Chapter 103: Incorrect Identification
Zheng An followed Mu Mu around for most of the day, desperately trying to talk him out of going to the Frontier Star to find Yan Gui Xing, but nothing worked. In the end, with no other choice, he changed his tune and told Mu Mu to be extremely careful. He should look for Yan Gui Xing, but if he couldn’t find him, he shouldn’t take any risks. The most important thing was to stay alive.
Zheng An didn’t know if Mu Mu had even listened, but he answered with a soft “mhm” anyway. Zheng An decided to just assume he had.
Mu Mu had originally planned to leave the next day, but Liang Yi’s call made him realize that a severely injured Yan Gui Xing could be at risk of encountering the Insectoids at any moment. He couldn’t wait another day; he had to find him immediately.
Because the Frontier Star was the main battlefield, spaceships from other planets had been halted to protect civilians. Only military starships were allowed to travel there. After the war ended, travel gradually resumed, but each planet only had one or two daily flights to the Frontier Star. D5 Star had a single flight at 5:30 in the evening, and that was the one Mu Mu wanted to take.
He entrusted Wangwang and the convenience store (mainly Wangwang) to Zheng An’s care, then left with a small suitcase containing a few changes of clothes.
Zheng An and Wangwang saw him to the door. Mu Mu waved goodbye with a smile, then turned and grabbed the doorknob. For some reason, Zheng An’s heart suddenly began to pound. He felt like something bad was about to happen.
He didn’t have time to think. His body seemed to act on its own, stepping forward and grabbing Mu Mu’s arm. Mu Mu turned with the force of the pull and looked at him in confusion. “What’s wrong, An An?” he asked.
“I’ll take you,” Zheng An said, reaching for the suitcase handle in Mu Mu’s hand. Mu Mu pulled his arm back, avoiding the reach. He let go of the handle and turned to face Zheng An. Seeing his worried expression, he hugged him. “The spaceport is close. You don’t have to take me. Don’t worry, An An, Mumu will be back soon. In a month… at the very latest, two months.”
“You said two months, so two months it is,” Zheng An quickly responded. “If you’re not back, I’ll come find you.”
Mu Mu’s brows furrowed. “It might be three months. Mumu can’t really say for sure. But you don’t have to worry. The Fourth Legion is on the Frontier Star, so Mumu will go to Achi and the others.”
Zheng An’s concern had made him forget that Achi and the Fourth Legion were already on the Frontier Star. Hearing Mu Mu say this, he finally remembered Achi’s existence, and his heart, which had been in his throat, finally settled a bit. But he still didn’t feel at ease. “Then you have to contact Achi as soon as you get there. You’re not allowed to run around by yourself!”
Mu Mu obediently nodded. Zheng An continued to fret like an old mother, telling him not to talk to strangers or trust anyone. Not everyone was like Yan Gui Xing; most people were bad. Mu Mu patiently agreed to everything. Seeing that there was only half an hour left, he firmly cut off Zheng An’s incessant nagging, gave him a cool goodbye, hugged Wangwang, who was curled around his legs, and told him he was going to bring his other dad home. Then he left.
Luckily, D5 Star wasn’t very big. When Mu Mu arrived at the spaceport, the spaceship to the Frontier Star was still fifteen minutes from liftoff.
He found a small robot to buy a ticket, but as soon as he handed over his terminal, the robot’s eyes turned red. A cold, metallic voice stated in a monotonous tone, “Identification failed! This citizen cannot travel to the Frontier Star.”
There were other passengers in the hall. The robot’s voice was loud and clear, and everyone turned to stare at Mu Mu, wondering what was happening.
Mu Mu hadn’t left Glass Star since he arrived. The only time he had been on a spaceship was when he and Zheng An fled Glass Star. He had never traveled by himself before. Last time, Zheng An bought the tickets, but Mu Mu watched the whole process, memorizing every step in case he needed to do it himself one day.
He never thought that day would come. He had followed the steps he’d memorized perfectly. He never expected such an incident. Mu Mu panicked, his hands and feet unsure of where to go. He quickly pulled back his terminal and looked around, flustered and embarrassed.
The hall wasn’t very crowded, and everyone was busy buying tickets. Even if they were curious, they just glanced at him and then went back to their own business. After a few seconds, Mu Mu recalled how Zheng An had done it. He cautiously stepped forward and handed over his terminal again.
“Identification failed!” The four words blurted out from the robot. Mu Mu quickly clutched his terminal and took two steps back. As soon as his terminal left the light screen, the robot obediently fell silent.
Mu Mu paced around the robot twice, unable to figure out why he couldn’t buy a ticket to the Frontier Star. “An An did the same thing last time and got a ticket. Did Mumu do something wrong?” he muttered. He then handed his terminal over again. This time, however, he entered “Glass Star” as his destination.
“Identification successful. Please select your flight and seat.” A row of times appeared on the robot’s screen, followed by a small seat map of the spaceship. He could purchase a ticket with a click.
“I can buy it now?” Mu Mu wondered, scratching his face. “Then why couldn’t I buy one for the Frontier Star?”
He tried two more times, and the result was the same. The last flight to the Frontier Star had already departed. For any other destination, he could purchase a ticket.
Mu Mu finally realized that he hadn’t made a mistake in the steps; he just couldn’t buy a ticket to the Frontier Star here.
As for the reason, it never occurred to him that it was because of his identity as Yan Gui Xing’s partner. The military hadn’t restricted his travel. After he rejected Liang Yi’s offer, she, out of concern for his safety, contacted the Lord of D5 Star and asked him to dispatch police officers to protect him.
Everything was fine up until this point. The problem was with the Lord of D5 Star. He was a conservative and cautious leader who believed that the more you do, the more you mess up, and the less you do, the less you mess up. He was afraid that the General’s grieving partner, in his grief, would go to the front lines to mourn his husband. So, he simply issued a direct order to cut off Mu Mu’s access to the Frontier Star.
That was why Mu Mu couldn’t buy a ticket. As for why he could buy tickets to other planets, the Lord of D5 Star just wanted to pass on this big headache to someone else. As long as Mu Mu went to another planet—whether he settled there, stayed for a short time, or went to the Frontier Star from there—whatever happened to him would no longer be his problem.
The Lord of D5 Star was more than happy to send Mu Mu, this living deity, to another planet.
Mu Mu couldn’t stay at the spaceport forever, so he chose the planet he was most familiar with, Glass Star, and bought a ticket for a flight leaving in half an hour.
The flight arrived at the Glass Star spaceport at 11 p.m. Mu Mu didn’t leave the spaceport. He found a small robot to check if there were any flights to the Frontier Star. He had a plan: if he couldn’t get a flight from Glass Star, he would get a ticket to the closest planet to the Frontier Star, and then figure out what to do next.
This time, the ticket purchase went smoothly. Mu Mu successfully bought a ticket to the Frontier Star for noon the next day. With thirteen hours until his flight, he didn’t have to wait. On this familiar planet, he went to the public transport station outside the spaceport and waited for a transport to the Jin Yi District.
After two years, Mu Mu was standing in front of the ornate iron gate again. He looked at the villa bathed in silvery light, as beautiful as something out of a fairy tale. His hands trembled as he pressed the video intercom.
The gate made a faint click in the silent night, and the closed iron doors opened once more. At the same moment, the lights turned on inside the pitch-black house.
Perhaps the memory of that day was too vivid. Even after so long, and even though Yan Gui Xing had apologized and made up for what he’d done, the memory still left a deep scar on Mu Mu’s heart. Now that the door was open, he found he no longer had the courage he’d had when he boarded the public transport.
After much hesitation, he dragged his small suitcase through the gate, walked along the long flagstone path, and arrived at the closed wooden front door. Just as he was about to grab the doorknob, the door opened from inside, revealing a round little robot named Xiaoting with a red bowtie standing in the golden light of the entrance hall. Its metal body reflected a cold, fragmented light, but two thick lines of tears streamed down its face. It extended its two round little hands to Mu Mu and sobbed.
“Madam, you’ve finally come back to see Xiaoting! I missed you so much! Boo-hoo-hoo, come give Xiaoting a hug!”
Mu Mu hadn’t expected to find Xiaoting at the villa. He had missed the robot terribly. He immediately dropped his suitcase and hurried forward to hug Xiaoting. “Mumu missed Xiaoting, too. Your master didn’t bring you to find Mumu. That’s so mean.”
“He is! Master is a big meanie!” Xiaoting rubbed its round head against Mu Mu’s chest, acting exactly like Wangwang back on D5 Star.
After Xiaoting had had its fill of cuddles, it tightly held Mu Mu’s hand as if afraid he would run away and led him into the living room. Since they hadn’t seen each other in so long, the already chatty Xiaoting was now even more so, as if it was trying to make up for all the time they hadn’t spent together.
Mu Mu sat obediently on the sofa, holding a cup of milk Xiaoting had heated for him, listening to the robot’s endless chatter. He didn’t show any impatience; instead, his eyes were filled with nostalgia.
When Xiaoting finally paused, Mu Mu was able to get a word in. “Xiaoting, why didn’t you go to the Frontier Star with Gui Gui?”
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