When He Yan arrived upon hearing the news, Jiang Miao was half-lying on the ground with a pale face, leaning against the wall, pressing on her leg wound to stop the bleeding.
Little Fish was nowhere to be seen.
He Yan quickly checked Jiang Miao’s wound and confirmed it was not fatal. While ordering AI to dispatch a medical robot, he raised his gun to chase after Little Fish.
But it was too late. Little Fish had escaped using the ship’s escape pod.
The escape pod was designed for special situations, equipped with radar evasion and camouflage capabilities, and its initial launch speed was fast enough that by the time He Yan discovered it, he could no longer track Little Fish’s whereabouts.
In frustration, he punched the wall, denting the metal, and turned back to check on Jiang Miao.
Jiang Miao’s wound had already been treated, and through the torn part of her pants, new pink skin could be seen.
She glanced at He Yan, her lips moving slightly.
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Jiang Miao spoke with Little Fish as usual. Because Little Fish was a dangerous individual, even though he was handcuffed, Jiang Miao always wore a gun at her waist when she went to see him.
Little Fish told some boring jokes to distract Jiang Miao. She rolled her eyes and turned to leave with her arms crossed. In the moment she turned, Little Fish grabbed the gun at her waist and, without even drawing it, pulled the trigger, injuring her leg.
Then he drew the gun, removed his handcuffs, and escaped.
As an ordinary person, Jiang Miao did not have the high level of vigilance of a soldier, and Little Fish was too cunning and ruthless. The whole incident was an inevitable outcome of chance, making perfect sense.
In the end, it was He Yan’s fault.
Jiang Miao’s decisiveness and boldness in many situations had made him overlook the fact that she was just a civilian, not a soldier.
Allowing Jiang Miao to frequently interact with Little Fish to please her was his mistake.
Before going to bed, he went to say goodnight to Jiang Miao. She leaned against the doorway and asked, “Do you really want to kill him?”
He Yan admitted, “Yes.”
Little Fish could be said to be the person who changed He Yan’s fate—for the worse. It was natural for He Yan to want to kill him.
But why didn’t he kill him? That was what puzzled Jiang Miao.
“He’s on the list, and capturing him alive is the priority,” He Yan told her. “Back then, all of my parents’ research fell into his hands, and he sold that information to someone else. That person, like my parents, was obsessed with pursuing ancient advanced civilizations. After comparing and merging my parents’ research with his own, he really found the ruins of an extinct advanced race.”
“Besides the teleportation device, are there other valuable things?” Jiang Miao asked.
He Yan nodded. “There aren’t many things left, but they are all extremely valuable. But the authorities believe he still has more, or that the information he has, including my parents’ part, is valuable.”
So the government wanted Little Fish or the things Little Fish had, which is why they wanted to capture him alive.
He Yan paused and said, “For this Trojan mission, the spatial button borrowed from the National Academy of Sciences by the military also came from those ruins.”
Jiang Miao was slightly surprised. “The people in Gita think you have already made a breakthrough in space technology.”
“Not yet,” He Yan admitted. “The Academy has never figured that thing out. What I got is the original; they haven’t been able to replicate it.”
When it came to technology, Jiang Miao’s eyes lit up. “That thing…”
He Yan had no choice but to tell her, “It’s not with me anymore.”
Jiang Miao looked disappointed.
“I gave Ru Rui and the spatial button to my brother, then waited for you on White Stone Star…” He Yan’s voice grew lower.
The air was quiet for a moment. He raised his eyes, hesitated, and asked, “Am I despicable?”
Jiang Miao didn’t respond.
He Yan scratched his head, knowing it was a stain he couldn’t wash away. He could only smile bitterly and sigh, “You should rest early.”
But Jiang Miao grabbed his wrist.
“It was my fault that Little Fish escaped,” she said seriously. “In the future, I will help you kill him.”
He Yan was surprised. He held Jiang Miao’s hand and said, “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Jiang Miao said, “This is what I owe you. But I only owe you this one thing.”
Warmth rose in He Yan’s heart. Unable to help himself, he kissed Jiang Miao’s forehead as he used to at home in the capital star of Gita, and said, “You don’t owe me anything. Don’t overthink it. I do want to kill him, but I promised my brother to capture him alive. Forget about killing. It’s not something you should worry about.”
He paused briefly after speaking, then spoke again: “Miaomiao, forcing you to give up everything you had in Gita is my fault, it’s what I owe you. You…”
He held her delicate hand, and his voice was a little hoarse from suppressing his nervousness and anxiety, “Don’t worry, I will make it up to you for all of this.”
Jiang Miao’s dark eyes looked at him, seemingly with many things to say, but she remained silent.
He Yan’s heart pounded, and he suddenly felt a dryness in his mouth.
A man as sharp and decisive as he was wouldn’t easily let go of the opportunity he had waited for so long. He lowered his head and kissed Jiang Miao’s soft lips.
Jiang Miao did not refuse the kiss. But when He Yan held her waist, trying to push her into the room, she stood her ground at the doorway, refusing to move.
He Yan’s breath became slightly erratic, and his long eyes gazed at her deeply. His naturally attractive appearance made it hard for anyone to resist.
Jiang Miao adjusted her breathing and firmly pushed against his chest with her palm.
“Starting over with a stranger is not that easy,” she said.
He Yan deflated.
He didn’t press further; he lingered at the doorway, pecking her rosy lips repeatedly, kissing her cheeks and eyebrows.
It wasn’t until Jiang Miao told him to go to sleep that he reluctantly let go of her, “Rest well.”
After she closed the door, he slowly backed away with his hands in his pockets, a smile in his eyes—though he hadn’t made complete progress, there was still significant advancement with Jiang Miao.
The signs of Jiang Miao softening and breaking the ice were particularly evident. However, He Yan remembered how she had been melancholy for several days after her last call with Rui Rui, so he was cautious not to push too hard. Fortunately, without Little Fish around, Jiang Miao fully immersed herself in the research of the teleportation device. This occupied most of her time every day, and the little time left was shared with He Yan. Together, they safely and smoothly arrived at the God Eagle Fortress.
Instead, Jude, who was expected to arrive around the same time, had not yet arrived. He Yan contacted Jude and confirmed that they would arrive in about three or four days, so there was no need to worry.
Little Fish had escaped, and although Jiang Miao had thought about the teleportation device, when they arrived at the God Eagle Fortress and met with the fortress commander, there were three other people present—a colonel and two researchers.
They were there to receive Little Fish and the teleportation device.
Although He Yan had complied with Jiang Miao’s wish not to immediately report the capture of Little Fish to Jude, he ultimately had his own stance. About half a month into their journey, he reported to Nash’s side.
Now that Little Fish was gone, the teleportation device had to be handed over.
Jiang Miao handed it over straightforwardly without any fuss.
The two researchers were from Nash’s National Academy of Sciences. They were excited to receive the teleportation device and were also very interested in Jiang Miao.
“Dr. Jiang is the designer of the ‘Shark Teeth’?” they said. “The new algorithm is truly stunning.”
They first praised her algorithm on the Shark Teeth rather than her beauty.
Jiang Miao immediately sensed a kindred spirit.
Her identity had not yet been clearly defined. Whether it was the fortress commander or Colonel Ivanov, who accompanied the two researchers, they all maintained a polite yet cautious distance from her.
However, when Jiang Miao casually chatted with the two researchers, they became enthusiastic, disregarding the soldiers’ cautious attitudes, and even eagerly arranged to visit Jiang Miao again.
He Yan timely intervened, smiling, “We just arrived…”
The two researchers suddenly realized and quickly said, “Yes, yes, you should settle in first, and then we’ll come to find Dr. Jiang.”
Jiang Miao looked to He Yan, unsure if she should engage with these two. Seeing her apparent lack of resistance and even a hint of affinity towards them, He Yan agreed on her behalf.
But he asked, “Don’t you need to return immediately after receiving the device?”
“Oh, Admiral Bardock will arrive soon. It’s safer for us to leave with him,” the scientists replied.
Although He Yan was good-looking, the scientists showed little interest in him; they only wanted to talk more with Jiang Miao.
Colonel Ivanov, though traveling with them, clearly had no common ground with them. He could only engage in conversations with He Yan and the commander.
Watching the three tech enthusiasts getting closer as they talked, he gave He Yan and the commander a meaningful look. The commander smiled and called in an administrative officer to arrange accommodation for He Yan and Jiang Miao.
He added, “Considering Dr. Jiang’s safety…”
He Yan interrupted, “You don’t need to arrange anyone specifically. I’ll be responsible for her safety. Admiral Bardock has already authorized this.”
Jiang Miao heard their conversation, paused her own, and turned to look at He Yan.
Even in front of those with higher ranks, He Yan remained assertive. The fortress commander and Colonel Ivanov exchanged glances and then decided not to assign separate security personnel for Jiang Miao.
After being led to an apartment within the fortress, and once the administrative officer had left, He Yan spoke to Jiang Miao about the future before she could ask.
“There are procedures for naturalization. For ordinary people, it takes a one-year evaluation period; for military personnel, it’s three years,” he said.
Jiang Miao asked, “What kind of evaluation?”
He Yan hesitated, clearly finding it difficult to explain.
Jiang Miao remained calm. “Just tell me, I’m prepared.”
“Because of the war, the people from Gita… during the evaluation period, they have to carry a locator with them at all times,” He Yan said in a low voice.
This wasn’t worse than she had anticipated, so Jiang Miao showed no signs of anger. She simply nodded without any expression on her face.
Her calmness made He Yan feel even more guilty.
This indicated that when Jiang Miao abandoned everything in Gita to find him, she had already considered the challenges she would face.
“Don’t worry,” he said gently, holding her hand. “My brother and I will vouch for you and try to shorten your evaluation period. As for work, don’t worry about it either. Once you have citizenship, my brother will recommend you to the National Academy of Sciences.”
Jiang Miao replied flatly, “We’ll talk about the future when it comes.”
A few hours later, the two researchers, who were not good at reading the room, really did come to visit Jiang Miao.
Seeing them, Jiang Miao’s mood improved slightly.
They had clearly already examined the teleportation device and were quite excited. Initially, they spoke cautiously, but when Jiang Miao brought up her research on the teleportation device during their journey, their eyes lit up.
It’s understandable. According to the reports, Dr. Jiang had actually seized this device from the space pirate. If it were them, how could they resist studying it once they got their hands on it?
They had just gotten the device, while Jiang Miao’s research on it was far deeper, so they mostly listened to her explanations.
The exchange between scientists can’t rely solely on words. But when Jiang Miao reached into her pocket, she realized she didn’t have an air pen or a work smartbrain like she used to in Gita.
Fortunately, the two researchers immediately understood her gesture and handed her two air pens.
Jiang Miao took one, removed the cap, and began writing in the air.
The colorful ink solidified in the air, floating gently without dissipating or falling.
Lines of equations formed in the air, all incomprehensible to He Yan, who found himself relegated to making tea for them. He sat nearby, holding a cup of tea, watching the three of them engrossed in their discussion.
The two researchers visited Jiang Miao continuously for three days, arriving in the morning and leaving in the evening.
Since they had only briefly interacted with the teleportation device, their discussion topics gradually shifted from the teleportation device to the space button without He Yan noticing.
Technically, they were violating the Confidentiality Act.
However, it seemed that only He Yan was aware of this in the apartment.
The problem was, He Yan had his own stance.
If they had been leaking information to anyone else, He Yan would have stopped them. But since the person they were talking to was Jiang Miao, who was listening with intense focus and temporarily setting aside other worries, He Yan remained silent.
From his perspective, he certainly hoped that Nash had other things besides him and Jiang Rui to attract Jiang Miao.
He could compensate Jiang Miao with property or money, but what would truly anchor her here was her career and academic pursuits.
He Yan’s selfish desire was for Jiang Miao to willingly stay, so he chose to turn a blind eye to the mistake the two researchers were making.
After all, these researchers often said that science knows no borders.
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