Yu Lian took two bottles of coffee from the nearby vending machine and handed one to Wien.
Wien was somewhat dazed, mechanically taking the bottle.
The two of them were now sitting in the small garden where the conflict had occurred last night. There was no moon in the sky, but a blue Earth, and the distant stars were still flickering. Through the dome above the garden, one could directly see three space cities suspended in Earth's lunar orbit. Their magnificent lights and towering buildings were clearly visible.
The beauty of nature and the light created by humans blended into subtle colors, spilling into the small garden.
Yu Lian thought for a moment, then sat down in the chair opposite Wien, and then gulped down his coffee.
"Heh, this is interesting. After four years as classmates, I think this is the first time we've been alone like this," Wien's voice seemed to carry a hint of self-mockery. He shook his coffee and also drank it all: "Also, it's my first time having canned coffee, which I usually don't touch."
Yu Lian moved to another chair, putting more distance between them.
"Alright, how do you want to review this?" Yu Lian asked, while simultaneously unleashing a Psychokinesis.
Fortunately, Wien made no further move. He pondered for a moment and said, "Having the Armory Ship set up its firing formation and hitting me head-on is fine, but isn't the gamble a bit too big? What if, when I led the main fleet to turn away from the enemy, I attacked from your flank instead? What would you do?"
"I would have my remaining Dreadnoughts turn sideways to act as a shield, which would be enough for the Armory Ship to complete its turn. My Dreadnoughts haven't moved at all; I kept them for this very reason."
Wien nodded blankly and then said, "But, using the flagship as a shield, wouldn't it affect your other fleets and cause them to lose their composure?"
"That's something to consider in a real battlefield. But in reality, on a real battlefield, whether I make the heavily damaged Armory Ship self-destruct, or you use a heavily damaged battlecruisers as a shield to reorganize, neither is possible. Computers can foolishly execute all our commands, but sailors won't. To put it plainly, the Cadet Admiral OL system isn't perfect... Hmm, yes, I could consider adding a morale system. Add some algorithms so that if the simulated crew members believe the Commander's operation is foolish and insane, or intentionally sending them to their deaths, they can refuse to execute orders."
...Impossible. The Cadet Admiral system is a product of Qingniao Company. If you arbitrarily modify their software, they'll sue you into bankruptcy!"
"Hmm, I understand, after all, they have the strongest legal department in the galaxy. But, we can purchase authorization, indicating that it's not for commercial use, and that should be fine."
"Do you know how much that authorization costs?"
"Anyway, there will be a way, and I might even be able to sell these modifications to them and earn an extra sum." Yu Lian was full of confidence. After all, the biggest advantage of being a reborn person is being able to get a lot of leverage on important figures.
"Heh heh, good luck to you." Wien felt that this guy was simply fantasizing. What is Qingniao Company? A vast empire in the alliance, even half the universe's general entertainment and education industry. They've only ever been known to squeeze money out of the world with their legal department; how could they possibly give money?
At this point, the two of them suddenly realized that they had inexplicably started chatting.
"Anyway, you should know that a simulated battle can never truly simulate a real battlefield. So, today's win or loss doesn't hold much significance. With Robnan doing this, I actually feel it's easier to conclude."
"Hmph, excessive humility is hypocrisy. Yu Lian, I know why I dislike you now!" He suddenly sneered and stood up: "I did lose this time, so I will hand over the Blue Building... Not to you, but to Fina Li! But, next time, next time it won't be this simple! Just wait, there's one more chance, let's truly compete once! I will definitely defeat you!"
He stomped off, ready to leave, but after only two steps, he suddenly stopped and turned back, his face flushed as if constipated. After a long pause, he grudgingly said: "We're moving to a new home! When the new place is built, Rozes and the others will invite you to the celebration. Hmph, even though I dislike you, I'm not a dictator. Since everyone is willing to invite you, I will pass on the message. Whether you go or not is up to you! Of course, I hope you don't come!"
Only then did he seem to shed a heavy burden, striding away with a regal gait, his red hair like a burning flame of passion.
Yu Lian was stunned for a long time, instantly filled with doubts about the other person's character. He ran a hand through his still dark and lustrous hair, spat, and decided it was best to have less to do with such a crazy person.
In the time that followed, Yu Lian began to complete (plagiarize) his graduation thesis, and at the same time, he finally pulled his roommates A, B, and C, and the girls from the student council for a social gathering. Of course, the result was still sad; the girls' politeness was impeccable, and they also conveyed positive intentions of wanting to be friends with A, B, and C.
After all, even though A, B, and C looked and sounded like minor characters, they were still upright and kind-hearted men.
The more lively ones, like Lilia or Daina, even pulled A, B, and C into drinking until they had all passed out, while remaining completely unharmed themselves.
...It feels even sadder, doesn't it?
Wien was indeed Wien; he kept his word, and the next day, he very frankly handed over the Blue Building.
During this period, Yu Lian also vaguely heard that there had been a huge upheaval within the Blueblood Brotherhood, causing quite a stir. It was said that members of the Brotherhood would go to Wien and his companions every day to cause trouble, leading to significant conflicts that even directly alarmed the school authorities.
Of course, for a "commoner" student like him, with no background, it was just another piece of juicy gossip.
Feifei also showed her magnanimity, performing her last act as Student Council President by proposing a campus expansion plan, which quickly received approval from the school.
In Yu Lian's view, in this world that looked futuristic but was classical at its core, the most advanced and science-fictional aspect was its infrastructure capability. After all, if they could build super-large space cities capable of housing tens of millions of people, surface building expansion was even less of an issue.
Thus, various autonomous engineering machines clanged and banged outside for a whole day, and the lunar surface outside the academy was paved with solid metal. Then, various pipelines were laid, and the simulated gravity system was debugged. Following that, domes were erected, and environmental control systems were added.
Subsequently, soil was laid, grass and flowers were planted, and according to the on-site method, building plots were planned, and construction spaces for various indoor facilities were reserved.
The entire project sounded immense, but it actually took less than three days. In the blink of an eye, Central Defense University expanded by dozens of football fields.
Yu Lian estimated that at this rate of expansion, in a few more decades, the Moon's surface would probably become a complete iron ball, and those pitted gray ravines and craters would no longer be seen.
He didn't know if this was a good thing or a bad thing.
During this period, Yu Lian still tried to inquire about the whereabouts of Thomas Quinn, but still found nothing.
It was said that even the student council couldn't contact his family.
Yu Lian was genuinely worried and started to consider whether to ask the underworld to investigate his whereabouts.
...However, asking that intelligence organization to investigate Xia Li's whereabouts was understandable, but asking them to investigate an ordinary civilian student seemed to be overcomplicating things.
As soon as he thought of Quinn, Yu Lian felt an intense longing for those guys who were "reportedly" already being escorted to the military court for trial. Those things were out of reach for now, but wasn't Colonel Weige still in the infirmary? As his proud student, wasn't it reasonable to visit his sick teacher every day?
So, the next day, Yu Lian went directly to the infirmary with great interest—of course, it was called an infirmary, but it was actually a moderately sized hospital with quite complete equipment, even having three incubators. In fact, not only students, but the hospital was also open to citizens, and many Moon City residents often came to see a doctor there.
Colonel Weige, seeing Yu Lian, was so moved he almost cried, but for some reason, he just couldn't say, "Get out."
"You see, I really came to visit the Director; he's my esteemed teacher," Yu Lian said to the kind doctor who accompanied him.
"Colonel Weige's mental state has not been good, but he seems much happier seeing you. However, please also pay attention to visiting hours," the kind doctor found Yu Lian very pleasing. After all, there aren't many students with such humanity these days.
"Then I truly appreciate your hard work," Yu Lian showed appropriate gratitude: "Perhaps if I visit him more often, the Director will recover better."
The doctor said it was no problem. After all, who can say for sure about mental matters? What if he really did get better that way?
So, for a period afterward, Yu Lian would visit his "esteemed teacher" every now and then, and he would always conveniently bring along doctors and nurses.
As a result, after the fourth visit was completed, as soon as Yu Lian returned to school, he was stopped by Feifei.
"Yu'er, have you finished your thesis?"
If I said I had, it would be too unrealistic. And, although Feifei was smiling now, and smiling beautifully, Yu Lian instinctively felt danger and quickly pretended to be caught, meekly muttering: "Uh... oh, this, ah, I..."
"You..." Feifei sighed: "Come with me to the library. From now on, every afternoon, from 2 to 5 PM, meet me at the library! I'll help you find materials."
This girl clearly sensed something. After all, the hospital's visiting hours were from 2 to 5 PM.
Of course, Yu Lian didn't need to go anymore after that.
That very night, Director Weige, who had been getting better and smiling more, suddenly became excited and ran naked to the hospital rooftop. He loudly shouted incomprehensible things like: "I am an interstellar friend from the RX78 nebula, here to prevent the world from being destroyed!" "I am a Kryptonian who crossed the galaxy, white holes and a white tomorrow, here I come!" and then prepared to fly off the roof.
Fortunately, the doctors arrived in time, and Colonel Weige didn't actually succeed in imitating the interstellar friend and the Kryptonian.
The next day, Colonel Weige was transferred to a hospital on Earth, and later, no one at Central Defense University ever heard from him again.
Hearing this, Yu Lian felt much more at ease, and thanks to his experiences during this period, his Psychokinesis became more and more proficient. He simply dedicated his time to the "preparation (revision)" of his thesis, and in addition, he also began preparing some other materials.
For example, sketching some small drawings casually.
Feifei saw this and didn't suspect anything, instead starting to discuss the feasibility of these "small drawings" with Yu Lian.
"Don't leak them, okay?" Yu Lian said to Feifei.
"Hmm, I understand. If these drawings really work out, just selling the patent will be a huge sum of money. Whether the two of us can afford a house within a year after graduation depends on this! Right?" Feifei's peach blossom eyes still curved into crescent moons as she smiled.
Then, the time came to the last day of January, common era 830. The next day was the Blue Star Commonwealth's National Day. The entire country had a seven-day statutory holiday. Of course, military academy students, with their demanding coursework, naturally couldn't take such a long break, but graduating students, especially Yu Lian and others who had already completed their credits and were just preparing their graduation theses, had a rare holiday.
This was probably their last long vacation during their student days.
And on the morning of this very day, after finishing breakfast and preparing to go to the library to organize his future plans, Yu Lian suddenly received a message from Yang Xiyi. Evidently, he approached Yu Lian in his capacity as the head of the Outer Rim Fleet's staff department, which allowed him to bypass the school's internal communication monitoring.
On the screen, Yang Xiyi's epaulet already bore a general's star. Although he still maintained a nonchalant, unruffled demeanor on the surface, Yu Lian could clearly see his unconcealed smugness in his eyes.
"Three pieces of news. Which do you want to hear first?" he said, getting straight to the point.
...It's not going to be like a good news, a bad news, and a big news kind of classic plot, is it?" Yu Lian couldn't help but say.
This is the first update for today. From today onwards, I'll resume being a diligent two-update beast.