CH 80

Undercurrent (3)

Just a few minutes after being picked up by the crystal bone, Jiang Jianming became muddle-headed again.

He vaguely heard the sound of the mecha Slash Comet being activated, as a result he was completely at ease, and the memory after that was scarce.

Swoosh……… After an unknown amount of time, fine warm water suddenly drenched his body.

Jiang Jianming, who was almost unconscious, shivered instinctively and woke up. His vision blurred for a while before it gradually cleared up, and the first thing he saw was the bright and spacious bathroom.

“…Your Highness.”

The bathroom was very warm, Jiang Jianming raised his head in Garcia’s arms…..Garcia’s clothes and long hair were wet, and the steam softened his cold and stern face.

The prince was expressionless, he was holding him in his arms with one hand, as if pinching a small animal that was awakened from hibernation; while the other hand was holding the shower head, pouring water from his solar plexus to his limbs.

“I’m much better, thank you. Wait, don’t…..” Jiang Jianming said hoarsely, propping up his sore body and wanting to sit up straight from the prince’s arms, “Don’t wash me anymore, wait a minute..”

He raised his head absent-mindedly and looked around, “Where is this, didn’t you say to take me back to the dormitory?”

Garcia ignored it and continued to wash him with warm water. Jiang Jianming pushed away the shower head and stared at Garcia in disbelief, “This is the White Jade Palace?You took me to……” 

Garcia stopped the water and gave him a casual glance. “Yes, this is the room of the late crown prince, now it belongs to me. It seems that you are very familiar with this place. You can even recognize it at a glance just by looking at the bathroom.”

He first wiped Jiang Jianming dry with a towel, after wiping, changed the wet towel to a dry towel and wrapped the person in it, then walked out of the bathroom with him in his arms.

On the way, His Royal Highness ruthlessly raised his leg and stepped over the man who was thrown on the floor lying like a corpse, and finally stuffed Jiang Jianming into the quilt on the bed.

After doing all this, Garcia simply straightened up. This action allowed him to look down at Jiang Jianming who was lying on the bed from a height.

“Your intelligence is not bad.”

Garcia took two steps back, and his emerald green eyes became cold. “It sent me a distress message and coordinates before the mecha’s system was completely disrupted and malfunctioned. You made a very foolish mistake, but after all, it was not to such an extent as to let me be unable to save you.”

“……” Jiang Jianming shrank back under the quilt, and at the same time looked at the man on the floor with complicated eyes.

“What are you looking at?” Garcia was impatiently at a loss, and poked the man’s wrist with the tip of his shoe, “He won’t die, this is a new human, didn’t you notice?”

He ground his teeth. “……This is the last time I’m saving you, don’t expect any exceptions.”

“Don’t come to me in the future, let alone call me ‘Your Highness’. You are aware of who you are calling.”

Before he finished speaking, Garcia had already turned and walked towards the door. Jiang Jianming got up from the bed, opened his mouth and subconsciously wanted to call “Your Highness”, but swallowed the words back from the tip of his tongue, and changed it to, “Garcia.”

His Royal Highness did not slow down at all. He didn’t seem to want to stay here for one more second, he didn’t even care about his wet clothes and long hair, and just simply pulled off the thick cloak on the hanger and walked out.

Jiang Jianming wanted to catch up, he grabbed the quilt with both hands and was about to lift it, only to suddenly realize that he was naked, thus he was forced to give up in a complicated mood. After all, the scene of chasing after the prince naked in the corridor of the White Jade Palace was too terrifying, and he didn’t want that.

Garcia must have done it on purpose……Jiang Jianming felt both angry and funny, and went to the ground barefoot under the quilt, planning to look for clothes to wear first. Soon, he saw a set of clean clothes placed on top of a small cabinet not far away.

Jiang Jianming walked over, bent over and stretched out his hand…But before he could pick up the suit, his gaze first fell on the treatment cabin lying horizontally next to the cabinet.

-The appearance of this thing was too abrupt and too “just in the right time”, and the words “go in, you go in by yourself” were almost pasted on it.

Jiang Jianming immediately didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

It should be that His Highness thought that there is no treatment cabin in the staff dormitory of the military academy, and that it may not be convenient to call for help if something happens……therefore took him to the White Jade Palace temporarily?

Afraid again that he would suffer from the sequelae of freezing or drowning, and couldn’t help but take care of him with my own hands, therefore, hid the treatment cabin in this kind of place.

And also specially formulated such “advance gradually and entrench oneself at every step” and “lure the enemy to go deep” combat plan to ensure that he can see the existence of the treatment cabin.

“…….” Jiang Jianming grabbed the clothes and stood for a long time, shook his head and sighed, then rubbed his painful temples again.

……….Forget it, this is just a probability, what else is there to chase.

He turned his gaze helplessly towards the man on the floor, and thought to himself: Perhaps, he should first deal with this unlucky ghost who was thrown by His Royal Highness?

*****

About half an hour later, the unlucky ghost, who had been changed into clean clothes by Jiang Jianming and placed on the bed covered with the blanket, groaned and woke up slowly.

Jiang Jianming had already tidied himself up at this moment, without any signs of embarrassment from drowning.

He sat on the soft chair opposite with great interest, observing the man lightly, while holding a cup of steaming sweet jujube tea in his hand.

“Hiss.”

Surprisingly, the man in his thirties struggled to sit up, he had brown hair and black eyes, his brows stretched out, he couldn’t be described as handsome and good-looking, but he had a very upright appearance.

“You’re awake.” Jiang Jianming said gently, “How do you feel, is there any other discomfort in your body?”

While speaking, he noticed the dark circles under his eyes and the stubble on his chin, guessing that this man had been busy or perhaps anxious recently and had no time to take care of himself.

“Ah, no, no, I’m fine.” The man turned his head and cast a grateful look, “Your Excellency, you took the risk of saving me. I…….I almost caused you to have an accident. I really don’t know how to thank you and apologize.”

Jiang Jianming smiled, picked up another cup of jujube tea on the table, walked to the bed, and put it on the bedside table. “It’s nothing, drink something hot first. Then can you tell me your name?”

To be honest, although the White Jade Palace was a forbidden area, he had been brought in by Ryann quite a few times and both the robots and the intelligent monitoring system here have his authority.

It’s just that Jiang Jianming had resolutely stopped coming to the White Jade Palace since Ryann’s funeral. It had been almost three years.

He just went out and ordered two cups of jujube tea from the intelligent machines, just to test whether his authority was still there. Fortunately, the authority had not been shut down, and the robot quickly delivered jujube tea from the kitchen. 

And now, this drink, which was a tribute to the palace, was taken by a man who was still at a loss and didn’t know where he was.

“Thank you, thank you.” 

The man took it with both hands, bowed his head and took a few sips, then cleared his throat, pointed to his chest and said, “My name is Zheng Yue, Guan’er Zheng, transcending beyond, and a poor military officer with no background. Under the First Regiment of the Golden Sun Wheel Imperial Guard, with the military rank of lieutenant commander.” (TL: transcending beyond or 超越的越, pinyin “chao” “yue” “di” “yue”, so “yue” in Zhen Yue 越 is the same as the “yue” in 超越的越)

Jiang Jianming nodded, not really surprised.

If it is an ordinary person, if they fall into the big river in winter and struggle a few times at most, they will not be able to hold on. Not to mention that the two of them were later trapped in the immobilized mecha, and had a dangerous and perilous journey swimming upwards the river.

Judging from the series of qualities the man displayed after falling into the water, he really didn’t look like an ordinary civilian.

What surprised Jiang Jianming was the man’s next sentence.

He said embarrassingly, “But that was a few months ago, and now I’ve been dismissed. Yes…..I am unemployed.”

As he said that, Zheng Yue smiled bitterly, and stroked his hair. “So I’m sorry, Your Excellency, you have saved my life, but I really can’t come up with anything to thank you right now………”

“Dismissed from office?”

Jiang Jianming frowned. “Why?”

“Oh, my words and deeds were inappropriate.” Zheng Yue said succinctly.

To begin with, when Jiang Jianming only asked his name, he voluntarily reported his identity, which was a manifestation of politeness and sincerity; then this perfunctory at the moment was a subtle indication that he did not want to talk much about this topic.

Of course Jiang Jianming understood, he pulled a chair and sat down on the bedside, and said calmly, “Sorry, Mr. Zheng, I might have to cut straight to the question.”

“This incident is man-made. Someone is trying to kill you. Do you know why?”

Zheng Yue smiled bitterly and touched his nose.

“…..this matter, it’s better for others not to know.”

Jiang Jianming turned on his wrist device, “You said you once belonged to the Golden Sun Wheel, right?

He brought up his military registration page, letting it be projected in the void, and said in a deep voice, “I am Jiang Jianming, a graduate of the Kaios Military Academy, and an officer under the command of Major General Xie Yuduo of the Silver Big Dipper First Legion.”

Zheng Yue’s eyes widened, and he jumped up from the bed. “Silver Big Dipper!?”

“You, you are an officer of Silver Big Dipper—”

He grabbed Jiang Jianming’s wrist device and looked at it, then immediately blushed with excitement, “No wonder, that explains why. You even have a folding mecha, I say, so that’s why……”

Jiang Jianming put away his wrist device with a smile. The position of the Silver Big Dipper in the eyes of the imperial military and civilians was extraordinary. Even if it was said that the Golden Sun Wheel was alongside the Silver Big Dipper on the surface, most of the officers and soldiers inside still admired the Silver Big Dipper people who fought bloody battles against alien creatures in the Far Interstellar Space.

Zheng Yue was obviously one of them, which saved him a lot of trouble.

“Major Zheng, the reason why I ask you this question is because I suspect that your assassination may involve some conspiracy that will endanger the security of the empire. If you still have concerns, you can say whatever proof you want me to provide, and I will do my best.”

Zheng Yue shook his head and heaved a deep sigh. “Alas, don’t say that. What concerns do I have about the Silver Big Dipper Excellency? But this, this is too difficult to say.”

“Where should I start……Oh, since you are an officer of Silver Big Dipper, you must know real crystal ore.”

Jiang Jianming: “Yes, we hunt down alien creatures on a daily basis, and this is what we collect from them.”

Zheng Yue: “Then you must also know, what will happen to these real crystal ores after the fortress of Silver Big Dipper collects them?”

Jiang Jianming realized that Zheng Yue was still testing him consciously, to see if he was a real Silver Big Dipper officer. So he drank jujube tea and chose to answer this question in more detail.

“Well, there are two trips, every spring and autumn, every year. There will be armed starships transporting supplies between the Far Interstellar Space and the empire. At this time, the first and second fortresses will send back nearly 80% of the collected real crystal ores to the empire, leaving 20% for personal use.”

“The third fortress is an exception. In addition to keeping 20% for their own use, 30% of the real crystal ores are directly supplied to the research of the Black Shark Base, and only 50% of the real crystal ores are sent back to the empire.”

Zheng Yue: “You’re right. Real crystal ore is a controlled product in the empire. Even for nobles, it is a felony to hide real crystal ore. The whole process of transportation is supervised by the Silver Big Dipper and the Golden Sun Wheel, with Albourne Star City as the transit station center, and then distributed to each star city according to the indicators.”

He then pointed to his own nose, “Unfortunately, the supervisor responsible for Aslan Star City is me.”

“I and two other colleagues have been in charge of supervising the landing of starships and the unloading and handover of real crystal ores all year round. But a week before the handover this autumn, an order suddenly came from above, saying that we don’t need to take care of it this time. A temporary dispatch, and that the headquarters will send other officers to supervise this trip.”

Jiang Jianming’s expression was slightly heavy, as he listened to him continue.

Zheng Yue said half bitterly and half self-deprecatingly, “I thought it was very strange at the time, and that it didn’t make sense. I wondered who took my job, so I went around to inquire, as a result, the more I inquired, the colder I felt……”

“This is not a classified military activity at all, it’s just a routine handover twice a year.”

The man took a deep breath, and suddenly grasped the corners of the bedside table with five fingers, “But I just can’t find it! I can’t find the Golden Sun Wheel officer who supervised the handover!”

“At this time, the above began to warn me, and my colleagues also persuaded me to not mess around anymore, saying that it might be that the situation of the Far Interstellar Space is not good this year, and that real crystal ores could not be sent over?”

“But this thing is too strange, I feel that something is wrong. I have a buddy who works in the Golden Sun Wheel space station, you know that thing?”

Jiang Jianming nodded. “Like a big white spinning top.”

When he and Garcia returned to the empire, sitting on the starship, they passed the space station in front of the colorful high-dimensional blockade barrier.

“Yes, that’s the one.” Zheng Yue’s expression gradually became tense, “There will be a review and record of all the incoming and outgoing starships. I begged my buddy to help me, he then secretly went to check the data records. As a result, it was discovered that………”

“–The starship transporting real crystal ores to Albourne did pass there as usual. But the starship transporting from Albourne to Aslan couldn’t be found, what does this mean!?”

Zheng Yue raised his hands violently, and his face was flushed with anger. “This shows that the batch of real crystal ores that you Silver Big Dipper sent to the empire in autumn, the portion that should be transported to Aslan……..disappeared!”

“It didn’t land on the starship port that our Golden Sun Wheel is in charge of at all, but was intercepted by someone halfway!”

Before he finished speaking, Jiang Jianming stood up abruptly.

“In the top management of Golden Sun Wheel, someone is stealing the real crystal ores!?”

“I….suspect it to be like this.”

Zheng Yue let out a long sigh, sat back on the bed dejected, and covered his face with his palms. “The so-called inappropriate words and deeds actually mean that I was determined to investigate this matter and angered the above.”

He shook his head depressed, and muttered to himself, “But what can be done? The people behind, it’s unknown how powerful they are. I, a small lieutenant commander of Golden Sun Wheel, was dismissed in a blink of an eye, my wife was so angry that she ran away with someone, and today, I almost lost my life. And you, simply a Silver Big Dipper…..”

The man muttered in frustration, completely sinking into a hopeless mood. But in the blink of an eye, he saw the black-haired young man in front of him stood up, put on his ear piece and turned on his wrist device.

“Alas, don’t…” Zheng Yue raised his head, and tried to dissuade him in a daze, “This matter is deep, it’s best not to involve other people.”

But suddenly, the projection in front of him flickered, and the upper body of an old man in a Golden Sun Wheel military uniform popped up.

That was an old man that the soldiers of the empire absolutely, absolutely, absolutely couldn’t not have known.

Boom! Zheng Yue felt as if he had been hit on the head, a hundred thousand fireworks exploded in his head, and his mouth was opened wide as if he wanted to swallow a star city alive.

Then he saw this young officer who claimed to be a lieutenant in Silver Big Dipper, with a handsome looks that seemed to be suppressing anger, slightly hooked the corners of his lips, put on a fake smile and opened his lips, “Old Marshal Chen, this sudden and presumptuous disturbance, I’m really sorry, but I just wanted to ask—”

“The Golden Sun Wheel Army of our empire, has it already rotted to its bones?”