I Can Read Minds But Will Not Be Marked - Chapter 80

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: KarateChopMonkey

He YunTing didn’t wake Lin Han up, but didn’t want to hang up either.

Grr came over to see what these two people were doing, and then fell asleep in a daze, as if such a large light screen didn’t even exist. These two humans were very boring, and it only took little talent to connect the video communication.

After a while it was also sleepy, but thinking that just now He YunTing didn’t want it to hang up, in view of the General yielding to its softness, Grr decided not to bother with him. It finally moved his ears, didn’t come closer, but rolled to Lin Han’s side. It habitually rubbed against Lin Han’s neck to get his favorite temperature, and then meekly shrunk into a small black coal ball, and soon fell asleep.

He YunTing’s room returned to peace and quiet, not even the wind stirred any longer. The young man wasn’t well covered by the blanket because of his restless sleep, only covering his legs to show the outline, while the remaining half of his body was exposed.

It was late at night in the Empire and He YunTing didn’t know when Lin Han fell asleep. He only saw him because he kept turning over and covering the forehead of fine messy hair. His skin was already very white, his black hair gently scattered on his delicate and gentle face. He YunTing could almost recall the soft touch when lightly caressing it.

He obviously hadn’t been out of the civilian area before college, but he hadn’t been tainted with some of the less-than-perfect scents there.

It was as if the other was born a work of art, and he was just a lucky person who happened to be at his mercy.

Lin Han’s love and kisses were pure, like his desire, and because of this, his longing also became a tempting luxury, but even if he wanted to lean in to pick it up, he worried about only having his hands filled with disappointment.

The youth grabbed the wrinkles on his clothes and pulled on it for a long time, which will probably make the housekeeper wrinkle her brows, before ironing the clothes out.

He YunTing had always been meticulous, but now he suddenly felt that it wasn’t a bad idea to keep his clothes wrinkly.

Lin Han slept in his bed, clutching at his clothes, all his silent movements telling him: I miss you.

But Lin Han wouldn’t unreasonably urge him to return, much less repeatedly to intervene in his work.

He was so good, so understanding that He YunTing couldn’t stop looking at him now.

He had beheaded the Zerg and killed the Star Pirates, and today he was so easily using the most sophisticated weapons against people who were once as ordinary as all the civilian areas of the Empire.

How could he touch him with these hands again?

He YunTing felt some heat in his eyes, and his chest and limbs, which had been cold, seemed to be gradually warming up. He finally reached out to cover his face and closed his eyes in exhaustion.

Lin Han’s biological clock was on time, and he woke up to such a light.

Grr didn’t wake up, and he couldn’t tell if the little one had pressed in when He YunTing contacted him. He YunTing was asleep, with his face propped up on his hands, his expression unreadable, his breathing steady.

Lin Han then remembered that he didn’t even seem to have seen He YunTing asleep.

The two of them were in the border area before, they didn’t have nutritional supplements, so with his poor physique, he was always drowsy without strength. So much so that every time he got up, He YunTing was already awake, seemingly never getting tired in front of him.

Now He YunTing was leaning in his cockpit, not even the pilot seat was lowered. But he was too tall and his legs weren’t fully extended, making the position seem less comfortable, just a brief respite between combat. He also seemed serious when he fell asleep, still sharp in his military attire, as if he could regain his wakefulness in the next second and continue his mission to be the unattainable General that everyone looked up to.

Lin Han thought, if he made a little noise at this time, the other would immediately open his cold, sharp eyes and wouldn’t waver for a moment. He slowly sat up from the bed and subconsciously looked down — and his face suddenly burned.

He YunTing’s regular clothes were grasped tightly by him, full of wrinkles. Lin Han wondered how long he had actually slept holding his clothes at night, whether He YunTing had seen it or not, and how he would feel if he did. But he soon didn’t bother to make such guesses, anyway, he did that kind of thing in the other’s susceptible period through the video message, holding the clothes, so He YunTing would certainly not mind.

If he saw it, then he saw it.

Lin Han gently put He YunTing’s uniform back on the bed and stared at his face in the video for a while until it was time for  Qi Jiamu to pick him up for work, then he sighed inwardly and disconnected.

He would love to talk to him, and would love to hear his voice. But more than that, he wanted him to get a good, restful night’s sleep amidst the killing and self-imposed struggles.

The ‘cleanup’ on V Proton continued.

After a brief restoration, the formation continued on, this time to Chrisport, where they had first landed. Although not the original birthplace of the alien species, this was the worst area of V Proton, the fastest to fall and with no chance of return.

The alien species here were basically all mature ‘Zerg’. Chrisport was near the sea, so the territory was relatively low altitude, and when the formation arrived, they couldn’t see any human-related habits in any of them.

With the experience of the previous day, and the fact that Chrisport was relatively easier to clean up than Desert City, they used the same way, brutally and indifferently turning on the jamming sound waves, making the aliens gather, using all possible weapons, eradicating these former humans. Because it was easier to dispose of the corpses by the sea, the mecha formation simply drew most of the aliens to the sea, and they stepped through the dust to the traps prepared by the humans.

The originally turquoise blue water was dyed light red in one loud crash after another, and every undulating ripple carried blood and an unpleasant smell.

The cleanup of Chrisport went quickly, so they didn’t stop to rest this time, and marched directly to the last city, the city of Licorro, where this gene began to spread. Originally, they thought that the city fallen earliest must be the worst, and the formation rechecked its armament to make sure there were no surprises.

But the scene upon arrival was different from what they expected.

Unlike Chrisport, where there wasn’t a trace of humans, there was a subtle difference in comparison. Although like in Desert City, there were people straddling the middle of the road and people feeding on the roots of plants at an incredible speed, all the supermarkets were basically emptied, and some stores were even lit up. It was impossible to see inside, but it gave the sergeants some other associations.

“Could it be…” Someone asked over the communicator, “there are still living people?”

Lu AnHe cautioned, “But this is the city where infection started to spread from.”

They parked the mecha near the University of Licorro.

He YunTing opened the map and assigned tasks and areas as usual. Just as he was about to finish the arrangement, a certain sergeant finally couldn’t resist speaking out — about the association he had just made.

This association was confirmed when they saw a cake store.

There was no alien found in the area for the time being, and the store was lit with warm yellow lights, and there were cakes of various colors baked at some point in the glass cases scattered about, and a slender teenager was standing in front of the case, as if he was sizing up which one was better to pick. He seemed to be unaware that the city had now been abandoned, communication wasn’t out, he just wanted to pick a cake of his choice.

The aliens wouldn’t eat human food.

There was no expression on the teenager’s face as he slowly stepped aside, his pace a little stiff. He picked up a tray lined with greaseproof paper and reached out to pull open one of the glass cases.

The formation hadn’t broken up yet, so the picture was now in full view of everyone. No one spoke on the public channel for a while.

The teenager finally selected a cake drizzled with a thick chocolate sauce, and in silence he walked to the counter and found a clear square box, resting on the bottom and slowly filling it.

“The plan remains the same.” He YunTing’s voice finally rang out once again, cold as the year-round ice and snow in the extreme cold region, “Repeat, no change to the plan.”

He seemed to be unable to hear the inhalation sounds and continued to give his orders. The teenager finally wrapped the cake, took a step to the door, and was about to push the door open—

“Report!” A pilot said hurriedly, “Sorry General, due to my dereliction of duty, Professor Xu… Professor Xu took off the safety lock by himself and forced himself down the mecha…”

As soon as his words fell, the crowd saw the well-known professor with half-white hair running towards the cake store and towards the frail teenager.

Xu Zhiheng, who was even carrying his bag, rushed forward like a desperate man to grab the teenager’s hand, while the other didn’t understand the sudden change and let him tug, only to carry his packed chocolate cake tightly in his hand. He knew his actions would disrupt the plan at the moment, but he seemed unafraid and prepared, pulling the teenager to a stop in front of M2742.

After running too fast, Xu Zhiheng, who was an Omega after all, couldn’t help but gasp for breath twice before he tilted his head and yelled at the mecha, “General!”

No one dared to speak on the  public channel and nobody knew what would happen to Xu Zhiheng, who didn’t listen to the order and ran out.

A minute later, M2742 finally moved.

The advanced mecha had a pop-up closed capsule cabin inside, so He YunTing didn’t get off, just walked into the cabin, then lowered the capsule cabin to a position close to the ground. Through a layer of transparent hatch, he was looking at Xu Zhiheng expressionlessly.

“Professor Xu.” His voice was cold.

Xu Zhiheng walked closer, dragged the teenager who didn’t say a word, and knocked on He YunTing’s hatch.

“He’s a human… He’s a human…” Xu Zhiheng said anxiously, “There are clearly humans in this city, can’t you see that?!”

He YunTing turned his face, raised the brim of his military cap with his hand, and frowned at him. Without any emotion in his eyes, the meaning was clear, which was, he hoped Xu Zhiheng wouldn’t get in the way.

“Human?” He YunTing’s voice wasn’t loud, but every word was dripping with ice shards, “This human, it seems like he can’t even speak.”

Xu Zhiheng had no intention of backing off, seeing that He YunTing was just about to raise his hand in an order, he immediately opened his mouth.

“He has similar symptoms to A’Ze!” Because Qi JiaZe was secretly picked up by He YunTing, Xu Zhiheng could only use the words Qi Jiamu often shouted instead of Qi JiaZe’s name, explaining hurriedly, afraid that if he was a minute later, the life in front of him would disappear again in his own hands. From He YunTing’s order, the whole person protected the teenager in front of him. From the back of his neck to his back, he put his arms around him. The other wasn’t hostile, so he obediently allowed Xu Zhiheng to do whatever.

It seemed to be similar to Qi JiaZe’s symptoms, walking with a slightly stiff posture, looking somewhat dull, but still with the characteristics of human consciousness.

“A’Ze has gotten better, General, and you know it!” Xu Zhiheng argued, trying to make He YunTing hear his words, “I don’t care where the genes flowed from this time or who did the experiment, but I will not make a mistake.”

“He’s n Omega,” He YunTing interrupted him coldly as he faintly turned sideways.

Or Xu Zhiheng found out himself, Omega with a Burning Blood physique.

But He YunTing didn’t say that out loud.

The implication was that whether these Beta without glands could be treated according to Qi JiaZe’s method before or not was still unknown.

In front of He YunTing, the unknowable things were uncertainties that should be eradicated.

They had already cleared two not-so-little rainforest cities in the same way, completely and thoroughly.

“They… They originally had families, too.” Xu Zhiheng said, “Maybe his family is still waiting for him. This city is different from the previous two, General, can’t you tell?”

“But their parents may have mutated as well, not recognizing their child at all, or even wanting to go crazy and tear him apart and eat him.” He YunTing was unmoved, not even giving more than a glance, stating another fact in a flat manner.

“But… but the child before you doesn’t have vertical pupils,” Xu Zhiheng begged bitterly, “I brought some of the results of the treatment of A’Ze, please, let me try. This is a university, so there must be a laboratory that can still work…”

“I only need two days… no, one day… one day at most, I can try to solve the problem.”

“As long as he’s similar to A’Ze, as long as he’s similar…” Xu Zhiheng repeated twice before continuing, “Then it won’t be difficult.”

“Professor Xu, you may not be clear about the current problem.”

“You left the group without permission and came into contact with potentially infected subjects,” He YunTing was noncommittal, “I’m sorry, even though it’s my responsibility to ensure your safety, I also need to be responsible for my sergeants.”

“After the purge in Licorro City is over, I’m even considering whether to bring you back to Central City.”

Xu Zhiheng was silent, but still didn’t let go of the teenager’s hand. He just spoke too excitedly, the teenager’s chocolate cake fell to the ground. He didn’t seem to pack it well, so the cake fell out of the square box and rolled halfway around on the ground, its shape still intact.

“The moment I saw him, I just felt… He’s very similar to Xiao Meng.” This he said slowly, and his eyes dimmed, “But I didn’t even get to see the last of him.”

“I don’t want to go through that again, obviously he seemed… A very good boy, too.”

He YunTing didn’t seem to be touched by Xu Zhiheng’s words, as if Ji Meng’s death had already become a thing of the past for him.

Xu Zhiheng, however, finally made a decision and raised his face again, without the hysteria of two days ago, but with more determination, “If I haven’t made any progress after the mission in Licorro City is finished.”

“…You can leave without me.”

He YunTing towered over Xu Zhiheng and stared at him indifferently.

“Check if there are any aliens near Licorro University.” He ordered in a deep voice, and only after obtaining the exact information that there were no foreigners within two kilometers did he turn his head back to look at Xu Zhiheng.

“I will not delay the progress of the mission for you.”

“Likewise, please remember your own words.”

—

The cleanup mission was executed smoothly.

The city was indeed strange, but again, the crowd couldn’t find any other human scent at once, except for that teenager. The city of Licorro was larger than either of the first two cities and wasn’t as easy to clear as Chrisport, so it took a little longer.

Each mecha did its job, weaving in and out of the cannon fire and the sound of sorrow, blasting open the brains and hearts of the aliens again and again, then sending them into the flames, burning and melting.

The whole day.

The dusk here was still bloody, with a heavy fishy smell, and the hiss of all the aliens.

Finally, they returned to the University of Licorro, where they had arrived.

Xu Zhiheng walked out after hearing the roar of the mecha.

Beside him stood a teenager, this time without a cake in his hand.

That thin teenager’s eyes were clear, without a trace of vertical pupils.

Xu Zhiheng’s expression had changed significantly compared to a day ago, even now He YunTing still didn’t come out of the mecha, but only spoke to him through the hatch.

Xu Zhiheng’s voice trembled with excitement, “Look, I did it, I can do it…”

The teenager’s pace was still slow, but indeed looked much better than before. He walked step by step in front of M2742, and finally stopped at a distance of one meter, curved his eyes, and said with a stiff, one-word smile—

“You, good.”