Chapter 40: The Admiral, the Lion and the Mecha

“Luo Ran.”

Just as Luo Ran was curled up in bed and falling asleep, Lucas called.

Luo Ran struggled to raise his eyelids, his voice hoarse as he replied, “Admiral…?”

The other side suddenly became silent for a long time.

Luo Ran was about to fall asleep again when Lucas’ voice came again, even coarser than Luo Ran.

“You… Don’t speak using that kind of voice.”

Luo Ran was a little dazed, plus he truly was sleepy, so he only hummed in reply.

The other side was silent again.

Wanting to finish this quickly and get to sleep, Luo Ran took the initiative to ask, “Do you have any orders, Admiral?”

“None.”

“Then…?” Luo Ran slowly frowned.

Silence fell once again.

Several long seconds later, Lucas said, “Luo Ran, I…”

“Hm?”

“Nothing, I just think you look good.”

Then Lucas hung up.

Luo Ran: “…”

Luo Ran: ???

Recently, Lucas seemed… weirder and weirder.

Luo Ran was simply too sleepy, so he fell asleep without calling back.

But he had a smile as he did so.

To be honest, although he was very puzzled at Lucas suddenly praising him like this, Luo Ran was still very happy.

* * *

After Lucas hung up the call, he stared at the black screen absentmindedly.

Then he put the terminal away and strode to the control room.

After he and Shen Xiluo finished watching the video, the battleship finally arrived at its destination, and Lucas immediately switched states.

And the adjutants behind him had a few guesses when they heard what Lucas said to his terminal.

They were already used to it. Ever since the admiral had Secretary Luo, he would call him before every fight.

It seemed to be a ritual of his, one that even Luo Ran didn’t know about.

In other words, the admiral was planning to go fight now…?

Indeed, Lucas pointed to the red dot on the projected map as soon as he stepped into the control room. “In ten minutes, we’ll go into battle!”

It surprised everyone in the control room.

“Now is our best opportunity. Our enemies haven’t noticed us yet and we’ve just arrived, so our morale and concentration are at our highest.” Lucas tapped the map. “Divide into two, Freeman leads the vanguard, I’ll attack from the rear, the left and right flanks should keep up so that we can surround them on all sides. This is just a small pirate stronghold, and our current operation is just to test them, so we cannot let a single pirate escape, do you understand!”

Lucas’ tactical style had always been to strike hard and fast, sweeping his enemies away like a hurricane, and terrify them with his momentum.

Adjutant Freeman straightened and replied loudly, “Yes sir!”

“Understood!”

During the meeting, no one could keep up with Lucas’ thoughts.

For example, they didn’t know how Lucas could rapidly determine the pirates’ general strength and distribution from the tiny amount of clues gathered by scouts and satellites, and neither did they know how he calculated the best route to attack so quickly.

But they trusted him.

It didn’t matter whether they understood or not. They would fight wherever Lucas pointed.

Lucas took control of the computer and rotated the map.

“Barton and Zheng Lan, one of you go right and the other go left, follow behind my brigade in a wedge formation at coordinates Y8, X13.”

“Hill, Cooper, you support the vanguard from coordinates Y3, X1. Don’t use any missiles or bombs, we’re trying to keep this operation quiet.” Lucas tapped the map. “I’ll say it again — don’t let a single one go.

“This is the operation’s first battle.” It was almost time. Lucas looked up with eyes like a hawk’s. “Win for me! You have to win.”

“We have to win!”

“We have to win!!”

Everyone shouted in unison, their momentum was so great that they looked about to burst out of the battleship’s iron shell.

—— XXXX ——

Luo Ran slept for a while and woke up as dawn broke.

After tidying himself a bit, he headed to the battleship’s great hall. It must’ve been very lively in there, since he could hear the noise even from inside his room.

As soon as he pushed open the door, he was greeted with a large crowd of people gathered around a stage. Since they were on expedition and didn’t dare to drink alcohol, everyone held juice instead. They waved and cheered, looking comical yet harmonious.

The sound of screaming and cheering was deafening as Wang Qiuyang and Lu Cheng sparred on stage.

Luo Ran, feeling quite curious, found a seat to watch from.

Lu Cheng and Wang Qiuyang were equal. Their fight soon heated up, and the stage continuously shuddered as they let out big moves one after the other.

The people next to Luo Ran noticed him and handed him some juice.

“Secretary Luo, morning!”

“Secretary Luo, good morning!!!”

For many of them, it was their first time interacting closely with Luo Ran, so there was a group of grown adult men surrounding Luo Ran with their voices shaking in excitement as they all greeted him and pushed water and snacks into his hands.

“Morning.” Luo Ran patiently replied to them one by one while receiving the juice and bread. He took a bite of bread then asked, “Do you often play together like this while on deployment?”

“Yeah! If we’re on the road for a long time, we’ll all warm up and compete together, and whoever loses has to call dad! It’s actually the admiral who started this, but no one could beat him. His strength is simply unbelievable!”

“Every time Adjutant Lu and Adjutant Wang are together, they love fighting each other!”

“Then who won before?” Luo Ran asked curiously.

“Fifty-fifty, sometimes it’s Adjutant Wang, sometimes it’s Adjutant Lu. Anyways, they’ve taken turns calling each other dad quite a few times.”

Luo Ran found it interesting, and followed them to watch the two on stage.

Shouts and cheers in his ears made him a little confused, but in such a heated atmosphere, anyone would let go of their scruples and want to join in. It was the first time Luo Ran had such an experience.

Bang!

On the stage, Wang Qiuyang threw Lu Cheng over his shoulder onto the floor, then grabbed his hand and twisted it behind his back to pin him in place.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!! Adjutant Wang wins–!”

Wang Qiuyang, grinning, pointed at Lu Cheng. “Come on! Since everyone’s here, shout louder!”

Lu Cheng: “…”

There was a roar from below, clamouring for Lu Cheng to hurry up.

Lu Cheng’s face lost all love for life, but he still took a deep breath and forcefully shouted, “Dad!!”

Wang Qiuyang and everyone else clutched their stomachs in laughter.

“Ah, good cub.” Wang Qiuyang patted Lu Cheng on the shoulder and smiled towards the audience. “Anyone else?! Come and recognise your father!”

Then, Luo Ran stood up with a smile.

“…”

The entire venue fell silent for a few seconds.

Then.

“Oh fuck–”

“Secretary Luo?! Really!!”

“Adjutant Wang, if you dare to beat up Secretary Luo we’ll record it and send it to the admiral!”

“Secretary Luo, don’t go up! Adjutant Wang is a gorilla!”

“Damn, it’s fine if Secretary Luo wins, but if he loses, the generations will be messed up!”

Everyone exploded again.

Luo Ran ignored their protests, he didn’t want to give them the image that he was weak or in need of protection.

He turned and looked at them. “Don’t worry, I’ve sparred with your admiral before.”

As soon as he said that, they became even more excited.

That’s right…! People say that Luo Ran was personally taught by the admiral!

Secretary Luo, the only student of the Empire’s god of slaughter.

“Secretary Luo! Beat the living daylights out of Adjutant Wang!”

“Kick his ass! Kick his ass!”

Everyone started to cheer for Luo Ran.

Wang Qiuyang looked at the slender person in front of him who had delicate features and long silver-blue hair tied up high and out of the way, facilitating movement.

At this moment, Luo Ran was taking off Lucas’ jacket and draping it nearby. As he looked down to concentrate on folding his sleeves back, his long eyelashes covered a pair of gentle eyes.

Even when merely rolling up his sleeves, Luo Ran’s demeanour was still graceful and unhurried.

Wang Qiuyang gulped.

This… if he hurt the admiral’s wife, would the admiral thrash him?

Would he be able to see the next dawn?

Luo Ran smiled. “Adjutant Lu, you don’t need to go easy on me.”

Wang Qiuyang smiled dryly and nodded, but regretted standing here a little.

He’d rather call Lu Cheng dad.

Who the hell would dare to do it seriously.

Luo Ran saw Wang Qiuyang standing still as if waiting for his move. He didn’t bother to be polite, rushing towards Wang Qiuyang and greeting him with a fist to the face!

Whack!

Wang Qiuyang wasn’t on guard and got punched in the face. Since it was just a competition, the strike wasn’t too harsh, but his nose was still smashed red and he had to retreat a few steps.

Luo Ran’s fighting style was very similar to Lucas’ — to be precise, it was exactly the same. They both tended to strike first, and used overwhelming strength and technique to force opponents to keep retreating. This time was no different. Luo Ran didn’t give Wang Qiuyang any chance to breathe before he rushed up again, lifted his hand to give Wang Qiuyang’s neck a chop, then swept his legs from under him. The ruthless approach was a world of difference away from Luo Ran’s usual gentle image.

Shit…!

Wang Qiuyang switched to high alert as goosebumps rose all over his skin. As the audience below the stage did, he thought back to the days when Lucas dominated the stage, and also didn’t dare to underestimate his opponent or go easy on him anymore.

…It wasn’t as if he had a chance to go easy either.

A light flashed in his eyes, then Wang Qiuyang became serious. As he fought back and forth with Luo Ran, there was no longer any notion of ‘the admiral’s wife’, only that this was a powerful adversary.

“Go Secretary Luo!!!”

“Go Adjutant Wang!!”

“Secretary Luo! Finish him! Finish him!!”

Now the scene completely heated up. Everyone stood, and their voices became louder than trumpets.

On the stage, Luo Ran’s body was flexible and light, but his every move showed his strength and sharpness, and his long hair drew countless silver-blue arcs in the air.

“There! There!”

“Fuck!”

“Secretary Luo! Above!”

Wang Qiuyang’s eyes narrowed. As soon as he discovered Luo Ran’s flaw, he immediately pressed a hand against Luo Ran’s shoulder.

He was on the cusp of victory, yet Luo Ran only smiled. He grabbed the hand Wang Qiuyang sent over and swept him off-balance. Then he imitated Wang Qiuyang’s match against Lu Cheng just now — he gripped onto Wang Qiuyang and simply threw him over his shoulder!

Thump!

Wang Qiuyang, a burly man of 1.9m, slammed onto the floor, raising a cloud of dust.

He was stunned.

Luo Ran didn’t press him down for three seconds like Wang Qiuyang did before, but only stepped aside and smiled. “Well fought.”

He felt comfortable all over after working up a sweat

With this, he had a little understanding of why these guys, and Lucas, liked to play on the stage.

“Secretary Luo is amazing!!”

“Secretary Luo is mighty–”

“Secretary Luo is invincible!! You’re my father!”

“As expected of the admiral’s wife!”

Luo Ran: “…”

Wang Qiuyang got up, clasped his hands towards Luo Ran, and bellowed at the top of his lungs, “Dad!!”

Below the stage, Lu Cheng also started shouting. “Dad! Daddy Luo!”Lu Cheng thought to himself, how can Secretary Luo have a good brain and good skills? This is too much!

Just as they were making a fuss and watched another round of sparring, the lights overhead suddenly flickered, as if they’d just lost power for a second.

The battleship’s alarm sounded. Then, through the broadcast system, the officers on duty in the control room issued an emergency assembly order.

* * *

In the control room.

“Fuck,” Wang Qiuyang swore when he saw the many red and green dots on the projected map. “What’s going on?!”

Lu Cheng had a serious expression.

The battleship was about to arrive at the transfer station at B647, however… According to data from a satellite, the station was completely occupied by interstellar pirates.

And now, not only was the transfer station taken, but the pirates had also sent countless warships to hunt them down, all coming straight for them.

Lu Cheng also let out a curse, then said, “The pirates are about to catch up.”

Luo Ran glanced through the information on the screen and analysed, “The station was captured half an hour ago, so we can be sure of two things: one, the pirates wanted to catch us by surprise; and two, they have sufficient troops to do so.”

The transfer station garrisoned imperial soldiers, so its combat effectiveness wasn’t bad, and it had always been a place that was easy to defend yet difficult to attack. To break through so quickly, not to mention getting it under control before they could send a distress signal, then…

Luo Ran frowned. “The pirates predicted our attack.”

“Yes.” Wang Qiuyang slammed his fist into the wall, saying viciously, “The admiral over there will come up empty-handed, and over here we’ll be dead.”

In the original plan, Luo Ran’s team would pretend that the Empire’s goal this time was at B647 and act as a decoy, while Lucas and his elite team would in fact be waiting in ambush along the UNK trade route on the southeast hyperlane, ready to catch the pirates in one fell swoop.

But maybe it was because the interstellar pirates lost contact with the maid, or maybe it was because of that guy Huntsman…

Huntsman’s mind and five senses seemed to be more sensitive than a normal person’s. Perhaps he detected something, so he gave up intercepting the UNK and came to B647 instead.

Their purpose must be to capture Luo Ran, Lu Cheng, Wang Qiuyang, and the others — especially Luo Ran — in order to use them as hostages.

He would also be able to get his hands on UNK this way.

Luo Ran’s back felt a little chilled.

With the lessons learned from last time, they paid special attention to keeping their movements confidential, so the highly-placed spy within the Empire should have no way of knowing about it.

Then… Huntsman was a little scary, he could think of what Lucas thought of, and use that to break the game.

“Can’t we fix the comms?” Wang Qiuyang asked irritably.

The soldier sitting in front of the machine shook his head.

The interstellar pirates destroyed the signal tower after taking over the transfer station, precisely to prevent Luo Ran and the others from contacting Lucas.

Right now, the battleship was still operational, because they had generators on board.

Everyone in the control room looked at Luo Ran, Lu Cheng, and Wang Qiuyang.

Lu Cheng and Wang Qiuyang met locked gazes. From their long years of comradeship, they could easily see each other’s thoughts.

Lu Cheng suddenly took out a die, then he and Wang Qiuyang both tossed it.

“Mine’s smaller.” Wang Qiuyang grinned. “Then it’s decided, Lu Cheng will lead an elite fighter team to escort Secretary Luo to the admiral, I’ll stay with everyone else as a rear guard and drag the time with these bastards!”

Luo Ran was taken aback. 

Lu Cheng clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. As the one who could leave safely, of course he wouldn’t feel comfortable.

But now wasn’t the time to be protesting, because he and Wang Qiuyang each had their duties.

“Don’t worry,” Lu Cheng said clearly to Wang Qiuyang, “I will bring Secretary Luo out safe and sound! If anything happens, don’t I still have a life here!”

The others had no opinion.

However, Luo Ran took a deep breath and said, “I don’t agree.”

“Secretary Luo, now isn’t the time to quibble!” Lu Cheng argued. “What we’re facing this time is the entire force of the interstellar pirates, all of them without reservation, there’s no way our battalion can compete with them. Then there’s no point for everyone to mess around here, and there’s even less of a point for Secretary Luo to stay!”

Wang Qiuyang also patted his chest and reassured him. “Don’t worry, me and the brothers will kill our way out. Killing one isn’t a loss, killing two is a bargain! There’s nothing more to it. If Secretary Luo doesn’t believe me, you can ask anyone you like, we’re all willing!”

Before departure, Wang Qiuyang and Lu Cheng had promised Lucas — had sworn — to guarantee Luo Ran’s safety, no matter what.

“Yes, this sacrifice is brave, it is heroic,” Luo Ran said solemnly, “however, I am now the master of this battleship, and it is my obligation to do everything in my power to keep everyone alive, not to sacrifice people to keep myself alive. It doesn’t make sense to do this.”

“Secretary Luo…” Lu Cheng frowned slightly.

Luo Ran, unusually resolute, interrupted him. “I’m not being capricious and neither is it that I do not understand the situation, but… I choose to trust the admiral.”

The military insignia on Luo Ran’s jacket shone brightly.

“Let’s take a gamble, let’s retreat together and rush to the southeast UNK hyperlane. If they catch up, we’ll kill them together. And if we’re lucky… we can make it.”

Lu Cheng still frowned. “We won’t be able to make it. Even if the battleship retreats at full speed, they can catch us in half a day at most.”

“Half a day,” Luo Ran said. “Then there’s still half a day.”

Even if they didn’t succeed, with him there as a clear target, they’d have a chance at negotiation and wouldn’t suffer a total destruction of the army.

But…

Luo Ran smiled. “We can make it. I believe in the admiral.”

Luo Ran chose to trust Lucas, while Wang Qiuyang and Lu Cheng…

This time, they also chose to believe in and obey Luo Ran’s judgement.

The battleship retreated at full speed with interstellar pirates hot on their heels.

* * *

“There are ten hours until the target reaches our location…” In the control room, a mechanical female voice emotionlessly broadcasted the distance between them and the pirates.

“There are six hours until the target reaches our location…”

Everyone got together for dinner, recharging their energy in preparation for the next challenge.

“There are four hours until the target reaches our location…”

* * *

“Two hours…”

Wang Qiuyang and Lu Cheng went to reorganise the troops in preparation for killing their way out.

“One hour…”

Luo Ran stared at the screen without moving.

“Half an hour…”

Wang Qiuyang brought soldiers outside, where they could already see the pirates’ warships with their naked eyes.

Luo Ran no longer looked at the map, but stood next to a window, quietly watching the starry sky outside.

“…What’s that?”

Lu Cheng, who stood guard next to Luo Ran, widened his eyes.

Behind them were the pirates’ battleships with red guidelights facing towards them.

But in front of them were countless lights.

Luo Ran smiled. “It’s the Imperial fleet.”

They made it.

Lu Cheng was dumbfounded.

Lucas, they… even though they didn’t receive any distress signal, they still came!

They and Luo Ran couldn’t reach them, but…

Lucas could come and join them!!

Luo Ran looked at the densely packed imperial warships ahead with a smile in his eyes.

He trusted his admiral.

He also trusted that his admiral must be stronger than Huntsman. Huntsman could flip the board, and Lucas could flip it again.

* * *

Ten hours ago, 05:08 a.m.

On the southeast hyperlane.

On the bridge of an Imperial battleship, a grim-faced man was tied up on his knees.

Bang!

Lucas finished the man in one shot, and blood gushed from the pirate’s head.

Done.

He didn’t have much of an expression as he stood on deck and watched the situation below.

“We’ve captured four hundred and three pirates! Of these, three hundred and forty-three are men, fifty-eight are women.” Freeman saluted and said proudly, “None escaped!”

“Mn,” Lucas grunted, “keep them alive, then bring them back to the Empire.”

Prisoners were often sent to work in the agricultural areas, but at least their food, drink, and shelter were guaranteed.

“Yes sir!”

Lucas tapped lightly on the railing, deep in thought.

After a moment, he turned and ordered, “Get ready! We’re turning around, back to B67!”

“Ah…?” Standing behind him, Barton and Zheng Lan were deeply puzzled.

They hadn’t reached the pirate stronghold, nor had they exterminated anyone. This group was only a vanguard.

“The UNK has already set off from Luobing, aren’t we going to intercept the pirates?” Barton asked.

“The hell we’re intercepting,” Lucas said, pointing below them. “Look closer at the formation of this vanguard, don’t you understand yet?”

There wasn’t any stronghold here at all.

“Go!”

Lucas strode back into the depths of the battleship.

“Admiral, we’re…?”

Lucas turned his head, revealing the curved corners of his lips. “We’re picking up my secretary.”

* * *

Ten hours later.

Luo Ran saw the lights, and also saw Lucas in the lead.

Lucas piloted his giant mecha, leading the brigade and its warships forward.

Then, the two teams blended together.

The battleship on Luo Ran’s side melded into Lucas’ army, and the two became one.

At the moment when the two teams crossed paths, everyone saw it — when the battleship carrying Luo Ran passed Lucas’ mecha, the two met eyes for an instant.

In that moment, Luo Ran’s long silver-blue hair was juxtaposed with Lucas’ Lion One mecha, with its silver body and blue decor.

They were the exact same colour.

Rrrrumble–

Boom–!

The Imperial fleet fired all its missiles straight at the oncoming interstellar pirates.

The starry sky became illuminated by firelight.

Author:
I, Lucas, a silly lion at home, a brave lion outside
I, Luo Ran, can’t unscrew the bottle cap at home, can burst the cap off outside

Today is a thick and long two-in-one chapter!!