CAT Chapter 36: Second Law of Thermodynamics (5)

That morning, Ling Yi woke up first.

This was rare, as it had always been Lin Si who woke up first.

The early morning light was a transparent golden color on the edge of the porthole. Ling Yi stared at Lin Si’s face for a while, then reached out a hand and placed it lightly above Lin Si’s eyes, not wanting the sunlight to shine into his eyes and wake him up.

His palm seemed to touch Lin Si’s eyelashes, which tickled a little.

His heartbeat was somewhat erratic, and Ling Yi didn’t know why he felt so happy.

He had had a long and strange dream, where he kept walking forward in the ruins scattered with fallen buildings, wanting to get closer to Lin Si, who was far away.

Dreams sometimes reflect one’s subconscious thoughts, and Ling Yi knew this. He thought that he must want to be closer to Lin Si.

But they were already very close—why would he still think that way? Was there any relationship closer than what they already had?

Ling Yi tilted his head, feeling a bit confused.

However, the feeling of dissatisfaction didn’t linger long in his heart—he looked at Lin Si and thought that this was enough.

Lin Si hadn’t slept long. He opened his eyes and saw Ling Yi looking at him, his back to the porthole, blocking the bright sunlight.

“Thank you,” he said.

Ling Yi smiled and squinted at him.

As he got older, the shape of his eyes had changed a little. His round, almond-shaped eyes from childhood had elongated slightly, with the corners of his eyes tilting upward a bit, giving him a gentle yet playful beauty.

After getting up and washing up, Lin Si went through the messages that had piled up overnight, while Ling Yi hugged his pillow and looked at today’s training schedule.

It wasn’t until a while later that he remembered to check his wristband. To his surprise, dozens of messages had popped up on the screen.

Ling Yi furrowed his brow—this had never happened before.

He started opening the messages one by one. The most recent message was from Svenya, showing a picture of the Colonel trying to wear exoskeletal armor, only to get stuck in the bathroom doorway in the morning.

Ling Yi responded with a string of laughing emojis and kept scrolling up.

Still Svenya: “Happy Birthday, little baby!”

Other messages were mostly similar. That’s when Ling Yi realized that today was the birthday listed in his personal data.

He seriously replied to the messages, and as he scrolled to the top, there was one that wasn’t a birthday wish.

Unexpectedly, it was from Tang Ning, sent at 3 AM: “How have you been lately?”

Ling Yi thought for a moment. Tang Ning wasn’t the type to care about his friends’ situations, so he replied, “Not busy lately, Zheng Shu isn’t very tired.”

Tang Ning almost immediately replied, “Mm.”

He had sent the message at 3 AM, but now he was still awake, so it seemed he had stayed up all night. The project must be quite busy.

Although Tang Ning was a famous night owl, staying up all night wasn’t a good habit.

So Ling Yi replied, “Are you okay?”

Tang Ning: “I’m fine.”

Ling Yi thought for a moment, and if it were him staying up late every day like Tang Ning, Lin Si definitely wouldn’t allow it. So he sent a message: “Zheng Shu will be worried.”

But Tang Ning sent a few words back with a neutral tone: “He won’t.”

Ling Yi hugged his pillow, a little confused.

He thought about it again and recalled that Zheng Shu didn’t seem to treat Tang Ning very well.

It wasn’t that he was bad, just more distant.

Moreover, Tang Ning wanted to know about Zheng Shu’s situation, but didn’t ask him directly, instead sending a message to himself.

Ling Yi wasn’t sure how to respond.

After a while, Tang Ning sent another message: “Happy birthday.”

It wasn’t surprising that people close to him knew his birthday, but for someone like Tang Ning, who never interacted with the outside world, to know, was quite strange!

Ling Yi replied: “How did you know?”

Tang Ning: “I saw your data.”

Ling Yi: “……”

He suddenly remembered that Tang Ning had an excellent memory. Anything he had glanced at would be firmly engraved in his mind, and when needed, he could replay it. It was almost unimaginable.

Lin Si also seemed to have this ability.

Ling Yi secretly glanced at Lin Si and saw that he was still replying to messages.

— He was probably going to be busy again.

As expected, after sending a message, Lin Si said to him, “Zone 1 asked me to go see something. I won’t be back until tonight.”

Ling Yi felt a little disappointed. “Mm.”

Lin Si rubbed his hair. “I’ll bring you something tonight.”

Ling Yi’s eyes immediately brightened.

So Lin Si not only remembered his birthday but also prepared a gift?

He decided to forgive Lin Si for being away today.

The morning passed quickly, and soon Lin Si left for Zone 1. That project had borrowed both Tang Ning and Lin Si, so it must have been quite impressive.

Ling Yi went to the training ground, where Svenya immediately slung her arm over his shoulder. “Baobei! After today, you’ll be an adult!”

Others gathered around, playfully teasing for a while before starting their usual training.

During the break, without Lin Si by his side, Ling Yi felt a bit bored and began reading his physics book—one of the subjects Lin Si had planned for him.

This part was about energy, some very basic thermodynamic laws and equations, and examples to support them—like why perpetual motion machines fail.

But that was an issue that only people from Earth many years ago would consider. Now, with third-generation nuclear fusion technology, as long as there were hydrogen atoms, unlimited electricity could be generated without worrying about energy issues. So, things like “perpetual motion machines” had lost their practical meaning. Ling Yi just skimmed through it and moved on to the next chapter.

After finishing what was assigned for the day, there was nothing else to do.

Ling Yi, feeling irritated, tossed around a few times, missing Lin Si, and eventually stood up to find the Colonel for a match.

As he grew older, his control over his strength became more refined, and he could now consciously control his power—meaning he could keep his strength at a normal human level and just practice techniques with the Colonel.

Without Lin Si giving him orders, the screen of his game showed the mission failed multiple times, and playing it became quite dull. The Colonel, equally bored, quickly agreed to spar with Ling Yi.

The training personnel here were all from the military, and naturally, they had a bit of a combative nature. After Ling Yi and the Colonel started, the previously dull training ground soon turned into a large-scale brawl.

Zheng Shu opened the door and walked in, seeing the scene and rubbing his forehead.

Ling Yi peeked out from behind the Colonel, smiling sweetly and greeting him, “Good morning, Mr. Zheng.”

His voice was sweet, and his appearance innocent and harmless—very cute.

—If it weren’t for the fact that his hands were currently gripping the Colonel’s throat.

“Good afternoon, Ling Yi,” Zheng Shu nodded, still very composed.

“Mr. Zheng,” the Colonel greeted him, “Would you like to join us?”

“I haven’t practiced in a long time,” Zheng Shu smiled and shook his head. “How can you tell?”

“People who’ve trained and those who haven’t are different,” the Colonel said. “An expert can tell at a glance.”

“You’re quite skilled,” Zheng Shu remarked.

“I’ve been leading troops in special forces for over ten years,” the Colonel replied.

“Which special forces?”

“In Los Angeles,” the Colonel said.

“Los Angeles?” Zheng Shu suddenly smiled.

The Colonel was a bit confused, “Huh?”

“My fiancée was there,” Zheng Shu said.

“Oh…” the Colonel responded. “But the base is outside the city, so I wouldn’t consider myself a local.”

“She isn’t either,” Zheng Shu added, undoing the buttons of his jacket, taking it off, and placing it on the back of a chair. He also removed the watch on his wrist, which would hinder his movements, and then said to the Colonel, “Let’s go.”

Zheng Shu had an excellent physique, not as bulky or muscular as the Colonel, but with his elegant demeanor and composed, gentlemanly air, he was an incredibly charming man. However, Ling Yi had never considered that Zheng Shu might have trained in professional combat.

The Colonel saw Zheng Shu’s professional and standard starting stance and grinned, “I actually noticed it a long time ago, but I never found the right opportunity.”

Zheng Shu said, “When I was younger, I trained for a while.”

The Colonel nodded and assumed a stance, just like when he first sparred with Ling Yi, throwing a punch straight toward Zheng Shu’s face.

Zheng Shu dodged, delivering an elbow strike to meet the Colonel’s left punch while simultaneously kicking toward the Colonel’s right knee.

The Colonel let out a “hey” and pulled back his right leg, stepping back into a defensive stance.

The pace of this match wasn’t fast, as the Colonel was leaving room for Zheng Shu. After all, Zheng Shu was an ordinary person, and a researcher at that—he couldn’t be compared to a modified human. After several exchanges, both men stepped back in sync.

“Still quite interesting,” Zheng Shu straightened his collar and smiled gently. “I’m considering whether I should pick up combat again.”

“Your combat instructor seems very skilled and has a bit of a military style,” the Colonel said.

“She’s my fiancée,” Zheng Shu replied.

“A woman?” The Colonel suddenly seemed to realize something. “No wonder there’s always been something a little off.”

He furrowed his brow, suddenly looking at Ling Yi. “I just remembered!”

Ling Yi, “Huh?”

“Not only is there something off, but it’s also a bit familiar. It’s you!” The Colonel said. “You two have very similar styles, like you were both taught by the same instructor.”

The Colonel glanced between Zheng Shu and Ling Yi, a bit suspicious.

Though his brain wasn’t the sharpest, he was very perceptive about these matters, especially with people like Ling Yi and Zheng Shu—those who had practiced but hadn’t yet honed their own fighting styles through real-world combat. No matter how much they trained, their movements would still carry clear traces of their instructor’s style.

And these two really did look very similar.

Ling Yi furrowed his beautifully shaped brows, trying to recall.

He had heard about Zheng Shu’s fiancée before, though it had been a long time. Wasn’t it Zheng Shu who mentioned it?

Back when he first boarded the spaceship, at the celebratory banquet, Zheng Shu had introduced his relationship with Lin Si and mentioned that his fiancée was… the daughter of Lin Si’s mentor?

But at that time, Ling Yi hadn’t known about his own background, so he hadn’t really paid attention, and over time, he had forgotten.

—But now that he thought about it, wasn’t she his sister?