When Qi Yan woke up the next morning, he was a little confused about the time. He commanded his personal terminal to tell the time, but Po Jun's response was faster than his personal terminal: "It is 6:37 in the morning."
Vaguely feeling that he had slept for a long time, when he sat up, Qi Yan found that he was hugging Lu Fenghan's military jacket, which was already wrinkled.
He rubbed his forehead and thought again: "How did I get back last night?"
Po Jun reported truthfully: "The general carried you back." He also tried to describe, "He held you horizontally, with his left arm supporting your knees and his right arm supporting your upper body. The general said you had become lighter. After putting you back on the bed, the general sat by your bed for half an hour."
"Half an hour?"
Po Jun: "Yes, humans are really strange. The general sat by the bed and watched you for thirty-six minutes and twenty-seven seconds until the meeting time was up."
When Qi Yan heard this, he was stunned.
Although he did not see it with his own eyes, Qi Yan easily pictured the scene described by Po Jun in his mind. He put his palm on his chest and felt as if his heart beat slightly.
Not sure if it's an illusion.
After washing up, Qi Yan's hair was slightly wet. He asked, "Can I go to the command room to see the general now?"
This question was addressed to Po Jun, but was actually addressed to Lu Fenghan. A few seconds later, Po Jun conveyed Lu Fenghan's reply: "Of course."
It was not until he opened the door that Qi Yan realized that the debugging of the new detection system had been completed. After the first battle last night, the detection results were verified to be accurate and error-free, and the central control system had also been optimized.
After finishing all the things that needed to be dealt with, his first reaction was to go find Lu Fenghan.
Obviously, before this person came back, even though he had lost his emotions and feelings, he still felt that there was no difference from before.
But now—
The "sense of loss" that he had once ignored became obvious.
When he heard that Lu Fenghan had been looking at him by the bed for half an hour, and when he realized that his first reaction was to go to Lu Fenghan.
I should have some emotion.
Happy? Glad? Eager
No, it seems neither.
But Qi Yan realized that even if he looked through the entire Alliance Common Language Dictionary, he would not be able to find words that could appropriately describe his emotions.
In other words, his emotions are indeed contained in the dictionary, but cannot be determined by him.
At this moment, the feeling of emptiness in his heart became more and more obvious, and Qi Yan even felt a hint of coldness.
When they arrived at the command room, Vincent was yawning with red eyes. When he saw Qi Yan come in, he pointed in the direction of Lu Fenghan, said "good night" quickly, and slipped out in a few steps holding the recording board.
There were only two of them left in the command room.
Lu Fenghan stood by the porthole. A small patrol ship passed by, and light shone in, casting his figure on the metal wall.
Qi Yan stood closer: "Didn't you sleep all night?"
Without any sign of fatigue on his face, Lu Fenghan said "hmm" and asked first: "Have you eaten?"
Qi Yan shook his head.
Lu Fenghan took out a bag of peach-flavored nutritional supplements, tore open the seal, and fed it to Qi Yan's mouth.
Almost as a conditioned reflex, Qi Yan bit the nutrient in his mouth.
A very familiar taste.
Lu Fenghan then began to explain: "After the Pingning leads the team back to the voyage, the people below will report the battle damage layer by layer, and I will make the final confirmation. The records handed over by the logistics department must also be approved in a timely manner. In addition, I don’t need to be responsible for finding treatment robots or treatment cabins for the wounded, but I have to review the list of sacrificed personnel. After dealing with the chores, I will convene a meeting. The newly captured planets must be defended, patrols must be arranged for the star fields that have been reassigned to the alliance, and the data feedback from the new detection system must be signed and filed. That’s why I haven’t slept yet."
Lu Fenghan told Qi Yan everything one by one. He really liked the process of narration. It was like he was revealing his own territory to Qi Yan one by one, so that he could know what he was doing.
Qi Yan listened carefully, and after drinking the nutrient solution, he couldn't help but stand half a step closer to Lu Fenghan.
As a result, the coldness rising from deep within the body faded a little.
Thinking of what Lu Fenghan had said in the equipment room before, Qi Yan stretched out his hand: "Cold."
Lu Fenghan was a little surprised.
But almost immediately, he held the hand that Qi Yan extended to him and warmed him with his body temperature.
Lu Fenghan's movements were extremely natural, and Qi Yan commented on his behavior: "You said that if my hands hurt, I had nightmares, or I felt uncomfortable anywhere, I could come to you."
Lu Fenghan's heart softened, and he turned his head to hide the smile on the corner of his lips.
So good
He could almost hear the sudden rapid pulsation of his own carotid artery, and a surge of urgency surged in his heart. He wanted to hug the person in front of him, but he was afraid of scaring the person, so he forcibly suppressed the sudden emotion.
In order to avoid being impulsive, Lu Fenghan held Qi Yan's hand and talked about business: "Starting today, should we start reducing the dosage?"
Qi Yan: "Yes, that's what Eliza arranged. But after this drug was developed, I was the only one who took it. I ran a lot of data on the computer, but I lack clinical experience."
Lu Fenghan specifically spoke to Eliza twice, both times discussing this issue.
This drug is mainly used to strip away the emotions of prayer and maintain a state of "absolute rationality" to combat the impact of memory confusion and negative emotions.
Now that Lu Fenghan has returned, Eliza believes that although there are many strong negative emotions in Qi Yan’s memory, like an endless tide, Lu Fenghan is enough to serve as a long embankment.
However, all parties were very cautious, fearing that suddenly stopping the medication would cause Qi Yan to have a strong withdrawal reaction.
Lu Fenghan was familiar with Qiyan's habits: "Do you want to take the medicine later?"
"Yeah, but it's in the room. I didn't bring it."
"I'll go back with you."
Praying with inquiring eyes.
Lu Fenghan understood immediately: "We have finished dealing with the things at hand. The nearest rebel army is led by Tang Na, who is extremely suspicious. I didn't show up in the previous year, so he must have already imagined dozens of possibilities. And this time, they were defeated in the first battle. In a short period of time, they will definitely not be able to figure out how they lost so quickly and so badly. They may even worry that someone has leaked the information, and they will be anxiously looking for traitors."
"So there won't be any war for the time being?"
"Yes, there won't be any for the time being. Donald dare not act rashly." Lu Fenghan led the people out. "Except for the personnel on duty, I have arranged for everyone else to go back to sleep and conserve their energy so that they can achieve a second victory."
However, along the way from the command room to Qi Yan's room, he still met many soldiers in uniform. From their expressions, he could tell that although Lu Fenghan ordered everyone to rest, the victory in the first battle after a long period of frustration had excited countless people. Even the air in the command ship was filled with some unknown excitement factor.
Lu Fenghan walked very slowly with Qi Yan for a short distance - after every few steps someone would stop at the side of the passage, straighten their chest and draw in their stomach to salute, so Lu Fenghan had no choice but to stop and return the salute seriously.
As for Qi Yan who was following Lu Fenghan, these people just looked at him quietly, not daring to look at him any more, and left after paying their respects.
Lu Fenghan knew that Vincent should have arranged for Qi Yan to board the ship, so he had nothing to worry about.
After entering the room, Qi Yan found the transparent medicine bottle, poured a dose of medicine into his palm, and took out another tablet.
Lu Fenghan brought him some water.
After taking the medicine, Qi Yan said, "Do you... want to go back and rest first?"
Lu Fenghan came in and didn't plan to leave: "No, being with you is more useful than sleeping for ten hours."
Qi Yan didn't know how to respond to this sentence.
Because he could realize that this sentence was illogical and contained emotions that he could not understand at the moment.
So he chose to remain silent.
Lu Fenghan asked him: "After taking this medicine, will it feel like walking barefoot in the snow, just like the previous medicine?"
"Yes," Qi Yan replied after comparing, "It's a little colder, a very empty cold."
After saying that, he hesitated again, wondering whether he should tell Lu Fenghan this. Just like he couldn't understand what it felt like to have emotions, Lu Fenghan probably couldn't understand what it felt like to have no emotions.
Lu Fenghan walked over.
Before Qi Yan could come back to his senses, he reached out and pulled the person into his arms: "Will this make you warmer?"
Qi Yan didn't speak for several seconds, and then replied softly: "...Yes."
More than a little warmer.
It was as if he was standing barefoot, alone in a snowy wilderness. As the man approached, the ice and snow around him melted and spring came.
Two hours after taking the medicine, Qi Yan did not experience many adverse reactions, only a slight tremor in his fingers. He wrote down the time and symptoms, and went to see Lu Fenghan again.
Lu Fenghan was leaning back on the sofa, unfolding the virtual screen to review documents.
A strange desire suddenly surged in his heart. Qi Yan followed his instinct, walked to the sofa, hesitated for two seconds, and lay down next to Lu Fenghan.
The urgency in my heart finally faded away.
Lu Fenghan asked in a low voice: "Are you sleepy?"
Qi Yan curled up beside him and whispered, "It should be a reaction to the reduced medication."
Otherwise he couldn't explain his behavior.
Lu Fenghan understood.
He said with a smile, "Little clingy guy."
Qi Yan did not deny it.
Soon after he finished speaking, Lu Fenghan loosely put his arms around Qi Yan's shoulders - a protective gesture.
After reviewing the documents handed over, Lu Fenghan pinched his brows and asked Qi Yan: "Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"
Shaking his head, Qi Yan hesitated and suddenly asked, "Do you think I'm lying to you?"
"What are you lying to me about?"
"In Leto, I never told you my true identity."
After asking this question, Qi Yan looked at Lu Fenghan's expression carefully.
Lu Fenghan immediately remembered what Eliza had mentioned, that in the early stages of reducing the dosage, Qi Yan would have a certain chance of feeling insecure, sensitive, and overly anxious. So he answered without hesitation: "Of course not. To me, no matter who you are, you are you."
Qi Yan was easily comforted by these words.
However, this question reminded Lu Fenghan that when they were in Leto, for some reason, both of them were unable to tell each other their identity information.
He lowered his eyes and looked at the person next to him: "Pray."
"Um?"
"On your first day on board, after you introduced yourself, was I rude enough to introduce myself as well?"
Qi Yan nodded.
Not only did he not introduce his identity, but it took Lu Fenghan a while to shake the hand he extended to him.
"Then make up for it now."
In the silence, Lu Fenghan's voice was very low, which made Qi Yan's ears feel itchy.
"The command ship of the Southern Cross Region Front Expeditionary Force under the Alliance Central Corps belongs to Lu Fenghan."
"Hello, little chief."