Chapter 49

Chapter 49

When Yi Ye woke up, he found himself lying in someone's arms. But that wasn't the most terrifying part; the most terrifying part was that the person was General Lin Pei, and his hand was still on the other's chest.

Yi Ye: Aaaaaah!

He was jolted awake almost instantly, quickly pulling his hand away, only to aggravate the wound on his shoulder, causing a sharp pain. He winced and let out a muffled groan. Lin Pei, who hadn't been asleep, opened his eyes at the commotion. He pressed down on the flailing arm and said in a low voice, "What's all this moving about?"

"General, isn't this position a bit... awkward?"

Yi Ye found himself sitting on Lin Pei's lap. He tried to shift his position but was pushed back by Lin Pei's hand on his shoulder.

"Your wound hasn't healed yet. Don't move."

"...I could just lie down anywhere to recover," Yi Ye said, realizing he was still draped in Lin Pei's military jacket, which made his feelings even more complicated.

Lin Pei stayed still, showing no sign of releasing him.

"You're finally awake."

The weary sentry, Andrew, hurried back, carrying his gun and sitting cross-legged in front of him. He quickly checked Yi Ye's condition, then wiped his face, leaving two lines of hot tears: "Bro, you scared the life out of me! If you'd died saving me, I wouldn't be able to repay your ancestors for this life!"

Yi Ye: ...Thanks, but no need to swear.

"Luckily, those Zerg weren't very powerful, and my injuries aren't too severe."

Andrew nodded vigorously: "Yeah, yeah! They were much weaker than the Zerg I've encountered before, so I didn't react right away."

The two agreed.

Lin Pei, sitting nearby, had a glint in his eyes but remained silent.

Yi Ye looked around. The area was surrounded by jagged rock walls, with no light. The only source of illumination was the campfire in front of Lin Pei and himself. They must be at the bottom of that fissure, but he wondered if a mere crack could stop the Zerg from continuing their attack.

"This place once experienced a geomagnetic storm, which disrupts the Zerg's biological signals, so they won't easily follow us down," Lin Pei's voice accompanied the crackling of the fire.

"We're fortunate in our misfortune. If it weren't for this place, our bones would probably have been picked clean by now."

Andrew didn't doubt Lin Pei's words at all. They were accustomed to following military orders; the General's commands took precedence over everything, sometimes even over the monarch's. But Yi Ye wasn't like that. From the start, he sensed that Lin Pei, and even this beacon repair mission, were off.

"General, can you explain why the final beacon tower wasn't damaged?"

Yi Ye suddenly looked up at him. Without a smile, the youth's gaze was icy.

Lin Pei: "You suspect me."

"After all, this is indeed very strange, isn't it?"

Andrew was completely lost, dumbfounded: "What do you mean?"

"Ask General Lin Pei," Yi Ye said, taking off his uniform and standing up forcefully from Lin Pei's embrace. He looked down at Lin Pei, confronting him. "Lieutenant Joseph said that the Zerg activity in the Dream Domain is currently weak, especially in District 21. But as soon as we arrived here, so many Zerg appeared. Who would believe it's a coincidence? If it weren't for you, General, planning this in advance and knowing that Zerg would appear here, I can't think of any other reason."

"Moreover," Yi Ye pointed at the device on Lin Pei's wrist, "during the grouping, you were clearly waiting for someone else's instructions."

Andrew gradually woke up from Yi Ye's words, his mouth agape, and stood up abruptly.

General Lin Pei deliberately harmed them?! How could that be?!

"Your jaw's about to hit the floor," Yi Ye glanced at him and reached out to close his mouth.

Andrew clutched his chin, sobbing, "General! Tell me this is all fake, I can't believe it, I can't believe it!!"

Yi Ye: "...That's a weird thing to say."

General Lin Pei let out a deep sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, "Yi Ye only got it half right."

"The Vanguard Legion values the life of every soldier. I would never play fast and loose with their lives," Lin Pei said, his gloved hands folded with a steady tension, "Those Zerg were fake."

"Huh? Even Yi Ye was caught off guard."

"Mechanical Zerg created by the Empire, with only a third of the combat power, non-toxic bodily fluids, and even their attack organs have been dulled and modified."

Lin Pei concluded, "They're standard training tools for military personnel."

Yi Ye immediately looked at Andrew.

Andrew, still teary-eyed, looked confused, "...Oh, yeah, now that you mention it, the fighting did feel quite familiar..."

Yi Ye: "What the hell!"

But why the hell would they stage an attack with mechanical Zerg?!

At that moment, his terminal suddenly rang, and the caller was none other than Principal Howard, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

The man appeared in the projection, his curly black hair and thick eyebrows prominent. He glanced at the environment behind Yi Ye, his deep brows furrowing, "Looks like you're in a tight spot. I thought with Lin Pei around, things wouldn't have come to this. You don't look too well either, are you injured?"

Yi Ye seemed to have guessed the cause.

"Principal, let's cut to the chase."

"Oh, sorry," he set aside his concern and said seriously, "Actually, this was a wager between General Lin Pei and me."

"Not long ago, he suggested to me that the teaching methods of the Imperial Honor Military Academy needed innovation, or else we'd just be churning out a bunch of freeloaders. Naturally, as the academy's principal, I couldn't agree, so I proposed an initiative to him. We'd use Area 21 of the Dream Domain as our testing ground, and the test would be exactly what you saw. If you and Kaiser, as cadets of the Imperial Honor Military Academy, ran or backed down, then I would lose the bet, and the academy would adopt a new teaching model, all specified by Lin Pei."

"But if I won the bet, Lin Pei would have to agree to my conditions."

"As for those Zerg..." he waved his hand helplessly, "The Empire's big on researching Zerg-like gadgets. If you like, I can send a couple over to you."

Yi Ye: "No way! That makes me sick."

But if that's true, he got hurt for no reason?!

What a rip-off!

As if sensing his resentment, Principal Howard smiled, "For the injuries you got during the test, we'll also offer generous compensation. Is 500,000 star credits enough? If not, name your price."

500,000!

For the first time, Yi Ye realized he was worth 500,000. Suddenly, his back stopped aching, his legs stopped hurting, and he felt full of energy.

"Of course, I know money alone isn't enough. I'm sure General Lin Pei will also offer some compensation, right?" Principal Howard's gaze shifted to the side.

Caught off guard, Lin Pei remained expressionless and asked Yi Ye what he wanted. Yi Ye thought about what he could get out of Lin Pei, but after much thought, his terminal was sufficient, he had money, and as for military rank... he didn't care much for it, and getting it would mean having to do real work.

After much deliberation, he suddenly remembered something.

"How about this, General, write me a recommendation to join the Honor Committee as a full member."

The moment the words left his mouth, Principal Howard in the projection smiled as expected.

"Are you aiming for a spot on the Honor Committee?" General Lin Pei frowned, seemingly puzzled by his request. "But if that's what you want, I can write you a recommendation letter... Do you need to consider other forms of compensation?"

Yi Ye shook his head.

Behind him, Ande looked pained, as if witnessing a treasure being wasted.

What a fool! Trading a promise from General Lin Pei for something so trivial! What a shame, such a waste! You know, only a handful in the entire empire are worthy of such a promise, and he's trading it for a letter! Even if he'd asked for a top-tier mech, the General could have arranged it, but now he just wants a letter?!

Ande's eyes reddened, biting his sleeve in silent frustration.

Yi Ye, oblivious to Ande's distress, was instead quite pleased with himself. Great, once back, he won't have to be stuck as a janitor anymore!

Once he got what he wanted, the call ended, and the rescue ship had already arrived, with several ropes descending through the crack. With one arm awkwardly raised, Yi Ye fumbled to tie the rope around his waist with one hand. Suddenly, a hand reached out and took the rope from his grasp, and Lin Pei bent down to secure the safety buckle for him.

He worked in silence, securing everything before giving the rope a firm tug.

Yi Ye: "Thank you..."

Lin Pei: "My apologies about the test."

Yi Ye scratched his head. Truthfully, Lin Pei had no need to apologize to him. But he stood motionless, stubbornly awaiting a reply.

He reluctantly said, "General, I don't blame you. Tests are routine for soldiers... It's no big deal."

"Hmm," he murmured, then turned to handle his own rope.

The safety ropes slowly pulled them up, and Lin Pei and the others returned to the ground.

Kaiser and the others had already gathered inside the ship. Kaiser was mostly unharmed, though his clothes were splattered with Zerg fluids. It looked like he'd held his own.

"What happened to your hand?" Kaiser rushed over, looking at Yi Ye's wound.

"It's nothing, just a minor injury."

"Even a minor injury is still an injury!" He turned to Lin Pei. "As the lead commander, couldn't you protect him? Yi Ye's arm was fine when he left with you, and now look at him! Using people as pawns in a bet, couldn't you foresee someone getting hurt?"

The ship's cabin reverberated with the young man's furious outburst. Everyone looked at each other, some angrily stepping forward to defend the General: "What's your attitude! We've all endured tests and training—who hasn't been hurt! If you're mad, be mad, but don't insult the General!"

"Alright, alright, stop arguing. Calm down."

"Hold them back! Don't let them fight!"

"Ahhhh! Who the hell punched me!"

The scene inside the ship was chaotic.

Yi Ye's ears hurt from the noise. He tried calling Kaiser's name to calm him down, but the man was in the heat of the fight, throwing left and right hooks without stopping. After hesitating for two seconds, Yi Ye decided,

—Forget it, I'll just sit for a while.

He walked to the back row and sat down, with Lin Pei following behind.

While chaos reigned in the front, it was eerily quiet here. He looked up at the man whose face was shadowed by the backlight and asked if there was anything else.

Lin Pei: "The Zerg's mechanical fluids have a low concentration of anesthetic and hallucinogenic agents. Take the medicine once a day, and stop after four days."

Yi Ye: "Okay... Anything else?"

"Nothing else."

After Ling Pei finished speaking, he turned and left without a moment's pause.

Yi Ye: What the...?

It was already more than ten minutes later when Kaiser and several soldiers finished their scuffle. Each of them sported bruises on their faces, their hair sticking out like a bird's nest, and their eyes ringed with black and blue, looking particularly ridiculous. Kaiser wasn't faring any better, his collar ripped wide open, a split lip, blood still smeared on his mouth.

He plopped down angrily beside Yi Ye, his brows furrowed, and remained silent. After taking a few minutes to cool down, he finally looked at Yi Ye coldly: "Is your hand broken?"

Yi Ye: "..."

He decided it was better not to talk to Kaiser, who had just finished a fight, as it might just give him a heart attack.

Two hours later, they arrived smoothly at the Vanguard Legion.

At the end of the crowd, Yi Ye slowly descended the ramp, with Kaiser following closely behind. He glanced back, wondering: Why do these people like to follow me silently, like dogs?

But he couldn't be bothered to care, so he decided to go down first.

Lieutenant Joseph had been waiting in front of the field for a long time. As soon as he saw Ling Pei, he immediately approached and whispered a few words in his ear. Then, Yi Ye felt Ling Pei's gaze turning towards him.

Yi Ye: ...Is he up to something again?

Ling Pei strode towards him and said, "Yi Ye, Kaiser, someone wants to see you."

"Who?"

"His Highness, Prince Peide."