Chapter 44
Wen Ling's consciousness floated in the ocean of pain.
Every heartbeat felt like it was pounding against his injured chest, and every breath carried the stench of rust and blood. He forced his eyes open, only to see the flashing red emergency lights inside the escape pod, staining the twisted metal walls an ominous bloody color.
He tried to move, and immediately felt a sharp, tearing pain in his right leg. Looking down, he saw a deformed stent had penetrated the protective suit and embedded itself deeply into the thigh muscle. Dark red blood was slowly dripping along the metal edge. His professional training allowed him to immediately assess the injury—the femoral artery might be damaged, and the bleeding must be stopped as soon as possible.
"Communications...system..." he muttered hoarsely, his fingers tracing over the damaged control panel. All the screens were shattered, and the navigation system was emitting tiny sparks.
Just then, a sharp sound of metal rubbing against each other came from outside the escape pod. Through the crack in the observation window, Wen Ling saw a federal patrol boat approaching, its searchlight sweeping across the surrounding star debris like a cold gaze.
He immediately stopped all movement, even breathing as softly as possible. In the darkness, the only sounds were the subtle sound of dripping blood and his own rapidly beating heart.
The patrol boat hovered nearby for a full seventeen minutes—
Wen Ling counted every second silently in his mind. When it finally left, he was already feeling dizzy from blood loss.
You must save yourself.
He fumbled for the emergency medical kit and pulled out the tourniquet. The moment it tightened, the excruciating pain blinded him, but he gritted his teeth until the bleeding slowed significantly.
The navigation system was completely paralyzed, but he remembered the coordinates Miao Weizhen had entered. With his familiarity with the star map, he identified several characteristic star fragments outside the window and roughly determined his location.
It's about a three-hour flight from that coordinate—if the escape pod can still fly.
In a temporary base.
"The signal last appeared in area D7 and lasted for 0.3 seconds." Luo Yan's voice was tense. "It was the emergency beacon of the escape pod."
Miao Weizhen stood in front of the main console, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the surface. This subtle movement was noticeable only to those who knew him best—the intervals between each tap were perfectly timed, revealing his extreme anxiety.
"Prepare for the 'moth,'" he said.
A sudden silence fell over the command center. Lao Lin was the first to react: "Are you crazy? That prototype hasn't even been tested!"
The "Moth" is the base's latest small reconnaissance aircraft, designed to fly in extreme environments, but its stability is questionable.
"Because it can cross the asteroid belt," Miao Weizhen had already begun donning his custom flight suit. "Give me the navigation data."
Dr. Case stopped him and said, "Your neuralgia has been recurring frequently lately. You're not suitable for driving a high-maneuverability vehicle..."
"Get out of the way." Miao Weizhen's voice was soft, but it carried unquestionable majesty.
When the "Moth" slid out of the hangar, everyone discovered that Miao Weizhen had modified the prototype - adding additional protective plates and rescue equipment, and it was obvious that he had been prepared.
Inside the escape pod, Wen Ling's condition worsened. Although the bleeding had stopped, her legs began to swell and turn purple, a sign of internal bleeding. To make matters worse, the escape pod's oxygen supply system malfunctioned, and the air became thinner.
He tried to repair the life support system, but his fingers were shaking from blood loss, making even the simplest wiring difficult. His consciousness began to blur, and fragments of memory emerged uncontrollably.
He recalled his childhood in the library of the Sailiang Imperial City, when he first read about the ancient civilizations of the "Five Continents and Ten Kingdoms." Back then, he didn't understand why the Sailiang Kingdom would choose to uphold the path of "goodness first," while the Federation's predecessor, Sairen, went to the extreme of "intelligent control of all things."
Now he seemed to understand a little. When life hangs on a thread, one can realize how much courage it takes for a civilization to choose gentleness.
"Miao Weizhen..." he murmured unconsciously, as if this name was the last straw.
In the debris belt, the "moth" shuttled through the dense debris, its agility far exceeding that of ordinary spacecraft. Miao Weizhen controlled this prototype as if he were controlling an untamed wild horse.
The navigation system continuously issued warnings, indicating that the density of stellar debris ahead had exceeded the safety threshold. Miao Weizhen turned off the alarm and relied entirely on intuition and experience to navigate the maze of metal fragments.
Suddenly, he caught a faint signal——
Not an electronic signal, but some kind of biological marker.
That was the signal from the tracker he had secretly implanted in the inner layer of Wen Ling's protective suit, and only his specially made receiver could detect it.
"Hold on," he whispered, steering the ship towards the source of the signal.
When the escape pod came into view, Miao Weizhen's heart almost stopped. The extent of the damage to the pod was far beyond his imagination, and it was hard to believe that the people inside could still survive.
The docking process was extremely difficult.
The escape pod's docking ring had become deformed, forcing the "Moth" to use a robotic arm to forcefully secure it. When the hatch finally opened, a mixture of blood and metallic odors filled the air.
Wen Ling collapsed in front of the control console, a pool of half-coagulated blood beneath him. The injury to his right leg was horrific, and his face had turned a horrible blue-gray from blood loss.
Miao Weizhen immediately stepped forward to examine her. His professionalism allowed him to quickly assess the severity of her injuries. However, while administering first aid, his hands began to tremble noticeably for the first time—as he touched Wen Ling's cold skin.
"Wen Ling," he patted the other's cheek, "can you hear me?"
No response.
Wen Ling's breathing was so weak that it was almost unnoticeable.
Miao Weizhen completed the emergency treatment with amazing efficiency. When he was transferring Wen Ling to the medical cabin of "Moth", the alarm system suddenly sounded.
Three federal patrol boats were encircling them from different directions.
Miao Weizhen glanced at the unconscious Wen Ling in the medical cabin, his eyes turning cold. He quickly set the autopilot route and returned to the driver's seat.
The "Moth" suddenly accelerated, not fleeing, but rushing towards the densest area of star debris. This move clearly caught the Federation by surprise, and the patrol boat formation was momentarily thrown into disarray.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Miao Weizhen controlled the spacecraft to perform an almost impossible action -
It flipped rapidly between two huge pieces of star debris, then shut down all engines and slid into a narrow gap with the help of inertia.
In the darkness, the "moth" lurked silently like a real moth. After searching nearby without success, the patrol boat finally left in disappointment.
After confirming that the danger was over, Miao Weizhen immediately returned to the medical cabin. He knelt beside Wen Ling and carefully checked the vital signs.
At this moment, Wen Ling's eyelashes trembled slightly, as if he wanted to wake up. Miao Weizhen leaned over and heard his unconscious mumbling:
"Coordinates... Remember..."
This sentence was like a heavy blow, and Miao Weizhen could no longer maintain his composure. He held Wen Ling's hand, and his fingertips turned white from the force.
After confirming that Wen Ling's vital signs were stable, Miao Weizhen did not return to the base immediately.
He steered the "Moth" towards a hidden asteroid where he had set up an emergency shelter.
When the spacecraft landed in the cave, the first thing Miao Weizhen did was to give Wen Ling a more thorough treatment. In front of the simple medical equipment, he showed amazing medical knowledge, and every operation was precise and efficient.
But when he injected Wen Ling with the last dose of antibiotics, he noticed a detail exposed on the inner layer of her protective suit.
Wen Ling had sewed a small piece of metal inside at some point, on which was engraved a star map of the Star Belt and a tiny word "Miao".
This discovery made Miao Weizhen pause for a long time.
Late at night, Wen Ling's temperature suddenly rose. Miao Weizhen stayed by his side all night, using the most primitive method -
A wet cloth was applied to his forehead, his vital signs were recorded manually, and he was whispered from time to time in an attempt to awaken his consciousness.
"You said you wanted to find a third way..." He whispered to the unconscious Wen Ling, "I understand now."
When the first ray of simulated dawn shone into the cabin through the porthole, Wen Ling's breathing finally became steady.
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