Stars See Me [Interstellar] | Chapter 29 | The First Assignment | Novela.app

During the year-long voyage so far, the *Sun* had traversed star-gates of all sizes, one after another. Now, it was finally nearing the Capital System. For Lei Ting, who had been caught in a relentless cycle of training and studying, the thing that had left the deepest impression on him over the past year was... ...the names of certain star-gates. For instance, 'The Ends of the Earth' and 'The Corners of the Sea,' or 'Lilac' and 'Nutmeg.' Then there were the ones like 'Chenghua Road' and 'Daxian Bridge,' 'Mountain City South Plaza North' and 'Mountain City North Plaza South,' and even 'Magic Ring' and 'Gollum'... Just thinking about these names made them feel increasingly ridiculous. However, in this era where much of Old Earth’s culture had been lost, the vast majority of people couldn't understand the memes extracted from different eras and forms of expression. Lei Ting could only silently suppress his urge to complain, struggling to keep distorted movie lines from echoing in his head. "Under normal circumstances, a student's first-year internship involves cooperating with the Capital System’s Police Department for public security maintenance, as well as assisting the garrison with routine patrols within the stellar system." As the Logistics Chief spoke, he twisted open a bottle of sparkling soda, elegantly inserted a straw, and began to slurp noisily. Between slurps, he added indistinctly, "Your strength and the power of 'Immobility' exceed all our expectations. Therefore, we’ve decided to assign you a special mission... or rather, a specially difficult one." Lei Ting: "..." *Listen to that. Is that even human speech?* *But I like it.* He asked with a straight face, "What mission?" The Logistics Chief gave a mischievous grin, closed the current task list, and opened a new interface. "Actually, your mission is here," he said. Lei Ting: "..." The young man smiled, meeting the Logistics Chief's gaze without a change in expression. His eyes were gentle, yet carried a subtle hint of paternal indulgence. "Tsk..." The Logistics Chief crossed his arms and turned his head away in frustration. "You’re getting harder and harder to tease." "Thank you for the compliment," Lei Ting replied with a smile. The Logistics Chief took a sharp gulp of his drink and said coldly, "Your mission will be extremely difficult. Do you understand?" "You’re prepared to give it to me, which proves you believe I can do it," Lei Ting said. "..." The Logistics Chief looked him up and down. "No, I didn't realize you were this thick-headed before, 'Double S'—what if we just wanted to find an excuse to send you to your death?" "No one can force me to die," Lei Ting replied calmly. This answer was so bold that the Logistics Chief burst out laughing. "If anyone else said that, I might write 'prone to narcissistic tendencies' in their personality assessment." He shook his head with a sigh and clicked on a mission file. "Take a look at what you need to do." Hearing this, Lei Ting looked up at the screen. A moment later, the smile gradually faded from his face. "...Psychic enticement? Child trafficking?" "Yes, and specifically targeting children who show high potential for spiritual power. They raise the children as a formality, then take away those who manifest esper talents... What happens next is, at the very least, illegal implant modification," the Logistics Chief answered. "The leads caught by the Police Department indicate that this is a pan-conglomerate criminal event. What’s happening here is only a small part of it... but even this 'small part' involves thousands of victims. "And currently, the most powerful victim is sitting right in front of me." "..." Lei Ting raised his hand and tapped the new external optical computer unit at his ear. This high-performance information terminal, which ran smoothly and was directly linked to 'Pacific,' immediately received all the data related to the mission. After browsing for a moment, he suddenly spoke up. "Is this a mission from Angye? Did his people catch up to Dean Ray’s ship?" "Yes. But they didn't find the psychic himself; they only clashed with a few mercenaries under his control. You’ll be working with the person in charge of this under him during the mission." The Logistics Chief nodded. "Even though Angye is a bastard, you can trust him on this matter—no matter how much of a bastard he is, he’s still one of the Federation’s power players." Lei Ting blinked but didn't voice his thoughts. "Once you accept this mission, you’ll have Angye’s investigative authorization. He thinks highly of you. This is a test, 'Double S.' Don't waste this opportunity." As the Logistics Chief spoke, he took a sci-fi-looking case from a security officer who had appeared out of nowhere and placed it in front of Lei Ting. "This is a gift from him. Don't worry, we’ve already checked it. There are no issues." "..." Lei Ting was actually a bit stunned. If he remembered correctly, he and this 'Vice Speaker Upton Angye' actually had a bit of a long-distance grudge... "Regarding that matter, the mastermind has already faced a military tribunal. The verdict was fifteen years of imprisonment, and he is required to pay a large sum in compensation to all the students, including you. You personally will receive an even larger sum. That amount exceeds the legally mandated compensation; it will be processed as a gift and automatically credited to your account when you reconnect to the Star Net," the Logistics Chief said. "But... you know how prison sentences go for the subordinates of people like Angye..." He shrugged. "...In short, I suggest you take the gift and the money, but don't let your guard down." "Understood." Lei Ting nodded solemnly. "Starting from this mission, you’ll be leaving this ship. I’ll miss you." The Logistics Chief sighed softly. "Time really flies... In the blink of an eye, you’re leaving too, just like that ear of corn twenty years ago." He said it as if he were truly loath to see Lei Ting go. But Lei Ting had reason to believe he was actually thinking: *'If this little brat gets into trouble out there, all the resources we spent on him lately will be a waste... but then again, we waste things every day, so whatever, hahahaha!'* ...Wait. "Corn?" Lei Ting’s expression turned strange. "Mm-hmm. Evenhell Kahn, the second young master of the corn factory back then." The Logistics Chief subconsciously rubbed his ribs and laughed. It was the kind of laugh where one grinds their teeth. "That was the first time I’d ever seen an Omega who fought that ferociously..." ... Huh? What? *What??* "An Omega??" Lei Ting’s voice rose slightly. A moment later, he added, "...Sorry, I didn't mean it was impossible. It’s just that his records and images seem to fit every Alpha stereotype perfectly." At most, his face was a bit more refined than his Alpha peers. "One shouldn't judge by appearances, just like in the esper mecha training ground—no one knows the other person's true level until the fight starts." Lei Ting nodded to himself. "Being swayed by societal stereotypes is my own failing." The Logistics Chief, who hadn't had a chance to say more, stood there with his mouth open. "..." *Great, the student realizes things faster than the teacher can explain them.* He let out a frustrated breath, feeling as if his last bit of purpose in front of this young man had vanished. But then he smiled again, seemingly recalling the young man’s effortless capability—as long as this person grew up, the Academy would gain a powerful and intelligent guardian for its survival. In the turmoil that was likely to occur in the coming decades, this would be a crucial step. "Now, for the second thing." The Logistics Chief’s face became serious again. He raised his hands and clapped solemnly, shouting into the suddenly silent room: "Happy Birthday, Double S!" "Whoo-hoo!!" The surrounding researchers all jumped up. Men and women, old and young, they laughed as they activated confetti projections. Someone came running, pushing a small cake that drifted to a stop between Lei Ting and the Logistics Chief, even knocking away the floating table that had been there before. "...Huh???" Lei Ting instinctively reached out to catch the innocently flying tabletop, looking completely dazed. He had been an orphan in both lives and hadn't celebrated many birthdays in total; the concept barely existed in his mind... Staring blankly at the cake, his first thought was actually: *'Where did they get the ingredients?'* But beyond that, a subtle, somewhat unfamiliar warmth did indeed surface in his heart. "Eat up, eat up. The whole Logistics Department made this together." The Logistics Chief nimbly cut a piece for him. He watched as the young man thanked him in a daze and took a bite. "How does it taste?" It was actually a bit too sweet for Lei Ting. "It’s good... I mean," he said, "it’s delicious." "Yay!!!" The researchers cheered in unison. Lei Ting held his cake and turned to look at the researchers under the pure white lights. Over the past year, he truly owed a lot to these people—whether it was when he needed immediate treatment or even resuscitation for injuries, or when he had academic questions about the use of his abilities. "Thank you," he said earnestly. This posture of gratitude seemed to make the researchers a bit uncomfortable. Although most of the espers he had sparred with were the elusive security personnel, there were also researchers from the Logistics Department who were espers themselves. Compared to being thanked, everyone was probably more used to being flung from one end of the training ground to the other by him... "You're welcome. I'll say it for them." The Logistics Chief smiled and gestured toward the case on the table. "Want to open it?" Lei Ting was silent for a moment. He didn't use his powers; instead, he carefully reached out and pushed the locking latches on the edge of the case to either side. *Click.* *** A hand pulled out the key data card used to lift the networking restrictions and handed it back to the teacher in front of him. The teacher in charge of personnel movement took the data card while looking through her external optical computer eyepiece. "Esper Mecha Department—Lei Ting... Good luck, may you have a grand future. Don't forget to report to the Academy headquarters on time in two months." "Understood. Thank you very much." Lei Ting nodded to her, picked up his luggage compression canister, and stepped onto the short-distance transport ship between the *Sun* and the planet before him. He was still wearing his stiff, heavy—and even heavier than before—uniform. A diamond-shaped, flat black box with an 'X' shaped groove was fitted to his back; that was his esper mecha controller. Normally, people wouldn't be so brazen as to display this thing openly, but he was different. After all, as long as an object was made of metal, there was no possibility of him losing it. And... as for the question of whether it was precious or not, the things inside the compression canister in his hand were commercially worth far more than a mere mass-produced light individual mecha... Lei Ting weighed the specialized compression canister in his hand, his expression somewhat complex. Angye had given him a pair of 'Virgo Core Gems' that functioned as esper amplifiers. Another Vice Speaker, Yondell, had given him a full set of legally registered military-grade optical computer plugins. In addition, others had sent clothes, potions, rare metal sets, and various other items. In short, right now, what he wore on his head wasn't just a Star Net information terminal known as an external optical computer, and what he carried in his hand wasn't just some compression canister. It was a bank vault leaked to him by half of the Federation's upper echelon. It was also more money and power than he had ever seen in two lifetimes combined. | Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | 天涯 | The Ends of the Earth | Star-gate name (lit. 'End of the Sky') | | 海角 | The Corners of the Sea | Star-gate name (lit. 'Corner of the Sea') | | 丁香 | Lilac | Star-gate name | | 豆蔻 | Nutmeg | Star-gate name (also refers to 'cardamom' or youth) | | 成华道 | Chenghua Road | Star-gate name (Chinese internet meme reference) | | 大仙桥 | Daxian Bridge | Star-gate name (Chinese internet meme reference) | | 山城南广场北 | Mountain City South Plaza North | Star-gate name (Reference to confusing Chongqing geography) | | 山城北广场南 | Mountain City North Plaza South | Star-gate name (Reference to confusing Chongqing geography) | | 魔戒 | Magic Ring | Star-gate name (Lord of the Rings reference) | | 咕噜 | Gollum | Star-gate name (Lord of the Rings reference) | | 阿普顿·昂耶 | Upton Angye | Full name of Vice Speaker Angye | | 室女座核心宝石 | Virgo Core Gems | Rare gems used to amplify esper powers | | 永戴尔 | Yondell | Name of another Vice Speaker | | 压缩罐 | Compression canister | A high-tech storage container for luggage/items |