Target for Termination

After four years apart, Xin Yaoqiao had hardly changed at all—at least, she didn't look any taller, nor had she put on weight. However, perhaps because she was wearing the combat uniform of the fighting forces, combined with the high ponytail tied behind her head, her demeanor seemed somewhat more mature and composed than before. "Yaoyao-huanghuang!" "Well, look who it is! Our gorgeous scientist friend is here." "It really has been a long time." "...Hello." Inside the room, Wen Jifei and the other old acquaintances greeted her warmly, and even Wu Xu offered a rare greeting on his own initiative. Only Han Qingyu stood there in silence. *I'm in trouble. The living Great Spike I promised back then—four years have passed, and I still haven't gotten one... and now she's come knocking,* he thought awkwardly. If Xin Yaoqiao brought that up, it was going to be embarrassing. Meanwhile, Xin Yaoqiao, having happily and excitedly greeted everyone around the room, turned back to look at him. "So pretty," Xin Yaoqiao said, the corner of her mouth curving up slightly. "Ah? What?" Han Qingyu snapped back to reality, confused. "I said Major Qing looks so pretty in that outfit." Xin Yaoqiao raised a hand, pointing at the pink badge on Han Qingyu's chest, and teased with a grin, "With that added, it looks exceptionally nice." Han Qingyu: "...Get lost." "No way." Xin Yaoqiao stiffened her neck, lifted her chin, and pouted indignantly. "Four years! Four whole years, and you haven't contacted me once! That's too much! If you said you couldn't help it during the first three years, fine, but what about these past six-plus months? Couldn't you contact me during this half year?" With that, the sense of estrangement seemed to vanish, and the old friend became vivid and familiar once more. Yet, confronted with Xin Yaoqiao's accusation, Han Qingyu froze. In fact, the reason they hadn't contacted Xin Yaoqiao wasn't very specific. Looking back now, part of it was their circumstances back then, part of it was failing to capture a living Great Spike... and there was another very important factor: her identity. Xin Yaoqiao's maternal grandfather was the Speaker of the Huaxia Front Council, and her paternal grandfather was one of the leaders of Azure Huaxia's scientific research. If one acknowledged factions within Azure, both her grandfathers actually stood on the opposite side of Chen Buer and the Sole Witness Legion. They were closer to the Alliance and the Council, and were even among the Alliance's means of checking Chen Buer's influence. So during that period, it hadn't been appropriate for Han Qingyu and his companions to contact her. "Yeah, absolutely outrageous," Wen Jifei chimed in, taking two steps back. "I think so too. I've brought it up several times," He Tangtang said, stepping back as well. Even Wu Xu took a step back. Only Han Qingyu was left standing there, braving it out like a dead pig unbothered by boiling water as he stared back at Xin Yaoqiao... He resolved not to offer an explanation, and decided never to bring up the living Great Spike on his own. Pretending they had just run into each other, Han Qingyu asked, "By the way, why are you here?" "To visit the sick, obviously. I just happened to be passing through, heard you were here, and came over." Xin Yaoqiao didn't press the matter, placing a bag of fruit she had been carrying onto a small table. "Passing through? I remember you weren't really allowed to leave, were you? You couldn't back then, let alone in a situation like this," He Tangtang interjected. "Because..." Xin Yaoqiao began, then paused, turning to look without hesitation at Zhe Qiuhong. The two seemed to know each other, or were at least aware of each other. So Zhe Qiuhong didn't hesitate either. "I'll see you later at dinner, then," she said, stepping straight out of the room and pulling the door shut behind her. "Research Institute 2 has relocated," Xin Yaoqiao said, turning back. "A few days ago, an airship appeared over Institute 2 and lingered for a while. It was the same type of airship as the one carrying that Daie you encountered." Thus, Institute 2 had relocated because they had likely been targeted by the Daie. In the presence of a Daie, they possessed virtually no defensive strength. "Oh," Han Qingyu responded simply. Everyone in the room, including him, wisely refrained from asking where Institute 2 had moved. "You knew we ran into a Daie?" Han Qingyu took the initiative to ask. "No. Duh." She enunciated each word separately, sounding somewhat unaccustomed to it. It was only because of the indignation built up over four years that Comrade Xin Yaoqiao was acting a little more assertive than usual... Pausing, her tone softened as she added, "I know a whole lot." Over the past four years, she had sought out news about them all, whether easy or hard to come by. Choosing not to dwell on the past right then, Xin Yaoqiao pointed at their combat uniforms again and said with a smile, "I even know about this—and earlier than any of you did." Xin Yaoqiao had already chatted with Rusty Sister outside for a while, but she had actually seen the pink moth combat uniform even earlier than that. "Do you know? When I first saw Azure announce that this was Stream Vanguard's emblem, I was completely dumbfounded... I even thought, has Han Qingyu really changed this much? Could he be in love?..." Wen Jifei brought over a stool, and Xin Yaoqiao sat down. Talking and laughing, she pulled an insignia from her pocket and said proudly, "Rusty Sister gave this to me." With that, she held the badge up against her chest. That was all she could do. Xin Yaoqiao wanted to join Stream Vanguard too, but that was utterly impossible. Amid the large-scale Great Spike invasion and with the Daie having already deciphered human language, humanity's task of fully deciphering the Great Spike language had become an urgent priority. Lately, her pressure and workload had been immense. "Right, and it's not just me. Fronts all over the world have already seen this pink emblem," Xin Yaoqiao continued. "Do you know what they're saying?" "They're all saying it looks great, right?" Rusty Sister laughed proudly. "Mm-hmm." Xin Yaoqiao nodded solemnly to confirm it, then added, "And some people, because of the moth shape, said of him..." Pointing at Han Qingyu, Xin Yaoqiao said, "The way foreigners put it is hilarious when you translate it directly. Like: 'That's right, this is the world's The King, a man who is forever lunging toward death.'" "'That is him, the man who charges into death time and again, and returns.'" "'When this world needs tenderness, Mr. Dead Iron Straight Man offers pink...'" Everyone else in the hospital room was laughing. Han Qingyu was on the verge of exploding. ………… After chatting for over two hours, when it was finally time to head out for dinner, Han Qingyu was the last to leave because he was searching for something to cover the badge. Xin Yaoqiao deliberately hung back a few steps, waiting for him by the door. "Doctor Zhe Qiuhong says there's something wrong with your body?" As they walked side by side toward the cafeteria, Xin Yaoqiao tilted her head, her ponytail swaying gently. Han Qingyu nodded. "Yeah, that's what she said. She said I can't exert myself at full blast, though I don't feel anything wrong myself." "Oh." Xin Yaoqiao thought for a moment, looking as if she wanted to say something, but swallowed it back down. Instead, she whispered, "Actually, we've already deciphered most of the Great Spikes' language system now, and recently we've started trying to intercept their communications..." "What?" Han Qingyu was shocked, delighted, and immediately lowered his voice. He knew this was likely a secret of monumental importance. "A transmission we recently decoded most likely came from that Daie airship last time—and it's related to you..." Xin Yaoqiao continued, giving Han Qingyu an anxious look. "What did it say?" Han Qingyu nodded, gesturing for her to go on. "'Target for termination confirmed. Target for termination has appeared,'" Xin Yaoqiao said, looking at him.