Chapter 39

Translated by boilpoil Edited by boilpoil

After detaching from Zhong Xiutang’s world, Bai Lianhua chooses not to stop inside the system space and is directly projected onto the next world.

Thank the system that the location he formed his body in is mundane this time. It’s in the blind spot inside a back alley… After a quick look at the surroundings, he confirms that he’s in another futuristic world. It can’t be helped, this style is pretty easy to recognise.

——Emm… God knows why all spacefaring civilisations have this similar aesthetic in choosing silvery white.

Still, Bai Lianhua is faced with the age-old question. Which antagonist’s world is this?

Bai Lianhua knows it’s useless to ask the system. At best it would give out some inconclusive hints and make him guess.

He decides to take a look at the biometric magnetic chip on his hand, and tries to pull out the identity information of himself in this world.

Hehe, that’s the advantage in a futuristic world… He only remembered he could do something like this while inside Jian Yiguang’s world.

The system doesn’t say anything, appearing nonchalant to what he’s trying to pull here.

While Bai Lianhua feels odd about how the system seems to be easygoing about this this time, he continues operating his chip and then, his smile gradually fades away.

There’s zero identifying information on his biometric magnetic chip other than his name, age and gender… He probably removed it intentionally just before he left the world… Since he never imagined back then that he would be back one day, right?

But what use is it knowing he’s named Bai Lianhua? That’s the same name he has in each and every single world!

Awkward…

Bai Lianhua asks the system, depressed, “you knew it, didn’t you?”

Or it wouldn’t have pretended it didn’t see anything just now.

System “…” Nope. It really isn’t me this time host. I wanted to overlook this once but you’re the one that messed up.

I thought I’d let you off for a bit with you feeling quite uncomfortable following Zhong Xiutang’s surprising course of actions in the last world.

Then it says, “uh… Why not check out your pocket, host, there’s a surprise?”

Bai Lianhua then looks at the pocket on his shirt warily before putting his hand inside tentatively.

There isn’t anything scary, and he pulled out – a whole bunch of Celestial dollars?

Seemingly reading Bai Lianhua’s mind and understanding his worries, the system continues, “this is the standard currency usable in this world everywhere. No need to thank me.”

Bai Lianhua blinks and blinks, and when he realises that the system is serious and not joking, he heaves a long, weary sigh.

He’s had it bad, so bad, and finally, this damned system finally decides to be helpful for once, and gives him an allowance after reentering the world, so that he isn’t completely broke.

When someone has money in their hands, they act more confidently. So he’s able to walk outside the alley and take a relaxing stroll around, and confirms he is likely on a rather prosperous planet.

Even if he’s unable to collect information on the antagonist for now, Bai Lianhua is in no hurry yet. He checks into a hotel that appeared well outside and decides to borrow the connection pod in the room to log onto the celestial Internet to see if he can gather information.

Since every antagonist that’s up to no good are never just some nameless mob in their local worlds, working through the list of publicised winners in life would perhaps give him a familiar name or at least some clue?

While thinking so, Bai Lianhua logs on… Though quickly, his attention is focused elsewhere by some other news.

The insectoid army is invading the frontlines? The border regions are declaring an emergency?

This world doesn’t look too safe…

Especially when the news says that, with over four, five hundred years of preparation, the insectoids have apparently embraced a second wave of evolution. This evolution resulted in several elite insectoid soldiers, each of which apparently as strong as a thousand-man army joining the fight. Among the mecha fighters of the entire empire, there is shockingly not yet a single fighter that can stand up to them for now.

Currently, spearheading the army are the emperor and his sons the princes. Even civilian and commerical mecha pilots are being enlisted, and it is currently highly encouraged for all young men and women whose physical and psychic strength meet the requirements to choose either Mecha Combat or Starship Piloting as their majors in the academies.

This is quite concerning.

Though there’s several worlds to which he has transmigrated that has a significant insectoid presence, ones that can cause so great a threat are uncommon.

Most intergalactic empires or unions are quite powerful and are the ones beating the insectoids to mush so that they don’t dare invade, and everything would be peaceful… There’s just one world where there could be such intense opposition from the insectoids.

It couldn’t be though? If it really is the world he’s thinking about, not only has he already eliminated the potential that could allow the insectoids to grow in power, even with just there being the super imposing, extremely dominating, combat genius antagonist, it wouldn’t make sense to say the whole empire has no one that can stand up to a fight.

Still, Bai Lianhua is nervous and can’t help but search for related information on that.

And he’s right on target.

The current pilot of the strongest mecha ‘Dicarus’ is incapable of piloting it to its full potential and be the spearhead that leads the army in the forefront of the fight against the insectoids; many are hoping that Shi Cangyuan, the one that has dazzled everyone before would reappear and save the day, either to pilot a mecha and be the sharpest spear of the empire or to participate in mecha engineering design projects and be the toughest shield of the empire.

They believe that if Shi Cangyuan is here, he can successfully lead the empire mechas in the fight against the insectoids.

Yet Shi Cangyuan himself has already retired and gone into recluse several years ago, shutting off his communications and refusing all contact with the outside. Nobody even knows where he is right now.

Bai Lianhua is stunned. Shi Cangyuan… It’s him? Why’d the guy suddenly retire?

——Without a doubt, this is another antagonist who was also the mission objective,

If Bai Lianhua had to describe him though, Shi Cangyuan actually became an antagonist… quite coincidentally.

In the original world timeline, Shi Cangyuan would graduate with a Mecha Combat major from the best academy of the empire, being number one in his major. He can always easily defeat other geniuses in friendly matches against other academies while he was enrolled. His life was definitely smooth sailing.

The year he graduated, it happened to also be the end of the 8-year term for the pilotship of the number one mecha ‘Dicarus’ of the empire, and whose pilot chose to retire… Thus, Shi Cangyuan participates in the empire-wide open competition for the successor to ‘Dicarus’ and wins, defeating all these strong competitors and becomes the new pilot to the number one mecha.

Up to this point, no matter how you read it Shi Cangyuan appears to definitely be following the template of a chosen one. You can picture the bright future ahead of him.

It was then that a friend Shi Cangyuan had met on the celestial Internet, number two in the competition, the mecha pilot that thus failed to be the next pilot for ‘Dicarus,’ that decided to employ underhanded methods due to him being extremely unwilling to accept his defeat.

He used the trust Shi Cangyuan had in him as his friend to harm him. In a battle, he exposed Shi Cangyuan to an experimental light ray that is currently being secretly tested in laboratories and caused him to genetically collapse. He is thus unable to pilot a mecha ever again.

Later, Shi Cangyuan obtains incriminating evidence for this incident, but unfortunately due to the background connections of the person, his fight was futile. He tried to appeal for legal assistance, but instead, he was suppressed and silenced. Even his family were forced to cut connections with him due to being bribed or threatened.

And he did lose the ability to pilot a mecha, and has lost his value… So Shi Cangyuan had to give up the pilotship of the number one mecha and leave besmirched.

How glorious he had been known, how despicable he has come to be known.

Yet Shi Cangyuan is truly gifted. Not only was he an exceptional pilot, but he can also even design and repair mechas on his own. He’s an all-around genius when it comes to mecha.

During the short period of time he had been able to pilot the number one mecha, he’s already discovered a critical design flaw in ‘Dicarus.’ Left as it is, critical failure may occur. Fixing it would not only increase the fighting power of the number one mecha, the technology can even be applied to all mechas, raising the capability of the entire mecha army.

That potential critical error is one that only surfaced in this noticeable way given that all mechas were based off the same production template with only all equipment tuned and outfited to the extreme for the number one mecha.

In other words, for normal mechas, as their parts were not calibrated to the extreme, there is no risk to the pilot… This is the reason why Shi Cangyuan has never discovered this flaw until he had piloted the specially designed ‘Dicarus.’

He wanted to continue his investigation into this issue, but now… Seeing his betrayed ‘friend’ who was number two in the competition take over ‘Dicarus,’ then boasting and being self-indulgent over it, Shi Cangyuan who has already experienced the ups and downs and became cold and uncaring decided to let it go. He went about his life as the number one mecha continued to operate with a critical design flaw——A ticking time bomb that only he knew.

Yet, what did the time bomb had to do with him?

He’s no longer the pilot for ‘Dicarus,’ is he now? He didn’t have to be responsible for solving it.

Shi Cangyuan thought that his sole target of revenge is the betrayer alone. Yet fate decided that, and he hasn’t ever imagined that, this time bomb blew not earlier, not later, but right in the middle of a decisive battle, triggered by the betrayer’s own error in operation. The betrayer himself was consumed alive, and because ‘Dicarus’ was put at a critical juncture due to its strategic specialness, the whole frontline was suddenly ripped open and the insectoids managed to invade far into the heartlands. The empire lost, badly.

And Shi Cangyuan, who realised afterwards that he could have prevented this, decided to end his own life in silence.

——Thankfully, such a depressing wheel of fate is stopped thanks to Bai Lianhua’s intervention.

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