First Interstellar Guide Chapter 78: Reunion

Chapter 78: Reunion

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Three days ago, on the Red Spider Planet. A black starship descended from the sky with a thunderous roar. Little spiders flew over eagerly to check, reporting back to the queen one after another.

“Mother, another human thing has fallen!”

“It seems to be an airship, or a starship?”

“Is it sent by Ranran?”

“Ranran has sent so many people to us!”

The Spider Queen said gently, “Understood. Since it’s sent by Ranran, don’t scare them.”

A man crawled out of the starship, accompanied by two guards. The guards nervously asked, “General, are you alright?”

Lu Tingyu waved his hand, “I’m fine. Quick, find that spaceship!”

When he arrived at the designated location, he saw a small spaceship parked there. Through the spaceship’s porthole, he could clearly see a face—it was the face of his nephew Lu Cheng’an, who was supposed to have “sacrificed” long ago!

Lu Tingyu wanted to rescue his nephew, but as they approached the spaceship, it suddenly activated its self-destruct sequence. With a deafening roar, a dazzling white light swept over the starship like a giant wave, dragging both the starship and the spaceship into a dark cosmic wormhole.

At the moment of entering the wormhole, the explosion suddenly stopped. Lu Tingyu realized that the self-destruct device had been tampered with; the sound was loud, but the actual effect was minimal. It only blackened the surface of the starship. Obviously, it was staged for someone else to see.

Relieved, Lu Tingyu immediately activated the starship’s defense shield. After a roller-coaster-like ride for about fifteen minutes, the starship finally crashed onto this unfamiliar planet. Since the defense shield had been activated in advance, the starship was undamaged. He was worried about Lu Cheng’an’s situation and hastily sent his subordinates to find the spaceship.

In no time, the two of them reported back, “General, we found it!”

Lu Tingyu quickly walked towards the direction of the sound and indeed saw a small spaceship, also with its defense shield activated, falling down. He opened the spaceship’s hatch—only to see a “face-carved” monster chained up and locked in a container. His face was still the same as Lu Tingyu remembered, but his pupils were pitch black, and his body had completely twisted.

Lu Tingyu’s eyes almost burst with anger. “Cheng’an! How could you end up like this?”

Lu Cheng’an didn’t react at all. Seeing his beloved nephew turn into this, Lu Tingyu almost crushed his fist. He quickly realized that Zexuan and Yu Ran had rescued his cousin. Obviously, Lu Cheng’an’s current appearance was closely related to the Dark Night Organization!

Lu Tingyu gritted his teeth in hatred, “These inhuman beasts! Were they experimenting on Cheng’an?”

The two guards trembled with fear and asked, “General, how should we deal with this… Major General Lu Cheng’an?”

Lu Tingyu said calmly, “Don’t touch him for now! He has completely mutated and lost his human consciousness. If we release him, and he attacks us, it could end up badly for both sides. Let him stay in the container for now, and we’ll figure out what to do later.”

Both guards nodded in agreement, “Yes.”

At that moment, there was a simultaneous exclamation from behind, “General Lu?”

Lu Tingyu turned around, locking eyes with two familiar yet unfamiliar pairs—Zhao Feng and Zhao Quan, the twin brothers. These brothers had been his close guards for many years, and he trusted them deeply. They had been recently sent to protect Lu Zexuan.

Zhao Feng saluted excitedly, “General, what are you doing here?”

Lu Tingyu pointed to the sky, “Fell from the wormhole.”

Zhao Feng was stunned, “Then… Major General Lu Cheng’an?”

Lu Tingyu said, “He’s fine. Are all of your Eagle Special Forces here?”

The brothers exchanged a glance and said, “Except for Major General Lu, Yu Ran, and Lu Xiaolong, all of our comrades are here.”

As they spoke, there was another sound of footsteps behind them. A gentle voice came, “Zhao Feng, why did it take you so long to gather some mushrooms?”

Before the brothers could speak, the footsteps suddenly stopped. The person who came was Mohr. He stood in the distance, locking eyes with a familiar yet unfamiliar pair through the spaceship’s porthole. That face haunted him, still handsome and rugged. However, the eyes that used to smile were now devoid of any expression, staring at him with pitch-black pupils, as if they were strangers.

Mohr stood frozen, trembling. Is… is that Lu Cheng’an? Is it really him? Mohr didn’t dare to take another step forward, afraid that all of this was just a dream, and he would wake up if he took another step.

Lu Tingyu saw Mohr and waved to him, whispering, “Mohr, come here, look at your former comrade.”

Mohr hesitated for a moment before stiffly moving forward. Every step he took was cautious, afraid that the sound of his footsteps would startle the other person. Despite the short distance of just over ten meters, it felt like an eternity as his body trembled throughout.

—Until he reached the cabin and saw the mutated golden eagle tightly controlled by chains. In that moment, Mohr felt like his heart was being crushed, making it difficult to breathe! Actually, when he saw Lu Cheng’an’s emotionless black eyes, he had a bad feeling. But witnessing his distorted appearance up close filled him with immense pain and sorrow.

That once sunny and confident young general, how many cruel tribulations had he endured to become the monster before them!

Seeing Mohr trembling, Lu Tingyu sighed softly, saying, “Back then, we all thought he was dead and even held a funeral for him. But now it seems that he mutated back then and was captured by those insane ‘scientists’ for research.”

As Mohr listened to Lu Tingyu’s words, he felt his heart wrenching with pain. Captured for research? The cruel word sent shivers down his spine. Mohr reached out tremblingly and gently touched Lu Cheng’an’s face, softly and tenderly calling out, “Lu Cheng’an… Cheng ge, can you hear me?”

Lu Cheng’an’s eyelids twitched slightly, but his face remained expressionless.

Mohr’s eyes reddened slightly, tears blurring his vision. He didn’t mind Lu Cheng’an’s grotesque appearance as he hugged the golden eagle tightly. Even his white deer circled around the eagle, distressed. The people around watched this scene, exchanging bewildered looks.

Lu Tingyu patted Mohr’s shoulder and said, “He has mutated and can’t hear what you’re saying. But… at least he’s alive. Maybe there’s hope for him to regain consciousness in the future.”

The old general glanced around at the scene and calmly said, “Only a few of us know that Cheng’an is alive and mutated. Don’t let this information leak out. Zhao Feng, Zhao Quan, carry the container away and hide it in a secluded place.”

The brothers nodded in unison, “Yes.”

Mohr gently released Lu Cheng’an—what General Lu said was right, he had mutated and even if he cried and hugged him all day, there would be no response. It was better to hide him away and take care of him. In the future, if there was hope for him to recover, Mohr was willing to pay any price. Zhao Feng and Zhao Quan carried the container and secretly hid the mutated golden eagle in a distant cave.

Only then did Lu Tingyu say, “Gather the members of the Special Forces, I have something to say.”

Mohr accompanied General Lu to the Special Forces base. In these past few days, they had adapted to life on the Red Spider Planet. They had cut some branches and leaves to build many small shelters for shelter from the rain. They also laid down dried wild grass as blankets inside the houses.

Next to the small shelters were several sources of clear water collected with bamboo tubes, as well as wild fruits and mushrooms they had picked. With Mohr in charge of arranging daily tasks, the life of over fifty people in this “wild collective camping” was orderly.

Seeing Lu Tingyu’s arrival, everyone quickly stood up in excitement, forming three rows and saluting in unison, “General Lu!”

Lu Tingyu returned the salute and said, “Don’t get too excited, I’m not here to take you back… I’m here to join you.”

Everyone was extremely confused. 

Lu Tingyu rolled up his sleeves and chuckled, “You don’t need to know too much about the specific reasons. Just follow my instructions, and when it’s time to take you back, we’ll go back naturally. For now, just stay here peacefully.” He turned around to inspect everyone’s storage baskets and asked, “What do you usually eat? Are the fruits on this planet delicious?”

Everyone was speechless.

It was said that General Lu had cultivated a vegetable garden at home and even raised chickens and fish. He had probably planned his retirement life early on. Wouldn’t he enjoy camping on this strange planet? Hopefully, he won’t fall in love with this place and end up cultivating a vegetable garden here in the future.

Lu Tingyu quickly settled down on the Red Spider Planet, even building himself a house, indicating his intention to stay here permanently. Mohr took advantage of everyone’s distraction to grab a few fruits and sneakily went to see Lu Cheng’an.

Lu Tingyu watched his figure and turned a blind eye. As an elder, he had long seen that these two children had mutual affection for each other. It’s just that his nephew matured later and didn’t have time to confess before his sacrifice. After Cheng’an’s sacrifice, Mohr had remained single for many years. Now that Cheng’an had turned into a mutated being, yet Mohr still stayed by his side, he was truly a rare faithful person.

As an elder, all he hoped for was that whether it was Zexuan and Ranran or Cheng’an and Mohr, they could stay together carefree. Those behind-the-scenes manipulators must be thoroughly cleaned out. Only then could their descendants truly enjoy peaceful and stable days.

Lu Tingyu gently touched the token in his pocket.

In fact, this token was in two halves, and when combined, it formed a complete circle. Whenever Lu Zexuan used the token, Lu Tingyu would receive synchronized information. This was their father-son agreement. When Lu Zexuan gained the trust of the Dark Night Organization and needed his father’s help, Lu Tingyu would lead the Eagle Special Forces and the mysterious special operations team of the Lu family to reappear by Lu Zexuan’s side.

***

After the funeral, Jiao Shuo, unable to bear the blow of her husband’s death, applied for leave to return home and accompany her mother, and the leave was quickly approved. She left the capital star with several guards from the Eagle Legion.

Lu Zexuan also formally took office in the Eagle Legion. The young sentinel glanced lightly over the generals in the meeting room and said softly, “My father’s body is not yet cold, and I hurriedly took over as legion commander. There are many tasks that I am not very familiar with, and I hope that the seniors can help and support me more. If there is anything wrong, please don’t hesitate to criticize and correct me.” 

He was polite and humble in the face of his elders, calm and composed. After all, he was an S-class sentinel, powerful, and the only son of Lu Tingyu. It was reasonable for him to inherit the Eagle Legion, and everyone had no objections.

The crowd welcomed the new generation of legion commander with applause. With Lu Zexuan taking office, it was necessary for him to inspect the legion’s bases according to the rules, allowing the soldiers to get to know the highest leader of the legion.

Yu Ran also, as a family member, accompanied Lu Zexuan to inspect the various planetary bases of the Eagle Legion. After this round of inspections, a week quickly passed. When they returned to the capital star after the inspection, Rong Yingying appeared once again at the White Tower. Her appearance represented an assignment from the organization.

Yu Ran and Lu Zexuan got in the car together, and Rong Yingying handed them two tranquilizer injections. Yu Ran promptly injected the tranquilizer, and both of them quickly fell asleep.

When they woke up again, they saw a familiar face. This time, that face wasn’t wearing a bronze mask—his hair was gray, his expression serious, dressed in a neat gray suit. Seeing the two wake up, the old man rarely showed a smile on his face, “Second meeting, no need for introductions, right?”

His voice was very gentle.

Yu Ran was startled, pretending to be surprised, “Mr. President?”

The person who met them privately was President Harrison, whom they had just seen at the funeral a week ago.