The last day of the year in the Empire was still shrouded in rain and fog.

Thunder rumbled and the old Tang family house looked a bit dilapidated in the thunderstorm.

Mrs. Tang wiped the sweat from her son Tang Kaiyuan's forehead. The latter lay on the bed with his eyes tightly closed, and his cheeks were sickly red due to high fever.

"A good speech turned out like this!" Tang Xiao sat on the sofa next to him, his face pale, "It's good now. Gao's cooperation with Lin Sheng is over, and the young master's reputation and face are gone!" Mrs. Tang

whispered, "Keep your voice down, Kaiyuan needs to have a good rest."

"You are useless!" Tang Xiao said impatiently, "What do you mean you got sick because of anger and anxiety? I think you are useless."

Mrs. Tang didn't say anything. An Lun, who had been sitting next to the bed, bit her lip and said, "You can't blame Kaiyuan. It's in vain..."

"Don't mention that bastard in front of the Tang family!" Tang Xiao stood up suddenly, his shoulders tensed, "Who the hell is he? He's lame and useless. He's not fit to make mechas or participate in competitions!"

His voice was very loud, and he kept yelling something like "The future of the empire can't be handed over to such a person" and "The research institute's recruitment competition should ban cripples like him from participating." An Lun was shocked, Tang Xiao's current appearance was very different from the gentle and elegant old aristocrat when he first came to the old house.

"Don't be afraid," Mrs. Tang whispered softly, "He has not been in good health recently. He has headaches and a bad temper."

An Lun also whispered, "We really can't blame Kaiyuan. If it weren't for Bai Li's final taunts and the applause from the other audience, Kaiyuan wouldn't have been so angry and out of breath as soon as he got off the stage. He went out for some fresh air and it started raining..."

Hearing the word "Bai Li", Mrs. Tang tightened her fingers holding the tissue she was using to wipe away sweat and said nothing.

"I've heard Kaiyuan say before that the one from the Bai family is against him and even bullied him when he was a child." An Lun complained, "I finally got to see it today. He's so arrogant and domineering. He dares to act like this on the main star and in the speech of the first heir. Someone will deal with him sooner or later."

After a moment of silence, Mrs. Tang said, "Don't say that about Bai Li." After a pause, she continued, "When Kaiyuan wakes up, I will persuade him. If he likes mechas and competitions, then he should focus on the competition itself. Don't spend his time and experience competing with anyone, and don't expect any shortcuts."

An Lun looked at her in surprise: "Madam, why are you speaking for the one from the Bai family? Kaiyuan is your son."

Mrs. Tang said, "Bai Li is also my son."

An Lun was choked. It was true. But no one in the Tang family mentioned this, so he subconsciously ignored it. An Lun said, "But Kaiyuan grew up by your side, unlike Bai Li." She

threw the tissue in her hand into the trash can. Mrs. Tang clasped her fingers together, sat on the chair, looked at Tang Kaiyuan's face, and repeated softly, "Bai Li is also my son."

An Lun was a little angry, and was about to say something when the family doctor knocked on the door with a medical examination form.

"Master Tang's high fever should subside soon, but..." The family doctor hesitated, "I just checked again, and I feel that Master's condition is not right."

Tang Xiao was impatient: "Just say it, why bother talking."

"It seems that the body has been in an unstable state," the family doctor explained, "The mental power is very unstable. Over time, it will affect the Master's spirit and emotions. I personally think that the Master's body does not seem to match this high-level mental power. Long-term exposure to high pressure of mental power beyond the scope of ability will cause the body to be damaged and weakened."

An Lun's face turned pale.

"What do you mean," Tang Xiao said, "Are you saying that my son doesn't deserve a high-level mental power?!"

"No, no, no, I just..." The family doctor was frightened by Tang Xiao's roar, "I remember that the young master's mental power was not at this level before. I want to ask how he improved to this level in such a short time? If we know the reason, maybe we can also use drugs together..."

The Tang couple couldn't answer this question, and they all turned their eyes to An Lun.

"Mr. An Lun, Kaiyuan has been with you for the past few years since he left the main star," Mrs. Tang asked, "Do you know anything about this?"

An Lun bit his lip and his face turned pale.

"Speak!" Tang Xiao saw something was wrong, "Kaiyuan said that he was rescued by your father as soon as he woke up, and broke through the mental power limit in his sleep. Is this the case?"

An Lun fiddled with his hands, not knowing how to start.

"If it is an acquired increase, we also need to understand the specific situation," said the family doctor, "Young Master's body shows signs of weakness. This high fever may be due to this."

Tang Xiao had a terrible headache and was no longer impatient to waste time with An Lun. The frequent headaches during this period made him lose self-control and kicked the edge of the bed: "Speak!"

An Lun shuddered, and then hummed like a mosquito: "My father... used a newly developed instrument to stimulate Kaiyuan's body..."

"R&D?" Tang Xiao was surprised, "How can your family have the qualifications for R&D!"

"If it is to stimulate the body and brain to improve mental power, then it belongs to the field of mental power auxiliary development," the family doctor was also surprised, "The Empire has given up research and development in this area for many years. How do you have this technology?"

"My father has some friends in the underworld. Together with his friends, he got some research data on this from a spaceship that was hijacked by interstellar pirates and sank into a deserted planet due to a failed rescue," An Lun whispered, "It seems that the person who died was a person in charge of the Imperial Research Institute. The personal terminal has detailed records of this project..." The

basically completed project fell into the hands of An Lun's father. As a small noble family on a remote satellite star, the An family had the ambition to enter the main star, but they lacked connections and funds, so they decided to develop it and make a fortune by selling finished products.

However, the research and development of the finished product was very difficult. After it was made, many experiments were done, but the results were not ideal.

"Kaiyuan is the only one who succeeded," An Lun did not dare to look into the eyes of the Tang couple. "At that time, he was already very weak. Normal medical means could not save him. Even if he was saved, he would be a useless person. We simply... But he survived! My father saved him!"

At the end, he became confident again, raised his head and said loudly: "If it weren't for my father who saved him, he would not be alive now! Besides, his success proves that he has the capital to support high-intensity mental power. You don't know, he is the only one! Before and after him, we have never succeeded again. He is a miracle! He is amazing!"

Mrs. Tang sat in a chair in shock, her mind was blank.

She was not completely ignorant of these things. The research and development fields abandoned by the Empire were either unsatisfactory or too risky. Tang Kaiyuan obviously encountered the second one.

She stroked her son's hot forehead, tears welling up in her eyes.

Tang Xiao and his family doctor took a long time to digest this fact. The family doctor said anxiously: "The empire also had research and development in this area before, but because the subjects showed excessive physical weakness, mental breakdown and even death after the experiment, the research and development was stopped! How...how could you..."

An Li was dissatisfied and said: "That's because they are not good enough, there is no problem with open source!"

"Shut up!" Tang Xiao scolded, and turned to look at the doctor, "How can it be treated? I only have this one son, he can't get into trouble!"

Mrs. Tang glanced at Tang Xiao, and the words that came out of her mouth were the truth. Tang Xiao really believed that he only had one son.

"This... I can't say, I don't know much about this..." The doctor sighed, "In short, go to the hospital for a comprehensive examination first, and then don't use your mental power for the time being. With the help of drug treatment, your mental power should gradually decline over time and return to the range that your body and mind can accept."

Tang Xiao's face was very bad. He knew what this meant.

This meant that a high-level alpha that Tang had just obtained disappeared.

"Okay!" Mrs. Tang's voice rang out, "Okay! As long as Kaiyuan can recover, anything is fine!"

Tang Xiao glared at her, but Mrs. Tang pretended not to see it.

A burst of anger accompanied by a sharp headache made Tang Xiao clench his fists.

Just as he was hesitating about where to land the punch, Tang Kaiyuan, who was lying on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes and said weakly, "No."

"Kaiyuan!" An Lun rushed over, "You're awake, you're awake! Wuwuwu, they are all trying to kill me!"

Tang Kaiyuan was still sick, and he almost fainted after being pounced and hit by An Lun. He pushed An Lun away and slowly sat up, his eyes were bloodshot and he was gasping for breath.

He had a dream while he was sick.

In the dream, he returned to the main planet, entered the coveted First Legion, slapped the faces of those who looked down on him, and became a rising star recognized by the entire empire. He was the center of attention, sought after by the media, accepted various interviews, and became a close friend of the first heir. In the end, he had already sat on the position of marshal.

In his dream, he had several lovers, he loved them, and they regarded him as the only one.

Among these lovers, there was Lu Zhao.

In the dream, Lu Zhao not only broke up with Bai Li, but also washed away the lifelong mark. In the end, he pushed Bai Li away, causing the once high-ranking and glorious young master to crash into the shelf and be hit on the leg by a heavy object again, becoming a complete cripple and dying in the hospital.

He was kind-hearted and buried Bai Li, and even took Lu Zhao to his grave once. At the funeral, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional, and told the media and the public that he actually loved his brother very much, but his brother was too stubborn for so many years, and the two could not reconcile.

In the dream, he lived a good life, with his own golden Kali, glory, power and status, he was a hero, the light.

This dream was too real, so real that Tang Kaiyuan could not forget everything in the dream until he woke up, and he even couldn't distinguish between reality and dreams for a moment.

He only knew that if his mental strength fell back to the starting point, then this dream would be completely broken.

"No," Tang Kaiyuan said again, "I won't fail."

The mother's hand that was stroking his back paused.

Tang Xiao's laughter rang in his ears: "Well, you are worthy of being my son, you have ambition!"

The rain hit the French window, making a crackling sound.

Wasting time is a basic respect for holidays. When Bai Li said this, Lu Zhao actually felt that it made a lot of sense.

Bai Li, wearing short-sleeved shirt and shorts, with a messy head of hair, pointed at the messages on the virtual screen and said to Lu Zhao: "The location of this house is OK, but it's a bit small. You can stay there for a few days next time. It's in the suburbs of the main star... You haven't been to the old house, and there's nothing there. I'll take you to visit it later. There's a whole wall of medals..."

Lu Zhao propped up his head and listened incoherently. Bai Li had explained all the assets of the Bai family, and now he was explaining the real estate.

"Quite a lot of houses." Lu Zhao said.

"Yes, there are quite a few. Some of them were bought by the old man. I have not been to the earlier ones many times," Bai Li flipped through a few pictures to show Lu Zhao, "I live in this apartment. I lived in the old house before."

The pictures were taken when the old man was still alive. Bai Li was still a child, hugging the old man's waist with a sly expression.

"Such an expression." Lu Zhao wanted to laugh.

"He said that as long as I can drag him, he will take me to the simulated warehouse." Bai Li also laughed.

"You can't go to the simulated warehouse when you are so young, right?" Lu Zhao was surprised.

Bai Li said, "So I can't drag it."

The old ones are still the best, and the old man Bai is still the best at traps.

"I'm showing you the house," Bai Li enlarged the picture to show him the old house, "Please restrain your urge to admire me."

Lu Zhao slid the screen and slid to the position of little Bai Li: "You were pretty when you were a child."

"I've been pretty all the way to adulthood," Bai Li was very proud, "Sometimes when my father beat me, the housekeeper would say when he stopped him: 'You won't be so pretty after being beaten.'"

Lu Zhao couldn't help laughing.

"Do you have any photos of your childhood?" Bai Li drew two more photos for Lu Zhao to see, "Let Master Bai see if you are as pretty as me."

Lu Zhao thought for a while, called up his own file from the personal terminal, and then took out a photo and enlarged it for Bai Li to see.

"Primary school photo of citizens of the Empire." Bai Li read the words on it.

There were twenty or thirty people in the graduation photo. Bai Li looked around and quickly recognized which one was Lu Zhao.

It was unknown whether it was the gray weather of this satellite planet that gathered interstellar refugees and wanted criminals, or some other reason, but the faces of the other children looked pale and emotionless, with cautious and confused eyes. Only Lu Zhao's eyes were shining.

"This," Bai Li pointed at little Lu Zhao and said, "Okay, I have to admit that you and I are equally good-looking."

Lu Zhao didn't know for a moment whether to say thank you or punch Bai Li.

A text message box popped up on the virtual screen. The sender was Huo Cun, and the message was a form.

Bai Li returned Lu Zhao's personal terminal to him, and took a set of washed home clothes from the closet while Lu Zhao sat up to check the text messages.

"My rotation for next year has been arranged," Lu Zhao took the clothes, turned off the personal terminal and put it aside, and said while putting on the clothes, "It was originally scheduled for the first half of the year."

Bai Li was stunned. The rotation of the army was issued in advance, and the missions were concentrated in the first half or the second half of the year. There was no exact time for the missions. It was good to be able to return to the main planet once every ten days or half a month .

"Originally?" Bai Li suppressed the discomfort in his heart and asked, "Is there any change now?"

Lu Zhao put on his shirt and said "um": "I applied for an extension and took off my clothes for a while."

"Is there something to deal with?" Bai Li sat back on the bed, "You can tell me, I'll see if I can help you."

Lu Zhao glanced at Bai Li.

"Really?" Bai Li said with a smile. "I can still intervene in the affairs of the main planet."

"I'm fine," Lu Zhao looked at him. "The recruitment competition will start after the New Year." He paused and said, "I'll accompany you."

Bai Li sat on the bed and felt a lemon stuck in his chest. It was sour at first, but after a while, it began to sweeten.

"You don't have to do this," Bai Li's voice was a little light. "I don't want to affect your work."

He really didn't think about what to do to Lu Zhao. Bai Li knew that Lu Zhao loved this position, and he didn't expect Lu Zhao to do this.

"It won't affect it. It's just a postponement." Lu Zhao said, "I want to watch you compete."

Bai Li didn't wait for him to finish, and rushed over to hug Lu Zhao's waist and buried his face in his abdomen.

Almost falling back on the bed after being pushed, Lu Zhao's body stabilized. Bai Li's arms held him tightly. He could feel Bai Li's emotional fluctuations, which made Lu Zhao feel a little indescribable.

After so many years in the military, Lu Zhao admitted that this was the first time that his work was affected by personal reasons.

He couldn't help it.

"Thank you." Bai Li said in a muffled voice, "But don't let this kind of thing happen in the future..."

"There are very few things I can do, Bai Li," Lu Zhao rubbed Bai Li's head, "Accompanying you is the best thing I can do."

Bai Li buried his face in Lu Zhao's arms, and his nose was filled with the smell of grass and detergent.

In fact, he lacks companionship in his life. Mr. Bai is destined to accompany him only for a short period of time. Situ Jianghao also has his own family and life. The lack of family makes it difficult for Bai Li to experience this stable companionship.

He once felt that he did not need this feeling, but today he found that it was not the case.

He felt good to have Lu Zhao accompany him. It

was very solid. He was alive and someone was alive with him.

He could walk a long way with him.

After being touched on the back by Lu Zhao a few times, Bai Li bit Lu Zhao's lower abdomen through his clothes, and Lu Zhao said "hmm" softly.

When Bai Li's bite went up and landed on his chest, the housekeeper robot shouted outside the house: "It's almost there! The flowers are almost there!"

"Shut up!" Bai Li shouted angrily to the outside.

Robot Butler: "My enemy, how can you be so mean to me!"

Lu Zhao couldn't help laughing, he straightened the clothes that were torn into a mess by Bai Li, and rubbed Bai Li's head: "I'm hungry."

"I'm hungry too," Bai Li said, "I almost ate just now."

"I'm really hungry," Lu Zhao didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "Cooking?"

Bai Li sighed and followed Lu Zhao out of the bedroom.

The express robot had completed the handover with the robot butler, and a small box was held on the robot butler's head and sent to Lu Zhao: "Express delivery of flowers!"

"Did you enter the name 'flowers' for it?" Lu Zhao bent down and picked it up.

"It was not recorded, it recognized it by itself," Bai Li said with a smile, "What is it? Can I see it?"

Lu Zhao nodded, "It's for you."

"Give it to me again," Bai Li was a little surprised, "I thought you gave me all your belongings, it was already a big gift."

Lu Zhao smiled, "That one is considered 'expensive', this one is 'heavy'."

"Reasonable." Bai Li raised his thumb, "This is the first time I see a gift divided into two parts."

He took the box, put it on the dining table and opened it.

After seeing what was inside, Bai Li was stunned for a few seconds, then he reached out and took out the stone-like thing from a pile of pressure-proof foam.

The transparent stone, similar to amber, contained a pale golden Kali flower.

"This Kali..." Bai Li held up the transparent stone in his hand, his voice a little hoarse.

"The one that was pinned on your clothes before fell on the cruise ship," Lu Zhao said, "This is the other one."

The pot of Kali flowers Zhou Yue gave had two flowers, one of which was pinned on Bai Li's suit by Lu Zhao, and the other was later sent to the army by the cruise ship and returned to Lu Zhao.

"I told you how much this one was worth last time," Bai Li rubbed the transparent stone, "Why are you..."

"You said you wanted to keep it forever, and the other one would be damaged even if you find it," Lu Zhao explained, "I made this one like this, so you can have it forever."

Always have a blooming light golden Kali flower.

Two flowers in one pot, all fell on Bai Li.

I wonder what expression Zhou Yue would have if he knew.

Bai Li didn't know what expression Zhou Yue had, just like he didn't know what expression he had now.

Lu Zhao remembered Bai Li's glory and every word he said, words that Bai Li himself could not remember.

"You really are..." Bai Li turned around and hugged Lu Zhao tightly, "You awarded me two awards."

Lu Zhao took a few seconds to react to this statement, and then he smiled: "Yeah."

"This one alone is both 'expensive' and 'heavy'," Bai Li's voice was trembling with emotion, "It's too heavy, Kalihua is to me--"

"It's quite heavy," Lu Zhao said frankly, "I weighed it specifically, and it's a little worse than a stone I had my eyes on before, but it's okay."

"...Ah?" Bai Li said in a daze, "You mean the weight by 'heavy'?"

"Weight," Lu Zhao also said in a daze, "There are also spiritual considerations, but there is also weight."

Bai Li stood for a few seconds holding the stone, his mind flashing through the comment section under the big black stone and the photo of the person holding the stone with a desperate look on his face.

"Good!" Bai Li shouted, "Major General, you are very thoughtful!"

Maybe it was because the way he held the stone was too funny, Lu Zhao was laughing at this shout, Bai Li was moved and amused, holding the stone and laughing so hard that he bent over.

"Hey," Bai Li sighed after laughing enough, "You look like my gift is not good enough." Lu

Zhao asked in surprise, "Do you have a gift?"

Bai Li glanced at him, turned back to the bedroom, and came out with a small mecha model.

"I made it," Bai Li was a little embarrassed, "It's a little ugly, but it should be recognizable."

The small mecha model and the transparent stone on the table looked quite impressive.

Lu Zhao bent down and looked for a long time before he raised his head and said in surprise: "I have driven this model."

"Yes," Bai Li was amused by his expression, "it's the first mecha you drove."

"Very handsome," Lu Zhao touched it carefully with his fingers, "When I was a child... I always wanted to have a mecha model."

But he never got it, and then when he grew up, when he really drove a mecha, he no longer thought of his childhood desire.

"I'll make the second one next year," Bai Li felt sad when he saw that he wanted to touch it but was afraid to damage it, so he stuffed the model directly to Lu Zhao, "It's very sturdy, it won't break."

Lu Zhao looked through it several times before realizing, "Next year?"

"Yes, there will be one the year after, and there will be many more years," Bai Li smiled at him, "Make a few more, I can keep making them. This one doesn't look very good, the next one will look better."

"This one is very good." Lu Zhao touched the cockpit on the chest of the mecha, where a small "Zhao" was engraved, "How was this made?"

Maybe because he really liked it, Lu Zhao kept asking so actively. Bai Li had some indescribable feelings in his heart, he looked at Lu Zhao's smile, he was so happy because of a small gift.

"I made it with the equipment in the institute's workshop," Bai Li said. "The welding is a bit troublesome, and I'm not very skilled, but the effect is OK."

Lu Zhao asked, "Which hand did you weld it with?"

Bai Li was stunned and stretched out his right hand.

Lu Zhao grabbed his hand and kissed his knuckles: "Thank you."

"... You fucking..." Bai Li's ears turned red, "If you say that again, I will blush. This little thing is not as expensive as this stone, and it is not as heavy as the stone!"

Lu Zhao smiled: "Thank you for telling me that there are still many years."

The heavy rain in the Empire soaked the main star on the last day of this year, and thunder roared outside the window.

The apartment was soon filled with the aroma of food and the screams of the butler robot complaining about the deterioration of the air.

The small mecha model was placed together with the Kali flower sealed in the transparent stone.

Thunder cannot be heard here.

Huo Cun received a parcel of express delivery that day.

Major General Lu Zhao was very kind to send Huo Cun a New Year gift. Huo Cun opened it and saw that

on a large green ore were four big characters: Friendship Lasts Forever.

There was also a card attached.

On the front of the card was the store's slogan: Let this bright green warm the hearts of your friends!

On the back, there was a message from Lu Zhao: I see you like it very much, so I'll give you one.

Huo Cun cried and sent a text message to Lu Zhao: Thank you, Major General, I like it very much.