Rising Sun (2)
When Jiang Jianming left Garcia, went down from the second floor to the first floor, and opened the door of their dormitory, two good roommates greeted him.
Last night was too scary in various ways, which directly caused Tang Zhen and Li Youfang to stay up all night. The faces of the two of them looked like ghosts in the daytime, and they gathered around tremblingly to ask questions.
“That’s not Prince Ryann.” Jiang Jianming said perfunctorily, and packed his things neatly.
Since His Royal Highness minded, he didn’t need to talk nonsense in front of outsiders.
“It’s the Second Prince, His Royal Highness Garcia, probably twins with the Crown Prince…….they look really similar.”
“It seems that there is nothing important here for him to come to our dormitory in the middle of the night, maybe the Second Prince has a habit of taking a walk late at night.”
“I’ve already told him…..Don’t worry, you can go to the trading area and buy a lock to hang it on the door.”
“Me? He took me away……Cough, he wants to transfer me, I will not live here in the future.”
“What’s our relationship? It’s a familiar relationship. I helped him once, and he saved me once. Yes, I still owe him an apple.”
Jiang Jianming didn’t have many things, thus he packed up all his personal belongings in less than an hour.
Along the way, he also cleaned up the vicinity of his bed, afterwards, he carried his combat bag and another bag, and went out.
“Little Jiang.”
Tang Zhen stopped him from behind, with a complicated expression on his face, “I heard that some new military officers who have been outstanding in the past have completed their adaptation period ahead of schedule and were awarded ranks to join Silver Big Dipper before the completion of a year. Are you..…”
Jiang Jianming chuckled when he heard that, he leaned against the door and looked back at Tang Zhen, then waved his hand.
“I don’t have time to wait for you, Young Master Tang, strive steadily.”
“Catch up early.”
The door closed, then Li Youfang glanced at Tang Zhen.
“Feeling lost? Got dumped by a roommate.”
Tang Zhen frowned, he rubbed his hair, bowed his head and smiled.
“Well, I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.”
Just now, he seemed to see the fifteen-year-old black-haired boy back then, chuckling in the setting sun, he pushed open the door then went out from the tactical simulation confrontation room of the Kaios Military Academy.
Later, he chased after him, resulting in him to be roommates with the disabled for five years, which also made him walk out of the mud of depravity and confusion.
He had long known that Jiang Jianming was an unusual person, and he had also long known that this guy would go to a higher and farther place.
Tang Zhen’s eyes gradually became firmer.
It’s no big deal, what he had to do now was just to catch up with him again.
****
After packing up his things, Jiang Jianming politely sent a message to Lieutenant Colonel Huo Lin, and explained to Lieutenant Colonel Huo Lin’s indescribable expression that he would follow His Royal Highness from now on.
After hanging up the communication, he checked the time, and it was almost noon.
Jiang Jianming remembered that Garcia would let him move in in the morning, therefore he quickened his pace a little.
However, a figure suddenly jumped out from the corner in front. Jiang Jianming’s eyes flashed back. The figure didn’t pounce on anyone, it instead staggered two steps and nearly fell down.
The opposite person straightened up and raised its face. It turned out to be Joe Brown.
“Jiang… Jiang Jianming!”
Joe’s mental state looked very bad, and there were circles of black-blue under his eyes, “Wait, wait…”
Joe stumbled forward, wanting to grab Jiang Jianming’s arm, and his expression was desolate. “Did you tell the Commanding officer something, they want…to forcefully repatriate me….”
Jiang Jianming didn’t react, “What did I say?”
Joe stared at him blankly.
Jiang Jianming thought for a while before he understood, “…Ah, are you talking about falling off the cliff?”
He said indifferently, “No, to be honest, these days are too chaotic, I have already forgotten about it.”
Joe laughed dryly, “You………stop joking…even if you say something, I won’t blame you. “
“…….”
Jiang Jianming frowned slightly and lowered his eyes. He thought that he had a good temper most of the time, but it was really difficult to communicate with a person like Joe who was completely trapped in his own world when he got agitated.
He was too lazy to get entangled with him, and merely shook his head, “Communicate with the Commanding officer if there’s a problem, I still have someone waiting for me, excuse me.”
Unexpectedly, Joe grabbed his wrist in an instant. “Wait!”
The young man stared wide-eyed, his lips twitched, “Wait…Jiang Jianming, you, help me, and ask the Commanding officer for mercy.”
“I was wrong in the past, help me this time, and I will listen to you in the future……”
Jiang Jianming turned around in surprise, “Do you really want to stay in Silver Big Dipper? In the distant interstellar, such emergencies can happen at any time, and being repatriated can at least save your life.”
Big cold sweat broke out on Joe’s forehead, “Then, why not just simply “send me back”, at least, at least the same as Bei Maner……”
Jiang Jianming came to a sudden halt.
In the case of Bei Maner, officers or soldiers returning to the empire for medical treatment due to special reasons such as injuries and illnesses belonged to “sending back”. They would gain the reputation and a subsidy, a hero that had drunk too much righteous indignation for the Empire.
Most importantly, the “sending back” of Silver Big Dipper was reversible. If the physical and mental state after recovery could still meet the army’s standards, the soldiers who were sent back could choose to return to Silver Big Dipper at any time.
However, “repatriation” was not very pleasant. Direct deprivation of military ranks and forced retirement was equivalent to directly stamping a “disqualified” big red badge, kicking one back to the empire, and letting one stay where they came from.
Therefore……..this, he was afraid of losing face.
“Jiang, help me…you know I didn’t do it on purpose! I also heard that you have something to do with the Silver Big Dipper, right?….You, you just have to say a word.”
Joe was still grabbing Jiang Jianming’s wrist with all his strength, his forehead was red, and he stammered painfully, “I…it wasn’t………it wasn’t easy to………pass the exam from that poor and backward Star City……I don’t want to go back, I don’t want to……”
“Silver Big Dipper is not a place where anyone can stay, and repatriation is a good thing for you.”
Jiang Jianming frowned, he was pushed back two steps, and heard his wrist creak, “Let go of me, you’re gripping me tightly.”
He looked around and unfortunately saw no one. Now was the time for the officers in adaptation period for their daily training, and other officers and soldiers would also be unlikely to walk in this area. Therefore, his entanglement with Joe here, there was no way for him to expect anyone to help……
Joe raised his face abruptly, his eyes were full of red veins: “You don’t know! If I go back like this… I won’t be able to raise my head anymore!!”
“I will be looked down upon for the rest of my life, classmates, neighbors, relatives…my dad is going to beat me up again…”
As he spoke, Joe laughed miserably, and his voice echoed in the quiet corridor.
“Such a rotten Star City, I worked my ass off to go to school just to get out of there…”
In his own laughter, he seemed to see the barren Star City far away from the Imperial Capital, and saw the underdeveloped streets.
Whenever the wind blew, the garbage on the ground would scatter, then the low-level sanitation robots would clumsily chase after them.
……….Maz had a harsh climate and often had big sandstorms. Over the years, more and more residents had chosen to move out.
Perhaps soon, like the current Blue Mother Planet, it would turn into ruins with only historical significance, a dead star solidified into a time-scale sample.
But not everyone could move away. Interstellar relocation required a lot of money, and the procedures for relocating to a Star City were also very troublesome. One needed to climb to a big shot to be able to do it.
It’s a pity that money, power and access, his family had none.
Some only barely survive on daily necessities, suffering on boring and repetitive days.
On the day he was admitted to Silver Big Dipper, his classmates who had always laughed at him for being stupid in studying were dumbfounded, and the neighbors came to praise him with smiling faces, and his parents were so surprised that they almost fainted.
The sun shone brightly that day, there were no sandstorms, no malfunctioning sanitation robots, and no gangsters robbing the streets.
What a happy dream it was……
But now a bucket of ice water was poured down on him, waking him up from that dream.
Reality made a comeback.
Joe broke down and yelled, “Why, why the fuck does this thing only happens to me……!”
“Joe.” Jiang Jianming’s voice was cold.
Suddenly, his face changed. He vaguely saw some bright particles flashing in the void in front of him, hanging on the arm that Joe gripped. Jiang Jianming pushed hard almost instinctively, and Joe, who was holding his right hand, was thrown sideways.
The next moment, accompanied by the sound of skin being pierced, a few drops of blood splashed!
“Ah!!—” Joe screamed, covering his bloody palm with a hideous face.
The murder weapon that suddenly appeared was a red-gold real crystal. It was slender and sharp, and it condensed in the void for less than a second before dissipating into invisible particles. If it wasn’t for Jiang Jianming’s sharp eyes and agile hands as he pushed Joe quickly, the real crystal would have penetrated his forearm!
Jiang Jianming didn’t make a sound, but his lowered eyelashes trembled, and he turned around to look.
No one was behind.
“You…you…” Joe covered his bleeding hand. His teeth were chattering, and he looked at him in horror.
Jiang Jianming turned around again, but there was also no one in front.
He sighed helplessly, and said to Joe, “I’m sorry, someone is really waiting for me. You should calm down and deal with the wound. If you really have something to say, let’s talk about it at another time.”
“Ah, I know…” Joe suddenly laughed at himself, buried his head deeply, and said with a sob, “You guys looked down on me from the beginning.”
“I also know…..because I came out of that kind of garbage place, I am too already garbage myself.”
Jiang Jianming had already turned around and started walking, but when he heard this sentence, he stopped again.
He still had his eyelashes lowered, his expression was very gentle, and there was a kind of peace and tranquility between his brows that did not match his age.
He said in such a gentle voice, “You are too arrogant.”
“What!?” Joe raised his face in astonishment.
He almost doubted his ears.
Jiang Jianming: “Aren’t you the only one in your school who was admitted to the Silver Big Dipper?”
“So, when you say you are trash, do you think the other people there are worse than trash in your heart?”
“I–!” Joe froze suddenly.
As if a thunderbolt hit the top of his head, the blood color faded from the face of this Maz youth, and his eyes only stared blankly.
“The world doesn’t revolve around you, Brown.”
Jiang Jianming calmly called Joe’s surname, and he didn’t look back, “In this world, it’s not who you think is trash, who is trash—you are not, and neither are the residents of Maz Star City.”
“You are just among the ordinary people.”
“Ordinary people, are they such an existence that you despise?”
After saying these two sentences, the young disabled human being in black and silver military uniform proceeded and walked straight forward.
In the empty corridor, Joe stood absent-mindedly like a puppet.
He looked at Jiang Jianming’s back, looked at it, as if waking up from a big dream, then his lips began to tremble.
He always thought that the shadow in his heart was an inferiority complex, the inferiority complex that was caused by people with ordinary origins that hindered his way to climb up.
But he never realized that there was another pair of really dark claws hidden in his heart.
That’s right, after getting unexpectedly excellent results in the exam, he signed up for the supremely glorious Silver Big Dipper without even thinking about it, but he never thought that he could take this opportunity to take his parents to work in a better Star City, and live steadily
He never thought that he could not become a soldier who sacrificed his life and fought bloody battles, but be a small businessman, honestly doing honest business; or become a mecha master, diligently and conscientiously tightening every screw.
That he couldn’t be an imperial hero, but could also be a good son, husband, and a father.
The reason why he never thought about this—
—Was not because of inferiority complex, but because of arrogance.
Salty and bitter tears streamed down the corners of his mouth, in this empty corridor of the fortress, Joe buried his face in his hands.
A few seconds later, the young man turned around and pressed his forehead against the cold wall, and a broken sob came from his throat.
“Go back to the Empire. A truly prosperous Empire should have a place for ordinary people.”
Jiang Jianming’s clear voice came, faintly, as if already far away.
“It’s okay.”
When Joe’s cry came from behind, Jiang Jianming also had already walked to the end of the corridor.
At the corner, Garcia was standing there, the prince’s pupils seemed to be shining brightly, and he was looking at him steadily.
“Your Highness?” Jiang Jianming tilted his head, and a few strands of black hair scattered with his movements.
He walked up to Garcia and stood still, looked at him in a funny way, and said quietly, “It’s okay if you want to watch the show, but…..shouldn’t the audience come on stage and beat the actor up, won’t that be too good?”
Garcia opened his lips indifferently, “I have no intention of interfering in your private affairs, if you won’t say it hurts.”
After that, the prince turned around and walked forward naturally. Jiang Jianming who was next to him gave a low laugh, and also raised his heels and followed suit.
Garcia then glanced sideways at Jiang Jianming.
Jiang Jianming seemed to think for a while, and then added more rigorously as if nothing had happened, “It hurts.”
