Chapter 43
Yisli frowned, looking displeased.
But Bai Le had never had the habit of reading his expression. He quickly jumped over and shouted, "Isli, why are you here? Rong Yuan asked you to come? You..." Only then did he notice the uniform on Yisli's body. The words he hadn't spoken yet were stuck in his throat. After a long while, he said blankly, "You, you joined the Imperial Army?"
Yisli's face was as hard as a rock, his expression was cold, and he didn't even look at Bai Le.
When Bai Le shamelessly hung around in the Feiyan team, the relationship between the two was not good. As soon as they met, they started to quarrel. Others never stopped them, and they just watched the show happily. At that time, Bai Le, who was just in his early twenties, was silly and cute, and his tongue was not good. He was always angry about Yisili's sarcasm. If he wanted to get back at Bai Le with force, Yisili could suppress him with just one finger. Fortunately, Yisili felt that he was much older than Bai Le and much stronger than him. It was okay to quarrel, but if they really started fighting, it would be suspected of bullying a child. Therefore, Bai Le avoided the tragedy of being beaten to the point of being unable to take care of himself every other day.
Yisili had known from the live broadcast that Bai Le was here, so he was not surprised to see him now, but he was inevitably annoyed. But in the past, his cold face could not scare Bai Le, and this time it was even more so. Bai Le looked at his appearance, rolled his eyes twice, and said sarcastically: "Why, you betrayed Boss Rong, and now you dare not even enter the door? If you don't dare, get out of here, I still have something to find Rong Yuan!" After saying that, he reached out and pushed the door.
Yisili shouted angrily, "Stop!" He grabbed Bai Le's wrist with lightning speed, and threw him out with a flick of his arm. The busy soldiers nearby heard the noise, turned around and saw Yisili's angry expression, and hurriedly pretended that they saw nothing and walked away. In the blink of an eye, the area around the small building became a vacuum zone.
Bai Le rolled on the ground, then jumped up in a rage, and without saying a word, he rushed towards Yisili. It happened that both of them were in a bad mood at the moment, and Bai Le's reaction was just what Yisili wanted, and they fought back and forth for a while. Facts have proved that Bai Le's ninety years on Red Prison Star were not in vain, and his boxing skills have improved a lot. However, the gap between him and Yisili has not only not narrowed, but has become wider. After being thrown to the ground seventeen or eighteen times and rolling all over the mud, Bai Le finally couldn't get up because of the pain . He lay on the ground and gasped for a few breaths. He turned around and saw Yisili still standing outside the door, as if he had become a guard guarding the door. He didn't know whether he was unwilling to go in or dared not to go in. He lowered his head, and a few strands of hair hung in front of his eyes. His eyes could not be seen clearly, but his desolate appearance actually looked a bit pitiful.
"Hey!" Bai Le shouted and asked, "Why did you join the army? What about the Feiyan team?"
"Fei Yan Team?" Yi Si Li finally raised his head, his eyes as cold as a sword, and whispered: "There is no Fei Yan Team anymore."
"What? How is it possible? You are so strong!" Bai Le was shocked. He found it hard to believe, but seeing the current state of Yisili and Rongyuan, he had to believe it. He murmured, "What on earth happened?"
Isli said nothing .
Bai Le was stunned for a long time like a piece of wood. Yisili's eyes and tone made him feel as if a chill was pouring down from the top of his head, and his limbs were slightly numb. After a while, he asked again: "Then...what about Balabi?" He held on to a glimmer of hope and asked: "Did he, did he also leave the Feiyan team like you?"
The chef Barabi was the best person to Bai Le, besides Bai Xiang. Many years ago, it was he who helped Bai Le, who was desperate, and brought him back to the Feiyan team. At that time, Bai Le, who had nothing but passion and hatred, received a lot of care and guidance from the man who seemed to have no temper. It can be said that without Barabi, there would be no Bai Le today.
Yisili looked at Bai Le and said, "He is dead."
Bai Le's face turned extremely pale in an instant.
After Bai Le's interruption, Yisli finally made up his mind. He knocked on the door, but there was no response, so he pushed the door open and walked in.
The small building was empty and dead silent, as if there was no one there. But from the images sent back by the detector, he knew that Rong Yuan was in the study upstairs. Yisili walked up the stairs, and with every step he took, his heart sank a little. His feet seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, and every time he lifted them, it seemed to exhaust all his strength.
But he had to come. He had already postponed this meeting for too long.
The chestnut-yellow wooden door creaked open, and the familiar figure slowly appeared before his eyes. For a moment, Yisli felt as if time had gone backwards, as if he had returned to ninety-five years ago.
Yisli paced back and forth at the door, hovering dozens of times, almost grinding the ground flat. Finally, he gritted his teeth, made up his mind, knocked on the door and went in.
Wu Nianyuan was fiddling with a holographic model on the table: black clouds covered the sky, an eagle spread its wings and soared, a bright blue light flickered where the eagle's head was, and not far in front of the eagle's beak, three slender and slightly dark cloud pillars faced each other, with dust and mist lingering around them, like a hand reaching out from the darkness.
This is the Pillar of Creation, the first of the ten most dangerous places in the Milky Way, and also where the Feiyan Team will be heading next.
Seeing this model, Yisli's fingers twitched subconsciously, and he wanted to withdraw for a moment, but Rong Yuan heard the noise and turned his head to look over, and his body seemed to be fixed and unable to move.
"What's the matter?" Rong Yuan turned off the holographic projection and asked.
"Captain, I...I...I want to tell you something." Yisli stuttered.
"Well, sit down and talk." Rong Yuan leaned back in his chair, crossed his hands, put his arms on the armrests, and said easily.
Yisli moved to the front of the chair and sat down, stroking the armrest with his fingers. He stammered for a long time, not knowing how to start the conversation.
Rong Yuan smiled knowingly and asked, "Want to stay?"
Yisli looked up in surprise, with an expression of "how did you know?"
"There aren't many people who haven't seen what's going on in your mind." Rong Yuan smiled and said, "Everyone understands what's going on when they see you fidgeting these past two days."
"You... all know?" Yis said with strength.
"Of course. Haven't you noticed that your share of equipment was not included in the sorting these two days?" Rong Yuan said.
Yisili looked bewildered. He had been struggling with how to bring this up these days, and hadn't paid attention to anything else.
Rong Yuan smiled, walked over and patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Whether we succeed or not in exploring the Pillars of Creation this time, we will have no return. So before we leave, we will first visit everyone's hometown, say goodbye to those who should be said goodbye to, resolve any regrets, and then embark on a new journey without any worries. Since you already have someone you love, it's okay for you to stay. The same goes for others, whether you want to go or stay, don't force them, just don't make a decision that you will regret."
"I won't regret it." Yisili said, then he touched his nose embarrassedly and said, "Actually... Her Highness didn't accept my feelings. But I think... as long as I can stay with her and see her happy, it's enough for me." He paused, looked at Rong Yuan again, and said sincerely: "I'm sorry, Captain. I... can't go with you."
When he finally said this, a feeling of regret and sadness suddenly surged in his heart, and his eyes turned red.
"It doesn't matter. We are all happy that you have found your place." Rong Yuan said with a smile, "Let's go down together. We have prepared a farewell banquet for you tonight."
Yisli forced a smile and secretly wiped his eyes when he turned around.
The next day, the spaceship with the red bird printed on it took off and disappeared from sight soon after. Isli knew that this separation might be a farewell forever. But when he saw Serinda, who also came to see him off and squatted on the ground crying after the spaceship left, he felt a touch of tenderness and pity in his heart.
[Don't cry.] As he put his coat on Serinda's back, he said to himself, [No matter where you are, I will always be by your side. I will always fight for you in this life.]
It was five years later that I heard from the Feiyan Team again.
Isli had already put on the uniform of the Empire, held the rank of lieutenant, and served on a battleship. He had just finished his mecha training in the simulation chamber, and when he came out he was soaked in sweat, but looking at his outstanding performance, Isli smiled slightly, secretly feeling very proud.
Several people came over, patted his shoulders, and asked Yisili to treat them the next time he had a break. They went to the cafeteria to eat, chatting and laughing. When Yisili was walking to his seat with his plate, he heard the beautiful host on the screen announce a piece of news:
"At 10:23 this morning, StarNet time, a supernova exploded in the Eagle Nebula. So far, the shock wave of the explosion has destroyed about two thousand stars, most of which are concentrated near the Pillars of Creation. It is estimated that the impact of this explosion will cover a star field of about three hundred light years, and the habitable stars within the range have begun to organize emergency evacuations... It is reported that the last supernova explosion in the Milky Way was forty-four years ago, and the Interstellar Disaster Research Institute predicts that the next explosion will occur in three years. The spokesperson of the institute, Dr. You Tian, said that the reason why the supernova explosion was advanced this time is still unclear..."
Various images kept flashing on the thin display screen: a strong white light burst out in an instant in the Eagle Nebula, countless stars were destroyed in the fast-paced camera, the turbulent clouds were torn apart, and the huge cloud pillars were shattered. In the spaceport, countless people, with their families, rushed to the spacecraft in panic, and huge spacecrafts sailed into space.
The dinner plate fell to the ground with a clang. Isli stared blankly at the ever-changing scene. He felt cold all over in an instant. He could not see or hear anything. The only thing that flashed through his mind was the familiar red flying bird.
When everyone leaves, surviving alone is a shame and a sin.
He wished they could die together.
Later, Yisili heard that Rongyuan had returned to Landia, but he never had the courage to meet him. So he repeatedly applied to go to the most dangerous star field in the empire, fight against star pirates, fight against enemy countries, suppress rebellions, mine minerals at the edge of the empire, and explore unknown areas. He kept delaying, and when he realized it, he realized that they had not seen each other for ninety years.
This time, because Serinda could no longer bear Isli's escape and his growing guilt, the princess concealed the news that Rong Yuan was here and sent Isli directly over, only telling him the details when he arrived at Prison Star.
In the live broadcast of Star Network, all information about Rong Yuan was blocked, including his appearance, voice, and the content of other people's conversations. Standing outside Rong Yuan's door, Yisili couldn't help but wonder: What has he become? What will he say? How will he see him?
As he thought about it, he became more and more timid. Just when he couldn't help but take a step back and was about to flee...
The door opened.
