Dawn Sleep

Fallen Sun (1)

At five o’clock in the morning, during this time of winter, the sky outside the window was still very dark.

Jiang Jianming laid in the treatment cabin, hazily staring at the window lattice of the White Jade Palace for a long time.

After a while, the lid of the treatment cabin opened. A slender hand stretched down from the side, brushed away his sweaty black hair, and felt the temperature on his forehead.

Garcia deliberately sat on the head of the treatment cabin. Jiang Jianming, who was lying on his back, could only lift his neck and tilt his head back forcefully to barely see those beautiful emerald colored eyes.

Garcia withdrew his gaze and hand, then said lightly, “Not burning anymore. How do you feel now?”

Jiang Jianming’s eyes were empty, and he dejectedly said, “…very hungry.”

Garcia said indifferently, “You deserve it, falling ill and not also eating dinner.”

“Didn’t have lunch either.”

Jiang Jianming’s eyesight were weak, he pressed his stomach that was throbbing with hunger with his right hand, pressed a button with his left hand, then crawled out of the opened treatment cabin weakly, “…yesterday’s matter was too messy, you even still lost your temper.”

Last night’s noise, in the end, it was still Garcia who carried him back to the room and let the robot move a treatment cabin to stuff him in again. At that time, he was already exhausted from being drowned and freezing, and the fever and arguments drained his energy one after another, causing him to fall asleep as soon as he touched the pillow.

“The only food is toast and porridge.” Garcia coldly gestured to the table with his gaze, “Go eat.”

A fierce argument like that, they had even stabbed knives in each other’s hearts, yet unexpectedly, after the argument, on the contrary it felt quite refreshing. At this moment, it felt like a brief return to the old days.

Jiang Jianming washed up briefly, then staggered and sat down at the table to have breakfast. Garcia kept staring at him not too far and not too close, as if on guard against whether he might suddenly faint at any moment.

Perhaps it was the existence of that “deal” that led His Highness to withdraw.

Jiang Jianming thought to himself: Although I still haven’t agreed yet.

He ate and rested for a while. Afterwards, he went to the hanger to get the coat and put it on, which was still that simple and plain long cotton coat.

Garcia frowned unhappily, and said without emotion, “Going out again?”

While changing his shoes, Jiang Jianming highlighted Zheng Yue’s affairs to Garcia and said, “Old Marshal Chen asked me to bring someone over to find him today.”

He pushed open the door, and a ray of morning light peeked in from the outside, illuminating his black hair and eyelashes, “I will keep my wrist device on all the time, you’ll be able to see my real-time coordinates……don’t worry.”

Garcia turned his head in silence, and did not respond to this.

The sound of the door closing echoed in the empty room, which inexplicably sounded a bit harsh.

****

Two hours later.

Military headquarters, Old Marshal Chen’s single person office.

Old Marshal Chen: “There is indeed a record of a starship that does not match. Come, have a look.”

Jiang Jianming’s eyes fell on the virtual screen that had been swiped over, and quickly scanned the data information on it. “It’s true. I didn’t expect such a thing to happen in the Imperial Capital…and with Her Majesty’s birthday that is still on the way.”

After reading it, he exhaled a breath lightly and raised his face.

What came into his view was the spacious office. The stereoscopic projection star map on the wall, the communication device placed upright on the table, and the person sitting opposite him….the Old Marshal Chen Hanke with gray hair.

The last time he walked into this office, it was when he said his last goodbye to Ryann.

The old marshal’s style was simple yet tough. In the past three years, the furnishings in the office have hardly changed except for being slightly outdated.

“No, there is another possibility.”

The old marshal’s eyes gleamed with brilliance, and he knocked on the table and said, “Precisely because it is the Imperial Capital, and precisely because Her Majesty’s birthday is approaching, that there are conspiracies done by villains. This is likely to be a serious problem, fortunately, it was discovered.”

“The opponent is very cunning. The anti-reconnaissance was done well. All the key data were either erased or possibly has been replaced. It is difficult to trace the whereabouts of this batch of real crystal ores for the time being.”

“As for the mecha interference wave, Xie Yuduo is urging that kid every day, but you also know that this thing only appeared in the past few months, and the Black Shark Base has been studying about it day and night. However, since we have not been able to obtain samples of the interference wave transmitter, technically, it is difficult to crack it in a short period of time.”

Jiang Jianming’s eyes sank. “Is that so…”

He pushed the virtual screen over and returned it to the old marshal, crossed his fingers, and fell into deep thought.

Not being able to decipher the interference wave for a day, the lives of the Silver Big Dipper soldiers fighting in the Far Interstellar Space are also at risk for a day.

Major General Xie, Instructor Huo Lin, Lieutenant Raymond, Tang Zhen and other officers in the adaptation period…even the three officers who tried to undermine his military achievements, the white fatty, the black and lean, and the bearded officer, and even the kind female head nurse in the treatment area.

Those are the people who fought bravely for this empire. Blood should not be shed by cold arrows in the dark.

“Old Marshal, I think this is a good opportunity.”

After a moment of pondering, Jiang Jianming calmly raised his eyes, “You see, if we can pursue this case, won’t we possibly be able to seize the interference wave transmitter from the real culprit behind the scenes, and even get more information?”

Old Marshal Chen raised his eyebrows with “ho-ho”, looked deeply at Jiang Jianming, and showed a smile full of admiration. “Well said.”

In the face of a difficult situation, instead of being intimidated, one should think of the results of the victory first…..This was the demeanor of a great general, and this young man in front of him once again surprised him.

The old marshal opened the desk drawer and took out a set of folded military uniforms stored in a transparent bag.

The gold buckle on a white background was like a symbol woven of eternal days prosperity of blazing sun.

Jiang Jianming recognized the imposing white-gold military uniform at a glance. This was the standard of the Golden Sun Wheel Imperial Guard.

“Little Excellency, now is a special period. To be honest, it is very difficult for this old man to release service to an existing power and find someone who is both capable and absolutely trustworthy to investigate this matter.”

“Do good deeds to the end, send the Buddha to the west. Since Major Zheng Yue was rescued by Little Excellency, if you are willing, I will leave this matter to you to investigate.” (TL: actually “Send Buddha to the West” a proverb, pinyin sòng fó sòng dào xī, is a metaphor to do good deeds to the end)

The old marshal patted the stack of military uniforms, “I’ll give you the position of a temporary inspector, with full authority to thoroughly investigate this case. There is no superior, and you are directly responsible to me, how about it?”

Jiang Jianming raised his eyebrows, a little surprised, “You simply trust me as such.”

The old man only smiled and said nothing.

Jiang Jianming’s heart skipped a beat. After pondering for a few seconds, he suddenly understood Old Marshal Chen’s eclectic approach.

Putting aside the issues of qualifications and prejudices, and thinking about it carefully, I am really… quite a suitable candidate.

Unlike all the officers serving in the empire, first of all, he did not have any factions and did not participate in power struggles, and was determined to not be bribed and would not be afraid of future suppression.

Furthermore, he was an orphan widow with no father or mother, and his teachers and friends all had extraordinary status one by one. Whether it was a traitor lurking in the Golden Sun Wheel or a mole, there would be no way to threaten him, even if it’s a matter of weighing whether his body might caught fire.

Not only that, but he was the only officer to have personally seen an interference wave transmitter on the front line, and possibly even fought against the enemies behind the scenes.

Although he didn’t have much more information than others now, the battle situation was still changing rapidly, and it was very likely that a little intuition in the dark would be an opportunity to reverse life and death.

Jiang Jianming shook his head and smiled.

“Alright, since the Old Marshal is thinking highly of me, I am honored.”

“That’s wonderful.” Chen Hanke nodded in satisfaction, picked up the tea on the table and took a few sips.

Putting down the cup, the old man suddenly spoke of another matter in a casual tone, as if discussing today’s morning, and nonchalantly mentioned another matter.

“Ah, Little Excellency, your rank in Silver Big Dipper…I recall it’s a lieutenant.”

“Yes.” Jiang Jianming nodded.

“Little Xie mentioned to me that you once went deep into the enemy line with His Highness Garcia, cracked the tactics of the space bandits while being trapped and saved the lives of hundreds of Silver Big Dipper people.”

The old marshal rubbed his chin and said, “This is a great meritorious service, and supposedly should give you an exceptional promotion. But the Silver Big Dipper front line, Little Excellency, Little Jiang, don’t blame me, this dirty old man for speaking bluntly, but it’s just really too difficult.”

“……..”

Jiang Jianming lowered his eyes and remained silent with a half smile.

The old marshal stood up, sighed, walked to Jiang Jianming, and patted the young man on the shoulder. “But I also know that letting you go to the rear to do civil service now, you will definitely be unwilling. How about this, the Little Highness has always wanted you to join the Golden Sun Wheel before that accident happened. Now, it’s time to make up for it.”

“When you solve this case, you can be..…a lieutenant colonel in the Golden Sun Wheel.”

Jiang Jianming turned his eyes away quickly, and said softly but urgently, “Old Marshal!”

The old marshal laughed and squeezed his shoulder. “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, the military rank on the Silver Big Dipper side will be kept for you.”

Jiang Jianming smiled bitterly. “I know, I didn’t mean that…”

From Lieutenant to Lieutenant Colonel, being promoted three levels up.

This is an unprecedented and exceptional promotion since the establishment of the New Empire.

Moreover, it’s not just an ordinary transfer from one legion to another. Judging from what the old marshal meant, he was planning to let him have a bilateral military rank.

Serving at the same time in the “Silver Spear” and the “Golden Shield”, the strongest pair of the empire, the Silver Big Dipper and the Golden Sun Wheel…..This is not only a first-of-its-kind experience, but also something that many soldiers of the empire could not even imagine in their dreams.

Such a shocking promotion, such an unheard of honor.

But Jiang Jianming was not carried away.

He thought to himself somewhat dumbfoundingly: Sure enough, although on the surface he no longer pursued the fact that he cheated the transfer order…

But in the old marshal’s mind, he still would prefer him to stay in the empire, rather than on the Far Interstellar Space front line.

Whether this is actually showing concern for himself, or for the secrets of the empire, or both…it is not easy for him to speculate.

Just like how he very cleverly didn’t ask why Garcia existed. If the old marshal could say it, he would have said it on his own initiative.

So in the end, Jiang Jianming just bent his lips casually, and lightly said, “Well…..promotion matters, let’s put it off until some time later. I will settle this matter first before that.”

“By the way, the Major Zheng Yue who is waiting outside, please assign him as my deputy. For an unfair piece of information that has nothing to do with him, withstanding the pressure of his superiors, even losing his life and family possession just to investigate to the end, this person is a courageous and upright man.”