Chapter 102 Stars: "My favorite person is asking me what I like."
Two days later, the Dragon King Pirate Crew left their home planet and, led by the Star River, sailed into the dark expanse of space.
After spending some time together, the pirates had come to accept Lin Nan and You Long, and they were getting along quite well. You Long, in particular, was doing her best to maintain her former sunny disposition and remained as popular as ever. Lin Nan, with his perpetually kind but aloof demeanor, also earned the respect and affection of all the pirates.
Lin Nan's own motives were impure, so she felt guilty towards Long Zhu and tried her best to treat the pirates well. Long Zhu was very grateful and wished she could do something for her.
Lin Nan thought for a moment: "What a coincidence, there is indeed a favor I need your help with..."
Dragon Ball readily agreed. After the discussion was settled, Lin Nan returned to the Star River. You Long was still busy in the laboratory, wearing not only protective clothing but also a helmet, clearly having a burst of inspiration.
Lin Nan didn't want to disturb her research, so she went back to her own work. That evening, You Long sneaked into the kitchen looking for something to eat and bumped into Lin Nan cooking: "Hey? What are you making?"
"Tomato and beef brisket," Lin Nan asked. "How's it going?"
"We've just overcome a major hurdle; all that's left is the experimental phase." You Long chewed on some dry bread. "If you have time, could you help me contact someone?"
"Who is it?" Lin Nan took a sip of the soup and nodded in satisfaction.
“You know that, Hayabusa.” Yutaki choked and drank water.
"She's still alive?" Lin Nan turned around in surprise.
Falcon was their classmate and friend at military academy, where they were known as the "Three Musketeers." Unfortunately, Falcon sacrificed his life early after graduation, which saddened Lin Nan for a long time.
You Long blinked: "Neither of us are dead, how could she die so easily?"
"How do I contact her?" Lin Nan calmed down, but she still couldn't hide her joy.
“Use our old channel.” You Long tossed her a communicator: “It’s been modified. This channel has become a ‘ghost channel.’ You can contact her without worry.”
Lin Nan put the communicator in her pocket and turned to pick up the pot: "Let's eat first."
Falcon quickly replied, proving that he was still alive, had not betrayed the country, and was ready to act at any time.
Yu Long told her to continue with her mission, saying that she might need to ask her for a favor in a while.
Falcon typed "1" and then went offline, clearly indicating that it wasn't convenient for them to chat any further.
Yu-Taki continued to plunge headlong into her ocean of experiments.
Dragon Ball hurriedly sent a message to Lin Nan: "Boss Lin, I've found a suitable target!"
Lin Nan immediately boarded the Dragon King. A giant virtual screen tracked a scene in the sea of stars: an asteroid that perfectly met her needs, beautiful even from afar. It sped through the boundless space, its trajectory exuding a wild charm that instantly reminded Lin Nan of You Long.
She laughed: "Catch it."
The technicians sat at the control panel, carefully manipulating the traction beam, and the cargo door slowly opened.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief the moment they successfully housed it inside the spaceship.
The spaceship lurched violently because of it; the gears meshed, and the hatch slowly closed. Lin Nan personally sat down at the control panel and began cutting.
Dragon Ball inadvertently caught a glimpse of her focused profile and thought to himself, "Boss Lin's cold face is so charming, and how does she know everything...?"
Lin Nan sat at the control panel for an entire afternoon, finally stripping away the asteroid's outer shell. The interior was pure and beautiful, but still not to her satisfaction. She input programming commands, and billions of nanobots swarmed out, rushing towards the beautiful star.
The internal bubbles and impurities were perfectly removed, and the light channel began to be established. After more than ten hours, all the nanobots had completed their work.
What appeared before Lin Nan was a gem-like creation. It was delicate and smooth, with a gentle halo within, like a nebula flowing inside. Illuminated only by the light source inside the cabin, it shone with brilliant light, as beautiful as a star.
It was placed on a specially designed levitation base and carefully transported to the Star River by the Dragon King. The colonel placed it in the lobby and went back to work. That evening, when Yulong went out to find food, she saw it and was stunned, instinctively reaching out to stroke it.
"Holy crap, sir, when did we get an extra person on our spaceship—an extra person—"
She racked her brains for words to describe this unparalleled beauty, and Lin Nan chimed in from behind her: "A star."
“Yes, a star,” Yu Long exclaimed.
"Here you go." The colonel casually walked past, waving something in his hand: "You can take it and put it anywhere."
"Give it to me?" You Long stammered. "You mean, this, this is what you prepared, and now you're giving it to me?"
Lin Nan stopped and admired her stuttering.
Yu Long mentioned that her favorite thing is stars.
She also remembered the title of the song that had been used to confess her feelings. "Will you give me a star?" "Will you give me a star?"
I want to give you a star, a star that I personally sculpted. It is not as passionate or as brilliant as you, but it can represent my feelings that have never changed with the years.
The colonel plucked a star from among the blue clouds and, as a belated gift, presented it to her childhood sweetheart.
But when he opened his mouth, it was as calm as still water: "We captured it in the K-39 asteroid belt. It has a stable crystalline structure inside, which nanorobots sculpted in eleven hours. In a vacuum, it can maintain this state until the end of the universe. It is also safe, with no radiation, so you can observe it with peace of mind."
Yu Long was speechless, she just kept circling around it, carefully stroking its light with her eyes and hands. She had never received such a beautiful and lasting gift.
Until the universe is destroyed?
A tremor ran deeper and deeper within her, but when she looked at Lin Nan, she still couldn't speak: "I can't give you any happy future, so why are you still so good to me?"
Lin Nan didn't look at her: "You've already given me a happy present."
Yutaki took a deep breath.
"Sir, you're making me... I'm starting to want to rediscover my emotions."
"Then let's look for it." Lin Nan still didn't look at her: "As long as you're willing."
For the first time, You Long sent Lin Nan a goodnight message before going to bed.
Lin Nan looked at the message, her expression softening considerably. She stroked the virtual light and replied: [Goodnight]
Although they didn't continue their conversation, both of them could sense that something had subtly changed.
Yu Long lay on the bed sighing, then couldn't help but laugh. She brought up a virtual screen and stared at her stars for a long time before falling asleep.
＊
"Is the present more important or the future?" Jiang Yan asked her.
Qin Lan replied without hesitation: "Now, because the future is made up of countless nows."
"But if we don't cut our losses in time, the future could be many times worse."
"We also need to consider the future, but I still believe that people should live in the present," Qin Lan said. "The past and the future are both non-existent times. It is meaningless to discuss non-existent times from the perspective of the present. Only the present moment is real and perceptible."
Do you like that star?
Jiang Yan poked at the script and drew a sketch in the blank space, depicting the star in her heart.
"Not bad, it'll still be top-notch romance many years from now," Qin Lan said. "It's just that I don't have much of a collecting desire. I prefer things that... well, things that bring me direct pleasure. Like acting, it can engage my whole being. You seem like the type who would like these kinds of things. Want some stars?"
"Current technology doesn't support it," Jiang Yan said coldly. "Miss Qin, let's be realistic."
"I never said I wanted to pluck the stars from the sky," Qin Lan muttered. "Then what do you like? The moon? Meteorites? Meteorites are something I could consider..."
Jiang Yan was speechless: "The person I like the most is asking me what I like."
Qin Lan was stunned, her face turning slightly red.
“Oh dear, this is different… I’m asking you what kind of gift you would like.”
"Qin Lan's autographed photos, Qin Lan's photo album, Qin Lan's posters," Jiang Yan blurted out, "and photos with Qin Lan."
Qin Lan strode over and sat down next to her: "I'll grant your wish right now..."
She raised her phone and snapped a dozen photos in quick succession, then started picking through them one by one: "This one has my eyes closed...it looks so silly. This one's not bad..."
Xiaoqing worked hard all day and finally collected all of Qin Lan's posters and autographed photos from his debut. Qin Lan signed them in front of Jiang Yan and handed them to her: "They're yours."
Jiang Yan put the real person aside after getting the poster, and after returning to the hotel, she barely replied to messages, indulging in collecting all sorts of things.
It was only after a long time that Qin Lan finally had the chance to visit her home and was truly astonished... The house was filled with her merchandise and materials, making it seem as if this person had even taken the time to work as her fan site admin.
＊
Lin Nan knocked on the laboratory door.
"Come in," came the voice from inside.
The door slowly opened, and Lin Nan walked in: "Busy?"
"Take a break." You Long took off his helmet and gloves, feeling a jolt of static electricity. "Want to call me?"
“Yes.” Lin Nan lowered his eyes: “The buoy I left behind sent bad news. The Federation’s pursuit is imminent.”
“Now that we have the pirates’ help, we have a lot more manpower.” Yu Long pondered for a moment, “However, I still suggest using strategy.”
Lin Nan nodded: "I have an idea, but I need your cooperation."
Yu Long looked up: "Sure, you provide the intelligence and the plan, I'll provide the technology, and the pirates can lend a hand. Tell me about it."
Lin Nan smiled slightly: "The key to attacking the other party's system is to obtain their IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) key..."
Yu Long nodded: "What's your plan?"
Lin Nan: "Pretend to be under attack and send them a specific request signal. At this time, the system will automatically connect and open the high-privilege port, making it easy to hack in."
Yu Long grinned: "You must know that specific request signal, right?"
Lin Nan: "Each warship has a different signal, but it's not random; it relies on certain formulas and algorithms. The military might not think of changing such a fundamental thing; they will only keep strengthening the firewall."
You Long whistled: "When you and I work together, we're practically invincible."
The colonel hesitated, then said, "...Don't be careless."
The cruiser Tianxing suddenly encountered unidentified signal interference and temporarily lost contact with friendly forces.
The captain ordered, "Increase patrols and activate the self-inspection system!"
The Skywalker cautiously surveyed its surroundings. There were many nebulae around, and every shadow seemed to conceal a suspicious target.
"Don't be paranoid, they only have one warship." The captain reassured the crew: "Have you made contact with the main ship?"
"not yet."
The alarm suddenly went off: "Warning, warning, unidentified flying object ahead..."
Before the captain could speak, the attack alarm sounded: "Enemy attack underway, communication system malfunction... sensor system malfunction..."
The deaf and blind Skywalker was surrounded by a group of pirates and was completely rendered useless.
You Long typed on the keyboard, Lin Nan dictated the format, and an emergency connection request was quickly sent.
The destroyer Stone indeed automatically accepted the deep connection under emergency conditions, granting permissions to collaboratively handle the malfunction.
Yu Long grinned and hacked into the system, spreading the virus rapidly. She quickly obtained the highest-level IFF certification, which she copied for all the pirates. Thus, the Dragon King Pirate Crew transformed into certified allies.
The Alpha Legion experienced a brief disturbance, but they still didn't realize that it was the Starship causing trouble. After all, the various ragtag aircraft around them looked more like a group of pirates. Where did the Starship get so many thugs?
"Disable automatic connection!" the captain commanded. "Shut down the IFF system!"
"Sir, someone has already done it." The officer wiped away a cold sweat: "Thirty seconds ago, someone sent us an order with the highest level of clearance, requesting that we force entry into safe mode due to anomalies in the surrounding warship IF..."
"You agreed?" Captain Chen's eyes started to blaze with anger.
"This is the only way we can do it!" the officer reported. "Now that all the enemy troops are disguised as friendly forces, the safest course of action is to lock onto ourselves!"
"Dragon Ball, have your men divide the battlefield," Lin Nan commanded methodically. "Control the main ship, surround the support fleet, Yu Long, you're in charge of disabling the enemy's weapon systems, can you do that?"
"Give me three minutes, I'm going to steal Chen's biological information."
Two minutes later, Yu Long gave an OK sign, and Lin Nan immediately said, "Dragon Ball, prepare to board the ship, be careful."
The pirate assault squad attempted to coerce the main ship by force but encountered strong resistance.
Lin Nan instructed them to temporarily retreat and reconnect to the Executor's communications.
"I am Lin Nan."
"What's wrong?" Chen's voice sounded relatively steady.
"Put down your weapons and hand over command of the Executor." Lin Nan said, "I'll give you ten seconds to think. After ten seconds, the missiles will be launched, landing on the nearest friendly ship. One missile every ten seconds, and so on. The countdown begins."
Chen's forehead began to sweat, and ten seconds passed quickly before Lin Nan pressed the button.
Yu Long disconnected the warship's signal and casually dropped a missile into space.
Captain Chen, thinking she was really capable of wreaking havoc, couldn't help but curse, "Traitor! Beast!"
Lin Nan said coldly, "The next ten seconds."
The captain lowered his head helplessly: "Put down your weapons."
"Please hand over command." Lin Nan said politely.
Yu Long's voice came through the communicator: "Are you there? I am Yu Long. Just transfer it to me directly."
Captain Chen's forehead veins bulged, but he still did as they said.
The eight guardians escorted Lin Nan aboard the Executor, looking around in amazement and exclaiming, "Wow, a living space force!"
"Look at that! What a high-tech cannon! I want to play with it."
"Idiot, take their guns! These are all high-end stuff!"
The pirates' disorganized, undisciplined, and thuggish behavior infuriated the officers and men on the Executor. Their gazes towards Lin Nan were now filled with hatred, confusion, and bewilderment; how could their former superior be associating with these people…
“You are a disgrace to Alpha.” Chen said, staring at Lin Nan as she walked up to the captain.
Lin Nan calmly retorted, "I am still my wife's pride."
Everyone on the ship stared at her with their mouths agape, as if they didn't recognize her.
Lin Nan maintained a smile, but actually clenched her teeth.
She didn't want to portray herself as such a brainless person, but before the mole sent by the big mole was exposed, she had to find a reasonable excuse for her actions.
She was very confident in her and Youlong's abilities, and capturing the entire legion was no problem for them, but the smoothness of the process aroused her suspicion, making her even more convinced that there was a traitor among her old subordinates.
After gaining command, Yu Long, in his capacity as Captain Chen, issued orders demanding that all officers and men surrender. Most of the fleet complied with the order, except for two destroyers that refused to obey.
Lin Nan used the same trick again, and after connecting the communication, he drew his pistol and pointed it at the captain's head: "Ten seconds."
At the seventh second, both warships chose to surrender.
Lin Nan personally led a thorough search of the entire flagship to ensure they were unarmed. She was intimately familiar with the Federation's equipment and, while searching the pirates, instructed them: "There are zip bombs hidden under their collars, and their belts are pulled open; there are explosives inside. Be extremely careful. Give them our clothes, spray their hair with water guns, and finally, have them pass through the security gate."
The officers and soldiers were furious and could only stare helplessly as they lined up to go through security, looking like drowned rats.
There was nowhere to hide under the security door. Even those who had hidden bombs on their bodies were found. The pirates put electronic handcuffs on their right hands and then told them to stay aside.
The search lasted two whole days. During that time, some people refused to cooperate and were slapped by the pirates while cursing. Lin Nan slapped those pirates back, teaching them the most basic manners.
Because Lin Nan gave 30 percent of the captured weapons to the pirates as spoils of war, they had no complaints.
With Yu Long holding all the authority over the warships, he completely turned these people into sheep.
After completing these tasks, Lin Nan returned to the Star River. She left the pirates scattered across each warship, disappearing for several months.
The soldiers of the Alpha Legion could only watch helplessly aboard their warships. They were served meals at set times each day, and had access to living and recreational facilities, but beyond that, there was nothing they could do. On the third day, they collectively protested, demanding to see Lin Nan. Dragon Ball simply replied, "Boss Lin is busy; he doesn't have time to see you."
Everyone wants to see Yutaka again, but Dragon Ball says the same thing: "Yutaka is busy too."
Everyone understood; they were both busy with everything, on their honeymoon, and didn't want to deal with them.
Everyone was furious, but there was nothing they could do. They gathered together under the surveillance cameras to discuss a solution. What they didn't know was that Colonel Lin was standing on the Star River, staring at the monitor screen, carefully analyzing everyone's words and micro-expressions, and tirelessly recording everyone's every move.
No one expected Lin Nan to be so free. At first, the conversation was quite subtle, but later he simply started cursing at her in front of the surveillance cameras, and might even manage to get her to confess.
"Traitor, a disgrace to Alpha..."
"She has been expelled! She is no longer a member of the Alpha Legion!"
"You bitch, you betrayed all of us for a woman!"
"You're oversimplifying things. It's not like that at all. How could Lin Nan be love-struck? Do you really think You Long could have spent so many years at Light Wheel and come up empty-handed?"
"You mean You Long obtained the secret of the Light Wheel, and Lin Nan only got together with her because of this?"
"Definitely. In my opinion, that guy surnamed You probably found some treasure at the Light Wheel, maybe even the technology to achieve immortality or something."
These people were talking more and more outrageous and vulgarly, which made Lieutenant Colonel Yan frown and say indignantly, "Don't say that, the Colonel is not that kind of person at all!"
Lin Nan squinted, zoomed in on the screen, and carefully observed everyone's expressions.
The officers turned around and glared at her fiercely: "Sir, we know you used to be Lin Nan's deputy and had deep feelings for her, but we don't know what you thought when she personally searched you!"
Yan firmly stated, "I don't believe the colonel is that kind of person. She must have her reasons!"
The chief of staff said bluntly, "I used to think the same way as you, but I completely changed my mind after she massacred our comrades! I advise you to clear your head and not mix personal feelings with national righteousness."
Lin Nan's lips curled slightly, indicating that she had already made her judgment.
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