It was estimated to be half an hour before the energy particles arrived at the base.

A lot of people  were exhausted after the excitement from the roller coaster chain of events. Bixing Lu taught in the air, step by step, to let them know how to set the auto-navigation and auto-location of the mech in a rather stable environment. The teaching scenario was basically another circus opening — luckily, it was harmless and less scary than the process of launching.

After a brief discussion, the s.h.i.+eld was protected by some young and strong guys, taking turns to stay awake. The old and wounded all went to rest, making the noisy mental network immediately quiet. 

Bixing Lu breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at his watch, then secretly connected to the mech contact station of the base with his long distance authority.

The intranet of the base with usual power cuts was unstable, and could merely cover the distance of two sailing days before they came. As a geek, Bixing Lu didn't forget the network issue while fixing film screens for the old ladies.

After his maintenance, the intranet nowadays was more stable covering a wider range. Any registered mech could receive m.u.f.fled signals outside of six sailing days. When the range was four to five sail days, the signals were very stable.

By the time Jingheng Lin replied "copy that", he was estimated to be sailing within the range that the intranet covers. After one whole day, even if he slowed down to let the mech march in a constant speed, he should have entered the range that could be located.

Could be located…

Bixing Lu watched himself moving towards the positioning system unconsciously, wondering, "What's the meaning of it?"

None. The locator covered five sailing days within a tiny screen. No matter how great the mech was, no matter how famous the man sitting in the mech was, it was just a tiny black spot on ite.

If the mech sailed normally on its channel, and the pilot did not perform very high energy consuming operations such as a sudden acceleration or jump, that little black spot would be stationary for quite a long time.

Even if he was bored to death, he could enjoy the view of the base with lights on. Why would he still stare at a stationary little black spot?

Bixing Lu didn't understand himself, strangely enough, he did it anyway.

"Oops," Just when he did such a boring thing like a stalker, someone finally called on his personal terminal. Bixing Lu picked up, and the projection of Sat.u.r.day appeared beside his hands. Sat.u.r.day asked, "Isn't Mint an orphan, Mr.Lu?"

It was not hard to guess. No parents would name their girl with such a name like "Mint".

Bixing Lu stared at the positioning screen without even glancing at him, "It is none of your business whether she is an orphan or not."

"Look at you," Sat.u.r.day put his feet on the desk, "Sounds just like your dad."

"According to the Juveniles Protection Act, for minors under 20 years old, in the absence of legal guardians, their teacher or community staff can act as temporary guardians — I am now her temporary guardian, and my words count. As for Monoeye Hawk," Bixing Lu waved his hands, "I'm just giving him a favor."

Sat.u.r.day said, "Man, back in ancient days, a seventeen year old girl was old enough to be someone's mom!"

Bixing Lu answered, smiling, "Indeed. But you know why? Back in that time, thirty-six years old was old enough to die naturally."

Sat.u.r.day, "…"

"Mankind are so greedy of the feeling to be young and strong. The gene revolution in the old sidereal calendar extended youth to two hundred years, making the childhood of twenty years relatively quick as a flash. To compare with a lifetime, it is merely a blink. "

Bixing Lu said, "It is too precious, like a flower that only blooms for five minutes, like a speck of sand that can be blown away by the winds. Any regret of a second can be a lifetime. And it deserves to be protected properly. You need to wait at least three years."

Sat.u.r.day flung back his head. Anyone who just learned to drive a mech was always constrained in the beginning. It needed time to adjust until one was able to control the second mech through metal network. Right now, Sat.u.r.day who thought he had adjusted recovered his pirate style in the sky.

The positioning screen was searching mech Beijing in the wild universe, none of them spoke for a moment.

Sat.u.r.day said suddenly, "My ex was six years old."

Bixing Lu almost choked, "...Do you need to see a doctor?"

"Tch, what are you thinking? I was only eight years old when I was with her," Sat.u.r.day rolled his eyes, "Her dad was my dad's business partner, and we used to play together. We grew up with a large group of kids, and all the boys liked her, even some girls were making trouble. We were fighting day after day to win the t.i.tle to be her husband. She told me secretly that she liked me best, but it was hard to explain to them. To be her boyfriend, I had to beat them all."

Fighting over a disagreement to convince the rest. There was a reason of such customs.

Bixing Lu shook his head, then reminded himself of something, "Wait a minute, didn't you say you were adopted? How come there's a big family?"

"Yep," Sat.u.r.day looked into the night sky, "That's why I said it was my ex-girlfriend — she lived only until the age of six."

Bixing Lu was stunned.

"My father and his friends were quite mysterious those days. It was said that a big deal was made… I was too young to know exactly what the deal was. The only thing I can recall was that they had so much money that year and everybody was unusually happy. At new year's eve, my dad was drunk, talking to another uncle, 'Once we have enough money, let's stop such risky business'." Sat.u.r.day's vioce turned down, " And on that night, a group of people broke into our home and killed them all. My mother pushed me and herself into two ecological cabins that were linked, with voice recorded and route set, and we were dropped outside the atmosphere and was entrusted to Cow. We were frightened all the way like two insects inside drifting bottles. Then one missile of those people brushed us, leaving her cabin half crushed."

Bixing Lu was shocked and turned to look at Sat.u.r.day.

Sat.u.r.day's baby face was unusually covered with melancholy and coldness, as if there was no suns.h.i.+ne outside the atmosphere, showing his true character.

"You know it, Mr.Lu," Sat.u.r.day said, "If she was blown into pieces, it would be alright, her death would have just been a snap. But it was half of her cabin that crushed. I wasn't dormant that moment, and through the window, I could see her crying in horror, struggling, losing her nutrient solution drop by drop, and the changing of the air pressure little by little. The half-broken cabin was like a mother beast with its belly cut open, unable to do anything but watch the little beast flow away and slowly suffocate…"

"Do you know what I regret the most? What I regret the most is that I didn't dare to fight with other kids for her, because I didn't grow as fast as the others, and I was shorter and weaker. So I told her to wait a few years when I grow stronger…"