Chapter 64

Cheng Jiu, in front of the video call, hadn't expected to see Lin Fu like this.

Worn out yet unusually relaxed, he was like a feline animal that had let down its guard, leaning askew in the couch to rest.

His eyes were so heavy he could barely keep them open, and at the slightest noise, he would occasionally flick his ears.

His gaze softened, and he didn't continue to tease the child with words; instead, he quietly observed, waiting for Lin Fu to speak.

His gaze slid down from Lin Fu's eyes to the tip of his nose, and then to his lips, involuntarily recalling the impulsive touch they had shared when they last parted.

Though it had been a long time, the memory was unexpectedly vivid.

The corners of his eyes crinkled even lower.

Lin Fu didn't notice Cheng Jiu's gaze and asked, "I heard you took over the Ninth Legion and got promoted to Marshal?"

Cheng Jiu simply replied, "Yeah."

Lin Fu wasn't quite used to Cheng Jiu being so quiet. After quietly watching him for a while, he curved his lips and said, "Congratulations, Marshal Cheng."

Cheng Jiu asked him, "Since it's congratulations, aren't you going to give me a gift?"

Lin Fu hadn't expected this, but it wasn't a problem: "I'll give you a congratulatory gift when we meet."

Cheng Jiu had never before received a gift prepared by Lin Fu; a spark of interest appeared in his eyes: "You said it."

Lin Fu's eyelids drooped, and he answered wearily: "I said it."

When the system suggested it was time for him to sleep, he scoffed, feeling not the slightest bit tired. But in just a short while, his skepticism was proven wrong.

His mind felt stuffed with cotton, a heavy fog that forbade any thought. His eyelids, heavy as if filled with lead, pulled him irresistibly into the depths of slumber.

He reclined on the sofa, head tilted back, the tips of his hair still damp and wreathed with mist. The collar of his robe fell open, revealing a graceful collarbone and a patch of pale skin. In such an unguarded state, right in front of Cheng Jiu, his eyes closed and he succumbed to deep sleep.

Noting his slumber, Cheng Jiu lowered his voice for the recording, quietly observing Lin Fu's face.

His gaze lingered on the still-damp hair and the dark circles under his eyes, a frown creasing his brow as a thought weighed heavily on his mind.

During his time in the Fourth Army, Lin Fu had attempted to make contact, but never once got through.

Had it not been for the sporadic snippets of news, he might have feared the worst for Lin Fu.

But looking at him now, it seemed things hadn't improved much.

All glory comes at a price. Especially at his age, achieving what no one else has, the cost multiplies.

In these three years, how many injuries he sustained, how much blood he shed, only he knows.

Yet Cheng Jiu felt a pang of heartache.

Happy and heartbroken at the same time.

After all, he had achieved what he set out to do.

But there was no need for such haste.

……

It was the persistent knocking that woke Lin Fu.

Amid the urgent rapping, he opened his eyes, squinting as they adjusted to the light.

System: "Host, you've slept for fourteen hours. Your subordinates are knocking; they think something's happened to you and are trying to break in."

Lin Fu pushed himself up from the sofa.

He was still clad in the bathrobe he wore before bed, his hair bent and tousled from sleeping against the sofa, a few strands fluttering atop his head.

He ran a hand through his hair, exchanged his bathrobe for a military uniform, and entered the bathroom to freshen up. Half a minute later, he opened the door.

Seeing him unharmed, his subordinate breathed an imperceptible sigh of relief: “Colonel, would you like to have breakfast now?”

Lin Fu adjusted the wristband of his light-brain and casually took out a vial of nutrient solution. “No need, I’m heading to the assembly. Also, send a message to the royal family; we’ll be visiting His Majesty this evening.”

“Understood.”

The group exited the hotel and boarded the hovering car.

Lin Fu remembered he was in the middle of a call with Cheng Jiu before falling asleep. He activated his light-brain, his eyes sweeping over the screen, and his movements suddenly froze... Nine hours of video call?

His eyebrows twitched slightly.

The person beside him noticed the change in his expression and asked, “Colonel, is there something wrong?”

Lin Fu suppressed the slight unease that surfaced: “No.”

As they arrived at the entrance of the assembly's outer courtyard, they were stopped by the sentry at the gate.

The guard, expressionless, addressed them: “Present your entry permit, or please stay away from this important area.”

His subordinate was immediately incensed.

How many people across the stars wouldn’t recognize Lin Fu’s face?

This was clearly deliberate!

No, it was the assembly that was deliberate.

They were trying to intimidate Lin Fu, to let him know the assembly wasn’t so easily provoked. Before any action, one must consider whether they could bear the consequences.

Lin Fu merely glanced at them, making no superfluous moves.

The anger in the car, without knowing why, dissipated as quickly as it had arisen, replaced by a sense of absurdity.

To think that such low-grade intimidation tactics were being used; this was the assembly, after all.

Lin Fu opened the car door, stood at the entrance, and adjusted his military cap. With deliberate calm, he said, “Connect to the internal line now, and inform them that Colonel Lin Fu, the representative of the Fourth Army, is waiting at the main gate and hopes for a punctual meeting.”

His demeanor was icy, and as he stepped out of the car, an overwhelming presence engulfed the space.

The guard's face paled as he nodded involuntarily, turned, and dialed the internal line to convey Lin Fu's message.

The internal line operator, forewarned and nonchalant, responded, “Let the Colonel wait at the entrance for a while. The assembly has to deal with the affairs of the entire empire; we're not as idle as the Fourth Army...”

“Is that so?” A cool voice suddenly interjected. The operator, taken aback, listened as it continued, “In that case, we'll return to our hotel and wait for the assembly to attend to these matters whenever they’re available.”

The operator stumbled, “Ah… You are…”

“I am Lin Fu. As the Fourth Army's quarters in the Imperial Capital Star have been allocated to another army, we are currently residing in a hotel. My deputy will send you the address shortly.”

“Additionally, please relay to the President of the Assembly that I am visiting alone; there’s no need for undue concern. If he’s truly too busy, I wouldn’t mind helping him shoulder some of his workload.”

The operator, not expecting Lin Fu to answer the call personally, listened in a daze, unable to formulate a response, staring blankly as the communication was cut off.

This wasn’t what they had been told at all.

Weren’t they just supposed to stop them and make them wait outside, to wear down their spirit?

But now, they were just turning back?

The guard was equally bewildered, watching as Lin Fu returned to the vehicle, which vanished in the blink of an eye as if they had never been there, as if it had all been a dream.

The group headed back.

As they neared the hotel, Lin Fu suddenly spoke up, “Head to the Artemis Military Academy.”

The team leader sitting in the passenger seat, Pedder Latte, scratched his brown curls, turned his head, and asked Lin Fu with confusion, “Colonel, should we answer the assembly's call?”

Lin Fu had already removed his military cap. Since returning to the Imperial Capital Star, the icy aura of the battlefield that clung to him was gradually receding, taking on more the air of someone who had just left the Artemis Military Academy.

He leaned back in his seat, a slight lift to his brows, “Your light-brain is damaged; you’ll need to buy a new one tomorrow, understand?”

Pedder Latte’s hand went from scratching his curls to tugging at his hair, wincing from the self-inflicted pain before snapping back to reality. Hastily, he removed his light-brain and tossed it into a storage container.

His eyes rolled, thinking to himself that this was how Colonel Lin behaved outside the battlefield.

This approach to things… He liked it!

Stupid assembly, go play by yourselves!

When Lin Fu arrived at the Artemis Military Academy, classes were in session.

There were autonomous patrolling robots at the main gate, which was firmly closed. Without proper clearance, no one could enter.

Lin Fu's entry was unexpectedly smooth.

He stood at the entrance for a moment, unable to suppress a laugh.

"Retaining student access rights even after graduation is indeed something Principal Karl would do," he thought.

His subordinates curiously glanced around at one of the five renowned interstellar military academies.

To a certain extent, Artemis Military Academy is regarded as the premier military school across the star systems. A status that, despite recent years of pursuit, the Hui Shi Academy could not attain.

Lin Fu, carrying his general's cap in the crook of his arm, took a side path to avoid the crowd. Passing by a training ground, he heard the lively cheers and shouts from within and changed direction to take a look.

This was the hand-to-hand combat training field, not particularly large but surrounded by a multitude of spectating students.

Their eyes were glued to the platform where two sentinels wrestled each other. They cheered and jeered with excitement, sometimes earning cold stares from their teachers, which made them touch their noses sheepishly and tone it down a notch.

In contrast, Lin Fu's small group didn't attract much attention, blending into the background.

After watching for a while, his subordinates, gradually engrossed, couldn't help but remark, "Is this the prowess of the premier military academy? This level of skill would take at least a year of training on a reserve planet for an average recruit to achieve."

Even without knowing the exact ranks of those on the platform, the psychic energy emanating from the fight was not difficult for these veterans to discern its general intensity.

"Around Grade B, just slightly above the enlistment standard," they surmised.

Their gaze instinctively fell on Lin Fu.

In reality, most of the Fourth Army had only a vague idea of what Lin Fu was like before he joined. Their perception of him was dominated by his cold and relentless extermination of the bug race on the front lines, like a tireless killing machine.

His abilities were so awe-inspiring that they often overlooked his age, his gender.

Only after stepping away from the front lines did they begin to grasp the reality—this individual, who had led them to reclaim one Class S planet after another, was indeed still a very young guide.

He had left the academy less than three years ago.

Pedder Latt, curious, asked, "Colonel, were you the top student in your class when you were at the academy?"

Lin Fu replied, "No."

Pedder Latt was astonished, "You weren't even the first? How formidable was the one who was? Weren't you one of the ten victors in the Desolate Star Competition three years ago?"

Lin Fu clarified, "The Desolate Star Competition I participated in underwent reforms, allowing underclassmen to compete. I was a sophomore and joined alongside my senior classmates. Even though I secured a victorious spot in the competition, I wasn't the top student in my grade."

After a pause, he added, "According to the class division system of Artemis Military Academy, I was at the end of the A-tier classes."

Pedder Latt silently gazed at him, his expression conveying disbelief.

At that moment, a wave of astonishment rippled through the surrounding crowd: "Wow!"

Their attention snapped back to the platform.

The deadlock between the two sentinels had been broken. A redhead sentinel had wrapped his legs around his opponent's neck, bending into an arch. With a powerful thrust of his legs, he flipped his adversary over. As his opponent lost balance and fell, the redhead quickly disentangled himself and secured his opponent's neck, forcing him to raise his hand in surrender.

The entire reversal occurred in just a few seconds; it took but a moment of distraction for the victor to be decided.

But the students' excitement surpassed Lin Fu and his companions' expectations.

Among them, some screamed and cheered, while others couldn't stop themselves from repeatedly exclaiming "Holy shit" in shock.

They pieced together the story from the fervent discussions around them.

"Ah! Incredible! That's the move Senior Lin Fu used against Professor Bazel. Evok actually pulled it off!"

"It's a classic move! There's hardly any chance to use it in a real fight! Evok's exam is in the bag, his grades have always been stable, he's definitely getting into the A-tier classes!"

"When can we be as amazing as Senior Lin Fu?"

"Don't dream; Senior Lin Fu is someone who could fight Professor Bazel shortly after joining the school. I'd be satisfied if I could reach that level before graduation."

Pedder Latt: "..."

He almost believed what the Colonel had said.

The surrounding voices gradually shifted towards singing Lin Fu's praises. He hadn't anticipated this himself. Lowering his head with a cough, hints of pink tinged his ears. He turned, ready to leave.

"I've been watching you for a while, and it really is you!"