Surprise! My online crush turned out to be... - Chapter 14

Chapter 14

This time, Shu Yang didn’t have the same mischievousness as last time. He took the initiative to open the front-facing camera and even, rather disingenuously, applied beauty filters, slightly enhancing the effect of widening his eyes and slimming his face.

Although he casually chatted with Francis, his eyes were fixed on his phone screen, making sure to look his best.

At the same time, he also observed Francis’s reaction. Unfortunately, he didn’t see the slightest surprise in the person on the screen. To be honest, not even a hint of surprise.

The man on the screen was still half-standing on the phone screen. The difference was that this time, unlike last time’s relaxed and casual look, he was fully dressed in his uniform, every button fastened tightly. The uniform enveloping his muscular body made him look very tall and straight.

Shu Yang swallowed silently.

“Sorry, I’ve been a bit busy lately.” A deep male voice came from the phone, but there was no trace of the tiredness that comes with a busy day.

“Oh,” Shu Yang replied, his fingers casually tapping on his car door, seeming inattentive and unwilling to talk.

The atmosphere suddenly became cold.

But only Shu Yang knew that it wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk, but because he had the front camera turned on this time, he felt a little stressed. This was different from being separated by a screen, where no one could tell who was who.

Talking face to face like this, even though they were still separated by a screen, it was impossible not to treat the other person as if they were right in front of him.

For Shu Yang, this situation was no different from meeting a new friend, and he had always disliked interacting with strangers, fearing a sudden silence or awkward conversation.

“…Why does your face look a little unnatural?”

Perhaps it was because the silence had lasted too long. Francis looked at the boy staring blankly at the screen, unsure of what to think, and he spoke carefully.

The boy’s current appearance was slightly different from the photos he’d seen before, not drastically, but due to the image quality, the edges of his face were slightly blurry.

Shu Yang’s hand trembled, and so did the screen. This big pigeon was so honest…

He curled his lips into a professional smirk. “Are you asking me to turn off the beauty filter?”

After he finished speaking, Francis was silent for a moment, then stopped talking.

But since he’d been called unnatural, Shu Yang wasn’t one to save face, so he turned off the beauty filter. His face quickly became clearer. At the same time, he thoughtfully left the filter on, making him look much better.

“Hmm.”

This earned him a “Hmm” from Marshal Francis, the Imperial Star.

Shu Yang was almost laughing with rage. This guy was made of steel, bah, a titanium straight man!

“Marshal, aren’t you tired of standing up to talk to me all the time?” Because their conversations had always used this hypothetical context, Shu Yang had become so accustomed to it that he casually called out “Marshal,” seemingly unaffected.

But to Francis, the words had a different meaning. His eyes sharpened for a moment, then, after listening to Shu Yang’s entire speech, he lowered his eyelids and sat down in his chair.

But out of habit, even in his comfortable chair, he maintained a straight back, looking incredibly serious.

In contrast, Shu Yang practically slumped in the sports car seat, the image of the two of them on the same screen creating a powerful impact. Shu Yang, involuntarily, sat up a little straighter.

“How much do you know?”

Francis blurted out without context.

Shu Yang was bewildered.

What? What?

As Francis sat down and the camera zoomed in, Shu Yang automatically ignored his previously meaningless question and focused his attention on the face of this giant pigeon.

To be honest, the giant pigeon had zoomed in on him before, but only for a brief moment, and he hadn’t had time to get a good look. He only knew he was handsome, but he hadn’t gotten a good look. Now that he had another chance, he had to seize it.

“Huh? I don’t know,” Shu Yang agreed, trying to control his expression to avoid looking too frivolous.

Francis’s features weren’t particularly European or American, but his features were certainly more profound than those of a Chinese person. Even more beautiful were his deep blue eyes, which seemed to evoke both the beauty and danger of the seabed.

Shu Yang marveled inwardly, wondering if this giant pigeon might be a mixed-race.

“Shu Yang, as far as I know, in your current era, there’s no such thing as a marshal in Blue Star China.”

Francis, with his unsmiling expression, looked intimidating, but perhaps because they were separated by a screen, Shu Yang wasn’t afraid at all; he even felt a little like laughing.

How could this big pigeon say such childish things so seriously? Blue Star, and the times, as if they weren’t part of the same global village?

“Aren’t you here?” Shu Yang spoke without a second thought, simply speaking without thinking. This big pigeon simply loved that tone.

“I’m a citizen of the Empire.” Francis frowned. He hadn’t just been testing the waters; now he could see that Shu Yang had a profound misunderstanding.

Recognizing the distance and time separating them, Francis had intended to let the matter rest.

Power struggles were raging within the Empire, and since this incident had posed a significant threat, he had no desire to deal with this young man from Blue Star.

But after a few days, he still couldn’t help but think back to that man’s smirk.

Francis’s frown deepened, practically forming the Chinese character “川” (Chuan) between his brows.

After all, he was an innocent man, so a word or two of caution was understandable.

And so, today’s communication came about.

“Shu Yang, I think you’ve misunderstood something.” Francis pressed his brow together, then stood up and walked out. “Perhaps I should show you this.”

Shu Yang rested his chin on his arm this time, ignoring his own appearance as he quietly watched the pigeon perform.

—

Francis was in the military and administrative building of his First Legion. The place was spacious, but even more spacious were the training grounds assigned to each legion.

Francis brought up another split-screen on his computer, which quickly displayed a series of scenes from his journey.

Shu Yang watched his phone screen split in two. One side held Francis’s face, while the other, after a brief journey, arrived at a vastly empty space.

It looked like an interior, but the entire place was completely empty.

Then he saw Francis glance at the doorway before entering a place resembling a secret chamber.

Intuition told him something extraordinary was about to happen. Shu Yang unconsciously raised his head, his eyes fixed on the split screen.

Francis pressed a button, and a cellar-like door began to appear on the empty ground. It then slowly opened, revealing a massive platform.

As the platform unfolded, Shu Yang’s eyes widened.

“Big Pigeon, so… you’re Iron Man!”

Shu Yang wasn’t a huge fan of Marvel movies, but he had seen several of the highly acclaimed ones. As a passionate young man, he always admired heroes. But who would have thought that one day, he would actually see a scene from a movie unfold right next to him?

Francis simply waved his hand, and the massive iron block responded. Francis, standing beneath it, looked incredibly small.

Shu Yang then realized something was wrong. Iron Man’s armor was just a suit of steel, but this one clearly went beyond a suit.

His mind raced, as if grasping something, then suddenly lost its grasp.

“This is the particle weapon I told you about last time.” Francis jumped into a small flying ship that had appeared out of nowhere and pulled out a gun from a cabinet that looked quite advanced.

He casually fired a shot into the empty wall, a loud bang echoing, and a large hole appeared in the wall.

Shu Yang no longer thought this was some toy laser gun.

“Too, too…” Shu Yang had already sat quietly in the car, motionless except for mumbling and slightly shaking his head, the tuft of hair on his head swaying with his movements. “Too rich. I really don’t know anything about the world.”

“Shu Yang, I come from the 2397th year of the interstellar calendar, the 837th year of the Empire’s founding. As the Empire’s First Marshal, I won’t lie to you.” Francis replaced his gun, straightened his body, and addressed the young man on the screen.

The young man still looked dazed, but through the screen, Francis saw a figure in white clothes swiftly brushing past the car and approaching him.

“Be careful!” Francis said reflexively, just as the young man regained consciousness.

At that moment, the girl from before returned. Seeing Shu Yang still in the car, she breathed a sigh of relief. Standing in front of the car door, she shouted to the pursuers, “My boyfriend is here!”

???

Shu Yang twisted his neck to look outside. His first reaction wasn’t to look at the girl, but at the people coming from behind.

The moment he turned his head, he didn’t see Francis’ pupils suddenly shrink, darkening, then dimming for a moment.

“What’s wrong?” Shu Yang said softly, looking at the girl beside him.

“Help me.” The girl didn’t dare look at him. After all, she had dragged someone down with her for no reason. Now she just hoped this boy wouldn’t abandon her. She shouldn’t have come here. This place was nothing like the world she knew.

Seeing the people behind them approaching, Shu Yang opened the car door and stepped out, taking a moment to say to Francis, “Wait a minute, big pigeon. I have something to do right now. Don’t hang up yet.”

When the beautiful boy and girl stood together, they really did have a certain chemistry, which made the people chasing them believe it.

Shu Yang frowned slightly at the group of three or five people dressed in shabby clothes.

“Nice car,” the leader spat. “Whose is it?”

“Shu Yang.”

At a time like this, even if Shu Yang disliked being judged, he had to give his name. If the other party was concerned about Shu Zhiyi, they would leave quietly. Otherwise… he had no choice. With his size, he couldn’t fight off so many people.