After arriving at his destination via a short-range transport ship, Lei Ting "disembarked" once more, entering the surface port through a space elevator.
This was his third time at the Capital Star System’s Third Planet Spaceport. His first two visits were the coming and going of his initial internship, but this third time... he could say he was here for a vacation.
Because he had completed all his coursework ahead of schedule, he theoretically had two full weeks of free time. In two weeks, there would be a graduation ceremony, after which the students who entered in the year 3996 and graduated in 4000 would pass through the crossroads of their lives, each heading toward their own unknown future.
Lei Ting scanned his surroundings.
The decor and structure of the area remained the same as before, and the severe damage that had once occurred had long since been fully repaired. However, there seemed to be far fewer pedestrians, especially those waiting for specific scheduled flights.
Lei Ting knew why—it was because the borders had been restless lately.
A declining economic situation, hostile interstellar public opinion... rumors had long been circulating on the Star Net that Orion humans were actually a race of war-crazed maniacs, and that he, this "Double S," was no different. After all, when did a "Double S" ever have a normal brain? If he seemed normal now, he was either faking it or would eventually become abnormal!
They spoke as if, even today, among clusters of life draped in the cloak of civilization, one still needed a "just cause" to make a move.
A reason was a very important thing, regardless of whether that reason was true. And if it were true, whether the opponent’s "crime" actually merited such a response was not within the scope of consideration for those imposing it.
If an individual or a group intended to commit a hostile act against a target—such as humiliation, slander, or slaughter—the former would usually first seize upon a convenient, high-sounding pretext.
Then, they would infinitely expand and distort it, eventually turning a hostile motive that might have originally been a minor, accidental friction into an objective truth that the opponent simply had to die.
Thus, the reputation of Orion humans plummeted once again. "Madness" was an eternally useful label; those branded with such infamy could rarely resist whatever happened next.
Though in truth, Orion humans were actually one of the most humane polities in the galaxy regarding the treatment of prisoners of war... but, alas, there wasn't much empathy in this world; mostly, it was just a matter of "if you want to condemn someone, any pretext will do."
From the borders, from the Star Net, from the words of acquaintances, and from the gazes of passersby... the shadow of war was sweeping into the world Lei Ting inhabited. At this current stage, where the tension was visibly intensifying, he had already encountered no fewer than ten assassination attempts led by A-rank espers.
...But honestly, he didn't care much for those probes from the external storms.
After all, from the fifth time he personally dragged the corpse of an incognito A-rank spy down the dormitory hallway in the middle of the night at various locations, his reputation had already begun to shift toward something of an urban legend.
*Thanks for the invite. I'm in the dorm, the enemy's in the incinerator. New assassins are welcome to try; to try is to die.*
And now, his last assassination attempt had been the month before last. The once incredibly high density of martial probes had now vanished as if the masterminds behind them had all died—likely, the opposition had finally found their overdue sense of self-awareness.
Standing alone, Lei Ting wore a set of black, future-style casual clothes, letting two compression canisters and a massive black metal case float behind him.
His optical computer's external drive stored a stamped certification from the Federal Parliament allowing him to freely exercise his super-abilities within legal limits at any time or place. It was jointly issued by the Speaker, two Deputy Speakers, and hundreds of members of parliament, sent to "Pacific" via the Federal Parliament AI "Tianhe," who then notified the Principal and sent the specific document contents to Lei Ting.
In this process, every person who specifically handled the matter left a corresponding record. Every step handled by each individual was recorded in the document's underlying data, monitored by multiple parties and difficult to alter.
It had to be said that when the Federation exerted its proper efficiency, that precise, high-speed, and swift process was truly sentimental.
Lei Ting walked through the security area. The three items of varying sizes floating behind him reflected a soft glow under the lights.
Two compression canisters and a black case—they contained his luggage, combat tools, and weapons. The last one was particularly unadorned: "New Sun" as the bone, a vast array of different metals as the flesh, and pitch-black custom high-strength alloy as the armor, forming a heavy, lethal weapon roughly 2.3 meters in height.
Theoretically, to anyone else, it was a shackle that could not be pried open in a lifetime, but to Lei Ting, every single inch of it was a different weapon of his.
Regardless, he did indeed need to carry "New Sun" and a large amount of metal with him in the coming days. Now that the double trouble had merged into one, it had become pure joy. How wonderful.
As Lei Ting walked through the hall, people in the crowd were watching him, and those gazes were not few.
This was not unexpected. As more and more information about him appeared on the Galactic Star Net, "Pacific" had also removed its management of information regarding him on the Orion Star Net.
In today's Galactic Complex, almost everyone knew of his existence. Last month, the Federation had even submitted some of his relevant information to the Complex for registration.
On the Star Net, people were also speculating about his abilities and combat power, engaging in that joyful activity they never found tedious: power scaling.
"Double S... cough, Mr. Lei, Mr. Lei!" Someone shouted from not far away. Lei Ting turned his gaze and saw a very cute stranger, a young girl. At this moment, she was shouting at him with an excited face but remained at a safe distance, not daring to step forward. "Mr. Lei! If you fought 'Star Stream,' who do you think would win?!"
Such a question caused a faint, collective intake of breath in the silent crowd. Then, someone seemed to want to stop the girl from continuing, but most didn't seem to dare to stick their heads out.
"..." Lei Ting was silent for a moment before saying, "I don't know. We've never fought."
Then, he nodded to the crowd and quickened his pace, exiting the door at a speed that wouldn't scare ordinary people.
***
A short while later, after ensuring he wasn't being followed by fans who—heaven knows why—actually existed, Lei Ting arrived alone by an artificial river in a secluded park. He looked a bit disheveled.
The lights shining in the prosperous urban districts in the distance still wandered beneath the atmosphere like clouds in the sky. He knew there were acquaintances of his in there—more than one or two. For instance, some of his classmates and friends who, like him, had temporarily left the academy, or the young girl Hana, who was now adopted by He Yan...
The latter was currently in school. She was very smart and worked hard; she had just skipped a grade into high school and would occasionally contact him through the optical computer to tell him about her recent life.
Regardless of whether it was because she saw him as an older brother or because his personal value was simply too high, Lei Ting listened seriously every time. Furthermore, he would offer corresponding advice on her studies, advice that time proved to be sufficiently correct every single time.
However, this time, he didn't plan on seeing any of them.
He was here to wait for someone.
Lei Ting sat down on a bluestone by the river, checked his optical computer's external drive to ensure the military-grade shielding system was active, and then looked at today's news. He found it was still the same content: border frictions, diplomatic protests, certain legions destroying stellar... hidden deep-space behemoth eggs, and so on.
Good, the world was as normal as ever today.
Lei Ting looked down at the fish in the river. Some were live fish, while others were mechanical bionic fish like those in "Everlasting Life." Of course, the ones here were more advanced; they came with health maintenance functions for the surrounding live fish and an automatic purification mechanism for the river water.
In short, they were like a group of activated charcoal spirits swimming in the water.
After waiting for about half an hour, Lei Ting sensed a familiar mental energy reaction about six blocks outside the park.
He smiled at this. Amidst the swaying ripples, his face was reflected in the glow of the artificial sunlight. He looked at that familiar face—one that could now be described as "extremely handsome" within the Orion Human Union—and thought about various things somewhat absentmindedly.
Speaking of which, the "protagonist" he had seen earlier was also "S" rank and had blond hair, but when he saw that blond hair, he could only think of another person. It was truly a bit helpless.
But his buried memories had experienced a brief revival because of that person's appearance: Shane, male, Omega, eighteen years old when the "plot" begins. He wasn't originally a student of the First Academy, but for certain reasons, he planned his own route through the stars, caught up with the *Sun*, and successfully boarded and enrolled with the "Principal's" permission.
This was truly a feat; the mere existence of this event was enough for Lei Ting to praise him as a powerhouse.
Furthermore, this powerhouse was an "S" rank—however, his ability belonged to the Mutation Type, and a very standard one at that, meaning his performance was extremely unstable.
This "unstable" meant that the person's ability was the high-risk power "Matter Annihilation," but the specific potency was very random, ranging from a completely dud E-rank to an SS-rank output.
This "random" nature was inherent to the ability and was influenced by his own mental level and state. He could not randomize an attack that exceeded his current mental strength support level by two tiers, but even so, he was already terrifying.
As long as this person was in a good state, at his peak, he could potentially randomize multiple "SS-rank full-power strike" level "Matter Annihilation" effects in a row. Although the effectiveness still depended on him personally, destroying all matter within a radius of hundreds of thousands of miles in a planetary belt within three seconds was no problem.
But fighting for this person was like drawing cards in a gacha game. Before he released his ability, even he wasn't sure what kind of result he would produce.
This was also why he was ranked "S" instead of "SS"—please, the last "SS" had only just graduated. You want to be his peer? Why don't you try fighting him and see if he agrees?
When this question was placed before Shane, he took less than a second to choose to accept his "S-rank" title, because...
Lei Ting recalled that somewhat blurry "original plot" and slowly frowned.
—Because he greatly admired this "Double S" and viewed him as his idol.
And after that, the opportunity for him to meet his own lover—who was also one of his pursuers, a high-ranking Alpha—seemed to be related to this "Double S" as well. Except... it wasn't a positive relationship.
Lei Ting: "..."
Lei Ting looked at those bionic mechanical fish with a somewhat strange expression and fell into a deep silence. The little fish also looked at him steadily from beneath the water—though they would automatically mimic the behavior of other surrounding fish, they did not act like the live fish that instinctively fled upon sensing his aura. Those fish had already gathered at the furthest point downstream...
Just then, a voice suddenly came from nearby: "What are you looking at?"
"Looking at fish," Lei Ting said without raising his head.
Vallen walked to his side, poked his head out to glance at the small fish in the river, his forehead lined with black streaks: "What are you doing... is it appropriate for a perfectly good Double S to bully a bunch of bionic fish?? Let them go, quickly!"
***
**Glossary**
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
---|---|---
首都星系 | Capital Star System | The central star system of the federation.
第三行星空港 | Third Planet Spaceport | A major spaceport on the third planet of the capital system.
天河 | Tianhe | The AI of the Federal Parliament.
新太阳 | New Sun | Lei Ting's custom heavy weapon/material container.
星流 | Star Stream | A famous figure or title mentioned by a fan.
夏恩 | Shane | The protagonist of the "original novel" mentioned in the meta-plot.
物质湮灭 | Matter Annihilation | Shane's high-risk, randomized Mutation Type ability.
猎户人联 | Orion Human Union | Short for the Orion Human Federation/Union.
