ICTEUWMN Chapter 46.2

After all, these were not classified matters but rather the curiosity of a military enthusiast about regulations and daily routines.

When Huo Ting gave succinct answers that were hard to understand, Secretary Hals would occasionally add some clarification.

As a result, Yu Mian could be said to be very satisfied!

Turns out talking to a professional in the core field was more efficient! He even got to hear some fascinating stories from other star systems!

Wasn’t this even more interesting than the Federation news?

“So, have you been inspired to write a military-themed novel? After all, your good friend has been preparing a manuscript recently.”

Secretary Hals looked at Yu Mian in the cafeteria and couldn’t help but ask the question that Huo Ting was also curious about.

“Ahem, sort of. I feel that after interning for a while, I’ve gained a lot of knowledge. It’s a very different experience compared to just staying in a room reading books.”

Yu Mian recalled his time as an intern and sincerely reflected on his experiences.

This, however, made Huo Ting look at him more seriously.

“What about your parents and family?”

Yu Mian usually didn’t show any signs of having social connections, and his work seemed to be just about gaining experience as an intern.

?

Yu Mian was caught off guard by this question and paused for a moment.

In fact, in this world, the original owner’s identity had been set up as someone who had never known their parents.

When he asked the system, it explained that this was left undefined in the original book, and thus, this part of the character’s background was left blank.

But it seemed his parents from his past life would never see him again. He wondered whether they had heard about his sudden death while they were working at sea.

Suddenly thinking about his parents made Yu Mian feel a little down.

This, in turn, caused a subtle misunderstanding among Huo Ting and the others.

“Sorry? Did I ask something I shouldn’t have?”

When Huo Ting looked at Yu Mian, who inexplicably didn’t even move his chopsticks, he subconsciously apologized softly.

“No, my parents love me very much. It’s just that I’m separated from them for now. They might be in a very distant place.”

After thinking it over, Yu Mian replied, which caused Huo Ting’s expression to change slightly.

What Yu Mian didn’t know was that his initial pause and then slightly stiff response could easily create some misunderstanding.

‘Boss, you seem to have asked a very sensitive question!’ [Landmine alert!]

Secretary Hals gestured wildly with his eyes.

“…Me too.”

So after a brief silence, Yu Mian faintly heard Huo Ting’s response and quickly looked up.

‘Oh right.’

Yu Mian suddenly remembered his previous conversation with Huo Yan. It seemed Huo Ting’s father had died in a war, and he had never met his mother.

Was he trying to comfort him?

“Ahem, let’s not make the atmosphere so serious. By the way, it seems you don’t really like eating fish?”

Seeing the conversation heading into dangerous territory, Secretary Hals couldn’t help but try to lighten the mood. Noticing the untouched fish on Yu Mian’s plate, he changed the subject.

This caught Huo Ting’s attention as well.

‘Was this little writer picky with food?’

“Uh, well, I prefer to go to the seaside and watch the fish…”

In fact, it was just that he wasn’t very good at picking out fishbones; there were so many fishbones in the fish from the interstellar seas.

Yu Mian explained somewhat awkwardly.

“Oh, do you mean underwater sightseeing? Speaking of which, there’s a large aquarium in General Huo Ting’s study. The fish inside are really beautiful, it’s perfect for viewing.”

Secretary Hals unexpectedly found a topic to bring up, and mentioned the big aquarium in the study, which caused Yu Mian, who had been sipping soup, to cough so hard he almost couldn’t recover in time.

“What happened?”

Huo Ting looked at Yu Mian, slightly confused.

“It’s just that I choked a bit, sorry. You have an aquarium in your study? That’s amazing!”

Yu Mian tried to casually play along.

“…It’s not something I wanted to keep.”

Huo Ting subtly explained with a hint of insistence.

“Not something you wanted to keep?”

Yu Mian suddenly recalled the painful experience of the aquarium nearly being thrown away and stared at Huo Ting with wide eyes.

Huo Ting: ?

“It’s just something my elders wanted to keep.”

Speaking of which, his grandfather seemed to be returning soon, and the issue of the aquarium would have to be properly dealt with by then.

While Huo Ting pondered this inwardly, Yu Mian couldn’t help but feel an inner sense of frustration and started speaking.

“Huh? Why don’t you like aquariums? Aquariums are beautiful, and there are so many little fish swimming around, which can bring life and vitality to the home. And if you can only go to an aquatic exhibit to see fish, it’d be great to have an aquarium in your study for viewing, right? Also…”

Yu Mian tried to list the many benefits of an aquarium to completely dissuade Huo Ting from the dangerous idea of throwing it out.

‘Why is this guy so stubborn!’

‘Heavens!’

His words made Secretary Hals unable to hold back a chuckle.

After all, he had tried to persuade his boss countless times before, but it seemed like today, this little writer’s words were especially effective?

After all, Huo Ting looked at Yu Mian earnestly listing the advantages, as if he was really considering it seriously.

“Do you like raising fish?”

Finally, Huo Ting’s question made Yu Mian freeze for a moment.

“Hmm… Yes! Don’t you like raising fish? Wouldn’t it be a great sense of accomplishment to watch the little fish grow up little by little?!”

Yu Mian tried again to convince Huo Ting, but he never expected that being too earnest might lead to some unexpected consequences…

After lunch, after seeing Yu Mian leave, Secretary Hals, who returned to the office, couldn’t help but take advantage of the situation and strike while the iron was hot.

“You see, having an aquarium in the study isn’t a bad thing, and it could give you something in common to talk about with young people. For example, that little writer seems really interested in it!”

Huo Ting, who had been looking down at the materials in his hand, didn’t directly answer Secretary Hals. He just silently turned to the next page.

“How’s that author’s book coming along?”

“Uh, it’s probably best to have someone check in on it. After all, creating a work still requires a bit of time, right?”

Suddenly bringing up the matter, Secretary Hals realized he hadn’t followed up on the manuscript in a while.

During Yu Mian’s internship, “Eternal Night Rose” had indeed developed quickly under daily updates, which made readers scream with excitement.

It felt like the writing had matured significantly after “Contract Marriage”, with the plot twists and the world-building in “Eternal Night Rose” being incredibly smooth.

Although, after the last update, the plot sparked theories about whether there would be knives, which left many readers filled with concern.

But with the deepening relationship between Dreven and Su Yan in the latest updates, most readers had already willingly indulged in the sweet moments.

Who cares if there are knives in the plot? This is sugar!

Who can resist?

And just after the palace steward, Bazak, found His Majesty Dreven on that fateful night, a new crisis quickly broke out in the human settlement.

This time, the crisis pointed directly at Su Yan, who had been hailed as a prophet by the people of the settlement.

The nutrient solution invented by Su Yan suddenly started to show problems in usage, and many residents of the settlement developed abnormal symptoms after consuming it.

More crucially, it was discovered that the vampires had somehow gotten hold of the nutrient solution as well!

Naturally, Su Yan was extremely confused and worried. However, despite all of Su Yan’s efforts to explain, several of the core elders in the settlement decided to observe and assess the situation.

Even though Xiao, the leader of the hunting team, strongly protested and was willing to vouch that Su Yan would never harm humanity’s interests, Su Yan was still placed under house arrest.

In fact, Su Yan was not completely blind to the true cause of this crisis.

After all, since his arrival, he had indeed disrupted the balance of power in the settlement, even affecting the authority of those old men to some extent.

But what saddened Su Yan the most was probably the feeling of being mistrusted and even suspected.

In the past, people who would enthusiastically greet him as a prophet now avoided his gaze when they saw him.

It was as if they truly suspected that someone who had brought so many new innovations that transcended the times, might be a trap set by the Bart clan.

[[“Coalball, do you also think it was me?”

When Su Yan was quietly hugging his knees and looking at the fluffy ball of fur, talking to himself on a moonlit night, he suddenly watched Dreven transform back into a human and silently walk up to him.

“Not you.”

“You’ve always been good.”

Dreven’s serious and low voice came to his ears, and then mimicking Su Yan’s previous actions, reached out to stroke his head and gently kissed the young man’s forehead.

It had nothing to do with any emotions or desires; it was closer to a pure form of comfort and companionship.

It was so much so that for the first time, Su Yan couldn’t help but feel a slight sting in his eyes.

Because when he was betrayed, the ones who trusted him were not the many people he had once helped, but rather Coal Ball, the odd creature he had picked up from the forest.

He had even once suspected that Coal Ball could be a member of the Bart Clan….

But in fact, Dreven had long since noticed that since traveling back in time, Su Yan had still triggered an imbalance and conflict in the settlement due to his selfless devotion to humanity.

However, Dreven did not point it out directly but instead wanted Su Yan to see for himself that humanity was not purely good and innocent.

There were traitors within humanity as well.

Just like the nutrient solution that had been delivered all the way to his palace.

So under Dreven’s instructions, although the old steward Bazak was confused, he still managed to find out everything from Count Kols of the ThornFlower family!

In fact, it turned out that a traitor within the settlement had been secretly passing various human-related information to the vampire territory in exchange for benefits.

This unusual behavior was directly tied to a special ability possessed by the Bart clan.

That ability was—”First Embrace”.

Once a member of the Bart clan was willing to bestow eternal life upon a human, they could transform the previously weak human into a new Bart clam member, granting them the legendary immortality and endless wealth.

This allowed these humans, who once struggled to survive as “prey”, to become “hunters” at the top of the food chain!

Because of this, although humanity had long tried to overthrow the Bart Clan’s rule, there were constant betrayals and defections under the temptation of the Bart clan’s First Embrace, leading to the loss of various top-tier powers…

Some even sold precious information and resources to the Bart clan, just to gain the First Embrace from a vampire noble.

When “Eternal Night Rose” reached this point in its plot, it stunned countless interstellar readers and made them feel a complex mix of emotions.

Before this, readers had considered countless reasons, like the Bart Clan’s evil actions causing the crisis in the human settlement, but they had never imagined that the worst offenders were actually the greedy human traitors!

[Ahhh—I’m so angry, help me! Su Yan had helped them so much, and now they’re blaming him?!]

[I know, right? They’re even worse than the Bart clan! At least the Bart clan never had so many twists and turns. These people, if they really want immortality, would they just sell out their own kind and put others in danger like this?]

[This is why I think “Eternal Night Rose” makes me think more than “Contract Marriage”… Because in the book, even though some of the plot twists caught me off guard, when you think about it, you realize these kinds of things have happened countless times in history along with painful lessons!]

Moreover, because “Eternal Night Rose” touched on themes like the Blood Moon War, this second book showed a more complex and changeable depth compared to “Contract Marriage”.

It was not only a thousand-year-old love woven through time and space but also a contemplation of ancient, obscure war history and human nature.

When they reached the intense parts of the plot, many readers unconsciously recalled the bloody years during the establishment of the Interstellar Federation, thinking of the countless real historical events and lessons from that time.

As a result, “Eternal Night Rose” sparked a trend of reminiscing about the founding history of the Federation across the star network!

[I can only say that Fish Soup Noodles really surprises me with every book! I never expected that “Eternal Night Rose” would make me feel so heavy!]

And just as countless readers across the star network were shaken by the recent updates of “Eternal Night Rose”, Yu Mian had unknowingly completed the first draft of his third new book.

[Fish: This is the situation. Since “Eternal Night Rose” isn’t finished yet, I’m not planning to publish it on the platform for now. But perhaps I can send it to you for an experimental trial? If we confirm it’s effective for mental power, we’ll discuss the next steps.]

The Federal official in charge of this cooperation naturally had no issue with this.

[Okay, thank you so much for your cooperation! We really appreciate how quickly the first draft came out. The related royalties and research rewards will be transferred to your account. As for the experimental results, we’ll provide feedback to you as soon as possible.]

Soon after, the first batch of soldiers selected for the experiment suddenly received a small booklet during a collective meeting.

It was a thin booklet, not very thick, but the top left corner had a line of text: “Internal Document, Please Keep Safe.”

The author’s name was simple, consisting of only two characters: “YU”.

What kind of internal document was this?!