Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

Hebrew Adam wanted to express his feelings to Ruo Manni, but he didn’t expect that she wasn’t someone who enjoyed sweet words. He wasn’t sure whether he should be happy that he didn’t have to say such things or frustrated because she didn’t believe that he was devoted to her.

Anyway, after glancing at Ruo Manni, who said she only cared about his actions and not his words, Hebrew Adam thought there was nothing more for him to say. When the time was right, he would show her through his actions.

However, Hebrew Adam couldn’t help but wonder, as he thought absentmindedly: Could it be that Manni remains so calm because she doesn’t feel very strongly for him? This might explain why she hadn’t developed any reluctance to part from him.

As for him, he couldn’t wait to keep her by his side and not let her go to the distant frontier planets. To see her, he’d have to travel across several star systems.

To align himself with her on the same front line sooner and eliminate the threat from the Beery family, he privately altered the gradual invasion plan that had been set with his older brother and opted for a more aggressive approach, deliberately provoking an assassination attempt.

“What’s wrong? Are you thinking about something unpleasant?” Ruo Manni asked.

Though she might be a bit slow when it came to emotions, she was very sensitive to other people’s feelings. As soon as Hebrew Adam’s mood shifted, she sensed it. She thought it was because she had refused the engagement, which made him upset.

“The assassination attempt,” Hebrew Adam replied calmly. “Commander Lin made quite the gain this time and simultaneously resolved a major hidden threat.”

Ruo Manni nodded in agreement. It was shocking to discover how many assassins had been hiding in the black market of a border star, and their strength was no small matter.

Fortunately, this incident allowed many of them to be cleared out. Even if some slipped through the cracks, there weren’t many left. Otherwise, in the event of an interstellar war, if these people were controlled and used by aliens, it would have been disastrous for the people of Topaz Star.

Speaking of the assassination attempts they both encountered, Hebrew Adam’s “assassination” had been part of his own scheme. Although he had put himself in great danger due to his impulsiveness, it also left behind many critical pieces of evidence.

As for Ruo Manni, her swift and unexpected counterattack left many key clues, which greatly disrupted the dark market.

Lin Changfeng’s team had also obtained critical evidence from the black market. This evidence could prove that the former and current commanders of the Seventh Army had secretly colluded with the black market on the border stars within the Seventh Army’s jurisdiction, committing numerous serious crimes.

As a result, not only had the Beery family’s two attempts failed, but they had also suffered massive losses, truly experiencing a stroke of bad luck.

“My older brother has nearly gathered all the evidence as well. If things go smoothly, you should be able to see the news reports soon,” Hebrew Adam said coldly.

It seems the Beery family is about to fall, Ruo Manni thought.

Since her rebirth, thanks to the powerful and influential First Prince, who was also a reborn person, and herself, a time-traveling figure subtly influencing things, the overall national strength of the Gus Empire in this world was vastly different from the one described in the novel.

In the novel, the Beery family was a staunch supporter of the Second Prince, and the Second Prince in the novel relied heavily on the Beery family to stir up trouble and opposed the male protagonist, Hua Deli.

In the novel, the Beery family was still thriving up until the last update, but according to the author’s foreshadowing, they were bound to fall into the hands of the male protagonist. Their fate was certainly going to be grim.

In the current world, however, the Second Prince had first been reshaped by the First Prince and then cut off by Ruo Manni. Not only had the Second Prince’s son-in-law status been removed, but the Beery family was about to be uprooted by the two princes working together, even though it was happening a good ten years earlier than in the novel. Thinking about it, their situation really was unfortunate. Ruo Manni even felt a fleeting moment of fake sympathy for the Beery family.

But what could she do? The Beery family members just loved to court death. If they hadn’t been so reckless, the two princes might not have discovered their unforgivable actions and would have just aimed to seize power. Instead, they were going to be completely eradicated.

Ruo Manni was, of course, fully supportive of Hebrew Adam taking full control of the Seventh Army. Even though Hebrew Adam was still young and not yet capable of handling such a massive responsibility, King Adam and the First Prince had plenty of talented people under their command. It would be no problem for Hebrew Adam to choose some capable adjutants to assist him.

Once the Seventh Army fell into the hands of Hebrew Adam, when the Yunkai Star people arrived, the Seventh Army would be able to provide timely assistance to Topaz Star, ensuring that the forces of Topaz Star wouldn’t end up like in the novel, fighting alone until their complete annihilation.

Ruo Manni’s break this time was purely to visit Hebrew Adam in the War Realm, so she returned to the base the next afternoon.

This time, Ruo Manni and her adjutant, Ma, still took the “ordinary” hovercar, but they didn’t encounter any “accidents” along the way and smoothly returned to the camp.

As soon as the four soldiers on duty saw Ruo Manni and Adjutant Ma, they immediately greeted them with great respect and ushered them inside.

“It seems like I’m quite popular now. I almost forgot that I’m still a beautiful girl,” Ruo Manni joked narcissistically.

Adjutant Ma gave her a look as if she was thinking too much before saying, “These four are soldiers from the other two companies in the Mecha Battalion.”

So, what Adjutant Ma meant was that they weren’t being respectful because she was a beautiful girl, but because of the resources she held.

Ruo Manni glanced back at Adjutant Ma. He really was a low-emotion, straight-laced guy. No wonder he was still single at over a hundred years old. Adjutant Tong was about the same age as him, yet his grandson was already attending a prestigious university.

It was just after noon when they returned to the camp, and Ruo Manni didn’t feel like heading back to her dorm yet, so she went to the company office instead.

To her surprise, as soon as she entered the office, Adjutant Tong brought some good news.

This morning, just as training began, the commander of the Mecha Battalion’s third company had leveled up, advancing from mid-level five to late-stage five.

Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal as it was just a promotion within the same level. A few days ago, someone from the third company had advanced from early-stage five to mid-level five, and it hadn’t caused much of a stir among the soldiers.

But the issue was that this person’s cultivation had stagnated for over forty years, and everyone had thought that he would never be able to level up again. Yet, this newly appointed company commander had only been there for less than a month, and the vice commander had broken through a forty-year-long bottleneck.

When Ruo Manni first took office, after she intimidated everyone by using the “kill the monkey to warn the chicken” tactic, she promised the vice commander that she would help him advance to level six within three years in order to win people’s hearts.

This promise was quietly spread by someone with ulterior motives within the Mecha Battalion early in the morning, and in less than two days, the entire First Battalion of the base knew about it.

At first, not to mention the other soldiers who thought the young lady was too arrogant and had gone overboard with her boasting, even the people from the third company secretly doubted that she was just bluffing.

However, just over twenty days later, those who had spoken ill of her felt a little embarrassed, because it seemed that the young lady wasn’t just bluffing; she actually had the ability to back up her words.

“I didn’t suppress this matter. In fact, I subtly encouraged it. I’m sure by now the entire military camp knows about it,” Adjutant Tong said.

Ruo Manni and Adjutant Ma both looked at him with great appreciation. Someone like her, a living advertisement, had to be made widely known, otherwise, how would people understand the real strength of their team, which had been parachuted in?

“As for how the other two battalions feel, we can’t tell yet. But the Mecha Battalion soldiers definitely won’t sit still. Not long after the news spread this morning, the two battalion commanders, the regular and deputy commanders, came over specifically to check out our training equipment. From what they said, it looks like they will probably come to talk to you tomorrow,” Adjutant Tong said.

Ruo Manni nodded. She had already prepared herself for this when she saw that both battalion commanders were stuck at the late-stage level five.

According to the information Adjutant George had given her, these two battalion commanders were centrists, or rather fence-sitters. They tended to lean toward whichever side was stronger, but they would only lean, never fully commit to one side. They wouldn’t choose a side to fully back.

This was because the Mecha Battalion commander’s family was a powerful force on Topaz Star, and even the regiment commander wouldn’t dare to openly clash with the regular commander, considering that the latter was an outsider.

Adjutant Tong and Ruo Manni both felt that people like this, who have backing but don’t engage in any illicit activities, are competent in their roles as battalion commanders but are slippery and hard to control. In fact, these types of people are the hardest to deal with.

Therefore, from the start, Ruo Manni planned to use the two battalion commanders’ cultivation levels to keep them in check.

For the other two battalions in the First Regiment, she could take her time, but it was crucial to gain control of the Mecha Battalion as quickly as possible.

One of the main reasons Ruo Manni came to Topaz Star was to cultivate as many level six Starry Sky Mecha Warriors as possible.

The soldiers in the camps under Lin Changfeng’s command, who had already been at the mid to late stage of level five, had already made considerable progress, with many having advanced to level six.

According to statistics, Topaz Star now had over twenty level six warriors, but there were no soldiers above level seven. In other words, the highest-ranking cultivators in the army now were Ruo Manni and Adjutant Ma.

Two years ago, Dr. Paul developed a relatively cheap energy-boosting potion. While its effects weren’t ideal, when combined with targeted training, it could still help those whose cultivation had stagnated for a long time to make progress. Once some movement occurred, another more expensive potion could be taken to ensure further advancement.

Though this method was a bit costly, the entire empire was so vast that no matter how many potions were produced, demand would always outstrip supply.

Although the Crown Prince had tried to provide as much as possible to Topaz Star, it was still far from enough, and he couldn’t be too partial to one area.

The potions Ruo Manni had on hand were bought by her after careful planning over the past year. Additionally, before coming to Topaz Star, Hua Deyu, Elder Hua De, and Hua Deqi had urgently helped her acquire them.

In fact, the Crown Prince, her cousin, had secretly provided Ruo Manni with a fair amount. However, the one who contributed the most was Hebrew Adam.

Ruo Manni didn’t know exactly how Hebrew Adam managed to get so many potions, but it was clear that this was his way of showing his feelings for her.

She looked at how much effort Hebrew Adam had put into preparing various supplies for her return to Topaz Star, running around and thinking of everything, making sure nothing was overlooked.

Hebrew Adam, who was not particularly considerate by nature, had done so much for her in private. It could be said that he had given her everything he could. Regardless of his status, it was clear that he was putting his heart into this.

At the time, Ruo Manni hadn’t said much to him, only quietly accepting everything. However, Hebrew Adam didn’t quite understand her silent acceptance and, before their departure, became quietly upset that she hadn’t openly agreed to his requests.

Hebrew Adam didn’t realize that, although she hadn’t said it aloud, with her personality, her quiet acceptance meant she had accepted him from the heart. If she hadn’t, she wouldn’t have accepted everything so calmly.

People only act polite to those who are not involved with them. Who would be overly grateful to their own boyfriend?

Later on, Ruo Manni noticed Hebrew Adam’s behavior, and it was obvious that someone had pointed this out to him.

“It seems your method is quite effective, Miss. Though it was costly, the results are the best.”

The reason these people had progressed so quickly was that Miss Ruo had used her money to make it happen. Whether it was the training equipment or the energy-boosting potions, everything had come from her own pockets.

Ruo Manni smiled but didn’t say anything. Now that her financial situation was very prosperous, making a small sacrifice during a national crisis didn’t matter. After all, if the country fell, there would be no life left to enjoy wealth.

Besides, Adjutant Tong and the others only saw what she had spent, but they didn’t realize how much the Hua De family and the Crown Prince had reimbursed her for her generosity. In fact, her spending had turned out to be only half of what she originally anticipated.

What they didn’t know was that Ruo Manni also had an expensive special potion on hand. Ten of these potions cost more than all the training equipment combined, but she hadn’t paid for them. Hebrew Adam, through some unknown method, had gotten them from Dr. Paul.

However, the price was justified by the effectiveness. It was said that the effects of this potion were extremely noticeable, and naturally, Ruo Manni intended to reserve them for her own people.

Adjutant Tong and Adjutant Ma had been by Ruo Manni’s side for almost a year. Ruo Manni realized that Adjutant Tong’s potential was indeed limited. With the help of training and potions, his cultivation had reached the early stage of level six, but that was his limit.

However, Adjutant Ma was different. Although his progress in cultivation had been slow despite his hard work, he was still making progress, unlike Adjutant Tong, who had completely stagnated.

As long as Adjutant Ma could reach the late stage of level six, with the aid of special potions, there was a high chance he would be able to break through to level seven. By then, there would be another powerful level-seven mecha warrior on the battlefield.

When Ruo Manni had told Lin Changfeng that she had a few rare special potions, he had probably heard of them. However, Lin Changfeng hadn’t met the conditions to use the potions, as they were only available to those supported by the empire. Now that he knew he could use them once he reached the late stage of level six, Ruo Manni was sure that he would push himself to the limit in his cultivation.

Sure enough, when Ruo Manni had dinner with Mentor Fang last time, she had heard that since Ruo Manni’s return to Topaz Star, Uncle Lin had been pushing himself harder in his cultivation. Mentor Fang, who didn’t know the reason, teased that Uncle Lin had probably seen Ruo Manni’s rapid advancement and feared falling too far behind, so he was working tirelessly to catch up, just like he did when he was younger.

Seeing Mentor Fang laugh so happily, Ruo Manni smiled along with her.

Mentor Fang had accompanied Uncle Lin during their younger years, and they had suffered quite a bit during the two years they spent on the edge star after being exiled from the capital. Fortunately, Uncle Lin was both capable and devoted, and he quickly established himself in the Topaz Star military. Since then, Mentor Fang could be considered a happy and contented woman.

Now, Ruo Manni and Lin Changfeng had tacitly agreed not to share heavy matters with Mentor Fang, and only hoped that she could live a carefree life.

Adjutant Tong had said that the commander and deputy commander of the mecha regiment might come to see her tomorrow. What surprised her was how eager they were to meet her.

After discussing tomorrow’s plans with Adjutant Tong, and adjusting the training intensity for several soldiers who had made noticeable progress, Ruo Manni suddenly felt someone entering the third regiment’s camp.

Ruo Manni glanced over and said to the two adjutants, “They’ve arrived.”