CH 44

Past and Present (1)

Alpha Alien Star, X8 area, classification-High Risk.

Sunny, high altitude, wind direction-Northwest.

The strong wind blew away the clouds and mists in the sky, and a red color flashed across it.

It was afternoon and the sky was sunny. The hard snow on the ground extended to the line that met the sky, and when red flashed across the air, black shadows would also be casted on the snow field below.

This red color belonged to two giant birds with eight crystal-like eyes on their heads, they flew up and down to fight with the powerful enemies, and when they flap their wings in the air, they stir up a gale with extremely high concentration of crystal particles.

“Ji————”

“Ji——!!!!!!”

Their necks vibrated, making a sound like metal clashing.

Then there was a flash of bright light.

At this moment, blood suddenly splashed out from the neck of one of the giant birds.

Accompanied by the screams echoing in the air, the giant bird’s neck suddenly tilted down, like a soft flower stem that was broken off.

“Ji!!!”

Blood mist sprayed up into the sky, the giant red bird spread its wings, a ruddy color up to the roots, and its crystal plate-like feathers stood up one by one, performing a tragic dying dance.

In an instant, the sunlight seemed to have been sifted through a sieve, and thousands of grains fell from the giant beast’s feathers, and reflected on its crystals were countless thinner and more dazzling rays of light.

Surrounded by that light, a human fell backwards.

In front of the mutated alien creatures, the human body appeared very small.

However, this human being was not insignificant. Four pairs of red gold crystal bones with a length of more than ten meters spread out on the back of his spine, dazzling and scorching hot, like the flames of the burning sun.

Blood stained the tip of the crystal bone.

Garcia fell in the air, his long platinum hair fluttering in the strong wind.

He beheaded a Red Bird, and then fell off from that Red Bird’s back. The strong wind and gravity tore his body, quickly pulling him downwards to the snowy land.

There was no joy or fear in those emerald eyes, they simply reflected the blood on his crystal bone coldly.

Blood…….He didn’t hate blood.

On the contrary, he liked to see blood, especially to have some powerful enemies blood splashed in front of his eyes.

——Because there was no turning back, turning back was his blank past, an endless emptiness.

Thus he went forward, like an arrow released from the string, to fight, to kill, to win, to conquer.

This was also the reason why he was still willing to stay in Silver Big Dipper Fortress despite clearly hating certain things.

This was the front line of humanity, and the blood here would fill his emptiness, even if it was only temporary.

But he didn’t like the so-called to be bath in blood.

Blood could obstruct vision and stain clothes.

A roar of a mecha came from behind, interrupting Garcia’s thoughts.

A silver-black mecha came through the clouds at high speed, and its timing would make any one amazed. Garcia’s falling body hit the fuselage heavily, and he heard someone call out to him, “Your Highness.”

It’s hard to say whether the voice was warm or cold, and there was even a trace of panting after a fierce battle that was unconsciously mixed in between the words.

It penetrated the heart like spring rain.

Very melodious.

“The seventh Red Bird is confirmed dead, is there still another one in the sky?”

Garcia raised his face, grabbed onto the mecha with one hand, and the crystal bone that melted from his fingers was firmly embedded in one side of the wing.

He tilted his head, the cold wind ruffled his long hair, “Yes, give me ten minutes.”

While speaking, the prince shook the crystal bones on his back, countless blood drops were thrown into the wind, and was immediately left behind by the high-speed flying mecha.

He didn’t like to be bathed in blood. The most important reason was that the blood of these high-level alien creatures contained high concentrations of crystal particles, which would be diffused in the sunlight and would enter the cockpit. The young officer manipulating the mecha raised his chin slightly, his pupils were quiet and deep, and the skin at the end of the eyes was illuminated so white that it was almost transparent.

“No, Your Highness,” the young officer said lightly, “Please solve it within five minutes, don’t be distracted……What are you thinking?”

After saying that, Jiang Jianming pushed the lever to a slanting direction, and the mecha suddenly made a beautiful arc, and went straight up to the sky against the wind again.

Garcia’s eyes darkened, and suppressed the upsurge in his heart.

….It will choke him.

His Highness thought quietly in his heart.

Therefore, the prince did not allow himself to be stained with blood.

****

Five minutes later.

The mecha landed on the snow field below, and folded its slender wings.

The sunlight accentuated the sharp lines of the fuselage, which appeared like a long silver iron sword out of its sheath.

A-Class mecha “M-Slash Comet” was a model with extremely high speed, which simultaneously had a great degree of high requirements for its operator. It was also a famous difficult model in the category of A-Class mechas.

The reason why Jiang Jianming chose it was very simple.

Whether the attack power or defense power, Garcia’s Super S-level crystal bone was already strong enough, and there was no need for any mechas to make up for it.

Only speed, a solid hard speed, could bring significant benefits to the prince.

Just like in the air battle just now–without the speed support of Slash Comet, even Garcia would not be able to fight alien creatures in the air for so long.

Now, a total of eight Red Bird corpses were lying on the snow-white ground.

They fell from a high altitude and smashed the hard ice into cracks, their blood flowed in the cracks of the ice like a stream.

Jiang Jianming manipulated the mecha and irradiate solidifying rays, waiting to collect real crystal ores from these alien creatures.

While manipulating, he casually talked to his side, “Your Highness, you still seem to be a little reluctant to let go, as I said, don’t worry about me so much.”

Sitting in the driver’s seat next to him was Garcia, whose right wrist was propped on his temple, his long hair fell like a waterfall from between his fingers, and fell on his heaving chest, as he was still a little short of breath after the battle.

“….It had taken too long today, it was my mistake.”

The prince’s voice was a little hoarse when he spoke.

He glanced at the time and repeated impatiently, “Four hours, too long.”

He let Jiang Jianming operate the mecha to fight continuously for four hours.

This was not a load that the latter’s physique could bear.

After Garcia finished speaking, he pursed his lips and gestured to Jiang Jianming with his eyes, who was beside him, to the location of the treatment cabin in the rear, “Go and rest, I will drive going back.”

Jiang Jianming said helplessly, “Your Highness, we have been on the mecha together for almost half a month.”

Garcia: “I know, but you should go in first.”

Jiang Jianming: “It’s almost time for you to get used to it.”

Garcia: “Go in.”

Jiang Jianming didn’t bother to talk to him.

After a few seconds, Garcia reached out and unbuckled his seat belt.

“Your Highness!”

Jiang Jianming’s waist tightened, and his body was suddenly hung in the air. After only half a second, his legs were also picked up. They had been on the mecha together for half a month, and Garcia seemed to have become more and more adept at catching him.

[Woof!]

Now, even the puppy Seth Henry openly betrayed the master. The lid of the treatment cabin popped open without Garcia opening it himself, and Jiang Jianming was placed in.

Afterwards, the hatch closed with a tight fit.

He’s locked up again!

“Your Highness…Your Highness!”

Jiang Jianming laughed angrily, he patted the lid of the treatment cabin, and his voice was distorted through the glass, “Are you here to eliminate alien creatures, or are you here to sneak away a disabled human being? Who’s the one that said that he won’t take care of me………”

Garcia leaned over and fiddled with the data in the treatment cabin, “Don’t be angry. I added 30% of aerosol tranquilizer for you, concentrate on breathing, or you can also take a nap.”

From Jiang Jianming’s perspective, he could see just right his beautiful curled eyelashes and his opened and closed lips.

Jiang Jianming: “Your Royal Highness, do you know how many coins we spend on the supplementary medicine in the treatment cabin every week?”

Garcia: “That’s not important.”

Jiang Jianming: “So you don’t know at all.”

“Jiang, I told you not to be angry.”

Garcia frowned and raised his face, “You tell me, you, a remnant human……”

He seemed to want to change the subject, and for His Royal Highness, this was already considered a large degree of concession and sue for peace.

Garcia: “Would you be pissed off to death because of anger?”

In the treatment cabin, Jiang Jianming’s eyes darkened on the spot.

Obviously, the Empire’s medical technology could treat people’s physical fatigue, but it couldn’t soothe people’s mental trauma. He took a deep breath to restrain his emotions, gritted his teeth and said with a smile, “No, Your Highness.”

Garcia shook his head, “But you also said that your physique is poor among the disabled people.”

Jiang Jianming: “……..”

“So, just to be on the safe side, don’t be angry all the time.” Garcia’s face was stern, and he said with certainty, “or you’ll die.”

****

Silver Big Dipper First Fortress, watchtower.

“They’re back, they’re back!”

A young scout rushed down in three steps at a time, with excitement on his face, “It has been confirmed that the corresponding mecha is His Royal Highness the Second Prince and Lieutenant Jiang!”

The officer on the side quickly raised his head and said nervously, “They’re back! What about the alien biomes appearing in the X8 area?”

No one spoke on the watchtower, but the atmosphere suddenly froze.

The soldiers and officers of the Silver Big Dipper, who were busy with their own work, all stopped their movements and pricked up their ears.

Young scout: “Lieutenant Jiang said that the clearing has been completed, and the video and data has been sent directly to the Major General.”

The officer wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long breath.

The other Silver Big Dipper officers on the watchtower also breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

The Silver Big Dipper Interstellar Expeditionary Army, the strongest elite army of the Empire, was the “Silver Spear” that opened up frontiers and pointed to the Far Star.

The three alien stars stationed with fortresses were the necessary passages from the far interstellar space to the Empire’s territory. Soldiers belonging to Silver Big Dipper had been stationed here for many years, dealing with life forms that may attack from outer space at any time.

Whenever a threatening high-level alien creature passed by here, the fortress would quickly dispatch personnel to “clear up” it, so as to prevent the rear fortress and the Empire’s territory from being threatened.

No one knew what would happen in the next second in the distant interstellar world, and every eradication was a challenge launched by human beings to the gates of hell.

What’s more, the number of alien creatures that appeared this time was large, their levels were also high, not to mention those very troublesome bird-like creatures.

No wonder the officers on the watchtower breathed a sigh of relief when they heard the news of victory.

The young scout scratched his hair and asked the officer next to him, “Sir, where do you think these strange alien creatures come from? How come we, the Silver Big Dipper soldiers, despite having been stationed here for decades, seem like to not completely eradicate these creatures at all?”

Before the officer could answer, the veteran beside him laughed first, and he squinted his eyes, “Boy, are you new this year.”

The scout nodded like a chicken pecking rice. 

“As for where these alien creatures come from,” the veteran said with a cigarette crookedly in his mouth, “We must have to trace the source, just like us humans, our origin was the Blue Mother Planet.”

“Have you read the history books, kid? Before the New Imperial Calendar was the Old Imperial Calendar, and before the Old Imperial Calendar was…”

“Gregorian Calendar.” The young scout rushed to answer.

“Yes, in 3121 AD…..that year 3121, black wave radiation brought crystal particles, ending the era of the old Blue Mother Planet. Oh, the Blue Mother Planet hadn’t been renamed at that time, and it was still called ‘Earth’. It was truly unfortunate for the old humans at that time, the black wave radiation shrouded the planet for more than 30 years before it gradually weakened, which resulted in the death of humans with only one tenth remaining. It was later called the ‘Thirty-three Night’.”

“Then came the Era of Natural Selection, the great differentiation. The old species became extinct, and all of them died. Those who survived were either our new crystal human species that had perfectly integrated with the crystal particles, or the remnant human species that failed to be perfectly integrated.”

The young soldier nodded again and again, “What happened next?”

“Later, the surviving human beings set up their own bases on the Blue Mother Planet that turned into a waste land and mountain of corpses, they competed for resources, and fought for survival like primitive beasts. This is the base melee period mentioned in your history books, kid. “

Young soldier: “When I was in school, it seems that not much of this was mentioned in the history books.”

The veteran said, “Because it was too tragic. God knows how many people died at that time, and how they died. You little brats can’t imagine it. The so-called alien creatures also became what they are now at that point in time. “

“At that time, human beings wanted to wipe out the real crystal creatures except themselves, but instead, it only forced many species to mutate. They became able to survive in various extreme environments and fled into outer space, resulting in more perfect fusion with crystal particles, and becoming more ferocious.”

“Then came the Old Empire. You’ve already heard of the great migration of humans in the Old Empire. It was done to avoid the attacks of high-level alien creatures. During the night, tens of thousands of starships carrying ‘first-class people’, flew away from the third galaxy, taking away 90% of the supplies of human civilization. The people who couldn’t get on those starships just stretched out their hands and ran after them, crying loudly.”

“Was it miserable? Very. Given up all hope? Look at the historical materials of that era and put yourself in their shoes. Who wouldn’t say they aren’t?”

The veteran soldier lowered his head and laughed twice, and there seemed to be bright starlight in his deep eye sockets, “But who would have thought that the fire of our New Empire was ignited from that dark era, on that desperate planet?”

“Our Holy Great Emperor, our current Majesty the Empress, the founder of the holy army, the Commander-in-Chief in Aslan, at that time they were all on that abandoned Blue Mother Planet. Later…..…”

“Old Liu.”

The chief officer of this group of people suddenly spoke, “You talk too much today.”

The veteran only smiled, he closed his mouth and nodded to the officer, walked away with a cigarette in his mouth.

Behind the veteran’s leisurely spine, a silver-black mecha as sharp as a knife was slowly appearing from the corner of the sky and was getting closer and closer to the fortress.

The rookie young scout was obviously not yet satisfied, he was the kind of guy who had one hundred thousand why’s in his head. As he saw the veteran soldier leave, he hurried to the next chief officer around.

He pointed with his lips to the mecha in the sky, and said falteringly, “Sir, sir, speaking of which, about that………….is it true?” 

The officer frowned, “What is it true?”

Young scout: “Ah, that’s right! That Lieutenant Jiang.”

“He..”

The young guy swallowed, “Is he really a disabled human being?”

The officer was silent for a while, then shook his head and snorted, “So what if he is, so what if he is not?”

“That’s the only person in our fortress who can accompany His Royal Highness on the mecha……..” 

The officer sighed faintly, looked at the sky for a long time, he took off the military cap on his head, and held it in his hands.

“Even if he’s a disabled human being who can’t even hold a gun, if he’s able to win the graces of His Royal Highness, that’s good fate.”

A non-commissioned officer next to him put down the observation instrument in his hand and laughed, “Tell me about it, he’s also able to get close to the only prince in the Empire today. I heard that even our Major General had to bow when he saw him. This luck, this ability, who wouldn’t say it’s amazing.”

The officer looked at the sky and sighed, his tone somewhat complicated:

“……Alas, His Highness did not even accept his merits, but gave it to this little lieutenant. This little lieutenant will earn military merit even if he lies in the treatment cabin all the way.”

“If things go on like this, Lieutenant Jiang will be promoted again in a few months.”