◇ Chapter 50: Border
After Lann returned from the Tribunal, he stayed in the Third Prince's residence for more than half a month before he fully recovered.
In order to conceal his tracks, he injected an excessive amount of the drug, which has not been completely metabolized until now. This thing has serious side effects. He has intermittent fever and has become sleepy.
Lan En did not show any discomfort. He took over the job of butler again the next day after returning home and started preparing afternoon tea for Lin You. However, Lin You touched his skin and found that the temperature was not right, so he forcibly pinned him to the bed.
Lan En was drowsy at the time. He looked at Lin You in confusion, focusing his vision with difficulty. He found that he was pinned to the ground by the Third Prince, making it difficult for him to turn over, let alone get up. So he let his body fall limply.
"Okay." He closed his eyes dazedly, "It seems I won't be able to take care of you these few days."
Lin You started to grind his teeth again. There were many teeth marks on Lan En's body these days. Every time he flirted with him without caring about his body, Lin You was so angry that his teeth itched. When he couldn't really punish him, he would bite his shoulder and said, "Take care of yourself, Major General. I don't need your care."
Lann muttered, "I don't have to do anything. It feels like I'm just living in retirement."
He resigned from his post in the Third Army and had a long vacation. He spent his days tending to the garden and basking in the sun, spending his free time with the elderly.
During this holiday, Lane completely handed over the Colette family to Lin You.
He transferred all the family businesses and properties without reservation, and left the house empty-handed. He also brought several younger members of the family to Lin You and let them meet him.
Except for Lann, the current generation of the Collette family has no backbone talent. It is a period of transition. The younger generations are all tiny, about 78 years old, and are not even as tall as Lin You's thigh.
The carrots stood in a row obediently, calling him "Third Prince" in a baby voice. Lin You's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he complained to the system: "66, do you know what I am thinking of in this situation?"
66: “?”
"I thought of Zhuge Liang in Baidi City. Liu Bei knew that he would die soon, so he entrusted Adou to him... The difference is that Liu Bei entrusted one person, while Lan En entrusted a whole group of people."
66 looked at the row of little radish heads.
“…”
Quite appropriate.
Apart from that, everything was normal, even a bit peaceful. The only unusual thing was that Lin You discovered that Lan En spent more time on the training system.
He shot at the static target over and over again, killing the target with every shot. Lin You followed up with two shots. He had to admit that even as a top-level anchor, he still had a gap with the major general who had really fought in blood and fire.
Time passed day by day, getting closer and closer to the 21st, Lin You counted silently in his heart, and finally, only the last few hours were left.
Colonel Devin of the Third Army took his annual leave in advance and parked the aircraft near the residence of the Third Prince. He visited Lann at night, and as soon as it got light, they would set off in the morning light and fly to the border of District 23.
Lin You repeatedly read the last paragraph of the novel, trying to find clues, but the description was vague, with only a few short paragraphs: "Lan raised his gun and faced forward. This was an ultra-long-range sniper rifle. The bullet was enough to cross the dark deep space and bury him and his enemies in the cemetery of the stars. He loaded the gun, aimed, pulled the trigger - and then greeted death."
As for who he pointed the gun at, who he was buried with, or how he died, the novel does not mention it.
Lin You suppressed his annoyance and nodded to Devin: "Colonel, can I see the aircraft you are going to?"
Devon was stunned. He was not used to Lin You's politeness and nodded repeatedly: "Of course, please."
They were sitting together drinking tea. Lan En put down the cake in his hand and stood up reluctantly: "What's so good about this?"
Lin You: "I always have to check if it's safe."
He followed behind Devin, holding the USB drive tightly in his hand, and asked cryptically, "66, are you ready?"
The small screen showed an "ok" expression.
Lin You was worried about Lan En going to District 23 alone, but he couldn't stop him. After thinking about it, he came up with a solution.
He decided to follow the example of the eldest prince and install a positioning camera on the spacecraft.
66 is a system of a high-dimensional civilization. It can not only monitor in all directions, but can even take over the spacecraft when necessary and forcibly cut off the control of the cockpit. If it really comes to a critical moment, Lin You can order the aircraft to return.
The only problem is, he has to hack into the ship's controls first.
The military spacecraft has gone through several generations of iterations, and its safety performance is beyond doubt. Even 66 cannot invade out of thin air. Lin You needs to import the data into the main control system first, and the medium for import is the small USB flash drive in his hand.
Lin You boarded the aircraft.
The interior space of this aircraft is not small but quite spacious. It is divided into a living room, a lounge and a cockpit. There is a huge floor-to-ceiling window in the lounge. It is made of a whole piece of high-density glass that can withstand the air pressure inside and outside the universe and the spacecraft. It looks like a scene from a science fiction novel.
Lann walked side by side with him, looking out of the French window. It was already late at night, and outside the glass were only the undulating buildings of the prince's mansion.
Lane said, "When we fly out of the atmosphere tomorrow, we will be able to look down directly at the Capital Star and the nearby nebulae from this floor-to-ceiling window. If we are lucky enough, we can also see the sunrise from here. The morning sun will dye the clouds rosy, and the clouds will roll up, like a ground covered with broken gold."
Lin You didn't stop, just said: "It should be very beautiful."
He turned and entered the cab.
Compared with the comfort and cleanliness of the living room, the design of the cab is much more sloppy and messy, with various exposed wires and buttons of unknown use, making it look extremely complicated.
Lane disagreed: "You shouldn't be here."
There are many sharp objects in the cab, so it is not a good place to visit. People who are not familiar with the environment can easily get cut if they move around here.
Devin followed closely and said, "Your Highness, the environment here is too bad, you shouldn't stay here." He was afraid that the male insect would be delicate and willful and break something, and they would not have time to repair it or find a replacement.
Lin You waved his hand and sat down in the driver's seat. He seemed to casually brush across rows of buttons, and then touched a certain interface under the seat. Using his body as a cover, he gently inserted the USB flash drive.
Click.
There was a slight biting sound coming from the interface.
66: "Data transmission begins, attempting to hack into the ship's control system."
Lin You pointed at the dashboard to attract their attention and used his voice to cover up the mechanical bite sound: "Major General Lan, I am very interested in the aircraft. Tell me about its structure."
"……good."
Male insects generally have no interest in these things. When the Third Prince spoke like this, Lan En raised an eyebrow in surprise, but he still started to introduce them.
He sat down in the co-pilot seat and taught Lin You how to fiddle with the buttons with a patient and meticulous look: "This is the master control of the millimeter radar, used to detect and locate enemy aircraft or cosmic rock turbulence. This..."
Lin You followed his gaze, seemingly listening carefully, but in fact his mind was wandering and his thoughts were drifting to who knows where.
He knew these things.
In the military's simulation system, Lane had taught him how to fly an aircraft in this way, over and over again, without getting tired of it.
Although Lin You has never touched the real thing, in the simulation system, his points have already reached the top, slightly lower than Lan En, but not inferior to any military female below the rank of colonel.
After the first row of buttons finished speaking, 66 said softly, "Host, transmission is over."
Lin You nodded slightly, using his body to cover his face, and put the USB drive into his pocket.
Lann brushed his wrist imperceptibly, his brows twitched slightly, but he said nothing.
The cockpit fell silent.
Devin looked at his watch and said softly, "Major General, we should go."
Lan: “Hmm…”
Lin You lowered his eyes: "Then I'll go down first."
He felt a little sad and had to lower his eyes to hide it.
"Wait, little prince."
Lan En, with a smile in his eyes, suddenly grabbed him and pulled Lin You in front of him.
This was an ungentlemanly and ungentlemanly action, contrary to the ancestral teachings of the Colette family, and even more inappropriate for a prince. Lan had never done such a rude thing in his life for more than 20 years, but he did it anyway.
Lan En said: "Your Highness, I have overstepped my bounds. Please forgive me."
Although he said that it was overstepping the boundaries, he did not stop his actions. He reached out and grabbed the back of Lin You's head, then suddenly leaned over and exchanged a long kiss with him.
Their lips and teeth pressed together, Lan En kissed her hard and roughly, and he didn't let go even when Lin You bit his lower lip lightly with his teeth.
The two didn't know how long they kissed. When the clouds cleared and the rain stopped, Lin You took a step back and stood firm before saying, "I don't forgive you."
He looked at Lan quietly: "Major General, I am not a casual person. I will not easily forgive such an offense."
Lann then laughed and said, "What should I do to earn your forgiveness?"
"Come back." Lin You took a deep breath, "Come back in one piece."
Lann smiled and said, "It's a deal."
He turned and walked deeper into the spacecraft.
When Lin You got off the spaceship, the sky in the east was just beginning to turn pale. In front of him, a huge iron-gray creature ignited and started. Blue-purple flames spurted out in a ring from the jet nozzle. Lann walked to the glass window, waved to Lin You and smiled.
This smile was not a social, hypocritical one, but a real smile, full of energy and unrestrained. At this moment, Lann seemed to have unloaded all the shackles. He was no longer the well-educated eldest son of the family, nor was he a major general of the Third Army who needed to disguise himself carefully. He was just himself.
Lann lip-synced: "Goodbye."
The aircraft gradually became smaller in sight and became a blurry and invisible dot.
Lin You watched him disappear into the sky.
He returned to the prince's residence and locked the door of the study. 66 spoke at the right time: "The sharing system has been opened for you."
The screen unfolded like a scroll, and a red-gold sun appeared at the end of the sight. Rose color filled the field of vision, and the sea of clouds rolled along with it.
66: "They happened to be passing through the troposphere."
In the shared footage, the spacecraft passed through the troposphere and stratosphere, and finally broke through the gravitational pull of the capital planet. They sailed in the boundless universe for several days and nights, passing by Zerg planets that were either prosperous or barren, and finally stopped at the border of Area 23.
Border troops of the Third Army are stationed here.
Lane and Devin stopped here to restock their supplies, replenish their consumed water and fuel, and then stayed on the star for one night.
This is the frontier of the empire. Beyond it is the unexplored universe, a hotbed of rampant black markets and space pirates. However, the defense here is surprisingly weak. Only the remnants of the Third Army are stationed here, and there is not even enough to form a company.
The garrison leader was a lame, one-eyed old man. He wore the uniform of the Third Army and carried a cane. His empty trouser legs were tied up with rags. He bowed to Lan and said, "Major General."
Lann held him up. "Abel, how are you doing?"
Abel smiled, "It's okay. My phantom limb hurts occasionally... It's just that in this remote place, the wine is all low-quality, undistilled wine. There are no merchant ships coming and going, so I can't even drink a good wine."
Lann then took out a box of wine from the aircraft. It was produced on the main planet, had a mellow taste and was worth a fortune. He handed it to Buel and said, "Try this."
Lin You's gaze fell on Ebel's right chest, where there were several badges. Although they were rusted and the paint was peeling, one could still vaguely see their former glory.
66 said: "This is a colonel-level officer."
It skillfully pulled up Abel's information: "Abel, colonel of the Third Army, graduated from the Empire's First Military Academy. He was seriously injured due to pheromone disorder during the battle for the 23rd District Station. He should have retired, but chose to stay in the 23rd District for patrol and protection."
Lin You: "Pheromone chaos?"
He had looked through the relevant information. During the battle for Area 23, the pheromone reserves of the Third Army garrison were replaced in large quantities with black market preparations. This action directly led to the tragic victory of the battle and countless casualties.
As for why the pheromone reserves, as strategic materials, were easily replaced, and why no one was held accountable for such a huge mistake later, no one knows the details.
Everything behind this tragic battle was completely erased, just like the innocent non-commissioned officers who died.
Lan and Abel spent a night drinking on the deserted planet.
The desolate planet is almost never hit by the sun and is dark all day long. The violent ionizing radiation creates a cold-toned aurora on the sky. The temperature at night drops to around -70 degrees Celsius. After a night, their brows are covered with frost. The major general's blue eyes are terribly cold, even colder than the permafrost in Area 23 that never melts all year round.
Abel finished the last sip from the pot and said with a wry smile, "It's a pity that they can no longer drink such good wine."
Lan patted Abel's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I'll send it to them right away."
He paused, then smiled: "Including the sacrifice."
The next morning, Devin stayed at the base, while Lane flew the aircraft alone and left the border.
Lin You followed Lan's eyes, watching him fly across the border and plunge into the vast universe.
As he passed a giant planet, he began to slow down.
66: "That's what's called a 'planet graveyard'."
This planet is accompanied by a huge red-gold planetary ring. Countless sharp rocks rise and fall with the gravitational tides, forming a natural barrier for the planet, warning all aircraft to approach with caution. The steel that the Zerg are proud of is vulnerable to these high-speed stones, otherwise it may be torn to pieces at any time.
Lann started the aircraft and rotated with the star ring.
He turned on the automatic mode and stood in front of the French window, staring at the star ring in a trance.
Buried in this magnificent landscape of colors are countless skeletons that cannot return home.
Lann has been staying here for three days.
During these three days, he released small aircraft and let them fly towards the star ring. Each aircraft was fully loaded with wine. He occasionally returned to the base for supplies, but more often, he just stayed here.
Neither moving forward nor backward.
Lin You asked: "Is he waiting for something?"
Lan was indeed waiting. He frequently checked the navigation and wiped the gun, until one morning, Lin You suddenly woke up in shock.
A vast expanse of black appeared outside the floor-to-ceiling window of the screen.
The author has something to say:
Well, I should be able to finish this unit this week.
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