Chapter 30
Six years ago
“Annihilation Starship.” Shu Juan patted a piece of the ship’s hull. “This material is very light. It seems it’s not like this anymore.”
"This is the last one we could find; the rest have all been destroyed." Qiao Yan looked at the fragments she had recovered, scattered and broken.
The explosion completely destroyed the area around the fuel tank, and the forward command post was disintegrated and burned to ashes.
"Destroyed?" Shu Juan couldn't believe it. "Materials like zirconium can be completely destroyed? Do you know how scarce that stuff is?"
"I know, but I don't understand either." Qiao Yan fiddled with the command console. "The core should be in the command console. Can you help me restore it?"
"You're insane! You think I can fabricate something out of nothing after it's been destroyed like this?"
She stepped forward and fiddled with it, and actually found half of the core. "You really found it?"
Shu Juan didn't know how long she had spent on this half of the core. After holding back for a long time, she finally said, "Crazy."
Although the core was restored to a usable state, it had experienced an explosion after all, and many more parts were replaced in the end. Is this still considered the original core? Shu Juan doesn't usually discuss these philosophical topics, but half of the original storage module is still inside. On the day she made the outer shell, she said to Qiao Yan, "Now it should be considered a brand new Annihilation Starship. Maybe you will have to be like it, carrying the past into the future."
What did Qiao Yan say at the time? Shu Juan couldn't quite remember.
"You want me to blow up the spaceship here? You're insane!" The voice was filled with disbelief.
Xiao Lu's display screen reflected a faint fluorescent blue light, which was a recording stored in its memory. At that time, all airships were equipped with monitoring equipment to record the expeditionary force's every move.
"I understand, you're planning to wear me down here! You won't give me anything you promised! I should have known!" The voice became noticeably agitated, but in Xiao Lu's calm, fluorescent blue light, it sounded like a desperate cry, a death wail.
"Have you ever considered how much I know about you?" He laughed angrily. "I know you definitely won't tolerate me, but do you think I wouldn't make any preparations? Destroy the spaceship? You think it's that easy? With your pig-like brain, you only got to this position by relying on your entourage. You didn't expect Qiao Yan wouldn't fall for your threats, did you? She was sold into the expeditionary force! You!"
An explosion was heard in the recording, but it stopped abruptly at its loudest point.
The recording is over.
The events on that alien desert planet were widely publicized back then. Aside from Qiao Yan, none of the others returned; even Qiao Yan himself was half-dead. The devastation was immense. The expeditionary force, equipped with the most efficient weapons, the highest level of protective gear, and spaceships of the time, only had one survivor – a tragedy unimaginable to people today.
According to Qiao Yan's account, it was just before their return journey.
Now, everyone standing in the laboratory suddenly learned that there was a reason for the destruction of the spaceship, and that it might have been a man-made disaster.
"Teacher, it's been playing this recording since the very beginning," the student said anxiously. "Is it... real?"
"Shut up, call Qiao Yan." Shu Juan went to look at the robot. She knew all too well what this meant; half of Xiao Lu's core belonged to the Annihilation Starship. Since she was repaired, she had stayed at Qiao Yan's house and hadn't gone out alone. So, the meaning of this recording was obvious.
Nan Yayin was right behind Shu Juan. Qiao Yan had just told him about these things, because the airship was destroyed due to a fuel leak.
All the criticism she's faced over the years, all the accusations of being a "murderer" for so many years, are all fabricated.
“I can’t get through to her on the phone,” Nan Yayin said, seemingly more composed than Shu Juan.
"What should we do? I have no idea where she went." Shu Juan had someone record the audio; she was determined to send it to Qiao Yan.
“I know where she is.” Nan Ya Yin recalled what she had said: the secret base.
That attic.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go." Shu Juan picked up the terminal she had just finished recording.
Nan Yayin glanced worriedly at Nan Shuyin, who was holding Xiao Lu's hand.
Shu Juan immediately understood and patted the student next to her, "Take good care of that little girl, let her read books and attend classes, let her sleep when she's sleepy, and feed her when she's hungry. Take turns looking after her and don't let her be alone."
The hovercar quickly drove to the old town.
Because no one had taken care of it for a long time, the vegetation in the old town grew wildly, and the branches of the trees on both sides of the road grew together, making the already dark sky even darker and more silent.
Nan Yayin had never felt the old town so cold before. He rubbed his hands together, took out his terminal, and made another call.
As expected, no one answered.
"Wow, this neighborhood is quite old," Shu Juan remarked as she walked up the stairs. "I didn't expect it to only have stairs."
"It's a place where nobody cares." Nan Yayin walked quickly, taking three steps at a time. Shu Juan followed behind, his knees aching and his calves feeling as heavy as lead.
Shu Juan didn't dare to reply. Had she, an Alpha, really trained to a level that even Omegas couldn't match? Too proud to admit it, she could only stubbornly follow along.
They finally reached the hidden cubicle. The door couldn't be locked, and anyone could open it. He used to think it was safe, but after Nanze discovered he had hidden money there, things were different.
He opened the door and went inside. Nothing much had changed in the room, except that the drawers seemed a little crooked.
Shu Juan walked in and leaned against the table to rest when the drawer crashed down with a "bang." This time, no one held it up with their legs; it just smashed to the ground, shattering the glass bottle and scattering colorful candies all over the floor.
Shu Juan exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my god, that scared me to death! What happened? This drawer is so rotten, who would have forced it back on?!"
The notebook is still here, the candy is still here, only the person is gone.
Nan Yayin felt anxious and helpless, realizing that she could never win Qiao Yan's heart.
“She was there, at least a few hours ago.” Nan Yayin bit her knuckles impatiently. “But now I don’t know where she is.”
Shu Juan picked the things up from the ground. "The old fairy has disappeared again. Never mind her, I'll call her again."
"I can't get through," Nan Yayin said dejectedly.
"Even if we can't get through, we'll still try."
-Didi-
Suddenly, the terminal in Nan Yayin's pocket rang. He only had one contact, so who else could it be but Qiao Yan?
Nan Yayin answered quickly and asked urgently, "Where are you? I went to the old town, but I couldn't find you."
There was no response to him.
"Qiao Yan, Qiao Yan!"
Nan Ya Yin was unaware that his voice could no longer be transmitted. Qiao Yan's terminal was in her pocket, and she made a call to him without his knowledge.
She was in her bedroom at the time, and she pulled a wheelchair out of the walk-in closet.
Qiao Yan realized that this person only wanted to provoke her, to make her legs "break" again and lose the ability to walk.
However, this time his plan will fail, just as Qiao Yan said, she will not allow herself to have a fatal weakness.
Rolling up her pants, a thin metal plate encircled the cut on her right thigh, a feature she couldn't resist, allowing tools to force her to walk.
She touched the button on the side, and a slight electric current brought her back to some consciousness.
Qiao Yan'an sat in her wheelchair, waiting for that person to come to her.
As she expected, the person arrived quickly.
Her voice was heavy, but her steps were unsteady. Qiao Yan smelled a strong stench of alcohol. She didn't drink alcohol, and her family never kept any. She had never been smelled of alcohol like this before.
The man chuckled twice and then hiccuped. “Logically speaking, it’s none of my business. But you and that kid Nan Yayin are so close, and he’s my son, so I can be considered half your father.”
Nan Ze? Qiao Yan didn't expect it to be him.
"What a pity. That beast Nan Yayin doesn't treat her own father like her own father. I'm heartbroken." Nan Ze made a crying face, but it wasn't hard to see the scheming look on his face. "Look at you, you're so rich, living in a villa in the Linglan District, and your father-in-law came to visit but you didn't even have a proper welcome. It's really hurtful."
Nan Ze was drunk and talked a lot. He walked in unsteadily, and Qiao Yan frowned because of the smell of alcohol.
“But you’re also quite pitiful,” Nanze said. “You don’t know, do you? That kid had a child when he was 16. He’s better than his father. I didn’t get an Omega until I was an adult. You don’t know, do you? That little thing was born from him.”
Then came another burst of lewd laughter, and Qiao Yan remained seated in his chair without saying a word.
Nan Ya Yin held up the terminal, but no one responded to his calls. After hearing Nan Ze's voice, he stopped calling.
Until he heard Nan Ze say that Nan Shuyin was his daughter.
Absurd, that was his first thought, followed by fear.
He was afraid that Qiao Yan would actually believe it—that she had a child at a young age, and that she was unrespecting, promiscuous, and dissolute. Qiao Yan was good to him, and he even had a tiny bit of a feeling that she might like him, but he was afraid that Qiao Yan would stop liking him because of these things.
But this is all fantasy, and fantasy is fragile. Just one lie can make people doubt what kind of person he really is.
Fear caused tears to stream down his face like spiderwebs.
At this moment, he finally realized that neither liking nor loving could be completely eliminated in a moment of clarity. He would be immersed in a tenderness and romance he had never felt before, and longed to be treated with unlimited tolerance.
He liked Qiao Yan's faint smile against the light when she woke up in the morning, liked her gentle comforting words, and liked how she argued with him out of concern for him and then helplessly compromised.
Why did he have to admit he liked her only now? Why did it have to be when he was being slandered? And why did that person have to be his father?
Why, why!
Why, Qiao Yan, do you not deny it? Why, Qiao Yan, do you not press the matter?
Nan Yayin's love and hatred, now with nowhere to go, turned into an old, unhealable scar, which drizzled blood-red rain over the old town for many years.
It's really raining in Suzuran Ward; raindrops are hitting the windows.
Qiao Yan wondered how much longer he would have to listen to these words. Nan Shuyin's bone age was five years old, and Nan Yayin was 20 this year. According to him, Nan Yayin should have given birth at 15, so he must have gotten pregnant around 14. But according to the records, she should have differentiated at 16.
A lie that is easily exposed is called nonsense, and something that is unverified and without evidence is called conjecture. This only proves that Nanze is a complete scoundrel.
Qiao Yan touched the button on her leg and turned up the pressure a bit.
What is he doing now? Is he having dinner in the laboratory building?
Qiao Yan suddenly smiled and thought, "Let's go on vacation to Jingzhe Star together after everything is over."
There is quite beautiful scenery there, as well as desserts with a different flavor than those in Bailuxing.
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