Counterfeit Hero

People coming and going would unconsciously steal a glance at this girl.

It wasn’t just because of her beauty, but more so her gentle demeanor. Such gentle girls, those whose tenderness is etched in their bones, are rare in this world now.

This caused people to sigh involuntarily.

A girl like her should be in a park shaded by lush trees, strolling with a boyfriend who cherishes her dearly. She should be curled up on a sofa at home, her fair and slender legs tucked beneath her, nestled next to her boyfriend watching TV. Or, smiling shyly among a group of girls—yet now, here she was, crammed into the chaotic, old passenger cabin of a spaceship, displaced and adrift.

In space travel, there aren’t many sights to see.

Most of the time, the view outside the small porthole was just darkness. Only when passing by a star system could one see some spectacular scenery. But even such views become boring after a while.

Guessing the identity and future of such a single girl became a rather good diversion during this insane journey.

After several days of making all sorts of curious, kind, creepy, or even nasty speculations about the single girl’s identity and future, the people finally shifted their attention. They played cards, watched TV, and chatted noisily. They even quarreled and fought—anything to pass the time. After all, it would take more than twenty days to pass through the Mars Free Channel and reach the Chuckna Republic! Besides, whether they could make it was still uncertain. That depended on the situation at the transit station upon arrival.

The transit station on this journey was the 106 Space Station in the Mars Free Channel. It was the largest and most famous space station in the Free World. Originally an interstellar supply point, over hundreds of years, as more and more ships came and went, the space station gradually expanded to eventually become a space base capable of accommodating nearly 500,000 people, complete with a port, repair docks, trading posts, accommodation areas, and entertainment facilities such as bars and cinemas.

After the war erupted at Mars Free Port, the 106 Space Station temporarily took over the role of Central City.

Countless refugee ships, commerce group fleets, smugglers, adventurers, and mercenaries gathered there. They repaired their ships, sought trades, or lingered in the station’s bars waiting for news. When to break through, when the channel to Chuckna would be safer... people could only get such news here.

Passengers could only hope for good luck, hoping that after replenishment they could set off immediately for Chuckna and have a smooth journey to their destination. Although they knew such a possibility was very slim, still, they all desperately hoped for it.

They didn’t want to stay in that dreadful place, 106, for months. It was not a place for those who had left their homes for a long stay. There, even if you didn’t live lavishly, just staying in the simplest berth and eating the most unpalatable food would cost a price that would make you howl in despair.

This was no secret; everyone was aware of it before boarding this ship. Each person knew the future might not be beautiful, but what did it matter? At least leaving Leray offered a chance, while staying in Ludelit meant facing overwhelming artillery fire!

Meiduo ignored the curious glances around her. Her destination wasn’t Chuckna. When she reached 106 Space Station, she would disembark and transfer to a small ship heading to Mars Free Port.

However, she had heard that the war at Mars Free Port was raging fiercely. Many wanted to get out, but few dared to enter. To get in, one must find a transport ship belonging to a Mars faction, for only they continued to risk destruction by entering Mars.

Though hope was slim, Meiduo still decided to try her luck.

She could no longer wait, longing day and night, only receiving news that made her feel he was simultaneously close at hand and as distant as the horizon. Nia and he had been together in Gazalin, but what about her... That Fatty had returned to Ludelit and cruelly wouldn’t come to find her. Did he really think that with time’s passage, he would become just another passerby in her heart?

The Central Leray Star Domain had already been breached; if she didn’t take the initiative to find him, she feared she might never see him again in her lifetime.

No danger mattered, as long as she could see him... even if just once!

Escorted, she had watched as that chubby figure jumped out from the roadside... In the hole, she and Nia had dug the soil, watching Fatty drag back Mecha parts from the wreckage like a mouse…

In the Prisoner of War Camp, the joy when she saw that familiar figure behind the barbed wire… The shyness as he dragged her, with a flushed face, to run around the dance floor at the party… The heartrending sadness when she heard he had fallen, and everything turned black before her… After work, the distracted anticipation when she saw him on TV…

Scenes from the past played like a movie in Meiduo’s mind. Her eyes unknowingly reddened.

Does he... still remember her now?

Meiduo hugged her knees tight, her misty eyes gazing out of the porthole… the ship was passing through a gravity jump channel of a star, the earthy-yellow planet before her filled her entire view as if it were about to collide.