Wait, why are there three stars? Little Red Riding Hood, you tricked me again!
[The key point is clearly leaving Tianzixing!] Little Red Riding Hood shouted angrily for the umpteenth time about Chaoge focusing on the wrong thing.
Chaoge: Oh.
If it were merely a matter of leaving Tianzixing on the surface, then she has already accomplished it, and the task should be considered complete. However, given Little Red Riding Hood's nature, the true difficulty of achieving these three stars remains to be seen. For example, at the last royal banquet, Chaoge thought it would be something very difficult, but it turned out to be accomplished with much fanfare but little substance.
But this time, Chaoge felt something was off, so much so that she had to turn and stare at Luo Qinghe for a long time. Under Qinghe's questioning gaze, she asked, word by word, "Was there something you forgot to say on the spaceship just now?"
☆ Chapter 50: The first words spoken to the big bosses
Through these days of interaction, Luo Qinghe had long known that Chaoge wasn't the kind of person who was slow to react; in fact, she was somewhat unable to grasp her temperament. Chaoge's coldness towards strangers was actually because she didn't want to get too close to others, as she subconsciously tended to make the worst assumptions about other people's intentions, yet her kind nature often prevented her from thinking that way.
Therefore, Chaoge did not want to deal with too many people.
She is like an ordinary roadside stone with sharp edges, seemingly ordinary with nothing noteworthy, but when you touch it, you never know which edge will scratch you, and if you break it one day and look closely, you will find that there is a different color inside.
Luo Qinghe knew, of course, that this analogy was not quite appropriate, but she had seen very few things in her life, and this was the only thing she could think of for the time being.
Then he chuckled to himself, thinking that even if it was a stone, it should be the best piece in the universe.
"What?" Despite her inner turmoil, Qinghe's face remained impassive, as she pretended not to understand Chaoge's question and its meaning.
Seeing the smile that barely touched her dark eyes, Chaoge could only walk towards the floating station while trying to figure out what problem she had forgotten after getting off the train.
Upon arriving at the station, Chaoge found it almost deserted. Never one to pay attention to her surroundings, she immediately realized why the handover station was so crowded—those people weren't coming back; rather, M1 itself wanted to leave for Tianzixing.
Chaoge tilted her head, the white ribbon on her wrist never leaving her side. Immediately upon her thought, a faint blue light screen projection appeared, displaying the current time.
Despite the journey only taking a few hours, Chaoge's eyes widened when she saw the date. "The time on the spaceship was wrong," Little Red Riding Hood and Chaoge noticed simultaneously. When she tried to connect to the entire Crystalless Empire's information network, she discovered that the Crystalless Empire's network was under Level 1 alert, with all military intelligence encrypted at Level 2.
Unless one knows the secret code or has decryption privileges of the Crystalless Empire.
Chaoge felt a bone-chilling cold emanating from the thin chain around her neck, and the object hanging on it was so heavy that it felt as if her neck was about to be unable to lift itself due to the weight.
"There's a problem with the time on the spaceship, did you know?" The crowds in the transfer hall were no longer visible from the station. With their physical abilities, it would only take them about ten minutes to get here, but it would take longer for anyone else.
It wasn't just about the time on the spaceship; all the AI on board were simultaneously disrupted.
Chaoge tried her best to figure out where the spaceship was malfunctioning, but her memory was not up to par, and the disadvantages of never paying attention to the environment became very apparent at this moment.
Luo Qinghe looked surprised; Chaoge thought she was also unaware of this situation. She walked ahead, randomly picked a car, and the blue light symbolizing her access level on her wristband lit up. Just as she expected the car door to open as usual, her smart screen lit up, displaying the words: "Access level too low, no right to use."
Since Chaoge came to this world, she had never really encountered the problem of having too low an access level. When she saw that line of text, she almost couldn't help but rub her eyes, thinking she was dreaming.
"I know." Just then, Luo Qinghe walked to her side and reached for the car door, which opened with a click.
Luo Qinghe stood still beside her, then bent down and climbed into the car. After settling in, she looked up at Chaoge standing outside the car door. Chaoge's face was no longer that of Sikong Yufu; perhaps it was the moment she lowered her head that her appearance changed. Seeing the hesitant look on Chaoge's face, Luo Qinghe smiled sweetly, reached out her hand to Chaoge, and gently suggested, "Get in."
It seems that the person who just admitted to tampering with the spaceship wasn't her.
Chaoge felt a headache coming on. She never thought she was particularly smart, but ever since she came here, one or two people around her had started playing the "guess what I'm thinking" game with her. It was one thing for Qin Muge, who was unpredictable, but even Qinghe, who was bullied by others at the beginning and never knew how to fight back, had now become like this.
Am I poisonous?!
Who is actually the one with a split personality?!
"Congratulations on finally having a correct understanding of yourself." Little Red Riding Hood sighed in Chaoge's mind with mixed feelings.
[Shut up, I haven't even settled accounts with you yet. You'd better figure out the access level issue while I'm not thinking about this.] Chaoge didn't have time to argue with Little Red Riding Hood. She was now using every cell in her brain to think about the cause and effect of today's events.
Besides the culprit who just admitted to sitting next to her, the person who could have manipulated this matter must have been acting on someone else's wishes. Zhao Ge had seen several members of the personal guard, and she knew their capabilities well. The only person capable of such a blatant deception to make her leave Tianzixing, and unafraid of Tianzixing's AI system, was none other than the AI itself.
Min, Kai, Yang.
Chaoge gritted her teeth and silently recited the name in her heart. She originally just wanted to stay quietly on Tianzi Star, or stay by the side of some capricious person and try her best to keep up with her. Why did someone always block her way again and again, leaving her with nowhere to go?
“Someone doesn’t like you, and you’ll be unhappy staying here. I won’t hurt you or scheme against you. Come with me, okay?” Sitting next to her, Luo Qinghe reached out to touch the back of Chaoge’s hand, which was resting on her knee. Her movements were cautious, as if she was afraid that Chaoge would get angry.
Chaoge suddenly turned to look at her, a pair of starry eyes beneath her bangs gathering a cold anger. Her tone immediately carried a hint of anger, yet it was much calmer than usual: "What you mean by scheming is actively participating in the plot, or turning the tables on someone else?"
Originally, it was thought that Luo Qinghe would fall silent, but unexpectedly, it was as if this had touched a sore spot. A clear sense of hurt surfaced in her eyes, a mixture of sorrow, grief, disbelief, and disappointment. The weight of her sorrow was so heavy that her eyes almost reddened. She stared fixedly at Chaoge, and faint blue lines reappeared on one side of her face, vaguely outlining some kind of pattern. It took her more than ten seconds to regain control of her emotions.
Chaoge knew that expression all too well, because it had appeared on her own face countless times—as if she should have already accepted the truth, yet still refused to give up hope. Luo Qinghe swallowed hard, forcing down a breath, closed her eyes briefly, then opened them again before resuming her usual gentle tone: "You're always like this, so lenient with her, yet so harsh on yourself and others. Even if I was wrong, I was just doing the same thing, the same thing as her." The last sentence sounded like a narration, her voice much lower, as if she were talking to herself.
But those clear black and white eyes clearly followed her unfinished words: If you don't blame her, why do you blame me?
Qin Muge was the one who watched you get schemed against by her subordinates, so why are you blaming me?
Chaoge felt an indescribable headache, like being suddenly interrupted by someone giving a stand-up comedy routine at a military meeting – a feeling of bewilderment and helplessness. Come to think of it, when exactly did Qinghe begin to harbor such feelings for her?
【Isn't it too late to realize this now?】 Little Red Riding Hood complained without any pressure, as if she was afraid that Chaoge wouldn't hold it accountable.
After asking the question, he eagerly added, "You're really being too harsh on her. At this rate, she's twenty points ahead of the General in terms of affection. I'm already mentally prepared for you two to be together in the future."
"If this trend continues, I think you need to be prepared for me to be alone for the rest of my life." Chaoge replied to it irritably. Little Red Riding Hood, who usually knew when to stop talking, was unusually disobedient this time. After hearing Chaoge's impatience with the topic, she continued on her own.
Why don't you use what she gave you? The level of authority is above that of royalty— Even Little Red Riding Hood knew just how important that Qin Muge had given her.
[Shut up. In this situation, how do you know if that thing is a trump card or poison?] Chaoge rejected Little Red Riding Hood's suggestion without even thinking.
Little Red Riding Hood had no choice but to remain silent and stop disturbing her thoughts.
Just when Luo Qinghe thought Chaoge wouldn't answer the question, Chaoge suddenly blurted out, "I believe her."
Qinghe, who already knew the answer, simply raised an eyebrow slightly, as if she had heard her words. She looked out the window, where the scenery along the road was real, with every blade of grass and tree. In the dark blue sky, only the round star Tianzi star hung, and because the star itself emitted light, the surrounding planetary belts all received their light from Tianzi star.
A few minutes later, Chaoge remembered this: "Where did you set the route?"
Luo Qinghe turned to her and smiled, her eyes crinkling, as if she were taking her on a trip to some wonderful place. She calmly stated her purpose: "When we boarded the train, it was the last time the M1 spaceship took off from Tianzi Star. I'm not the only one who doesn't want you to go back. I'm returning to Yuandu just to take you with me. Since Qin Muge doesn't intend to stop me, I won't be polite either."
Chaoge felt somewhat powerless. Since arriving in the Crystalless Empire, this was the first time she had truly grasped how terrifying the power of the AI was. This meant that no matter what the masses saw, as long as the explanation came from someone with a higher level of authority than herself, she would never be able to surpass that person's answer and find the truth in her entire life.
In this place, it's much easier to hide something than elsewhere.
"Your dog is missing." Her gaze passed over Qinghe's shoulder and landed on the backpack behind her. Her backpack was still the same as before, but Chaoge spoke with a certainty.
"You felt it too, didn't you? In this world, standing on the land of the Crystalless Empire, your birth, authority, AI, even the ordinary people on the street are all above you, including the feeling that your life doesn't belong to you." Luo Qinghe stared blankly at the scenery outside the window, her eyes seemingly seeing the outside world, yet also as if she saw nothing at all, as if nothing could enter her eyes.
The two were saying completely different things, yet they continued the conversation in a bizarre way.
As the only victim, Little Red Riding Hood felt it was best to turn off her device at this point.
In the end, Chaoge realized that all she could offer Qin Muge was trust.
But at this moment, this unwavering will is being dug deeper and deeper by shovels from all directions, until it is on the verge of collapse.
"Little Red Riding Hood, I'm a little tired." Chaoge leaned against the car window, her clear thoughts slowly becoming heavy, her eyelids finally able to close, no longer able to see the world around her. She even heard a faint, distant voice from deep within her heart: "Tired? Then sleep. You'll feel better when you wake up."
There are many intelligent people in the Crystalless Empire, but Yan Chaoge is definitely not one of them. On this small boat called the destiny of the empire, she will not be the ferryman.
Luo Qinghe initially thought that Chaoge didn't want to think about what was happening in front of her anymore, so she stopped provoking her and drove the hovercar towards a waste material transport port in M1. Every once in a while, garbage trucks would drive to a fixed space waste disposal site and then return to M1 to dock.
The waste material transport port they are heading to is just one of the many ports on M1. It is not well defended, and Luo Qinghe alone is enough. Of course, what she values most is that the spaceship can get away from this place. As for the support after leaving, Si Zhongqi will arrange everything.
Chaoge slept for several hours before waking up. Her deep, dark eyes stared intently at Qinghe sitting beside her, a cold smile playing on her lips.
Even Little Red Riding Hood in her mind sensed something was wrong. Was this... was this another case of a split personality developing?
“M1 is a planet, after all. No matter how fast the maglev train is, it will still take a long time to get to where you want to go. Why don’t you take this opportunity to tell me your story? I’m quite interested in how you grew up to this point, Qinghe.” She reached out and brushed away the hair that was covering her forehead, seemingly unconcerned that her neat bangs had become messy. She even twirled the ends of her wavy hair with her fingertips, looking at Luo Qinghe sitting next to her with a half-smile.
The unspoken teasing tone in his voice made Luo Qinghe frown. Compared to her own story, she clearly found it difficult to understand this change in Chaoge.
"In exchange for hearing my story, I'll tell you about myself. I'm usually quite optimistic, but if something really bad happens, the worst side of my personality comes out. That's all there is to me, but you might be a different story, right?" Chaoge casually explained her personality changes to the audience with an indifferent attitude, and Qinghe couldn't help but give her a cryptic smile.
"The worse thing, is it the disappointment with that queen?" Although Luo Qinghe wanted to treat this Chaoge differently from the one she was used to, she subconsciously felt that this Chaoge made her feel more at ease. She was rational, yet exuded the same aura as herself.
The same aura, a desire to destroy everything.
"Although I hate to admit it, based on my judgment of Qin Muge, no one can play tricks on her. I actually feel more at ease with you. If we have to talk about feelings, perhaps I'm disappointed." She looked out the window, a self-deprecating smile veiling her eyes, concealing a deep sense of loneliness and sadness.
Luo Qinghe chuckled softly as she listened to what sounded like praise.
Qinghe ultimately did not reveal her story, so Chaoge had no way of knowing what kind of circumstances would lead a girl who had been bullied to this point.
As Chaoge watched the scenery outside the window gradually become desolate, she knew that her departure time was drawing nearer. A strange smile played on her lips as she looked out the window without turning her head and asked, "So you're not planning to let me come home for my birthday? How long have you been planning this, Qinghe?"
"I'm sorry." Luo Qinghe's lips curved into a gentle smile, but there was not a trace of apology in her eyes.
Yuandu.
Qin Mu was holding a history book of the empire in his hand as a pastime when he was bored. If someone who did not know the situation saw it, they would think that the empire was in a state of peace and prosperity recently, which was why the ruler was so idle.
When the familiar narrative of the succession of the current queen of the Crystalless Empire came to mind, it was glossed over with just a few strokes, as if the rebellion that stained every corner of the palace with blood never existed. It was as if the succession to the throne was perfectly natural and would not, at some point in history, be reduced to nothing by a slight turn of events.
She read the book, which wasn't particularly interesting, with great interest, and even Tian Shu's arrival to report on the situation couldn't interrupt her. Min Kaiyang had already gone to the Allied Legion, so the position of secretary in the royal palace fell to Ling Tian Shu. The only difference between him and Min Kaiyang was that he never acted on his own initiative under Qin Muge's watchful eye.
"General, all contact with the affiliated planets has been completely suspended, the defense zone has been upgraded to wartime readiness, and everything is normal." Ling Tianchu finished speaking in a formal report format, waiting for Qin Muge's reaction.
Qin Muge's bloodshot eyes held a dark, enigmatic smile. He paused in his turning, a playful smirk playing on his lips. Everything normal? This was the most abnormal thing, wasn't it?
As if she had thought of some interesting scene, she nodded to Ling Tianchu that he could go down, while her mind began to wander to the scene she had imagined.
Unfortunately, after this ordeal, the beautiful mirror will develop cracks, and the person reflected in it will no longer look the same.
Meanwhile, having some guesses about Luo Qinghe's identity, Chaoge stepped into the cabin of a spaceship transporting cosmic waste, with a milky-white puppy lying next to her.
Luo Qinghe completely severed the ship's connection to headquarters, and behind her, she could see the vast Tianzi Star and the seven colors of its surrounding planetary belt. Chaoge yawned and answered Qinghe's question indifferently, saying, "What Qin Muge can give you, I can give you too."
"I'm really sorry, but you really can't give me what I want." As Chaoge heard Little Red Riding Hood's jingle indicating that the task was completed, a hint of obvious melancholy appeared in her eyes.
I just want to go home.
☆ The second sentence spoken to the big bosses in Chapter 51
Yuan Du Yanjia.
Chaoge seems to have completely forgotten about the existence of this family. Not only did he not return home for the New Year, but he is also nowhere to be seen during the collective New Year's holiday in Yuandu.
Yan Chen had a rare outburst with Yan Xi about Chao Ge being sent to the front lines for an internship. Li Wanfang wasn't there at the time, but she was surprised when the housekeeper mentioned it later. She knew she wouldn't get anything out of her husband, and when asked about Yan Xi, she dodged the question, easily changing the subject.
Seeing that several days of the annual holiday had passed and Chaoge had completely disappeared, Yan Chen directly used the AI to check her whereabouts. When he saw that her last spaceship record was flying to planet M1, he interrupted Li Wanfang without turning his head: "Alright, she's not in Yuandu, she went back to her parents' place."
Li Wanfang's eyes widened in surprise. Her usually neatly combed hair was slightly disheveled from cooking, and a few stray strands fell across her forehead, slightly obscuring her vision. She reached up and tucked them behind her ears. "What? But M1 is completely locked down! This morning's global news broadcast said that all residents have already moved to temporary accommodations on Tianzixing! And I just talked to my parents..." Her voice trailed off, filled with obvious unease.
Yan Xi was not at home at the moment, and Li Wanfang seemed to want to bring things up.
However, the usually patient head of the Yan family showed no interest in discussing the matter, looking down at the projection on his blue wristband and ignoring Li Wanfang's words.
"Yan Chen, are you even listening to me?" Li Wanfang's face turned slightly cold, and her tone was no longer as gentle as it was in front of her children.