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Chu Xiang never doubted any of the black technology that came out of the engineering department. Purely biological passwords could easily be copied; in an age where people could even alter their own DNA, the newest passcodes consisted of the brain’s bioelectric currents and neurochemical signals. The madman surnamed Xie from the engineering department had even once waved his pliers and declared proudly, “Even if you switch bodies one day, as long as your soul is still yours, this thing can still recognise you!”

He’s already changed his body, then come on, now was the time to witness the results of the engineering department’s black technology.

The lock opened with a click and Chu Xiang slowly pulled out Silver Empress III. The sharp blade was made out of an extraterrestrial ultralight metal alloy, was far lighter and thinner than any steel made in this world, and could easily cut iron like mud.

The moment the sword was unsheathed, it was as if a star descended into the room.

“You…” Bai Mo exclaimed in shock, “you pulled out the demon sword?”

Silver light reflected from the blade like moonlight as he flicked his wrist and placed its edge steadily against her neck.

The white-clothed young man stood with sword in hand, wisps of red at the corners of his eyes like flaming clouds, and black hair draped at his back. Longque’s flames flitted between his hair, like an evil star come to earth.

His voice seemed to also be filled with a strange bewitchment. “Bai Mo, do you really want to be a plaything all your life? A tool for violence, an ant that can never control its own destiny?”

The women around them all pointed their weapons at Chu Xiang, but Bai Mo raised a hand and gestured for them to retreat.

“Madam Mo, you were originally called Mo Shuning, the beloved daughter of the Mo family, am I right?”

“The Lord of Western Tang still has good information channels,” she sneered.

“It’s not any sort of secret, who of the upper city nobles doesn’t know this?” Chu Xiang asked rhetorically. “Your father was once a scholar from Wenyuan Pagoda. He was dissatisfied with the emperor’s belief in astrology and often opposed the Observatory’s leader, Qu Lingqin, but as a result he offended the Most Holy and died in exile, while you were sentenced to prostitution. People loved talking about it — the Mo daughter studied under her father since childhood and is good at poetry, calligraphy, etiquette, and music. Wouldn’t it be far better to spend a spring night with her rather than having a night of boredom with an ordinary prostitute who only knows sex?”

The Peony appeared indifferent at the retelling of her life story, but faintly trembling fingertips betrayed her heart.

“I can see that you aren’t inclined to combat yourself, so you should have a higher status than that of an ordinary assassin; no matter how big your organisation is, you should be the highest level liaison residing in the capital. You don’t act yourself, the ones chasing me that night were your maids — don’t think that I can’t tell just because they changed their clothes.”

“Impressive,” Bai Mo said.

She reached out and lightly touched the blade’s edge, where the interstellar weapon of war instantly cut her tender skin. Looking at the beads of blood welling up on her hand in admiration, she smiled, then used two fingers to gently push the sword away.

She sat back at the table as she suppressed the light in her eyes. “It’s a pity that I’m just a prostitute, I’m afraid that Sir’s calculations are wrong, I want nothing more than to spend my days in peace.”

“Sure,” Chu Xiang said sarcastically as he retracted his sword, “hatred can vanish just because you’re a woman, affection can be irrelevant just because you’re a girl, justice can be trampled over just because you were born female.”

Bai Mo, no longer able to maintain her false calm, clenched her bloodstained hand as her eyes turned red.

“Your logic is flawed. Humans are humans first before they are men or women — if you truly feel more comfortable being a plaything than being a human, then I admit that I was wrong to come here,” Chu Xiang stated coldly, pointing at the door. “Commander Bai will arrive soon. Miss, you are the leader of the assassins whom the Iron-Clad Guards have flipped the capital upside down to find. Yet you’re still telling me that you’re a weak little girl?”

“Fine, you’re right, I can’t forget the injustices we’ve suffered, and neither can I forget what we’ve endured because of that foolish emperor’s messes. But what about you? You actually pulled out Longque… But what can your Lord of Western Tang give me? Power, status, wealth?”

“Miss Mo is unreconciled, right?” Chu Xiang smiled slightly. “You and the Lord of Western Tang have similar experiences. Your fathers both died in foreign lands due to ridiculous reasons, I think your feelings regarding this shouldn’t be too different. Miss Mo, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You no longer have to steal lives in the dead of night, and you no longer have to be a songbird played in the hands of nobles. Your blades can shine brighter, scream louder, the first ray of dawn will emerge from the tip of your blade, and you can see the sky at the intersection of blood and steel. Mo Shuning, you can do much more.”

After saying this, he knelt on one knee and looked seriously into Bai Mo’s eyes.

“The Lord of Western Tang can give you a future, and in this future, there will not be a second Mo Shuning. You can take the Longque in my hands as proof.”

* * *

When Bai Jing’an opened the door, Madam Mo was performing a sword dance.

A young man lounged on a daybed with a cup of tea — because he had recently been wounded and couldn’t drink alcohol.

“It turned out to be Sir Chu,” Bai Jing’an greeted calmly, “it seems you are in a cheerful mood, to be here and not recuperating at the post house.”

Chu Xiang waved at Madam Mo to let her keep going then patted the seat next to him in invitation, but Bai Jing’an didn’t move. He didn’t force it, instead he said casually, “It’s because the injury hurts and it’s too boring to stay in the post house, and with the lord at court, there’s nothing for me to do. You can relax, if anything happens this time it’s my own fault and I definitely will not blame Commander Bai.”

Bai Jing’an swept a glance around everything in the room. Except for the strangely shaped straight sword in Madam Mo’s hands, there were no other weapons in the room. While her sword almost glowed silver, the Grand Princess had advised that no one had been able to unsheathe Longque since the day it was found, so there was no way it could be used in a sword dance.

Thus, he just watched the Peony’s sword dance for a while until the other Guards completed their search, then they quietly left.

After their departure, Bai Mo stopped dancing and let out a long breath.

She returned the sword to Chu Xiang who then sheathed it, as if completely unaware that what he held was the imperial sword said to be able to conquer the world.

But he was actually very excited. Although he didn’t show anything on the surface, his fingers repeatedly rubbed the sword hilt. He needed some time alone to verify his second conjecture — after all, his brain was no longer implanted with a communication chip.

But he wasn’t done here yet.

“If I surrender to Lord Lan, would he be willing to take in all my brothers and sisters?” Bai Mo asked.

“Why not?”

Upon hearing this, her eyes finally revealed a hint of expectation. “Many of the people here are criminals, and more than a few of us are hated by the emperor for laughable reasons. Many also have family members wandering in faraway places, I don’t know if the lord is willing to lend a hand to rescue those exiled relatives?”

Chu Xiang nodded. “You don’t need to ask him, I can promise you in his name: he is.”

“With what justification?”

“As I said, with Longque as proof,” Chu Xiang smiled lightly.

“Okay. I know that lords are very powerful outside of the capital, it would be easy for any of them to bring our family to Western Tang, but too few are willing to do it… if the Lord of Western Tang truly doesn’t mind our identities and can promise us freedom and justice, then, we are willing to do everything in our power to support His Excellency.

“Besides,” she said, bowing deeply, “as the people say, the evil star is imminent and the demonic sword has revealed itself. Disregarding all else, since you hold Longque, you will certainly accomplish great things.”

* * *

‘Longque’. When Chu Xiang first chose this codename, it was because he was determined to be a sword.

There was a popular saying in the Starfleet: you’re wasting your life if you aren’t a bit dramatic.1More specifically RAWs is 中二, meaning chuuni, or eighth-grader syndrome. Yes as in chuunibyou. Every soldier who joined Starfleet had some kind of grand vision, the kind that could make their seniors laugh for three hours without stopping if they said it out loud.

But although Chu Xiang eventually transformed into one of those seniors himself, he was still just as dramatic. On the day Longque launched, he followed the ceremony and held up his sword as he swore to the mothership’s core:

The ship and I are one. With myself as the blade, I will cut through all thorns in our path, and never turn back.

Most fortunately, Xie Zhiwei was exactly the same as him.

Xie Zhiwei was Longque’s central AI command. He was an artificial intelligence who somehow got contaminated with internet addiction, loved reading webnovels when he had nothing else to do, and was especially interested in those cliche xianxia novels. No one could control what an AI did when they were off-duty, even if they spent all day reading webnovels. At the time, there was a period when it was popular for the main character of xianxia novels to be the spirit of a weapon.

Chu Xiang never thought that the consciousness carrier module which was used by the central AI to cosplay a sword spirit would one day be the key to his reunion with Xie Zhiwei in a different space-time. In space, the module had no use other than being for fun. Xie Zhiwei — as the central AI in command of the mothership — was connected to every fighter, personnel carrier, and armament on board in order for the AI to be able to manage the overall situation. In normal situations, it was superfluous for a sword to be installed with a consciousness carrier module for an AI to link with, so it remained a toy for him to cosplay with.

Now the mothership was annihilated and Xie Zhiwei’s body had turned into ashes, but as long as there was a consciousness carrier module, he had the ability to transfer into it.

Silver Empress III could charge through solar power, so Chu Xiang only needed to hang it at his waist before he left. By the time he arrived back at his room in the post house, the sword’s indicator light had changed to a gentle and steady blue, just like how looking at Earth from high above among the stars would give him the feeling of dependence.

The moment he closed the door and placed Longque on the table, he heard a familiar voice.

“Central command of the mothership Longque, Xie Zhiwei, reporting to the captain.”

As the battery stabilised, the central AI went online.

The captain, who wore a long robe with wide sleeves, saluted Longque as usual. Even though it looked incongruous, neither of them laughed.

“Long time no see, my captain.”

“Long time no see, my Longque.”

Author:
Xie Zhiwei: I’m here to make up the captain’s invincible body!

Special reminder, don’t bother arguing about scientific realism, because it’s very unscientific!

Moreover, Xie Zhiwei is genderfluid — as an AI, he doesn’t have biological sex, so his gender is mutable. In other words, as long as he wants to, he can be a little brother, a little sister, or XXX, but Chu Xiang thinks he’s a brother. The reason is simple, it’s because our captain is the boss!!! So Xie Zhiwei is currently a little brother, not a little sister!

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    More specifically RAWs is 中二, meaning chuuni, or eighth-grader syndrome. Yes as in chuunibyou.