Chapter 16 - The General's Wife is an Illegal Resident in the Star System

Translator's Note:

Hello, I hope you've all been doing well.

Here you go, and I wish you a good read.

And, as I said before, if you wish to read ahead, you can head over to my Patreon to get early access to all the translated chapters.

The Chip is a Fake

 

 

All of the messages had been sent by Shen Yuanjie within a short time frame, saying that General Zhang was trying to reach him. With no reply, Shen Yuanjie's messages grew increasingly urgent.

 

It seemed that whenever he wanted to reach them, they were unreachable; yet now, the tables had turned, and Shen Yuanjie was practically unable to wait another moment. It was probably no small matter.

 

Lu Li didn't reply immediately. A few days prior, he might have responded right away, but his time in the training hall had given him a sense of calm. Only after he finished handling other matters did he finally reply to Shen Yuanjie. He still wanted an explanation from his adoptive father regarding He Jianbai's actions.

 

He was willing to give, but that didn't mean he could be sacrificed.

 

"Why does the General want to see me?"

 

Shen Yuanjie, finally receiving a response, failed to notice the cool tone of Lu Li's message. He simply informed him that he would understand once he saw the General.

 

Meeting in person was, of course, impossible. The two were separated by an entire star system, so they arranged to meet online. General Zhang wasn't old-fashioned; he had an account on the Cosmic Net.

 

Shen Yuanjie immediately set up the virtual meeting between Lu Li and the General.

 

Lu Li sensed the urgency in their actions, further confirming that something must have gone wrong. He thought bitterly that he was only ever needed when things went wrong.

 

Half an hour later, General Zhang appeared in a virtual café on Life Street. It had been a year and a half since Lu Li last met him in person. During this time, they had never been in direct contact—only through Shen Yuanjie or He Jianbai.

 

The cosmic net didn't display the nuances of real facial expressions, so while General Zhang appeared weary, Lu Li couldn't perceive it.

 

"General, Shen Yuanjie said you were looking for me. I've completed the mission. Is there something else you need?" Lu Li sat down across from him, his gaze steady.

 

"Ah Li, are you upset with me?" Unlike Shen Yuanjie, General Zhang noticed the distance in Lu Li's voice right away; Lu Li had always called him "godfather" before.

 

"Everything you do is for the Federation. How could I resent you? If sacrificing one person benefits the entire Federation, I doubt anyone would object."

 

"So, you are upset with me." General Zhang sighed heavily, his frame seeming to sink, weighted by an invisible weight. "It's my fault. I should have done everything possible to get you out of there. I'm sorry for the suffering you've endured. Has Qin Yu troubled you?"

 

"No, he hasn't," Lu Li replied with a shake of his head. "On the contrary, he… has been very kind to me. More than that, he's shielded me from the fallout of that incident. Without him, I wouldn't have this peaceful life, let alone be able to meet you here online."

 

"That's good; that's good. As long as you're safe, I can rest easy," General Zhang said, relief mingling with deeper worry in his expression.

 

"Did something happen after that day?"

 

General Zhang didn't hold back. He quickly explained, "The Glory Empire uncovered our plan. The day you handed the chip to He Jianbai, we were attacked by unknown forces and forced to retreat, losing contact with you. We avoided reaching out to you online for your own safety—if you hadn't been exposed or were under surveillance, contacting you could've put you in danger."

 

"You were attacked?" Lu Li's face filled with surprise.

 

"Yes. The technology they used was far superior to ours, and I suspect Qin Yu was behind it. That's why I urged them not to act recklessly." General Zhang thought Lu Li would understand his reasoning, but Lu Li's expression only darkened.

 

"I can overlook all of that, but there's one thing I need to ask you."

 

"What is it? Go ahead," General Zhang asked, surprised.

 

"That day, I'd arranged to meet He Jianbai at the mall. Later, he suddenly changed his mind, telling me to leave the chip at a specific location. But the moment he retrieved it, the mall was surrounded by military forces. He must have sensed something was wrong—why didn't he tell me?" Lu Li had been brooding over this ever since. He only wanted to know whether his adoptive father had known about it. If he had, Lu Li wasn't sure what he would do.

 

"Something like that happened?" General Zhang was shocked.

 

"You didn't know?" Lu Li studied his expression, realizing that his reaction was too genuine for him to have known from the beginning.

 

"If I had known, there's no way I would have let He Jianbai do that. I would have held him accountable long ago! For him to keep this from me…!" General Zhang slammed his hand down in anger, then reassured Lu Li, "Don't worry. If he truly did this, I'll ensure you get justice."

 

Lu Li nodded, feeling a faint relief in knowing that General Zhang hadn't been involved. "But you must have another reason for coming to see me?"

 

"Sigh." General Zhang heaved another heavy sigh. "You're right; reaching out to you now was an act of desperation. The Federation is in grave danger, and if we can't overcome this crisis, it may not be long before the Federation ceases to exist among the stars."

 

"Is it really that serious? What's going on?" Lu Li's brows furrowed at the gravity in General Zhang's tone.

 

"You mean you don't know?" General Zhang was taken aback.

 

"Know what?"

 

"Recently, the Glory Empire's forces suddenly appeared at the Federation's borders and attacked without warning. They've already seized one of our border planets, all within a single day. If this continues, the entire frontier will be lost," General Zhang explained the dire situation.

 

Lu Li drew a sharp breath. "Why? Why would the Glory Empire attack the Federation?"

 

"I wish I knew," General Zhang replied. "Perhaps our actions provoked the Glory Empire, which is why the royal family sent Qin Yu. You're aware of Qin Yu's reputation across the star systems. The president and the council blame me for angering the Glory Empire, demanding that I quell their fury soon, or my position will be at risk. We've truly lost on all fronts this time." He laughed bitterly. "One more thing—you may not know this yet—the chip exploded a few days ago. Not only was its data destroyed, but it also wiped out critical files from our base."

 

Lu Li's brows knitted together. He hadn't known any of this.

 

"I suspect the data on that chip was fake," General Zhang continued, voicing his suspicion. "It's highly likely."

 

"Qin Yu… He must have known all along that I was a Federation spy," Lu Li said hoarsely.

 

"He knew?" General Zhang sprang to his feet, his face twisting with realization. "So that's it! He used a fake chip to lure us out, and the reason he didn't worry about us discovering its contents was because it was fake. A single fake chip cost us dearly—he calculated it all perfectly!"

 

Now Lu Li understood why Qin Yu had never asked about the chip or prevented him from taking it. He'd known all along that using Lu Li to deliver a fake chip to the Federation would deal them a crushing blow; the plan was both efficient and ruthless.

 

"Since Qin Yu knows everything, be careful in the coming days. Now that I know you're safe, I'm relieved. I'll find a way to handle the rest; the worst that can happen is losing my position. I'll take my leave now." With that, General Zhang disconnected.

 

Before Lu Li could call him back, he had already disappeared from sight.

 

Alone again, Lu Li didn't linger on the Cosmic Net much longer. For over a month, he had devoted his days to the Mech Training Hall there to sharpen his skills and pass the time while Qin Yu was away. Because of this, he'd missed a lot of news.

 

The Glory Empire's sudden invasion of the Federation was already a hot topic across the network's forums. Not one to frequent the forums or care much for gossip, Lu Li hadn't known anything about it.

 

He headed downstairs, where the chef had already laid out lunch on the dining table. He looked around, spotting An Ming on his communicator, chatting with someone. After a moment, An Ming put the device away.

 

"I heard your General is personally leading a legion to attack the Federation. Aren't you one of his soldiers? Why didn't you go with him?" Lu Li asked casually as he sat down, watching An Ming approach.

 

"You think I didn't want to? The General ordered me to stay behind." An Ming sounded resentful. As a soldier, he would have much preferred to be by the General's side rather than here, serving someone he suspected might be plotting against them.

 

"Do you know why the General suddenly decided to go so far to attack the Federation?" Lu Li ignored An Ming's pointed glare.

 

"How would I know? The General's thoughts aren't for us subordinates to guess." An Ming had no idea he was being baited. Perhaps it was because Lu Li had barely spoken to him over the past month, leaving him with few people to talk to. Now, as soon as Lu Li brought up the General, he couldn't help himself—though his tone carried a hint of warning. "The general may be away, but we're not dead. Don't think about trying anything."

 

"From Qin Lu Star to the Federation is no short distance. The general must've started preparing for this more than a month ago, right?" Lu Li asked, feigning a relaxed tone.

 

"What are you getting at?" An Ming looked at him suspiciously.

 

"Nothing." Realizing he couldn't press further, Lu Li dropped the topic.

 

After finishing his meal, he watched the news in the living room. Sure enough, reports of the Glory Empire's attack on the Federation were everywhere. Judging from the tone, even the Empire seemed surprised by Qin Yu's actions, though the surprise quickly turned to praise as the Empire just captured a border planet.

 

After a while, finding the reports repetitive, Lu Li lost interest and returned to his room.

 

Lying on his bed, he opened his communicator. His gaze lingered on Qin Yu's name, first on his contact list. He raised a finger to tap it but hesitated, there was so much he wanted to ask. His hand wavered over the screen, until finally, he brushed it by accident. As he fumbled to hang up, the call connected.

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