White was the first one to come around. He got up in a daze and patted himself from head to toe to make sure that no parts were missing and that his brains were not splattered everywhere. Finally he heaved out a big sigh, flopped back down and lay there with his belly up.
He felt he had scraped through with his life.
White’s family had a little money. When he was a child, he once joined a tour group for the Seventh Galaxy and rode in a starship for half a month. He therefore thought he could nonchalantly wander in space. However, more than 80% of the weight of a passenger starship was dedicated to service oriented devices. People in the most high-end starships could hardly notice any difference from being on the ground. They were completely different from mechs which were combat killing machines.
He lay there and contemplated life and death with total detachment. He was close to achieving enlightenment before there was any movement next to him. Mint and Huang Jingshu woke up one after another.
Huang Jingshu prostrated on the ground and retched for five minutes. She pointed at Mint and spoke, “You twitchy-fingered slut.”
Mint felt herself in the wrong and accepted the scolding with rare grace. She scrambled up with difficulty, swaying from side to side and unable to walk in a straight line, “Where is this?”
Huang Jingshu snarled, “Who you askin’?”
“There is a travel log.” White dared not touch anything on the mech now. He put his hands close to the seams of his pants, stood up on tippy toes from an at-attention stance, and looked up at the dashboard, “I… wait a minute, which one of you can read space coordinates?”
The two girls stared at each other, dumbfounded.
White grinned heartlessly, “We can’t even read space coordinates, and we took the mech out?”
“Two lights above the hatch turned green,” Mint ignored him and stumbled towards the doorway, “Let me see… pressure… no, it’s outdoor air pressure, then the other one may be air quality. Pres Lu seemed to have said that only advanced mechs have their own intelligent core, these relatively basic mechs only have simple communication signals like indicator lights… Generally speaking, except for hats, green is good, right?”
White asked, “Could we still be on Planet Beijing? We flew around and fell back into the atmosphere?”
“No idea. Let’s find a way to get down first. We will die in it for sure if we go up again.” Huang Jingshu stood up. Then she seemed to remember something and asked dubiously, “Wait, are we missing someone?”
Moments later, they found classmate Gamecock in a corner. Gamecock was foaming at the mouth and looked rather miserable. Huang Jingshu extended her foot and kicked his shin, “Dude still alive?”
There was actually medical equipment on the mech, but the three held a brief meeting and decided that Gamecock was a sentient being after all, better not subject him to such a fatal experiment. They would go out and look for help with White in charge of carrying him.
Gamecock was tall and strong. If the flesh was taken out, the skin would be enough to stuff White whole into it. He hung half-dead on White, crushing the number one tech nerd of Starry Sea Academy like an overburdened donkey. White was panting, sweating, and blushing as he listened to his two female classmates having a big genitalia-filled argument and eventually stumbling on a plan - to open the hatch directly.
“Since he’s passed out, the mental network should be disconnected from the pilot. We got all the way here by the autopilot route. Now that we are at the destination, we should be able to get off anytime.” Mint explained while tentatively reaching out to pull the hatch, “I just don’t know how to get the hatch…”
Before the word “open” was uttered, the mech let out another hair-raising sigh.
The three teens’ faces turned pale, assuming that the cannon firecracker was about to hit the road again. Just when White was going to pass out instinctively, the hatch slid open and a breeze with a peculiar smell blew in.
After an indefinite amount of time, Mint moved her neck with difficulty, “…Where is this?”
Appearing in front of them were rows of mechs parked side by side in a gigantic warehouse, shimmering continuously in icy light. Every mech was loaded with sinister looking weapons. A black muzzle pointed right at them, emanating cold intention to kill.
Fragmented sounds of wind streamed over from the opposite direction of the endless warehouse, rustling into a whisper.
White shuddered slightly.
This was definitely not Planet Beijing-β.
All of a sudden Huang Jingshu grabbed Mint’s arm, pushed her behind the door, and simultaneously covered her mouth.
The next moment, the sound of footsteps arose, coming ever closer from afar. The three teens held their breath, huddled together, and peeked out from a crevice in the hatch. They saw a railcar pulling up slowly. Two gun carrying men with poisonous insects tattooed on their faces walked alongside the railcar. Inside the railcar were a string of motionless children. It was unclear whether they were dead or alive.
One of the men said, “The appetite of those pirates is getting bigger and bigger. Now they have held everyone noteworthy in the entire Eighth Galaxy here. Are they really going for a rebellion?”
The other replied, “Haven’t you heard that they have done it on the capital planet? Others have already eaten the meat. If we don’t hurry up, we won’t even get to drink the soup. Speaking of which, it has been more than a hundred years since we joined the IU, but has the IU ever taken care of us? Isn’t this fucking place still a shithole as always? Might as well rebel.”
The first one was silent for a moment, “Although the IU has never taken care of us, it also doesn’t treat us as so much less than human…”
“Shh, don’t talk nonsense.”
The two fell silent. The muffled footsteps and the railcar gradually went away.
It was a long while before Huang Jingshu let go of her hand from Mint’s mouth and whispered, “I’ve seen them before.”
White and Mint looked at her together. Huang Jingshu summarily recounted what happened the day she reported to Starry Sea Academy.
White was taken aback, “You… you are vac… vac…”
Huang Jingshu shot him a cold glance, “Vaccuocerebral Syndrome. So what? Am I taking up your folks’ RAM?”
White shrank back and kept quiet.
Mint thought for a while, “So, I kind of get it now. This mech probably belonged to the guy you met. Sige dealt away with the guy and gave the mech to our school. I might have accidentally activated the automatic return, so it has now brought us to those people’s lair!”
White was shouldering the heavy burden Gamecock. His calf was getting a little knotted, “Then let’s call the police!”
Huang Jingshu and Mint heard his brilliant idea and snapped in unison, “Get out!”
White: “…”
Mint glanced at the unconscious Gamecock and said frankly, “It’s impossible to drive this thing back. What are we gonna do now?”
The four of them were like travelers trapped in the desert. No matter which direction they turned, they seemed to be facing a certain doom. Now they only had to choose which way to die - starve to death while being trapped in the same place, court death by forcefully activating the mech… or be discovered and die silenced.
Huang Jingshu thought for a while, “Wait a minute, did you hear what those two guys said just now?”
White, “To rebel against the IU or something?”
“Yes, one guy said, ‘Everyone that is noteworthy in the Eighth Galaxy is held here’… What does that mean? Does Sige count as ‘someone noteworthy’?”
“There will be others even if Sige isn’t here. Since they are ‘held’ here, they must not be willing.” Mint said, “Then it’s the same as us. Let’s go find them. Put aside whether we can leave or not, it’s better than us being trapped here for sure.”
Three conscious people, two reached a unanimous conclusion. Whether White agreed or not, the minority had to obey the majority. He simply wisely kept his mouth shut and hefted Gamecock with deep sorrow. This place was filled with terrifying mechs. They dared not wander around, so could only follow the track of the railcar and grope forward, hungry and cold.
On Planet Beijing, Lu Bixing promptly went to find Lin Jingheng as soon as he was freed. Surprisingly he failed and was informed by Penny that Sige had left Planet Beijing!
Lin was a bit of a homebody. He had not left the atmosphere at all for five years, yet he happened to have gone far out of town this day.
This could no longer be explained by the word “unlucky”. Lu Bixing’s eyelid began to twitch wildly.
“Penny sister,” Lu Bixing said, “Could you please lend me a mech?”
Penny said seriously as if an upstanding citizen, “Mr. Lu, what are you talking about? Mechs are illegal weapons.”
Lu Bixing: “…”
Twenty minutes later, members of the Black Hole were shocked to find that Sige who had left Planet Beijing was back again!
Penny rubbed her eyes, worried maybe she couldn’t see straight, but then she saw that this “Sige”’s face darkened and spoke brusquelyly as ever, “Get ready, I need to head out.”
Penny was perplexed, but she sneaked a peek at his countenance and hastily followed without daring to question him, “Where are you headed? Do you need a starship or a mech… Sige, where are you going?”
“A mech.” “Sige” paused, then turned a sharp right as if nothing was happening, pushed open the door and went into the bathroom.
Given that Lin Sige usually had the same cocky swagger, even though Penny was full of doubts, she dared not ask and turned around to make preparations.
Inside the bathroom, Lu Bixing, who took advantage of the mysterious chip to disguise himself as Lin, propped himself up at the sink with both hands and let out a long breath. Then he raised his head, looked into the dark gray eyes in the mirror for a moment, lifted his chin, turned his face full circle from left to right, and smiled at himself.
Lin’s smiles were very rare. Lu Bixing took it upon himself to get his fill. He tried different angles and looked to his heart’s content in one go. In the end, still not satisfied, he extended two fingers and blew a kiss at the mirror.
He was appalled by himself once the air kiss was out.
“What’s wrong with me?” Lu Bixing thought, “He’d kill me if he saw that.”
He hurriedly quit while the going was good, not daring to mess with Lin’s face anymore. He took off as soon as he scored the mech by tech and act - the mech those brats drove off was equipped with the academy’s educational monitoring system, it was not that hard to track.
However …
Lu Bixing looked at the destination on the tracker and frowned. He quietly issued a command, “Check the defense system and weapons reserve of this mech.”
Meanwhile, the guests in the Poison Nest space station were brought to the “VIP area” of the space pirates. There were no outrageous human experiments or ice cold researchers in the VIP area, only robot waitstaff coming and going. There was a small bar serving as public space, surrounded by luxury suites. Nice treatment indeed.
But no one was in the mood for fine wine and steak. The bar was completely deserted. Everyone was in the room paying close attention to the battle situation in the seven main galaxies of the IU.
The pirates had special sources of information, which were much faster than official channels in the Eighth Galaxy.
The hardest-hit region of this large-scale space pirate invasion was in the First Galaxy. They marched straight in through the Silver Fortress. Supposedly all IU dignitaries had evacuated from Wolto.
Lin Jingheng paced around the room with his thumb held across the palm and the other four fingers tapping rhythmically on it over and over. While there was no anxiety showing on his face, he had paced around dozens of times as if pulling a millstone.
Eventually, Zhanlu, who appeared to be meditating at the side, opened his eyes, “Sir, I have obtained detailed information about the capital planet.”
Lin Jingheng lifted his head sharply.
“The Secretary General was assassinated on his way home with his wife after the ball.”
Lin Jingheng’s breathing paused involuntarily.
Fortunately, Zhanlu added next, “Mrs. Gordon was saved by the bodyguards and uninjured. Three hours later, the First Galaxy announced a state of emergency, important persons on the capital planet began to evacuate to the ‘Angel City’ fortress. She was among the first group to be sent away.”
Lin Jingheng grew silent for a while upon hearing this. Then he leaned on the TV cabinet next to him, one leg on the floor and the other resting lightly on it, toes tapping the floor casually, “How strange. The Gordons would treat her so nicely? Why, the Eden Management Committee is transforming into the Widows’ Rights Protection Association?”
The capital planet Wolto was the political arena for representatives of the seven galaxies, and presiding over the administrative systems of the seven galaxies were the Legislative Council and the Eden Management Committee. The two sides kept each other in check, sometimes one side prevailing, sometimes the other. These years, as the Eden system continued to grow, the Management Committee had vaguely surpassed the Legislative Council, becoming the ultimate authority of human civilization.
The Secretary General was wonderful to behold and rubbish in the hold. The only reason why he could assume an important position in the parliament was because his grandfather was one of the seven permanent directors of the Management Committee.
“The information I have received so far is thus:” Zhanlu said, “after the assassination, Ms. Lin was asked to turn on Eden and grant the medical system authorization - she had blocked Eden since you left, this was the first time she turned it on. They ended up finding that she was not injured, but she was pregnant. Director Gordon took her away personally.”
Lin Jingheng’s toes that were tapping the floor froze. For an instant, his face tensed up, looking confused, or maybe angry. However, all emotions were hidden before anything was revealed. He lowered his eyes, said “Oh” seemingly indifferently, and stopped talking.
Then, someone knocked on his door.
Monoeyed Hawk stormed in before Zhanlu could fully open the door.
Zhanlu greeted him politely, “Good evening, Mr. Lu.”
“Evening my ass!” Mr. Lu with apple and orange eyes retorted rudely. Then, he seemed to have noticed something in Zhanlu’s unusually pale face, “Wait a minute, you… you are not Zhanlu, are you?”
“Yes, Mr. Lu.” The AI speedily analyzed his expression and remarked in earnest, “Your micro-expressions show that you are very dissatisfied with me, you think that I have ‘recognized the villain as the father’. You may have misunderstood. There is no setting in my current identity to identify anyone as the father.”
Monoeyed Hawk: “…”
Monoeyed was not wearing a coat, revealing a stature befitting an arms dealer - there were extendable protective armor on the shoulders, a gun each on the left and right sides of the waist, a laser knife shoved in the boot, and two particle whip launchers cuffing the wrists. So thoroughly armed, he almost qualified for suicide bombing. He backhanded the door shut behind, without bothering to respond to Zhanlu, “Lin, how come you’re not dead yet?!”
Lin Jingheng, “By your grace, my friend.”
“Cut the bullshit,” Monoeyed Hawk glared at him and lowered his voice, “What are you doing in the Eighth Galaxy?”
“Taking shelter.” Lin Jingheng spread his hands, “There are too many people who want me dead.”
“Ha,” Monoeyed Hawk showed his sharp teeth, “life’s got you too?”
Lin Jingheng would not stoop to his level, “Have a seat. Why? Do I make you so nervous?”
Lin Jingheng was actually still alive. It was an ancient rule that pests hung around forever, so, fine, Monoeyed Hawk could just be surprised for a moment and be on the lookout for himself. But then he heard someone call him “Sige”. That was when he realized that Lin Jingheng was the mysterious “Lin Sige” on Planet Beijing-β.
Five years ago, because he heard that Lin Jingheng had finally died, Monoeyed Hawk turned a blind eye and let Lu Bixing out to play on his own. However, having only this one son, he still rigged things a bit. Not so much that he monitored what Lu Bixing was up to everyday, but he was always aware of his coordinates and the state of his health.
Monoeyed Hawk had always known that his precious boy was on Planet Beijing-β!
“I told you fifteen years ago,” Monoeyed Hawk hissed, “She’s dead, dead! She’s already gone when I fucking pulled her out of the hatch, together with that kid! I even gave you the chip back then, what are you still haunting me for?”
Lin Jingheng glanced at him, “I have no ill intentions.”
Monoeyed Hawk squeezed out a sentence through quenched teeth, “You’d better not!”
“Lu Xin was my teacher,” Lin Jingheng said calmly, “I want to find the child, to take care of him.”
Monoeyed Hawk cackled, “You take care of him? Then I have to say, it’s a good thing he died before he was born.”
Lin Jingheng didn’t say anything, turned around, and poured him a glass of wine. The crystalline wine and the crystalline glass slid gently along the table to Monoeyed Hawk, with his professional bartender-like moves, not a single drop of the wine was spilled.
“You are not all wrong,” Lin Jingheng said. “The capital planet is indeed not that safe. It is all blown up now.”
Right as he finished speaking, on the screen in the corner flashed a line with huge letters, just in case that someone might miss it, “Friendly forces have breached the IU Parliament Hall!”
A short video followed. Thick smoke billowed from the forest park in Wolto. The parliament building that saw singing and dancing just a day ago had half of it charred. The Forest of Steles was left in total ruins. The lights of civilization made of stone died a pauper, scrunched by the rumbling mechmobiles and ground into powder. A few scruffy space pirates got off a mechmobile, laughing and pissing on the remains of the Forest of Steles.
“…Fuck.” Monoeyed Hawk lamented concisely. Even though he loathed Lin Jingheng and detested the IU, he didn’t want this bunch of lunatics who didn’t distinguish between humans and animals to rule the eight galaxies either. “Is your Silver Fortress made of paper? “
“Someone at the top level of the capital planet defected.” Lin Jingheng took a look out the window, “The seven major galaxies have no military autonomy. The First Galaxy was caught off guard and attacked; other places had no time to react. The space pirates have been dormant for a hundred years. To hit it in one strike, there must have been a long deliberation - Zhanlu, scan the space station for me.”
Monoeyed Hawk, “What are you up to?”
“Scope it out first.” Lin Jingheng said in a low voice, “They should have more than just the ‘Project To Hell’ card in their hands.”