Interstellar leader

"dad--"

The crisp child's voice with a hint of crying broke the tranquility of the hall. A little girl whose height was not as long as an adult's legs quickly ran out from behind the curtain in the auditorium, and jumped on Chris in the blink of an eye, using her small body to block the Between the cold guns and her father.

"Catherine! Go back to me!" Chris reprimanded loudly in a stern tone, and at the same time pushed his daughter out fiercely. The little girl staggered a few times, and threw herself into her father's arms persistently.

Li Qing lowered his gun, the little girl in front of him was trembling.She had inherited Chris's dazzling blond hair and her mother's emerald eyes, which were looking straight at him with fearful but determined gaze.He reached out and gently stroked Catherine's hair, and the child shrank into her father's arms.

"Catherine, don't be afraid."

"Please, don't hurt Dad..." Catherine sobbed, stretched out her small white hands to wipe away her tears, and only then did she recognize the man standing in front of them against the light. "Uncle Isaac!" she cried in horror.

"Catherine, do you still recognize me?" Li Qing raised his eyebrows in surprise.He left the empire when Catherine was one year old, and his appearance changed drastically after the genetic leap.This little girl is only three years old now, and it is impossible to touch and understand such complicated things as spies and genetic transitions. She calls him "Uncle Isaac" now, and she can only recognize him.

"It's really you, Uncle Isaac...why?" Little Catherine began to cry again, tears streaming down her cheeks. "You and Dad used to be so good... You hugged me before... Woo... You look different now, and you want to kill Dad..."

"Enough! Catherine! Go back!" Chris growled hoarsely, and the little girl trembled aggrievedly.

There was a rustling sound, and the alliance commandos who cleaned the palace had arrived in the hall. They raised their guns and aimed at the emperor on the throne. The silver-white gun body blended into the background of the palace of the same color, which seemed very harmonious.

"Put down the gun." Li Qing ordered them. "The second soldier from the left goes out."

The soldier took off his helmet, revealing her true form.It was a gentle-looking young woman with blond soft hair and light blue gentle eyes.Following the general's order, she walked up the stairs and came to the throne. She saw the major general, who hardly smiled on weekdays, squatting down in front of the little girl, showing a gentle smile, and gently stroking the little girl's hair.

"Catherine, step aside with this sister, okay? She will protect you."

"No." Catherine called out in a clear and high-pitched voice unique to children, "I want to protect my father."

"Catherine, look." Li Qing turned the weapon that was pointed at Christopher just now, pressed it against his heart, and pulled the trigger amidst Catherine's screams.Nothing happened, not even a charge, the energy clip was empty. "I didn't want to hurt your father. I left everything to him to make a decision. Catherine, listen to us and go aside with that sister, is that okay?"

"Catherine, go." Chris sighed wearily.

Catherine finally let go of her father's robe, and was carefully picked up by the female soldier, lying on her shoulders, her eyes still looking in the direction of Chris, until she disappeared between the pillars.

"You don't want to kill me?" Chris looked into Li Qing's eyes and said.There was a little surprise in his low and hoarse voice. "After I killed so many people?"

"Killing you won't bring these people back to life, Chris. It's pointless."

"But I want to die."

"So I'll give you the choice." Li Qing removed the fake charging clip and replaced it with a new one. He raised his hand and pulled the trigger towards the wall. A fiery laser shot out from the muzzle, instantly burning the hard wall. a small hole.He handed the gun to Chris and said in a calm voice, "Chris, you always make bad choices and only regret it at the last moment. Now, think with all you have, and then make a decision." You think it's the right choice."

Chris's icy fingers rested on the equally icy grip of the gun, and he looked down at the gun, like a mortal lure.With a laser, his misery can end, he will leave behind all heavy responsibilities, sins, and shackles, and he can go to a free place.There will be no chains, no judgment, and he will be clean and pure again—both in body and in mind.

He raised his hand, and the muzzle of the gun touched his temple, and the coolness made his skin shudder.His index finger on the trigger slowly flexed—

He heard Catherine's voice again, in the back of his head—Dad.

Catherine had never called him father like an ordinary child before, and he was very strict that his daughter could only call him father emperor, or very rarely, father.Catherine became silent under strict and even cold education. She is very smart, much smarter than children of the same age, always hugging her optical brain and burying her head in a lot of e-books.Sometimes, he even felt that the child hated him a little.

For a moment he wanted to live for Catherine, but a chilling future took hold of his mind.He will be imprisoned forever, spend the rest of his life in a world of tens of square meters and under ubiquitous surveillance, and may see his children once a year.He will be like a bird in a cage, and at that time, he will be deprived of even the right to commit suicide.

If life ended abruptly now, it would be a good ending.But if he died now, his life would be a meaningless and utter tragedy, with no light, no chance of change...

What a pity.

"Chris, death is not freedom, but escape." A deep and gentle male voice rang in his ears. "This is my last suggestion to you."

Now everything is up to him.

Chris threw the gun suddenly, it drew a beautiful parabola in the air, and slammed into the white porch with a crisp sound.He raised his head, as if relieved, suddenly relaxed.He stretched out his hands and put his wrists flat in front of Li Qing.

"Put the handcuffs on me," he said.

Coincidentally, at this time, Yang also rushed here after dealing with the cleaning and handover matters outside the palace.Seeing that the emperor had chosen to surrender, he subconsciously took out the handcuffs from his bag and was about to put them on, but a slender and powerful hand grabbed his wrist.

"Isaac?" He looked at him strangely.

"I said he would be handed over to the Republic." Li Qing looked into his eyes and emphasized in an unquestionable tone. "Now, he is assigned to my responsibilities. I can escort him to Miranda Prison in any way I want. If there is any problem, I will be responsible."

"Of course, it is impossible for anyone to escape from under your nose." Yang laughed for a moment. "How could I doubt you? I just want to remind you, don't waste time, don't forget our agreement."

"After I've dealt with all this, I'll go to Yige to find you." While speaking, Li Qing quickly called up the information page of the smart bracelet and sent several messages to Harper Central Star.With approval, he nods to Chris. "Come on, I have to send you to Miranda."

Li Qing drove this small starship starting with tp, and after passing the transition point, it sailed steadily towards Miranda.The transparency of the porthole was increased, and the lights in the cabin were dimmed, making the nebula outside the window extraordinarily dreamy and bright, and the stars dazzling and beautiful.Miranda's position is in the middle of the spiral arm. From here, the Milky Way is more dazzling than the Earth where he stayed for nearly 30 years, or the Harper Galaxy where he spent most of his time in this universe.

He sat relaxed in the driver's seat, changed the automatic driving mode at will, and watched the starry sky calmly.The last time he looked at this piece of the Milky Way so intently was when the war had not yet begun, he sailed from Lancelot Star to Harper Central Star to go to the military academy he didn't want to go to.

In this time travel, he lost the world where his relatives lived, lost his parents who urged him to get married, and his sister who spoiled him.God favored him, and when he came to this strange universe, he still got relatives and friends, as well as love, something he would never understand.

Now he is no longer an unworldly scholar who came out of an ivory tower, but more like a butcher with blood on his hands; his lover suddenly disappeared, and he didn't know how long that non-human would live in Jorge's body ; Richter told him that the truth of the world would be revealed to him soon, but he felt that everything was in Richter's hands, and he was at a loss and powerless, with no companions around him who could support him.

After the war ended, the citizens of the Federation and the Republic celebrated wildly. Regardless of whether the local time on the planet was day or night, people clapped each other on the street, and reporters surrounded the presidential palace with interview robots.Everything looked as good as it could be.

On the contrary, Li Qing sat on this deserted starship heading to the prison, feeling that he had reached the lowest point in his life.What he will face is a completely unpredictable future that he has never experienced before.He didn't know what Richter was, what his purpose was, whether Jörg could come back...

He was panicking, but his brain told him he had to be calm, so he threw the panic into the deepest corner, locked in the box.He doesn't think about Jörg, does his best to forget his existence and downplay his feelings for him.

Missing is the beginning of a person's downfall, because after experiencing that another person is around to love him, take care of him, and share everything for him, it is difficult to go back to the days of going through all the difficulties alone.So he can't miss his lover, and he can't tell his friends, he must go on a lonely journey to the truth alone.

When he was about to reach the destination, the former emperor who had fallen asleep at the side due to the exhaustion of the day suddenly woke up.He stood up and looked at the slowly approaching azure planet outside the Xuan window, which showed a beautiful arc under the illumination of the stars.According to the resolution of the military court, he will be imprisoned for life in a small room in the underground cell, and almost every move will be monitored.No human rights - the top war criminals who indirectly killed tens of billions of people have no right to talk about human rights.

"Isaac, can you help me with a request?" he asked suddenly.

"what?"

"Give me an optical brain."

Li Qing looked a little surprised. "what you up to?"

Christopher stared intently at the starry sky outside the window and smiled. "Do you think I have your ability to hack the prison system with an optical brain? I just want to write a book."

"Writing a book?"

"History book. I've already thought of a name, it's called "The History of the Rise and Fall of the Empire." He turned his head sideways, his expression as calm as water. "History is something that all mankind should know... no matter how cruel it is."

"it is good."

The starship drove into the prison air station, the hatch opened, and two soldiers trotted over, holding the top war criminal of the empire hostage on one side and dragging him away roughly.Chris turned his head and silently mouthed to Li Qing: "Help me take care of Catherine, please."

The young man in military uniform nodded lightly.

They are gone.

Book VII: Battle of the Mind