Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

The deputy commander realized their captain had made a very foolish decision today. If the newcomer had been an ordinary person, this tactic might have worked to make things difficult, leaving them frustrated and powerless. For most people arriving to take up a new position, if the captain wasn’t there to introduce them personally, showing up at the Mech Battalion’s third company claiming to be the new commander would indeed seem laughable.

However, this newcomer was no ordinary person. This young lady not only had the strength but also a powerful backing, enough to turn the captain into a joke. Why would the captain try this tactic on her?

In fact, this approach not only failed to embarrass her but gave her a legitimate reason to challenge the captain. In the army, though a lower rank can challenge a higher one, it’s unheard of for someone to do so without cause. Especially challenging repeatedly until the higher-ranked officer was demoted—it’s something only a serious grudge would prompt.

But this young lady had come in clearly ready to assert herself. She had already hinted that the captain was trying to make things difficult for her, and she’d made it clear that if he didn’t show up soon, she’d issue a formal challenge.

This gave her a legitimate stance, a “just cause,” for any action she might take. People wouldn’t see her as arrogant; instead, they’d likely laugh privately at the captain’s failed attempt to assert his dominance, which had backfired spectacularly.

As the deputy commander anxiously watched time tick by, he grew increasingly worried. He had warned the captain that this young lady was no pushover. Why hadn’t he returned already?

Just then, Ruo Manni received a message. Noticing the barely concealed anxiety in the deputy’s eyes despite his calm demeanor, a faint smile appeared on her lips.

Then she said, “Adjutant Tong, send a message to the Crown Prince, letting him know that I arrived at the base at 9:43 to report in, but the commander intentionally avoided me, and the deputy commander has done nothing. Let the Crown Prince serve as my witness in the future. I am not defying orders—it’s certain people here misusing their positions and sowing division within the camp.”

“Yes, Lieutenant,” Adjutant Tong replied, opening his communicator and typing out the message, which he promptly sent.

The deputy and his companions were stunned. My god, the confidence she has—casually asking the Crown Prince himself to be her witness. Not even the captain would dare go up against the Crown Prince. But… where on earth is the captain?

After Adjutant Tong sent the message, he received a reply almost immediately.

With a small smile, he announced, “Lieutenant, His Highness the Second Prince, your fiancé, is with the Crown Prince. He asks me to relay this message: you don’t need to bear any grievances; he’ll back you up.”

Ruo Manni glanced at Adjutant Tong, wondering if he had added that comment himself or if Hebrew Adam really had said it word for word.

While Ruo Manni didn’t like to rely on Hebrew Adam’s name, and although their engagement wasn’t officially finalized, she had no intention of using her potential title as Second Princess to intimidate anyone.

However, Adjutant Tong’s words were a massive blow to the deputy commander and his group.

As the imperial capital’s prestigious Hua De family heiress, Ruo Manni certainly commanded respect, but they weren’t directly under the Hua De family’s influence, and the Beery family shielded them well.

When the captain learned that it was this young lady being sent here, he had remarked that the Hua De family wasn’t a threat; her real backing was her cousin, the Crown Prince. The Beery family wouldn’t dare openly oppose a prince.

But with over a dozen star systems separating them from the Imperial Capital, the Crown Prince couldn’t intervene significantly unless she were in physical danger.

But what they hadn’t expected was that this young lady was actually engaged to the Second Prince…

Oh, no—why had they never heard this before? Weren’t people saying that the Beery family’s heiress was the one paired with the Second Prince? How did it turn out to be this young lady instead?

Of course, now it made sense. She and the Second Prince had been classmates at the military academy, even partners in several exercises. Given that her credentials were even more impressive than those of the Beery family’s daughter, it was no surprise if the Second Prince had been moved by her.

This new revelation made her even less of someone they could afford to offend. A cousin might not monitor his younger cousin’s affairs too closely, but a fiancé would likely not tolerate seeing his fiancée mistreated.

The deputy and the others were practically desperate to rush out and drag the captain back. The problem was, they had all sent a flurry of urgent messages, yet the captain remained unreachable, neither responding nor appearing.

What the deputy commander didn’t know was that, the moment Ruo Manni spotted the captain leaving from afar, Adjutant Tong had quietly suggested a strategy that Ruo Manni and the others immediately approved.

As soon as Ruo Manni’s group entered the building, Adjutant Tong used his communicator to block all outgoing signals from within the area, making it impossible for the deputy’s messages to get through.

Ruo Manni didn’t know exactly how Adjutant Tong managed it, but she made a mental note of his expertise in network and information security.

Meanwhile, the captain, not receiving any of the deputy’s messages, assumed that the young lady was just as he’d suspected—a famous figure but an empty showpiece with no real capabilities.

Confident in his plan, he left the base, intending to make her wait an entire day, to humiliate her a bit and perhaps reprimand her afterward.

Little did the captain know that Ruo Manni had already announced her intention to challenge him if he delayed—and, even more unforeseen, she had notified the Crown Prince to witness the situation.

An hour soon passed, and the captain still hadn’t returned. Ruo Manni and her companions remained calm and composed, but the deputy commander was growing increasingly anxious. Despite sending over a dozen messages, he had received no response. Although he found it hard to believe anyone could block communications in their own base, he began to sense that something was off, so he sent someone out to find the captain.

After about fifteen minutes, the person returned, casting a cautious look at Ruo Manni and her group, with a hint of uncertainty in his expression. Quietly, he reported to the deputy commander, “The captain left the base over half an hour ago. I messaged him, and he replied right away… The captain said he hadn’t received any of your messages. I gave him a rough idea of the situation, and he’s on his way back now.”

The deputy glanced uneasily at Ruo Manni’s group. Someone here had managed to block their signals without a trace, right under their noses. It was alarming, and he couldn’t tell who might be responsible. He studied each member, finding that none seemed ordinary; any one of them could have been behind it.

It took the captain another half-hour to return, suggesting he had gone quite a distance from the base. He was a tall, muscular man, with a face that, while not exactly hostile, gave off an intimidating vibe. Flanked by seven or eight fifth-level warriors, he looked imposing.

The problem was that the young woman standing across from him—although a full head shorter and finely featured—exuded an aura even more powerful than his own. Not only that, but her two adjutants had strength on par with his, effectively suppressing him. Though he had brought eight fifth-level warriors as a show of force, Ruo Manni’s group of just three managed to completely overwhelm them in terms of presence.

Confronted by this young telepath, whose background, connections, and power far exceeded his own, the captain found himself at a loss for words. Just as the deputy had feared, he now regretted his earlier actions; all he had done was give this young lady the perfect opportunity to publicly humiliate him.

“Captain, I mentioned this earlier: you’re an hour and a half late, so I’m challenging you three times.” The young woman formally issued her challenge.

At that moment, Lin Changfeng received an internal update from the First Division of the base. While he couldn’t completely neutralize certain staunch opposition figures, he had managed to place some of his own people within to gather intel.

With a helpless smile, Lin Changfeng commented, “This kid really has some nerve. I asked her to handle the deputy leader of the Third Mecha Battalion, and she went straight to taking on the captain of the First Division.”

Adjutant George wisely refrained from mentioning that this was actually his idea. Just yesterday, under the guise of delivering supplies, he had met with the young lady and analyzed the captain’s background and influence for her.

Seeing her expression at the time, George knew she understood his intentions, and he had been quietly looking forward to today’s events. Unexpectedly, the captain practically sealed his own fate, provoking the young lady into confronting him head-on.

“She’s really grown a lot over the years. Look how sharp she is. This approach is actually the best one. If she only dealt with the deputy leader, there would still be others in the First Division willing to stir up trouble, relying on the captain’s support. But if she can suppress the captain, the Third Battalion’s deputy won’t dare try anything further. This way, she’ll be free to deal with the rest,” George observed.

Lin Changfeng understood this logic, but considering how young Manni was, he hadn’t wanted her to clash directly with a captain and risk provoking the Beery family, which had deep ties to the Seventh Corps.

George, unaware of the Beery family’s resentment toward Manni due to her connection with the Second Prince, thought that suppressing the captain would suffice. However, he didn’t realize that the Beery family already harbored jealousy toward her. Learning that she had directly landed within the Beery family’s area of control on Topaz Star, they might react intensely and potentially even plot to eliminate her.

But since Ruo Manni had already acted, it was too late to intervene. Lin Changfeng decided he’d monitor the situation closely and consider whether he needed to contact the Crown Prince directly.

At the Third Mecha Battalion, First Division, the deputy leader’s adjutant hurried back inside. “Captain, we’re in serious trouble this time.”

“What’s going on?” the deputy leader of the Third Battalion asked with a frown, an uneasy feeling forming in his mind. Today was the day the new company captain was scheduled to report in.

The adjutant caught his breath and replied, “Captain, I just got a message from a friend on the patrol team. They ran into our new captain about an hour ago. Guess who this new arrival really is?”

The adjutant wore a troubled expression, as though foreseeing significant issues ahead.

“If you have something to say, just spit it out! Stop with the theatrics,” the deputy captain snapped, already guessing that anyone who could be parachuted into this position wasn’t going to be easy to deal with.

“The new captain… it’s that young lady from Topaz Star,” replied the adjutant, his face full of worry.

“What? Are you sure it’s “that” young lady?” The deputy captain’s reaction was immediate and intense.

“I’m sure. To confirm what my friend told me, I went over to the gate to check the registration logs myself. The young woman leading the group is named Hua De Ruo Manni, Lieutenant Hua De. Isn’t she the young lady from the Hua De family that’s all over the news?”

The deputy captain had no choice but to believe it. He muttered a curse under his breath. “A noble family’s daughter from the capital, and she chooses to come all the way out here to Topaz Star…”

“Deputy Captain, if she’s really “that” young lady, then our previous plan won’t work. We’d be causing ourselves serious trouble,” the adjutant said anxiously. This had been his idea, but he knew that if something went wrong and this young lady was harmed due to their scheme, he wouldn’t be able to escape the consequences.

The deputy captain cursed a few more times.

“Not to mention, we’re completely outmatched. The two adjutants with her have higher levels than our own captain. Even if it’s not us, I’m afraid the captain himself wouldn’t stand a chance against her,” added the adjutant.

“Scrap the plan. We’ll assess the situation and act accordingly,” the deputy captain replied. He might be following the captain’s orders, but he wasn’t reckless enough to provoke someone he couldn’t handle.

He then instructed the adjutant to keep gathering intel while he stood alone, visibly worried. This young lady had powerful backing; he knew he didn’t have the means to bring her down—and if things went wrong, even the captain might find himself in serious trouble.

The deputy captain’s thoughts were confirmed when his adjutant returned, bringing news that validated his suspicions. The captain had intentionally delayed meeting the young lady to give her a hard time, but she openly called him out on it, claiming he was trying to make things difficult for her. She even involved the Crown Prince from the capital as a witness, asserting that, due to the captain’s behavior, she was formally challenging him.

Though the deputy captain had never met this young lady, he was well aware of her reputation. After all, Lin Changfeng’s rapid rise had largely been due to her influence, and everyone knew about her. Despite not yet being an adult, she was already a late-stage Level 6 mental force user. Regardless of her youth or inexperience, the sheer advantage of a full level meant the captain stood a real chance of being defeated. If he won, that would be one thing—but if he lost…

To be beaten by an underage girl would be utterly humiliating. Even without being present, the deputy captain could imagine the captain feeling trapped, with no way out of his predicament.

“I expect that young lady will arrive here soon,” the deputy captain said, turning to his adjutant. “Recall everyone to their posts and make sure they stay in line. Anything else can be dealt with later.” He knew his limitations; even with all his experience, as a mid-level Level 5 warrior, he was no match for her.

After arranging to duel the captain the next day, Ruo Manni turned to the deputy captain and, with a polite smile, said, “If you’d be so kind as to escort me to the Third Company in the Mecha Battalion.”

There was nothing else the deputy captain could do—if the captain couldn’t stop her, he certainly couldn’t either. So he dutifully led the young lady to the Third Company.

Originally, Ruo Manni had called ahead to the Third Company, notifying them of her arrival that day to give them a chance to “test her limits,” setting the stage for her to turn the tables and establish her authority. However, she hadn’t expected her identity to be recognized even before she entered the camp gates, nor that the captain would delay her, preventing her from reaching the company at her intended time.

Before Ruo Manni even reached the Third Company’s camp, she could see, from a distance, that all the soldiers had been ordered to line up, standing in formation as they awaited the inspection by their new commander. It was clear the deputy company commander already knew who she was.

As Ruo Manni walked closer, she noticed a subtle stir ripple through the 200-strong formation as they got a clear look at her face. The soldiers’ expressions were filled with shock and disbelief.

The deputy company commander approached, first saluting the deputy captain, then saluting Ruo Manni. Regardless of whether he fully knew her background, Ruo Manni’s rank was higher than his, so he was obligated to salute her first.

“This is Lieutenant Hua De Ruo Manni. She will be your new company commander,” the deputy captain stated simply.