Chapter 83: “Don't... keep using me in front of her.”

Lu Anji didn't answer.

The reconnaissance ship's intelligence officer sent a message at this time.

Right ascension 2 hours 30 minutes, declination +0 degrees, an unmarked, high-speed moving target was found.

The appearance reflectivity was low, and there was an 83% chance that it was a Zerg biological battleship.

He seemed to be relieved, grabbed his coat and was about to walk out of the rest room.

Just as he took a step, Azul’s black tail wrapped around his wrist.

“You still haven’t answered.”

Azul was persistent.

“I answered long ago.”

Lu Anji didn't turn his head, his voice tense, “If you die, I will drag your corpse to your mother and mock her.”

“I always thought that was just angry talk. After all, you can’t communicate with my mother, and you never wanted to go to the sun.”

Lu Anji didn't want to continue this topic.

He grabbed the tail on his wrist with his backhand, pulled it hard, and threw the coat he was holding over him, directly dragging him out.

Azul quieted down and lowered his eyelids to stare at the ground.

On the way to the bridge, the people on the ship all looked as if they had seen a ghost.

They were so stunned that they didn't dare to go up and talk to Lu Anji.

Azul’s authority was not enough to enter the bridge.

After being brought in, Lu Anji simply placed him and dealt with him.

He wasn't wearing a coat.

Facing the various gazes of the crowd, he slowly put on Lu Anji’s clothes to cover his tail.

Lu Anji was a mess when it came to dealing with his relationship with Azul, but he was quite capable when it came to his own work.

“All hands, attention! Immediately confirm the enemy target information, conduct biological identification, and maintain full-band reconnaissance.”

“All hands, enter level one combat status.The entire ship will enter combat readiness mode and prepare to engage the enemy.”

“The entire ship will activate its defensive shields, with energy charged to the highest level. All weapon systems will enter a standby state.”

“Communications officer, transmit the enemy situation to the other ships in the fleet and coordinate joint operations.”

“Send an emergency report to the fleet command, reporting our position and the number of enemy troops.”

“The entire ship will maintain maneuverability, randomly changing its course to avoid becoming the target of the enemy’s main cannon.”

“Full speed ahead with the engines, circle around to the enemy’s flank, and look for weaknesses in their formation.”

He had basically considered all situations, but he didn't mention an emergency evacuation plan in case of severe damage after contact, as if he hadn't even thought about retreating.

The fleet command quickly sent back a reply, asking about the necessity of this contact.

Lu Anji smiled at the person on the other end of the communication.

His eyes were quite indifferent, and anyone could see that he was in a very bad mood.

“The necessity of contact?”

His voice was also very cold, and he even abandoned the most basic reporting format.

“Right ascension 2 hours 30 minutes, declination +0 degrees. The celestial coordinates are close to the original ecliptic plane, only 0.25 AU (37.4 million kilometers) from the sun.”

“Sir, do you think we are on a spring outing? This is the Zerg’s territory, and we have trespassed. In the eyes of the Zerg, we are already waving at them from their doorstep and you ask me about the necessity of contact?”

For the first time, Lu Anji showed a harshness that was close to sarcasm.

He didn't look at Azul from beginning to end, but these words also seemed to be directed at Azul, both in attitude and content.

Azul had said, you never wanted to go to the sun.

Lu Anji said, we are already at the doorstep.

The atmosphere on the bridge was tense.

The crew members looked at their captain in disbelief.

He was like a lit firecracker, the fuse still burning, the smell of gunpowder everywhere.

In the end, the command relinquished its authority and backed down in front of Lu Anji.

Lu Anji was not surprised at all.

“Azul.”

He called, “Come here. You are now my OOD.”

OOD, Officer of the Deck.

The Officer of the Deck is the captain’s representative.

He is usually responsible for commanding the daily operations of the ship when the captain is not on the bridge to ensure the safety of the ship.

They are directly responsible to the captain, report the situation on the ship, and in an emergency, ask the captain for help or report.

Lu Anji’s battleship was a special case.

All the positions on the bridge were filled by elites.

Apart from the orders of the captain and the vice captain, they usually had a high degree of mobility and were not under the command of the Officer of the Deck.

In other words, this position was simply a mascot that could freely enter and exit the bridge.

Azul stared at Lu Anji.

The other party still refused to look at him.

After leaving the rest room, they had never made eye contact again.

But Lu Anji was still quite good.

He seemed to remember that this little bug had to avoid the crew to check the nebula and could only check it secretly, which caused his biological clock to be out of sync with others and he couldn’t sleep well, so he simply gave him the right authority to do things.

Azul felt that there were other reasons.

For example, on the bridge, one could have a direct view of the entire battlefield layout.

This was the heart of the fleet, the battle situation, the casualties, the situation of the Zerg everything converged here.

And Azul had not yet faced the battlefield directly.

His understanding of death was limited to the individual level and report documents.

Lu Anji should be trying to let him see something.

Azul thought.

So he answered, “Okay.”

Azul said softly, “I’ll listen to you.”

“Can this be considered a concession?”

The system couldn’t figure out what Lu Anji was thinking.

“What concession is he making? I didn’t force him to do anything.”

Chu Zu sat in his new position, ignoring the gazes that were drifting his way.

These people didn't have much time to care about themselves.

Lu Anji had no retreat plan.

If they didn't fight with all their might, they could only wait for death.

System: “...”

Chu Zu: “He just doesn’t want me to run away. He’s giving me some sweet talk to make me stay for now. I do need the bridge’s authority.”

“Why is he so capricious…”

The system muttered.

Chu Zu didn't care.

He was observing Lu Anji’s command.

In the war between humans and the Zerg, the most difficult thing was often tactics.

It wasn't that the Zerg Queen was a particularly shrewd tactician, but the disparity in military strength between the two sides was simply too great.

Lu Anji could deploy about twenty flagships.

Apart from the firepower of the ships themselves, the more flexible mobile combat was mainly handled by the aircraft carriers.

Counting the number of fighters, and comparing it with the Zerg biological warships that were gradually approaching, the system calculated the accurate data a step ahead of the reconnaissance ship commander.

“Not counting the difference in firepower, Lu Anji has five thousand fighters, and the Mother Bug has twenty thousand. The other battleships are still proceeding according to the original plan. The command has not sent any reinforcements.”

This depressing news was soon transmitted to the bridge by the reconnaissance ship’s intelligence officer.

Chu Zu heard the heavy breathing of the people around him, and their suppressed curses.

They should have been accusing Lu Anji, who had chosen to take the initiative to attack, but Lu Anji was too calm.

He had given his combat suit jacket to Azul.

Now he was only wearing a simple inner layer that was not resistant to cosmic rays.

If something happened on the bridge, he would be the first to die.

His leisurely and confident posture bluffed everyone.

No one could see that Lu Anji was silently going mad.

Chu Zu thought he was going mad.

As the protagonist in the first draft and a POV in the revised main text, Lu Anji was not complicated.

The experiment had made him crazy and conflicted, but there was no conflict to let him show his personality.

As long as he could still be a captain and lead humanity in the slaughter of the Zerg, he could use the death he created to calm his heart.

From the POV of the original Azul, the people around Lu Anji died one after another, and it was only then that he locked Azul up.

At the very end of the retreat, he still released the imprisoned Azul and took him with him; this could only show Lu Anji’s excessive care and love for his cohort.

Actually, he was just increasing the risk for himself.

Chu Zu could be sure.

Lu Anji had definitely been aware of many things a long time ago, but he not only wanted the crew to bear the risk, but also wanted to put himself in a dangerous situation.

The more dangerous, the better.

He had no desire to live in the first place.

When the Zerg were wiped out and humanity was wiped out, then it would be his turn.

After the revision, Lu Anji began to have a plot to show his personality.

The forum speculated that Lu Anji might have had a hand in the deaths of those people.

In fact, Chu Zu believed that whether it was before or after the revision, this person’s personality had not changed.

Azul’s change was just a chance for him to show his true personality.

As long as he was still the child who came out of the laboratory, and as long as humanity kept him on the front lines, no one could change him.

If you looked closely, you would find that Lu Anji had only ever been in contact with two types of humans:

Those who knew he had been experimented on, ignored his human rights, and allowed his suffering.

Or those who were ignorant of this and placed the hope of humanity on him, expecting him to lead everyone to victory.

In terms of human diversity, he hadn’t even seen as much as the current Azul.

A huge light appeared in front of the bridge.

The light source generated by the explosion of the ship lit up a small part of the universe.

The cruiser was very close.

The burning debris quickly cooled in the absence of oxygen and scattered in all directions, passing by the side of the cruiser where Chu Zu was.

The beeping of various modules was incessant, and the green light turned red and then green again.

The navigation officer had been holding his breath for nearly three minutes.

He only began to cough violently after making sure he would not be hit.

This was the only human sound on the ship besides Lu Anji’s various orders.

Lu Anji was still ordering them to press forward, and then press forward again, until the dense and terrifying Zerg biological fleet appeared before their naked eyes.

At this time, Lu Anji finally turned his head and glanced at Chu Zu.

With the approaching biological fleet as a background, one of the only two beings in the Zerg with conscious sovereignty was sitting peacefully on a human ship.

Lu Anji’s calm eyes seemed to be imprinted with the cold, metallic luster of the Zerg.

Chu Zu could clearly understand his mockery.

He thought it was ridiculous, and it was indeed very absurd.

And, Chu Zu also knew the other reason why he had brought Azul to the bridge.

“My mom knows I’m here.”

Chu Zu said to the system in the sea of consciousness, “Even if we both die, my mom won’t destroy this place. My side is the safest place in the entire universe.”

The system was stunned.

It wanted to scold Lu Anji for his good calculations, but then it felt that something was not right.

“But the Mother Bug, in the end that shot was very decisive.”

“The only thing I don’t understand is my mom’s thoughts.”

Chu Zu said, “But at least for now, I know that the Zerg’s life is very tenacious, and so am I after being transformed. As long as I don’t die on the spot, give me a cocoon, and I will definitely not die.”

“Let’s not talk about this for now. Lu Anji is really crazy. I made him uncomfortable, so he had to find a way to let me see things I don’t understand. Under normal circumstances, I would also be uncomfortable.”

This person’s brain had no “concession” as the system had said.

How could he concede?

The style of a pure hate warrior was revenge, a life-and-death revenge.

The navigation officer suddenly shouted: “Evasive action, everyone find a place to secure yourselves!”

Chu Zu caught a glimpse of a black shadow crashing towards the battleship.

The next second, he was pushed onto his seat by Lu Anji, and the entire ship was shaking violently.

His face was pressed against the other’s chest.

He couldn’t see anything.

The calls around him and Lu Anji’s unusually steady heartbeat were mixed together.

When the ship finally stabilized, Lu Anji let go and said in a low voice: “Look, Azul.”

Chu Zu raised his head.

Lu Anji had made way for him.

A huge tissue structure was crushed against the outside of the ship.

The surface was rugged, like a pile of rotten meat.

The limbs under the rotten meat were still twitching, making a terrifying “thudding” sound against the wall.

It was the corpse of a Zerg.

Not just that.

In what seemed to be its mouth, there was half a human bone.

It probably hadn't had time to crush it.

Zerg did not eat humans, but it was very simple for them to chew up human flesh and bones.

The sound of dry heaving could be heard from all over the ship.

“I’ve been thinking about your question.”

Lu Anji said in his ear, “Actually, I don’t have to care if you have other friends. Lin Xingyu has never been to the front lines. She doesn’t know what war is, and neither do you.”

“Now you’ve seen it, and you understand. So you definitely won’t tell her what you are.”

“Lin Xingyu is dead. You can see what a human who dies in space looks like. Then you can try to imagine how she died.”

“Or you can imagine that she’s still alive, coming to the front lines, and the look in her eyes when she sees these things.”

Lu Anji asked lightly: “Will you be sad about that, Azul?”

His tone was so gentle, and every word that came from his lips was polite and courteous, much more considerate than when he had retorted to the command.

The system shuddered violently in the sea of consciousness.

Chu Zu looked at the dead Zerg.

The ship had already started the automatic cleaning process, throwing the ugly monster back into the universe.

After a while, the outer wall of the bridge was basically clean, at least it wouldn't obstruct the view.

Chu Zu lowered his eyes: “So, I should be sad when a friend dies, right?”

Lu Anji sneered: “If you can still be sad about your little friend’s death, then go ahead.”

He continued to give orders: press forward.

There was no up, down, left, or right in the universe.

The Zerg, with their numerical advantage, had formed a circle of encirclement from all directions.

What was strange was that the originally dense biological fleet gradually loosened its encirclement after Lu Anji ordered the destruction of the vanguard.

And the ship’s course had a direction.

The navigation officer caught this change and immediately reported it to Lu Anji.

Now the UIF’s losses were already a win compared to the Zerg’s losses.

Should they take this opportunity to retreat?

Seeing that Lu Anji was still planning to continue to go crazy, the system hurriedly calculated various plans.

The best result was that the Mother Bug would let this one battleship go, and all the others would be finished.

The result of being finished was that Lu Anji would definitely be sent to a military tribunal, along with Azul.

“Host, please think of a way. If he continues to be crazy, we really can’t advance the plot!”

The little yellow chicken was so anxious it was spinning in circles, “Why is he such a vengeful pure hate god of war? Didn’t he want to destroy the whole universe? He has no career ambition at all!”

“Don’t panic, we can handle it.”

After Chu Zu answered, he grabbed Lu Anji.

Lu Anji had been grabbed countless times.

That black tail was really too convenient, agile enough, and hard enough.

Wrist, ankle, waist, neck all the places that could be wrapped had been ruthlessly circled by Azul, disregarding his personal thoughts, forcing him to listen to the little Zerg’s miscellaneous questions.

Now it wasn’t a tail, but cold white fingers that were no different from a human’s, gently pinching the hem of his clothes.

When he used force, his fingernails turned white, with only a hint of red at the base.

“Don't keep using me in front of her.”

Lu Anji heard him say in a low voice, “She will be sad.”

“Oh.”

Lu Anji didn't take it seriously.

Azul held on tightly and wouldn't let go, saying: “I will be sad too.”

“Is it more sad than your little friend’s death?”

Lu Anji asked.

“It should be.”

Lu Anji’s smile deepened.

He patted the back of his hand, “This is probably the only good news today.”

Azul’s arm stiffened for a moment.

Lu Anji finally relented and gave the order.

“All hands, attention. The entire ship will prepare for a strategic retreat! The target is the weak point in the enemy’s line.”

“Navigation officer, set a retreat route. Prioritize avoiding the enemy’s main fleet’s fire coverage area.”

“Combat chief, prepare smoke and decoy bombs to ensure cover during the retreat.”

“Full power to the thrusters to maximize speed. Notify the formation and execute the emergency retreat signal.”

“All personnel, maintain level one combat readiness and be on alert at all times!”

Until the battleship left the chaotic universe, the crew members on the bridge all breathed a sigh of relief.

After surviving, they began to pay attention to the strange way the captain and the new Officer of the Deck got along.

At the most critical moment, they were still communicating as if no one else was there.

At that time, they were too nervous, and no one had time to listen to what they were saying, but it probably wasn't anything lighthearted.

Because Azul had walked to the edge of the bridge, his hands pressed against the transparent wall, which was still covered with a layer of unclean Zerg mucus.

The universe was always quiet, peaceful.

Most of the time, it was impassive, not as turbulent as the extreme weather recorded on Earth.

The universe was far from humans, and the Zerg were close to the universe.

But this also could not change the fact that here, all life was dust.

The ship’s duty officer came over.

He had learned of the captain’s latest personnel transfer arrangement and was going to enter the relevant information for Azul.

It was terrible.

The ship’s duty officer was in disbelief.

The higher-ups had requested the captain to hand over Azul for investigation.

The captain had not only refused, but had immediately arranged for Azul to have a position with quite high authority.

Lu Anji had taken advantage of his small victory against the Zerg.

The UIF had no reason to make things difficult for him again, or to keep chasing after Azul.

The ship’s duty officer was sure that he didn’t like Azul.

No military academy student would flee to the rear after enlisting, and then use connections to come to the front lines after something happened in the rear.

After he came, he did nothing, and now he has been promoted.

After the captain took office, he had announced that all positions on the bridge would share the victory equally, whether it was honor or military merit.

Now Azul has also become one of them.

He was even wearing the captain’s jacket, staring blankly at the universe while everyone was busy cleaning up?

“Azul—”

The ship’s duty officer called out to him in an unfriendly tone.

Azul was immersed in his own world and turned a deaf ear.

The ship’s duty officer wanted to get closer and call out again, but was patted on the shoulder.

Lu Anji stood behind him and said calmly: “Give him some time.”

“Azul saw these things for the first time. I was about the same when I first came to the bridge. I even had nightmares for a few days. It’s already very good that he can stand firm.”

Ship's Duty Officer: “...”

Ship's Duty Officer: “Yes.”

Ship's Duty Officer: “But you can’t always be so… partial to him. He’s the same age as you, and there are plenty of people younger than him on the ship.”

Lu Anji smiled: “I’m sorry. I only have one friend. Maybe I’ve been paying a little more attention.”

The ship’s duty officer looked at the time and hurried to take care of other matters.

Lu Anji looked at the place where Azul was staring.

There was nothing else in his field of vision but the quiet to the point of a dead silent universe, and the sun, which was a little clearer because of the closer distance.

The UIF was still constantly advancing.

Even if they encountered many more battles, they would not change their minds.

The greater the actions of the pro-Zerg faction, the more they needed war, and the more they needed victory.

After sensing Lu Anji’s approach, Azul said: “Every time at this time, I really want to go back to the sun.”

“Is that so?”

“I don’t quite understand.”

Azul’s eyes were wide open, reflecting the entire universe.

“But I don’t want to understand. That would make me too sad.”

They had returned to their state when they were at the military academy, and it was even better than then.

At school, they rarely talked about their feelings and did their own things.

“I want to contact the pro-Zerg faction.”

Azul said, “Can you help me contact them? If not, I’ll go to Earth to find them myself.”

Lu Anji was not surprised that Azul would know.

He had searched for Lei Jingan several times at school and had even attracted the dean’s attention.

Now that he thought about it, the dean had actually been screening at the academy all along.

Through his hands, the UIF had long been infiltrated like a sieve.

“Is this a threat to me?”

Lu Anji asked.

“Yes.”

Azul said, “This is also what you taught me. You can always teach me a lot.”

In a moment of silence, Azul turned his head to look.

On the bridge with the universe as a background, humans were busy behind Lu Anji, while he was looking at himself with a smile.

Lu Anji really shouldn’t be smiling.

If he knew what the first thing Azul had learned from him was, then he definitely wouldn’t be able to smile.

But he didn’t know, and Azul wouldn’t say.

So Lu Anji just pretended to be partial, ruffled Azul’s messy hair, and said: “You keep your voice down. I’ll help you contact them.”

Azul nodded, then turned back and continued to stare at the universe.

Lu Anji must have been very sad all along, although he always said it was hate.

Because Azul still didn’t understand hate, but he knew that sadness would make life begin to go crazy.

A destructive impulse would arise in his heart, and reason would then convert to impulse, gradually pushing the individual to an uncontrollable extreme.

But Azul would only be sad for a little while, so he could still continue to do what he should do.

“I believe in little Lu’s efficiency. He is indeed a ruthless person.”

Chu Zu said to the system, “You summarize the parameters of how they ignited the sun from Serrano’s POV. It will be useful soon.”

The system had just recovered its little heart from the fact that Lu Anji had finally stopped going crazy, and was now dumbfounded by the host.

“Are we… Are we also going to ignite the sun?”

Chu Zu nodded: “Yes.”

“…”

The little yellow chicken was stuck for a long time, “That… I can understand that Azul is also stimulated now and may be a bit extreme, but extreme seems to not be reflected in filial piety?”

Chu Zu stroked its head: “Don’t question my filial piety. Extreme is extreme, but I will be good to my mom.”

He said, “And if I don’t go crazy with little Lu, my mom will definitely not bombard me. It’s almost the end. Come on, let’s do something big together.”

Chu Zu also mentioned something that the system had been thinking about for a long time, “And let little Lu cry a lot.”

The system gritted its teeth: “...Alright!”

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