CH 109

Lin Han stood up straight and carefully shielded his little one’s head as he boarded the elevator before walking up to the cockpit amidst the admiring or surprised eyes of the students. Someone was whispering something, the wind was a bit strong, so Lin Han couldn’t hear much.

They may be curious about his identity, or may be discussing his relationship with He YunTing. Or, perhaps, will express their love for the little guy on his shoulder.

When the heavy hatch closed, isolating all the wind and whispers outside, Lin Han wrapped Grr with a small blanket brought from home, found a comfortable corner for him to rest, and then looked at the silent man on the side.

He YunTing wore the same formal clothes as when they first met, and didn’t ask Lin Han why he brought this little guy with him, but simply turned off the outside display, so Lin Han couldn’t see the curious people outside.

M2742 only stayed for a short while, after receiving the desired person, it quickly restarted the engine and left.

“What’s the situation now?” Lin Han asked naturally.

He was in no hurry to go to the second cockpit, in any case, there was no need for any complicated operation now, just low-consumption driving. He YunTing explained the general situation to Lin Han.

Now the biggest berth problem has been solved, at least it could guarantee that no new Zerg would come from that place. And the price of crossing from the border area was quite high, even the Zerg were unlikely to choose such a costly route.

So the next task was also very clear, to hold all the remaining berths, as much as possible to prevent the other side from finding a breakthrough. Each of the thirteen berths of the main star had been assigned a corresponding force. Almost all of the base’s active mecha are deployed, and the secondary deployment had also been assigned, the three divisions of the base were divided into thirteen formations around the core area, according to the situation to arrange different strength mecha to deal with, each formation also had its own main general.

The Imperial Crown Prince needed to take care of the situation, and Wen Zhaoge, needless to say, had his own personal guards. Wen TianYao had city defense forces, inherited from previous princes, who would be a part of military soldiers ensuring protection.

But the M Galaxy had developed so far in such a long time, there weren’t many princes left in Wen Zhaoge’s generation, before the widely loved Prince Wen Ye died in the war, the remaining Wen Yu and Wen Heng didn’t have much real power, their pheromones and the ability to speak, both have their own territory to live in peace at, and wouldn’t stir up trouble.

Among them, the sub-star where Wen Yu resided was particularly remote, almost the same class as V Proton, but the location was a little closer to the main star. The mission of Lu Huai, the leader of the second base, was to protect three of the berths, as well as the security of the sub-star where Wen Yu was located.

Only a very small number of people knew that the berth of Wen Yu’s sub-star had an extremely hidden leap point.

Although the size of this jump point was less than a tenth of the energy of several other huge jump points in the galaxy, and because no one knew about it, there were no mecha or starships that came to this jump point, and the people of the Empire thought it was just a mediocre sub-star.

The people who knew that there was a leap point here were either noble royalty by birth, or general officers who held military power.

——Because the secret here was more than the existence of a leap point.

This was a leap point left over from a war many years ago, which allowed one to depart from the core, cross directly over the berth, and go to other galaxies at high speed in conditions of sufficient energy. In other words, if the location of this leap point was known by other galaxies, it would be like exposing the entire core area of the Empire to the enemy forces without any defense.

“Then who probably knows about this leap point?” Lin Han asked.

He YunTing frowned a little, “Very few. I was also told by His Majesty himself. This leap point is a big secret and has been hidden for a long time, except for him and Prince Wen Yu himself, I guess Wen TianYao doesn’t necessarily know.”

He YunTing was actually very truthful. In the face of people he didn’t like, he was respectful on the surface, but he would wait until he was with Lin Han, and would have the habit of calling their real names.

“What about Major General Lu Huai?”

“His father was involved in the battle at that place back then, so he’s one of the very few people who know about it.”

So in fact, when Wen Yu guarded that sub-star for so many years, he was also guarding this unknown leap point in disguise, guarding the important gateway to the core area.

“This time when he goes to Prince Wen Yu’s sub-star, he will do his best to protect that place as well.” He YunTing said, “But…”

With no guarantee whether Zerg knew this fact or not, the existence of that leap point was actually more dangerous. If there was a one in a thousand chance that the Zerg knew about the leap point, even if there was a city defense force in the core, as well as a portion of the base’s sergeants staying behind, it would still be impossible to withstand such a disaster.

On the battlefield, it was impossible for He YunTing to leave any possibility for the enemy. The leap point originally existed for the evacuation of the core area back then, and after all these years, comparing the situation now, it did more harm than good. If necessary, with how things stood, He YunTing knew that the destruction of this leap was inevitable.

However, if He YunTing appeared directly in the sub-star where Wen Yu was located, it was simply saying to the enemy that there was a problem with this place and it needed to be heavily guarded to conceal it.

What was more, the current situation didn’t allow him to go directly to the sub-star. There were far more important tasks than that.

Even though Lin Han didn’t know much about the deployment of the main planet and the core area, a name rose from his heart, “Fortress X?”

This was the most critical fortress connected to the main star, the highest terrain, under this fortress was the vast civilian area, and then deeper was the core area that everyone aspired to live at. The steel beetle at the largest berth has been eliminated, if all the next berths were well guarded, or if there were really not enough troops to defeat one or two berths, it won’t lead to a massive insect invasion, after all, the carrying capacity of the berths was really large.

Fortress X was different.

If the Zerg didn’t want to attack in groups from one berth to another, attacking the fortress was another option. Of course, the Empire’s military power was one of the best in the galaxy, and everyone knew that Fortress X was rock-solid, so it wasn’t easy to break through. But the Zerg were brutal and ruthless by nature, and would rather fight to the death, as long as they could also destroy each other, they wouldn’t feel they had failed.

Therefore, Fortress X must be defended, but all the troops that could be dispatched should be sent, as well as the most elite troops to defend.

The only problem was that originally Lu Huai was also going to go to Fortress X, so the troops would be just enough. However, the leap point of Wen Yu’s star was also important, as one of the very few people in the base who knew, Lu Huai must personally go there to ensure the safety of that place.

The two sides keep in close contact at all times, if any signs of Zerg presence in Wen Yu’s sub-star were found, Lu Huai would use the energy from that spot to blow up the leap point, just like he did when the warship was in the border area, so as not to give the Zerg any chance to take advantage of it.

“So we do have to go to Fortress X, right?” Lin Han asked calmly, as if he was just asking He YunTing to pick him up from work, rather than being about to face a more urgent situation than before.

“Mn.” He YunTing was still checking the message sent by Lu AnHe, but when he heard Lin Han ask this question, he looked up at him. He was sitting in the driver’s seat while Lin Han was still standing at the hatch, his hand holding the cold glowing mechanical frame.

“It’s about half a day’s journey from Fortress X.” He YunTing said to Lin Han, “Take a break.”

After listening to all the planning, the youth suddenly smiled lightly and said something.

He YunTing didn’t hear it, confirmed that there were no surprises, and gave the pilot system an autopilot command similar to that of a flying machine, before standing up and walking towards Lin Han. He was tall, but he didn’t look at Lin Han with the same indifference he usually had towards others. He YunTing asked, “What’s the matter?”

But the words in his mind still rang out when he held Lin Han’s hand in the next second.

【Don’t be afraid.】

“I just said…”

Lin Han very lightly stood on tiptoe, hooked his arms around He YunTing’s neck. His sulking look from this afternoon in the council was gone, as he smoothly leaned towards the other’s chest, feeling the cold medal through the fabric brushing his skin, causing a faint itch.

“I said, this makes it look more like an elopement.” Lin Han’s lips pressed against his ear, repeating it very softly and slowly.

He YunTing’s expression took on a bit of surprise, but didn’t open his mouth to ask anything. For example, what kind of person elopes to the battlefield, furthermore, he came to pick up Lin Han today with everyone watching, where could they elope to?

“Mn.” But he finally answered. Then let them elope, there was nothing wrong with it.

He understood what Lin Han meant. Lin Han was still hooked around his neck, and He YunTing reached out and took him into his arms. He followed Lin Han’s earlier action of rubbing Grr’s head and also put his fingers into the youth’s soft black hair and stroked it very lightly.

He felt that Lin Han’s emotions were actually still a bit volatile, so he could only try to comfort him like this. Lin Han’s heart suddenly became sour and soft, and some very secret feelings surfaced.

“He YunTing,” Lin Han tugged at the material on his back and called his name.

“Mn.”

“You know what? I’m actually… not scared.”

“Mn.”

“But I didn’t hold back at the council today and spoke out.”

“Mn, I know.”

“By the way, I also met His Majesty the Emperor when I left. He was the one who got someone to send me back, otherwise I guess I wouldn’t have arrived home by now.”

“Mn.”

“I…” Lin Han’s hand tightened, “I didn’t expect it to happen so quickly, everyone seems to know me all of a sudden. It’s not like I’m nervous…” Lin Han felt that he was rarely rambling and his words were incoherent, he actually wasn’t apprehensive, but under He YunTing’s gentle movements he wanted to tell him everything, “I’m just a little unused to it.”

He had never been low-key and quiet, even though he was mentally prepared to be with He YunTing, he still felt a hint of unease when he was alone. “Will I be a little impulsive with what I said today?” Lin Han said hesitantly, “I’m afraid of the effect on you.”

He YunTing’s movement paused, he lowered his head slightly, pulled his fingers out, and then gave Lin Han a precious kiss on his hair. His answer was self-evident.

“It’s also true that you didn’t get angry with all that gossip before,” Lin Han murmured, remembering the days when He YunTing had been misunderstood by the public opinion. “I wasn’t scared, really…” Feeling the other party’s movement, Lin Han had some unknown aggravation in his heart, resenting himself for having his thoughts run around and not being as spontaneous as he expected.

“Mn.” He YunTing hugged him even tighter, “I know.”

【It doesn’t matter if you’re actually scared.】

Lin Han heard his words, then completely relaxed.

“Forget it, I don’t want to think about it.” Lin Han raised his face and smiled at He YunTing again, just like he did when he boarded the mecha. His eyes were still filled with the magnificent sunset in the evening, and the originally bright sunset became long and loving when it was reflected in his eyes, “Anyway, if I had to do it all over again, I would have chosen the same route. Thank you General for your comfort.”

He YunTing was a bit confused, “I didn’t…”

He obviously didn’t say anything.

Lin Han looked at the cockpit in front of him.

He remembered the time in the border area, when he was so hard in heat that he begged He YunTing to bite him. It was also in this place that he was pressed against the cold hatch by He YunTing, feeling the other party’s soon-to-be-restrained emotions, not quite tenderly injected into the pheromone at the back of his neck.

He suddenly felt that the mecha pod was different from all the places, it was like his own apartment, He YunTing’s bedroom, and the flower room.

Those places would be softer and safer, which wasn’t the case on the mecha. Everything around it was cold and hard, the consoles, the joysticks, the complicated and lengthy computational codes and data, the intimidating and highly sophisticated weapons, in short, none of it had anything to do with gentleness.

Including the man in front of him.

Everyone says he was as cold as ice and rejected people, and he had no “human emotions”.

All his little secrets, only he knew.

Lin Han lifted his head, moved forward and said softly, “Let’s kiss then.”

“Okay.” He YunTing didn’t ask why, or perhaps he could sense Lin Han’s emotions, so he just obediently obeyed. He kissed very quietly, his lips sucked very lightly on the other’s lower lip, as if he wanted to take away all his anxiety and worry, and then told him, with me, you don’t have to be afraid of anything.

The road ahead was treacherous, the future was uncertain, and the life and death of the Empire was in their hands.

But they were still here kissing.

Lin Han thought he was crazy.

“There’s still half a day to go, isn’t there?” Lin Han was so weak from his kiss that he even had the illusion that he was in heat, as he asked He YunTing.

When He YunTing saw that he had no strength, he just wanted to pick him up and put him on the driver’s seat, but Lin Han very slowly held his upper body, squatted down himself, tilted his head up to look at him, and finally held his hands on his waist.

Realizing what he wanted to do, He YunTing looked down at the youth crouching between his legs and tried to raise his hand to stop him, “Don’t—”

But as that one word came out of his mouth, the rest were never spoken.