CH 92

Neither of them had the habit of staying in bed, and Lin Han woke up a little earlier than He YunTing the day after Grr continued to be thrown out of his room in frustration. As he rubbed his eyes and sat up in the waking hours, the words he said last night gradually came back to him.

He didn’t relay everything he had seen to He YunTing, and the other man didn’t seem too eager to do so, but just stayed quietly with him, not needing to speak, and the hand on his back would pass it on for him anyway. They didn’t do anything that night, and didn’t need to do anything.

Even though they should have met earlier, they didn’t have to miss the silent teenage years. Lin Han carefully put his clothes back on, looked sideways at the person beside him, and suddenly remembered that he had hardly ever seen He YunTing asleep.

The only time He YunTing fell asleep in front of him was when Grr accidentally clicked on the video message when the other man was on V Proton, and the two of them had a magical, silent communication. At that time, the other man propped up his face with his hands to see his expression, but it was always a light sleep between battles, and he didn’t seem to be sleeping peacefully.

But he was now sleeping with a frown.

For a moment Lin Han wanted to reach out and touch him, but was afraid that this simple action would wake him up. When he was frowning, what was he thinking about in his dreams? Will he dream about the missing teenage years, will he dream about him?

In the days of unattainable love, would there be a brief moment when he felt a subtle and bone-chilling loneliness? Perhaps the wind around was too quiet, or the morning air was too gentle, Lin Han felt a few minutes of daze.

He couldn’t help but assume that if the two really didn’t miss each other, what would it be like?

Lin Han’s assessment of himself for a long time was that he was an uninteresting person and often kept to himself at school. Although he didn’t show it on the surface, he actually didn’t like the feeling of being watched by too many people and just wanted to get into a metal shell that belonged to him.

He YunTing was several grades higher, and the management on his side should be much stricter than his own, so he may not have had that much time to meet with him. So actually the possibility of this hypothesis being valid was very low.

But Lin Han still couldn’t help thinking about what would’ve happened if they really got together early.

He YunTing may take time out of his heavy training to quietly meet with him — according to his nature, he probably wouldn’t be able to say anything when they meet, and may only be able to look at him without saying a word, but couldn’t bear to leave.

Just thinking about it, he found it very interesting.

But his personality would be different, and he might not be as calm as he was now, especially when he found out that he couldn’t drive the mecha no matter how hard he tried, and he might not be able to stop being frustrated — Lin Han was completely by himself, and it would’ve been nice if he accompanied him at that time, even if he didn’t even comfort him, just stayed by his side.

He might not have been as good-tempered as he was now, and he may have even been emotional when he encountered some things. He YunTing might also not be as cold as now, but he would certainly be just as clumsy. He wouldn’t understand anything, would probably withhold Lu AnHe’s snacks just to carefully hand them to him, asking if he wasn’t angry anymore. 

They probably wouldn’t be as concerned as they were now for various reasons, they could be open about it.

Lin Han had not entered the Institute yet, and He YunTing had not shouldered a hefty battle on his body yet. They were the two most ordinary people walking on this planet.

Maybe He YunTing training was very busy, Lin Han would take advantage of the free time, follow the M2742 driving and training track, find each other’s position, abruptly cover each other’s eyes, and then take advantage of He YunTing wanting to let go their hands by wiping off the sweat on his forehead. Maybe He YunTing would take a vacation in the middle of his busy schedule to accompany Lin Han to the Galaxy Exhibition Hall, which he was most looking forward to as a child, and ask him if he has anything to deposit. But no matter what Lin Han said, he would probably store the ugly-looking stone, and maybe Lin Han would frown and say that the storage fee was a little too high, but the smile at the corner of his mouth wouldn’t flatten.

Maybe they’d go out on a date on a hot, cloudy summer day, kissing in the hot sun one minute and being drenched by an uninvited downpour the next. But even if the wind hid the rain, the clouds would also be edged with gold.

He YunTing would’ve been afraid that he would catch a cold, would take off his jacket to cover him, before pulling him into his arms and saying wait a minute.

Perhaps they couldn’t wait for the rain to stop, they would do it in the mecha He YunTing named after his student number. Lin Han must have been flushed all over at that time, obviously shy, but he would say things that he couldn’t speak in normal times, and voluntarily give his mind and body to the other, while He YunTing would probably bite his throat and swallow his moans. Even when he wasn’t in heat, he couldn’t resist the urge to mark him, to sink his canine teeth deep into his glands, and to fill him with his pheromone and other things.

The not-so-spacious space was haunted by their scent, and in the minds of the others, they only wondered why this big, cold, iron shell was parked here and when exactly it would drive away.

All of it was beautiful and perfect, even though it only existed in his imagination.

But just thinking about it filled his heart with longing.

That was He YunTing’s teenage years, Lin Han thought. But fortunately, thankfully, even after all these years, his eyes were as clear as they had been before. He saw these eyes open, and they still had the same unbroken honesty.

He couldn’t help but lean down and kiss those eyes, “Good morning.”

— 

Lin Han refused He YunTing’s suggestion to ask someone to drive him to work, “You don’t want people to know about our relationship. I’m fine on my own.”

He YunTing tensed his face and tried to insist, but in the end he was defeated by Lin Han’s words.

“Okay.” His voice was uncharacteristically a bit more helpless, “Be sure to pay attention to safety. Remember to tell me first if anything happens.”

He YunTing seemed to have really started to change, especially at the time of separation, he didn’t talk so little. Even when he knew that he might be accused by Lin Han for being naggy, he still couldn’t help but speak up.

“Got it.” Lin Han answered obediently. “By the way,” Lin Han seemed to think of something and said after a while, “Recently, the Research Institute may be a bit busy, so I won’t be able to come to you all the time in the next few days.”

He YunTing had just nodded when he heard Lin Han continue, “Are you not going to be able to use the mecha for a while?” He seemed worried about the condition of the M2742, “The Institute will be overhauling the new mecha during this period, so if you’re not on a mission, why don’t you ask someone to send it here?”

He YunTing froze for a moment, “Not for the next two days. But it didn’t drain too much on V Proton…”

Lin Han interrupted, “I told you to send it over, so send it over.”

A moment later, he probably recalled the importance He YunTing had placed on mecha when they first met, and added, “I’ll check it myself, and never give it anyone else, all right?”

“I…” He YunTing wanted to say that he didn’t mean that.

“Just in case.” Lin Han’s voice sounded sincere, but it somehow had a petulant tone, “General has to trust me.”

“Okay.” So He YunTing stopped thinking otherwise, and very simply put the key to the mecha into Lin Han’s hand, and even cooperated by saying, “Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Lin.”

“My pleasure.” Lin Han winked and looked in a good mood.

He YunTing went out a little earlier, Lin Han walked him to the entrance, and when he was about to open the door, he suddenly called out to him, “He YunTing.”

The other thought Lin Han had remembered something and turned back in response.

In his silent eyes, Lin Han suddenly came closer, stood up on tiptoe, stretched out his index finger of both hands and poked at He YunTing’s lips at the same time, using a slight force to gently lift the two corners of his mouth upwards a little.

He YunTing was a bit confused and didn’t react, so he let Lin Han do whatever.

The ‘smile’ on He YunTing’s face that was half pushed and half pulled out by the other looked a little stiff, he subconsciously raised his hand, his eyes were a little confused, and only after a moment did he realize what Lin Han was doing.

Lin Han’s fingers touched his face and he heard his unspoken voice.

【…Isn’t it a bit ugly?】

But even though He YunTing thought so, he still wanted to cooperate with Lin Han, and tried to smile at him in a raw and serious way. But before he could make a corresponding action, the other’s sweet and soft lips touched his.

“Not ugly.” The kiss was brief, as if Lin Han had used his lips as a seal to gently cover the smile in order to confirm it. He took his hand back and said, “It’s the best smile I’ve ever seen.”

— 

Neither of them mentioned what they had said last night until He YunTing closed the door and left. Having confirmed that all the lost memories were related to Lin Han, He YunTing instead relapsed into silence. He began to try to expose his emotions to Lin Han without hiding them, so Lin Han didn’t have any trouble sensing that he was afraid.

“How about this,” sensing He YunTing’s emotions, Lin Han blurted out at a certain moment almost without thinking, “I’ll take the time to go to the Exhibition Hall again and find a chance to touch that stone. Maybe we’ll know more then.”

“You don’t have the ability to read minds…”

Well, at least I can choose whether I want to tell you the truth when I know it.

Naturally, this proposal was very simply rejected by He YunTing.

Originally, this kind of thing was a fluke, but of course more importantly, He YunTing would never let Lin Han face his memories alone, “…I’ll go with you.”

“But you yourself ordered Lu AnHe not to say anything either.” Lin Han said, “There must be some other reason.”

One couldn’t ask He YunTing to also join him in getting his lost memories back just because he had cheated on his mind reading.

“That’s your business. If you don’t want me to go again, I won’t go.”

“If you have your own concerns, then we can also pretend that this never happened.”

Both of them knew that there must be something hidden in it, and according to He YunTing’s character, he would do so because the seriousness of something must have exceeded his prediction.

So the reason He YunTing had concerns was that if he did get his memories back, everything now would be turned upside down, in every sense.

Lin Han understood and didn’t try to say anything more. It wasn’t that he didn’t have concerns either. But after knowing most of what was in this memory, a certain emotion came up layer by layer, overriding the burst of unnecessary thoughts.

“You don’t have to think about me.” Lin Han said.

“All decisions are up to you.” There was the usual gentleness in his voice that magically carried the power to soothe the heart, “It’s okay, though I want you not to be afraid.”

“It’s okay even if you’re scared, and it’s okay if you don’t want to face it.”

“Just give me a hug.” He said to He YunTing, “No matter what happens, I will always be on your side.”

—

After that day, the two didn’t see each other for several days.

The new pilots had a lot of unresolved issues, and Lin Han needed to get back to the Institute sooner, with a mountain of work waiting for him to handle. The colleagues at the Institute were surprised to find that the original workaholic Lin Han was back.

After all, a new batch of mecha had recently been developed, and some of the base’s mecha needed to be sent back for maintenance after returning from V Proton, so the colleagues saw that Lin Han, who had clocked in and out of work on time for some time, had begun to spend his days in the research lab again.

This situation reached its peak when the base sent over the M2742. After all, the last time the M2742 was damaged, he was the one responsible for repairing it, so this time when it was delivered, almost no one had any objection, and it was just like the last time, the mecha was placed in Lin Han’s usual repair room, and no one interfered.

What was even stranger was that the private pilot that was responsible for transporting him before no longer came. Lin Han came to the Research Institute early every day, greeted his colleagues, carried the nutrients, and went to the research lab. When his colleagues were off duty, he stayed in the repair room by himself, and didn’t come out of the M2742 for a long time.

Some people guessed that there was something wrong with He YunTing’s mecha, which made Lin Han soak himself in it every day. But people were always gossiping, and they were more concerned about Lin Han’s sudden change of heart than about the General’s mecha repair.

One of the most convincing arguments was that Lin Han had a sudden change of heart.

One of the most convincing arguments was that the big guy with the private vehicle may have broken up with him, and that was why he turned his grief into work motivation.

When Shen XiuNan was in the lounge, he wasn’t surprised to hear similar rumors again.

“I don’t suppose you guys have seen that flying machine lately, have you?”

“Which one, the one that picked up Lin Han?”

“Not that one and which one. To be honest, you really don’t see many flying machines of this class, otherwise how could I be so impressed as soon as I saw it.”

“Yes, yes, just the logo, it’s either the royal family or the military, maybe there’s also a private flight path.”

“Only ever been in a public flight, never felt it…”

“So this means…?”

“They’re not together anymore, right. Otherwise how could it be so high-profile before, and now suddenly disappear?”

“That’s right, otherwise I see Lin Han keep running to the repair room these days, and not go back when work’s over.”

“It’s normal for the upper echelons of Alpha to be tired of the old and seek the new.”

“Didn’t Lin Han admit it himself last time, saying that the other party was just an ordinary person?”

“An ordinary person with a private flying machine?”

“No way, the other party can’t even go out with an Omega of Lin Han’s quality?”

“Keep your voice down—”

“How can we possibly know what those people are thinking?”

“But on a side note, just a little gossip… What do you guys think, did they mark him?”

Several colleagues took a breath when they heard the topic, “…Well, it’s hard to say.”

“I don’t think so, right? If he was marked, it wouldn’t be that easy to break up, and the Alpha might not even want him to come to work.”

“I also think… But I, as a Beta, don’t know much about this.”

“Why do I have a feeling he was? If he wasn’t marked, Lin Han wouldn’t suddenly need to distract himself with work.”

“Actually, it’s quite good, he hasn’t been to the base, and is now repairing the General’s mecha. If you can be familiar with the General, that’s also a good thing.”

“Wake up, I don’t think the General will get acquainted with anyone.”

Someone else was lamenting for Lin Han, “Being an Omega is really quite difficult, Lin Han is really the best I’ve ever seen, but I didn’t expect that he still couldn’t get that Alpha.”

A group of people began to agree and were glad they were an Alpha or Beta.

Shen XiuNan frowned and tried to interrupt, walking forward, “Don’t talk about people all the time.”

The colleague who was busy lamenting before saw him coming, and even felt that he was right, and also had sympathy for Lin Han, so he said to Shen XiuNan, “You’re close to Lin Han, advise him to think about it, when the work isn’t done, there’s no need to be so tired, let him take a good rest. He can tell us if he’s upset, as his colleagues, we’ll listen to him.”

The tone was full of certainty, almost certain that Lin Han really had something with some high society Alpha, and then was tragically abandoned. Shen XiuNan didn’t bother to pay attention, waved his hand and let the group of colleagues go.

Lin Han wouldn’t care anyway.

It wasn’t that he hasn’t been looking for him these days, but Lin Han did seem to be very busy, busy with the development of the new mecha during the day, and after work, he didn’t go back.

He didn’t go back to work, but had to deal with the M2742 sent to him in the repair room. After thinking about it, Shen XiuNan decided to go to the research lab to look for Lin Han.

—

When he went in, Lin Han was wearing goggles, staring intently at the screen, with countless scraps of manuscripts he had thrown away. When he saw Shen XiuNan coming, Lin Han took off his goggles and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Shen XiuNan wrinkled his eyebrows and said, “Nothing, I came to bring you some food and check on you as well.” 

“Thank you.” Lin Han took a sip of water, but his eyes didn’t move from the screen, obviously still immersed in work.

“So,” Shen XiuNan sighed, “if you hear the most recent gossip about you, don’t take it to heart.”

Lin Han looked surprised, “What gossip?”

“…” Shen XiuNan was silent, it turned out that other people were talking over there half a day, but the party involved in this incident still didn’t know. “Forget it, forget it, I was afraid you would hear it and get upset.”

But I didn’t expect you really didn’t care at all.

Lin Han looked at Shen XiuNan’s expression, and within a few seconds, without the need to read his mind,he could also guess, “Oh, I know, the matter of the flying machine, right?”

“Mn,” Shen XiuNan also subconsciously wanted to comfort, “Anyway, no matter what, you are well on your own.”

But just as he finished the sentence, Lin Han laughed a little.

Shen XiuNan looked at him puzzled.

“Do they think I’ve fallen out of love?” Lin Han hit the nail on the head.

Shen XiuNan was a little embarrassed, “Anyway, don’t listen, I just told them not to talk about it.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Lin Han’s expression was very relaxed, and didn’t look even a little sad, “Things aren’t what they think.”

Shen XiuNan immediately said, “No need to tell me, I’m not that curious. I just came to see you, you’re fine. Don’t worry.”

Lin Han took a break for a few minutes and planned to put on his goggles again to continue working, Shen XiuNan saw this and said, “But you don’t have to work so hard… Did you encounter a very difficult problem?”

“Not really.” Lin Han didn’t say anything more, “I have to go to the repair room again, the time is almost up, you can leave work first.”

Shen XiuNan saw that Lin Han was reluctant to talk, but seeing his mood was really not downcast before he was reassured, and gave two more words before leaving.

— 

Lin Han came home late today.

He didn’t come back the day before, and Grr was bored at home eating and sleeping, watching TV from time to time, but unfortunately no one to rub and no one to bother, it was very lonely. Lin Han bought him a lot of good food to make up for it, and just after he opened the door, he heard the sound of the news coming from inside the house.

Lin Han didn’t pay much attention to it, but when he looked up, he saw a person he knew very well on the screen.

Grr was usually not aggressive in the face of He YunTing, but had a strange emotion of fear and desire to provoke, and only in front of He YunTing on the TV could it pretend that it could beat him, and show its teeth and grin at the person on the screen — not like it could come out of the TV to pose a threat to it anyway.

Grr was waving its tail at the screen

Lin Han handed over the snacks he had prepared for it, when he heard a voice from the TV.

“In response to some untrue statements related to General some time ago, today, Professor Xu Zhiheng, who had traveled to V Proton with him, finally volunteered to be interviewed—”

If he remembered correctly, this was the first time that the mainstream media had publicly reported something related to this public opinion.

Lin Han’s heart tightened, now the Empire had its own prejudice against He YunTing’s action on V Proton Star, these days he wouldn’t deliberately listen, but also knew that some citizens had serious dissatisfaction with him. He YunTing coming back past the central statue was already a beginning.

Xu Zhiheng, on the other hand, now had a better image than ever among the people of the Empire and V Proton, after all, he was the one who was credited with saving V Proton.

Lin Han turned up the volume a little, apprehensive in his heart. With Xu Zhiheng’s current national image, if even he spoke out against He YunTing, then public opinion would only become more unfriendly towards He YunTing.

He had no intention to think much about it, but a sense of nervousness surrounded him, and he thought of Wen TianYao, whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, and even more so of Xi Yuan, who was apparently his deputy, but in reality, could have created this V Proton Star disaster.

What was more, the radicals weren’t without military power, and if Luo Qi continued to build momentum by taking advantage of the current public opinion, Wen TianYao’s apparently pro-people mask would not be torn… 

Lin Han pursed his lips and tried to calm himself down.

He stared at the screen in front of him, looking at the professor he once respected the most at his university.

Xu Zhiheng seems to have just come out of his laboratory, the expression on his face was as calm and steady as ever, and the talk was all very polite.

But after listening to the other’s question, Xu Zhiheng sighed.

“The reason I’m being interviewed is because… I’m here to apologize.”

Xu Zhiheng said, “I also hope that people will no longer have any misunderstanding about the General. It’s my fault, I stopped before, and I wasn’t even willing to come out to clarify.”

“And now, I’m making a complete explanation again for my previous stupidity and the misunderstanding that I caused to the General because of my mistake.”

The interviewer didn’t expect this kind of direction and hurriedly asked, “May I ask what you said about your mistake…”

This time, Xu Zhiheng was silent for a long time.

Lin Han himself also got affected by the tension. He knew about the matter of V Proton Star, and he knew that He YunTing hadn’t made any clarification or explanation because he blamed himself.

But what about Xu Zhiheng? Lin Han didn’t know.

Xu Zhiheng’s hair was already half-white, and his hands were still raised and kind, but this time there was more apology in his gaze.

“I’m not the one who is credited with saving V Proton. Admittedly, the antigen did work, but… I accomplished it against military orders.”

“The General wasn’t wrong in his military orders at that time, and he didn’t allow me to walk down the mecha for my safety.” Xu Zhiheng explained methodically, “In that environment, no one knew in what way that gene would spread, and it was I, myself who saw a certain scene that I couldn’t accept before I rashly forced myself to leave the mecha protecting me and rushed forward.”

“Even when I did that, the General didn’t give up on me in the end. Therefore, I hope you all know that it was an absolute coincidence that we were able to develop the antigen, and even if I had also been exposed to the city’s water supply, then I would have been no different than the millions of people who lost their lives. There’s no right or wrong in this, much less the murderous, cold-bloodedness that some people make it out to be. If he hadn’t done that, if I hadn’t found a solution by chance… No matter which ‘chance’ was avoided, things wouldn’t be like this.”

The reporter didn’t expect Xu Zhiheng to say this and immediately subconsciously said, “But you’re the one who is credited with rescuing V Proton Star…”

Xu Zhiheng lowered his head and smiled, but there was no laughter in his voice, “I knew it. I knew it from the beginning. I was only given the chance to disobey the order, so there’s no such thing as a meritorious servant. What’s more, in the end, it was the formation that rebuilt the water and restored the ecology, and I was just an Omega who couldn’t carry it on his shoulders.”

“So, no matter what, the General’s decision wasn’t wrong.” Xu Zhiheng said, “I’m just a thief who took advantage of him and his reputation.”

In the end, Xu Zhiheng said to the camera, “I enjoyed a period of time of pursuit and reverence that shouldn’t have belonged to me, while the General suffered from unfounded rumors that shouldn’t have been borne by him.”

“The glory wasn’t mine. The General is the hero.”

With a clatter, Grr rolled around in the pile of snacks, while the TV cut back to his favorite drama.

And Lin Han listened, the boulder in his heart fell heavily. He finally breathed a sigh of relief, squatted down and stroked the little guy’s head, praising it, “Thank you for letting me see this.”

— 

Xu Zhiheng’s words were undoubtedly useful, some of the original subjects were originally blindly following the trend, and now those who began to guiltily want to apologize to He YunTing were also those who didn’t distinguish between right and wrong.

The base still maintained its original order, and public opinion, good or bad, never seemed to affect them.

When Lu AnHe came in, He YunTing was observing the pilots left behind after the last training in the war room. They had been officially integrated into the base, but there was still a rather long inspection period, and if they made mistakes during this period, they still had to be reconsidered and screened carefully in the strictest way.

Because under Xu Zhiheng’s guidance, the negative public opinion about He YunTing was being dispelled little by little, although the base didn’t care about these rumors, nevertheless Lu AnHe was in a much better mood.

“Boss,” Lu AnHe reported, his tone light and pleasant, “Your mecha has been overhauled, the Institute sent it back to you, and now it’s parked at the first training ground.”

He YunTing paused in his hands for a moment, “Got it.”

“Okay, but I still have to go to the weapons depot later, I guess I can’t help you check the operation until tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.” Lu AnHe said.

“That’s fine.” He YunTing answered in a deep voice.

“Okay, then I’ll…” Lu AnHe just wanted to say that he would leave first, but was interrupted by He YunTing’s voice out, “What’s wrong boss?”

He YunTing’s tone was inaudible, he just paused and said, “No need to check for me.”

Lu Anhe thought to himself, He Yunting could also guess whose hands the mech had gone through, presumably out of trust in Lin Han, he felt no need to check it, but he just nodded dryly, “Okay, I understand.”

“Mn. “He YunTing didn’t say anything more.

Lu AnHe took it for granted, closed the door for him, and left first himself.

He YunTing walked out of the war room when it was already late.

Lin Han was busy working overtime during this period, sometimes he didn’t even go back to his apartment, and occasionally he communicated with He YunTing, mostly at the Research Institute. It so happened that the base was also busy recently, so He YunTing didn’t choose to go back.

He took a look at the time, hesitated to contact the other, and worried that it was too late to disturb him, or to disturb a certain group of people who had been driven to sleep in other rooms for several nights and had recently been very emotional.

He YunTing thought about it and finally didn’t bother, but walked over to the first training ground by himself. Checking this kind of thing was something he didn’t need to do himself, Lu AnHe would take the time to check for themselves for errors and omissions, so its performance wouldn’t be out of order.

But he didn’t let Lu AnHe help today, not only because of this reason. At this point in the training ground, the lights were still on, but He YunTing was the only one in the large field. He took one step in front of the mecha, opened the hatch with the remote elevator, and stepped into the cockpit himself. He couldn’t say what mood he was in, he knew Lin Han’s achievements in this area and he didn’t need to worry about him at all.

But he couldn’t help but think of how he had spent the last few days in the mecha, where he was most familiar, checking every bit of data, making sure all the mechanical procedures and sensing systems were in order, and he couldn’t help but want to sit in it. It was like this, no need to meet or talk, he could sense everything.

This way he could start his mecha and feel the emotions of a certain moment as he calibrated every re-polished program and system, and he could feel the other person standing seriously and rigorously in his mecha.

He YunTing, as usual, used his mecha key to start up M2742, which he knew best.

The general start-up sequence of the higher mecha was that the external program started first, and then according to the steps, when the ignition and other programs were confirmed to be correct, he could apply to turn on the mental power connection system with the AI hub.

After the ignition was completed, He YunTing heard the familiar mechanical female voice.

“Number M2742. Ignition complete. Fuselage activated. First cockpit ready.”

“Request to open the AI central mental power connection system.” He issued the command.

According to the normal procedure, the system would give a similar response after successfully connecting to the system. However, after a second, what appeared wasn’t the usual “AI hub has been opened, please instruct” that He YunTing was used to.

Before He YunTing could think about it, he heard the mechanical female voice announcing the system changed to something else. Lin Han didn’t know when he had reprogrammed this mecha, and after the successful connection of the hub to the system, the gentle voice of the youth appeared in the cockpit.

“Connection successful.” His voice was clear and bright, exactly the same as the voice He YunTing had heard across the distant visual communications when he was on V Proton.

“The new AI hub program has been activated.” The youth’s voice seemed to carry a smile, He YunTing didn’t know when he had recorded it, only that Lin Han was always working overtime alone at the Research Institute these days, and it turned out that he had also worked overtime to do this.

“M2742 is fully activated. Mr. Lin said he will always love you.” Lin Han’s voice echoed in the mecha cabin, “Please instruct.”

—

If a sergeant had passed by Training Ground 1 in the middle of the night, he would probably have been puzzled by the sound of the mecha ignition starting up. Had there been a mistake in the mecha calibration, why else would the General’s mecha have been firing up more than once?

Inside the cockpit, He YunTing restarted the mecha program once.

He knew that some voices could be set, but no matter what, it was the mechanical voice that spoke, so he had never changed the original data.

Now it was different. The new program was no longer a mechanical female voice like the other mecha, but his own, unique voice. Lin Han wrote himself into the program, and he called himself, M2742.

“M2742, at your service. You’re invincible.”

And whenever He YunTing started the link program each time, he could always hear the youth’s gentle voice full of love.

Over and over, word after word, he repeated, “Mr. Lin said that he will always love you.”

—

He YunTing finished calibrating, got down from the mecha, and walked back to his room in the night.

It was already very late, and Lin Han should normally be long asleep by this time. He YunTing closed the door to his room and sat on the bed, holding the key to his mecha. When he himself didn’t notice, the corners of his mouth had lightly, very lightly hooked up. Like the last snow in winter, like the first light in the cold wind.

The surface of the lake, which was originally frozen like a mirror, finally melted a gentle gap because of the warm sun of early spring.

Since then all the ice that no longer flows has turned into spring water, gushing in the heart of lovers.