Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

“Wow, what did you guys in the Third Company do? Why does everyone look so terrible?” someone outside asked in astonishment.

When the soldiers heard that the members of the Third Company had finally returned and looked very miserable, the soldiers from the First and Second Companies, who loved to watch the fun, rushed out of their dormitories to see what was happening.

The onlookers were surprised to see that the soldiers from the Third Company were supporting each other as they returned, their steps weak and shaky, almost unable to walk.

The other soldiers watching couldn’t help but wonder what the Third Company had been doing. Had they done something or had something been done to them? Everyone looked as if they had been severely beaten.

However, as they stepped into the light and took a closer look, they noticed that although the soldiers appeared exhausted and disheveled, there were no visible injuries on their faces or hands, unlike someone who had been abused.

“Brothers, what did you do? Why are you all so worn out?” someone asked first.

“Did you go through some intense physical training?” came another voice, barely hiding its glee.

“Did your new commander give you a tough time?” asked someone sympathetically.

“Wow, that’s pretty harsh,” said another, who seemed sympathetic but was actually reveling in their misfortune.

“No, we trained hard and ended up like this,” replied a squad leader from the Third Company.

This squad leader was the highest-ranking soldier in the Third Company, so he wasn’t too exhausted to speak.

“What kind of training lasts this late to allow you back? According to the rules, our training shouldn’t be this strenuous. Your new commander isn’t trying to make things difficult for you, is he?” someone asked with malice.

“That’s not too much,” another squad leader couldn’t help but refute. “Our lady said that the training tasks she had at the Xuan Gu First Military Academy were even more intense than this. Our usual training volume isn’t enough, so it’s not easy to advance in our cultivation.”

“You don’t know, the four graduates from the Xuan Gu First Military Academy that the lady brought with her have been leading us through these drills from start to finish. When we were dismissed just now, they didn’t even break a sweat, while we’re exhausted like dogs,” the first squad leader said, clearly annoyed by the malicious remarks.

“Is it that the training methods used by the lady and her team are different from our previous ones?” asked someone who was simply curious and a bit in awe, clearly a local from Topaz Star.

“We’re using different training equipment, so the training methods must be different too. According to our leader, what we’re doing now is just basic training to gather comprehensive data about our bodies. In a couple of days, the lady and her team will tailor a training regimen for each of us based on our data. That’s when the real exhaustion will kick in.”

The idea of customized training methods represented significant advantages, and even the locals from the remote planet understood this. As a result, the soldiers from the First and Second Companies looked at the members of the Third Company with various expressions of envy and jealousy.

Even though the soldiers from the Third Company were all worn out, seeing those envious gazes invigorated them. They felt a mix of satisfaction and bitterness; if they weren’t so tired, they would definitely celebrate their accomplishments.

However, thinking about the training scheduled for tomorrow, the soldiers from the Third Company didn’t dare to linger. As soon as they entered the barracks, they climbed into bed to rest, knowing that if they could just hang in there, there would be plenty of time for boasting later.

Before long, the barracks of the Third Company fell silent, no longer filled with the sounds of chatter and laughter. Seeing this scene, some soldiers from the other companies returned with a sense of disappointment.

Early the next morning, the soldiers of the First and Second Companies woke up at their usual time. However, since they had gone to bed late the previous night, each of them felt a bit lazy and sluggish.

As they left their dormitory and prepared to head to their respective company’s training grounds, they unexpectedly encountered the soldiers from the Third Company, who were jogging in formation toward them.

Leading the group was a black-haired girl, not yet twenty years old, with an elegant and extraordinary appearance.

Everyone was familiar with this girl; upon seeing her, they immediately recognized her as the lady of the house. Just looking at her, no one would have expected her to be so exceptional.

Behind the lady, the soldiers of the Third Company were divided into four squads, each led by a teenage boy. The boys and girls leading the first and second squads were already fifth-level warriors, while the other two squads consisted of soldiers in the late fourth level.

As the lady led her team past the soldiers of the First and Second Companies, they could clearly sense that the lady and the four leading boys and girls were breathing steadily, while every soldier in the Third Company was panting heavily. The contrast was very obvious.

Watching the retreating figures of the Third Company, someone remarked, “The Xuan Gu First Military Academy truly deserves to be the top military academy of our Gus Empire. Not only is the lady outstanding, but even these four recent graduates would be top-tier talents anywhere.”

“The soldiers from the Third Company have already been out for two hours,” someone else added.

They had been running for over an hour; no wonder the soldiers from the Third Company looked so exhausted.

However, the difference was striking. They had already started training so early, while the First and Second Companies were still ambling along. Suddenly, the soldiers of the First and Second Companies felt that they were being too lax and hurried to pick up the pace.

“Look at what you all look like!” The captain of the First Company arrived early today and, upon seeing his soldiers, angrily began to scold them. “The soldiers from the Third Company have each been running with gravity rings on their arms and legs, already circling the base twice, while you’ve only just arrived!”

The soldiers of the First Company felt very wronged, but they couldn’t say anything. This time wasn’t set by them; it had always been a regulation. If the captain had an issue, he should be venting his anger on the battalion commander or the regiment commander instead.

“Starting tomorrow, your training time will be moved up by two hours,” the captain of the First Company ordered in the end.

Although they wanted to protest, thinking back to how they felt when they saw the Third Company’s retreating figures, the soldiers of the First Company swallowed their objections. They couldn’t afford to fall too far behind; they were afraid of being left behind.

The same speech and decision also happened in the Second Company.

On the third day, the two battalion commanders of the mech battalion, along with their adjutants, heard reports from their adjutants about the activities of the three companies over the past two days.

The battalion commander said with satisfaction, “This lady really is capable; she’s managed to boost the morale of our mech battalion in no time. Very good. Luckily, we were smart enough to hold off and not go against her as the regiment commander suggested.”

The deputy battalion commander nodded in agreement. “Since the lady has made such a significant investment in equipment and potions, let’s wait and see how the training goes. If it’s really effective, we’ll join in. We are her superiors, and we haven’t made things difficult for her, so she shouldn’t refuse us.”

“That’s a good idea,” the battalion commander agreed wholeheartedly.

If Ruo Manni had heard their conversation, she would have certainly wanted to ask them about their lack of shame.

“How are things with the regiment commander?” the battalion commander asked his adjutant.

“After losing the match, the regiment commander has been staying in his office without making any moves, but the deputy commander has been stirring things up a bit, trying to incite others by saying that the lady is being too oppressive,” the battalion commander’s adjutant said.

“With her impressive background and high cultivation, that lady doesn’t care about their petty tactics. On the surface, the regiment commander and his people probably wouldn’t dare to target her, but behind the scenes, it’s hard to say. They can’t just hand over the First Brigade without a fight,” the deputy battalion commander replied.

Since the lady joined the mech battalion, not only the soldiers of the Third Company, but also those from the First and Second Companies no longer spent their evenings chatting casually as they used to.

Every night, it was the soldiers of the First and Second Companies who returned to the barracks exhausted first, followed a while later by the soldiers of the Third Company, who still leaned on each other as they came back.

Now, all three companies trained for the same amount of time, but the soldiers of the Third Company appeared more fatigued every day. They were so tired that they had no energy left to talk. When soldiers from the other two companies tried to ask them about their training, they simply waved their hands and weakly said to talk later.

In recent days, the entire mech battalion camp had been very quiet at night. Yet, every morning, even before dawn, the camp began to come alive with activity.

Days turned into one, two, three… and in the blink of an eye, ten days had passed.

The soldiers from the other two companies had initially looked forward to the lady causing some excitement, but they soon realized that aside from training day in and day out, there was nothing else happening, which left them somewhat disappointed.

“Although this lady is young, she truly has a steady demeanor. She hasn’t left the company even once these past few days. If she doesn’t make a move, we can’t find an opportunity. It’s said that she has some new potions developed by Doctor Paul, and she’s been giving them to the fourth-level soldiers. We all know that Doctor Paul’s potions are not ordinary; this lady is quite generous with them. Commander, we can’t let her keep winning people over like this; we need to come up with a plan,” the deputy commander finally said, unable to hold back any longer.

Although they did not have the ability to train their soldiers in this way, it didn’t mean they couldn’t see the potential consequences of continuing this type of training. If it were their own men, they would naturally be pleased to see their subordinates make progress.

However, those soldiers had already fallen under the lady’s influence. If the soldiers of the Third Company truly advanced significantly through this training, the lady’s ability to win hearts would extend beyond just the Third Company of the mech battalion.

At that point, the entire First Brigade would face issues, and their own troubles would become significant.

Since the day the regiment commander lost the match to that lady, he had remained sullen, saying nothing and doing nothing. The deputy commander even began to suspect that the commander had been so affected by the defeat that he had become cowardly or had changed completely, showing none of his former ruthlessness.

Hearing the deputy commander analyze that if things continued this way, it would be troublesome if that lady truly achieved any accomplishments, the commander finally lifted his head to look at the deputy commander and impatiently said, “Then think of a good plan. Worrying here is useless.”

“It is said that the training schedule set by the lady is ten days of training followed by one day of rest, unlike our previous schedule of five days of training followed by one day of rest. If you do the math, tomorrow is the rest day for the Third Company. I wonder if the lady will return to Baili City. From what I know, the Hua De family has a villa on the Second Ring Road in Baili City, and the lady stayed there when she first returned to Topaz Star,” the deputy commander said suggestively.

The commander, somewhat interested, replied, “Let’s see how it goes tomorrow. Have someone gather more relevant information.”

Of course, Ruo Manni would return to Baili City; even if she didn’t want to, someone would urge her to go back.

Because it was unsafe in the military camp, both Adjutant Ma and Adjutant Tong decided that she should stay quietly in bed at night and not enter the holographic gaming pod.

When Hebrew Adam learned about this matter, he fully agreed with the two adjutants’ opinions. He only came to communicate via flight message mode each night. Although this mode gave a sense of closeness, as if the person was right there, it was still just a projection of light and shadow. The two of them could not be as intimate as they were in the battlefield.

In the past few days, Ruo Manni hadn’t heard Hebrew Adam express any regrets; she thought she would be satisfied just being able to see him every day. Who knew that yesterday, Hebrew Adam suddenly told her that she must return to Baili City to rest tomorrow and that she must enter the war world at night? Only then did Ruo Manni realize he was waiting for her.

After ten consecutive days of special training, the soldiers of the Third Company had started to feel the benefits of the new training methods.

Although they were exhausted every day, their progress was quite evident, and they could estimate how much further they would advance if they continued.

Before this, the soldiers of the Third Company had no choice but to obey the lady due to various reasons, and they still had some thoughts in their hearts.

However, just ten days later, the entire Third Company was unanimously convinced and grateful. They felt so fortunate that the lady had directly parachuted into their company.

Even the deputy company commander was no exception. Since his cultivation had stagnated for decades, he understood better than anyone how much this training combined with the medication could help him improve. He was extremely grateful to have made the wise decision to ally himself with this lady.

As Ruo Manni prepared to return to Baili City, Adjutant Ma, the one with the highest cultivation level, would definitely accompany her, as his primary responsibility was to protect her.

Meanwhile, Adjutant Tong stayed back at the military camp because someone had to supervise the expensive training equipment. Adjutant Tong was highly skilled in handling affairs, saving Ruo Manni a lot of trouble.

Tamaki Kazia and Sheila, of course, were heading back to the Kazia family. Mr. Kazia hadn’t left yet, so Tamaki Kazia naturally wanted to go back and see his father.

However, before the hidden dangers were eliminated, it was actually unsafe for them to go out alone. Therefore, Ruo Manni requested that they accompany her.

As for Pan Shaolu and Marcus Wright, they were very determined to stay behind and train. Coming from the bustling Imperial Capital Star, they were not particularly interested in Baili City, even though they were commoners.

Moreover, these two boys trained extremely hard; they were very afraid of falling too far behind Tamaki Kazia and Sheila. Since the leading youths were working so diligently, the eighty soldiers they led also trained with great dedication.

The flying car that Hua De’s ancestor gave to Ruo Manni was so expensive for a reason, one of which was its ability to change appearance.

So, on the morning of the rest day, when Ruo Manni’s flying car flew out of the base, those who had been watching her exclaimed, “Our lady is truly simple and unadorned. She is willing to spend so much money on training equipment for us, yet she drives the most ordinary flying car on Topaz Star.”

“Are you sure she’s just driving the most ordinary flying car?” the deputy commander asked, somewhat incredulously.

“Absolutely.” The person on the other end of the communication affirmed confidently.

“Commander, this is a fantastic opportunity!” After ending the communication, the deputy commander excitedly asked.

The commander thought for a moment before replying, “You can’t use anything from inside the camp. If you have connections in the black market, you can use them. I’ll cover any amount of credits needed.”

Although the deputy commander was a bit disappointed—using military personnel would have a higher success rate—he knew that such an approach would easily lead back to them. The commander’s method would definitely not implicate them. After thinking it over, he nodded, “I’ll contact them first; I can’t confirm anything yet.”

The commander nodded in agreement.