Age of Cosmic Exploration Chapter 248

"Run, he’s the child of a monster…"

Ying wiped away the mud on his face and continued to walked home wordlessly, holding his bulging pockets. Inside his pockets were wheat grains, provisions, dirty dry grass, a small pack of salt, and some coins that would last him a month…

That year, Ying was nine, and his parents had been dead for two years…

Ying’s parents were farmers from the poorest county in China. They had inherited their ancestors’ small farming plot, and they considered themselves lucky if they could feed themselves for the day. In their small village that was isolated from the outside world, if there was no external financial support, poverty crossed generations.

Therefore, after Ying was born, his parents had a discussion and decided to venture out to work. Their village was small enough to not have basic amenities like roads, and they had to walk at least half a day to reach traffic. Even if they wanted to sell their farming produce, it would be impossible due to lack of transportation. In the end, the couple decided it was more worthwhile for them to find work outside of the village.

However…

Hidden under the city’s flashing lights was the world’s most savage jungle, the steel jungle and its heartless rules.

The couple who had zero education was completely swallowed by the city. Other than menial labor, they were turned away from basically every other job. Certain upscale hotels wouldn’t even hire them as dishwashers or cleaners. The basic requirement of a degree certificate impeded their chances greatly.

Just like that, the couple eked out a living in the city for a few years. After weighing all the pros and cons, it was still more lucrative than farming back at the village. However, the living cost at the city was also higher. They had no choice but to starve themselves every other day to save money for their only son. Their lifelong hope was to be able to send their son to school so that he would have a better chance at life. Education, they believed, was the great equalizer…

However, after an extended period of heavy labor and skimpy diet, the couple’s health gradually declined. Finally, after a long day working in heavy rain, the wife came down with tuberculosis…

The illness pushed the couple to the brink of desperation. Even with all the money they had saved, they couldn’t seek medical help as the medical fees at the city were simply too high…

Finally, the husband, with someone’s introduction, earned quite a sizeable amount of cash from selling his blood to a private hospital. It was the first time ever since they reached the city that the husband could afford to purchase meat for his wife. However, contact with unclean needles at the hospital turned this blessing into a curse. They were infected with the disease which many claimed were God’s punishment for cheating sinners. However, this time, it had come for an honest couple…

Its name was… AIDS, a disease transferred via blood and bodily fluids.

The couple continued to work in the city, trying to save as much as they could. They tried selling their blood again, but after the result came back that they were infected with AIDS, the hospital rejected them. Due to the lack of education, the couple had no idea what AIDS was; they only knew they could no longer earn money by selling blood. They didn’t know the disease was eating them alive.

When Ying was seven, the couple returned to the village. Even though they weren’t at the critical stage yet, AIDS had ravaged their bodies to a stage where physical labor was no longer possible. Later that year, both passed away, leaving behind a seven-year-old son under the colored glasses of the whole village.

From that year onwards, Ying was boycotted by other village children, calling him child of the monsters. He took their insults quietly, staring at them wordlessly in return. Even though the village doctor had confirmed he had no AIDS, the nomenclature stuck. Soon, even the adults in the village gave him a wide berth. Occasionally, some cheeky kids would throw stones at him, and he felt so alone in the world…

Ying accidentally tripped on an alien's body under his feet. Ebon, who was beside him, gave him a handy pull. Ebon chided him, "Hey, Ying, don’t tell me you’re hungry. This is the first time I've seen you commit such a mistake on the battlefield. The rest of the team won’t believe it when I tell them."

Ying gave him a cold side-eye before adding, "Silence! Focus on your mission!"

Ebon chuckled devilishly, but he didn’t dare to talk back. He turned to his work of sawing through an alien siege engine that was blocking their way. Among the Black Star Unit, Yao Yuan was undeniably the leader. Even after he stepped down from that position, the unit members still viewed him as their leader. The relationships within the Black Star Unit were closer and tighter than many imagined.

The one below him was Guang Zhen. That was undeniable. As Yao Yuan’s biggest supporter and right hand man, Guang Zhen’s role was more important than many realized, and he was the person whom Yao Yuan trusted the most. Yao Yuan had even named Guang Zhen as his successor to the Hope. It went to show how much Yao Yuan valued Guang Zhen.

The third most important person, even though the members didn’t have it written down, was Ying!

Determined, stable, calm, and with great leadership qualities, even though he was the most heartless among the members, he had never raised his sword against an innocent person. If not for his fairly normal family background, Ying would've been appointed the leader to the team before Yao Yuan. Ying’s profile within the team was acknowledged by Yao Yuan himself. After all, he did order Ying to lead the group that was going to the mother ship to lead the negotiations.

At that moment, they had found out the location for the mother ship’s main energy circuit and were rushing towards it.

The alien merchants had found out about their aim and had blocked their way with a series of mechanized units. Initially, the fighting spirit of the initial few units were low, but with Ying’s group getting closer to the main circuit, the will for combat had a conspicuous increase. They started throwing themselves at Ying’s group in earnest. The previous alien unit they fought, for example, had no deserters.

Ying stared quietly at the corridor before them. The corridor was huge and deep, and they had no idea how long it would go on for, but they knew for a fact that the end of that corridor would be where the mother ship kept its energy reactors. That was their mission's destination; however, God knows how many ambushes were waiting for them.

Ying suddenly asked Liu Bai, "What time is it now? How much time do we have left?"

Liu Bai took out a highly accurate atomic watch and replied, "It has been 12 minutes since the mission started, we have 18 minutes left. Thankfully, we’re already close to our destination. After we take down another 2 or 3 alien resistance parties, we’ll be there."

Ying frowned. "No, it’s already too late. We need to have at least 8 minutes of wiggle room when we reach our goal in case something unexpected happens. In other words, we have at most 10 minutes left for this mission… If we continue with this speed, the mission will fail, and we have to think of something else…"

Liu Bai was startled. "Think of something else? But we are not familiar with the geological condition of our surroundings. Plus, according to the map, there is only this one way to reach the reactors. I fail to see how we can possibly speed this up…"

Ying was silent. He then called over Xiao Niao and Ren Tao and explained the situation to them. Hopefully they would come up with a solution.

This task was not easy on both of them either. They stared at each other with drawn faces for a long time, but in the end there was no solution…

Ying saw their responses and went over them to address the group. "The things slowing us down now are these siege engines that block our way. If we can ditch the aliens’ siege units, our speed will naturally increase…"

Ren Tao and Xiao Niao were taken aback as a realization dawned on them. Their faces fell and Xiao Niao came out to ask, "Are you going to abandon another group of people?"

Ying had put on the same emotionless face. He answered matter-of-factly, "This is not abandonment; these people are soldiers, and as soldiers, they have to realize that the best ending is a heroic death on the battlefield, or do all of us wish to see the mission fail? Since you two can’t come up with a better idea, then we’re doing this my way…"

Just like that, the unit continued progressing. Not long after that, they ran into an ambush from another alien siege unit. According to Zhang Heng’s power, a large unit was also chasing them from behind. If they slowed down, they would be trapped there since the enemy numbers would be several hundred times larger than theirs…

At that moment, Ying made a decision. He ordered two Black Star Troopers to stay behind, to both engage the ambushing unit and to stall the alien units that were coming from their behind. Ying would lead the rest to break down the wall and leap through it…

Yes, this might sound impossible, but the mother ship’s inner walls were a lot more fragile than its outer walls. The sawblade could cut through it if given some time. Even though it was impossible to tell what was on the other side of the wall, Ying decided to commit to the plan…

He was going to sacrifice the two troopers to buy the unit more time!

Everyone, Ebon and Liu Bai included, was solemn expressions throughout. They had complicated reactions to Ying’s plan. They knew this might be the only plan available to make the mission a success, but the feeling of displeasure stuck to their hearts like a stubborn glue!

Chapter end