MORIC - Chapter 156

Chapter 156: Who Only Cries in Bed

"Xinghuo, what was the situation at the time?"

The Expeditionary Force's starship had a unique design, one that Wen Xinghuo had seen before in video footage.

Xi Mingguang still appeared calm, but the communication alerts in her control room were especially numerous, sounding as urgent as an alarm, making it difficult for anyone to remain completely composed.

Three days had already passed.

Their group had been rescued by the Expeditionary Force led by Xi Mingguang and settled into the force's rest cabins.

Since Xi Mingguang had come to this planet, it made no sense for her to leave immediately.

Having reached her current position, she no longer needed to engage in close combat as she did in her youth, but she still had very few moments of rest.

Night had now fallen, and Wen Xinghuo had lost count of how many waves of Zerg attacks there had been.

The Expeditionary Force's battle plans were highly effective, their seasoned experience enough to astonish this group of young people.

It was quiet outside, but the starship's rest base was bustling with activity.

Mecha technicians were repairing damaged mechas, doctors were treating injured officers, and the sound of robots' wheels rolling down the corridors could be heard.

Wen Xinghuo appeared to be in the best condition of the group.

But even with her S+ spiritual power, and knowing there would be danger this time, she hadn't expected to be depleted to this extent.

Her face didn't betray her mental exhaustion as she calmly recalled the situation.

Finally, she sighed. "Commander Xi, you should just listen to my cockpit recording directly."

Xi Mingguang was also very tired. Her appearance didn't give off an "old" feeling, but she had to dye her hair often.

The hair at her temples was frighteningly white, and she spent more time apart from her Omega wife than together. They usually relied on video calls, which made their rare meetings all the more precious.

This was clearly an emergency. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and accepted the recording Wen Xinghuo sent.

She had been commanding the battle for the past few days. She had been prepared for the Zerg Tide, but she hadn't expected this one to be so much more powerful than the last, with the appearance of high-grade Zerg never seen before.

In the recording, Xi Zhoumeng's voice was the same as ever, carrying a calm composure in the face of danger.

Xi Mingguang had long known that Xi Zhoumeng had secrets, like her plea that day.

If Xi Mingguang hadn't made preparations and submitted an application to Shen Yu, she might not have been able to make it in time.

Any later, and Wen Xinghuo and the others might have all been killed by the Zerg.

And among them was a princess who was to inherit the queen's throne.

Xi Mingguang listened to the recording over and over, clearly sensing Xi Zhoumeng's calmness.

She asked Wen Xinghuo, "Did she say anything else? For example, a box for you to give to me."

Wen Xinghuo shook her head. She didn't understand either.

But the lingering authority Xi Zhoumeng had possessed since childhood was enough to make people trust her unconditionally.

In fact, Xi Zhoumeng's actions in that situation were enough to make Wen Xinghuo feel ashamed.

After all, at the beginning of the year, when they had spoken about the future outside the restaurant, Xi Zhoumeng had clearly told Wen Xinghuo to be the one to charge into battle.

How could she be the one rushing to cover the retreat?

Although, at the time, it was true that Wen Xinghuo's mecha was carrying more people.

Now, at the starship's rest base, Wen Xinghuo's comm-link could finally receive messages.

She discovered that the Zerg Tide was raging everywhere. If Shen Yu hadn't been on the Capital Star, the main planet might have fallen completely.

At the same time, several waves of Zerg attacks had appeared on various planets.

Some were large, some small, but all were quickly dealt with.

Only the Zerg on this planet were unusually rampant, and a new type of Zerg had even appeared.

A Zerg Tide usually came in several waves and lasted for nearly half a year.

Looking back at past Zerg Tides, most occurred in the summer.

This time, one planet had been completely wiped out by a Zerg attack. The Zerg had occupied it, and the Interstellar Patrol had assessed the danger level as very high, making it temporarily unapproachable.

All the headlines on the StarNet were about the Zerg. For a time, all traffic between star systems was canceled. The Zerg Tide predicted by experts had arrived early and in full force.

The Capital Star was relatively safe, but the students from Guyun Academy on their practical training were not.

Even though the academy had issued an emergency recall, there had already been casualties.

The messages refreshing on the academy's forum were all about searching for people or offering condolences.

Many classmates also messaged to ask about Wen Xinghuo.

Xi Mingguang closed her eyes. The empty cup by her hand was automatically refilled by an AI robot, steam curling up from it.

The robot then poured a cup for Wen Xinghuo. When Wen Xinghuo looked, she saw it was chrysanthemum tea.

Xi Mingguang's communication alerts had several different sound effects; she wouldn't rush to open one unless it was an important notification.

At this moment, she asked Wen Xinghuo, "Is there something you all haven't told me?"

At home, she was a silent elder who didn't meddle much. During her vacations, she barely even stayed at home, preferring to go squeeze into a bed with her stargazing wife.

Wen Xinghuo had seen an interview with Xi Mingguang. In this day and age, even military officers had fans. Xi Mingguang was criticized for marrying young but not remaining faithful, having remarried her current Omega wife in a hurry after her first one died.

But based on Wen Xinghuo's limited impression of Xi Mingguang, she was clearly a deeply devoted elder.

Even though the atmosphere was serious now, it didn't make Wen Xinghuo feel like she was being interrogated.

It was more like a casual question, without any sense that she had to answer.

Wen Xinghuo asked in return, "Didn't Zhoumeng tell you?"

Xi Mingguang shook her head. "She seems like she doesn't care about anything, but she has a lot of ideas. I can't do anything about her."

Even though Xi Mingguang knew Xi Zhoumeng was an Alpha, she never expected her to have bonded with the mecha her ancestors had donated to Guyun Academy's storage.

She had even seen Xi Zhoumeng's mecha in the satellite patrol footage and her heroic act of turning back without any regard for herself.

She's nothing like my delicate Omega daughter at all.

Xi Mingguang felt a pang of self-reproach.

Every generation has its own responsibilities. She had thought she could spare her child from such hardship.

But she discovered that fate was irreversible. In the prime of every generation, they had to risk life and limb for the Empire.

Wen Xinghuo said, "We do have a secret, but we're afraid that if we say it…"

The junior Alpha was tall and showed no cowardice even at the final moment.

But Xi Mingguang knew she had already been under immense pressure. A mecha could generally only accommodate a single person. Even if the cockpit could hold more, that was only when it wasn't being operated.

Because every additional person was a strain on the spiritual power of the host bonded to the mecha.

It was already a great feat for Wen Xinghuo to have held on for that long.

And she hadn't uttered a single complaint.

Xi Mingguang said, "We're not that pedantic."

Not knowing what she had thought of, she directly turned off the power to her communications.

"I had originally planned to have a frank talk with Zhoumeng this time."

The older commander picked up her teacup. On the back of her hand were old scars, which Wen Xinghuo could tell were from the Zerg.

The Zerg carried a toxin; wounds could heal, but the scars couldn't be removed.

One could call them marks of honor, but humans were ultimately flesh and blood. Even with the invention of mechas, it was difficult to contend head-on with non-human forces.

Based on current intelligence, the Zerg lacked intelligence and simply reproduced endlessly. But humans had intelligence, and also weaknesses.

Behind every person was a family and their expectations.

Even if some had lost their families, they were still loved by someone.

Xi Mingguang looked at Wen Xinghuo. "I'll just ask directly."

The commander's uniform made Xi Mingguang look much more serious than she did on vacation, and the consecutive sleepless nights had left her face looking weary.

"On March 17th, did you go to the passage to the Lower World?"

Wen Xinghuo's eyes shot up in surprise.

"Didn't I already bribe…"

Xi Mingguang smiled. "Child, some bribes are only superficial. You must know that there are eyes you cannot see."

She was rarely so profound, but her tone at this moment made Wen Xinghuo feel a sense of acceptance.

Xi Mingguang said, "It was reported to Shen Yu."

The Marshal of the Empire held great power. Shen Yu appeared nonchalant on the surface, but in reality, she already held immense authority.

Otherwise, according to normal procedures, an Alpha like her, who was thirty-five and still not forcibly matched, would have long been disqualified from continuing in her post.

Wen Xinghuo looked up in astonishment.

Xi Mingguang: "What are you investigating?"

Wen Xinghuo still hesitated.

Xi Mingguang smiled. "Did Zhoumeng threaten you?"

Wen Xinghuo shook her head, but she was indeed a little afraid of Xi Zhoumeng's personality.

At that moment, she thought: They really are family, cut from the same cloth.

And she felt a little envious.

This sense of intimacy that came from a family's resemblance.

Xi Mingguang: "You suspect the Queen as well, don't you?"

Wen Xinghuo looked at Xi Mingguang in shock as the commander placed the lid on her cup. Her starship's command room wasn't very large, but it had a glass window.

It was snowing again outside. The blood of the Zerg clung to the branches, soon to be covered.

In the end, Wen Xinghuo nodded.

Xi Mingguang: "We've had our suspicions for many years, but we have no proof."

She gave a bitter smile. Even if the monarchy was just an empty shell, even if it could be sidelined.

But it was very difficult to change the Empire's regime quickly.

This wasn't an era where one could simply raise a banner of rebellion as in the history books. Moreover, their suspicions involved a very wide scope.

This was a scandal.

An absolute human scandal.

How it was inherited, how messages were passed, how their kind was summoned.

All of this had to be figured out.

Wen Xinghuo took a sip of the chrysanthemum tea, never expecting that the commander, who was described in interviews as drinking hard liquor on her starship, had started taking care of her health.

With Xi Zhoumeng gone, their group felt like it had lost its center of gravity.

An hour ago, Sheng Yangkui had received a message from the royal palace.

The Queen was summoning her back to the palace.

Guyun Academy announced the immediate end of the practical training. This was a major casualty incident in the academy's history.

The starship taking Sheng Yangkui back was departing tomorrow. Wen Xinghuo couldn't bear to imagine that with her departure, she was once again heading toward a predetermined ending.

Am I destined to kill her?

Did she grow up through so much hardship only to be destined to wait for me to kill her?

Wen Xinghuo had never felt such hatred before, not even when she was a child with weak family ties, not even when she received no special care growing up.

Not even when her appearance didn't conform to conventional beauty standards, not even when she came to the Upper World as a down-and-out noble with nothing but a title.

She had always followed her Omega mother's teachings, moving forward one step at a time.

Don't look back at unpleasant things. All that ancient advice about enduring the bitterest hardships to rise above others, about heaven bestowing a great responsibility upon a person only after tempering their will with suffering.

But all of that seemed like utter bullshit.

All just excuses made up by miserable people.

Why me?

Why is it that I've tried so hard to make my life better, yet I'm about to lose the very thing I fought so hard to have?

Am I destined to live a lonely life, and is Sheng Yangkui destined to meet a tragic end from birth?

A surge of indignation suddenly rose in Wen Xinghuo. Her calm, steady heart finally shattered from this pain.

Because she had received special affection, she wanted to hold onto it.

To hell with it.

She said to Xi Mingguang with resounding conviction, "The Third Princess is the proof."

I will not kill the person I love most.

I want her to lie in my arms, whole and complete, to be with me for lifetime after lifetime.

Being a hero is too lonely. I'd rather not be one.

Ling Xun and Xi Shuang were lying in a rest cabin, both of them quite badly injured.

After drinking a supplement, their consciousness had at least cleared up a little.

When Xi Shuang woke up, she saw Ling Xun replying to a message.

She asked, "Who are you chatting with? Your expression is so…"

Ling Xun's face was still very pale, but it wasn't the deathly weakness Xi Shuang remembered.

Ling Xun: "So what?"

Her gaze shifted to her cousin. Xi Shuang was completely exhausted and had slept for two straight days.

Xi Shuang: "What, found a new target?"

Ling Xun: "What target? It's Xuan Ping. She's asking me how Yueshan is doing."

Xi Shuang let out a sound of understanding, then sighed. "I heard she and Mu Lai ran into danger too. Mu Lai almost kicked the bucket."

This Zerg Tide was very strange, appearing almost simultaneously and randomly on various planets.

The students on this practical training were the unluckiest. They thought the safety factor was high, but now it seems they're lucky just to be alive.

Ling Xun: "Xuan Ping was injured too, but it's not too serious."

Xi Shuang: "What's going to happen with Yueshan and Zhoumeng? They've just disappeared…"

She furrowed her brow with worry, but Ling Xun just smiled. "I don't think it's anything major. After all, Senior Xi looked so reassuring back then."

Xi Shuang still felt uneasy. Even though Xi Zhoumeng was reliable and had even turned into an Alpha—an S+ Alpha at that—Ah, even after waking up, I still can't accept that the goddess I like is an Alpha who's even more awesome than me.

Ling Xun: "Xuan Ping said they might have fallen into a Folded Space. She knows so much. She really lives up to her reputation as a first-year student chosen for Dr. Duan's research lab."

Xi Shuang nodded. "That's possible. That's what happened to me back then, and Zhoumeng was the one who saved me."

Ling Xun: "Then could Senior Xi have gone in on purpose?"

Xi Shuang felt even more creeped out. She leaned over to look at Ling Xun's comm-link.

Just then, Xuan Ping sent a file.

The research lab's latest report: time compression in Folded Space.

Xi Shuang: "What do we do? I think this is even more terrifying. Are we characters in some kind of movie?"

But Ling Xun laughed. "What's so scary about that? Anyway, you and I are still alive. That's already a great outcome."

Xi Shuang: "If you think about it that way, does this count as a honeymoon for Zhoumeng and Yueshan?"

Chi Yueshan didn't feel like this was a honeymoon at all. It was mainly because being stuck in the hospital all the time was terribly boring, even if she was with Xi Zhoumeng.

After just a few days, she couldn't stand being in the hospital anymore and proposed going back to the little restaurant.

She then made a demand of Xi Zhoumeng: "You're coming with me. You can do your design work anywhere, anyway."

Xi Zhoumeng readily agreed. "Alright. Where will we live?"

Chi Yueshan: "Let's rent another place. Can we only share wealth and not…"

Xi Zhoumeng, terrified she might suddenly get sad and punch her own stomach, could only nod in agony.

She thought, This girl better not make me live in one of those places she used to live in, the kind where you can't even turn over. I refuse.

But Chi Yueshan seemed to have read her mind. Just as Xi Zhoumeng was about to get creeped out by her stare, she asked with a smile, "Are you lying to me?"

Xi Zhoumeng: "What?"

Chi Yueshan: "You just said you'd be wherever I am. Are you going back on your word already?"

Xi Zhoumeng: "Didn't I just nod?"

Chi Yueshan: "But your face is screaming reluctance."

She was being relentless. Xi Zhoumeng took a deep breath. "I don't want to live somewhere too shabby."

Chi Yueshan suddenly let out a "Waaah" as if she were about to cry.

Xi Zhoumeng: "Don't make that sound if you can't actually cry, Chi Yueshan. It's not like I don't know what you're like."

She had a "what can I do with you" expression, but her tone was familiarly intimate. "You only cry in bed."

Chi Yueshan really wanted to punch her, but she couldn't land a hit because Xi Zhoumeng had moved away.

She huffed. "What's the matter? Don't you like it?"

Xi Zhoumeng: "Yes, I like it."

"So even though we're not short on money, I have to suffer with you. I guess I'm just fated to follow you, for better or for worse."

Chi Yueshan: So dramatic. The child absolutely, absolutely cannot take after her.

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