Chapter 8: Don’t Go, I’m Scared

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2937 Galactic calendar, Phobos Starship Base.

The captains with the rank of rear admiral set up a table to play the ever-popular party game ‘Undercover’.¹谁是卧底: lit. who is undercover; a game to be played in a group of 3+ people, everyone is given a word (e.g. finger) except for one person who gets a different word (e.g. toe) and takes turns describing their word, the goal is to find out who has the different word (‘is undercover’); every round they vote someone out until either the undercover person is voted out or is the last one standing. I’d describe it as a cross between werewolf/mafia and charades. This was a regular activity at their gatherings which Chu Xiang could survive to the end almost every time, but not every captain was so good at it. The one who lost most miserably was always Chu Xiang’s friend Han Yi, captain of the mothership Youlan.

Captain Han was very troubled by this, because…

“I don’t understand why I have to write a review just because I can’t play this game!” Han Yi bit his pen. This was the rule set down by Fleet Commander Ye — whoever lost Undercover had to write a review, so a perfectly good game was played with killing intent emanating from all players. And in order to prevent the captains from cheating by making their AIs help write it, every review had to be handwritten. This was the 28th century, making them write it by hand was no different from torture.

Han Yi and Chu Xiang had both come from the special forces and had known each other for a long time. Chu Xiang knew that this person’s individual combat ability was off the charts, but he had one problem —

“Han Yi, every time you perform a mission, you rush in like crazy. Can’t you reflect on how brutish your methods are?”

“…I’m trying my best,” Han Yi said innocently.

“…Trying your best doesn’t mean making your killing posture more elegant or your stabbing stance more beautiful, but to make your methods more refined!” Chu Xiang rubbed his forehead. “An excellent commander needs good acting skills, acting! Last time General Ye went to negotiate with the pirate’s representatives in Sector Delta, he pretended to be a civilian with no combat capabilities and took advantage of their surprise to take down their leader. But if it were you…”

Han Yi nodded very seriously. “I would charge in from their front door straight to the control room, blood would flow like rivers and the floor would be covered in bodies.”

“Get it right, I’m not complimenting you.”

* * *

Maybe it was because he had a fever that Chu Xiang dreamed about the 28th century again.

This body’s condition was much too shabby — just turning over made him feel uncomfortable all over, he wanted to beat his chest out of frustration. There was a thick bandage wrapped around his neck, because although it was just a minor injury, his physical fitness was no longer that of a captain capable of walking sideways in the interstellar world, not to mention that the sanitary conditions of this place couldn’t compare to a sterile medical ward.

Fortunately I was enthusiastic enough and didn’t hesitate to kneel and kowtow when I acknowledged my new master, Chu Xiang thought, praising his own acting skills. He was much better than his coworkers who could only charge violently.

But in truth, excluding all this, Lan Jue was indeed a leader worth following.

Without even considering anything else, just based on his simple, somewhat silly vision… This wasn’t the peaceful society of the 28th century, it was impossible for him to have attended the philosophy classes provided by Starfleet Academy in this backwards and feudal society which was fully worthy of being labelled the Dark Ages. Lan Jue’s thoughts could almost be considered revolutionary beyond reason.

And why did he look so good? He was prettier than any starlet!

Chu Xiang was so muddled from the fever that he muttered to himself, turned over, and huddled beneath the covers.
Longque’s captain had also been famous throughout the fleet, not for his combat ability but for his lifestyle habits — he controlled his appearance very tightly and not one of his soldiers aboard Longque dared to be slovenly. Their logistics department assembled a group of female soldiers from those who graduated from the arts department specifically to deal with the issue of ‘substandard appearance’, and their people had been trained to the point that they could maintain their hairstyles even if they had to fight through a bloodbath.

Lan Jue was too good-looking, Chu Xiang thought that he could eat an extra bowl of rice at dinner if he took a few more glances!

As he daydreamed, the door creaked open.

…It can’t be an assassin anyways, he thought. Now that he was part of Lan Jue’s entourage, he had moved into the post house which was specifically to host visiting dignitaries, and thus was heavily guarded. Not even the Grand Princess’ Iron-Clad Guards could get to him here. He was too lazy to open his eyes, and besides, with the high fever his vision was too blurry and it made him dizzy.

A hand stretched out to touch his forehead and cheeks, then examined the wound on his neck.

The hand was very cool and very comfortable, Chu Xiang couldn’t resist pressing against it.

“Mnn… Don’t go…” he muttered as he dazedly moved closer, not allowing the owner of the hand to take it back.

But the hand still heartlessly left, and not only did it leave, it also forcefully pulled the quilt off him. Chu Xiang hummed in dissatisfaction and hugged it tighter, so that person instead had to turn to untangling his limbs, and spent quite a while at it until they could finally cover Chu Xiang properly.

“Drink your medicine,” they said.

A stomach-churning smell penetrated Chu Xiang’s nose. He opened his eyes a sliver and found a bowl of thick liquid, it looked like… well, he had been greeted with something that looked like sewage. He scowled in disgust and ducked away.

The same voice said angrily, “Don’t mess around!”

“Disgusting!” Chu Xiang categorically refused. Due to the fever, his eyes were red as he stared at the medicine, and his voice trembled slightly.

“You drink it properly for me!”

“No!”

Then…

Then a hand reached out, pinched his chin, forced his mouth open, and poured a large bowl of bitter medicine down his throat.

Afterwards, that same hand also covered his mouth to prevent him from spitting it back out.

“Mmmphh!!!”

Who was so brave! Who dared to touch a captain, were they tired of living?! Too disrespectful! Drag him out for extra training, extra extra training!

Chu Xiang’s arms and legs were weak, he could only struggle feebly for a short time before his entire, overly warm body hung on Lan Jue’s shoulder, while Lan Jue… Lan Jue had already stiffened into a stone sculpture. He knew that Chu Xiang didn’t have the healthiest body. When the girl said he had a fever, he thought that he was partly responsible for causing him to be exposed to rain, so he personally came to see him, but who knew that when he walked through the door what he saw would no longer be a majestic young man, and instead…

The confused Chu Xiang unexpectedly glanced at him with bent eyes, leaned his weight against his shoulder, hooked his chin, blew out a warm breath, and said in a soft and sticky voice, “Hey, beautiful~”

Lan Jue was stunned.

He had been on the battlefield, killed outlanders, fought bandits, and smothered the borders’ chaos, but never had someone–

“It’s so bitter… You’re definitely sweet, beautiful, give me a kiss?”

Of course this sentence was a joke. Talking nonsense was very common between comrades who fought through life and death together, which not even a general like Chu Xiang was exempt from. By living together on the same mothership for long periods of time, as they floated through the vast empty space, everyone from the highest commanding officers to the lowest privates became as close as family.

However, Lan Jue only felt an oncoming wave of heat which instantly burned him until his head filled with smoke.

This person is confused by his fever…

He knew this, so he wouldn’t argue with someone who wasn’t in their right mind.

But… His hands shook for a moment, he should have thrown him away and scolded him for being impertinent, or at least left him for Yang Feng to deal with, yet, as if possessed, he instead froze in place.

He looked at Chu Xiang, who — in the midst of his high fever — looked extremely docile, no longer so awe-inspiringly proud.

This person was unique. He seemed to be incompatible with the mortal world, with a temperament that prevented him from ever disappearing into a crowd. Even if he merely stood still, he shone like a fallen star. Lan Jue admired such a soul, but two days ago in the pouring rain, this man looked at him and chose to surrender. In the moment when he humbly knelt at his feet, Lan Jue’s heart had skipped a beat.

The feverish man hugged Lan Jue, whose body temperature was lower than his own, and sighed comfortably.

This sound broke Lan Jue out of his stupor and he subconsciously pushed him back onto the bed.

Chu Xiang fell back and did not get up again. He lay there on his back, looking into the void with disorientated eyes.

Lan Jue hurriedly stood and prepared to leave.

Suddenly, he heard a soft voice from behind him, and his feet immediately stopped their escape.

That person seemed to have thought of something, or perhaps the fever had cooked his brain, because he was crying. His body sank into the soft bedding even as his thoughts drifted far away.

“Don’t go… I’m so scared,” he murmured quietly.

* * *

2953 Galactic calendar, Sector Delta. The last cruiser broke away from their mothership Longque and flew towards the gravitational waves’ periphery.

The gravity well of the black hole bomb was so great that spaceships couldn’t escape even if they turned on warp speed. The Galactic Federation’s faster than light technology was very advanced, far stronger than anything the alien pirates in Sector Delta had, therefore their ships could still struggle to leave while their enemies had already been rolled up into the black hole.

Space distorted like a broken display screen, or like an old TV with bad signal, as objects deformed due to excessive gravity.

There were no longer any busy dispatchers or soldiers manning Longque’s main bridge, only a single figure remained.

Chu Xiang pressed his hand on the console and the central AI read his biometrics for permission to order the power core to self-destruct.

“Do you wish to activate self-destruction of the power core? Please confirm,” said the AI’s even voice.

“Confirmed.”

“Please repeat your authorisation.”

“Commanding officer Rear Admiral Chu Xiang, service number CH0103, Captain of Longque, is performing this action and confirms that it is correct.”

“Ignition of the warp power core has begun, thirty seconds countdown to detonation.”

He did it, he used his body as a barrier, both ship and captain.

“I’m sorry, destroying your core is my only choice, we’re going to die together,” he said to Longque’s AI.

The central AI replied calmly, “It does not matter, Captain, I am with you.”

A sharp siren sounded throughout the bridge, so piercing that it seemed as if it was hurrying people to their deaths, which made both their hearts and minds messy. “Can you turn off that alarm?” he requested impatiently.

“Yes.”

The surroundings immediately fell into silence, as if the battleship didn’t exist and what they faced was only the vacuum of space.

“You… What happens when an AI dies?”

“I do not know, Captain. Death is as mysterious as the center of black holes, only when you go there yourself will you know what happens.”

“But I know that once humans die, there’s nothing left,” Chu Xiang abruptly said. “I’m scared, I really am… very scared.”

“…Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen…”

“If it’s like that, then Captain, I finally beat you for once. I can turn off the emotion module for fear, so I’m not afraid,” the AI replied briskly.

Chu Xiang chuckled even as a single tear slid down his cheek. “Okay okay, you win. I’m really jealous that you can just turn it off.”

“Captain, it was my honour to have flown with you.”

“…Four, three, two…”

“I as well.”

“…One, zero.”

* * *

After saying that, the feverish man fell asleep, but crystal tears still dripped from his closed eyes. For an unknown reason, Lan Jue couldn’t help reaching out and wiping them away with the tips of his fingers.

The hot tears quickly cooled and evaporated. He touched Chu Xiang’s forehead, his body temperature steadily dropped.

Lan Jue’s thoughts turned to his poem, and how he wasn’t afraid to say everyone would freeze to death right in front of the banquet host. His earlier line alluding to their clothing really wasn’t subtle at all.

The young man had a beautiful smile; although his poem was exceedingly offensive, his smile truly was beautiful. The young reed-thin girl bought from the brothel also kept calling him her brother. Unlike people at the border, those who lived in the capital were deep-rooted and placed great emphasis on bloodlines, but he said — she was his sister now.

A strange emotion swept through his body.

“An interesting person,” Lan Jue commented quietly.

Author:
Chu Xiang turns on the flirting mode in overdrive!
Lan Jue: You’re seducing me!
Chu Xiang: I didn’t, I’m not.jpg
Lan Jue: You’ve seduced me, so let’s do something pleasurable!
Chu Xiang: I didn’t… Come on then! Beauty!
……
I’m still me, the dedicated dog food manufacturer!!! Please line up to receive your dog food in an orderly manner, don’t push, there’s still a lot!

Translator:
Updates will be twice a week from now on, Tuesday and Friday.

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• 1
  谁是卧底: lit. who is undercover; a game to be played in a group of 3+ people, everyone is given a word (e.g. finger) except for one person who gets a different word (e.g. toe) and takes turns describing their word, the goal is to find out who has the different word (‘is undercover’); every round they vote someone out until either the undercover person is voted out or is the last one standing. I’d describe it as a cross between werewolf/mafia and charades.