Parade Rehearsal
After the cubs finished their exchange, He Ruge played with Zhi Zhi for a while longer. At this moment, Fu Xi arrived bearing desserts and jewels.
Zhi Zhi, hidden in He Ruge’s pocket, caught the enticing aroma of food in the air. He couldn’t resist poking his head out and see the gold and silver jewels in Fu Xi’s hands.
Zhi Zhi quietly exclaimed, “Wow~”
He Ruge lifted Zhi Zhi towards Fu Xi’s hand.
Zhi Zhi looked eagerly at the desserts and treasures within reach, his eyes filled with longing, yet he refrained from reaching out recklessly.
Fu Xi smiled kindly at Zhi Zhi.
“Zhi Zhi, you can sit on Grandpa’s hand and have some sweets.”
The golden tail instinctively turned towards the jewels. Zhi Zhi held onto He Ruge’s thumb, glancing up at him as if asking for permission to sit on Fu Xi’s hand.
“Go ahead,” encouraged He Ruge.
Zhi Zhi finally gathered the courage to climb onto Fu Xi’s hand and happily began eating the dessert.
Seeing Zhi Zhi gobble up the treat, Fu Xi couldn’t help but feel amused and a little touched.
It had been a long time since Fu Xi had seen a treasure-hunting rat cub eat as ravenously as Zhi Zhi. The current cubs were pickier with their food compared to Zhi Zhi.
If Fu Xi’s family of little treasure-hunting rats were here, they would probably find the dessert too sweet.
“Is your gathering over so soon?” He Ruge casually asked.
“Mao Zhengqi left right at the beginning, saying he had a breakthrough in his experiment. After a while, Wu Chengdeng couldn’t sit still either. There were only four of us in total, and two left. Gold Wangcai and I just stared at each other,” Fu Xi said, playing with Zhi Zhi with the jewels, oblivious to He Ruge’s gradually serious expression.
Why did Mao Zhengqi and Wu Chengdeng suddenly leave?
Where did they go?
Had Guican’s identity been exposed?
Was Guican in danger?
Countless thoughts raced through He Ruge’s mind. He set the light brain to private mode and logged into the game to check the mission progress.
The current mission was still incomplete.
Had Guican not found Mao Zhengqi’s laboratory yet?
Then where was Guican now?
“Mr. Fu, do you know where Wu Chengdeng went?” He Ruge asked.
“Him? He seemed to have gone to watch the parade rehearsal,” Fu Xi replied casually.
The inauguration ceremony tomorrow would include a parade review of the Federal Armed Forces, celebrating their triumphant return and boosting morale.
He Ruge breathed a sigh of relief, feeling he had been overly suspicious and worried.
If Mao Zhengqi and Wu Chengdeng intended harm to Guican, Wu Chengdeng should have left with Mao Zhengqi instead of going to watch a parade rehearsal.
“Actually, taking care of Zhi Zhi with you isn’t bad,” Fu Xi said tentatively, stroking Zhi Zhi’s back. Sensing no resistance, he gently petted the cub.
“Your singing voice can soothe hearts, helping patients with psychological illnesses and naturally Zhi Zhi. I hope you can help Zhi Zhi move past his shadows and let him choose his own family.”
“I will do my best to help Zhi Zhi,” He Ruge replied.
In the afternoon, the marshal’s dress uniform arrived. The black stand-up collar military suit was impeccably designed and finely crafted, strict and ascetic, wrapping around the body like armor.
The eight golden-starred epaulettes were splendid and dignified, breaking the silence of the black, like the rising sun piercing through darkness.
The matching cloak, military cap, gloves, and straight boots were neatly arranged on the side, along with a cane inlaid with gold.
He Ruge glanced at the uniform and could already imagine how striking Guican would look wearing it. He couldn’t wait to see Guican at tomorrow’s inauguration ceremony.
He Ruge carefully stored the uniform away. At Fu Xi’s invitation, he and Fu Xi visited other parliamentarians. One of them was a senior member of the Ministry of Education, who, upon hearing He Ruge’s plan to open an orphanage in the Seventeen Stars, gave him many useful suggestions.
At six o’clock in the evening, He Ruge began his live broadcast on time. Zhi Zhi stubbornly stayed hidden in his pocket. He Ruge inserted his hand into the pocket and gently stroked Zhi Zhi intermittently.
Remembering Fu Xi’s request earlier in the day, He Ruge sang a few nursery rhymes during the broadcast. Originally restless, Zhi Zhi calmed down under the soothing music, even humming softly along.
At 8 o’clock in the evening, the livestream ended, and He Ruge stood at the window with Zhi Zhi, gazing into the distance, waiting for Xigui Can to return. Even though it had only been a day, it felt like a long time had passed.
At 9 o’clock in the evening, He Ruge held the freshly washed Zhi Zhi in his arms as he typed on the recliner. He took a break to chat with Jiji for a while. Jiji asked when He Ruge would start a new project, leaving him momentarily unsure how to respond.
At 11 o’clock in the evening, after soothing Zhi Zhi to sleep, He Ruge quietly rose and stood at the window again. The night breeze was cool as he draped the cloak delivered by the federation that afternoon around himself, staring at the stars while lost in thought.
At 2 o’clock in the morning, He Ruge still hadn’t seen Xigui Can.
At 3 o’clock in the morning, He Ruge finally fell asleep.
At 6 o’clock in the morning, He Ruge woke naturally, hoping to see a silver-haired, blue-eyed man lying beside him when he opened his eyes.
Instead, he found only a sleeping baby treasure-seeking mouse, drooling in all directions with its four legs in the air. He Ruge silently logged into his light brain and stared at the “incomplete mission” on the screen.
He remembered Xigui Can’s promise from two nights ago when he left:
“When the ceremony starts the day after tomorrow, I will definitely come back.”
“Xigui Can, only bad Gugus would stand someone up like this,” He Ruge murmured to himself, trying hard to cheer himself up.
However, as he looked at the “incomplete” game interface and the upcoming enfeoffment ceremony, his lips felt as heavy as lead, unable to curl up into a smile.
“I might have to deliver bad news to the person in charge of this enfeoffment ceremony—His Excellency the Marshal is obsessively unable to extricate himself from standing someone up.” He Ruge pinched the bridge of his nose and informed the bewildered official.
The official asked somewhat naively, “Is His Excellency the Marshal really unable to come? He promised you he would be back when the enfeoffment ceremony started. Since it hasn’t started yet, doesn’t that mean if we wait a little longer, His Excellency the Marshal will appear? I believe in His Excellency’s reputation; he will definitely show up at the last moment…”
Just like back then, although His Excellency the Marshal had stood everyone up after fighting the Queen of Worms during the Star Wars and unexpectedly let everyone down, His Excellency the Marshal appeared at the last moment and wiped out the Zerg.
“Most importantly, besides granting His Excellency the Marshal a military rank, there are many other senior officers who are to be promoted at this ceremony. If His Excellency the Marshal cannot come, then we will have to reschedule a separate ceremony for him another day.”
At 7 o’clock in the morning, the military parade began. The parade took place in the largest square on Central Star, the same square He Ruge had visited the night before last. He Ruge sat in the stands, with Wu Chengdeng sitting next to him. Wu Chengdeng, usually talkative, was oddly silent today.
He Ruge watched as squads moved across the square in uneven formations. Fireworks bloomed in the sky, startling Zhi Zhi in his pocket.
Unlike the disciplined and uniform marching He Ruge had imagined, this time the soldiers varied greatly in height, and their marching styles were inconsistent, reminiscent of the scene of “Thousand-armed Guanyin.”
Not only He Ruge, but the whispers in the stands did not cease, with the majority wondering about the erratic performance of this parade.
Although these soldiers were imposing, each step they took was forceful, shaking the ground as they marched, and their rifle drills were filled with a murderous aura. However, they lacked uniformity.
“Are you puzzled why this parade’s honor guard is so different from the past?” Wu Chengdeng suddenly spoke.
He Ruge was taken aback by his words; Wu Chengdeng’s tone seemed familiar. At the same time, Zhi Zhi in his palm suddenly bit his finger, its tiny claws scratching frantically. He Ruge opened his pocket, puzzled by Zhi Zhi’s unusual behavior.
He saw Zhi Zhi’s eyes filled with fear, just like the terror he had seen in the eyes of Shao Zhaoqi when confronted with extreme negative emotions.
At that moment, He Ruge suddenly understood Zhi Zhi’s meaning. He took Zhi Zhi out of his pocket.
“Go find Master Fu.”
Zhi Zhi jumped out of He Ruge’s hand and dashed away with its short legs moving rapidly.
After confirming Zhi Zhi had reached Fu Xi’s side, He Ruge managed to control his facial expression and calmly looked at the “Wu Chengdeng” beside him.
“Wu Chengdeng” slowly cracked a smile, wrinkles around his eyes unfolding like petals.
“Because this time, the soldiers in the honor guard are not ceremonial troops but veterans from the Star Wars.”
“Bai Ze, do you know about military formations?”
Under the scorching sun, a long shadow extended rapidly from under “Wu Chengdeng,” continuously lengthening until it enveloped the entire square. All the installed Good-Evil Apparatuses on the square synchronized at this moment, like the energy maintaining a formation.
In an instant, the ground of the entire square displayed enormous shadows. Then, a concentrated force of countless negative emotions erupted from hundreds of Good-Evil Apparatuses, transforming into invisible light streaks crossing the sky.
This energy interwoven with negative emotions shrouded the entire sky, turning the world into a grim darkness, as if doomsday had arrived!
Under this dark shroud, the expressions of all soldiers in the honor guard gradually became blank. Their eyes were dull, bodies stiff, standing on the square like cold-blooded killing machines, forming into square formations.
The enormous shadow swallowed up the original shadows of everyone on the square, symbolizing the streams of light carrying negative emotions descending from the sky and falling onto the puppets of the honor guard.
Wuwuwu!
A eerie, forbidden melody replaced the originally stirring war songs. In the sinister and terrifying sound of the forbidden melody, the puppets slowly took the first step.
A perfectly uniform first step.
Even the height of lifting their legs seemed precisely measured. Amidst the dense footsteps, the puppets standing in formation raised their weapons without expression, like cold-blooded machines, advancing towards He Ruge under the astonished gazes of the crowd.
“This is the military formation I specially prepared for you,” Taotie said with a cold smile.
However, the next moment, Taotie suddenly furrowed his brow, as if enduring immense pain.
In the underground prison, ten Taotie vessels collapsed to the ground. Xigui Can pushed open the laboratory door, staggering over to a partially damaged notebook, tremblingly flipping open the first page.
[Drip—Successfully completed main quest “Find Mao Zhengqi’s Laboratory”]
[Achievement unlocked “Self-destruct mechanism of Good-Evil Apparatus”]
The notebook in Xigui Can’s hand emitted a radiant glow, as words peeled off the pages one by one, floating in the air and rearranging themselves:
“My name is Mao Zhengqi. I created the Good-Evil Apparatus and also set the self-destruct mechanism in all Good-Evil Apparatuses.”
