CH 29

He YunTing looked at him.

The Omega who had really poor physical strength, had run over so fast, he could only open his mouth to gasp for air. His face was slightly red, but his eyes were very bright, like pure and precious obsidian.

He YunTing stretched out his hand as if he wanted to help Lin Han, but was afraid that his action was too abrupt, and in the end could only continue to keep his face straight, only a tiny bit of worry leaked out of his blue eyes. But he understood that Lin Han suddenly came to him and must have something to say, so he went over and closed the door of the command room, and made sure that the communication device between the room and the outside world was not turned on, and then said to Lin Han, “What is it?”

He didn’t ask about Wen Tianyao, nor did he say “hmm” or “believe”.

The word “believe” had hardly ever appeared in He YunTing’s life. The words that were engraved in his life were commands and missions, rather than this somewhat indistinct and uncertain emotion.

He was decisive, a person who gave orders, even if Lu AnHe had followed him for the longest time, and could be a little casual in terms of address or in other things, but there was never a compromise on discipline.

As with most of the base, his words were orders, no one would disagree, and no one could disobey. As for the Empire, whether it was the royal family or civilians, he had been loyal and steadfast and had no other emotions.

He was straightforward, and as Lu AnHe sometimes claimed, compared to ordinary people, there were many things missing in him. Therefore, He YunTing didn’t quite understand what this term meant, and he was so naturally strict that he couldn’t immediately answer yes or no for a while.

Even so, when he looked at the person in front of him, something above reason surfaced in his mind, and he almost didn’t want to think about it, wanting to reply ‘yes’ immediately, telling him ‘I believe you.’

But he couldn’t.

The people on the other side of the table were of high status, and even if he didn’t like Wen Tianyao, he couldn’t deny the fact that he would inherit the Empire in the future. He wanted to be more loyal to the entire country than to the imperial family.

Lin Han saw He YunTing’s eye color change and darken, so he reorganized his language.

For a not-so-sensible moment, he wanted to tell him that he had the ability to read what the other person was thinking at the moment as long as he reached out and touched them.

If He YunTing didn’t believe him, he’d grab his hand and read the other person’s mind right now, one word at a time.

But he couldn’t.

The other side was such a cold and reserved person, and he read what was in his mind without permission. Not to mention how He YunTing would feel if he knew what he had been thinking, what was more, reading the words of his mind would be like torture to him——

This was undoubtedly like stripping all his pride down a little and then stepping on it.

Lin Han looked at the other party’s blue eyes, and suddenly a lot of intolerant feelings arose.

“I mean…” Lin Han changed the way he spoke, “I can tell the General something. Whether or not the General believes it, is up to the General to decide.”

He still had the gun He YunTing gave him last time on him, and since He YunTing told him that day, Lin Han began to deliberately not use “you” 1 in his words, sometimes replacing it with “you” 2, sometimes replacing it with “General”.

In order to make He YunTing believe him, Lin Han could only speak in a graver tone.

“His Royal Highness has come to me before, more than once,” Lin Han didn’t lie, as he maintained his composure, “before he came today, I heard what he said on the communicator at work.”

He YunTing listened quietly, his eyes focused.

“To be honest, I did consider whether he was responsible for the assassination at the last dinner party,” Lin Han said, “I said I would help General before, so I started paying attention. He came to me today and kept mentioning you to me.”

Lin Han saw He YunTing raise his eyebrows, still keeping his lips tightly closed.

“There are some processes I’m not at liberty to tell General, but I can vouch for my professionalism and my life — what I say next is true. His Royal Highness found me, including…” Lin Han was just about to say, ‘including what he said to you about talking to me was a lie’, but he quickly realized that to say that would mean admitting the fact that he was pretending to be asleep, and he bit his tongue before replacing it with, “Including his position. He’s not like a General, he doesn’t stay neutral… I heard that he had contact with Mr. Guo.”

He YunTing instantly became surprised.

“The assassination may not really have anything to do with him, because his purpose—” Lin Han took a breath, stopped to slow down, and continued with some embarrassment, “he wanted to use me to get close to General, he thinks… You care more about me, and as long as I can be convinced, since I’m also with you… and our relationship is close, they can use me, so you… the General can join Mr. Guo’s side.”

Lin Han stumbled over these words rather awkwardly; after all, in Wen Tianyao’s mind, he and He YunTing were almost a nailed-on pair. He tried to add a few more words, barely able to tell He YunTing all the information he had heard from Wen Tianyao.

Lin Han actually only knew some things about these two factions of the council, so he didn’t know the deeper relationship, but in any case, he still wanted to tell the other side all that he heard.

If he didn’t have this ability, things would really go as Wen Tianyao planned. He YunTing would no longer be neutral, the political situation would change, whether it was good or bad for the Empire… He couldn’t tell.

Lin Han finished before calming his breathing and added, “That’s all I know. I don’t know what use this information will be to the General, but I’d be even more upset if I didn’t tell you.”

“It’s up to the General to believe it or not, I just wanted to come and tell you the truth.”

He YunTing moved his fingers for a moment, then walked toward Lin Han.

“I see.” He said, “I’ll think about it.”

There was no direct statement of belief or disbelief.

It would be false to say that he wasn’t a bit disappointed, but Lin Han smiled a little and bowed to He YunTing.

“Then I’ll leave.” Lin Han stood up straight and looked at He YunTing.

The other party, however, didn’t respond, and only after two seconds did he hesitate to say.

“So he… did he harm you?”

Lin Han first froze for a moment, then quickly understood from He YunTing’s words who the “he” was. He wanted to ask him if Wen Tianyao had hurt him or threatened him when he approached him.

Lin Han’s heart felt a little warm, and the loss of He YunTing’s trust or lack of trust was slightly dispersed, he tilted his head and smiled at him, “No.”

“Then I’m leaving.” Lin Han said again.

He YunTing didn’t stop him this time and stood still.

But Lin Han was the one who stopped again when he reached the door.

He couldn’t explain why, but Lin Han suddenly recalled the image of He YunTing squirming to shake hands with him when he left this place before. At that time, He YunTing, as usual, didn’t say what he actually thought, just said “Mr. Lin goodbye” twice so he could shake hands with him.

Lin Han turned around.

He YunTing was holding the jacket Lin Han returned to him, and didn’t utter a word, as if he didn’t know whether to do the same as last time.

Inexplicable emotions were at work, and this time there was clearly no reason to read minds and He YunTing didn’t make a sound, but Lin Han still took two steps forward and reached out, “Then… see you later General.”

Lin Han was actually a little afraid of what would happen if He YunTing refused this time, and whether he would be left embarrassed.

But He YunTing didn’t give Lin Han a chance to think about it, as he quickly took it in his big hand and replied, “Bye.”

【I should’ve trusted Mr. Lin.】

Hearing these words, Lin Han was stunned for a moment and didn’t pull his hand away at first.

So, he heard another sentence.

【So Mr. Lin didn’t talk to him.】

This “he” was obviously referring to Wen Tianyao.

The second stage of the selection was officially over, after another round of brutal elimination, now the remaining were basically the best of the best, whose mental and physical strengths were superior.

The Alpha named Qi Jiamu was still at the top of the list, and had a large gap between him and the second place.

The third stage was the actual mecha test, where batches of mecha were assigned to the pilots who had passed the two rounds of selection and began a brand new test.

Unlike the first phase of physical strength and the second phase of virtual pods, all training in the third phase was real, and therefore risky and exhausting.

Lin Han was also the busiest during this phase, needing frequent debugging and tinkering, and sometimes having to temporarily re-enter new data into the system based on the pilot’s mental strength depending on the batch of mecha, and then handing it over to the pilot after calculations and testing.

So Lin Han saw the legendary best Alpha of the batch, Qi Jiamu, on the training ground that day.

His mental power was SS, which was already very high, and the mecha randomly assigned to him was from the previous batch, so Lin Han wanted to use Qi Jiamu’s mental power sample to modify it a little bit.

“Hello Mr. Lin.” Qi Jiamu looked very young, and even though he looked very determined during his training, he still carried an untouched teenage air when talking to people. He was polite and handed Lin Han his mental power sample, “I’m counting on you, Mr. Lin.”

Lin Han nodded to him and said, “No need,” and then started working.

Since many recruits had been recorded with demerits for keeping their eyes on Lin Han, no one dared to sneak a peek at him this time, and they were all ready to train without looking away.

He YunTing was satisfied to see this scene when he walked into the training field.

Since it was a real training and the first day, as the commander he didn’t remain in the command room, but joined Lu AnHe and patrolled these reserve pilots who entered the third round.

He YunTing had the roster in his mind, as he swept over them one by one, not noticing anything unusual.

The training ground began to announce the various cautions of the third round.

Lin Han moved quickly, and by the time he finished processing the system and got out of the mecha, He YunTing was standing right in front of him.

It had been two days since he last saw him, so Lin Han politely greeted He YunTing and didn’t bother him anymore, returning to his work.

Because the third stage of the task was quite mixed, Lin Han’s room was still some distance away from the current training ground. In order to make it convenient to be on call, he didn’t choose to go back, and just stayed in the operation room inside the training ground, watching these mechas for any irregularities.

Lin Han was too busy to talk to He YunTing today, he just kept running around the training ground and the operation room, going down to check if there was a situation, and coming back after it was handled.

It wasn’t until all the training was completed today that Lin Han walked back to the operation room, ready to take the records of today’s work and go back to rest. When he pushed open the door, he saw He YunTing, who should’ve already gone back, sitting on a chair with a nutrition supplement in his hand.

Seeing Lin Han coming, He YunTing didn’t say much, just handed him the item in his hand.

“Thanks.” The nutrient was really unscrewed, so Lin Han didn’t need to bother and thanked He YunTing.

He YunTing’s expression remained the same.

After that day, Wen Tianyao didn’t come again, and the two had a tacit agreement, not mentioning the matter from that day.

Lin Han was fine, even though he was too busy these days to worry about it, not to mention that before leaving that day, he also heard the other party’s “should’ve believed” words.

This was enough.

But He YunTing wasn’t the same.

He had been in a strange tangle for the past two days. He knew he couldn’t just say that he believed Lin Han, but since he hadn’t said it himself that day, he couldn’t find a way to open the delicate silence between them once and for all.

Lin Han finished his nutrients and was ready to go back to his room.

“General, I’ll go first.” He said to He YunTing, as he wondered what the other was thinking at this moment.

He nodded.

The atmosphere between the two became peculiar.

Lin Han looked at He YunTing who didn’t say a word and could feel that he was acting weird for the past two days.

After all, he couldn’t tell anything without reading his mind, but his intuition told him that something was going on with He YunTing.

It seemed that he wanted to talk to him, but in the end he stopped because of his clumsy mouth. He was originally very reluctant to passively hear the hearts of others, which was why he always wore gloves. But He YunTing was different, even if Lin Han had no idea what the other person was thinking every time — he didn’t feel uncomfortable.

Lin Han’s mind wandered.

Might as well try.

“General,” Lin Han hesitantly said to He YunTing, “do you want to shake hands today?”

In a rather inconceivable situation, a mecha master who dealt with a bunch of cold metal and complicated procedures all day long, and an imperial general who never smiled and didn’t want to talk, was now asking face to face if he wanted to shake hands.

Although the scene was odd, it was also harmonious.

He YunTing was reluctant to even directly admit it, his tense face not reflecting his thoughts, but he didn’t directly refuse either, just staring at Lin Han.

Suddenly, Lin Han had this strange feeling out of nowhere, like he was coaxing this person.

The word “coax” itself was very unusual and out of place in this setting.

But when he saw He YunTing’s expression, he couldn’t help but think that way.

Unable to explain what he was feeling, Lin Han walked up to He YunTing, looked at the man sitting in the chair, and extended his hand as he had done the last time they had said goodbye.

“General,” he spoke with a smile, his voice soft and brisk, inexplicably reminding He YunTing of the purple tulips on his estate that hadn’t bloomed yet, always giving a light and self-effacing delight, “give me your hand.”

He YunTing’s expression subtly moved. Even though he still looked like he was cold and unapproachable, he still listened to Lin Han and did as he was told.

His hand was large and warm, thickly calloused from years of training, but it had a reassuring touch that was different from anyone else’s.

The youth smiled lightly, but his eyebrows were gentle, and his fingers were long and glistening white, as they fell on the palm of He YunTing’s hand.

At this moment, he suddenly had an impulse.

Lin Han’s fingertips were faintly cool, and the moment they touched He YunTing’s palm, he said, “If I say that I can read minds, and I know everything that the General’s thinking… Would you believe it?”