Chapter 112 Floating endlessly
The first fortress.
As the strongest line of defense of the human empire against the insect tribe, it was originally a cold steel city.
However, since Fitzgerald, the first heir to the empire, returned to his own territory, an artificial floating island has emerged in the core area of the First Fortress. From a distance, it looks like a weak and white flower blooming on a heart of steel.
This is the seventh day, and the decoration and repair work on the outer perimeter of the floating island continues. In addition, a dedicated transportation line from the surrounding galaxy was opened for the construction of this magnetically suspended floating island, which has never happened before in the history of Fitzgerald's administration.
These changes in the military fortress naturally attracted some covetous and prying eyes from the upper class, as well as fearless temptations from some well-informed civilian forces.
"Tsk! This is the nth one!"
After completing his mission in the Great Wilderness Star Region, Rambo quickly found an easy job in the inspection team as he wished, responsible for the daily security patrols of the five districts of the fortress. However, not long after taking office, he received this more troublesome task - catching those sneaky fish.
"On the fourth day, one thousand seven hundred and thirty-one." Lao Mo, holding a cigar in his mouth, sat in the patrol ship and locked onto a drone through the sight. A red dot soon lit up and he shot it down.
"This was filmed from deep space. Just drive them away and don't kill them. If they come within 5,000 meters of the floating island, they will be killed on the spot if they are an intruder."
"Tell me, kid, you are only fifty centimeters away from the death line. Do you want to return obediently and stay in jail for three months? Or do you want me to loosen my grip and send you on your way?"
On the ground. In the alley. Rambo unexpectedly caught the New Daily reporter hiding in a construction garbage truck. After tearing off his genetic disguise, he quickly found his true identity from the online genetic identification database.
"Huh, 2S-level mental power?" Rambo, who had successfully upgraded to 3S after returning, easily subdued the outsider within three moves. He scanned his citizen file and was surprised: "A mutant with a specialty in mental induction? No wonder you are the one who swam the deepest among these more than 5,000 small fish."
Rambo clicked on the communication, uploaded the current situation, and then took the newly captured criminals and tools and returned with the team.
Halfway through the journey, Chris's final reply came over the radio: "Thank you for all the hard work on this fishing trip."
"It has been confirmed by the Ministry of External Affairs. This guy has a good reputation and good word of mouth, and he can take decent photos! Let him go." Chris confirmed it again with his colleagues in the Public Relations and External Affairs Department in the conference room, and then issued an order on the public channel of this mission:
"This fishing mission is over. All the people involved in the case have been expelled, and the fortress has returned to normal security."
Wuu—wuuu—
Special frequency alarms rang out over the First Fortress Special Zone, and the deliberately opened secret passages were completely closed. In just seven days, the First Fortress was sealed and returned to its original indestructible appearance.
And in some dark corners, of course, there are also some bloody scenes during cleaning.
But when the interstellar light shone on the floating island again, everything was quiet and clean as if nothing had happened.
*
The alarm sounded at all frequencies, and Fitzgerald, who was standing in front of the French window, certainly heard it. He frowned deeply.
Jenny, the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was so frightened that she dared not even breathe. His Highness rarely personally inquired about the work of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, but today he summoned her and stared at her work report for nearly ten minutes without saying a word.
The tall figure was outlined with straight silhouette lines by the light from the window. The empty office was so quiet that one could not hear a pin drop. However, the only person in power in the room was becoming more and more stern.
Although the five-second video was blurry and shaky, it was beautifully shot. The petite omega woke up from a slight jolt midway and was grabbing his collar to question him. His red hair was a little messy, but the smile on his lips and the affectionate look in his eyes showed that he didn't mind being treated so roughly.
The picture shook for only two seconds before being completely covered by the guards who were guarding in an orderly manner. The last shot of the video was a glance from one of the guards.
"no."
Fitzgerald finally spoke, and the head of the Foreign Affairs Department was so nervous that her heart was in her throat. She didn't dare to respond, but Chris on the voice chat coughed lightly, interrupting the solemn atmosphere.
The black-haired beta in the communication seemed to hold back a laugh before speaking: "Your Highness. If we don't take this opportunity to announce it, our subsequent work will be difficult."
"I think this picture is very good. Miss Su Xi's appearance was not fully captured in the photo. You can rest assured. Besides, brown hair and white skin are not rare dominant genes. Even if the other party wants to find out her background, it will not be that easy."
Albert at the side finally found an opportunity to speak: "Your Highness, you should know that Yindu has been spreading unfavorable opinions, questioning your, um, ability. Now that Queen Mary has returned, she is personally presiding over the selection of your crown princess, and the matching screening of the gene matching library has entered the final round..."
"By announcing the existence of that omega lady at this time, we can delay the proposal submitted by the Omega Association to the House of Lords to implement 'forced matching' on you..."
Fitzgerald understood what Albert reminded him of. 'Forced matching' meant that his next generation would be the product of pure genetic engineering and that he would not be able to continue the 'Gerard' bloodline through 'artificial breeding'. From another perspective, it also meant that he would not be a qualified heir to the empire.
"So, if you don't like this holographic video, change it to another one."
"Or, can we replace an omega with someone else to cover up for us? This will buy some time for Miss Su Xi to recuperate. You know, the omegas who came with Special Envoy Yindu this time are all above Super S level. They have been staying in this fortress full of alphas for almost a month and they are all given to me! It is difficult for me to arrange them, so I might as well take advantage of the situation to avoid Special Envoy Yindu always coming to block you!"
Albert proposed the plan he had been thinking about for a long time, which could not only satisfy the curiosity of the media and the public, but also get that annoying envoy and those omegas back to the central galaxy. How perfect!
"You pick the one that suits your eyes best, give it a random shallow mark, and then send them all back—"
Before Albert finished speaking, he was a little closer to Fitzgerald and immediately felt a strong and cold breath coming from him. Although it was not intentional, the instinctive fear and warning made Albert pale and silent, with cold sweat on his forehead.
The atmosphere in the room was so heavy that it seemed to freeze. As if sensing something, Chris on the other end of the conference call didn't dare to say a word.
After a while, Fitzgerald said calmly, "No need. When we return to Yindu, I will personally take her to the social season on the day of the match."
"Until then, I don't want to see any information leak out."
"Yes!" As a Beta, Jenny was a little far away from the two Alphas, and Fitzgerald had always had perfect control over the concentration and release of his pheromones, so compared to Albert's slightly frightened look at the moment, she seemed much more at ease. Bowing slightly, she replied respectfully: "Everything is up to your wishes."
"Choose a flat photo and submit it to the New Daily News for publication. The financial tycoon behind it was taken over by the Zuo Wei family. This series of related reports was finally approved by Albert."
"yes!"
After receiving the final execution instructions, Jenny, the head of the Foreign Affairs Department, stepped down.
Fitzgerald and Albert were the only ones left in the room.
At this moment, Albert was rubbing his cervical glands little by little to relieve the pressure of his boss's pheromones. He shook his head helplessly. If he didn't know his temper too well, the pheromone threat that relied on the high level to crush him at will could have ruined his friendship at any time!
However, this private complaint was mocked again in the private chat channel of the three people by Chris, who was not present and posted a GIF of a scumbag alpha.
Albert continued to complain to Chris in a private channel: "What is this? You want to make a high-profile announcement, but you don't want people to see even a strand of your hair. How can the people below carry it out?"
Chris: "Scum, this is the difference between your work ability and mine. I leave this to you, take your time to figure it out!"
Finally, the matter was settled.
The dynamic photo that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs chose to release through private media forces is actually perfect and there is nothing wrong with it.
A tall alpha with a stern expression was walking among thousands of people, under the awe-inspiring and absolute protection of a whole team of personal soldiers. The petite outline tightly wrapped in his arms was strictly concealed in an absolutely protective posture. Only when the wind blew while he was walking, a small bit of skin was revealed in a flash in the video.
Then a photo like this was also intercepted by Fitzgerald when the final draft was reviewed.
The tall alpha remained silent, and used his slender index finger to slightly zoom in on the light screen on the desktop. The petite omega's crystal pink toes at that location on the picture were extremely adorable.
The fingertips rubbed lightly, and there was a half-answer of silence. Then the only photo in the final draft was erased.
When Chris learned that Albert had been removed from the project and that she was taking over, she understood what he meant and chose a distant view with only his back.
Then there is the beautiful silhouette of the floating island in the morning light.
Thus, this star network information, which was first published by the New Daily, a little-known private media in the Central Galaxy, immediately spread to all territories of the interstellar human empire at the speed of light.
連同‘菲茨傑拉德殿下那位神秘的omega’一起火熱讨論起來的，就是那座一夜之間綻放在第一要塞鋼鐵之城上，美輪美奂的‘浮空島’側影。
*
浮空島。
晨曦剛起，而蘇熙已經在冷泉區完成了每日冥想，并嘗試修複脈輪的功課。智能系統感應到她的起身後，便驅使森林中的霧霭便溫柔的纏上了她赤|裸的身軀，納米銀的晨霧輕薄溫暖，并效率極高的清理掉了冷泉中殘餘在身體上的基因修複液。
此刻的她，還不知道。那汪在人工拟景的月色中，夢幻般汩汩而出的林間清泉，在外界是如何被眼紅争搶的存在。
泉眼的面積并不大，大約只十多平方米的面積，難得的這是一汪活泉，活泉之下是每日更換的‘基因轉換酶’的反應堆。當時在行星BV32-II之上，追殺她的禿鹫，拼上性命所讨要的也不過這種濃度下不到30ML的一小試管的容量罷了。
然而在這座幾乎一夜之間建築漂浮起來的‘浮空島’裏，這汪清泉的存在，跟山間的一花一木，腳下的一沙一石，似乎是渾然一體的存在，平等而和諧的共存，似乎并不存在價值上的天壤之別。
只不過浮空島上的一花一木，一沙一石，都均是至少三千光年之外，其它星系精心搬運挑選而來。
建築的地基并不是外界某些媒體猜想的全金屬結構，而全然是從比鄰的星系直接傳送的某顆原始生命星的一部分。
其上的綠植等生化循環系統，則是第一要塞的生物基因組在時間催化後穩定生長而出的。
因為在第三天，無論工事部如何呵護，通過移植種植的，來自玫瑰星雲生命行星的那些嬌嫩的花，水土不服的全部大批大批死亡。
幸而菲茨傑拉德的基本要求，只是打造一個供修養的富氧的重力環境，并不苛刻一定要呈現最完美精致的環境。
但工事部并不敢怠慢，連帶着中标的星球開發公司也戰戰兢兢的不計成本，他們以擅長制造開發玫瑰星球為特色，并在生态環境和富氧環境打造上面，算是獨樹一幟了。而且極度的擅長揣摩這種狀況下alpha們的心思和需求。
然而就算是這樣，在三天之內可以呈現最完美的效果，第四天那些嬌嫩的花全都衰敗了。
如同此刻正浸泡在基因修複液中的omega，所面臨的困境一樣。
十四天後的這個早晨，在監控的讀數上，她完整基因修複的數據曲線呈現了斷崖式的下跌。了解完情況，蘇熙披上衣袍，素手輕點關閉了自查詢系統。擡步走出了這片半自然半人工的造景。
菲茨傑拉德已經單手搭着她的外套在外面等着她了，蘇熙不知道他等了多久。林中有鳥婉約微鳴，第一縷晨光隐隐迸發。
紅發alpha立在林下，微濕的薄霧披在肩頭，眉睫微霜，然而他身姿筆挺，沒有半點的不耐煩。
她出來，他給她披上，然後順勢握上了她的手。
蘇熙擡眸看了他一眼。又垂眸。
對菲茨傑拉德來說，他試探着上手後，見自家omega既沒反對，也沒如上一次吵架時那樣甩開他。
便握得更緊了一些。
心神定了下來，牽着她在前面走，在蘇熙看不見的地方，臉上浮現出一個輕淡的微笑。
昨晚的争吵就這麽過去了，菲茨傑拉德轉頭垂眸，正對上她偷眼打量他的眼神，蘇熙撇過頭去。但細嫩的手指卻主動的往他溫暖的手掌中動了一動。
原本勾連着的五指，交纏得更緊了。
這是他們回到第一要塞後，短短的十四天內，第二次争吵又和好。
*
第一次起争執。
那是返回第一要塞的當天，蘇熙在細微的颠簸中睜眼醒過來，發現了自己被一頓所謂的‘燭光晚餐’給哄騙了進入了休眠。當時衆目睽睽之下，還沒讨問出個一二三，蘇熙就赧然的發現了自己被萬人圍觀的事實，當時紅着臉縮回毯子中去了，一切的疑問和憤怒都暫且按捺了下來。
但随後兩人獨處的時候，憤怒過後的蘇熙，也平靜下來并試圖好好講道理，那種‘我為你好才隐瞞你’的狗血劇情最好不要滑稽的上演，有什麽比相互坦陳更重要呢？
特別是對于她而言，在這個星際時代，她沒有血親關系以及不可割舍的朋友，從與行星同化的狀态脫離出來之後，已經代表她放棄了初臨星際時對于‘極致體驗’的追求。而在人類社會中，與菲茨傑拉德之間的情緣羁絆，已經幾乎代表了她紮根這個星際時代的最大的決心。
隔着時間的長河與宇宙永恒的孤寂，光憑借所謂相愛的心，是抵不過巨大意識形态的分歧的。因而她對于兩人的關系，唯一焦慮的便是因為觀念的不同而可能造成的分歧。
他倆人，在某種程度上，很是類似。
蘇熙清晰的意識到了這一點。
但對于菲茨傑拉德來說，雖然對待蘇熙已經是從未有過的耐心和尊重，不強迫她并發自內心的詢問她的意願，而不僅僅是作為禮儀上的敷衍。
但這位帝國第一順位繼承人上位的時日已久，并沒有萬事給他人做解釋的習慣，況且他的本質也是剛直剛直的alpha一名，就算遇見她之前，對于omega這個性別的認知，印象中跟一頭智商與人類五十歲幼兒相差無幾的叽叽獸，差不多同一個認知範圍。
遇見她之後，在這個紅發alpha的心智地圖中，自動的把‘我的oemga’跟‘其它omega’又完全劃分成了不同的種類。
但不管他對于蘇熙的認知有多麽的特別，但是把她劃在羽翼下，作為必須保護的存在，卻是一定的。遮風避雨讓她微笑高興都來不及，怎麽可能把危險和那些隐隐的絕望擺在她面前呢？
不可能的。
于是在第一晚，親親密密的兩人原本一邊親昵着一邊聊得好好的，可說到深入的關鍵問題，仍然不可避免的爆發了情侶間的争吵。那次讓兩人拉鋸冷戰了三個白天和兩個夜晚。
最終以第三晚菲茨傑拉德認輸并完全坦白告一段落。
蘇熙回以熱吻。
還好，他挺吃這一套，第一次争吵的危機就那麽過去了。
*
第二次，也就是昨晚。蘇熙來到浮空島的第十三天夜晚。
至于争吵的內容？其實也不過就是，她感應到他有事瞞着她。那種過于完美的誘哄表情，跟在大荒星域地心空間站中，那頓最後的燭光晚餐時，所展露出來的感覺一模一樣。
至于隐瞞的事情，其實她何嘗猜不出？
看着無數醫療人員，為她脈輪半毀後身體修複能力的急速下降的這個事情，而不停的忙前忙後，短短的十三天內，來了一批醫療組還沒混個臉熟就馬上又換一批，種種跡象完全能猜測個一二。
更何況蘇熙雖然等級下跌，但曾經達到過的高度讓她很容易的就察覺到了自己的現狀。曾經在基因‘崩潰-重生’之間完美平衡的狀态被打破，當前的她完全是倚靠有他特殊的基因提取酶所混合的修複液，延續着生命。
原本在大荒星域的遭遇中，菲茨傑拉德想開了，也接受了她可能只有一個普通omega壽命極限的長度，并且只能終身倚靠他混合的藥劑延續生存，畢竟脈輪半碎又重新修複的例子少得幾乎沒有。
而在那四十一天異星旅行時，兩次的修複療程效果非常好，讓他有些過于樂觀。
但回到第一要塞後，這種樂觀持續到第七天，基因修複液需求的濃度越來越高，口服失效，而蘇熙身體的免疫系統越來越嬌貴……菲茨傑拉德的心一天比一天沉入黑暗。
而被他完全标記過的omega，對于自己alpha的情緒感應，會越來越敏感。就算沒有信息素，就看在回來後的每個夜裏，他擁着她小心翼翼親吻的樣子，那個紅發alpha寧願偷偷捏碎抑制劑，都不願意在她允許的情況下做到那最後的一步。
明明在地心空間站時，一旦她的身體狀态稍微好一點，他就在夜晚無比的放縱。這樣明顯的差異，這樣看護易碎水晶的态度，露出的痕跡太明顯了。
對蘇熙而言，最差不過是某個必定到來的結局，只不過原本對于死亡的無所畏懼，卻在日複一日的情濃之中，遲疑了。
她答應在壽命終結之前一直陪他，可真到了那一日，他怎麽辦？
昨晚，她試探着以“如果”開頭，想聊起“最後一日”的話題，然而迎接她的，卻是alph息素中帶着極度壓抑味道的、冰冷至極的狂怒。
蘇熙當場就承受不住的白了臉。
菲茨傑拉德壓抑着轉身離去。
No one knew where he went that night, and Su Xi couldn't fall asleep in the middle of the night, so she simply went to soak in the cold spring, and tried again and again to repair her chakra according to the plan of the spiritual power repairer.
The spiritual power repairer that Fitzgerald urgently recruited was already a leader in the relevant field of the Empire. After the consultation, he could only reluctantly provide a set of self-repair plans. He could not do more.
But her body was too fragile, so the method was not useless. It was just too slow, too slow to take effect.
She soaked in the cold spring silently all night.
After he calmed down, he came back and waited for her outside the forest all night.
It's dawn.
No more quarreling, I guess we've made peace.
Su Xi thought optimistically.
At this moment, the two of them were heading from the cold spring area of the floating island to the sun observatory on the top of the hill.
Holding hands all the way forward.
Su Xi's eyes followed the two people's clasped hands, along his strong forearms half exposed by his rolled-up sleeves, along his untidy red hair, all the way to his profile that was slightly lit up in the morning light...
She walked barefoot across the shallow stream and across the plank road. The slight exercise made her soak in the cold spring for too long, causing her slightly cold cheeks to become slightly red.
She walked slowly, and he followed her pace without rushing, casually answering questions about the origins of those rare plants and the characteristics of the galaxies where they originated.
Reach the top of the mountain.
The beta waiter in white arranged everything with good training, then left with a slight bow.
Breakfast in the morning light, everything seems so beautiful as a dream.
The First Fortress is a huge man-made steel city, and the core area A is filled with a cold and iron-blooded atmosphere. Therefore, from the sun observatory, across the artificial atmosphere of the floating island, one can vaguely see those giant steel fleets passing by in the distance.
The originally dazzling starlight, refracted by the artificial atmosphere of the floating island, makes this interstellar sunrise even more magnificent and gorgeous.
Su Xi stood on the steps, which was the best observation point, and with her bare hands she touched the empty spot in the air, and the entire floating island, including the holographic scene of Area A, appeared in front of her. She had fought for this authority after the first quarrel.
A warm breath surrounded her from behind. His neatly combed red head was buried in the crook of her shoulder, touching her soft cheek intimately.
"Fitz," Suxi turned slightly, held his face with one hand and said, "Thank you for building a floating island for me, but I don't want it to be a cage for canaries. I hope this island will be our common nest."
The red-haired alpha snorted softly, his handsome and almost perfect face being rubbed into a mess by a small hand, "It's not worth your praise, such a simple environment..."
He was not extravagant by nature, but he was also not satisfied.
"When you're better, we'll go to the Alpha Galaxy. I own an undeveloped star field that's very similar to the galaxy in your memory. You'll like it..."
The warm breath whispered in her ear, but Su Xi could hear depression and sadness. Yes, in her current physical condition, she would probably be out of breath if she left this artificial oxygen-rich area, let alone travel across the stars to another remote corner.
So, she tried to be cheerful and gave another suggestion; "Fitz, I want to go to the First Fortress, where you usually live."
"Nothing to see."
"Well, let's go and see."
He had no choice but to agree, but on the condition that she must fully cooperate with another attempt within the next eight days.
Su Xi returned his kiss with a smile.
*
In the star field where the First Fortress is located, when the light of the first star shines on the high tower of Area A.
This military stronghold was operating normally during the day, except for some places where there were occasional minor troubles. After all, the transition between dusk and dawn was the easiest time for loopholes to be exploited.
MD. Chris was fretting over this issue.
"What? He ran away again?"
"You are the elites of the First Fortress after all! How come you can't even keep a small thug in check?!"
Looking at the subordinates who were listening with their heads down, and looking at the repair cabin that was destroyed from the inside out, the black-haired beta calmed down after her anger. She squatted down and took a closer look, and suddenly sneered: "They were so smart as to pretend to be awake and create signs of damage from the inside."
"Who is it? Could it be his accomplice..." Chris narrowed his eyes and planned to solve the problem rudely. "Gary, please be in charge of the interrogation and investigation."
"Yes." Gary, who was watching the show at the side, was suddenly called. He rubbed his nose and was really reluctant to wade into the internal waters of the Zuowei family. But in order to whitewash his past experience as a double spy, he had to stay in the security team of Chris Medical Center and gain experience.
"Gary?"
"Got it, sir!" Gary, the former ace spy and top mental interrogator of the three armed forces, now a security guard at the Medical Department, had to stand up straight and lazily replied, "I promise to complete the mission, but I would like to start the investigation from the new recruit named 'Zuowei', okay?"
Chris glanced at him, understood his friend's ridicule, and was angry and helpless: "Okay, I authorize you to torture them as you like! It's not military law! It's family law! Kill those daring little bastards!"
"Yes, I hope my skills are not rusty yet."
Gary smiled, put on gloves and walked towards the group of 'little brats' amidst the horrified looks.
Mary, who had just finished her shift and was about to go home to rest and hug her wife, suddenly received a call from Chris with an urgent short-term mission authorization. She clicked to receive it, and then said to Rambo and others: "There is a small trouble. Chris's family is estimated to have escaped to the core area according to the surveillance ring. You have 15 minutes to catch him back."
"Let's go!" Rambo suddenly whistled, "I love doing this, it's so fun to fight with that guy, hehe!"
Mary rolled her eyes at him and sneered, "Please understand the situation clearly. Area A is so nervous about that person right now, and the patrol is so strong that it's abnormal. We must not be unlucky enough to run into the commander's bodyguards in this mission. Even if Chris rescues us later, do you want to be locked up for a long time for nothing?"
"No!" Rambo shuddered, "Let's go, let's finish this quickly and quietly."
"Which direction will he escape to? Why are there three tracking points?" Rambo frowned in doubt, "Should we five chase him separately?"
"Separate them," Mary said firmly, "I hope that guy is not stupid enough to go in the direction of the floating island."
Rambo shuddered, turned his head and looked up at the beautiful island. Those who knew a little about it knew exactly how formidable the defense there was.
Just like a dragon guarding its most beloved treasure, anyone who touches it will die.