Stars See Me [Interstellar] | Chapter 196 | The Weight of Identity | Novela.app

One of the psionic entities of the Orionids, the golden five-pointed star known as the "Radiant Exemplar," actually possessed an extremely rigorous locking and guidance system. This system enveloped all Orionids, ensuring that every individual had a place to return to after death, allowing their souls to rest in peace. Death was not to be feared; what was truly terrifying was leaving one's life's work unfinished and finding no peace in the afterlife. Among the identification criteria of this system were a "registration code" and a "codename." The former was bloodline, while the latter was the "name"—the identity one recognized for oneself and by which others called them. A name that accompanied a person throughout their life—how beautiful it was. It would always push open the door to the final destination for every individual. "Lei Ting." "Raytine." One layer of the name served to deepen the traces of a life lived; the other served as confirmation at the critical moment. The tradition of dual names was a gift from the ancestors to those who came after. Even if vitality dissipated and the world shattered, as long as pollution had not completely altered the bloodline and the identifier of the name remained, the Radiant Exemplar could recognize the deceased's scattered "spiritual echoes." Thus, the Orionids would always have a home to return to. But... Lei Ting was different. His power had already rendered him independent of the Radiant Exemplar. Even if the day truly came for him to step into death, he would not return to the Radiant Exemplar. Instead, he would go to his own Psionic Sun, existing in a class of his own. However... setting aside the matter of falling leaves returning to their roots, whether the will within that Psionic Sun would still be "him" at that moment was uncertain. ... Lei Ting was deep in thought as he left. He had to admit that his deductions regarding certain matters had been limited by his perspective. In his "previous life," he had never discussed information related to the "Star" civilization in detail with anyone. In the early stages, it was because he was too busy; in the later stages, it was because no one wanted to communicate with him, and no one was left who could communicate with him in such a manner. Now, although many details remained blurred, the things he knew were already enough to surprise even "The Gaze." Unfortunately, The Gaze's observation of and communication with the future was a non-reversible process. Stable connections could no longer be established with time points that had already passed. Furthermore, intelligence related to the future had to be kept strictly secret and could not be circulated in any way; otherwise, the worldline would inevitably suffer a malignant deviation. If it were possible to transmit information to the past through The Gaze, Lei Ting did not believe that the many brilliantly talented figures in history would have been unable to devise a better solution than his. Upon returning to the Council Hall, Lei Ting checked the progress of various parties once more and expressed his appreciation for the military's speed of improvement. Perhaps because his power base was rooted in the First Legion, the system had been relatively cooperative with this change, which could be considered an "update"—at least so far. Oh, saying it that way might be a bit hypocritical. The truth was that those who had attempted to lead others in non-cooperation were already dead. Lei Ting hoped that one day, when his compatriots saw their own soldiers raise their rifles, their first reaction would be that there was an enemy behind them, rather than fleeing in terror with their heads in their hands. This was difficult. It required the side holding the gun to change first. In his "previous life," from beginning to end, he had never been fortunate enough to witness the birth of any "fish-and-water" bond between the military and civilians within the Federation. He hoped that this time, he could move one step closer to that ideal future. He did not expect to completely eliminate the concept of class—at least not yet. Social progress did not equate to moral progress. Hierarchies always existed; even when children played together, a "king of the kids" would naturally emerge. This was human nature. However, at the very least... he wanted the criteria for such distinctions to become "contribution and ability." After his conversation with The Gaze, he was startled to find that his perspective had already begun to drift away from that of a normal person. Why had he never felt any doubt about the name "Star"? Even though anyone who gave it a bit of thought might sense something was amiss? A normal person might consider themselves different from those around them after reading a few extra books. So, when a person could witness countless things in a single thought that an ordinary person would never see in a lifetime, how could they continue to maintain their original self-identity? Lei Ting's thoughts were complex. He recalled The Gaze's viewpoint and agreed with it. Self-identity was infinitely important. He had to constantly correct himself to ensure he remained on the path leading to the correct future. In that future which had already dissipated, he had prevented nearly twenty massacres initiated by the Federation military against their own innocent civilians. Lei Ting sat upright and solemn, closing his eyes slightly. The slaughter of innocent compatriots had nothing to do with what was "correct." Therefore, he would prevent such a future from appearing again, regardless of the means— Those who had the ability to fight for the masses, yet turned their blades toward the side that should be protected, were guilty of a capital offense! "...Solar Star?" Yondel called out softly from the side. "Hmm?" Lei Ting tilted his head slightly without opening his eyes. He was replaying everything that had happened recently in his mind. His thoughts moved at lightning speed; in every moment, countless ideas surfaced, and countless others dissipated. At this moment, the two were in a massive information distribution office, walking through a mechanical forest of integrated information processing server pillars, each nearly a hundred meters tall and emitting a shimmering blue light. In a place so filled with human might, Yondel seemed to rarely want to say something, yet he only opened his mouth without actually speaking. "Speak," Lei Ting said. Yondel was silent for a moment before suddenly asking, "Do you know... that your method of questioning has actually always been problematic?" "..." Lei Ting's pace, which had been steady, slowed down, but he did not answer. As for Yondel... Yondel knew exactly what kind of person he was, and that gave him the courage to say what came next. "You always let others narrate for themselves instead of giving more specific instructions," Yondel said. "This isn't actually questioning; it's interrogation." "..." Lei Ting's footsteps came to a halt. "I don't know exactly what you intend to do, but... I have seen part of what you have done," Yondel said. "Past-Sight is my ability. To me, it is as simple as breathing." Lei Ting turned his head. He gazed at Yondel through his visor, looking into those blue-violet eyes. But Yondel... he did not continue speaking about his ability. "I come from an Orionid colony. It was a planet that wasn't particularly pleasant, tidally locked to its star. However, because of strong atmospheric convection, the temperature difference between the light and dark sides wasn't incredibly vast," the brown-haired man said softly. "It's just that storms followed us like shadows. Out of thirteen months in a year, the colony faced devastating crises for eight of them." Lei Ting narrowed his eyes slightly. This was likely the first time in nearly a hundred years that Yondel had mentioned his earliest past. He knew that this old fox, who could gaze into the past, actually disliked mentioning bygone days. Compared to the past, this fellow preferred to look toward the future like a young man. "When I was a child, I swore to conquer the storms and the sky. To that end, I studied hard and refined my skills, achieving feats many couldn't imagine before I even reached adulthood." Yondel gazed at the towering pillars, his tone devoid of any pride for his former glory. "After I was admitted to the First Military Academy, I flew into the sky in a vehicle as I always did, and then flew even higher than the sky to reach their starship... "Back then, we didn't have many high-level psionic talents. As a mere A-rank, I was escorted by sixteen fully armed military vessels. That was the true face of the Human Union. Over these years, we have declined far too much." The corner of Lei Ting's mouth twitched. He remembered the scene of his own awakening. He wondered how that fellow was doing now—the one Angye had used as a blade to test "Enan Warren." He had once been determined to kill that guy. Holding a grudge was a fine virtue; a gentleman took his revenge from morning till night. Knowing how to use hatred to replace other negative emotions was a necessary path for growth. Of course, he would also never forget that being treated harshly by the world was no reason to treat everything else harshly. "When I first broke through the storms and flew into space, my ability awakened," Yondel said. "I saw... the planet's past, millions of years of it." "..." Lei Ting folded his arms. What a psionic could do upon awakening, they could also do once they matured. This fellow Yondel hid himself very deeply, just as he had in the "previous life." In that life, until the final battle, almost no one knew the true nature of this man's ability... "...Through the repeated simulation of matter and energy trajectories, I saw the past of my home clearly." Yondel spoke, his gaze fixed on Lei Ting's full-coverage mechanical mask, which now lacked even an eyepiece. "I saw my past life, my birth, and further back, the lives of my ancestors... "They descended from space. The probes sent signals that there were rare resources here. The probes fell from the sky. In a world where no one had ever set foot, there was only sunlight, shadow, orange-red mountain ranges that were always shifting, and infinite storms." "The wind blew constantly. Tidal locking and atmospheric convection turned the terminator line into a hurricane corridor. The world was forever windy, and matter changed along with it. Sand and soil were swept up, rocks weathered away, and heavy rain fell like waterfalls. In earlier times, the disappearance of a mountain or a sea might happen in a single night..." "Even if it was blurred, the deductions and calculations nearly crushed me. And before I lost consciousness, I understood that the wind could not be conquered, because I could not conquer the power of the sun," Yondel said. "Even though I continued related research intermittently afterward for about twenty years... "...But you see, that sun did not harm me directly. What left a greater mark on my life was not the sunlight, but the river valleys carved into the earth by the great winds, and my hometown, which was built within them."