He and It Chapter 111: Utopia (7)

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Chapter 111: Utopia (7)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

“Well, then. Let’s call it a draw.” Tian Yuan said.

He swallowed again. The embodiment of the warship lay on the ground, and stared at the human sitting on him.

Tiny drops of sweat coalesced on Gu Xingqiao’s skin, like melted diamonds. The accelerated flow of blood also gave a soft reddish tint to his otherwise white skin, and made his eyes sparkle…

“What is the result of your assessment?” Gu Xingqiao didn’t get up, just raised his arm and casually wiped the sweat from his face.

“According to human standards, agility is medium to high, body coordination is medium, and strength is your shortcoming. For a short duration, your explosive power is amazing, but you can’t sustain yourself in a battle of attrition.” As he lay on the ground, Tian Yuan answered truthfully. “The first target of your training will be your endurance and physical ability, as well as addressing the heavy wounds you suffered in past wars.” 

As he called up the task list, Tian Yuan suddenly felt that the overlapping scars on Gu Xingqiao’s body were a bit obtrusive.

A perfect soul should be matched with a perfect body.

Gu Xingqiao acquiesced to the results, and didn’t comment on Tian Yuan’s harsh evaluation.

Having been imprisoned by Sissel for too long, he knew to what extent his physical functions had deteriorated, and he also knew that Tian Yuan had greatly reduced his own power during the competition.

Just as he was about to get up, Tian Yuan pulled his arm.

Gu Xingqiao looked down at him. Tian Yuan’s fingertips suddenly radiated spreading sparks that covered the youth’s wound.

Gu Xingqiao only felt a slight stinging pain, but in only a few seconds the long, deep bloodstained wound was already healed as good as new, with no traces left.

He nodded slightly and stood up from his position on Tian Yuan.

“There is still more.” Tian Yuan said coldly.

When he heard his voice, the youth halted his steps as he was leaving.

“After these four days together, I also created a profile sheet to analyze your character,” Tian Yuan said. “You have a considerable portion of the characteristics of a helpful personality. You are eager to give, but not just to give. What you expect is a fair environment where ‘how much you give, is how much you get back.’ However, the human empire can’t give you this kind of environment, and the plight of hitting an artificial maximum level of advancement is especially typical for people like you.” 

Gu Xingqiao kicked away a shard of knife handle, and narrowed his eyes.

“Therefore, since you are unable to change the environment, the only thing you can do is to change yourself. By redoubling your efforts, you will be able to obtain the same treatment as ordinary Imperials. On the surface, you’re a shut-in, but in reality, you’re generous, warm-hearted, and eager for healthy interaction. You feel comforted when others need you, and you feel valued when they accept your help unconditionally, or with a small token of appreciation.” 

Gu Xingqiao’s expression was patient while his fists slowly clenched behind his back. Tian Yuan’s next words would decide how he would treat this artificial idiot.

“Naturally, I will help you solve this problem,” Tian Yuan said. “Sissel seized upon this weakness of yours, which caused you to break down psychologically. But unlike him, I will only tell you the truth. I have no need to manipulate or suppress you.” 

Gu Xingqiao was confused. He didn’t understand what Tian Yuan meant.

“…So getting straight to the point, what do you want to do?” 

“I think, praise is the right antidote,” Tian Yuan said. “You have a proper perception of your own strengths, yet you lack confidence in your interpersonal skills. I’ll help you become completely convinced, through honest and straight-forward wording, that you are fully deserving of any compliment.” 

Gu Xingqiao couldn’t speak, just stood there like a fish who only knew how to open and close his mouth. 

“Ah…Huh?” 

The exoskeleton reactivated, and Tian Yuan floated up in a suspended position, his eyes calm as he nodded at Gu Xingqiao.

“You’re really beautiful,” he said indifferently. “Your soul is the brightest and most attractive I have ever seen. If you had chosen to stay in the human empire, you would have set in motion a wave of change that would have affected them for centuries to come, only they drove you away. However, there is no excuse for that. Mankind can only choose the end that matches their own abilities, and the development of the universe has fully proved that they are not entitled to such luck.” 

Gu Xingqiao, “…” 

“Forget about Sissel. Think about what I said.” Tian Yuan swept past him, as he said gently, “I am the truth, and human gossip is nothing but dirty water that will soon evaporate.” 

The warship’s incarnation walked almost silently out of the training grounds, and left the stupefied Gu Xingqiao behind.

“When you’re ready, come to the dining area for dinner.” 

Gu Xingqiao blinked, then blinked again.

“What the hell was that about…?” He grimaced, as uncomfortable as if he had little ants crawling all over him. “Ugh! Babbling. Babbling.” 

He shook the goosebumps from his body, squatted down again, and counted the pieces of naginata until he’d found more than 2,000 pieces, his legs were numb, and he could barely concentrate. Finally, he stood up slowly.

Just as he was about to leave, Gu Xingqiao stopped, turned around, and went to take a three-minute shower before he continued on to the dining room.

The dining room table that was so wide and long that it was exaggerated, had been replaced by a more normal everyday round table. Gu Xingqiao’s seat, already set up with an abundant but light four dishes and a soup, sat next to the fruit plate which was filled with fruits he had never seen before. Red as rubies, green as emeralds, stacked side by side they were beautiful, fragrant and mouth-watering.

“Meals are strictly in accordance with your nutritional requirements,” Tian Yuan said. “Despite the convenience of nutritional pouches, long-term use will cause irreversible damage to the stomach and intestines. The human digestive organs are more adapted to fresh food.” 

Was the treatment usually so good after being promoted to a collaborator…? 

Gu Xingqiao was full of questions as he picked up a fruit. As he took a bite, its sweet juice flowed into his mouth, while the flesh was full of texture and chewy. His heart and soul expanded.

“There’s no limit to the amount of fruit you can have,” Tian Yuan added. “However, there is a limit on snacks. Processed and fried foods must not be the main foods of the day.” 

Gu Xingqiao ate as he responded obediently, “Uh-huh.” 

He ladled up the steaming broth, poured it generously over the snow-white rice, then stuffed it into his mouth and chewed it carefully. He ate efficiently and enthusiastically not with aristocratic elegance. However, it was a sight that made others feel hungry and want to take a bite out of something.

Tian Yuan was very satisfied as he watched Gu Xingqiao taking big mouthfuls of food, without being picky at all. As he held an energy crystal for his own sustenance, he actually had a satisfying feeling similar to a “full stomach.”

Very good. Another advantage. He was so focused when eating. How nice it was to feed him.

Tian Yuan watched Gu Xingqiao closely until he drank the last bit of soup in his bowl. Then he pushed the fruit plate over in a timely fashion.

“Eat the fruit,” he said. “It’s freshly picked, and the orchard here is for you alone.” 

Gu Xingqiao had been away from home since he was a child, plus he got used to living in poverty and hardship until he was admitted to the National Military Academy, where, with the help of a scholarship, his life got a little better. As a result, he seldom wasted food, and accepted whatever Tian Yuan handed to him.

His lips and fingers were stained red with fruit juice. The contrast between the scarlet and white was so sharp that Tian Yuan stared at him for a long time, to almost to the point of being what  human beings called “lost in thought.”

By the time he regained his senses, he’d already taken more than a thousand photos in a row of Gu Xingqiao, so that process of dining was recorded as images, just as he had done earlier when he was changing clothes.

Tian Yuan pondered that for a moment, and without a word, dragged all of them into a newly created archive space called “Gu Xingqiao.”

“I also want to exercise my mental energy,” Gu Xingqiao said suddenly, as he pushed away the empty plate.

Tian Yuan’s eyes flashed.

“Mental energy.” 

“Yes, mental energy.” Gu Xingqiao wiped his fingers. “Adult Wine God Folk are known for their strong mental energy, which is another important reason why the Empire is unwilling to give up on us.” 

“–The blood tax.” Gu Xingqiao raised his eyes, and met Tian Yuan’s gaze. “On the Wine God Planet, every three to five years, one out of ten families will choose an heir who is about to reach the age of majority, they will be formed into a team, and then sent to the capital of the Empire, as well as to the inner ring planets in the vicinity for forced military service. In official parlance, this was called ‘schooling.'” 

“The remaining, scattered Wine God Folk aren’t strong enough to attract the attention of the interstellar beasts during their spiritual awakening, while choosing people at the age of impending adulthood makes it easy for them to quickly serve as recruits and fill the battlefields.” 

Tian Yuan took note of this, then asked, “What about your mental energy? What’s wrong with it?” 

When he first came here, didn’t he threaten to blow himself up?

Gu Xingqiao turned his head. He stared at the empty plate on the table, as if he saw another person in it, a person with a hateful face. “The Imperial Family has been utilizing the beast tide on the Wine God Planet to execute enemies with opposing political views – with my testimony as a witness, Sissel followed through, staged a palace coup, and imprisoned the Emperor of the Empire. The generals and armies on the Wine God Planet learned about it, and naturally refused to continue being posted there. That last incident was framed, for the eyes of ignorant outsiders, so that in order to occupy a place within the new regime, I persuaded the troops stationed on my home planet to return to the Imperial Court to serve the King, having given my loyalty to the Crown Prince, and left my home planet’s people to die.” Gu Xingqiao took a deep breath. “Of course, even if I wanted to argue, I couldn’t. Sissel put me under arrest. To prevent me from escaping, the four walls of the cell were constructed with a special metal that forcibly extracted and dissipated my mental energy. I was locked up for about six months.”

“Why did he do that to you?” Tian Yuan asked.

“It doesn’t make sense.” Gu Xingqiao closed his eyes and whispered, “I don’t know. Don’t ask me.”

Tian Yuan obediently changed the topic, “So what is your current mental energy condition?”

“Only a little better than an ordinary person’s.” Gu Xingqiao’s gaze darkened, as he scrutinized his hand. “And I don’t know if I can return to my peak level.”

“It’s hard to know,” Tian Yuan mused. “In the era when I was born, mental energy holders were still an extremely rare type of people. The rehabilitation methods for them, according to your standards, are likely to be crude and backward.”

“It’s better than nothing,” Gu Xingqiao said. “Send it to me after you organize them.”

Tian Yuan didn’t feel like he was being ordered around. He said, “I suggest you take a nap after thirty minutes. Rest is beneficial to the brain.”

Gu Xingqiao nodded slightly. He pushed back the chair, then walked to his room alone. Half an hour later, he finished his postprandial exercises, washed his face, rinsed his mouth, then covered himself with a thin blanket and fell into a deep sleep.

“…Look, you guys! Isn’t that, uh…What’s his name? Gu Xingqiao?”

Who called me? 

Surrounded by darkness, Gu Xingqiao suspiciously turned his head. With his movement, the sky suddenly brightened. A mass of red leaves blew around him, like in the aftermath of a gust of wind, then he suddenly appeared in front of the military school he’d formerly been enrolled in.

“Who is the first place person…?” 

“Wine God Star? Wine God Folk? First place in the entrance exam? You didn’t bribe the examiner, did you?” 

“Shit, don’t scare me. That place is so poor, how could anyone bribe the examiner? If the teacher hears you saying that stuff, he’ll deduct your credits!” 

“Haha! If there was no money given, then it was probably something else. There had to be something he could use as a bribe. Just look at him…” 

Amidst the teasing gossip, Gu Xingqiao’s lips were tightly closed as he passed through the crowd of gawking, gossiping people.

“Number one!” 

“Here!” 

“…You’re the number one? The first of the class? Gu Xingqiao from the Wine God Planet?” 

“Yes.” 

“That’s strange. We don’t have a charity policy here…What are you laughing at? Forget that one. Let him play with number two, and see what he’s got.” 

“…Fuck, I’m not asking you to fight, I’m asking you to die! You’re really something to be so arrogant as to hurt your classmates during the exam!” 

“Instructor, the number two student can’t lift his arm!” 

“I’ll take him to the hospital first. Students, follow the lesson plan! You! You’re good. With that kind of mentality, we’ll see how far you can go in the future!” 

Gu Xingqiao pressed the wound on the side of his abdomen which was raw and painful. His expression was cold as he stood in the middle of a crowd of abhorrent freshmen, as if separated from them by a suffocating vacuum.

“First place, Gu Xingqiao…” 

“The first person to break through, Gu Xingqiao.” 

“…This year’s champion, Gu Xingqiao!” 

“Oh! At the top of the leaderboard, why is that person, Gu Xingqiao?” 

“…We hereby bestow the honor of Outstanding Cadet, and the title of Imperial Rising Star on Gu Xingqiao. Let’s congratulate him!” 

Awards, medals, cold holographic gold crowns, and attention-grabbing public performance ribbons…Gu Xingqiao stood alone, surrounded by flowers and dazzling light. He didn’t smile and didn’t speak. He was so still and silent that he looked like a drawing of a person.

“Are you Gu Xingqiao? Wow, I actually enlisted in the same class as Gu Xingqiao! I’ve heard a lot about you!” 

“I’m Sissel. You can call me whatever you want.” 

“Oh, you found out…Yes, I left this for you, but I didn’t mean it as a handout and I didn’t do it out of pity. I really want to be your friend!” 

“Hey, don’t go away. Xingqiao? Xingqiao!” 

“I’m sorry, I hid my identity. It’s because I didn’t want you to hate me, or look at me strangely…” 

“We really complement each other, you see? I’m hot and you’re cold, I’m active and you’re quiet. That’s how brothers work best!” 

“Xingqiao, I’ve thought it over. Even if it wasn’t for you, I need to change the Empire’s prejudices against the Wine God Folk. I can’t let such a heartless event happen again! Let’s work together, shall we?” 

“Change doesn’t happen in a day or two. As long as we work together, what can’t we do? I’m the Crown Prince!” 

“…Thank you, Xingqiao, for your trust. I swear, I won’t let you down.” 

As he stood in the darkness, the young man with a simple uniform and bright smile vanished, while Crown Prince Sissel, draped in his magnificent royal robes, smiled down into Gu Xingqiao’s eyes.

“Xingqiao, where do you want to go? Where else can you go?” 

“Listen to them. That is your proud people. It’s true that they are like you, but they all have extreme, love it or hate it personalities. What can you do? They’ve already started to despise you, eh.” 

“I’m not lying to you. What need do I have to lie to you? Your men are all here. You see? Here are all the activities they organized against you, and there, there are their banners and slogans…They demand that traitors be dealt with, Xingqiao, and you are a traitor.” 

Gu Xingqiao raised his eyes. In the dream, his eyes were red, almost as if they were dripping blood.

“You lied to me…” He clenched his teeth. “The traitor is you, Sissel. Why…? Tell me why. Why!” 

The Crown Prince didn’t speak, only turned up the corners of his mouth. His fur-trimmed cloak slid across the floor of his cell, as he stood up and turned away.

“Tell me why, Sissel!” Gu Xingqiao growled frantically as he pulled on his heavy chains. “You liar! Liar! Tell me why! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!” 

No matter how frantically he struggled, how he screamed at the man’s back, he couldn’t break free from the prison of his distress.

At that moment, he hated everyone. He hated Sissel, and he hated himself the most for being so blind and gullible. He had been willing to pay any price as long as he could be turned into a fire that burned up the palace, burned up the Empire, burned up everything within sight in order to end the hatred that had surrounded him his entire life.

In the midst of his fierce struggle, something seemed to shake him hard.

“…Wake up. Wake up!” 

Gu Xingqiao was sweating. His eyes snapped open, he let out a sharp cry, then gasped for air.

Tian Yuan’s face was only a few inches away from his, and he had locked him tightly in his arms.

The mechanical being had one hand around his shoulder, while the other clasped both of his wrists. His knee was jammed between his flailing legs, and all eight exoskeleton arms wrapped around his body from both sides.

…He looked like a white spider on the hunt.

“You’re having a nightmare,” Tian Yuan stared at him with clear eyes. “You were talking in your sleep, and your body was moving so much, that this was the only way I could get you to stop.” 

Gu Xingqiao was sweat-drenched, his breathing was unsteady, and he was exhausted. He collapsed onto Tian Yuan’s rock-solid arm, while his head fell backwards, uncontrolled.

Tian Yuan immediately lifted his grip on his wrist and moved to hold his head.

“I’m…It’s okay…” he whispered. “I was just…” 

“Just dreaming about Sissel,” Tian Yuan finished unapologetically. “How about this? If you let me accept the concept of ‘war is a necessary evil’ as soon as possible. I’ll immediately help you destroy the palace and capture that man alive. Then it will be up to you to choose how to kill him, with what to kill him, and how long it will take to kill him. It will all be chosen by you, okay?” 

Gu Xingqiao, “…” 

“That’s not the only thing I want,” Gu Xingqiao sighed. “I…Can you let go first?” 

“No,” Tian Yuan said calmly. “I won’t.”