Chapter 8: CH 7

Arthur will always remember the first time he saw Yan Xueshan drive a sniper mecha.

It was three months into his enlistment when he received orders from his superiors to reinforce friendly forces. The Melee Division Sergeant who was partnered with Yan Xueshan at the time had been killed in action.

Yan Xueshan’s squad was pretty much dead, but he received a signal from the Sniper Division Sergeant that the man was still alive.

When he got close, he saw the “explosion display” with the deep starry sky as the curtain.

Bombardment after bombardment was an orchestra of horror.

Why did the enemy waste firepower when they were already overwhelmed?

There was only one reason: the Sniper Sergeant on the other side was still alive. The way to deal with a single Sniper Sergeant was also very simple. A range bombing, or luring him to exhaust his sniper rifle energy before surrounding him. The former method was safer.

However, after each range bombardment, the sniper rays that should have disappeared would still be fired from an unexpected place.

In the ruins of the battlefield, this sniper master sergeant shifted like a ghost, coming and going as he pleased while the enemy’s huge and numerous warships still attacked non-stop. Still, a bright sniper ray would light up periodically and take a battleship.

It was even worse for mecha who flew out looking to encircle him. They were all sniped down before they could get close.

His sniping was precise, elegant and calm.

The timing and angle of each shot was more textbook than textbook, even the optic brain wouldn’t be able to calculate such a tricky route so quickly.

Arthur noticed that perhaps because the enemy army underestimated the sniper or because of impatience, loopholes began to appear in their firepower arrangement.

He asked Yan Xueshan directly: [Can you knock out the two gunships at 9 o’clock?]

Yan Xueshan: [Yes.]

[When you do it, tell me]

Arthur sent the general plan over.

He personally drove a melee mecha and since he was just watching, he sent a temporary invitation to Yan Xueshan for mecha cooperation: [Come on, I’m going over to protect you now.】

“Drop.”

Second later.

He received Yan Xueshan’s rejection.

Arthur: “…”

Counting the time for data transmission, it seemed that Yan Xueshan rejected him without even thinking about it.

Naturally, Yan Xueshan won that battle and Arthur was fascinated by the blue sniper ray with the small, nimble sniper mecha figure and wanted to meet that Sniper Master Sergeant. Unfortunately, before he could meet him, he was transferred again by his superiors.

Just a few days later, the battle came to an end, and he finally got a small chance to rest. After many inquiries, Arthur learned that Yan Xueshan was somewhere in the divisional base so he went over there with great anticipation.

When he slept these days he saw Yan Xueshan’s sniper ray in his dreams.

He hadn’t seen a picture of Yan Xueshan beforehand.

Yet, in a base of hundreds and thousands of people, he recognized at glance that this dark-haired man was the person he was looking for.

He was wearing a military uniform, sitting alone in a corner, carrying a sniper rifle that never left his side. With black hair, snow white skin and a cold expression, he seemed to be untouched by mortals, as if the noise and bustle around him had nothing to do with him.

Arthur thought if elves from fairy tales truly existed in this world, Yan Xueshan would be one of them.

At this point,Yan Xueshan noticed that he was being watched so he looked at him.

The moment Arthur was looked at by a pair of dark crystal-like eyes, he seemed to hear a gentle knock of destiny on the door of his stone heart. It also woke up something.

Arthur looked away in embarrassment, and Yan Xueshan lowered his head again.

Then he heard someone talking about Yan Xueshan.

“Another person died.”

“Is there some kind of mystery? It’s the seventh time that his partner has died and it’s only been a few years.”

“Gao Yan was such a good person. I thought they were very close, but he didn’t even shed a tear. Is he even human?”

“He was his partner after all, so even if he doesn’t put on a show, isn’t that a little too much?”

“I heard that he has a mental illness. He has no sense of humanity.”

“Whoever partners with him dies. It’s already been a few days but he still hasn’t found a new partner.”

What?

Such a good Sniper Sergeant has no new partner by now?!

Arthur was ecstatic. He sank his teeth into this chance, and hurried to apply for a partnership.

He was anxious for several days. The time he was rejected by Yan Xueshan on the battlefield had left a bit of a psychological shadow on him, so he was very afraid of being rejected again.

After all, he was a new mech master sergeant who had only recently graduated. He didn’t have much experience, was young and not as skilled as Yan Xueshan.

But upon further inquiry –

He found that those people who said that Yan Xueshan couldn’t find a new partner were just spouting nonsense!! There were already melee fighters numbering in the double digits waiting to fill in. They were all doing the mental power matching test.

Arthur was more nervous than when he took the final mecha exam. It wasn’t an exam he could train for. If his mental power wasn’t a match or at least passable in initial value there would be absolutely nothing he would be able to do.

Luckily, he had a 63% fit with Yan Xueshan, one of the highest of all applicants, and he passed!

Since then, they became a pair registered in the army’s roster as a pioneer unit.

Unless one party dies, was seriously injured, retires, or was otherwise incompatible, the partner wouldn’t be changed.

Later, the fit between the two of them increased to 99.9%, which was also the highest match rate among all active masters.

Yan Xueshan enjoyed fighting with Arthur, whether it was driving a mecha or training.

He also liked him more than any of his previous partners. During their military cooperation, Arthur didn’t seem to have any need for his own private life, as he was inseparable from him every day to temper their tacit understanding.

So when Star Pirates appeared, he stood up to fight without much thought. The local armed services couldn’t be trusted, otherwise would they dare to send a warship over the city?

It was a break-in.

Arthur quickly took over the Vega Security Bureau.

Yan Xueshan fired a warning shot and issued an order: either surrender their warship or they would send divisional soldiers to fight.

He was feeling a little itchy and thought it might be a good opportunity to practice his hand.

The pirates voted directly.

Fight what?

Was their scout aircraft not blown up beautifully enough?

There was a sniper on the other side, so even the whole fleet might not be enough to fight him! Won’t they die if they don’t vote quickly?

Hell only knows why such a skilled sniper was stationed in such a back-water planet!

There was no will to fight among the star pirates.

Yan Xueshan felt a desire to fight that was about to explode, making him feel alive again. His chest began to rise and fall due to anxiety.

Arthur skillfully commanded the local armed police to take over the pirate ship.

Yan Xueshan looked at the time. Arthur’s return flight has been missed. Although it was due to the sudden attack of the pirates, the port would need to be temporarily shut down.

He waited while Arthur was busy.

Yan Xueshan approached him and said, “I’m not an active soldier, so I had no obligation to be at your disposal. You should give me a bonus for being a good citizen.”

Arthur showed no surprise, he just smiled. “Okay.”

Yan Xueshan said very fairly, “Last time, I saw in the news there was a reward of 10,000 star coins. You don’t have to give more than that.”

His overtime pay in the army was much higher than that, but now that he is retired, he should use the standard of ordinary citizens.

It didn’t matter and he didn’t mind that much.

Yan Xueshan calmly accepted the transfer.

Arthur said, “Master, look, how dangerous this place is. There are pirates and you don’t even have your own mecha here. What if something goes wrong?

Yan Xueshan held a sniper rifle and squinted at him. “I’m fine, but why is my sniper rifle in your suitcase?”

Arthur didn’t answer.

Yan Xueshan touched the rifle more tenderly than he would if he was touching his lover. Still, in the end he reluctantly handed it back. “I’m returning it to you.”

The Federation has jurisdiction over weapons, so after retiring and becoming a civilian, an ordinary sniper rifle was okay but an advanced sniper rifle that could snipe warships wasn’t allowed for private ownership.

Yan Xueshan was dressed in a suit, and the blue light reflected by the light screen in the control room shone on him as he calmly asked, “After years of war, are any of the two countries absolutely safe?”

“The war seems to be over now, but in fact it will never be over.”

“If you think it’s not safe here, lead a good team to fight criminals and put down rebellions so that trillions of civilians like me can have a peaceful and quiet life.”

Arthur: “…… hmm.”

Yan Xueshan then remembered that he had come here today for a blind date.

He went back to the street where he had separated from his blind date partner earlier, but searched without any luck. Since when did he leave? He hadn’t even noticed.

Then he checked his emails.

There was one new email.

[Mr. Yan, I’ll go back first. I’m glad I had these two dates with you, but I don’t think we’re quite right for marriage. Good luck in finding the right person to marry in the future.]

Yan Xueshan replied.

[Okay, I understand.]

Arthur, who was standing on the sidelines, watched this exchange.

Holding back his mixed emotions he coughed lightly, and said, “That guy doesn’t know what he was doing and actually refused you. You should’ve been the one to reject him, he wasn’t worthy of you. He wasn’t handsome, didn’t have much money and after meeting interstellar pirates was too scared to walk straight. His temperament wasn’t…”

Yan Xueshan spread his hands, “Then I have to attend several more blind dates. I didn’t think I would be successful after one blind date. According to what people from the matchmaking company said, you can go through at least twenty blind dates before you’re successful, and there are even people who had hundreds of blind dates.”

“My goal with these blind dates is to find a suitable partner and marry before I turn thirty-five. There’s no rush.”

Arthur was silent for a moment but after a while he said, “Master, you’re hungry, aren’t you? Anyway, the flight is delayed so let me treat you to another meal.”

Yan Xueshan wasn’t polite with him. “Okay.”

The restaurant was open as usual.

They arrived late so there was only one other table that was occupied in the restaurant.

Arthur suddenly said, “Master, actually I didn’t just bring the sniper rifle, I also brought something else for you.”

‘Was it some kind of prohibited weapon again?’ Yan Xueshan thought. “I’m a civilian now, not an officer . There are many things I can’t use in private.”

Arthur said, “I know, but something like this can still be used privately. Let me show you.”

After saying that, Arthur pulled out a file bag from his arms.

“Here, take a look.”

Yan Xueshan unwrapped it.

It was a marriage application form.

It was completely filled out with both his and Arthur’s information.

The bottom of the form was already signed – with Arthur’s signature.

Yan Xueshan: “?”

Arthur tried to put himself at the front of Yan Xueshan’s blind dates list, and looked at him with a very sincere expression. “Master, haven’t you ever considered me? Don’t you think that I’m very suitable? You see, I think it would just be fair.”

“You said you would go back to get married and retire after the war. It’s your heart’s desire is to get married and retire.”

“Then since you helped me to fulfill my heart’s desire before, I should help you fulfill yours!”

‘If you want to get married you might as well marry me. You know that I am rich. If you marry me, I will support you until the day you die.”

Yan Xueshan: “……”

It seems to make sense, but also seems somehow wrong?