Following the route he had planned in advance, Lu Fenghan took Qi Yan aboard one of Mykono Star’s high speed transit vehicles.
It was still morning and the carriage was not particularly crowded. Quite a few passengers were leaning against the carriage walls, dozing off. Along the entire route, advertising screens could be seen through the windows. They were currently announcing that Fujilina would come to the Southern Cross District in a month to hold a tour performance, with both in person tickets and online virtual tickets already available for purchase.
Qi Yan had never seen this kind of advertising before. He watched it repeatedly with an investigative curiosity, analyzing the principles behind how it was being displayed in his mind.
That continued until Lu Fenghan’s palm suddenly covered his eyes.
His low, magnetic voice came from behind him. “Don’t look at her. She isn’t pretty.”
Qi Yan knew that the “her” Lu Fenghan was referring to was Fujilina. Only then did he take a closer look at the person in the advertisement. “According to current aesthetic standards, her appearance could score above ninety five. She should meet the standard for being considered ‘pretty.’”
Lu Fenghan stood behind Qi Yan, one hand holding onto the overhead strap while the other remained tucked inside the pocket of his gray trench coat. Taking advantage of the position, he rested his chin against Qi Yan’s shoulder and deliberately let out a sigh.
Qi Yan’s back pressed against his chest. He did not move, merely turning his eyes to the side as he asked, “Why did you sigh?”
Lu Fenghan said, “I’m jealous.”
“Jealous?”
“Yes. You kept looking at someone else, so I got jealous.”
Qi Yan searched through his memories for the definition of “jealous,” and then immediately connected it to something else. “At the Technical Department, before I answered Lorenz’s questions, you deliberately asked whether we were going back after I finished asking about the frequency decomposition. Was that also because you were jealous?”
Lu Fenghan had not expected to be found out now.
But he admitted it without hesitation. “Yes.”
Not wanting to mention Lorenz, Lu Fenghan quickly changed the subject. “Doesn’t it feel like we’re just ordinary office workers who are always busy working and have finally managed to get a single day off to go out and have some fun?” He glanced at several young people not far away who were dressed casually and standing together, laughing and chatting. “Just like them.”
Qi Yan followed his gaze.
The high speed transit vehicle gave off an unfamiliar, low hum as it traveled. With Lu Fenghan out of his military uniform, the two of them standing together like this, the silent explosions in space and the butcher’s blades of the enemies charging toward them gradually faded from Qi Yan’s mind.
In a daze, Qi Yan thought that it really was just as Lu Fenghan had described.
When they got off the high speed transit vehicle, they had already arrived in another area, far from the spaceport.
It was the rainy season. Even though the sky was clear and bright, there was still a damp, humid feeling lingering in the air, mixed with the fragrance of unknown flowers, making people feel inexplicably languid and drowsy.
The buildings around them were generally not very tall and the roads were only about half as wide as those on Leto. Screens were embedded into the exterior walls of the buildings, broadcasting news about the victories at the front. The image changed and General Nie Huaiting appeared on the screen, dressed in the dark formal military uniform of a four star general. He faced the camera directly and answered the reporter’s questions.
The Southern Cross District was close to the front lines and therefore highly sensitive to developments in the war yet the pedestrians hurried along without any signs of panic on their faces. They ate when it was time to eat and worked when it was time to work. Very few people stopped to pay attention to the latest news about the fighting.
Instead, Lu Fenghan had an arm resting on Qi Yan’s shoulder as the two of them stood together listening to the military’s official statement to the public.
It looked slightly out of place.
Lu Fenghan’s voice was not loud. “This is one of the advantages of the Alliance’s vast territory. Leto has been occupied by the rebel army but the central administrative district is too far away from the Southern Cross District. The people here can see the most detailed information through the news but their daily lives won’t be affected and they won’t have any real sense of what’s happening. The same principle applies to the front lines. Starships are exploding one after another but not even a wisp of smoke will drift all the way here.”
Qi Yan understood what Lu Fenghan was trying to express as soon as he heard him and continued, “The sociologist Ivanova once proposed a theory that as the territory of the Alliance continues to expand, the distances between planets and between administrative districts are beginning to be measured in light years. As a result, the public’s ability to empathize with their fellow citizens and their sense of unity with the Alliance will continue to weaken. Eventually, there is a strong possibility that different regions will begin to govern themselves autonomously and the ‘Alliance’ will become an ‘Alliance in name only.’”
Perhaps it was because he had changed out of his military uniform, or perhaps because he was deliberately restraining himself but the aura surrounding Lu Fenghan was not particularly imposing. He lowered his eyes to look at Qi Yan, the lines of his profile sharply defined. “Mm. That’s why there’s a view among the military’s higher ups that if the rebel army didn’t exist as an external threat, the Alliance wouldn’t be nearly this united.”
“It sounds reasonable but if the Alliance needs a stimulus like an ‘external threat’ in order to achieve ‘unity,’ then that kind of ‘unity’ cannot be a long term solution.” Qi Yan thought for a moment. “If the loss of that stimulus causes the Alliance to gradually fracture, then that can only mean that ‘division’ is part of the course of historical development. Human beings can obstruct it for a time but they cannot stop it completely.”
Lu Fenghan strongly agreed with what Qi Yan had said.
At the same time, he found the feeling strangely wonderful, no matter what he said, Qi Yan could understand it. He could grasp exactly what he meant.
He turned his gaze toward Nie Huaiting on the screen once again. The general spoke at an unhurried pace, his wording precise and rigorous. Even while simply sitting there, he possessed a weight as immovable as a mountain.
“If Hodgkin had a clear head and was capable of facing this issue honestly, he wouldn’t have caused so many problems.”
Although Hodgkin had already become a notorious traitor to the Alliance, very few people mentioned why he had defected in the first place.
“Hodgkin wasn’t satisfied with the status quo. He tried to use divine authority to give ‘autocracy’ and ‘dictatorship’ legitimacy. Through dictatorship and harsh laws, he wanted to strengthen centralized rule and thereby obtain a certain kind of ‘unity.’”
Lu Fenghan remembered the video conversation he had had with Nie Huaiting.
“More than ten years ago, Hodgkin had already expressed his disappointment with the Alliance’s excessively liberal atmosphere. He believed it was unacceptable and that the Alliance Secretary General and the Commander in Chief should take action but obviously, neither the Secretary General’s actions nor General Nie’s actions met his expectations. So he turned to the rebel army, believing that they could realize his political ideals.”
Qi Yan shook his head. “I’m not someone from the future, so I can’t say for certain whether the Alliance as it exists now is ‘correct.’ But preaching divine authority, brainwashing people, restricting freedom, enforcing harsh laws, controlling people’s thoughts and turning every single person into a ‘standard and perfect Alliance citizen’, that is a regression for humanity.”
“Exactly. Hodgkin’s entire approach gives me the illusion that humanity has suddenly gone backward four or five hundred years, or even gone straight back to wearing animal skins and hunting woolly mammoths.”
There were two faint traces of mockery at the corners of Lu Fenghan’s eyes, while his gaze grew heavy. “In Astral Era Year One, the Human Alliance was officially established and the Human Interstellar Convention was promulgated. The original copy of the convention is still kept in Leto’s historical archives. It states everything clearly: freedom, equality, dignity, order and the rule of law but there’s nothing in there about ‘gods’ or ‘dictatorship.’”
After the news broadcast ended, the two of them went to the platform for the public hover vehicles.
The architecture of Mykono Star strongly reflected the distinctive style of the Southern Cross District. The tops of the taller buildings were particularly fond of being decorated with enormous rings, with words and patterns carved into them. From a distance, they resembled massive stone monuments fashioned into works of art.
Their destination was a small restaurant simply called “Starflower Mushroom Noodles.” After the two of them sat down, Lu Fenghan flipped through the menu. “There are four different flavor combinations, one, two, three and four. Which one do you want?”
Qi Yan looked at the pictures on the menu and then compared them with what he remembered. “From the entrance until now, we passed a total of thirty one dining tables. Among the ninety three bowls of noodles, the numbers of people who chose the four different flavors were twenty one, fourteen, thirty eight and twenty respectively. According to the statistical results, if we disregard unknown influencing factors, flavor three should be the one that best suits the preferences of the majority.”
Seeing Qi Yan casually conduct an entire data survey on the spot, Lu Fenghan laughed. “All right. We’ll go with your choice. Flavor three.”
The noodles were served in a mushroom shaped bowl, steaming hot. Besides the noodles themselves, there were quite a few side dishes mixed in as well.
Qi Yan tasted it, then picked two of the side dishes out and placed them into Lu Fenghan’s bowl. Only after he had finished did he realize that doing so was rather impolite but when he raised his eyes again, he discovered that Lu Fenghan had already eaten the food he had transferred into his bowl.
Seeing Qi Yan sitting there with a spoon in one hand and chopsticks in the other, staring at him blankly, Lu Fenghan raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong?”
Qi Yan quickly lowered his eyes, inexplicably flustered.
Probably guessing the reason, Lu Fenghan picked out the side dishes Qi Yan liked from his own bowl and placed them into the bowl across from him. He even deliberately added, “We’re exchanging.”
It took Qi Yan quite a while before he finally answered softly, “…Okay.”
As soon as he answered, he immediately took a sip of the soup as though trying to hide his embarrassment.
His gaze lingered for a moment on the tip of Qi Yan’s nose, reddened by the heat rising from the bowl. Lu Fenghan asked, “Is it good?”
“It’s good. Very fresh. I’ve never tasted this kind of flavor before.”
“Want to come back and eat it again tomorrow?”
Qi Yan asked, “Isn’t your scheduled day off only one day?”
Lu Fenghan had a perfectly reasonable explanation. “Days off can be accumulated. On this day two years ago, I was holding a strategic meeting aboard the ship, so I can move the day off I didn’t take back then to tomorrow.”
As for what Vincent and Erich might think about it, that was not within the scope of his consideration.
With time no longer being an issue, the two of them finished their noodles and walked to a nearby small plaza. They spent some time looking at the sculptures and fountain that had been there for a hundred years. After that, Lu Fenghan bought a packet of feed and fed the pigeons with Qi Yan. When they discovered someone performing classical music from the Earth era by the roadside, the two stopped to listen and before they realized it, an entire hour had passed.
Lu Fenghan rarely had the opportunity to be this leisurely.
After entering the First Military Academy, his days had been packed full of training and classes. He had wished he could split every second apart and make use of every last bit of it and had even been forced to develop the ability to memorize study material while simultaneously undergoing physical training.
Later, after joining the Expeditionary Army, out of three hundred and sixty days in a year, he spent three hundred and fifty nine aboard a starship. Simply having his feet firmly planted on solid ground had become a rare experience.
Even during those six months on Leto, the burden in his heart had prevented him from truly relaxing.
But today,
It was different.
He looked at Qi Yan, whose features were relaxed, a pigeon feather still clinging to his coat and thought that Qi Yan was probably the same as him.
As dusk settled over the sky, Lu Fenghan followed the plan he had made beforehand and took Qi Yan to eat Mykono Star’s local specialty, blue scaled fish. In the end, they temporarily found a nearby hotel and decided to stay there for the night.
Neither of them mentioned paying for two separate rooms.
After opening the door and entering the room, Lu Fenghan instructed Pojun, “Connect to the local star network.”
Less than ten seconds later, Pojun gave his answer. “It’s safe.”
Lu Fenghan gave a quiet “Mm,” then turned his head toward Qi Yan, who was standing nearby. At almost the exact same moment, Qi Yan happened to look over at him as well.
Their eyes met.
Perhaps it was because the room was too cramped but Lu Fenghan suddenly felt that the air was not circulating properly, making his breathing grow tight.
Images began surfacing uncontrollably in his mind.
Magelyn and Wayne had once passed on their experience to him, telling him that when choosing a room, he should make sure the bed was small. If it was too wide, the two people might end up sleeping on opposite sides, whereas with a smaller bed, they could hold each other for the entire night after they were finished.
Duchamp had then added from the side that the atmosphere was very important. The lighting could not be too bright and it would be best to have fragrances and fresh flowers,
Stop.
Lu Fenghan drew in a breath. His temples were throbbing painfully and he deeply felt that he had been corrupted by that bunch of people under his command!
Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the bed in the room and discovered that it was not particularly wide. Two people would have to sleep somewhat close together and the bedside lamp was also somewhat dim,
He could not think about this anymore.
Taking in the furnishings around the room, Lu Fenghan quickly found himself something to do. “I’ll go shower first?”
His throat felt dry and his voice was two shades hoarser than usual.
“Okay.” Qi Yan looked toward the shower room and discovered that it was transparent, allowing everything inside to be seen clearly from outside. His heartbeat quickened for an instant. “I’ll go to the rooftop terrace and look at the night view.”
Before Lu Fenghan could respond, he turned around and opened the door.
The entire hotel building was only seven stories tall. The rooftop was empty and had not been decorated at all, with only a half withered climbing plant growing in one corner.
Qi Yan sat down along the edge of the rooftop, his long legs dangling freely in the air and swaying slightly, his slender shadow falling at an angle to one side.
“Pojun, are you there?”
“I’m here.” Pojun’s voice came from Qi Yan’s personal terminal.
Qi Yan looked at the sparse lights scattered in the distance before raising his head toward the night sky. “There’s only one moon here.”
“Yes. This moon is called Alpha I and it is Mykono Star’s satellite.” Pojun continued, “The General also likes observing the night sky very much, just like you do. When we were on Chenxi Star, the days were long and the nights were short. Daytime lasted thirty two Leto hours, while nighttime lasted eighteen Leto hours. The General had me adjust his activity and sleep schedule according to his biological clock. If he woke up during the night, he would simply keep looking at the stars.”
“Looking at the stars?”
In Qi Yan’s memories, Lu Fenghan had never had such a hobby.
“Yes. After being trapped on Chenxi Star, the General once asked me whether I could confirm the location of the Lagoon Nebula. However, based on the star map I had stored at the time, I was unable to provide an answer. The General was very disappointed.”
The Lagoon Nebula.
Qi Yan vaguely guessed something. “And then?”
“Later, the General told me that it didn’t matter if we couldn’t determine the location of the Lagoon Nebula. There are billions upon billions of stars in the night sky. There will always be a ray of starlight that originated from a distant star, passed through the place where you were and finally reached his eyes.”
Qi Yan froze.
Pojun continued speaking. “The General called this ‘solace.’”
The stars were reflected in Qi Yan’s eyes. He tried to imagine what Lu Fenghan had felt when he searched for that particular ray of starlight but he discovered that he could not.
He only felt a tide of emotion slowly spreading through his chest, like mist gathering through a forest. It was a little bitter, a little heavy and even made his eyes sting, as though something were about to spill over.
He heard himself ask, “Can you determine the location of Chenxi Star?”
Pojun answered, “Yes.”
“Give me a multidimensional star map.”
After Lu Fenghan finished showering, he took clean clothes out of the clean clothes compartment and put them on, fastening all the buttons properly. When he looked into the mirror, he even touched his jaw to make sure there was no stubble.
After smoothing out the tiny wrinkles along the edge of his gray trench coat, he left the room and went up to the rooftop to find Qi Yan.
They were in the old district, where there was really nothing particularly impressive about the night view. On the other hand, because there was very little light pollution, the sky above them was filled with countless stars.
It was dark but Lu Fenghan immediately spotted Qi Yan at a glance. He walked over and sat down beside him.
He was just about to ask whether Qi Yan was cold when he felt his sleeve being tugged twice.
“Look up.”
Lu Fenghan was puzzled but he did as he was told and raised his head.
Qi Yan pointed it out to him. “The Serpens constellation is over there.”
Lu Fenghan followed the direction of his finger and gave a quiet “Mm.”
“To the east of the star at the tail of Serpens, approximately twenty degrees toward the north, there is a bright star called M11.” Qi Yan’s expression was focused. “It is an ancient star. It has existed for 9.8 billion years.”
His finger used the night sky as a canvas, taking M11 as the starting point as he drew an invisible line. “Here is the planet where the White Tower is located, within the Lagoon Nebula.”
The two were connected.
Qi Yan’s finger did not stop. He slowly traced the line through the darkness. “After passing the planet where the White Tower is located, if you continue along this straight line, further and further ahead, you’ll reach Chenxi Star.”
Three points forming a straight line.
Qi Yan drew his fingers back and looked at Lu Fenghan with utmost seriousness.
“The light from M11 once passed through the night sky above my head before falling into your eyes.”
The wind was quiet and still.
At this very moment, reflected in the clear, limpid depths of Qi Yan’s eyes, Lu Fenghan saw an entire river of stars falling upside down.
✦ ✧ ✦
Vynellia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
A wild translator appears! Their weakness: coffee. ☕
☕ 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.