So I had tons of problems pop up during the move out of the old house, but weâve cleared them out now. Now to finish moving into the new house T^T.
Thank you Nyurr!
** Abrupt scene jumps occur. The author didnât add anything to denote this, but as a reader you can tell. I added some lines to help transition it, since it cuts off so abruptly. For future reference, mine : ___________________Authorâs : âŠâŠâŠâŠâŠâŠ..
Auray wore his clothes. Then, he helped Qiao Chen pull back up the blanket that had slipped down to his waist. After, he leaned over and gave Qiao Chen a deep kiss. The half asleep Qiao Chen subconsciously hugged Aurayâs neck. Qiao Chen felt a dull pain radiate from his waist and opened his eyes.
He looked closely at Auray and seriously asked, âDo you love me?â
âI love you.â Auray replied with no hesitation.
Qiao Chen didnât want to have doubts about Aurayâs love for him. He also felt that Auray truly loved him. However, questions still emerged: Why hadnât the soul download activated yet? Was it because I turned off the Good Will and Intimacy pack?
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Eventually, several other countries from throughout the universe sent their own military fleets to the emerging planet system after they discovered news of the ores. This forced the third fleet to suspend operations until all the countries came to an agreement on how to divide the planetsâ resources among themselves. However, such talks normally took a long time. Even if they had negotiations for a year or two, there was the possibility that they still wouldnât come to an agreement. Therefore, the third and fifth fleet returned to their country.
The border would be guarded by the empireâs border control unit.
After returning to their country, the fifth fleet was quickly hit with disciplinary action. Not only was half of the yearâs military expenditure deducted, but all those who partic.i.p.ated in the mission were also demoted a rank. Furthermore, they were demanded to carry out three missions that were labeled as community services*.
(T/N: No awards/credits to their military career i.e. free labor)
Bachnerâs offence of attempted robbery was upgraded to attempted murder when he decided to shove one of the countryâs mech engineer while in a mission. For such a serious offence, he was removed from military service with a dishonorable discharge and sentenced to a five year incarceration.
Qiao Chen never knew what Greene said to Bachner, it could have been that he felt that he was at the end of his rope, but Bachner a.s.sumed all responsibility. He plead guilty to the charges and vehemently denied Greeneâs involvement, insisting that he acted alone. Therefore, Greene didnât suffer as severe punishments nor was he held liable.
Qiao Chen learned about the consequences and sighed. This guy⊠even though he was a dumb and impulsive fellow, he was deeply in love. It was just a pity that Greene didnât even put Bachner on his radar.
After returning, Qiao Chen continued to work on and repair the Z-801. He had to leave abruptly, so there wasnât time for him to compare and select the candidate for the mechâs testing either. Therefore, he had to a.n.a.lyze the data when he could.
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Qiao Chen was just about to log in to the Z-801âs mainframe for the final inspection when Auray came into the lab to look for him. He asked Auray if he wanted to go up to the c.o.c.kpit together. Of course Auray cheerfully agreed.
âIt took so long to finally come so close to fixing it.â Qiao Chen said. To be able to erase the greatest regret from his past life allowed Qiao Chenâs to feel quite satisfied. Once he finished this, he decided that heâd be able to throw himself into the next task.
âIt took less time than all of us expected it to.â Auray stated. They really hadnât expected Qiao Chen to even able to repair the mech, which no one else could even turn on, let alone the short amount of time that he took to repair it.
âYouâre all looking forward to it, huh?â Qiao Chen asked.
âOf course.â They all eagerly yearned for the day that the Z-801 would be back on the battlefield.
âFather would have also been very happy if he knew that the mech was repaired.â Qiao Chen smiled with some regret. âToo bad he didnât live to see it.â
Qiao Chen had a moment of happiness, but also felt a sense of melancholy seeping through. Suddenly, his systemâs soul downloader activated. He was stunned and stared, baffled, at Auray.
Auray had a serious demeanor, but his eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with a deep affection as he looked at Qiao Chen and said, âEven though your father wasnât able to witness you restoring his mech, Iâm here. I will definitely take the place of your father and pilot it to the best of its capabilities.â
âEveryone has their own styles and ways. Even if you wanted to efficiently show the maximum capabilities of this mech, itâs not necessary to pilot it exactly like my father did.â Qiao Chen replied. He always felt that Auray looked at him with a strange look in his eyes.
Auray took Qiao Chenâs hand and pressed his lips against it. He gently said, âIâll treat you well, just like your father did. I can take on the role of both your husband and your father.â
Qiao Chen resisted the urge to kick him out of the c.o.c.kpit. What is wrong with this man? Why does he always want to be my dad? It was like this in the life before and itâs the same now.
Qiao Chen immediately, and roughly, pulled his hand back. He retorted, âYou can only be either the husband or the father. If you choose to be a father, then donât even think about touching me in the future. You should treat me how a father really treats his child.â
Auray embarra.s.sedly looked at Qiao Chen.
Youâre embarra.s.sed? Embarra.s.sed my b.u.t.t. Was it necessary to make this choice difficult? Qiao Chen didnât bother to pay him any more attention, so he focused his attention to carefully go over the system procedures in the c.o.c.kpit.
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After he compared the data, Qiao Chen found that Auray was the best person to pilot the Z-801. All of his performance indicators were all aligned with the mechâs functions. However, Qiao Chen eventually chose to allow Henry to pilot the mech. Henry was only second to Auray in meeting the Z-801âs standards.
Everyone was surprised after Qiao Chen announced that his a.s.sistant for the Z-801 was Henry. They knew that the person who helped Qiao Chen with the tests in this round meant that they were most likely to become the Z-801âs pilot. However, they also knew that Henryâs mech combat and piloting capabilities was not the best of the Special Ops team. There were more than a few people who were better than him.
Qiao Chen posted the comparison data up to prove that Henry best fit the qualifications of the Z-801. However, the data posted did not include Aurayâs results.
Soon enough, Qiao Chen was stopped by Auray at his lab. Qiao Chen immediately knew he came looking for trouble.
âWhat about my data? Why didnât you post it?â Auray stared at Qiao Chen and asked.
âBecause it canât be posted.â Qiao Chen said.
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âWhy? Even if I donât meet the qualifications, then at the very least, let me know where I donât meet them.â Auray said unhappily.
âYou are the most qualified.â Qiao Chen truthfully said. He(QC) never intended to hide this from him (Auray) anyways.
âThen why was Henry chosen?â Auray closed in on Qiao Chen and narrowed his eyes. âIs it because, deep in your heart, you want him to pilot your fatherâs mech more than me? Heâs more important to you than I am, isnât he?â
âOf course I have my own opinions. Furthermore, you two have special places in my heart, but they arenât the same kind of importance.â
âBoth are important? Why does he hold a special place in your heart?â Auray angrily asked.
âCan you calm down? How can I talk to you when youâre like this?â It was also the first time Qiao Chen had seen him look so irrational and unreasonable.
Auray took one last look at Qiao Chen and abruptly turned around.
âWhere are you going? Iâm not done talking with you yet.â Qiao Chen called out.
âIâm looking for Henry. Weâre going to duel it out, man to man. Furthermore, Iâm not giving up on piloting the Z-801.â Auray left and locked Qiao Chenâs door from the outside.
âDuel? What are you dueling for? b.a.s.t.a.r.d! You stop right there.â Qiao Chen quickly ran to stop Auray, but the door was locked shut. He immediately pressed the b.u.t.tons on the wall to unlock it. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d locked the door from the outside. I knew I shouldnât have told him the pa.s.s-code. Qiao Chenâs hands quickly pressed several numbers on the number pad to crack the pa.s.s-code.
Auray arrived at the training area, found Henry, and told him, âYou. Come with me.â
Henry didnât know why, but he still followed behind Auray. The other team members watched as the two men walked into the close-ranged combat room. They also followed behind, br.i.m.m.i.n.g with curiosity.
Auray affixed weights to his hands and legs as he spoke to Henry, âI am your captain, so itâd be considered bullying if I squared off against you with no restrictions. Iâll be using weights to limit my movements. Iâll also adjust my strength to match yours- in that way, weâd have a fair duel.â
âD-duel? Captain, you want to fight against me?â Henry only realized what was going on now and sputtered. âWhy? Is it this about me acting as the Z-801 test a.s.sistant? â
âWeâll talk about that at a different time.â Auray said.
âThen if it isnât about the Z-801 testing, then why do you suddenly want a duel, Captain?â Henry knew he wasnât able to defeat Auray. But if Iâm about to meet the gates of h.e.l.l, then at least let me know why.
âWe are all members of the same team. What is so bad that it canât be properly solved by word, but instead through a duel? Itâs such a hurtful way to deal with things.â Vice Captain Kurit quickly came over to resolve the dispute.
The other teammates were also standing next to each other, baffled. Their captain wasnât such a rash person. What is going on?
âItâs because youâre my teammate that Iâm challenging you to a duel- fair and square. However, public matters are in the public and personal matters are private. Weâre dealing with it now. So win or lose, I hope you wonât bring any personal feelings into the regular session of sparring and training.â Auray said seriously. âEven though I am the one who challenged you to this duel, I still hope that you will not spare any effort in your attempt to defeat me. You should not fail to live up to the importance you have in his heart.â
âDueling? What duel? Canât you let people finish with what theyâre saying before you walk away?â Qiao Chen finally found the man. He actually ran away to have a duel. How embarra.s.sing. Qiao Chen thought
âThe things that occur between males must be solved through our ways. You donât need to mind it.â Auray looked at Qiao Chen and said.
âWhat do you mean donât mind? Come with me. I have something I want to tell you.â Qiao Chen said. He was in a bad mood.
âThose words can wait until after the fight.â Auray broke eye contact with Qiao Chen and turned to face Henry. He pointed to Qiao Chen and said, âNow listen here, Henry. If you canât beat me today, then you can never even think about marrying him anymore.â
Qiao Chen covered his face and felt like dying.
âMe- with him?â Henry looked at Auray and Qiao Chen. âButâŠâŠâ
âCome. Letâs begin.â Auray said.
âBut heâs my older brother. Captain, how can I even think of him that way?â Henry asked and threw Auray a confused and strange look.
âYour older brother?â Auray blanked out. Then, he furrowed his eyebrows together and said, âYou only have a five year old brother. When did you get an older brother?â He knew his team members well. Besides, everyone knew that Qiaoyi is the only child of the flock family, and Henry is the oldest child from the Kielsâ family.
The other members looked at them surprised. They had some doubts. Was engineer Qiaoyi really Henryâs brother? Was this real or not?
âI am his older brother. We share the same birth papa.â Qiao Chen said unhappily. He thought Auray already knew because it wasnât really a secret that his papa had married Henryâs father. All the aristocrats and n.o.bles under this empire knew all about it.
Auray was completely stunned. Why didnât he know about it?
In fact, it wasnât really a secret when it happened. It was the main gossip the n.o.bles had discussed for a long time. However, twenty years had pa.s.sed since it occurred. Who would still be talking about it? No one would mention any gossip from twenty years ago.
Furthermore, Qiaoyiâs papa was forced into the arranged marriage to his(QC) father by his(Fionn) family. Fionnâs family relations.h.i.+p was really rocky. After his parent died, he basically had no contact with any of the people anymore. Additionally, he normally carried a low profile, so people from Aurayâs generation wouldnât really know about such an insignificant matter.
Because the whole thing wasnât really kept as a secret, nor was it a significant matter, the twenty-year-old-after-dinner-gossip was easily forgotten. Furthermore, even though any people from the older generation knew about it, no one would think about specifically mentioning a matter anymore.
Later, when the story broke about Qiao Chenâs successful restoration project of the Z-801, some people would remember the incident and bring it up again.
Now go back to 2.7 and reread that conversation Henry had with Sodini. It comes off so much more differently now. Haha