IPC Chapter 49 Part 1: Someone’s asking for a beating

Interstellar Power Couple

Translator: Linn

Quality Check: Lala

Editor: Chesh

First Published on Chaleuria

Chapter 49 Part 1: Someone’s asking for a beating

 According to some little-known information, the blood of the Golden Fruit Tree Clan members was the key to continuing life and staying young. This was different from the time-limited youth and health obtained by scientific and technological means, it could permanently give you a body with great vitality in its peak state.

However, many things were easier said than done. It was already hard for Lei Jianying to meet Lei Jue when he stayed in the Xiao residence, let alone now that he was at the Holy Eagles Mecha Corps. The protection of several people had multiplied to become the protection of thousands, so even if you wanted to pull just a strand of his hair, you would have to see if the entire team of his escorts allowed it.

Not only that, this target always had Xiao Lingyu, who had an S-plus rank metal elemental ability, sticking close to him.

Even though Xiao Lingyu’s elemental ability was of a spontaneous nature, luckily for him, though that extraordinary ability of his might not be successfully triggered some other time, it would inevitably have a 100% success rate in being released if someone dared to touch Lei Jue.

 An unprecedented anxiety gnawed at Lei Jianying.

On the other hand, after Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue had almost maimed the golden fruit, they started behaving themselves. The one who had training diligently trained, while the one who should administer treatment took his job seriously, receiving a load of good reviews. Xiao Lingyu was even slammed with the title ‘wife-crazy maniac’, because all that was lacking was him plastering a note stating ‘Lei Jue’s exclusive lover cum bodyguard cum servant’ on his face. He treated Lei Jue very well, in every possible way. Lu Xian, Qi Yu and the others, on the other hand, had long trained themselves to speak whatever nonsense they could to get close with another party, so they could befriend and get along with just about anyone anywhere, as long as they wanted to.

Therefore, it didn’t take long for all of them to get along very well, leaving just one problem yet to be fully agreed on—the original crew members of the Holy Eagles Mecha Corps felt that Lei Jue was the kind of particularly approachable, gentle, and kind companion, but Lu Xian and Qi Yu had their own opinions on this.

Ptuu! Cough cough cough…. Gentle and kind?” Qi Yu choked on the water he was drinking with a completely red face. “He’s indeed kind, but gentle? Err… Lei Jue and ‘gentle’ don’t even belong in the same sentence, right? More like he’ll gently roast you to death! He’s actually a violent maniac inside!”

“Impossible! I think Dr. Lei is very gentle,” someone from Company D denied. “When he smiles, even the snow around him melts.”

“That’s just his appearance, understood? Appearance!” Qi Yu refuted. “I used to think that he was gentle and bashful too, but in the end, I gotta tell you, I nearly choked to death eating my own words!”

“Seriously?” It was apparent that the person in front of him didn’t quite believe him. Lei Jue looked as though he was bathed in spring when he smiled. He looked so beautiful, he didn’t look like someone who would make anybody eat their words. He was the angelic Dr. Lei, how could he possibly be a violent maniac?

However, soon, as it turned out, it was indeed true that one couldn’t judge a person just based on their appearance alone.

On the fifth day after Lei Jue’s arrival at the Holy Eagles Mecha Corps, Company D had a mecha sparring training. Everyone knew that Lei Jue had never operated a mech before, so at the beginning, they thought that Lei Jue would just stand by the side watching without personally joining in. In the end, as soon as they had entered the mecha parking room, his eyes lit up right away.

“Captain, these are all controlled by thoughts, right?” Lei Jue flexed his fingers.

“Yes,“ Captain Ka Nuo proudly replied. “So far, only two Mecha Corps in the Northern Ling Regiment have these mechs. We were the first batch to get them.”

Controlling the mechs by thought would require high mental strength and willpower, something not everyone had. Besides, this kind of mech was several times more advanced than the traditional manually-controlled mechs in terms of manufacturing technology, therefore it wasn’t equipped by the entire army.

“Can I have a go at it?” Lei Jue asked.

“Of course, but you might not be able to control it successfully,” said Captain Ka Nuo. “Try having a go, since all of you have seen the theoretical part anyway.”

“Okay. Thank you, Captain!” Lei Jue walked a circle around a silver-white mech that was nearly three meters high, then entered it and connected the device to his consciousness like it was explained in the operation method in the data Xiao Lingyu had shown him before.

The system prompted, “Soldier Lei Jue, member of Company D of Holy Eagles Mecha Corps, you have successfully been connected. You’re now entering thought control mode.”

Lei Jue tried to move his limbs. Soon afterward, he rapidly flew out under everyone’s gaze! He shot out in a straight line in the air like a bullet, then changed direction and flew back. This was clearly his first time controlling the mech, yet like a veteran of many years, there wasn’t an ounce of panic or fear during the rapid ascent and dive!

“Oh my god, is this really his first time in a mech?” Somebody said doubtfully. After all, Lei Jue hadn’t even needed a single second to familiarize himself with it. What guts! What mental strength!

“It is indeed his first time.” Pride in Lei Jue was written all over Xiao Lingyu’s eyes.

“Really?” Even Captain Ka Nuo felt that Lei Jue’s talent was ridiculously remarkable.

“Yes, he’s just this extraordinary.” Xiao Lingyu looked at Lei Jue, who walked up to him after landing with a bang, and said with a smile, “Your first flight was perfect.”

“Well, of course it was.” Lei Jue walked up to Ka Nuo. “Captain, I’d like to request a sparring partner.” 

Xiao Lingyu stepped in. “I’ll do it.”

He didn’t feel at ease letting somebody else do it; what if Lei Jue was injured? After obtaining permission from the captain, Xiao Lingyu climbed into another mech. 

“Let’s go.”

At the dedicated training ground, everyone else controlled their own mech and followed.

Lei Jue first tried a few simple movements, like jumping forward, retreating, moving sideways, attacking from prone, and a few more. After finishing his practice and getting more familiar with the movements, he crooked his finger and beckoned to Xiao Lingyu. “Come.”

“You first,” Xiao Lingyu said.

Without hesitation, Lei Jue threw a resounding punch at Xiao Lingyu.

Xiao Lingyu’s face was punched to one side. After feeling that Lei Jue had adapted pretty well, he started to be overcome with the thrill to spar.

“You can’t get mad if you lose.” With that, Xiao Lingyu abruptly charged forward and hugged Lei Jue, controlling his engine and starting to fly upward. He initially wanted to hold Lei Jue and romantically spin around to draw a heart shape before putting him down, but what actually happened was that he had only just hugged Lei Jue and managed to fly a small distance before Lei Jue had already reacted and turned to one side, pulling him away from his original trajectory and almost slamming him to the ground.

“Nice!” Qi Yu whistled excitedly from the crowd. “Get him, Lei Jue!”

The audience started getting fired up, and even Captain Ka Nuo had forgotten that he needed to order these people to go for their sparring practice.

Even so, Xiao Lingyu wasn’t a person that would be defeated so easily. When his mech was only ten centimeters from the ground, he charged upward and broke free from Lei Jue’s grasp, causing Lei Jue to plow into the ground with a resounding CLANG!.

Still, Lei Jue didn’t stop. He rapidly stood up and attacked Xiao Lingyu. Xiao Lingyu responded quickly, but so did he, and as soon as Xiao Lingyu dodged his punch, Lei Jue delivered a roundhouse kick to him.

With a clang the kick landed directly on Xiao Lingyu’s mech’s chest, the collision between the metal sending sparks flying in all directions. Flames of excitement were instantly kindled in the hearts of the onlooking Company D members! What a match!

“Xiao Lingyu, you can’t keep going like this! Don’t lose your dignity as a husband!” Lu Xian laughed. “Come on! Beat him!”

“Lu Xian, just you wait!” Lei Jue pointed his middle finger at Lu Xian, then charged toward Xiao Lingyu once again. He slammed headlong into Xiao Lingyu’s mech, extending his fist to give Xiao Lingyu another punch, but to his surprise, Xiao Lingyu grabbed his mech’s and agilely turned around, locking Lei Jue’s mech in his own mech’s arms.

“Hey, hey, what are you two trying to do? Not forgetting to show off your love even when you two are in mechs? No PDA allowed! We reject PDA!” Another roar of noise burst forth; some people whistled, while some made weird noises.

“Tired? Or do you still want to continue playing for a while?” Xiao Lingyu asked in a whisper.

“Not tired! Continue!”Lei Jue abruptly slammed his elbow backward, putting some distance between him and Xiao Lingyu.

The couple battled each other in clangs and bangs, Lei Jue throwing a punch at Xiao Lingyu, and Xiao Lingyu delivering a blow at him. At first, Xiao Lingyu was very careful about not hurting Lei Jue, but when he saw that Lei Jue could take his punches and wasn’t tired at all, he started taking the battle seriously as well, causing Lei Jue to fight even more vigorously, now that he finally had a high-quality opponent. There was no other noise in the training field except for a series of clangs and bangs.

At this instant, everyone finally understood what Qi Yu meant. Sure enough, the reason Lei Jue looked gentle and frail was because of his E-grade physique and appearance. Now that they were in mechs, everyone’s foundations became basically the same, and at once, Lei Jue was no longer the Lei Jue that they knew. Well, you could say that he was a little white flower without the mech, but the instant he put on the mech, he transformed into a venus flytrap.

Xiao Lingyu was quite powerful, but since the mech gave a power bonus when attacking, Lei Jue didn’t seem much weaker than him. It was exactly because of this that Lei Jue had plenty of fun. In his last life, his individual strength as a soldier was outstandingly powerful, so he hadn’t really lost much to anyone. Who knew that he would end up having poor physical fitness here, where everyone could beat him? Of course, he found this to be highly unpleasant. 

Fortunately, there was a good thing called a mech. Oh, that was right. With this mech, he also didn’t have to worry about his body showing any embarrassing situation if there was any friction. 

There were many birds that he could kill with this one stone.

Like a child who had just gotten a new toy, Lei Jue was overwhelmed with excitement, bringing all his fighting skills to play and causing the group of people to applaud and cheer. Although he was still overpowered by Xiao Lingyu in the end, his good mood wasn’t affected by the loss. 

After all, he was not a sore loser.

When it was almost noon, the couple had had a good time, and their training task was considered complete. When Lei Jue came out of the mech, there was a fine layer of sweat on his forehead. He casually wiped it with his hand. “That felt so goddamn good!”

Che Heng laughed. “It felt good to be beaten by your husband?”

Lei Jue answered as if nobody was beside him, “It’s exactly because he was the one who beat me up that I feel good. If it were somebody else….Xiao Lei, give your Uncle Che a taste of what it feels like to have his heart hammering in his chest!” Lei Jue shouted loudly.

With a roar, Xiao Lei charged toward Che Heng and toppled him over. Opening his enormous mouth to reveal sharp teeth, his sharp claws patted Che Heng’s chest several times, with several thuds.

Sure enough, Che Heng’s heart hammered in his chest. The rest of the people, on the other hand, silently thought to themselves, Why did Lei Jue’s words sound a little hardcore?

What was with the whole ‘It’s exactly because he was the one who beat me up that I feel good’ thing....

Xiao Lingyu received a heap of strange looks when he went to the cafeteria.

Fortunately, there was an opportunity for him and Lei Jue to get in intimate touch with each other soon, which quietly made up for his soul that had almost gone ballistic—it was time for the two Marshals to have their treatments.

After Xiao Zhicheng and Zuo Zhihuan had their meeting at the Central District, Xiao Zhicheng directly invited Zuo Zhihuan to his home. It just so happened that Grandma and Luo Yuling also missed Lei Jue, so they called the two children back.

Treating the Marshal wasn’t a private affair, so it didn’t take long for Lei Jue and Xiao Lingyu to have their leave approved.

Watching the two of them get on an aircraft together, one of their teammates sighed with a complex emotion. “Even if Lei Jue went alone, I guess it’d be hard for anyone to attack him. You really can’t judge a book by its cover.”

Qi Yu chimed in, “But we still gotta be vigilant. After all, he only has a power level of five[1] when he’s without a mech or gun, not to mention that there’s too many people who’re jealous of his ability. If you were Xiao Lingyu, wouldn’t you follow him?”

The person who made that comment no longer spoke. A few of the members of the corps had already heard about Plan A3 before, but nobody knew who did it. Even so, it was apparent that Xiao Lingyu had another reason for bringing Lei Jue into the Holy Eagles Mecha Corps.

 

 

[1] Referring to a “loser whose power level is only measured at five,” the original saying came from Raditz, a Saiyan (alien species) who meets a farmer on his first visit to Earth, from the anime “Dragon Ball.” Characters in the comic book have power levels measured in the millions. Therefore, someone with a fighting capacity at five is really weak. Chinese netizens often jokingly use the term to refer to a much weaker party.