Chapter 42: Forty-Second Day of Lying Flat Like a Salted Fish

“Desolation.”

It carried the meaning of a Desolate Planet, yet it didn’t immediately conjure the image of one. More importantly, it fit the savage, untamed growth of this little band perfectly.

Lu Yuan narrowed his eyes and thought for a moment, agreeing that it was a good name.

“It works.” Lu Yuan nodded in approval, then asked if they had thought of stage names for themselves.

“We’ve thought about it. But we haven’t really decided,” Er Ya said. “We don’t know many words, and we aren’t very good at naming things. Geshu said he could lend us his surname. He thinks his name has something to do with songs.

“But Uncle Goudan said no. He said that surname is too flashy and easy to track – then he gave us a whole lecture on the status of the Geshu Family.”

“…” Lu Yuan wiped his face.

“Then Uncle Siming said we could follow him,” Tiechui added. “He said he could find us some names of gods from legends. They’d definitely sound impressive. But Uncle Goudan felt we shouldn’t let Uncle Siming trick us into joining his organization so easily, and we thought that made sense.

“Fourth Uncle also said he could help…”

Lu Yuan paused for a second before realizing Fourth Uncle referred to Old Fourth. He instinctively glanced at Er Ya, thinking that if they kept up this naming convention, the girl would probably end up being called Second Auntie in a few decades. He chuckled inwardly.

Er Ya didn’t know what he was thinking, but she noticed his gaze and picked up where Tiechui left off. “But Uncle Goudan said that names are a product of their generation.

“Fourth Uncle hasn’t had contact with the outside world for twenty years, so the names he comes up with might be outdated. It would be too strange for us teenagers to walk around with the names of middle-aged people in their thirties or forties.”

“So what ideas does Goudan have?” Lu Yuan couldn’t help but ask.

“Uncle Goudan has no ideas.” Er Ya spread her hands.

“…Fine.” Lu Yuan was speechless.

“So…” Ying Ying blinked and smiled. “Could we please ask you to help us come up with some names?”

“…Showing your hand now, are you?” Lu Yuan laughed.

Ying Ying looked innocent. “What does ‘showing your hand’ mean?”

Yan Yan pulled at her younger sister’s sleeve. “Don’t push your luck.”

Ying Ying gave her a placating smile. “Hehe!”

Lu Yuan didn’t mind their little schemes. He just found it amusing.

However, coming up with several names on the spot was actually quite difficult.

Specifically, he hadn’t had much contact with these children. He rarely chatted with them and didn’t know them very well. He could only distinguish their personalities based on their speech and playing styles.

For instance, Er Ya was clearly the leader of the group; she was the oldest and more mature.

Ying Ying had a lively temperament, and the pieces she played tended to be light and bouncy. Her speech was more childish, making her the “charmer” of the group. Questions or requests that were difficult to state directly were usually voiced by her.

Yan Yan was quieter and more timid, but she had her own firm opinions. As the older twin, Ying Ying seemed more adventurous and talkative most of the time, but between the two sisters, the relatively reserved Yan Yan might actually be the more mature one.

Tiechui and Tiezhu’s styles were less distinct. However, Lu Yuan noticed that Tiechui spoke significantly more often, frequently supplementing Er Ya’s words. He seemed to serve as a sort of “vice-captain” among the children.

Tiezhu’s few remarks were all centered on music-related topics, and what he said made a lot of sense. This child’s musical talent might be superior to the others.

But to come up with suitable names, this level of understanding was likely insufficient.

At the very least, it would be irresponsible.

“I need to think about it more,” Lu Yuan said after a moment. “How about this: each of you pick a song that best fits your personality and play it for me next time you come. I’ll give you names based on those songs. How does that sound?”

The children looked at each other, and Er Ya nodded. “Okay!”

–

Thus, when Goudan returned, what he saw was Lu Yuan frowning with a look of deep thought, constantly scrolling through something on a tablet.

The most crucial part was that this Lu Yuan was actually sitting up!

Goudan: ?

“Did something happen?” Goudan leaned in, poking his head over to look at the tablet. “Why are you so serious?”

He gave Lu Yuan plenty of time to close the tablet, but Lu Yuan didn’t intend to hide it. Instead, he tilted the tablet slightly to make it easier for Goudan to see the content.

Only then did Goudan look boldly.

He saw that Lu Yuan had opened a split screen. Half the screen was a notes page, recording many words that didn’t have much connection to each other, though at a glance, their meanings were all quite pleasant.

The other half of the screen was a browser, showing a search for-

“What are good characters for naming children?”

Goudan: “…Huh?”

“Is there a problem?” Lu Yuan asked.

“Well…” Goudan wiggled his eyebrows. “You have a kid? With who?”

Lu Yuan rolled his eyes at him. “I’m thinking of names for Er Ya and the others. Didn’t you find this job for me?”

There were only a few people in these surrounding villages who could come up with proper names. Goudan had rejected every method suggested one by one, yet Goudan wouldn’t name them himself… Wasn’t it obvious he was pushing the task onto him?

Goudan grinned. “I didn’t expect you to take it so seriously.”

Lu Yuan’s movements paused slightly. He lowered his eyes and smiled. “It’s quite fun.”

“Is that so.” Goudan shook his head and didn’t press further, but said, “By the way, Siming sent me a reply.”

Lu Yuan looked up at him.

Goudan smiled cheerfully. “Said they arrived safely. Everything is going smoothly.”

“That’s good.” Lu Yuan’s lips pursed slightly before he lowered his head again.

“You really do care about them,” Goudan noted.

“…Yeah.” Lu Yuan thought for a moment and nodded. “I care quite a bit. After all, they’re people I sent out, and I spent so much effort on it. If they accidentally died as soon as they left, wouldn’t that be a huge loss for me?”

“Tch.” Goudan shook his head again, took half a step back toward the kitchen, and muttered under his breath, “Tsundere.”

“What?” Lu Yuan was deeply surprised to hear that description applied to him.

“Nothing~” Goudan drawled. “Just suddenly thought of a very cute character trope. I’ll make the next play a story about a tsundere.”

“?”

Lu Yuan frowned, feeling like something was off.

But Goudan had already walked to the back.

…Forget it, it wasn’t anything important. Let him think whatever he wanted. Lu Yuan thought as he lowered his head and continued searching for names.

–

Sea Eagle Nebula.

This was the location of the Sea Eagle Pirates’ main base.

The Sea Eagle Pirates were an ancient syndicate, so old they could name themselves after the nebula.

However, the current Sea Eagle Pirates were no longer as glorious as they once were.

After all, they had once suffered a “catastrophe”-

They had once been led by Lu Yuan to defect to the government forces. In the seven or eight years that followed, the once-free pirates had fought across the Empire’s southern and northern fronts, resulting in heavy casualties and fragmentation.

However, the pirates themselves – especially the old pirates who had survived from ten years ago until now – didn’t actually call that event a catastrophe.

Lu Yuan was their recognized leader. Although he had made some strange decisions and even sacrificed himself for them, Lu Yuan remained a great pirate leader.

So what if they joined the government forces? So what if there were heavy casualties? So what if they fell apart?

Pirates didn’t feel humiliation, nor did they feel heavy regret.

Pirates were the freest group of people in the world. They did whatever they wanted and never set limits for themselves.

They were willing to follow Lu Yuan, which meant they were willing to do anything with him. Since they had chosen that path, the pirates didn’t care about the cost.

But…

When a battered mecha fought its way all the way to the main base, the current leader of the Sea Eagle Pirates, Ying Xun, still felt exhausted.

As an old pirate who had experienced the entire process of the Great Demon King Lu Yuan’s arrival, suppression, and rule, Ying Xun watched the movements of that broken mecha on the monitor. A familiar, ominous feeling welled up in his heart…

It was as if, ten years ago, when a certain Great Demon King named Lu had attacked, it had been with this exact same posture.

So.

Damn it. Why?

One just died, so why is another one here?