nebula story

Fortified and silent.As in the past, the gate of the Imperial Prison No. [-] was closed tightly. The towering prison walls were dark and solid, and the walls densely covered with monitoring equipment were under the sun, with occasional rays of light refracted and flashed, sharp and indifferent.

Even if the winter sun rises to the center of the top of the head, it is still not hot enough.But when Andy finally walked out with tired steps, he was still dazzled.

Top-heavy moved out the door, and Andy listened to the heavy metal prison door slowly closing behind him.Almost at the same time when he raised his eyes, a car parked far away on the nearby street had already driven towards him at high speed, and "creaked" to a stop in front of him.

"Andy, my child..." Pushing open the car door, the baroness in plain clothes rushed down with tears in her eyes, and hugged her little son who had not been seen for dozens of days, "Oh, my poor Andy !"

Seeing Andy's face full of stubble, thin cheeks, and bloodshot eyes, the baroness finally couldn't help bursting into tears: "Oh, my poor child... so many days, God... …Oh My God!"

Heartbroken, Andy put his arms around his mother's shoulders wordlessly, and sniffled vigorously.

The tinted car window was rolled down, and the dejected Baron Yolande Hall whispered to the crying mother and son, "Hurry up and get in the car and go home."

Sitting in the front seat, the much older baron sighed softly: "Crying in this kind of place, is it to express dissatisfaction and protest against His Majesty the Emperor?"

The tear-stained baroness froze for a moment, and quickly stopped her grief.He looked around suspiciously until he confirmed that the car windows were closed, and then he choked up again: "Oh, my poor Andy! How is it? Is there any serious injury? A doctor is waiting at home , me and your father..."

Sitting on the soft seat with a wry smile, Andy only felt tired and uncomfortable.

"Mother, I'm fine, nothing serious." He resisted the discomfort all over his body and comforted his mother, "I finally came out safely, didn't I?"

"It's nothing serious! Your eldest brother and second brother almost collapsed when they came back, it's no wonder you stayed inside for so long..." The baroness wiped her tears with a snow-white handkerchief sadly, thinking of being taken to the gendarmerie In those days, she only felt trembling all over.

That gloomy interrogation room, that pale light, that blurred-faced, cold-eyed royal policeman!Just being questioned by those lights on her face made the pampered woman feel endless humiliation and fear, not to mention that Andy was not just taken to the Gendarmerie, but locked in the Royal Prison!

In the whole family, only the unlucky youngest son was wronged and wronged, and he was still unable to completely remove the suspicion of espionage. Even though he exhausted all the connections in the family, he was unable to successfully rescue people through any means. ——The case of espionage by the enemy country under the personal supervision of the emperor, everyone is afraid to avoid it, how can anyone dare to collect money to help clear up the relationship?

Blame the damn federal spy father and son!Resentment and fear tore her heart, she hummed in a low voice: "Fortunately, I caught that little spy, otherwise Andy wouldn't be able to get out—"

With a sudden shock, Andy looked at his mother in astonishment: "What? What did you say?"

"Your little servant, Chesu, has been arrested. Otherwise, why do you think you would be released?" Baron Yolande Hall sighed and smiled wryly.

Andy has never been released, and through various channels, they have found out some secrets.In fact, Andy's suspicion has already been almost cleared, but His Majesty the Emperor has been furious because of this espionage case, who is willing to ask him about releasing people at this juncture?

Sitting up straight, Andy couldn't react in astonishment: "This...how is this possible?! Didn't Chesu return to the Federation?"

The secret agent of the empire's intelligence department actually managed to reach out to the capital of the Federation and capture Chesu back? !

"Let's talk about it when we go home." Baron Hall sighed heavily.

The stretched limousine moved forward silently, heading towards Hall Manor at high speed.It continued until it reached the gate of its own house in the suburbs, and then it came to an abrupt end.

Looking at the gate of the manor that still retains the traces of rough damage, Andy felt sad for a while.The exquisitely carved wrought iron gate is still riddled with bullet holes, and the formerly bustling front hall of the manor is now very deserted, with a sense of desolation and decay lingering over the supposedly prosperous and magnificent buildings.

Sitting in the brightly lit hall, Andy asked the family doctor he knew since childhood to help him check his body.

"Multiple soft tissue contusions on the arm, mild fracture of the bridge of the nose... There is a scar on the back of the head, and four stitches have been stitched." After diagnosing one by one, Dr. Roald opened the medical kit and took out the commonly used equipment. "Let me deal with it."

"Oh, my God!" the baroness finally burst into tears, "What did they do to you! How could they be so cruel... Oh!" Breathing desperately, she looked like she was about to faint.

"Oh, ma'am, please don't get excited." Dr. Roald hurriedly passed a small bottle of refreshing inhalant to her nose, "Master Andy's injuries are not serious, and they are basically in the healing period now. What's the big question left."

Grinning his teeth and gasping for air, Andy smiled wryly and let the doctor wipe his wound with disinfectant.Indeed, those tortures happened dozens of days ago. Compared with the physical pain, it is better to say that the fear and frustration in the heart are more tormenting.

Chesu...that obedient and well-behaved stupid guy who has been by his side since he was a child and served him in his daily life for more than ten years is a spy of the Federation.The evidence is conclusive and there is no doubt.

Helping him to be admitted to the Royal Academy of Engineering, getting close to His Highness who came to choose a partner, and then joining the mecha research and development team, and finally becoming the partner of His Highness Fern... All of this stems from his lurking since he was a child. Federal spy status in the Empire.

What kind of bad luck did the Hall family have to accidentally take in this pair of hidden federal spies and sons, and how stupid he must have been to not notice anything abnormal for more than ten years , has been kept in the dark?

Sitting there blankly, his mind was in chaos.Although Dr. Roald's movement caused a burst of stinging pain, he failed to attract his attention.

"Father, you said that Chesu...has been arrested?" He hesitated again and asked.

"Yes. His Majesty the Emperor issued an ultimatum, threatening the lives of five hundred senior federal prisoners of war—"

Master Andy almost jumped up in astonishment, pulled the doctor's hand, and almost poked his own eyes: "What, isn't this an act of terrorism?"

Suddenly stopped, his face was a little pale.

Looking at Dr. Roald in horror, the baroness also had a bad face, and she reprimanded in a low voice: "What nonsense? Treating those cunning and shameless federal people, any kind of behavior is just. If it weren't for that cunning little spy For trampling on the dignity of our Emperor, our Majesty would not be so angry, and insisted on arresting him."

"Yes, yes. Such a great humiliation, how can it be eliminated without the blood of that federal man!" Nodding repeatedly, Baron Hall echoed.

Looking at his parents in shock, Andy suddenly felt a huge palpitation.With trembling lips, he asked softly, "Chesu...was executed?"

Looking at each other, Baron Hall shook his head: "I don't know."

have no idea?Andy was surprised.

"Yes, more than a month ago, the news that Chesu was used by the Federation to exchange prisoners of war has spread throughout the empire." Baron Hall frowned in confusion, "But no one knows why His Majesty the Emperor has not taken any action. , but he was only put in prison—by the way, it was the place where you just came out, speaking of which, when you came out, he must have been locked in a cell near you."

Listening blankly to his father's words, Andy seemed a little hesitant.

"No, it's impossible." He murmured, "These days, I've been let out to let the wind outside, I... have never seen Chesu."

Yes, he can be sure.During the short 10-minute free time every day, he never saw Chesu, and none of the felons around him seemed to have mentioned such a new important prisoner.

"That's the person His Majesty captured at a huge price. How can he be treated like an ordinary prisoner?" The baroness took a sip of black tea in disgust, and impatiently twisted her fingers holding the exquisite teacup, "In my opinion , that damned spy must be locked in the deepest prison, maybe he is being tortured every day, so that His Majesty the Emperor can calm down first - it took so much effort to catch him back, could it be for the purpose of supporting him in the prison , let him eat and drink, and then come out every day to let the wind go?"

Quietly shivering, Master Andy was a little dazed.

...Yes, this is the most probable fact.

The days finally seemed to be back on track. Those dozens of days in prison were like a terrible dream. Andy would rather never think of it again, and even prayed that he would never experience it again in his life.

It was two or three years ago that he was ordered to transfer from the Royal Academy of Engineering to a business school. In fact, every time Andy thinks about it, he thinks it is a lucky thing.After all, no matter how troublesome the courses of the business school are, they are much simpler than those bible-like mechanical and electronic subjects. What's more, the greatest possibility in his future life is indeed to inherit part of the family business. Let's do business.

On the textile and garment factories, the production of daily necessities had been suspended due to the depression of the war, and the targeted production of military uniforms had been increased.Fortunately, the war has finally ceased, and it is imminent to start recruiting workers and re-employing fashion designers.

Compared with the war that lasted almost two years, this sudden truce and peace seemed so rare and precious.

Standing in front of the gate of his family's time-honored clothing factory, Andy looked at the somewhat gray signboard with emotion.The roar of the machine being restarted has been heard from the gate, and countless untouchable workers have returned to the assembly line. Like most factories and enterprises in the empire, all places are beginning to show a sense of prosperity and a waste of time.

The meager profits will accumulate from less to more, and the stretched companies will gradually revive. Although the arrogance and lust of the entire empire cannot be reproduced in a short period of time, more and more noble banquets, full of clothes, The sound of wine and piano has gradually become the theme.

"Third young master, please follow me." The deputy head of Stoke, who has been in charge of the clothing factory and textile factory business in the family, politely led the way, leading Andy to inspect the workshop that started.

Inspecting the piles of products in the garment workshop, Andy stretched his sore arms: "After these come off the assembly line, they will be sent to the first washing right away?"

The deputy manager looked delighted: "Yes, it can be shipped immediately after washing. The orders of major shopping malls have recovered by [-]% to [-]%. Young master, I think the momentum of economic recovery is faster than expected."

"It seems that the economic foundation of the empire hasn't been damaged yet." Andy smiled wryly, his old tired and playful look had faded away, and there were some signs of maturity and stability on his young face.

"Yes, thankfully the truce came in time, otherwise everyone would not be able to afford it." The deputy manager showed a concerned expression, deeply moved, "Speaking of which, it is considered that the people of the Federation are aware of current affairs, and agreed to put that..."

Suddenly shutting his mouth, he looked at Andy in embarrassment.

Without showing any expression, Master Andy stared blankly at the busy assembly line, and said softly, "It wasn't the Federation people who sent Chesu back. The Federation's official statement said it was his own idea, didn't he?" Looking at the deputy manager , he said indifferently, "These peace and tranquility were originally bought by Chesu with himself. You, me, and all of us have benefited from him."

There is nothing to be afraid of, even if someone with ulterior motives secretly reported it to some people's ears, he still dares to say these words again.

—Because it is simply true.

Gradually there are singing and dancing on the streets, smiles appear on people's faces, shopping malls and amusement parks have reopened, and relaxing entertainment programs have resumed on TV and the media.

On the distant planet Fisher, the fighting between the two sides has ceased.I don't know if it's for some reason, even without too lengthy negotiations, both sides have already died down in silence, and each retreated a long distance.

The gunpowder smoke dissipates in the distance, and peace dances around.

Everything will subside eventually, except for those who died, and the federal boy who was secretly brought back to the empire and waited to be finally executed in a dark prison.

……

Holding the tax account books of the clothing factory, Andy got into the private car silently, and was replaced by the family's special accountant.

The application for liquidation to the military procurement agency has finally been approved. Today, I will go to the General Administration of Taxation to completely stop the production of military uniforms.

... In a short period of time, the war should not restart again. Next, the traces of gunpowder smoke and flesh and blood will gradually fade away.

The General Tax Administration in the capital of the empire is also much busier than the previous few visits.The small business owners queuing up in the lobby were carrying layers of account books and tax receipts, but they all had joyful faces.Yes, compared to the embarrassment of having no taxes to pay a while ago, the current situation is what all businessmen hope to see.

Sitting alone in the long leather chair, Andy waited for his family's tax accountant to line up at the special window.There are quite a few special companies that deal with the military, and they still have to wait in line for specifications like theirs.

While flipping through the copy in his hand boredly, there was a sudden commotion around Andy.The people in the queue let out a low, depressing exclamation, and began to look at the special passage not far away with awe and admiration.

A group of royal guards quickly guarded a red carpet passage in the tax hall, loaded with live ammunition, and looking serious.And at the end of the red carpet, a young man walked out of a certain door of the tax hall with an indifferent expression.

With light blue eyes, pure blond hair, a fit and elegant imperial military uniform wrapped around his tall and straight figure, and the black rivets on the shiny calfskin boots gleamed coldly.

Your Highness Lance!

Although he only met a few times for a short time, Andy will never forget the heavy oppression that this noble royal family brought to him!

All the subjects of the empire think that His Highness is gentle and kind. Compared with His Majesty the Emperor, His Highness has always been more popular with women, children and old people. Only he knows that His Highness There are also those cold and ruthless factors in her body, which come from the noble blood of the royal family and the unique inheritance of the Cromwell royal family.

Whether it was the contemptuous gaze cast upon him when his identity was discovered in the arena, or the indifference when interrogating Chesu for the test case for the first time, or the personal interrogation of this espionage case, this soft and handsome Third Highness is always in his heart. Only an equally ruthless impression is left.

But... what is he doing here?Ah, by the way, His Royal Highness Lance is still responsible for the management of the Ministry of Finance of the Empire. The transfer of affairs between the military department and the Ministry of Finance has been busy recently, presumably because of these things.

Andy quickly stood up with the crowd, watching His Royal Highness Lance walking on the red carpet.

Looking up indifferently, His Highness Lance casually glanced at the subjects who were saluting with one hand on their chest, and nodded slightly in return.But when his eyes swept over Andy in the crowd, he suddenly froze slightly!

Slowly stopping, he looked in Andy's direction.

Under the surprised eyes of countless people, he slowly walked up to Andy.

Looking up in astonishment, Andy tensed up all over.

The Third Highness who personally supervised and interrogated him had such a strange gaze that suddenly all the wounds on his body screamed, reminding him of the painful memories of the past.

What's up?What will happen again? !

"Follow me." Simply throwing away this sentence, His Highness Lance has turned and left.

... Sitting anxiously in the royal car, Andy stiffened.

He didn't dare to open his mouth, didn't dare to look directly into His Royal Highness Lance's eyes, he just felt that the atmosphere in the carriage was extremely cold and full of heavy pressure.

"I'm going to see him, do you want to go with me?" His Highness Lance on the opposite side said lightly, looking at his face, it seemed that there was something on it that he wanted to get to the bottom of.

He... who is he?

After a short period of confusion, Andy suddenly understood what His Royal Highness Lance meant, and his heart beat wildly.

Chesu!The "he" His Highness Lance mentioned could only be Chesu.

No, no, you can't answer "yes", this is a trap, they still don't believe him, and want to lure him into some kind of strange trap!

Confused and terrified, he looked straight at the indifferent young royal family in front of him, and was about to blurt out the words of rejection.

However, that was not said after all.There was a touch of grief and resentment in his heart, and he finally mustered up the courage to meet Lance's gaze: "Your Highness, why did you call me with you? If you still doubt me, why don't you continue to detain me?"

Lance didn't answer right away, and Lance looked a little tired.

Waving his hand, he said lightly: "You have cleared your suspicion. If you don't want to go, get out of the car."

The special car parked slowly on the side of the road, and the tightly locked door slid open.

Looking in the direction of the vehicle, Andy recognized that it was the road to the Royal Prison.His legs trembled slightly, and he suddenly sat down again, looking directly at Lance.

"...Your Highness, I want to go." He whispered with difficulty, trying to stabilize his trembling legs as much as possible, "Is he going to be executed? So you... allow me to take one last look at him?"

Lance looked at him with something odd.

"No, I just happened to meet you." He said briefly, "I suddenly felt that it might be better to go with someone."

better?What does that mean?Andy couldn't understand the vague words, and his heart was full of confusion and surprise.

Walking to the familiar high wall of the Royal Prison, Andy felt a little uncomfortable, his narrow shoulders shrunk.

Unconsciously looking at the bare slope of the high wall, he narrowed his eyes slightly, and was dazzled by a faint flash of light.I don't know if it was an observation hole hidden in the dark, or some special defensive equipment, but the flash of light disappeared like lightning.

Outside the empty prison, in a residential building far away, in a small black window, at the same moment, a flash of light reversed slightly, and a man showed a pair of piercing eyes beside a strange instrument that was as long as a gun handle. His eyes were fixed on the face in the super military telescope.

……

Passing through the vaguely familiar corridor of the Royal Prison, Andy followed closely behind His Royal Highness Lance.There was the warden leading the way ahead, and His Royal Highness Lance remained silent.In the empty corridor densely covered with probes and flashing red lights, the only sound was the footsteps of their group.

Passing through layers of complicated labyrinth-like corridors, the silent crowd boarded a hidden elevator.Oh my God, this Royal Prison No. [-] is not like it looks like there is only one floor on the ground, but there is actually a heavily guarded underground heavy prison!

The red button stopped at the sign on the third floor, and the elevator opened quietly.Looking at the bright but pale silver metal wall, Andy's back was wet with sweat for a while.

It was countless times more rigorous than the confinement he had experienced. There were only a few cold, separate doors in the entire silent underground. Obviously, this was the core and most fortified part of the entire Royal No. [-] Prison. Here, only the most important and dangerous prisoners may be.

The warden stepped forward in person, pressed a long series of cumbersome and disordered passwords, and bowed respectfully to His Royal Highness Lance.

Following Lance, Andy hesitantly stepped into the ultra-strong alloy door tens of centimeters thick.

...The absolute silence was instantly broken, and a terrifying sound of water rushed towards his face in that cage, shockingly stimulating Andy's eardrums!

Staring blankly at everything in that secret room, Andy's breathing seemed to stop at that moment.

……

In the corner of the pale, bare metal cell, a person was suspended abruptly, the handcuffs hanging high above the head were bound very high, and the feet were extremely thick black shackles.More than one meter away, a prison guard held a powerful water dragon in his hand, and a huge snow-white water jet shot out, rushing towards the prisoner in the corner.

The water splashed everywhere, and under the strong water pressure, the water dragon was ferocious and ferocious, washing the emaciated body.When the water dragon rushed to his face, the person hit by the water uttered some short, indistinct groans, whimpering and twisting his body vigorously. He tried to avoid the water rushing into his nose and mouth from time to time, but in vain.

His body was trembling uncontrollably, his eyes were closed, and his wet, tangled hair hung down his pale forehead, lifeless.

Although two years had passed, and his face had changed from what he remembered, Andy still recognized the extremely familiar face at first sight.

Chesu...his little servant who had been by his side since he was a child, always running back and forth with a smile, serving him wholeheartedly.Desperately suppressing the painful exclamation on the tip of his tongue, Andy pinched his palm, and finally controlled his urge to rush forward to stop all this.

Startled by the sudden crowd, the prison guard hastily turned off the water hose in his hand.Just as the sound of the water stopped, Chesu, who was suspended, had already let out a heart-piercing cough.

His eyes were still closed, a glaring dark red blood froth overflowed from the corner of his mouth, his body had slight convulsions and convulsions, and it took a long time for the convulsions to gradually stop.

With his head down, the blood froth around his lips gradually flowed down his neck, the color was not thick, but viscous and ominous in color, with some suspicious pale yellow.Lining the pale neck skin, there was an extremely unhealthy dullness.

As soon as the prison guard saw Lance, he recognized the Third Highness of the Empire in panic.Throwing down the thick water pipe quickly, he saluted respectfully: "Your Highness!"

Looking at Chesu who was hung there motionless, His Highness Lance had no expression on his face.

Andy didn't dare to speak, and the warden waited with bated breath. In the quiet secret room of the underground heavy prison, only the sound of "tick" water continued to sound, falling from the young prisoner, flowing to the sewer with a special slope at the corner, and quickly drained away. away, no deposits formed in the chamber.

"Your Majesty... told you to water torture him?" After a long time, His Highness Lance asked calmly.

A clear picture appeared in his mind, and he vaguely remembered the scene in the military academy.Chesu, who was maliciously bullied by two cadets from the military academy, was tortured secretly for ten days by waterboarding.

...Because he will be more afraid of this kind of punishment, why does the emperor exhort him so cruelly?

"Oh, it's not!" The prison guard hurriedly replied, with a respectful expression, "His Majesty did not give such orders. Besides, this is not a punishment, it's just to help him take a shower."

Suddenly raising his head to stare at him, His Highness Lance had a strange look in his eyes, as if he was trying to suppress something, but he didn't know what to say.

"Put him down." He said briefly, his voice as cold as a blade.

The warden quickly motioned to the other two prison guards outside the door to come in together, and let down the emaciated man from the hanging ring.

As soon as she was put down, Chesu slipped limply and fell to the ground.Slowly curled up on the cold wet ground, his body trembling slightly.

At first glance, the most striking thing is the shackles between his bare feet.It's not a sophisticated electronic type, but black cast iron.It looked like it weighed dozens of kilograms, rough and cold.Slowly opening his eyes, he looked at the people in front of him.Under the big black eyes is a circle of obvious blue halo, and the long eyelashes are full of water stains.

Looking blankly at the sudden increase of people, he shrank a little bit, and shrank even more tightly towards the corner of the wall behind him.

Staring at him in amazement, Master Andy noticed a strange thing. When Chesu's eyes swept over the crowd, he didn't linger on anyone.Even when he saw himself, he couldn't catch him for a moment.

Just looking at them blankly for a while, he whimpered softly, his dark eyes drooped again, hugging his knees, he leaned back.As soon as the cold metal wall touched his back, he suddenly shivered and moved forward quickly, as if he wanted to avoid the chill.

Watching his every move condescendingly, His Highness Lance's face twitched slightly.

"Help him take a shower?" He slowly turned his head to look at the warden and prison guards with gloomy eyes, "You guys are so excited."

Frightened by the gloomy eyes on that handsome face, the prison guard hastily explained: "Report Your Highness, I'm really helping him to take a bath! The prisoner's dementia is so severe that he doesn't have to worry about anything except simple eating and sleeping." Know how to take the initiative to do it. If we don’t take a bath for a long time, we are really afraid that he will get nasty sores on his body-this is not without precedent.”

Looking at His Royal Highness Lance's still gloomy face, the prison guard was very worried, and his voice was much softer: "Because His Majesty the Emperor said that we must be strictly guarded, so we dare not relax our vigilance when taking a shower. Besides, he seems to be afraid of water. I was very scared, and I struggled a lot every time I took a shower, so... I had no choice but to hang up like this every time."

... No one can describe Andy's shock at this moment.

dementia? !