50 4.12 (1/2)

Chen Yu startled, he hadn't realized that the Empire would use deadly force against Hou Yi, since he would be worth quite a bit if he was ransomed. Murong Wen's deal with the Empire had also been to abduct Hou Yi, thereby slapping him with the label of a useless person who brought trouble to the Federation and humiliating him with evidence of his incompetence.

Unfortunately, the Empire had apparently concluded that it would be more beneficial to permanently nip a future threat in the bud.

Unaware of the attack that was heading towards his back, Hou Yi was smoothly operating his repurposed Imperial mecha to join Ah Guang, vigilantly aiming his laser gun at anything that was approaching the other boy, when the battered academy mecha leapt toward him, making him smile at his eagerness. Relieved that Ah Guang was safe, as Hou Yi was about to tell him to slow down, suddenly he felt his whole body turn numb. He'd noticed Ah Guang's frantic expression.

Sensing that there was some danger behind him and what Ah Guang planned to do about it, Hou Yi reached out to push him away, but he was too late. Ah Guang's mecha slipped around him, then a heavy weight slammed him face-down into the ground.

Regardless of his shock, Chen Yu had moved the instant the plasma cannons started swiveling toward Hou Yi's back, barely making it in time to cover him. A searing pain passed from his shoulder down his back, beads of sweat poured down from the feeling of being melted down. Before it could get unbearable, however, he was flipped over to lie beneath Hou Yi, hazily staring into a pair of glacial, diamond-like eyes.

Just when the plasma cannons started blasting through Hou Yi's mecha to his shoulder, the Imperial mecha's beam shield unable to do much, the Federation soldiers finally arrived, trooping in with weapons blazing at the stationary fleet. Although both sides quickly became embroiled in an intense battle, several Federation soldiers took the time to politely escort the pair of students that they'd watched resist a far greater force, leading them to a safer distance and instructing them to head toward the assembly point before plunging back into the fight.

The two stood silently at the edge of the combat zone, Hou Yi trembling uncontrollably from the thought that Ah Guang had almost left him. The memory of how he had nearly lost this boy filled his mind, looping over and over again, until he noticed that the faint breathing sounds that he'd been desperately straining to hear through their private communication channel was stuttering to a stop. Shooting his gaze to the pilot seat, he saw Ah Guang swaying weakly, his face paler than it had ever been.

When he sprinted up to the cockpit and cut a hole through with his plasma gun, Hou Yi's heart jumped into his throat, his eyes reddened with fear. The slim figure was slumped down, what was left of his black uniform dripping with blood to form a puddle around his feet, so much of his mecha was melted away that the back nearly gaped open entirely. Reciting to himself that Ah Guang was alive, that he needed help, Hou Yi forcibly suppressed his desire to kill every one of the Imperial soldiers, hunting for a medical kit. Once he confirmed that this mecha's supplies had been destroyed in the skirmish, ignoring his burned shoulder, he moved to carry Ah Guang down.

But the moment he touched him, the seemingly unconscious boy's eyelashes fluttered open. Chen Yu frowned at the pain, then glanced around to get his bearings, mocking himself on the inside for how soft he'd gotten, passing out from merely this much, unable to even protect his lover.

When he finally regained his full awareness, he found that in front of him was Hou Yi, his signature gentle smile on his mouth as if he had never looked at him with such a freezing cold gaze. With his sight blurred by the pain, Chen Yu couldn't make out the injury on Hou Yi's shoulder, so he sighed in relief that he hadn't been hurt too much, his lips curling up at the thought. When had he become so sentimental, so sensitive?

”Just stay still, Ah Guang, I'll take you to my mecha, all right?” Hou Yi whispered, gently stroking back the hair clinging to Chen Yu's sweaty forehead.

The boy shook his head stubbornly. ”I can move, I'm going to finish this assessment.”

Looking into those resolute eyes, that mouth that hadn't uttered a single sound no matter how much pain he was in, an impression of familiarity flashed through Hou Yi's mind and squeezed his heart, but he pushed it aside to try to persuade Ah Guang. He knitted his eyebrows, coaxing, ”Ah Guang, your mecha isn't operable, and you're not able to control mine alone. There's no way for you to reach the coordinates alone.”

Chen Yu stumbled to his feet then met Hou Yi's eyes, mumbling, ”I know using a mecha's out of the question. Still, it's just a couple hours' walk to the assembly point, right?”

Despite knowing that Ah Guang wouldn't yield once he'd decided, Hou Yi couldn't stand the thought of him having to exert himself even more, he suggested, ”Sitting should be better than moving around in your condition, I can take you near the coordinates then drop you off there...”

Without a moment's hesitation, Chen Yu, who had checked that he had the mecha ignition keys with him and was slowly climbing down from the cockpit, disagreed, ”Requiring aid will result in an automatic failing grade.” Once he'd safely landed on the ground, he grinned, ”Besides, have you forgotten about our bet?”

Hou Yi exhaled unwillingly, but, unable to change Ah Guang's mind, he moved to join him in walking to the assembly point, only for Chen Yu to spin around as if surprised, asking, ”Ah Yi, what are you doing?”

Hou Yi was also confused, he answered, ”Of course I'm going with you, what if you collapse?”

Chen Yu rolled his eyes on the inside. ”But how will we figure out the directions? And if I fall, it'll be easier if there's a mecha to rush me to a doctor, right?”

Despite his reluctance, there was no way for Hou Yi to refute, after applying whatever medicine the Imperial pilot had carried and reminding him to signal whenever he needed a rest, he operated his mecha to walk backwards so that he could monitor Ah Guang's status constantly.

While the two made their way haltingly across the sands, Jin Yongguang staggering along and Hou Yi anxiously keeping his mecha's hands on either side of him, the viewers gradually put down their tense hearts that had been put through a roller coaster of emotions, from ecstasy at the two boys' victory to terror when the plasma cannons blasted and release upon the Federation soldiers' rescue.

Watching the couple's affection and their dedication to the mission, the onlookers were touched beyond measure, but this also stimulated fierce backlash against the military, both for its misleading representation of Jin Yongguang and for its failure to put adequate safety precautions in place for the academy's students. Due to Chen Yu's preparations, their love for Jin Yongguang was inversely proportional to their support for the military.

The public outrage reached a head when Jin Yongguang toppled the moment he stepped into the designated coordinates, so that he only narrowly avoided further injuries by Hou Yi's quick reaction, the mecha immediately scooping him up and dashing to find medical help. Even though his mecha was marked with the Empire's symbol, he progressed through the military outpost without any obstacles, since everyone had been notified of the circumstances.