Chapter 60 Return (Return 2)

Soon, the remnant crystal officer of Yin Beidou and the second prince of the empire passed through the docking port of the two starships and saw the people waiting for them on the opposite side.

Those are all members of the Black Shark Base. They are uniformly wearing white scientific research uniforms, with translucent smart eyepieces hanging on their faces, standing in two rows on both sides of the passage. At first glance, there are forty or fifty people.

The nebula is still imprinting the flowing silhouette on the huge glass porthole, the colors interweaving and changing like the colorful clouds at sunset, but the background is the endless dark universe.

No one made a sound, and in the silence, these scientific research elites in white uniforms bowed and stroked their chests, paying supreme respect to the two figures who came.

"..." Jiang Jianming's eyes jumped, he looked at the neatly lowered heads on both sides, and always felt that the atmosphere was a bit exaggerated.

Garcia walked in front of him, suddenly turned his face and asked indifferently, "This is the first time you saw someone from the Black Shark Base?"

Jiang Jianming was keenly aware that His Royal Highness was in a bad mood. He thought about it and said, "It's the first time I've seen so many."

——Black Shark Base, the most mysterious remote interstellar scientific research base in the empire, its origins can be traced all the way back to the melee period of human bases that was earlier than the establishment of the old empire.

The core members of the base adopt a one-to-one recruitment system, and almost everyone is a genius child prodigy with an IQ far beyond ordinary people. If they raise their eyes, those eyes must be the most intelligent brilliance of the empire.

However, at this time, everyone was drooping their heads deeply. This kind of collective quality is actually less conspicuous than Yin Beidou, who is a special army in the far interstellar space.

And even more exaggerated...

A few seconds later, when the two of them finally finished walking, there was a black figure at the end of the white sea.

The current leader of the Black Shark Base, who is also the first base leader after the establishment of the new empire, is standing here quietly, staring at the two of them as they approach.

He or she is not tall, with a long black coat covering the whole body, and a black metal mechanical headgear mask on his face, from the back of his head, forehead to chin, all covered tightly.

As we all know, the leader of the Black Shark Base never shows his true face.

Jiang Jianming took the first step forward. He touched his chest with his hand, lowered his head and said, "First..."

Unexpectedly, his arm was suddenly pulled by Garcia, so that he wanted to bend over but couldn't.

"Your Highness?" Jiang Jianming couldn't help but turn his head, his eyebrows moved slightly.

I saw that the look on Garcia's face was more gloomy than before. He held Jiang Jianming with one hand, staring at the leader's emerald eyes as if a layer of hard ice had formed, "You don't need to salute this kind of person."

The leader on the opposite side didn't seem to care, the dark figure looked around, and an electronically synthesized voice came out from under the hood: "Go down, our guests don't like to be disturbed."

With an order, the members of the Black Shark Base stood up in unison as if some switch had been pressed, and disappeared at the end of the aisle like white waves at low tide.

They didn't say a word during the whole process, and it even made people wonder if they were some kind of simulated new robots.

Then, something even more startling happened.

The leader raised his hand and pressed it on both sides of the black mechanical mask.

The mask "clicks" through a gap.

The leader opened it and took it off his head.

"Perhaps trivial."

Thus, a gentle woman's voice replaced the inorganic electronic synthesizer.

"But I think it at least shows a little sincerity."

Under the mask, it turned out to be an old woman. Wrinkles were carved into her slightly loose skin, and her eyes were deep blue and distant, reminiscent of the sky and the ocean.

But her back was straight and her silver hair was tucked behind her head in a simple yet elegant hairstyle, which made the old woman look very noble, even a little holy.

In short, it is very different from the impression of "scientific geeks" or "iron-fisted leaders" in people's imaginations.

"You two are back."

This old woman, the mysterious leader of the Black Shark Base, put the hand holding the mask on her chest and bowed respectfully.

"I'm very happy... to see the two of you back here together, back to our glorious empire."

"leader."

Jiang Jianming returned to his senses and patted his heart in return.

He raised his eyes calmly: "Do you still... remember me?"

Unsurprisingly, he felt Garcia's suspicious gaze suddenly cast by him, like two threatening lightning bolts.

... The momentum is good, but unfortunately, the memory of His Royal Highness listening to the class and falling asleep last night has not been cleared from his mind.

Jiang Jianming turned his head, raised his eyebrows slightly, and gave the prince a mysterious smile.

"How can you forget it?"

Opposite, the leader nodded mildly just right.

"You're the most unforgettable remnant I've ever seen... oh, maybe I said Amorph would make you feel more comfortable?"

"..."

"You guys," Garcia's eyes lost the light, his face was expressionless, his voice was stiff, "I know."

Jiang Jianming: "There was a relationship once."

Garcia: "How many good friends do you know?"

Jiang Jianming blinked: "More than you think."

Yes, the leader of the Black Shark Base, who has various opinions and is extremely mysterious... He actually met him in the early years.

At the beginning, he and Ryan had a "private life" on Omega Outer Planet. Due to various practical factors, the Crown Prince's marriage proposal is completely private in a first-and-before mode.

But perhaps, the crown prince also felt that he was so reckless that he really felt sorry for his beloved, so he finally arrested a "witness".

A person who can completely escape from various power struggles, stay out of the political vortex, does not interfere in any imperial affairs on the surface, but has a sufficiently distinguished and special status.

A person whose identity was a mystery in the past, and who did not even hold a noble title, but whose qualifications can be counted back to the founding war period, and who even had a close personal relationship with the current emperor.

It is the mysterious leader of the Black Shark Base.

However, even so, Jiang Jianming's heart is still a little turbulent now.

He did not expect that after the death of His Highness, he would be able to see the leader again so easily.

Now that the old woman has come over, she frowned and looked in Garcia's direction like a grandmother who was about to start training her grandson: "Kaios, long time no see."

She gestured to Jiang Jianming with her eyes and increased her tone: "I hope you didn't bully this little lord."

"Go away." Garcia sneered, the smile did not reach the bottom of his eyes. Knife-like words pierced from between the thin teeth: "In what capacity do you speak to me like this."

The leader said: "My identity is not important. You heard what I said, this is what matters."

"..." Jiang Jianming was silent.

Reason told him that the leader of the Black Shark Base must not be a simple person.

Even this seemingly kind old woman is very likely to be the operator of all the truth behind it.

However, when his eyes went back and forth between the two, he still felt more like grandma and grandson.

Garcia: "What the hell are you doing here? Except for these high-level nonsense."

"A few days ago, the emperor already knew the good news of the return of the two."

The leader raised his hands, "I am here, even if it is to welcome the two of you for His Majesty... Come, it is too rude to let the guests stand here and talk, please come with me."

The three set foot on the built-in gangway of the starship like this, perhaps because of the leader's order, they did not see other members of the Black Shark Base along the way.

Leading them are small robots floating in the air, equipped with advanced intellectual brains, all models that have not been seen in the outside world.

Jiang Jianming observed secretly along the way: the starship of this Black Shark base is not that big, and it is less than twice as big as their small starship.

This is not even a medium-sized ship in a real cosmic interstellar battle, and its combat power is not even comparable to that of a prince. It seems that it is really just a welcome.

As the pace staggered, Garcia glanced at Jiang Jianming inexplicably, and said to the leader, "Is he yours?"

The silver-haired old woman shook her head and sighed deliberately: "How is that possible? Kaios, you are disrespectful to talk like this."

She bowed her eyebrows at Jiang Jianming: "I'm sorry, but this child has a bad temper. When we get along, isn't he not as good as His Royal Highness the Crown Prince?"

- Crack! !

In the blink of an eye, the thick red gold crystal on the wrist suddenly appeared out of thin air, directly piercing the metal floor in front of the leader, not even a centimeter away from her feet.

Garcia's eyes were sharp: "You, looking for, dying, do you?"

Seeing that the situation was not good, Jiang Jianming hurried forward to stop him, "Ah, no, it's actually okay, no matter which little His Royal Highness is very cute."

He added: "Boss, can I take your time for a while? I have something I've always wanted to ask you alone."

Garcia was finally furious: "Are you here again? Lieutenant Jiang, Xie Yuduo alone is not enough for you to whisper?"

The leader smiled deeply: "Okay, no problem."

"The premise is that you can let our angry prince live in the room of this starship."

...

After a while, the leader led Jiang Jianming to the bridge of the starship.

Unexpectedly, Garcia, who showed great hostility to the leader and the Black Shark base, did not really stop the two of them from being alone.

He just threatened Jiang Jianming viciously on the surface, ordered him to return to his side within half an hour, and then turned his head and left without waiting for Jiang Jianming to say anything.

The latter watched the prince's back become smaller, and actually felt a bit of loneliness with strong support.

Although don't know if it's an illusion, this made Jiang Jianming decide to end the conversation with the leader sooner... Tonight, he wants to continue telling stories to the little prince.

"Actually, I know what you want to ask."

When the two stood still in the empty command room, the leader turned around slowly, her silver hair shimmering in the stars under the starry sky.

"About the death of His Royal Highness Lean, about the resurrection of His Highness Garcia, about these three years, and the stories of more time behind these three years, right?"

"But I'm sorry, you're a step behind... I've promised Kaios to keep him secret from you."

Jiang Jianming couldn't help shaking his head and laughing, he was only the leader and shied away in a joking tone: "You only saw him today."

The leader also returned a faint smile.

She didn't speak, just looked at him.

In an instant, a tingling sensation spread across Jiang Jianming's back, and a certain ridiculous conjecture ran through his mind like an arrow.

His pupils shook, and he whispered in disbelief, "Lian?"

The voice echoed in the command room, and the data of countless light screens and intellectual brains were still flashing regularly, driving the navigation of the starship.

Apart from that, there is no other testimony.

The leader sighed, and the elderly woman lowered her eyelids: "You are still so wise."

Jiang Jianming's fingers clenched his cuffs quietly, he heard his heart beating faster, but his face remained calm: "Why?"

"Some things need to be done step by step. This universe is cruel. If you come into contact with certain things too early, people will only realize their own smallness and powerlessness, and they will go to self-destruction in despair."

The leader turned her face to the side, and she stared at the flowing stars outside the porthole: "He can't bear your pain."

It's Ryan.

Jiang Jianming was a little dizzy by the meaning behind these words.

Ryan had seen the leader before he died... and asked the leader to keep him a secret today... Doesn't this mean that the little highness already knew that he would lose his memory...

Leader: "Since you came from the first fortress of Yin Beidou, you must have seen the crown of Jin Xiao. There should be some last words in there."

"That's right, I've read it. Is that message really left by His Highness Ryan?"

"Yes and no."

"Is everything under his control now?"

"Yes and no."

"What's the situation with Your Highness Garcia?"

"I can't tell."

"..." Jiang Jianming's eyes turned cold.

The leader turned around at this moment, staring at the black-haired youth in front of him with those blue eyes, and slowly added her explanation:

"You are too smart. Once I say it, you will easily guess that 'no contact', and I promised Kaios."

"what should I do?"

"Follow your heart's guidance."

Jiang Jianming's breathing was a little chaotic, and he closed his eyes.

He silently clenched his fist, then released it.

The palms were already sweaty.

"Is the Black Shark base doing taboo experiments?"

"No comment."

"Who else knows the truth?"

"No comment."

"What else can you tell me?"

"He loves you."

The words fell like a heavy hammer, smashing the spirit with a bang.

For a few seconds, Jiang Jianming's mind went blank. His lips were trembling, his throat was dry, and he couldn't say the next sentence immediately.

So the leader continued: "He is very painful and very guilty...about everything he owed you. Those things tortured his heart like Ling Chi's torture. I have seen him cry."

A few seconds of silence.

The will that was just tense to the extreme, like a battle state, was relaxed, and the fast-moving thinking could not be turned.

Between the high-speed interlaced rational arguing, the word "love" has such a devastating power.

"I don't understand," Jiang Jianming said in a daze, "he didn't... didn't owe me anything."

"You don't understand, it doesn't mean he doesn't think so. I have witnessed his parting, and he loved you so much until the last moment of consciousness."

"So, this is a little plea from my selfishness."

The leader folded his hands, and there was a trace of sadness in his eyes. Standing under the starry sky, she was praying like an elderly saint, "Please forgive him for the harm he did to you, just as a merciful God forgives his sinners."

"Both in the past and in the future."

The past, the future... This is a word that sounds too much.

But Jiang Jianming immediately understood its true meaning. The "future" in the leader's mouth refers to Garcia...

"...So, that's all there is to it."

The black-haired young man suddenly spoke, and he had regained his composure before did not know when.

It's just that there is a hint of sadness in the dark eyes, like the sadness in the leader's eyes.

"Apart from empty and unclear language and some sensational useless words, are you not willing to provide more information?"

The leader was silent for a long time and shook his head.

Jiang Jianming bowed and turned to leave. When he stepped on the first steps, the leader's soft voice came from behind.

"I'd like to tell you a few more words if you promise not to inquire about its deep meaning."

Jiang Jianming stopped.

The leader's voice flowed gently into his heart like a stream of water.

"The dead are not really dead, nor are they irretrievably lost."

"He's still waiting for you."

"It's been a long, long wait."