Chapter 169.1 Butterfly effect (1)
Editor: Jodi
In the temporary command post of the Sima Legion, Sheng Heng, who had been closest to the wormhole at the time, was reporting the situation.
“The appearance of the wormhole was completely unexpected. If I hadn’t sensed a strong mental energy fluctuation and dodged instinctively, I might have been sucked into the wormhole as well.” Sheng Heng said.
“Such a strong mental energy fluctuation. General Xiao, did you feel it at the time?” Yu Xiu Yuan turned to General Xiao and asked.
“No.” General Xiao shook his head, “I was quite far away at that time.”
His and Sheng Heng’s mission was to restrict the movement of the mutated zergs, not to kill them, hence at that time, he had just been standing at a distance to support Sheng Heng and so didn’t get close. If he had been there, with the response speed of a traditional mech, he might not have been able to avoid the pull of the wormhole, and by now, his whereabouts would be unknown.
“The mental energy came from inside the wormhole, however it didn’t spread outwards.” Sheng Heng said. “After I dodged, I could only sense a bit of it faintly.”
“Sheng Heng, can you describe how strong this mental energy was?” Yu Xiu Yuan asked.
Sheng Heng recalled for a moment, then his face slightly pale, he answered, “When I sensed this mental energy, my sea of consciousness trembled.”
Hearing this, everyone’s expression changed. The trembling of one’s sea of consciousness was an adverse reaction produced when a low level mental energy was suppressed by a high level mental energy, and Sheng Heng had the highest mental energy level among all of them, so if the other party could make his sea of consciousness tremble at the first encounter, then it meant that the other party’s mental energy level was at least one level higher than S level.
“Could it be the Zerg Emperor?” General Xiao asked.
This question was also on the minds of all the high-ranking military officials present.
“It can only be the Zerg Emperor. If not, what hope would the Federation have left?” Yu Xiu Yuan said with a bitter smile.
If this zerg with such a high level of mental energy wasn’t the Zerg Emperor but another type of mutated zerg, then when the real Zerg Emperor appeared, the entire Federation would be nothing but a feast for the zergs.
“The Science Academy just sent a message saying that the Zerg Emperor intentionally created eight wormholes to retrieve the mutated zergs, probably for the recycling of nutrients.” Yu Xiu Yuan added.
“For evolution?” Although General Admiral Sheng wasn’t present at the scene, he was still attending the meeting via video, and was one of the first to guess that the zergs were evolving.
“Yes.” Yu Xiu Yuan sighed. “We originally thought that by not killing all the mutated zergs, the Zerg Emperor wouldn’t make a move, but now it seems that the Zerg Emperor might have had a plan all along.”
And as for what the plan was, everyone could guess the outcome, but the process was unimaginable. Eight mutated zergs had nearly destroyed more than half of the Federation’s military power, and how the Zerg Emperor planned to deal with them was truly unknown. If previously Yan Hao’s mimetic mech might have been a backup plan, now ‘Victory’ had only been built a month ago, and even if Yan Hao was a genius, it was unlikely that he could upgrade the mimetic mech again in just a month.
“So… what do we do next?” Someone in the meeting eventually asked.
The crowd looked at each other, with no one answering, and after a prolonged silence, Yu Xiu Yuan, as the Marshal of the Federation, could only leave the sentence — plan for the long term.
After the disappearance of the mutated zergs, the zergs that had been attacking humanity ferociously suddenly became quiet again. They either lurked on the planets they occupied or wandered silently in space, and even when they saw human warships and mechs from a distance, as long as the humans didn’t initiate an attack, they would act as if they hadn’t seen them, and this abnormal behavior filled them with a sense of impending crisis, as it was like the calm before a storm.
The military didn’t dare relax, as they knew that the Zerg Emperor could appear at any time. They had to seize every opportunity to strengthen their military power. Hence all star-level weapons were adjusted and prepared to be ready for immediate use, and the soldiers rested and recuperated, while the mech builders worked day and night to modify their mechs.
Yan Hao, as the initiator, was extremely busy during this period, having not left the maintenance room for a month straight. On the other hand, Sheng Heng found himself with some free time. He returned to Planet S36 and went on time every day to deliver meals to Yan Hao, staying with him even after he finished eating, simply sitting in the maintenance room to watch as he worked, sometimes for several hours.
“Eat more, you’ve lost weight recently.” Sheng Heng said with distress as he picked a piece of braised pork for him.
“The canteen has braised pork today?” Yan Hao looked at today’s dish with surprise. It had to be known that as resources were tight during this period, the canteen mostly provided simple and fast meals, so special dishes like this, which took more time to prepare, hadn’t been seen by Yan Hao for a long time.
“Try it. Is it good?”
Yan Hao took a bite, then squinted happily: “It’s delicious, just a little too much sugar.”
“Then I’ll use less sugar next time.”
“You made this?” Yan Hao looked at Sheng Heng in surprise.
“Yes, I spent all morning learning how to make it.” The expression on Sheng Heng’s face was of one begging for praise and reward.
Yan Hao looked around, then seeing that they were alone, leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. However after he finished kissing him, he realized he had smeared all the oil from his mouth onto his face, and unable to help it as he laughed, he took a tissue to wipe his face.
And Sheng Heng, having gotten a reward, became even more enthusiastic: “What would you like for a midnight snack? I’ll make it for you.”
“There’s no need, they provide snacks here at night. You should go back and rest well, you might have to go to the battlefield at any moment.” Although the Federation seemed stable now and Sheng Heng had returned from the front lines, Yan Hao knew that it was only temporary, because if the Federation had really become completely stable and the zerg tide had passed, the mech builders of the legion wouldn’t need to be working day and night anymore.
Sheng Heng froze, his heart sinking as he thought of the Zerg Emperor that would appear at some unknown time.
“What’s wrong?” Yan Hao sensed that his mood wasn’t right.
“Nothing, I just can’t bear to part with you.”
“Then stay here until ten o’clock, and then go back.” Yan Hao said softly, blushing a little. He actually also didn’t want Sheng Heng to leave.
Smiling, Sheng Heng ruffled his somewhat messy hair, however Yan Hao reacted quickly, dodging hurriedly: “Ai-ya, I haven’t washed my hair for several days.”
“Is it just your hair, or that you haven’t showered at all? “
“Neither.” Yan Hao frowned. “Do I smell? This won’t do, I have to find some time to take a shower later.”
“Come shower at my place?”
“No, there’s a shower room here. A quick rinse will do. What’s more going to your place and back would still take over ten minutes.”
Sheng Heng sighed, a look of disappointment on his face.
“What’s wrong?”
“I was originally hoping to apply to join in, but it seems that’s not happening.” Sheng Heng looked at Yan Hao like a woman who had been thwarted in love.
Join in? Join what?
It took a moment for Yan Hao to understand, then he glared at him. “What time is it that you’re still thinking about these things?”
Sheng Heng chuckled: “Don’t you know that for people like us who have spent a long time in the barracks, all we think about is these things when we see our wives? “
“You…… you can’t you wait until this crisis is over?”
“Alright, I’ll wait until this crisis is over.” Sheng Heng lowered his eyes, not letting Yan Hao see the abnormality on his face.
After that, the two didn’t say anything much. After he finished eating, Yan Hao went back to work, and Sheng Heng cleaned up the dishes then stayed by his side until past eleven before leaving.
**
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