First Interstellar Guide Chapter 79: True or False President

Chapter 79: True or False President

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

President Harrison’s family has been in politics for generations, producing three presidents. The first president took office in the early days of the federation when the situation was chaotic. His term was only four years, as he was persecuted by hostile politicians. The second president had the longest term, suppressing the Sentinel rebellion 200 years ago, and was Harrison’s great-grandfather. He was also highly praised and had a high approval rating among all presidents, serving for 16 years.

Harrison became president eight years ago. Federal presidential elections are held every four years, and he has been re-elected for two terms already. If he wants to emulate his great-grandfather, who served four terms, he must surpass his strongest opponent in this year’s election, the S-class Sentinel from the other party, Mike Bartlett.

Yu Ran and Lu Zexuan didn’t understand the political game between these politicians, and they knew even less about that powerful competitor.

They only knew that during Harrison’s eight years in office, the federation had been peaceful and stable. The president often visited remote star systems, helping ordinary humans who had not evolved. During his tenure, the employment and birth rates of ordinary people had significantly improved.

However, because ordinary humans hadn’t evolved any superpowers and were considered the “lowest level” of society, their votes would only count for 10% in the end. This was a rule set since the establishment of the federation. Therefore, the key to the presidential election was still to win over the votes of the evolved.

Harrison’s competitor was a Sentinel. Guides accounted for less than 5% among the evolved, while Sentinels made up 25%. Due to the large number of Sentinels joining the military, the four major legions were the main base of the Sentinels. If that competitor, Mike Bartlett, could attract too many votes from Sentinels, it would be very disadvantageous for Harrison’s re-election.

Perhaps, this was the motive behind his alliance with the Dark Night Organization, to control the high-ranking Sentinels? As long as he controlled the four major legions and got the votes of the Sentinels in this year’s election, he would secure victory.

Yu Ran looked at the kindly smiling old man in front of him and asked, “You personally meet us, is there an important task to assign?”

President Harrison asked, “Professor Morvi, you should have already met him, right?”

Yu Ran nodded, “Yes, I met him on Planet B73.”

Harrison said, “Did he mention to you the great plan to renew humanity?”

Renewing humanity? They really know how to flatter themselves.

Yu Ran sneered inwardly but remained composed on the surface, saying, “Professor mentioned some experiments regarding Sentinels. However, I’m not a researcher and don’t understand much about drug experiments. All I know is that Sentinels who are prone to berserk are a burden to human society.”

Harrison pointed to his head and said with a smile, “Exactly. Limb evolution is not important for humans; the brain is the key, and guides are the flawless evolved. Our mental communication is efficient and rapid, with excellent thinking and memory abilities, which is the advantage that distinguishes humans from lower beings. As for combat power, I believe humans can rely on advanced technology weapons to completely replace Sentinels with developed limbs.”

Yu Ran agreed, “Yes. What’s the use of physical evolution to the extreme? A single blast and they’re dead anyway.”

This statement made President Harrison squint his eyes involuntarily, “You’re quite… an interesting star pirate.”

Yu Ran smiled brightly, “Thank you for the compliment, Mr. President.”

Harrison said, “I won’t beat around the bush. Currently, the Central Academy of Sciences fully supports me, and someone has infiltrated the Guide Association’s high ranks, but convincing the chairman isn’t that easy. Among the four major legions, the Sun Legion is on my side. Now, we also control the Eagle Legion.” He paused and continued, “In the second half of the year, I will start a tour to attract votes. The current support is not enough to ensure my victory in the upcoming election. So, it’s best to attract the votes of another legion’s Sentinels.”

Indeed, to secure re-election in the presidential election, he supported the Dark Night Organization’s “research plan” and controlled the Sentinels to become their puppets.

With Eagle Legion’s Lu Tingyu “sacrificed,” the new legion commander Lu Zexuan had already been “controlled.” If Lu Zexuan cast his vote for President Harrison first, most of the other soldiers of the Eagle Legion would follow suit and vote for President Harrison.

The Sun Legion had already sided with them, leaving only the Snow Leopard Legion and the Starlight Legion. As long as they attracted one of them, they would have a 3:1 advantage in the military’s Sentinel votes.

As Sentinels outnumbered Guides by several times, this way, Harrison’s re-election would be assured.

Yu Ran curiously asked, “Do you want to attract the Snow Leopard Legion or the Starlight Legion?”

Harrison said, “The Snow Leopard Legion’s base is in the remote Serpens Constellation, and their legion commander is indifferent and unsociable. He didn’t even attend General Lu’s funeral. It’s too difficult to control him by going to their base. But as for the Starlight Legion, General Xie is young and ambitious. She has only been the legion commander for five and a half years, and she’s currently on the capital star.”

Yu Ran’s heart tightened slightly, “Do you want to get rid of her?”

Harrison shook his head, “There’s no need for that. In this generation of the Xie family, there’s only Xie Chen, a S-class Sentinel left. If we get rid of her, the Starlight Legion will be leaderless and will surely fall into chaos, which is not conducive to us controlling the situation.”

Yu Ran followed his words, “So, it’s better to control General Xie like controlling Lu Zexuan. Make her listen to us?”

Harrison smiled slightly, “You’re smart. No wonder Morvi likes you so much and wants to take you as his disciple.”

Yu Ran glanced at the expressionless Lu Zexuan beside him and said, “The task of controlling General Xie might as well be given to me. After all, I have experience controlling an S-class Sentinel… However, I don’t know General Xie and it’s difficult to approach her slowly and feed her drugs.”

Harrison said, “That’s not a problem. Professor Morvi has improved the formula of the drug. There’s no need to gradually increase the dosage like before. This time, as long as a pill is dissolved in water and General Xie drinks it, she will immediately go berserk. Before she completely goes berserk, destroy her mental landscape and capture her spirit body, and we can control her the same way.”

Yu Ran was speechless. A single pill that instantly triggers Sentinel berserk… their research is simply monstrous.

The thought of Auntie being targeted by them long ago made Yu Ran’s heart tighten. He quickly agreed, “Alright, I’ll handle the task of controlling General Xie. But since she doesn’t know me, she won’t drink the water I offer. Who will handle the drugging?”

Harrison replied, “We have people around her. I will take care of this. You go back and wait for my message.”

The president waved his hand, and Rong Yingying came over, giving Yu Ran and Lu Zexuan two tranquilizers, making them fall asleep again.

***

When they woke up, they were in the familiar hovercar, heading towards the White Tower. They bid farewell to Rong Yingying at the entrance of the White Tower and returned to their dormitory side by side.

In his mind, Yu Ran asked, “Any suspicions?”

Lu Zexuan replied, “I carefully observed the president. The president we saw at the funeral had a ring finger on his left hand that was 1 centimeter shorter than his index finger. Today’s president had only a 0.5-centimeter difference between his ring finger and index finger on his left hand.”

The Sentinel’s sharp vision was more precise than a measuring ruler. A 0.5-centimeter difference in finger length, a flaw that most people couldn’t see with the naked eye, was apparent to Lu Zexuan. People wouldn’t deliberately observe someone’s fingers, as everyone’s hands were different. But Lu Zexuan and Yu Ran wouldn’t overlook any detail.

One finger, a 0.5-centimeter difference. It was this insignificant difference that made them realize something was wrong.

Yu Ran frowned, “His finger couldn’t have suddenly grown 0.5 centimeters in just a week— the president we saw at the funeral and the one we saw today at the Dark Night Organization aren’t the same person.”

Lu Zexuan was puzzled, “So, there are two presidents, one real and one fake?”

At first, Yu Ran thought that President Harrison and Professor Morvi teamed up. The president wanted to win re-election and needed the votes of the Sentinels, while Morvi was a mad scientist who wanted to conduct experiments to control Sentinels. Thus, the two collaborated through the infiltration and planning of the Dark Night Organization, attracting the Sun Legion, controlling the Eagle Legion, and were about to target the Starlight Legion.

The president provided Morvi with the environment and authority to continue his research, and Morvi helped the president develop drugs to control Sentinels. Meanwhile, the president promised many benefits to people like Adeline, the head of the Chamber of Commerce, and gathered them in the Dark Night Organization to follow his orders.

Everything seemed reasonable, and the logic was very clear and complete. If they hadn’t been cautious enough, they would have almost believed this most logical deduction.

Now, after careful observation and deliberation, they had found many doubts.

First, Morvi, in the eyes of outsiders, had always been a healing guide with a spirit body of a porpoise. However, when he suddenly tested Yu Ran on Base B73, he displayed powerful S+ attack power.

Second, President Harrison was two people. The president they saw at the funeral and the one they saw today at the Dark Night Organization were not the same person. Although they looked exactly alike, the slight difference in finger length was seen through by Lu Zexuan’s sharp eyes.

There were two possibilities. First, the president had a body double who looked exactly like him to perform some dangerous tasks for him. After all, the president often couldn’t appear in person, so having a body double was understandable. The second possibility—this president was fake, a puppet controlled by the Dark Night Organization.

If that was the case, the Professor Morvi they saw at Base B73 might also be fake.

In his mind, Yu Ran said, “Even the most advanced cosmetic surgery couldn’t change height, physique, or even voice to be exactly the same. If you hadn’t noticed these details, 99% of people wouldn’t be able to tell if President Harrison was real or fake.”

Lu Zexuan asked, “Could it be an absolutely flawless disguise ability?”

Yu Ran frantically searched for information in his mind. Most Sentinels’ disguise abilities were spirit bodies like chameleons or geckos, which could blend with the surrounding environment. For example, Tang Ce could blend with the ceiling, making it impossible for people to notice. These types of invisible Sentinels couldn’t completely change their appearance or even their voice.

Guides’ disguise abilities, like spirit bodies such as orchid mantises, ladybugs, and Yu Ran’s nine-tailed fox, could eliminate their presence through mental barriers, making it impossible for people to notice them.

Guides could also use temporary mental suggestions to make people think they were someone else. For example, Yu Ran could suggest to Lu Zexuan right now, “I am Lu Cheng’an,” and Lu Zexuan would mistake him for his cousin.

However, this kind of mental suggestion lasted for a very short time, and it was only effective when the other person’s mental energy was lower than one’s own. If they were at the same level or higher, the suggestion would be ineffective.

The president could appear for a long time, engage in fluent conversation with Yu Ran, and Yu Ran hadn’t suffered any mental attacks… This is clearly not a simple mental suggestion but a perfect “disguise” ability. A spirit body capable of perfect disguise…

Yu Ran returned to the memory world sealed beneath the lake, feeling that there might be some answers there.

Before the age of 13, when he wasn’t old enough to study at the Sanctuary and his parents were busy with work, Yu Ran would stay in his father’s study reading books. Professor Qin Luo loved reading, and his study contained thousands of books covering a wide range of topics from astronomy and geography to history, philosophy, and biotechnology.

Yu Ran was exceptionally bright and had an excellent memory. He had read hundreds of his father’s books since childhood and still remembered their contents.

However, there was a period of memory that seemed to inexplicably become blurry. What was it? What had he seen? It seemed to be some kind of terrifying creature…

Yu Ran closed his eyes, carefully recalling. Within his mental landscape, memories surged in the underwater palace. Many fragmented memories were stirred up, and he swiftly roamed through the memory world. Suddenly, it was as if he had caught something, and a familiar fragment flashed through his mind.

“What are you looking at, Ranran?”

“Dad, the description of the spirit bodies in this book is very interesting.”

“This is a book I locked up. How did you open it?”

“I saw you input the password that day, so I remembered the eight digits. Why did you lock up this book?”

“The spirit bodies recorded here are species that became extinct during human evolution.”

“They became extinct? But I clearly saw in TV dramas that some Sentinels and guides have octopus spirit bodies!”

“That’s different. Ordinary octopuses still exist. What you saw is a mimic octopus, a very cunning marine creature.”

—The mimic octopus.

A marine creature with numerous tentacles that had become extinct many years ago. It had tens of thousands of chromatophores on its body, allowing it to change shape and color at will. It was the ultimate master of disguise in the natural world.