Moments later, the Crown of Golden Dawn drove into the flagship.
A squad of exhausted soldiers walked past, their combat boots making a series of sounds on the steel floor. They had their crystal-blocking armor tucked under their arms, with sweat dripping down from their hair.
Someone casually wiped their sweat with their arm, “Damn… finally able to catch a breath, I need to sleep…”
Another person beside them, still somewhat energetic, excitedly said, “Where did these reinforcements come from? They’re so powerful. I’m familiar with the Third Fortress too, but besides Major General Emma, I don’t remember any other notable spacecraft commander there.”
At this moment, the Golden Dawn passed by on the mecha sliding track, and the soldiers quickly stopped their casual chat. They stood at attention and saluted. “Your Highness!”
They only relaxed after watching the Golden Dawn disappear from their sight.
This wasn’t really about military discipline – they even knew that His Highness might not have seen them – it was simply out of genuine admiration.
Inside the mecha cockpit, Jiang Jianming watched through the camera as the soldiers’ figures flashed past.
He thought to himself: By the looks of it, Major General Xie probably hasn’t revealed his identity, and must have also ordered the reinforcements to keep quiet about it, temporarily suppressing the matter.
This was absolutely the right judgment. After all, Major General Xie couldn’t exactly tell the army, “We have good news and bad news. The good news is that Little Excellency is alive, the bad news is that Little Excellency is gone again…”
Jiang Jianming helplessly looked to his side. The troublemaker responsible for this farce was sleeping, wrapped in his outer garment. Ryann’s breathing was shallow, his platinum curls messily piled on his exposed shoulders, his curled eyelashes completely still.
This person looked beautiful and docile when quiet, showing no sign that he could transform into a crystal monster.
Jiang Jianming’s expression unconsciously softened as he thought to himself: Monster or not, there probably isn’t a better monster in the world than His Highness.
Even if he had developed a habit of transforming and eating people, as long as he only ate himself, it wasn’t unbearable… Besides, lovers should be mutually accommodating, right…
Lost in these random thoughts, he piloted the mecha through the passing soldiers, with the Golden Dawn’s cockpit shield lowered – everyone assumed Ryann was piloting.
This allowed Jiang Jianming to drive directly beneath the bridge, where he commanded the mecha to stop with his mental control.
Xie Yuduo saw this from above. The Major General reacted quickly, immediately ordering all the Silver Big Dipper soldiers around to withdraw.
After clearing the area and locking the automatic doors, he took the stairs two at a time as he ran down. “Your Highness Ryann? Have you retur—”
The Golden Dawn’s mecha cockpit opened.
“Major General Xie, it’s me.”
The black-haired officer unplugged his mental link and slowly propped himself up from inside. The Silver Big Dipper’s crystal-blocking armor fit snugly against his slender frame, making his black eyes appear even more dignified.
Xie Yuduo suddenly froze in place, his eyes widening.
“Li-Little Excellency…!”
Although he had already heard from the reinforcements, seeing it with his own eyes was an entirely different kind of shock.
The scene from a year ago was still vivid in his mind, becoming countless nights of lingering regret. Now to have the person standing alive before him, arriving like a descending deity leading troops to their rescue – the emotional impact and complexity of this moment was truly indescribable.
Xie Yuduo’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he was choked by surging emotions, unable to speak for a long while.
He could only step forward to help Jiang Jianming out of the cockpit, saying hoarsely, “You…”
What should he say?
Expressing thanks seemed too distant, while saying something like how ashamed he was for failing to protect both Their Highnesses a year ago seemed to spoil the mood.
Major General Xie asked himself honestly – what he really wanted to blurt out at this moment was—
How are you? Is your health still good? You already know you’re a legendary figure from the founding of the nation, right? So is your current consciousness state Little Excellency Jiang or Commander Aslan?
Is our Crown Prince still well? So have you seen things you shouldn’t have? Have you been eaten? Is our empire’s divine romance still intact?
Jiang Jianming descended from the mecha, and after stepping onto the ground, he turned back to reach in with both arms and lift out a figure.
Only then did Xie Yuduo see the Crown Prince who had been hidden inside.
Ryann was still unconscious, his head resting on Jiang Jianming’s shoulder as he was carried out horizontally. He was wrapped in a Silver Big Dipper military coat, with his shoulders and calves bare, revealing long, toned lines.
Xie Yuduo’s expression turned peculiar. “Ah…”
Well, it seemed Little Excellency had indeed seen things he shouldn’t have.
—Of course, this wasn’t referring to His Highness Ryann’s bare body, that was a legitimate right between lovers. But the missing clothes meant there had been a transformation…
Jiang Jianming showed traces of difficulty. “Sorry Major General, the situation is complicated to explain, and I’m quite confused about many things myself.”
Xie Yuduo immediately said, “It’s, it’s fine! As long as there’s safety—no, as long as everything’s safe! You don’t need to explain, I understand!”
Jiang Jianming: “.”
He specifically removed the word “person” from “safety”—seems Major General Xie truly did understand…
“I gave His Highness a tranquilizer to let him sleep first,” Jiang Jianming adjusted Ryann in his arms to a more comfortable position, “Let’s find somewhere private to hide him.”
“For the upcoming battle, I’ll pilot the Golden Dawn. As for revealing my identity to the expeditionary force, let’s wait until after this battle.”
Xie Yuduo was startled. “You want to pilot the Golden Dawn in battle!?”
Jiang Jianming: “Without the Golden Dawn on the battlefield, morale might waver. My physical condition has improved significantly now, I can manage to make a show of piloting the mecha while commanding troops.”
“If the Major General is worried, you can just watch me through real-time communications.”
—
He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious, but in his nightmares, the sounds of war continued endlessly. Figures of old acquaintances appeared and disappeared, too many chaotic fragments tumbling in the waves.
When those faded away, sensations returned at some point.
When Ryann opened his eyes in bed, he saw the ceiling of a high-end starship room.
—Jiang!
Ryann suddenly sat up, his face tense. Pressing his palm hard against his temple, he momentarily doubted his memory.
Had his consciousness become confused, how could Jiang Jianming appear in the Crystal Nest?
But as he turned his head, he immediately saw something on the bedside table.
A cup of warm water in an electronic thermos, and underneath it, pressed a paper note—something rarely used in this era.
As if anticipating his panic, someone had thoughtfully left these comforting items.
Ryann pulled out the paper and saw the familiar handwriting:
[Your Highness, please rest well in the room and wait for my return.]
It was signed with the surname Jiang. The note was concise, written in cursive, and Ryann could visualize the scene just by glancing at it.
He could perfectly imagine how that elegant figure would smoothly tear a page from his small notebook, how those fair fingers would pull out the tactical pen from his jacket pocket, how he would bend down to quickly write a line on the table, perhaps tapping the pen once before retracting the tip. Then striding away.
“…”
Ryann held that piece of paper as his vision blurred.
He hadn’t even had time to savor the joy of regaining what was lost, only feeling icy fear freezing his internal organs.
Jiang had gone to battle alone again!?
Having just woken up from nearly a year’s coma…
Bang! The note was angrily slammed onto the table, knocking over the thermos, spilling warm water all over the floor.
Ryann hastily threw on some clothes and strode out, his face frigid as he clenched his teeth, every corner of his features filled with murderous intent.
Actually, after the first Base Body fusion, his temperament should have been much more proper than the “Garcia” who was purely born in the base.
But who made him open his eyes after the fusion only to see Jiang Jianming’s snow-covered corpse? The psychological impact was too great, activating those cold and obsessive elements in his bones, even pushing him into a somewhat neurotic state.
He thought: This time he wouldn’t let it go easily, even if it meant angering Jiang. He must capture him and lock him up in a treatment cabin…
As Ryann lifted his leg to walk out, suddenly, a flash of gold caught the corner of his eye.
He instinctively looked out the starship’s porthole and saw the mecha L-Golden Dawn.
The airflow high in the Crystal Nest stirred like a hurricane, crystal dust appearing and disappearing in the wind, forming a high wall between the army and the universe.
Countless crystalline bodies were still launching fierce attacks on the starship. Mecha troops darted like meteors, sometimes dispersing, sometimes forming arrays, firing intensely to protect the ship’s body.
That’s when the Golden Dawn appeared, its figure cutting diagonally from one corner of distant space to another.
The mecha roared to the sky, energy particles gathering around its eight pairs of dark golden back wings. First came a rain-like burst of wide-range killing power, followed immediately by crystal particle suppression shells!
Everywhere it passed erupted in a sea of fire, crystalline creatures shattering and falling dejectedly toward the surface.
This scene was too stunning, too heroic. Ryann seemed to hear the simultaneous cheers erupting from inside thousands of Silver Big Dipper mechas.
Suddenly, the Golden Dawn’s head turned, as if seeing this direction.
It abruptly halted while flying past the Tianshuhao, stopping right outside Ryann’s porthole!
The shield plate lowered.
Inside the cockpit was the figure he had been thinking of day and night.
Jiang Jianming was smiling at him.
Ryann heard a sharp ringing in his ears, his heart violently pounding against his ribcage, his lips trembling, his whole body shaking.
No longer was it the sleeping figure in that tiny projection; no longer the ethereal apparition in those inescapable hallucinations.
The Golden Dawn extended its mechanical arm, its massive alloy fingers spreading wide.
A soft, subtle sound.
The fingertip gently tapped the starship’s glass porthole.
As if through cold metal and cold glass, one person was caressing another’s cheek.
Ryann lost his composure, his soul seeming to float. The gleam in his pupils wavered, soft like algae leaves in deep green spring waters.
He saw the black-haired officer’s features relaxed and clear, smiling as he mouthed the words.
—Your. High. ness. Good. Morning.
Just like that morning at the Silver Big Dipper’s First Fortress, when he returned after breaking through the space bandits’ ambush.
When Jiang Jianming was unconscious from his injuries, he had kept watch for two days without daring to close his eyes, until Xie Yuduo half-coaxed, half-tricked him into getting some rest.
When he woke up and heard from the nurse that Jiang had regained consciousness, he rushed over with disheveled clothes and messy hair.
When he pushed open the hospital room door, his first sight was of Jiang Jianming lying there, looking completely wonderful, smiling as he reached out and said, “Your Highness, good morning.”
At that time, he hadn’t yet realized that he would or had already fallen in love with this special disabled human. He was just incredibly, incredibly happy, his heart warm and tingling, unable to hold back a smile – perhaps that was what happiness felt like.
Just like how he felt now.
All of this happened in a very short time – the L-Golden Dawn stayed by Tianshuhao’s porthole, motionless for less than three seconds.
The next moment, Jiang Jianming withdrew his gaze, the shield plate clicking down. The Golden Dawn suddenly accelerated, stirring up chaotic air currents as it rushed toward its next target.
The Crown Prince watched that freely departing mecha. He didn’t cry, just stood there in a daze.
What did this feeling resemble? It was as if every old scar he’d been afraid to face had fallen away with the wind, countless nights drowned in grief now dispersed by golden light.
Heaven and earth, time and space, the universe and its stars – all were gathered in that fleeting glimpse of black eyes.
During this long, torturous year, he had countless times wished that Jiang Jianming would wake up.
He had imagined he would hold him tight, kiss him fiercely until he couldn’t breathe, force him into more intimate acts. Then lock him up, imprison him somewhere safe, swallow him deep inside his body to be forever united as one.
But now the Crown Prince realized those were just lonely, maddened thoughts after loss.
When Jiang Jianming returned to his side, all dark thoughts were redeemed, purified. Just like now, his only wish was…
To sit in that mecha’s other cockpit, to break through hardships and storms shoulder to shoulder with him, to catch a glimpse of heaven’s light.
Just like every time in years past.
