Chapter 244 [Revised] The "perverted" product of Earthlings is actually me...
He called him the Sava Fragrant Chicken, and Sava retaliated by giving him the name of "Fragrant Bird".
Although they are revolutionary comrades, "hurting each other" is a daily routine.
Kidd burst into laughter, and the fries were scattered all over the table. Huo Yuan pushed the door open and protested: "I am going to initiate a democratic vote now to ban eating in the command room!"
"One vote against." Kidd picked up the French fries and threw them into his mouth.
"Two votes against." Sava burped.
Three birds looked here. Bai Ling raised his hand innocently: "I abstain."
Two votes against one vote, Yuanzi returned empty-handed. He sneered and turned the exhaust system to maximum, blowing the other two birds to the ground and making them squeaking.
Bai Ling was watching from behind with a cup of hot milk in his hand. As he watched, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curled up.
The milk goes down the throat and warms the stomach along the esophagus. The sudden warmth caused him to have a slight emotional spasm. Although it was only a moment, he felt a sense of dislocation in time and space - these three birds, according to their respective destinies, could never be together.
Unlike now, when people are fighting and arguing endlessly, everyone has a lively look on their face.
They worked together to bend the pointer of fate to the other side, pointing to the light within their sight.
If this continues...
"Commander Bai." Hal came in, saluted the generals, and then quickly came to Bai Ling to report.
"You asked us to find an informant on New Columbus, and we found him."
He handed over the information: "His name is Lan Jian, nicknamed 'Blue Big Foot' in the military, and he is a hybrid of the blue-footed booby of the order Pelecaniformes. His grandparents and mother are all from Earth, and his father is an alien female alpha. But when he was fourteen, his parents divorced, and his father forcibly took away his custody and took him to live on another planet. However, he has a good relationship with his grandmother's family and has always kept in touch. He is willing to help us go back and get information."
They had already lost a vanguard team, so they were extremely careful in selecting people this time, giving priority to local people who were familiar with the local customs and practices.
Bai Ling had previously looked through Lan Jian's information during the initial screening and found no major problems. And according to Lan Jian, his grandparents are devout cyber believers, and they hold regular meetings with other believers every week.
In addition, his grandfather is also a veteran employee of a pharmaceutical company.
If we look for a breakthrough in his home, we should be able to discover something.
Lan Jian promised that after arriving at his grandmother's house, he would send them messages every day and report in time.
On the first day and the second day, the information arrived as expected, and everything was calm.
But on the evening of the third day.
Lan Jian has lost contact.
·
Three days ago, New Columbus.
Lan Jian got off the boat with his bag on his back, looking somewhat guilty and uneasy.
He had promised Hal that his grandfather would come to pick him up when he got off the boat. But now when I looked up, there was no one outside. As he walked, he stole glances at the dark gray sky outside, his heart pounding.
Grandpa probably won’t come to pick him up.
He didn't dare admit that he had told a big lie in order to get this task - in fact, his relationship with his grandfather's family was not as good as he described. At best, they would greet each other during the holidays and never interacted at other times. They were almost like strangers.
Besides, that weird old grandfather didn't like him very much and always called him "little alien". When he was a child, he was stubborn and cursed back, "This is the empire and you are aliens", so he was held down and beaten. If his mother hadn't rushed out to stop him, he would have died there.
Yes, he has two mothers. The one who rushed out to protect him was his Earthling mother who gave birth to him, and the other one was woman A who sowed the seeds. In order to distinguish them, he called her dad.
There's nothing much to say about the name. After all, it is the interstellar age now. There are six genders, and both men and women can give birth. The word "father" is no longer linked to a single gender, but exists as a simple reference noun.
If it is a family where both parents are able to have children and are interested in raising them, and they take turns having one, the names will be even more confusing. For example, in some families where the girl is A and the boy is O, they just call each other "Dad" and "Mom" together, depending on the family's preference.
Lan Jian lived with his mother when he was a child and grew up in an area where Earth immigrants gather in New Columbus. The education he received was also biased towards the Earth's perspective, and he believed that the union of men and women was normal. He was teaching ethics and rule of law at school, and when he learned that two men were getting married outside, he joined his classmates in calling them perverts.
Later he found out that his short-haired "daddy" who looked tall, cool and taciturn was actually biologically female. He was completely devastated.
The "perverted" product turned out to be myself! ?
I experienced a huge wave of culture shock.
Since then, Lan Jian has had an inexplicable inferiority complex. He hunches his back wherever he goes, trying to minimize his presence. This is to prevent others from discovering that he is different from other pure-blooded Earth children.
It was not until his parents divorced and he left on a spaceship for the first time to go to another "alien planet" to attend high school that he realized that what he was worried about was just the most common thing in the empire. No one around him will discriminate against him just because he is the son of two biologically primary females.
His classmates who transferred to another school found it funny when they heard him say this:
"What's so strange about this? Didn't you adapt when you were in elementary school? You are an immigrant from Earth, so you should have gone to the same public elementary school as us. When I was a child, I had a classmate who was also transported from Earth."
Lan Jian explained to his classmates that he was a third-generation immigrant and was born in Empire. Unlike Commander Bai, an orphan who came directly from Earth, he would not be sent to a public elementary school for aliens to integrate into the cultural atmosphere of the empire.
He went to a private school funded by Earthlings, and the textbooks were different from those on other planets. The languages that everyone learns are also varied, and they are generally the languages of our parents’ hometowns on Earth. This way, when they go out and chat, ordinary imperial people cannot understand what they are saying.
As he spoke, Lan Jian showed them a few words in the Earth dialect.
The students shook their heads to indicate that they didn't understand.
They complained, "You're using encrypted calls. Your grandma's family is pretty xenophobic."
Lan Jian didn't understand at the time and thought the word "xenophobia" was a bit insulting. He argued with them and recited what he had learned in the Taoism class at New Earth Elementary School, "What do you know? This is the inheritance of Earth's classical culture. Our bloodline and language must be passed down from generation to generation. Even if I tell you, animals won't understand!"
I said I didn't feel anything at the time. After entering university and coming into contact with more people and more things, Lan Jian broke out in a cold sweat when he recalled this incident.
It’s not that there’s anything wrong with passing down the family language.
Instead, the first thing he said was "You animals".
My teacher mentioned in a college class that this kind of behavior has a special sociological term in the interstellar world, called "extreme anthropocentrism."
This term is easy to explain. It means that humans are at the top of all food chains in nature.
“Extreme anthropocentrism” contains the word “extreme”, which means radical, so it is not a good phenomenon.
For example, some people on Earth believe that aliens who have long since immigrated to the interstellar world do not belong to the same race as themselves.
Since the aliens have animal blood, the people on Earth who believe in "human supremacy" will believe that the aliens have impure blood and are half-orcs who have evolved in order to survive.
——Inferior to the people on Earth.
This kind of classification is nothing new. After all, in the 21st century on ancient Earth, there were still 1.4 billion people in India who firmly adhered to the caste system.
There are definitely quite a few people who have this kind of thinking.
Therefore, Lan Jian's behavior is equivalent to subconsciously thinking that his classmates are inferior to him and discriminating against them.
This is really disrespectful.
But we can’t blame Lan Jian entirely.
After all, he received Earth-style education from birth to junior high school, and it was hard for him not to be influenced by his family and school.
Sometimes, he would fall into some deep conceptual confusion——
Am I a human being or an animal?
Or something in between?
He can't figure it out.
He asked his college roommate, who thought he was overthinking:
"What's there to think about? If you can transform into a human form, then you are human. We aliens are also human, just mutants. Look, the name of our country is 'The First Experimental Country of Humanity'."
Lan Jian subconsciously asked again: "Then why is it called the Experimental Country?"
His roommate felt annoyed by him and said perfunctorily: "Just do experiments, human experiments, or..."
As he was talking, he stopped talking, and both of them fell into an inexplicable and strange silence. It seems that if we continue discussing this, we will get stuck into some unknown, incomprehensible, and unfathomable truth.
They don't know what the so-called truth is. I just instinctively felt fear at the unknown that flashed through my mind at that moment.
Finally, my roommate trembled and added, "…it should be a test of the national system…or social system or something. We are an immigrant country, so we need to avoid taking detours…Oh, this is not something we should consider. Have you finished your homework? Remember to copy it for me before class tomorrow morning. I'm going to bed first."
After saying that, he turned over, rolled up in the quilt and went to sleep.
Everything settled back down in the darkness, as if it had never happened.
·
Unexpectedly, Lan Jian originally wanted to take a flying vehicle, but while he was waiting, his grandfather actually called and said he was coming to pick him up.
Lan Jian sent a message to his grandparents before he came.
But grandpa didn't reply, only grandma said "I know". Apart from these three words, there was nothing else, and she looked very cold.
Lan Jian didn't feel embarrassed. Because the reason he found was very good - his mother was sick and he wanted to come and see her. This is only natural.
But there was another reason why Lan Jian felt guilty.
In addition to carrying out his military mission this time, he also wanted to secretly take his mother away. He was never quite sure about the specific reasons why his two mothers divorced. But when he grew up, he inferred through various details in his memories and suspected that his grandparents had deliberately separated his parents.
At least in Lan Jian's memory, when his daughter A's father came home, the atmosphere with her grandparents was always solemn. Even a little kid like him could see that she was unwelcome.
Under this premise, he could understand why his grandparents didn't like him.
After all, it's like your own daughter is disobedient and insists on marrying an alien woman from outside. The ancestor of this alien woman was a seabird with a pair of Tiffany blue big feet that could dance with a clacking sound, just like a sand sculpture. His daughter thought it was fun, so he talked to her secretly. As a result, she got pregnant overnight and gave birth to a big light blue egg.
For some Earth immigrants with more traditional ideas, not taking their daughter to beat eggs is considered a good thing!
Lan Jian once again sighed that he was lucky to have survived.
Sitting in the aircraft, he quietly looked at the rearview mirror and observed his grandfather's expression from inside.
"...Grandpa, how are you and grandma doing lately?"
"Same old as always." He looked like he didn't want to talk much.
The mirror reflected an ordinary old man, about sixty years old, with a thick beard on his chin and a serious and scary expression. His forearms were also hairy and muscular - Lan Jian had seen him drag his mother back and lock her in the house several times.
"What are you looking at? Do you think I'm old?" Grandpa asked suddenly.
Lan Jian quickly explained, "It's been a long time since we last met. I missed you and wanted to see you more."
Grandpa looked indifferent and didn't answer.
Speaking of aging, even though he pays attention to exercise and maintenance, my grandfather still ages 30% faster than the aliens.
In addition, the concentration of interstellar cosmic rays is high, and pure-blooded earthlings do not have as strong anti-radiation genes as aliens. After the age of 30, the risk of cancer will increase greatly.
In short, the people on Earth are not living as comfortably here as they imagine. In terms of lifespan, genes and pheromone perception, they are far behind the aliens, so the jobs they can do are very limited.
Perhaps it is for this reason that they are so grateful to the pharmaceutical company "Reco" for generously giving them job opportunities.
In my peripheral vision, the rope hanging in front of the windshield was dangling, and underneath it hung a work card with the words,
[Rui Ke Group, Logistics Manager: Heishan Jianye]
Heishan Jianye is my grandfather’s name.
In silence, we arrived at the destination. Grandma came out to greet us graciously.
Her hair was combed so meticulously and neatly that it reflected the light. He looks much younger than his actual age and is relatively kind and friendly.
It can be said that without her tolerance, Lan Jian’s childhood might have been more suffocating.
"Xiaojian, you've grown up so much, come in quickly... Is your father okay?" asked grandma.
Lan Jian was stunned for a moment, "Well... she passed away."
It happened last year. He remembered that he also sent a message to his grandparents.
"I see, no wonder you came here," Grandma welcomed him with a smile, "This is your only home now."
Taking his backpack, grandma squeezed his arm and praised him with a smile: "You are getting stronger and stronger. You are a young man."
"By the way, haven't you thought about joining the army?" she suddenly asked.
Lan Jian answered flexibly, "I was going to sign up for the National Army, but when the conscription came to our school, I had a fever, so I didn't go."
"Well," Grandma kindly suggested, "We also have a recruitment point here. Your grandpa will go to work tomorrow, so he can take you there."
"…No hurry, I want to accompany my mother first."
Grandma seemed a little surprised. "You mean Xiaoman? She hasn't lived here for a long time."
Lan Jian's heart instantly rose to his throat, "Where did she go?"
Grandma smiled and said, "Of course we sent her to the hospital. It's a benefit provided by the company, free medical care. Xiao Man will be much more comfortable there than at home."
Lan Jian immediately suggested going to the hospital to visit Lu Yiman. Grandma was very easy to talk to and agreed readily.
But when he came to his grandfather, Heishan Jianye refused outright, "No!"
Lan Jian asked why not.
Heishan Jianye's eyes swept out the window, his face livid, "It's dark now, don't disturb others."
Lan Jian had no choice but to agree, and went to bed after dinner.
·
Late at night, a figure nimbly jumped out of the detached house and tiptoed towards the aircraft.
If there was any favorite military training course that Lan Jian had in the Revolutionary Army, it would definitely be lock picking!
Door locks, mecha locks, ship locks, any locked place, he is keen to pry open. His instructor suspected that he had some strange mental illness and took him for testing.
However, psychological tests show that he is in a good state of mind at the moment.
The instructor speculated: "Then you must have a door in your subconscious that you want to open but can't, otherwise you wouldn't use a small screwdriver to pry here and there. You even tore apart the cabinet where I kept the peanut brittle."
The instructor was like a macaw. Although he spoke in a gentle voice, his voice was actually terrifyingly loud. I almost scolded him deaf.
Click.
There was a soft sound in the darkness.
The aircraft door creaked open.
Lan Jian suppressed the cheers in his heart, climbed up calmly, and groped his way around in the darkness.
Lan Jian knew that the corporate hospital they were talking about was just ten kilometers away from here. But it would be night time, and you had to swipe your employee card to get in.
Snap, he touched the rope, pulled off his work badge, and quickly put it in his pocket.
He walked down holding his breath and glanced at the house again. It was pitch dark inside the window and there was no light at all.
It looked like they were all asleep.
Safety.
Lan Jian looked at the time. It was already half past ten in the evening, so he hurried to the hospital.
A distance of ten kilometers was not difficult for a male college student like him who had been in the army for four months. In addition, he grew up here and was familiar with the streets, so he walked quite easily.
But somehow, there was no one on the road tonight.
The further I walked, the more strange I felt. Why were there no lights on in any of the windows around me? It was all dark. Could it be that in less than five years, the residents here have all developed the habit of going to bed on time at 10 o'clock, with no one staying up late?
Lan Jian stood there in a daze.
A street lamp overhead shone upon him. He stood in the light, looking with difficulty into the dim darkness not far away.
The bumpy rollers squirmed in the shadows.
What is that…
The wet sound, mixed with an inaudible whisper, came from far to near, and from near to front. At the blurred edge of the scattered light of the street lamp, several tentacles were waving and silently reaching out into the light...
Lan Jian felt a chill on his spine, and he stepped back suddenly, completely retreating into the light—
There was a loud bang.
The light bulb fell down and the light went out.
It suddenly went dark in front of my eyes. Blue-footed boobies cannot see at night, and it was as dark as hell here.
At this moment, the rolling sound came closer, close to the corner of the wall, and he could vaguely make out part of it:
A head.
Another head.
One on the left, one on the right, one next to it...heads, all heads! Heads of different shapes were inserted into a four-meter-high sponge ball, like a bunch of severed flowers. They turned around and around, and countless pairs of empty eyes rolled over and over. For a moment, he suspected that he saw his missing comrades...
The two mallards finally turned their twisted faces around and recognized him. They murmured to him in twisted, weird tones:
"Hello, friend..."
Lan Jian watched it rolling over.
He knew that these would be his last ten seconds alive.
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