Chapter 49

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 pine cone 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 up 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. In the midst of 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 completely 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 pine cone 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 in an attempt 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 more steady, 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!?"