After several consecutive jumps, the Ishtar flagship finally reached its destination.
Due to the terrible experience of the first jump, Miao Te took the initiative to visit the military doctor after learning that they would be making several consecutive jumps in the next few days. He got some motion sickness sedatives and followed the doctor’s instructions, reducing the dosage before each jump. By the fifth jump, his body had mostly adapted, and during subsequent jumps, the side effects were not as severe as the first time, only causing slight dizziness.
Not wanting to embarrass himself in front of everyone like the first time, he endured the following jumps in the tea room. Major General Taylor, perhaps guessing his thoughts, did not force him to stay outside.
Later, after getting used to the dizziness caused by the jumps, Miao Te began staying near the Major General during the jumps. However, he still had to secretly hold onto the back of the Major General’s command chair to steady himself during bouts of dizziness.
Still, Miao Te did not make a fool of himself again.
After a few jumps like this, Via’s intense gaze, Robin’s amused look, and the occasional glances from others gradually faded as they realized Miao Te had adapted without any further incidents.
The interior of the ship dimmed once again, and the familiar sense of pressure returned.
Since the previous jumps had gone smoothly, Miao Te let his guard down this time, assuming it would be just like before and last only a moment. But to his surprise, this jump was a long-distance one, lasting two breaths longer than the previous ones.
Though it was only two breaths longer, the pressure felt like it stretched on for hours. So when the cabin lit up, the overwhelming dizziness caused him to stumble forward uncontrollably.
As he fell forward, his right hand instinctively reached out, trying to grab onto something in the air.
Even though he knew there was nothing to grab.
Damn.
The teenager thought in panic, but his outstretched hand suddenly grasped something.
Something cool caught his hand, held it firmly, and supported it in midair.
As he was falling forward, the moment his hand felt support, he instinctively shifted his entire weight onto his hand—and the object supporting it.
With the help of this unknown, strong support, he regained his balance and avoided the embarrassment of falling to the ground.
The teenager breathed a sigh of relief, then looked up and froze.
His hand was tightly grasping—or rather, tightly held by—Major General Taylor’s hand.
The Major General sat quietly in the metal command chair, but his left hand extended to the side, perfectly catching the hand that had instinctively reached forward, trying to grab onto something as he almost fell.
Even though it had supported his entire weight, that hand remained steady without a hint of shaking.
The Major General’s left arm extended steadily in the air, completely still, palm up as it held his hand. The effortless way he did it made it seem as if there were no weight in his hand at all.
Even if someone nearby had looked over, they would have only thought Miao Te was gently resting his hand in the Major General’s hand.
Miao Te was stunned for a moment, then saw the Major General, sitting in the command chair in front of him, turn his head slightly. His narrow, upturned eyes glanced at him.
Major General Taylor didn’t say anything, and the glance was indifferent, yet the teenager couldn’t shake the feeling of embarrassment.
He felt like he was getting used to embarrassing himself in front of the Major General. No wonder the Major General had called him a fool so many times.
The Major General returned his hand to the armrest of the chair, sitting upright, his jet-black hair falling in front of his face.
The cabin lit up, and the wall’s cloaking function activated again.
The top of the wall seemed to melt away, revealing the vast, endless sea of stars, spreading out like waves.
A slowly rotating blue planet appeared before everyone.
The teenager’s eyes widened suddenly.
His breathing paused for a moment, his mind went blank, and it felt as if he could hear his heartbeat.
He looked at that planet, seeing nothing else in his eyes.
“It’s not.”
A deep voice suddenly rang out, pulling him out of his daze.
Miao Te took a few rapid breaths, calming his racing heart, then looked again and realized something was off.
Although the planet did resemble it somewhat… it felt like something was missing… no, a lot was missing.
This blue planet seemed to only have the outer shell, but looking at it didn’t evoke the same heart-wrenching feeling as the real blue planet in his memories.
The teenager calmed down a bit.
He looked around the blue planet and saw four white moons slowly orbiting it.
Miao Te took a deep breath and exhaled.
No.
He closed his eyes, his lowered lashes hiding the disappointment in his eyes.
The small planet that once accompanied the blue planet, the one with countless beautiful legends, wasn’t there.
There was no planet with a giant ring… no fiery red planet… no ocean-blue planet…
This was not the homeland he longed for.
“Where is this?”
He opened his eyes and asked softly.
The Major General, who had been watching his expression for a while, looked away and gazed at the blue planet ahead.
“Imperial Star.”
The Major General said.
The people, having forever lost their way back to Earth, chose this planet, which most resembled Earth, to be the capital of the Empire.
Its name is Imperial Star.
This is the planet where the Imperial Royal Family has lived for generations, the most prosperous planet among humanity.
This planet, with 56% of its surface covered by oceans, bears the closest resemblance to humanity’s homeworld.
The reason Major General Taylor came here was because of an imperial edict from His Majesty the Emperor.
His Majesty regularly issues edicts, summoning nobles or generals from various star systems to the Imperial Star for reports.
Just a few days ago, the Major General received the order.
As per protocol, the Ishtar ship remained outside the star system, while Major General Taylor and his party took a landing craft toward the blue planet. The ever-meticulous Lieutenant Colonel Via stayed behind on the Ishtar, while Robin and several people Miao Te didn’t know accompanied the Major General to Imperial Star.
***
When Major General Taylor stepped into the audience hall, it was already filled with people. The vast hall, which could accommodate hundreds, was packed with figures everywhere.
Various warlords and noble factions each had their familiar circles, but here on the Imperial Star, under the watchful eye of His Majesty, no faction dared to openly gather with their allies. Even when they met, they only exchanged polite nods and smiles, nothing more.
There were quite a few young people in the hall, and Major General Taylor’s age did not particularly stand out among them.
For such reports, many factions would send their younger generation or nephews to go through the motions for the Emperor. Unless it was a major matter, they wouldn’t come in person.
Major General Taylor, however, couldn’t do that.
He didn’t have anyone under his command with enough authority to represent him, nor did he have any direct relatives who could come in his place.
This was one of the proofs of his lack of deep foundations.
Most of those present were people of deep heritage and extraordinary family backgrounds. To them, no matter how much fame Major General Taylor had gained in recent decades, or how he was revered by ignorant commoners as the God of War… in the end, he was just an upstart from a newly risen, shallow-rooted power.
To be honest, they had seen many such upstart powers rise suddenly, each like a shooting star across the sky, rarely lasting more than a century before vanishing completely from the universe.
They didn’t take such forces seriously at all.
A few young men were chatting together.
“Mil, I heard you even brought a special gift for Her Royal Highness the Princess?”
A young man with short yellow hair smiled and nodded.
“It’s rare to visit Imperial Star, so of course I had to bring the gift I carefully prepared for Her Highness.”
“An ancient artifact from Earth? You know how to choose. The Princess loves these things.”
“Haha, just lucky, just lucky. It’s a precious treasure passed down by my ancestors, though it’s so old that it was almost ruined. It took a long time to fully restore it, and I even had to make a replica.”
The yellow-haired man said proudly, “It took me a long time to figure out how to use it too, so I finally dared to bring it here. Haha, I hope it will make the Princess happy.”
As he said this, a hopeful expression appeared on his face.
Her Royal Highness Princess Salome’s beauty was truly captivating. Her commanding aura only made her beauty more dazzling and overwhelming. After seeing her, ordinary beauties simply could not compare.
“What is it?”
“Haha, doesn’t your family have similar things?”
“Sure, we do, but it’s not the same.”
The yellow-haired man thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Anyway, there’s still time. How about I show you guys first?”
As he spoke, he gave a mocking glance at the black-haired Major General standing not far away.
“For families like ours, we have plenty of such heirlooms, unlike some people who have no heritage at all, yet still pretend to stand there proudly. Heh, let’s give him an eye-opener this time—”
As soon as he said this, others immediately chimed in.
“Yeah, some people are just arrogant because they’re favored. The Emperor summons them, and they arrive last as if they’re so important.”
“Haha, it’s just the Royal Family’s new pet dog.”
The person who said this was referring to someone, and almost everyone in the hall understood who. They exchanged glances but didn’t stop him, all showing expressions as if waiting to watch the show.
As mentioned earlier, major powers generally didn’t take newly risen forces seriously.
However, the newly risen Major General Taylor was indeed a capable military commander. He had never lost a battle, and his combat style was always clean and efficient, with minimal losses to his forces. Many family heads greatly admired him. If it weren’t for the Royal Family’s favor, those families would have tried to recruit him.
Naturally, when educating their younger generations, those elders often mentioned the capable young Major General.
But young people, full of spirit and pride, hated hearing about other people’s children from their elders.
The more they heard about him, the more resentful they became. Naturally, they didn’t have a good impression of this Major General who was constantly praised by their elders.
There was another reason that made Major General Taylor the enemy of these young men.
Princess Salome’s beauty was renowned throughout the universe, and her royal status added an extra halo of allure to her beauty.
The Princess was destined to ascend the throne as Empress, and becoming the Empress’s consort came with countless benefits. Her beauty and status were an immense temptation for these young men, and noble suitors lined up endlessly to court her.
However, Princess Salome happened to fall in love with a young man with no background, who might not even be of noble birth. Even the Emperor showed him great favor, and within just a few decades, he leaped through the ranks to become a Major General.
Why?
Isn’t it just because he has a good-looking face?
Isn’t it just because he used that face to deceive the Princess?
He’s just a shallow upstart, a brute who knows nothing but how to fight! A butcher!
Mier thought this with indignation and deliberately cast a provocative glance at Major General Taylor.
The Major General sat quietly in his chair, not even sparing him a glance. It was Robin, standing behind him, who noticed the look. Robin curled his lips but couldn’t be bothered with the man and instead turned his attention to the teenager beside him.
This kid had been unusually quiet since earlier, quiet enough to make him worry.
“What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”
He asked softly.
He thought maybe the long-distance jump from earlier had made the teenager uncomfortable.
The teenager glanced at Robin and shook his head.
“I’m fine.”
He said softly, but his voice lacked energy.
After speaking, he lowered his head again, his dark lashes hiding a trace of loneliness in his eyes.
Since Miao Te said he was fine, Robin naturally didn’t press further.
He turned his gaze forward and saw a platform rising slowly in the hall, revealing a strange object he had never seen before.
The object resembled a strangely shaped table with its lid open, propped up by a stand. One side of the ‘table’ had numerous rectangular keys, all the same size and white, with smaller black keys among them.
Mier gave a signal, and a middle-aged man in formal attire, who had been following behind him, ascended the platform and sat beside the strange ‘table.’
Amidst the curious gazes of the crowd, the man placed his hands on the rows of rectangular keys.
A crisp note rang out with a soft chime.
As the man’s hands danced quickly across the black and white keys, a cheerful melody filled the hall.
The clean and transparent tone was captivating, and many people squinted as they listened, softly whispering to those beside them, all expressing admiration for the music.
When the piece ended, the hall erupted in enthusiastic applause.
“Is this an instrument passed down from Earth?”
“This sound is really beautiful.”
“Restoring this instrument must have been no easy task.”
“No, restoring the instrument isn’t the hard part. The difficult part is restoring the music for the instrument. After all, the AI can’t interpret the ancient musical symbols from old Earth.”
“This kind of restoration can only be done slowly, over many years—”
As the center of attention in the hall, Mier was now surrounded by quite a few people.
“Her Royal Highness has always been interested in music and drama. The gift you’ve brought is sure to be to her liking.”
“Yes, this has real substance. It’s far better than some people who rely on their looks to deceive the Princess.”
“What kind of gift could he bring for Her Royal Highness?”
“Probably nothing. He’s just an upstart with no heritage. Where could he find ancient relics to please Her Highness?”
“Tch, well, what can you do? After all… his face is all he’s got.”
“Tch tch, a pretty boy living off his looks.”
“No, he can fight wars too.”
“Hahaha, an upstart brute—so what if he can fight?”
“Her Royal Highness is probably just playing around with him.”
The almost blatant provocations and shameless laughter from the young nobles brought a trace of anger to Robin’s face, but he could only hold it in.
While he struggled to contain himself, the teenager beside him suddenly moved.
Under the gaze of everyone, the dark-eyed teenager walked towards the platform with the strange instrument.
His steps were quick, and because no one expected anyone to approach the instrument, no one stopped him. He simply walked up to the platform and stood beside the instrument.
Miao Te stood quietly beside the familiar instrument, his fingers lightly brushing over the cold metal frame.
“Get down.”
Mier, basking in the attention and momentarily careless enough to let someone approach the instrument, now wore a dark expression.
“Such a precious treasure isn’t something a lowly person like you can touch,” he said darkly. “Get down, you have no right to touch it.”
As if he hadn’t heard Mil’s threats at all, Miao Te sat down in the chair.
His foot pressed down on the pedal below, which the previous performer hadn’t used. His fingers rested on the black and white keys, and then, with deliberate force, he pressed the keys and stepped on the pedal.
The way that man had mechanically pressed the keys earlier was simply an insult to this instrument.
He thought.
In an instant, light and rich music flowed into everyone’s ears.
Compared to the previous performer’s almost mechanical playing, the music that now filled the hall was much more serene and enchanting, fuller and richer, like a stream gently flowing through grass and pebbles.
The teenager sat there, his slender body wrapped in a black military uniform, yet he seemed to be glowing.
His dark pupils shone brilliantly at that moment.
His fingertips danced across the black and white keys as if shattering the surface of a calm lake, with droplets of water turning into gentle, winding notes, swirling around him.
Though they were clearly in the hall, the music immersed them so deeply that they could almost see the moonlight cascading like water, falling onto the gently flowing stream, its clear water quietly drifting away.
The water flowed to an unknown destination, carrying an inexplicable sense of confusion and sorrow.
Pouring all his longing into his fingertips, the teenager closed his eyes, the familiar music enveloping him as if it had brought him back to the past.
In that small white room, beside that old piano, his gentle mother stood by him, holding sheet music in her hands, smiling at him with her head slightly tilted.
Music flowed from his fingertips, and in the living room, his father, who seemed to be reading the paper, listened quietly, nodding slightly with a satisfied smile.
But now, everything has changed.
The notes still surrounded him, but that little white house gradually faded away.
His mother’s smile and his father’s figure were also slowly fading away.
In the familiar music, the house, the grassland, the homeland, and then the vast ocean faded away, leaving only the blue planet quietly spinning in the dark universe.
It was always there.
It had always been waiting there.
My home planet.
My homeland.
The resting place of my soul.
One day, I will return to your embrace.
The entire hall was silent, with only the faintly sorrowful melody slowly drifting through the space.
No one spoke, no one conversed.
At this moment, any out-of-place sound would have been unbearable.
At this moment, all they wanted was to listen to the beautiful, moving notes, even if the trace of sadness in the music resonated with them, making them feel an inexplicable melancholy, as if in shared understanding.
The notes, infused with all the player’s longing, stirred a strange and subtle emotion in the hearts of everyone present in the hall.
The piece came to an end.
The teenager opened his eyes, his head slightly raised, with a faint shimmer in his dark pupils, veiled by a thin layer of mist.
He gazed quietly ahead, but his eyes seemed to pierce through everything, looking towards a distant shore.
His delicate face still carried a hint of youthfulness, but at that moment, as he stared at some unknown point, his profile inexplicably tugged at the heartstrings, making it impossible to look away.
Even after the music stopped, the hall remained silent.
The beautiful notes still seemed to linger in everyone’s ears.
“Who are you?”
Finally, someone broke the silence. Mier stared in disbelief at the teenager on the platform.
He couldn’t believe it. This instrument had only been secretly restored recently, and surely no one else knew about it before.
How could this teenager know how to play it? And with such mastery?
Miao Te closed his eyes again and took a deep breath.
When he stood up and opened his eyes again, the shimmer was gone.
The teenager stood atop the platform, looking down at the crowd with a sly smile.
Then, he walked down, passing by everyone.
He thought for a moment and said, “Um, I’m the heir of my family. We’re an ancient family, one that has existed since we left Earth.”
As he said this, a few people nodded.
Everyone accepted this explanation.
See? He’s a descendant of an old noble family with a long history.
Someone asked, “May I ask, what is your surname?”
A family’s antiquity and nobility were often judged by its surname. Usually, the more historical the family, the longer the surname.
These people were now asking for Miao Te’s surname to gauge the true status of his lineage.
The teenager blinked at the question, then looked at those watching him and suddenly broke into a bright smile.
He grinned and said, “My family witnessed the Bourbon dynasty, followed the ancient Alexandrian Empire, served as protectors of the Plantagenets, wielded the sword under Queen Elizabeth, and were granted the Honor Crest by Emperor Caesar—our surname is—Nicholas. Alexander. Mialgu. Abel. Augustus. Constantine. Darwin. Washington. Arthur. William. Julius. Louis. Richard… (etc.)… Caesar. Michelangelo. Intel. Uriel.”
After rattling off dozens of names in one breath and unable to go any further, Miao Te finally stopped to catch his breath, feeling quite pleased as he looked at the completely bewildered faces around him and nodded.
Then, he smiled brightly once again.
“Yep, that’s the surname.”
He said with a grin.
“But the family has fallen on hard times, so now I can only serve as an orderly under some upstart.”
Miao Te said this with a cheeky smile, then turned and walked back to stand behind Major General Taylor, resuming a serious expression, hands clasped behind his back, standing at attention amidst the bewildered faces of the crowd.
Hmm, back when I used to watch TV and read novels, I always wondered what it would feel like to rattle off a bunch of titles and noble names all at once to show off.
Now, I finally know.
…It feels freakin’ awesome!
***
Translated by NightOwll
***