MFDSSR 12

Chapter 12

Ming Shiyu had just seen him earlier that day, and in a moment of unguarded vulnerability, had confessed that he missed him—only for Mason to have to walk away.

Though Mason knew Ming Shiyu had been teasing him a bit, he realized that Ming Shiyu was likely genuinely feeling lonely. In that dim, quiet parking garage, when Ming Shiyu had looked up and said he missed him, Mason had felt his heart flutter, but he also thought: Perhaps even Shiyu doesn’t realize it himself, but he’s actually resentful that I left him behind.

Now, his beautiful wife was secretly sleeping in his room because he missed him too much…

Mason suspected that if he were a little train instead of a butler robot, with his mind burning like a coal furnace, he would be whistling and doing loop-de-loops in sheer joy.

A moment later, in the quiet night sky, a furious psychic roar suddenly rang out from the sleeping Mason household: [I’ve said it before, one shot to the Emperor and all our problems would be solved! Robots were never meant to do this kind of work!!]

Ming Shiyu closed his eyes and turned over, suppressing a laugh: He really is so noisy.

Councilor Mason, who hadn’t slept a wink, spent the night optimizing his subordinates’ workflows and, in a fit of mania, dragged the Crown Prince out of bed at midnight to urge him to expedite their plans.

The Crown Prince’s virtual projection hung by his bedside, bleary-eyed and gasping:

“Are you insane? I already feel guilty enough about the fact that I caused your fake death and drove your wife to consider remarriage.”

“But do you have even the most basic respect for your future boss? What time is it right now? Do you have any idea how hard it is to restore a top-tier title like the Duke of Valentine? Even if I could fly, I couldn’t clear things with the Supreme Court Justices and the Imperial Central Procuratorate in a single day!”

Mason ignored him completely. He had only one demand: Faster. Make it faster.

After turning everything upside down, Mason was back on duty the next day, right on time, inhabiting Little Guan to report for duty in front of Ming Shiyu.

And so, Mason found himself wearing a robotic face that looked like it wanted to die, all while having to welcome his most dreaded rival.

Mason felt completely numb. Seriously, ever since he was forced to become a robot to monitor—er, protect—his wife, hadn’t there been a few too many annoying people he’d had to deal with?

The Capital Planet’s port was divided into two sections: one provided docking bays for large starships carrying passengers, mostly for short-haul flights or for those without the psychic capacity for “jumping” across space; the other was reserved for passengers with high-intensity psychic powers capable of jumping directly from one galaxy to another using specialized equipment.

Ming Shiyu was standing in a specially prepared VIP lounge. Usually, Lin Jingsheng, as the First Governor of the Huaxia Alliance, would have used an official confidential channel to report for duty in the Capital, hosted by the Council’s specialized departments and the Royal Protocol Office.

But this visit was a private trip for Lin Jingsheng, with his annual duty report as an afterthought, so he had chosen standard jumping methods. As a childhood friend, it was only right for Ming Shiyu to meet him.

From the lounge, through the one-way glass, one could see the bustling flow of travelers.

Like all travelers, those emerging from the star-jump lanes moved with light, quick steps. After all, a journey that would take ten years by starship took them only a few hours through psychic jumping.

On the other hand, passengers arriving via long-haul starships often looked exhausted and solemn, carrying massive amounts of luggage, sometimes even dragging their entire families; rarely did one see a traveler alone.

That was because long-haul starship travel often took over a decade. Some people could never gather the courage or the funds to afford a second such journey in their lifetime. Thus, they could only bring their life savings and their loved ones to foreign lands to meet an unknown fate.

Ming Shiyu was entranced, watching the crowd through the glass, when he suddenly looked down and asked the unusually quiet robot, Mason:

“It’s the most magnificent, most resolute migration in the universe.”

“Little Guan, if you were a person without psychic powers living in a remote galaxy, would you spend ten years of your life to get a rare opportunity to reach the Capital Planet? Or would you send your young children onto a starship, packing them off to the galaxy with the best educational resources and the most opulent life?”

Mason was stunned. He had known since they were married that Ming Shiyu was always unhappy whenever he visited the port of any planet, but he had never explained why.

[So that’s it—he hates the cruelty starship travel inflicts on ordinary people. As the person with the highest psychic ranking in the Empire, your heart is truly and adorably soft.]

It made sense. Shiyu had grown up in the Huaxia Alliance; it was only natural for him to be moved by the plight of ordinary people upon arriving at the Capital Planet.

Mason didn’t want to fob him off with platitudes, but he didn’t want him to remain miserable, either. He weighed his words carefully:

“Master, starship travel itself is a rare opportunity. I know you’re worried. The Capital Planet is a place that prizes psychic ability above all else. Influenced by noble culture, even jobs that don’t involve psychic powers or jumping aren’t opened to ordinary people, making it difficult for them to gain a foothold here.”

“However, the Empire’s policy direction has been difficult but firmly shifting toward the principle of psychic equality. It might not show results yet, but a disruptive institutional change is within reach.”

[I really want you to know that I’m not just saying pretty things to make you happy. This is the political platform of the Council under my leadership. The suffering you don’t want to see is already beginning to change, believe me.]

“Master, don’t be unhappy. Everything is getting better. Believe me.”

Ming Shiyu kept his head down, his long, slender eyelashes shielding the emotions in his eyes. “No, I’m not complaining. I know Councilor Mason has been doing a good job. The principle of psychic equality is an irresistible trend in order to reverse the extreme phenomenon of resources crazily congregating in the Capital Planet.”

“What I mean is, the root of the inequality in the Empire’s resource distribution lies in the birth of psychic powers. Historical records state that in the first year of the Imperial Star Era, heroes who awakened psychic powers led humanity to develop habitable galaxies, and the Empire’s crazed expansion achieved great feats.”

Ming Shiyu laughed, though his tone remained low: “But the fact that was never pointed out is that those in power absorbed many people who developed psychic powers, using their jump advantages to occupy the richest lands in the universe, becoming the nobles and the Capital Planet we see today.”

Mason didn’t even want to blink, his gaze fixed intently on him.

Ming Shiyu turned to look at the bustling crowd outside: “They drove ordinary people to the edges of the universe. To this day, they still use interstellar jumping to hoard wealth. People in the fringe galaxies live lives of poverty reminiscent of the pre-star era, while the Capital Planet is like a bloated bomb piled high with gold and silver, not knowing when it will explode from excessive enrichment…”

He murmured, “You said if…”

Before he could finish, a warm, smiling voice came from behind him:

“Shiyu, long time no see. Aren’t you going to give me a hug?”

Chapter 11: Lin Jingsheng

Ming Shiyu stopped mid-sentence and turned to find Lin Jingsheng already standing at the door of the VIP lounge. The man, impeccably dressed in a suit, stood a short distance away, arms opened with a smile.

Ming Shiyu had only taken a few steps forward before Lin Jingsheng walked over and embraced him.

Behind Lin Jingsheng, his aide was scrolling through a light-screen to set their luggage transit, while wishing he could cover his eyes at the pathetic sight.

Their usually stern, no-nonsense Governor was currently acting like he had no dignity at all. Normally, when having a friend pick you up, you’d send a message upon landing, but his boss had just walked into the lounge himself without a word, unwilling to let the other person walk a single extra step.

Who is picking up whom?! the aide muttered to himself, though he understood—after all, it was the beautiful Ming. He dismissed the light-screen and watched the stunning picture of the two embracing with satisfaction, though the moping butler robot standing next to them was a bit of an eyesore.

Lin Jingsheng almost wanted to close his eyes to savor the hug, until Ming Shiyu gently patted his back in confusion. Only then did he compose his face and let go.

“What’s wrong, Jingsheng?” Ming Shiyu had already heard Mason’s psychic energy screaming: [Stop hugging!]

From the moment Lin Jingsheng appeared, Mason had acted like a dead, drained battery.

“Still have the nerve to ask? You come to the Capital Planet and never return to the Alliance. Even ‘Director’ Yao misses you; he talks about you all the time.” Lin Jingsheng complained jokingly, but the person who truly held Ming Shiyu in his heart didn’t dare voice his longing.

It had been two years. No matter how realistic 3D holographic calls were, nothing could soothe him like this touchable embrace.

Ming Shiyu remembered ‘Director’ Yao, who was actually Lin Jingsheng’s deputy. Because he looked mature and was a born worrier, he looked more like the leader than the young, handsome Lin Jingsheng. After many misunderstandings, he had been jokingly nicknamed ‘Director Yao.’

Director Yao was an ordinary person without psychic powers. If he were forced to undergo star jumping, his consciousness would be lost in the energy streams of the universe. Since the Huaxia Alliance and the Capital Planet were separated by a dozen galaxies, a starship journey would take five years, which was why he hadn’t been able to come along this time.

“You know how it is. My parents wish I wouldn’t waste their time, and Mingzhu is always running to the Capital Planet. I never had a reason to go back to the Alliance, and then—in a blink of an eye—a year had passed.”

The moment he finished, Mason’s sharp, bitter complaint rang out in his mind: [Lin Jingsheng is the same as ever, a complete ‘green tea’ bitch. Every time he wants to compete for favor, he has to get close to Shiyu.]

[I’m sick of him. In the past, even in front of me, he’d talk to Shiyu about friends only they knew and their ‘innocent youth,’ making me feel like an outsider. What’s so great about being childhood sweethearts?]

Ming Shiyu: …

He hadn’t realized Mason had so many grievances against Lin Jingsheng. They had only met once before their wedding when Lin Jingsheng came to deliver a gift because he couldn’t make it to the actual ceremony.

Mason had been perfectly polite to him then. If not for his psychic thoughts betraying him now, Ming Shiyu would never have guessed that Mason had been gnashing his teeth behind that courteous mask.

Ming Shiyu: To be fair, you’re so good at acting, you’re actually more of a ‘green tea’ than he is.

As for Lin Jingsheng, Ming Shiyu heard none of his subtext. After all, they were childhood neighbors. They chatted online occasionally, and he felt that a 3D projection of a friend was as good as seeing them in person.

Ming Shiyu teased him: “Haven’t you also rarely come to the Capital Planet?”