Chapter 108: Recollections
With his journey covered, all that was left to tell was how Mu Mu had found Yan Gui Xing on the Frontier Star. Mu Mu didn’t think there was much to tell, but this was the part Yan Gui Xing most wanted to hear.
Mu Mu scratched his head, a little troubled. “Isn’t looking for someone just like… looking for someone? You go everywhere and look, then you dig around, and you find them!”
Yan Gui Xing took Mu Mu’s hand, which was scratching his head. He saw the rough texture of the skin on his palm and the dry, cracked fingertips. His heart ached as if someone were squeezing it tight.
“Thank you, Mu Mu. Thank you for coming to find me.” Yan Gui Xing opened his arms and embraced Mu Mu from behind. He held Mu Mu’s hands in his and wrapped him in his arms.
Mindful of Yan Gui Xing’s injuries, Mu Mu didn’t lean back fully. He just arched his body slightly, pressing his back against Yan Gui Xing’s chest, feeling his body heat through their thin clothes.
“What are you thanking Mumu for?” Mu Mu laughed. “Gui Gui should thank himself. You worked hard to stay alive so Mumu could find you.”
It was the first time Yan Gui Xing had ever heard of thanking himself for his will to live. He shook his head and laughed softly. “Oh, that’s right. When I was looking for Gui Gui, I found a lot of other people, too. But I couldn’t bring them back, so I just took their dog tags.” Mu Mu pulled his right hand from Yan Gui Xing’s grasp and pointed toward his small satchel. “I put all of them in my bag.”
Yan Gui Xing looked in the direction Mu Mu was pointing. The dark green satchel was leaning against the wall on a table. The bag wasn’t transparent, but Yan Gui Xing felt as though he could see the intertwined metal tags inside, and with them, the faces of the men who had owned them.
The smile on his face vanished, replaced by a solemn expression. He stared at the satchel for a moment before saying in a low voice, “Mu Mu, on behalf of those men, thank you. Now they can finally go home.”
Mu Mu didn’t understand why Yan Gui Xing’s mood had suddenly dropped. He patted the hand resting on his stomach to comfort him. “Gui Gui, Mumu has told his story, so can you tell me yours? Why did they say your mecha exploded? Did it really explode? An An said if your mecha exploded, you would too, but you didn’t die!”
Yan Gui Xing’s somber mood shifted with Mu Mu’s question, but it didn’t become lighthearted. Instead, it was filled with the lingering fear and emotion of having survived a brush with death.
Yan Gui Xing had only lived for seventy-eight years, which was still considered young in a galaxy where the average lifespan was 280. But in those seventy-eight years, his life had been a series of dramatic, perilous, and spectacular events. With so many close calls with death, there were only three things that truly haunted him.
The first was after getting revenge for his mother on the Point of No Return, when he was hunted mercilessly and nearly died from blood loss in the wilderness.
The second was his first time on the battlefield, not long after joining the military, fighting against lower-tier Insectoids. As a recruit, he couldn’t pilot a mecha and wasn’t qualified to own one. He only had a laser gun and a hydraulic dagger. With only those weapons, he fought against Insectoids that were nearly three meters tall, with hard scales, sharp claws, and a tail.
When the thick, dark red blood of those monstrous Insectoids splattered on his helmet, and the air filled with a foul stench, Yan Gui Xing threw up on the spot. He couldn’t eat anything for two days straight, and every time he closed his eyes, he saw the grotesque shapes of the lower-tier Insectoids. Later, after seeing the even stranger mid-tier Insectoids, the larger and more physically capable higher-tier ones, and the hybrids who looked completely human, he got used to it.
The third thing that haunted him was the period when Mu Mu left him and went to D5 Star, and he couldn’t find him no matter what. That mental torment was far more painful than facing death. It was then that Yan Gui Xing finally understood what Mu Mu meant to him. He was a ray of sunshine in his otherwise dull and dark life. He was his love, his salvation, his everything. He needed Mu Mu and was willing to give up everything for him.
That’s why Yan Gui Xing had gone to the battlefield despite his misgivings—he did it for Mu Mu. Yan Gui Xing didn’t put much stock in intuition, but with Mu Mu on his mind, he wasn’t as aggressive as he used to be. He was cautious and careful. It was this change in his combat style that allowed him to have a flawless record with zero casualties in all the battles he fought after arriving at the Frontier Star. The uninformed called him a genius tactician, worthy of his title as the Imperial God of War.
But Yan Gui Xing, who was at the heart of the war, knew that the higher-tier Insectoid leading the army was unlike any he had faced before. He was a true force to be reckoned with. It was no surprise that the two Admirals who had grown up in peacetime and never fought on a battlefield had been defeated.
Yan Gui Xing had been so focused before because he had promised Mu Mu he would bring him victory. He wanted to end the war quickly and go home. But now he had to be on high alert, to ensure he could return to Mu Mu alive.
But everyone has their flaws. After so many victories, one can’t help but question their own judgment. Had he overestimated his opponent? His tightly-strung nerves finally relaxed, and Yan Gui Xing never imagined that this one moment of complacency would cost him his life.
The higher-tier Insectoid leading the army this time was the youngest son of the Insectoid Queen, a fanatical radical who had single-handedly orchestrated the invasion of the Empire by tearing up the security treaty. His ambition was vast; he wanted to achieve what no previous Insectoid Queen had—the complete annexation of the Empire. But he had the misfortune of running into the stumbling block that was Yan Gui Xing, who handed him one defeat after another, causing heavy casualties among the mid-tier Insectoids. The Insectoid social structure was a pyramid: the most numerous lower-tier Insectoids handled basic labor and soldiering, while the mid-tier, who were more intelligent but only a third of their number, were in the middle. The higher-tier Insectoids, the royal family, were even more rare.
Seeing that victory was hopeless, the Insectoid Queen had no choice but to throw away her son’s lofty plans. She reached out to the Empire to sign a new security treaty on the condition that her son’s life would be spared. The Queen had a mother’s heart and wanted to save her wild child. But Yan Gui Xing was no saint. He was ruthless and believed in pulling a weed out by the root. And the Queen’s son was a madman himself. Understanding that the battle was lost, he wanted to drag Yan Gui Xing down with him.
On the battlefield, Imperial Generals typically commanded from the bridge of their starships. Only Yan Gui Xing and Admiral Desimo, two true battle-hardened veterans, liked to fight on the front lines. Because their SSS mechas were silver and gunmetal-black, star pirates referred to them as the “Black and White Duo.” But this time, Yan Gui Xing was worried about Mu Mu. He valued his life and didn’t care about gaining extra glory. He stayed in the command center, only piloting the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva to the front lines a few times.
He decided to lead the final battle personally because the recent defeats had led to heavy casualties and a dip in morale. He wanted to boost their spirits and finish off the remaining die-hard Insectoids once and for all. Why take prisoners? Those rebellious Insectoids were a menace! With a powerful presence like the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva, the Fourth Legion fought much more smoothly than in the previous battles.
As the enemy began to retreat, Yan Gui Xing found their main ship hidden among three others. With a boldness that came from his skill, he charged forward alone, blocking the main ship’s escape. Without a word, he fired two high-quantum cannons. The high-quantum cannon was the most powerful weapon on the SSS Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva; one shot could obliterate a starship without a shield.
Under the assault of two high-quantum cannons, the enemy ship’s shield shattered. But instead of retreating, the main ship, now without a shield, launched an attack on Yan Gui Xing. Beams of blinding blue and white light wove into a dangerous net, while the silver mecha moved through it like a ghost.
An SSS-class mecha could only hold a maximum of three high-quantum cannons. When Yan Gui Xing didn’t hesitate to use his third shot to blow up half of the enemy ship, their attack didn’t stop. The other two starships joined the battle. By this point, if Yan Gui Xing hadn’t realized his opponent was trying to take him down with them, he would have been a fool.
He couldn’t just sit there and die. He had to save himself! He had to live! Mu Mu was waiting for him to come home!
“Damn it!” Yan Gui Xing cursed under his breath, giving a swift command. “Ksitigarbha, back up all your data into my terminal!”
A deep, melodic male voice echoed in the cockpit. “Acknowledged, Master. Initiating backup.”
“9”
“Warning! Mecha is under attack. Shield integrity at 80%. Please initiate repairs.”
“8”
“Warning! Mecha is under attack. Shield integrity at 60%. Please initiate repairs.”
“7”
“Warning! Mecha is under attack. Shield integrity at 50%. Power system damaged.”
“6”
“Warning! Mecha is under attack. Shield integrity at 30%. Weapons depleted. Please evacuate immediately!”
Red lights flashed continuously inside the mecha. Yan Gui Xing’s grim face looked ghostly in the light. He gripped his hands into tight fists. Every time the deep voice announced a number, his heart leaped into his throat. He kept muttering, “Faster, faster.”
Finally, after the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had used up all its remaining weapons, destroying one more starship, and losing both of its arms, the deep voice said, “Master, backup complete. Mecha is critically damaged. Please evacuate immediately.”
[Author’s Note]: Next chapter, they’re finally going home! What will they encounter on the way back? Stay tuned for the next installment.
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