FT DR Chapter 34: Father and Brother in Panic

Chapter 34: Father and Brother in Panic

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Wu Chenghe noticed Jin Xuan’s expression becoming serious, his eyes unpredictable, and asked suspiciously, “What’s wrong with you? What are you thinking about?” 

Jin Xuan woke up from his thoughts, forced a smile, and said, “It’s nothing. I’m just thinking that we can finally go back.” These speculations were too bold, likely involving multiple interests, the Voyager Army, the Federation, Hannibal, Jin Zhe… He didn’t want Wu Chenghe to know about these.

“Yeah, we can finally go back.” Wu Chenghe also smiled, “Your brother made you an obituary. Now that he knows you’re still alive, he will be very happy.”

“Yeah.” Jin Xuan nodded with a smile, but some people might not be too happy… But he wasn’t born to make anyone happy; making someone uncomfortable had always been his specialty. Jin Xuan sneered inwardly and said to Wu Chenghe, “You should tell your father first, so he won’t worry. You’ve run so far without him knowing; he must be frantic.”

Wu Chenghe also felt a bit guilty mentioning his cheap father. Although Hannibal was very tolerant of him, this time he caused a big fuss, even involving Chen Miaomiao, who provided him with transportation. After some thought, he said, “Maybe we should inform Chen Miaomiao first, give him a heads-up.”

Seeing his worried look, Jin Xuan softened a bit in his heart, nodded, and contacted Chen Miaomiao.

“Senior! King!” Once the line connected, Chen Miaomiao’s holographic projection appeared before them. The little boy was still lying in bed, one leg suspended in a brace. As soon as he saw them, he screamed, “Oh my god! You’re both alive! That’s wonderful! Thank God! Thank you, Buddha!”

Wu Chenghe’s ears were buzzing from his voice. “Yes, I found him. We’re both safe. Miaomiao, has my father noticed I’m gone?”

“What do you think!?” Chen Miaomiao’s face immediately turned fierce, “Come on! We agreed to keep in touch. Senior, are you playing with me? Your dad knew the next morning you left. He turned the whole hospital upside down, okay? I was so scared by him; I almost wet myself!”

Wu Chenghe’s mouth twitched. “I’m sorry, the situation was complicated at the time. Jin Xuan was seriously injured, and I didn’t have time to contact you.”

“And you dare say that!” Chen Miaomiao pounded his chest, accusing, “Your dad is terrifying. Have you seen his expression? It could eat people alive. My mom’s secretary was so scared by his gaze; before he even asked, he knelt down and confessed everything, saying I lied about a ship, probably for you to use. Wuwu… Although your dad didn’t hit me, he tortured me with his eyes a thousand times, a thousand times. I was scared to death!”

Wu Chenghe rubbed his forehead, wanting to comfort him but couldn’t get a word in. Chen Miaomiao cried like a baby, “My mom went manic over this; she’s holding a gun, saying she’ll shoot me. My dad got shot trying to protect me; his face is still swollen, and the door of the ward was smashed. Senior, I’m begging you; come back quickly. If you don’t come back, my family will be ruined, wuwuwu…”

As he spoke, he started crying. Wu Chenghe felt extremely guilty. “I’m sorry, Miaomiao, it’s all my fault. I’ll call my dad and explain. I’m sorry; the situation was just too bad.”

“You’d better surrender to your dad quickly. He’s personally gone to the asteroid to pick you up.” Chen Miaomiao blew his nose loudly, “My mom wanted to go too, but he didn’t let her, said he’d educate me properly. My mom has decided to take me to the Seiling Spaceport now. I don’t want to go to Seiling at all; I want to stay at grandma’s, wuwuwu…”

Seiling Spaceport was the location of the Third Army Corps Headquarters, highly militarized and lacking even a playground. Wu Chenghe completely understood the agony of the children left behind. He comforted him, saying, “Don’t worry, my dad often says things like that. Besides, he can’t meddle in your family affairs. I’ll explain to him right away.”

“Hurry up!”

After ending the communication with Chen Miaomiao, Wu Chenghe and Jin Xuan looked at each other. After a while, Wu Chenghe forced a bitter smile, took a deep breath, and said, “Connect me to my dad.”

“Alright.” Jin Xuan tapped a few times on the holographic system with his left hand, a hint of a meaningful smile playing on his lips.

“Charlie!” Hannibal’s stern face appeared before them. Even from thousands of miles away, Wu Chenghe could feel his boiling anger.

“I’m sorry, I ran off alone and made you worry,” Wu Chenghe admitted his mistake honestly. “Chen Miaomiao helped me out of coercion; he had no choice. Please, don’t make things difficult for him.”

“Huh! You still care about others. Why don’t you care about yourself?” Hannibal scanned him from head to toe through the 3D camera, relieved to see him intact, but his tone remained extremely severe. “Do you know how worried I was? Charlie, have I been too lenient with you, so you have no idea what a child should and shouldn’t do?”

Wu Chenghe was speechless, accepting the scolding with a dejected face. Hannibal continued to reprimand, “Do you know how dangerous your actions were? Do you know how many people I had to disturb to find you? You even dared to borrow a starship from the Third Army Corps. Your plan was meticulous; you even fooled Yuna!”

“I’m sorry,” Wu Chenghe said in shame, “I was too impulsive. I… I just wanted to find Jin Xuan by myself. After all, he didn’t board the lifeboat to save me. But I knew you wouldn’t let me go, so I… I’m sorry, I was too stubborn this time. I won’t do it again, Dad.”

At the sound of “Dad,” Hannibal couldn’t help but sigh, his jaw tensing slightly. He said sternly, “You rascal! You’re absolutely lawless!” Though his words were harsh, his tone had softened. After a pause, he said, “Stay where you are and don’t move. I’ll have Ivanov pick you up, and we’ll settle accounts when you get back.” Turning to Jin Xuan, he said kindly, “Are you alright, Jin Xuan? It’s fortunate that Charlie found you. I’ll report this good news to the President.”

“Thank you for your concern, Commander Uncle.” Jin Xuan unconsciously addressed him as “Uncle.” “I’m fine, thanks to Wu Chenghe’s timely rescue. Please, don’t blame him too much; he was just trying to help.”

“He’s too bold, sneaking out alone without even bringing a guard,” Hannibal sighed. “He’s still a child, and I’m worried he might encounter danger. Please, help me take care of him temporarily. Ivanov has confirmed your location; he’ll arrive within half an hour.”

Jin Xuan fully understood Hannibal’s implicit message—he’s still a child, help me take care of him temporarily. It reminded him that Wu Chenghe was still underage and off-limits, while also asserting his parental authority.

“Alright, we’ll wait for him,” Jin Xuan said calmly. “I’ll take good care of him for you, Commander.”

Hannibal narrowed his eyes, seemingly catching his underlying meaning, and gave a cold smile. “Good, we’ll talk more when we meet.” With that, he ended the communication.

The naive alien completely missed the subtle tension between them, scratching his head in distress. “He’s really angry; this is bad.”

“Don’t be afraid; he won’t punish you,” Jin Xuan straightened out his messy hair for him. “You’ve already apologized, and besides, you saved me. That’s a big deal.”

“Ugh,” Wu Chenghe still looked troubled. He knew Hannibal’s temperament well. While usually democratic and humorous, he was actually very controlling and hated it when others disobeyed his orders… Anyway, this was going to be bad.

Seeing there was still time left, Jin Xuan connected to his personal terminal, checked the messages accumulated over the past few days, and then sent a message to his dear brother to let him know he was safe.

Soon, Jin Zhe called back, his loud voice making Wu Chenghe shiver. “Jin Xuan? Are you fucking still alive?”

Jin Zhe looked a lot like Jin Xuan, but he was more robust because he had served in the Voyager Army for a long time, exuding a military aura. With traces of hardship between his eyebrows, he was the typical middle-aged handsome uncle.

Grinning at the formidable three-dimensional image of the President, Jin Xuan teased, “Are you so excited to see me that you’re about to cry?”

“Haha, you troublemaker!” Jin Zhe laughed heartily. “I’m in a good mood now, so I won’t lecture you. We’ll settle the score when you get back to Dunkirk!”

The words of the two parents were quite similar. Jin Xuan rolled his eyes and said, “It’s not my fault I was attacked. Why are you settling scores with me?”

“Don’t forget, you’re still a student. Instead of staying at a good school, you ran off to Gabriel Military Harbor to do what, performance art? Are you looking for trouble?” Jin Zhe reminded him to straighten up, then paused and said, “Anyway, we’ll talk more when we meet. For now, wherever you are, stay put. I’ll have Hobart locate you and pick you up.”

“Haha, Mr. Hobart is coming to Gabriel?” Jin Xuan raised an eyebrow. “Big brother, you really spared no expense to find me. You even brought out your best friend, huh?”

“Of course! Raising you hasn’t been easy. Do you think I’m joking? I won’t give up!” The normally polite President seemed like a bandit in front of his younger brother. Suddenly noticing Wu Chenghe, he asked, “Who’s the kid next to you? Is he a Voyager Army rescue worker? Are they recruiting boy scouts now?”

“Do I look that young?” Wu Chenghe was dumbfounded.

Jin Xuan chuckled and patted his head, explaining, “He’s my intern, a student from Gabriel School. We were doing experiments together at the Grasshopper Space Station. This time, he saved me.”

“Oh, you’re a teacher now, Jin Xuan? That’s incredible.” Jin Zhe sighed. “Oh, you said he also participated in the experiments at the Grasshopper Space Station? Commander Hannibal’s report said there were two survivors, one was his eldest son, and the other was the son of the General. Which one is the one beside you?”

“Charlie Simpson, Commander Hannibal’s eldest son,” Jin Xuan replied. “He uses his mother’s surname, and his Chinese name is Wu Chenghe.”

Jin Zhe’s expression was slightly subtle. After a pause, he nodded kindly to Wu Chenghe. “Thank you, Mr. Wu, for saving Jin Xuan.”

“Uh…” Wu Chenghe felt a bit uncomfortable with his gentle expression. “N-No need to thank me. It’s what I should do.” What am I even saying?!

“Hehe, you’re such a shy kid.” Jin Zhe looked at his awkwardness and smiled even more gently. “You’re nothing like Commander Hannibal. If it were him, he’d already be talking to me about increasing military funding, haha.”

Wu Chenghe felt awkward. So Hannibal had a rogue side too.

“Alright, take care of yourselves. I’ll have Mr. Hobart go find you now; he should be near the asteroid.” Jin Zhe said, “Jin Xuan, take care of that kid.”

“Rest assured.”

Jin Xuan ended the call and connected to another person’s communication. While explaining to Wu Chenghe, he said, “Mr. Hobart is the Secretary of State and also my brother’s childhood friend. The Hobart family and ours have been relatives for generations, so we have a distant relationship. He’s one of my brother’s most trusted people, his best friend, and he won’t easily come out to handle things. This time, it’s an exception because of me.”

The political system of the Dunkirk Federation was based on the separation of powers: the President, Congress, and Supreme Court balanced each other, with the Defense Secretary overseeing military affairs. Originally, the Defense Secretary was in charge of eight generals, each responsible for different branches of the military. However, with the formation of the Voyager Army as a separate entity, a Commander was elected, greatly reducing the Defense Secretary’s power, most of which was transferred to Hannibal. Thus, they were on equal footing and each handled their own affairs.

The President controlled the overall military power of the federation, with a cabinet managing various matters. The Secretary of State, as the chief member of the cabinet, was practically the President’s right-hand man and could even temporarily assume the President’s duties in times of danger.

Originally, Wu Chenghe thought the President seemed indifferent to his brother’s situation, as he had issued an obituary without personally verifying the situation. But now it seemed not to be the case. Sending the Secretary of State was quite a bold move.

“Should we tell my dad about this?” Wu Chenghe asked. “Both he and Mr. Hobart are coming to pick us up, and the timing is about the same. Maybe they’ll meet.”

“I’ll ask Hobart first.” Jin Xuan had already caught Hobart’s communication. With a flash of holographic images, a middle-aged man with blond hair and blue eyes appeared before them.

Secretary of State Hobart was a typical Franco, tall, refined, with deep and proud eyes. Seeing Jin Xuan, he exclaimed, “Oh, thank God, you’re still alive! I thought Jin Zhe was going to go crazy this time—getting another kid from the embryo bank isn’t easy. And with a troublemaker like you, we’ll all lose years of our lives. Who knows, he might not have many years left to live anyway, haha!”

“He doesn’t understand why my brother insists on staying single. He’s been trying to persuade him to find a guide to prolong his life,” Jin Xuan whispered to Wu Chenghe, then turned to Hobart. “Hello, Mr. Hobart.”

“Oh, little guy, are you angry? Why don’t you call me Uncle Hobart? Technically, I’m a generation older than you.” Hobart said with a smile, though it was teasing, it was clear he was very happy.

“We Chinese don’t count relatives past five generations, and besides, would you let Jin Zhe call you uncle?” Jin Xuan blinked.

“He’s too old and doesn’t take care of himself. Calling him uncle is about right.” Hobart chuckled, “I’ve located your position, and I’ll be there soon. I’ve been flying in curvature for eight days straight, almost out of breath. Luckily, I found you as soon as I arrived. Jin Zhe really should give me a bonus… Commander Hannibal is also on his way. I’ve already contacted him. My guards will join his personal guard special forces, they’ll pick up Mr. Charlie, and I’ll come to pick you up.”

“Okay.” Jin Xuan said, feeling a bit melancholy at the thought of being separated from Wu Chenghe, but still nodded, “I’ll wait for you.”

 

 

 

 

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