Chapter 227: Marching (2)

At the end of the 64th year of the new emperor calendar.

Far interstellar, near crystal nest universe.

The nearly three-hour battle was over. The wreckage of alien creatures floats in space, and the transparent white crystal blocks are like islands scattered in the deep sea.

Yin Beidou's fleet shuttled out of the battlefield, and the mecha soldiers lined up to return to the ship.

This was the first White Bird expedition sent by the Empress since the Empire entered a state of war. With Yin Beidou First Army as the main force, Jin Ilun, who has experience in supporting the frontiers of the distant stars, also accounted for 30%.

Major General Yin Beidou Xie Yuduo was the main general, Crown Prince Ryan Kaios went with the army, and the young son Yuan Nagasawa of Glorious Star City was also accompanied in secret.

Inside the flagship Tianshu.

Tang Zhen had just vomited once, he took off the special battle armor of the expeditionary army, and jumped down with the body of the mecha staggeringly, his face was pale, "Damn...headache, the crystal particles of the dog day."

Xie Yuduo passed him by, and patted the young officer on the back: "Okay, Xiao Tang, it's better than last time."

Tang Zhen was taken aback: "... vomit!!"

He vomited again.

The closer you are to the core area of ​​Crystal Nest, the more difficult it is to maintain mental and physical stability—Xie Yuduo also encountered this problem during his private expedition.

I didn't know the reason at first, but now it's clear that it was an attack by crystal particles on humans.

The expeditionary force has been going for a month, and the newly developed crystal-blocking combat armor at the Black Shark Base is almost ineffective. Soldiers of the Empire had to learn a new way of fighting while moving forward in such a high-load environment: using mental power to counteract the consciousness of crystal particles.

"Major General Xie, the mecha team has confirmed that they have returned to the ship." The original Nagasawa ran in three steps and two steps, and stood at attention to hand over the towel, "Please instruct!"

Xie Yuduo took it over, wiped his sweat hastily, "Where's Your Highness?"

Yuan Nagasawa: "I haven't come back yet... I'll contact you."

The once gentle young master also put on Yin Beidou's military uniform, with the pistol Jiang Jianming gave him at the waist.

At first, no one expected him to do anything, and he was only given some clerical work. It was only when arrived at the Smectic Nest Yuyu that the original Nagasawa, who was an amorphous race, was much less affected by the crystal particles than the new human soldiers.

This discovery was encouraging. Xie Yuduo immediately reported to the old Marshal Chen of the military department, hoping to select more amorphous races for further comparison tests.

At the rear, a dark golden streamer passed through the broken corpses of alien creatures, chasing the starship brigade with superb driving operations, and it was the crown of Jin Xiao who was responsible for the break.

Xie Yuduo: "Come on!"

The blood-soaked mecha gradually slowed down after approaching the Tianshu, the back wings folded, and slid into the interior of the starship.

With a "click", the military boots stepped on the floor.

Ryan Kaios stepped off the mecha. The iron-wing-like crystal bones were attached to the back in a half-retracted state, and the red gold was slowly extinguishing from the bottom of his eyes.

His expression was indifferent, he only wore an ordinary Yin Beidou military uniform, and his long curly hair was tied back in a circle.

"Your Highness!"

Xie Yuduo hurried to meet him, grabbed the crown prince and looked up and down, he was relieved after seeing that he had no lack of arms and legs, and returned to the state of frowning and chattering:

"My Highness, after a normal person is cut off, it is to cover the large army and retreat while fighting. You're better... If you cut it, you won't come back!?"

"There is an S-class alien creature attached to the back, it is not safe, and it is just cleaned up."

Ryan walked in lightly, "Don't worry, I said... I won't do anything risky until he comes back."

"..."

Xie Yuduo had a complicated expression, silently watching the cold back of the crown prince disappear at the other end of the aisle.

More than half a year has passed since the thrilling battle to retake the first fortress. This also means that nearly two hundred days have passed since they lost Jiang Jianming.

Time can dilute sadness, but it cannot erase the missing piece in my heart.

A few days ago, some soldiers said while chatting that since Amorphous Humans are less affected by crystal particles, it may be the hope of breaking through to the parent nucleus of Crystal Nests if the leader of the Amorphous Humans is in command.

"Hi, that's easy to say."

A Yin Beidou man with a harmless cigarette in his mouth and his crystal-blocking visor in his arms said, "We used to think that disabled people were useless, and military academies didn't admit disabled children, now where can we find someone who can lead the army? The disabled people come over?"

Suddenly, the surrounding area fell silent.

Anyone can think of that person.

No one could bear to say that name.

The gushing blood coagulated and was washed by the water of the years, leaving a deep scar.

It's not very good in normal times. Only when you accidentally bump it at a certain moment will you suddenly burst into unstoppable tears.

At night, half past eleven.

There is no sun rise and moon set in the universe, but the army still strictly follows the 24-hour timekeeping.

Ryan came out of the shower, sat down at the desk with his long hair loose, and turned on his wrist phone.

He slowly called up a small video and projected the picture in front of him.

In the video, Jiang Jianming is lying in a sterile special treatment cabin, his face is like snow, and his eyes are closed peacefully.

It's still the same... There's no ups and downs in heart, can't hear breathing, and there won't be the slightest movement.

Ryan stared intently, he carefully stretched out his hands, and wrapped the square picture in his palm.

It was as if Jiang Jianming had turned into a thumb child in a fairy tale and could sleep in his palm.

"Wang."

Seth gave a small cry from the side.

Ryan tapped the wrist phone, his voice hoarse: "Quiet."

This is the daily life of the prince. During the day, he and Xie Yuduo analyzed the battle situation together, and as appropriate, ended up as a humanoid bomber to open the way for the fleet.

In the evening, the fleet's progress would slow down, so he went to handle official business, check the situation of the empire and so on.

Before going to bed, he set aside thirty minutes for himself to stare at Jiang Jianming silently for a while.

This has become a habit.

The video was sent from the Black Shark base. The distance is too far, and real-time communication is difficult. It can only be recorded and sent once a month.

According to Sylph, there are re-recordings every month, but no one can tell whether Jiang Jianming is re-recording or not.

Ryan didn't care either. Every day after losing a lover feels like draining him. Sometimes in the dead of night, when he lay in bed, under the thick quilt, death would roar through the darkness.

Close your eyes is the depths of the snow-falling mecha, the top of the fortress in the sky. Jiang Jianming melted into the distance like a bubble, or turned into a piece of white cloth in his arms.

The irresistible pain will pierce him at this time, and the most powerful new human in the empire will suddenly open his eyes, like a young child awakened in a nightmare, and roll out of bed in embarrassment.

He was like a lost lamb, wandering around the bedroom, trying to find some medicine to relieve the pain. In the end, Jiang Jianming's relics and old clothes must be pulled out from the sealed bag. He hugged his arms tightly, buried his face in it and rubbed it, and lowered his eyebrows and breathed deeply.

But sometimes this doesn't work. He can only open the videos sent by the base and watch it over and over under the quilt.

A small piece of light screen flashing in the dark gradually blurs the vision, which will achieve a calming effect.

... Your Highness, you are exaggerating too much.

In a trance, Jiang Jianming's phantom seemed to helplessly pat his hunched back lightly: "I wasn't like you when His Highness left back then."

"...I'm sorry for what happened back then."

Well, forgive you. Just watch me and sleep in a while, okay?

Ryan's eyes were hazy and he said softly, "Jiang, I miss you very much."

Alright, alright, I know... I miss His Highness too.

"When will you come back?"

I don't know, after all, I'm just a phantom you imagined.

Jiang Jianming's brows and eyes were gentle, and he leaned over and kissed him: "Go to sleep, I'm tired today, and I have something to do tomorrow."

Ryan closed his eyes, and he would sleep half asleep imagining his lover's voice.

In short, this is his last resort to keep his emotions out of control. Thirty minutes a night can support him to live the next day normally.

Sometimes he would also send messages to Sylph asking about Jiang Jianming's situation. But the situation never changed, and he turned to ask something else.

For example, "What if he thinks of the past and loses his desire to survive?" or "Which one is best for him, the original body and the two base bodies, and which one does he like the most?" and so on.

Sylph didn't reply much. Ryan guessed that the leader was too much trouble, and his mind automatically filtered it into spam text messages.

Lin Ge would occasionally send him something, such as photos of the gathering where the people of Yaslan Star City spontaneously collectively "paid tribute" to Jiang Jianming, or a sensational essay on Zhiwang.

Ryan knew that Lin Ge wanted to appease him and reassure him. Now that the empire has entered a wartime state, the citizens are all eager to live, and coupled with mental anxiety, social problems will inevitably arise over time.

But the emperor never let the soldiers stationed in the distant stars know about this, nor told him.

"Di Di-"

Suddenly, the square and upright little projection flickered, and the pop-up window blocked Jiang Jianming's figure. There is a call.

...It was only the seventeenth minute, and his important time was interrupted.

Ryan gritted his teeth irritably and picked up the call, hoping that it wouldn't affect his fighting state tomorrow.

"Say."

"His Royal Highness! I'm sorry for disturbing your important time," Xie Yuduo's tense face appeared on the opposite side of the pop-up window. "Second fortress urgent report, Lava Bandit..."

Ryan stood up abruptly, his eyes were sharp: "The lava came out?"

After the battle of Alpha Alien, the Crystal Cult was severely damaged by the Imperial Army, and the Lava Yubhi Group also abandoned the positions around Beta Alien and retreated to the Far Star Universe.

Months have passed since then, and the fortress has not received any new information about Yuzhe.

"Yes and no."

Xie Yuduo just said a word and then shook his head and changed his words, "We got the news of the thief, but not near the fortress, but in a remote space."

"The lava was overshadowed by the crystal, and a large number of thieves died violently. Both the old black sheep and the red dragon were seriously injured, and the Yin Beidou monitored the fleeing L-Hephaestus."

"—!"

The crown prince's pupils shrank slightly, and his face suddenly tense.

"Your Majesty and Commander-in-Chief Chen have just found out about this. Let's not be distracted and proceed with the expedition as originally planned. The Empire will send troops to deal with it, but we must also be careful."

Ryan's eyes darkened, "...I know."

"With so many new crystal chaos dead, the power of the crystal nest may be strengthened."