Chapter 14 Another small dark room...

To say that it belongs only to them may be an overgeneralization.

In the dream, Lin Zhi returned to his teenage years long, long ago, when he was fourteen years old.

Fourteen-year-old Lin Zhi accidentally discovered a path. After pushing aside the weeds, he found a small, dilapidated house that was neither too big nor too small.

It was an abandoned warehouse in the military academy, but the interior of the academy was like a small city, intricate and huge, and also included many training grounds, so there were countless warehouses. Now no one cared about this abandoned one.

The military academy was built against a mountain, and this warehouse was located in a corner. After being abandoned, it almost blended into the forest, and the walls were covered with weeds and vines.

Sunlight shone in from one of the collapsed walls, and many flowers and plants bloomed on the cracked ground, blooming in the sunlight.

Lin Zhi then moved a sofa and studied here after class.

He loved the warmth of the sunlight filtering through the weeds and ruins of buildings, and the scent of the surrounding grass and flowers. Of course, the best part was the peace and quiet, with nothing but the rustling of leaves and the subtle flutter of insects.

Later, Lin Zhi followed his family to visit another planet and stayed there for three months. After returning, he came to this secret base again, but found that this base was no longer so secret.

There was a new mecha in the warehouse. The tall machine stood there, with parts, equipment and tools scattered on the ground, and stains of residual oil everywhere.

The surroundings were no longer peaceful, the fragrance of flowers was replaced by the smell of engine oil. Lin Zhi's dissatisfaction reached its peak when he saw the man hanging on the hoverboard repairing the mecha.

——Lu Yuan.

A student in his class who is also his competitor.

The place where Lin Zhi and this man met most often was the arena. Lu Yuan was the adopted son of the marshal, and he was the youngest prince of the royal family. The two often represented their respective camps to compete with each other.

It was clearly just a regular competition arena, and students with similar academic performance would be arranged to take turns to exchange and compete with each other. However, due to the identities of the two people, the tension became increasingly intense, and more and more people gathered to watch and pay attention.

Apart from that, the two of them actually had no private discussions. Until now——

Lu Yuan lowered his head and saw Lin Zhi, then smiled in surprise, "Huh? Someone actually found this place, and it's you, His Royal Highness the Prince."

"I discovered this several months ago." Lin Zhi walked to the sofa nearby and patted it, saying, "This is where I moved in."

"Really?" Lu Yuan crossed his arms.

"There's a half-read book under the sofa that I left here earlier. It's called 'Chronicles of the Alliance'."

He bent down confidently, only to find that there was nothing under the sofa.

“……?”

Lu Yuan laughed dryly. He pulled the rope of the hoverboard and landed on the ground. Then he took out a wrinkled book from the toolbox. It was stained with motor oil and only had a few torn pages left.

There were a few words faintly visible on the hardcover, which was exactly the title of the book that Lin Zhi mentioned.

"Um... Sorry, I thought there was no one here, and there's no water here, and I forgot to bring some tissues..."

Lin Zhi: “…”

Lu Yuan: "How about I compensate you with one?"

There was a hint of guilt and embarrassment on his face, but he was relaxed when talking about compensation, as if he thought it was just a book.

Lin Zhi remembered the clean life in the military and that Lu Yuan didn't seem to have much money, so he shook his head and said, "No need. You can't afford the compensation. Just move these things away and return this place to me."

Lu Yuan raised his eyebrows, "Why can't you afford to pay? Besides, this place is a public place, and your name is not written on it."

Lin Zhi folded his arms and looked at him, his tone cold, "Those are the royal family's collection of books, and the price is 58,000 Alliance coins."

Lu Yuan: “?!”

Lu Yuan looked down at the book that had been torn into pieces and scattered in the toolbox, reduced to the size of a tissue, and swallowed.

Lin Zhi also heard him muttering softly, "Even if I were sold, I still couldn't pay it back... No wonder the paper is so good..."

Then Lu Yuan took a deep breath and said, "Since I destroyed it, I will naturally compensate you. Is it okay to pay in installments?"

Lin Zhi reiterated, "I said, as long as..."

"I'm sorry." Lu Yuan didn't intend to give in. "I really need this place."

Lu Yuan patted the big guy beside him and said, "Besides, I'm helping other students and teachers repair and modify mechas. I'll pay you back after I finish repairing them. There's nowhere else I can work except here."

Lin Zhi thought to himself, is Lu Yuan's life so difficult?

but……

"There are tons of military camps and open spaces outside the military academy."

Lu Yuan was helpless, "Brother, the second line of school rules."

Lin Zhi paused. As a member of the royal family, he had the privilege to enter and leave the military academy freely. He almost forgot that ordinary students were not allowed to do so.

Lin Zhi looked at Lu Yuan with a frown.

"How much does it cost to repair your mecha? Wouldn't it be a better deal if you let me have this place?"

Lin Zhi thought to himself that the thing he lacked the most was money. If Lu Yuan needed this place just to make money, not only would he not have to pay Lu Yuan the 50,000 yuan in compensation, he could even give Lu Yuan 50,000 yuan to buy him some peace and quiet.

"This is different." Lu Yuan curled his lips and smiled, showing the youthful vigor and brilliance. "It has nothing to do with money. I am happy doing this."

ah……?

Lin Zhi was slightly stunned. It was the first time he heard someone say that.

happy?

Lu Yuan then acted as if Lin Zhi didn't exist, and jumped onto the hoverboard to tinker with his mecha carefully.

Looking at Lu Yuan's busy back, Lin Zhi felt a little depressed.

He couldn't drive people away, and as Lu Yuan said, this was indeed a public place and did not belong to him.

But he was also unwilling to turn around and leave now, giving up this place that he also liked. Why should he give in and admit defeat?

So Lin Zhi also took a new book, sat back on the sofa and started reading.

What Lin Zhi didn't expect was that they stayed in this space for several months, one person tinkering with the mecha and the other reading a book.

The scenery outside the window transformed from the lush greenery of summer to the red autumn forest, and the petals inside the house turned into maple leaves.

Lin Zhi and Lu Yuan did not speak to each other. After class, they each came to this place to do what they loved.

They still clashed in the ring as before, competing for points, and then stayed away from each other here.

In the secret space, there was no other sound except the clanging of Lu Yuan's equipment and the subtle sound of Lin Zhi turning pages of his book.

Lu Yuan watched as Lin Zhi changed the books in his hands one after another. Lin Zhi also watched as Lu Yuan sent out one mecha after another and replaced them with new ones.

Lin Zhi was not used to Lu Yuan's knocking sounds at first, but after immersing himself completely in the world of books, the various metallic sounds became part of the surrounding wind and leaves.

At this time, their relationship was neither very bad nor very good.

Until one day, perhaps out of curiosity, while waiting for the mecha to start up, Lu Yuan turned around and asked, "What book are you reading?"

"Why do you read books every day? Are books really that interesting?" Lu Yuan grinned and said, "I fall asleep after reading just one page."

Lin Zhi didn't even raise his eyelids. "Alliance Energy."

Lu Yuan: "Oh, what did you say?"

Lin Zhi said calmly, "Section 38: The Alliance governs eleven planets. The Blue Planet, consisting of the Upper and Lower City districts, serves as the headquarters. The annual NE energy consumption is 88,891N. NE energy stations are located at coordinates 113X, 75Y, and 21Z in the East Region..."

Lin Zhi finished reading a passage from the book without any emotion.

Lu Yuan's face was blank, his eyes were somewhat wise, "Ah, ah...oh."

After a moment, he asked curiously, "Is this what you usually read?"

Lin Zhi pointed to the books beside him and said, "Advanced Foreign Languages ​​for the Second Planet, Theory of War, and Alliance Code."

"Oh..." Lu Yuan scratched his head, "Being a prince is pretty hard, huh."

After a moment of silence, Lu Yuan said awkwardly, "If it were any other rich and powerful son, they would probably be able to talk to you about it, but I haven't seen it."

Lin Zhi knew it very well.

Lu Yuan was born in an ordinary family in Shangcheng District. After his parents died of illness, he was chosen by the marshal because of his talent. Being placed in the elite class of the military academy with those people from prominent families, he was naturally not very interesting.

Lu Yuan seemed to have remembered something and asked with even greater curiosity, "I thought Your Highness would be hanging out with the powerful people in the school, enjoying himself everywhere. Why are you here alone after class?"

Lin Zhi paused as he turned the page. He lowered his eyes and remained silent for a moment. Then he turned around and said, "You're doing pretty well, so why are you here?"

"I like it." Lu Yuan knocked on the mecha beside him.

Now Lin Zhi also slowly understood Lu Yuan's preferences - when he was operating the mecha, repairing the engine, drawing and thinking... there was light in his eyes.

"Do you want to help?" Lu Yuan said with a smile, "Come and try operating it? My mecha has functions that are not available outside."

"No."

Lin Zhi lowered his eyes.

Motor oil will stain your clothes.

Moreover, what he needs is not to play with Lu Yuan, nor to enjoy himself with the powerful. What he needs is effective social interaction, to study and improve his knowledge in all aspects, to be able to answer all policies and official business fluently and handle them properly in the cabinet meeting, to win everyone's hearts, to gain their appreciation and recognition, and to become the crown prince.

After all, they are not on the same path.

…

…

Lin Zhi opened his eyes.

There is no sun on the desolate planet, and it is always night, but the windows of the aircraft will automatically adjust the color according to the time, allowing Lin Zhi to judge the time as soon as he wakes up.

Lin Zhi rubbed his eyes and looked at the clothes in his arms with some emotion.

He actually dreamed about things from his youth, before his relationship with Lu Yuan deteriorated and before they broke up.

After Lin Zhi finished washing up, he prepared to go to the laboratory. After he confirmed yesterday's debugging report with everyone today, the desolate planet could enter mass production, and he could also return to the imperial city to handle official business first.

When we arrive at the desolate planet again, it will be the day for the official action.

On the way there, Lin Zhi also met the little white cat from that day.

"Meow……"

The cat raised its tail and rubbed Lin Zhi's trouser leg, completely unaware that the person in front of it was the Emperor, who should not be approached or provoked at will.

Seeing that there was no one around, Lin Zhi quietly took out some snacks and fed them.

But just as he squatted down, he felt a sudden dizziness that made him almost unable to stand.

What's going on?

He had just woken up full of energy, how come...

Lin Zhi felt a little exhausted. He forced himself to take a few steps and sat down on a clean chair nearby. The next moment, he felt that his legs had lost all feeling.

Lin Zhi was horrified and tapped his thigh.

Still unconscious.

Afterwards, Lin Zhi felt a severe pain in his glands, accompanied by a churning in his stomach.

Something is wrong.

Could it be... because of Enigma's pheromones?

After being marked by Enigma, there will be various unknown sequelae and side effects. It is not surprising to see strange symptoms appear at any time, but this is too sudden.

The kitten followed Lin Zhi worriedly, jumped onto the chair and sniffed his clothes.

"Meow……"

Lin Zhi's face was a little pale. He looked around, and while being wary of the newcomers, he contacted Zhou Fang.