Chapter 63: What do you want to do?
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
Lin Xu was still thinking about this as he followed Heinrich out of the cockpit, he didn’t remember Heinrich having scales…
They were silvery white, but smaller than the scales that occasionally emerge from the edges of wounds, each only the size of a pinky fingernail cap, delicate and smooth. Under normal circumstances, the seams could not be touched, and when the scales were turned down, it was like petting a cat backwards, flipping around and hackling.
Lin Xu had to think solemnly, this extent was more excessive than what he had seen before. He suspected that only the fish tail could be used, and the human form…
In Heinrich’s vision…Lin Xu had his fishtail state, which meant that it wasn’t that he didn’t like fishtails. So Heinrich kept it to himself, was he worried that Lin Xu was afraid of his abnormal scaled state? But Lin Xu remembered that everything was normal before, did this require special conditions to trigger the scales?
As the two walked down Blizzard gangway, the repairman looked at Lin Xu, who was following Heinrich, in shock. Heinrich’s face was cold and hard, his eyebrows lowered as if he was suppressing something. Dr. Lin was thoughtful, his feet were half a step behind Heinrich, who stopped at the end of the gangway and waited for Lin Xu to come to his side.
The two stood together in a cold but oddly harmonious atmosphere. Lin Xu was thin, but his tall bone structure allowed him to stand next to the athletic and perfectly built Heinrich without looking overly soft.
“Marshal, Dr. Lin,” Ika said, nodding at the two men. The maintenance man stared at the image for a moment, until Ika greeted him, and then snapped to attention and saluted Heinrich, who nodded and looked at Ika, “You’re here, too.”
“Mn, I’m here to help overhaul Blizzard’s intelligence and dual piloting system. Does Marshal have time to access the mental energy system to assist with the inspection? The tech department wants to upgrade the mental energy maneuvering system.” Ika said.
“Yes.”
Heinrich’s answer surprised the repairman so much that he waved his hand to the maintenance team that was following from a distance, and went forward himself, respectfully and enthusiastically presenting their design to Heinrich.
The team responsible for repairing mecha Blizzard had about ten members, and the number of repairers on other mechas fluctuated around that level, as giant technological creations have always been powerful and terrifying, yet delicate and fragile, requiring careful human care outside of the battlefield.
The maintenance crew asked Heinrich to return to the cockpit and access the mental energy system, while Lin Xu stayed on the ground and watched Ika tinker with the codes and values on the master operator.
Ika had given Lin Xu the program modifier for Blizzard’s intelligent systems when they were compromised, and now that the program designer himself was present, fixing the vulnerabilities was much easier.
Ika’s round eyes were glued to the rapidly scrolling characters on the screen, and his hands kept working as he asked Lin Xu, “How did Dr. Lin like Blizzard?”
“Not bad.” Lin Xu looked up at the towering mecha, the two of them standing right at the foot of the mecha, so close that when he looked up he couldn’t see the top of the mecha. The gunmetal grey was like a black, dark cloud, “I tried ‘Bard’ in ‘Star Ocean’ before and it was beautiful, too.”
Ika nodded, making a note of Lin Xu’s preference.
“Dr. Lin, if you’re going to continue driving the mecha, I suggest you apply for a mecha driving permit.”
Lin Xu looked down at him, not asking how Ika knew he’d piloted Blizzard in the field; the kid looked dumb but wouldn’t actually let go of a hint.
“I thought only students who graduated from the Military Academy mecha piloting department could apply for a mecha piloting permit?”
“The fleet chief can issue driving permits to officers under his command every year, you can go to the Marshal.”
Lin Xu thought about it and thought it was a good idea. The testing continued late into the night, and halfway through, Heinrich told Lin Xu not to wait any longer and to go back for dinner and rest. Lin Xu had no knowledge of mecha technology and could not be of much help here, so he left alone.
Nine hours later, the part that needed Heinrich’s cooperation was over, and he left first to deal with the day’s accumulated paperwork, while Ika spent a few more hours in the mecha maintenance room, writing new programs for the intelligent system.
After everything was finished, he returned to his room and used the encrypted channel to dial Godric’s communication. Godric had apparently fallen asleep and picked up the communication with a muffled voice, “Ika… What’s happening? What time is it…”
“Do you know ‘Bard’?”
Godric had just woken up and his brain was sluggish, but he was instantly awake when he heard the word, “That’s Largo Paris’ mecha, why are you asking about that all of a sudden?”
“Dr. Lin said he likes ‘Bard’.”
“Oh, Bard is great, and Largo Paris would be sorry that he can’t drive this mecha anymore.” Godric sighed with relief, speaking of Largo Paris with regret between his words, “Did Dr. Lin like it a lot?”
“I think so, he was very interested in driving the mecha.”
“Bard is now left in the Paris family… Let’s see, I could try to buy it, but the deal might not go that fast.”
“Okay.”
—
It was late at night when Heinrich returned to his room, the sunlight spilling harshly onto the floor through the porthole at the end of the area H corridor. He opened the door to room 002, and the light sweet scent wafted through the air like a soft embrace.
Those uniforms that Lin Xu stole to build a nest, even if repeatedly washed and disinfected, still could not wash away the sweet smell left by Lin Xu, but no one else could smell it. The intelligent machine could not detect it, even Lin Xu himself did not notice. Only Heinrich constantly knew about it.
The smart lights automatically turned on as the owner entered the room, but for some reason, the lights were dimmer than usual today.
Heinrich frowned slightly and didn’t ask Ruth about it. The uniform he had taken off was folded and hung in the crook of his arm as he walked into the room and around a corner that blocked his view. The scene in front of him relaxed Heinrich’s cautious brow.
The tidy bed was disrupted when he left it, and there was a long-haired figure trapped in the folds of the quilt. Two rabbit-cats, one black and one white, were curled up in the middle of the pillow, and their keen hearing caught the sound of Heinrich’s footsteps.
Lin Xu lay on his side bent on the bed, his black hair spread out softly, and his skin looked almost transparent under the light.
The scene was so similar to the one Lin Xu had constructed for Heinrich in his mental domain that Heinrich would have thought he hadn’t woken up from his hallucinatory dream if it hadn’t been for the sweet fragrance that lingered in Lin Xu’s construction.
He walked over to the bed, and his palm fell on the end of Lin Xu’s hair, which felt cold and smooth to the touch.
Heinrich stood staring at the person on the bed for a moment before he went to clean up and wash up. By the time he sat down on the half of the bed Lin Xu had left for him, Ruth had dimmed the lights completely and starlight was falling into the room.
The sunken undulations on the other side of the mattress woke Lin Xu, and the scent and warmth of Heinrich’s room made him feel safe, not springing up like a panther alert to press against his dark approacher, but waking up a little disoriented. Lin Xu rubbed hard into the soft pillows, “Heinrich…”
He hazily pulled Heinrich to his side, and Heinrich paused, reaching out to move the two rabbit-cats to the ground before lifting the covers and lying beside Lin Xu.
Lin Xu found that Heinrich had never let go of his hand after lying down flat, and their hands were placed in front of Heinrich’s belly.
“Heinrich…” Lin Xu bumped the top of his head against Heinrich’s biceps, his voice raspy and nasally, seemingly a little impatient, “Aren’t you going to sleep?”
Lin Xu’s sleepy voice gradually decreased, and finally it was almost as loud as the rabbit-cat’s wailing call. Heinrich’s eyes, which had not been closed, turned to Lin Xu, and found Lin Xu gently frowning and closing his eyes, completely impatient with the state of having been disturbed from rest. He thought Lin Xu was here again for that… No, what did he take Lin Xu for…
Heinrich stopped his thoughts, tried to control the content of his consciousness with the method Lin Xu had given him, and slowly let go of Lin Xu’s cold hand. Perhaps it was the uncomfortable motion of putting his arm over it, the restraint was lifted and Lin Xu retracted his hand all at once. Heinrich closed his eyes helplessly.
The next moment, the cold strands of hair cut across his neck, and Lin Xu moved half-asleep to Heinrich’s side, squeezing himself into a nesting position. Lin Xu had been huddled under the light, warm quilt, and although his palms were cold as usual, his breath and body had been muffled and warmed like a big, soft cotton ball that smelled sweet.
—
Ruth turned on the porthole window insulation after the occupants went to sleep and activated the simulated daylight system early the next morning.
Lin Xu woke up earlier than Heinrich. The simulated daylight fell on Heinrich’s silver hair, and every strand of hair rolled over with golden beads of light. He tried to get up, but found that Heinrich had locked himself completely in his arms, and as soon as Lin Xu moved, Heinrich would be woken up.
And…Lin Xu also found some special circumstances… Although there is no natural day and night in cosmic conditions. But the human body would still stimulate different physiological states according to the time rhythm. The morning was inevitably full of vitality and energy.
Lin Xu did not move, he was still sleeping across Heinrich, using telekinesis powers to pet the rabbit-cat that jumped on the edge of the bed. Cat hair went flying, Blackie and Snowy frantically picking their long ears.
When the daylight power of the analog system reached its maximum, Heinrich gradually woke up. Even Marshal Chu was not unapproachable when he had just woken up, and the little bit of residual confusion even made Lin Xu feel he was a little lovely. Heinrich looked at Lin Xu’s face for a moment in reaction, and gradually remembered that Lin Xu had stayed in room 002 last night.
“Good morning.” Heinrich said.
“Hmm.” Lin Xu looked at Heinrich’s disheveled silver hair.
Noticing the close proximity between them, Heinrich let go of his arm and sat up. Lin Xu then rolled over and went from lying on his side to lying flat, his head tilted to look at Heinrich, his cheek pressed against the pillow. It was an unguarded, extremely lazy gesture.
But Lin Xu’s eyes were never loose and clear. The gray eyes were always covered with a fog-like color, making the border between the iris and the white of the eyes blurred, and behind the fog, something seemed to be swimming as he examined the man.
And it seemed that there was nothing. Lin Xu’s gaze often fell on others with a single touch and did not care. Now, his eyes locked on Heinrich, like a swamp that makes a person sink deeper and deeper, with moisture and coolness. But his low voice had the warmth of wood and fleece, “What are you running for?”
He stretched out his foot and caught Heinrich. Early morning, indeed, was different.
But the touch was similar to what Lin Xu had tried with his own hands before, without the dragon scales covering him for now. Heinrich was pressed into place, his throat astringent, “I…”
Lin Xu used a little force, “Do you like the fishtail, or the way it is now?”
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