Chapter 54: Alien Prequel – Keep Pretending, Keep Pretending

Jiang Shulan was taken to the group by Daniels.

“Orram, we found him in the terraforming bay, but he isn’t on the manifest of any colonist we brought.”

“Who are you?”

Jiang Shulan spread his hands helplessly. “You probably won’t believe me even if I tell you.”

“I know!” Tennessee suddenly shouted, waving his arms wildly. “He… he’s the youngest son of Mr. Weyland, the founder of Weyland Corporation!”

Tennessee loved old songs and paid close attention to historical news. When Jiang Shulan’s photograph had appeared in the newspapers, it had caught his eye immediately.

An exquisitely beautiful face, a slender youthful frame, and those unforgettable blue eyes.

The unfamiliar young man before him had the same features, only now they looked more mature. His entire body gave off an inexplicable aura that made people’s hearts itch.

Around the edges of his irises was a darker ring of deep navy blue, making his eyes seem both crystal clear and unfathomably deep.

Jiang Shulan looked utterly astonished. “You know me?!”

“Of course!” Tennessee said confidently. “I’d drunk a lot that night, but I recognized you from that newspaper at a glance.”

“Hey.” Orram shook his head. “I’ve never heard that Mr. Weyland had a son. He only had a daughter.”

The other crew members nodded as well.

“Tennessee, were you drunk then, or are you drunk now?”

“I’m serious! Why won’t any of you believe me?”

Orram raised his gun. “Hey, kid. Tell us the truth, and maybe we’ll let you go.”

Walter stepped in front of Jiang Shulan. “Captain, I don’t recommend doing that.”

“Walter?”

“He poses no threat to anyone.”

Walter himself found his own behavior strange, but he still chose to stand there. The knife in his hand was ready to strike, though no one knew who he intended to use it against.

“If you’re worried, I’ll keep an eye on him.”

Orram’s wife, Karine, came over to defuse the situation. “All right, Orram. He still looks like a child. He probably isn’t dangerous.”

“Besides, haven’t you already decided to land on Paradise? You can simply take him down there with you.”

“Wait, what Paradise?” Daniels frowned. “That isn’t our destination planet.”

The crew quickly explained that while repairing the ship, they had intercepted a human transmission and discovered a nearby unknown planet with nearly perfect conditions. Orram had named it “Paradise.”

Jiang Shulan didn’t hear the rest because Walter had led him away.

“I’m sorry,” Walter said, draping his coat over Jiang Shulan’s shoulders. “That must have frightened you.”

He then pressed a cup of hot milk coffee with sugar into Jiang Shulan’s hands.

“Thank you.”

Silence fell between them.

“May I ask why you called me David?”

Walter looked much more human than David. He wore a hoodie, which gave him a relaxed appearance, unlike David, who always preferred uniforms that made him look restrained and austere.

Jiang Shulan shook his head and took a sip of the coffee. “I mistook you for someone else.”

Walter narrowed his eyes.

He could tell the boy didn’t want to tell the truth.

But “David” was simply the name used by earlier generations of synthetics. There was no reason to hide it. Why was he keeping it a secret?

“Can you tell me your name?”

“Jiang Shulan.”

“All right.”

Walter reached out and brushed a strand of hair behind Jiang Shulan’s ear. When Jiang Shulan looked at him warily, Walter smiled.

“Shulan, you’re very cute.”

“…Thank you.”

Jiang Shulan lowered his head.

For a moment, because David had called him “Little Master” for so long, he had almost thought Walter was being improperly familiar with him.

He patted his own face, trying to stay clear-headed.

Walter left the room, but less than a minute later he returned carrying eggs and sandwiches.

“I’m sorry. This is all we have on the ship.”

Jiang Shulan accepted them and asked curiously, “Why are you apologizing? Isn’t this normal food?”

Walter sat across from him. “I just have a feeling you don’t like it very much.”

“You’re wrong.”

Jiang Shulan took a bite of the sandwich and spoke with his mouth full.

“I like it.”

Walter smiled softly and said nothing more.

After finishing the sandwich, Jiang Shulan lay comfortably on Walter’s bed and soon fell asleep.

He stayed in Walter’s room for two weeks.

During that time, Walter took meticulous care of him.

Jiang Shulan shamelessly occupied Walter’s bed, made Walter sleep on the floor, and even asked him to wash his hair and do his laundry. Walter obediently did everything.

How dare Walter pretend to be a stranger and scare him? Jiang Shulan was determined to see how long he could keep up the act.

Much later, after meeting the real David, Jiang Shulan could only break into a cold sweat, ‘Ah, what a beautiful blue sky today, and what wonderfully green water.’

On the morning of the third week, Orram announced that they had reached Paradise and wanted Jiang Shulan to accompany them to investigate the planet.

Walter helped him put on a protective suit, fastened his helmet, secured his gloves, and made absolutely certain that not a single part of Jiang Shulan was exposed before taking him aboard Lander One.

They encountered a storm on the way, lost contact with the Covenant, then suddenly found the weather clearing as they entered the atmosphere. They landed successfully on the water.

After checking the equipment, one of the female crew members reported that communication with the Covenant had partially recovered, though it still needed repairs before it could be fully restored.

“You stay here,” Orram ordered. “The rest of you come with me and look around.”

Jiang Shulan saw the others remove their helmets. He had just raised a hand toward his own when Walter stopped him.

“Why not? It’s a little stuffy.”

The endless fields of cultivated wheat around them clearly suggested that humans had once lived here.

“For safety,” Walter assured him. “My scans detected no toxic substances in the atmosphere, but this planet has no records in our database. We should be cautious.”

“Then why didn’t you stop them?”

“They don’t trust me,” Walter said calmly. “They trust their instincts more.”

Jiang Shulan had no choice but to give up.

Still, more than a hundred years had passed, and somehow the equipment on the ship seemed less advanced than before.

After walking a little farther, Karine discovered a river and decided to stay behind with another crew member to collect samples.

Grateful for how Karine had spoken up for him earlier, Jiang Shulan wanted to stay behind and thank her properly, but Orram grabbed him.

“Kid, we still haven’t verified your identity. You’d better behave yourself, all right?”

“I’m sorry.”

Jiang Shulan followed behind him obediently.

“I just wanted to thank her.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Jiang Shulan could feel the others’ distrust, and it made him feel a little sad.

“Look over there!”

A massive crescent-shaped spacecraft stood silently in the distance, mysterious and dangerous.

It was an Engineer ship.

Orram led the crew inside, where they found numerous Engineer corpses.

“My God, what are these?”

“They’re Engineers,” Jiang Shulan volunteered, hoping the information might make them trust him a little more.

“They’re the creators of humanity.”

One of the male crew members laughed mockingly.

“Looks like you’re still in the stage where you believe fairy tales.”

Jiang Shulan pressed his lips together and decided not to speak anymore, lowering his head to look at the ground.

“What’s this?”

He picked up a photograph and wiped away the dirt.

“Dr. Shaw?”

Daniels looked at him.

“You know her?”

“Of course. She was an outstanding and highly professional scientist.”

Before he could say anything else, Orram accidentally triggered some mechanism, and a holographic recording suddenly appeared.

It showed Dr. Shaw piloting the ship and singing.

So the transmission the Covenant had received had originated from here.

“Orram!”

A scream came through the communicator.

Jiang Shulan recognized Karine’s voice.

“Ledward’s been injured! You need to get back here immediately!”

The male crew member who had mocked Jiang Shulan stumbled and nearly fell.

“Captain… I don’t feel well.”

Orram’s expression changed instantly.

“Move! We’re heading back!”

Jiang Shulan struggled to keep up in the bulky protective suit.

Walter immediately scooped him into his arms, and within a few breaths they were at the front of the group.

Night fell with startling speed.

A moment ago, the sky had been filled with brilliant sunset clouds; now it had turned dark and oppressive.

Walter set Jiang Shulan down and immediately sensed movement in the grass.

Before he could react, the male crew member’s back suddenly split open.

His scream tore through the darkness.

Walter had only taken half a step toward him when Jiang Shulan, who had been standing behind him just a moment earlier, had already disappeared.

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