After dinner, Lu Fenghan took some time to look through a document sent by Vincent.

Weiss's actions have become increasingly frequent in the past two days. After the personnel transfer, he is preparing to intervene in the defense arrangements on the front line of the Southern Cross Region.

When Lu Fenghan was at the front line, he had always handed the defense arrangements to Erich. Obviously, Erich's presence hindered Weiss's eyes, so Weiss reported to Leto and wanted to promote a lieutenant colonel as the second deputy commander. The actual purpose was to divide Erich's power and take the command of the defense into his own hands.

However, after this report was sent to the desk of the head of the Central Army Corps, it was directly rejected.

What Vincent sent was the information of the candidate for this deputy commander.

"Commander, this man is a young master from Leto. His family background alone fills up a page! There are too many of them, and there are a lot of complicated in-law relationships behind him. When I sorted them out for the first time, I couldn't even figure out which side he was on!"

Lu Fenghan hummed and leaned back on the soft sofa, subconsciously feeling a little uncomfortable.

On a military starship, because of the possibility of sudden war at any time, all things must first consider stability and sturdiness, and then comfort. The chairs he sat on before were basically cold and hard, and the bed was the same, hard.

When he came to Qi Yan's place, the sofa was soft, the dining chair was soft, the bed was soft, and even the towels and pillows used had to be a little softer. Even when you step on a carpet, your feet will sink one centimeter.

"Commander?"

Lu Fenghan calmed down and answered Vincent: "Huis made a bad move. Now Leto's competition for the position of chief commander of the expeditionary force is still unclear. It is estimated that the parties are struggling to win and simply put it on hold. This obviously makes him anxious and can't sit still."

Vincent: "I don't know how long he can act as the chief commander?"

"Yes. So he wants to seize power from Erich, increase his bargaining chips, and keep his position. However, the position of second deputy commander is too important. If Erich is really defeated, the person sitting in this position will be the second in command of the expeditionary force. If handled well, the next chief commander can be firmly suppressed, making the commander-in-chief seem like a figment."

"So Leto will not easily decide on a candidate, let alone someone with so many backgrounds involved." Vincent sighed, "Weiss doesn't think enough, but Leto and his gang think so much all day long, aren't they tired?"

The sound of cruise planes taking off and landing came faintly, and Lu Fenghan looked out the window, as if he saw that everyone's goals and interests were intertwined into a huge net in the night, shrouding his head.

Without responding to Vincent's sigh, Lu Fenghan was quite uninterested. "Having been rejected once, Weiss should behave himself for two days. You should also pay attention to the news. This time, the people from 'the other side' sent the starship's central control system to Leto via Maple Dan No. 1. How did the accurate itinerary information leak out?"

Vincent responded neatly: "No problem!"

After hanging up the call, Lu Fenghan sat on the sofa for a few more minutes.

Until Qi Yan came downstairs.

Seeing Lu Fenghan sitting on the sofa, Qi Yan subconsciously looked upstairs: "I just came out of the bedroom and saw you closing the door and entering the room."

Lu Fenghan corrected him: "You remembered it wrong. I have been here for the past half hour." He

stood up again, "What did you come downstairs to get?"

Qi Yan's living habits are very clear. He takes a shower first when he gets home, and after dinner, he will bury his head in his own things. Sometimes he takes a pen and a piece of white paper, draws a lot of incomprehensible figures and formulas, and sometimes he faces the computer and works until midnight.

Usually he goes downstairs halfway, either because he is thirsty and wants to drink water, or to find him.

Qi Yan replied: "Water."

"Wait." Lu Fenghan walked to the kitchen in a few steps, and when he came back, he held a glass of water in his hand.

After Qi Yan finished drinking the water, he stared at the cup for two seconds and asked without a clear reason, "Is this true?"

His heart ached for no reason. After Lu Fenghan restrained himself, he still poked Qi Yan's face with his fingertips. In the other's puzzled eyes, he answered affirmatively, "It's true."

Seeing Qi Yan nod silently, he sighed in his heart, took the empty cup again, and said casually, "If you can't tell, you can ask me."

Qi Yan stood behind Lu Fenghan, looking at his back, and answered "OK" lightly.

The next day, after class, Qi Yan took Lu Fenghan to the laboratory.

In the lab, Ye Pei was chatting with Mondrian: "What should I do? I couldn't sleep on Maple Dan One because of the noise. Who would have thought that I would be unable to sleep because of the silence when I returned to Leto!"

Mondrian gave a suggestion: "You can turn on white noise to simulate the scene of Maple Dan One."

Ye Pei obviously didn't want this answer: "Don't you think that Maple Dan One and I are a good match?"

This time Mondrian understood: "You want to work at the Space Fortress?"

"Not necessarily," Ye Pei hesitated when asked directly, "Not necessarily the Space Fortress, but after listening to Professor Fu's words yesterday, I feel that I should think about what I want to do in the future. Going to the Space Fortress or to the space research workstation seems to be a good idea?"

Seeing Qi Yan come in, she asked: "Qi Yan, what about you, Mondrian wants to engage in scientific research in the future, what do you want to do in the future?"

Qi Yan stood there and shook his head: "I haven't thought about the future."

Ye Pei was happy: "You haven't considered what to do in the future? Hahaha, it turns out I'm not alone!"

Lu Fenghan was next to Qi Yan, and when he heard this, he couldn't help but take it to heart.

He remembered that before Turan started school, he went to the Sky Diamond Square with Qi Yan. At that time, he asked Qi Yan if he had thought about his epitaph. Qi Yan replied that he had thought about it and wanted to write on his tombstone - "In the darkness, I once chased a ray of fire".

When he talked about the average age of the alliance being over a hundred years old, how did Qi Yan answer?

Not necessarily?

Yes, Qi Yan replied, not necessarily.

Not necessarily can live for a long time? So you haven't thought about what to do in the future, or even considered your own epitaph?

Lu Fenghan looked at Qi Yan, his eyes were deeper than he realized.

He didn't notice Lu Fenghan's line of sight, because after Qi Yan sat in his seat, he found that his light storage device was missing.

Since Mondrian had emphasized that the optical storage device had a confidentiality level and could not be taken out of the laboratory, Qi Yan would place it next to the optical computer every time after use.

He could find that memory in his mind - after saving the final analysis results, he placed the optical storage device about thirty centimeters away from the edge of the table, then stood up to find Lu Fenghan and go home together.

He remembered every frame and every detail very clearly, but because of this, he was a little unsure.

Is this memory of mine real? Or... did I make it up?

When I left yesterday, did I really put the optical storage device on the table?

Countless self-doubts rolled over like waves. At this moment, Qi Yan's face turned pale, and his fingers clasped the edge of the table to barely stop the uncontrollable trembling of his fingertips.

Which memories are real?

Which are real and which are false?

Instinctively, he looked towards Lu Fenghan, his eyes full of confusion.

Lu Fenghan frowned.

Why does it look like... you're about to cry?

He took two steps towards Qi Yan, subconsciously blocking the sight of those around him, his eyes swept across Qi Yan's fingers that were white from exertion, and whispered: "What happened?"

Qi Yan's voice was very hoarse: "The optical storage device is missing. I remember putting it here before I left yesterday."

Lu Fenghan reacted quickly: "Are you sure?" Qi

Yan's eyes were blank, and after a few seconds he said softly: "I'm not sure, I..." He bit his lip hard, "I can't be sure."

I can't be sure whether my memory is true or not.

He thought, Mom once said that even if it's dark, you should remember to look at the stars.

But Mom didn't tell him, what if he can't find the stars?

What should I do if I can't find a single star?

Lu Fenghan pinched Qi Yan's chin with two fingers to make sure that his lips were just red and not bleeding. Then he gently pulled open Qi Yan's fingers that were clasped on the edge of the table and held them in his palm.

The fingertips were as cold as melting snow, and the touch made something in his heart shrink slightly.

"Look at me, Qi Yan."

Qi Yan subconsciously shifted his gaze.

Lu Fenghan's eyes were dark and his lip lines were sharp, like a rugged mountain, seemingly always firm, always clear, and never doubting or wavering.

At this moment, he became Qi Yan's anchor.

"You're not mistaken, because you have a good memory, you always put a lot of things in the same place."

Qi Yan would restore the positions of cups, books, and pens at home to the same place after use.

"So you must have put the optical storage device in that place, you're not mistaken."

"I'm not mistaken." Qi Yan's fingertips held in Lu Fenghan's hand stopped trembling slightly, and after a few seconds, he spoke again, "My optical storage device is missing."

His voice was still a little hoarse, but he had obviously gotten out of his previous emotional state.

"We need to check the surveillance."

Ye Pei was shocked when she learned about it. She said seriously: "We must find it quickly, no matter if someone else in the group took it by mistake or it was stolen, we must make sure it clearly."

She is the team leader, and quickly used her authority to find the surveillance video of last night.

In the video, you can clearly see Qi Yan standing up and putting something in his hand on the table. But because there is a blind spot in the vision, it cannot be confirmed that the thing in Qi Yan's hand has indeed fallen on the table.

Soon, Qi Yan turned and walked out.

After he left, Mondrian passed by his desk first, and then Xu Min, Laurent, and Ye Pei herself passed by Qi Yan's desk more than once.

Twenty-fifth minutes after Qi Yan left, Laurent and two people from another group passed by Qi Yan's desk, seemingly discussing a problem.

Thirty-sixth minute, Ye Pei passed by twice, coming and going.

At the 43rd minute, Mondrian and two people from the same group passed by the table again.

"No need to look again." Qi Yan pointed out, "The location where I put the light storage device is a blind spot because of the obstruction. If someone passes by and avoids the monitoring angle and takes the light storage device very quickly, it will not be discovered."

Ye Pei was worried: "What should I do? You are the first to leave. If you really want to count, everyone who passes by your table is a suspect."

She asked Mondrian, "Do you remember? When you passed by, was Qi Yan's light storage device still there? Maybe we can narrow down the time range."

Mondrian thought carefully and confirmed: "I don't remember, when "I was discussing a formula at the time and didn't notice anything else."

Laurent turned the metal pen in his hand, sat on the chair with his legs crossed, and said disdainfully: "Who would take your optical storage device? It contains your personal information, and no one can open it except you. What's the use of taking it? Maybe you remembered it wrong and put it somewhere else."

Qi Yan glanced at Laurent and confirmed: "I didn't remember it wrong."

Ye Pei was more inclined to believe Qi Yan and thought that Qi Yan didn't need to lie about this matter. She thought again: "If the optical storage device is really lost and can't be found, what will happen to your previous progress?"

"It's okay, you can make up for it."

"It is still related. There is so much content, you will definitely have to stay up late to make up for it." Ye Pei looked at the surveillance video again, holding his chin with worry, "Why don't we all look for extra optical storage devices? If not, we can only tell Professor Fu. After all, the optical storage devices are classified and must not leave the laboratory."

At this time, there was a knock on the laboratory door.

Ye Pei stood up to open the door, guessing as she walked: "Could it have accidentally fallen to the ground and been swept away by the cleaning robot? I don't know--"

After opening the door, she looked at the two strangers standing at the door and the documents they showed. She suddenly had a strong bad feeling in her heart. She heard herself asking: "Excuse me, what can I do for you?"

"From the Special Intelligence Division 5 of the Alliance Security Department." A man with brown eyes, black hair, and a Latino look spoke, "We are looking for someone named Qi Yan."

Ye Pei stopped wanting to look back and tried to stay calm: "What do you want to see him about?"

She had never heard of the "Special Intelligence Division 5 of the Security Department", but from the name alone, she could realize the seriousness of the matter.

Light storage, prayer -

another shorter man took over: "Student, I advise you not to ask too many questions. Many times, knowing too much is not a good thing."

At this time, Qi Yan came over and stood next to Ye Pei. He met the gazes of the two people opposite him: "I am Qi Yan. You came to see me. Is it related to the optical storage device and the scientific research project I am participating in?"

The two people at the door looked at each other, and one of them said: "It seems that you know very well what you have done."

"No," Qi Yan replied after the guess was confirmed, "I should say that I didn't find out that my optical storage device was missing until 20 minutes ago. Two minutes ago, we were checking the laboratory surveillance. Since I left the laboratory last night, the optical storage device has not been in my hands."

Ye Pei didn't know why, but he remembered that Heqi, who had quit the group before, was expelled by Turan because he leaked the project information. She hurriedly said, "There must be a misunderstanding somewhere!"

At this moment, Vice Principal Caroline, dressed in a black dress, hurried over. She stood beside Qi Yan with a serious expression and looked at the two people from the Special Intelligence Department 5: "I am the vice principal of Turan. Can you please go to my office and sit down?"

The man with brown eyes and black hair looked at his colleague and said, "It's not impossible."

Laurent sat on the chair and watched Qi Yan leave with the people from the Special Intelligence Department 5.

He thought with satisfaction that this person would soon disappear in this world.

That's great.

At this time, Qi Yan, who had walked a few steps away, turned around and met Laurent's gaze with a cold look.

It only stayed for two seconds.

But it was this two seconds of staring at each other that made Laurent suddenly feel an irresistible chill, and he didn't even notice that the metal pen in his hand had fallen to the ground.