Auguste watched Hai’an twist his head and bury it in his arms. He knew that he didn’t want Carl to see him cry. He turned his left hand over and gently covered Hai’an’s head.
“I’ll take JianJian back first. Alia, see if you can detect life on the surface of that planet.”
“Yes, sir.” Alia responded.
The Hammer Legion had not been able to penetrate the Mu 1892 meteorite belt for a while. Even if they succeeded in breaking away from the meteorite layer and did not advance their search army, they did not know anything about the flesh-pink planet. If they accidentally entered the gravitational circle, their fate would be predictable.
“Maybe I can help.” Lydney stood up. “My previous major was also related to military equipment. If you need detectors, I’m good at making them.”
“Yes!” Carl rose alongside him. In his opinion, Lydney was good at everything, and Lydney had real talent and learning. Since he had been able to study the blockade wall in Titus before, his ability was absolutely good. It would be too wasteful for Lydney to stay a cook on the Vagrant.
Auguste nodded and asked Lydney and Alia to study how to prevent the probe from crashing directly onto the surface of the meat-pink planet. Last time, the mechanical fighters lost their images before they went near the surface of the meat-pink planet. They could only hear sounds, probably because the planet had a strong atmosphere on its surface. The mechanical fighters were pulled down by strong gravity; friction with the atmosphere during the landing and high temperatures had burned the image recording equipment.
The recording equipment was eventually damaged, and only by finding and improving the production materials of the recording equipment would a detector capable of transmitting images on the flesh-and-pink planet be able to be built. This would also help them quickly find out why the meat-pink planet had such a large gravitational pull.
“Jamie, you go and get in touch with Tanamo and ask him if he has sold zirconium.”
“Just ask that?” Jamie did not believe that Auguste’s search for Tanamo was a simple concern for his old friends, this was unlike what Auguste would normally do.
“You should contact him first. Be careful not to be spotted by the starfleet.” With that, Auguste pulled back his chair, stood up with Hai’an in his arms, and turned away.
“Geez, I’ve been with Auguste for so many years and I haven’t even been treated like that.” Carl looked at Auguste’s distant back and took a sneaky glance at the side of Lydney’s face. Carl would never admit that he was sad to see Auguste and JianJian together. It was too cruel for him. He and Lydney had not made any progress so far, and Auguste and Hai’an had already embraced each other.
It was true. But Lydney thought that Carl’s sentence was just random nonsense. He didn’t care about it, but looked at him with a weird look.
Alia looked at Lydney, looked at Carl again, lifted her eyebrows and deliberately raised her voice, “Oh, I see, let’s go.”
“Good!” Lydney promised cheerfully.
Carl, who was ignored: “…”
Lydney had been itching to go see the mechanical room on the Vagrant for a long time. He used to have access to some high-tech equipment at school and could secretly study military equipment. But since he graduated, he had no such “privilege” and because of his special status as a pure human being, it was very difficult to find a job.
In fact, Lydney was very interested in the invention and research of armaments. After all, he was a weak pure human, but he was also a man, and his heart would inevitably be full of blood. He once hoped that, one day, he would be able to develop armaments that could be used by pure human beings and change their status in the empire. Even if they could not be equal to others, at least they would no longer be scorned by evolutionary human beings. But that was once upon a time.
Lydney grew up in the Port of Liberty, which, compared with other planets, was very lenient in its policy towards pure human beings. This made him think that the whole empire was so gentle and kind to pure human beings. But in his short time being enrolled in DiduXing, Lydney understood how big his dream was and how far away it really was.
It was not that no one had ever tried it, Dean had tried a hundred years ago, and others tried a hundred years later. But before Dean and after Dean, no pure human being was able to do it. Countless pure human beings paid with their lives for this cause, but more people died under the fist of evolutionary human beings. There was no law to protect the rights and interests of pure human beings in the entire empire. They died when they died. Their bodies were thrown into a corner of the city, gradually cooling in the cold night wind then swept away by cleaning robots after dawn.
No one would remember that their blood was once hot.
In the galaxies ruled by the Empire, only pure humans on Freeport under Keyton’s administration lived happily, which made Freeport a place that every pure human would like to live. But only in the beginning were pure humans who were born in Freeport were lucky. This was because pure humans on other planets may not be able to afford the price of a ticket to Freeport. They once stood alongside evolutionary humans thousands of years ago, but today they were the lowest animals.
Outside the window of the Vagrant, it was still dark. A strong storm from Pyramid was sweeping across the planet, blocking the stars from the universe. The ice and slag mixed in the wind smashed into the windows of Auguste’s room, making a slight impact sound, but not disturbing the quiet of the room.
The lights in Auguste’s room had changed into a warm yellow since Hai’an came in. Hai’an was still lying on Auguste’s chest. His hands were still holding on to Auguste’s shirt tightly and he had stopped crying, but his tears had soaked a small piece of the cloth. Hai’an’s face was red as he sniffed, looking at the wet place with a little embarrassment.
Hai’an raised his head and looked at Auguste. Auguste also noticed Hai’an’s sight and touched Hai’an’s hair tenderly. Auguste’s palms were large and warm, and Hai’an remembered that they could tear apart the thick shell of the tin truck without leaving a mark on his hands. But they were gentle when they embraced him, giving him the most appropriate comfort.
It was like he was Auguste’s most precious treasure. He feared breaking him but also feared containing him.
Auguste directly put Hai’an into the bathroom. Hai’an had cried for a long time and his hiccups were not yet gone. Without waiting for him to react, Auguste stripped him, and found a small basin for him to put hot water in. He threw some soap into it and made a pile of bubbles, letting Hai’an play in the foam. Moreover, Auguste was afraid that Hai’an could not swim, and that he would drown, so he also put a yellow duck in his arms to prevent Hai’an from sinking to the bottom of the water.
After doing all this, Auguste began to put water in the big bathtub. While waiting for the water to be full, he also took time to wash Hai’an’s dragon clothes and put them in the dryer to dry. After that, he took Hai’an’s clothes and walked out of the bathroom.
Hai’an was holding the little yellow duck’s neck in the basin, kicking the water beneath his feet and patting the bubbles with his hand. After finishing all this, Hai’an rubbed his face. He was no longer a child. How could he do such a stupid thing?
When Auguste came in again, he had his pajamas in his hands, and his whole body was naked. Only a bathroom towel around his waist. The strong pectoral muscles and eight abdominal muscles were all bare. The outline was clear and his figure was very long. Then travelling down was a smooth line of black hair and, starting at the edge of his crotch, was wrapped with a bath towel, which did not let the shape show.
Hai’an blushed even more. Even if he had seen a man’s naked body before, it was also a matter of bathing with friends when he was a child. Everyone was pale white and looked like everyone else. Auguste’s aggressive body gave him an inexplicable sense of oppression. It was the kind of nervousness that a rabbit had while being afraid of being eaten if it didn’t run away from a large carnivorous tiger.
Hai’an hugged the little yellow duck’s neck and sank down, leaving only a pair of clear water-green eyes floating on the water.
Auguste also had a small towel in his hand, apparently prepared for Hai’an. He took a few steps forward, put the basin with Hai’an in the bathtub, and then, in front of Hai’an, released the towel tied to his waist without hiding.
Hai’an: “…”
He saw Auguste, but this was too shameful for the pure Hai’an. He did a foolish thing for a moment. Hai’an loosened his hands hanging around the duck’s neck and covered his eyes. As a result, he slid to the bottom of the water and swallowed several mouthfuls of water.
Auguste had untied the towel, straddled his long legs over the edge and went into the bath. He sat down and found Hai’an slipping into the water. He was struggling there. Auguste reached out to the basin and took Hai’an out of the water. He gently wiped the water from Hai’an’s face with his finger and put him on the back of the little yellow duck.
Hai’an learned a lesson. Once he touched the duckling’s body, he hugged the duckling’s neck and sat there. His legs were still tight and he was coughing with his mouth open. He was afraid that he would slip into the water again. When Hai’an calmed down and opened his eyes slowly, he saw that he was no longer in the small bathtub, but in the big bathtub with Auguste.
The bathtub was big for Auguste, but it was almost the size of a sea for Hai’an, now a little man. Having found out his situation, Hai’an wrapped his hands tighter around the duckling’s neck.
As if Auguste hadn’t seen Hai’an’s panic, he took another yellow duck and pressed the small yellow duck’s belly in front of him. The duck uttered a “quack” very cooperatively.
Auguste also responded with a smile.
Hai’an: “…”
“Ah!” Hai’an, lying on the back of the little yellow duck, had just cried. His body was small and soft, and his tear glands were well developed. Hai’an wanted to cry again when he was frightened, but he squeaked and belched.
Tears were forced back, but both eyes were still watery as they pitifully stared at Auguste.