Hun Yao didn’t know how long he had been standing there.
Langmuir’s song had long since ended. He went to bed, crawled into the quilt, and fell asleep.
When there was no sound in the palace, Hun Yao walked in blankly, stood by the bed and looked at Langmuir for a while, then began to wander around the palace.
He neurotically picked up and put back the small ornaments in front of the window one by one. They were all made by Langmuir over the years. Hedgehogs made of shells, kittens made of bone pieces and deer antlers, images of demon children polished out of wood, all with stone beads for eyes…as cute as this person.
Hun Yao’s palm slowly tightened. He listened to the “crack” sound of the shell hedgehog under unbearable weight, and belatedly felt the pain of a thousand arrows piercing his heart.
How could he believe…
It turns out that all these years, the song Langmuir played for him was that song?
Hun Yao raised his head in a daze. He remembered that on the barrier cliff of a year he couldn’t remember, Langmuir once sat in his arms, holding a crudely made harp, smiling with his eyes down, playing and singing. The wind blew his silver-gray hair, as beautiful as the elves in the legend.
After playing, Langmuir turned his face, his eyes as clear as the dark lake water looked at him: Has my King heard this song?
He said at the time: No.
In fact, he had heard it. It’s just that he broke in halfway through the year and missed the content of the first verse, but the subsequent tunes were exactly the same.
But Langmuir only played the first part when he played this song.
It was such a coincidence.
He also said at the time: It sounds good, I like it very much.
But what he clearly liked was just the human who played the harp. So it was Langmuir’s fault. He clearly chose faith in the temple between the demons, but he still played the harp for him. Deceived him, seduced him, let him say he liked this song… this song that was so hypocritical, so high above, insulting and cursing the demons.
The wind on the barrier cliff that year had blown the bone ornaments on his chest, hitting the beast tooth bone key in the middle.
The Demon King asked with interest, “What song is this about?”
“Secret.”
Langmuir smiled, and when he tilted his head, his silver hair brushed against the lock. His eyebrows and eyes curved up a bit, so gentle it was indescribable, “Later, when the time comes, maybe I will tell you.”
“But it might never happen, this is not a happy song, I’m afraid you’ll get angry if you hear it.”
Crack!!
Hun Yao lowered his head in a daze, seeing the little hedgehog that Langmuir once liked in his palm shattered into countless fragments, falling from between his fingers with a tiny sound, scattering all over the floor.
On the other side, Langmuir on the bed was suddenly awakened. He abruptly lifted the quilt, “My King!?”
The Demon King stood not far away in the dark, like a dead creature, without a word for a long time.
Langmuir got up too quickly, and his head spun violently the moment his feet hit the ground. But he didn’t care, he staggered a step and then stood firm.
He raised his gaze from bottom to top, only to see the poor little hedgehog that had shattered all over the floor, and was even more surprised, “My King? What’s wrong with you?”
Hun Yao suddenly said, “I lied to you.”
He actually laughed, “Tonight, I actually have nothing to say to you. I lied to you.”
How ridiculous, why not laugh? What he saw in the prophecy of the bone chips tonight was clearly Langmuir slashing at his left horn with a knife.
And all the way he was still complacent, fantasizing about what Langmuir couldn’t bear to part with him, Langmuir might agree to be sealed as queen, how nice, how nice…
The wind and snow and the light of the knife in the illusion came sweeping over, and in an instant, it pierced through his bleeding heart.
Hun Yao seemed to be awakened from a big dream by cold water, and with a detached perspective, he wondered: How could he be so stupid?
Langmuir was in the dark.
After seven years of getting along, of course, he could tell at a glance that the Demon King’s mood was very wrong. He thought for a while and did not rashly provoke, but first went to light the copper lamp hanging by the bed.
Soon, the warm light illuminated the whole bed and Langmuir’s figure. The young man with silver-gray long hair walked barefoot from the light, anxiously reaching for the Demon King’s arm, “What’s wrong, what happened? Because of those ambushers, or…”
Hun Yao spread his left arm, “Give me a hug, and I’ll tell you.”
As he said it, he had already done it forcefully, Langmuir was rudely pulled by the collar of his robe and bumped heavily into the Demon King’s arms.
The human might have been hurt, and groaned lightly. Hun Yao didn’t care, he held Langmuir tightly in his arms, lowered his head and buried his nose in that silver-gray long hair.
Thump, thump, thump thump.
Two hearts, close together, beating at different rhythms.
Langmuir sensed some unusual atmosphere and suddenly asked, “What are you holding in your right hand?”
“A gift.” Hun Yao said.
“What are you doing now?” Langmuir asked again.
Hun Yao lowered his eyes, slowly tightened the honey gold dagger in his right hand, and answered the question, “What is that important but not urgent thing of yours?”
“Now this situation, it doesn’t seem appropriate to say it.” Langmuir paused, and asked calmly, “My King, are you holding a sharp object?”
…Like countless times before, they embraced each other in the dark abyss of the night.
But this time, the Demon King’s right arm circled around the thin back of the slave, and the honey-gold dagger in his hand was flashing with a poisonous tooth-like cold light.
“Isn’t this quite sharp?” The Demon King’s tone became gloomy at some point, “Usually when gesturing around your neck, who’s pretending not to know it for?”
Thus Langmuir’s expression, in a place where Hun Yao couldn’t see, became somewhat blank, somewhat sad.
“Is…did I do something wrong?”
“You wrong?” Hun Yao sneered hatefully, “No, it’s my fault, I should have killed you early.”
“You tell me, what song did you play before bed tonight, hmm?”
Langmuir trembled slightly, his eyes wide open.
“You–”
“Langmuir, I’ve known you were up to something for a long time. Let me tell you, I heard this song from your people seven years ago…”
The Demon King didn’t want to admit that he had been deceived so miserably, gritting his teeth and pretending to be strong. “Originally, if you didn’t play it behind me, I would pretend not to know, not to fall out with you so early…”
Langmuir suddenly wanted to struggle free, “No…!”
But the arm that was holding him suddenly exerted force, as if to strangle him alive. Hun Yao leaned against his ear and murmured ominously, “Tonight…”
Langmuir, you wouldn’t know. Hun Yao thought, actually, I wanted to propose to you tonight.
He gritted his teeth and glared, “…I will kill you tonight.”
“My King.” Langmuir said tremulously, “That song is not what you heard in the human world.”
Hun Yao only said, “Close your eyes.”
“You won’t even let me give an explanation…”
“Close your eyes.”
Hun Yao said, “Obey my command.”
The light in Langmuir’s eyes gradually dimmed, he closed his mouth, and also closed his eyelids. He gave up arguing and accepted all the possible fate that might come.
Hun Yao let go of the person, and suddenly his heart was like being cut by a knife. He thought of some things many years ago, thought of Langmuir who once knelt at his feet.
Such an easy person to deceive, such an obedient person. No matter how many times, when told to close his eyes, he closes his eyes, when told to open his mouth, he opens his mouth, knowing…
Knowing that they are eternal enemies.
Langmuir, with his eyes tightly closed, first heard the sound of the wind. He knew it was the sound of the blade of the dagger tearing through the air. He didn’t hide, not even a tremor of his eyelashes.
The next moment, there was a chill in his brow, and a hard object was pressed against it.
Langmuir instinctively opened his eyes, and the light of the copper lamp reflected a dazzling light on the metal in front of him.
Hun Yao stood two steps away, expressionless, holding the golden dagger in his right hand.
The hilt of the dagger was pointed at Langmuir’s forehead. Very light, very gentle.
Hun Yao gazed deeply at the stunned Langmuir, his wrist slowly lowered, and so the golden hilt of the dagger slid from the pale brow of the human to the bridge of his nose, then traced over his lips, jaw, and the vital point of his neck…
Finally, the Demon King pulled up the slave’s right hand, casually put the honey gold dagger into it, and said seriously, “Hmm, a gift.”
“…”
Langmuir looked at him in a daze.
Hun Yao lowered his head and rubbed Langmuir’s eye corner scales with his thumb.
He laughed again, and said softly, “So gullible.”
Knowing that they are eternal enemies.
But still fell in love.
Langmuir suddenly took a step back.
Clatter.
After a few words, Celine was speechless.
She had always been an advocate of the shrinking faction, hoping that the Silver Big Dipper could put more troops on resolving the contradictions within the empire, instead of losing money and people to explore the universe. But the three military fortresses were of extraordinary significance, which couldn’t be abandoned just by saying no.
Of course, if the empire was indeed in danger, the Silver Big Dipper should take the risk of shrinking its territory to rescue. But now the crisis of the Aslan capital had passed, and the empire was far superior to the invaders in terms of military strength. There was no reason to show timidity first.
If something really happened to the fortress, it would be like being stabbed in the backbone and scolded as a national thief.
Ryann said indifferently, “The Silver Big Dipper fortress, not one can be lost, and not one soldier is allowed to be transferred back.”
Celine knew that she had misspoken, and hurriedly bowed her head and said, “Yes!”
This matter was over, and His Highness did not continue to pursue it, his gaze still fell on the three-dimensional star map.
A three-dimensional sphere projection was suspended on the light blue screen, showing the positions of both sides.
Located in the central part of the sphere, naturally, were the three major star systems of the empire. There was enough open space between the star systems for the fleets to fight. Among them, the Hecate Corridor, the White Snake Root Star Domain, etc., were all famous dangerous places.
But the situation was special now, the Crystal Cult fleet had penetrated into the territory of the empire. To put it nicely, the star cities could form a pincer attack, and if they play beautifully, they could even encircle and annihilate.
But to put it badly, the Crystal Cult could “jump over the wall in a hurry” in any direction. If they “jumped” into the interior of the star city, it would be tens of thousands of civilian casualties in a moment.
Admiral Celine was obviously the kind of general who strived for stability. She chose to force the Crystal Cult to the outer space. Now she had a distance from the major star cities. It’s just that the fleet had also strayed away from the space station in the twists and turns, and so they were stuck in the sea of stars.
In this situation, it was wishful thinking to want to annihilate. The most important thing was to drive the fleet of the Crystal Cult out of the empire as soon as possible.
Ryann looked at the fleet arrangement roughly, and first asked the generals in the Golden Sun Star Wheel Fleet led by Celine what their plans were.
“There are two strategies now, Your Highness,” Celine said in a low voice, “The first one is to slow down and engage in a protracted battle with the Crystal Cult. The high-dimensional blockade barrier will be restarted soon. By then, we can lock the empire’s territory. The enemies who come here for expedition will undoubtedly lose if they can’t keep up with the logistics and consume a long time. However, the wandering of alien creatures may become a hidden danger in the future, and…undue delay may bring trouble.”
“The second one is to attack with full force. If we can force the enemy’s starship into the range of the main gun of the space station, we can cause effective damage… But the casualties of the army may be relatively large, and it’s uncertain whether we can win.”
Ryann looked at the time on the wrist device he was holding, and there was less than ten hours left before the high-dimensional blockade barrier was restored.
That is to say, during this period, new forces may jump in from the outer universe at any time. Once we think about fighting a protracted war and relax our position, we may give the enemy a chance.
But it’s hard to say about the strategy of forcing the enemy to the space station. The space station has a powerful main gun, but it also has the main core of the high-dimensional blockade barrier. If the main core is destroyed, that’s the end.
—The two strategies discussed by these generals of the Golden Sun Wheel all have risks. It’s hard to say that they are safe, let alone perfect.
But under this situation, the empire is passive, and it’s really hard to find any amazing tactics.
Next to him, Celine raised her head. She had just finished saying those things in a row, and now her expression showed a few hesitations, as if she wanted to say something but stopped.
Ryann saw at a glance that this person was deliberately showing him, the principle was basically the same as “I have a sentence I don’t know if I should say”, in fact, it was “I have a harsh word here, don’t get angry”.
He was already annoyed by Jiang Jianming’s affairs, so he naturally didn’t have a good temper and said, “Just say it.”
“Your Highness,” Celine restrained herself, adjusted her breath, and showed a serious look, “This lowly official has an impolite request.”
“For this battle…please, Your Highness the Crown Prince, do not interfere with the tactical command of the main fleet.”
Celine saluted, and she looked firmly behind her, “Leave everything to this lowly official and the generals here.”
The air froze. The crown prince was silent for a long time, and the few generals behind Celine were almost sweating, a chilling silence.
After a long time, Ryann looked at the female general expressionlessly, “Do you know what you are saying?”
“Your Highness forgive me.” Celine gritted her teeth and plucked up the courage to continue, “I heard that the Crown Princess is still in the hands of the enemy…and you have deep feelings for the Crown Princess.”
Ryann unexpectedly raised his eyebrows. Celine blushed and dared not make a sound. She was indeed the admiral of the Golden Sun Wheel Space Station Fleet, the only female general in the empire, but what counts in front of the crown prince?
Such a rash speculation about the crown prince, even if His Highness became furious, or even overturned the control table on the spot, it would not be surprising.
Of course, it was impossible to think that Crown Prince Ryann would no longer participate in this battle.
So she saying that, it was a kind of provocation.
As long as she said this, implying that His Highness would be threatened by the enemy because of the safety of the Crown Princess…His Highness would definitely be furious, and then refute.
So by then, if the enemy really threatened with Jiang Jianming, even if His Highness wanted to maintain the prestige of being the crown prince, he would not do anything out of the ordinary.
Ryann: “Hmm.”
“…”
This understatement, Celine, who was immersed in her own thoughts, was stunned for two seconds and raised her face.
The people behind were also stunned, what does “Hmm” mean??
The crown prince’s face was cold, but he was not angry at all, and instead said, “Very good, you all can see that I have deep feelings for the Crown Princess, I am very gratified.”
He finished speaking seriously, and walked down from the command platform, “There is a chess player with a meticulous layout in the enemy army. I was once tricked by him when I was in Alpha Alien Star. You must be cautious in your march, think more, and don’t be too arrogant.”
Celine was confused, and several Golden Sun Wheel generals behind her were also confused.
Finally, someone slowly realized that something was wrong, and said in a panic, “Your Highness, you misunderstood, the general is not—”
“I won’t interfere much, may all your military career prosper and flourish.”
Ryann waved his hand. “I’ll go back first.”
—This was the last instruction left by the crown prince to the fleet. After saying this, he had already walked out of the automatic door, leaving a group of people looking at each other in shock.
The mecha was parked just a dozen steps away. Ryann dived into it, drove directly along the passage all the way out of the starship, and no one dared to stop him along the way.
The mecha was a B-level M-Fire Tiger 03, a balanced machine picked up casually, the only advantage was that the space navigation system was well equipped.
The crown prince drove the mecha alone with his crystal bone, ignoring the communication request from the Athena, and gradually left the fleet.
In the universe, the stars were vast and flickering.
Ryann leaned on the seat of the cockpit, he silently picked up an apple and put it in front of him, and then called out the three-dimensional star map.
After a while, he manipulated the simulated battle situation with one hand, and murmured to himself, “There are not many people in the world who can threaten me…”
“So wait for your master to come back, you have to tell him this, let him cherish it more.”
[Woof!]
“He should also restrain his willful temper, am I right, dog?”
[Woof!]
“After all, him going to the Crystal Cult has no effect at all; but if he chooses to follow me, he would now be sitting in the command seat of the Golden Sun Wheel flagship… He will regret it.”
[Woof!]
The lonely conversation between man and intelligence did not last long, and the communication from the military headquarters came again. The old marshal said with a bitter smile:
“Your Highness, Celine just contacted me, saying that she was wrong in her words and deeds and made you angry. Now the generals of the entire fleet are scared and stunned, and they are begging you to go back!”
“I’m not angry.”
Ryann stroked the apple in his hand, shook his head, and said succinctly, “Celine is going to lose.”
“Oh, Your Highness, how do you say this?”
Old Marshal Chen squinted his eyes, “Celine, although her vision on the strategic overall situation is a bit poor, she does have a hand in commanding the three-dimensional fleet battle. So far, she has not made any mistakes in dealing with the Crystal Cult. You are…”
“Is it,” Ryann raised his hand, took a bite of his apple, and his eyes clearly showed contempt, “So, Admiral Celine’s temperament and ability should be well-known?”
This seemingly plain sentence suddenly changed the face of Old Marshal Chen.
The old man seemed to think of something, fell silent for two seconds, and then crossed his fingers and muttered, “…Your Highness is wise, your judgment is correct.”
Yes, after the surprise attack on Aslan Star City was blocked, if the Crystal Cult did not have the confidence to defeat Celine and her fleet, why would they continue to stay in the universe?
They should retreat as soon as possible, why would they be in a stalemate with the Golden Sun Wheel fleet in the hinterland of the empire?
There are two possibilities, either the Crystal Cult actually does not care about the victory or defeat of this battle in the empire’s space station.
Or, they already have the confidence to win.
Thus, Crown Prince Ryann first blocked the way to transfer troops from Silver Big Dipper, to avoid any mistakes at the fortress; then, he simply left the unreliable main force and re-observed from the outside.
“Teacher, you know that Jiang went to the Crystal Cult’s starship, right?”
Ryann said half-coldly, “Before parting, I asked him how to fight next.”
“He said…”
****
Inside the starship of the Crystal Cult, Jiang Jianming, Bishop Laurent, and Archbishop Gaius were still standing on the wide bridge.
At this moment, the mechanical door in front of them opened.
A figure came down from the escalator.
That was a cold-faced man in a black cloak, with his hood on his shoulders, revealing some gray temples.
The man walked in front of them, first bowed deeply to Gaius, “Your Excellency the Archbishop.”
Gaius also brushed the man’s forehead and nodded. “Hmm, Destruction.”
Jiang Jianming immediately matched this person in his heart, this was the male archbishop named “Su”.
He was calm on the surface, and quickly integrated the current information in his heart.
First of all, this Crystal Cult was a truly anti-human cult, with almost zero chance of surrender. They regard the crystal particle race in the universe as the highest belief, and Archbishop Gaius was the highest authority.
Below were the three archbishops with the code names “Death”, “Destruction”, and “Chaos”, respectively, the white-haired girl “Margaret” with powerful crystal bones, the gray-templed cloak man “Su” in front of him, and the former imperial prime minister “Gerhard Laurent”.
The “Lava” Space Pirate Group should be in a cooperative relationship with them. With the armed forces and talent reserves of the Crystal Cult, the Space Pirate Group, which had always hated the empire, should be willing to cooperate.
It’s just unknown whether the space pirates understand the truth of the “crystal particles”, whether they know that the Crystal Cult was essentially a group of madmen who betrayed the race…
By the way, there was another question. A dark light flashed in Jiang Jianming’s eyes.
Where did these people in the Crystal Cult get the high technology in their hands?
Looking at the various hardware facilities in the starship, some were like the products of the old empire era before the loss of technology. The Crystal Cult had a long history, and it was unknown when it started…
The more one thought about it, the more one felt that the mystery was one layer after another, and each layer was heavier than the other.
Suddenly, there was a shadow in front of him.
Jiang Jianming suddenly came back to his senses!
The black-cloaked Su was already standing in front of him, his eyes were like poisonous snakes in the jungle, staring at him coldly.
Jiang Jianming’s fingertips were numb, and a bad feeling flashed in his heart first. He subconsciously wanted to take a step back, but his eyes were blurred, and he heard a “puchi” sound in his ears. His chest was first icy, and then it burned with pain.
Jiang Jianming suddenly opened his eyes, his face turned pale instantly.
A slender, sharp real crystal, pierced through his back against his neck, and punctured out of his chest.
…Drip.
The first drop of blood fell on the deck of the starship.
The golden dagger fell to the ground.
Huh?!!!!!!!!!!!! 😳