Chapter 52 Homecoming

Chapter 52: Home

The body of the eldest prince slid down like a limp rag.

A look of terror was frozen on his face, his dark pupils dilated as he frantically stared in the direction of the gunshot.

Fresh blood gushed from his forehead, quickly congealing and turning black, forming a gaping wound.

The entire hall was in chaos, everyone hurriedly taking cover, not even bothering to steady his body. Disordered footsteps trampled the priceless fabric underfoot.

—Even someone as noble as him ended up like this in death.

Inside the aircraft, the glass partition slowly rose. Lanen gazed at his fallen body, his expression ice-cold. His fingers slowly uncurled, and the silver gun clattered to the ground. Then, he slumped to his knees beside the sofa.

He lacked the strength.

The bodyguards in the "Factory" were not idiots. In the brief five-minute skirmish, they had fired hundreds of shots into the aircraft. To secure the sniper angle, Lanen had lost count of the grazes on his body, including a penetrating wound on his right shoulder. Blood oozed in thin rivulets, staining his pure white uniform a dark red.

He lacked the strength to even crawl back to the cockpit.

As the adrenaline faded, pain surged through him like a tidal wave. Cold sweat soaked through his skin, plastering his shirt to his back. The massive blood loss left him dizzy, his vision too blurred to even make out the cockpit.

—It’s over.

Lanen thought.

He turned away, his gaze shifting from the eldest prince’s lifeless face to the floor-to-ceiling window. There, countless battered starships drifted past, their metal warped, the Third Army’s emblem peeling away. Yet, Lanen’s expression softened, a nostalgic look crossing his face.

His old friends rested there, and soon, he might join them.

Two shells were closing in, and Lanen couldn’t even muster the strength to crawl into the cockpit for a basic maneuver.

The pain was overwhelming now.

But...

Lanen clutched the small silver ring on his left index finger.

The Third Army’s commander never wore jewelry in battle; such distractions only hindered his focus. But this ring was different. Even in the most crucial battle of Lanen’s life, it remained on his finger.

The ring bore the letters 'WASD.' Lanen never deciphered their meaning, but he remembered who gave it to him.

Now, blood soaked the glove and ring. Lanen traced the engravings, his eyes fluttering shut.

Having come this far, he had no regrets, only a bit of sorrow.

Sorrow that he ultimately couldn’t fulfill the promise to return, sorrow that they met too late, spent too little time together, never fully possessing those tender moments.

If he had known, he should have asked Lin You for a few more kisses.

By now, the Collett family was dwindling, and Lanen had no relatives worth remembering. Devin and others had their own careers and didn’t need his concern. The only one he still cared about was Lin You.

Lanen stared at the ceiling, thinking: Would Lin You be sad?

Would he be angry, heartbroken, or even resentful because of his broken promise?

In the Third Prince's residence, Lin You punched the power button of the training system.

By now, connecting with the original text of the novel, he fully understood.

Why is Lanen, so proud in the novel, allowing the Third Prince to trample his dignity and still groveling to please him? Why is he addicted to pheromones, his future bleak, locked in a basement without seeing the light of day, yet enduring these days? Why does he directly hand over his family to the Third Prince for protection... All this waiting is merely for the right moment.

In the novel, the Third Prince thinks Lanen is a plaything, but in reality, he is the pawn chosen by Lanen. Lanen's soul transcends the vast pain of his body, coldly observing all the suffering inflicted by the Third Prince, indifferent, because he has already chosen this desolate galaxy as his grave, firing this shot on this day.

Years ago, during the 23rd District battle, the Third Army of the 23rd District destroyed the black market, but no one knew the black market was actually the industry of the First Prince. The First Prince amassed wealth through inferior pheromones, winning over the powerful, and solidifying his position as the crown prince. In this battle, the Third Army suffered heavy losses, and Lanen was also resented, leading to accusations of harming his fiancée.

The First Prince has been firmly seated as the crown prince for many years, with overwhelming power, even Lin You's father, Admiral Hoyle, could hardly match his influence, let alone Lanen. This risky assassination is his sole chance to reclaim justice for his old friends.

Lin You closes his eyes.

He secures the training pod's hatch.

66's calm voice comes through: "Connected to the spacecraft control system, please prepare, host."

Instantly, his vision shifts, the training pod's display changes, and when Lin You opens his eyes again, he finds himself in the spacecraft's cockpit.

On the screen to his right, two rapidly approaching red dots represent missiles.

On the main control screen, countless small blue dots rise and fall, swiftly passing by, the high-speed flying rock debris in the star ring.

Lin You takes a deep breath.

He's never faced a flight simulation this challenging.

66: "Initiating real-time calculation services."

The CPU operates at its peak, capturing and calculating the trajectory of each rock, marking them on the screen, soon filling it with dense blue lines.

Lin You has always learned quickly and does not falter in the moment. He deftly handles all the controls before him, his hands sweating on the control stick, yet his operations remain precise and meticulous, like the most seasoned general in the military.

The two missiles collide and explode behind the spacecraft's rear, the overwhelming cosmic rays almost causing the shielding equipment to fail.

Lin You steadies the trembling spacecraft, his gaze fixed ahead.

Ten kilometers, five kilometers, one kilometer...

The golden ring belt passes by the spacecraft's window, turning into a dazzling background behind.

He breaks through the star ring.

To onlookers, the spacecraft seemed to start autonomously, performing various high-difficulty maneuvers in space, and finally leaving the danger zone.

The 'Factory' makes a futile attempt to pursue, but it is not a spacecraft designed for war, slow in speed, and in just a few blinks, the spacecraft disappears.

66: "There is the First Prince's blockade line at the border of the 23rd District; we need to detour."

It marks all the checkpoints.

With the greatest danger behind him, Lin You sighs in relief.

He slumps slightly in the cockpit: "66, plan the route."

The journey from the 23rd District to the main star is long, even the fastest spacecraft takes a day and a night, 66 quickly provides a navigation plan: "Take this route, it's more remote, less likely to be detected, we will land at the First Army's docking port at the main star's border."

Lin You nods: "Admiral Hoyle will provide cover for us."

Lin You has not yet ascended the throne, cannot fully control the situation, the First Prince's father is also an admiral, and he will surely investigate his child's death, Lin You does not want Lanen to bear the charge of assassinating a prince.

66: "Okay, estimated flight time 36 hours."

The route was clear, with no heavy cosmic rays or turbulent currents. Lin You maxed out the speed, and through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room, countless planets whizzed past.

During the journey, Lanen came to briefly.

Lin You couldn’t touch him, so he left the major general lying on the living room carpet. He set the temperature and humidity just right and had a small cleaning robot fetch a blanket to cover Lanen.

Lanen was in bad shape, but thanks to the incredible resilience of military females, he was temporarily out of life-threatening danger.

In the soft blanket, Lanen was momentarily dazed.

His mind was hazy, his vision blurry, and he couldn't even tell if this was a deathbed hallucination.

At that moment, they were passing through a two-armed spiral galaxy. From a distance, the stunning blue-purple spirals resembled ripples in the cosmos.

—This was definitely not District 23.

But he couldn’t think carefully; blood loss left him cold, and almost the next second, he blacked out again.

Lanen slipped in and out of consciousness, dreaming one dream after another. Sometimes he dreamed of war, with the faces of deceased comrades passing before him, scarred by blood and fire; sometimes he dreamed of his childhood, with his mother standing before him, ruler in hand, saying that the females of the Klaite family must excel in everything, their posture must be impeccable; sometimes he dreamed of Lin You, of Lin You touching his skin, causing an unbearable itch, the Third Prince furrowing his brow, complaining, "Lanen, you need to rest, you still have a fever."

He vaguely woke up.

He lay on a soft quilt, the bed large, wrapping him completely. The air was filled with the crisp scent of citrus, fresh and clean.

Lanen moved his eyelids.

He was lying in a bedroom, bright and neatly decorated, with white gauze curtains on the windows, sunlight streaming gently in. In the corner stood a fiddle-leaf fig tree as tall as a person, its leaves spread out, full of vitality.

"..."

Was he alive, or was this a deathbed hallucination?

Someone touched his face, wiping away a bit of cold sweat with a towel: "Are you awake?"

Lanen paused, turning his head to see Lin You sitting by his bedside, looking worried.

Why was he here?

"Third Prince..." Lanen tried to sit up, but pain suddenly spread through his body, not sharp, even somewhat dull, but due to its vast area, it was still unbearable.

His shoulder blades and back were wounded, the bleeding had stopped, but the wounds reopened with movement, seeping through the bandages.

Lin You stopped his movement, pressing him back into the quilt: "Don’t move, you’re very weak."

He called a servant, who brought milk and porridge: "You couldn’t eat for the past two days, so we gave you an IV, but it’s more comfortable to have something in your stomach. I had the servant make some porridge, would you like to have some?"

There was warmth in his fingertips, it wasn’t a hallucination.

Lanen found it hard to describe his feelings at that moment, filled with suspicion yet deeply attached, almost greedily tracing the contours of the person before him, as if cherishing a fragile dream.

Lin You softened his voice: "Would you like to eat?"

"..."

Lanen hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly.

He tried to lift his arm, attempting to take the spoon from the bowl.

"Ouch—"

Lin You moved the bowl away and tapped his forehead not too lightly nor too heavily, saying with a hint of anger, "You still dare to lift your arm with that shoulder injury?"

He was talking about the penetrating wound on his shoulder.

The bullet from the rifled barrel had torn through the muscle. Fortunately, it was a long-range sniper shot, and the accuracy wasn't precise enough. The sofa had also slightly deflected the bullet, otherwise, the entire arm would have been lost.

Lanen pursed his dry lips and had no choice but to let Lin You feed him the porridge.

He was deeply uncomfortable.

As the eldest son of the Collet Family, he had received the strictest education since childhood. Lying in bed waiting for someone to take care of him was neither strong nor proper. In his memory, his father had never fed him like this.

But Lin You's actions were not to be refused. The porridge was directly brought to his lips, one feeding, the other eating. The room was silent except for the clinking of the spoon.

When his stomach was warmed by the food, Lanen raised his face, his complexion still pale: "Third Prince, what is this?"

He had clearly been on the brink of death at the border of Zone 23, so how had he suddenly ended up in the prince's residence?

Lin You paused: "He arrived quite quickly."

A sudden gust of wind swept through the courtyard, followed by the sound of a jet aircraft landing. Chaotic footsteps and noisy voices came from the entrance of the mansion.

66, sunbathing on the windowsill, lazily straightened up, glanced outside, and then lay back down: "Su Zhu, it's Admiral Lawrence."

Admiral Lawrence, the father of the eldest prince Lin Yu, was the earliest renowned admiral of the empire and a predecessor of Admiral Hoyle. He currently commanded the Third, Fourth, and Sixth Armies.

Lin You stopped his actions: "He arrived quite quickly."

Lanen had been unconscious for three whole days. During these three days, the news of the eldest prince's death had already reached the capital. Although Admiral Lawrence had suppressed it and kept it under wraps, the news was hard to contain and had already spread throughout the city. Various families were on edge, waiting for a power reshuffle.

For a moment, the capital was on the verge of a storm.

The Old Insect Emperor, who was already gravely ill, had to rise from his sickbed and issue an edict to establish an investigation team, demanding a thorough investigation into the eldest prince's assassination.

Lanen had been secretly brought back by Lin You. At the time, the scene was chaotic, and the two spacecraft were far apart. No one had seen Lanen's face clearly. His aircraft had been modified, removing the insignia of the Third Army. He and Devin had also secretly crossed the border, so no one knew he had appeared at the border. To others, Major General Lanen had always been confined in the Third Prince's residence and had never left.

But Admiral Lawrence was no ordinary man.

He clearly knew the enmity between the eldest prince and Lanen. Moreover, Devin had coincidentally appeared at the border during these days, and no one had visited the prince's residence in three days to see Lanen. Admiral Lawrence firmly believed that such a coincidence was impossible.

Furthermore, there were not many in the entire military who could shoot accurately from a distance of two starships, over ten kilometers, and kill with every shot. Lanen was one of them.

He swiftly obtained an investigation order from the Insect Emperor and wanted to search the Third Prince's residence.

The commotion at the entrance clearly unsettled Lanen. He straightened up, gripping Lin You's wrist with slight force, then lowered his eyes and smiled bitterly: "Your Highness, perhaps you should kill me."

If he had died in Zone 23, it would have been his own fault for secretly leaving the prince's residence and assassinating the eldest prince. Lin You would not have been implicated, at most, it would have been a case of lax discipline.

But if he was discovered in the prince's residence, it would mean that Lin You had actively instructed him to assassinate his brother, aiming for the throne. The brothers' strife would surely enrage the Old Insect Emperor, and who knows how much slander and harsh words would be directed at Lin You. Lanen dared not think further.

He could not bear to let Lin You be tainted by such a grave crime.

On the other hand, if the Third Prince were to be convicted, the Collet Family, which had already aligned with the Third Prince, would also be implicated. All of this was not what Lanen wanted to see. He would rather die on a desolate star.

Lanen still had gunshot wounds on his back from the eldest prince's guards, caused by bullets exclusive to the Second Army. Once Admiral Lawrence inspected them, it would be impossible to hide.

As the footsteps drew closer, the inspection team had already come from the garden. In the hall, Admiral Hoyle's voice echoed, seemingly arguing and stalling with Admiral Lawrence.

But Admiral Lawrence had the inspection order, and Admiral Hoyle couldn't delay for long. At least not long enough for Lanen's back wounds to heal.

Lanen gripped Lin You tightly, a faint smile unexpectedly appearing on his handsome face: "Your Highness, may I request a whipping?"

Lin You paused, instantly understanding Lanen's intention.

Since waiting for recovery wasn't an option, it was better to completely erase the evidence, using whip marks to fully cover the gunshot wounds. For a tyrannical prince, resorting to private punishment was as common as breakfast, and whip marks on his back would not raise any suspicions.

...But how painful that would be.

His back was already riddled with wounds, just beginning to heal after three days. Whipping him now, causing the wounds to fester completely, was unimaginably cruel.

Lin You clenched his teeth again.

Lanen was always like this, casually speaking of harming his body as if it were of no consequence, as if the pain meant nothing to him. Even when he suggested it to Lin You, he was still smiling.

...What was he smiling about? Was he smiling because he had found the perfect solution?

Lin You's heart ached terribly. He wanted to bite Lanen's shoulder hard to vent the overwhelming emotions in his chest, but Lanen's shoulders were covered in wounds, leaving no place for him to bite.

Lin You felt even more distressed.

He pressed his lips together and said nothing, only pushing the general back into the blanket, wrapping him tightly, and then pretending to be fierce: "This is none of your business. I have my ways. Just sleep well!"

A look of surprise crossed Lanen's face, but seeing Lin You's troubled expression, he lay back down in the blanket and smiled softly: "...Alright."