Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 112

Titia tapped the wall of the command tower, turning it from white to transparent. Raindrops battered the tower, leaving streaks like tears. Since the remnants of the “Dream of a Cold Night” returned to Milantu with the sad news, the rain hadn’t stopped. Titia once suspected a malfunction in the weather control system, but Leo’s inspection reported everything normal. The system worked diligently, as it did before the First Galactic War, randomly producing weather, just coincidentally causing a prolonged rainy season.

Milantu, shrouded in gloom and rain, carried a melancholic atmosphere. People stayed indoors, avoiding social and recreational activities, and no longer ventured outside the Rylier star system for “hunting”. Time might heal wounds, but scars would remain forever.

Even without hunting, there was no loss. Few dared to pass through the nearby star system, unsure if the leaderless pirates would disband or intensify their attacks. No one acted rashly. Distant star wars would have been dismissed before, but not now. Joanna had gotten involved in that war and never returned.

Titia watched the rain wash over the vast spaceport. Ships traveling in space weren’t afraid of rain, still docked in their berths, but the spot for the Dream of a Cold Night remained empty—forever vacant. Next to her, the Lady of the Night ship, like a defeated black eagle, lay lifeless.

On the square below, a small black figure sat. Titia recognized it as the black cat Schrödinger. It sat motionless, like a black statue. Its usually glossy black fur was now soaked, looking more like a homeless stray than a carefully tended pet.

“Hey, that cat,” Titia said. “It sits in the square every day at this time. Someone should look after it.”

“Spider” Maxim spread his six hands helplessly. “I’ve tried. I swear, I can’t catch that cat with all six hands. It’s too agile, like a ghost.”

Titia turned back to the glass, the black cat’s lonely silhouette against the rain, like a melancholic watercolor painting. Then a golden figure darted into her view. Pavlov ran through the rain, reaching Schrödinger. It nudged the cat with its nose, barked a few times when the cat didn’t move, then sat beside it. The sight of the drenched cat and dog, their owners absent from Milantu, one never to return, was deeply saddening.

“Report!” a staff member shouted. “A ship requests entry to Milantu spaceport!”

“Who is it?” Titia was surprised. Who would cross the Sea of Death to reach the flaming Rylier system now? Unless…

“The applicant is…Alois Lagrange!”

Titia let out an involuntary sound, surprised by its oddity. She looked at Spider and her two brothers near the command platform. They nodded, silently confirming she hadn’t misheard. Their faces lit up with excitement and joy, the first since Joanna’s death.

Titia ran towards the spaceport, stepping over puddles on the ground. Errol followed, waving an umbrella. Above the port, a small transport ship descended slowly. Strong air currents surrounded it as the landing gear extended, and it landed smoothly, splashing the surrounding puddles into ripples.

Titia turned back, taking the umbrella from her brother. She was surprised to see many people following, as if everyone had rushed out of their homes to the spaceport.

The transport ship’s hatch opened, and a silver gangway extended. At the same time, Schrödinger shot out like an arrow, leaping onto the person exiting the hatch. The man yelped, pulling the cat off his face and handing it to the man behind him, who held it while it licked his face.

“Here, your cat!”

“What’s mine is yours,” Joshua Planck said, cradling the cat and scratching its chin. The cat purred contentedly, nuzzling his chest.

Alois Lagrange ignored him, descending the gangway to the welcoming crowd. Their faces were gray but joyful, making Alois feel sad. He remembered his first arrival in Milantu, with clear skies and laughter everywhere, Joanna Begrel introducing new friends from a high perch.

Alois blinked, the memory vivid as if it happened yesterday, but he knew everything had changed.

He saw Titia running to him with tears in her eyes. They embraced and kissed, and he ruffled her hair. She released him and looked at his left hand in disbelief. “What happened to your hand?”

“Uh…a bit of trouble…”

Titia lifted his sleeve, revealing a dark gold metal prosthetic. Her eyes widened. “God, no! Can you still pilot a fighter?”

“Of course!” Alois pinched her cheek. “We can have a match tomorrow. Prepare to lose!”

Then Titia turned to Joshua, checking him thoroughly to ensure he was intact.

“How did you get so battered?”

“Spider” Maxim hugged Alois, followed by Ibb Descartes, Errol, and Chef Celia. Pavlov was among them, rubbing against Alois’s ankle, soaking his pants with its wet fur.

Alois patted the dog’s head. “Hey, buddy, I’m back.”

Pavlov looked at him wistfully, then at Joshua. It circled the assassin, barking twice at Alois. Alois didn’t understand, thinking the dog was looking for something. He had no dog food.

“It’s looking for Joanna,” Titia said. “They’ve been waiting here every day for you.”

Alois felt a pang of emptiness and pain in his heart. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. Others bowed their heads, trying to hide their grief. Pavlov, sensing the silence, seemed to understand its owner wouldn’t return. It whimpered, its tail drooping, looking pitiful in the rain.

Suddenly, it turned and barked at the transport ship. The barking drew everyone’s attention to see a man descending the gangway.

“Who is he?” Ibb Descartes asked.

Alois quickly explained, “He’s Casper, my friend.”

Casper, holding an umbrella, wasn’t shielding himself but covering someone else exiting the hatch.

Titia felt a strange, almost delusional hope: Could it be Joanna? Perhaps the captain wasn’t dead, hiding in the transport ship to surprise them…

A stranger appeared at the hatch, holding Casper’s arm, gracefully descending the gangway. She had flaxen hair, violet eyes, and wore a light gray dress, looking like a noble lady. She scanned the crowd expressionlessly, but her eyes didn’t linger on anyone.

Casper held the umbrella high to shield the girl from raindrops, but she pushed his hand away.

“No need, Casper.”

As she spoke, the rain abruptly ceased. The clouds over Milantu quietly dispersed, and sunlight broke through, spotlighting her like a stage actress.

“…Who is she?” someone whispered.

“She is…” Alois took a deep breath but was interrupted by the girl.

“I am Alveira from the Unfallen Star,” she declared.

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