DPM Chapter 31-Trial Part 1
Translated by Snowfall77
Ten days later the mothership arrived at the planet Deta-Nuo. Wu Xingyun would have a short break there, before taking a civilian ship to the trial hall.
Deta-Nuo was where Wu Xingyun had stayed before his wedding. Where he’d first encountered Ouyang Liu outside of Wen Nuo’s residence. At that time, no one had imagined the many things that would happen afterwards.
When Wu Xingyun returned to Wen Nuo’s home, Wu Xingyun found the place unchanged. The only difference was, instead of Ouyang Liu living next door, now the neighbor was a civilian officer with glasses.
After the two sides greeted each other, Wen Nuo took Wu Xingyun inside. The bedroom still had a row of bunkbeds, Wu Xingyun’s items placed on the upper bunk of the first row, just as before.
Wu Xingyun put all his stuff in order. Then it was finally time to rest. However, just as he was going to sleep, Wen Nuo told him: “I have Federation collected data about Mozun on my computer, the link is still the same. In all the Federation, you’re the person who’s had the most contact with him. When you’ve got time, look at the information and correct any errors you find.”
Wu Xingyun was ready to pop out of bed and study the materials immediately, yet Wen Nuo continued: “No need to hurry. You don’t have to do it this second. Anyways, you’ll be staying in the Federation for a long time.”
Laying down again, Wu Xingyun found himself unable to fall asleep. Insomnia had been plaguing him more and more often, not something that boded well for a soldier.
Afraid of disturbing Wen Nuo’s slumber, Wu Xingyun didn’t dare even turn over, instead simply blindly staring at the ceiling. Time dragged on as Wu Xingyun remained sleepless. Eventually, he got up, went to Wen Nuo’s study, opened the computer, found Mozun’s folder and began to read the data.
Since he was the only person in the large study, Wu Xingyun turned on the holographic projector, the virtual portrait of Mozun promptly flickering to life in front of him. The black-haired man, composed of light and shadow, appeared cold and harsh, even a little hideous. Some of the small details were wrong, like the eyelids, altered to make Mozun look more bloodthirsty.
Wu Xingyun couldn’t help himself. He reached out, pressing the holographic modify button, and changed the image to be closer to the real Mozun.
Next, Wu Xingyun turned his attention to the gathered information. In the quiet night, Wu Xingyun’s heart calmed when he saw the letters of Mozun’s name.
There were also errors and omissions in the Federal descriptions of the Mozun and the Demon Army, Wu Xingyun almost subconsciously correcting them.
For example, research on Mozun’s military force, personality analysis, along with corresponding data on other mutants.
When Wu Xingyun altered those, he saw that the last page was titled ‘My Understanding of the Night Shard.’ So Wu Xingyun started writing down his own knowledge of Mozun.
From the beginning, when they’d first met, through the negotiations, Mozun’s odd performance at the wedding, to the weaknesses Mozun had exposed on the wedding night.
Wu Xingyun wrote it all, almost like a memoir. He recalled every last scrap about Mozun, from the number of times Mozun ate, his favorite color, and the way he’d appeared those days. Wu Xingyun missed nothing.
“The Night Shard is a person……Who would eradicate everything in despair.” Wu Xingyun wrote in his analysis, “At the wedding, he thought he was going to die. He didn’t actively seek treatment, but instead designed a series of traps, not sparing the other mutants from being swept up into the conflict, in order to destroy it all.”
When typing that, Wu Xingyun suddenly stopped. He looked back over what he’d written, which included Mozun’s dead lover, something the Federation did not know.
“Does this mean I’ve betrayed him?” Wu Xingyun stared dazedly at the screen. “At that time, at least, he trusted me. I saw the picture of his parents……”
Wu Xingyun sat lost in thought for a while, finally deleting that part.
Subsequently, he wrote down his own judgement: “The Night Shard is not a man who likes to be emotionally exposed. He is very good at concealment. He was injured and dying, yet not even the mutants closest to him were aware. He knows how to use pretense. Never easily believe him. The Federation should trust their own judgement and that of their soldiers.”
Rereading his paragraph, Wu Xingyun felt his last sentence was too critical of his superiors, therefore he erased the whole thing.
He kept deleting and changing. When he finally felt tired, he fell asleep on the desk.
On the screen, the page ‘My Understanding of the Night Shard’ glowed blankly, without a word on it. Wu Xingyun had felt that everything he wrote was inappropriate. In the end, he hadn’t known what to put.
Throughout the night, he’d worked on amending Mozun’s information, leaving only the malevolence in the virtual portrait.
Opening his eyes again, some time later, Wu Xingyun found an extra coat draped over his body. The computer before him had been turned off and Wen Nuo was standing over by the window, smoking. The faint whiff of tobacco floated over, clearing Wu Xingyun’s head.
“Company Commander……Oh, sorry, General Wen, when did you come in here?” Wu Xingyun stood up from the desk, a little scared.
Wen Nuo puffed out a smoke ring. “I was right behind you, but you were so engrossed, you didn’t notice me.”
Wu Xingyun didn’t know what to say. He was worried that what he’d written last night had been seen by Wen Nuo, though he was too afraid to ask. Wu Xingyun felt that he was no longer a good soldier, seemingly having been swayed.
Finishing off his cigarette, Wen Nuo put his hands in his pockets, looking out the window. “Some things are over and you don’t need to think about them. There’s plenty of time to fill in informational gaps. It’s not urgent at this time. Only……Sympathizing with the enemy isn’t good for you. Don’t forget Ouyang Liu.”
A chill ran through Wu Xingyun’s body. He stood at attention, saluting as he answered loudly: “Yes!”
Yet, even as he said ‘yes,’ a voice in Wu Xingyun’s heart questioned: “Am I really sympathetic to the enemy? I don’t believe it, I’m sympathetic?”
There was no answer to Wu Xingyun’s inward questions, and he was unwilling to ponder overly complex problems. He’d returned to the Federation, let his superiors do the worrying. Wu Xingyun only needed to be a soldier who obeyed orders fearlessly.
For the rest of the time, Wen Nuo and Wu Xingyun did not discuss Mozun, instead actively preparing for Shi Fei’s trial. On the third day, the two men were ready. That evening they boarded a spacecraft to the trial hall. One night of sailing and in the morning they arrived at the Federation’s trial planet, the legendary Liu-Mang-Xing.
The planet was surrounded by six satellites, every nook illuminated by endless sunshine. Because it was never dark, the planet was designated as a trial and judgement site, symbolizing light and justice.
""
When Wu Xingyun touched down on Liu-Mang-Xing, he found the star was full of reporters from all over the Federation, along with some troops to maintain order.
Among the journalists, there were people from Mozun’s Demon Army, everyday citizens who’d taken refuge with the Alliance.
Obviously, the outcome of this trial had everyone in the galaxy quite interested.
Wu Xingyun’s appearance caused the reporters, upon recognizing him, to crowd to the front. The peace-keeping soldiers used their bodies to form a wall of flesh, in an effort to isolate the crazy journalists.
Some reporters asked loudly: “Sergeant, what do you think of this trial?”
“May I ask, what the Night Shard really thinks about this trial?”
“Aren’t you newlyweds? Does a sudden return mean a breakdown in the relationship?”
“Is it true that the victim Ouyang Liu and you competed from the Night Shard’s affection?”
“Some people say that Ouyang Liu was Mozun’s mistress? What do you think?”
Facing so many questions for the first time, Wu Xingyun was rather confused, but still ready to answer the wild reporters from all kinds of media. However, Wen Nuo pulled at him, whispering in Wu Xingyun’s ear: “Ignore those people. Say one thing, and they’ll make hundreds of wild connections.”
Wu Xingyun immediately dispelled his idea of defending himself. Still, his eyes kept roaming around, trying to assess the situation.
Wen Nuo reminded him: “From now on, you have to be in a state of readiness. Don’t gawk everywhere, look straight ahead. And don’t forget what we practiced.”
""
Obediently keeping his gaze fixed to the front, Wu Xingyun walked together with Wen Nuo into the courtroom.
The courtroom could accommodate tens of thousands of people, with high domes carved in intricate patterns. The eternal sunlight streamed through the ceiling, creating mottled shadows on the ground.
The grand justice sat on a high rostrum, with other judges seated on either side of him. To the right of the bench were ten recorders, while to the left was the numerous jury.
The court officials were all dressed in black robes, looking appropriately dignified and pompous. In the center of the court was the defendant Shi Fei, surrounded by gendarmes, while the spectator section was full of people, mostly Federation officials and personnel.
The whole place was well-lit, without any artificial lighting, the atmosphere quietly solemn. Majesty imbued the very air, everyone who entered feeling that one shouldn’t dare be presumptuous here.
At first, Wu Xingyun stayed in the waiting room, watching the live trail on a screen.
DPM Chapter 31-Trial Part 1
Translated by Snowfall77
Ten days later the mothership arrived at the planet Deta-Nuo. Wu Xingyun would have a short break there, before taking a civilian ship to the trial hall.
Deta-Nuo was where Wu Xingyun had stayed before his wedding. Where he’d first encountered Ouyang Liu outside of Wen Nuo’s residence. At that time, no one had imagined the many things that would happen afterwards.
When Wu Xingyun returned to Wen Nuo’s home, Wu Xingyun found the place unchanged. The only difference was, instead of Ouyang Liu living next door, now the neighbor was a civilian officer with glasses.
After the two sides greeted each other, Wen Nuo took Wu Xingyun inside. The bedroom still had a row of bunkbeds, Wu Xingyun’s items placed on the upper bunk of the first row, just as before.
Wu Xingyun put all his stuff in order. Then it was finally time to rest. However, just as he was going to sleep, Wen Nuo told him: “I have Federation collected data about Mozun on my computer, the link is still the same. In all the Federation, you’re the person who’s had the most contact with him. When you’ve got time, look at the information and correct any errors you find.”
Wu Xingyun was ready to pop out of bed and study the materials immediately, yet Wen Nuo continued: “No need to hurry. You don’t have to do it this second. Anyways, you’ll be staying in the Federation for a long time.”
Laying down again, Wu Xingyun found himself unable to fall asleep. Insomnia had been plaguing him more and more often, not something that boded well for a soldier.
Afraid of disturbing Wen Nuo’s slumber, Wu Xingyun didn’t dare even turn over, instead simply blindly staring at the ceiling. Time dragged on as Wu Xingyun remained sleepless. Eventually, he got up, went to Wen Nuo’s study, opened the computer, found Mozun’s folder and began to read the data.
Since he was the only person in the large study, Wu Xingyun turned on the holographic projector, the virtual portrait of Mozun promptly flickering to life in front of him. The black-haired man, composed of light and shadow, appeared cold and harsh, even a little hideous. Some of the small details were wrong, like the eyelids, altered to make Mozun look more bloodthirsty.
Wu Xingyun couldn’t help himself. He reached out, pressing the holographic modify button, and changed the image to be closer to the real Mozun.
Next, Wu Xingyun turned his attention to the gathered information. In the quiet night, Wu Xingyun’s heart calmed when he saw the letters of Mozun’s name.
There were also errors and omissions in the Federal descriptions of the Mozun and the Demon Army, Wu Xingyun almost subconsciously correcting them.
For example, research on Mozun’s military force, personality analysis, along with corresponding data on other mutants.
When Wu Xingyun altered those, he saw that the last page was titled ‘My Understanding of the Night Shard.’ So Wu Xingyun started writing down his own knowledge of Mozun.
From the beginning, when they’d first met, through the negotiations, Mozun’s odd performance at the wedding, to the weaknesses Mozun had exposed on the wedding night.
Wu Xingyun wrote it all, almost like a memoir. He recalled every last scrap about Mozun, from the number of times Mozun ate, his favorite color, and the way he’d appeared those days. Wu Xingyun missed nothing.
“The Night Shard is a person……Who would eradicate everything in despair.” Wu Xingyun wrote in his analysis, “At the wedding, he thought he was going to die. He didn’t actively seek treatment, but instead designed a series of traps, not sparing the other mutants from being swept up into the conflict, in order to destroy it all.”
When typing that, Wu Xingyun suddenly stopped. He looked back over what he’d written, which included Mozun’s dead lover, something the Federation did not know.
“Does this mean I’ve betrayed him?” Wu Xingyun stared dazedly at the screen. “At that time, at least, he trusted me. I saw the picture of his parents……”
Wu Xingyun sat lost in thought for a while, finally deleting that part.
Subsequently, he wrote down his own judgement: “The Night Shard is not a man who likes to be emotionally exposed. He is very good at concealment. He was injured and dying, yet not even the mutants closest to him were aware. He knows how to use pretense. Never easily believe him. The Federation should trust their own judgement and that of their soldiers.”
Rereading his paragraph, Wu Xingyun felt his last sentence was too critical of his superiors, therefore he erased the whole thing.
He kept deleting and changing. When he finally felt tired, he fell asleep on the desk.
On the screen, the page ‘My Understanding of the Night Shard’ glowed blankly, without a word on it. Wu Xingyun had felt that everything he wrote was inappropriate. In the end, he hadn’t known what to put.
Throughout the night, he’d worked on amending Mozun’s information, leaving only the malevolence in the virtual portrait.
Opening his eyes again, some time later, Wu Xingyun found an extra coat draped over his body. The computer before him had been turned off and Wen Nuo was standing over by the window, smoking. The faint whiff of tobacco floated over, clearing Wu Xingyun’s head.
“Company Commander……Oh, sorry, General Wen, when did you come in here?” Wu Xingyun stood up from the desk, a little scared.
Wen Nuo puffed out a smoke ring. “I was right behind you, but you were so engrossed, you didn’t notice me.”
Wu Xingyun didn’t know what to say. He was worried that what he’d written last night had been seen by Wen Nuo, though he was too afraid to ask. Wu Xingyun felt that he was no longer a good soldier, seemingly having been swayed.
Finishing off his cigarette, Wen Nuo put his hands in his pockets, looking out the window. “Some things are over and you don’t need to think about them. There’s plenty of time to fill in informational gaps. It’s not urgent at this time. Only……Sympathizing with the enemy isn’t good for you. Don’t forget Ouyang Liu.”
A chill ran through Wu Xingyun’s body. He stood at attention, saluting as he answered loudly: “Yes!”
Yet, even as he said ‘yes,’ a voice in Wu Xingyun’s heart questioned: “Am I really sympathetic to the enemy? I don’t believe it, I’m sympathetic?”
There was no answer to Wu Xingyun’s inward questions, and he was unwilling to ponder overly complex problems. He’d returned to the Federation, let his superiors do the worrying. Wu Xingyun only needed to be a soldier who obeyed orders fearlessly.
For the rest of the time, Wen Nuo and Wu Xingyun did not discuss Mozun, instead actively preparing for Shi Fei’s trial. On the third day, the two men were ready. That evening they boarded a spacecraft to the trial hall. One night of sailing and in the morning they arrived at the Federation’s trial planet, the legendary Liu-Mang-Xing.
The planet was surrounded by six satellites, every nook illuminated by endless sunshine. Because it was never dark, the planet was designated as a trial and judgement site, symbolizing light and justice.
""
When Wu Xingyun touched down on Liu-Mang-Xing, he found the star was full of reporters from all over the Federation, along with some troops to maintain order.
Among the journalists, there were people from Mozun’s Demon Army, everyday citizens who’d taken refuge with the Alliance.
Obviously, the outcome of this trial had everyone in the galaxy quite interested.
Wu Xingyun’s appearance caused the reporters, upon recognizing him, to crowd to the front. The peace-keeping soldiers used their bodies to form a wall of flesh, in an effort to isolate the crazy journalists.
Some reporters asked loudly: “Sergeant, what do you think of this trial?”
“May I ask, what the Night Shard really thinks about this trial?”
“Aren’t you newlyweds? Does a sudden return mean a breakdown in the relationship?”
“Is it true that the victim Ouyang Liu and you competed from the Night Shard’s affection?”
“Some people say that Ouyang Liu was Mozun’s mistress? What do you think?”
Facing so many questions for the first time, Wu Xingyun was rather confused, but still ready to answer the wild reporters from all kinds of media. However, Wen Nuo pulled at him, whispering in Wu Xingyun’s ear: “Ignore those people. Say one thing, and they’ll make hundreds of wild connections.”
Wu Xingyun immediately dispelled his idea of defending himself. Still, his eyes kept roaming around, trying to assess the situation.
Wen Nuo reminded him: “From now on, you have to be in a state of readiness. Don’t gawk everywhere, look straight ahead. And don’t forget what we practiced.”
""
Obediently keeping his gaze fixed to the front, Wu Xingyun walked together with Wen Nuo into the courtroom.
The courtroom could accommodate tens of thousands of people, with high domes carved in intricate patterns. The eternal sunlight streamed through the ceiling, creating mottled shadows on the ground.
The grand justice sat on a high rostrum, with other judges seated on either side of him. To the right of the bench were ten recorders, while to the left was the numerous jury.
The court officials were all dressed in black robes, looking appropriately dignified and pompous. In the center of the court was the defendant Shi Fei, surrounded by gendarmes, while the spectator section was full of people, mostly Federation officials and personnel.
The whole place was well-lit, without any artificial lighting, the atmosphere quietly solemn. Majesty imbued the very air, everyone who entered feeling that one shouldn’t dare be presumptuous here.
At first, Wu Xingyun stayed in the waiting room, watching the live trail on a screen.
