“He’s really changed his ways.” Burke said, craning his neck to look outside as he pushed open the door to Qin Chu’s office.
"What?" Qin Chu looked up and asked.
“That prince, he’s been going to the database a lot these past few days, I wonder what he’s looking up.” Burke said as he entered.
Qin Chu paused slightly in his movements, but quickly resumed as usual.
The last mission he accepted involved the highest imperial decrees. In principle, Levy should not have had access to the mission details, and going to the cabinet's database multiple times would be useless.
However, Levy's actions still surprised Qin Chu.
Levy was a very easygoing person, and his past experiences had shaped his indifferent attitude towards everything. Qin Chu hadn't expected that Levy would be so obsessed with the person who told him the story.
They are still in a state where their memories have not been restored.
Qin Chu kicked Levi twice yesterday, but he didn't feel good about it.
Given the current situation, he rationally didn't want Levi to regain his memories. He would also lead a team into the virtual world for a rescue mission, the success rate of which was not high. If Levi knew this, he would definitely go in with them.
Qin Chu didn't want to drag him into it.
But seeing someone who was once the closest to you completely forgotten brings a different kind of unbearable anxiety.
When he first went to the Royal Palace to see Levy, he was simply eager to confirm Levy's safety.
But Qin Chu's repeated storytelling afterwards was a rare display of irrationality.
He wanted Levy to remember him, but also wanted Levy to remember nothing, so that he wouldn't have to worry about anything.
An unexpected dilemma.
Suppressing his thoughts, Qin Chu looked up at Burke and said, "After the deployment regarding the beast tide is completed, set up the sleep pods connected to the network and have the special team ready."
"So fast?" Burke was somewhat surprised. He had thought Qin Chu would finish dealing with the cabinet before entering the virtual world.
"We can't delay any longer. The longer these untrained people remain dormant, the lower their chances of waking up," Qin Chu said.
Burke responded, but he was still not completely at ease. He had a feeling that the cabinet was planning something.
-
Levy emerged from the database.
"I'll be back tomorrow," he said to the staff managing the area outside.
"When did you come in? Last night? You can't just barge into the database!" The staff member looked terrified. Levi had been coming frequently these past few days, and he and the Crown Prince were practically acquaintances. "Besides... you don't currently have the authority to view General Qin Chu's detailed information."
“Then I’ll take a look at the less detailed version,” Levy said with a smile.
Levy's smile faded slightly after leaving the database.
The database couldn't stop him, but he still couldn't find what he was looking for.
In fact, Qin Chu was right. He couldn't prove that Qin Chu was the person he was looking for, nor could he prove that he had lost a period of his memory, let alone explain what he and Qin Chu had shared in that period of his memory.
This General Qin was clearly bullying him, an amnesiac, knowing that he couldn't find any evidence or clues, so he used those words to shut him up.
Levy spent the entire night on the rooftop yesterday, carefully going through his memories.
He confirmed that his memories from other periods were intact, so the only place where he and Qin Chu could possibly have met was the virtual world.
This General Qin has been stationed in the outermost star system for many years.
But later, he inexplicably ended up on the capital planet and slept in a sleep pod for several months before waking up. He claimed it had nothing to do with the virtual world, but Levi didn't believe him at all.
The only thing that allowed Qin Chu to enter the virtual world was the last task, which appeared as gibberish.
Unfortunately, there was no record of Qin Chu's last mission in the database, so Levy had no way to prove that the mission was related to him.
As he walked out of the government building, Levi looked up and pinpointed a floor, his gaze lingering on a particular window.
He had been kicked out of that window a few days earlier, so he remembered it vividly.
But right now you can only view it, not crawl it.
After looking up for a while, Levi clicked his tongue, somewhat annoyed.
He casually grabbed a familiar-looking staff member: "Hey, stop."
The staff member, who had been somewhat impatient, suddenly perked up when he turned and saw Levi, and hurriedly bowed: "Your Highness, may I ask what brings you here?"
These people initially didn't think much of the crown prince, who had little real power, assuming he was just a figurehead created by the cabinet. However, after learning that Levi and Qin Chu had fought to a draw in the training room yesterday, their initial disdain turned into extreme caution.
Levy didn't care about their attitude and kept his eyes fixed on the window of Qin Chu's office.
He asked, "Do you have an office in this building?"
"Yes, yes," the staff member replied.
“You have it, why don’t I?” Levi raised an eyebrow, clearly displeased.
"..." The staff remained silent. The entire Royal Palace is yours, what more do you need an office for?
"Are there any empty rooms on that floor?" Levy asked, pointing to the floor where Qin Chu's office was located.
"Yes, we do have some." The staff member hesitated.
Levy made the decision immediately: "Okay, get me an office, it's all yours."
Since General Qin is so guarded in private matters, it's not impossible for him to get close to him in official matters.
The next day, Levy got up unusually early and entered his newly-built office just in time for work.
He wasn't interested in the office furnishings. He sat down for less than two seconds after entering and then headed straight for the next room with a very clear objective.
Along the way, Levi had come up with three or five reasons to say hello, but when he arrived at Qin Chu's office, he was stunned for a moment.
The office door was open, which wasn't like Qin Chu's style.
Ever since they discovered that he frequently loitered in the government building, General Qin has kept his office door tightly shut every day, as if he wanted to weld it shut with sheet metal.
Levy frowned and peeked inside. Qin Chu wasn't there; only Burke looked anxious.
He glanced at the door again, making sure it was the acting marshal's office, before asking, "What are you doing here?"
Burke was taken aback when he saw him, then became furious: "I should be asking you that! What are you doing here?"
Levi didn't reply, but glanced around the office again before asking, "Where's Qin Chu? Why is he in the training room so early in the morning?"
"Where is Qin Chu?" Burke almost laughed in anger. "You're a member of the cabinet, and you don't know that Qin Chu has been taken away by a military court? And now you're asking me?"
He didn't intend to say anything more, just retorted and turned to leave.
Levy stopped him, his expression serious: "Military court? Isn't that your military's judicial body? Why did you take Qin Chu away?"
Seeing that he seemed genuinely confused, and thinking of the "scheme" between Qin Chu and the Crown Prince, Burke hesitated for a moment, then anxiously wiped his face and said, "The cabinet reported that Qin Chu had violated regulations in his most recent mission, so this morning the military court sent people to take Qin Chu away. We'll have to wait until the trial to find out the specifics. Anyway, it's quite troublesome."
After hearing what Burke said, what surged in Levy's heart was not anxiety, but a kind of surprise that was unexpected yet not entirely unexpected.
"He also breaks the rules?" Levy couldn't help but ask.
Burke paused for two seconds before replying, "Yeah... Qin Chu actually broke the rules?"
But he quickly realized, "Pah, pah, pah! What violation? Does he look like the kind of person who would break the rules? It must be a slander from the cabinet!"
Despite saying that, Burke also felt a little strange.
These past two days he has been on guard against trouble from the cabinet and has been reminding Qin Chu to be careful.
Whether Qin Chu listened or not, he didn't know, but when the military court came in the morning and took him away for violating regulations during his mission, Qin Chu showed no surprise.
Most importantly... he made absolutely no attempt to defend himself.
Burke's heart skipped a beat. Had Qin Chu really broken the rules?
After glancing at Burke, Levy walked straight into Qin Chu's office and sat down.
"Hey, what are you doing? Why are you just barging into someone's room when the owner isn't home?" Burke said.
Levy glanced at him and said, "There's no use in you being anxious. If things fall apart here, the cabinet will be happy."
Burke was aware of this as well. He did not argue, but quickly contacted several officers and instructed them to continue to advance the various arrangements requested by Qin Chu.
Levy pondered for a moment and asked, "At this time? Will the jury be able to be assembled?"
"Gather my ass! This is clearly the cabinet being dissatisfied with the meeting's outcome, wanting to cause trouble for Qin Chu, and incidentally regain control of the wartime empire." Burke cursed. "They're still arguing at a time like this. Sure enough, when the prime minister is away, this is a bunch of troublemakers."
After finishing his rant, Burke remembered that the person in front of him was also a member of the cabinet.
To his surprise, when he looked up at Levi, he found that the Crown Prince was completely oblivious, and even seemed to think he had done a good job of scolding him, nodding approvingly.
"When the people from over there came, did they say he violated any regulations?" Levy asked.
"Who knows? It wasn't explicitly stated." Burke thought for a moment and then sat down on the sofa.
"What exactly was his last mission, that it was kept so well hidden?" Levy asked, somewhat displeased.
"You didn't know?" Burke looked at him with some surprise. "I thought Qin Chu and you met during this mission."
Levy smiled but didn't say anything.
Burke added, "This mission is under the highest level of secrecy; no one knows about it except Qin Chu and the Cabinet."
"You're such a useless assistant." Levy scoffed, getting up to walk out.
Burke scratched his forehead and thought carefully: "When this mission was first issued, the cabinet invited Qin Chu, but Qin Chu didn't want to accept it at all. Later, I only learned that the cabinet actually used the highest government decree, and Qin Chu returned to the capital star."
"The details of the mission haven't been revealed at all?" Levy stopped and glanced at Burke.
Burke shook his head: "At that time, the mainframe had just betrayed us, and a large number of humans were trapped in the virtual world. The missions available then would be either capturing the mainframe or rescuing people. But Qin Chu wouldn't refuse such missions..."
Levi paused, a hint of interest flashing in his eyes, then smirked: "Unless he thinks this person isn't worth putting down his work to save."
“That’s impossible,” Burke said, puzzled. “With so many ordinary people trapped inside, Qin Chu certainly wouldn’t just leave them there. The only ones who would warrant the cabinet issuing a supreme decree are the entire citizenry of the empire or the Prime Minister…”
Levy's smile deepened: "What if the cabinet asked him to save a crown prince he'd never even heard of?"
Burke paused, looked up, and cursed.
After leaving Qin Chu's office, Levy didn't rush to the location of the military court. Instead, he sent a signal to the Star Pirates to contact Camin.
Kamin was bored, so he immediately flew to the foot of the government building.
“Contact the brothers who have woken up on the ship. If we don’t have enough manpower, we can ask other familiar pirate groups for help,” Levy said.
Kamin paused for a moment, then became excited: "Boss! You're finally planning a rebellion!"
As he spoke, he excitedly spun around: "Now is indeed a good time to rebel, but the military is still around... that's troublesome."