That's what Fu Linyuan said to him back then.
So even though he rehearsed it several times in his mind, when he spoke, his pronunciation was still somewhat inaccurate.
But Fu Linyuan understood.
...There were too many mysteries about this little sea creature in front of him.
Why did he know about the tracker and how to remove it?
Why could he pick locks?
Why did he know about bombs?
Why, even though he was wary of humans, did he still try to communicate?
Why didn't he run away?
And why did the people in the lab want to take him away?
Fu Linyuan only knew that leaving Xiao Bai seemed to pose no threat. On the contrary, perhaps he could be a breakthrough in investigating the lab.
But these questions couldn't be answered definitively right now.
At least until they could successfully communicate, Fu Linyuan was clear that these questions wouldn't have definite answers.
"Just wanted to save you."
That's what the little sea creature said just now.
But strangely, even though Fu Linyuan knew that the other party didn't seem to be lying, his intuition told him that this wasn't Xiao Bai's true intention.
At least, he didn't understand what he was saying right now.
A subtle feeling of dissatisfaction surged up, but as he looked down at the cake that Xiao Bai handed to him, the Imperial Marshal shook his head gently. "These are all for you."
Xiao Bai didn't notice Fu Linyuan's change in mood. Seeing that he didn't eat, Xiao Bai happily took two pieces of cake and quickly retreated to the sofa.
Unbeknownst to him, the scenery outside the window had completely changed: the inky deep space was replaced by a warm orange sunset, and the outlines of other buildings outside the military port could be vaguely seen.
This time, Fu Linyuan was officially supervising the military exercise in the opposite direction of the Tal Star, so logically, his first task upon arriving on the main planet should have been to return to the military headquarters to integrate the reports and then submit the complete report to the palace.
But due to a small variable, the Imperial Marshal, who usually headed straight for the military headquarters upon landing, hesitated a bit.
And that small variable was Xiao Bai.
In the original plan, this mission didn't require him to bring anything back.
But not only did he bring something back, he brought back a living person.
Well, strictly speaking, not a "human."
Xiao Bai's appearance was too distinctive. Without wearing a disguise device, his identity couldn't be kept secret. But because the structure of his ear fins was different from that of human cochleae, the disguise device would come off with even slightly vigorous movements.
But bringing him along...
Fu Linyuan thought, sweeping his gaze around.
Although the people coming and going in the military building seemed to be focused on their tasks, they were all more or less stealing glances at the teenager who followed their Marshal.
Having him around attracted quite a bit of attention.
The little merman himself sensitively noticed the gazes coming from all directions.
Accustomed to living alone in the sea, he felt somewhat uncomfortable being the center of attention for the first time.
His keen senses allowed him to capture more information—the sound of military boots hitting the marble floor, the sound of papers rubbing against each other, the slightly dimming light every few seconds in the corner, the various scents of perfumes mingling together, the sound of answering calls, the prompts from the smartbrain, the flickering screen in another corner, the monotonous movements of the cleaning robot...
In just a few tens of metres through the ground floor lobby, countless trivial and useless details flooded into his brain.
Xiao Bai was experiencing being surrounded by so many people and things for the first time, but fortunately, his mental strength had recovered significantly compared to when he was at the auction. In just a few tens of metres, he adapted to the crowded environment.
Hmm... Humans really seem to enjoy doing things together.
Before the elevator doors closed, Xiao Bai took one last glance at the soldiers coming and going in the lobby and thought.
-
At the moment the elevator doors closed, the previously noisy lobby miraculously quieted down for a few seconds.
Then there was a simultaneous whispering.
Gossip was human nature, especially when a new figure suddenly appeared next to their top boss after years of the same routine, everyone was more or less curious.
"Hey, who's that following the Marshal?"
"I don't know, he looks unfamiliar, doesn't seem like someone from the building."
"There aren't any young people like him in the building, right? He seems very well-behaved, maybe not even twenty yet?"
"Is he a relative or something? But doesn't the Marshal's family..."
"Isn't the Marshal's mental state getting more unstable? How can this kid dare to stay so close to the Marshal? Isn't he afraid of being hurt?"
"...That kid doesn't seem to have a mental state, at least I didn't sense any mental fluctuations from him."
"Neither did I."
"But isn't this the first time the Marshal has brought someone over?"
"Yeah, why did he bring him here?"
"Who knows... Let's ask Vice Admiral Duke later? He should know more."
"Shh, let's not talk about it now. Let's talk after work, be careful not to get caught by the Marshal slacking off during work hours, we'll be punished."
Meanwhile, the two people who had arrived at the top floor office were completely unaware of the discussions going on among the others.
In the office, Fu Linyuan began to handle the reports.
The layout here wasn't much different from the office on the starship, so Xiao Bai curled up on the sofa and continued to observe the scenery outside the window.
The sun was setting.
Looking down from the office window, one could directly see the open-air training ground below.
But there were very few mechas training down there at the moment. Xiao Bai counted and found that there were only six in total.
On the left side of the training ground were other buildings of the military department, while the buildings on the right side were generally lower but looked newer.
That was the branch of the Imperial Research Institute on the main planet.
And looking further away, just a bit above the horizon, Xiao Bai seemed to vaguely see a golden hemisphere.
It looked like a golden bowl overturned on the ground.
However, as the sun set, the light gradually dimmed, and the distant hemisphere gradually disappeared into the night.
There was a difference between the night sky from the surface of the planet and the deep space.
Seeing more and more stars appearing, the little mermaid thought that ..
The night sky was a very deep blue, different from the pure black of deep space.
He didn't know what Fu Linyuan was doing behind the desk, but he seemed very busy.
In this situation, Xiao Bai, who had nothing to do, should have felt a bit bored. But in fact, he had long been accustomed to passing the time by himself.
Before, most of the time was spent alone before falling into the clutches of the lab.
At this moment, lying on the sofa and looking at the stars, the little mermaid seemed to have returned to the lonely planet where he had lived alone for many years.
Countless nights like this, with countless stars in the sky, he floated on the surface of the sea, quietly counting the waves of passing time.
Such solitary days continued until... the day the escape pod fell.
In fact, even at this moment, Xiao Bai couldn't understand why his only friend would betray him.
In the fading memories, although the other party was taciturn, he seemed to always be a very gentle person.
He could grill very delicious fish, play very pleasant leaf melodies, carefully glue together the seashells he accidentally broke, and coax him to sleep when his injuries were the most severe.
Even though he couldn't see at the time, he could still feel the other's restrained tenderness.
Hmm... why did he do it?
Actually, if he had the chance, Xiao Bai would want to take back the scale he gave him.
Mom said scales could only be given to one's friends.
Since the person sold him, he couldn't continue to be his friend.
That was his first reverse scale, the most beautiful scale at the time.
He felt a silent pain when he gave it away.
Hmm... after taking it back, should he give it to Fu Linyuan?
He never seemed to have the opportunity to give him a gift...
Xiao Bai's thoughts jumped beyond the sky.
Meanwhile, Fu Linyuan, who had been handling official business, happened to glance up and noticed that Xiao Bai seemed to be staring into space, absent-mindedly hooking his clothes with his fingers, lost in thought.
This behavior inexplicably reminded him of a child brought to work by their parents.
Quiet and obedient, just sitting there.
Very endearing.
The fingers typing on the keyboard paused for a moment, and then opened another dialogue box on the smartbrain.
... Xiao Bai seems to like eating meat.
With that thought, he contacted the kitchen staff and asked them to send up two servings of grilled meat.
However, when he shifted his gaze from the screen back to the person on the sofa, he found that the latter was leaning against the backrest, his furry head slightly tilted to one side, eyes closed, beginning to doze off.
... Even more like a child now.
His slender fingers resumed editing the document.
However, after typing for only a few seconds, they stopped again.
His gaze fell on the bent legs beside him, and Fu Linyuan remembered how Xiao Bai had struggled to stand steady in the alley earlier.
If he kept sitting like this for a long time, his legs would definitely go numb.
What if he got a cramp again...
His eyes flickered, and his fingers on the keyboard unconsciously curled up.
After a moment, he finally stood up and went to Xiao Bai's side.
Bending down, the tall man gently lifted the sleeping figure and laid him flat on the sofa, covering him with his coat.
Finally, he dimmed the lights in the office.
The surroundings remained quiet.
.......................................................................................
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