Chapter 18: Eighteenth Day of Lying Flat Like a Salted Fish

“Gossip?” Goudan’s eyebrows twitched as he grinned. “I knew that Lu Yuan guy was mysterious. He’s definitely got a lot of stories hidden away.”

“Quite a few, indeed.” Siming leaned back, sinking into the chair. With a flick of his foot, he kicked another chair toward Goudan. It spun twice before stopping precisely behind him.

“Sit.”

Goudan sat down with his legs spread wide in a bold stance, sighing, “Tch, this chair is actually pretty nice.”

“Outside this Desolate Planet, there are more good things than you can imagine.” Siming shook his head, then suddenly remarked, “Speaking of which, have you ever tried Lu Yuan’s sofa? It always looks incredibly comfortable.”

“He lies there all day long, when would I ever get the chance?” Goudan rolled his eyes. “Alright, stop teasing. What did this guy say?”

“The brief summary is that Lu Yuan served as an Imperial Marshal for several years and died last year. He died heroically, supposedly taking the Zerg Broodmother down with him. This guy didn’t expect to see a living Lu Yuan here. As for the specifics, I’m still waiting for him to tell the story.”

“…” Goudan sucked air through his teeth, offering no immediate opinion. He jerked his chin toward the captain. “Fine, keep talking.”

The captain actually didn’t know much.

Lu Yuan had been a Marshal in the military; very few people could ever get close to him. The captain had neither power nor influence, nor had he ever served in the military, so he wasn’t privy to any inside information.

Regarding Lu Yuan’s past, he could only give a general outline. The rest would have to be filled in by Goudan and Siming’s own imaginations.

“The first time news of Lu Yuan appeared on the StarNet, I remember it was about ten years ago, maybe a bit earlier. The war with the Zerg had already started, maybe for a year or two? So it was around year 68 or 69… this year is Star Calendar 5479.”

Perhaps worried that the people on this Desolate Planet didn’t know the outside calendar, the captain added that last bit specifically.

“Yeah, we know. Keep going.”

Goudan used to search for TV dramas on the StarNet, and Siming had interacted with people from outside the Desolate Planet, so both knew the current year.

The captain was a bit surprised. He paused for a moment before continuing.

“I remember that news report very clearly because the content was shocking. It said a Star Pirate Syndicate had surrendered, voluntarily joining the Empire’s forces to defend against the Zerg.

“It wasn’t just one syndicate surrendering, but several at once. Of course, you could say it was just one, because all the smaller ones had been conquered by the largest one.

“So this group of pirates had only one boss, and that was Lu Yuan. He was very young then, maybe sixteen or seventeen. Everyone was shocked, saying how could such a young kid already be the head of a Star Pirate Syndicate? People wondered if the position of pirate boss had become hereditary.

“Later we found out that this syndicate leader had fought his way up entirely on strength. And apparently, it took him less than a year.

“Someone compiled Lu Yuan’s history. Before he was fifteen, he followed a normal path on a small planet, going to school step-by-step. His grades didn’t even seem that outstanding.

“But in his fourth year of junior high, right before the high school entrance exams, he suddenly dropped out. In that first year after dropping out, he became the boss of the Star Pirate Syndicate and led all the pirates in the Empire to join the military.”

“Impressive.” Goudan leaned back tactically, cushioning his head with his hands in a lazy posture. “Even TV dramas wouldn’t dare write a script like that.”

“Exactly.” The captain agreed wholeheartedly. “Many people said the same back then – that the lives of legends are truly beyond the imagination of ordinary mortals.”

“What happened back then? Why did he have such a sudden change?” Siming asked.

“Maybe school was too boring for him? Starting as a common soldier would have been a waste of talent. So I think what he did was normal, especially since he had the ability to pull it off,” the captain mused.

Siming shook his head.

If Lu Yuan were truly interested in being a Marshal or leading troops in war, he wouldn’t have “gone to school step-by-step,” and he certainly wouldn’t have ended up on a Desolate Planet.

“However-“

The captain’s voice suddenly dropped an octave, turning mysterious. “If you really want a reason, there’s actually another theory circulating online.”

“What is it?” Goudan pressed.

The captain looked at the two of them. Perhaps it was because their attitude was much softer than at the start, or perhaps talking for so long had relaxed him. By now, he had fully entered storytelling mode, even regaining a bit of the feeling of gossiping about Lu Yuan with others ten years ago.

“Someone discovered that the time Lu Yuan dropped out of school coincided exactly with the death of the First Legion’s Marshal,” the captain explained. “You might not know, but the old Marshal of the First Legion was named Lu Zhongli. He died in battle against the Zerg. He was still quite young at the time, in his sixties.”

Siming’s brow twitched.

He was actually aware of this. The reason Zhu Rong’s mother had gone to the battlefield while pregnant was that the war was desperate at the time, and even Marshal Lu Zhongli had died on the front lines.

Zhu Rong’s mother had deeply admired and respected Marshal Lu Zhongli. By extension, Siming also held great respect for this devoted Marshal who had died in service, so he had remembered the name well.

When he first learned Lu Yuan was a Marshal, a flash of thought had crossed Siming’s mind: could Lu Yuan be related to Lu Zhongli?

“We suspected that Lu Zhongli might be Lu Yuan’s grandfather,” the captain continued. “The ages match up, and as for looks, the two of them are more or less similar. Most importantly, they both have the surname Lu!

“And it would make sense that way. The reason Lu Yuan was in such a hurry to rise to power was because the old Marshal had passed away, leaving the First Legion leaderless. Plus, the Zerg were too powerful; the Empire was on the verge of collapsing at the time, so Lu Yuan had to step up.

“It’s just that if this is true, having two generations of Marshals from the Lu family die because of the Zerg… it’s truly a tragedy.”

The captain sighed. Seeing that neither Goudan nor Siming spoke, he continued, “But this theory… looking at it now, I don’t think it’s likely to be true. I was young then and believed it, but looking back, there are too many holes.

“Lu Yuan’s hair color is very distinctive. But Marshal Lu Zhongli had very ordinary black hair. There are witnesses to Lu Yuan’s life before age fifteen; if he were Marshal Lu Zhongli’s grandson, he couldn’t have been attending school on such a remote planet.

“Of course, the most important thing is that Marshal Lu Zhongli only had one son, and he died twenty years ago.”

“…Then why the hell are you even bringing it up?” Siming was speechless. The only piece of evidence was that they shared the same surname, while there was a whole basket of things that didn’t match. This was just pure fiction.

“Don’t be so dismissive,” Goudan said, sounding quite interested. “There’s always a ‘what if.’ What if Old Lu’s son didn’t die? What if it was a genetic mutation, or Old Lu’s son married a silver-haired woman? What if Old Lu’s son lost his memory and didn’t know he was the Marshal’s son, so he took his wife and kid to a remote planet…”

Siming picked up a random object and tossed it at Goudan’s forehead. “What kind of nonsense is that?”

Goudan shut his mouth, caught the object in his hand, and shrugged. “What is this thing anyway?”

“How should I know? I’ve never seen any of the stuff in here.”

The captain opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Siming cut him off. “Ignore him, keep talking.”

“Oh.” The captain obediently closed his mouth again. He recalled where he had left off before continuing. “Anyway, Lu Yuan entered the military with a massive crowd of pirates. At first, the Emperor didn’t plan to give him a high rank. He was a pirate, after all.

“But his surrender was a great service, and since he was the only one who could control that group of pirates, they gave him the rank of Captain? I think that was it.

“At the time, many people said it was against the rules, that a Captain had no business leading so many troops – all the pirates he brought were under his command. Some said he had ulterior motives and wasn’t truly loyal. They even said pirates were criminals and should all be arrested and thrown in prison.

“But the Empire was too desperate for manpower back then. The Imperial army was severely understaffed. Lu Yuan and his pirates performed many great deeds, so the Emperor simply used his military merits to promote him again and again. In just two years, he was given the rank of Major General.

“By that point, the discussions about whether he should be arrested or if his pirates should be reassigned to others had vanished. The StarNet was almost entirely filled with his fans… well, there were a few who felt he rose too quickly, but they were a minority and couldn’t gain any traction.

“After that, it was just him winning various battles…” The captain thought for a moment and realized there wasn’t much else to say, so he gave up. “And then he suddenly died… so, that person just now, he’s also called Lu Yuan? He…”

He was a bit conflicted, unsure how to describe the current situation. “Is he Marshal Lu Yuan? It feels like the probability of having the same face and the same name is very low… and he’s so strong… this starship was like tofu in front of him.”

Siming and Goudan exchanged a look.

Goudan actually couldn’t be entirely certain that what the captain described was Lu Yuan’s past – he couldn’t be sure that the Lu Yuan in the captain’s story was the same Lu Yuan he knew.

But from the look in Siming’s eyes, he could tell that Siming was already certain.

“Tch,” Goudan understood and tilted his head. “Maybe. Anyway, you probably won’t be able to leave, so just take your time and watch. You could even go ask him yourself. Who knows, maybe you can get an autograph?”

“He seems to have a lot of fans. His signature would probably sell for a high price.”

The captain had expected as much, but hearing Goudan confirm it still left him feeling numb.

It was true. That man was Lu Yuan himself.

Now that he knew the massive secret that Lu Yuan was still alive, even if he survived this, leaving this place would likely be impossible.

Still, if Lu Yuan was really here, getting to interact with him at such close range… people would fight for such an opportunity if word ever got out.

It was a pity he wasn’t a fan of Lu Yuan, though he did respect the man immensely.

Finding humor in his grim situation, the captain managed a wry grin. “Too bad. I doubt I’ll ever get on StarNet again. Even if I got an autograph, I wouldn’t be able to sell it.”