Chapter 80: Professor Lin prepared the meal himself
Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Karai
“Revenge against whom?”
“Humans.” Kalt pressed his brow, “The connection between Spiritual Monarch and humans goes back to the time of the Ark Fleet. At that time, the Ark Fleet had been in the universe for a hundred years, and the second and third generations of new humans grew up, born in the universe, never having seen Earth, better adapted to life in space, and not as full of despair as the first generation that escaped from Earth.
“But hope could not solve the crisis facing the fleet. Humans lacked fresh water, food and energy, and just when the voyage was unsustainable, Spiritual Monarch appeared in the fleet. The crew thought He was a special intelligent being from a higher civilization, and He was… Really special.”
Kalt glanced at Heinrich and noticed that Marshal Chu remained calm and unruffled.
“Marshal Chu, please take my word for it.”
Kalt knew that Heinrich was capable of understanding that both the Rememberers and the Imperial nobles had the same goal, and that he would not turn Kalt in, but he might not believe Kalt’s “nonsense”. But the impending crisis made Kalt take the plunge.
Gritting his teeth, he continued, “Spiritual Monarch appeared to be human in form, but he had no physical body and could travel between the vacuum of the universe and spaceships at will, without the use of any tools. He learned the language humans used at the time, and taught humans all kinds of technology, subspace navigation, leapfrogging, warp engines, new energy, light energy weapons…
“The humans of ancient Earth imagined many kinds of contact with alien civilizations, and many of them were filled with pessimism and destruction.”
As if caught in some kind of memory, Kalt’s tone becomes distant, his emotions for Spiritual Monarch mixed with both fear and incredible nostalgia.
“But mankind did not expect that the first alien civilization he came in contact with would be so beautiful, intelligent and gentle. Later, after entering the Einstein Galaxy, we encountered many other civilizations, but the technological gap between these civilizations and human civilization was not so big, so the Empire could easily catch up with our neighbors.
“Spiritual Monarch, on the other hand, was at a level of technology we could not have imagined until now, and the little scraps that fell through the fingers of the higher civilizations were enough to feed humanity for thousands of years, not to mention the fact that Spiritual Monarch was teaching humanity much-needed technology with great patience and concern.
“Until now, our leapfrog technology, weapon design, and physical theories have been spinning in Spiritual Monarch’s leftover wisdom.”
“Why does He want revenge?”
If the Spiritual Monarch sounded so gentle and kind, almost like an ecumenical saint, why should Kalt fear Him?
Kalt looked sideways down at the table, his gaze out of focus, “Marshal Chu, I have often thought that in the past, humans fantasized about alien civilizations as invaders and despisers because humans themselves possessed their own ugliness, and took it for granted that other creatures were too.
“The confrontation between the Empire and the Alliance began with the split in the Ark Fleet, which is generally believed to have been caused by a disagreement between the two sides over the hierarchy brought about by the ABO gender divide, but there was another reason.
“The former people who founded the Alliance opposed the other side’s attempts to control Spiritual Monarch, and a civil war broke out in the Ark Fleet in which humans used the weapons technology taught to them by Spiritual Monarch to kill each other, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries. Then, the Spiritual Monarch disappeared and never appeared again, perhaps disappointed with the cruel and bloodthirsty humans.
“In the history passed down from generation to generation of Rememberers, it was recorded that when the Ark fleet sailed to a star field where the celestial orbits were chaotic and almost impossible to find a pattern, Spiritual Monarch raised his hand to pluck the spinning stars to bless the fleet’s safety. Now, as the Imperial expedition returns to Earth, the celestial bodies are pulled to impact Earth. Everything looks like it has something to do with the Spiritual Monarch.”
Kalt was unaware of the self-destruct sequence activated by the Unknown in the Snowy Mountain base. If the celestial attack was indeed the work of the Spiritual Monarch, He might have made contact with human civilization long before the Ark fleet. But… Doubts remain.
Heinrich frowned slightly, “If the Spiritual Monarch civilization wanted revenge, with its technology level, it could have attacked the Imperial at any time, no need to wait until now.”
Kalt smiled bitterly, “I don’t know whether Spiritual Monarch treated humans as children or as pets. If it’s the latter, of course there’s no need for Him to continue to put effort into abandoning humans, but won’t He be annoyed when pets that have gone bad rush up to Him again, flaunting the old toys He gave to humans?
“I intend to send a letter to His Majesty the Emperor to report this attack, and His Majesty will understand. But it is necessary for us to enter a state of war until the Imperial Order is sent back to the Solar System.”
Heinrich did not speak, and from his cold golden eyes, Kalt could see no sign of thought, only the cold, majestic scrutiny. After a few seconds, Heinrich spoke, “The Abyss Fleet and the Elam Fleet will have a joint strategy meeting.”
—
Thunder and fire and lightning rolled through the heavy clouds on the storm-spattered tropical ocean. As the autopilot bobbed in mid-air in the troposphere, Zhou Pingbo fought through dizziness to help Lin Xu open the hatch as the rain poured in, wetting him all over.
“You have 90 minutes, you must return after 90 minutes, OK?” The wind from the sea poured into the craft, and Zhou Pingbo had to speak to Lin Xu at the top of his lungs.
The weather here was too unpredictable, and Zhou Pingbo was worried about being struck by lightning if he stayed too long, “If you encounter an emergency, feel free to contact me.”
“No problem.” Lin Xu walked to the edge of the hatch and turned back to instruct Zhou Pingbo, “If you encounter deep-sea monsters, also feel free to contact me, I will immediately come back.”
“It’s okay, the craft will hover in the air.”
Lin Xu said, “They may have tentacles.”
Zhou Pingbo, “…”
The next moment, Lin Xu leaned down and jumped from a height of 100 meters, like a cannonball into the sea, raising a column of gray water.
He took off his clothes at the bottom of the sea and turned into a mermaid, and the changed clothes and pants were pressed down with a stone at the bottom of the sea, to be put back on when he turned back into a person.
Without the fabric in the way, the strong fish tail allowed him to travel at full speed through the seawater and quickly reach the place marked on the map where the mermaid’s bones were found. The deep sea was dimly lit, and a few glowing jellyfish floated by in the distance.
A little further ahead, he could see the markings and monitoring equipment left by the expedition at the site of the mermaid bones, and Zhou Pingbo temporarily turned off the recording equipment for him. Lin Xu, with his underwater light in his mouth, swam around the area, but found nothing more.
He thought carefully, if these mermaids really were the product of transformation, they would choose to live where? The deep sea area was dark and cold, food was scarce, and there were sleeping mutated deep sea creatures dividing the territory, which was by no means a suitable place to live.
The mermaid should retain some of the human habits, they would need sunlight, occasional cooked food, so the shallow sea in theory was more suitable than the deep sea.
The mermaid bones that accidentally appeared in the deep sea area may be the product of an accident.
Lin Xu swam down the upwelling cold water toward the surface and nearer land, breaking up the storm-like masses of sardines on the way, and on a whim he grabbed a few fatty sardines in his hands.
As the depth decreased, he looked up and could see the shimmering sea, and the land ahead seemed to be an island, and Lin Xu sped around the coastline, his black hair scattered like silk in the clear blue water. After humans disappeared, pollution stopped and the ocean recovered itself at a very fast pace.
He passed by a coral reef, sea cliffs and fine white sand beaches, and found nothing but two large lobsters. Just as Lin Xu was about to return, his attention was suddenly drawn to several segments of white bone buried in the shallow sand and gravel that resembled a mammalian spine, and more importantly, a segment of the corroded and mutilated spine was some kind of metal replacement bone. A human creation.
Several small predatory fish watched Lin Xu from a distance. Lin Xu swam toward the predators with a swish of his tail, and fear of the powerful predators sent the small predators scurrying back in terror as Lin Xu followed them all the way back to the reef area.
The small fish hid in the dense colored coral thickets, which were so large after the mutation that the whole thicket was like a giant ship full of flowering trees. Lin Xu’s speed was slowed by the branches of coral growing everywhere, and his eyes no longer swept over the area, but identified possible traces of human life one by one. His heart grew cautious, unsure if there were still mermaids living on Earth, and unable to deduce how they might have lived.
A little reflective object caught Lin Xu’s attention, and when he got close enough to see it, it was a glass bottle reflecting sunlight. He tried to remove the bottle, but this white coral branch blocked the stubby bottle. No, wait… It was not white coral, but half of a human sternum.
The glass bottle slipped from Lin Xu’s hand, and he swam back a distance to see the skeleton in its entirety – half a sternum, with a fishtail skeleton attached below, buried all the way into the sand, a small red coral growing out of the hollow of the human skull, propping up the eye sockets and facing the sunlight spilling down from the ocean.
Lin Xu’s heart began to beat wildly as he continued to search through the coral thickets, finding a dozen more skeletons scattered among the gorgeous coral, most of which had been torn apart and tossed around by later fish, and the first one he found was the most complete in comparison.
The mermaid community had disappeared for a long time… There were no companions to bury them according to old habits.
Lin Xu finally did not move these mermaid bones, returned to the aircraft, Zhou Pingbo looked at his hands carrying sardines and lobsters a little confused, just to the mouth of the message stuck.
“What are you…”
“I’m going to go back to the Victoria and come back down when I have something new.” Lin Xu changed into his uniform under the sea, now drenched in wetness, his breath cold, “The expedition will stay for two more months, right?”
“Yes there are two more months.” Zhou Pingbo finally remembered what he was going to say, “But Heinrich also wants you to go back to the Victoria, the Abyss Fleet and the Elam Fleet have to rearrange the defense system and strengthen the vigilance. Your identity is special, it is not convenient to stay on the research ship.”
“Okay.”
Autopilot turned on, the metal shell of the craft blocked the storm all outside the cabin, lightning like a giant hand tearing deep blue purple clouds.
“Two books were found in the museum site excavated by the expedition, the text on them should be what you call French, it also has an old English translation, you bring it back to the Victoria together.”
Before leaving, Lin Xu gave Zhou Pingbo the record of his actions in the coral thicket. When Lin Xu returned to the Victoria in the flight shuttle, Zhou Pingbo sent another message.
“The genetic comparison results are in, and the genetic sequences of you, the deep sea mermaid corpse and the Thales mermaids are basically identical.”
–
Crack-
The burnt aroma of grease filled the space along with the rising smoke. Heinrich had just stepped into Ninth Canteen’s kitchen when he saw the dining machine’s two beady eyes flashing red, constantly warning, “Smoke overload, fire hazard, fire hazard.”
It was tied with four mechanical arms secured to the refrigerator door, clicking and lifting its arms to break free. Heinrich walked over and pressed the shut-off button, and the kitchen finally cleared.
A sweet aroma of burned meat spilled out of the frying pan, and Lin Xu was brushing the golden brown fry in the pan with a layer of honey, making the meat more attractive. Heinrich leaned in close to Lin Xu, looked down in his ear and asked, “What is this?”
“Pan-fried sardines.”
“What about that?”
Heinrich looked over at two large lobsters steamed bright red in another steamer, one steamed and the other broken open at the back and filled with garlic paste and seasoning.
“Lobster.” Lin Xu bowed his head and flipped the sardines that were bubbling straight up with oil, “I caught them from the sea, help me put the lobsters on a plate.”
Heinrich turned over the white porcelain plate Lin Xu handed him and gazed at the reddish lobster as if it were an enemy, seemingly contemplating how to get the food from the pan to the plate. Many interstellar humans may have never been in a traditional kitchen in their lives.
Lin Xu “… Get a spatula.”
He watched Heinrich struggle to get the lobster onto the plate, momentarily forgetting the job he had in hand, and one of the sardines was charred.
Lin Xu frowned and turned off the heat, served the sardines on a plate, and reheated a small pot of boiling oil and poured it over the garlic lobster meat. Heinrich took a step back in the face of the rolling bubbling hot oil.
Lin Xu took the cutlery, picked up two porcelain plates and placed them on a round table at the side of the kitchen, pulled two more boxes as seats and sat down face to face with Heinrich.
The hot oil cooled down a bit and stopped bubbling continuously, Heinrich’s face cleared up a bit.
“Did all humans in the ancient Earth era handle their food by hand?”
Lin Xu blocked Heinrich’s attempt to fork up the lobster shells and used a knife and fork to cut out the meat from the inside and put it on Heinrich’s plate.
“Not really.” Lin Xu looked at Heinrich who forked a piece of lobster meat into his mouth, “How about it, can you accept the taste of Earth creatures?”
Heinrich commented with a complicated look, “It’s very different.”
But then he tried a piece of sardine with a honey flavor, “I like the taste.”
“So you like sweet dishes.”
“… I like the taste of honey.” Heinrich said. Lin Xu himself was not aware of the sweetness he exuded from time to time, otherwise Heinrich would not have allowed himself to say this so bluntly.
“When you leave, find some more honey to take back with you, there are no bees in the Empire to create honey.”
“Hmm…” Heinrich answered softly, the unspeakable memory of the taste of honey flashed through his mind, making him quickly change the subject, “Why did you think of cooking today?”
“There is no way for sea creatures to survive in fresh water, it won’t be fresh after a few days.” Lin Xu replied flatly.
“But you don’t know what to eat.”
Lin Xu looked up at him. The overhead light in the kitchen was pale and feeble, the corners of Heinrich’s mouth and the crest of his brow revealed a sullenness under the burden of crisis, and the eyes in the dim shadows showed a deep emotion for no reason.
