A buzzing sound went through Jiang Jianming’s mind.
He froze in place, as if encountering an unexpected ambush on the battlefield. After a long while, he struggled to switch the mecha display screen, and sure enough, saw a small light dot approaching on the 3D star map.
Jiang Jianming only looked once before his heart started burning. Without needing further confirmation, he knew it must be Ryann.
This is bad, this is terrible… what what what should I do!? The former founding commander’s scalp tingled inside the mecha as he frantically grabbed a towel to wipe his face.
He knew without looking that he was definitely not in a presentable state. If His Highness caught him, Ryann would surely be angry again.
But the Crown of Golden Dawn was so fast – forget about recovering his complexion, he might not even have time to change clothes.
After panicking for a while, Jiang Jianming found himself helpless.
He sat back down, dazed and weak, slowly blinking his eyelashes.
[Jiang.] Messages were still coming from the other side.
It’s always like this, the commander thought to himself.
This person always barges into his destiny abruptly and forcefully, crossing the sea of stars, traversing time and space, rushing towards him countless times.
[Opening docking port.]
A dark golden dot appeared in front, quickly expanding. Visibly, that dazzling super S-class mecha was steadily approaching.
When Jiang Jianming had left the base, he had casually picked an ordinary B-class mecha, low-key and plain. Such a contrast was truly just like the two of them.
Jiang Jianming looked up with a bitter smile and pushed the mecha’s control stick forward.
He also accelerated towards Ryann’s direction.
There was no choice now… if he gets scolded, then… so be it.
In the vast stellar region, both mechas’ docking ports opened as they approached each other.
The dark golden mecha’s shadow gradually enveloped the smaller mecha, silently completing the docking.
Jiang Jianming didn’t move – in fact, his whole body was so weak he couldn’t get up at all, so he simply sat where he was. He listened to the familiar footsteps quickly approaching, then the cockpit’s side door was twisted open.
That figure strode before him, with emerald eyes and white-gold curled hair like luxurious silk.
Joy bloomed intensely across those handsome features as the Crown Prince stretched out both arms, eager to embrace—
Then, sure enough.
“What happened to…”
Ryann’s expression changed drastically, “What’s wrong with you!?”
Jiang Jianming shrank back into the pilot seat, avoiding eye contact as he softly said, “Um, sorry…”
His face was pale, his whole body soaked in cold sweat as if he’d been pulled from water. Ryann grabbed Jiang Jianming’s hand, feeling the cold, finely trembling muscles beneath his palm.
“You had an episode again!?”
“No… that’s not it, oof!”
A shadow fell before his eyes as Ryann bent down – the seatbelt snapped with a crack, forcefully torn by the enraged Crown Prince.
Jiang Jianming trembled, “Please let me explain.”
“I received the original body’s memories and just lost control of my emotions for a moment.”
As he spoke, he gently stroked Ryann’s hand where veins were bulging. “But I’m fine now that you’re here, so…”
“Just now – when was that exactly?”
Unexpectedly, Ryann laughed in extreme anger, “When you were messaging me back?”
“You were suffering this badly, yet you sent me a message saying ‘drive carefully’!?”
The Crown Prince suddenly gripped the disabled human’s military uniform collar, yanking Jiang Jianming straight up from the pilot seat. “You snuck out from the Black Shark Base, didn’t you? And no one knew about it again, right? What if I hadn’t come – what were you planning to do, what did you want me to do?! You—”
Suddenly, the disabled human’s wrist curved past the white-gold curls, pulling the other’s head towards himself.
“You…”
The Crown Prince blinked in surprise…although he was clearly taller than Jiang, being unexpectedly held against the other’s shoulder gave him an odd feeling of losing his momentum.
He had originally intended to pull Jiang Jianming up and carry him – Jiang was so light that he could scoop him up with one arm even without using crystal bone strength.
But now in this awkward position, he certainly didn’t want to squeeze someone who was unwell, and found himself letting go before he realized it.
The universe was vast, but the mecha’s interior was cramped. In the cockpit, blue and green lights merged their silhouettes into one.
Jiang Jianming lowered his eyelashes, burying his nose in the soft white-gold hair, saying softly. “I’m sorry.”
“…” Ryann’s ear tips instantly turned red. Then realizing he was now skin-to-skin with the legendary Commander Aslan, his heart began racing wildly.
Ryann’s Adam’s apple bobbed as his palm fell on his lover’s thin back through the half-damp clothes, grinding roughly twice.
He lowered his voice menacingly. “You think you can get away with it just like this?”
“I know I was wrong. Please forgive me this time, Your Highness.”
“You wish.”
“Then…Your Highness can have any compensation you want.”
This sentence destroyed what little restraint His Highness had left. Ryann first pressed Jiang Jianming into the mecha’s pilot seat and kissed him senseless, only letting go when he was nearly oxygen-deprived.
Then he began touching him, fingers wandering from appropriate places to inappropriate ones.
The disabled human’s reactions were far more sensitive than imagined – even a single pinch would make his whole body tense up and tremble. Soon physiological tears soaked his black eyes, falling drop by drop from the corners.
His pale arms gripped the mecha pilot seat tightly. The disabled human almost refused to make a sound, but his breathing was very heavy, like a fear-stressed animal.
“Why are you trembling? I haven’t even done anything yet!”
His Highness the Crown Prince was also struggling to endure, his turbulent eyes glancing at that person.
Using his anger and attempted concealment of nervousness, he ground maliciously under his hand, “Wasn’t it you who said it was okay?”
“…—!”
Jiang Jianming was stimulated so much his whole body jerked up once. He grabbed Ryann’s wrist with a snap and wouldn’t let go, trembling. His porcelain-like neck stretched tautly backward as he choked out, “Your Highness… Your Highness.”
Suddenly, the black-haired officer’s pupils trembled.
Looking past Ryann’s shoulder, he saw the mecha’s alloy glass, which reflected both the vast beautiful sea of stars outside and their two disheveled embracing figures.
He saw both the infinitely grand and the infinitely small.
Infinitely cold were the rational rules of the universe, infinitely hot was the love between humans.
Jiang Jianming’s whole body shook as if electrified, his pupils dilating unfocused. Looking at his own reflection in the alloy glass, intense shame and strange satisfaction stimulated his nerves like strong medicine. Finally, his vision went white as he convulsed with a low moan.
Getting to hear a never-before-heard sound, Ryann was completely satisfied. He bent down to kiss and began speaking soft comforting words, though what came out was actually incoherent babbling. The Crown Prince quickly became annoyed at his own nervous loss of composure, so he shut up and chose to return to action instead.
By the end, Jiang Jianming was already lying limp and soaking wet in the pilot seat, breathing with unfocused eyes, without an ounce of strength left.
Ryann held him up by his hips and thighs, lingering and nuzzling for several more minutes before carrying him back inside the Golden Dawn, like a predator contentedly returning to its nest with prey.
But it wasn’t over after returning to the nest. Ryann first set the return route, letting Seth pilot the mecha, then picked up the disabled human in his arms again for more kissing and nuzzling.
Poor Jiang Jianming was already nearly collapsed from the after-effects of consciousness fusion – how could he handle His Highness’s repeated teasing? He directly passed out halfway through.
When he woke up again, unsurprisingly, he was in the treatment cabin.
Ryann was holding him, looking somewhat dazed, lost in unknown thoughts.
Jiang Jianming called out to him. Ryann startled awake, immediately kissing him gently with guilt and comfort, saying softly, “I went too far. It won’t happen again.”
Jiang Jianming: “But I was happy, I liked it, and want it again in the future.”
“…”
Ryann’s eyebrow twitched. Why could this person act so composed and accommodating before and after, yet during the crucial middle he trembled and cried…
Afterwards, they both got up. Jiang Jianming was fed some water and food as they exchanged some military information. Ryann held onto him addictively, refusing to let go, stealing kisses now and then.
He asked again. “Were you so distressed because I wasn’t good to you in my past life?”
Jiang Jianming wanted to say that it was because you were too good to me, I don’t deserve it. But remembering Sylph told him not to say such things, he smiled and said, “When your original memories merge, you’ll understand then.”
But Ryann said, “The Chief told me before that my original self and remaining subconscious are still protecting your body in the Crystal Nest. If they fully project over, I’m worried they’ll be completely devoured by crystal particles.”
Jiang Jianming froze, hurriedly asking, “So, they can’t merge?”
Ryann: “We’ll only see after victory.”
Jiang Jianming felt somewhat dejected, but his mood was quickly interrupted by the scene before him.
By now, the Crown of Golden Dawn was very close to the Empire’s garrison point, and the Golden Sun Wheel space station’s outline was visible to the naked eye. But that wasn’t the focus.
The focus was that nearly ten thousand Imperial starships were silently arranged in formation, appearing like waves of black iron as far as the eye could see, with gold and silver military emblems running through in a line, creating a magnificent sight.
Jiang Jianming asked puzzled, “What are they doing?”
Ryann replied casually. “Guess.”
Jiang Jianming propped himself up to look carefully, immediately recognizing this wasn’t a battle formation but a ceremonial one, and of the highest standard.
His expression darkened. “Are they forming ranks to welcome the Black Shark Base?”
Ryann: “…”
Jiang Jianming raised a fine eyebrow, saying coolly. “Absurd. Using starships for such things – what if the Crystal Nest launches an attack? Who gave this order, Xie Yuduo?”
Beside him, the Crown Prince looked at him with complex emotions. “Don’t worry, Xie Yuduo has arranged it – those coming to welcome are all soldiers on rotation, it won’t affect normal garrison duty.”
“There are nearly a hundred thousand fleets stationed in the Crystal Nest space domain. If they all came to line up, it would be far more than what you see now.”
He still doesn’t realize who these people are here to welcome, Ryann sighed inwardly.
Thinking of Aslan’s true name and race that were never made public in his lifetime, his heart began to ache deeply.
He also thought of when the Base Body was in love – Jiang Jianming had never planned to go public; later, when he dragged him to the top of the White Jade Palace during the ceremony, this person was actually so scared his legs went weak.
Looking back now, it was probably due to consciousness carried over from the previous life.
He didn’t understand then, but now it only made him feel distressed.
But Jiang Jianming remained clueless, still finding it puzzling. He thought it was still absurd – the soldiers finally got rotation leave, couldn’t they do something else instead of staying here?
Thinking further, he found it strange – Xie Yuduo wasn’t someone who cared for elaborate ceremony either, could it be the soldiers’ own voluntary initiative?
But the Black Shark Base wouldn’t arrive for a while at normal speed.
Were these guys not tired enough fighting on the frontlines, having energy for such fancy displays…
Unable to figure it out, Jiang Jianming could only complain to Ryann. “Why didn’t Your Highness try to discourage them.”
“I was in a hurry to come get you.” The Crown Prince kept a straight face, subtly leading him on, “If you disapprove, why don’t you send them back now?”
Jiang Jianming hesitated.
Although he felt the welcoming fleet was excessive, if the soldiers were willing, there was no need to dampen their spirits and make everyone unhappy.
Besides, Chief Sylph had worked hard for many years, and the Black Shark Base had countless merits – what was wrong with being welcomed? They deserved it!
But Jiang Jianming also felt this might be an opportunity.
He had noticed that since his fake death and lying still for a year, everyone around him had put a soft filter over him, setting him up as some tragic, beautiful, strong yet pitiful moonlight character – the kind that reeked of melodrama.
That wouldn’t do – it would cause many troubles later. And Jiang Jianming always avoided such troubles when possible.
He didn’t need to actually send the fleet back now – just speaking to them with a cold demeanor should be enough to overturn this moonlight character setting.
So Jiang Jianming nodded, slightly adjusting his collar, saying, “Alright then.”
Ryann gave him the control position. Jiang Jianming then piloted the Golden Dawn, directing the mecha to glide towards the center of the fleet while casually opening the military channel.
Although he hadn’t been officially appointed as a general, his status as the Crown Princess gave him the highest level of authority, allowing him to speak directly on the channel without waiting for the other side to answer.
Jiang Jianming carefully measured his tone.
Just as he was about to speak—
In front of him, nearly a thousand ships suddenly began splitting to both sides, forming a steel-embraced passage. Immediately after, several familiar generals appeared at the front end in holographic form.
The next second, ceremonial cannons fired in unison, light beams forming upward-climbing white waterfalls, illuminating this region of space.
Jiang Jianming: “…”
Jiang Jianming: “…???”
