Unfortunately, even after Lu Fenghan muted the audio and turned off the camera, he still could not stop Magelyn and the others from treating the communication channel like a chat room.
They began brazenly typing messages for Lu Fenghan to see.
Magelyn: “At this very moment, this young lady is drowning in the excitement of knowing that she’s about to become the richest person in the entire Expeditionary Army…”
Wayne: “Brother, when you strike it rich, don’t forget your brothers!”
Duchamp: “Brother, when you strike it rich, don’t forget your brothers!”
Long Xiyun: “Seconded.”
Magelyn: “Have you ever seen someone win a bet and then split the winnings with three freeloaders? Get lost, get lost, get lost!”
At the same time, while Magelyn was still leading the rebel army around in circles, she somehow had enough energy to open a separate communication channel just to express the feelings she could not possibly say aloud. “Wayne, did I really see that correctly? That scene just now nearly blinded my dog eyes! Looks like the Commander really doesn’t want the title of ‘Expeditionary Army’s Number One Bachelor’ anymore!”
Wayne reasoned from his own experience. “The Commander probably hasn’t wanted it for a long time.”
Magelyn thought about it and realized that was probably true but there was still a faint sourness in her heart. “I’m jealous. I’m genuinely jealous! Qi Yan is so good looking, he looks like he stepped right out of a painting. You can tell at a glance that he’s some pampered young master from an illustrious family. I accidentally caught a glimpse of his virtual screen just now and the strings of characters on it are something I’ve only ever seen over in the Technical Department and he’s even a student from the school across the river. How come I never got lucky enough to have a Commander this good!”
At that moment, Pojun issued another reminder that a high density thermal signal had appeared inside the jump channel.
Magelyn quickly reined in her grief stricken tone and ordered the fleet to change formation. At the same time, she ordered the artillery platform on the right side of the Chanyuan to rise. The laser cannon was aimed directly at the jump exit and the cannon chamber began warming up. She also instructed Wayne, who was guarding the rear, to make a feint and lure the enemy forces trailing behind them off to the side.
Magelyn continued to seize every opportunity to chatter. “What do you think? If I got seriously wounded right now and went somewhere in a corner of Leto to lie flat and do absolutely nothing, is there any chance someone would pick me up?”
“Most likely, you’d just die there,” Wayne replied. Then he asked, “What were you saying about being lucky?”
Magelyn rolled her eyes. “What other kind of luck could I possibly mean? I’m a soldier who spends every day flying around in space without ever touching the ground. Who would be willing to get together with someone like me? Right wing, get ready. Three, two, one, fire!”
Outside the observation window, enormous flames silently blossomed in the vastness of space. With no sound and no sensation of heat, the sight appeared almost unreal, like an illusion unfolding beyond the glass.
Wayne understood what she meant and was surprised. “What, you’re tired of sleeping with different men and want to settle down now?”
“Is that fucking something I can just decide to do whenever I want?”
Wayne was genuinely shocked. “You actually want to settle down?”
Magelyn was indignant. “Of course I’ve thought about it! Look at me. I’m a frontline officer, so I have to stay on constant alert at all times. When I finally happen to meet someone I find attractive, I sleep with him and we have a fleeting affair before going our separate ways. It sounds pretty carefree and romantic but fuck, it’s only one night! I haven’t even properly taught him all the different ways to do it and suddenly the sun is already coming up!”
Wayne’s laughter came through the communication channel together with the countless beeps of the instruments. “Hahahaha! Sleeping with multiple men is something you’re forced to do, while sleeping with just one man is actually your goal? No, wait, the important part is ‘all the different ways’!”
Even Magelyn could not help lifting the corners of her lips. “Forget it. Why the hell don’t I have that kind of luck? Because of the rebel army, that’s why. Blast them!”
As a result, the rebel forces engaged against the Chanyuan discovered that their captain had apparently suffered some kind of sudden malfunction, because her fighting style was even more ferocious than usual!
Inside the command room, after Lu Fenghan had been hugged once, he simply stopped Qi Yan from leaving by wrapping an arm around his waist. Then, with both arms around Qi Yan’s waist, he adjusted their positions and placed him directly on his lap.
Only then did he ask, “Is this position comfortable?”
Qi Yan had no objections.
He did not dislike it. In fact, because they were sitting so close together, the uneasiness that had been lingering continuously in his heart slowly receded like a tide withdrawing from the shore.
Lu Fenghan gently patted Qi Yan twice on the waist before opening a one way video call. This way, Magelyn and the others could only see his photograph inside their dialogue windows.
At that moment, Magelyn was asking Long Xiyun and Duchamp through the communication channel, “I’m getting bored from leading them around. If there’s no problem on your end, can I make my move?”
Long Xiyun replied, “The defenders have almost been dealt with. Duchamp?”
Duchamp immediately answered, “The planetary defense system will shut down in forty five seconds. Gather here once you’re done.”
Magelyn responded as soon as she heard that. “All right, then I’m starting!”
Qi Yan did not understand what exactly Magelyn intended to start doing but thirty seconds later, he understood completely.
On the star map, large patches of yellow light suddenly appeared everywhere, blooming across the display like countless flowers. At the exact moment the yellow points of light disappeared, the light points representing the rebel warships also vanished in large numbers.
Lu Fenghan temporarily muted the communication channel and explained it to Qi Yan. “The yellow points of light are the detonated Thunderclaps.”
Qi Yan understood immediately. Combined with his exceptionally good memory, he quickly pieced everything together. “While Magelyn was leading the rebel forces around, she was also laying Thunderclaps along the route. She was waiting until the enemy let down their guard before leading them into the formation. Then, using the short interval before the explosions, she accelerated to full speed and escaped the blast radius?”
“More or less. Before setting out, Magelyn deliberately made a trip to the Technical Department. The Thunderclaps she deployed could only be detected by the rebel army’s monitoring system during the dozen or twenty seconds immediately before they detonated.
“That window of time was short but the rebel forces could still retreat quickly if they reacted immediately. However, she hadn’t been leading them around for nothing. While each of them was being ‘flown like a kite’ by her until they were practically furious, she quietly blocked off all the ‘exits.’ The rebels had no choice but to remain trapped inside the formation, where they were thoroughly blasted from both inside and outside.”
Lu Fenghan pointed for Qi Yan to look. “After the explosion, the enemy’s medium sized ships and capital ships didn’t suffer much damage. However, the fighter ships, reconnaissance ships and the rest were all blown away. Their combat strength was rapidly reduced, which also dealt a huge blow to their morale.
“In this half crippled state, the enemy’s commanding officer will be worried about whether Magelyn has laid other ambushes. He’ll cautiously regroup his fleet and be unable to act freely. Meanwhile, Magelyn’s side is at the absolute peak of its momentum. From here on, they’ll be beating them while they’re down.”
Qi Yan looked toward the other side. “That rebel fleet also won’t be able to break away and go support the military factory.”
“Exactly. As soon as Long Xiyun arrived, she first released a signal jammer to block the distress signal being sent out by the military factory. After that, within the limited time available, they’ll eliminate the defenders and destroy the planetary defense system. Once the signal jammer stops working, Donald will receive the distress signal but by then it will already be too late.”
Qi Yan asked, “Because Long Xiyun and the others will already have switched from attacking to defending?”
“Yes. If it were only Long Xiyun, she could take the place but wouldn’t be able to hold it but Duchamp went over as well. Although the Jiangling hasn’t moved, the entire assault team is there. Holding a small planet won’t be a problem.”
That was also the reason Lu Fenghan had ordered Duchamp to assist Long Xiyun.
“Besides, there’s a fixed number of people under Donald’s command. They already lost quite a few in the first battle and they’ve committed a large force this time as well. There can’t possibly be many people left behind to guard the rear. If Donald chooses to reinforce the main battlefield, then he’ll essentially be abandoning the military factory completely. If he chooses to reinforce the military factory, it’ll be very difficult for him to retake control of it in a short period of time. Then, once Magelyn wins on the main battlefield, she’ll simply turn around and head to the military factory to help.”
Lu Fenghan stared at the star map. “I wonder whether Donald will choose to cut off one of his hands or injure both of them. Although no matter which way he chooses, he has already lost control of the initiative in this battle.”
In the communication channel, Magelyn’s eyes were bright but her voice remained remarkably calm as she issued one command after another. Only when the enemy’s capital ship had its rear one third of the hull blown clean off did she finally let out a mocking laugh. “Heh. A naked, bald chicken!”
At the same time, another dialogue window connected. Xavier was so excited that even the ending of his voice nearly cracked. “Reporting to the Commander! I found the enemy’s new weapon! Mission successfully completed!”
“Good,” Lu Fenghan replied. “But you’ll only have truly completed the mission successfully once you make it back alive.”
In the video window, Xavier’s eyes seemed to have flames burning inside them. He raised his hand and gave Lu Fenghan a military salute. “Yes! I’ll definitely complete the mission!” His hand had not even lowered before he could not help grinning broadly.
Qi Yan compared the person in the dialogue window with the Xavier in his memories. For some reason, he felt that in the short span of half a year, Xavier had changed enormously from the person he had been when he was studying at the First Military Academy.
Then, on second thought, it wasn’t just Xavier. Ye Pei and Mondrian had changed a little, too.
Watching the battle unfold, Qi Yan asked Lu Fenghan again, “The enemy won’t be sending in reinforcements, will they?”
The audio was still on, so the others in the communication channel heard him as well. Magelyn immediately chimed in, “That coward Donald has less courage than the hole in my ear is big. He’s so cautious that whenever he takes a step that’s even slightly too big, he’s afraid he’ll pull his X! He’s definitely ordering his people to retreat as quickly as possible right now!”
Wayne immediately called her out. “Magelyn, do you even have a pierced ear?”
Magelyn answered furiously, “Get lost. Believe me, I’ll shoot a hole straight through your ear myself!”
Wayne’s eyes widened. “Brother, do you have to be that ruthless? My ear already hurts just thinking about it!”
Magelyn could not be bothered to argue with him anymore and immediately issued her orders. “They’re about to retreat. Stop them! The people can leave but the supply ships have to stay behind! We’re not just going to win, we’re going to make sure we get our money’s worth!”
Wayne: “Finders keepers?”
Magelyn showed absolutely no mercy. “There are no brothers when it comes to supply ships! At most, I’ll let you take one look.”
The noise coming through the channel was making Lu Fenghan’s ears ache. He had the distinct feeling that what should have been a proper military communication channel had somehow turned into a stage for a pair of performers doing a crosstalk routine.
No, this stage was far too small to contain the full extent of their brilliance.
As the Chanyuan fleet returned, the people from the Technical Department began making their way to the newly captured military factory to investigate the rebel army’s new weapon. Meanwhile, Vincent had already finished writing the report about their second victory.
“The chief writers at the Leto Daily just aren’t good enough. They can’t grasp the essence of things. I might as well write it myself!”
Lu Fenghan read through the manuscript from beginning to end before approving it. “Fine. Send it to the Leto Daily.”
Satisfied that his work had received the Commander’s approval, Vincent happily took the manuscript and went to contact the editor in chief. At the doorway, he happened to run straight into Magelyn and Wayne, who were preparing to enter.
Wayne blocked Vincent and asked in a low voice, “Are we still brothers or not? How could you not reveal such important information to us?”
Vincent looked completely bewildered. “What information?”
Wayne lowered his voice even further, afraid that someone else might overhear. “Information concerning our becoming the richest men in the entire Expeditionary Army!”
Vincent’s eyes widened. “What kind of information is so incredible that even I, the guy in charge of intelligence gathering, don’t know about it? Come on, tell me too. If we’re going to get rich, we might as well get rich together!”
Wayne frowned. Based on their many years of friendship, he could tell that although Vincent had been in Leto all this time, he genuinely had no idea that the Commander and Qi Yan had a relationship where one of them sat on the other’s lap.
After thinking about it, Wayne decided that if he was going to trick someone, he might as well trick his own brother.
“You can go now. There’s no information.”
Standing off to the side, Magelyn folded her arms and shook her head with a sigh. “The world has really gone downhill. The world has really gone downhill!”
The door to the command room closed again. Before the two of them could even sit down, Lu Fenghan said, “Make the most of the time and rest up. Once the Technical Department has figured out the rebel army’s new weapon, we’ll go straight after Donald. Oh, right, Wayne, pass a message to Vincent and have him recall the Dingyuan.”
After Magelyn and Wayne reported back, they hurried off again to deal with the aftermath of the battle. Only then did Qi Yan ask, “Are you going personally to deal with them?”
“Mm. Donald is down to nothing but remnants now and their morale has collapsed. This is the perfect opportunity to wipe them out completely. The previous two battles were both trial runs. The results tell us that we can move into a decisive battle as soon as possible and our chances of victory are very high.”
When Lu Fenghan spoke to Qi Yan, his speech naturally slowed down. “Do you want to return to the White Tower?”
Knowing that Lu Fenghan was thinking about his safety, Qi Yan shook his head. “I’ll go with you.”
At that moment, Lu Fenghan’s gaze deepened abruptly.
He heard the sound of his own heartbeat.
The pleasure of having his possessiveness completely satisfied filled his veins without reservation, spreading through his entire body. The sensation was so intense that it was almost impossible to describe in words.
Lu Fenghan could not help thinking that Qi Yan was no longer merely half of a forbidden item to him.
He influenced his emotions and controlled the rhythm of his heartbeat.
A communication request came in.
Qi Yan returned to the sofa in the corner, opened his virtual screen and began examining the specific operating data of the new detection system from the battle that had just ended.
In the video dialogue window that appeared on the virtual screen, Lorenz, the person in charge of the Technical Department, was wearing a white lab coat. “Commander, I’ve taken a preliminary look. Give me fifteen hours and I can deconstruct it.”
Lu Fenghan was like the most demanding client imaginable. Without even blinking, he said, “Thirteen hours and submit a response report as well.”
Lorenz was already accustomed to Lu Fenghan squeezing every last bit of work out of him. After thinking for a moment, he answered, “All right.”
Having finished reporting the important matters, Lorenz still did not forget to mock the rebel army’s actions. “They spend every day using technological annihilation as their target, ridiculing the Alliance for developing technology and claiming that it’s an attempt to challenge the authority of God yet in this military factory, I don’t see them obediently waiting for God to bestow cannons and bombs upon them.”
“Outwardly, they oppose the Alliance’s development of technology on the grounds that it is blasphemous. In secret, they use technology to strengthen divine authority, calling every technological achievement a ‘gift from God,’ elevating God to an absolute and supreme position and then using God’s name to impose authoritarian rule. The rebel army has been using the same old tricks for years.” Lu Fenghan then gave another order. “Have Duchamp and the others transport everything inside that can still be used back here. Anything that can’t be used should be piled together and blown up.”
Duchamp’s voice came from somewhere outside the frame. “Understood! If we can see it, it belongs to us. We absolutely won’t leave even a single hair behind for the enemy!”
At that moment, Lu Fenghan’s personal terminal notified him that he had received a message. He opened it and saw that Vincent had sent him a reminder to remember to update the contents of his pension application form.
The pension application form was something every active duty member of the Alliance military received. Death was not uncommon for soldiers fighting on the front lines. Lu Fenghan had no family members, so in the past, he had always simply written a note stating that if he were ever killed in battle, his pension would be forfeited directly to the state.
He had even already thought of the inscription for his grave.
Yet now, his feelings were somewhat different.
His gaze involuntarily fell upon Qi Yan. A few seconds later, he replied, “I’m not filling it out anymore. I’m giving up the pension.”
Vincent did not understand. He asked again, “Why?”
Those three words stirred up an endless tide of emotions inside Lu Fenghan.
He remembered Qi Yan’s lower lip, bitten until it bled, as the escape pod launched on Founding Day.
He remembered the dull, suffocating pain he had felt after connecting to Elisa’s communication and listening to every single word she had said, pain so heavy that he had not even dared to breathe too forcefully.
He remembered meeting Qi Yan on the bridge, hearing him say, “Hello, General,” and feeling the cool hand he offered, cold as snow when Lu Fenghan took it.
Lu Fenghan thought, if he truly had to give a reason,
From now on, my life no longer belongs to me alone.
✦ ✧ ✦
Vynellia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The translator sacrificed sleep for this chapter. A coffee offering seems reasonable.
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 50 · I am Pojun.Chapter 51 · Unable to deceive oneselfChapter 52 · Resurrected from the deadChapter 53 · Hello, General!Chapter 54 · My hand is injured.Chapter 55 · Come to my place.Chapter 56 · First VictoryChapter 57 · Self-introductionChapter 58 · Never changedChapter 59 · One reasonChapter 60 · Gentle and restrainedChapter 61 · Only you are allowed.Chapter 62 · To the Souls of the FallenChapter 63 · His reliefChapter 64 · His ambitionChapter 65 · Date TimeChapter 66 Part 1 · Abducting PlanetsChapter 66 Part 2 · Abducting PlanetsChapter 67 · Did not leaveChapter 68 · Perceiving EmotionsChapter 69 · My own effortsChapter 70 · Bright FlameChapter 71 · Dress codeChapter 72 · Take me with you!Chapter 73 · MirageChapter 74 · I’m used to it.