After days of heavy rain, the weather finally cleared up. The planet where the White Tower was located did not have strong sunlight, so even in summer, the temperature was just right.
The small pond in the garden was full of water, reflecting the clouds in the sky. Qi Yan sat on a bench and flipped through a paper book, but he was unable to turn a page for a long time.
Eliza walked over and handed him the nutrition pills: "It's time for lunch."
Qi Yan took it, and when he was tearing open the package, his movements paused for a few seconds, as if he remembered something.
Eliza: "How was last night? Did you sleep?"
Holding the unwrapped nutritional supplement in his hand, the skin on the back of Qi Yan's hand appeared cold white in the sunlight. After a few seconds, he shook his head slightly: "No, I still can't sleep."
He spoke in a low, hoarse voice, without much strength.
Qi Yan sometimes felt like a balloon filled with air, with a tiny hole punctured somewhere, and air was constantly leaking out.
Eliza tried to speak in a light tone: "It seems that the sleeping gas I used last night was ineffective."
"Um."
Qi Yan's already thin figure continued to shrink indefinitely. He couldn't sleep every night and couldn't eat anything. If he took too many nutrients, he would vomit physiologically and could only swallow a few mouthfuls intermittently. When he had to take nutrient injections, his body would develop a fever due to rejection. He had to rely on the treatment cabin to maintain his vitality.
Like a withered leaf clinging to a branch in late autumn.
Now, Qi Yan no longer thinks that Lu Fenghan is around, but has accepted the reality that has already happened. However, Eliza contradictoryly would rather he continue to live in a fictional memory.
It's better than now.
Maybe it’s what the saying goes, “Everything becomes empty when you turn around, and everything before you turn around is just a dream.”
The sun shone on his body, but Qi Yan could not feel the warmth. He turned to Eliza and asked, "How is the alliance going?"
This was the first time in so many days that Qi Yan showed concern for the outside world.
Eliza concealed her surprise and replied, "You should know what happened on the founding day. The rebels and interstellar pirates attacked Leto. Outside Leto's atmosphere, the space army was beaten to pieces. However, because the capital planet's defense system was still holding up, the rebels in space stopped firing."
At this point, Eliza still found it hard to believe: "But there are too many enemies infiltrating Leto. I even suspect that Hodgkin has concealed the truth and directly placed an entire rebel army on the capital planet. So, we lost the battle outside the atmosphere, and the same is true inside the atmosphere.
In order to avoid more casualties, General Nie Huaiting finally decided to abandon Leto, and together with the Secretary-General of the Alliance, he temporarily moved the military headquarters and administrative center to the Kepler Region. Krimo was imprisoned and handed over a large number of names, including Weiss, the acting commander-in-chief of the Southern Cross Region Front Expeditionary Force. Hodgkin suddenly became the spokesperson of the rebels in Leto. It is not certain whether he was a rebel from the beginning or defected in the middle. "
After hearing this, Qi Yan came out of his brief trance and said, "I think I submitted a radar detection system upgrade project on the intranet."
"Yes, you once imagined extending the detection range to the inside of the jump channel. If you can detect whether there is a high-density heat signal in the jump channel, you can prepare defense or ambush in advance before the enemy's starship leaves the jump channel. But you only started it and then stopped." Eliza asked carefully, "Do you want to restart this project?"
"Well," Qi Yan closed the paper book and looked at his reflection on the pool surface with still eyes, "The alliance is what Lu Fenghan wants to protect."
Lu Fenghan.
He stopped talking and placed his fingers on the rough cover. After a few breaths, his voice was as light as a cicada's wing. "Eliza, I always... think of him. My brain doesn't obey my instructions. He is there every moment and every second. Just like now, I am talking to you, but I am still thinking about him."
As time goes by, even the most profound memories will fade away, so many people can get over the sadness of the past.
Prayers can't do that.
Because he will not forget.
He would only experience the pain he had experienced before over and over again, being washed over and over by the sharp waves, suffocating and feeling pain over and over again.
Eliza's eyes were sore. She reached out and gathered Qi Yan's coat, wanting to comfort or persuade him, but she couldn't utter a word.
Qi Yan began to sit in the laboratory day after day.
Everyone noticed that Qi Yan seemed to be getting better slowly. After having something to focus on, his declining vitality was revived.
He updates his research progress on the intranet every day, and the new tools he builds in the process will be open sourced on Starnet, as before.
It was as if nothing had happened. Qi Yan had never left the Lagoon Nebula, had never been to Leto, and had never met that person. All the time in between was folded up. He was still the beautiful, cold and taciturn genius boy, away from the hustle and bustle, quietly focusing on what he wanted to do.
August keeps an eye on Qi Yan's progress every day, and has found several research projects at the same time, ready to take over these projects as soon as Qi Yan finishes the current one.
Maybe this would help divert Qi Yan's attention and allow him to slowly step out of the quagmire of memories.
Everyone is optimistic and hopeful.
Even in the first few days, Eliza, who had been worried about whether Qi Yan was pretending to be strong just to reassure them, gradually became relieved and thought that perhaps Qi Yan had a goal and wanted to protect the alliance - the alliance that Lu Fenghan had been guarding with all his heart during his lifetime.
It was not until Qi Yan failed to update his research progress on the intranet on time that Eliza rushed to his laboratory and saw Qi Yan sitting in the corner with his knees hugged, staring at a speck of dust in the air in a daze.
Eliza subconsciously lightened her steps and moved closer: "Prayer?"
Qi Yan was wearing a white sweater, with only his jade-colored fingers showing. Hearing the voice, he slowly shifted his gaze and said in a hoarse voice, "The season is about to change. Lu Fenghan helped me choose clothes in the custom studio. He said he would go and get them."
His eyelashes trembled. "No, it's spring now. Why did he pick out winter clothes for me? Besides, the place to pick up the clothes is in Leto. I'm in... I'm in the White Tower?"
He seemed to be awake, but also seemed not to be. He only murmured: "The Lagoon Nebula is very far away from Leto. It will take several jumps. Jump-" Qi Yan's pupils trembled suddenly, and his face suddenly turned pale. Like a fish out of water, he clutched his collar almost suffocatingly and muttered to himself hoarsely: "Don't go... Lu Fenghan, don't go, don't jump! Don't get close to the jump channel... You will die!"
The last word was so trembling that only the breath sounded.
After the voice died down, he became strangely quiet again, resting his face on his knees, not saying a word, like a lifeless puppet.
Eliza's eyes were red, and she spoke carefully: "Qi Yan, it's cold here, do you want to sit somewhere else?"
Qi Yan looked at Eliza for a long time before he finally understood what she meant: "No, I have to wait for Lu Fenghan to come back. He went to get my clothes for me."
Eliza: "Then how about we wait for him somewhere else?"
Qi Yan frowned in confusion: "Waiting for whom?"
Eliza didn't dare to say the name, so she asked tentatively: "So what are you doing now?"
"I'm... what am I doing? Oh, I'm waiting for the results of project e97-z." Qi Yan finished speaking, then denied himself, "No, this project has been stopped by August and I."
He seemed to be in a state of confusion, and subconsciously tilted his head to ask, "Lu Fenghan, do you remember?"
No one answered, so he lowered his eyelashes again and told himself, "Lu Fenghan went to Leto, he's not here. I'll ask him when he comes back."
Eliza closed the door, and the sunlight stung her eyes, causing them to feel pain.
She went down the hallway to August's lab.
Augustus took one look at her expression and asked, "Is Qiyan's condition getting worse again?"
Eliza shook her head. "It's not 'again', it's just that he has never gotten better."
Unable to stand, Eliza leaned against the wall weakly: "His reason and logic forced him to accept the reality and Lu Fenghan's death, but his instinct and emotions refused, and he had to fight against these two contradictory thoughts. In addition, he had been seriously confused about reality, which made his inside like a black hole, everything was in chaos.
He kept trying, so he uploaded his research results every day, trying to reestablish order and not get lost in the darkness, but he failed. "
"Lu Fenghan's death was the last straw." Eliza shuddered as she remembered something. "August, do you know what I thought of when I looked at him?"
August was silent, then replied, "Lin Zhi."
"Yes," Eliza hugged her arms and cried, "Yes, I look at Qiyan now, and I'm so scared... I'm afraid that he will end up like his mother, August."
After a long silence, August took two steps back and sat on a chair. After thinking for a long time, he looked directly at Eliza with his blue eyes: "There is another way, the only way."
"Pojun, is there any way to improve this design?"
Lu Fenghan stood in front of a pile of scrap copper and iron, his eyes fixed on a metal bar, and began to ask questions.
"This is already the optimal design." Po Jun spoke slowly, "We have already turned over the crashed escape pod and the wreckage of the spaceship from more than two hundred years ago seventeen times."
Lu Fenghan said “hmm”.
He has never been the type to sit and wait for death, and since there are people waiting for him, he has never thought of waiting to die on this planet.
After a long exploration in the vicinity, they found a few pieces of ore. Then they spent a few days dismantling the wreckage of the crashed spacecraft thoroughly, and then dismantled the escape capsule. Finally, they found something slightly usable among a pile of scrap metal and managed to build a signal booster.
Although the military data and theories told him that there was not much difference between the enhanced signal and the unenhanced signal, Lu Fenghan did not think so.
The more the better. He couldn't believe his luck was so bad.
During the great defeat on the front line, he was able to return to Leto on a transport ship, and was picked up by Qi Yan and saved his life in a Type VI treatment cabin. Maybe he will be so lucky this time.
If one month doesn’t work, then ten months. If one year doesn’t work, then ten years.
He was like a beast trapped in a cage, suppressing his nature and stubbornly waiting for a glimmer of illusory hope.
Because the other end of this line of hope is connected to prayer.
In addition to the necessary daily activities, Lu Fenghan began to stay next to the signal amplifier day after day. It was very boring. He thought about everything he could think about several times in his mind, and there was nothing else to do.
Lu Fenghan simply lay on the grass and unpacked and broke down everything that had happened since he met Qi Yan, recalling it all.
But even so, not much time passed.
After Lu Fenghan asked Pojun to tell more than a hundred jokes, seventy or eighty short stories, and sing two and a half songs, he finally found something to kill time - playing a simulated war game with Pojun.
Set up a space war sandbox, with two armies facing off, fighting back and forth to see who will win in the end.
At first, Lu Fenghan always lost more than he won in the five games, but later he mastered Pojun's habits and lost less and won more. After more than a hundred games, Pojun rarely won.
Pojun's comment: "Terrible human being."
Lu Fenghan was happy to accept this description: "Old ginger is still spicy, don't be sad, you are still too young, according to human age, you are still a child who is not even one year old."
Po Jun asked back: "So, you are already a veteran among humans?"
Lu Fenghan answered bluntly: "If you don't know how to speak, you can shut up."
Having heard this sentence countless times, Po Jun shut up obediently. Before shutting up, he said one more sentence: "My designer clearly told me with a piece of data that you have a good temper."
After saying that, he quickly pretended that the computer had crashed.
Instead, Lu Fenghan was left alone in a daze for a long time.
Lu Fenghan has never thought that he has a good temper and is well-mannered. When he was on the front line, he suffered from chronic lack of sleep and his temper was even worse. It was not uncommon for him to make a new recruit cry with just a look.
But in Qi Yan's eyes, he is a person with a good temper.
No.
The corners of Lu Fenghan's tense mouth relaxed and he curled up into a smile.
In that confused little eyes, everything about me is good.
Po Jun suddenly said, "Your heart rate suddenly increased. Are you sick? I have to remind you that there is no medicine on this planet."
Lu Fenghan was in a very good mood. He didn't tell Pojun to shut up, but started chatting with him instead.
"Do you know what kind of person your designer is?"
Po Jun answered honestly: "I don't know. He didn't leave any relevant data in my data core, but I'm curious, you know?"
Lu Fenghan wanted to say, of course I know that your designer is very smart, but also very confused. He often mixes up many things, is delicate and afraid of pain, and if he uses a little more force, the bruises will not go away for several days, and he even has to bandage mosquito bites. He is also very, very, very good at acting like a spoiled child. There was a time when he either wanted to be hugged or sleep with others, and people had to coax him and depend on him.
But these are secrets that Lu Fenghan alone possesses and enjoys.
So Lu Fenghan replied: "I won't tell you."
Po Jun: “…”
The signal amplifier waits for the flow of information from the universe day after day, like a verdict of an unknown finale. On the gambling table, there is only mysterious luck.
It was another sunrise. After Lu Fenghan finished ten sets of physical training, he took a bath with mountain spring water, walked to the signal amplifier, and asked Pojun: "How many days have passed since we entered the jump channel?"
"Leto time or planetary time?"
"Leto."
"As of the time of your questioning, it has been five months, six days, nine hours, eight minutes and one second."
Lu Fenghan was silent, and sat down next to the signal amplifier that was coated with a layer of light from the morning sun. After a long while, he said in an inexplicable tone: "It's been five months."
More than a hundred days, almost half a year.
Leto should have passed from winter to early summer.
There is a vague sense of emptiness in my heart.
The world outside is spinning non-stop, and countless things are happening.
He was the only one trapped on a planet, his life seemingly frozen in time.
The turning point came half a month later.
When he heard Pojun's voice, Lu Fenghan opened his eyes without any sleepiness: "What's wrong?"
Po Jun's voice still had a unique sense of straightness: "I captured a signal, there is a high probability that a starship is nearby."
Lu Fenghan stood up and walked out of the cave quickly, looking up at the dark night sky: "Are you sure?"
"Confirm." Po Jun asked, "Wait for the next instruction."
Lu Fenghan said without hesitation: "Take control of the starship."
Pojun: "Yes."
The waiting time was extremely long, one second was stretched several times. Lu Fenghan twisted his fingers, then suddenly clenched them.
"Control has been taken." Po Jun's voice finally sounded, "There are five people on the starship, all of whom are injured. The starship model is G-173Z, with traces of modification, and sufficient energy."
"This model was eliminated by the Alliance forty years ago. It has been modified. It should be a lone interstellar pirate." Lu Fenghan is not picky. It's good to have one. As long as it can be driven, it doesn't matter if it's forty years ago, even one hundred and forty years ago will do.
After a while, Po Jun spoke again: "Three people died."
"How did he die?"
"I don't understand. Human speech is too complicated." Po Jun simply played multiple roles and relayed the voices he heard to Lu Fenghan.
Lu Fenghan understood after just a few words.
These people were indeed interstellar pirates. They received orders to head from the Central Administrative District to the Southern Cross District. On the way, they could not let go of their ancestral skills of robbing and looting, and chased a transport ship.
Unexpectedly, this transport ship was a civilian ship disguised as a military ship, and it was fully loaded with supplies for the front line, so it was hunted down.
After being chased for an unknown number of hundreds of miles, a few people were lucky enough to find a small, unstable wormhole. In order to escape, they drove into it without hesitation. Unexpectedly, when they came out, they encountered a cosmic storm. When they came to their senses, they were no longer within the range of the Alliance's star map. The system of the starship was in a semi-destructive state, and they could not find the way they came.
The five people had been drifting in space for a long time, with little hope of returning to the alliance, and began to blame each other, barely maintaining harmony. After Po Jun took control of the starship, several people thought that the starship control system had failed, and the suppressed contradictions broke out in an instant. After a few shots, three people died first.
Po Jun reported again: "Another one died, and the remaining person was seriously injured."
Three minutes later, Po Jun reported again: "The last person has also lost vital signs."
Lu Fenghan raised his eyebrows.
He had already been planning how to deal with these interstellar pirates and seize the starship.
Po Jun: "In five minutes, the starship will land."
Lu Fenghan nodded and said "hmm", then returned to the depths of the cave and picked up four stones in front of the rock wall with the message engraved on it.
He doesn't really believe in ghosts.
However, he must fulfill the last wish of his ancestors, that their souls return to their hometown.
When he came out again, he could see a gradually expanding shadow in the night sky. Not long after, a starship with a hull covered in bright yellow and green paint and full of traces of disassembly and repairs appeared in front of Lu Fenghan.
Although Lu Fenghan felt that his aesthetic taste was not very high, he was still almost blinded by the mysterious appearance.
The ship's door opened in front of Lu Fenghan, and the gangway reached the ground.
Lu Fenghan boarded the ship and found that the interior had been cleaned up by Pojun, who also carefully sprayed air freshener throughout the ship.
It smelled good, but it was too strong and of poor quality. Lu Fenghan sneezed several times when he went up to it.
When the starship took off, Lu Fenghan looked at the gradually shrinking land and said, "Pojun, record the position of this planet."
"Recording completed, what is the name?"
"Morning Dawn." Lu Fenghan thought of the words on the rock wall, "It's called 'Morning Dawn'."
After the tattered starship re-entered space, Lu Fenghan sat in front of the control panel, looking at the familiar scenery outside the porthole. He finally relaxed his tense nerves and leaned back in his chair.
Po Jun's voice no longer came from his personal terminal, but appeared on the starship's broadcast: "Please issue navigation instructions."
Lu Fenghan ordered: "Find the navigation record of this starship."
Soon, a virtual screen unfolded in front of Lu Fenghan, and a zigzag line appeared on it, like the traces left by aimless ants on the sand.
After determining the location of the wormhole exit, Lu Fenghan pointed with his fingertips and said, "Let's go here first. If we're lucky, we can go through the wormhole again and return directly to the Southern Cross Region."
The starship travels through the silent universe. Every time it moves forward, starting from the Dawn Star, the new star map will be improved.
Lu Fenghan looked at the monotonous scenery outside the window. The excitement he had felt since he heard the discovery signal subsided, and another emotion called longing began to grow like weeds.
It was like a gust of wind, and in the blink of an eye, it spread to the sky.
Lu Fenghan began to wonder, would Qi Yan blame him when they met
I think so. He made the decision without any discussion. Thinking of Qi Yan's tears, Lu Fenghan felt that he deserved to be scolded.
However, Qi Yan should think that he is dead, right
Will you cry
When you see him, will you think he is pretending, or is it an illusion
The sharp dull pain came over him again. Lu Fenghan took a breath and didn't dare to think any further.
After a long time, Po Jun's voice rang out from the ship: "We are close to the jump point. Are you ready to jump?"
Lu Fenghan opened his eyes, his gaze still sharp: "Well, prepare to jump."
Southern Cross Region.
"I feel a little sympathy for that old man Kremer now. He always thought that Weiss was his man, and tried hard to place him in the expeditionary force. After the first major defeat, he put him in the position of acting commander-in-chief. Unexpectedly, Weiss turned out to be Hodgkin's man!"
Vincent sighed, "Cremo's mind seems to be in a state of confusion. He was played around by Hodgkin and instigated by the rebels to compete with General Nie for power. When a person is too stupid, it is inevitable that people will think of what the commander once said, 'His brain must have been lost during the interstellar jump and he was unable to get out of the jump channel!'"
After uttering the last word, he seemed to realize what he had said, and the smile on his face faded.
Erich seemed not to notice the look on Vincent's face and asked, "What's going on?"
"The people who are supposed to pick up Weiss have arrived. It's incredible that he has been hiding for several months, but he has managed to turn things around and contact the rebels to pick him up."
"The connection between the beginning and the end is wrong. He only dared to show up after he contacted the rebels." Erich was wearing a white military uniform and a military cap. His pair of gray eyes under the brim of the cap looked calm. He did not have a murderous temperament. Compared with the deputy commander of the expeditionary force, he looked more like a civilian in the army.
Vincent said carelessly: "No matter what happens, if he shows up, we will kill him. Otherwise, we will not be able to rest in peace for our brothers who died in the two defeats. But in terms of military strength, we have a lot, and the rebels are not bad either. If we really count, the other side has more. Can we fight this battle?"
Erich: "The leader of the rebels this time is Donald. He is suspicious and cautious. We are just detaining Weiss and not going to fight. Life has been tough lately, and Donald will not rush to catch up."
As Erich had predicted, halfway through the fight, the rebels sent a signal, clearly wanting to suspend the discussion. The communicator asked Erich for his opinion, and Erich nodded: "This time our target is only Weiss."
In the silent night space, the two armies faced each other, their gun barrels preheated, waiting for the order.
Vincent said, "Donald is probably calculating whether it is worthwhile for him to fight with us just for Weiss."
Erich continued Vincent's words: "We have been friends for many years, so we can wait for him."
At this moment, the inspector reported: "Deputy Commander, we found a starship approaching, it seems to be... interstellar pirates!"
Vincent was puzzled. "Interstellar pirates? Didn't the large group of interstellar pirates have a quarrel with the rebels in the central area and stage a runaway trick? How many of them came over there? What about their weapons and equipment? Did they suddenly get involved? Are they here to help the other side or to fight them?"
Erich also looked over.
The monitor said with doubt in his voice: "Report, there is only one starship, and the weapons are poorly equipped!"
Vincent stood up and went to have a look himself. He saw a flashy starship in extremely dilapidated condition, as if it would fall apart in the next second. "Is this thing lost?"
At the same time, Donald also saw the starship.
At this moment, the communication channels of the expeditionary force and the rebel army were forcibly accessed at the same time.
A casual voice suddenly sounded in the frequency band: "Donald? Old acquaintance, long time no see."
Donald stood up suddenly and stared at the sound frequency band displayed on the communication channel in shock.
On the other side, Vincent accidentally knocked over the water cup beside him. He stared at Erich with wide eyes, and after a long while, he stuttered out, "Just now... that sound just now—"
Erich clenched his fists, then unclenched them. He suddenly walked a few steps closer to the console, rested his hands on the edge, and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you?"
He almost held his breath waiting for the other party's answer.
On the starship, when Lu Fenghan heard this question, he could almost imagine Erich's expression at the moment.
He said with a smile: "Thank you for your hard work, Erich."
Erich's eyes suddenly turned red.
Another voice came over the communication channel.
Donald spoke word by word: "Lu Fenghan."
He questioned, "Resurrection from the dead?"
Lu Fenghan said in a casual voice: "Why, you only want people to die, but not to resurrect their corpses?"
He then ordered: "Connect to the video."
The next second, the video communication was forcibly connected to the starship where Donald was.
Lu Fenghan appeared in front of everyone.
Lu Fenghan raised his eyebrows and saw Weiss standing next to Donald. He asked Erich through the vacuum distance: "Did you come to arrest someone?"
In the communication channel, Erich replied: "Yes, it all depends on whether Donald is willing to release him."
Lu Fenghan looked at Donald and leaned back, without any of the neat military appearance of an alliance soldier. He just raised his chin and asked, "What do you think?"
Weiss looked at Lu Fenghan who had suddenly come back to life, then looked at Donald and had a bad feeling.
He has been in the expeditionary force for so many years and knows very well that Lu Fenghan has a bad reputation on the front lines, and Donald may not necessarily go against Lu Fenghan for his own sake.
He subconsciously took a small step back.
As expected.
After thinking it over, Donald said generously: "If this person is qualified, how about treating him as a gift for your resurrection from the dead?"
Lu Fenghan raised his finger and said, "I will accept your kindness without hesitation."
After Weiss was taken away to hand over to the expeditionary army, Lu Fenghan instructed Erich, "Erich, it's my first day back, so no blood should be seen. Once we capture the person, lead the team to withdraw."
Erich responded without hesitation: "Yes!"
Donald looked at the image of Lu Fenghan in the video and suspected that this person had been hiding for a long time. He appeared near Leto half a year ago and then quickly disappeared. Now, he suddenly appeared here calmly.
There must be something fishy going on.
Moreover, he was piloting a starship that clearly belonged to interstellar pirates.
Donald did not show his emotions, but just smiled and said, "Congratulations, Commander Lu. It's just that we haven't seen each other for more than a year. When Commander Lu comes back, he may not be the same person as before," he paused delicately, "maybe he will be a little different."
This is a blatant attempt to sow discord. It's almost like saying that you, Lu Fenghan, have been away for such a long time, and it's still unknown whether you can command everyone when you come back.
At the same time, the expeditionary force was in a majestic and orderly formation.
All the starships released emblems composed of shields and swords, shining brightly.
With darkness as the curtain.
The leader of the expeditionary force is back.
"I'll teach you a lesson today."
Lu Fenghan had a smile on his lips and looked directly at Donald, his brows sharp.
"Wherever I am, there is the expeditionary force's command ship."