After dinner, Lu Fenghan took some time to look through a document sent by Vincent.
Weiss has been increasingly active in the past two days. After transferring personnel, he is preparing to intervene in the defense arrangements on the front line of the Southern Cross Region.
When Lu Fenghan was at the front, he had always let Erich do the deployment. Obviously, Erich's presence was a nuisance to Weiss, so Weiss reported to Leto, wanting to promote a lieutenant colonel as the second deputy commander. The actual purpose was to divide Erich's power and take the command of the deployment into his own hands.
However, after this report was submitted to the desk of the head of the Central Army, it was directly rejected.
What Vincent sent was the information of the candidate for deputy commander.
"Commander, this man is a young master from Leto. His family background alone fills up a page! There are too many of them. There are a lot of complicated in-law relationships behind him. When I sorted them out for the first time, I couldn't even figure out which side he was on!"
Lu Fenghan hummed and leaned back on the soft sofa, subconsciously feeling a little uncomfortable.
On a military starship, because they are always facing unexpected battles, everything is first considered stable and sturdy, and then comfortable. The chairs he sat on before were basically cold and hard, and the bed was the same, hard.
When I got to Qi Yan's place, the sofa was soft, the dining chair was soft, the bed was soft, even the towels and pillows were softer. Even when I stepped on the carpet, my feet would sink one centimeter.
"command?"
Lu Fenghan calmed down and answered Vincent, "Weiss made a bad move. Now Leto's fight for the position of commander-in-chief of the expeditionary force has not yet been made clear. It is estimated that the parties are unable to win the fight, so they simply put it on hold for the time being. This obviously makes him anxious and unable to sit still."
Vincent: "I wonder how long I can continue to serve as acting commander-in-chief?"
"Yes. So he wanted to seize power from Erich, increase his bargaining chips, and keep his position. However, the position of second deputy commander is too important. If he really defeats Erich, the person sitting in this position will be the second in command of the expeditionary force. If he handles it well, he can also firmly suppress the next commander-in-chief and make the commander-in-chief useless."
"So Leto won't easily decide on a candidate, let alone someone with a lot of background involvement." Vincent sighed, "Weiss doesn't think enough, but Leto's group thinks so much all day long, aren't they tired?"
The sounds of cruise aircraft taking off and landing could be heard faintly. Lu Fenghan looked out the window, as if he saw that the goals that everyone was pursuing and their respective interests were intertwined into a huge net in the night, covering the top of his head.
Without responding to Vincent's sigh, Lu Fenghan was rather uninterested. "Having been rejected once, Weiss should behave himself for a few days. By the way, you should also pay attention to the news. This time, the people 'over there' delivered the starship central control system to Leto via Fontaine One. How did the accurate itinerary information leak out?"
Vincent responded neatly: "No problem!"
After hanging up the phone, Lu Fenghan sat on the sofa for a few more minutes.
Until Qi Yan came downstairs.
Seeing Lu Fenghan sitting on the sofa, Qi Yan subconsciously looked upstairs: "I just came out of the bedroom and saw you closing the door and entering the room."
Lu Fenghan corrected him: "You remembered it wrong. I have been here for the past half hour."
He stood up again and asked, "What are you going downstairs to get?"
Qiyan's living habits are very easy to understand. He takes a shower first and then eats dinner before burying his head in his own work. Sometimes he takes a pen and a stack of white paper and draws a lot of incomprehensible graphs and formulas, and sometimes he works on a computer until midnight.
Usually I would go downstairs halfway, either because I was thirsty and wanted to drink water, or to look for him.
Qiyan replied: "Water."
"Wait." Lu Fenghan walked to the kitchen and came back with a glass of water in his hand.
After drinking the water, Qi Yan stared at the cup for two seconds and asked without any context, "Is this true?"
His heart ached for no reason. After Lu Fenghan restrained himself, he still poked Qi Yan's face with his fingertips. In the other's puzzled eyes, he answered with certainty: "It's true."
Seeing Qi Yan nod silently, he sighed inwardly, took the empty cup again, and said casually: "If you can't tell the difference, you can ask me."
Qi Yan stood behind Lu Fenghan, looked at his back, and answered "Okay" neither lightly nor heavily.
The next day, after class, Qi Yan took Lu Fenghan to the laboratory.
In the laboratory, Ye Pei was chatting with Mondrian: "What should I do? I couldn't sleep because of the noise on Fontaine No. 1. Who would have thought that I would be unable to sleep because it was too quiet when I returned to Leto!"
Mondrian suggested: "You can turn on white noise to simulate the scene at Fontaine I."
Ye Pei obviously didn't want this answer: "Don't you think that Fontaine No. 1 and I are a good match?"
This time Mondrian understood: "You want to work at Battlestar?"
"Not necessarily," Ye Pei hesitated when asked directly, "Not necessarily the Space Fortress, but after listening to Professor Fu's words yesterday, I felt that I should think about what I want to do in the future. Going to the Space Fortress or the Space Research Station seems to be a good choice?"
Seeing Qi Yan coming in, she asked, "Qi Yan, what about you? Mondrian wants to engage in scientific research in the future. What do you want to do in the future?"
Qi Yan stood there and shook his head: "I haven't thought about the future."
Ye Pei was happy: "Haven't you thought about what you want to do in the future? Hahaha, it turns out I'm not alone!"
Lu Fenghan was right next to Qi Yan, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but take it to heart.
He remembered that before Turan started school, he and Qi Yan went to the Sky Diamond Square. At that time, he asked Qi Yan if he had ever thought about his epitaph. Qi Yan replied that he had and wanted to write on his tombstone: "In the darkness, I once chased a firefly."
When he talked about the fact that the average age of the league is over 100 and you still have a lot of life to live, how did Qi Yan respond
uncertain
Yes, Qi Yan replied, not necessarily.
You may not live long, right? So you have never thought about what you want to do in the future, or even considered what your epitaph will be
Lu Fenghan looked at Qi Yan, his eyes were so deep that he himself didn't even realize it.
He didn’t notice Lu Fenghan’s gaze because after Qi Yan sat down in his seat, he discovered that his light storage device was missing.
Since Mondrian had emphasized that the optical storage device had a confidentiality level and could not be taken out of the laboratory, Qi Yan would place it next to the optical computer after each use.
He was able to find that memory in his mind - after completing the saving of the final analysis results, he placed the optical storage device about thirty centimeters away from the edge of the table, then got up to find Lu Fenghan and go home together.
He remembered every frame and every detail very clearly, but because of this, he was a little unsure.
Is this memory of mine real? Or... am I making it up
Did I really put the light storage device on the table when I left yesterday
Countless self-doubts came over him like waves. At that moment, Qi Yan's face suddenly turned pale. He clenched his fingers on the edge of the table, barely able to stop the uncontrollable trembling of his fingertips.
Which memories are real
Which ones are real and which ones are false
Instinctively, he looked towards Lu Fenghan, his eyes full of confusion.
Lu Fenghan frowned.
Why do you look like... you're about to cry
He took two steps closer to Qi Yan, subconsciously blocking the eyes of those around him who might be looking at him. His eyes swept across Qi Yan's fingers that were white from exertion, and he asked in a low voice, "What happened?"
Qi Yan's voice was hoarse: "The light storage device is gone. I remember putting it here before I left yesterday."
Lu Fenghan reacted quickly: "Are you sure?"
Qi Yan's eyes were blank. After a few seconds, he said softly, "I'm not sure. I..." He bit his lip hard, "I can't be sure."
I can't be sure whether the memory is true or false.
He thought, his mother once said, even when it is dark, we should remember to look at the stars.
But his mother never told him, what if he couldn’t find the stars
What should I do if I can’t find a single star
Lu Fenghan pinched Qi Yan's chin with two fingers to make sure his lips were just red and not bleeding. He then gently pulled open Qi Yan's fingers that were clasped on the edge of the table and held them in his palm.
The fingertips were as cold as melting snow, and the touch made something in his heart shrink.
"Look at me, Qiyan."
Qi Yan subconsciously shifted his gaze over.
Lu Fenghan's eyes were dark and his lips were sharp, like a towering mountain. He seemed always firm, always clear, and would never doubt or waver.
At this moment, he became the anchor of the prayer.
"You are not mistaken. You have a good memory and you always tend to put a lot of things in the same place."
Qi Yan would restore the cups, books and pens in his home to their original positions 100% after use.
"So you must have placed the light storage device in that location. You are not mistaken."
"I remember correctly." Qi Yan's fingertips stopped trembling slightly as Lu Fenghan held them in his hand. After several seconds, he spoke again, "My light storage device is gone."
His voice was still a little hoarse, but he had obviously recovered from his previous emotional state.
"We need to check the surveillance."
When Ye Pei found out, she was shocked. She said seriously, "We must find it quickly. No matter if someone else in the group took it by mistake or it was stolen, we must make sure it is clear."
She was the team leader and quickly used her authority to find the surveillance video from last night.
In the video, we can clearly see Qi Yan standing up and placing something in his hand on the table. However, due to the blind spot, we cannot be sure that the thing in Qi Yan's hand has indeed fallen on the table.
Soon, Qi Yan turned around and walked out.
After he left, Mondrian was the first to pass by his table. After that, Xu Min, Laurent and even Ye Pei himself passed by the prayer table more than once.
Twenty-fifth minutes after Qi Yan left, Laurent and two people from another group passed by Qi Yan's table, seemingly discussing something.
In the 36th minute, Ye Pei went back and forth twice.
In the 43rd minute, Mondrian and two people from the same group passed by the table again.
"No need to look any further." Qi Yan pointed out, "The location where I put the light storage device is in a blind spot because of the obstruction. If someone passes by and avoids the surveillance angle and takes the light storage device very quickly, they won't be able to detect it."
Ye Pei was worried: "What should I do? You were the first to leave. If we really count, everyone who passed by your table would be a suspect."
She asked Mondrian, "Do you remember? Was the light storage device of the prayer still there when you passed by? Maybe we can narrow down the time range."
Mondrian thought carefully and confirmed: "I have no recollection. I was discussing a formula at the time and didn't notice anything else."
Laurent twirled the metal pen in his hand, crossed his legs and sat on the chair, saying disdainfully: "Who would take your optical storage device? It contains your personal information, and no one can open it except you. What's the point of taking it? Maybe you remembered it wrongly and put it somewhere else."
Qi Yan glanced at Laurent and confirmed: "I am not mistaken."
Ye Pei was more inclined to believe Qi Yan, thinking that there was no need for Qi Yan to lie about this matter. She thought again: "If the optical storage device is really lost and can't be found, what will happen to your previous progress?"
"It's okay, I can make it up."
"It is still related. There is so much content. If you really want to catch up, you will definitely have to stay up all night." Ye Pei looked at the surveillance video again, holding his chin in worry, "Why don't we all look for extra optical storage devices first. If not, we can only tell Professor Fu. After all, the optical storage devices are classified and must not leave the laboratory."
At this moment, there was a knock on the laboratory door.
Ye Pei stood up to open the door, wondering as he walked: "Could it have accidentally fallen to the ground and been swept away by the cleaning robot? I don't know—"
After opening the door, she looked at the two strangers standing at the door and the IDs they showed. She suddenly had a strong bad feeling in her heart. She heard herself asking, "Excuse me, what can I do for you?"
"We are from the Special Intelligence Division 5 of the Alliance Security Department." A man with brown eyes and black hair, who looked like he was of Latino descent, spoke up. "We are looking for someone named Qi Yan."
Ye Pei stopped wanting to look back and tried to remain calm: "What do you want to see him about?"
She had never heard of the "Security Department's Special Intelligence Department No. 5", but just from the name, she could realize the seriousness of the matter.
Light Reservoir, Prayer—
Another shorter man took over the conversation: "Classmate, I advise you not to ask too many questions. Many times, knowing too much is not a good thing."
At this time, Qi Yan came over and stood next to Ye Pei. He met the gazes of the two people opposite him and said, "I am Qi Yan. Are you looking for me because of the optical storage device and the scientific research project I am participating in?"
The two people at the door looked at each other, and one of them said, "It seems that you know very well what you have done."
"No," Qi Yan replied after his guess was confirmed, "Rather, I didn't realize my light storage device was missing until 20 minutes ago. Two minutes ago, we were checking the surveillance in the laboratory. Since I left the laboratory last night, the light storage device has not been in my hands."
Ye Pei didn't know why, but she remembered that He Qi, who had quit the group before, was fired by Turan because he leaked the project information. She hurriedly said, "There must be a misunderstanding somewhere!"
At this moment, Vice Principal Caroline, dressed in a black dress, hurried over. She looked serious as she stood beside Qi Yan and looked at the two people from the Special Intelligence Department 5: "I am the Vice Principal of Turan. Can you please come to my office and sit down?"
The brown-eyed, black-haired man looked at his colleague and said, "It's not impossible."
Laurent sat on the chair and watched Qi Yan leave with the people from Special Intelligence Department 5.
He thought with contentment that this person would soon no longer exist in this world.
very nice.
At this time, Qi Yan, who had walked a few steps away, turned around and met Laurent's gaze with a cold look.
It only stayed for two seconds.
But just these two seconds of eye contact made Laurent suddenly feel an irresistible chill, and he didn't even notice that the metal pen in his hand fell to the ground.