CH 31

Remnant Human (2)

The snowstorm finally became much lighter, but the night had not yet passed.

It was quiet all around. Lying inside Snow Dove’s treatment cabin, Jiang Jianming, whose physical strength was gradually recovering, suddenly had a misconception amidst his confusion.

He kept replaying in his mind the way Garcia eventually shoved him into the treatment cabin and closed the hatch smoothly.

—I felt like I was a domestic pet on the run, caught by the owner, and was taken back to the den and locked up.

“…….”

Jiang Jianming’s face was expressionless.

Although he had a close relationship with Prince Ryann as a civilian, he was far from being reduced to a “canary in a cage”.

He was so displeased with his inexplicable imaginings and metaphors that he couldn’t lie down still in the treatment cabin at all.

Therefore, the series of treatment processes such as infusion and oxygen inhalation were stopped from the inside, and the hatch was suddenly opened.

The first thing Jiang Jianming did when he came out was to manipulate the Snow Dove to irradiate the spider corpse with the solidifying rays.

Desperately killing this B-grade subspecies, if he wouldn’t be able to completely collect the real crystal ore from the corpse before the crystal particles dissipated, that would be too much of a loss.

After he struggled to throw the condensed real crystal ore into Snow Dove’s storage bin, he then turned on the mecha video, capturing the wreckage of the alien creature around.

Following this, Jiang Jianming finally wobbled and sat down against the spider corpse.

The Little Highness didn’t like to leave an uneasy and uncertain tail when doing things.

He felt that after Garcia completed the search and rescue of other teams, he would still come back to him.

Jiang Jianming closed his eyes and raised the corners of his lips. When that person saw him out of the treatment cabin at that time, he didn’t know what funny expression he would show……

In a daze, he always felt that he had forgotten something.

But Jiang Jianming was confident in his memory. Since it was something he couldn’t remember, then it should be something not important.

—Forget it, if you can’t figure it out or can’t think of it, then don’t think about it.This one has been his long-standing habit.

Jiang Jianming turned sideways and decided to sleep first.

****

At the same time, at the other end of the canyon, which was the exit.

The rest of the third team, who had been completely forgotten by Jiang Jianming, had already set up marching tents and settled the wounded. Tang Zhen sent the coordinates and specific situation to the fortress again. This time, he could finally wait for rescue with peace of mind.

However…..

Outside the tent, Li Youfang, Joe and Ellie looked at each other in the dark.

The expression was one of panic and fright, as if the three of them were the ones who were left behind.

“No, I have to go back and see.”

Li Youfang’s complexion changed a few times, he turned his head and walked towards his IP, gritted his teeth and said. “I——I can’t be a coward who won’t save his teammates, I won’t do it even if I die!”

Joe stopped him, and whispered anxiously, “Li, don’t be stupid, doesn’t Jiang Jianming have a very powerful mecha? Even if we are all dead, he won’t be! Maybe he has flown back to the fortress now, and once you get there, that big guy will take a hold of you……”

It was fine if he hadn’t spoken up, but when he said this, Li Youfang turned furious on the spot and yelled at Joe, “Shut up! Don’t you know what you did!?”

“Jiang Jianming’s mecha was directly sent down the mountain by you, who knows how he is doing now!”

Li Youfang scratched his hair uneasily, “What if……..what if he was seriously injured, what if he had passed out!? He’s just a crippled…”

Joe bitterly wept. “Then he’s already dead by now! It’s too late for you to go!”

Li Youfang didn’t care and remained stubborn. He turned his head and walked away. Squatting down in front of his own IP, he began to replace its power with its backup energy.

“Forget……forget it, Li.”

Ellie also stammered to dissuade him. “Joe is right……if you turn back now, you will only be eaten by the subspecies. We should hurry up and join the rescue of the fortress, and ask the officers to save people.”

“…”

Li Youfang’s Adam’s apple rolled. He closed the mecha’s energy tank, raised his head, and was then suddenly hit by the oncoming wind.

His nose was sore, his eyes suddenly turned red, then he muttered to himself. “I have to go…..I haven’t had time to pay back his money yet.”

Joe panicked even more: “But, you, how am I going to explain to Tang Zhen when you’re gone!? He and Jiang Jianming are good friends, if he knew that—” 

However, he didn’t get to finish his sentence, when he suddenly saw Ellie’s expression on the other side change, and was signaling him with her eyes crazily.

“..…”

No way.

With a chill creeping behind Joe’s back, he turned his head stiffly…

At the entrance of the tent, Tang Zhen stood there upright, and the blood on his face was clearly fading to the naked eye.

He said blankly, “All of you….what are you talking about?”

****

Between the dark mountains, two IP’s galloped at full speed, passing through the canyon when they came.

“Tang Zhen……Tang Zhen!!”

Li Youfang was anxious and angry, and shouted at the back, “Calm down, Tang Zhen!!”

The IP’s cockpit lit up, and the mecha pushed its feet and ran wildly.

On the screen, the surrounding scenery moves backward at a fast pace.

“Li Youfang……! Listen to me you fucker…”

Tang Zhen’s rough panting and almost violent voice came from the communication channel, “If…if something happens to Xiao Jiang, I will not let you go……!”

Just as he was rushing back crazily with the IP.

In this endless night, Tang Zhen suddenly thought of the past.

In fact, when he was in the Kaios Military Academy, many people were always curious about how he, a noble son in the Imperial Capital, ran after a disabled roommate every day.

Worrying and worrying about him, and looking like an old woman when buying tranquilizers for him.

Only Tang Zhen himself knew that it was Jiang Jianming who pulled him out of the mud back then.

It seemed that it was not accurate to say that, it would be better to say that he was able to walk out of the mud step by step by following Jiang Jianming back then.

He was sixteen years old that year, full of childish enthusiasm, dreaming every day of rushing to the battlefield to kill the enemy and perform meritorious service. For this reason, he quarreled with his father, quarreled with his mother, and even hit his grandfather, Mr. Tang.

The conflict with his family reached its peak when he applied for the Kaios Military Academy but was transferred to the Sixth Logistics College.

Every time Tang Zhen thought about it afterwards, he had to admit that it was simply the most unbearable period of his life.

He yelled at the college, deleted his parents’ communication, swore like a street gangster, skipped school to get drunk and got into fights…

It seemed that he deliberately countered the words “genius”, “noble son”, and “family hope”, and turned into a degenerate garbage to take revenge. Until one day, probably because the academy finally couldn’t stand him anymore—

One day, Instructor Luo Hai called him to the tactical confrontation simulation classroom of the military academy.

Tang Zhen arrived ten minutes late on purpose, rubbed his face when he entered the door, and acted like a domineering bastard.

But he found that there was another person waiting for him there.

It was a boy who was about the same age as him, only fifteen or sixteen years old in appearance.

The young man had black hair and black eyes, wearing a very simple white shirt, holding a cup of coffee with milk in both hands, and looking extremely delicate.

He raised his face expressionlessly and looked at the teacher who was a head taller than him, and said seriously, “Teacher Luo, as I said, you can’t summon students anytime and anywhere like this………..I still need to read books.”

Instructor Luo Hai was annoyed and felt ridiculous, and pointed to Tang Zhen who had just opened the door and walked in. “Beat him in a round, I will give you a one-day teacher’s permission in the reference room of the Kaios Military Academy, that should be fine right.”

Turning his head, Luo Hai pointed at the young man and said to Tang Zhen, “Beat him by one game, and I will transfer you to the First College.”

The black-haired boy glanced at him indifferently, slowly put the milk coffee aside, and stood on the side of the battle simulator.

Tang Zhen couldn’t pretend to be “ruthless and ferocious” anymore, as he saw the young man’s wrist in astonishment—he was a crippled human being.

His first reaction was to frown–grabbed a disabled human being to fight him in a simulated battle, what kind of a shit teacher, how can he bully people like this!?

But when these words reached his throat, Young Master Tang remembered that he was playing a “degenerate trash” instead of a righteous boy.

He simply swallowed the injustice and rolled his disdainful eyes instead.

The boy on the opposite side stood still, then patted the simulator and said to him, “Good classmate, please hurry up.”

Tang Zhen gritted his teeth and got on board.

I won’t be fooled by bitter tricks, bitter tricks!

(t/n bitter trick-kǔròujì, It is a strategy to deceive the other party by intentionally injuring one’s body, gain trust, and achieve a certain purpose.)

However, the round didn’t even last ten minutes.

Tang Zhen stared blankly at the words “defeated” flashing in front of him, and fell into confusion.

I…..I lost?

Yes, but how did he lose??

His opponent was slow, gentle and weak. Who would have thought that he would use his troops quickly as soon as he got on board. He was completely wiped out even before he could react.

Tang Zhen was not reconciled, and slapped the machine. “I underestimated the enemy, let’s play another round!”

The boy on the opposite side turned his head to look at Teacher Luo Hai, with a clear voice. “Can the rewards be stacked?”

The corner of Luo Hai’s mouth twitched, and said, “It can.”

Eight minutes later.

“Come again!”

Another thirteen minutes later.

“Again….again!!”

Ten minutes.

“I…..shit!? I don’t believe it, come again!!”

They played a full twelve rounds that day, and every round Young Master Tang played a brand new way of being defeated, which was quite a tragedy.

In the end, the young man waved his hand first, and got off to the ground calmly. “I’m tired, let’s end it for today…..I’m going to get sick if I keep on beating you.”

Outside the window, as the sun set in the western hills, two crows were perched on a branch, mercilessly cawing which sounded like a laugh of ridicule.

Young Master Tang sat down on the ground in a daze.

He felt like he had turned into a gray-white stone statue.

Teacher Luo Hai was not surprised, squinting his eyes and asked the two young men. “How does it feel?”

Tang Zhen was numb and speechless.

The boy on the opposite side smiled lightly and gave him an appreciative look. “His mentality is good, I admire it very much.”

“…..”

Tang Zhen’s face became deathly gray.

At this moment, he felt like he was being ridiculed by the malice of the whole world.

The black-haired boy made an appointment with the teacher to give him access tomorrow. He then turned around and picked up his coffee with milk, pursed his lips and said, “It’s already cold. “

Luo Hai said helplessly, “Is it from the coffee shop at the entrance of the library? How many coins, I’ll transfer it to you now. “

The boy merely shook his head. “It’s okay, I’ll go back and reheat it myself.”

After saying this, he turned around and was about to leave.

“Hey!” 

Tang Zhen couldn’t help shouting from behind. “You……what’s your name, which college?”

The boy was pushing the door with one hand, and when he heard the sound, he looked back at him and seemed to smile again.

“From the Sixth College, Jiang Jianming.”

“And also your roommate…well, if you’re still going to attend the Sixth College.”

Tang Zhen felt that he could remember the afterglow of the setting sun that evening for a lifetime.

In this world, could there be such a person who would never be shaken by harsh external conditions?

Maybe….there was no necessary causal relationship between what family background one was born in, which college one entered, and one’s outstanding abilities.

These thoughts were all slowly figured out by Tang Zhen later.

But the Young Master Tang back then was not yet old enough to understand such inspiring sentence, therefore his idea was very simple—

Stupid, what kind of genius that has been praised by the people around him for more than ten years, it turns out to be only deceitful flattery!

I can’t even beat a disabled human being from the Sixth College, would I still have the face to change to the First College!?

Then, he stayed in the Sixth Logistics College for five years.

He had been roommates with Jiang Jianming for a long time, and had been influenced by him more or less steadily.

He stopped making troubles with his family, curbed his arrogance, and looked down on adulation and honor a lot. Days passed, and before he knew it, he became the Chief Student of the Sixth College…Although he still couldn’t beat Jiang Jianming in a simulated battle.

I thought that…..I have matured enough.

I thought that……I am already strong enough.

On that thunderstorm night before setting off for Silver Big Dipper, he grasped the muzzle of the gun that Jiang Jianming pointed to his forehead, and uttered wild words.

It wasn’t until he actually came to the Far Star that the cruelty of the battlefield gave him a blow.

He couldn’t keep Bei Maner, and he couldn’t keep Jiang Jianming. He advanced impulsively, broke down emotionally, and lost composure easily……Only then did he realize that he was still so incompetent.

“Ha…ha”

Beads of sweat slipped down from the tip of his nose, and the only thing resounding in the eardrums was his own rough panting.

The IP had been already driven to its speed limit. Tang Zhen squinted hard to look ahead, at the end of the canyon which had been blown up by him.

Is that subspecies still there? Where’s Little Jiang?

His communication had been unable to connect, and estimated from time to time, it was likely to be the worst result.

Thinking rationally, he really shouldn’t act rashly, he couldn’t…..couldn’t let Little Jiang’s sacrifice…be in vain.

But….

Tang Zhen gritted his teeth, switched the mecha to its flight mode, and swept over the obstacles and rocks against the wind.

Forget it, just really treat him as an incompetent waste then.

The mecha soared into the air, and the field of vision suddenly became clear!

He saw the snow melting between the canyons, exposing the scorched earth after the explosion. The debris was piled up, and it was difficult to recognize if it belonged to that subspecies. 

Then a very faint smell of burnt and blood lingered, which had not been blown away by the wind.

Tang Zhen held his breath in a daze.

This is…

Has an elite from the fortress destroyed the subspecies?

“—Tang Zhen!!”

With a roar behind him, Li Youfang’s mecha also arrived, and then he also immediately said in shock, “How did this happen, has something exploded here, it doesn’t look like a crystal bone.”

Tang Zhen turned on the searchlight and stared down. Nothing else was important, at this moment he just wanted to know if Jiang Jianming was safe.

He first saw the scrapped IP next to the cliff. The mecha was broken badly, and there were obvious blood stains in several places.

What was Jiang Jianming’s state at that time when he made the last communication with them?

Tang Zhen was cold all over, he didn’t dare to think about it.

There was no one in the mecha, yet he did not spare any effort in checking those severed limbs.

Li Youfang said in a low voice. “He may have been taken away…..If someone else kills the alien creature and sees Jiang Jianming, who is also a Silver Big Dipper soldier, then whether he is alive or not…..he will still be taken back to the fortress.”

Tang Zhen shook his head, his voice was unsteady. “The traces of this explosion are a bit like that of a crystal particle bomb. What if the subspecies are killed not by the people from the fortress, but one—”

Suddenly, his searchlight flickered!

In the darkness far away, between the overlapping spider corpse, a silhouette of a figure could be vaguely seen.

The light from the searchlight illuminated the blood-stained Silver Big Dipper emblem on the person’s military uniform.