Chapter 57: Mental Strength Check (Update 1)
Mingyu did not log out of the Star Navigation Competition module immediately.
He left the Starport and curled up on the sofa in the lounge, first flipping through the transaction list in the designer's freelance area.
The last engine acceleration design I was assigned was submitted before the competition. There was no response from the other party for the first few days, until they suddenly sent a message with a photo.
"The factory delivered the modified starship today! Wow! The performance is top-notch! Fast and stable! Are you really LUCE? The designer of the colorful team in the Starflight Competition!"
Mingyu clicked on the photo and took a look.
The photo shows the tail section of a newly installed starship engine. The yellow starship's tail is painted with black trim, and the end is shorter than a typical starship. Mingyu, at the request of the other party, had specially exposed a few lead-gray exhaust pipes at the end of the engine, creating an exaggerated and cool look.
As he drew the design, he knew from the specifications and images sent by the other party that this was a civilian starship, intended for short family trips. Therefore, in addition to meeting the other party's speed requirements, he also specially installed stabilizers on the starship, which seemed to work well.
The other party placed another order immediately.
Mingyu was happy to not have to search the trading area any further. He didn't reply to the other party's message and simply accepted the deposit. He checked his account, where his deposit was growing, then opened the star map of the entire star field and scrolled to the side, finding a small inhabited planet he had noticed a few days ago.
This planet is far from the capital star, located at the border of the central and southeastern star regions. Nearby are space jump routes to several resource stars and the edge of the star region. The scenery on this planet is beautiful, but due to its remote location and the company's withdrawal from development midway through due to lack of funds, only a few human settlements have been built.
Most of these settlements are used to accommodate tourists visiting the planet. The few permanent residents in the remaining settlements are mostly members of small exploration teams.
When the company was developing it, it had great ambitions and wanted to create a private vacation planet. Therefore, it took the lead in building a number of private star ports. Together with the surrounding flight routes, it is very suitable for exploration teams to settle down.
The key is that housing prices and commodity prices are very cheap.
While the entertainment and shopping facilities weren't very good, the medical system was quite adequate, catering to the needs of the exploration teams and tourists. Furthermore, public security was good. Although close to the outer rim, it was still three days' journey from the Free Sector. Mingyu had checked historical data and found that even on Kuroshio days, when Kuroshio energy was at its peak, the planet was unaffected by the energy.
Mingyu's fingers slid across the rental agreement for an apartment.
The monthly rent for a single apartment is only 500 star coins, which is really good value for money.
The rental price of private starports on the planet is also very cheap. A small starport with five starship parking bays only costs one thousand star coins per month, and discounts can be obtained if rented by the year.
At this price, if Mu Baixing and his group are able to move to the Central Star Region one day... it will already be a rare low price in the market.
Mingyu glanced at the calendar again.
There are still two months left in this semester, and he has two and a half years of study left at Star Navigation University.
But Mingyu could apply to the school to switch to distance learning. Their major in astral history was already a field where wealthy families paid a lot of money to get into it, and many of them applied without their parents' knowledge. The department head was adept at taking advantage of the situation, and usually approved any student who applied.
Therefore, as long as they don't receive a warning of expulsion due to their GPA being too low and touching the bottom line of the comprehensive university, no one will know that they have already left the capital planet and are living a life of luxury somewhere.
After completing the formalities, he can leave a message for the Ming family and leave directly.
The planet he had chosen was so remote that there wasn't even public transportation. As long as he left the capital planet on a private starship, the Ming family would have a hard time finding him.
Mingyu chose a date while looking at the star map.
Otherwise, it would have been before the Yueming family conducted a routine mental examination on him.
His finger paused, and he saw the little red dot he had marked on the calendar three weeks later.
It was the 300th birthday of Ming Yu’s grandfather, Ming Zhengen, the old man of the Ming family.
Ming Yu remembered that when he was a child, the Ming family wasn't as powerful as it is today. His parents often stayed at the Third Army, leaving him alone with a household robot. Later, his grandfather, Ming Zhengen, couldn't stand it anymore and simply took him to the small building at the back of the Ming family estate where the elderly lived alone.
That was probably the happiest time in Mingyu's childhood.
But just one or two years later, Ming's parents had time and took him back.
Ming Zhengen doesn't like crowds, but when he was in good health a few years ago, he would often come to see Mingyu.
When Mingyu was ten years old and had his first mental power test but was found to have no awakened mental power, the old man took him to the amusement park without telling his parents.
Mingyu was eleven, twelve... until he was fifteen. Every year during the test, Ming Zhengen would come to the front yard to accompany Mingyu until the doctor announced that he would never be able to awaken his mental power in this lifetime and the test stopped.
But later, as the old man grew older, he became less and less willing to leave the small courtyard where he lived alone, and he didn't want anyone to enter. Mingyu hadn't seen him for several years.
However, he vaguely remembered hearing his parents say that the Ming family would still hold a party for his grandfather's 300th birthday.
Before his retirement, the old man was a senior member of the Central Star Region United Parliament. Taking advantage of his birthday, he wanted to see his old friends.
And probably... his parents also want to use the birthday party to maintain the network of contacts they inherited from the old man, so the event will be quite grand.
Mingyu didn't care about the grandeur of the birthday party, he just wanted to see the old man again before leaving the Ming family.
After all, with the lifespan of interstellar people...
I'm afraid the old man won't be able to see the next integer birthday.
He hesitated for a moment, thinking of Mulan's hidden mental power that could not be detected by the examination system.
If you ask Mulan...
Regardless of whether the other party agrees or not, they should at least keep it a secret for him.
Mingyu opened the address book, but before he dialed Mulan's number, he thought of his own number first.
The caller was his mother.
Mingyu: “…”
Mingyu's heart skipped a beat. He first exited the Star Navigation Competition module, then rubbed his hair randomly, pretending to have just woken up.
“Beep—beep—beep—”
The call continued to ring, but it didn't connect. Zhao Ying frowned and glanced at the time.
Maybe she was overly sensitive, but the Star Navigation Competition had just ended, and for the first time in five hours, Mingyu's call was successfully connected, instead of the "unable to connect" tone.
She waited for a while, and after more than ten seconds, the call was connected.
"Hello?" Mingyu's face appeared on the screen. The young man, wearing a set of white plush pajamas, had a few drops of water on his face, his hair disheveled, and his forehead slightly damp. He asked blankly, "Mom?"
Zhao Ying's face darkened as she questioned, "What were you doing just now?"
Mingyu: "I'm sleeping, Mom. I've turned on the communication block."
He yawned and said sleepily, "I stayed up late playing games last night and just slept for a few hours... I'm still sleepy now."
He had been competing intensively in the virtual star map for ten hours, and the sleepiness on his face was not fake.
Zhao Ying's expression relaxed a little.
This is not the first time Mingyu has skipped class.
He used to frequently miss classes due to a lack of interest in the content, using that time to secretly learn starship design. When explaining this to his parents, he always claimed he was playing games. For this reason, he also had a StarNet gaming account, which he topped up with money, and frequently played to level up, constantly trying to make his presence felt in front of his parents.
"Stop playing those useless games every day," Zhao Ying scolded him symbolically. Seeing Mingyu yawn again, she said with a stern face, "Staying up late at night playing games and catching up on sleep during the day—how can you be so careless? Your schedule is completely reversed. Don't sleep during the day today. Doctor Zhang and I will be at the Comprehensive University in an hour. Get ready and wait for me in the dormitory."
Mingyu: “…Ah?”
He was just about to cover his mouth to yawn, but when he heard Zhao Ying's words, his movements froze in mid-air.
Now you don’t have to worry about it.
Mingyu thought to himself, it seems that Zhao Ying wants to move the mental strength check at the end of the month to today.
……Why?
Because I couldn't get through to him?
There was nothing unusual on Mingyu's face, but a wave of doubt arose in his heart.
Before knowing the conditions for awakening the devouring characteristic, Mingyu didn't think there was anything strange about his parents' attitude towards him.
It is understandable that monthly checkups are necessary because the situation is dangerous when one awakens one's spiritual power.
But since I found out...
Mingyu always felt that his parents' behavior was a little strange.
"I couldn't get through to you just now, and I thought something had happened to you, so I specially asked Doctor Zhang to come see you." Zhao Ying was scolding him on the phone. "It's just right, I'll give you this month's physical examination a week early."
"Xiao Yu, how many times do you want me to tell you to keep the communication open? Don't cause me any extra trouble. Do you know how anxious I was just now?"
Mingyu was already used to her attitude and only asked, "Dr. Zhao, did you bring the full set of equipment? The physical examination cabin, the mental strength tester, and so on... that's too much trouble."
"I'm glad you know it's troublesome." Zhao Ying said coldly, "How many times have I told you not to block the communication?"
"If you don't turn it on, you'll get advertising calls if you sleep during class." Mingyu explained, then perfunctorily said, "Okay, next time, I won't turn it off next time. Mom, when will you arrive?"
"Within half an hour." Zhao Ying emphasized, "Wait for us in the school dormitory. Don't run around."
She said, and hung up the call.
Mingyu: “…”
That's fine. He thought as he called Mulan that it was much more convenient to stay in the school dormitory than at home.
Whenever he returned home, his eldest brother, Akihiko, would wait for him at the docking station. Then his mother would appear in the lobby, scolding him as she took him to the infirmary. There, his father would monitor his physical and mental examinations with his mother and eldest brother... It would be much more difficult to manipulate him than in the dorm.
Mingyu's thoughts paused for a moment, and he suddenly realized something was wrong.
...Why do his parents, who don't take him seriously, and his older brother, who doesn't like him, always wait at home every time he has a physical examination?
His parents were busy with work, and his eldest brother was a rising star at the military academy, so his daily routine was filled with training. But ever since his "failure" in awakening his spiritual power, they had been present at every inspection.
It's not because I love him.
Mingyu shuddered.
Mingyu could hear his heart beating faster. He recalled the torrential rain and thunder on the day his spiritual powers awakened, and his parents' indistinct whispers, their cold words almost like curses.
A statement about wishing he would die and not be a burden to them anymore.
Mingyu tried to recall it carefully, but he was not in a clear mind at the time. No matter how hard he tried, it was difficult to extract more useful information from the whispers that were covered by the heavy rain.
...But since they regard themselves as a burden, why should they spend time and energy caring about their own mental state?
Or maybe... they just wanted confirmation.
I haven't really awakened my spiritual power.
Mingyu: “…”
He shuddered and pressed the button on the wall to open the curtains wider, letting the sunlight fall on him.
The afternoon sunlight brought a gentle warmth, which raised Mingyu's body temperature a little.
"Hello?"
Mulan's voice came from the communication screen.
Mingyu took a deep breath and temporarily stopped those horrible and complicated thoughts and speculations.
"Senior? Sorry to disturb your rest." Mingyu clasped his hands together and made the gesture that Mu Lian had made when he first met her, imitating Cui Xiaoduo's gesture of asking for help. "Can you do me a favor?"
"Your concealment ability... can it prevent instruments from detecting mental energy fluctuations? Even... the most precise medical equipment can do that?"
*
Zhao Ying always keeps her word. If she says she will arrive within half an hour, she will definitely not be late.
Twenty minutes later, there was a knock on Mingyu's dormitory door. Doctor Zhang, along with his assistant and Zhao Ying, entered the room and carried large instruments into Mingyu's dormitory one by one, filling the entire room to the brim.
The two men arrived driving with great fanfare.
The students passing by downstairs had never seen such a scene before, and they couldn't help but cast their eyes at them frequently.
"Wow, that's Deputy Commander Zhao from the Third Legion, right? A rare awakened human with healing abilities! Why is she in our dormitory?!"
"You're here to see Mingyu, right? That's Mingyu's dormitory. What's that, a medical examination cabin? What happened to Mingyu?"
"Who knows! Why is the Ming family making such a big fuss? Are they deliberately showing off their wealth?"
"You're prejudiced against the Ming family, aren't you? Can't they just care about their child? Honestly, the Ming family is doing their utmost to show concern for a useless person who doesn't strive for progress..."
The inspection equipment was set up. Mingyu glanced at his mother, who was standing at the door with her arms folded, saying nothing. With his usual obedient expression, he walked over and closed the door.
The first thing Mingyu did was a physical examination.
He put on the patch and the tester quickly gave the results. Doctor Zhao quickly compared Mingyu's physical data.
He didn't look carefully, his eyes swept across the light screen, then raised his eyes to Mingyu and said, "You are in good health. Go and take the mental domain test."
Mingyu responded, trying his best to relax his body.
Doctor Zhao bent down, pulled out the test line from the side of the iron-gray detector, and then installed a sterilized fine needle.
Mingyu lowered his eyes.
He placed his arms on his knees, and as Dr. Zhao moved, his body still unconsciously tensed up.
Fortunately, neither Dr. Zhao nor Zhao Ying noticed anything unusual about him.
Mingyu stared at the spot of light cast by the sunlight on the ground in front of his bed, and looked at the curtains perpendicular to the ground, trying his best to divert his attention.
The sharp needle pierced the skin and Mingyu felt a slight stinging pain.
His mental domain was invaded by a foreign object, and his fingers retracted inwards imperceptibly. No matter how hard he tried to suppress it, the energy in his mental domain was still uncontrollably drawn by the instrument and flowed towards the probe that pierced his mental domain...
It is then stopped by a thin barrier attached to the surface of the probe.
It is Mulan's spiritual power.
It was as if a cold hand was pressing against him, preventing him from moving forward.
The feeling of coming into contact with Mu Lian's spiritual power is completely different from that of coming into contact with Mu Baixing.
It was a foreign feeling that could not be ignored, which made Mingyu subconsciously want to exclude the other party or simply swallow it up.
But no.
Mulan was helping him.
Mu Lian's mental power reached out from a short distance, following the lead and completely enveloping the probe. He perfectly controlled his mental power, its special concealment properties preventing it from triggering the instrument's detection signal and isolating Ming Yu's mental power from contacting the probe.
Just a few seconds seemed so long and agonizing.
The sky was obscured by thin clouds, then reappeared. A series of hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor, gradually becoming heavier and then lighter. It was a group of students rushing down the dormitory building to attend class.
The mental power detection device's light screen still showed a flat, smooth horizontal line, resting on the energy axis marked zero. Mingyu's tense body finally relaxed.
"No spiritual power has been awakened." Doctor Zhang glanced at Mingyu, then turned to Zhao Ying and said, "Everything is normal."
Zhao Ying breathed a faint sigh of relief, her pent-up anxiety finally subsiding. She glanced at her watch and prepared to return to the headquarters.
She had postponed several meetings to examine Mingyu, fearing she'd missed any changes in his mental power. She'd been staring intently at the monitoring screen. Now, Zhao Ying felt relieved and turned her attention away from the mental power monitor. As she was about to leave, she caught a glimpse of a finger-long, transparent tube hidden beneath several nutrient solution bags in Mingyu's dormitory's waste bin.
Zhao Ying's relaxed expression froze.
She took a few steps forward, placed a tissue under her hand, and held the empty transparent tube of the Spiritual Domain supplement, which had the same packaging as the one with the word 'APA' printed on it. She looked at Mingyu and asked sharply, "What is this?"
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