Haiyingsen (4)

Chapter Summary: Theodosius infiltrates the Imperial capital on a mission. Because he's too handsome, he's repeatedly harassed by his seniors. Theodosius thinks he doesn't quite recognize them…

"Yang, why is the sky blue?"

Why do flowers smell so good?

"Yang, look, why are some people so happy while others are crying? Does crying mean sadness and laughing mean happiness? Yang, why are you crying?"

"Yang, why haven't you come back yet today?"

"Yang, I'm so cold. I'm so hungry. Where are you?"

"Yang, I miss you so much..."

When Theodosius awoke, it was late at night, the air still thick with the scent of rain and the cold smell of rusty railings. A bright flash of lightning pierced the dark sky, followed by a clap of thunder, and then a light drizzle. The little boy, his shoes soaked through, stood with half his legs exposed in the rain; he clutched the long ear tip of a plush rabbit in his hand, its soft body embracing his bare ankle. His pale eyes gazed into the endless rain. He shivered. The bedside lamp was switched on, its warm yellow light dispelling the chill. This was his dormitory, the place he shared with Ye Wanzhou; there was no boy, no rain, no endless waiting, and no woman who would never return. Outside, the rain had stopped; the night sky over Haiyingsen was clear and high, as always.

Ye Wanzhou was in the library, preparing to rewrite his thesis. Theodosius packed his bag, weighed it in his hand—it was very light. That's fine. Before leaving, he glanced at the weather forecast: there would be artificial rain in downtown Haiyingsen tomorrow morning.

"Good morning, passengers. This train is about to depart for the capital of the Galactic Empire, the City Without Walls, the Queen of Cities, Zeus. The train is about to pass through the border checkpoint between the Old Alliance and the Empire, the Iliad Gate. Please fasten your seatbelts and take care of the elderly and children. Spatial bounce preparation. Countdown begins..."

The universe we inhabit is not flat; just as Earth has mountains, rivers, and canyons, so too does the universe. One possible way to cross a mountain is by traversing a lower valley. The Iliad Stargate lies between two spacetime highlands. One end of the stargate extends deep into the heart of the Earth-Republic Alliance, encompassing the core region centered on Earth and the solar system, as well as the earliest colonies developed by humans and closely connected to their home planet, Earth. The other end of the stargate is the "Wilderness," a place sparsely populated with stars and scarce resources, yet home to the greatest power in the universe, the sole leader of human civilization, and the birthplace of the Galactic Empire.

Zeus was a city perpetually shrouded in rain. Sunny days were rare. The people of the Empire had long suffered from the intense radiation of an unstable star, so much so that they feared any luminous orb in the sky resembling the sun, calling it the "Radiant Titan." In their legend, the Titans were man-eating giants. This fear was ingrained in their genes. Generations later, after Emperor Glatian led them to establish a unified government, freeing them from the rule of their overlord, the Earth Alliance, the first environmental modification the Empire undertook was to increase atmospheric humidity, create rain clouds, lightning, and precipitation, and fill a vast, deep ocean. On the horizon, thick clouds merged with the deep sea, and Zeus floated on the inky blue ocean. The dark, cold expanse of the ocean brought a sense of peace to the people of the Empire; they seemed protected by the boundless, vast black water, shielding them from the sun, heat, and high temperatures. It was said that only Emperor Glatian himself preferred sunny places, so the palace was built atop a mountain in the center of Zeus, where the clouds were thinnest and the sunlight most intense.

The car door opened. A wave of damp steam hit him. The streets reeked of engine oil and steel bars; the cast-iron plates, intricately patterned, some hollowed out and fitted with tiny, multicolored light bulbs to ward off the fog and darkness. The sounds of engines, blowers, welding, and hammering filled the air. People spoke softly, the roar of engines shaking the heavens. A policeman approached; fair-skinned and tall, a typical Imperial man. He asked Theodosius if he needed help.

"Thank you. No need. I'm just taking a walk."

The policeman accompanied him for a while. “Would you like to visit the palace? No, it's not open to the public… You ask why it's built so high up? No, the point isn't the height. My friend from afar, His Majesty prefers sunny places. It's said that such places have a climate similar to Earth's, with light, rain, flowers, and seasons. Zeus is a city with a constant temperature, only a rainy season. No, I've never been to Earth. The oxygen content there is too low, and it's dry, hot, and the sky is too bright. Our skin would crack from the sun. No, no, His Majesty is certainly not afraid of the luminous Titans, not afraid of the heat, not afraid of the sun, not afraid of the dryness. Need I say more? His Majesty the Emperor is perfect!”

Officials of the Old Alliance held a banquet in a hall in Zeus City. The venue was borrowed from an imperial nobleman, and the host of the banquet was Estravian, the former chairman of the Alliance and the current governor of the Imperial Republic Province.

The security guard at the entrance stopped someone, saying, "Sorry, this is a private party and it's not open to the public."

Theodosius, hat pulled low, carrying his toolbox, was an unassuming electrician. He politely saw off the enthusiastic policeman at three intersections, then changed into an electrician's uniform. The policeman waved to him as he left, saying, "Traveler in a foreign land, enjoy your vacation!"

The security guard leading the way started chatting with the young man in Imperial English, with a distinct accent. "Young man, you're from the eastern district of Zeus City, aren't you?"

"Yes. I live on Athena Street, near the well."

"What a coincidence! My friend also lives near Athena. Do you know Thales?"

"I know him. But we're not very close. Is he the one with the high forehead?"

"Yes, yes. Those high foreheads are a common sight among Imperials! He and I are childhood friends!" "What's your name?"

"Nemesis".

The security guard, flashlight in hand, led the electrician to the damaged electrical box, the beam of light shining on the meter. The electrician's repairs were slow, and the guard had already yawned several times. At 6:15 PM, the train on Zeus City's main thoroughfare passed overhead precisely on time, the rails rumbling. The guard looked up to see where the noise came from. Above, the wooden beams of the tunnel vibrated, dust pattering down. The boy tossed something glowing red into the deep alleyway; a soft splashing sound came from above, masking the creaking of the underground pipes.

“Oh dear,” the security guard complained, “every time a train rolls over the tracks, the water pipes underneath crack a little.” He muttered to himself that he’d have to call a plumber again. It was common knowledge that Emperor Gratian preferred human labor and disliked the presence of robots near the palace. Fortunately, he himself lived a very simple life; otherwise, the daily management of the palace would have been a huge and impractical expense.

"It's fixed."

"Okay. Thank you for your trouble. Come with me to the security office to register." The security guard turned around, and the electrician swung his wrench at him, knocking him unconscious.

Theodosius pulled out a tissue smeared with strong anesthetic and covered the security guard's mouth and nose. He tied the guard's hands to a pillar with a rope, then stripped him of his coat, hat, baton, and identification. He brought the knife close to the unconscious guard's iris; with the guard's iris, he could more safely pass through the banquet hall's identification system and enter. After a moment's hesitation, he withdrew the knife. The guard had saved one of his eyes.

Retracing his steps, he returned to the security room. The other guards at the entrance were still questioning those waiting to enter. He turned on the computer in the monitoring room; information from every corner of the banquet hall was being entered into his terminal. It was said the Emperor would be attending today. The chances were slim, but it was still worth a try. Theodosius recalled his ordeal of being searched by the white cylinder a few days ago; his time was running out. Otherwise… he would have no choice but to infiltrate the palace.

There he might be able to see the emperor. Or perhaps, more likely, he would never be able to return.

He thought of Ye Wanzhou. A sharp pain shot through his chest. He loosened his tight collar, stood up, and left the computer.

"Hello. Aren't you on duty?"

“No,” Theodosius said. “I just took an electrician to check the circuits.”

"Oh." The security guard pulled out a chair, made himself a cup of coffee, and glanced at the monitor. "Has he left?"

"I'm leaving." Theodosius adjusted his hat, his bangs covering the upper part of his eyes. "I have to go to the banquet hall for my shift. See you later."

"See you later."

"Wait, did you just check the surveillance footage? Let's do an iris scan. The machine is alarming."

Her steps faltered slightly. "I'm busy right now. I'll finish recording later."

"Okay." The security guard didn't even look up. He immediately turned off the alarm.

The hall was crowded, and his eyes searched for the woman in the red dress; her skirt trailed all the way down to the gleaming white ceramic tiles. She raised a glass of red wine to the boy from afar, indicating that she had noticed him. "Who are you toasting?" a man beside her asked.

"Nobody." The woman smiled, a hint of age creeping across her otherwise flawlessly made-up face. "Perhaps, she's paying respects to someone who has passed away. Oh no, both of them."

The man gave her a deep look. “But he or she, neither of them is fit to be mourned in the imperial court.”

The woman's observational skills were as frightening as ever; and she was also quite flamboyant. The moment she raised her glass, he thought he was about to be discovered. Fortunately, the stranger's attention seemed to be solely focused on the beautiful woman in the red dress.

"Is that so? Then why are you here?" Jun asked. She downed her drink in one gulp, placed it lightly on the tray, and then picked up a full glass. "If you're so content with the status quo."

"Satisfied? No, no, I'm never satisfied. Although I'm not a remnant of the previous dynasty like you and your friends, I'm still a man who's never satisfied." The man sighed, gazing at the men and women dressed in tailcoats, black suits, and elegant long skirts—the attire of educated people from the old Alliance era, but not of the Empire. "The Emperor has decreed that banquets, public gatherings, and private gatherings must all be attended in Imperial-style Toga, Stora, Hetton suits, or similar silk robes. The old customs of the Alliance are now the Empire's 'folk customs.' I'm trying to find the constant essence in this world, so I stand here to share with you ambition, arrogance, pride, and that empty nostalgia for past glories."

Theodosius needed to find an opportunity to make contact with the woman in the red dress. The man walked away. He relaxed slightly, and a moment later, a pair of hands suddenly grabbed his arms from behind. He instinctively pulled away, and a hoarse, slightly metallic male voice said, "Don't move. You'll get caught."

The man looked at him. His light blue eyes held a hint of a smile, but not his words; his face was stern. "Come with me."

Theodosius didn't move. The man said, "Yahara Jun sent you, right? But this outfit is awful." He looked the boy up and down with disdain in his gray-blue security uniform. "It's ugly. This outfit doesn't suit you at all. Come with me, change into something else, right now."

The long VIP corridor was adorned with gilded Baroque reliefs on the walls, and the carpet was deep red, like flowing blood. Lamplights dotted the path leading to the room at the end of the corridor. Theodosius spoke first, "Who are you? I don't know you at all."

"And you, who are you? What's your name?" The man's voice was distracted. "I am Estravan. You should have heard of me; I am the former Speaker of the Earth Republic Alliance Council."

Theodosius carefully examined the man's face. "You don't look quite the same as you do in the TV interviews."

“Isn’t it the same?” The man pushed open the door, and Theodosius went in. He had to go in because his back was pressed against a hard piece of metal. He smelled engine oil; it was the real deal. The man unhooked the safety, placed it on the coffee table, walked to the coat rack, and, with his back to Theodosius, tore off a toga. Theodosius lunged at the gun, but the man grabbed the toga robe with one hand and pressed a switch on the sofa remote with the other. The boy tripped over the floor tiles with a “thud”; a row of tiles suddenly stood upright, revealing the gray cement underneath.

Theodosius was horrified.

The man waved the remote control in his hand. "I have a lot of... mechanisms here." "I'm not very athletic, and I don't like having bodyguards following me around. This is all I can do usually. Please forgive me."

Theodosius brushed the dust off his knees and got up. The man had changed into an imperial suit—Toga. It was the outfit he wore for the interview. "Doesn't this look more like it?"

The man was indeed Estravan, the former Speaker of the Republican Alliance and now a loyal lackey of the Galactic Empire and its Emperor.

He tossed Theodosius a set of clothes. "Change into these. Now you're my nephew. A promising military elite. We're going to attend a banquet hosted by Ms. Ye Yuanchun, the head of the Galactic Empire's Haiyingsen Education Branch."

The uniform was black and red, the military boots were brown, and the belt was gold. A metal buckle on the epaulettes flashed sharply in the air.

"Is this the uniform of the Galactic Empire?"

“Yes. Do you want to wear the Alliance uniform? That dark green and silver one? No, I don’t have it here, you’ll have to borrow it from Ye Yuanchun.” “But she might not be willing to give it to you. That’s her most prized possession. She has a set of men’s military dress uniforms with the rank of colonel, that’s Caesar…”

"What?"

"nothing."

“Mr. Estravan, our situation is delicate right now, and I think you’d better tell me.” A launcher sprang from his sleeve below his wrist, and Theodosius removed the metal buckle under his epaulettes—the sharpest thing he could find. “Thank you for your uniform. It’s a bit conspicuous, and I don’t like it. Please answer my question. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee that you won’t suffer a fatal injury above your neck.”

"It might disfigure you. Maybe you'll look really ugly," he added.

The man was being pointed at by a metal needle. He raised his hand. "Sometimes, some things, whether you know them or not doesn't matter."

"What is your relationship with Jun Yeyuan?"

"Does sexual relations count?" Estravan thought for a moment. "To be precise, no relation."

A slight look of confusion crossed Theodosius's eyes. "But you know her plan."

"What is her plan?" Estravan asked innocently.

"You...you really aren't pretending?"

"If you can't even see this, and you still ask the other person, 'Are you lying?' then I think even if you keep asking me until the end of the world, you will not be able to get any valid and reliable true information from me."

"Put away your little weapon; your actions are pointless."

The man said, "I'll go to the banquet hall with you. Ye Yuanjun only wants to use you. As for me..."

Theodosius entered the banquet hall alongside the man. His demeanor was ashen, as was the man's. Thus, their entrance went largely unnoticed. The first thing people noticed was Estravan's snow-white toga robe trimmed with purple. "Speaker!" an official from the old alliance greeted him; some frowned, the snow-white with purple hues offending their eyes. That was the color of the Empire.

"Ah, who is this handsome young man...?"

"Hello. I'm Edward's youngest son, Henry. Nice to meet you. This young man is my..."

"Nemesis! You've actually hooked up with Speaker Estravan! You!"

The woman walked over like a burning red flame, and people around her made way for her. Ye Yuanjun took Theodosius's arm. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is my new lover! You are not allowed to touch him, not allowed to talk to him, not allowed to come near him. Do you hear me? If you still want to maintain your friendship with me..."

The crowd burst into laughter. "You have good taste. For your age, such a young man must have taken a lot of thought."

Estravan frowned. Junichiro Hahara met his gaze with icy eyes. They smiled at each other.

"Your Excellency Speaker, you disappeared while we were talking."

“Ms. Ye, I went to the restroom to take care of my basic needs. He did too. Right, Nemesis?”

Theodosius didn't know what to say.

The crowd laughed even louder. "Ms. Ye, it's unnecessary for you to keep such a strict watch on this boy."

As the three of them reached the corner, Ye Yuanjun said, "Estravan, this has nothing to do with you."

"I'm here to help."

"You're a traitor. You always have been."

"You shouldn't be superstitious about past experiences. It's just a memory, an emotion, an imagination. It doesn't make any sense."

The woman relaxed a little.

"Forget it. If you want to pull any tricks, it's not too late to kill you later." She sank into the sofa by the aisle, raised her head, and made sure no one was around. There was no wind, and the wind chimes hung silently in the dim light of the day.

"Besides, you weren't even part of our operation in the first place."

The woman spoke in a way that sounded both like she was comforting herself and like she was provoking him.

“No?” Estravan smiled. (Declarative sentence.)

“Of course,” Ye Yuanjun said, emphasizing each syllable.

“Emperor Gratian did not come,” Theodosius said. “Could your intelligence be accurate at least once?”

"Do you think you can get the Emperor's information whenever you want? Ninety-nine out of a hundred travel dispatches are just smokescreens from Caligula; the only one left can still be changed or invalidated half an hour before departure," the woman said. "You'd better dismantle this bomb quickly. You buried it? Oh, you must have buried it on your way here."

"I'll handle it."

"Yes. As soon as possible. Zeus City generally uses manual testing, not as frequently as other places. But as soon as possible, Caligula's intelligence team is no different from the most advanced artificial intelligence in the world when it comes to detecting this kind of thing." Of course, there's no difference. They were originally a group of genetically modified humans. Although they were just experimental subjects; they were far removed from Gratian himself.

"Why aren't you leaving yet?" Ye Yuanchun lit a cigarette and took a deep drag.

Theodosius stood there, unmoved. "I need money."

"How many?"

Two hundred thousand.

"So much?" The woman rummaged through her wallet, looking for a credit card that could process immediate transfers. She suddenly stopped, then smiled. "Oh, let me guess, your boyfriend's in trouble again?"

"It has nothing to do with you."

Ye Yuanchun held the card between her fingers. "I'll give you a fair price. Take off your clothes, sleep with me here once, and I'll give you the money. Oh, plus two hundred thousand, double the amount." She looked up, giggling as she leaned back on the sofa, her two long, slender, white legs crossed together.

Theodosius's lips twitched violently. He reached out, placed his hand near the woman's bright red cheek, and snatched the card from her hand with a "snap." Right in front of her, he transferred exactly two hundred thousand yuan into his own account.

Ye Yuanjun laughed loudly, "Little handsome boy, your serious, fake look really resembles your father!"

“Why don’t you use iris scanning to enter your information? What’s wrong with your eyes?” She noticed keenly that Theodosius was avoiding the scanning beam and only using fingerprint collection.

"Are you in trouble?"

“Not entirely. The fake iris lens you gave me last time should still work. But light, sunlight, can affect iris scanning; it can penetrate the lens and find my original iris information. A few days ago, I was in a car… Anyway, I’m worried that the Emperor has already noticed me.”

"So? Are you going to back down, Your Highness?"

Theodosius smiled slightly. "What do you think? I want his life, madam."

The boy checked the money in the account and turned to leave. Estravian suddenly said, "Nemesis. Is that your code name?"

"Yes."

The man chuckled and shook his head, saying, "The name 'Goddess of Revenge' is too conspicuous."

“I named him. Do you have any objections?” The woman slammed the cup down onto the gleaming tabletop.

“Change it. Call yourself ‘Theodosius.’ Change the first letter of your name from D to T. It'll be similar to your old name, not exactly the same, and won't be too conspicuous. If anyone notices it's different from your real name, you can say it's a misspelling, a typo, or a slip of the tongue.” The man stepped forward and straightened the boy's collar, which wasn't loose. Theodosius felt his collar being pulled loose, a little disheveled. He instinctively felt he shouldn't be dressed like that and tried to straighten it, but the man held his hand down. “You should think more about your own safety, not just the mission.”

"Besides, you're too nervous. That won't help you complete the mission."

Theodosius brushed the man's hand away. "A name is just a person's identifier in the world. Does it matter what you're called? Does it mean I'm not myself if I don't have this name? Does it mean I'm someone else if I call someone else by their name? Names don't matter, and who I am doesn't matter either. Speaker Estravan, we are all dust, dust of the universe."

——tbc——