hunting stars

Chapter 17

The crown prince did not use such strong words as "love", but only used "like" to express his affection.

Under this somewhat humble request, the second lieutenant's cold eyes seemed to shake for a moment, but the shaking eyes quickly disappeared, "Your Highness, your behavior... will only make me feel very pitiful. "

"Poor?" repeated the prince blankly. "Yes, even I find it ridiculously shameless to beg love from my enemies."

After a few weird laughs, Roger Hill opened his eyes, and the last expectation completely disappeared, and the psychedelic atmosphere disappeared immediately.

"Second Lieutenant Levi... I don't know what you think of me, maybe I'm just a naive fool, or a fool who is easily fooled. But in my own heart, I always keep my identity firmly in mind. I am the emperor of the empire." The crown prince is the sole heir of the Galactic Empire, although the mistake of allowing you to control TBQ is irreparable, but I will not let you take away any DNA related to the imperial family... On this point, I will do whatever it takes."

Almost at the same time as the ending sound landed, Roger Hill jumped towards the driver's seat, without any warning, Levi hurriedly followed the action but was still a step behind.

The crown prince pressed the red alert button on the right with lightning speed, and then immediately dodged to the rear of the cabin.

Just after he arrived at the cabin door, "Kakaka--" accompanied by a piercing sound of mechanical friction, the one-meter-wide cabin door opened inch by inch from bottom to top. Amidst the violent vibrations, Levi, who hadn't arrived in time, After staggering for a moment, he grabbed the handrail on the wall next to him to keep his balance.

The strong wind was blowing in from the outside, and it was so cold that it was almost impossible to open your eyes.

In the severe pain of the cold wind irritating the eyeballs, the second lieutenant could barely see the crown prince standing against the wind in an awe-inspiring and powerful posture, those golden hair fluttering wildly, and the cloak behind him bloomed like a white flame.

"Your Highness—!"

Realizing what he was about to do, Levi couldn't restrain himself from shouting anymore, and all the pretended indifference was defeated.

No, not right.

It shouldn't be like this.

Obviously, he should wait a little longer, because he should activate the hatch, not the Crown Prince himself.

Only in this way can he grasp the timing, and find the most suitable moment to cut Roger Hill's hair and throw him out of the cabin just when the army of Grand Duke Offee has just arrived, so that the excellent paratroopers of the empire will be unharmed. Hurt to catch the prince.Afterwards, in the name of taking away the genetic sample, he can leave with that bundle of golden hair, and keep it as a token that can be remembered forever.

It shouldn't be like this now...

"Your Highness, come back! Please come back!"

Levy exhausted all

Some shouted with strength, but those hoarse voices were mercilessly blown away by the headwind.

Along the direction of the wind, a soft whisper suddenly floated, "In the future... I will never love again..."

Levy couldn't be sure if it was reality, or just a fantasy.

The open hatch was like the bloody mouth of a strange beast. After the faint light flickered, Roger Hill's figure suddenly disappeared in the strong backlight.

Levi's heart stopped beating almost at the same time, he couldn't care about anything else, he stumbled to the door of the cabin at the risk of being blown out of the cabin by the strong wind.When he looked desperately at the endless void under the white clouds, he saw umbrella clouds rising one after another vertically below.

One, two, three...

--That's when the imperial pursuers arrived just in time.

The image of the parachute suddenly opening is like flowers blooming suddenly, and they gather together to form a rescue fortress.

Levi sincerely felt that this was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen in his life.

After a sudden pause in thinking, there was only one thought left - he was fine.

The crown prince was rescued.

Roger...he's fine.

After repeating silently in his heart several times, the second lieutenant felt his heart, which was almost in shock, start beating again.

The cold air at high altitude helped him calm down quickly. He calmed down his fluctuating emotions, turned around and crawled back to the depths of the cabin.

However, this time, he was sitting in the driver's seat.

The position where the back of the head touched the groove, he was already very familiar with the way of brain wave docking, and he had completed the entire procedure in less than half a minute.

Another parallel space seemed to open up in the brain. In this universe, a young man named Levi was the master of everything.

A moment later he gave his first order: "Lydia, close the hatch."

【Yes! 】

"How many enemy fighters are there?"

[A total of 130 two, the command battleship specification is the flagship of the imperial military. 】

"Did Duke Offee come in person?"

[It seems to be! 】The girl answered excitedly.

After a question and an answer, the running-in between the master and the fighter is becoming more and more perfect.

But in the face of the siege of more than 100 fighter planes, even if he controls the legendary "Bloodthirsty Queen", Levi does not dare to have too much confidence. After all, he does not want to stop everything here.

"Is it difficult to break through their fleet?"

The "Queen" didn't answer this question immediately, and Levi could almost imagine a little girl thinking with her head turned.Sure enough, after a while, the immature voice coaxed and said, "With so many enemy ships, the fusion rate is only 50.00% is not enough. Levi and Lydia need to be fused to about 80.00%~"

"Then 80.00%." ​​Without much thought, the master accepted the proposal.

从

Start now, don't worry too much anymore.

A quiet place, a place where he can quietly miss the prince, is all he needs.

He will no longer threaten Roger Hill's safety because of himself. Even if he is separated from his lover, Levi feels that such sadness is joyful. In this relaxed mood, he suggested, "Lydia, Play me a song while you're getting ready for the fusion, you should have a sound system."

[Of course, Levi, but what do you want to hear? 】

"whatever."

【Oh well.Then I'll play a song that Alec likes very much, he used to listen to it a lot. 】

"Okay, then, this is it."

He closed his eyes, ready for further and deeper integration.

The flaming fighter plane is suspended in the deep and vast blue sky, and there are countless vigilant, prying and terrified sights around it.In its cockpit, Levi lay on the driver's seat, relaxing all his limbs and spirit, and the sad song that was sung repeatedly a hundred years ago slowly sounded again, circling and reverberating in the small cabin again.

I love you so.

People ask me how much I love, how I have lived till now?

I said I don't know either.Yes, I know how lonely life can be.

The book of life is always short, but you will understand after reading a page.

In my religion, everything is dead except love.

In the deep winter of [-] Imperial Calendar, Major Snow had just finished a short three-hour deep sleep.

In a carefully modified nitrox capsule, three hours of deep sleep was worth the usual six to eight hours of rest.This kind of safe and efficient rest is an essential procedure for soldiers to restore energy in battle, but its disadvantages are also very obvious. --The moment when people suddenly wake up from a deep sleep, people often fall into a short trance, not knowing what is going on.

When Xue Nuo walked through the safety doors on the warship with unsteady steps, from the lounge all the way to the bridge, when he saw the tall and thin figure standing beside the command seat, for a moment, he thought it was the A young man with black hair and black eyes, who often shows a gentle and correct smile.

But this unreal illusion that can only appear in the mind is quickly broken.

"Major Snow, you are late."

The voice of the speaker was deep and hoarse. If there were women present, they would probably praise how wild and charming the voice was, but for Xue Nuo, he really didn't like this rough voice that was too intrusive.As if to maintain a seamless integration with the voice, the appearance of the voice owner is also unforgettable.Short silver hair combed back, dark brown skin, high nose bridge, narrow eyes, and a burly 1.9-meter figure make him look like a handsome and evil pirate, with crimson eyes at any time Coveting the hidden treasures of others.

But what this person longed for was not some wealth that would overwhelm the enemy, nor was it some weak and slender princess, but the supreme treasure of the empire—the Crown Prince Roger Hill.

This is Vincent, who has been very popular in the empire and even in the entire galaxy in recent years. In just five years, his military rank has surpassed Jon Snow, and he has been promoted to colonel.

Wen Sen's vague accusation made Xue Nuo suddenly sober.

Now is not the age of innocence five years ago, the closer you are to the center of power, the more likely you will be crushed to pieces, especially if another confidant of the superior is not in harmony with you.

The major, who is already 25 years old but still has a baby face, immediately cheered up, immediately put on a cute smile, and calmly made up a reason for his late arrival, "Just now on the way here, a sergeant reported to me about the logistics supply situation. It was a waste of time."

Hearing this explanation, Vincent turned his eyes away lightly, but that kind of ignoring eyes made Xue Nuo even more unhappy.

He really, really hates this dismissive and implied rejection.

And what about the crown prince's betrothed?

Didn't it drag on for five years without a formal wedding ceremony?Could it be that with such an identity, he can ignore everyone, but his desire for monopoly is so strong that even he, who has no ambiguity with the prince, has to make things difficult for him.

In fact, five years ago, the person who gained the most benefits and took the most unexpected advantage was not this man?

Maybe outsiders can't know, but as one of the insiders, Xue Nuo

It is very clear who was specially prepared for the vigorous prince selection activity back then.

But no one expected that the grand marriage proposal, which represented the whole heart of the crown prince, would end in such a way in the end.

Jon Snow still remembers the expression on the crown prince's face when the paratroopers rescued the crashed prince and escorted him to Grand Duke Offee's flagship.At that moment, Xue Nuo deeply felt that a part of this young man with peerless beauty had died.

In order to give an explanation to the public and the media, and to end the concubine election decently, the royal family took out the imitation of TBQ. --It was used for the coming-of-age ceremony for some royals who couldn't control the "Bloodthirsty Queen" many years ago. It is a fake TBQ that looks exactly like the real TBQ, and the inside is an ordinary fighter.

The crown prince was suffering from a high fever at the time, and had almost lost his mind. In such a helpless situation, the emperor and the grand duke chose the highest "Edelphin value" among the remaining nine candidates and had many opportunities to fight. Vincent, who has driving experience, claimed that he was the prince's chosen candidate by TBQ. He took the seriously ill prince to fly the imitation fighter plane and circled over the imperial capital, and finally let the farce end under whitewash.

Since Vincent's appearance was in line with the "short hair, tall, and dark" standard put forward by the prince at that time, people gradually accepted this fact after a lot of discussion.

But it didn't end there.

The crown prince's illness was severe, and the expert group diagnosed it as a variant of the royal family's nemesis "emperor's disease". At the most critical time, the doctor even wrote a critical illness notice.For a whole month, the prince was on the verge of life and death, the emperor and the grand duke were stationed in the hospital almost inseparable, and even military and state affairs were moved to the small conference room of the hospital for decision-making.

Fortunately, the medical research team developed a specific drug against this disease in time, which saved the only heir of the empire from danger.

After his condition improved, the prince's performance was beyond the expectations of all those in the know. He accepted the fact that Wen Sen was his betrothed without any resistance, successfully completed the adult ceremony, became more diligent in government affairs, and began to gradually take over military affairs. It is like a precision instrument that continues to accelerate without deviation.

Five years later, he is better and more outstanding than before, gradually transforming from an heir to a king.

Just no more smiles.

No longer mention the year when I was 17, and the person I used to be.

After successfully solving Vincent's embarrassment, Xue Nuo stood at attention and bowed, saluting the Crown Prince who was sitting with his back facing him, "Your Highness, Major Xue Nuo has returned to the team."

The command seat was rotated 180 degrees, and the crown prince, who had been covered by the tall chair back, turned around.

Twenty-two-year-old Roger Hill appeared in front of the major.

He was taller and thinner than five years ago, his eyes were narrower than before, and the corners of his eyes were slightly slanted, exuding a kind of deep sharpness.Because of weight loss, the three-dimensional sense of facial features becomes more prominent

The appearance, coupled with fair to pale skin and light-colored lips, makes people feel cold while stunning.

On the cheekbone under his right eye, there is a tiny tattoo that resembles a barcode.It was after the coming-of-age ceremony, the crown prince asked a tattoo master to carve a mark on his face.The artist at the time was reluctant to leave this blemish on the prince's perfect face, but was finally persuaded.After following the prince for many years, Xue Nuo can only barely recognize that it is about a word starting with "S".

Such traces appeared on the crown prince's ice-like beauty, like a shadow cast by the demon's wings in the angel's domain.

The blond hair that was originally waist-length was cut short and only reached the shoulders, and the fragmented ends of the hair fell on the black military uniform fabric. The well-fitting general uniform tightly wrapped his tall and thin figure. His military majesty and strong aristocratic temperament made him seem like Lucifer who had fallen into the depths of hell, interpreting indifference and temptation to the extreme.

"Major, you are now in charge." The crown prince nodded to Xue Nuo, and then to Vincent, "Colonel, you also go to rest..."

"Your Highness, you should go to rest. You haven't closed your eyes for three days and three nights."

Wen Sen unceremoniously rejected the prince's arrangement, but did not arouse the crown prince's displeasure.

As an adult, Roger Hill showed low-key toughness in many ways, but he only gave in to the betrothed.This kind of interaction is often interpreted as the prince's love and humility towards his future spouse, but according to Xue Nuo's years of indifference, this perfect pairing in the eyes of outsiders always reveals an unspeakable weirdness.

Sure enough, this time Roger Hill just declined the strong kindness, "I'm fine, I don't feel very tired, and it's impossible for me to sleep under the current situation."

The battleship the three of them were on was the general flagship of the imperial military, and its bridge was in the shape of a hemisphere covering the command seat.With the current standing position as the center, the wide and deep universe outside and the eternally shining stars can be seen clearly from the surrounding alloy glass.

At this time, on the huge artificial screen directly in front of us, in the night sky that should have been pitch black, there are densely packed artificial light spots of various sizes, some of which continue to flicker, while others burst out without leaving a trace.

On the completely enclosed bridge, these scenes representing life and death are silent.However, there are non-commissioned officers busy back and forth at the positions of the control console, communication console, and measurement console around the command seat. Against the background of various sounds of running, paging, and giving orders, the environment where the bridge is located is realistic. quite noisy.

From the repeated calls of the communications soldiers, it can be seen that the battle is coming to an end.

"The captain of the Alliance Sixth Fleet abandoned his flagship and fled in a lifeboat. His adjutant led the rest of the crew to surrender."

"A capitulation has been issued to the Flagship of the Third Fleet

book, waiting for a response. "

"The Tenth Fleet refused to surrender, and a luminous signal was transmitted..."

Xue Nuo glanced at the expression on the crown prince's face, and said to the communications soldier, "Read and see."

"Interpretation..." The fatigue of the long-term battle made the communication soldier's time to unlock the code slower than usual, "...His Royal Highness, the pride of being a soldier makes us unable to accept your kindness. With the tolerance of despotism Live rather than die in the grave of democracy..."

"Don't read any more." Roger Hill raised his hand to interrupt the lengthy declaration, and he briefly ordered, "Destroy the Tenth Fleet immediately. Since I want to be buried with the democratic system so much, I will fulfill their loyalty. "

Ten seconds later, a glaring white light flashed at the left front of the zenith.

Not long after, the communications soldier stood up and turned around, "Report to the commander-in-chief that the Tenth Fleet of the Alliance has been completely wiped out."

The crown prince nodded indifferently, indicating that he already knew.

In the confrontation with the alliance army, it is not a rare experience for the soldiers of the empire to achieve such a complete victory.

In the past three years, since Roger Hill took over the military and political power, the empire has continued to launch wars against the alliance.At first, it was just a small-scale tentative battle, but now it has developed into a life-and-death contest between fleets with more than two digits.Facing this kind of aggression initiated by the empire unilaterally, the alliance has always suffered from the lengthy parliamentary deliberations on military expenditures, and had to retreat steadily in the resistance.At the beginning of last year, the coalition's huge military supply proposal was finally approved, but it has lost its opportunity and cannot be recovered.Judging from the current situation, perhaps in about half a year to a year, the flag of the empire will be planted on the streets of the alliance's capital.

The dream of the countless ancestors of the empire and the grand ambition of unifying the universe may be fulfilled in this prince who has not yet formally taken the throne.

Within the empire, everyone from the nobles to the common people gave the crown prince who had high hopes countless praises, calling him "the god of war descended into the world", but in fact, the prince's reaction to these praises was quite cold.

He is keen to start a war and obsessed with winning, but there is no excitement and excitement in this process, as if these extra spoils have never been related to him.

This strange contradictory attitude made Xue Nuo, who knew everything five years ago, come up with a strange idea from time to time: Maybe the real purpose of the crown prince is not to expand the territory or obtain absolute hegemony, but to force someone to show up .

Five years ago, the stand-alone breakthrough battle unfolded in full view was truly shocking.

Although I have read the battle descriptions of the "Bloodthirsty Queen" in countless historical books and memoirs, when I saw the incredible scene with my own eyes, Snow was still deeply shocked like all the people present. --The encirclement formed by more than [-] fighter planes was breached from incredible angles.

, The curve rushing action is like the dexterous fingers of the god of the universe playing with the elite fighters of the empire in the palm of his hand.

Shortly after the battle ended, the tracker installed on the TBQ also lost contact signal three days later, when the position of the ace fighter was already at the junction of the empire and the alliance border.Based on this, the Empire judged that TBQ should have been brought back to the alliance.

But the strange thing is that the alliance has never sent this Goddess of Victory to fight until now.

All kinds of speculations had surfaced in Xue Nuo's mind one by one, but were denied one by one.Today, nearly half of the alliance's warships and war population have been lost. If they want to reverse the embarrassing situation, they have to resort to ingenuity. The most appropriate choice is naturally to take out the "Bloodthirsty Queen".

The Major believed that the Dauphin was also waiting.

"Commander-in-Chief!" A communications soldier suddenly reported loudly, "Five seconds ago, I received a request for a super-light communication from the Alliance Headquarters. It was confirmed that the signal came from the Marshal's Palace in the capital of the Alliance. They requested to talk to the Commander-in-Chief alone."

"Finally couldn't bear it anymore?" Roger Hill stood up and walked off the bridge from behind the podium, "Receive the communication signal to the No. [-] meeting room."

Watching his figure disappear into the opening and closing of the passage, Xue Nuo couldn't help turning his eyes to Vincent who hadn't left.

The tall colonel clenched his fists with an unbearable expression on his face.

The projector in the meeting room No. [-] gradually displayed the picture. Due to the long distance of the transmission signal, the picture was slightly blurred, but it did not prevent Roger Hill from seeing clearly that the person who was about to talk to him was a mature and plump beautiful woman-- Sophia, the supreme military officer of the alliance.

"Long time no see, His Royal Highness Roger Hill." Five years did not leave too many marks on Sophia's face, and her slightly haggard face made her look more feminine and frail.

"Not too long." The crown prince was obviously not moved by this deliberate show of weakness, "Just fifteen days ago, when this battle was about to start, you just rejected my proposal."

Sophia paused for a moment, "...If I say, I regret that I rejected your proposal without careful consideration..."

"That proposal is still valid to this day." The prince looked directly at the opposite woman through the screen with his eyes like ice jewels. "This time, have you considered the answer?"

Sophia's eyes suddenly became sharper, she brushed her long hair, and restored her previous strong temperament, "Handing over TBQ will result in a truce for half a year.--This is really an excellent condition."

"It's tempting, right? Especially when there are no other better options."

"Oh." Sophia laughed halfway, "Then let me ask one more question, do you want only the fighter plane, or the pilot on it?"

"What do you think?" Roger Hill lowered his eyes and did not answer directly.

Sophia straightened her face, "If only

If there is a fighter, we can hand it over immediately; but if it includes people, we can only provide conditions for you to capture it yourself.You know, things with thoughts and abilities are always not so easy to control. "

"If you're willing to create the environment, I don't mind doing it yourself."

"Then it's settled, I hope we won't break our promise to each other."

Roger Hill nodded, "I wish you a happy first cooperation."

The Alliance Marshal's Mansion has already held an afternoon meeting. All the officers of the fleets that still have vitality and combat effectiveness have gathered here and sat around the oval conference table.

In the center of the venue was a hologram floating in mid-air, with red and blue light spots marking the current distribution of troops from the Empire and the Alliance.Looking at the entire starry sky map, the red color representing the empire occupies an absolute majority, and its military strength is almost double that of the opponent.

Under the dim light in the room, the expressions of all the participants looked a little gloomy.

Everyone has formed a tacit understanding in their hearts: the next battle will be the alliance's last stand.

After Sophia's tactics were arranged, there was silence in the venue.

After an interval of about half a minute, Isos, who was still in charge of the intelligence department, spoke first, "Your Excellency, do you think this is possible? Although this is top secret, we all know that the only complete replica, Levi, was born five years ago. He disappeared completely. After killing Raymond, he never returned to the alliance. To exchange a half-year truce with someone who is not in his hands at all, I really think it is a fantasy."

"I agree with the opinion of Chief Isos," the deputy chief of the intelligence department also shook his head, "Judging from what Levi did back then, he killed Raymond, which is equivalent to treason, and he disappeared afterwards. Actually We have already used actions to draw a line with the league. We don't even know where he is, let alone use him as a bargaining chip."

"No, gentlemen, I didn't make it clear before, about Levi... in fact, we know his whereabouts." Sophia stood up with her hands on the table, and clicked on a certain position in the starry sky map, "Here, It is the most secretive and concentrated base group for our study of empire clones. A year ago, these places were all violently attacked and eventually destroyed. This incident was very sensational in the military. I believe everyone here is very happy. It is clear that it is precisely because the experimental site that we have worked hard for many years is so easily destroyed that the parliament has no trust in the military, and thus the military supply bill cannot be passed in the parliament for a long time. This incident made us very annoyed and dispatched Numerous people are investigating. Because these bases are quite far away in actual distance, and the attack time is very concentrated. Based on this, we judge that the other party should have at least [-] to [-] fighters operating at the same time. But at that time, the imperial side did not If there is any movement, if the identity of the other party cannot be determined, the investigation work will be over. But not long ago, we changed our thinking and began to assume that if these surprise attacks were all carried out by the same fighter..."

Seeing the unbelievable expressions in the eyes of her subordinates, the Marshal lowered her head and smiled wryly, "We found that if we draw a circle with a radius of 76 light-years with these bases as the center, then these circles can all be located at a fixed point. This means that someone can reach all the attacked bases in the shortest time at this position. But this place has been raging with cosmic storms for many years, and it is impossible for life to move. And you

Like you, at the beginning, I didn't believe this conclusion at all, but just in case, I still secretly stationed a reconnaissance team on the outskirts of the area.For the whole of last year, they got nothing.But just ten days ago, before I was going to call them back, they captured a picture of a red fighter plane haunting a cosmic storm.The speed is very fast, the whole process from appearing to disappearing is only two seconds, but it is indeed a fighter plane!And after comparison, it has been confirmed that it is TBQ who has been missing for five years! "

The entire meeting room was suddenly quiet, and after a while, people began to whisper.

After the discussion subsided, a major general said loudly, "Your Excellency, so what if we can find this 'queen'? Everyone knows the power of the cosmic storm, and it is impossible for us to capture it in such a place." The replicant."

His opinion was immediately echoed by many people.

Sophia pressed her hands, and only smiled when the surroundings quieted down, "We don't need to worry about this kind of brainstorming. It's better to leave this kind of private interest to the crown prince of the empire to enjoy. We just need to draw Levi out and let He came to the location we set up to convince the Imperial Army that the 'Bloodthirsty Queen' is still obeying the alliance's arrangements."

"Your Excellency, what is the difference between this and being captured? TBQ will never act according to our will." This opinion was immediately questioned.

Sophia still smiled confidently, "It's not difficult to do this, because we have enough sweet bait. Even though he knew that there was a fisherman's butcher's knife hidden behind him, he still had to take the bait." --Flad Zhong Will, I am afraid that this matter still needs the help of you and your wife.”

As soon as she finished speaking, all eyes were on the grizzled general.