Chapter 45.2
Lu Fenghan, currently on ISOC’s eleventh underground floor, received a message from Vincent: “Mission accomplished!”
Lu Fenghan responded with a simple “Hmm,” visibly distracted.
While Qi Yan was debugging Pojun, he asked Lu Fenghan absentmindedly, “Shouldn’t we thank Vincent?”
“Thank him for what? This time, with Jiang Yunyue at the center, they’ve pulled out a string of connections and made significant gains. If the Military Intelligence Bureau pays based on performance, he should be rolling in star coins this month.”
Standing behind Qi Yan, Lu Fenghan glanced at his fingertips swiftly tapping on the keyboard. “We provided him with leads, so if anything, he should be thanking us.”
Qi Yan wasn’t adept at social niceties, but since Lu Fenghan said so, he didn’t dwell on it further. “Jiang Yunyue lacks thoroughness. When designing traps, she didn’t consider the existence of unstable factors.”
Lu Fenghan noticed that, just as Ye Pei had mentioned, many issues became clear and understandable to Qi Yan once he transformed them into academic issues.
“The unstable factors are the ‘River Alkali’ and you. Jiang Yunyue assumed that no one could recognize this poison, but not only did you identify River Alkali through the blue spots in Qi Wenshao’s pupils, but also knew it originated from the rebels. That’s the consequence of not controlling unstable factors during the initial design phase. I learned to control unstable factors when I was six years old conducting experiments.”
“Impressive,” Lu Fenghan praised, pinching Qi Yan’s earlobe.
Qi Yan had spent a full three days in the ISOC equipment room, seemingly oblivious to fatigue, his focus unwaveringly fixed on Pojun. Lu Fenghan had to keep track of time and encourage Qi Yan to move around, drink water, eat, or even rest his eyes for a while.
Only by enduring alongside Qi Yan like this did Lu Fenghan truly understand why Professor Fu always emphasized to his students that research was often monotonous, repetitive, dull, and lonely.
On the third night, Qi Yan shut down Galaxy and stared blankly at the gradually dimming light adjusters in the glass enclosure. He rested his head against Lu Fenghan’s thigh, taking a moment to collect his thoughts before speaking up slowly, “The follow-up debugging is done, now we just need to mine the data core of Pojun.”
“Is that it then?”
“Hmm,” Qi Yan’s voice was barely audible, as if all his energy had been depleted during the intense work of the past three days. “It took three months from early October until now. It’s a bit faster than I estimated, but we caught up.”
As he spoke, his voice grew even softer towards the end, but Lu Fenghan still caught the last two words.
Caught up?
What exactly had they caught up to?
Within the span of two sentences, Qi Yan drifted off to sleep. Lu Fenghan used voice commands to turn off the lights in the equipment room. The hum of the Galaxy had ceased, leaving the room engulfed in near darkness, save for faint flickers of light from the glass enclosure.
Lu Fenghan guessed that the entire equipment room was soundproofed, which also meant that no sound could penetrate from the outside, rendering it eerily quiet.
It felt somewhat reminiscent of the aftermath of a catastrophic explosion, where he floated amidst the debris of a hastily disintegrating escape pod in space. In his field of vision, only a few distant stars gleamed.
In such moments, people instinctively quiet down and ponder things they rarely think about in their daily lives.
During that brush with death, Lu Fenghan’s sole thought was that he couldn’t afford to die. To perish would be a disservice to his fallen comrades, a betrayal of the slim chance at survival he had miraculously clung to.
As for this time…
Lu Fenghan couldn’t help but admit that, time and again, his thoughts circled around the person lying against his thighs.
Qi Yan once said he was a semi-contraband.
And to him, Qi Yan was no different.
After sitting motionless for an hour, ensuring Qi Yan was deeply asleep and wouldn’t wake up, Lu Fenghan cautiously lifted him up.
He felt a tug on his clothing, realizing with resignation that Qi Yan was still holding onto his clothes even in his sleep.
Carefully releasing his fingers, Lu Fenghan carried the person to the folding bed in the corner.
Qi Yan slept deeply and felt a bit confused when he was awoken by a personal terminal. He blinked, looked around at the faint lights flickering in the glass enclosure, and sat up, mostly relying on his instincts to orient himself.
A few seconds later, the lights came on, momentarily dazzling his eyes, then Lu Fenghan came into view.
“Still half-asleep?” Lu Fenghan waved his hand in front of Qi Yan’s eyes.
Qi Yan responded sluggishly, “No.”
Hearing his hoarse voice, Lu Fenghan handed him the water. Seeing that Qi Yan was staring blankly and not taking it, he simply took over the task of feeding him water.
Coming to his senses, Qi Yan turned on the personal terminal.
Lu Fenghan placed the water glass down. “Who’s looking for you in such a hurry?”
Qi Yan showed Lu Fenghan the contents of the message. “Several people, all urging me to handle the assets of the Qi family as soon as possible.”
Lu Fenghan also remembered that with Qi Wenshao’s passing, Jiang Yunyue’s arrest, and Jiang Qi still in prison, the only one eligible to handle the Qi family’s assets was Qi Yan.
Qi Yan also realized the situation. “What a hassle.”
He leaned into Lu Fenghan’s side, his body language signaling a clear desire to avoid the conversation.
Lu Fenghan lowered his head, only able to see the top of Qi Yan’s head. His tone was indulgent. “Stop being so spoiled all the time.”
After emerging from ISOC, Qi Yan browsed through the news of the past few days and learned that shortly after Jiang Yunyue was taken away, she admitted to everything and disclosed many details. This included what Flinn had said to her in prison, how she got connected after her release, and the details of plotting Qi Wenshao’s murder.
Due to the high public attention, some evidence and confessions were made public.
Jiang Yunyue’s fate now lay in the hands of the justice system, with the death penalty as her only foreseeable outcome. The only question that remained was the method of execution.
At this moment, countless people were speculating on how Qi Yan would handle the Qi family’s assets.
Xia Zhiyang also asked this question, but the response he got was “I don’t know.”
“I also think this pile of matters came too suddenly. Shouldn’t you find a professional manager to stabilize the situation first?” Xia Zhiyang offered advice. “Do you have any broad directions or rough ideas now?”
“Yes,” Qi Yan didn’t hesitate much,”I won’t take over the Qi family’s assets… As for how to handle it, I want to withdraw some star coins and set up a foundation.”
Xia Zhiyang didn’t see any issue with this. “If you don’t want to get involved, just sign a few agreements. Let the Qi family’s assets be directly linked to the foundation. There are many examples of independent operation foundations, and there are ready-made models in the Alliance to refer to. What kind of foundation do you want to establish? For scientific research and academics?”
Qi Yan: “No, I want to start by setting up a relief fund.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Fenghan glanced at Qi Yan.
Xia Zhiyang quickly grasped the situation. “Is it compensation for the families of fallen frontline soldiers? No problem, just leave it to the professional manager and the foundation to handle. The Alliance’s regulatory mechanism is quite sound. There haven’t been many major issues.”
Qi Yan: “Can you recommend a professional manager for me?”
Xia Zhiyang was stunned for a moment. “Do you trust me that much? Wow, okay, wait for me! I’ll find someone for you! I’ll definitely find someone super reliable!”
After the communication was hastily cut off, Lu Fenghan casually asked, “What made you decide to set up a relief fund?”
Qi Yan’s reason was simple, “There are too many battles. With two major defeats on the front line already, there will be many more battles in the future.”
With frequent conflicts, the list of sacrifices would only grow longer.
Lu Fenghan’s feelings were somewhat complicated.
The fact that soldiers would sacrifice was accepted by many, almost becoming a default expectations. Few people realized that soldiers had families and lives outside of the battlefield.
The casualties, explosions, and sacrifices of frontline battles were often reduced to cold, impersonal statistics, meticulously recorded and disseminated. In this process, the human element, the individual lives lost, was gradually eroded, their stories and experiences fading into the background.
Seeing Lu Fenghan staring at him, Qi Yan asked, “What’s wrong?”
Lu Fenghan shook his head.
The unspoken words were——thank you for remembering them.
Over the next three days, Qi Yan couldn’t go back to school.
Xia Zhiyang helped him find a professional manager. After Qi Yan explained his ideas, the manager efficiently began drafting contracts and statements, convening different meetings, and handling various procedures.
After signing the last statement, Qi Yan finally finished his busy schedule and took the hovercar back home.
Due to the formal nature of the occasion, Qi Yan had donned a rare black suit custom-made at Umber Night Studio. The handcrafted lines of the suit complemented his figure, accentuating a subtle elegance and nobility.
He sat upright, the pale light reflecting off his cold skin as fleeting lights passed by outside the window. Fatigue etched itself around his half-lowered lashes, lending him an air of coolness resembling thin snow resting on a pine branch.
He resembled a young master returning from a lavish dinner, cloaked in an aura of languid decadence and aloof charm.
Qi Yan casually flipped through the Leto Daily and was surprised to see his name in an article about his decision to give up Qi Wenshao’s assets, establish a foundation, and provide relief funds.
Lu Fenghan glanced at the accompanying image and smiled. “Now everyone knows that Qi Yan is very rich.”
Qi Yan turned to Lu Fenghan and asked, “Will it be troublesome?”
“Of course not,” Lu Fenghan replied, gazing ahead as the night lights gleamed in his eyes. “Qi Yan’s matters will never be troublesome.”
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