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Of the mothership, only a sword remained, but having previously thought that each other had been annihilated in the starry sky, both captain and mothership shed tears at their reunion — no, only Chu Xiang had tears in his eyes, Xie Zhiwei had no eye sockets.
“The engineering department’s consciousness module was made exquisitely, the components are compressed small enough to have allowed me to save 80% of my data and 60% of my main body’s computing power. There should be no problem dealing with most situations.”
“It’s more than enough, even if you only have 1% of your computing power, you can still crush everything in this world,” Chu Xiang said.
“After the mothership self-destructed, the energy field reacted with the black hole bomb and exploded, which destabilised space-time in the area,” Xie Zhiwei explained. “After experiencing a period of time which I cannot measure using three-dimensional methods, my main consciousness transferred to your sword, which was durable enough to survive travelling through time and space to land in a world which I was unfamiliar with. Later, I was picked up by a man who I guessed to be an accomplished swordsmith. He couldn’t open the biometric neuron lock so he wrapped me in a strange wood, causing me to lose my ability to recharge and thus go into hibernation. I had no concept of time passing during the following period, until you came.”
Xie Zhiwei was very calm as he reported this. Gently rubbing along Silver Empress, Chu Xiang could still clearly remember Xie Zhiwei’s image. Although this world did not have the technology to create holographic projections, Xie Zhiwei didn’t change at all.
An AI’s voice should have been smooth and calm, but at this moment it revealed a faint tremor. “Thankfully, you came.”
“I vowed to your power core — as long as you exist, so will I,” he replied as his hand slowly tightened on the sword hilt.
They were the closest comrades and the most intimate of friends, their connection permeated every aspect of their lives like the way dark matter was ubiquitous in the universe. Even if it was invisible to the naked eye, their bond inexorably linked their lives together and became a destiny that pulled them into each other’s orbit, a guiding light that could never be extinguished.
A small container popped out of the hilt. “Captain, the engineering department recently developed implantable neuron nanobots, albeit only prototypes, but we can only make do with it. I’ve already connected my signal, you just need to inject this tube of reagents and we can resume private communication.”
“That’s great, it’s a pity that I can’t apply for another salary increase for them,” Chu Xiang laughed.
In this world, talking to a sword was too weird, and moreover, a sword that talked back would probably scare people here into insanity.
The engineering department’s nanobots used bioelectric currents as an energy source. They could remain active as long as the host was alive, and weren’t easily lost once they were injected into the bloodstream.
The channel activated and a familiar voice once again sounded in Chu Xiang’s mind, but a second later, Xie Zhiwei’s surprised exclamation replaced the notification that the connection was successful:
“Scan complete… Oh my god, Captain, what the hell is with your fitness?”
“…”
“Captain, I think you can’t even beat an arts soldier1Military personnel who are engaged in literary & artistic creation, performing arts, and sports for the purposes of propaganda, recruitment, and communication with the public. right now!!!” The AI endured unprecedented disgust.
Chu Xiang was very embarrassed. “I left the special forces a long time ago, don’t always talk about combat ability!”
“But Captain, you might need someone to help you just to open a water bottle’s cap!”
“…Can you stop poking at my sore spot, thank you.” Also, this world doesn’t have water bottles!
Xie Zhiwei was reluctant to do so. “Captain, you can’t be a top like this!”
“If you’re already gay it’d be a shame if you can’t just lie down and enjoy it…” Chu Xiang snorted. “Wait, Xie Zhiwei, shouldn’t you clean up the porn in your storage a bit?”
There was no other way, Chu Xiang’s body was already in its twenties, its foundation had been built and could not be changed. The trend in recent years was for Tianyan’s nobles to be weak scholars, literati would undoubtedly be ostracised if they showed up with bulging biceps as big as their head. It was similar to how a strange aesthetic had once been popular in the Middle Ages of Europe — aristocrats deliberately contracted tuberculosis because they believed that coughing up blood and having pale faces was a sign of nobility. Chu Xiang was very glad that there was no custom of intentionally getting sick to show off one’s status here, otherwise there would be even more reason for him to cry.
“Okay Zhiwei, come on, save this list of names.”
He could finally stop memorising things by himself!
Xie Zhiwei helplessly archived the text signals received through Chu Xiang’s optic nerves. He had already skimmed through Chu Xiang’s understanding of this world when establishing their connection, and since Chu Xiang implicitly trusted him, this process went quickly. The captain and his mothership had previously had countless neural connections, their dual consciousnesses could achieve almost perfect synchronisation.
Therefore Xie Zhiwei’s first reaction was to ask, “So this is Captain’s first hometown?”
“Yeah,” Chu Xiang replied.
“Captain, what are you going to do?”
This question…
“Zhiwei, I am Longque’s captain, have you forgotten Longque’s duty?” he patted the sword’s scabbard. “Oh right, in a while I’m going to meet someone, you scan him and remember to give him access permissions.”
* * *
He didn’t reminisce with Xie Zhiwei for long before Lan Jue returned.
“My Lord, have you gained their trust?” Yang Feng asked eagerly.
“Trust?” Lan Jue raised his eyebrow.
Coming out from the inner room, Chu Xiang said, “I’m afraid no one takes His Excellency seriously.”
Lan Jue waved at him, meaning that he had guessed right yet again.
“But it’s not a bad thing that no one takes me seriously, it’s not time for us to attract attention yet. The emperor promised us relief funds and food, but…” Lan Jue sneered. Even if the supplies could reach Western Tang… who knew how much would be deducted along the way. He stopped and thought about it. “The trade route to the southern border is part of the consul’s interests, there’s no way that old fatty will let me bring my things through smoothly. Sir Chu, how did your discussion with the assassins go?”
Chu Xiang suddenly saluted him solemnly, and it was at this time that he noticed a slender object in the man’s hands.
It was a… sword? A very strange sword. He couldn’t tell what it was made of. The scabbard was black, but there was an image in silver — some kind of bird with one wing raised, an unfamiliar star pattern, as well as… a wreath-like emblem.
It was the mythical bird representing Longque, the nine stars of the Big Dipper constellation2Western tradition is that the Big Dipper has seven stars, and Chinese tradition is generally also seven stars but older records state nine — this is because they counted two auxiliary stars that are much dimmer, one of which may have gone supernova 5000 years ago which then led to accepting 7 stars as the standard representing the Chinese Starfleet, and the olive branches representing the Human Alliance which achieved space travel.
“Your Excellency, Chu Xiang has lived up to your trust.” He raised the sword with both hands and knelt to Lan Jue. “The assassin Bai Mo, as well as her eighteen assassins, thirty-six scouts, seven informants, and fifty-eight miscellaneous family members, are all willing to follow Your Excellency. I also offer Longque — may nothing stand in the path of your sword.”
Longque!
“This… is Longque?”
“This is the imperial sword, which none but the emperor may touch,” Chu Xiang answered.
Lan Jue chuckled once, lightly, before placing his hand on the hilt. The moment his skin came into contact, to his surprise, the entire sword trembled for a moment. Amid Yang Feng’s startled exclamation, light reflected off metal as he unsheathed it.
The sword was extraordinarily light, to the point that Lan Jue couldn’t believe it was a weapon, but he could nonetheless feel a thick killing intent emanating from it. This was a blade baptised in blood. Weapons that had seen blood were completely different from the gorgeous objects nobles used as decorations. Tempered by flesh and blood, to deal death was its meritorious service, to roam the battlefield was its greatest glory.
Yang Feng couldn’t help stretching his hand out curiously, intending to touch the hilt, however —
Crack!
A blue electrical arc flashed. Yang Feng flinched away with a yelp, while Lan Jue was also surprised.
Only Chu Xiang raised the corners of his lips slightly, though his expression otherwise didn’t change. As if he was speaking tender words of love, he said, “I present Longque to you, Your Excellency. So long as you remember the oath made on that day, you will command Longque. Whether you become emperor or ash, Longque will only respect you as monarch. May the true dragon reach his rightful place, may all peoples be blessed, may the stars be free from strife and peace last forever.”
Lan Jue gripped Chu Xiang’s wrist with one hand, using so much force that he almost crushed his bones.
“I vow to Longque,” he said, and as he did so, he suddenly held the blade, causing a stream of bright red blood to flow down his palm. Chu Xiang jumped up.
“Okay okay okay I believe you, I believe you!” Chu Xiang said, grabbing at his hand. “Stop the bleeding!”
As he focused on the wound, Lan Jue looked at him in surprise, then his gaze slowly intensified.
* * *
The rainy season descended upon Tianyan. Rain poured down from dusk to midnight, beating down on window frames and causing them to make dense rattling sounds.
Near Yelu Street, there was a small plaza where Peonies often performed and accepted the nobles’ flower votes. On rainy evenings, most guests chose to stay overnight at the houses of ill repute instead of braving the rain to go home. The Guards’ patrols were also delayed due to the heavy rain, so the abnormality wasn’t discovered until the rain lessened.
“Aaaaaaahhh–!”
A scream loud enough to rock the entire city of Tianyan rang out.
Not long later, Bai Jing’an took a team of Iron-Clad Guards to Yelu Street, where his face changed drastically.
In that plaza, rain had washed the stones and corpses clean of blood. The bodies were dismembered into multiple pieces with flesh scattered everywhere, and every single piece was covered in bruising. The pale white flesh made all the passing nobles turn around and vomit.
Someone had used human flesh to spell out a sentence:
There is no justice in this world, so you should live and die for your beliefs.3A much more concise eight characters in Chinese (天下无道，当以身殉) which can conceivably be written using body parts
Author:
Hey, there’s no ambiguous relationship between Xie Zhiwei and Chu Xiang, they’re close comrades who have even seen Chu Xiang pick at his feet before going to bed, they know each other so well that they can only be best friends, not lovers! You don’t need to worry about Lan Jue’s position being affected, Xie Zhiwei is still obsessed with cosplaying an imperial sword hahahahaha!
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- 1Military personnel who are engaged in literary & artistic creation, performing arts, and sports for the purposes of propaganda, recruitment, and communication with the public.
- 2Western tradition is that the Big Dipper has seven stars, and Chinese tradition is generally also seven stars but older records state nine — this is because they counted two auxiliary stars that are much dimmer, one of which may have gone supernova 5000 years ago which then led to accepting 7 stars as the standard
- 3A much more concise eight characters in Chinese (天下无道，当以身殉) which can conceivably be written using body parts
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