LSDWTWHA chapter 42

Chapter 41

“Is that so?” Yan Bai recalled Qi Hanyi’s reaction when Su Su was poisoned and unconscious last time: “I thought he cared about you quite a bit.”

Before Su Su could respond, Yan Bai quickly changed the subject: “I’ll be going to the Imperial Capital for a business trip in a few days, want to meet up?”

Su Su was momentarily happy, but then remembered that in a few days, the effects of the drug would wear off, and he might turn into a shark, revealing a hint of hesitation: “No, it’s not very convenient for me.”

“Is it because Qi Hanyi doesn’t allow you to come out?” Yan Bai asked.

“No, it’s my own issue,” Su Su said vaguely. “The mermaid potion I took has some side effects.”

He didn’t mention that he would turn into a shark in a few days; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to explain why he could still log on and play games after transforming.

Yan Bai already knew that Su Su was a mermaid hybrid who had taken on a human appearance through special means, so his words didn’t surprise him.

After pondering for a moment, Yan Bai spoke up: “I’m genuinely worried about your situation. I’m staying in the Imperial Capital for a while, so if you encounter any danger, just let me know. You are my cousin, and I will definitely help you.”

“Thank you, but I’m doing quite well right now, so I shouldn’t need it,” Su Su responded before logging off.

After Su Su left, the smile on Yan Bai’s face faded. When he exited the nutrient chamber, his expression was dark.

“Who upset you?” Yan San asked, sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, legs crossed, calmly observing his young foster son.

“I thought that since he carries mermaid blood, even if he doesn’t get close to us, he would never side with Qi Hanyi,” Yan Bai expressed disappointment in his tone. “But he lied to me. Qi Hanyi clearly had a mental force collapse, yet he only said he fainted.”

“I want to convince myself that he might really not know, but…”

“But even if he didn’t know before, after this incident, someone should have told him,” Yan San finished Yan Bai’s incomplete thought. “He knows, and he’s pretending to be innocent with you.”

“I don’t understand why he would…” Yan Bai said, “Qi Hanyi hates mermaids so much, how could he treat him well?”

“I’ve said before, Su Su is raised as a shark; it won’t be that easy for him to empathize with you. Do you think helping him a little, telling him a few stories, and giving him some small favors will make him devoted to you?” Yan San shook his head. “In this world, it’s much easier to use hatred to drive someone to do things for you than to use gratitude. You are still too soft-hearted towards Su Su.”

“But does it really have to be that way?” Yan Bai’s eyes held a hint of struggle.

“I know you are a sentimental child; you see him as family, and it’s hard for you to let go,” Yan San said in a low and gentle tone. “But if you let him stay blinded and continue to be with Qi Hanyi, you should think about his ending. We are not harming him; we are helping him.”

“I understand now.” Yan Bai’s tone became firm. “I’m going to make arrangements right away.”

“Mm.” Yan San nodded in satisfaction. “What about Zheng Hui’s side?”

Yan Bai replied seriously: “It’s in preparation. Zheng Hui’s mental force has reached level S. Last time, he obtained an exam paper from the Imperial Military Academy, and his scores are among the top there, so he should be capable enough for a game competition.”

“Be more cautious. I remember there’s a girl who’s highly favored to win first place. Try to arrange for her to be eliminated in the preliminary rounds to avoid any prolonged complications.”

“You mean simplify things?” Yan Bai knew that name and they had investigated the person behind it. The brother’s name was Jian Cheng, a deputy around Qi Hanyi, reliable but lacking in talent. The younger sister, Jian Fan, however, was exceptionally gifted. Even before she entered the Imperial Military Academy, many had heard of her name. Plus, with her brother helping her, she was quite significant among players. Indeed, she posed a threat for Zheng Hui in this competition.

Yan San: “Mm, do it decisively. I don’t like having too many variables in the plan.”

After Su Su logged off, he found Qi Hanyi was not in the bedroom. He had evening training and had never interrupted his routine at home; this time should not be over yet.

Su Su yawned, took a shower to wash away the nutrient solution, then pulled aside Qi Hanyi’s bedding and crawled in.

Ah, a large bed is great! Su Su happily rolled around in the quilt.

He was quite tired today, having tried various ways to save someone during the day and fighting in the game at night, consuming a significant amount of mental energy. He quickly fell into a deep sleep upon reaching the pillow.

When Qi Hanyi returned from training, he noticed that the bed was no longer as neatly made as usual; the corners of the sheets were creased, and there was a small bump in the quilt.

Su Su liked to sleep face down, his limbs tucked neatly, with only the back of his head showing, and his silver-blue hair scattered carelessly.

He forgot to prepare a bed for Su Su.

Qi Hanyi frowned lightly, seeming unable to accept that he had made such a low-level mistake.

He used his communicator to have the robot Xiao You bring a clean set of bedding over. The room was large enough for him to sleep on the floor for a night.

Perhaps it was the sound of the robot that woke Su Su. He poked his head out from under the quilt, hair messily pushed back, rubbing his eyes, and looked at Qi Hanyi, who was making a bed on the floor: “What are you doing?”

After two seconds, as if waking up a bit more, Su Su noticed Qi Hanyi was laying out the bedding on the floor and asked in confusion: “Aren’t we sleeping together?”

“Not really,” Qi Hanyi calmly declined without explaining further.

Su Su sat up from the bed: “But why not? The bed is so big; it’s completely enough for both of us. The floor is hard and cold; it can’t be as comfortable as the bed. You’re still a patient.”

“It’s inconvenient.” Qi Hanyi had already made the bed and left behind his training outfit neatly folded at the head of the bed.

“What’s inconvenient? I sleep very honestly; I won’t suddenly turn into a shark and bite you,” Su Su said, slapping the quilt to make a “smack” sound.

“That’s not the issue.” Qi Hanyi was troubled about how to explain. After pausing for a moment to organize his language, he said: “We are not in that kind of relationship; we can’t sleep together.”

He had developed feelings for Su Su, but his mental force collapse was a time bomb. Until this issue was resolved, he would maintain a distance from Su Su, in case his condition became uncontrollable in the future, and Su Su could still leave.

“We’re not…” Su Su initially wanted to ask if this wasn’t that type of relationship, but as the words came out, he suddenly understood. Qi Hanyi had mentioned before that he wouldn’t allow himself to call him ‘husband.’

Although humans do not only share a bed with their partners, close friends of the same sex might sometimes do so as well, but Qi Hanyi might have concerns about it.

He didn’t want to be Su Su’s partner nor share a bed with him.

“Fine.” Su Su’s tone carried a hint of disappointment. He couldn’t articulate why he felt this way; he just felt somewhat unhappy and wanted to quietly hide away alone.

He slipped back under the quilt, covering his head with the sheets, revealing only a small amount of silver-blue hair.

The quilt still held a trace of Qi Hanyi’s scent, which was particularly prominent in the confined space.

So Su Su poked his head out again, burying it under the pillow, secretly thinking that if Qi Hanyi wanted to sleep on the floor, he should just go ahead; he had no intention of becoming his partner anyway.

The next day during the day, Qi Hanyi had a pile of work in his hands after fainting at the military headquarters the previous day. He spent the whole day either in the office or training, showing no awareness of being a patient.

When Su Su logged on, he discovered that his friend was absent and played on his own for a while.

After the Silver Dragon was reset, all the previous modifications that Yan Bai had helped him with were gone, returning to factory settings. But Su Su didn’t want to go find Yan Bai again; he felt the modifications Yan Bai made were more aesthetic than functional. This time, he planned to modify the spaceship according to his own ideas.

Su Su had many ideas overall; he felt the Silver Dragon was too balanced and didn’t maximize its power.

Right now, he wanted to improve the spaceship’s lethality, speed, and agility, while sacrificing other things—like mecha transport capacity, defensive capabilities, operational stability, etc.—if necessary.

He first asked professional modification players in the guild, then some players in the world channel, but repeatedly hit walls.

The more polite ones said his plans were too ambitious for their skills. The ruder ones bluntly said he was daydreaming and had no knowledge of modifications at all. They even pointed out that the type of spaceship he wanted to modify, even if it could be made, no one would be able to control it.

At dinner time, Su Su sat across from Qi Hanyi.

Facing a table full of his favorite dishes, Su Su did not display the excited expression he usually had. He sulkily lowered his head to eat, his gaze wandering, clearly distracted.

“What’s wrong? Not to your taste?” Qi Hanyi noticed Su Su’s unusual behavior and asked.

“No.” Su Su pushed his food around but still seemed preoccupied.

As if remembering something, he lifted his head to glance at Qi Hanyi, then took a couple of bites of rice, looking again as if using Qi Hanyi as an accompaniment.

“Um… I have a question I want to ask you.”

Qi Hanyi put down his dishes: “Hmm?”

“It’s about the spaceship in the game I call Silver Dragon, which seems to be the predecessor of the Bai Ze you are currently using. I want to modify it, but today I asked many people, and they all said it can’t be done according to my plan,” Su Su complained.

He hadn’t planned to tell Qi Hanyi about it, thinking Qi Hanyi wouldn’t be interested in his gaming matters. Besides, it was something in the game; Qi Hanyi couldn’t help with it.

“What do you want to modify?” Qi Hanyi asked.

Su Su unexpectedly raised his head, not expecting Qi Hanyi would really ask.

Talking about this energized him.

Su Su enthusiastically began to explain his modification plans to Qi Hanyi.

“I want to strengthen the weapon system of Silver Dragon, sacrificing the current mecha warehouse, changing it all into a heavy firepower potion storage room. I don’t need clumsy bombardment cannons or flamethrowers; I want long-range precise killing shots instead. The focus is on penetration and armor-piercing.”

“I also want to strengthen close combat; I’d like to add extendable cutting light blades to both sides for face-to-face attacks. Even in controlling situations, it can be used to break free and counterattack.”

“Then for the horns, I need to lengthen the silver horns and strengthen the ejection power so it can accurately strike some crucial joints upon impact.”

“And the hull and tail fins, I hope they are thinner, removing all weights, with the power system ideally tripled. I can control the balance myself, and defensive capabilities don’t need to be particularly high. As long as I can drive fast enough, others won’t hit me.”

“Also, for the escape pod, I want to modify the escape pod door to be inside the main cockpit. I think escape pods shouldn’t just passively wait for rescue; they should have an autonomous braking system…”

Su Su rambled on, while Qi Hanyi listened patiently.

After Su Su finished, Qi Hanyi slowly opened his mouth, not saying yes or no, but rationally analyzing: “Do you realize that without weight, a spaceship that is too light will be very difficult to pilot? You also want to triple the power while increasing agility. The difficulty in controlling the spaceship will grow exponentially. The Silver Dragon is already a top-tier spaceship, and the difficulty in controlling it is not low. Even using mental force, maneuvering such a spaceship could easily lead to a loss of control.”

“Moreover, regarding the weapon system, heavy firepower is generally used for area coverage because it’s difficult to achieve precision under long-range aiming. A slight deviation can cause the attack to miss. Also, if the spaceship is too light, it won’t withstand the recoil from heavy firepower. After every shot, you’ll need to readjust the balance.”

“Finally, whether it’s the cutting blades on the sides or the silver horns at the bow, to make them effective in close combat, they require high agility and control. Otherwise, they would only serve as decorations.”

“I know, but I think I should be able to pilot it,” Su Su said, unusually revealing a bit of shyness. He had been told by many professional spaceship modification players that his ideas were whimsical and unrealistic. Their reason was mostly that they believed no one could pilot a spaceship modified like that. Even the slightest mistake could cause destruction.

Now, in front of a real expert, he felt a bit embarrassed.

“Alright, I will help you modify it,” Qi Hanyi said.

“Eh? You’d help me? Can you do that?” Su Su’s eyes widened in surprise.

Qi Hanyi didn’t think modifying a spaceship was a particularly proud achievement, but under Su Su’s shocked and admiring gaze, he maintained a cold and reserved demeanor: “When I attended the Imperial Military Academy, I won first place in a spaceship design and modification competition. The designer of Bai Ze is my teacher. After graduating, I participated in the design of four new spaceships and modified Bai Ze three times. Many parameters in the game are simplified, so I think I should be able to help you modify a game spaceship.”

“Wow, that’s impressive!” Su Su grabbed Qi Hanyi’s hand and held it to his chest: “I’ll leave my Silver Dragon to you! Haha, once my spaceship is modified, it will definitely be the strongest in the entire game.”

“The comprehensive evaluation score of the modified spaceship must not exceed the original spaceship’s level. Even if I modify it, this spaceship won’t exceed the strength of an S-class spaceship.” Qi Hanyi withdrew his hand: “This is a requirement for game balance.”

“Oh!” The excitement and anticipation on Su Su’s face diminished.

Qi Hanyi added, “However, the points sacrificed mainly come from balance and piloting difficulty. If you really can control it, it will be the strongest.”