In the early months of 4021 AD, two major events shook the Human Federation.
First: After several months of respite, a war erupted, spreading across more than half of the border sectors. The Federation, having grown accustomed to wartime protocols, showed no signs of overreaction. Instead, its various agencies performed their duties with practiced efficiency, funneling necessary supplies to the front lines.
Second: Investigations confirmed that the core strength—and indeed, the majority of the soldiers—of the Human Federation Resistance had long since escaped prison. Those left behind were either spies from various factions or individuals who had never truly intended to fight for the Resistance’s cause.
The list of escapees had clearly been meticulously screened, and the replacement process had been carried out gradually over the years. During the time these individuals were absent, they had been replaced under Federation surveillance by a remote "Avatar" technology based on unknown principles.
These "Avatars" could be operated remotely by their masters' consciousness—a concept that felt like a tired trope from ancient works of fiction.
But even if it seemed like a cliché, it remained a massive problem for the Federation. From that moment on, no one knew if these enemies were dead or alive, how many remained, or when they might return.
Currently, the only two certainties were that the main body of the Resistance would not leave Federation space. If they were to operate outside of it, they would lose several vital pieces of political leverage.
As all of this unfolded, Lei Ting’s mental world was in a state of total upheaval.
To save time and energy, he did not engage in detailed communication with Ivanheiler. He suppressed the small-scale chaotic dispute in that isolated region with absolute, overwhelming force. The Anomalous Demon—born of his own self—was directly destroyed, reduced to its purest energy, and dissipated back into the darkness.
Strange powers surged within that darkness. Countless illusory figures—men, women, old, and young—emerged at the boundary of light and shadow within his field of thought.
Simultaneously, Ivanheiler’s mental will fell into a brief coma and was sent back by Lei Ting into the nearly infinitely evolving illusion he had maintained. Lei Ting did not actively tamper with the other man’s memories—he never did.
As he carried Ivanheiler past those overlapping illusory figures, Lei Ting kept his gaze fixed straight ahead. Those people, those faces that were not truly illusions... those overlapping shadows were those who had died by his hand or lost their lives in his proximity.
Consequently, their "Spiritual Echoes" had come to his side, gradually seeping through the cracks he had deliberately carved into his psyche over the years. These echoes did not possess complete individual wills; instead, they existed in a strange state of natural aggregation, watching his life with a singular, unified focus.
This state reminded Lei Ting of "Specters." They wandered aimlessly, clustered spontaneously, and acted according to a core logic. They were very similar to these scattered Spiritual Echoes of the deceased, except the former had completely lost self-awareness, while the latter seemed to have automatically integrated into a "collective."
After settling Ivanheiler’s mental body, Lei Ting began to periodically set aside a portion of his mental strength to... "visit."
Ivanheiler’s impressions of what had happened in that darkness were blurred, but the fact that the master of the illusion began to appear by his side more frequently made him realize something. However, Ivanheiler showed no outward signs of abnormality—and neither did Lei Ting, even though he understood the other’s thoughts perfectly.
Just as the Anomalous Demon had said, the current Lei Ting was nothing more than a biological machine. Thirteen years of a life devoid of emotional fluctuations had completely reshaped him into a different being.
"How did you change from someone I could fall in love with into... this?" Ivanheiler asked. "And how did I get here? Why am I here?"
He asked while gathering his brilliant golden hair to tie it back, looking somewhat curious. Thirteen years had passed, yet the visage of this soul who had died at the hands of his lover remained unchanged. The marks of time on his handsome face had neither increased nor diminished, and his azure eyes still held a clear, expectant light floating atop their depths.
In the empty, old-fashioned coffee shop, Lei Ting sat opposite him, his posture upright and his hands clasped.
"I cannot disclose that," he said.
The small portion of computational power he had allocated here judged that answering those questions would be more harmful than beneficial and would lead to unnecessary expenditure of mental energy.
"..."
Ivanheiler gazed at him blankly for a moment, then let out a soft sigh.
"I know. It surely isn't a happy story." He leaned back in his chair. "But... are you alright?"
"..."
The unexpected question caused the thread of thought Lei Ting had stationed there to pause for a moment. He looked at Ivanheiler and tilted his head slightly, offering no answer.
"Don't be nervous, young man... oh, well, you don't look much younger than me now."
Ivanheiler muttered as he stood up, slowly circling the small round table to sit sideways on its edge.
"...But clearly, to me, your most memorable image is from when you were around seventeen or eighteen. And I vaguely remember parts of my life; at least until I was thirty-five, I didn't know you. Though my 'body' is in a strange state now, I can judge that I was only in my fifties before I came here," he said. "I don't know how many years I've been inside, but..."
The sharp lines of his lover’s waist were right before him, but Lei Ting felt no emotional stirrings. He remained silent, meeting those blue eyes with the calmest of gazes.
Finally, Ivanheiler leaned over and gently patted his head. His long fingers brushed through Lei Ting’s straight, jet-black hair, moving down past the realistic laurel leaves forged of gold, following a faint path across the blackness to rest on a shoulder clad in the Armor of Sorrow.
"...But you shouldn't be this 'old', child." He whispered as he looked at the visor, his mind flashing for a moment with the memory of a bright smile on the face of that humanoid monster. "You are young and powerful. I think if the world were normal, you should... be different. A version of yourself that is more relaxed and happy. How long has it been since you last smiled?"
...
—*How long has it been since you last smiled?*
It was an expression of concern. A concern that felt somewhat familiar. In a place both strange and intimate, in a state where both were different from their past selves, this person was caring for him... with a heart that was most authentic, devoid of any distortion or alienation.
Lei Ting’s mouth opened slightly. Whether counting his past life or only this one, he was in a rare state of not knowing what to say.
He could only return this concern with a long silence. After a long while, he tilted his head slightly and dissipated into a flurry of golden light.
There was a hint of awkwardness in such a reaction, perhaps even a sense of fleeing in disarray. But Ivanheiler did not stop him; instead, he merely reached out toward the golden radiance, feeling the warm, soft power vanish between his fingers.
—*That laurel crown is a bit prickly.*
He thought, smiling with interest.
—*Though he vaguely remembered that Federation officer uniforms had metal decorations like laurel branches or wheat stalks, who on earth made this man wear it on his head? Didn't he think it was too retro?*
Such thoughts flashed through his mind, masking the deeper thoughts beneath that didn't even qualify as fragments.
Then, he turned and pushed open the coffee shop door. He glanced at the subtly writhing shadows of the buildings nearby and, maintaining a mind full of idle thoughts, walked into the distance with a sense of feigned ignorance.
Sooner or later... he would find the answers to all of this.
And until then, he would make this young man who called himself "Lei Ting" trust him again!
***
Given that only the Federation's military communication network had barely returned to normal over the last thirteen years, information regarding the habitable planets Lei Ting had destroyed had not yet fully spread.
And those within the military system who knew of these events mostly chose to remain silent.
Just like Oundel.
Now, everyone knew that the Human Federation could not do without the "Solar Star." Therefore, regardless of why he had taken hundreds of billions of lives... there would always be those who chose silent endurance and maintained the necessary awe toward him.
As for those who did not wish to do so...
*CRACK!!*
Amidst a tooth-grinding sound, bones snapped and blood sprayed. A high-strength synthetic ceramic blade, extended into a sharp light-edge, shattered into pieces.
In the vast hall where a combat report event was being held, Susanna, who had lunged forward like a violent tigress, clamped one hand onto the assassin’s throat. A thunderous knee strike followed immediately.
As the fragile flesh and bone of the carbon-based creature shattered, she raised her other hand with lightning speed. The high-pressure impact structure of her modified prosthetic arm began to charge—
"Stop," Lei Ting, the target of the assassin at the head of the hall, suddenly spoke.
Susanna, still in mid-air, instantly cancelled the charge. She slammed the enemy down into a nearby empty area, the force of the impact cracking the floor.
In the silent crowd, the head of starship logistics suddenly covered his eyes.
One had to understand that the material was one of the outstanding achievements of materials science, produced only after the Federation's major research institutes had spent over a decade devouring resources and funding. In previous tests, floor and wall protective layers made from it had successfully received the highest ratings for pressure, explosion, and corrosion resistance.
And then, the Beta female adjutant beside the "Solar Star" had just smashed it and cracked it like a falling comet.
Although the responsibility lay entirely with the security department and the higher-ups certainly wouldn't hold logistics accountable, it still hurt his heart to see it!!
Following Lei Ting’s instruction—which was actually just a slight wave of his hand—Susanna handed the barely-breathing assassin over to the medical department.
The event continued as usual; neither the cameras nor the holographic recording systems had been turned off throughout the incident.
Afterward, facing Valianna’s curious inquiry, Lei Ting shook his head slightly.
"The vast majority of ordinary people have no real sense of our military. Because today, we are very close to war, yet too far from the people."
As he spoke, he gazed out toward the heavens as always, watching the giant fungus that only he could see.
"No one can precisely control every detail of a polity, including me—especially me," he said. "The appearance of one assassin represents countless hidden dissenters. I know that even some of you do not fully support me."
Behind her faceplate, Susanna’s expression remained blank; she didn't care about such words. Beside her, Valianna was also expressionless, though she was faking it.
"But I don't mind," Lei Ting said. He didn't even look at the dozen or so figures beside him who had been tempered by the years, even though most of them were as tense as Valianna.
He merely toyed with a specialized communicator for a moment and said softly, "Yesterday, the first inter-stellar communication of the hyperspace communication system prototype 'IC-00159' was successful."
Valianna snapped her head up, her expression shifting until it settled into one of genuine, heartfelt joy. Most of the others reacted similarly.
"As you have heard, a civilization composed of carbon-based life has once again used wisdom to discern its direction and found the light of the future."
Lei Ting said, the corners of his mouth twitching slightly, as if he truly possessed the emotion of "happiness."
"But at the same time, I must tell you some news that isn't quite so good," he said. "Scout units from the Ring World direction inform me that the territory of the Abrissac Empire has completely fractured. In the future, at least two hundred and fifty thousand new interstellar polities will emerge in the Orion Arm. I believe you understand what this represents."
...That was indeed some god-awful news.
Valianna’s face fell instantly, as did the others'.
"Fine," Susanna’s voice buzzed within her armor. "A directionless, disgusting, alien-cursed total war is about to spread our way. And this time, we don't even have allies."
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 人联 (人类联邦) | Human Federation (HUF) | The primary human interstellar government. |
| 阳星 | Solar Star | Lei Ting's title/moniker, reflecting his immense power. |
| 异魔 | Anomalous Demon | A manifestation of Lei Ting's internal darkness/past self. |
| 灵思 | Spiritual Echoes | Lingering consciousness or mental fragments of the deceased. |
| 亚布里萨克帝国 | Abrissac Empire | A major alien empire that has collapsed into many small states. |
| 猎户旋臂 | Orion Arm | The region of the galaxy where the story takes place. |
| 化身 | Avatar | Remote-controlled bodies used by the Resistance to deceive the Federation. |
| 悲铠 | Armor of Sorrow | The specialized armor worn by Lei Ting. |
| 贝塔 (Beta) | Beta | A gender/secondary sex classification in the ABO setting. |
| 超空间通讯系统 | Hyperspace Communication System | FTL (Faster-Than-Light) communication technology. |
