Chapter 33#
Breakfast#
These past few days, Yin Beichen had not slept well.
He often closed his eyes, only for countless fragmented images to surface in his mind, keeping him awake through the night until his biological clock forced his eyes open the next morning.
As usual, Yin Beichen washed up and dressed, then sat by the bed, his blue eyes fixed on the door. He stayed like that for a long while until the morning exercise period was almost over. Only then did he lower his gaze to his disheveled golden hair, slowly walking over to the mirror.
His eyes swept across the neatly arranged hair ties of various colors, finally settling on an ink-black band. He picked it up with his fingertip, staring at it for a moment, a trace of unspoken tenderness hidden deep in his eyes.
In the end, Yin Beichen tied it into his hair, securing it carefully.
After tidying up his appearance, Yin Beichen called the commander in charge of the search. The call rang several times before being picked up, and a drowsy, nasal voice came through.
“Who is it?”
“How are things?”
Hearing that indifferent voice, the commander was instantly wide awake. “Reporting, sir. No trace of the aircraft.”
“Nothing?” The news chilled Yin Beichen’s expression even further. “Have you searched the surrounding star sectors?”
“I’ve dispatched three drone teams to thoroughly search all star sectors within three li of the coordinate location, and we’re monitoring all aircraft takeoffs and landings in Waster City in real time. Still no findings.” The commander paused, then continued, “We’ve checked all aircraft except for those that entered the parking apron earlier.”
Hearing this, Yin Beichen pressed his lips together.
Three days had passed since reviewing the surveillance footage, and there was still no progress.
Every day, after finishing his military duties, his first task was to contact the commander in charge to check on progress, demanding reports no matter how late it was. Yet each time, the feedback was disappointing.
Where in the world had Ning Feng gone…?
After waiting a long time without a response, the commander grew uneasy.
“Sir, I have a question.”
“Ask.”
“The environment near the missing coordinates is harsh, and the aircraft is very small. Could it have been caught in a turbulence and then…?”
He choked back the word “disintegrate,” but Yin Beichen understood.
Suddenly, he recalled Qu Yan’s words—“No one knows what accident might happen.”
His handsome, flawless face was obscured in the dim orange light. Yin Beichen stared blankly ahead, his eyes covered with an unthawable frost, his fists unconsciously clenching.
No. Ning Feng was merely missing.
The top priority now was to find the aircraft.
Right. Don’t panic. First, find the aircraft.
Yin Beichen looked up and let out a long breath, as if trying to expel all the pent-up pressure.
“Expand the surveillance range. Don’t leave any blind spots.” His low voice was devoid of any fluctuation. “If necessary, you can directly intervene at the starport in Waster City and conduct individual inspections.”
“Understood!”
After that, Yin Beichen gave a few more details before checking his work plan for the day.
The day after tomorrow was the deadline to submit the report on the Nest Planet. Recently, he had diverted his attention elsewhere, causing the review analysis, which should have been completed early, to remain unfinished. Yin Beichen decided to spend the entire day in the war room, subsisting on nutrient supplements for all three meals. But just then, a flippant voice suddenly popped into his mind.
【Sir, I think nutrient supplements are the least nutritious things there are.】
He pondered for a moment, then turned and headed toward the mess hall.
By the time he arrived at the mess hall, it was already quite late. Soldiers who had just finished their morning exercises crowded in groups, filling the space with a clamorous din.
This was Yin Beichen’s first time eating alone in the mess hall.
In the past, Ning Feng always prepared his meals. He only needed to find a seat, wait patiently for a while, and steaming-hot dishes would be placed before him.
So, having not served himself in a long time, Yin Beichen stood before a row of counters, frowning as he studied them for a long time.
Why were there so many cuisines?
What had he usually had for breakfast?
Seeing this, the others were unsure what to make of the officer’s thoughts. But to the hungry soldiers, no matter who you were, eating came first. They quickly snapped to attention, saluted, and darted off to grab their food.
After thinking for a long while, Yin Beichen finally picked a counter at random and started queuing. The person in front of him, sensing the officer behind him, felt a chill run down his neck and quickly tried to step aside. But Yin Beichen stopped him.
“I’m not in a hurry,” he said.
Hearing this, the others stopped offering their places, though they did speed up their meal service.
Watching the lively crowd around him, Yin Beichen remained silent and still. He seemed to see that tall figure standing in front of him, looking up at the screen displaying the dishes while chatting and laughing with others.
The corners of his lips curled up almost imperceptibly.
After a while, it was Yin Beichen’s turn.
“Oh? Isn’t this General Yin?” The mess hall auntie was very surprised to see him. She glanced around left and right, a flicker of worry crossing her face, but quickly broke into a warm smile. “What would you like to eat today?”
Hearing this, Yin Beichen was stunned.
He hadn’t thought about that question. He only remembered the ingredients of his usual meals, but as for their names, he had no idea. However, before he could speak, the auntie nodded to herself.
“Alright, I get it.”
She got it?
Yin Beichen frowned slightly but waited in silence.
Soon enough, the auntie brought out a plate of nutritious food. “Here you go.”
Yin Beichen looked at it—it was exactly what he usually ate. He couldn’t help but feel puzzled. He rarely served himself, so how did the mess hall auntie know?
As if reading his thoughts, the auntie chuckled. “Before he left, Ah Feng used to order these for you every day. He even specially told the kitchen several times to put less ginger in these dishes, saying you don’t like strong flavors.”
Yin Beichen was slightly taken aback. His eyes half-lidded, he remained silent for a long time.
The auntie seemed to realize something. She let out a soft “ah,” then smiled sheepishly.
Muttering a faint thank you, Yin Beichen picked up his tray to find a seat. As he passed the fruit counter, the corner of his eye caught a pile of purple-red fruits.
Dragon fruit.
He stopped, hesitated for a moment, then reached out and took one.
The mess hall was bustling with people chatting and laughing. Only the corner where Yin Beichen sat was completely quiet, the nearby seats left empty—no one dared to sit next to him.
Amid the noise, Yin Beichen ate his breakfast alone.
He ate very slowly, very carefully, but it tasted like chewing wax. The dishes that usually seemed delicious now felt tasteless and hard to swallow.
Had it always tasted like this?
Had the base’s cooks lost their touch?
At some point, Qu Yan also arrived at the mess hall. He clearly saw Yin Beichen sitting in the corner, but he only cast a cold glance and didn’t go over, carrying his tray elsewhere.
Yin Beichen didn’t mind. He and Qu Yan were merely colleagues; any extra camaraderie was only because of Ning Feng.
Come to think of it, his colleagues at the base treated him with more fear than respect. It was only when Ning Feng was around that they dared to strike up a conversation. And only when Ning Feng was there, even if the conversation stalled, the atmosphere wouldn’t get too awkward.
He suddenly realized that that person had, without him noticing, handled many things for him.
Military affairs, strategy, socializing, even daily life… but weren’t these things a deputy’s job?
His brows furrowed deeper and deeper. Finally, Yin Beichen set down his utensils and glanced at the purple-red dragon fruit out of the corner of his eye. After a moment of frowning contemplation, he peeled off the thick skin and took a small bite.
He usually didn’t like such sweet, cloying fruits, but this time, he found the texture refreshing, the sweetness cutting through the grease. For the first time, he thought it actually made a pretty good after-meal fruit.
Suddenly, Yin Beichen remembered the silver fruit he had never tasted.
What would it taste like?
Thinking this, he took another slow bite.
Ning Feng sat upright on the bed, staring intently at the bottle of machine oil in front of him.
The small light bulb above his head flickered, and a faint blue current coursed through his body, passing through the bottle with a crackling sound. The bottle wobbled twice, slowly rose into the air, and landed in Ning Feng’s palm.
“Radish, you’re amazing! You can control electromagnetic energy so quickly!” Wen Qianyong, standing beside him with a data pad, recorded the progress while generously praising him.
Wen Qianyong, Sha Mu’s assistant and the captain of the Blasting Sheep squad.
Actually, Ning Feng didn’t quite understand how the other had become captain. In his opinion, both in terms of intelligence and emotional quotient, Sha Mu was clearly the more suitable candidate.
After a few days of practice, Ning Feng had become quite adept at controlling his new body. But he still needed to gradually adapt to some new functions, such as this newly developed electromagnetic energy.
In the past, some had wanted to install electromagnetic energy in him, but it was related to the strength of one’s brainwave control. Many people had experienced various accidents after testing, like self-detonation, electrical leaks, oil leaks, gender identity confusion, and so on. Someone like Ning Feng, who could control it so effortlessly in just a few days, was truly rare.
To help him better master electromagnetic energy, Sha Mu had installed an antenna and a small light bulb on top of Ning Feng’s head. The soft metal swayed with the movement of his head, looking very cute.
“Don’t call me Radish,” Ning Feng pouted.
“Why not? The name Radish is so cute.”
“That’s exactly why it’s too cute.” He unscrewed the machine oil bottle and stuffed a straw into the small hole at the seam of his mouth, sipping it.
At his strong request as a robot, Sha Mu had installed a “mouth” for Ning Feng.
It was just a black metal wire that couldn’t open or close, nor bend; it could only rotate in an arc. When curved, it looked a bit like a smile. When the mouth was placed in the center, a small hole was revealed, just big enough to fit a machine oil nozzle.
The smell of machine oil wasn’t pleasant—greasy and oily, making him feel sick.
This was the worst grade of machine oil, full of impurities. But it could reduce friction and wear between parts, increasing their lifespan. For Ning Feng in his current state, it played an important role.
So hard to drink.
He craved durian mille crêpe and honey grapefruit tea.
But with this body, if he actually ate those, he’d be done for.
Ning Feng swiveled his camera lens.
These past few days while he was gone, military affairs had probably piled up. The base’s greening plan, the dormitory expansion project, updates to old and new flight routes, the resupply of logistical materials… Oh, the list of mercenaries for the new quarter was due for an update; it was time to finalize contracts.
But the military was full of talent. He was just a deputy. Whether he was there or not didn’t make much difference.
Actually, he wasn’t as important as he thought. The universe wouldn’t explode just because someone was missing.
Crack!
Ning Feng was startled. Looking down, he saw the machine oil bottle crushed and deformed, oil spilling everywhere.
“Ah! Radish, why did you crush the bottle?” Wen Qianyong quickly grabbed a cloth to wipe it up. “Honestly, I just praised you.”
“I told you not to call me Radish.” Ning Feng suppressed his thoughts, tilted his head back, and gulped down the oil.
After a few days of understanding, he had finally grasped the situation here.
The Blasting Sheep squad belonged to a medium-sized mercenary group based in the town of Furnace.
This mercenary group wasn’t very strong. Among the fifty groups in Furnace Town, it ranked forty-ninth. And the Blasting Sheep squad, among the fifty teams, ranked forty-ninth in combat power.
As a result, the monthly allowance they received was the second-to-last of the second-to-last. They barely made ends meet, struggling on the brink of starvation. Fortunately, Sha Mu was quite skilled in mechanical engineering. He occasionally crafted high-quality equipment and sold some resources, barely scraping by.
Under such harsh conditions, Ning Feng didn’t expect to use any good parts. As long as he didn’t fall apart at the slightest movement, he was already satisfied. Luckily, the rough materials didn’t affect Sha Mu’s work. He often made fun little gadgets for him, which looked crude but were quite practical.
If only Sha Mu could add a few more fingers.
Rubbing his square chin, Ning Feng looked at Wen Qianyong. “Where’s Sha Mu?”
Wen Qianyong, who had been all cheerful until then, immediately slumped. “The group leader’s people came again. They’re forcing Brother Mu to participate in the mercenary selection.”