Ch.48- She’s dead
A broken starship.
A bright light that flashes once and then stops.
And a pitch black universe devoid of light.
…It was a silent war.
Crazy, yet unwilling, painful and unbelievable.
【The Third Legion was abandoned by the empire they dedicated their lives to. 】
They were betrayed by their most trusted person.
They would never return alive again.
Screams of pain and wailing sounded in his ears, as if the fallen heroic spirits who have been abandoned suddenly rose up to seek their revenge.
There was only one voice… he could distinguish from the thousands of voices.
“…You take the Strider away, don’t get involved with Planet Ta any more.”
“What about the madam?”
“…”
“When the spiritual connection is broken, he will know what to do.”
“–I’m sorry.”
The red giant star exploded, and the light produced by the supernova swept through all the darkness and destroyed everything in sight until there was….
Nothing left.
Nothing left–
“The subject’s mental barrier has completely collapsed.” The researcher calmly looked at the man on the laboratory table and coldly reported to the chief standing beside him.
“How long did he last?” the officer asked, “His mental power should not be bad, at least an A-level guide?”
“Yes, it took 34 hours from the start of the experiment for the subject to collapse.”
“He persisted for so long?” The officer was taken aback, “Didn’t you say that most Guides can’t last for more than 3 hours?”
“Sir, the length of the breakdown has a huge correlation with the Guide’s personal strength, determination, and the degree of influence the stimulus has on him. Furthermore, the Guides who participated in the experiment before did not exceed the C-level, so those who could persist longer than 3 hours were few and far between.”
“After you have recorded the data, lock him up in the prison.”
“Yes, sir.”
The officer turned around to leave, but suddenly seemed to think of something, and looked back again: “Where is that S-level guide?”
“I received a notice from our superior,” The researcher still looked indifferent as he continued, “The Admiral ordered that after the spiritual connection is severed, the Guide is to be immediately transferred to Planet Ta.”
The officer nodded noncommittally.
Although he didn’t know why the Admiral moved against these two and even abandoned a rare A-level Guide without hesitation, orders must be followed.
However, from the public opinion storm that suddenly detonated before, almost everyone can feel…that another huge storm is about to sweep the entire empire.
Admiral Brandon gazed at the restarting Ares, and his anxious face finally relaxed.
Ares really was an important asset to the military. In the last few days after Ares had collapsed, he couldn’t even eat food without the system’s help. He even considered the opinions of Doyle Walter about establishing an intelligence system that is independent of Ares’s system.
However, nothing major happened in the past few days when Ares’ system was paralyzed. And the Third Legion was still guarding the border of the empire as usual, and several other legions reported that patrols were the same as always. Except that the speed of intelligence transmission is slightly slower, the rest is no different than during regular times.
It seems that Doyle Walter was wrong this time. Sure enough, he is a man who likes to do nothing and waste military expenses.
Brandon squinted his eyes, a few glints of light flashed in those inverted triangular eyes.
The Ares system does not need a lot of military expenditure to maintain, nor does it need to be managed 24/7. It is the most perfect existence in the eyes of the military, not to mention that since he became the head of the military, Ares has never made a single error.
As for the things that Duke Wilson wanted…anyway, it wasn’t anything that would threaten the survival of the empire. Let the old man do what he wants, it doesn’t matter to him.
In this life, one should pay more attention to themselves instead of worrying about others lest them end up like the fools in the Third Legion
Brandon expertly opened a safe under his desk and drew a bottle of wine from it.
To each their own. Let other people clean up their own messes.
General Doyle stared at Strider without breaking eye contact: “Communication officer, status report on the communications sent back to the military and our legion?”
The communications officer couldn’t help increasing his volume: “The rest of our Legion has received news and they are rushing here-but the Military Department has not responded so far.”
General Doyle’s brows frowned even more.
This should not be.
Even if Ares, a military intelligence system, is paralyzed, the military can still receive their warnings and requests for help. The information transmission uses quantum technology, so even if a ship is very far away from the military headquarters, they should be able to receive the news.
Brandon, that stingy and timid idiot, wouldn’t have the guts to purposely ignore a cry for help.
So… the error in this can only lie in the transmission of the message.
For example, someone shut down the information transition station between them and the military in advance.
Without the information transition, intelligence can only be transmitted in the universe at the speed of light. The information lag caused by this is simply devastating.
The starship flipped over to avoid the enemy’s high-energy laser beam attack, and the Strider responded with another attack that forced the opponent to back away.
“Communication officer, inform the legion, dispatch the second, fifth, and seventh fleets to the current coordinates for support!”
“Yes, sir!”
Strider speeded up and down through the space, repeatedly pushing back the difficulties encountered by the starship, until-
——Until the connection that she thought would never disappear, firmly erected between two spiritual seas, collapsed unexpectedly.
A long time ago, someone gave her a book written by famous poets and writers. It was a book chalk full of beautiful metaphors about spiritual connection.
They regard spiritual connection as the most beautiful existence in the world, and turn the word “soul mate” from abstraction to reality, a word with many moving and shocking affections. It is the deepest connection between two souls and was stuff every romantic movie or book wrote about.
And Kristen… agreed with these sentiments.
The simplest form of love is companionship, and the always firm and reliable response from the other end of the spiritual connection was a form of deep affection between a Sentinel-Guide pair.
Even during training where she almost fainted with exhaustion, or in battles of life and death, Kristen could always feel the steady beat of the spiritual connection.
It was like breathing, like the sound of your own heartbeat, echoing within yourself till you leave this plane of existence and also an unbreakable oath between two parties.
This connection is what allowed her to continue moving forward on the battlefield.
Strider flew across the starry sky and repelled the enemy mecha. The vibration of the mecha getting hit, even with the shock absorption system, made her fingers feel a little numb.
Then… something was taken away from her.
It was like when the drops of water dripping from the tip of the leaves suddenly solidified in the air, or the breeze blowing across the field suddenly stood still, and the fireworks that jumped from the ground into the sky suddenly stopped blooming.
And like a voice has disappeared from this world.
She couldn’t hear it anymore.
There is no response.
Kristen opened his eyes blankly.
Her world…stopped at that moment.
Those rendered colors faded a little bit, becoming lifeless black and white pictures once again.
A voice gradually faded in the distance: “——Kristen, remember, you must return safely…”
“Lin Yan.”
“–“
No response.
“Lin Yan?”
“–“
No response.
“Lin Yan!!!”
“–“
No response.
Her body trembled uncontrollably.
Strider seemed to say something, but right now she couldn’t care less.
Strider was shot.
“The left waist and abdomen was damaged, and balance accuracy will now be slightly off.“
The speed walker was attacked by another wave of lasers.
“The right arm has lost its sensors.“
Strider was then pushed out of the battlefield by another blast wave.
“…”
“Kristen, are you going to wake up?”
“There is no one behind you.“
“How dare you fall.“
“How dare you fall?!“
Kristen lowered her head and stared at her hands.
These hands have held guns, killed people, drove mechas, and stroked her lover’s face.
She chuckled darkly before, reached out and grabbed the joystick again.
When she raised her eyes, the once gentle and calm gray-blue sea disappeared.
A dark sea breeze rushed forward, and the roaring tsunami cut through all obstacles with a sharpened knife.
From the outside, all the others could see was…
Strider going berserk!
Even decades later, the enemy soldiers who participated in this battle will still remember how terrifying the devil who swept the battlefield that day was.
The mecha pilot who was cut down by the Strider but survived by the skin of his teeth, even though decades had passed, could not stop shaking whenever he heard the name of the Strider.
It was like a demon who had crawled out of hell. The chains that bound her to the earth were broken and, and she fell into the darkness of true despair.
She could do the only thing she knew.
That is fighting.
And more fighting.
Constantly fighting.
Until both her strength and spirit are drained!
Duke Wilson’s starship sailed slowly in space.
After leaving the military headquarters, the previously delayed information transition station was re-installed.
He fixedly looked at the picture on the holographic screen and asked without any emotion: “What’s the matter with this mecha?”
He seems to be looking at a video from a few hours ago.
The subordinate replied politely: “It is probably the insanity a Sentinel feels when their spiritual connection is severed.
Duke Wilson laughed, but the corners of his mouth did not rise at all.
“Let’s go and see our noble princess,” he said diffusely.
Lin Yan had already woken up.
Strands of hair stuck to the forehead due to her sweat and covered half of her eyes.
Amber eyes looked forward blankly and out of focus, completely devoid of the bright and clever look of the past.
Her body was tied to an operating seat and her surroundings were empty, without any extra items.
She looked forward blankly, seemingly unaware of what kind of situation she was in.
Her head hurt so much that she wanted to cry, but her throat seemed to be blocked, and her eyes were too dry to let her cry.
Something was missing. She could feel it throughout her entire body.
The wall in front of him gradually became transparent, showing a person’s figure.
“Your Highness, don’t you feel like you’re missing something?”
Lin Yan looked up blankly.
The well-dressed noble in front of her, with a fake smile, stretched out his hand and pulled up a holographic screen into the air.
A video played.
A silver and black mecha. It looked so small against the backdrop of the universe.
It was constantly being attacked, hit by missiles, and its robotic arm was cut off by other mechas, and finally it was engulfed by the huge glow of light that was produced by the explosion.
“Your Highness should understand what this is, right?”
… She didn’t understand.
Why did the other end of the spiritual connection not respond?
Kristen.
If you can hear me, just answer me, okay?
The person in front of him seemed to laugh: “Your Sentinel is dead. Can you feel it?”
“No matter how hard you try, you will never get a response.”
The nobleman watched with satisfaction as the imprisoned princess lowered her proud head.
The princess’s thin body was trembling, and she coughed violently.
She coughed so violently, as if she was about to cough up all her heart and lungs, and she frowned in pain, and even the beautiful face was twisted.
Duke Wilson didn’t mind, he stood still, admiring the fragility of the princess who was always so unwilling to be controlled.
The violent coughing finally stopped, and Lin Yan slowly raised her head, revealing her face that had just been covered by long black hair.
The corners of her mouth were bright red.
It was blood. Blood was dripping down her face.
Duke Wilson laughed. They just severed the spiritual connection… who knew that the princess would be aggravated to the point of vomiting blood.
I really don’t know whether to laugh at the power of this so-called love, or to laugh at the spirit of the princess being so fragile. So even the dignified S-level Guide can be destroyed with just a small blow.
She was reacting even more severely than the A-level guide they handed over to the military department.
He withdrew his gaze in disappointment and left the room.
Lin Yan closed her eyes.
Her spiritual tentacles were raging out of control in her body, tearing wounds one after another.
The throat was constantly surging with a sweet smell, and even her eyes seemed to gradually be covered with a layer of red.
……This is probably due to a ruptured blood vessel in the eyeball?
Yet despite the pain, she seemed to be rather relaxed as she assessed her body.
This was because although the body is in endless pain, her spirit seems to be free from the shackles of the body and she felt an unprecedented clarity and calmness.
She can’t fall here.
Those unfinished dreams, those wishes that they had made together have not been realized yet, and she had no excuse to just give up now.
Lin Yan opened her eyes vigorously.
This situation was so familiar.
Much like her first meeting with Kristen.
She was tied up in the center of the prison room, and then watched as her opponent was defeated by a beauty in a red dress, and the laser blade that sliced through her imprisonments like cheese.
But no matter how she looked at it, there was no one standing in front of her.
No one was coming to rescue her this time.
The spiritual tentacles slowly started to expand and extend even further, and then quietly transformed into a completely different form.
It was like being connected to the star network.
Lin Yan raised her head, her amber eyes now scarlet eyes and as bright and clever as usual. But for some reason, a terrifying feeling exuded from them.
Her voice sounded soft and sickeningly sweet,
“Kristen, didn’t I tell you before… that I’ll go insane without you.”
“If you are gone, I will be broken.”
“Why didn’t you show up to stop me?”
The thruster of the starship started to malfunction and then went out abruptly.
She smiled, and the spiritual tentacles seemed to be energized as it greedly infuriated the data of the starship system.
“Kristen, save me.”
The alarms that went off were roughly cut off at the first beep, and then the malfunction that began in the thrusters spread out like a terrible disaster on the starship.
Then starship went out of control.
Author’s notes:
Double blackening in progress——
Fluffy Translations 
UwU
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