First Interstellar Guide Chapter 82: Invitation to General Xie

Chapter 82: Invitation to General Xie

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

In mid-June, the campaign speeches of the two presidential candidates officially began. President Harrison appeared in public with a dozen bodyguards, and strict confidentiality measures were in place for his residence and itinerary during the campaign to prevent persecution from opponents – such caution was understandable.

Every time Lu Zexuan watched TV, he subconsciously looked at the president’s fingers. For several consecutive days, the TV showed an elderly man with gray hair, whose left ring finger was one centimeter shorter than his index finger.

Lu Zexuan remarked, “The person giving the campaign speeches is the same one we saw at the funeral. He should be the real president.”

During the funeral, many high-ranking sentinel guides were present at the cemetery, including Federal Marshal Qin Xiao and legion commanders from various legions. These individuals frequently met with the president. No matter how adept the Mimic Octopus was at impersonation, it wouldn’t dare to risk impersonating the president in front of so many people. At the time, in the dark, enclosed room, only Yu Ran and Lu Zexuan were present, making it easier for them to impersonate the president privately.

Yu Ran agreed, “The person at the funeral and the one giving recent speeches are the real president. The one from the Dark Night Organization is fake. Therefore, the Dark Night Organization is merely using the guise of the presidency to sway public opinion and hasn’t managed to fully control the Presidential Palace yet.” He paused, “The key now is to find the Mimic Octopus hiding in the shadows.”

Once that octopus was found, many problems would be resolved. Thinking about this, Yu Ran suddenly said, “By the way, how is Auntie doing lately?”

Lu Zexuan replied, “My mom has gone to my grandmother’s house. She’s probably helping with the vineyard there. She’s been busy with work for years, so it’s a good opportunity for her to take a break.”

After pondering for a moment, Yu Ran suggested, “When we get home tonight, let’s video call her.”

Back home, Lu Zexuan led Yu Ran to the soundproofed study on the second floor. Since his father’s “death,” Lu Zexuan had dismissed all the servants from the Lu family’s estate. There were only the two of them in the vast estate, eliminating concerns about eavesdropping.

Lu Zexuan dialed his mom’s communicator, and a familiar face appeared on the holographic screen.

Jiao Shuo had taken leave to take care of her mother, resting for a few days. She looked much better now. Seeing Lu Zexuan and Yu Ran, her gaze softened, and she asked, “Zexuan, how are you adjusting to being a legion commander?”

Lu Zexuan replied, “It’s alright. Anything I don’t know, the seniors patiently teach me.”

Jiao Shuo then looked at Yu Ran, “And Ranran? Have you been with Zexuan all this time? You must be tired.”

Yu Ran scratched his head and chuckled, “I can’t help much… By the way, Auntie, are you doing well over there?”

Jiao Shuo replied, “I’m fine. It’s rare to have this much free time.”

Yu Ran asked, “When Professor Morvi and President Ludwig treated you together, did you notice anything strange about your mental landscape?”

Jiao Shuo recalled carefully, “I was in a bad mood that day and didn’t realize what was happening. The negative shadows in my mental landscape were quickly purified.”

Yu Ran continued, “Auntie, considering the immense negative impact of the soul separation pain caused by thinking your sentinel had died, based on your years of experience treating sentinels, how long would it take to heal?”

Jiao Shuo replied, “If it were an S+ guide treating me, it might take half an hour. But at that time, they were two S+ guides working together, and I had never experienced such a dual treatment before, so it’s hard to say. They only took a few minutes to stabilize my emotions.” After a pause, Jiao Shuo looked puzzled, “Why do you ask?”

Yu Ran smiled and said, “I’m just curious about the abilities of S+ guides.”

Finally, Lu Zexuan understood – why Yu Ran wanted to verify these details with his mom.

At the time, when Morvi suggested treating Jiao Shuo, President Ludwig immediately followed suit. On the surface, they seemed to be unrelated. Initially, Lu Zexuan thought Morvi was testing his mother’s grief to see if it was genuine, and Ludwig noticed something amiss with Morvi, so he stepped in to monitor Morvi.

But now, he realized there was another possibility – Ludwig was covering for Morvi?

After ending the call with his mother, the two exchanged glances. Yu Ran carefully analyzed, “I can confirm that Morvi is an offensive-type guide, and his spirit body may be an orca; while Ludwig is a healing-type guide. He wasn’t monitoring Morvi but covering for him. Otherwise, Morvi’s limited healing abilities might have been exposed. With both of them working together, Ludwig took the lead in healing while Morvi assisted, which would indeed be more efficient.”

Memories surged in Yu Ran’s mind, and he suddenly remembered the scene when he was sealed by three guides at the age of thirteen.

The guides who sealed Yu Ran back then included Morvi, the Sanctuary’s Dean Xie Shiyi, and his father, Qin Luo. During the joint sealing process, Ludwig, as the president of the association, also watched the proceedings in the mental world.- He wasn’t just observing; back then, he was also secretly covering for Morvi.

Sensing Yu Ran’s memories, Lu Zexuan couldn’t help but ask, “Have you ever seen the president’s spirit body?”

Yu Ran shook his head, “No one has seen what his spirit body is.”

Qin Luo never summoned his spirit body in front of outsiders because his spirit body was a jellyfish. Once summoned, it might be associated with Marshal Qin Xiao, also a jellyfish.

As for the President of the Guide Association, Ludwig, he had never summoned his spirit body either. Maintaining a certain level of mystery as the association president made sense. Everyone assumed his spirit body was invisible. No one thought… his spirit body might be a terrifying creature that couldn’t be summoned at all. For example, an extinct mimic octopus!

Once this spirit body is summoned, it will surely cause a great stir. After all, the mimic octopus disappeared without a trace 200 years ago, so how could it suddenly reappear?

Lu Zexuan was puzzled, “Who exactly is this president of the guide association?”

Yu Ran shook his head and said, “I’m not sure. He has been the president of the guide association since I was very young. Over the years, his appearance hasn’t changed much. Some say he loves beauty and pays great attention to maintenance, getting facial corrective surgeries every few years.”

With today’s medical technology being able to regenerate limbs, let alone simple facial repairs.

If Ludwig really wanted to maintain his youthful appearance, he could indeed undergo facial treatments every year. But Lu Zexuan always felt it wasn’t that simple. He frowned and said, “Didn’t Morvi develop the regeneration treatment chamber over a decade ago?”

Yu Ran replied, “Thirteen years ago.”

Lu Zexuan continued, “But Ludwig’s face hasn’t changed in twenty years, has it?”

Thinking of that man with waist-length hair, handsome and elegant, for some reason, both of them felt a chill down their spines – a man whose appearance hadn’t changed in decades exuded an eerie vibe all over. What secrets lay behind him?

After a moment of silence, Yu Ran said, “We need to be careful with this president. Let’s see what instructions the fake president has.”

Last time they met, the fake president instructed Yu Ran to approach the Starlight Legion and mentioned that there were people sent by an organization around General Xie. Yu Ran was worried about his aunt’s current situation, but now she was being monitored every step by the Dark Night Organization, so it was impossible for him to meet his aunt privately.

He just hoped his aunt would be cautious like Zhu Tianyi and not casually eat things given by people around her.

…

At General Xie’s mansion, Xie Chen was sitting on the sofa flipping through an electronic album. There were many photos in the album, documenting the warm and harmonious times of their family.

Xie Chen lost her mother at a young age, and it was her sister and father who raised her. They say “an elder sister is like a mother,” and her relationship with Xie Xi was much deeper than that of ordinary siblings. So when Xie Xi passed away years ago, Xie Chen was deeply grieved, so much so that she almost lost consciousness, unable to cry even at the funeral.

Now, looking at the photos of her sister in military uniform, Xie Chen felt a pang of pain in her heart. Her trembling fingertips caressed the family portrait of her sister, herself, and their father, murmuring, “Sister, it’s been six years since you left.”

Suddenly, footsteps outside the door, a servant brought a bowl of hot porridge, softly saying, “General, it’s late, have some supper?”

Xie Chen put on a cold expression and said, “Leave it.”

The servant placed the porridge on the nearby table, glanced at her, then turned and left. Xie Chen stared at the album thoughtfully. After a moment, she suddenly got up, changed into casual clothes, and drove out alone.

The night grew darker. Xie Chen’s residence was already located in a secluded suburb, with no one in sight. Driving all the way, she soon arrived at the seaside. The North Sea of the capital star had vast and clean sandy beaches. During the day, there were many tourists, and at night, some young people who loved camping and barbecue would set up tents by the sea to enjoy the moonlight.

However, where Xie Chen went was not the nearby sea for people’s leisure. It was a deep-sea area separated by safety nets, marked with “Danger, Keep Out.” The hovercar, with its lights turned off, silently hovered above the ocean. Xie Chen simply pushed open the car door and leaped out—

At the moment, almost diving into the sea, her body suddenly transformed into a huge deep-sea black shark! The shark, tens of meters long with razor-sharp teeth, swam agilely in the sea, quickly diving into the depths—

The depths of the ocean were another world. Here, there were abundant corals, reefs, and various beautiful schools of fish. Xie Chen stopped in front of a red coral, then heard several voices in her ears, “General!”

It was the fish around her speaking. As soon as the words fell, several colorful and diverse fish suddenly transformed back into human forms.

—The secret unit of the Starlight Legion, composed of sentinel and guide oceanic spirit bodies. Although they didn’t have the ability to roam the deep sea for extended periods like Xie Chen, with the fish spirit body, as long as they cooperated with their spirit bodies, their masters could freely breathe underwater. The seabed was the designated meeting place for Xie Chen and them. No one could place a listening device underwater, so it was very safe for them here.

Xie Chen glanced at the group and said casually, “Time is limited, get to the point. How is the situation with the Investigation Division?”

A sentinel spoke up, “Yu Ran’s cousin, Rong Yingying, has gone missing. Chief Zhu suddenly called Yu Ran and Lu Zexuan in for questioning on June 10th, then let them go afterwards. He might suspect problems within the Investigation Division. These days, he’s been acting alone, not allowing anyone to follow him.”

Xie Chen nodded and looked at another person, “What about Morvi?”

The female guide said, “I’ve been keeping an eye on Morvi as you instructed. He often visits several places, including Norma Planet B73, Serpentis S113, and Aquila Planet T6. On May 27th, he went to Norma to search for new experimental materials. Coincidentally, Lu Zexuan and Yu Ran were also traveling on Norma that day. Lu Zexuan took Yu Ran back to visit his aunt.”

Xie Chen rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “Yu Ran? Has his background been checked?”

“It has. He comes from a remote and barren planet, a C-grade guide. Because he’s highly compatible with Lu Zexuan, he’s been by Lu Zexuan’s side all the time. It’s said that General Lu dotes on him and always brings him along during work.”

Xie Chen narrowed his eyes slightly. A C-grade guide highly favored by Lu Zexuan? He might be a wolf in sheep’s clothing! Many events in the past six months seemed to be related to this Yu Ran. Such as the mysterious deaths of several officials, the theft of data from the Sentinel Academy, the failed ambush by Zhu Tianyi at the Twin Palace banquet, Yu Ran coincidentally going to Planet B73 on the same day as Morvi, and now, his cousin suddenly going missing.

“Yu Ran is likely an undercover agent sent by the Dark Night Organization to Lu Zexuan. Keep an eye on him,” Xie Chen said coldly, “Perhaps we can find a breakthrough from him and expose Morvi’s weaknesses. Also, don’t act rashly. The Dark Night Organization knows the Starlight Legion has been investigating them. We can’t afford another tragedy like before. Everyone must remain low-key, discreet, and protect themselves. Be cautious about what you eat and drink. Don’t swallow things handed to you by others without precaution.”

 Everyone responded in unison. “Yes, General!”

The sea at night was exceptionally cold. But for the evolved beings whose spirit bodies were fish, the ocean was their home.

***

When Xie Chen returned home, it was already early morning. Suddenly, a guard handed her an invitation letter, with the elegant envelope bearing the golden seal of the Eagle Legion’s commander.

“General, this was brought by someone from the Eagle Legion. They said General Lu wants to visit in person and asked for your response.”

Xie Chen was puzzled—Lu Zexuan? What does he want to visit me for? Private visits between legions were not common practice, established 200 years ago. Lu Zexuan, as a newly appointed legion commander, shouldn’t come alone to visit to avoid suspicion.

Xie Chen took the invitation and said, “Understood, I will reply.”

She turned and entered the house, going to her study to open the letter.

Inside were several neatly written lines, “General Xie, I’ve heard tomorrow is your birthday. I’ve prepared a small gift and would like to visit in person. I’m still lacking in knowledge and experience, and I hope General Xie will take care of me in the future. Regards, Lu Zexuan.”

Xie Chen, “???” A newly appointed legion commander, kindly coming to give another general a “birthday gift”? Lu Zexuan, do you believe yourself?

Xie Chen’s frown deepened. She felt there was something strange about this. Lu Zexuan suddenly sending her an invitation, it was likely there was more to it than met the eye. However, Xie Chen was curious to see what this young legion commander’s purpose was in visiting her so unexpectedly.