FT DR Chapter 109: King is off!

Chapter 109: King is off!

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

In the pitch-black universe, the starlight dimmed like fireflies.

In absolute vacuum, sound could not propagate, yet everyone seemed to hear the sound of the “General” mecha’s neck snapping – “Crack, crack…” That sound was like a blunt saw, tearing through eardrums and reaching into the depths of the soul, bringing with it a terrifying shiver.

The flagship, frigates, assault ships… the entire Quadrant fleet fell into a state of immense disbelief. Not a single person issued orders for rescue or encirclement.

In the brief silence, time seemed to stand still, each second stretched infinitely.

In the cockpit of “The Rifle” mecha, after Jin Xuan had exerted all his strength to strangle the “General” mecha, a red mist filled his eyes, and he teetered on the edge of mania. Beside him, in the co-pilot seat, Wu Chenghe sat stiffly in the metal chair, eyes fixed, hands tightly gripping the armrests, blood vessels faintly visible beneath his nails.

“Wu Chenghe!” Jin Xuan gasped heavily, his chest heaving like a bellows on the verge of explosion. He forced himself to maintain his crumbling sanity, calling out to his guide through mental resonance, “Wu Chenghe, wake up! What’s wrong with you? What happened?”

Wu Chenghe’s consciousness was calm, and there was no response through mental resonance. Jin Xuan felt fear rising in his heart. He stood up, leaning against the console, gently touching Wu Chenghe’s shoulder, and hoarsely said, “Wu Chenghe! Speak!”

Wu Chenghe’s face was pale, his pupils dilated, and his eyes were filled with bloodshot veins, resembling a spider’s web. This was a sign of extreme mental exhaustion. In the previous battle, he had poured all his consciousness into Jin Xuan’s body. At this moment, his consciousness was like a withered leaf hanging by a thread, ready to wither away at the slightest breeze.

“Wu Chenghe!” Jin Xuan trembled as he called out his name. With a slight movement of his finger, Wu Chenghe’s body softened and fell with his force, collapsing onto the console with a soft “thud.”

The slight impact seemed to awaken a fraction of his consciousness. Wu Chenghe’s throat made a choking sound twice, his pupils trembling. He looked at Jin Xuan, his lips pale, and whispered weakly, “Not… not me… sorry, I… I can’t control… sorry…” 

As he spoke, he exerted all his remaining strength to extend a delicate mental tendril, struggling to calm Jin Xuan’s agitation. However, his consciousness was too weak. He could only extinguish half of the “sparks” before he ran out of energy completely. His eyelids trembled twice, and he fell into unconsciousness.

As the red mist cleared from Jin Xuan’s eyes and his vision regained clarity, he reached out to catch Wu Chenghe before his weakened body slid to the ground. He laid him down on the seat, fastened his seatbelt, and then returned to his own pilot seat.

He couldn’t panic, he couldn’t lose his composure. He had to remain calm. Jin Xuan clenched his fists tightly, silently calming himself down. He didn’t have time to investigate why Wu Chenghe lost control, or even to save his own guide. He bore the responsibility of the NTU’s mission, the entire team, including Wu Chenghe’s life!

Surrounded by the “Quadrant” fleet’s eleven warships, with his energy nearly depleted and his mecha heavily damaged, Jin Xuan’s only trump card was the disabled “General” mecha beneath his feet, and possibly the pilot of Hannibal’s mecha.

Wu Chenghe had calmed his mania with his last remaining strength. Jin Xuan couldn’t let him down. He had to complete the mission and get everyone out alive!

Jin Xuan reconnected his neurons, maneuvering the crippled “The Rifle” mecha to stand upright. With a flick of his hands, the electromagnetic light chain in his hand disappeared in a flash of blue light, replaced by a chilling light sword!

The giant mecha held the sword hilt with both hands, raised it high, and swiftly pushed the tip of the sword downward. Soon, it aimed at the “General” mecha floating upside down beneath it, then stopped steadily at the position of the cockpit.

In an instant, Yin Bo understood Jin Xuan’s intention. He immediately pushed the engines to fly behind the “The Rifle” mecha, forming a defensive position back to back with it. The cannons on his shoulders and arms were aimed at the “Quadrant” warships, which were eagerly trying to attack them.

After a brief astonishment, the “Quadrant” fleet also reacted. Five assault ships adjusted their cannons to target them. Meanwhile, the previously silent communication lines began to transmit dialogue requests repeatedly, trying to establish communication with Jin Xuan. Obviously, they understood Jin Xuan’s intention – he was threatening them. Whoever dared to take a step forward, he would pierce the cockpit of the “General” mecha!

This was outer space. Once the cockpit of a mecha ruptured, the person inside would undoubtedly die!

The scene was chaotic. Inside the “The Cannon” mecha, Jin Xuan closed off the external communication system, refusing to accept any dialogue requests, only maintaining a deterrent posture, with the tip of the light sword aimed at the position where Hannibal was.

A strange stalemate.

The “Quadrant” dared not launch an attack rashly. Eleven warships surrounded three damaged mechas, like a mother hen protecting her chicks, unable to attack or retreat, only huddling there. Similarly, Jin Xuan dared not act recklessly either. His energy was almost depleted, and with Yin Bo, it was impossible to break through the encirclement with hostages. Even if they broke through, they had nowhere to retreat to. Yan Shi was facing the onslaught of Tartaros, preoccupied and unable to protect them.

For now, the only option was to drag it out until the NTU reinforcements arrived.

But could they really have waited for that moment? Jin Xuan looked at the pitch-black universe in the holographic video, feeling uncertain.

“Rifle.” Yin Bo’s deep voice came through the multi-angle communication, “We can’t delay any longer. We have no reinforcements, insufficient energy. If Yan Shi can keep Chang Gong and Qian Hua safe, that’s already good. We can’t spare any more power to rescue us.”

Jin Xuan fell silent. Then he continued, “Give me the hostages, and you leave.”

A twitch of Jin Xuan’s brow, Yin Bo said, “I still have energy left, my injuries are minor. You hand over the hostages to me, and with the advisor, evacuate in the lifeboat. With me here, they won’t dare to touch you. As long as you enter Yan Shi’s protection range, you can hold on for a while longer.”

“You alone can’t control the situation here,” Jin Xuan said firmly.

“The advisor can’t hold on any longer. He’ll lose his life if we keep delaying,” Yin Bo urged anxiously. “Kazumi Koyama sensed his consciousness cloud. He’s physically exhausted, mentally disturbed. Without timely treatment, he could become a vegetable. And the hostage is only unconscious; he could wake up at any moment. If we wait for him to wake up and then eject the escape pod, we’ll completely lose the initiative.”

Under normal circumstances, Jin Xuan would have unequivocally rejected Yin Bo’s proposal long ago. As the head of the special operations team, he never allowed his team members to take on greater risks than himself. But at this moment, he hesitated. His guide was lying unconscious beside him. Without Yin Bo’s reminder, he knew that Wu Chenghe was teetering on the edge of death.

What to do?

For the first time in his life, Jin Xuan felt a profound sense of powerlessness on the battlefield.

“No.” But in the end, he still refused Yin Bo’s suggestion. “Your mecha has minor damage, and your combat power is stronger than ours. If anyone should leave, it should be you… I’ll count to three. Start your engines, go back to help Yan Shi block the pursuit of Tartaros. Leave this to me and the advisor.” 

At this point, preserving the remaining forces was the best choice. Even if he and Wu Chenghe went back, they might not survive, and they would only burden Yan Shi’s team. Yin Bo still had combat capability; after going back, he could help them resolve the situation and buy time for the NTU’s rescue.

As for here, a stalemate had already formed. In the short term, “Quadrant” dared not open fire. Him staying alone was sufficient.

“No!” Yin Bo exclaimed, his voice choked with emotion. He couldn’t accept Jin Xuan’s decision emotionally, but rationally, he knew it was the best choice. After a pause of half a second, he silently started the engine and slowly flew toward the encirclement of “Quadrant.”

Jin Xuan manipulated the mecha, pressing the tip of the sword down, marking a white mark on the cockpit cover of the “General” mecha. The surrounding ships instantly understood his intention, making way for Yin Bo to leave.

The light blue mecha flew out of the encirclement, accelerated, and disappeared in the direction of Tartaros in the vast universe, like a meteor. The encirclement of “Quadrant” closed again, firmly trapping the battered “Rifle” mecha in the middle.

The stalemate continued, time slipping away minute by minute. Jin Xuan sat petrified in the driver’s seat, holding Wu Chenghe’s unconscious fingertips in one hand and gently covering the communication system with the other, waiting for NTU’s message. Through consciousness empathy, he felt Wu Chenghe gradually weakening, his consciousness cloud silent like a stagnant pool, without even a faint ripple.

My guide is dying, Jin Xuan thought silently, and I am too.

Strangely, there was no fear in his heart. Holding Wu Chenghe’s hand, he felt a sense of calm release.

Yes, a guide is a sentinel’s home. As long as the guide is there, even in hell, it’s paradise.

Time passed swiftly, one minute, five minutes, ten minutes… half an hour, one hour…

“Beep—” The system suddenly sounded an alarm, warning that energy consumption was nearing the danger line, and the mecha would enter standby mode within ten minutes.

The final moment had finally arrived. Jin Xuan took a deep breath, manipulated the mecha, tightly gripping the light sword, and fiercely stabbed downward—

The light blade penetrated the thick mecha shell, pierced through the cockpit cover like a hammer breaking ice, puncturing the “General” mecha, with the gleaming blade diagonally lodged inside the cockpit, splitting the mecha console in half.

Dragging “Quadrant” for this long was already a victory. Jin Xuan’s mouth curved into a cruel smirk: Hannibal, go to hell!

But just then, a rectangular escape pod suddenly ejected from the damaged bottom of the “General” mecha, like a bullet, swiftly flying toward the flagship of “Quadrant”!

Jin Xuan’s pupils suddenly contracted: Hannibal actually woke up and activated the escape pod! No! Mercy is not an option!

Jin Xuan angrily shouted and loaded all remaining energy of the mecha into the remaining particle gun on his right shoulder, aiming at the escape pod and fired!

A brilliant white light shot toward the escape pod, instantly engulfing it. Jin Xuan wanted to see if Hannibal was truly dead, if he emerged from inside wearing a spacesuit, but the mecha’s energy had been completely depleted. The system was on standby, even the holographic surveillance system stopped functioning, the image flickered and then went out.

Fate.

Jin Xuan leaned back slowly against the driver’s seat, his left hand tightly holding Wu Chenghe’s cold right hand, slowly closing his eyes.

Although he couldn’t hear anything or see anything, he knew that the ships surrounding them must have already opened fire. Whether Hannibal was alive or dead, they would blast him and his mecha to powder.

The world seemed to stand still, everything frozen, his soul hovering out of his body, looking down at the shell, the steady and clear heartbeat in his ears: thump, thump.

Like the footsteps of death.

…

Wu Chenghe fell into a strange nightmare.

In the dream, there were unfamiliar yet familiar scenes. Sometimes a lovely and beautiful girl smiled at him, calling him, “Baby, come here, come to mommy.” 

Sometimes a middle-aged man with a kind face stroked his head, saying, “Good boy, isn’t grandpa handsome?”

Who were they? Where am I? Wu Chenghe was puzzled. Suddenly, the scene around him changed to a lively party scene. The girl seemed a bit more mature, wearing a beautiful red qipao, with a hint of sorrow in the corners of her eyes and brows, “Baby, happy birthday. Mommy loves you forever.”

“Wu Chenghe, come blow out the candles, everyone’s waiting for you to cut the cake,” a boy of about ten shouted at him, “Stop daydreaming, don’t expect to hide away like usual on your birthday.”

Birthday? What birthday? Wu Chenghe stared at the huge birthday cake and the number “10” candles on top, unable to believe he was back to being ten years old.

And it was someone else’s ten years old!

While still stunned, the scene changed again, turning into a hospital ward. The girl looked haggard, her long hair falling out, her pitch-black eyes lifeless, as she spoke, her throat emitting a hissing sound like a broken bellows, “Baby, mommy can’t accompany you anymore. You’re a boy, you have to be strong… Go to Gabriel Military Harbor to find your father. He will take care of you until you grow up…”

Wu Chenghe opened his mouth but couldn’t make a sound. He saw the terrifying nuclear radiation symbol on the door of the ward and suddenly realized who was lying on the bed—Wu Xi, his biological mother in this life, the closest relative he had never met before.

“Baby, take care of yourself.” Wu Xi held his hand, her fingers as withered as dry twigs, “Your father, he’s a sentinel. He promised me he would protect you, but you also have to… promise mommy, don’t trust anyone.”

A crimson blood rushed from Wu Chenghe’s mouth, instantly staining the pristine white sheets. Wu Chenghe’s heart felt as if it were being twisted by a knife, the pain as overwhelming as the sky collapsing. With all his strength, he cried out hoarse words, “Mom!”

His hand suddenly tightened, and a familiar, reassuring voice echoed in his ears, “Wu Chenghe! Wu Chenghe, wake up!” At first, the voice sounded like it was coming through glass, muffled and unclear. After a moment, it became clearer, repeatedly calling out to him, “Shh, don’t be afraid, I’ll be with you. Even if Mom is gone, I’m here…”

Wu Chenghe’s brain throbbed violently, as if a saw were being dragged back and forth. He struggled to open his eyes, in extreme dizziness he saw a flickering figure, weakly saying, “Jin… Jin Xuan.”

“Wu Chenghe!” Jin Xuan’s voice was hoarse yet real, filled with surprise and pain. “It’s me, I’m here. Can you see me?”

His vision was blurry, with dazzling halos wherever there was light, but Wu Chenghe still managed to blink, saying, “Yes.”

“Don’t worry, you’re just in a state of shock due to overuse of your consciousness. Wait here, I’ll go get the flight surgeon!” Jin Xuan released his hand, his footsteps echoing as he left the ward.

Flight surgeon… Wu Chenghe’s thoughts were in turmoil, his consciousness still lingering on the moment when he drove the mecha into the encirclement of “Quadrant.” He struggled to recall what happened afterward, but any slight mental effort caused excruciating pain, as if millions of insects were gnawing at his brain.

His vision went black, and he lost consciousness again.

When he woke up again, it was several days later. Wu Chenghe opened his eyes and found himself lying in a spacious cabin, with a silver-gray metal roof overhead and a blanket with the NTU logo covering him. There was a military coat draped over a chair next to the bed, with the rank insignia of a lieutenant colonel on the shoulders, evidently Jin Xuan’s uniform.

We’re still alive… Wu Chenghe gradually began to feel a bit of reality around him. Although his vision was still somewhat blurry, the lines he saw were a bit distorted, but the trembling heart that had been hanging on finally relaxed, feeling light.

His whole body was sore, his thoughts were chaotic, and his consciousness was thundering and flashing. Wu Chenghe couldn’t move at all, so he lay quietly resting, the chaotic dreams of the past few days flooding into his mind. Gradually, he began to sort out some clues: these were the memories of the original owner of this body. Although “Wu Chenghe” had died in the Mayflower incident three years ago, the residual consciousness still existed deep in his mind.

Jin Xuan found out the true cause of the destruction of the Wu family and the truth of Wu Xi’s death from a nuclear-contaminated weapon attack. All of this sparked an intense hatred in the original owner of this body toward Hannibal. During the battle with “Quadrant,” he felt Hannibal’s consciousness cloud on the second starboard frigate. The original owner of this body burst out with autonomous consciousness, took over his rationality, and used Jin Xuan to seek revenge.

As for the final outcome, Wu Chenghe still didn’t know, but he knew that when he was controlled by the original owner of this body, he did indeed do things that harmed Jin Xuan and disrupted the NTU’s plans. Regardless of the outcome of this battle, he had to bear the responsibility that couldn’t be shirked.

Yes, it was his responsibility. Since he occupied this body, he had the obligation to bear the burden of hatred on “Wu Chenghe” and pay for the insane actions of “himself.”

Fortunately, the consciousness remaining in this body was very limited. After the intense consumption during the battle with “Quadrant,” it had completely dissipated. Wu Chenghe carefully explored his own consciousness cloud and couldn’t sense the existence of the other party at all.

The cabin door suddenly rang, and Jin Xuan’s tall figure quickly walked in, holding a cup of black coffee in his hand. Seeing him awake, he immediately placed the cup on the bedside table and gently touched his forehead. “You’re awake? Can you hear my voice? Can you see me?”

“Yes.” Wu Chenghe’s voice was weak and hoarse from the long coma. 

Jin Xuan breathed a huge sigh of relief, picking up the cup of water from the bedside and feeding him a few spoonfuls. He used a soft cloth dampened with water to wipe his hands and face, sitting on a chair and gently rubbing his hand against his own cheek. “It’s good that you’re awake. I thought you would never wake up — the doctor said you were likely to become a vegetable. Your consciousness was dormant all along until you briefly woke up last time and started surging.”

Wu Chenghe couldn’t speak, so he managed to give him a comforting smile, then looked at him with irregular pupils, expressing a questioning look.

“It’s all over. We won a complete victory in the Battle of Tartaros. All the evidence has been handed over to the military tribunal. Last week, the Federation made its final judgment on Lancer, ruling him guilty of treason and crimes against humanity, revoking his military status and dismissing him from his position as General of the Second Army.” Jin Xuan succinctly recounted the follow-up situation of the operation to him. “His eldest son has already been punished, but he himself is still at large, leading a small group of loyalist rebels lurking near the Chi-Fu Chain Nebula. Following him are remnants of ‘the Free Revolutionary Army’ — you wouldn’t believe it, but ‘the Free Revolutionary Army’ actually has some remaining forces that he absorbed, forming his private underground mercenary group — NTU Task Force won’t let him go. They are facing off in the Chi-Fu Chain Nebula, and it is expected that they will annihilate the Lancer rebels within a few months.”

Having witnessed the madness of the Voyager Army, Wu Chenghe had become somewhat numb to these things. He simply nodded and softly asked, “And everyone else?”

“Everyone is alive. Chang Gong was seriously injured, Qian Hua and Yin Bo suffered minor injuries, Yan Shi and Kazumi Koyama are both fine, and so am I.” Jin Xuan looked extremely haggard, with deep-set eye sockets and dark circles under his eyes, like a panda, but his spirit was extremely good. “You were the most seriously injured. Everyone was worried about your condition until you woke up briefly last week, which eased their minds a bit.”

Wu Chenghe was mentally exhausted after listening for a while. He closed his eyes to rest for a moment, gathered some strength, and asked, “And what about Quadrant? How did we get rescued at that time?”

“It was the timely arrival of the NTU First Fleet that saved us. Quadrant didn’t dare to face off against the federal military. Hannibal was still inexperienced and could handle us solo, but he wouldn’t dare to act against a regular military force.” Jin Xuan smiled, “Quadrant is alive. 

He didn’t dare to turn against the federal military forces. Hannibal was still inexperienced and could handle us solo, but he wouldn’t dare to act against a regular military force.” Jin Xuan’s smile faded, his eyes becoming cold, “He’s not like Lancer. He’s even more ambitious than Lancer and much more cunning.”

“Is he… still alive?” Wu Chenghe asked laboriously.

Jin Xuan’s expression became solemn as he nodded. The situation at that time was too critical. If he had acted ten minutes earlier, Hannibal would have died for sure. But if Hannibal had died, Quadrant would definitely have opened fire on them. With his strength, they wouldn’t have lasted more than ten minutes. In that case, both he and Wu Chenghe would have been buried with Hannibal.

It was all fate.

Wu Chenghe felt disheartened. He had exerted so much effort, yet he still couldn’t kill Hannibal. The adage “Evil lives a thousand years” was indeed true. However, now that the situation of the Voyager Army was chaotic, it wasn’t necessarily a good thing that Hannibal was still alive. After all, the Voyager Army led sixty to seventy percent of the Federation’s forces. Before the Federal Government nurtured its own military talent to stand on its own, it had to rely on Hannibal’s cohesion to keep them together. Otherwise, they would fall apart, which would bring huge disasters to humanity.

“He will eventually pay for his actions.” Jin Xuan comforted Wu Chenghe, “I know you hate him, and you lost control that day because of him. I…”

“No.” Wu Chenghe interrupted him, weakly pressing his hand back, earnestly looking into his eyes with irregular pupils. After a long time, he took a deep breath and said, “There’s something I must tell you, Jin Xuan. This may seem unbelievable, and I may even be suspected of deceiving you, but I’ve thought about it these days, and I must confess to you.”

Speaking such a long sentence all at once, he was somewhat breathless. A faint unhealthy flush appeared on his cheeks, but his expression was extremely serious, serious enough to be frightening.

Jin Xuan felt inexplicably anxious, clasping his hand back and urgently saying, “I don’t care. If you don’t want to say it, you don’t have to. I trust you completely no matter what.”

“No.” Wu Chenghe said in a low but firm voice, “Although you may never know this thing if I don’t tell you, and it won’t affect the authenticity of my existence, I must let you know who I really am.” Pausing for a moment, he asked, “Do you believe in souls?”

The author had something to say: Every time I started a new chapter, it felt like I was walking into a deathtrap… Feel free to take a look around, folks.

 

I felt that being honest about one’s identity was necessary, even though Doctor Wu wouldn’t know about emo if it hit him and it wouldn’t affect their relationship

 

 

 

 

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