silence and stars

The days of Saint Laurent were over, and the place where Leo had been since the age of six became a memory.Teddy went to Mount Olive Engineering, and he himself came to Lear Business School on registration day.

No time to be sad, because it still looks like home to the St. Laurentians.Familiar faces are everywhere, and there are white and purple Saint Laurent graduation shirts dangling in front of the eyes.People kept saying hello to him and stopping him from chatting.The two guards following Leo were unimpressed by their conversation.As long as Leo didn't ask directly, they never took the initiative to speak, just like two stubborn and silent shadows.

Leo was extremely dissatisfied with this almost surveillance security measure, complained to Ild and Captain Mas of the guard for several days, and finally gave up.For Mars, the semi-open campus of Lier Business School is as dangerous as the asteroid belt. It is best that every place is strictly closed like St. Lauren. Not only does it prohibit outsiders from entering and leaving, but he is also allowed to call surveillance images at any time .

After completing registration, Leo decided to take a walk around the campus.The sports center was not open, and several teaching buildings looked ordinary. He entered a semi-curved single building, like an auditorium or a convention center. The entire entrance hall was dark, and there was a huge egg looming there. Shaped objects are suspended in the air, slowly rotating with a graceful gesture.

It's like a piece of art installation.As he approached slowly, the gravity was decreasing. Although it was not enough for people to float, there was a strange sense of lightness.There might be some kind of anti-gravity device in the hall, Leo thought.

Once your eyes adjust to the light in the hall, you can see stars scattered in the darkness.The stars around the egg-shaped device are moving, they gradually form two lines of characters and then dissipate, repeating the cycle.Leo stared at it for a while, then said it twice again silently:

You are like the night, with silence and stars.

Your silence is the silence of the stars, distant and bright.

Leo was suddenly told about the central matter, and he was dazed for a while before walking out, completely forgetting that he wanted to take a stroll around the campus.On the way home, Leo kept thinking about those two sentences over and over again.

Distant and bright.

Even if Lin Elli is standing in front of him, there is a feeling of being out of reach.He is slightly taller than Leo, and he wears fleet uniforms in most cases. Even in casual clothes, he is always low-key gray and black, which is in stark contrast to Leo; estranged.He's not like Elder.Elder's calmness is a kind of self-restraint, while Lin Elli's calmness is natural, as if there is no emotion.

Leo was a little lost and thought, in Lin Elli's eyes, he might really be just a "child of Carlo's family".

I first met Lin Elli because of my cousin Ian Caro. They were inseparable friends in the Fleet School. When Ian and his wife got married, Lin Elli was the best man.In the year 154 of the standard calendar, Ian and his wife were both killed in the Bolero bar attack, leaving behind one-year-old Mia.Leo rarely talked about this subject with anyone.At one point, the attack sent him into irrational fear, and for nearly a year he only dared to sleep when Ild was in sight.

Sometimes Leo would think, what about Ellie Lin?His best friend passed away suddenly, and he probably suffered a lot.

But they never brought up the subject.Whether he himself, Ellie Lin, Elder, or Captain Mars, they all tacitly avoid the name "Ian" with each other.This kind of pain is too sharp, as if something has been dug out alive, leaving only a terrible hole.

It was a bit late when he went back, and Elder and Captain Maas were waiting for him in the dining room.

Ild was looking at the schedule and complaining to Mars: "Why is the opening day of the palace changed to 337th? It coincided with the inauguration ceremony of the new site of the Lawyers Guild and the alumni gathering of Anson University Law School. That's fine, it was still Nasser General's 83rd birthday."

Maas said: "Lubov told me that it was the Leer District Children's Center who asked us to change the date. This year, they will bring the children over for the opening day."

"Then we can only focus on the open day first."

Yild waited for Leo and Captain Mass to finish praying before the meal, and was still looking at the plate in front of him, worrying: "This is General Nasser's first birthday after leaving office, it is really inappropriate for me not to go."

Leo was listening by the side, his mind changed, and he hurriedly suggested: "Why don't I go for you?"

Ild was a little surprised: "His friends are all from the fleet. I'm afraid you won't feel comfortable with them."

Leo laughed: "No, General Nasser has always been kind to me." This is true, but more importantly, Lin Elli will definitely be there for General Nasser's birthday!

Ild thought for a while, then nodded: "Alright, you can go. Ellie will be there, and Boyana from the Sixth Fleet and Moro from the Seventh Fleet will also be there."

Mars put down his fork and said, "Moro is still in Q7CP1, right? Probably won't come back."

"Ah, yes, he's not in Anson. Then the only people you know are Ellie and Boyana." After finishing talking to Leo, Ild turned around and asked Mas: "Who else came here in previous years?"

Mars replied: "And that Vanessa."

Vanessa - who used to be his mother's private teacher, Leo especially hated her.He hastily swallowed the food in his mouth, and complained: "Why is she everywhere! She is nagging, every time I see me, I have to tell her!"

Elder said: "She is 90 years old, right? She's a bit confused, and you pretend to be if you don't like to hear it."

On that day, Leo saw Vanessa again at General Nasser's house.She walked in tremblingly, her gaze stayed on Leo's face for a few seconds: "Your Highness."

Leo said hastily: "You don't have to—just call me Leo."

"The rules can't be wrong, and it was the same when I taught Queen Ximena," Vanessa said. "I will use the honorific first, and I will not change it until she asks for it."

Leo laughed and helped her sit down: "For my mother's sake, you can call me Leo."

"You've been at Saint Laurent since you dropped out of Fleet School?"

In front of a room full of fleet commanders and captains, Leo had no choice but to keep smiling, pretending not to understand what she meant: "Yes. I'm going to Liel Business School next year."

"Ximena wanted you to join the fleet all the time. Well, you look like Alva, but the others..."

"I know," Leo finished for her, smiling, "my brother has inherited both of their brains and their character. God bless Anson, I can't complain."

The people around laughed silently when they heard this.Eli was accompanying General Nasser to the table, with a smile on his lips.The people who had already sat down stood up one after another, Vanessa just taught Leo a lesson, and didn't notice at all: "Ild has been too lenient to you these years, I said it a long time ago, but he couldn't listen to it—— "

General Nasser said, "Vanessa, long time no see."

She didn't seem to understand who was greeting her at all, and continued to babble: "... If Ximena and Alva were still here, you would definitely not let your nonsense."

Leo cursed secretly in his heart, but he couldn't refute it.

At this moment, Lin Elli made a relief for him.He said to General Nasser: "I've only seen General Lingard in documentaries. Do you know him?"

General Nasser replied: "No one doesn't know him. At that time, Alva was the Bahariya-class captain of the Seventh Fleet. His temper... There is no one like him in the fleet now. The talent is really high , no wonder he looks down on others."

Boyana of the Sixth Fleet also nodded in agreement. She was about the same age as General Nasser: "Alva has new ideas for any tactics. The problem is that no one else can use his ideas!"

General Nasser smiled: "There was a joint meeting of captains, and I was particularly impressed. Alva proposed an improvement plan for the Levant AT08. The basic idea was to add an independent Lençois to the Bahariya-class battleship system. Formation, attack in stages from the first and fifth quadrants, and shorten the total time of the first-order transition to half of the original."

Leo seemed to be listening to the heavenly scriptures. During the banquet, everyone bowed their heads and thought, but did not make a sound.Lin Elli was the first to speak: "It will take three to four more formations. Ideally, it is possible, but the actual combat environment may be difficult."

"Have you seen?" General Nasser said to the table, "Alva's successor is here. At that time, no one dared to answer his words. In the end, I said that it is no problem as a tactical discussion, but in actual combat it must be considered." The captain’s on-the-spot load. Alva said, think about it, are you afraid that you may not be able to handle four formations? According to my simulation, you only need to add three. The audience is still silent, and he sees that no one is talking, and he is a little anxious Oh, and I said, you all look at my plan, three formations are really feasible!"

Laughing everywhere, Ma Wuxi of the First Fleet asked Lin Elli in disbelief: "Levant AT08 plus additional formations, I can only focus on three is the limit, can you really focus on four?"

Elli Lin nodded, and Ma Wuxi swears with an admiring expression.Leo wanted to laugh a little, but held back.

When the dinner was over, and all the drinking and compliments were over, Leo's chance came.He caught up with Lin Elli who was about to leave outside the garage, and took a deep breath: "General Lin?"

Still dare not call his name.When will you be able to call him "Eli" like Ild?

Ellie Lynn looked at Leo with a polite distance between them.Those eyes were like a starless night, quiet, honest, and thorough, and Leo looked almost obsessed.What about the silence, what about the distance, Leo thought recklessly, and now Lin Elli was standing in front of him, looking at him alone.

"General Lin, I—I know the situation is very complicated, and it will be difficult to actually integrate the seven fleets. But if anyone can accomplish this, it can only be you. I don't say this completely It’s because of Ild. Even without this layer, I’m still on your side.”

Leo didn't bother to think about how abrupt and strange the words sounded, but just finished them in one breath.Unexpectedly, Lin Elli was also a little at a loss, and stood there for a long time without answering.

"And... thank you for helping me out just now." After Leo finished speaking, he didn't dare to lift his head, and didn't dare to wait any longer. He hurriedly said good night and got into his car.Thank goodness, Captain Maas waited in the car for most of the night, and now he was reclining in the seat with his eyes closed, so he didn't see the episode just now.