Chapter 49: Returning
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Lu Zexuan walked down the ramp of the starship with Yu Ran. The familiar surroundings reminded him of the scene when he first met Yu Ran in Normaâthe early morning of the first day of the year 500 of the Star Calendar. The Eagle Special Forces received an urgent mission to rescue in Norma Planet B73, and he saved the injured Yu Ran in the collapsed basement.
Upon careful reflection now, the timing of rescuing Yu Ran seemed too coincidental. Yu Ran claimed to have “just awakened last month, and hadn’t had time to register with the association.” In fact, Yu Ran’s arrival in Norma was evidently for a mission, and the identity of “Yu Ran” was definitely forged.
The two walked along the streets of the safe zone.
Lu Zexuan remained silent, wanting to see what Yu Ran’s excuse for “going home” was all about.
It was dinner time, and there were quite a few pedestrians on the street. Yu Ran looked around and sighed, “I didn’t expect such big changes after leaving for half a year. The destroyed houses have all been rebuilt.” He pointed to a residential area ahead and smiled, “That’s where I used to live. They’ve built a new building there.”
Lu Zexuan was speechless. Are you getting addicted to acting?
Lu Zexuan reluctantly agreed, “Hmm, the Federation government has spent a lot of money rebuilding the disaster area, with dedicated officials overseeing it, and the garrison has also been replaced. Your family and friends will be very safe. You can rest assured.”
As they were talking, a group of sentinels in brown military uniforms walked towards them from the end of the street.
They were the garrison responsible for patrolling. Seeing Lu Zexuan and Yu Ran, the leader, a young captain, was taken aback for a moment, then saluted crisply, “General!”
He didn’t recognize Lu Zexuan, but he recognized the insignia on Lu Zexuan’s shoulderâthis was a major general, a rank much higher than his.
Lu Zexuan returned the salute and said, “I’m Lu Zexuan from the Eagle Special Forces. We need to rest here for two days.”
The Eagle Starship had a pass for the entire Federation star system. In emergencies, they could land without reporting to the local garrison. The sentinel realized this and immediately respectfully said, “Yes, General, I’ll report to Major General Milo!”
Lu Zexuan said, “No need. We’ll rest on the starship and leave in two days. You can go about your business.”
The sentinel looked at the two of them with confusion, saluted again, and then turned to continue patrolling.
Did we act convincingly just now? Lu Zexuanâs gaze asked as he looked at Yu Ran.
Yu Ran gave him a confident look, seeming to say: Teaching the young ones well.
Lu Zexuan looked away and said, “Where else do you want to go?”
Yu Ran thought for a moment and said, “Let’s go check out the cake shop over there.”
Lu Zexuan nodded and followed Yu Ran.
As they approached the cake shop where they first met, they found that it had been demolished and rebuilt as a convenience store. At this moment, the store owner was dozing off in his seat. Yu Ran stood at the entrance of the convenience store with a look of disappointment, “My parents are no longer here, and the cake shop is gone…”
Lu Zexuan gently put his arm around Yu Ran’s shoulder and said softly, “It’s okay, I’ll protect you from now on.”
The store owner was awakened by the noise, rubbed his eyes, and smiled, “Oh, Ranran, you’re back?”
Lu Zexuan felt that his smile was somewhat strange?
Yu Ran said, “Yes, I came back to see. Uncle Liu, you opened a store here?”
The middle-aged man smiled and said, “Yes, the location is good. There’s a mining company in front, and many people pass by every day. After I received the compensation, I opened this store to make a living. Ah, it’s far worse than the business of your family’s cake shop back then.”
Yu Ran said, “Take it easy, business will pick up.”
The middle-aged man looked at the handsome officer next to Yu Ran and asked curiously, “Who is this?”
Yu Ran’s cheeks turned slightly red as he introduced, “He is my boyfriend, always taking care of me.”
Lu Zexuan was speechless. Boyfriend? How come I didn’t know?
The middle-aged man exclaimed excitedly, “That’s wonderful! Your parents in the afterlife must be very pleased!”
Yu Ran smiled and scratched his head, “Well, Uncle Liu, you must be busy, I’ll go over there and take a look.”
Lu Zexuan could hardly contain his expression. The way Yu Ran said “heâs my boyfriend” seemed so natural, and his blush came so quickly. If it weren’t for knowing that this Boss was a superb actor, Lu Zexuan would have almost believed it.
Following Yu Ran for a long distance, Lu Zexuan finally lowered his voice, “What exactly are you up to?”
Yu Ran replied, “I want to go and see the security perimeter. Has the defense network here been completely renovated?”
Lu Zexuan said, “It should have been. I’ll accompany you.”
There was an electromagnetic defense network around the perimeter of the safety zone, a net made of special metal. When other species invaded, it would immediately activate a strong electric current, stunning them with a special magnetic field and electric shock.
Lu Zexuan stopped in front of the defense network and turned to look at Yu Ran. After all, this was the outer perimeter of the safety zone, rarely visited by people, and no one could be seen within a kilometer.
Yu Ran reached out with mental tendrils, touching Lu Zexuan’s forehead, and calmly said in his mind, “The sudden attack on Base B73 back then was not accidental but intentional. The defense network was deliberately sabotaged, allowing them to enter.”
No wonder he felt something was off when he led the Eagle Special Forces for the rescue. Those monsters seemed to receive some instructions, charging recklessly towards the human base. Lu Zexuan killed the leader, and they immediately retreated.
Lu Zexuan frowned, “Someone is controlling them?”
Yu Ran nodded and looked at Lu Zexuan, asking, “Have you heard of the contaminated area 13 of Norma?”
Lu Zexuan said, “I have. There’s a plant called ‘Bloodthirsty Flower’ there, which attacks and devours nearby life forms. The venom released by its petals is highly corrosive. Back then, to occupy this planet, humans fought against these plants, resulting in heavy casualties…” At this point, Lu Zexuan suddenly paused, “Is there something wrong with these plants?”
Yu Ran looked into Lu Zexuan’s eyes and said slowly, “What they release is not corrosive venom but a neurotoxin that can stimulate the senses of sentinels and unleash their potential.”
Lu Zexuan exclaimed in surprise, “Similar to… a stimulant?”
Yu Ran turned his head to look into the distance, where traces of red flowers could be vaguely seen in his field of vision. He whispered in Lu Zexuan’s mind, “Almost. When this special neurotoxin was discovered, some believed that it could be used to develop a drug that would enhance the combat capabilities of sentinels in critical moments. So, they extracted the sap of the Bloodthirsty Flower and conducted experiments at the Sentinel Academy. The first batch of subjects for the experiment were orphans from the Sentinel Academy, only a dozen or so. At first, the experiment went smoothly, and all the sentinels injected with the drug made significant progress in their abilities, with some evolving from C-class to A-class, and from A-class to S-class. But later… some sentinels suddenly went berserk, and the madness spread like a plague.” Recalling the horrors of the past, Yu Ran gently closed his eyes and said, “Those dozen or so children all mutated into monsters.”
Lu Zexuan was speechless. It’s hard to imagine how insane the experiments were back then!
Yu Ran continued, “After the side effects of the drug were discovered, the experiment was immediately halted, and the data was sealed in the library of the Sentinel Academy, and the drug was completely destroyed. But… there was a mad scientist who suddenly disappeared.”
Lu Zexuan narrowed his eyes slightly, “Disappeared? Did he secretly take the data with him?”
Yu Ran said, “Yes, he fled the capital star with the data, and the federal government issued a level one arrest warrant for him. But not long after, his body was found, only the data was missing. Later, a secret faction restarted the experiment in secret and improved the methods, researching a new type of hallucinogen for mental control. The creatures you saw rushing into the base earlier were controlled by this hallucinogen.”
As Lu Zexuan listened to Yu Ran’s narration, his doubts were finally explainedâno wonder those animals’ behavior was so strange; someone was manipulating them behind the scenes!
Yu Ran continued, “This Norma Planet B73 is one of the secret experimental bases of the Dark Night Organization. Many residents on this planet have been controlled by the hallucinogen. Including the convenience store owner you just saw, he doesn’t actually know me, but when he sees me, his brain automatically runs a program that commands and calls out my name.”
Thinking of the smile of the convenience store uncle just now, Lu Zexuan felt a chill down his spine.
Seeing Yu Ran automatically smiling and greeting when he clearly didn’t know him… It was like watching a robot controlled by a program.
So, the cousin, aunt, and classmates who greeted Yu Ran at the hospital and on the space station… Were they all being controlled by the hallucinogen? Their brains were implanted with a command to automatically recognize Yu Ran and engage in conversations like an “intelligent AI Q&A.” So, to outsiders, Yu Ran’s identity and background seemed so convincing.
“These controlled individuals are like monitors. They know everything about the movements on Planet B73,” Yu Ran said.
Lu Zexuan clenched his fists tightly. “So, your identity as Yu Ran was fabricated by them?”
“Exactly. They helped me fabricate this ‘just awakened little guide’ identity to facilitate my infiltration into the federal ranks, to eliminate some people who might leak secrets, and to steal the sealed data from the library,” Yu Ran replied.
Lu Zexuan was speechless. All the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
Yu Ran’s appearance at Base B73 was not to carry out a mission assigned by the Starlight Legion but to help the Dark Night Organization eliminate some people who knew secretsâLeonard, Kelt, and Mark, the three sentinels who died mysteriously. Perhaps they accidentally discovered some secrets and were silenced by the organization.
Yu Ran later infiltrated the Sanctuary, the capital star, under the guise of a “newbie guide,” during the school opening ceremony, to steal data from the Sentinel Academy. This was also done for the Dark Night Organization. The data taken might have been incomplete, and they needed the remaining data. Yu Ran, posing as an unsuspecting guide, was the perfect candidate to infiltrate the Sentinel Academy and steal the data.
As Lu Zexuan sorted through the clues and logic in his mind, he finally analyzed a terrifying truth. Yu Ran was actually a double agent! His true identity was an undercover agent sent by the Starlight Legion into the Dark Night Organization to investigate the truth behind the complete annihilation of the Legion’s reconnaissance camp five years ago. However, he was very capable, and after being noticed by the organization, they fabricated a “newbie guide” identity for him and sent him undercover within the federation.
In a twist, Yu Ran had come back to his side.
Lu Zexuan looked at the person in front of him with a complex expression, the voice in his mind somber and hoarse, “Are you here now because… I’ve become their next target?”
“You’re very smart. Indeed, they have targeted you,” Yu Ran commended.
Lu Zexuan felt a chill down his spine. If Yu Ran was indeed a spy sent by the Dark Night Organization, with his trust in Yu Ran, he would have died countless times already. The Dark Night Organization probably didn’t expect that Yu Ran was actually a spy sent by the Starlight Legion to investigate them.
Juggling between two factions, Yu Ran’s life was on a thin thread. No wonder his acting skills were so outstanding, capable of deceiving even the most vigilant. He must be struggling a lot, every step fraught with danger. Even sleeping, he probably had to remain vigilant.
Lu Zexuan took a deep breath. “You didn’t kill me but saved me instead. Why?”
“Because they don’t want you dead; they want me to control you, and through you, control the entire Eagle Legion,” Yu Ran explained.
Eagle Legion? The Dark Night Organization was ambitious. Did they want to incite rebellion and control the entire federal government?
The frightening conjecture made Lu Zexuan’s expression even more serious, and he clenched his fists tighter.
Seeing his struggle, Yu Ran looked at him earnestly. “Lu Zexuan, this is where you saved me initially, and it’s also where I started impersonating. I brought you back here today to tell you the truth, hoping that we can start anew.” He spoke slowly, every word deliberate. “We can actually
YR is a great actor, strategist and intelligent. I hope that from now on the two of them can trust each other without mistrust. Thanks for the chapter!
Gripping stuff. These 2 are going to be a fearsome duo!
Thank you both for the chapter.
We can actually what?! Ahhhh, cliffhangers đ”