Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 141
Musaya leaned against the bedroom door, crouching on the floor, gazing at the boundless starry sky outside the window. She remembered the day her father’s fleet set sail—countless warships soared into the sky like migrating birds. But now, there were no more birds in the sky, only twinkling stars, cold and distant like tombstones.
A knocking sound came from behind. “Miss, miss, please open the door!” It was the voice of the head maid. “Miss, don’t lock yourself in the room. At least come out and eat something!”
“Go away!” Musaya shouted. She had no appetite for food at the moment!
The knocking ceased, but she knew it was only temporary. The head maid would return soon, tirelessly repeating her actions, as if her life had no purpose other than persuading Musaya to open the door.
My life has no purpose either, Musaya thought. For the past decade, she had been aimlessly living, contributing nothing but a bit of GDP to the nation, like those useless, reclusive men in animated shows. The difference was that she lived a glamorous life, of noble status, without worry about food or clothing, with a powerful father who tolerated all her misbehavior.
Perhaps because of her father’s protection, Musaya always felt that she could live this carefree life forever. Her father would handle everything for her. All she had to do was enjoy it.
But now, she no longer had her father. She would soon leave the Damoni star system, return to the Empire capital, return to the Maple Pavilion, and resume her old life—meaningless, idle, and now with the added burden of being “the daughter of a traitor”, she could never be free, forever a bird in a cage.
Only now did she begin to reflect on her life—what was the point of living like this?
The lifestyle she once loved and enjoyed had now become the source of her fear. She didn’t want to go back! That place was no longer her Eden! She would have to leave eventually!
Musaya grasped the pendant around her neck. Her father had once said that if she broke this pendant, the transmitter inside would send out a signal, and someone would come to rescue her. Would this method still work? What would happen to her if she were rescued?
Anything would be better than this!
“Yes, I don’t want to go back.” Musaya took off the pendant and threw it fiercely against the wall. The pendant hit the wall and then bounced to the ground. It had a crack but didn’t shatter completely. So, Musaya picked it up and threw it again, this time with all her strength.
“I don’t want to stay with those who killed my father!”
“I don’t want to live that kind of life!”
“Save me! Get me out of here! Anywhere, just let me leave!”
Over and over, the pendant eventually shattered. Musaya, crying, kept picking it up and throwing it against the wall. Suddenly, a hand caught her wrist. She saw a tall shadow cast on the wall, pockmarked by the blows from the pendant. A breeze blew in through the window, making the curtains flutter.
“That was a gift from your father. Don’t destroy it,” the man behind her said. His voice was young.
“Who… who are you?”
“I’m an assassin from Olympus, sent by your father to retrieve you, noble lady.”
“I… I am no longer a noble lady.”
“In my eyes, a noble lady is always a noble lady.”
“You’re the assassin my father hired?”
“Your father paid me, and I eliminate troubles in return.”
Musaya suddenly wanted to laugh. “Do assassins also work as bodyguards?”
“Wrong, wrong. I am not a bodyguard. I only kill those who harm or intend to harm you. If you want to stay, that’s fine. Killing has no specific time or place.”
“Can you take me away?”
“Where do you want to go?” the assassin asked.
“Anywhere!” Musaya shouted. “I want to get far away from here, never to return!”
The assassin’s voice carried a hint of amusement. “As you wish, miss.”
The head maid knocked on Musaya’s door again. “Miss? Don’t lock yourself in the room. Please open the door. The chef made your favorite dessert.”
She waited for a moment. No one came to the door, nor was there any angry shouting. The head maid’s heart skipped a beat—had the miss really done something foolish?
She hurriedly took out the master key to the residence and unlocked the door. “Miss? Are you there? Are you asleep?”
The room was extremely quiet.
“Forgive me, miss. I’m coming in!” The head maid walked into the room. It was empty, with several dents on the west wall as if something had been thrown at it. Red crystal fragments were scattered on the floor, but she couldn’t tell what they were.
The window was open, the curtains billowing in the night wind like floating clouds. The head maid ran to the window and looked down, but there was no sign of Musaya’s body on the lawn below.
Where had the miss gone?
“Someone! The miss is missing! Someone, come quickly!” The head maid shouted exaggeratedly. For some reason, she felt a bit happy for the miss.
……
“Interesting. Very interesting.”
Dr. Frank Shelley stood with his arms crossed in front of the giant screen in the fourth auxiliary control room, leisurely watching the thrilling fight captured by the monitors. “I didn’t expect to encounter two little bugs instead of the Yasha.”
On the screen, the battle was between the doctor’s favorite—Leslie, the cyborg—and an unidentified woman who had intruded into the lab. She had an accomplice who managed to escape in the chaos, but it didn’t matter. Once Leslie finished off the woman, there would be plenty of time to deal with the one that got away.
The military committee had given him a strict order. “Eliminate the Yasha, or don’t bother coming back alive.” The doctor considered the latter part unnecessary since if he failed to eliminate the Yasha, he would be dead, unable to return anyway.
He had come to Old Earth with Epolyne and Leslie. With the help of information provided by the committee, they found the abandoned Research Institute. Faced with this temple of Old Earth’s scientific achievements, Dr. Frank felt both awe and disdain. He never denied Kester’s contributions to scientific development, but he believed that Kester’s brilliance was a thing of the past. If people continued to be overshadowed by him, science would never make significant progress. People had to surpass him. The doctor believed he was the one who could surpass Kester.
I’ll prove it, he thought. I’ll prove it with Leslie that I’m far superior to you, Kester!
On the screen, the battle had reached a fever pitch. Both Leslie and the woman had abandoned long-range attacks, engaging in close-quarters combat with cold weapons. The woman wielded a curved sword made of synthetic metal, while Leslie fought barehanded—his claws were his best weapons.
The battle was almost one-sided. The cyborg could predict the opponent’s movements from the muscles’ motion, and no matter how fast the woman was, Leslie always managed to block her blade. Sparks flew as claws met the sword’s edge. The woman twisted her wrist, making the sword dance in a figure-eight, trying to confuse the cyborg with a few feints, but she failed again. Suddenly, a sharp nail extended from Leslie’s claws, stabbing straight at the woman’s face. The woman flipped backward, narrowly avoiding the deadly strike, and as she flipped, a blade extended from the tip of her boot, driving it into the cyborg’s jaw.
The doctor whistled.
Leslie lifted his head, and a few drops of blood fell on his steel chest, like paint accidentally splashed by a careless artist. The woman, panting heavily, raised her curved sword and charged at the cyborg. Even if the previous blow didn’t smash his skull, it should have almost severed his jaw. She aimed the sword tip at the cyborg’s half-human head, intending to destroy his brain with one blow. However, when the cyborg lowered his head, the woman was so shocked by what she saw that she nearly fell.
The cyborg’s lower jaw was split open, the flesh turned outward, revealing white bones and shattered fragments. There wasn’t even a trace of pain on his face because his pain nerves had been severed—he didn’t need something that would weaken him, and the doctor wouldn’t allow it. He had stopped bleeding, and the blood that had flowed earlier now clung to his wounds like solidified crystals. The cyborg’s blood, modified to be different from that of ordinary people, not only carried more oxygen but also flowed with numerous nanomachines that quickly coagulated it. His wounds began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye—the broken bones regrew first, then the torn flesh closed inwards, like a flower blooming in fast-forward. In seconds, the horrifying wound had healed, leaving no trace except for the dried blood and the bone fragments that had fallen out.
The woman’s terrified expression greatly pleased Dr. Frank Shelley. He knew that the most vulnerable parts of Leslie were those that remained human, but precisely because a small part of him was human, the cyborg could be invincible. Therefore, the doctor had deliberately strengthened this part’s defenses. As long as his brain wasn’t destroyed in one blow, Leslie could heal himself quickly, no matter how damaged he was.
The outcome of the battle was inevitable. The doctor even lost interest in watching. He minimized that part of the screen and began observing other surveillance footage. Behind him, Epolyne was fiddling with another computer, trying to hack into other parts of the research facility. The work was tedious; first, the Old Earth computers were excruciatingly slow (understandable, as these machines should have been in a museum rather than still operating), and second, the network was filled with traps. Epolyne was sweating, engaged in a strenuous battle against the complex and devious firewalls.
The doctor had no interest in these matters. He yawned, even though the corner of the screen had turned blood-red (Leslie had crushed the woman’s skull, her brains splattering everywhere, some even hitting the monitor). Not even this could keep him awake. If the Yasha didn’t show up soon, the doctor might have dozed off out of sheer boredom.
“Doctor, there’s a situation!” Epolyne’s voice jolted Dr. Frank Shelley out of his drowsiness.
“What’s happening? Did the Yasha show up?”
“No, but it seems that the first auxiliary control room has been taken over by someone else. The system of the research facility has recognized their authority, and now they’re trying to crack our codes!”
“Oh?” The doctor instantly perked up. “Did the person who escaped earlier do it?”
“Seems unlikely. That person was heading to the lower levels. They couldn’t have reached the first auxiliary control room in such a short time.”
“Then it must be an accomplice of theirs, or another force altogether.” The doctor licked his lips. “Interesting, really interesting! After all these years of silence, so many people are suddenly visiting Old Earth today!”
He pressed the communicator attached to his ear. “Leslie, my dear, go to the first auxiliary control room and eliminate the intruder there!”
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