When that medical mecha left the battlefield, cheers of impending victory erupted from all sides.
Jiang Jianming heard those sounds from afar, his expression seemingly indifferent.
But upon closer inspection, fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead. And those dark, lustrous eyes had completely lost focus.
The mecha’s screen displayed various data related to the pilot’s physical condition, with indicators plummeting and warning text flashing incessantly.
Jiang Jianming directly turned off the alerts.
He knew very clearly that he was not going to make it.
He didn’t want to die either, so he first injected himself with a tranquilizer after obtaining it. Unfortunately, the number indicating the degree of crystal particle disorder in his body rose instead of falling, which probably meant there was truly no way out.
It was normal, after all. He had been holding on until now relying on that pile of expired and excessive drugs, along with sheer willpower.
Once victory was within grasp, he handed over command authority, and the tension in his heart relaxed first. His body then began to decay at a perceptible rate.
… There was one last thing left to do.
Jiang Jianming landed the medical mecha, drove through the hole in the broken ground surface, and followed the dark passage back to the Stele of Heroes.
Deep in the underground palace, Ryann still leaned against the white monument, his head lowered, messy long curly hair falling over his face – this person had been repeatedly losing consciousness since sustaining severe injuries, and now seemed to be unconscious again.
Jiang Jianming didn’t get out of the mecha to embrace his lover, but directly manipulated the mecha’s mechanical arm to carefully lift His Highness into the cockpit.
He adjusted the treatment cabin, turned his head to watch Ryann’s body being sent in, watched the tiny intelligent probes begin diagnosis and treatment, watched the medical fluid fill up.
Only then did Jiang Jianming feel somewhat relieved.
Suddenly, his throat felt hot. He frowned and tried to cover his mouth but wasn’t fast enough. Fresh blood spilled from his lips, falling onto his silver-black military uniform.
Large patches of dark bloodstains had already congealed there, now covered with new red ones.
“…”
He helplessly shook off a few drops of blood from his fingertips.
What to do next, Jiang Jianming thought to himself. Take His Highness back outside?
But the battle outside wasn’t over yet, and who should see him in this dying state?
Better to stay inside the Stele of Heroes.
He pulled out the virtual keyboard of this mecha. First, he left a few words of last testament, then prepared to type a few paragraphs briefly describing his predictions for the Crystal Cult’s future actions, as well as his personal strategic ideas and such.
But it was very difficult to proceed.
Not only were his arms so heavy they could barely be lifted, more importantly… he could hardly see anything anymore.
Inside the medical mecha, all was quiet.
His field of vision was terrifyingly dark.
When in the underground ruins, probably because the situation was so perilous and His Highness was in a near-death state, Jiang Jianming had no energy left to feel additional fear emotions.
Even his stress disorder was forcibly overcome.
So he wasn’t afraid now either, just irritated.
When he mistyped for the fifth time, this irritation reached its peak, mixing with the pain and exhaustion screaming throughout his body, repeatedly torturing his nerves.
“…”
Jiang Jianming finally gave up in a half-collapsed state. He hunched his shoulders, buried his forehead in his cold fingers, and breathed deeply over and over.
So cold, the coldness froze him from deep within his bones and viscera.
Suddenly, Jiang Jianming gritted his teeth and stood up. In his blurry vision, he turned around and staggered two steps by feeling, then abruptly knelt down in front of the treatment cabin.
“Ryann.”
He called out to the person inside. Of course, there was no response.
Jiang Jianming, with temper from an unknown source, simply pushed open the treatment cabin’s door forcefully. “Your Highness.”
[Warning, Warning]
[Treatment in progress, please close the treatment cabin]
Only the electronic voice sharply reproached his recklessness.
… Inside the medical mecha, the black-haired young man knelt in front of the opened treatment cabin. He gradually began to have difficulty breathing, shivering as he clutched his outer garment from the cold, barely able to sit steady.
Deep in the treatment cabin, the god-like Crown Prince of the Empire slept unconsciously.
Ryann’s brows were relaxed, his face pale. The medical program had long since injected him with sufficient anesthesia; of course, he couldn’t hear and wouldn’t wake up.
“Ryann.”
Jiang Jianming reached his fingers into the medical fluid, gently touching the Imperial Crown Prince’s face.
He opened his eyes that could hardly see anything, calling out as if unwilling, “Your Highness… wake up…”
Please.
Wake up and look at me one more time.
“Your Highness.”
I’m about to die, do you know?
“Your Highness.”
Look at me one more time, hold me once more, please.
[Warning, Warning]
[Treatment in progress, please close the treatment cabin]
“Rya…”
I have so many things I want to tell you.
If I don’t say them now, it will be too late.
[Warning, Warning…]
As the medical mecha’s electronic voice kept urging him, Jiang Jianming slowly lowered his head, blinking silently, a tear rolling down.
… Such selfish calls, he could only make them knowing His Highness wouldn’t wake up or hear them.
Fragile emotions rarely defeated him like this.
Did he really like dying alone in a cold, lonely mecha?
Before dying, he also wanted to lie under the warm daylight, hear the jubilant voices of the soldiers, hear the survivors crying or laughing loudly.
If he were fortunate enough to die surrounded by people, perhaps someone would shed tears for him, someone would be willing to hold his hand, someone would say to him, “Little Excellency, you’ve worked hard, rest now.”
At least it wouldn’t be as cold as it was now.
But he was afraid of affecting morale and spirits, afraid of interfering with the battle situation and Xie Yuduo’s command thoughts, so he dared not die outside.
One step back, he wanted to give Ryann a few more instructions before parting, hoping the deeply loved little highness could look at him once more, hold him once more.
But His Highness was also seriously injured, how could he delay treatment? Even the anesthesia, he had watched it being injected with his own eyes.
Another step back, at least, he wanted to breathe his last in his lover’s embrace.
But he was afraid of hindering the treatment cabin’s program, afraid that if he really had a crystal disorder in Ryann’s arms, it would hurt His Highness. Opening the treatment cabin door to call out a few times, shedding a tear, was already the limit of his emotional collapse.
…..
In the end, Jiang Jianming still slowly closed the treatment cabin. He pressed his forehead against the cold cabin door, letting out a soft sigh.
Never mind, why ask for too much? As the saying goes, contentment brings happiness.
His command just now had been so cold-hearted and ruthless, perhaps if he went out, he wouldn’t receive end-of-life care, but scolding instead.
As for Ryann, it would be too cruel to let His Highness watch him die with eyes wide open, and even more suffocating to let His Highness wake up to find a corpse lying in his arms.
Ryann had done so much for him, yet he had hardly been able to give the Crown Prince anything in return. It wouldn’t be right to torment him further.
This way of dying now, he got what he wished for, quiet and peaceful… it was quite good, suitable for him, very fortunate already.
He digested the negative emotions by himself again.
So Jiang Jianming turned with difficulty, moving along the inner wall of the mecha cockpit.
Blinking his completely blind eyes, he knelt on the ground, his fingers groping bit by bit, taking a long time before finally finding the edge of the driver’s seat.
He used all his strength to prop himself up.
Dying sitting in the mecha’s pilot seat, he barely maintained the appearance of an officer.
It was at this moment that Jiang Jianming suddenly had a flash of inspiration.
He finally thought of a good idea that would allow him to be willful without causing trouble for others.
Jiang Jianming opened the mecha’s cockpit shell, retracting both the armor panels and the alloy glass.
Soon, the wind and snow kissed his cheeks.
The Crown of Golden Dawn had just burst through the wall, unleashing a barrage of indiscriminate bombardment. The top of the Stele of Heroes’ was also cracked and damaged considerably, allowing a little snow to fall through.
For the final journey, let the snow of Alpha Alien Star send him off.
The snow falling on his face felt very cool.
He thought, so the withering of snowflakes actually had a sound.
A lullaby.
****
Omega Alien Star, Black Shark Base.
“The condition of Base Body 000 isn’t good. The plan you gave me last time, can you implement it for him immediately?”
Diana, who had hurriedly rushed over, was stunned by the chief’s first sentence.
Inside the base, there was already a tense atmosphere. Countless members were walking back and forth, talking on wrist devices and projections. The beeping sounds of instruments blended into a cacophony.
Standing before the black-clad chief, Diana felt her head spinning.
“Wh-what? You mean that plan to strengthen the connection intensity of consciousness projection? But it’s still just a draft, there are many places that haven’t…”
“I’ve already perfected it,” the chief said firmly, the electronic voice from behind the mask speaking rapidly. “These past two days, 000’s consciousness projection state has repeatedly deteriorated. We speculate that His Highness must have been severely injured on the Alpha Alien Star battlefield, perhaps to the point of being on the brink of acute crystal disorder.”
“You know, crystal particles not only destroy one’s body but also erode one’s mind. His Highness has been in a deep coma for too long. It’s dangerous to continue like this. He needs a stronger sense of self to resist.”
“In the past, we could only pray. But now we can do more.”
Diana’s mouth felt dry. She swallowed before asking, “So, you want to…”
Sylph: “Use your plan to strengthen consciousness projection, then attempt to merge the consciousness of two base bodies.”
“Do it now!?” Diana’s face turned pale, her voice cracking a bit. “This is too sudden. We haven’t done any safety tests yet. Are we really going to use it directly on His Highness Ryann?”
“He, he is…” she stammered, “He is… that Great Emperor, after all.”
Hearing this, Sylph chuckled, “No need to feel pressured. The first White Bird Expedition, Base Body 000… You see, our Emperor has always been like this.”
In terms of unconditional obedience to superior orders, the base wasn’t much different from the military.
Diana fell silent. She immediately summoned the relevant team and began operating data on the giant light brain.
The Base Body Project had been secretly ongoing for so many years that countless concepts had been proposed. Even the startup procedures were already in place, so the entire process was actually completed very quickly.
Half an hour later, people started calling out “Completed” and “Confirmed correct” one after another.
Diana jogged around, checking everything one last time. Finally, she returned to the main console, wiped off some sweat, closed her eyes, muttered a “God bless,” and placed her index finger on the start key—
“Chief!!”
Suddenly, a projection accompanied by a shout appeared abruptly on the main screen of this laboratory.
The base personnel who had projected over had a deathly pale face. His teeth chattered a few times before he managed to say with difficulty.
“Base Body 001…vital signs have disappeared.”
In an instant, all the base members in the lab froze.
Only the chief, after two seconds of rigidity, suddenly turned around and shouted sternly at Diana. “—Stop the program!”
At the center of the control panel, Diana stiffly turned her head.
Her face was ashen, her blue eyes staring blankly at the chief, as if she couldn’t yet comprehend what had happened.
“The program has already started,” Diana said in a trembling voice. “It…it can’t be stopped.”
