CH 105.1

Chapter 105.1 – Observation Tower

In the next few days, Lu Tinghan counted all Elton’s resources.

Robot 0293 provided a lot of information, but many parts were incomplete, and he had to check it himself. Shi Yuan followed Lu Tinghan, and 0293 led the way. They shuttled through the large and small streets of Elton.

They’d often walk a whole day as soon as they leave.

Shi Yuan took a fancy to the round-headed 0293 – if he sat cross-legged on the top of 0293’s head and held his tail, he would just be able to sit firmly.

That’s what he planned, and that’s what he did. As soon as Lu Tinghan looked back, he saw 0293 trying to move forward, with Shi Yuan sitting on its head happily.

“Warning,” 0293 said, “Although the weight is allowed, I am a housekeeper robot, not a riding robot.”

“I know,” Shi Yuan replied.

“Warning,” 0293 emphasized again, “You may fall accidentally. For safety reasons, please stop this behavior!”

“It won’t happen,” Shi Yuan told him, “My balance is not bad.”

0293: “Warning! Warning!”

Lu Tinghan listened to Shi Yuan and 0293 quarreling all the way, and came to the southeast corner of the city.

There were forts and armories there. When he checked the two, Shi Yuan was chasing 0293 to play.

After waiting for Shi Yuan to get tired of playing, 0293 went to the corner and stayed quietly – Lu Tinghan actually saw a sense of relief from a robot.

The locks of the armory were opened, and the guns were displayed one by one. Their model was completely different from that of the Alliance. Lu Tinghan disassembled a small handgun, parts and brass-colored bullets scattered on the table, Shi Yuan picked up the magazine and studied its structure.

“Lu Tinghan,” he said, “When will we go back?”

“Soon,” Lu Tinghan replied, “There is still an armory, three factories, and an observation tower to be checked, and then we can go back.”

“Okay.” Shi Yuan lay on the table with his upper body, and raised the magazine high up to the light, the texture was clearly visible, “I hope we can go back early.”

Lu Tinghan smiled and touched his head: “Why, are you homesick?”

Shi Yuan was stunned, and subconsciously rubbed his head against Lu Tinghan’s hand, but did not answer.

For the next half a day, Shi Yuan was thinking about that sentence.

He didn’t know the answer to the question, so he sat on 0293 who was constantly yelling, “Warning! Warning!” 0293 walked through the long streets, passing by those beautiful buildings, and through the dusty windows, he saw home.

The home of many people.

Sofas and coffee tables, dining tables, shoe cabinets, table lamps, TVs, and refrigerators. Sometimes he could see other people’s bedrooms, the beds and bedding were dusty, their color patterns and stripes were faded, but the softness could still be seen. Occasionally, he could still see a few old clothes hanging from the clothesline on the balcony. Some were wrinkled like pickles, and some were broken into strips of cloth. There was no wind underground, they hung intact, with broken circle chairs and dead potted plants next to them.

When passing by “Ivor Street”, Shi Yuan patted 0293 on the head: “Stop.”

0293: “Warning! Warning!”

It still stopped obediently.

Shi Yuan jumped off its head and leaned in front of a room.

0293 turned on the street lights along the way. Through the gray curtains, he saw a single bed and desk. The bookcase was full of colorful books, and the back of the books were exaggerated cartoon graphics – Lu Tinghan told him that this is a kind of thing called “comics”, which used to be very popular. Looking further to the side, there were several palm-sized resin models of robots holding lightsabers.

What really attracted him were the posters on the wall.

Four posters were pasted together, depicting the starry sky, rockets, and spaceships.

Shi Yuan suddenly remembered Wu Zhengqing. He didn’t know if Wu Zhengqing had arrived at the Aerospace Center and drove his beloved spacecraft to the starry sky.

He thought of “Seeker One” again, the frigate was parked in the main city. It was no longer the universe that was waiting for it, but the abyss, but it carried everyone’s hope. And through the “Overlook” project, the Alliance learned that the abyss originally came from the universe.…

Shi Yuan was fascinated.

Lu Tinghan stood behind him and asked, “Do you want to go in and have a look?”

“No need,” Shi Yuan replied, “This is someone else’s home, so I can’t go in.”

Lu Tinghan: “I’ve already unlocked the window.”

Shi Yuan: ??

He looked back, and the window next to the main entrance was wide open.

He was in a daze for a while, and Lu Tinghan took a saber to pry open the aging mechanism. The skill of his movements made Shi Yuan suspicious.

Shi Yuan said, “Lu Tinghan, why are you…”

“Because I have low quality,” Lu Tinghan said, “Go in.”

He took the lead in climbing over the window and opened the door from the inside.

Shi Yuan used his eyes to condemn Lu Tinghan slightly, then entered the bedroom as he wished, stood in front of the posters, and saw all the details clearly.

He said: “These posters are so beautiful. Does the Empire want to go to space too?”

Lu Tinghan coughed twice: “The Empire has always lagged behind in the field of aviation, and neither the air force nor the aerospace are as good as the Alliance’s – but you are right, they also want to go to space.”

Shi Yuan: “Why?”

Lu Tinghan: “It’s probably instinct to explore the unknown. Looking at the sea, you can’t help but imagine what is on the opposite side of the waves. Looking up at the universe, you want to take a look at the end of the starry sky.”

“However, humans also love their hometown very much.”

Lu Tinghan smiled: “Hmm. No matter how far you go, home will always be home.” He squeezed Shi Yuan’s shoulder, “Let’s go when you’re done looking at it, we have to go to the next armory.”

Shi Yuan stared at the poster for another half a minute, and told Lu Tinghan: “I’m done looking at it!”

Lu Tinghan took him out and closed the door before leaving.

Shi Yuan sat on 0293 again.

0293: “Warning! Warning! Warning!”

It carried Shi Yuan forward while shouting. Shi Yuan continued to look at those buildings. The houses were beautiful and warm, but the style and decorations were too different from that of the Alliance. Many of the roofs were too pointed, the colors of the walls were too bright, and the layout of the city was not quite the same…

He was still thinking about Lu Tinghan’s words, and a weird feeling rose in his heart, numb and itchy, it was hard to describe.

“What are you thinking?” Lu Tinghan asked him.

“Nothing,” Shi Yuan said, “When I figure it out, I will tell you.”

Lu Tinghan patted his head. The two went to a faraway place together with the robot.

In the early hours of the next morning, they were going to Elton’s observation tower.

The observation tower was one of the few buildings connected to the ground to observe the ground situation in an emergency. It was generally only used when other observation instruments failed, but it was equally important. Shi Yuan yawned and followed Lu Tinghan to the bottom of the tower, where he saw a black tower leading straight to the high ground and disappearing over the city.

Lu Tinghan told Shi Yuan: “When we finish going to the observation tower, we will prepare to return to the main city.”

“Okay,” Shi Yuan said.

Di Wen was waiting for them under the tower. Under the leadership of 0293, they found the main console, turned on the power, and saw the tower’s signal lights start flashing from the bottom up.

It took time to restart the observation tower, so they found a place to sit at the bottom of the tower.

Di Wen’s vacuum flask contained root tea.

Adjutant Bing gave it to her. As soon as the cap was twisted open, the light fragrance floated in the air.

She took a sip of tea and sighed: “This still tastes the best.” The huge black tower flashed faintly behind her. She looked at Lu Tinghan and Shi Yuan and said, “While it’s not dawn, let me finish the second half of the story.”

It is said that the darkest time before dawn is also the coldest time.

As soon as Shi Yuan opened his mouth, white mist floated out. He sat close to Lu Tinghan, while Lu Tinghan half hugged him and listened to Di Wen talk about the past.