Chapter 4 - Mysterious Youth
Panicked voices of passengers echoed through the corridor.
Someone shouted, “Why did the power go out suddenly?”
A woman screamed, “Ah, someone stepped on my foot!”
There was the cry of a little girl: “Mom, I’m scared! I can’t see anything!”
And a man’s voice pretending to be calm: “Everyone, don’t be nervous. It may just be a circuit failure. Take out your terminals for light, so we don’t step on each other.”
Then came a woman’s voice: “Let’s not go to the restaurant. There should be more people in the restaurant. Let’s go back to our cabin and wait for the announcement.”
The voices of these two people were very familiar – they were the parents of the little girl who was in the same cabin as Luo Fei.
When everyone heard what they said, they seemed to think it made sense, and quickly dispersed.
After a while, the couple brought the little girl back to the cabin. Raising his communicator in one hand to light up the cabin, the father put his daughter on the safety seat. The little girl’s face was pale, and she held her mother’s hand in fear and asked, “Mom, what’s going on? It’s so dark outside!”
The woman’s voice was also a little nervous. “I don’t know, maybe it’s a circuit failure?”
The man comforted in a low voice: “Don’t be afraid, let’s not wander around. There is a power outage outside, so it’s not safe to go out.”
Luo Fei walked back to his seat and bowed his head in thought – he didn’t think the matter was that simple.
The spaceship will go through extremely strict safety checks before each take-off. Each ship is also equipped with independent power generation equipment and carries sufficient energy. Under such strict regulations, it’s impossible to suddenly lose power in the middle of a voyage. —Unless the spaceship’s circuit is completely cut off, or the spaceship’s power supply system is disturbed.
Even though the spaceship relies on the same energy as mechs to navigate, the entire navigation process has been pre-set for intelligent navigation, and interfering with the power supply will not cause too much danger. At most, the cabins will be completely dark, affecting the vision of passengers.
It is precisely because of this that Luo Fei felt the matter was even more strange.
If this is man-made, what is the purpose of the other party?
It didn’t affect the safety of the spaceship, and only made the spaceship dark. Is this to steal things or cause damage?
Thinking of this, Luo Fei frowned slightly, and just as he opened the door to go out, the little girl’s father reminded him: “You’d better not go out, it’s very chaotic outside. Although many people took out their communicators for lighting, everyone’s emotions are tense.”
Luo Fei said calmly: “It’s okay, you stay here and take care of the children, I’ll go out and have a look.”
He said and opened the door and went out.
***
It happened to be lunch time, so many guests should’ve been eating at the restaurant. There was some noises from the restaurant, but the cabin area seemed a little quiet.
Turning around, Luo Fei walked along the empty corridor towards the depths of the spaceship in the opposite direction.
If he remembered correctly, the power generation equipment of the spaceship is located at the tail of the spaceship.
As he walked, he gave Chongming an order: “Check the surroundings and see if there are any abnormal signal sources.”
S-level smart mechs can be directly controlled by mental power, so any communications between Luo Fei and the mech will not be known to outsiders. After receiving the order, the blue gemstone on Luo Fei’s chest blinked, and Chongming began to quickly send out examine the surroundings.
As Luo Fei walked deeper and deeper, the voices from the restaurant gradually faded. Soon, the only sounds in the empty corridor were from his own footsteps.
At this moment, Luo Fei suddenly saw a faint light spot in the distance.
He has undergone special night vision training since he was a child. Even in a dark environment, he can clearly distinguish the direction and see the outlines of some objects that ordinary people find difficult to see in. From the dim lighting, he could see someone walking towards the corner with a flashlight, with light footsteps.
Luo Fei could not help but lighten his steps.
The other party was walking towards him from the corridor on the other side, and the light was getting closer and closer.
However, at the moment when the two were about to meet at the corner, the light suddenly dimmed – apparently the owner turned off the flashlight.
Luo Feiyin hadn’t had time to speak in the darkness when the other party made a sudden move—
A hand fast as lightning flew forward, and slender fingers unceremoniously attacked Luo Fei’s throat. Someone who was a little slow would probably be subdued by the other party in this short second.
But who is Luo Fei?
He is the son of Lin Yuan who loves to fight.
After years of being tormented by his father since he was a child, he has already formed a conditioned reflex for all kinds of sudden attacks. Luo Fei quickly turned sideways and nimbly avoided the opponent’s attack. Grabbing hard, he pulled forward suddenly, dragging the other party in front of him.
—It’s a man, about 8 cm shorter than him, and the top of his head just reaches the tip of his nose.
Luo Fei said: “Your hand is quite fast. Unfortunately, I am faster than you.”
The other party obviously didn’t expect such a sudden reversal. Unable to stand steadily, he almost fell into Luo Fei’s arms. He hurriedly supported the hatch next to him with his other hand and said, “Let go!”
— A very clear and bright boyish voice, as sweet as flowing water. However, there was a hint of displeasure in his voice.
Luo Fei smiled: “Why are you so fierce? You attacked first, right?”
The young man said coldly: “Hiding in the dark and sneaking around, what is your purpose?”
Luo Fei explained with a good temper: “First of all, I didn’t hide in the dark, I just didn’t need lighting to see the road in front of me, so I didn’t turn on my flashlight. Besides, I don’t know you, and I don’t know your purpose. The power of the spaceship is cut off, and I just came out to check on the situation… But you, what are you doing here alone?”
The youth wanted to withdraw his hand, but found that the opponent was too strong for him to break free from.
In the darkness, the young man frowned slightly. A sharp look flashed in his eyes, and said word by word: “Let. Go.”
Luo Fei was taken aback, only to realize that his wrist seemed to be a little swollen from his grip, and quickly let go of him. “Sorry… does it hurt?”
The boy didn’t answer the question. Instead, he withdrew his hand and shook it lightly, and said calmly, “I’m the same as you. I also came out to check the situation after the power failed.”
After he finished speaking, he turned around and walked towards the tail of the spaceship.
That’s where the spaceship’s power supply line is located. Since it was Luo Fei’s destination anyway, he decided to tag along.
After taking two steps, the youth stopped, turned around and asked, “What are you following me for?”
Luo Fei shrugged: “I’m not following you, I just happened to go the same way.”
There was a window next to the youth, and at this moment, a meteor streaked across the sky.
The light from the meteor was too weak, and the other party was standing against the backlight, so Luo Fei didn’t see what he looked like. All he vaguely saw was the other party was wearing a mask that covered most of his face, and only a pair of eyes, bright as stars, were exposed.
—They were the most beautiful eyes Luo Fei had ever seen.
His eyes are as clear as if washed by water. The pupils are light amber, the tails of the eyes are slightly raised, and his eyes are clear and cold, as if they can see into the hearts of others at a glance.
Luo Fei was startled. Before he recovered, the other party turned around and said, “Even if we’re going the same way, I don’t like being followed closely. Can you keep a distance of more than five meters from me? Thank you.”
Luo Fei: “…”
Luo Fei had no choice but to stop, and waited for him to walk five meters before taking a step forward. With a smile on his lips, he said, “My visual estimation is very accurate. The distance between us should be 5.2 meters. If you don’t believe me, you can measure it with a ruler?”
The other party ignored him and continued walking forward.
The two of them didn’t speak any more. After passing through the long corridor and turning a corner, they came to the tail of the spaceship.
Usually this place is closed and passengers are not allowed to enter, but the cabin door was open, letting a man’s voice carry over. “There is no trace of the power supply being cut off. It’s really strange, why did the entire spaceship lose power?”
A female voice said: “Have you checked all the wiring in the third cabin?”
The male voice said: “Yes, I checked everything. The line is fine, there is absolutely no problem.”
The female voice said: “From this point of view, it may be what the captain said…”
Before she could finish her sentence, the youth walked forward and answered calmly, “The power supply system has been invaded by a virus.”
The two were checking the wiring with a stored-energy flashlight. When they heard this, they turned their heads in surprise at the same time.
The man frowned and said, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
The youth said: “I am a passenger on the spaceship. I want to see your captain. I can help resolve this matter.”
The man had an expression of disbelief. “You can solve it?”
The youth took out a card from his pocket, handed it to him and said, “This is my business card. Please show it to the captain before deciding whether to see me or not.”
The woman next to her lightly poked her colleague’s arm and said in a low voice, “Let’s show it to the captain. We have to report the situation anyway.” Then she closed the hatch to the power supply, and reattached the lock. After squaring things away, she looked back at the youth and said, “Please follow me to the waiting room.”
Because Luo Fei followed behind, the woman naturally thought they were together, and left them both to the lounge on the third floor.
The electricity in the lounge was also cut off, so the emergency lights came on, making the lounge a little dim.
Luo Fei also finally saw the other person’s appearance – he was wearing a white shirt and simple trousers. The hem of the shirt was tucked into the waistband of the trousers, neat and tidy.
His skin was very fair, but unfortunately he was wearing a large mask that covered his face, so he could only see his eyes and the thick black eyelashes under his eyelids.
An alpha or beta? Or is he an omega? Luo Fei couldn’t tell the difference for the time being because there were no obvious pheromones from his body.
Wearing a mask to cover his face in the spaceship, is he so unwilling to be seen by others?
Is he a big star popular all over the empire? Or does he have some special background making it inconvenient to show his face?
Just as he was thinking, he suddenly met a pair of sharp eyes.
“What are you looking at?”
It was only then that Luo Fei realized that he had been staring at the other party.
Luo Fei was not at all embarrassed at being caught in the act, and admitted frankly, “I’m just curious, why do you wear such a big mask?”
The youth slightly raised his eyebrows, and asked back: “Do you like prying into the the privacy of strangers so much?”
Luo Fei smiled and said: “Sorry. I’m not asking you to take your mask off to see what you look like, I’m just expressing my doubts. Anyone seeing you wear a mask on a spaceship will be curious about your identity. You don’t need to tell me what your identity is, but you can’t stop me from being curious.”
The youth: “……”
The other party’s frankness and calmness rendered the young man speechless, so he could only glance at him, then turned around and sat down on the sofa.
After a while, a gray-haired middle-aged man came to the lounge with a few subordinates, and said excitedly: “Great, our power supply system has indeed been attacked by a virus, and the engineer is urgently repairing it, but the repair process is a bit tricky, I didn’t expect you to be on our spaceship…”
The young man nodded and said calmly, “Give me the management authority of the spaceship’s intelligent system, and I’ll fix it for you.”
Hearing this, the people around immediately looked at each other in blank dismay.
The captain obviously hesitated: “This…”
The youth stood up suddenly, walked to his ear, leaned over and whispered a word.
The captain’s eyes lit up suddenly, and his attitude immediately changed 180 degrees. He said respectfully, “Yes, yes, yes, I understand, please follow me.”
The young man followed the captain and turned to the cockpit.
Seeing that Luo Fei was also following, the captain asked him softly, “Is he your friend?”
Looking back at Luo Fei, he replied calmly, “I don’t know him.”
So Luo Fei was stopped outside the door.
Luo Fei: “………”
The dignified First Prince was stopped outside the door?
This was the first time Luo Fei experienced the feeling of being “shut out” since he was a child.
MC and ML meet!
A quick note on age: ML is older than MC, but the term “少年” in the raws translates to “youth” (or “young man/person”). Youth is easier to read, so I’ll be using it along with young man, but in reality, the ML is a young man.
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