He and It Chapter 133: Utopia (29)

Chapter 133: Utopia (29)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Ming Sheng, “You, you…” she glanced at the closed door, gritting her teeth, “Limit you to ten minutes, give me an honest explanation!” 

“There’s no need to be in such a hurry,” Gu Xingqiao wondered, “Ten minutes is a long time…” 

“I’m telling you, Sissel has sent an inspector to control me, and he comes around here at regular intervals, more annoying than a blood fly.” Ming Sheng said, “Don’t finish your sentence, but if someone breaks in, I’ll have to help you kill him.” 

So, Gu Xingqiao used the speed of a speedwriter’s brief, and spent ten minutes describing to Ming Sheng the ins and outs of his relationship with Tian Yuan.

Ming Sheng stared at him blankly, her eyes darting between human and non-human, she stared blankly for a while, before slowly saying, “Tian Yuan level… The warship that surpassed Stella in size and disappeared with the end of the Great Purge era? The Tian Yuan class… that has been regarded as a fabrication and a legend, and in fact can’t exist? …Tian Yuan class?” 

Gu Xingqiao nodded, “Um.” 

Ming Sheng couldn’t help but raise her hand and press it to her forehead.

“And he’s the personification of the personality that was created in the original mothership,” Ming Sheng whispered, “who was set upon by the humans of the Age of Light, and now that he’s out of trouble, he wants to marry you.” 

“We,” Gu Xingqiao corrected, “yes, we… After we settle this, we’ll get married.” 

Ming Sheng suddenly realized that the white spider she saw on Gu Xingqiao’s shoulder that day, what exactly was the situation.

“The only difference between you and Dragon Ao Tian is that you have to marry a great master in the end, nothing else…” 

Gu Xingqiao immediately and decisively covered her mouth, black face, “What the hell are you reading all day long, more and more able to talk nonsense.” 

“Blah blah blah blah!” Ming Sheng broke away from him, “You’re in a good place, can’t you mention me? Your bastard emperor is getting crazier and crazier by the day, you can’t just leave him in the middle of it, can you?” 

When she mentioned the matter, Gu Xingqiao’s expression became serious, “One of the reasons I came here was to take you away. Now how far did it go?” 

Leading him, Ming Sheng walked to the command console, and called up the astral view of the Wine God Planet.

“Thanks to you, the battle was too big,” Ming Sheng said, “not to mention those two arms, people almost lost, after they were rescued, they could only use bionic arms. You know, the nobles of the world’s most prestigious families who adore and brag about the ‘born perfect’, but now, the honorable Imperial Emperor has become a modified cripple who needs a prosthetic implant to hang on to his life…” 

Gu Xingqiao snorted, “He had his eyes replaced eight hundred years ago, and strengthened his bones and reflex nerves, his body has been patched up in bits and pieces, what kind of a born perfect person is he?” 

Ming Sheng shrugged his shoulders, “If you don’t say it, if I don’t say it, if the plastic surgeon doesn’t say it, who would know?” 

With a stroke of her index finger, she brought up a recent photo of Sissel, and told Gu Xingqiao to take a look at it.

In the hologram of the Imperial Emperor, it was already difficult to see the former vigorous and energetic demeanor. His face was not smiling, his eyes contained something almost gloomy, and the wrist and fingers exposed by the cuffs were all cold and piercing white gold color.

“Knowing that there was no way to hide it, the Empire’s propaganda department made it a major case that shook the Galaxy in the first place, then the Wine God Planet was under heavy siege…” 

“No reason?” 

“No reason,” the corners of Ming Sheng’s mouth twitched, a twisted smile looming, “Sissel’s siege of Wine God Planet had no reason, everyone could see that. He was just trying to force you to show up. He didn’t believe that you’d just walk away and leave Wine God Planet behind.” 

“As it turns out,” Ming Sheng raised his eyes to look at him, “he did guess correctly.” 

Gu Xingqiao gazed at her, and said, “Not only that, he also transferred you to be the person in charge of this work.” 

Ming Sheng’s hands propped up on the command desk, she drew in a long breath, but the breath didn’t last long, her head suddenly slumped down, and her shoulders collapsed in frustration.

“I can’t do it,” Ming Sheng said, “or rather it’s hard for me to do it. You know better than I do how a siege of a planet is fought. It’s basically forcing a planet’s species to commit mass chronic suicide. I don’t care if it’s your homeworld or not, Sissel ordering me to do this to a planet’s civilian population isn’t a move that can be described as merely ‘humiliating’!” 

“I understand,” Gu Xingqiao whispered, avoiding the rank, squeezing her left shoulder reassuringly, “I understand.” 

Ming Sheng calmed down for a moment, then waved her hand and brushed Gu Xingqiao’s arm away, neither of them were people who would spend a lot of time on emotional expression.

“What the hell were you thinking?” she turned around, leaning against the edge of the command deck, lighting a thin cigarette, holding it between her fingers, “Tell me, from the moment you cut off his arm. I don’t believe you hadn’t thought about this possibility.” 

Gu Xingqiao laughed, “What did I think about?” 

Ming Sheng hissed, “Don’t play dumb for me, Gu Xingqiao! For years, before that idiot Sissel exposed the fact that he’s a dumbass, you two were like Siamese twins, Meng not moving away from Jiao, Jiao not moving away from Meng. He…” 

A gaze that was so cold that one couldn’t even tell whether it was cold or hot, instantly shrouded over from behind Gu Xingqiao, interrupting her words.

–It was the mechanical intelligence named “Tian Yuan”, who had never spoken, just silently observing their conversations and interactions, until she brought up Gu Xingqiao and Sissel’s past, and the other’s sense of presence rose steeply to an unbearable level. It was only when she brought up Gu Xingqiao and Sissel’s past that the other’s presence rose to an intolerable level.

Gu Xingqiao didn’t turn around, his hand clapped back.

“Stop staring and go around,” he suggested, “we’re talking business.” 

Tian Yuan sulked, “Hmph.” 

Then he continued to stand still, not using his death glare to shoot at Ming Sheng again.

Ming Sheng raised his eyebrows and coughed meaninglessly.

“You continue to say.” Gu Xingqiao lifted his chin.

“… He knows you, and you know him. He said you would show up, and today you did, but what about you? Before you made your move, did you not think about the outcome of his response?” 

In the face of that, Gu Xingqiao was silent for a long time.

“Look at us, look at you,” he smiled with a hint of bitterness, looking towards one of his few old friends, “how many wounds have you suffered? How many times have you almost died on the battlefield, Ming Sheng?” 

Ming Sheng frowned and said dryly, “I can’t remember, if I could get paid for the number of wounds I received, I’d be rich and free for eight lifetimes, why?” 

“In the past, I fought with high ideals, wanting to change the status quo of the Wine God Planet, to make this planet prosperous and rich, so that the Wine God Folk could be free, without having to pay the blood tax, and without having to suffer the ravages of war.” Gu Xingqiao bowed his head, “I fought with everything, my talents, my victories, I used all my military and political assets to promote my countrymen, to provide for my home planet, to try to elevate it, so that it wouldn’t suffer because of its own peculiarities.” 

He said bitterly, “In the end, I became a traitor to my country and my family because of a ridiculously selfish idea of the people in power, but few of my people defended me. I understood the fragility of the individual, I understood that they were not qualified to stand up to violent institutions, to the Imperial regime, but even silence was not mercifully bestowed upon me, and the last straw that Sissel used to break my back was the verdict of the prevailing public opinion of the Wine God Planet.” 

“I defended you.” Mingsheng said.

“Because you are my friend.” Gu Xingqiao looked at her, “Since they believe in Sissel so blindly, then I’ll let them see the price of belief. After all, my actions were directly targeted at the Emperor, who only has incompetence to relent, as well as seeing them as pawns to utilize.” 

Ming Sheng stared at him blankly.

“But… This would be your indirect revenge against the Wine God Planet, and your people.” 

“I’m not a god,” Gu Xingqiao said, “I can’t be completely selfless. I get angry, I get sad, I get resentful… I’m human. I am a human being.” 

Ming Sheng was speechless, she held her cigarette in her hand and circled around the room irritably.

She didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t blame Gu Xingqiao, she was half a party to the incident. She knew better than other bystanders how much pain Gu Xingqiao had suffered, but she couldn’t say that the civilians of the Wine God Planet deserved what they got. She was a soldier, a soldier’s vocation is to obey the orders, but also to protect the country. In her heart, she could have killed the person in power a thousand times over, but of course the empire is made up of countless individuals. Without the hard-working masses who pay their taxes every cent, how can there be a country? 

Gu Xingqiao looked at the holographic view of the Wine God Planet, his fingers crossed, and put up the holographic view of the Tian Yuan warship as well.

“You see, the Tian Yuan starship can accommodate a voyage of about eighty to one million two hundred thousand people at a time, the universe is so big, even if we leave theWine God Planet, leave the scope of the empire’s territory, and go to a brand new planet with a suitable climate and temperature to live in, so what does it matter? In fact, I’ve already found a good alternative.” 

Ming Sheng said softly, “After being besieged by the Empire for so long, there must be many people willing to leave.” 

“What’s the point of staying here?” Gu Xingqiao asked, “Whoever doesn’t want to be a slave, just follow me, I don’t ask for that much.” 

… Yes, you have returned Sissel’s favor with great fury, turning him into a mad dog with a meaty bone; and you know what kind of countermeasures Sissel will use to dispose of the Wine God Planet after you went into hiding. He tortured your home, trying to force you to show up, but this is exactly what you need – you want to avenge the betrayal of your people, but also need to play a white-faced bad guy, to contrast your timely salvation.

This kind of precise calculations, paradoxically wandering between ruthlessness and sentience, I know, the past you, couldn’t do.

In a trance, Ming Sheng felt that her old friend had changed, and she couldn’t say whether the change was good or bad. There was one thing that she didn’t tell Gu Xingqiao, nor did she intend to tell him: before Sissel appointed her to besiege the Wine God Planet, he had met with her privately in his personal name.

Ming Sheng despised Sissel, but she still remembered Sissel’s godly mood, as well as his thoughtful tone. He asked Ming Sheng, said “do you know, Xingqiao changed. I really want to know, who actually changed him?” 

At that time, Ming Sheng just laughed coldly, she rhetorically asked the Imperial Emperor, said are you a ** ah? Don’t you know how he became like this? 

He didn’t care about his status, and he didn’t care about the consequences.

However, in this place, Ming Sheng caught a glimpse of Tian Yuan’s figure, and she thought she got that answer.

“… So, you came here today because you changed your mind.” Ming Sheng asked.

Gu Xingqiao said, “I know that on my home planet, there are still clansmen who object to the rumors of my treason. I could have just left, and taken you with me before I left… But you weren’t wrong, and Sissel wasn’t wrong, I was soft.” 

Ming Sheng sighed.

“I know.” She looked at Gu Xingqiao, “That’s why you brought your… marriage partner here.” 

As he was speaking, Tian Yuan lazily turned his eyes, and under his gaze, the alloy door suddenly rattled and opened with a crash from the outside.

“Commander Ming Sheng! What are you doing alone in the command room, you’re about to–” 

Gu Xingqiao and Ming Sheng turned their heads in unison, and met eyes with a number of Imperial Inspector’s men.

All was silent, Ming Sheng shook her head helplessly, “Look, I’ll just say it.” 

Gu Xingqiao nodded, “Indeed, there is no sense of proportion at all, having this kind of subordinate, it is really a headache.” 

The Inspector Guard’s guns were instantly loaded, the Inspector Envoy screamed in a harsh voice, “Gu Xingqiao! You Imperial Traitor, Ming Sheng, you really are disloyal to the country as well…!” 

The sound of his skull bursting, drowning out his unfinished denunciation, the particle gun in Ming Sheng’s hand flashed red, and she said in a low voice, “Noisy.” 

With this shot, Gu Xingqiao was clear about her choice.

He smiled slightly, in the electric light sparks that then poured out like rain, the youth’s figure was as fast as a wisp of black smoke, a cloud of illusions that do not exist in the world. Along the dead center of the gate, black blades fell from the sky, cutting the night sky and anything in their path.

The sound of metal snapping was almost simultaneous, springs shattering, parts breaking, and soaring blood splattering against the walls of the corridor, as stunning as the opening of a spring in the blink of an eye.

Gu Xingqiao’s time away from the empire was not very long, but his time away from the center of power of the empire had been too long. No one recounts his glorious years, and few mention his achievements and talent. When it comes to him, everyone evaluates him as a genius, but how much of a genius and what kind of genius is he? No one to look deeper.

The inspector’s team was specially prepared for Ming Sheng; if it was prepared for Gu Xingqiao, then Sissel must personally tell them: if you do not want to be completely wiped out, never meet Gu Xingqiao’s kind of person front and up.

“The newborn calf is not afraid of tigers,” said Ming Sheng as she shot a few of the missing ones at point blank range, stepping over the corpses on the ground and walking out of the office area with Gu Xingqiao, “I miss the time when we were there, at least people still knew what respect meant.” 

Tian Yuan was like a huge silent shadow, silently following behind his human.

At the same time, Ming Sheng’s subordinates also heard the commotion and hurried over, they were stunned when they saw Gu Xingqiao, and again when they saw the corpses on the ground.

“Commander? What’s going on here?” 

Ming Sheng “tsked” in displeasure, and said in disgust, “I’m going to quit, can’t you see!” 

“… Huh?” 

She tucked the particle gun into her waistband, grabbed her subordinate by the neck, and straightened his collar impatiently.

“As the saying goes, a good bird chooses a tree of integrity. I’m alone. I’m a piece of meat. I just don’t want to work with that f*cking emperor. You guys have been with me for so many years, if you want to go with me, you can, if you don’t want to, I won’t make things difficult for you.” 

She winked at Gu Xingqiao, and the tacit understanding of their past was still there. Gu Xingqiao immediately realized, and unsheathed his knife and held it symbolically across her chest.

“I’m holding your commander hostage,” Gu Xingqiao exclaimed, “If you want to release the hostage, you have to lift the blockade on the Wine God Planet first!” 

The subordinates were dumbfounded.

Hostage-taking? Not to mention your status as an enemy of the empire, just because you alone, single-handedly barged in, and just playfully took Ming Sheng hostage, you want us to give in…

“… What’s that?” 

One of them suddenly raised his head, his gaze fixed on the transparent wall of the lookout station, and muttered a question.

The rest of the group raised their heads in unison.

The siege of a planet usually only occurs in a situation of absolute victory, such as when an important enemy member needs to be captured, and the other party is deeply entrenched inside the planetary sanctuary, then siege measures will be used. Usually the practice is to ignite the atmosphere, not to immediately destroy the planet, but to use the shortest possible time to maximize the change of the planet’s ecological environment.

Even with Ming Sheng’s mercy, the garrison was in a warship, and from the vacuum above, from a distance, the Wine God Planet still looked like an orb hovering in the color of burning sunlight, and the former verdant surface could only be recognized with difficulty.

Now, however, they could no longer see the glowing planet.

–It was an endless white wall of extinction, like a living dragon above all beings, so vast that every scale shone with light, and every glimmer of light was as grand as the eternal sun.

The warship they were in was already a 7-kilometer long Styx-class, roaming the universe like an unbeatable shark, always waiting to devour the next prey that dared to provoke, but in front of such a huge ship, such an unimaginable existence of manpower, the Styx-class warship also became a small, white shrimp, and had to huddle up with its feet and limbs, and might still be able to beg for the other party’s mercy.

“See?” Gu Xingqiao gave a somewhat apologetic smile, “I’m holding your commander hostage, so you’ll have to listen.” 

The subordinates stepped back, their faces were all uglier than the death of their own father. Ming Sheng said in a bad mood, “What are you waiting for, lift the blockade!” 

“Lift, lift the blockade!” 

“Lift the blockade, the commander has been kidnapped, lift the blockade!” 

“Hurry up, hurry up!” 

The shouts were passed from one layer to another, becoming more and more hoarse and panicky, and the subordinates were almost crawling towards the control room. Gu Xingqiao lowered his arm, and Ming Sheng shrugged her shoulders, teasingly saying, “A fox pretending to be a tiger, huh?” 

Tian Yuan looked indifferent, before he did not say anything, just staring at Gu Xingqiao, did not turn his eyes. Gu Xingqiao had long been accustomed to this level of attention. Ming Sheng looked at the side for a moment, and already felt creeped out, took into account the detailed thought, but also like arms on the back, and did not know how Gu Xingqiao could bear it.

“He has absolute control over me,” Tian Yuan said, “My power is his power.”