[Lan Xia:
True value: 65%
Remaining survival time: Four years and ninety-five days]
This injury was truly worthwhile. The true value slowly climbed to sixty-five percent before stalling. Once reaching sixty percent, the upward growth rate would become increasingly slow.
“If you don’t reach one hundred percent when you die, this world will reset,” the small light orb said. “Only four years left. Can you do it?”
Gong Du: “Just monitor the world line changes in real-time. Don’t worry about these things. Small worlds are unstable. Accidents could happen anytime affecting my plan and established script. If something goes wrong, forget about cracking seeds in my consciousness sea.”
Small light orb: “…You’re so cruel.”
Gong Du: “You’re too kind.”
The small light orb tossed a pile of seed shells into his consciousness sea.
…
Deep night.
An extremely low-key small spacecraft quickly left the First Army base, flying toward the Northwest Sector’s edge.
“Ahead is Rat Ridge City, a relatively remote city. Admiral, shall we stop there?” Kane said.
Elansno opened his eyes: “Let’s stop there.”
“Alright.”
The spacecraft silently decelerated, hovering in an unpopulated area.
The hatch opened.
Elansno grabbed the still-unconscious Kang Quan and jumped down, landing soundlessly. He found a relatively clean spot, bent down, and laid Kang Quan on the ground.
This adjutant, usually so stern, had completely changed appearance. Brow furrowed, unconscious, wearing the plainest clothes, loose and baggy. Yet his wrists and ankles were empty.
Elansno watched for a while before standing up.
Kane had somehow walked up behind him, sighing: “Admiral, I truly don’t know whether you want to save him or kill him.”
He reported the adjutant’s death yet didn’t truly kill him. That suggested wanting to save.
Changing the iris, changing the face, releasing the adjutant. That also seemed like wanting to save.
But he deliberately severed his hands and feet, wouldn’t let him install mechanical limbs, then threw the adjutant who’d lost nearly half his life here like this.
If no one treated him, within two days, death was inevitable.
From this perspective, it looked like wanting to kill.
Elansno: “What do you want to say?”
Kane shook his head: “Nothing.”
“There aren’t that many reasons,” Elansno said. “Wanted to do it this way, so I did.”
Kane was speechless: “Then shall we go back?”
“No rush,” Elansno walked slowly forward. “Let’s stay here a while longer. The night breeze here is comfortable.”
He didn’t spare another glance at the half-dead Kang Quan on the ground, as if looking at a stranger.
The Admiral said he wanted to walk, so Kane naturally accompanied him from behind. The spacecraft was switched to follow mode, trailing them distantly in the sky.
All along the way, Kane was on edge, cold sweat frequently appearing.
Although Rat Ridge City was on the outskirts of the Northwest Sector, it still belonged to the Northwest Sector after all. The Admiral appearing here so openly, without any concealment whatsoever—if someone recognized him and the Admiral got injured here, there would definitely be a fierce battle between the First Army and the Northwest Sector.
Fortunately, this place was truly remote.
They didn’t encounter any people along the way.
Elansno suddenly spoke: “Yesterday, when I was reciting Kang Quan’s native place, the memories in my mind were very clear. But I suddenly realized, no matter how hard I try, I can’t remember where I came from.”
Every person has a starting point, but he didn’t.
Like a fragmented musical score, abruptly beginning to play from the middle. Tracing back to the source, unable to find that first string of notes.
Elansno had no relatives, as if he’d popped out from a crack in a rock. At fourteen, he parachuted in as Admiral. Indeed, no one knew where he came from.
Kane felt tonight’s Admiral was somewhat different from usual. He considered his words carefully: “Human memories of childhood are easily forgotten. That’s also normal.”
“Is that so.”
Ahead lay a large expanse of land forcibly flattened.
The ground surface had sunken over a foot.
The surrounding walls looked ravaged by a hurricane, scattered in disarray.
Kane clicked his tongue: “This place… was it bombed?” Of all the places they’d walked past, this was the most conspicuous.
Elansno’s figure flashed, moving forward over ten meters, landing on the only intact patch of ground in the depression.
Blood stains soaked the surface, already dried.
He crouched down, removed his glove, fingertips lightly brushing over it. The rough granular surface made his fingertips slightly itch, and in a trance, produced a somewhat sticky sensation.
For some reason, he frowned for quite a while.
Kane: “Admiral?”
As the First Army Admiral’s exclusive physician, Kane naturally had dabbled in various medical fields, including psychology.
This was the first time he’d seen the Admiral like this.
Jawline tightened, lips slightly pressed—the state of normal contemplation. But those violet eyes were empty, so empty they contained nothing.
“It’s nothing. Just that this place gives me an uncomfortable feeling.”
Elansno rubbed his fingertips together, putting his glove back on.
He remembered several months ago, in Silicon Blue City, he’d been shot half an inch above the heart. Though he’d already forgotten what specifically happened, the wound had healed.
But recently it started hurting again.
“Let’s go. Head back.”
Kane finally breathed a sigh of relief. The spacecraft slowly descended. The two of them went straight aboard and left Rat Ridge City.
Gong Du stood before the observation window, looking at the deep night outside, eyes narrowing slightly.
Algiers, Jin Daike, Shou Bing, Lian Yao, and Kang Quan whom he’d just sent over.
Four protagonists and one important supporting character, all gathered… Now wasn’t yet the time for large-scale harvesting of fortune values.
The seeds he’d planted when captured and taken to the Imperial Capital should also be sprouting soon.
——
Imperial Capital.
“Huh? Where’s Captain Lan?”
“Oh, he wasn’t feeling well. Took a day off. The Vice Captain’s covering his shift.”
The two guard team leaders chatted briefly before completing the handover. The other team then departed.
The guards’ living quarters were in the palace.
Vice Captains and Captains had specialized residences.
At this moment, the bedroom belonging to Lan Zhouhe was tightly closed. From inside faintly emanated a medicinal smell. A “Do Not Disturb” sign hung on the door.
But inside, there wasn’t a single person.
…
Three miles away from the Research Institute, on wasteland.
Lan Zhouhe wore tight-fitting clothes, a half-meter-tall black box beside him.
His fingers flew, a chip attached to his temple, staring intently at complex data streams flashing on precision equipment.
The Research Institute database’s defense system strength exceeded his expectations. After spending so much time, he’d barely managed to decipher a little.
While waiting to invade, the backup light brain abruptly flashed.
[Silver Crow: Communication request]
Lan Zhouhe glanced at it, choosing to connect.
“What is it?”
Because it was a backup light brain, he hadn’t performed facial recognition, so the communication had no projection.
From the other side came an elegant, smiling voice: “I’m about to get what I’ve wished for.”
Lan Zhouhe’s hand movements stopped. He frowned: “What do you mean?”
Silver Crow said: “Exactly what it sounds like.”
“Don’t go crazy and act rashly. Our cooperative relationship isn’t that solid,” Lan Zhouhe’s tone grew heavy. “The Imperial Capital isn’t the Northwest Sector.”
Silver Crow: “I’m about to leave the Imperial Capital.”
Lan Zhouhe fell silent for a moment: “Where to?”
Silver Crow: “You’ll know in a couple days.”
“Suit yourself,” Lan Zhouhe said. “Just don’t interfere with business.”
“Just giving you a heads up, for convenience of future cooperation,” Silver Crow said. “Of course, I won’t allow anyone to hurt him either.”
Lan Zhouhe expressionlessly disconnected the communication, cursing something under his breath.
Soon he couldn’t spare time to worry about it. In the second before successfully invading the Research Institute database, the half-meter-tall black box beside him suddenly buzzed, the machine body rapidly heating at extreme speed.
Counter-invasion virus!
On the screen he was operating, like a crack, a tightly closed eye slowly appeared, gradually opening.
“Shit!”
Lan Zhouhe’s pupils constricted. Not bothering with anything else, he randomly captured a data stream, transmitted it to his backup light brain, then immediately activated the invasion device’s self-destruct program.
Simultaneously, he rolled on the spot. Before the eye on the screen fully opened, he dodged behind cover on one side, covering his ears.
Boom!
The self-destruct program activated. The invasion device was blown to smithereens.
That eye never fully opened.
Lan Zhouhe breathed a sigh of relief, quickly cleaned up all traces here, and left without hesitation.
Not long after he left, several spacecraft descended on the spot. People in research coats emerged, along with soldiers in military uniforms.
The leader checked the area once, then opened his light brain: “Director Pei, all we found at the pinpointed location are explosion traces. The invader already left.”
Director Pei: “Alright, if you can’t find them, come back.”
The group came and went in a rush, boarding the spacecraft with a whoosh, quickly departing.
Everyone displayed an air of being accustomed to this. After all, the Research Institute held so many scientific achievements. Plenty of people wanted to invade the database. Today’s situation wasn’t particularly rare.
…
Lan Zhouhe changed into loose homewear, casually grabbed a bottle of solution and sprayed it on himself, ensuring no gunpowder smell remained.
Then he entered the bathroom, making his face paler, splashed some water on it, creating an appearance of illness and exhaustion.
He’d requested sick leave. Lan Zhouhe was always cautious. After checking that nothing was overlooked, he relaxed, finally having time to restore that data stream he’d stolen.
Restoring the data stream wasn’t difficult.
Soon, the backup light brain had the data stream analyzed.
It was a blurry photo and a three-second audio clip.
Lan Zhouhe opened the photo.
The background was pure white. Mirrors seemed to surround it. Printed on it was a silhouette showing half a little boy’s body from the side. Black hair sprawled on the ground. Facial features were young and blurred, except for the eyes where a mysterious purple had bled out.
He hugged his knees, head tilted looking over, empty like a puppet doll.
Lan Zhouhe’s pupils trembled.
…Purple eyes!
His heart almost uncontrollably accelerated. Though purple eyes were rare in the world, there wasn’t just one. But instinctively, he thought of that person.
Was it Elansno?
But why was this child’s hair black in the photo?
The Research Institute database contained so many data streams. Lan Zhouhe had attacked the most heavily defended area. Originally, he hadn’t held hope of finding any clues, yet he’d been just this lucky.
Lan Zhouhe exhausted all means trying to make this photo clearer, but still couldn’t restore it.
His mind gradually calmed.
This photo might not necessarily be Elansno. After all, no one had seen what the face under that mask looked like. Even if he could see it, he couldn’t compare and restore it with this extremely blurry photo.
However, he could now be certain that the scene he’d witnessed in the palace that day was no coincidence.
Moreover, if this were merely just a photo, why would the Research Institute seal these things so tightly? When things deviated from normal, there must be something suspicious. The Research Institute definitely hid some secret related to Elansno.
Saving the photo, he put on headphones, then opened that audio clip.
A tender, hoarse, piercing shriek passed through his ear canal, stabbed into his eardrum, pierced into his body, making one personally feel the pain. That voice was collapsed to the extreme, shouting:
“Kill me!”
Mixed with crackling electric current, it abruptly cut off, making one’s entire body go cold.
**
wannaberecluse On SRTT Chapter 50.1
Ohhh, so Lian Yao was the fourth protagonist? Anyway, hmm…