Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Albert gave up pondering the complex family issues. He stared at Lin Fu's pitch-black mech, several spots stripped of paint, so ugly that it hurt his eyes.

He called out to Lin Fu, "Why don't you change your mech? The custom ones are much better than this ugly thing! Heck, I'll even gift you one. Please don't use this anymore."

While complaining, he logged into the cockpit. As soon as he connected his psychic power, Lin Fu struck, catching him off guard with a shoulder throw.

Albert thought, "...Just because I called the mech ugly—but isn't that the truth!?"

He felt truly wronged.

*

On asteroid A90234, near the interstellar boundary where the insectoids and humans meet, stands a pitch-black mech.

From an aerial view in space, the grayish-yellow landscape has only a small, unnoticeable black dot.

The cockpit opens, and a man jumps out with swift precision. When he lands, not even a speck of dust is disturbed.

He steps onto the soft ground, easily inserting a detector beneath him.

Not far away, the soil trembles lightly. A beetle the size of a man's head, matching the gray-yellow color of the terrain, suddenly takes flight, its sharp mandibles aiming for the man's nape.

Without turning around, the massive mech lifts a finger, precisely crushing the beetle, leaving a puddle of greenish fluid soaking into the spongy gray-yellow soil.

He looks up, gazing into the distance, squinting eyes shimmering amber in the light. After a moment, he turns and re-enters the cockpit, departing the asteroid.

*

Days at the academy seem endless, with the same routines repeated daily, making most of the young students feel monotonous.

With every monthly training session, there are always changes in personnel, but Lin Fu remains unwaveringly in Class C9. So many have come and gone that a significant portion of the 023 cohort knows him well.

When Lin Fu first arrived at the school, the sentinels all looked upon him with the sympathy reserved for guides. But as time proved things, not a shred of that sentiment remains.

He's a fake! An absolute imposter of a guide! Deceiving their emotions!

Apart from his siblings, there seems to be no other relations to foster!

Lin Fu is quite pleased with this.

In the final phase, the last monthly training determines class placements for the next three years.

This monthly training is unlike any other they've had before.

Lin Fu assesses his capabilities, with physical stamina still being his weak point. Yet compared to six months prior, his improvement is substantial.

At the very least, it won't hinder his performance in other courses.

He enters the simulation training room, commencing his last monthly training session.

Entered at dawn, completed by dawn.

Emerging from the training room, Albert stood outside waiting for him. Upon seeing him exit, Albert immediately flashed a smile and waved, saying, "Yo, how did the test go? Any chance you'll be in the same class as me?"

Lin Fu unapologetically replied, "No chance."

Albert's face fell, "You can't joke about this, seriously?"

Lin Fu looked at him skeptically, "It was a joke, but now I'm starting to doubt."

Albert retorted, "Do you think that after half a year, I still can't tell when you're making fun of me?"

Lin Fu was somewhat shocked, "You can actually tell?"

Albert: "......"

He rubbed his wrists, itching to challenge Lin Fu to a match at the mecha training grounds.

As the two left the building, they encountered Tang Qian.

Seeing Lin Fu, Tang Qian smiled, "We have the day off today. Classes and grouping will be tomorrow afternoon. Have you thought about where you'd like to go?"

With his arms crossed, Albert began, "We have a day and a half off, a rare break. I suggest we visit Aivette Star. It's one of the Harvies' properties, quite close to the Imperial Capital Star. It's beautifully scenic and culturally unique. If you go, everything will be on the house, courtesy of me. Tempting, isn't it?"

Lin Fu patted his shoulder, "I've been meaning to ask you something for a long time. Why hasn't your family come to visit you?"

The military academy doesn't have breaks and operates a closed management system to strengthen the students' will.

In fact, like Albert, most students don't receive visits from their families throughout the year. The families hope their children will endure rigorous training at the academy.

However, given Albert's description of how beloved he is at home, it's rather surprising that they haven't visited.

Albert explained with an air of resignation Lin Fu couldn't understand, "The Harvies' business is vast. My brothers and father are busy in the military, and my mother and aunts manage the family affairs. Ah, the troubles of a large family and business. As a member of the Harvies, one must be understanding."

Lin Fu nodded, "Understandable, understandable. Let's go to Aivette Star."

After listening to them, Tang Qian hesitated before saying, "I'd like to go home for a visit. I haven't seen my parents for a whole year."

Albert's mood shifted to excitement, decisively saying, "Then let's go to your place. I'll have them prepare a private starship. A day's time should suffice for a round trip. Let's hurry!"

Lin Fu had nothing to bring, so he boarded the starship empty-handed, following them.

Albert often strutted around like a peacock, but his favored status in the Harvie family was an undeniable fact.

The starship was ready at a moment's notice. Lin Fu and the others embarked, and it set off immediately for a round trip just to transport the three of them. Such extravagance would be unaffordable for a family of modest means.

By noon, the starship had arrived at the secondary planet where Tang Qian's family resided.

The planet they had chosen to relocate to was some distance from the Imperial Capital Star, positioned between remote and bustling stars. The social class disparity here was much smaller than on the Imperial Capital Star, and the residents seemed to be quite amiable.

On their way home, Tang Qian shared with them about local customs and attractions: "Monroe Star's most famous sight is the Monroe Twins, a pair of huge petrified insect eggs nestled in the fork of a binary tree. The hatched twins, for some reason, died upon emerging and petrified on the tree, gradually becoming a renowned landmark of Monroe Star."

Albert was brimming with excitement: "Really? Let's go there later! I've never been here before."

Lin Fu held him back: "First, let's meet your uncle and aunt."

Albert tilted his chin up: "Of course, I'm not that impolite."

Lin Fu felt a headache coming on: "If you don't want to be kicked out later, don't brag about your proud lineage."

Albert was horrified: "Why!? Do my uncle and aunt dislike our family?"

Lin Fu: "No, they just dislike you in particular."

Albert: "..." Great, Lin Fu was mocking him again. He got it.

To Lin Fu's surprise, his admonition worked wonders. Albert completely reined in his peacock feathers in front of the elders, showing humility and politeness, making Lin Fu wonder if someone else was inside that shell.

After dining at Tang's, as the three stepped out, Albert resumed his proud display: "See, didn't I behave exceptionally well? Your uncle and aunt seem to like me a lot. There isn't a soul in the Harvie family who isn't likable."

Lin Fu and Tang Qian exchanged glances, breezing past him to board a hover car heading for the Monroe Twins landmark.

Leaving Albert behind, unable to catch up to the car.

Shortly after, a flashy, bright red, latest-model hover car drove alongside the vehicle carrying Lin Fu and the others.

The window rolled down, revealing Albert's golden head and exuberant smile: "Jealous, aren't you? You guys take your time, I'm heading off first, bye!"

Lin Fu, Tang Qian: "..." They had underestimated him, forgetting that his family's assets spanned the stars; this trivial matter was no obstacle for him.

By the time the two arrived, Albert was already there, well ahead of them.

Leaning single-handedly against his hovercar, he awaited their approach with a smug, smiling face. Before they even got close, he boasted, "In the short time you were absent, several guides have already asked for my number."

Lin Fu draped an arm over Tang Qian's shoulder, circumventing him. As they walked, he asked, "Do you hear anything?"

Tang Qian confirmed, "No."

Lin Fu: "Let's move on. The tree is quite large."

Tang Qian: "The insect egg is also enormous. It's even more impressive up close."

Young Master Harvie felt a surge of indignation, "You're being too much, ignoring me like this."

The trio frolicked to the base of the tree, where Lin Fu realized it was much larger than he had imagined, nearly blotting out the sky.

Two different tree species intertwined, growing together. At the fork of their main trunks, an oval insect egg was wedged, cracked at both ends, revealing the head of an insectoid larva.

It was quite disgusting, but after petrification, no slimy substances remained, only a somewhat spooky appearance.

After circling the thick trunk, Albert, eager to try, attempted to jump onto a branch for a closer look at the egg.

Before he finished speaking, Tang Qian was already in action, leaping first, agilely landing on a branch and closely examining the egg.

After a glance, he leaped down and commented, "Ugly in a unique way."

Lin Fu's mouth twitched, "You can actually jump up to look? Won't you get scolded?"

Tang Qian shook his head, puzzled, "Why would I be scolded? The tree is very sturdy, and its bark is as hard as many metals used in mecha construction. There's no worry of damaging it. Many people climb up for a closer look and sketches every year."

Lin Fu: "Alright then." He was overthinking it.

Albert, mimicking Tang Qian, stepped onto the trunk and jumped to the nearest branch, squatting down to stare at the petrified larva's head for a long while until his head spun and he almost fell off.

He steadied himself against the trunk, stood up, and jumped to the other side for a better view.

Observing yielded nothing; instead, staring at the insect's dark, beady eyes made his head spin even more.

He felt an illusion might be at play; the petrified larva's eyes seemed to flicker.

It had been dead for so long, how could that be possible?

Shaking his head to dismiss the illusion, he steadied himself against the trunk, waited for the dizziness to subside, and prepared to jump down.

A second before jumping down, he glanced again at the larva's eyes, his pupils dilating in alarm, he shouted, "Scatter!"

With that, he leapt from the branch and released his mecha, instantly entering the cockpit.

At that moment, the petrified egg burst open, and a swarm of shadowy insects flew out, emitting a hair-raising buzz.

The crowd screamed and dispersed; Tang Qian also deployed his mecha. Only Lin Fu, without one of his own, was carried back by the retreating crowd.

He leapt from the crowd to a higher vantage point just as the ground began to tremble, and massive fissures radiated from the tree's roots.

The crowd's screams intensified. Some were high-ranked sentinels who responded quickly to rescue others, but most were civilians. Lin Fu jumped down from his perch, swiftly pulling those near the crevice to safety. The piercing screams grated on his eardrums, causing him discomfort.

Suddenly, the system began to announce, "Number of rescues starting to accumulate: 1, 2..."

Lin Fu was startled and turned to see a child pushed by the surging crowd, trampled by several feet.

He sprinted over to pull the child up, just as the father arrived, snatching the child from Lin Fu's grasp. Amidst the dense crowd, someone screamed, "There are insects crawling out from below!"

The scene descended into further chaos.

Lin Fu was jostled toward the edge of the fissure, the system in his mind warning: [Host, two more steps backward and you'll fall into the crevice, where insectoids lie.]

Lin Fu's face was taut. He knew what lay two steps behind, but there were too many people pushing forcefully; if he didn't block them, the ordinary people would fall.

Another scream surged, and the crowd's agitation intensified. Lin Fu was enhanced but couldn't withstand such force. Suddenly pushed back two steps, he lost control and fell, catching the edge just in time, hanging in mid-air. The crevice below was so deep it seemed bottomless, shrouded in darkness.

Giant black beetles swiftly climbed out of the fissure, their sharp mandibles faintly glinting, and their green, luminous eyes fixated on Lin Fu.

Albert, who was busy dispatching the emerging insects, saw this from afar and cried out in horror, "Lin Fu!"

Without a mecha, a human was nothing but food in front of the insectoids!

Gritting his teeth, Lin Fu prepared to fight, but the next second, he was abruptly caught in the palm of a gigantic black hand. Accompanied by the high-frequency buzzing of insects, the green fluid of the insectoids splattered behind him.

Lin Fu lay in its palm, looking up at the lightless iron giant, feeling his blood boiling with heat.

He abruptly turned his head to survey the chaos below.

Swarms of insects, fluttering in the air, crawling out from the fissures. Wielding sharp mandibles, they devoured humans, leaving a ground strewn with blood and severed limbs.

For Lin Fu, this was his first encounter with the battlefield of an interstellar world, a place of sheer brutality and icy indifference, replete with unadulterated killing intent.

The enemy bore an appearance entirely alien to his own, possessing strength far surpassing that of humans, mercilessly slaughtering his kin without a shred of compassion.

Lin Fu's gaze was cast downward, fixated on the ground.

The one who held him in their palm was also in the cockpit, observing him through the eyes of the mech.