Chapter 23: Garbage Star
Lulai knew that he was dreaming.
The endless silence and darkness embraced him, slowly and gently dragging him into the depths. He couldn’t wake up no matter how hard he struggled.
The shattered fragments of memories were like mirrors floating around, each piece was sealed with endless blood and fire. The war accompanied by blazing flames burned with dazzling colours and filled with silent wailing. Each piece was the pain and torment he had experienced—destroyed fleets, the collapse of stars, and suffering of humans.
That was the Alliance’s expansion war.
He used to be unstoppable, his heart was like a stone, he’d slash with a knife to cut off any obstacles that hindered his path.
He walked alone in the flames of war and hell, leaving behind screams and sorrowful crying reaching the sky. He was the god of war, an unstoppable blade, a destroyer of everything. Wherever he went, there were only ruins and wolves left behind him.
He returned to his homeland in glory and honour. What awaited him was the admiration and worship of the entire country, but as far as he could see, there were ignorance, lies, corruption, greed, fight for power, tyranny – planets were squeezed dry. Galaxies were swallowed by greed, human beings were just empty numbers and available resources.
He himself delivered the bloody and tyrannical crown worn on the head of the culprit.
Lulai still remembered his anger when he discovered the truth.
The deep anger had never faded, it was suppressed by him, hidden deep in his heart, burning constantly under his calm appearance.
There was no reason for his rebellion.
On the contrary, it was the slaves and the maidservants who needed to be saved from the abusers – they never needed a good excuse to look at them contemptuously and slaughter them.
His anger was constantly hidden under the calm.
The extremely powerful and bottomless desire for destruction was restrained by him under the surface of indifference, as if hot magma flowed silently under the Earth’s crust. When his strong will faded, it tried to break free from the restraints of his self-control, always looking for a way to ravage, searching for an outlet to vent.
In the chaotic struggle, he suddenly felt that a soft, fragile body was clasped in his palm.
Without any resistance, without any struggle.
Lulai struggled to open his eyes, his eyelids were heavy as if he was filled with lead, everything in front of him seemed to be spinning crazily, and thousands of double images were reflected in countless lights-
A familiar face was just in front of him, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t see through the white mist in front of his eyes.
On the contrary, a brand-new illusion appeared before his eyes.
Lulai vaguely felt that he was hugging a butterfly, a butterfly that was always struggling. It fluttered with soft wings, and the slippery powder scattered on his palm and fingertips, trying to break free from his control and fly away from him——However, as long as he applied a little force, it could be easily broken, destroyed, and crushed.
Tear off its wings and it will stay forever.
Just like he always expected.
The desire for control and possessiveness roared deep in his chest, urging him to strike, like a demon whispering in his ear over and over again.
Your hands are full of sin and blood. Don’t think that you can hold onto any beautiful existence–other than this.
As long as you put more strength.
The soft throat was held in his palm.
Under the thin skin was the fragile throat bone. His fingertips could feel the fresh and warm blood rushing through the blood vessels, radiating an indescribable heat.
Put more strength.
Lulai let go.
He pressed his hot cheeks against the soft and cold neck of the other, sniffing the warm sweet candy scent deeply, as he embraced him, pressing the opponent’s body into his own bones and blood. Like a tired traveller hugging a treasure found in a muddy battlefield.
The treasure held him back tenderly and stroked his back with his fingers.
Then there was betrayal without hesitation.
With the injection of the cold liquid, his consciousness was irresistibly separating from the body, his limbs lost control, as pain radiating from his nerves disappeared.
“Hush.”
The boy soothed him with a gentle voice.
Lulai was once again dragged into a dark and dreamless sleep.
He didn’t know how long it took.
The sound of a fight seemed to be heard in the distance.
The intensive sound of guns seemed to come from thousands of kilometres away, dull and faint, and faintly lifted the dark curtain of half-asleep consciousness.
He could still feel the after-effects from the injection and all the sights before him seemed to be distorted and blurred. Lulai tried to regain control of his limbs, but failed.
In the dim vision, he saw the hatch open.
A slender figure walked in front of him and bent down.
The soft and cold palms pressed against his cheeks, as if testing his body temperature. The familiar smell of gunpowder and blood spread into his nasal cavity, making his vague consciousness a little more sober in an instant.
Next, he saw Ge Xiu.
He looked very tired, almost exhausted.
The moment their eyes met, the boy frowned, and then began to whisper about the conflict between his good physique and the efficacy of the medicine.
Lulai couldn’t understand much of what he was talking about.
All his thoughts was concentrated on the other’s neck. Ge Xiu’s neck was slender and fragile, but there was a bluish-black bruise under the jaw line, which looked particularly shocking on the pale skin.
He wanted to check his wound.
In the next second, Lulai slowly realized that he had actually raised his hand—perhaps the effect of the medicine had been weakened by his willpower.
But his palm was intercepted by the opponent in the middle.
Ge Xiu stared at him in an aloof manner, looking at his face very seriously – Lulai was a little uneasy, he didn’t know whether the expression on his face revealed his true emotions, but the desire to be touched had overcome everything.
He loosened his strength, letting his cold fingers hold his palm.
“I sent the ship’s coordinates to Hall. He will come here soon.”
An unfathomable smile appeared on Ge Xiu’s lips, he bent down, and the distance between the two quickly shortened. Lulai could almost see the curve and number of his trembling eyelashes.
After two seconds, he realized that the other party was talking:
“The deadlock is broken. The road to the future has been cleared.”
He took Lulai’s hand and dropped a feather-light kiss on the back of his hand:
” -Your Majesty.”
Wait…
what?
Lulai struggled with a brief sobriety in his chaotic muddleheaded mind. He spent several times longer than usual trying to understand the meaning of the other party’s words, but the remaining medicine made his efforts in vain. Even so, an incomprehensible panic swept over him suddenly, like a raging wave, drowning his senses and making him sink and float weakly on the surface of sleepiness.
He wanted to say something.
To try to prevent some unknown but inevitable thing from happening.
But all attempts were stifled in the paralysed body.
The boy gave him another injection and turned away in his dimming vision.
Before he fell back into a cold and dark sleep, the slowly closing ship door made a light sound, everything became distant, and the slender back was swallowed by the closing hatch.
·
It was already twenty hours later when Lulai woke up.
He sat up in the isolation cabin.
Except for the spine and severely damaged internal organs that were still in the recovery period, which resulted in a dull pain when moving, most of the shallow skin injuries on the body have basically healed, and there was slight itching from the new light pink scars.
Lulai lowered his eyes, squeezed his fingers into fists, and felt the power taken by the anaesthetic slowly return to his body.
As if he suddenly remembered something, he moved slightly and turned over the palm of his hand.
The cold, blinding light in the compartment fell on the back of his hand.
Under the smooth and clean skin, the slender and powerful finger bones were slightly protruding, concealing strong power inside.
Lulai’s eyes drooped and he was silent, his unpredictable gaze stayed on the piece of skin for a long time, as if in a daze.
Are those blurry and chaotic pictures simply dreams?
Or was it just an illusion caused by the brain’s self-protection?
Lulai couldn’t determine the correct answer for a while.
At this moment, the door outside the isolation cabin suddenly opened, and Hall and several other confidants hurriedly walked in, apparently aware of Lulai’s awakening through the smart brain inspection system. Everyone’s faces were filled with excitement and joy that couldn’t be concealed, their eyes were full of admiration and worship.
Lulai took away his confusing thoughts and nodded curtly at the crowd through the glass of the cabin.
After half an hour’s report, Lulai had roughly learned the current state of affairs.
In order to distract the Alliance’s attention, the remnant fleet trapped in the laser minefield took the initiative to attack, and the entire fleet was destroyed.
The ship driven by Ge Xiu sent a response signal to the main ship after breaking through the signal interception zone and joined with the elite fleet led by Hall, devouring half of the Alliance’s main fleet with a surprise attack, and severely injuring the remaining forces of the Alliance.
The Alliance’s attempt to detonate the star to create a black hole strategy provoked a strong backlash throughout the interstellar range. They not only sent warships to the medical center that should have been sheltered, but even made a bet on the billions of lives of at least three small galaxies. Such frantic, demoralized behaviour caused many neutral power families to turn on their side.
After this battle, the Alliance not only failed to take Lulai’s life, but the fleet suffered heavy losses as a result. The families that once gave them their support have renounced their contracts, and even the largest energy and mineral galaxy that the Alliance relied on has set off a fevered wave of rebellion.
Their rule was unsteady, and there was no suspense about the upcoming complete collapse.
Lulai calmly listened to the reports of his subordinates and issued one or two corresponding orders from time to time, ranging from dispatching troops, starting decisive battles, conquering the capital, to awarding honours, comforting, and even rebuilding after the war. His words were short and powerful, and straight to the point.
Everyone listened to his instructions with great respect, and quickly written down a summary on the smart brain he carried.
No one knew better than them, who the man sitting in front of them was—
Lulai Sivir.
Once the Alliance’s God of War, the future Imperial Emperor.
In the next three months, he would wear the crown of lofty glory, hold the supreme authority, and rise to the highest position among the stars.
The attention of all people, the hope of all people.
—”The road to the future has been cleared.”
Lulai fell silent suddenly.
There was a heavy silence in the air, and even a small sound of breathing seemed excessive. No one dared to make a sound, they only dared to remain silent.
Finally, Lulai raised his eyes and asked the question that had been on the tip of his tongue since the moment he woke up:
“Where is Ge Xiu?”
As soon as his words fell, the atmosphere in the air instantly became tense. As if an invisible string was slowly tightening and it could break any second now.
Everyone lowered their heads subconsciously, as if they could escape from Lulai’s sight.
Finally, Hall took a deep breath and said cautiously:
“Ge Xiu…he’s gone.”
Ge Xiu fulfilled his promise and he sent Lulai back to the main ship intact. So, Hall honoured his promise.
Leviathan.
The so-called “commission”.
Ge Xiu took his former crew and on the starship that had been repaired, but was stationed in the cabin before, and then left like this.
His departure was as abrupt as when he arrived.
Without taking away any rewards, leaving no trace, as if an invisible wind swept by whistling, and then disappeared without a trace in the vast horizon.
Lulai’s gaze fell on the back of his hand again.
The distinct touch seem to be still left on his skin—the cold and soft lips were gently pressed with rough and dry touch, which gave a slight itching feeling as if a feather was brushing against his skin.
The butterfly finally flew away.
Hall watched Lulai’s expression and said boldly: “The main ship of the Leviathan has permission to remotely open its positioning system. If you need it, this subordinate can now send a fleet to chase—”
Lulai glanced at him, the feeling in his eyes was very faint but it still succeeded in making Hall subconsciously silence.
He retracted his gaze: “So, the Second Medical Research Center did not trap him, huh?”
Interrogative sentence. But he used the tone of the declarative sentence.
Hall nodded: “Yes.”
Lulai lowered his eyes thoughtfully, rubbed with his thumb the skin on the back of his hand, as if to brush away the remaining illusion of touch. Suddenly, he seemed to think of something and smiled softly.
His laughter was low and short, and quickly dissipated in the empty room. Hall almost suspected that he started having auditory hallucinations.
“No need to chase.”
Hall was taken aback, and subconsciously raised his eyes, but he saw the smile on Lulai’s lips that hadn’t faded, and he couldn’t help but feel a little shocked:
“You…”
Lulai curled up his lips: “I just figured out something.”
Hall frowned slightly, swallowing his suspicion down his throat.
Lulai retracted his gaze and tapped the shell of the tranquillizer on the iron frame with his fingertips, and said:
“He gave me a large dose of tranquillizer, not because I was worried that I would not cooperate with his evacuation plan. I am the commander of war, who understands better than anyone that the victory of the war requires victims. A moment of weakness and impulsiveness would only cause more casualties.”
Hall’s face was not very good: “He didn’t want his plan to leave to fail. “
Lulai nodded.
Hall gritted his teeth, finally made up his mind, and asked:
“This subordinate still don’t understand why you don’t want me to send a fleet to chase him.”
He could see that the captain’s attitude towards Ge Xiu was different. Therefore, before Leviathan started, he installed a positioning program that could be opened remotely. It was an updates program and it was difficult to detect even with a full scan of the starship operating system. He couldn’t figure out why Lulai refused to send a ship to chase the Leviathan, just as he couldn’t understand why Ge Xiu left on the eve of the victory.
He knew, based on his contribution to the war, coupled with Lulai’s readiness to give him anything, it was enough to make remembered and worshipped for generations.
This strange boy, after experiencing the test of war, was unwilling to enjoy the fruits of his victory.
Lulai chuckled:
“Don’t you understand? He will only be caught if he wants to.”
Whether it was the main ship or the medical center, he didn’t leave only because he was willing to stay, not because he couldn’t break through the defence system.
Thinking about it now, the reason he received treatment may be the same – just to confirm that Lulai’s side could win the final victory.
Once there was no suspense over the outcome of the war, he left without hesitation.
The cold and pale light in the compartment illuminated his face. The prolonged battle and hard work made Lulai a little thinner, and made the deep lines on his face sharper and more compelling, becoming more and more like a sharply defined marble sculpture. In the shadow cast by his high brow bones, the light-colored eyes droop slightly, there seemed to be some kind of inexplicable affection in them:
“Some people can’t be trapped.”
Perhaps for some people, glory and wealth, fame and fortune was just another kind of cage.
Lulai stood up, the smooth and vigorous lines of his muscles unfolded with his movements, he simply put the coat over his shoulders and walked out in large strides. The wounds on his body that once put him on the brink of death did not hinder him in the slightest. He said:
“Let’s go, we still have things to do.”
A new era was waiting ahead.
·
In Xingyuan 3407, the Sivir Empire was established.
Several major galaxy forces have reshuffled, and the era of Alliance rule that once dominated with power has ended. Instead, it has been replaced by a more concentrated and efficient empire regime, and the entire interstellar has entered an unprecedented era of unity. Under the emperor’s iron fist, the humanitarian decree of the Alliance that had existed to deceive the people was abolished, and the interstellar was rebuilt with new laws and rules, and no longer divided the hierarchy according to the power of the galaxy. The planet that was once a garbage dumping ground because of being exploited and plundered by the Alliance, got cleaned up and rebuilt after the disaster with the funds and protection from the empire and had the right to elect representatives to enter the imperial parliament. Even a bill to protect independent merchant ships and interstellar wanderers, providing them with meticulous and comprehensive medical services, passed.
Such achievements were achieved only within a few short years after the war. As the founder of the empire, Lulai Sivir contributed a lot.
He seemed to be a never-tiring working machine, using his amazing willpower to prop up the complex affairs of the new empire and after the post-war reconstruction work was roughly completed, the private life of the emperor immediately entered the eyes of the media and the masses.
The ruler of the empire was young, handsome and charming. He was the most recognized dream lover. Girls of the right age of various big families flocked around him. They desperately created chance encounters at banquets and other occasions, but they were often blocked by guards quietly. Not only there was vacancy in the position of the empress, but even a little bit of peachy news* can’t be dug out, the private life of the emperor was so clean, that he was even called an extreme ascetic.
Insiders who had participated in the war revealed to the media that the emperor was waiting for someone.
But the media racked their brains and tried their best to dig out the little bit of news from the legend. Only the insider commented on this matter:
“When you saw the breathtaking brilliance of the stars, the dim fluorescent light can’t enter your eyes.”
The whole report was based on this topic, from the beginning to the end was filled with mystery and exaggeration.
“… shit doesn’t make sense.”
Xiao Yi muttered, exited the peach news page on the light screen, and began to read the next page of supernatural legends with pleasure.
[The Leviathan, named after a behemoth in mythology, a ghost ship that mysteriously disappeared after the Alliance War, was recently witnessed appearing in the constellation Orion…]
Before he could finish reading, a lazy voice came from the front :
“Are you all ready?”
Xiao Yi hurriedly turned off the light screen in front of him and buckled the protective device on the seat: “Yes!”
The other crew members responded with similar excitement and eagerness, and Xiao Yi took a deep breath. With a sigh of relief, his eyes fell on the command chair at the front. The young boy’s slender figure was almost swallowed by the wide leather chair, but he still exuded a strong sense of presence.
His voice was lazy and calm, but Xiao Yi could perceive the suppressed desire that rang deep in the other’s throat:
“Next, let’s look at the edge of the starry sky.”
The huge starship launched under the shining light of stars, the delicate and smooth lines of the ship were outlined in light gold, the crooked and twisted characters written in red paint on the side of the ship were illuminated;
“LEVIATHAN”
Bamboo has something to say~
A little late chapter, but still here! Now I’ll be taking a week long break to recover from translating too much and to prepare for the next arc~~
Tell me what do you think about this ending! I personally really like and respect a person like Lulai who knows when to let go. And, remember, Ge Xiu isn’t so easy to trust people.
futhermore, I think it’s the best ending for this world because Lulai won’t have to see Ge Xiu get sick and die slowly and Ge Xiu will have his craziness in the stars!
I am sure Lulai likes looking at the news about Leviathan the most though ahah
*peachy news, peach blossom means romance/affair, so it means there were no news of Lulai having any closer relationships with lovers. Tut, Lulai truly loves only once…
Little Theater:
Ge Xiu: Gotta run gotta run when he’s still asleep!! I don’t want medical cabin anymore ah
Xiao Yi: ??? are we chased by something??
