Captain Yu Lian felt very relieved about Black Moon, so he temporarily stepped out of his role as the behind-the-scenes hero who foiled the major coup conspiracy and returned to his identity as a student.
Early the next morning, Yu Lian drove his beloved light wheel 2000 back to Jin City. Of course, to prevent his aunt and uncle from overthinking, the car was naturally parked outside the city. He even managed to catch a lunch, and similarly, Feifei, who had finished her business, arrived.
“So, Uncle Wei didn’t come back with you?”
“Him? The event was very successful, and he’s been over-excited, drinking heavily with his friends every day. So I just came back by myself.” Feifei smiled and said, “By the way, Yu’er, where did you go again?”
“...Hmm, I did a lot of great things to save the Earth!” Yu Lian smiled and patted his chest. “If it weren’t for me, the Commonwealth would have been finished long ago!”
Mr. Zhou taught me to use truth to cover up the truth, that way girls will be happy!
...Hmm, it seems this was taught by Mr. Wei? But that’s not the point.
Feifei looked at Yu Lian with a half-smile, then suddenly burst into laughter, blooming like a hundred flowers, making Yu Lian’s little heart pound several beats faster.
“Thank you, Yu’er.”
“...Tha-thank me for what?”
“Thank you for not lying. Yu’er is still Yu’er after all!”
It seemed like his favorability had gone up a bit, but Yu Lian didn’t understand why at all.
In any case, the whole family happily had lunch, and then Yu Lian said goodbye to Feifei and set off on the way back to school.
By the time they arrived at school, it was already past 7 PM. Logically, they had exceeded the return time. However, they were graduating students who would soon be graduating, so they didn’t have evening self-study or evening classes.
In fact, most graduating students, except for a few unlucky ones who hadn’t accumulated enough credits, returned at this time, and no one specifically came out to find fault.
Even Vice Principal Robnan, who should have been gnashing his teeth in hatred towards Yu Lian, didn’t show up.
Instead, the newly appointed Director Franz set up a post at the entrance, originally to block the lower-grade students who had sneaked off to Moon City during the holiday, but upon seeing the two late arrivals, he still lectured them unceremoniously.
“Since you claim to be the most excellent student leaders! Then show some exemplary spirit!”
For the next two days, Yu Lian waited for the notification from that side while also beginning some initial preparations for his small goal.
According to his memories of the future, he carefully wrote down the words “Military Industry” on the plan, then quickly deleted them, and finally wrote “Plan for Establishing an Industrial Cluster in New Divine Province.”
Yu Lian still didn’t have a particularly clear, actionable plan. But there was one thing he felt was necessary and feasible—to maximize efforts to retain the industrial population currently being lost by the Commonwealth.
And so far, the only place in the entire Commonwealth suitable for industrial enterprise startups was the New Divine Province, which was completely out of sync with the country’s overall environment.
That remote home star system, known as the most secluded in the Blue Star Commonwealth, was also the only place Yu Lian believed could still be saved. It was the same corner where Yu Lian had encouraged Autumn Mountain Yawata and Black Moon to build factories, and it was the same corner that was constantly vying for labor with Gibraltar Starport and the colonies.
Moreover, perhaps only he in the entire Universe knew that the place was truly suitable for developing military and heavy industries.
...However, Teacher Yang was right. Old Master Bai and Marshal Paris were both from the same era. They really couldn’t last for many more years. After they left office, could the policies still guarantee existing sustainability?
So, what should be done? Find him a suitable partner and a reliable successor? Heh, if I weren’t too young, I should personally run for the next Sector Chief.
In any case, the first thing to do is to formulate a comprehensive industrial development plan and find reliable comrades.
In the history I am familiar with from later generations, are there any trustworthy SRs who are good at this?
While Yu Lian was still pondering, the news port on his information terminal flickered twice, displaying a GNN breaking political news alert.
The window popped up so conspicuously that Yu Lian couldn’t resist and opened it. The immediate scene that appeared was of Senator Applegate, with a coat draped over his arm, walking out of the National Assembly Building surrounded by two men in suits and sunglasses.
The senator, who just two days ago had seemed like a behind-the-scenes boss at the Light-Year Stadium, now looked completely bewildered, his eyes vacant, like a walking corpse.
A group of reporters surrounded him, asking various questions, but he remained oblivious. So, several security guards and men in suits rushed over to help, finally getting him into a car, which then sped away.
Immediately after, the screen switched to a somewhat familiar news anchor.
“Starting today, the National Security Directorate and the Prosecutor’s Office have suddenly launched disciplinary investigations into twelve senators. We do not know what this is about. Is this a fierce political struggle, or does it indicate that so many criminals have infiltrated our Senate? We, on behalf of all citizens, urge the Central Government to quickly provide an explanation to everyone.”
Whether it was truly a major figure wanting to clean up corruption, or taking the opportunity to broaden the scope of attack for political struggle, the government’s law enforcement agencies would likely be in disarray for a while.
So, should I take this opportunity to kill those few who are reportedly still awaiting trial, to completely settle Toby’s matter?
Just as Yu Lian was pondering this, his terminal vibrated, and another email popped up, with a link attached.
“Business went smoothly, and here’s a little gift.”
The sender of the email left a small Black Moon.
Needless to say, it was sent by the mysterious Black Moon. For someone with his persona of indulging in pleasure and showing off, it would be strange if he didn’t play it this way.
Yu Lian quickly scanned the link, confirmed it was from a legitimate news channel, and opened it with some doubt. What immediately popped up was a report about another car accident.
“At 3 AM yesterday, a red flying car with license plate New 4G372X collided with a large orbital freight truck above the Dead Sea. The truck was forced to stop, fortunately with no casualties inside; however, all six occupants of the red flying car died. According to on-site surveillance, the red flying car’s extreme speed had reached over 400 kilometers per hour, a complete overspeed. Furthermore, judicial medical examination found that their blood alcohol content greatly exceeded the limit! Police believe the red flying car driver should bear full responsibility for the accident…”
Yu Lian was silent for a moment, vaguely sensing something. He began searching for related news and quickly found a live broadcast by a reporter named Prince.
“According to informed sources, these young people driving the flying car were paroled suspects awaiting trial, and should have been awaiting trial at their respective residences! Even if they were away from home for 12 hours, they should have registered with the local police station. However, they were in the sky above this tourist area, drinking and speeding while on drugs, like a group of Dune fatties high on Arrakis spice! I just want to ask, is there still a need for our country’s law enforcement agencies to exist? Is there still a need for our country’s laws to exist?”
This reporter was a familiar face, none other than Mr. Prince, the “Wanderer” whom he had encountered earlier at the Moon City airport, but that wasn’t the point. By this time, if Yu Lian still couldn’t guess the identities of the deceased, he would truly be too dense.
The criminals who had harmed Thomas Quinn in the training ground that year all died in this car accident, not a single one remaining.
But at this moment, Yu Lian’s emotions were quite complex, both joyful and weary. There was a joy that heaven had finally opened its eyes, and a sense of relief that it was finally over, but in the end, it turned into a helpless weariness—the criminals were punished, but the one who acted was not the law, but a hero like Black Moon.
You got off easy! Yu Lian still felt a bit regretful. Not doing it himself, not seeing their death faces with his own eyes, always felt a bit regrettable.
“Toby…” The image and voice of his old friend flashed through Yu Lian’s mind. No matter what, by now, he felt he could tell his friend, openly and honestly, that his great revenge had been exacted, that he had not failed their friendship, nor his conscience; but at this moment, his friend was nowhere to be found.
...I won't let Shared Foundation or any other means find you. I just hope that one day you can appear before me yourself, which will mean you've finally moved on!
...As for Vice Principal Robnan, who is still jumping around. Heh, that’s my personal grudge. We can take our time settling it! Hehehehe, I earnestly hope you can live a little healthier! Lest I break you.
Yu Lian was about to light three cigarettes to mourn his departed friend, Thomas Quinn, but at that moment, another communication came through on his terminal, this time from Feifei.
“...Yu’er, are you okay?”
“No, I’m fine!”
“No, something’s definitely up. I can tell, Yu’er must have let go of something important! A little tired, a little sad, but I can also feel your relief. So, Yu’er must have really encountered something good, right?”
Yu Lian was now certain that Feifei was also a good girl with a protagonist template, but then he realized that after such an intense emotional fluctuation, his second Star Ring had filled up by almost half.
“See, Yu’er is starting to smile, right?”
“...” I wasn’t smiling at all, do you have some misunderstanding about the emotional management skills of a hero who has traversed the Star Sea for decades? However, my mood has indeed improved.
“So, Yu’er, have you started preparing?” Feifei asked again.
“Preparing for what? The thesis? Don’t worry, I’ve already written more than half of it…”
“What, Yu’er? You’ve only written more than half?” Feifei was stunned, and immediately became a little anxious. “But what are you going to do about the Captain’s matter?”
“Captain? When?”
“You’re playing dumb again! We talked about it when we went home last time, weren’t you already chosen as the Hong Fang (Red Team) Captain for the Navy Day single-ship exercise?”
Seeing Yu Lian finally show a look of sudden realization, Feifei sighed helplessly. “Yu’er, please pay more attention. I have to arrange the venue during this time, communicate with the TV station, live streaming websites, and the organizing committee, rehearse lines with my co-host, and attend rehearsals. I can’t help you much.”
“Arranging the venue? What does that have to do with you?”
“After all, it’s Navy Day, so we can’t just leave everything to the civilians. Besides, I heard that this time, there are quite a few important foreign guests coming to observe. Nishita Chairman said that we Moon People are all well-rounded in both civil and military arts, and we need to show our demeanor to foreign guests. As a result of all this pushing and yielding, the academy also became one of the organizers of the celebration.”
Seeing Yu Lian’s astonished expression, Feifei continued, “Don’t worry, the program arrangements, personnel organization, and fundraising are still the business of the TV station and their entertainment industry. I’ll just offer suggestions and do odd jobs for the on-site arrangements and program order, and grab some junior students and classmates to help out. I won’t take away Liuli and Zhi Xia.”
“Speaking of which, has the venue been decided?” Yu Lian asked.
“It has been decided. Since it’s Navy Day, it will naturally be held in outer space. There are a total of six sub-venues, all luxury cruise ships with their own stages and various equipment. The main venue and the viewing platform for important guests will be on the blue star princess. Yu’er, you’ve heard of that ship, right?”
“...It seems like a luxury cruise ship that just launched last year. It’s called the pride of the Commonwealth’s shipbuilding technology or something.” Yu Lian was in a trance for a moment, but as a hero who had traversed the Star Sea for decades, there shouldn’t have been any flaws in his emotional management.
How could he not have heard of it? That super-large luxury cruise ship, weighing 3 million tons, was known as one of the top ten cruise ships in the Milky Way Galaxy. Later, during the turbulent years, it was renamed the “Freedom Princess.”
Feifei didn’t seem to notice any flaws and continued, “In short, I’m going to be busy, and Yu’er must also get busy. I heard that Mr. Wien and his Blue Faction haven’t been idle for a single day throughout the entire holiday, going around recruiting people. To be honest, all the most excellent students from the major departments, except for a few of us, have been recruited by them!”
“Don’t worry, I’m having Zhi Xia and the others set up the Hong Fang (Red Team) signboard and start recruiting people. If we can’t find SRs and SSRs for a while, we can always recruit a few N-tier tool people and R-tier elite tool people.”
Yes, although Yu Lian considered himself not very popular, at the very least, out of respect for the beautiful girls in the student council, surely a dozen or twenty students would sign up, right?
...Probably.
As for their own SRs, Miss Annie Romanova, the former leader of the Speeding Tribe, who is confirmed to be the helmswoman, should count as one. The others, of course, can only be recruited by Yu Lian, the Captain, himself.
No matter how the future plan is to be executed, a core team of SRs and SSRs must be in place. This exercise is truly a natural opportunity to strengthen relationships!
Yu Lian felt that with his social skills as Captain Yu Lian back then, as long as they fought side by side, he would definitely be able to raise their favorability.
Otherwise, what? He couldn’t possibly take them to a one-stop service, could he?
He was about to make a list. But just then, the terminal’s communication request rang again, and it was from Director Schwartz, the Dean of Students, who had been newly appointed a month ago.
“Come to the Academic Affairs Office. An important person wants to see you.” He still maintained a stern face, speaking in a flat voice.
4K characters. Need to revise the latter part, only one update today...