressive summer. Just as Lu Yuan reached out his hand, she made a funny face, her hair lifting as she stomped "tap tap" and ran to the wooden hibiscus tree outside, waving her hand and calling his name.

"Aren't you coming, Lu Yuan?"

Sure! Here's the translation:

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Lu Yuan suddenly opened his eyes, gasping desperately like a drowning person who had just been saved. Before he could make sense of his surroundings, a shadow loomed over him.

"I knew you wouldn't die, Boss!" Zhang Yueyang grasped Lu Yuan's hand tightly, tears of joy welling in his eyes. Around them lay scattered medical kits, and a large emblem of the Alliance Fleet, shaped like an eagle, loomed overhead.

A shadow flitted by, and Lu Yuan felt a tightness in his chest. His voice came out hoarse as he asked, "Yangzi, where are we?"

"On the Xiyun-class frigate," Zhang Yueyang replied. He lifted the completely drained Lu Yuan and hurriedly said, "The ship is pressurizing; we need to get to the sleep pod immediately."

"Where?" Lu Yuan glanced out of the porthole, catching a glimpse of a ship disintegrating and exploding in a fiery display. Its wedge-shaped prow had broken off and was flying away. Lu Yuan recognized it as a standard Kyushu-class cruiser, and just that brief thought sent a sharp pain through his mind.

Zhang Yueyang violently pushed through the crowd blocking their path, drawing his sword and striking it against the obstacles. The ship's alarm blared loudly, and Lu Yuan pressed his forehead, groaning in pain. Suddenly, there was a loud crash, and he fell to the ground, countless feet trampling over him. He lay on his back, weakly moving his nose, then shook his head to regain his focus.

Lu Yuan felt nauseous from the jolting, while Zhang Yueyang kept shouting, "Hold on! Hold on! Boss! We're almost there!" After a moment, he heard unfamiliar, indifferent voices repeating words like "this ship," "transition," and "proceed quickly."

The intense pain in his head spread throughout his body like wildfire, and Lu Yuan's vision flickered between red and black. Gravity pressed him down, rendering him immobile. Like a lump of clay, he was shoved into a compartment by Zhang Yueyang. Lu Yuan struggled to blink and barely saw Zhang Yueyang rapidly setting something up beside him. 

With a loud thud, Zhang Yueyang collided with Lu Yuan, pounding and shouting. Lu Yuan only caught the last part of what he said.

"Boss, I'll come back to play soccer with you!"

Lu Yuan's eyelids drooped as he coughed intermittently, managing to say, "You… still… owe… me…"

Before he could finish his sentence, Zhang Yueyang disappeared, but his roar echoed in the distance until it was replaced by a cold, mechanical female voice.

"Attention: Emergency activation of sleep transition initiated. Countdown: thirty seconds, twenty-nine, twenty-eight…"

Thick amber liquid soaked Lu Yuan's military uniform, covering the red and blue lightning insignia on his shoulder, the hilt of his honor sword, and the inscription on his wristwatch.

"Twenty: Damage detected in the ship's structure. Nineteen: Forcibly injecting sealing liquid into all escape pods. Eighteen, seventeen…"

"Ten: The ship's structure is disintegrating. Core intelligence offline. Nine: Delegation of bridge authority approved. Eight, seven…"

"Five: Auto-wake settings activated. Four: Core intelligence online. Three: Escape-style transition starting. Two, one…"

"Transition beginning. All personnel shut down, and…"

"Sweet dreams, Captain."