In the 63rd year of the New Imperial Calendar, the war-torn chaos has long since come to an end.The arrival of the new century is just like the rising sun, making the glory of peace and prosperity shine on the heads of every imperial person.

Humans occupy three major star systems in the Milky Way, ninety percent of which belong to the empire's territory, and the areas outside the three star systems are collectively called "far interstellar".

In this unprecedented era of great unification, except for the space pirates who occasionally harass the frontiers, there are very few human beings fighting each other, and development and exploration have become the theme of the new era.

The night fell like a veil, covering Aslan, the planet where the capital of the empire was located.

In the reception room on the first floor of the sixth courtyard, dim lights were still on.Two figures, one old and one young, sat facing each other on the sofa.

Old Marshal Chen Hanke took a sip from his teacup, and when he put it down, he showed a pair of crooked eyes: "You've graduated, what do you think?"

Jiang Jianming: "There is no ambitious idea, you will be disappointed after hearing it."

Old Marshal Chen shook his head: "I won't be too polite to you, son."

The old man's upper body leaned forward slightly, his hands and fingers crossed into a steeple shape, his eyes sharpened, "The Silver Beidou Expeditionary Army has already started conscripting this year, would you like it? As long as you nod, old man, I will directly send a special ship over tomorrow to escortYou go to the core of the command headquarters behind the far interstellar."

Chen Hanke's tone was understated, but the content was like thunder.

If outsiders were present during this conversation, they would definitely be so frightened that their eyeballs would pop out——

Silver Beidou Expeditionary Army, what does the name mean?

The Golden Rilun Imperial Guard Army and the Silver Beidou Interstellar Expeditionary Army symbolize the two most powerful armies of the empire, and also gather the strongest human elites from the three major galaxies.

Because the former guarded the country and the latter opened up the frontier, they were collectively called the silver spear and golden shield of the empire.

Now that the world is peaceful, Jinrilun has been keeping a low profile for many years. Only the elites of Yin Beidou are still fighting bloody battles in the distant interstellar, shouldering the heavy responsibility of mining resources and resisting alien creatures.

It can be said that as long as a person wears the military badge of the Silver Beidou, as long as he is in the human galaxy, no matter what his appearance, background, experience, or even his character, he will always be a hero in the hearts of the entire empire.

But Jiang Jianming's face was calm, instead of nodding, he shook his head quickly: "Sorry, please allow me to refuse."

He slowly picked up a biscuit from the glass plate on the table, tore open the package, put the biscuit in his mouth, and smiled, "The far interstellar...that is the battlefield where even His Royal Highness died.For remnant crystal humans, what is it to take the initiative to seek death?"

Old Marshal Chen frowned slightly, and immediately said: "Of course I want you to go to the rear. I guarantee by the reputation of the commander-in-chief of the empire. After you go to the far interstellar space, you only need to do some civilian work in the fortress for strategic analysis, and you don't need to go to the front line.", there will be no personal danger—unless the entire Yin Beidou army is wiped out, and Jin Rilun will not be left behind!"

"Come on, have a look," the old man took out something from the inside pocket of the military coat, put it gently on the table, and pushed it towards Jiang Jianming.

Chen Hanke looked solemn, "This is a special dispatch order from Yin Beidou."

"With your talent, as long as you stay in the fortress for two or three years, you will have plenty of opportunities to make achievements. When the time comes, the old man will give you a special promotion, and the group of new human beings who are not afraid of anything will have to obediently call youcommander"

What was pushed in front of him was a low-key black chip box.Jiang Jianming tried to put his finger on it, but the fingerprint lock was unlocked.

The lid of the box was slowly opened, and inside was a chip the size of a fingernail, and the silver Beidou's military emblem flashed impressively on the front.

Jiang Jianming stared at the incomparably noble chip that could drive an unknown number of people crazy, and adjusted his breathing.

Then he laughed silently and shook his head, "Marshal, do you know that today I dreamed about your Highness."

Old Marshal Chen's expression changed slightly.

The atmosphere in the reception room seemed to stagnate invisibly.

Opposite the old marshal, the young military cadet was eating slowly, with a gentle light in his eyes: "In the dream we were in the Aslan National Library...he wanted to get close to me, but I asked him to leave, I said that the dead should not disturb the slumber of the living, and then wake up peacefully."

click.Jiang Jianming bit the biscuit into pieces. He silently took a sip of tea and murmured in a low voice, "It's been three years. It's hard for me...to be able to face Lai An's phantom calmly. It's hard for me to come out of the pain."

"I don't want to face those old things anymore, and I don't want to ask for the love and reputation I don't deserve anymore... I'm just an ordinary human with a remnant crystal, at best I have a little talent in some aspects-but there are too many geniuses in this worldNow, the empire is not alone in my absence."

"Hey, what are you talking about?" Old Marshal Chen deliberately raised his eyebrows and stared, pretending to be angry, "You child, if His Highness is alive in the sky—"

Jiang Jianming raised his eyes suddenly, and said in a deep voice, "Do you want to say that he will feel bad?"

"Three years ago, His Highness died in a distant star... I was not the first to know the news."

The pale young man lowered his head, a few strands of hair fell on his forehead.His expression was still so indifferent and calm, but his tone was obviously slightly tense:

"That day, a group of imperial soldiers broke into my dormitory with their documents. There was no warning at that time. They expelled the students from the entire building, leaving me alone. Tang Zhen wanted to protect me, so he got hit on the back of the head.The butt of the gun was dragged out by several soldiers."

"I was politely but irrefutably invited aside, and watched as they searched through every drawer and cabinet of mine, fingerprint locks were unlocked by military electronic equipment; they looked through every paper book of mine, notes, diaries, and of course every file on the wrist phone and storage drive.”

"I asked them what the problem was, and asked His Highness Lai An if something happened, but no one answered me. They just searched... At the end of the search, the officers and soldiers looked at each other, and looked me up and down suspiciously."

"They couldn't believe it, because they didn't find anything—this is too suspicious. How could His Highness's little lover who was so dear to him during his lifetime, and even privately engaged for life, live so poorly?"

"When they checked my balance and found that the balance was only a few hundred pips, they became even more suspicious. So some people pretended to be chatting and asked me about my recent itinerary."

"Finally, an officer put on sensing gloves and felt all over my body - he suspected that I was hiding something close to my body."

At some point, in Jiang Jianming's faint voice, Marshal Chen's expression became complicated.

The old man's gray brows loosened. He looked at the military cadet in front of him guiltily, and said in a hoarse voice, "...good boy, the empire is sorry for you."

Jiang Jianming shook his head, he was quiet for a moment, and sighed softly: "Lai An was too kind to me before he was alive, and he acted unscrupulously. Some people in the upper class guessed that there would be something that shouldn't be here-such as the most cutting-edge crystal particles.Tranquilizer formulas, new crystal mechanical weapons, mechs, and even political and military secrets of the empire."

"Suddenly the little Highness is gone, and they are afraid that I will do something inappropriate under the blow of flying up to a branch and turning into a phoenix and then falling back to the ground... such as selling the secrets of the empire to space pirates, so that I will have nothing to worry about for the rest of my life."

Jiang Jianming raised his face, "I completely understand."

"but."

Unexpectedly, the military cadet's demeanor can be called gentle, and his eyes are so clear that it is unbearable, "If the widow of the little highness is a noble and famous new human lady or young master, he will not suffer such suspicion and treatment..”

Old Marshal Chen was silent.

Counting that he had known Jiang Jianming for almost five years, he had known that the child in front of him had wisdom and transparency that did not match his age, as well as... a persistence hidden under the laxity.

At this moment, the child was sincerely saying to him: "Old Marshal Chen, I am very grateful for your appreciation, but Jiang Jianming is just a mediocre person, please let me live an ordinary life."

"The life of ordinary people?" Old Marshal Chen looked at him deeply, and repeated it as if chewing.

Jiang Jianming nodded: "Yes, I generally have some plans. Find a civilian job first, and students from the Empire's First Military Academy should have no problem making a living... If possible, I would consider staying in a school in Star City, the imperial capital, to teach."

"..."

The old marshal pinched his fingers softly, and said in a harsh voice, "I have seen your graduation grades, and this is too inferior." The old man shook his head and exhaled, and murmured again, "...too inferior.”

Jiang Jianming just smiled, and continued on his own: "I have decided not to marry in this life, and to be a widow for Lai An for the rest of my life. Maybe I will raise a dog and adopt a child in the future... just like my adoptive father adopted back then.Me too. Better be a disabled human girl, be nice."

"If I can save enough money, I would like to move to the Glorious Dominion after retirement. Although the prices are a bit higher there, disabled people can live better. Are you right?"

There was a long silence.

Light clouds flowed outside the window, and the moonlight brightened and then darkened.No one spoke in the reception room, but it seemed like an invisible confrontation.

After an unknown amount of time, the old marshal sighed, "I understand."

Jiang Jianming said softly, "Thank you."

The military cadet stood up and gave a military salute, "It's getting late, I should go back."

After he finished speaking, he paused and lowered his eyes.As if he suddenly remembered something, he raised his eyes again, and said casually: "...By the way, the body of your highness has not been found yet."

"..."

Chen Hanke said: "I'm sorry, and I'm sorry."

Jiang Jianming shook his head: "You are the commander-in-chief of the empire, and you are also the teacher of His Royal Highness. You don't have to say sorry to me whether you are in public or private."

Old Marshal Chen was silent for a moment, knocked on the table, pointed to the open chip box: "Take it and go, son. If you change your mind, or need any help in the future, you can come to the military to find someone at any time. The deadline is indefinite.This is what the empire owes you."

Jiang Jianming turned around, with a complex look on his expression, and slowly placed his hand on the chip box the size of a child's palm.

After a hesitant pause for two seconds, he finally closed the lid of the box and put the chip box into his left front pocket: "Thank you, Marshal... I'm sorry."

Old Marshal Chen laughed: "There's no need for you to say sorry to the old man. Good boy, go back quickly, it's going to rain."

Jiang Jianming saluted again, and silently exited the reception room.

When he walked out of the sixth courtyard, he stopped at the gate and turned his head.

Sure enough, the sky became a bit cloudy, and the air also brought some rainy humidity.But the light in the reception room was still on, and the figure of the old man was vaguely reflected in the window, appearing vicissitudes and loneliness under the night.

Jiang Jianming lowered his eyelashes, raised his hand to touch the small box in his heart, pursed his lips and walked towards the dormitory building.

Unexpectedly, after walking a few steps, suddenly found a familiar figure standing under the gray pole lamp beside the cypress path.

Tang Zhen was chewing a piece of candy in his mouth, fiddling with his wrist machine boredly, and put one foot on the lamppost, standing here for an unknown how long.

It wasn't until Jiang Jianming slowly walked in front of him that Young Master Tang raised his face, raised his eyebrows and smiled at him: "Hey, you finally came out? How did you chat with the big men in the military? Where are you going to be mentioned out of the ordinary?"?”