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Part 2: Son of the Empire
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The boundless starry sky stretched endlessly in every direction, filled with starlight and the pitch-black night extended infinitely, reaching all directions without an end in sight.
No matter how enormous a galaxy was, in the vast universe, it was merely a drop in the ocean.
Like a giant whale in the ocean, the silver-blue Ishtar slowly sailed through the starry sky. The spiral thrusters on both sides rotated steadily, then gradually decreased in frequency.
Countless warships surrounded it, like birds flocking to a phoenix. As its speed slowed, the surrounding warships began to decelerate as well.
Inside the Ishtar’s command hall, on a high command platform, a handsome Major General sat on a broad silver-white seat.
His arms rested on the armrests on both sides, and his distinct knuckles hung down at the end of the silver-white armrest.
Beneath his fine black hair, cold dark-blue pupils stared ahead. At this moment, the walls of the ship were transparent, and the boundless sea of stars outside was reflected in his eyes.
A black-haired youth stood behind the seated Major General. He remained quiet, rarely speaking, but his eyes weren’t as well-behaved as they seemed, constantly darting around like a nimble little squirrel.
He looked here and there, occasionally sneaking glances at the unmoving Major General in front of him.
His hair was slightly lighter than the Major General’s black, with hints of dark brown when caught by the light. However, his eyes were jet-black and bright, like the gleam of a clear night.
Compared to others in the hall, the youth’s delicate face still held a clear trace of youthfulness. His soft features appeared gentle, and with his large, round, jet-black eyes, he looked even more childlike and adorable.
The entire hall was quiet, with only the sound of the pilots rapidly tapping on their keyboards.
A giant diamond-shaped metal screen hovered above the center of the hall. On the screen, countless characters flickered rapidly, and the scenery within kept shifting and jumping. Occasionally, correct blue characters and warning red ones are intertwined.
Finally, all the characters transformed into blue.
At this moment, Lieutenant Colonel Via, who had been watching the diamond-shaped screen, turned around to report to the Major General above.
“Your Excellency Major General, we have entered the jump zone and are ready for warp.”
He spoke solemnly.
The Major General, seated in the command chair, glanced at the image on the screen and then gave the order.
“Commence the jump.”
“Yes, Your Excellency.”
Via responded, then turned back around.
“All departments, prepare. The fleet jump will commence in five minutes.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a beep sounded, and the entire hall dimmed. One by one, the lights went out, and the once-invisible walls of the ship became visible, no longer showing the starry sea outside the ship.
As the mechanical female voice began the countdown, everyone’s body instinctively tensed slightly.
It wasn’t out of fear of an error—by now, the ship’s jump technology was highly advanced, and the chances of a mistake were minimal. The reason they tensed was because space jumps placed immense strain on the human body.
This is why becoming an Imperial soldier required a strong body. If one’s health isn’t good, a single jump could cause severe side effects, such as dizziness, nausea, a sudden increase in heart rate, uncontrollable body tremors, and so on.
Generally speaking, even with decent physical fitness, a person’s first jump would cause similar side effects, though the severity would vary. However, after multiple jumps, the body would adapt, and these side effects would diminish considerably.
Of course, everyone here had been through countless battles, and space jumps were a common occurrence. They were already accustomed to tensing their bodies before jumps, minimizing, or even nullifying the impact on their bodies.
Via didn’t need to worry about such things.
There were no rookies aboard the Ishtar. Anyone who couldn’t handle this level of jumping wouldn’t have the qualifications to be here in the first place.
…Wait.
The blue-haired Lieutenant Colonel, who had been standing by waiting for the jump to begin, suddenly remembered something. He turned to look up at the command platform.
He saw the teenager’s somewhat puzzled expression as he looked around at the dimming surroundings and immediately sensed something was wrong.
Had that kid ever undergone a long-distance jump before—?
[…Three, two, one, jump initiated!]
But it was too late to ask. By the time Via turned to look, the AI countdown had reached its final second.
The entire interior of the ship went completely dark, and immense pressure surged in from all directions, weighing down on everyone.
It was only for a brief moment—
The next second, the ship’s interior lit up again.
The screen in front of Via beeped repeatedly. It was the sound of the subordinate fleets reporting their safe arrival. The screen was filled with blue signals—no red alerts.
The blue-haired Lieutenant Colonel glanced briefly at the screen before turning to look up.
As soon as he turned, he saw the young teenager on the platform above swaying unsteadily, like someone drunk. Suddenly, he pitched forward, about to fall off the platform—
Via instinctively moved forward, intending to catch Miao Te.
But before he could move, a hand suddenly reached out from beside the teenager, catching Miao Te’s falling body around the waist.
Then, with a slight pull, the teenager fell backward into the arms of the hand’s owner.
The entire hall was utterly silent at this moment.
Almost everyone stood frozen, staring at the scene on the command platform. They weren’t sure why, but none of them dared to even breathe.
The soldiers watched as their aloof Major General, in front of everyone, held the teenager in his arms, calmly raising his hand to gently rub the teenager’s temple.
The blue-haired Lieutenant Colonel standing below couldn’t help but twitch slightly at the corner of his eye.
The intense pressure squeezed his entire body, as though a mountain was pressing down on his chest, with all the air in his lungs being forcibly drawn out.
His vision went pitch black, and his head throbbed as if it were about to explode.
His heart pounded violently, as though it were about to leap out of his throat in the next moment.
Miao Te’s entire body was tense to the extreme. He clenched his teeth, unable to breathe, feeling dizzy and disoriented, with the scene before him blurring—
“Inhale.”
A voice sounded beside his ear.
Completely unaware of where he was or who was speaking, Miao Te instinctively followed the command.
He opened his tightly clenched teeth and took a deep breath.
With that single breath, his wildly pounding heart seemed to calm down a little.
He exhaled and took another deep breath, and the nausea in his chest significantly lessened.
He faintly felt someone gently rubbing his back, and cool fingers pressed against his cheek. The cold sensation made his dizzy head feel slightly better.
The double vision slowly faded from his sight, and the dizziness eased with each deep breath. Miao Te slowly opened his eyes.
As soon as the young man opened his eyes, he froze for a moment, blinking twice in confusion.
Staring at the black military uniform collar right in front of him, Miao Te struggled to comprehend the situation.
At that moment, he was entirely leaning against Major General Taylor’s chest. The Major General, who had been sitting, had stood up at some point, with one hand on Miao Te’s back and the other resting on his cheek. It looked as though Miao Te was nestled completely against the Major General.
The Major General lowered his head slightly, with fine black hair falling across his forehead.
His thin, cool-colored lips were almost beside Miao Te’s ear, making the posture look as if he was whispering to him—
For some reason, he suddenly recalled the fleeting touch of those lips brushing against his own the previous day—
His pale face instantly flushed red, and Miao Te abruptly stood up straight, hastily taking a few steps back in a fluster.
“Uh, th-thank you, no, no, I mean, um, sorry, I, um—”
Panicking, he couldn’t even finish a sentence, stammering in confusion.
With a brief, indifferent glance from his long, slender eyes, Major General Taylor said nothing and sat back down.
Miao Te took a few deep breaths and, after calming down a bit, returned to his original position. Once back, he kept his head lowered, occasionally sneaking glances around with the corner of his eyes.
Seeing that everyone around him was busy with their duties and not paying attention to him, he let out a small sigh of relief, his expression relaxing slightly.
The position he and the Major General had just been in was so ambiguous, he recalled how the Major General’s simple remark of ‘you look better’ had caused him to be ruthlessly teased by the others for a long time—now, with such an intimate pose, it would surely be even worse.
He had been feeling extremely embarrassed, but seeing that no one was watching or teasing him now, he let out a sigh of relief.
The teenager didn’t know that, at this very moment, the seemingly busy crowd was all thinking the same two words: “Heh heh.”
We’d love to watch.
We’d love to gawk.
But the Major General had shot a glance earlier—who the hell would dare keep watching—
***
After a long journey through space, the massive fleet finally returned to its home star system.
It was a huge crimson planet, burning like a flame against the blackness of space, its red hue lighting up the night.
Forna Star, Major General Taylor’s direct domain.
Its name meant “crimson flame,” an eternal blaze that never goes out.
Miao Te followed Major General Taylor onto the landing craft, descending through the atmosphere to the surface of this fiery planet.
After disembarking, they were greeted by a massive and majestic villa. On the vast plain, there were no other structures in sight—only this towering building standing tall.
The villa was shaped more like a tall tower, with its sharp tip pointing skyward like a sword.
The landing craft settled on a designated platform, and after the passengers disembarked, the platform slowly descended underground.
Lush green grass quickly covered the landing site, dew-laden blades, sprawling vines, and tiny flower clusters making it impossible to tell that a large metal landing pad had just been there.
Major General Taylor led Miao Te toward the towering structure.
Before they reached the door, the sound of melodious chimes rang from inside, followed by a loud clack as the door swung open.
A snow-white sphere quickly shot out from the open door.
“Your Excellency, Major General Welcome home~~~”
Along with the clear voice, a chubby, perfectly round, pure white sphere came rolling through the air.
The plump ball had two triangular black eyes, and aside from that, its entire body was completely smooth and featureless.
It bounced up and down in the air, happily circling Major General Taylor, its triangular eyes flashing brightly.
“Your Excellency, it’s been so long~~ Will you stay longer this time? Dada missed you so much~~ Dada is so lonely alone~~ Dada is always by itself, and when you’re not here, Dada feels so lonely~~”
“Shut up.”
The Major General said.
“Yes, Dada will shut up.”
With that one line, the once-cheerful spherical robot visibly deflated.
Its circling speed around the Major General immediately slowed by half, and even its once-bright triangular eyes dimmed noticeably.
It now looked pitiful and dejected, so much so that anyone seeing it would find it hard not to feel sympathy.
Of course, that only applies to ordinary people.
The Major General didn’t even bother glancing at it, turning instead to look outside the door.
“Come here.”
He said.
Miao Te, still curiously watching the round ball, hadn’t yet reacted when the Major General grabbed his hand and pulled him over.
“Record the information.”
Major General Taylor instructed the building’s AI sphere responsible for managing the place.
“Yes, logging this person’s information immediately.”
Two beams of white light shot out from the black triangular eyes of the white sphere, scanning Miao Te from head to toe.
A virtual three-dimensional image of the teenager appeared within the white light, then slowly shrank and absorbed into the sphere’s triangular eyes.
“Miao Te, Uriel’s information has been logged. What permissions should be granted?”
As the AI managing the building, one of the white sphere’s tasks was to log and store information about various individuals. According to the Major General’s orders, these people would have different levels of access within its jurisdiction.
For instance, strangers were not allowed past the gate, regular visitors could enter the gate but not the house and special guests were allowed into the reception room, with the Major General being notified of their arrival immediately.
“Owner-level access.”
Major General Taylor said.
Beep — Highest-level access granted to Miao Te, Uriel.
The white sphere’s triangular eyes flashed brightly again.
The emitted white light disappeared, and the white sphere rolled in the air, flipping as if it were doing somersaults, bursting with joy.
“Dada understands~~ Dada gets it~~ Dada knows~~”
It shouted cheerfully, quickly circling Miao Te and calling out in a childish, high-pitched voice.
“Welcome home, Major General’s wife~~~”
Miao Te: “…What?”
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T/N: I’m back! *Drops a chapter and sleeps*
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Translated by NightOwll
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thanks for the chapter!