2.12

The fifth fleet's crew and tents were surrounded by the third fleet. Several of the fifth fleet members, who rebelled, were suppressed and on the ground.

"What do you think you're doing? Don't you know how heavy the punishment is for having a conflict between fleets while during a mission?! You don't need me to remind you about it, do you?" Jared, as the acting captain, reprimanded. He was suppressing his anger as he looked at the surrounding third fleet soldiers who had ambushed them.

"You'll know what we are doing once our captain returns." Kurit stepped on one of the soldier's back and aimed the gun at his head. "Don't move if you want to live."

Auray soon arrived. He carried Qiao Chen out as he exited the mech. Bachner became agitated once he saw Qiao Chen. His eye darted back and forth. Greene's eye shifted as well as he tried to evade blame.

"You fifth fleet soldiers are truly useless- capability wise anyways. But your ability to steal and snatch is top notch." Qiao Chen sarcastically said.

"Now that your captain is back, then you'd better give me a real good reason as to why you've surrounded and attacked our team. If you don't, then I'll go straight to the Army Headquarters and report every single one of you!" Jared furiously threatened.**

"It just so happens that I'm also on my way to the Army Headquarters to report you too. Why won't we all go together?" Qiao Chen said.

"You were the ones who instigated this all, but now the guilty party wants to turn around and distort the facts. Sure, let's have the people over at the Army Headquarters judge the facts." Jared spat out and glared at Qiao Chen

"Guilty party distorting the facts? You're talking about yourselves, right? Your very own Bachner not only robbed me of my locator device, but he also shoved me down a cliff. Do you think the people over at the Army Headquarters will ignore aggravated robbery?" Qiao Chen retorted.

Jared's quickly changed. He immediately turned to Bachner and asked, "Is this the case?"

"No." Bachner immediately denied. "Do you have any evidence of my so called robbing your locator and pushing you off a cliff? If you really fell off a cliff, then how can you appear here to frame me?

"The extent of your blatant shamelessness is truly an eye opener." Qiao Chen sneered. He pressed his communicator a few times. The locator's ring immediately sounded out from the fifth fleet's tent.

Sodini pushed Jared aside. He entered their tent and found Qiao Chen's locator.

"Don't tell me that you still want to say that I've deliberately put it in your tent?" Qiao Chen asked.

Jared's face turned ugly and didn't speak another word.

However, Bachner argued, "That still doesn't mean I did it. Maybe it was really you. We can't say for sure that you had people put it there to frame us. "

Bachner knew that he could never admit guilt. If he did, then his life would be over. He had acted on an impulse when he snatched Qiao Chen's locator and pushed him off that cliff. One second, Qiao Chen was in his hands, but before he knew it, Qiao Chen was already plummeting to his death. He figured, "Luck's on my side, because dead men tell no tales". However, he never expected Qiao Chen to be rescued so quickly.

Bachner firmly believed that as long as he plead his innocence, then he'd be safe. He thought that Qiaoyi had no evidence to prove anything if the matter was investigated. However, the words that came out of Qiao Chen's mouth destroyed his delusions.

"I forgot to tell you- my locator can record videos. So the entire incident of you stealing my locator and shoving me down a cliff was recorded. When all of this is brought up at the Army Headquarters, I hope that you can still deny your involvement with such conviction."

The strong and imposing Bachner immediately slumped to the ground, paralyzed and powerless. He knew he was done for this time. His family was nothing more than a declining lower-classed aristocrat. With definitive evidence, it was impossible for them to compete against a powerful noble family such as the Flocks.

The fifth fleet soldiers were all uneasy. Greene also looked very flustered and nervous. If what Qiao Chen said about the locator's ability to record videos was true, then there'd be a video of him happily receiving the locator from Bachner and his attempt to get the information from it too.

Auray ordered all soldiers from the third fleet to return to their ship. Before Qiao Chen was carried away by Auray, he looked at Greene and remarked, "For such a person who's so accustomed to stealing other people's things to suddenly be unable to do so… It must be hard on you, huh?"

Auray returned to their ship and sent Qiao Chen to the medical bay to treat his leg. The doctor determined that his leg only sustained a minor injury. There were no serious problems or consequences. The doctor advised him not to use or stress the injured leg for three days to recuperate. Auray escorted Qiao Chen back to his room to rest. Then he left to speak to the Captain about how they had already found the enriched mineral.

Qiao Chen changed into clean pajamas, sat on his bed, and fiddled with his locator.

From the start, he had persuaded the captain to agree with the plan: The fifth fleet soldiers would follow them and then have the third fleet purposefully instigate and antagonize them. Then, while everyone was busy, Qiao Chen would sneak out of the camp unnoticed. Knowing that Bachner would be behind the third fleet's tent, Qiao Chen also knew that he'd be spotted as soon as he "slipped out". So in fact, Qiao Chen knew from the beginning that Bachner had followed him up the cliff.

Of course Qiao Chen knew that there was a river at the bottom of the cliff. He was sure that he couldn't die from the fall. However, he was originally supposed to contact Auray after the fall. He never expected Auray to find him so quickly and then immediately jump down after him.

What was the reason for this whole escapade? Qiao Chen wanted Greene to get his hands on the locator. He knew that Greene would absolutely tell Bachner how much he needed Qiaoyi's locator and gush about how much of a help it would be to their fleet if they had it as well. So Bachner did as expected, steal it.

Qiao Chen had already used his system to set up a series of firewalls and anti-hacking viruses in the locator. In fact, there were such precautionary measures in all of the programs Qiao Chen wrote. Therefore, as long as Greene tried to hack into any of his (QC) programs, then the viruses would retaliate and hack into his (G) system.

Qiao Chen looked through his locator and smiled. The virus had already entered Greene's system. However, he shouldn't discover this for now. Eventually, he'd know that there was something wrong with his system. Qiao Chen wanted to wait and see if Greene would still dare to use his system to steal other people's things then.

After their discussion, the captain and Auray visited Qiao Chen in person. The captain already knew what Bachner had done. The other party had the right to delay accountability when a mission was in progress. However, once they returned, he would definitely pursue the matter to the end to allow Qiaoyi to rest easy.

Qiao Chen also gave the captain some advice on how to excavate the enriched minerals without the fifth fleet's detection. He explained that they should be intentionally begin digging at the wrong location. This would sufficiently distract the fifth fleet while they dug at the correct site. After the captain and Auray dispatched the soldiers, Auray visited Qiao Chen later in the evening.

"It's hard to lie in bed for two or three days and not be able to bathe when you are conscious and clear-headed*." Qiao Chen complained to Auray.

(T/N: i.e. not a coma or drugged up like after surgeries)

"I'll bring you a wheelchair later." Auray responded.

"That's good." Qiao Chen nodded his head in agreement, but thought about it again. "But it's too inconvenient to bathe or shower in a wheelchair. I'm not used to it either. Anyways, I can't have Henry help me. Moreover, he's a male. I'm a gher." Qiao Chen sighed.

Qiao Chen had spoken offhandedly. However, Auray's ears heard something quite upsetting. Why would he even think to ask Henry to help him take a shower in the first place?

Auray lifted Qiao Chen up in his arms. Qiao Chen didn't expect such a move, and was startled. He asked, "What are you doing?"

"Helping you bathe." Auray carried Qiao Chen into the bathroom and placed him in the bathtub.

"Who's taking a bath right now? I didn't say I was going to bathe right now. And why are you helping me? Don't forget that you're a male? I'm a gher." Qiao Chen grabbed the hand that was going to remove his pajamas.

"In any case, I've seen all of you. I've slept with you too, so it's nothing if I help you bathe." Auray said coolly. Then he effectively removed Qiao Chen's clothes.

"Who's slept with you? You dirty scoundrel- when have I ever slept with you?" Qiao Chen exclaimed and slapped the hand that was scrubbing his body. "Don't touch me. I can clean myself."

Auray grabbed the shower head to help Qiao Chen rinse as he helped himself to the view of Qiao Chen's naked body.

"Can you control your eyes a bit? Do you want to eat me or something?" Qiao Chen retorted somewhat resentfully.

Auray nodded. His eyes fixated on the red mark on Qiao Chen's inner thigh.

The bastard actually nodded. Qiao Chen pushed Auray's face to the other side and said, "What are you looking at? How can I bathe with you looking at me like that?"

"You've had a fiancé before." Auray suddenly said as his face was being pushed away by Qiao Chen's hand.

"Yes, I've had a fiancé before. Why?" Qiao Chen asked confusedly.

Auray turned his head back and continued to stare at the red mark on Qiao Chen's thigh. Qiao Chen followed his concentrated gaze down and looked down towards his little one*. Qiao Chen saw the red mark on his thigh that represented his virginity and understood what Auray was trying to imply.

"Do you need to immediately have a physical relationship when you have a fiancé?" Qiao Chen asked blankly.

Auray saw that Qiao Chen was basically done with his bath and grabbed a towel. He dried Qiao Chen and carried him back to the bed.

Qiao Chen pulled the blanket to cover his body and said, "Hand me my pajamas and you can get lost."

Auray didn't listen to Qiao Chen's order. Instead, he gently lifted the leg with the splint and asked, "You foot can't touch anything right?"

"No." Qiao Chen said. "The doctor just said I couldn't walk on it. You don't need to be that careful."

"Really?" Auray asked Qiao Chen seriously.

"What do you mean 'really'? Didn't you hear what the doctor said?" Qiao Chen asked, baffled.

Auray quickly stripped off his clothes and then got on top of Qiao Chen.

Qiao Chen was dumbfounded, "What are you doing now?"

"I can't just leave." Auray said in a low voice. He placed Qiao Chen's hand between his legs where it was hard and swollen.

"Do you need to do that now? My ankle hasn't recovered yet!" Qiao Chen had practically served himself to the man on a silver platter.

"The doctor said not to walk on it. I'll be careful." Auray hoarsely said as he parted Qiao Chen's legs.

"You-" Auray sealed Qiao Chen's lips with his before he could say it.

"en~" Qiao Chen moaned. Qiao Chen wrapped his arms around Auray's sturdy back. He (QC) was completely covered by his (A) strong body. Auray's movements were aggressive, rough, and domineering, but he was always careful to avoid the injured leg.

......

After the fifth fleet soldiers returned to their ship, Jared reported to Canette. He explained how Bachner stole Qiaoyi's locator and pushed him down a cliff. He then detailed how Qiaoyi even had recorded evidence of the whole altercation. However, he failed to go into detail about Greene's collusion. He did mention it to some extent, but just glossed over it when he explained the situation.

Canette angrily scolded Bachner's stupidity. He committed such an act, but couldn't even do it cleanly. If something like this happened during the mission, then not only was Bachner severely punished, but even the fleet's leader and the rest of the entire fleet would be held responsible as well.

Canette shut Bachner down and disallowed his participation for the next mission. Then, in order to reduce the penalty, Canette took the initiative to admit the misconduct to the army headquarters.

.........

Today, Greene used his system to hack into Qiao Chen's locator and failed. Qiaoyi set up the firewall in his program. He said those words too… it was likely that Qiaoyi already knew I stole his programming codes before. Furthermore, this firewall he installed couldn't even be cracked by my system. Could it be that even if I have a system, it's still no better compared to Qiaoyi's genius mind?

Meanwhile, the third fleet had already mined all of the enriched minerals without the fifth fleet noticing. By the time the fifth fleet noticed that the enriched minerals' energy signal disappeared, the enriched minerals had long been sitting in the storage bay of the third fleet's ship.

Canette was seething with rage. For this mission, they not only failed to receive any benefits or advantages, but they were also subjected to severe punishments due to their actions. This was simply a massive disgrace and it was the biggest failure in his life.

.........

After resting for three days, Qiao Chen removed the splint and continued to walk and work as normal. He acquired some samples of the enriched minerals to use in his own research.

Now that the enriched mineral had been excavated, they also began mining the rest of the other ores and minerals.