Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

The area covered by the light-shadow detection system of the flying vehicle was about three kilometers around it, but the light bomb, from the moment it appeared to the instant it was about to hit the vehicle, took no more than a blink of an eye.

Unknowingly, Sheila held her breath, anxiously waiting for Ruo Manni’s counterattack. As expected, at the critical moment, the flying vehicle suddenly shot out a defensive light net, blocking the fist-sized bomb…

Once the crowd had a clear view, the red bomb had already turned and was flying back in the direction it came from.

It happened so quickly that it was almost as if it took no time at all. In the blink of an eye, the missile disappeared into the light-shadow, and then, from the vehicle’s window, they saw a brilliant light flare up at the northwest corner of the flying vehicle, followed by a loud explosion…

“Wow, this vehicle’s defense is amazing!” Sheila exclaimed in surprise.

Ruo Manni glanced at Sheila and smiled. “Didn’t you say my ancestor is generous? The defense on this flying vehicle can block not only light bombs, but even Nethereal bombs.”

Light bombs are designed for smaller aircraft, while Nethereal bombs can turn a small flying ship capable of transporting a thousand people into ashes. However, Nethereal bombs are strictly controlled by the military; no one would dare to take one from the army for personal use unless they were suicidal.

Deputy Ma wasn’t worried because he knew just how strong this vehicle’s defenses were. He remained calm and composed. Sheila thought to herself that from now on, she should stay more composed and not panic over every little thing.

Still curious, Sheila asked, “How exactly did you manage to alter the data of the light bomb and make it return on its original path so quickly?”

Ruo Manni smiled and replied, “As soon as the flying vehicle was locked onto, its defense system locked onto the light bomb’s navigation system. It then started to automatically alter the trajectory data of the bomb’s blast. The moment the bomb touched the defense net, its path changed to return to where it came from.”

Deputy Ma tapped on his light brain, checking the situation at the explosion site of the light bomb. He said, “Miss, although you slightly altered the trajectory of the light bomb, only two of them survived. What do you plan to do about this next?”

Ruo Manni looked at the data on the light brain and shook her head. “We don’t have enough personnel, so there’s no need to worry about it. Let’s just head back to the military camp!”

“Lieutenant, we need to find out who the mastermind behind this is! If we leave now, the evidence might be destroyed,” Tamaki Kazia said, sounding a bit anxious.

“I sent out a distress signal as soon as it started. Uncle Lin’s people should be on their way. I’ve already sent the footage and related information to Uncle Lin, and he’ll handle it from here. This incident could create some opportunities for him, so don’t worry, Uncle Lin will investigate thoroughly.”

“Let Commander Lin handle it; Topaz Star is under his command,” Deputy Ma agreed. “We’re new here, and we haven’t even built up our own personnel yet. It would be hard for us to investigate anything.”

Just then, Ruo Manni received a message. She glanced at it and said, “Uncle Lin says the police have already been dispatched. They’ll be here in two minutes. He wants me to leave first and pretend that I haven’t been attacked by the light bomb, so no one will know about the special capabilities of my flying vehicle.”

As she spoke, Ruo Manni had the flying vehicle take off from the scene. Watching the vehicle speed off, Sheila couldn’t help but comment, “This flying vehicle can go so fast, why was it always so slow before?”

“That was being low-key, okay? On the outside, it’s disguised as an ordinary flying vehicle, so the speed needs to match that of a normal vehicle too! Flying this fast, are you trying to make sure nobody notices?” Ruo Manni replied, adjusting the speed of the vehicle.

By the time they had left the scene, they were already over ten kilometers away. The people who had rushed to the explosion site would not suspect their vehicle. Ruo Manni then switched the flying vehicle back to its normal mode.

Tamaki Kazia looked at Ruo Manni’s various maneuvers with bright eyes and asked in surprise, “Lieutenant, although this flying vehicle is the latest model on the market, some of its features weren’t part of the original design. For example, the defense program that automatically alters the enemy’s trajectory to prevent lock-on; ordinary flying vehicles don’t have that.”

Ruo Manni looked at Tamaki Kazia in surprise and said, “You really know a lot about this stuff. You do know that my cousin is the director of the National Security Bureau, right? It’s no trouble at all for him to modify my flying vehicle.”

It wasn’t that they had forgotten about it, Tamaki Kazia and Sheila thought in unison.

The National Security Bureau has immense power, especially over newly developed weapons and defense equipment. These are first registered by the Bureau before being allocated to the military.

Since Ruo Manni is also a military officer, modifying her vehicle is allowed by the state.

So, they both knew they were relying on a powerful connection, yet they still acted surprised.

“Light bombs are government-controlled weapons. Each military branch is allocated a set number, and their use is recorded. We could trace the mastermind through that,” Deputy Ma said.

“Uncle Lin probably knows more about this than we do,” Ruo Manni replied. “But I suspect the mastermind has already considered this, so they probably didn’t use military channels and likely won’t leave too many traces. If they didn’t use military channels, then they almost certainly used dark market forces. Uncle Lin has been looking for an opportunity to clean up the dark market, which is why I left this matter in his hands. If Uncle Lin’s people are capable, they should be able to deal a heavy blow to the dark market’s infiltrators, which will make us safer.”

Ruo Manni and Deputy Ma exchanged a look, both understanding the other’s thoughts. The Beery family now knows Ruo Manni has left Imperial Capital Star, and they probably won’t let this opportunity to make her disappear slip by.

Although the First Regiment is still within the Beery family’s influence, the problem is that no one in the entire regiment has a cultivation level higher than Ruo Manni’s. It would be difficult to set her up, so it’s likely that the Beery family will send assassins instead.

However, because Topaz Star is currently very strict about checking incoming populations, it’s not easy for those assassins to infiltrate with fake identities.

Thus, Ruo Manni and Deputy Ma are worried that the Beery family might use Topaz Star’s dark market forces to attempt an assassination, catching them off guard.

The dark market forces under Topaz Star began infiltrating when Lin Changfeng took office, so Lin Changfeng doesn’t have much understanding of the dark market. It is unclear whether the Beery family secretly controls Topaz Star’s dark market, whether there are any experts above level six, or if there are any deadly weapons—everything is uncertain.

For Lin Changfeng, Topaz Star’s dark market is a hidden and unknown threat. If today’s incident can be used to sweep through the infiltrators in the dark market, the safety of people like Ruo Manni will greatly improve.

Sheila and Tamaki Kazia didn’t know much about the dark market—this was actually the first time they’d heard about it, so they just listened without speaking.

Seeing Ruo Manni’s expression when she spoke about Topaz Star, both Tamaki Kazia and Sheila had a feeling.

Ruo Manni seemed completely at ease here, as though this place belonged to her, unlike when she was on Imperial Capital Star, where she was always a bit cautious and reserved. No wonder she always wanted to return to Topaz Star.

Ruo Manni’s flying vehicle returned to the military camp just before nightfall. It was right when the soldiers were dispersing to return to their dormitories. She and Sheila encountered many female soldiers outside the dormitory building.

Aside from the day she reported in, when she met a few female soldiers outside the dormitory, Ruo Manni usually came back very late from training and hadn’t had the chance to meet anyone else since.

It was just getting dark today, the exact time when each company disperses, so the usually quiet female soldiers’ dormitory building became bustling with activity.

Because Ruo Manni held the highest rank, every female soldier who saw her would immediately stand at attention and salute.

Ruo Manni noticed that the female soldiers she encountered today did not show the same hostility and indifference that the few soldiers she met on her first day had. Their attitude towards her was clearly one of respect and awe.

Ruo Manni guessed that when she defeated the highest-ranking officer in the First Regiment—the previous top expert—she had shown an extraordinary level of combat power, which made these soldiers afraid of her and reluctant to act out in front of her.

Now, it seemed that in the hearts of the First Regiment soldiers, regardless of where Ruo Manni came from or how she had been suddenly assigned here with no qualifications but holding such a high position, once they learned she was the strongest soldier in the regiment, they accepted her without question

A young, underage, monstrous girl like her—others had no thoughts about her other than respect and fear.

Ruo Manni returned the standard military salute to each soldier who greeted her, as she had too many things to do and no time to socialize with them. Her expression was calm and distant.

Sheila, likely understanding Ruo Manni’s mindset, also wore an indifferent face towards these soldiers. Her proud and aloof demeanor made others even more intimidated.

As they walked through the area, no female soldier dared to approach them to initiate a conversation.

When Ruo Manni reached her dormitory door, she first glanced at the smart lock on her door, a sarcastic smile curling at the corner of her lips.

During her absence, someone had tried to enter her dorm.

However, not only had the intruder failed to break her code, but they were also hit by a poisoned needle shot out from the lock for unauthorized entry.

Ruo Manni was certain of this because her smart lock had sent her two notifications about someone attempting to unlock it and had even captured the intruder’s facial image.

One of the images captured was of the intruder’s face, which was directly facing the smart lock’s keyhole when the specially designed poisoned needle was ejected. Judging by the image, it was a female soldier.

Ruo Manni followed the trajectory of the poisoned needle on the floor, but found nothing. Once she confirmed that the intruder had indeed been hit, she couldn’t help but smile.

This poison was extremely potent. The moment the female soldier was struck, she would have to lie down. Although the toxin wasn’t lethal, thanks to the common antidotes most people carried, it would still cause the intruder a great deal of horror.

Moreover, this toxin was notoriously difficult to neutralize. Without an antidote, it would take months for the female soldier to recover using conventional methods, with her face likely rotting for two to three months. Ruo Manni believed that this lesson would make the soldier feel as though she were living a torturous existence for those months.

What others didn’t know was that while the lock appeared to be a typical password lock, it was actually a genetic lock. Unless someone forcibly broke or melted the lock, only the person whose genes were registered could open it.

Thus, anyone other than the authorized person trying to unlock the door with a password would be met with a poisoned needle. This genetic lock was a special creation that even the National Security Bureau did not have access to. It was privately commissioned by the royal family and had never been used in public.

If it weren’t for the fact that Hebrew Adam had given her two of these locks privately, Ruo Manni wouldn’t even have known such a lock existed.

Ruo Manni quickly tapped on the smart lock, appearing to enter a password, but in reality, she was verifying her genetic information. To outsiders, it seemed as though after she entered a long string of digits, the lock automatically opened.

Though Ruo Manni and her group acted as if nothing had happened and quietly returned to their respective dorms, each of them knew the situation well. Many eyes were watching her flying car, and it was likely that some would be surprised and frustrated that she had emerged unscathed.

When Ruo Manni had just arrived at Topaz Star, the Beery family had just been involved in the assassination attempt on Hebrew Adam. They were now in deep trouble and unlikely to spare any effort to assassinate her anytime soon.

So, with just a little thought, it was easy to guess who the mastermind behind this incident was. Seeing their group return safely, someone was definitely going to be uneasy.

As Ruo Manni entered her room, a cold smile appeared on her lips. The female soldier who tried to tamper with her lock was likely sent by these people, probably to plant something in her room.

Since they were so determined, she might as well play along with them, Ruo Manni thought.

“Commander, the young lady’s flying car has returned to the military camp, and she is unharmed. Those people somehow failed, and ended up blowing themselves up. Now, the evidence has fallen into the hands of the police,” the deputy commander reported, with a mix of disappointment and nervous anxiety.

The police in Baili City were under the control of Lin Changfeng, and no one knew what he could uncover with the evidence now in his hands.

Three years ago, after the young lady and the second prince were assassinated and had bounties placed on their heads, the National Security Bureau conducted a massive crackdown on the black markets and underground organizations across the Gus Empire.

The dark organizations in the empire were severely weakened, with only a few surviving in the border planets where the crackdown was less intense.

Since that major operation, the empire had strictly enforced weapon controls, with severe penalties for violations. The weapons these people possessed had almost no channels for procurement anymore. The light bomb they used was likely just old stock from before.

The commander had spent nearly all of his savings to hire these people for the mission. But to his surprise, not only was the target not killed, but the attackers were all wiped out, and worse, their remains had ended up in the hands of the police. The deputy commander couldn’t even imagine the disastrous consequences that might follow.

“You didn’t do anything stupid and leave any evidence, did you?” the commander frowned and asked.

In truth, the commander was not as surprised by the outcome as the deputy commander. He knew better than anyone the importance of this young lady in the Hua De family and the first prince’s eyes. They would never allow her to take such risks, and would do everything in their power to ensure her safety.

Especially since the eldest son of the Hua De family is the director of the National Security Bureau, this young lady must have countless valuable things. Thinking that a light bomb could kill her is just a dream.

“I hid my identity, but there was an issue with the flying signal. According to the usual methods of the black market, they would erase the transaction records after completing the deal. But since the transaction isn’t finished yet, I’m not sure if they’ll manage to trace it,” the deputy commander said, somewhat regretfully.

Why did he have to be greedy for credit and handle things himself? It would have been better if he had just let the commander take care of it, as he did in the past. That way, he wouldn’t be so worried now.