August 2, 2505
Long Feng avoided Ling Xue's pestering, put on his newly issued lieutenant colonel uniform, updated his crystal card, and left the base.
General Long had already informed him that the other twenty-two members would undergo the same test within the next three days, so Long Feng was strictly forbidden to contact them. Following orders, Long Feng decided to first go to the fourth planet of the Orion system, the headquarters of the Feng Corporation.
It's only human nature—anyone who learns about family they've never met would want to visit, right? However, Long Feng didn't take the written proof Marshal Long offered him. He just wanted to sneak a quick look and then return to base. He had already figured out the purpose behind Long Ao and the others following him all the way to the base: to provide real training for the Special A1 members who had passed the test.
Coastal City didn't have a spaceport, so Long Feng took a maglev vehicle from the base and headed toward Xianying City, 500 kilometers away.
The vehicle was filled with young officers on their way to have fun in Xianying City. After all, the base rarely had holidays. The usual daily routine was intensely stressful, and military discipline was extremely strict. These energetic young people had long been itching for a break, so when the chance to go out and have fun came, didn't they rush off like their pants were on fire? But they were also an unlucky bunch—their turn for duty had fallen on the first day, so they could only set off for Xianying City today.
As the political and economic center of the Second Planet in the Sagittarius Arm, Xianying City had a population of over 20 million and was the most prosperous city on the planet. Of the four spaceports on the Second Planet in the Sagittarius Arm, the one it possessed was the largest, newest, and most advanced in terms of facilities.
The maglev vehicle's lieutenant driver cheerfully dropped Long Feng off at the spaceport entrance, calling out, "Buddy, be careful. Even if you're going to see your girlfriend, don't go too wild. If you wander too far, you might end up in confinement when you get back."
Long Feng smiled without responding, picked up his small suitcase, and walked into the spaceport.
At the ticket counter, Long Feng said calmly to the sweet-faced attendant, "Orion IV, Purple Cloud City. Thank you."
The attendant smiled, checked the data transmitted from Long Feng's crystal card on the display terminal, quickly tapped a few keys, and said with a smile, "All services are free for military personnel today. Here is your ticket, and I wish you a pleasant journey. Also, please inform security about any weapons you are carrying before boarding." She handed him a sky-blue ticket.
Long Feng turned and strode out, heading directly toward Gate 7 as printed on the ticket.
At the gate, four security officers smiled and said, "Comrade, please show your ID. If you are carrying weapons, we will determine whether you can bring them on board based on your military rank."
Long Feng nodded and handed over his purple crystal card. One security officer swiped it through a card reader and murmured, "Military security clearance Level A. Okay, you may carry weapons on board, but please register all weapons you have with you for management purposes."
Long Feng retrieved his crystal card, wrote a few words with a pen, and strode directly into the passageway.
The security guards stared in astonishment at the words Long Feng had written: "Type 2503 high-energy laser gun, specially enhanced particle beam emitter, high-energy dagger, particle shield, lightweight personal combat armor…" The guard who appeared to be their team leader muttered under his breath, "Which unit is he from? Regular soldiers usually only carry one gun at most. This guy—is he going to war?"
The three-hundred-meter-long space shuttle roared through the clouds, piercing into space, and began accelerating toward a fixed jump window.
The portholes on all sides were gradually covered by barriers made of black crystal. The shuttle gave a slight shudder, and aside from Long Feng, the hundreds of other passengers trembled slightly. Moments later, the portholes reopened, revealing the stars of the Orion constellation.
The flight attendant's sweet voice came over the intercom: "Ladies and gentlemen, after one more hour of travel, we will arrive at our final destination, the Ziyun City Spaceport on Orion's Fourth Planet. We wish you a pleasant journey."
A middle-aged fat man next to Long Feng grumbled: "Now with space jumps, traveling isn't enjoyable anymore. No matter how far, you arrive with just one jump—only within planetary systems are jumps not allowed. It's lost all its charm, always rushing like this."
Long Feng glanced at his exaggerated outfit; he seemed to be someone with retro tendencies, likely connected to the arts. Otherwise, who would complain about such things? Many people wish they could jump directly from spaceports. A few mad scientists from the Academy had tried such experiments, but the energy turbulence caused by ground magnetic fields nearly tore apart billions worth of equipment. Since then, no one has attempted it again. According to them: "We won't conduct such experiments again until we find stronger alloys and more powerful energy sources."
Long Feng simply found it somewhat amusing internally.
At 11:67 local time in Ziyun City, Long Feng drove to the entrance of Ziyun City First National High School.
He adjusted the display mode of his watch. Orion's Fourth Planet has a rotation period four hours longer than Earth's, but initially, people were accustomed to dividing the day into 24 Earth hours, so each hour here has an extra ten minutes.
Carrying his luggage, Long Feng leaned against a thick plane tree near the entrance. He had calculated it perfectly: at 12:00, when the school let out for lunch, he just needed to catch a glimpse of his younger sister. If he happened to see his parents as well, he would immediately return to the base. If he didn't see them today, he would find a place to stay and then visit the headquarters of the Feng Group—sooner or later, he would have a chance to see them.
A breeze swept slowly down the street, lifting Long Feng's shoulder-length hair. A few strands playfully brushed across his eyes, and he gently swept them aside.
A melodious bell rang from inside the school, and children around fourteen or fifteen years old began streaming out of the gates. Long Feng looked at them with the gaze of an adult observing children, forgetting that he himself was only fifteen. But he was a fifteen-year-old lieutenant colonel, while they were fifteen-year-old students.
A little girl, whose face bore a seventy percent resemblance to Long Feng's, bounded out cheerfully with a small book box in hand, her ear-length bob bouncing with each step. With her slightly rosy lips, large eyes, and petite figure, she was exactly what Ling Xue would describe as, "So adorable, I wish I could sneak her home and play with her for a couple of days…"
A black extended-length Tenglong limousine slowly pulled up. As the door opened, a sturdy, silver-haired elderly man emerged and called out to the little girl, "Miss Ling, come here, come here. Don't run around."
Feng Ling reluctantly said a few words to her female companions and shuffled over slowly. As she passed by Long Feng, she glanced at his face with some surprise, tilted her head, and complained to the elderly man, "Grandpa Lu, you don't need to pick me up—I can go back on my own. There are no classes this afternoon, just free design time. I want to play a bit longer with my classmates."
The elderly man, presumably the Feng family's butler, put on a displeased expression and said, "No. Last time you sneaked off to the beach with your classmates and nearly worried everyone to death. From now on, you must obediently take the car home without any carelessness."
Feng Ling hummed in acknowledgment but still glanced back at Long Feng, who was leaning against the tree three meters away. She practically turned her head at every step as she got into the car. Long Feng smiled faintly. Grandpa Lu, however, looked at Long Feng's face in surprise, somewhat stunned.
Long Feng nodded to him, picked up the suitcase at his feet, and slowly walked away.
Indeed, figures like Feng Qingyang and the others were relatively prominent individuals; they wouldn't likely set aside their own affairs to personally pick up and drop off their daughter. Long Feng chided himself for oversimplifying the matter.
His personal crystal card still held over 400,000 in savings, while the public account contained two million. Finding a decent hotel to stay in shouldn't be a problem, right? Since childhood, Long Feng had never spent more than fifty yuan at once, unlike Long Nu and the others, who would blow through their salaries the moment they received them. The public account was meant for mission-related expenses, with a fixed balance of two million, yet they somehow always managed to exhaust it before the next top-up. Long Feng couldn't help but admire their knack for squandering funds.
He booked a room at a so-called six-star interstellar travel chain hotel, set down his luggage, hesitated for a moment, then decided to keep it with him. The weapon system inside was capable of demolishing a hundred buildings within half an hour—better to keep it close for peace of mind. With nothing to do at the hotel, he directly requested a car and headed straight for the Wind Corporation headquarters in the city center.
The Wind Corporation headquarters stood two hundred stories tall, its exterior a pale purple hue mirroring the sky. The building's robust, imposing structure exuded less of the elegance associated with wind and more of the overbearing solidity of a great mountain.
Telling the driver to wait for him on the spot, Long Feng stepped lightly into the lobby of Wind Group's headquarters, where several receptionists' eyes lit up and they smiled at him.
Long Feng walked straight up to one of the receptionists, gave a faint smile, and asked, "Excuse me, which floor and office number is Mr. Feng Qingyang's office on?" Using the most straightforward and direct approach to completing tasks was the first lesson he had learned.
The receptionist hesitated for a moment, then asked solemnly, "May I ask what business you have with Mr. Feng? Without an appointment, you cannot go up to see him." Long Feng frowned slightly and said quietly, "Is that so? Then I must have been presumptuous." An appointment? Why did meeting someone require an appointment? Long Feng truly didn't understand—even the Dragon Marshal, one of China's thirty-nine marshals with such high status and heavy responsibilities, was someone he could see at any time.
Long Feng turned away somewhat disappointed and slowly walked toward the main entrance. Just then, a group of people who looked like reporters surged out of nine of the ten elevators and crowded around the door of one elevator.
The doors opened, and Feng Qingyang, along with his wife, daughter, and that old man Lu, walked out slowly.
Reporters kept firing questions: "Mr. Feng, what impact will this acquisition of Lingyun Ocean Freight Company have on the economic sector?" A sharp female voice asked: "Is it true, as rumored, that Feng Enterprises launched this acquisition solely to strike at the Zhao Corporation?"
Feng Qingyang said with a wry smile: "This is merely a routine acquisition, carried out for the future development of Feng Enterprises. As for striking at the Zhao Corporation—I don't have that big of an appetite, do I? The Zhao Corporation no longer needs Lingyun, but I do, so I acquired it. It's as simple as that."
A reporter asked: "Then why didn't you proceed with formal negotiations for the acquisition, instead quietly buying up Lingyun's shares on the stock market to build a majority stake?"
Several security guards parted the reporters. Feng Qingyang said indifferently, "No comment," shutting down any further communication. The reporters, still unwilling to give up, crowded around the few unfortunate individuals in the center, continuing to press with questions.
Feng Qingyang's steps suddenly halted, and his expression grew peculiarly strange.
A middle-aged man in a black trench coat, who bore some resemblance to Feng Qingyang, walked in slowly, followed by over a dozen broad-shouldered, imposing men in black suits.
The middle-aged man who had just entered walked to a spot three meters in front of Feng Qingyang and stopped. The reporters tactfully cleared a path.
A brilliant smile suddenly appeared on the middle-aged man's cold face as he respectfully addressed Feng Qingyang, "Elder Brother, the Old Master asks you to return."
Feng Qingyang rushed forward abruptly, tightly embracing him, and burst into hearty laughter, "Never mind, I'm just glad you came. The Old Master wants me back? You know I won't go back."
A reporter stealthily raised a small camera. A black-suited man swiftly strode over, his large hand seizing the camera and giving it a light squeeze. The high-strength synthetic fiber casing, touted as crack-proof even from a ten-thousand-meter fall, instantly shattered to pieces. The reporters were stunned and very consciously lowered their hands to their sides, not daring to move.
The middle-aged man who had entered shook his head and said, "The Old Master regrets it. He wants you to bring the family back for a visit. At the very least, the time for ancestral worship has arrived. Elder Brother, we should return to Earth to sweep the tomb of that ancestor."
Feng Qingyang took a few steps back, bowing his head in deep thought. Zhao Yayi gently walked up, reached out to take his arm, and said with a slight smile, "Second Brother, I think Brother Feng will go back once he's thought it through clearly."
Second Brother nodded, smiled at Zhao Yayi, and called out, "Sister-in-law." Zhao Yayi laughed and called out to the back, "Lingling, come here and meet your Second Uncle."
Feng Ling tilted her head and ran over, eyeing Second Brother curiously. In a clear voice, she said, "But how come I never knew before that Dad had a brother and a grandfather?"
Second Brother couldn't help but laugh. "Not knowing about me is one thing, but without a grandfather, how could your dad have come into the world?" Feng Ling giggled, then suddenly turned her head and said with surprise, "Hey, I see you again. What brings you here?"
By this time, the reporters had been very politely but firmly escorted out by the burly men Second Brother had brought.
Long Feng glanced at the four people standing in the center of the hall, smiled faintly, and said calmly to Feng Ling, "I had something to do, but not anymore. Goodbye, little girl." In his heart, Long Feng was crying out wildly, "Sister, sister, Dad, Dad, Mom, Mom, and… Uncle…"
Long Feng showed a strange smile, turned around, and walked toward the main entrance.
That second brother suddenly strode swiftly to Long Feng, blocking his path, and took a sharp breath before saying, "Old brother, you didn't fool around outside and end up with a son you didn't know about, did you? Look, he looks so much like us."
Long Feng said coldly, "According to the probability calculations of the PanGu master control computer, the facial similarity birth rate among people of the yellow race has reached 27%. Occasionally encountering a few people who look like oneself is not worth exclaiming over."
The second brother chuckled and said, "PanGu computer? Hmm, that thing was produced by our company. What, you use it to calculate that sort of thing for fun? Which military base are you from, and which unit do you belong to? Young man, I took a liking to you the moment I saw you. I'll put in a word for you and guarantee you'll be promoted to general within three years. How about it?"
Long Feng stared into his eyes and said coldly, "I appreciate your kindness, but my own achievements must be built by myself. I do not wish to rely on the power of others."
Feng Qingyang slowly walked over as well, gazing at Long Feng's face in silence. Zhao Yayi also approached gently, but as soon as her eyes met Long Feng's, her legs went weak, and she nearly collapsed.
Long Feng gave a slight bow and walked around the second brother to leave.
Feng Qingyang and the others watched Long Feng exit the main gate with indescribable expressions. The younger brother said quietly, "Brother, I was just joking about him being your illegitimate son, you wouldn't really… that."
Feng Qingyang snorted coldly: "It's your mouth that's wicked. He's a perfectly fine Lieutenant Colonel, how could he possibly be related to me. I just don't know what he came here for."
Feng Ling said with her eyes darting around: "I know! It's Army Day holiday now, he must be out traveling, visiting our headquarters. So many people come to the revolving restaurant on the rooftop every day to sightsee…"