Protect Flowie

[Midnight, Capital’s Academy​​​​‍⁠​⁠⁠⁠‌‍​⁠​‌⁠⁠‍‍⁠⁠⁠‍ of Sciences]

Although it was called the Academy of Sciences, its actual area was quite vast. It was built on a huge island, surrounded by the sea, and it could almost be called a country within a country. In addition to the Capital’s outer military defense system, an independent defense system separate from the Capital’s mainframe was also built inside. In fact, its security level was even higher than that of the Imperial Palace.

The Academy was divided into different areas according to different majors, where almost all of Eternal Cloud Planet’s new technologies and scientific research projects were developed. And during this special period, targeted drugs for the parasitic epidemic were also being intensively developed here.

As a special injured patient, He Zhun should have been detained elsewhere. It was only because he had stayed in the Illusory God Church’s Stigmata Research Institute and at the same time possessed extremely outstanding professional abilities that Pei Changyun ordered him to be secretly detained in the Academy of Sciences.

However, He Zhun was not currently involved in the development of targeted drugs, nor had he entered any professional laboratories. After being questioned about some information regarding the Holy Stigmata, he had been kept in confinement.

But the treatment was very good. Three meals a day were delivered on time, and it wasn’t just simple nutrient solutions but food cooked by a private chef. He also received regular physical examinations and treatments. It was just that he was cut off from everything outside and no one told him how long he would be confined here.

Rustle…

The young man’s pale knuckles turned a new page, his fingertips brushing over the dense scientific terms, finally landing on a string of genetic codons.

—There’s a mistake here.

He Zhun picked up a pen, circled the typo, and made a revision note next to it. For the month since the First Legion’s return and the month he had been detained in the Academy of Sciences, he had been revising this book. His originally anxious mood gradually calmed down in the process of reading.

This book was a basic medical textbook with very cumbersome content. He Zhun spent almost all of his time revising it, and it took him two months to barely complete the first round of revisions.

—This was a book compiled by his father.

It was given to him by Zhou Jiuya.

On the first night of his capture, the Legion Commander of the Empire’s First Legion personally came to apologize to him.

[I’m sorry, I was late that night.]

[It’s just that you were too young at the time, and you said you didn’t remember anything.]

He Zhun was alive, but he had no memory of his dead family members or the bloody hatred. At the time, in everyone’s eyes this was the only fortunate thing.

Not remembering those painful memories meant not having to bear them, meant he could start over.

Everyone thought that the young He Zhun didn’t remember, so no one ever mentioned it again.

He Zhun was raised in the Jiang family. After Jiang Jinsheng’s death, his guardianship, along with Jiang Ci’s, was transferred to Zhou Jiuya. According to Jiang Jinsheng’s plan, He Zhun was supposed to grow up well-protected in the safest greenhouse, just like Jiang Ci.

It’s just that no one knew the child had lied, hiding it so deeply and so well, that he secretly sought revenge alone before ultimately reaching today’s point.

[This is the textbook manuscript your father sent to a medical school back then. It has not been revised yet. I found the electronic record here and just had the logistics department print it out. There are some other old things, but they are all on Eternal Cloud Planet.]

Zhou Jiuya handed He Zhun a book.

[…Thank you.]

He Zhun took the book.

Back then, He Qichu changed his real surname to Zhao and a skilled doctor. At that time, he had successfully treated a patient who had been sentenced to death by the Capital’s hospital. He suddenly became famous and was even contacted by a medical school to co-author a new textbook.

But later, the political purge branded Doctor Zhao a spy, slandered him, and stained his name. Naturally, that medical school no longer dared to use the textbooks he compiled, let alone proofread and revise it, and even directly concealed the matter.

And this uncorrected manuscript was now produced under Zhou Jiuya’s orders and delivered into He Zhun’s hands.

Unlike Jiang Ci, who couldn’t remember his father’s face, He Zhun had every detail of his childhood clearly etched in his mind. He would recall them countless times every day to prevent himself from forgetting. When his father was compiling this textbook back then, He Zhun remembered that he could only understand the words in the table of contents, but he didn’t understand their specific meaning at all. But now, he could revise every detail, and even add or delete content.

It’s just that…

The young man’s pen tip paused and he slightly frowned.

He flipped through it from the beginning and found that the noted errors were somewhat strange. Moreover, the arrangement of the content and the handling of certain professional knowledge in terms of detail were somewhat unreasonable.

Actually, this was a very normal phenomenon in textbook compilation. The first edition usually has many problems. Even content compiled by the most professional scholars must undergo layers of revisions before being published.

But the only unreasonable part was that some of these errors were too elementary. And the order of the table of contents deviated slightly from He Zhun’s memory.

—This isn’t right.

He Zhun was sure something was wrong. He flipped through it again, and after a moment of contemplation, he immediately pressed the call bell. A few minutes later, a caregiver came in,

“Hello, Mr. Xiao He, is there anything you need?”

The soundproofing here was very good, but the moment the door opened, He Zhun keenly heard the sound of warships flying outside. The Academy of Sciences generally didn’t allow the military to enter, unless there’s an emergency martial law.

Emergency martial law in the Capital?

The young man’s expression darkened.

Something must have happened outside!

But He Zhun couldn’t leave, nor could he get more information about the outside world. So at this moment, he just smiled and said to the other person,

“I would like an optical computer, one that doesn’t connect to the network is fine.”

He Zhun had a handsome and modest appearance. When he smiled, he was very approachable, making people let down their guard. At this moment, the young man picked up the thick professional book in his hand and showed a helpless and troubled expression,

“The Legion Commander asked me to help proofread and revise this book, saying it might be helpful for the special medicines, but it’s too thick, and processing it with just the human brain is too slow, so…”

The caregiver seemed a bit troubled, but still nodded.

“Okay, I’ll go and apply for it.”

Thud.

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The smile on He Zhun’s face disappeared. He sat at the table with a blank expression, flipping through the pages one by one. At the same time, he also relived through all his memories, searching for them detail by detail.

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He Zhun smiled and thanked him.

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“Legion Commander, is it really okay to give him an optical computer?”

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Zhou Jiuya raised his hand, and Li Ya fell silent.

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If it weren’t for treating Jiang Ci, with He Qichu’s intelligence, he wouldn’t have been found. As for treating Jiang Ci, according to the agreement between He Qichu and Jiang Jinsheng back then, it was a top secret between them, and only He Qichu knew the treatment process. Because once exposed, the Illusory God Church would hunt him down at all costs.

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“I’m going to the Imperial Palace now, you guard this place well.”

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An hour later, Zhou Jiuya strode down from the Imperial Palace’s landing pad. A female official with a group of people was already waiting below,

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“The Young Master is already asleep in his room. His Majesty said the Imperial Palace is not safe, so he asks you to take him to the Academy of Sciences.”

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Compared to the vast and empty Jiang family home, Jiang Ci preferred the Imperial Palace when he was a child. Because there were many people here to accompany him. The gentle Uncle Changyun was more approachable to him than the stern and proper Zhou Jiuya. Therefore, he had his own exclusive room in the palace.

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Jiang Ci had fallen asleep at his workstation. Next to him was an empty cup with some unfinished milk. On the huge optical computer screen in front of him, countless complex code data streams were still rapidly shuttling through. Nora stood guard nearby, having just draped a blanket over him.

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The man whispered,

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Nora stared at him for a few seconds. Her dark purple vertical pupils slightly dilated, as if she had received some signal. So she slowly blinked and took a step aside.

Zhou Jiuya could finally approach. It was only then that he saw Jiang Ci’s face. His brows were slightly furrowed, and he was sleeping restlessly, just like when he was about to have a nightmare as a child. The Legion Commander was silent for a few seconds, then reached out and carefully wrapped him in the blanket, then picked him up in his arms and strode out the door.

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Jiang Ci could feel that he seemed to be being carried by someone, but his mind was chaotic, and his eyelids seemed too heavy to open.

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Something’s not right… everything’s not right…

Wake up… I have to wake up right now…

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First, it was He Zhun sitting on the hospital bed.

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Then it was Huo Xianfeng, his face obscure and indistinct, as if  he was about to fade into darkness and disappear.

[A-Ci, Pei Changyun is hiding something from me.]

[Huo Chao is dead. The only person I can trust is you.]

Finally, it was his father.

It was the father whose face was already blurry in Jiang Ci’s memory.

In fact, there were many photos of Jiang Jinsheng at home. Even many magazines, biographies of great men, and even history books had photos of Jiang Jinsheng.

But no matter what, Jiang Ci couldn’t remember that man’s face. But at this moment, his father’s face finally became clear. He had handsome brows, and his crimson eyes rippled with a special kind of gentleness, like the last spark about to be extinguished in scattered ashes.

The father stroked the child’s head and said to him,

[A-Ci, if you can’t become good friends with brother He Zhun, then you’ll have to solve this code game by yourself, okay?]

Then, the stubborn Jiang Ci locked himself away to solve the code game, and also missed that person’s departure.

Buzz—

Silver eyelashes trembled rapidly, and Jiang Ci’s eyes flew open. He struggled to sit up and gasped for air as cold sweat dripped from his forehead, as if he had finally broken free from some terrible nightmare.

“You…”

Jiang Ci heard a familiar voice. He abruptly turned his head with a sharp gaze, but then he suddenly froze when his eyes met a familiar face.

—It was Doctor Wen.

“You’re awake… A-Ci?”

Jiang Ci didn’t answer. He stared fixedly at the other person, not missing the surprise and nervousness on Doctor Wen’s face. He quickly scanned his surroundings.

Just then, Nora noticed he was awake and immediately came closer, affectionately nuzzling against Jiang Ci’s palm. This action reassured Jiang Ci a little.

He looked up at Wen Xubai and his voice was hoarse after the nightmare,

“Where is this?”

This wasn’t the Imperial Palace.

As if not expecting him to wake up so quickly, Doctor Wen was rapidly organizing his words, wanting to comfort him,

“You’re too tired, A-Ci. Get some good rest now.”

Jiang Ci was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly spoke,

“Nora, help me open the window and the curtains.”

A few seconds later, with a “whoosh—” sound, glaring sunlight poured in, making Jiang Ci reflexively shield his eyes with his hand and close them.

A breeze carrying the damp scent of the sea wafted in from outside.

Jiang Ci was stunned for a few seconds, then immediately realized this was the Academy of Sciences, and it was already morning. This meant he had slept through the night, and Huo Xianfeng must have also stayed at the Imperial Palace all night and hadn’t returned yet.

Jiang Ci immediately took out Bai Ze,

“Contact Forbidden Abyss.”

A few seconds later, Bai Ze’s tone was grave,

“A-Ci, Long Dream has activated a signal jammer. Contact is impossible.”

Jiang Ci closed his eyes, then turned to ask Nora,

“Can you contact Huo Xianfeng?”

Nora shook her head.

Jiang Ci pursed his lips and asked in detail,

“When did you lose contact?”

“Last night.”

“What did he say?”

“To protect Flowie.”

After getting this reply, Jiang Ci said nothing and asked no more questions. He immediately got up from the bed and walked outside.

The situation was very clear. From the moment Zhao He brought a group of people to find them last night, it wasn’t about discussing things or assisting with deciphering the chip.

The fundamental purpose was to get Huo Xianfeng into the Imperial Palace, while Jiang Ci had to stay at the Academy of Sciences.

What kind of situation would make the Emperor insist on separating the two of them?

What matter required Cecilia to be present for the three of them to discuss?

What could keep Huo Xianfeng at the Imperial Palace for a whole night, not coming to find him for so long, and even cutting off the Zerg spiritual network connection?

When Huo Xianfeng said that Pei Changyun was hiding something from them, Jiang Ci had the worst-case prediction that he couldn’t dwell on: that the Church might try to sow discord. But based on Jiang Ci’s understanding of Pei Changyun over so many years, His Majesty the Emperor was not someone easily instigated.

But the current situation made him feel very uneasy.

Extremely, extremely uneasy.