Soon, Xie Yuduo saw the mecha master.

"Major General Xie, uh, the general fought hard. The next officer is..."

The middle-aged man opposite had brown hair and black eyes, and had regular facial features. He clasped his hands in a panic, stuttered and spoke quickly, and introduced himself.

At this time, Xie Yuduo was so tired that his head was swollen, but he still accurately grasped some shocking information from the man's words.

Surnamed Jiang, used to be a military officer, and was secretly recalled by the empire after retiring, the mecha master——

"Excuse me, is Your Excellency the adoptive father of His Excellency Jiang Xiao?"

"The lower official wants to ask..." Jiang Sheng was so anxious that he opened his eyes wide when he heard this, "Ah, my, my lord?"

Xie Yuduo was about to speak, when the words rolled to the tip of his tongue, he swallowed them forcefully.

Looking at the middle-aged man in front of him with a tense and panicked face and beads of sweat hanging from the tip of his nose, he, like Diana, fell into an unspeakable situation for a while.

But unlike the shy lady in the Lance family, Xie Yuduo is a general after all, and it's not the first time to inform a white-haired man of a black-haired man's misfortune.

So after a moment of silence, the major general frowned and said in a low voice, "Jiang Jianming, Your Excellency Jiang Xiao once mentioned you."

Jiang Sheng opened his mouth in a daze, and snowflakes fell on the man's temples: "Major General...you know my family clearly?"

At this moment, the two people standing opposite each other suddenly felt something strange in some voices.

It's not that there was a sound that shouldn't be there, but that the sound that should have disappeared.

The sound of soldiers talking, the sound of military boots stepping on the snow, the clanging noise of unloading mechas and moving weapons...

The heat waves of excitement after these victories seemed to have been frozen into ice by a sudden cold current.

Xie Yuduo and Jiang Sheng turned their heads away.

The damaged fortress was completely silent, and the first ray of dawn erased the boundary between heaven and earth, and was reflected by the ice crystals with dazzling brightness.

The soldiers along the way parted ways and then stopped.

The crown prince walked through the crowd, against the light.Her curly hair was loose, her figure was indistinct, and her expression could not be seen clearly.

He was holding a person in his arms, and the white cloth was covering the person, the corners of the cloth were fluttering in the cold wind.

Countless blank eyes cast from all directions, staring at the corners of the flying white cloth.

No one dared to step forward, no one dared to make a sound, no one even dared to move.

Who is His Royal Highness Lai An holding?Who else could be hugged by the crown prince like this?

Xie Yuduo's eyes darkened, and he staggered a step.

In the crowd, there were a few messy fricative sounds.Zheng Yue squeezed over in panic, but lost the courage to go forward.

Instead, Lai An stopped.

The Crown Prince paused, raised his face——

Immediately, the surrounding people felt terrified in unison.

His Highness Laian's face was as dead as the snow, he was neither mad nor sad, and his emerald eyes did not shed tears.

But it has lost all vitality, and only two dry cavities are left, hanging there eeriely, as if it has really become the "monster" in the mouth of the space pirates.

"Colonel Jiang died heroically for his country."

Lai An's voice was hoarse and soft, perhaps because he was afraid of disturbing anyone, "Come and have a look at him."

"Little... Your Excellency..."

Zheng Yue's pupils constricted, his lips trembled, and he stretched out his hand, with five fingers sticking above the white cloth, but he didn't dare to touch it.

An arm pushed Zheng Yue away.

Tang Zhen came over, he was panting heavily with red eyes, and clouds of wet mist exhaled from his mouth and nose.

He slowly lifted the white cloth, and after only one glance, a mournful sob came out of his throat, and tears immediately fell down.

how come……

"What's going on..."

Tang Zhen burst into tears, choked up and said: "...It was fine yesterday..."

Under the white cloth, the young black-haired cripple was quietly pillowed in the arms of the crown prince, his eyelids and lips were closed, his face was very clean and elegant.

The morning light above his head enveloped him like a veil, making him seem to be melting in the snow-colored light.

There was no sound anywhere.

Many soldiers opened their mouths blankly.

They are all people who have experienced life and death on the battlefield, but the scene in front of them is still too abrupt and cruel.More people are still in a state of numbness that cannot accept reality——

How could this be?What happened?

Behind Tang Zhen, Bemaner covered his face with the back of his hands, sobbing.

yesterday.

Just yesterday.

Everyone was still listening to Jiang Jianming's cold voice commanding the entire army; Crown of Dawn, who woke up after four years, guided everyone to break through despair and live towards death.

Now the war is won, and a new dawn has risen.

As for their scarred Highnesses, they just need to come back to accept their cheers and admiration, and reap the merits and glory they deserve.

How could it end like this?

Also yesterday, Jiang Jianming also entered Major General Xie's starship, did not see anyone, only left Crown of Dawn and the brain Seth behind, and then left again.

At that time, the closest straight-line distance between them may only be a hundred meters.

At that time, there must have been more imperial soldiers passing by him, and no one noticed anything unusual, so they just let this man go.

The first sob came from nowhere, as if some switch had been turned on, and spread rapidly.

On the contrary, the crown prince's performance was the calmest.He walked forward and even called the major general: "Xie Yuduo, come and see him too."

Xie Yuduo stood there dumbly.Instead, it was a strange middle-aged man who stumbled over.

"Ming... Mingming?"

Jiang Sheng's expression was as dull as if his soul had been poached, his eyes were straightened, and he reached out in front of the crown prince to grab Jiang Jianming's body.

Lai An raised his head slightly, his pupils glowed with a strange dark light of red gold.

"Your Highness, forgive me!" Xie Yuduo almost thought that the crown prince would violently murder someone in the next moment.He rushed over and stopped between the two, "This is Your Excellency's adoptive father!"

But the envisioned scenario did not happen.The luster in Lai An's eyes went out again, and the hollow appearance returned.

His Highness nodded, seemed to be in deep thought for a while, and then passed the thin body in his arms forward.

"Be proud of him for the rest of your life." He said, "The empire will never have another Jiang Jianming."

"Dian..." Xie Yuduo couldn't believe his eyes, he watched Lai An hand Jiang Jianming into the arms of this middle-aged man.

Jiang Sheng, however, seemed unable to bear the weight, and sat paralyzed on the ground holding Jiang Jianming.

"Mingming, is it Mingming?"

Jiang Sheng opened his eyes wide, staring blankly at the young man in his arms, his lips trembling.

He panted lightly, is this really his child?Why did he become so pale, so thin, so... cold.

In his memory, he was clearly in his teens, his slender body was soft and warm, his black eyes were bright and charming when he smiled, and his voice called "Dad" was occasionally sticky.

Back then when he was away from home, the child was silently helping him pack his luggage, neither crying nor complaining, and there was no anxiety about the future in his delicate eyes.

He had promised the children that he would come home after the war.

Mingming nodded and agreed to send him out of the house.

So for so many years, he studied desperately, only thinking about completing the mission assigned by the empire, and living well to go home to see his son.

While others were chatting and gossiping, he worked day and night to calculate data, draw designs, and test mechs.

I never knew which disabled human being came to the front to join the ar, and didn't know which crown prince concubine the prince had conferred.

How could it end like this?

"Obviously don't sleep, open your eyes and see Dad, okay?"

"It's Dad, obviously...it's Dad here."

The middle-aged man carefully held Jiang Jianming's cheek with his rough palm.

He swayed gently, calling out incessantly, eager to wake up the sleeping child.

"The war is over, Dad will bring Mingming back to our home, and live like before, okay..."

Only the cold wind of the alien star answered.

More people around us began to cry softly.

A cold hand rested on Jiang Sheng's shoulder.Jiang Sheng looked up in a daze, it was His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.

But Lai An's eyes did not look at him, but fell somewhere vainly, and said in a light tone: "My condolences."

Jiang Sheng shivered all over his body, and hugged the young man in his arms tightly, as if he had aged dozens of years all of a sudden.

He looked sad, and shook his head quickly: "Impossible... This is impossible."

"His Royal Highness Lai An, Major General Xie, he is only in his twenties in my family, he is still very young, how could he sacrifice himself?"

"Look... can you... can you try to save him... are there any medical soldiers..."

"I beg you... you can save him again, and try again? Obviously he has made meritorious service, he can make more contributions to the empire if he survives, please..."

No one could answer such a humble pleading father, everyone looked sideways and couldn't bear to look, Xie Yuduo just shook his head bitterly.

"Your Highness," Tang Zhen chased after a few steps, his nose blushing from crying, "Xiao Jiang, what happened to him in the end...was he walking in pain? Is there anyone by his side?"

"..."

Lai An was silent, he stared at Jiang Jianming lying in Jiang Sheng's arms from a distance, and remained silent for a long time.

The sound of the wind blew gently past the ear, as if someone was smiling warmly.

Your Highness.

Say something nice.Look at them, crying like this.

There were a few waves in Lai An's eyes, he thought about it seriously, and said: "Before I fell into a coma, he was coughing up blood, and he was exhausted very badly. In the end, it should have just reached the point where it was difficult to maintain, and there was no more pain."

"As for dying, although he was alone when he left, he was accompanied by Fengxue."

"..."

Tang Zhen's face was pale, and he supported the broken wall next to him to stand still.

"So," he murmured, "Actually, when commanding the entire army from a distance yesterday, Xiao Jiang already knew that he was about to...?"

Tang Zhen suddenly laughed miserably.Tears kept falling, soaking Yin Beidou's military uniform, "Oh, so it's like this again."

...My lord, can you speak?

Lai An raised his head and saw the gentle night on the other side of the morning light in a trance. The black-haired young man with a thick coat on his shoulders was sitting under the lamp, and said him with a bit of reproach.

Are you mad at me on purpose?Originally, bringing the body back should be done secretly.After finally winning the battle, we must first make everyone happy.

No.Lai An thought in a daze, I am not angry with you, and I will never mess with you in the future, I will listen to you in everything.

never mind.The man shook his head and chuckled, this time leaning against the porthole of the starship.What else, Your Highness?

Lai An turned his head and walked towards Xie Yuduo, asking: "The Crystal Cult has withdrawn?"

Xie Yuduo's mind was in a state of confusion, his stomach twitched, his throat felt fishy, and he couldn't speak at all.

Lai An had to ask again.

Xie Yuduo rolled his Adam's apple, and finally said in a hoarse voice: "Let's go, we wiped out 70% to 80%... The battle that finally broke the game was commanded by your Excellency."

"Really. Did he know that we would win before he left?"

"...It can only be said that the advantage was already great at that time."

"That must be enough for him to know."

"Enough, enough?"

Xie Yuduo opened his eyes slightly, he stared at Lai An for a long time, not knowing what to say.

Lai An looked around coldly, and said slowly: "It's ok, let the soldiers cry for a while and take them away. It's risky if the soldiers' morale is shaken."

So, not only Xie Yuduo, but also more people around began to look at the crown prince with panicked eyes.

"His... Your Highness..."

Xie Yuduo's face turned pale, and it was very difficult to hold back a sentence, "Don't be like this. You don't need to be like this, we are all about your Excellency..."

"What are you looking at me like that for?"

Lai An shook his head expressionlessly: "At the beginning, I persuaded him and begged him, but he refused to stop. If so, this day will come sooner or later...None of us owes him anything."

"Besides, Jiang Jianming was not the only soldier who died. There is no need for special treatment, and he doesn't like it either."

"By the way, I brought back that medical mech. I'll see if Jiang has left a message later. I'll call you if I find something new. Go and rest first."

"—His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!!"

Jiang Sheng was trembling with anger, he did not expect the prince to be so ruthless, "He is obviously not an ordinary soldier, he is an amorphous race, he can't come to the interstellar environment at all! Why on earth—"

Lai An said coldly: "That's because of me. You can hate me, but following me is Jiang Jianming's own choice."

"My condolences."

After he finished speaking, he directly opened the military channel, turned around and walked away, and began to order:

"The war is over. The Second and Third Corps of the Silver Beidou will withdraw their troops and return to their respective fortresses."

"Jin Rilun listened to my command, counted the casualties today and tomorrow, and reorganized the supplies. On the third day, we set off...return to the country."

In a few words, the crown prince's figure had disappeared at the other end of the corner.Major Rita wanted to chase, but was stopped by Xie Yuduo.

"What are you chasing after?" the major general said shyly, "Your Highness is like this, what's the use of others chasing after him?"

"Leave him alone, maybe he can get it out. But maybe..."

Xie Yuduo leaned wearily against the wall of the fortress, staring absently at the sky in the distance.

He remembered the arrogance of the little crown prince in the past. When he was in a good mood, he would squint his eyes arrogantly, and when he was irritated, he would blow things up with his real crystal.

He likes to eat apples, and likes to "build nests" outside the fortress, but later he prefers to roll on the bed with His Excellency in his arms; occasionally he bullies himself confidently to make His Excellency happy.

Only he could hear the major general's murmur, "Perhaps, we are going to lose our two Highnesses."

...

In the distance, Lai An's expression remained calm.Even though he had avoided the crowd, he didn't collapse or go crazy.

He slowly planned the next thing.

First of all, I have to rest for a while. I still have injuries on my body, so I can lie in the treatment cabin until noon... At that time, the emotions in the army should have calmed down, and I can come out to calm down and rectify the troops.

In the afternoon, it's time to think about the follow-up arrangements. The news of Jiang's death must be temporarily blocked, that's for sure; his racial status is special, and the situation may become complicated when the news of his death spreads to the empire. Let's take it slow and think about it calmly.

In addition to the political situation, it is more about strategy. Is there any possible action for Crystal Cult, and is there any possible action for Space Pirates?

What strategy will the Silver Beidou First Army adopt next, and the first fortress, which is so dilapidated, has to ask the emperor for funds for repairs...

The sound of the wind was crisp again.

The man sighed distressedly: What a huge expense.

By the way, please donate my annuity for me.The money has not been touched much, there are more than two million coins.

"Understood." Lai An said hoarsely to himself.

His Highness remembered how poor life was when the civilian military students were just civilians.

The adoptive father's pension is obviously quite a lot, but what Jiang wants to do is too unusual, there are always a lot of large expenses, and private use is reduced to a minimum.

Jiang is very contradictory and ungrateful, he can only help within the scope of the other party's permission.

Later, he died once, and what Jiang wanted to do was even more shocking. He must have wronged himself a lot in terms of money.

After all the hard work, he finally became the crown princess. Lin Song also paid him back the royal annuity for the previous three years.It's a pity he hasn't had time to use it yet.

Thinking about the ending of this person's sacrifice before dawn, it seems that sometimes it is really hard to believe in fate.

Ah, are you trying to say I'm unlucky?

In a daze, that figure sat on the fortress again, staring quietly into the distance.

Yin Beidou's military uniform was blown up, Jiang Jianming took off his military cap and held it in his hand, turned his head and smiled at him softly: Didn't Your Highness speak well just now?

"……I know."

Lai An stopped in a daze, his Adam's apple wriggled up and down in pain, as if saying these words would pierce his vocal cords dripping with blood.

"It's not that bad. In your life, you are very lucky and happy...you met good people, you saw hope for everything you asked for, and you were very satisfied when you finally asked for benevolence and benevolence."

"So..." Lai An slowly supported the wall, her bent back was drenched in sweat at some point.

His eyes were slack, his lips trembled, like a fish that was thrown ashore and was about to die: "I don't have to feel sorry for you."

He stretched out his hand, tightly clutching the cloth around his heart.The organs there seemed to have been dissected, "...I don't owe you, I'm not sorry."

Lai An repeated it several times, and when she was sure that there was nothing wrong with her, she raised her empty eyes again.

Jiang, are you still looking at me?

You see, I do what you want to do and say what you want to say.

I like this, are you satisfied?

The wind stopped at this moment.The gunpowder smoke cleared, the sky was cloudless, and unmelted frost and dried blood condensed on the alloy black iron of the fortress.

The main battery was silent at the end of the wind, and there was no one there.

The author has something to say:

Lai: I'm fine, not sad.

Everyone: It's over... Your Highness is broken...