Bixing Lu — for having very inappropriate thoughts, attempted to keep the corner of his mouth from turning up into a coy smile, however, he was unable to conceal it, and along with his sparkling eyes, he seemed too look guilty. Speaking too fast made him seem like a wolf holding a prank.
Cautiously, Jingheng Lin paused.
Bixing Lu asked innocently, "What is it?"
Jingheng Lin shook his head, brows twisted as usual, walking towards the workshop after Bixing Lu. He couldn"t help but doubt himself to be too idle, paying too much attention on Bixing Lu, always over-interpreting, having such illusion that every word and action of his meant something more.
Fortunately, Bixing Lu adjusted his expression and tone, turning into a formal mode soon enough.
"I am planning to test within the range of the intranet instead." Bixing Lu guided Jingheng Lin into the workshop, briefly introduced the anti-tracking system, and went on talking, "Look, the range of the intranet covers four sailing days. Such scope is quite enough for minor mech to maneuver around in."
Jingheng Lin raised his eyebrows with a stolid face.
"What I"m thinking is to separate the Self-Defense Force into several groups to carry out real mech drills. Communication systems of each mech need to be turned on and signals in certain frequencies will be transmitted to imitate remote communication. They can hide themselves using the anti-tracking system, or even decode the anti-tracking system to catch their opponent. Isn"t it to killing two birds with one stone? They are testing the anti-tracking system in real battles, and getting more practice."
Bixing Lu was born with nice temper and good words, quite flexible in most situations, however, he had a stubborn heart through and through. At this moment, he still refused to give up and regarded those men in the base as "soldiers".
Jingheng Lin nodded helplessly after hearing his thoughts, "Well, quite an idea, gathering gorillas to play hide and seek out in s.p.a.ce."
Bixing Lu stopped several meters away, looking back at Jingheng Lin under the soft incandescent light in the workshop, "Lin, I"ve asked you once before... When you found the pirates getting close to the channels, why did you choose to draw them off alone even when you"re in danger? If you sailed back, with the map already half-finished, along with the channels and supplies to the outer s.p.a.ce of Cow"s, why didn"t you just abandon this base? Do you truly consider those men as gorillas?"
"No, it"s merely a metaphor," Jingheng Lin"s eyes didn"t even move, "I didn"t mean to insult gorillas."
Bixing Lu stared at him.
"Besides, why should I abandon this base?" In no hurry, Jingheng Lin moved across him towards the outside of the workshop, "It has always been those interstellar pirates who are avoiding me, never shall I make room for them. Primalien—who is he after all?"
Bixing Lu sighed. He had never met such a hard mouth before, wondering if the touch of his lips will be the same...Bixing Lu imagined a thin but smooth porcelain, couldn"t help but pucker his lips as if his tooth was being frozen.
Jingheng Lin"s voice came from the stairwell outside, "Your so-called "Self-Defense Force" can only drive the mech along with fixed pathway. Don"t bother me with such exercises. Do you have any plan B?"
Bixing Lu chased after him, "I"ll figure out a way."
"What can you do with such disunity?"
"Every lock has its key," Bixing Lu said seriously, "I may be sort of undependable, but have I ever dropped the ball at crucial moments? You need to trust me again, alright?"
As soon as he said, Mint dialed to his personal terminal, "Mr. Lu, there are some folks who claimed to be the from the Self-Defense Force and want to speak to you."
"Just a moment," Bixing Lu answered, eyes still chasing Jingheng Lin.
Jingheng Lin didn"t know how that old Persian Cat educated Bixing Lu, raising him into a Buddha trying to save the universe. From his point of view, Bixing Lu sometimes was too naive to understand. However, he just couldn"t watch him get exhausted and frustrated — if he was frustrated somewhere else, that would be another matter, but under his roof, as long as he didn"t mess up with the bigger plan, Jingheng Lin wouldn"t want to show him his anger.
The deadlock only remained half a minute, Jingheng Lin waved his hands impatiently, "Whatever you want."
Bixing Lu smiled with his eyes crinkled, deepened his tone of voice and said, "Commodore, it seems like you promise me basically everything I"ve asked from the day I met you. Why do you treat me so nicely?"
This question was clearly impossible to answer. That"s why Jingheng Lin decided to be a mute for a while,walking forward without a word with his hands in his pockets.
Bixing Lu sighed, finding Lin"s cold faces to be another kind of attractive, ticking off in mind— he just verified an ancient theory, that the hormone connected to affection will control the negative emotions of the brain, and blindly make people regard demerits as adorable as merits.
Bixing Lu asked with a smile, "Could it be that you want me to pledge to marry you?"
Jingheng Lin answered calmly, "Get out."
Bixing Lu got out, fully satisfied.
The main control room of the mech station was overloaded this day. Almost every little group against Sat.u.r.day went to visit Bixing Lu. Some were consulting basic knowledge about mechs, some were complaining Sat.u.r.day about and sneaking around, and others were trying to get familiar with him.
It was a mess in the air patrol that was usually on time and on the spot, for these little groups separated and had no intention to discuss with them at all.
There were three groups of patrols trying to get off the ground within ten minutes in the morning. The track of the station was almost on fire because of the friction. And no one at all was left the whole afternoon and evening, leaving a lonely artificial sun in the sky.
Soon, only Sat.u.r.day and his loyal lackeys stuck to the routine, all the others started to do whatever they want. Every kind of organization grew out in such a tiny base. There had been dozens of armed groups after just a few days.
"s.p.a.ce Sabretooth", "Universe"s Strongest Army", and more than a dozen other names that were too embarra.s.sing to be read out were registered. The atmosphere was foul, it was such a mess.
Out of sight, out of mind. Jingheng Lin buried himself into work with Zhanlu who"s no longer afraid of running out of battery. Everyday, he jumped back and forth through the base and the two supply stations, checked out the resources and made preparations for the coming war on the line.
It was tolerable for these "Sabretooth" to move around and make noise. But the power system of the residents in the base was recycled energy — briefly speaking, they depended on the tail gas of mech to generate electricity.
The recycled energy was just enough if everybody was organized to launch the mechs on time and on the spot. With such a mess, there were traffic jams in the sky and power outages on the ground.
More than ten million residents in the base got used to such cozy days with 24-hour battery to use and daily movie to watch. It was difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. The residents tolerated them one single day and sent a few wise elders from the "Grandpa Band" to argue at the mech station.
The small armed groups were busy competing for power day and night and had no patience to reason with these old folks.
Thousands of ways to supply energy yet Bixing Lu chose such design when he transformed the residential power supply. No one knew whether he had already expected such a situation in the beginning up to no good.
In one word, no matter who dared to abuse the base mech to disturb residential power supply, he was doomed.
When the movie was interrupted once again by the blackout, the anger of the residents blazed.
They poured out from the streets and buildings that were like ant nests, gathered and surrounded the mech station tremendously. "Sabretooth", "Tyrannosaurus" or "University Bad a.s.s", whoever dare to land would be punched just after that.
When Bixing Lu came to mediate, "Sabretooth" was almost beaten to being a "Toothless Kitty".
"Easy, easy." Bixing Lu pulled back an old lady who was watching a movie, carrying a mop rushing across, "Lady, easy! Calm down! Keep your manners! Mind your blood pressure and let"s talk it through."
The old lady was latched by him she pulled the mop upside down and stuck it into the ground, roaring, "I don"t care whether you are Self-Defense Force or Self-Destruction Force. You got to fly as planned. If anyone dares to fly illegally, they have no need to land anymore!"
Bixing Lu stopped them from fighting, gently and purposefully. He turned to these morose armed groups, "That"s right. We need order. There will be no civilization without order, is it?"
By whose order?
None of them could convince others. Quarrels between them were made in no time; such action provoked the furious residents again.
"We only got such few mechs and such few men in this base. Who do you listen to? How many are you?"
"I don"t care who you listen to, all I want is to watch my movie without disturbance."
"Look, why not choose a guy to stand for each group to have a fight and listen to the winner."
"That"s right, fight quickly!"
Seeing the leader of "Sabretooth" and "Tyrannosaurus" were pressed to kneel, head to head, going to have a traditional wedding ceremony, Bixing Lu finally said in no hurry, "I got a fair way."
On the dawn of the third day, after checking, Jingheng Lin pushed all the backup mech and weapons from the supply station into Heavy Mech No. 3. Upon returning, he found the base was as bustling as a sports compet.i.tion.
The anti-tracking system was adjusted into minimum coverage, probably for testing basic functions. Plenty of mech were loaded with virtual missiles out of the atmosphere, wandering around like a litter of crazy rabbits. They used the mirror channel of the anti-tracking system inexpertly to get in and out, making the crowd dazzled.
Zhanlu said, "Sir, there seems to be an interesting drill going on."
Jingheng Lin said with a poker face, "You are wrong. They must be holding a "sports compet.i.tion for r.e.t.a.r.ds"."
Zhanlu was silent for two seconds, "Ha ha ha."
"Who is joking with you? Did you have my permission to laugh?" Jinghen Lin changed to a serious face immediately, "a.n.a.lyze the anti-tracking system and stay away from them. We need to avoid them running into us and then asking for compensation."
Since only a part of the basic functions of the anti-tracking system was activated, it was easy to be covered by the mental network of Zhanlu. Heavy Mech No. 3 took a detour to the other side of the base, landed with great momentum on the mech station. A pity that n.o.body cared about a heavy mech that time. The multimedia screens were broadcasting the whole process of the military exercise. A crowd was gathered on the square to watch and there were thousands of people.
Jingheng Lin heard the comments of Bixing Lu far away, ""Tyrannosaurus" No.4 mech needs to save its power. Even if they are all virtual missiles, in order to emulate as much as possible, the total number of missiles for each mech is limited. If No.4 continues to launch hastily like this, soon it will be chased defenselessly..."Self-Defense Force" nN.1 crashes into "Thunder King" No.1. But don"t worry, all the shield of exercising mech is activated to the maximum. Besides, speed is limited so there won"t be any damage...Oops, it must be Sat.u.r.day driving "Self-Defense Force" No.1. He took over his opponent"s mental network while pa.s.sing. It was a nice operation...Wait a minute, we just saw the last mech of "Supreme King Kong" fall. It should be the first team that went down today with quite high scores...Oh, the mech is out of control, the pilot might have pa.s.sed out — Jingshu, give us some support off court! "
Bixing Lu himself was on a mech, acting as the controller of the anti-tracking system the same time as being the referee and commentator.
Uncomplicated situations, such as pilots dropping off the line, were handled by those four students. They were in charge of dragging the mech out of the ground if the pilots pa.s.sed out. They were unfamiliar with operation and acted even more nervous than those who were partic.i.p.ating in the exercise.
The marks of each group were constantly changing on the corner of the multimedia screens. The rules were quite complicated, whoever scored the lowest was marked as red. Bixing Lu read out the marked group to warn them every three minutes, ""We Are The Champions" is currently on the bottom. But cheer up guys, since "Supreme King Kong" had been totally wiped out, and you still have a chance. And please pay attention, whoever remains bottom after today"s exercise will no longer be legally armed and all group members are forbidden to form any new group. You will have to either leave the mech station or join another group."
Jingheng Lin lit a cigarette, leaning on Heavy Mech No. 3 and watched the circus far away. He gradually caught up with Bixing Lu"s thinking — it was too late to inculcate honesty to these guys because gangs were not shaped in a day. Since the base was already in chaos, it was better to lead them into fighting against each other to raise combat effectiveness. Under appropriate leading and supervision, internal fighting may be helpful.
Curse could turn out to be a blessing.
After all, what Bixing Lu wanted was to make them survive the war. Never had he planned to let them save the world.
The sound of footsteps arose. Someone picked a cigarette out of his pocket unceremoniously, "You have already installed the firepower of Heavy Mech No. 3? How"s it comparing with Primalien"s?"
Jingheng Lin figured out it must be Bixing Lu running his big mouth. Monoeye Hawk had known that he fought against Primalien on his way back. Jingheng Lin puffed out a smoke, feeling dumbfounded — Bixing Lu seemed to confirm that he and the old Persian cat can stay in harmony with good words.
"It"s a little bit worse than Primalien"s one," Jingheng Lin said, "After all, Heavy Mech No. 3 had been out of use for years. The shortage is mostly about hardware. But I can make it up since the mech core now is Zhanlu."
Monoeye Hawk sneered, "Fine, we have a heavy mech. What if things don"t turn out as we planned? What if your lackeys had all died in the lairs of the pirates?"
"It"s a small chance. It must be undeniable fate if we really go that way." Jingheng Lin flicked off the ashes, "The Ten Squadrons took an oath of loyalty to me, not the alliance."
Monoeye Hawk frowned, "What do you mean?"
"In other words, without my orders, the Ten Squadrons will not move even if the building of the alliance parliament is blown up and the head of everyone in the MC is cut and hung on the wall. Though my subordinates are not so useful, but they are capable of saving their own lives as long as they don"t try to be so "chivalrous and heroic"."
Monoeye Hawk was fully shocked, "Which means, you secretly had your own army in the Silver Fortress, the key to the First Galaxy?"
"It"s just fair, isn"t it?." Jingheng Lin said quietly, "I"ve done my job all these years. With the funds they gave, my works were all done. I owe the League nothing."
Monoeye Hawk stared at him with mixed feelings and stayed quiet for a while.
When he first knew about Jingheng Lin, he was a little boy. Xin Lu secretly took a photo of a boy"s sleeping face to show off his "son" all around. It was said there were twins under age left by the Lins. The elder brother was taken by the Military Commission and raised by Xin Lu. The younger sister was adopted by the Management Committee of Eden. What happened to the Lins had always been a top secret of the alliance and no one knew it. But what they were aware of was that the boy in the photo would probably live a tough life.
Xin Lu liked to show off his son from a distance. Deep in the memory of Monoeye Hawk, Jingheng Lin had always been a young boy seeking for quiet. Golden boys in the First Galaxy were all like that. They were elegant from head to toe and acted beyond age, gently and indirectly... until the alliance changed.
Monoeye Hawk had been a cynic to regard everybody from Wotto as hypocrites and rotten.
Not until he really came in contact with Jingheng Lin.
"I can"t understand you," Monoeye Hawk said, "Were you planning to rebel back then?"
Within such a short time, "Tyrannosaurus" and two other groups all died out, displayed on the multimedia screen in distance. Hearing the word "rebel", Jingheng Lin"s eyes glanced sharply at Monoeye Hawk, but he did not deny it.
Monoeye Hawk had no idea where could he collect his own army. But almost all the military force of the alliance stayed at the First Galaxy, not to mention the power to flexibly deploy was in the hand of the Silver Fortress. If the Silver Fortress attempted to treason when the alliance was invaded by pirates, the alliance had long been ashes and there wouldn"t be years of peace.
Monoeye Hawk asked, "So why didn"t you..."
"Why didn"t I do it?" Jingheng Lin looked at him. He had no intention to talk to him, but answered anyway, "If the Ten Squadrons rebelled, pirates would be attracted undoubtedly. These men who fought alongside with Xin Lu had long been against the alliance deep inside, they would definitely jump out to fight. That would not be a small war."
If Xin Lu listened to such words from heaven, he would return to life out of anger.
Strangely, Monoeye Hawk understood what he didn"t say out.
Jingheng Lin paused, mocking himself, "But it"s getting no better now. It was all on me."