Chapter 107 – Prelude to Awakening

Chapter 107 - Prelude to Awakening

In the meantime, Rong Mi sensed a powerful burst of mental energy emanating from the front of the starship.

Cecil had indeed pursued them into the spatial wormhole!

It was the wormhole that Cecil had opened.

The venom glands, having sprawled too wide while nurturing the ice butterflies, were now operating independently. However, when Rong Mi's mental energy touched its core, Cecil, who had been engrossed in something else, immediately sensed something amiss.

"Whizz—" The surging energy rushed towards the starship, attempting to engulf it within its domain.

Rong Mi's forehead glistened with sweat as they reached out to grasp Lu Yi's hand, guiding the admiral's hand to manipulate the control stick in one direction. They shouted, "That way!—to the AE sector—"

The starship's engines roared as it swiftly turned.

At its center, a chaotic collision of energy was occurring on all sides.

Rong Mi spared no effort.

The flaming dragon-bird left the vicinity of the starship, colliding with Cecil's mental energy with all its might. It used its body to sever and crush the venom gland, its fiery wings spreading like a blazing mane, with tongues of flames flowing, forming a vast sea of fire that plummeted towards the starship, providing it with a protective shield.

In the rear of the starship, a cold silver spread, intertwining with the flames in reverse and continuing to expand outward, as if it were a newly grown silver feather on the dragon-bird's body.

"Ao! Ao wooh—!" Ayin turned to the window, standing up restlessly, evidently eager to lend a hand outside but not receiving permission from either of its two masters.

Rong Mi's mental domain was almost boiling from entanglement with Cecil's mental energy.

He enjoyed this state but had to exert all his strength to prevent himself from losing control.

"Ayin, don't fuss," Rong Mi said, drenched in sweat due to the anomaly in his mental domain. His eyesight was fading, replaced entirely by the energy flow patterns in his mental vision. "Leaving the starship now is too risky; it's too easy to get lost in a wormhole..."

Rong Mi panted, tilting his head slightly and turning towards Lu Yi.

The admiral's mental energy was dazzling.

More so than any time Rong Mi had seen before.

Dazzling enough to make Rong Mi uneasy.

The silvery radiance propelled the starship forward, then swiftly spread in all directions. Within this space that defied physical laws, the silver threads, using the starship as a demarcation, converged above and below, forming two interconnected silver moons at their bases.

It was as if the moon in the sky mirrored itself in the tranquil waters, blurring the distinction between water and heaven.

Immediately after, from the boundary where water met sky, new celestial silver moons rose once more.

Chirp—Chirp—

Under the moonlight, space began to freeze and collapse.

The dragon-bird, however, continued to soar unperturbed, diving into Cecil's mental energy sphere and igniting fiercely.

Its form had always been illusory. Despite its body rapidly shrinking and evaporating within the much stronger ice butterfly's mental energy, it showed no fear until it was completely consumed.

In the instant its body vanished, the silver light surged, and the starship finally burst through the exit Rong Mi had indicated.

The cabin outside the starship lit up in an instant.

The wormhole behind them closed, while on the desolate planet ahead, Rong Mi's lingering purple flames still burned, along with the severed venom glands of the ice butterfly, whose mental energy had been incinerated.

In the center of the wilderness, a fiery crimson glow seeped from the fissure, indicating a recently formed small ice butterfly cocoon ground beneath.

That crevasse was created by the First Legion's warship when they initially entered the AE zone. Not far from the crack, a smoking Hua Oulo starship lay wrecked.

The crew on the ship were unharmed. Rong Mi, along with Anna and the Hua Oulo Squad, had already boarded a First Legion starship for repairs.

All of this was observed by Rong Mi through the energy threads in his mental vision.

After a cursory glance around, Rong Mi turned to Lu Yi.

The Admiral's aura shimmered gently around him, his icy-blue eyes now entirely silver. As he looked over, he exuded danger, mystique... and splendor.

Rong Mi never expected Lu Yi to step in and close that spatial wormhole.

Or rather, he didn't know Lu Yi was capable of such an act.

Rong Mi couldn't help but wonder what it would look like if Lu Yi's second awakening succeeded, and he gave it his all.

But immediately after, panic set in. He began to question whether the Admiral's mental domain could withstand the strain of that recent action...

Rong Mi raised his hand, pausing for a moment as if he had forgotten what he intended to do, then lowered it once more.

Eager to assess Lu Yi's condition and explore the Admiral's mental realm, Rong Mi found his own mind in utter disarray. Each thought flickered and vanished swiftly, as if consumed by the very flames that engulfed him.

Amidst the chaos, Rong Mi felt a chill across her forehead.

"Don't look." Lu Yi's finger touched his brow, smoothing out the furrowed brows that had unconsciously formed on the young man's face, and then his hand slid down, brushing over his eyelids, "Don't think."

"Close your eyes," Lu Yi whispered. "Trust me."

Due to the excessive activity of his mental energy, Rong Mi's body temperature rose, his breathing became rapid, and he couldn't help but press his lips together in discomfort.

Recognizing the voice intimately, he instinctively closed his eyes and leaned back into the chair.

Thus, Lu Yi pressed the auto-landing button, lifted the pilot's helmet, released the restraints, and leaned forward, just as Rong Mi had done countless times before. He bent down, their foreheads meeting in an intimate gesture.

And then, he proceeded to make gestures that the young man had spared himself from doing.

Lu Yi extended his arm to embrace Rong Mi, drawing him close into the depths of his embrace, and delving into Rong Mi's mental domain.

When Lu Yi first got to know Rong Mi, he had ventured into her mental sea.

Their spiritual compatibility was exceptionally high.

Under normal circumstances, Lu Yi didn't perceive this as significant and never mentioned it to Rong Mi.

However, it was precisely due to this high compatibility that he could enter her mental sea.

Lu Yi wasn't a therapist, unable to calm chaotic spiritual energy like Rong Mi.

All he could do was let the silvery mist spread across that purplish fire ocean.

It descended layer by layer, imbued with a chilling aura.

Until the frenzied flames gradually subsided.

The purple fire sea finally extinguished.

"Ow."

Within the starship, the Silver Wolves observed the two individuals entwined, their unease growing.

Lu Yi's arm was gradually slipping down. His neck tilted sideways, resting on Rong Mi's shoulder as he leaned against the youth, succumbing to unconsciousness.

Rong Mi, however, showed no reaction to this development.

As Lu Yi's arm continued its descent, his body reclined back into the chair, his eyelids still closed, his breath shallow, now oblivious to everything.

*

"…Rong Mi is quite relaxed with his boundaries, allowing someone like Lu Yi, who doesn't even have a therapist certification, access to his mental domain!"

"Admiral Lu Yi's method of soothing is rather rough! Anyone would pass out under such treatment! With such forceful suppression, Rong Mi must be in immense pain! If his control wavers and triggers a mental energy backlash, it could result in a disastrous outcome for both!"

"What about Rong Mi's military assessment now? Should they halt the examination? It wouldn't be fair if his results were affected."

"How could it affect his results? Even if Rong Mi stops the exam now, he'd still undoubtedly be the top scorer. Just look at the bonus points from his examiner modules! Every examiner is practically giving him full marks!"

"Well, it's fortunate that the military assessments aren't broadcast to the public. Otherwise, the Star Network would explode with excitement over Rong Mi again today!"

"Apologies for the interruption." A knock sounded from outside the infirmary door. "Lieutenant General White and I are here to collect our patient."

"Admiral Lu Yi has ordered that Rong Mi be transferred to another medical facility," the voices echoed in his ears, alternating between the doctors on the medical warship and Pilot Sun Tong in his mecha.

Rong Mi yearned to join their conversation.

For instance, when Lu Yi's mental energy entered his mind domain, he didn't experience any pain.

There was... a sensation quite similar to the last time Lu Yi had entered, yet with a subtle difference.

Lu Yi's silver mental energy was cold, but as it merged with the sea of fire, it turned gentle, like waves lapping onto a shore.

When one stood by the shallows, they could keenly sense the force of the waves yet perceive the vast ocean in this corner as unusually tender.

Aside from refuting the doctors' hypotheses, Rong Mi had other intentions.

He wanted the doctors to stop clustering around him and attend to Lu Yi immediately.

And he himself was eager to check on Lu Yi's condition.

Yet, even as the silvery tide receded, his mental domain seemed to linger in some residual echo.

The once violently fluctuating energy during battle had transformed into an apathetic stillness.

Rong Mi's consciousness was not entirely lucid either, slipping gradually into deeper recesses of his memory.

*

"Our discovered icy butterfly and human cohabitation planet lies just ahead," came the voice through the communication device, the starship's mainframe AI, code-named "Goddess," reading out the information.

Stretching his legs on the sofa in the rest cabin, Rong Mi listened attentively. "That planet is remotely located and requires navigating through treacherous cosmic wind zones. It has a natural energy shield, making it easy to defend but hard to conquer."

"If we aim to unite the survivors against the icy butterfly's rule, this is the best point of entry we've found so far," he noted.

"I see," Rong Mi said, propping his cheek on his hand nonchalantly. "Get me a painkiller."

"One moment."

"Identity verification: Rong Mi, Chief Mecha Specialist. Painkiller quota check for this month: All doses have been used up."

Rong Mi: "I can afford to overdraft a bit."

"Identity verification: Rong Mi, Chief Mecha Pilot. Inquiry on this month's analgesic overdraft limit: The quota has already been fully utilized."

"You've already exceeded your quota by ten doses this month, Rong Mi," the spaceship's AI paused for a moment, adopting a more human-like tone. "Excessive use of analgesics can lead to dependency."

"Pain hurts," the young man sighed. "What can I do when my genetic illness flares up? If I don't inject some painkillers, I might make a mistake operating the mecha and crash later, right?"

"I ache all over. Headache, sore arms, aching back and legs."

The AI, "Divine Lady": "...."

"Please be punctual for the mecha preparation chamber in one hour."

The spaceship's AI marked a reminder on Rong Mi's schedule. Simultaneously, the medical robot in his quarters activated, dispensing an efficient painkiller.

Rong Mi reached out to take it, perked up, rolled up his sleeve, and skillfully administered the injection.

"Certainly," Rong Mi replied casually, turning on his screen and browsing for documentaries on wolf-type combat pets in his file folder.

Watching "Wolf" films for stress relief has become Rong Mi's favorite pastime in recent years.

Outside the cabin, the starship navigated cautiously through a cosmic wind belt. Chaotic energy currents tapped against the hull, filling the vessel with a jangle of noises. An hour later, the ship stabilized in an orbit around the planet. Rong Mi suited up in a mecha and gazed at the scene outside.

In her mental vision, a flowing silver-white expanse represented the dense energy layer enveloping the planet.

As the mecha penetrated this layer, it was as if entering a sticky, slow-moving gel. Its progress slowed significantly, even with the aid of mental power propulsion, which proved to be of limited use.

Those silvery-white energies were highly unique, dissipating much of Rong Mi's mental strength.

Perhaps due to the planet's remote location, guarded by this natural barrier, its defense systems were rather haphazard. There were no orbital or ground-based defense stations; only watchtowers on the surface. Rong Mi avoided their scanning signals and touched down on a distant pole of the planet.

This planet was almost entirely covered by water.

The water had a muddled black-brown hue, and within the waves, there were silvery-white threads that matched the color of the outer energy layer.

Using the glow from these threads, Rong Mi noticed numerous architectural remnants submerged in the landing area's waters.

Those were vestiges of human construction from the past.

"Zzt - Scanning - You're currently landing in an uninhabited area - Zzt - Left ahead is a human settlement."

"Confirmed, the left side is indeed a human habitat." Rong Mi narrowed his eyes, pressing the communicator. "I see lights."

"Zzt - Received." The Goddess's voice came through intermittently.

Due to the protective layer around the planet, Rong Mi's communication signal with the starship was very weak. "Zzt - Based on the reconnaissance team's data - After leaving this uninhabited area, communication will be completely cut off - Proceed with caution... -"

Rong Mi acknowledged. "Received."

Just as he was about to proceed forward, the corner of his eye caught a fleeting white figure deep beneath the sea.

A slender, creamy-white shape, vanishing too swiftly for Rong Mi to discern whether it was a creature of the ocean or an energy current unique to this planet, swiftly swam past the debris of metal beneath his feet.

...Most likely an energy current, Rong Mi thought to himself, his gaze pausing for a moment.

According to previous records, most of the star beasts in the human star domain had become snacks for the Ice Butterflies.

Only a select few with intimate ties to the Ice Butterflies could still keep small stellar beasts as pets within their homes.

Companion beasts capable of aiding humans in combating the Ice Butterflies had become utterly extinct.