It began with a recording, the start of which was nothing but static. The harsh, crackling noise signaled the presence of intense electromagnetic interference.
Beneath this interference—which remained impossible to fully eliminate regardless of technical processing—the content was completely unrecognizable. However, after about two minutes, a voice emerged, purified through dozens of manual track isolations.
【By—decision—of the—"Silver Star Council"—routine—clearance—of—Special Unit—No. 4473—"Lei Ting"—shall—commence.】
It was a completely mechanized, stiff synthetic voice of unknown origin. Its attempt at human-like expression was more primitive than the technology of Primordial Earth’s Stone Age, clearly a total fabrication.
【Initiating—Specialized Tactics—003—for—this—unit—type.】
【Plan—Codename—"4473-3920 Core Power Clearance"—has been—merged—into—the—fourth phase—of this generation’s—Master Plan—"Mercy of the Final Night"—and—simultaneously—linked—to—the—Comprehensive—Master Plan—"????"】
【"4473-3920 Core Power Clearance"—Plan—confirmed. Executor One—"71730-Rocien"—please—execute—Phase One—mission: "Information Investigation"—according to—the—displayed—planning—list.】
【End.】
"..."
Susanna was completely stunned.
Although the name of the "Comprehensive Master Plan" had been silenced, the sheer volume of information in this recording—delivered in a variant of an ancient Earth language—was too much for her to process with her biological brain alone. She instantly activated the cognitive assistance and analysis functions of her neural implants.
Lei Ting did not stop her. His gaze beneath the cold visor remained calm and gentle.
Within two seconds, Susanna organized her thoughts and asked, "So... Rocien was a spy?"
"Yes. I don't know when he turned. And perhaps, in this matter, he was only 'my' enemy," Lei Ting said softly. "As for that 'routine clearance mission'..."
As he spoke, he played another recording where even the static hadn't been removed. This time, it was Rocien himself describing a "Phase Four Plan" designed to temporarily blind the early warning systems.
In this recording, the logic he displayed, the knowledge supporting it, and the temperament required to implement such a plan reached a level that sent a chill down one's spine.
"Murdering the people around me, framing my reputation, systematically severing my ties with civilized society, and hounding me until I suffer a mental breakdown, finally killing me," Lei Ting said. "Simple, convenient, and remarkably effective. Barring any accidents, nothing should have gone wrong—"
Because of the extraordinary sensitivity of 'Double S' ranks, most such individuals possessed unstable personalities. Such a cruel psychological assault was naturally a specialized counter-measure.
"—But from the very first step, a flaw appeared," he said.
It couldn't be helped. The planners likely never imagined a person like Lei Ting would exist in this world.
He was a 'Double S,' yes, but his personality was perfectly sound... at least, sound by his own estimation. Furthermore, the nature of his ability was inherently irrational—'Immovability' was a concept that, by its very nature, had nothing to do with 'reason.'
Don't ask; the answer was mental immunity.
But even so, that 'routine mission' utilizing 'specialized tactics' told Lei Ting between the lines that this conspiracy—which likely hadn't ended even now—had its own paradigms and principles.
Thus, the number of victims targeted in the past, whether directly or indirectly, whether set as 'clearance targets' or used as 'part of the clearance means and process'...
It had to be a terrifying figure.
Perhaps those were the 'Double S' ranks who had once gone mad, along with their friends, families, and lovers.
"So," Susanna murmured, "at some point, Rocien betrayed you, but you didn't realize it. And so you paid the price...
"...And Sandro, those classmates, those comrades," she slowly raised her head, looking at Lei Ting's visor, "they were that price."
Lei Ting remained silent.
Even if his reason told him this was the enemy's fault, the opponent's maneuver.
His human sensibility still told him: 【This was your mistake.】
—【This was a mistake caused by your excessive adherence to rules and your overbearing self-restraint in morality.】
Susanna seemed to want to say something, but a surge of violent emotion overwhelmed her, leaving her in a stiff, cold silence.
To her, if this was indeed the truth, then... those people, especially Sandro, their deaths...
"...It wasn't worth it." She gnashed her teeth, the image of Sandro lunging toward her in his final moments flashing before her eyes—at the end of his life, for once, he had been the one to protect her.
And she would have preferred that such protection never existed.
A soldier, a technician, or an administrator? It didn't matter. They were active-duty military; if they were to die, they should have died on the battlefield, not in a venomous conspiracy.
Compared to who she once was, the current Susanna was unrecognizable. Not even a tenth of her body could be considered 'human,' yet she felt a wave of nausea. She staggered back a few steps, her phantom lips twitching. Her nose and eyes, despite their reinforced nerves, actually felt a stinging soreness.
Her implants automatically began regulating her hormones. Her two bionic hearts beat with mechanical steadiness. Her artificial stomach, modified to digest magnets, was temporarily deactivated from its bionic simulation mode. Her tears likely didn't even fall into the nutrient solution within her armor—
—Yet within this body that could not be more 'normal' nor more 'abnormal,' a girl who had remained twenty years old felt a long-lost, cataclysmic human pain.
Lei Ting closed his eyes.
He couldn't say his grief upon mentioning this surpassed Susanna's, but neither was it any less. He could even perceive her roaring emotions without omission. Thus, he alone bore two shares of pain; they differed in scale, but they could not be compared.
Those were his classmates and friends, people he had lived with. They had looked forward to the future together, talked about their plans for life, walked the silver-gray paths of the academy, and sang songs that were now long out of fashion.
...And now, those people were all dead. Regardless of gender, regardless of status, regardless of whether they had once had friction or pleasant experiences with him.
The people who would have proactively visited him in the medical department were long gone. Those who remained were all complete strangers to him.
Regarding this, as always, he felt no regret, because 'regret' was an emotion that never helped the current situation.
But it was impossible to say he felt no guilt for the existence of this affair, for the sacrifice of those people.
If only he could have learned from Angye back when nothing had happened yet, before he could remember those 'pasts.'
That fellow didn't believe in things like morality or character. His philosophy was: 'When poor, observe the situation; when successful, exterminate the entire clan.' If Lei Ting could have learned even a fraction of that, even if it meant violating some people's privacy, at least those who should have lived would still be alive.
Death is death. When a person dies, everything is gone. They say death is like a lamp going out, but in Lei Ting's eyes now, death was more like chips being swept off the scales.
The affairs of the world may seem light as a feather, but on the scales, they weigh a thousand pounds. But if life is severed, that person's chips are mostly no longer on the scale. All the value they created or possessed in life no longer belongs to them. Their dreamed-of future and the ideals they upheld will one day dissipate without a trace.
"The enemies hiding in the shadows are trying to destroy the Human Federation, and before that, they must first kill the 'Solar Star'."
Lei Ting spoke as he turned around, looking at the vast, simultaneously real and fake starry sky on the high-wall screen.
But what he didn't say was that he actually had some guesses regarding the specific reason the enemy was doing this...
"...Why?" Susanna asked in a low voice. "The data card you just took out... it's the one Sandro delivered on Rocien's behalf, isn't it? You hid it from everyone for years. Why tell me now?"
"..."
Lei Ting let out a long breath.
He knew it was time for business.
"For a time, I often said 'tell me.' Because I was full of doubts about this world."
As he spoke, he gazed at the end of that starry sky, at the outer disk of the galaxy spanning the heavens. "From a certain moment, I understood many things, and so I stopped saying such things. After all, compared to a command or a word used for communication, it sounds more like a child facing an unknown future, questioning with utter helplessness.
"But sometimes I also think, whether it's the Human Federation or me, we are essentially just children—children of the universe, children of the galaxy, children of order, children of life."
Susanna had no idea why he was saying this, looking at his back in confusion.
Under the lights, the tall, solemn black figure stood still. His smooth, reflective long black hair fell alongside his cape, and that golden laurel crown... it was bright enough to be piercing.
"...Our existence is too brief, and we appeared too late. So much so that sometimes when I look at the stars, I also wonder about the past and the future, primarily the former... because humanity has not truly recorded the 'past.' And the even more distant past before humanity appeared is, to us, more like an unreal story that cannot be verified."
As Lei Ting spoke, he tilted his head slightly.
Simultaneously, within the entire empty hall, the sharp-edged metallic structural pillars rose and fell like mountain ranges.
—In that somewhat blurred recording, the silenced name of the "Comprehensive Master Plan" was "Death to Those Who Resemble Me."
What a simple name. What a terrifying name... It struck Lei Ting with even more inexplicable horror than the name "Mercy of the Final Night," which was chilling enough upon deeper reflection.
An enemy—or a group of enemies—whose information was currently unknown, likely had a primary plan named "Death to Those Who Resemble Me."
And this plan clearly encompassed the Orion Human Federation, or rather, 'humanity.'
Machinery whirred. A cage was built. The Star Net connection abruptly severed.
A sharp pain struck. Susanna gritted her teeth and groaned, her entire body hitting the floor with a dull thud. Her mind felt hazy, and her entire body felt as if it were on fire.
Realizing she had been attacked took her a full three seconds—and those three seconds were enough for an esper warrior as mature as she was to be killed fifteen times over.
Immediately afterward, her metallic outer armor quietly sank, fusing tightly with the floor.
This was the ultimate counter to a cyborg—want to move? Then cut yourself out, or drag the entire giant starship with you.
Lei Ting had moved against her. She should have been confused, should have been angry, but at this moment, she suddenly recalled Lei Ting's wariness of the Star Net and the information that had come from the Capital System over the past few months.
Her mind was clearer than ever before.
"...I shouldn't have over-modified," she said hoarsely. "Those who do are all affected by external forces... right?"
Lei Ting watched her in silence, his emotional response nearly non-existent.
"Ah, what a silly child..." A light, soft voice of indiscernible gender appeared, sighing within her mind. "Haven't you realized yet? If this good superior and old classmate of yours wanted to stop you from further modifying yourself, he had countless ways...
"...Of course, he didn't do much wrong. He simply chose the most cruel one among those countless options—letting you turn yourself into a useful cage—nothing more."
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 银星议会 | Silver Star Council | An antagonistic entity mentioned in the recording. |
| 末夜慈恩 | Mercy of the Final Night | A phase of the enemy's master plan. |
| 像我者死 | Death to Those Who Resemble Me | The name of the Comprehensive Master Plan. |
| 阳星 | Solar Star | A title/designation for Lei Ting. |
| 不动 | Immovability | Lei Ting's core ability/nature. |
| 核心力量清除 | Core Power Clearance | A specific plan targeting Lei Ting. |
| 71730-Rocien | 71730-Rocien | Rocien's designation in the enemy's system. |
