Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

“These two have always been so detached—why are they suddenly so eager?” Deputy Tong looked a bit surprised, having misjudged their personalities. “You really can’t judge a book by its cover.”

Ruo Manni only smiled without answering. Eagerness was good; if they weren’t impatient, she would be the one feeling pressed.

The captain and vice-captain each brought a deputy along. Ruo Manni gave them a formal salute, “Greetings, Captains.”

To be honest, since her arrival, she had only met the two captains twice, and aside from greetings, they had never actually spoken properly.

“Miss Ruo Manni, I’d like to discuss something with you.” The senior captain, after a few polite remarks, got straight to the point.

Wasn’t this captain supposed to be slick and evasive? Why was he being so direct?

Ruo Manni exchanged a quick look with her deputies, who both gave her slight nods.

By addressing her as “Miss Ruo Manni,” the captain’s choice of words was significant. In the military, Ruo Manni was technically his direct subordinate, so addressing her as “Captain” or “Lieutenant” would signal that he was speaking to her as a superior officer.

However, by calling her “Miss Ruo Manni,” he made a very different statement.

For any other noblewoman, being called “Miss” in a military setting might carry a hint of condescension. But Ruo Manni’s case was different. To most locals on Topaz Star, she had a highly respected image, and for them, “Miss Ruo Manni” was a term of endearment and honor.

Since this captain was a native of Topaz Star, calling her “Miss Ruo Manni” signified he acknowledged her esteemed status and hinted at his willingness to defer to her authority.

Before Ruo Manni was accepted into Xuan Gu’s First Military Academy, Tooaz Star had always been a poor, marginal planet. The improvements it has now—making it one of the better-developed edge planets—are largely due to her influence.

Topaz Star, in truth, doesn’t have much to offer Miss Ruo Manni in return.

While others might not know much about her past life on Topaz Star, it’s easy for local families here to find out. She lived on this planet for over ten years, with many neighbors and classmates around her.

Back then, Miss Ruo Manni was just an ordinary citizen on Topaz Star, leading a life that was neither remarkable nor difficult. Later, after the misfortune of becoming an orphan, she was taken in as the adopted daughter of Commander Lin, who was only a captain at the time. She was never subjected to mistreatment.

Her life was simple, but even so, she has proven to be deeply grateful.

Some may say that Topaz Star’s resources are due to the Crown Prince’s support and that they should be thanking him. It’s true the Crown Prince provided the resources, but if it weren’t for Miss Ruo Manni’s enduring gratitude toward Topaz Star and her appreciation for Commander Lin’s protection, would the Crown Prince have ever noticed this remote, barren planet? Would he have invested resources not only to support Commander Lin but also to develop Topaz Star?

So when he heard that Miss Ruo Manni had returned to Topaz Star, his first thought was that she must feel indebted to the planet that nurtured her.

Although he’d long believed that people with such pure intentions were rare in this world, her actions since her arrival have only reinforced his belief.

“What else would it be?” Ruo Manni replied seriously. “What does Topaz Star have that would make me compete or scheme for it?”

“Could you tell me what your ultimate goal is?” the senior captain asked earnestly.

“I want to help Uncle Lin bring all opposing forces under his control so that, when the interstellar war breaks out, the military and civilians of Topaz Star can act as one. But I have an even more important goal: to train as many star warriors as possible and, in the year before the war, form a special operations team of 20 to 30 mecha fighters at level six or above, which I will personally lead.”

This is Ruo Manni’s ultimate goal. Aside from Lin Changfeng, only her two deputies, Tamaki Kazia, and Sheila know about it.

Ruo Manni had a good sense of what the senior captain was thinking and decided to tell him the truth.

The captain’s expression didn’t change much, suggesting he might have already had some suspicions.

He stayed silent for a while, clearly weighing the pros and cons. Ruo Manni knew he was assessing the risks, but she wasn’t in any rush; as long as he was a native of Topaz Star, unless he harbored deep-seated resentment against the people here, he would eventually prioritize the planet’s safety.

After a while, the senior captain spoke again. “If we pledge our loyalty to you, what will it cost us?”

“Your loyalty and an IOU,” Ruo Manni replied with a smile.

The captain was a bit baffled. He understood the need for loyalty, but an IOU?

…

When he finally understood what the IOU was about, his expression grew complicated. Being so far from the central star zone, edge planets were often too poor to afford enhancement drugs; even as a member of a local family, he had little exposure to them.

Unexpectedly, two or three years ago, the empire’s famous Doctor Paul developed an amazing energy-boosting drug. No wonder, in the past couple of years, the soldiers loyal to Commander Lin had significantly more level-five and level-six fighters than before.

If Miss Ruo Manni hadn’t mentioned it, he might have missed this opportunity, even after a few more years.

The captain deeply regretted his previous neutrality. He had stayed out of the conflict between the factions because he saw Commander Lin as an outsider. But now, he realized that avoiding the issue had cost him dearly; he had indeed missed a great opportunity.

Now, Miss Ruo Manni has said that if they pledge their loyalty, she can offer them these enhancement drugs at the most favorable prices.

Soldiers from poor families can even pay in installments to settle their debts.

However, the regular energy-enhancing drugs alone cost 500 credits per vial, while the critical upgrade drug is priced at 50,000 credits per vial. Even for the local aristocratic families, this cost is difficult to manage.

According to Miss Ruo Manni, these drugs are priced two to three times higher on the open market, and demand far exceeds supply. Without connections, it’s nearly impossible to obtain them.

What more could the senior captain say? Knowing he had already missed one opportunity, he could not afford to miss a second.

Ruo Manni and the Mecha Battalion Commander, Yu Paul (now that he’s one of ours, he finally gets a name), spoke for a long time—over two hours—before coming out.

The four men walked silently out of the Third Company and returned to the Mecha Battalion office.

The deputy commander, Gong Jiafeng (we’ll grant him a name as well), quickly activated the signal-jamming screen on his communicator and impatiently asked, “What did you and Miss Ruo Manni talk about for so long?”

“That young lady ending up here on Topaz Star—it’s truly a stroke of luck for us,” Yu Paul said, sighing with admiration.

“Is she really here for the development of Topaz Star?” Gong Jiafeng asked, still somewhat skeptical.

Yu Paul nodded and briefly summarized his conversation with Ruo Manni. After he finished, not only was Gong Jiafeng moved, but even their two adjutants were visibly affected.

“Captain, this is an incredible opportunity. Missing out on Commander Lin wouldn’t have been a big deal, but Miss Ruo Manni is absolutely the right choice,” Yu Paul’s adjutant said, clearly excited.

“Commander Lin may have talent, but half of his success comes from Miss Ruo Manni’s support,” Gong Jiafeng’s adjutant agreed. “She’s truly the main player here.”

“So, I told Miss Ruo Manni that after we pledge loyalty, the training for the entire Mecha Battalion will be organized by her, and that even we will follow her orders from now on,” Yu Paul said with a resigned smile.

“Perfect! Tomorrow we can finally try out that training equipment,” Gong Jiafeng said eagerly, almost as if he wanted to rush over immediately, showing just how long he had been eyeing it.

“You two should aim to reach Level 6 as quickly as possible. Miss Ruo Manni is in need of capable people right now. If you manage to be among the first to reach that level, your future standing beside her won’t be low,” Yu Paul’s adjutant advised.

The others nodded in agreement. No one thought about the fact that Ruo Manni was still just a young girl, with a military rank and position technically lower than theirs. It was clear to everyone that Miss Ruo Manni’s future was boundless, and any current limitations were only temporary.

They only felt lucky to be by her side at the start of her journey.

Of course, some “keen observers” took note that the Mecha Battalion’s two commanding officers had gone to speak with Miss Ruo Manni. Soon after, these same observers saw that Ruo Manni had reorganized all the soldiers of the three companies in the Mecha Battalion, redistributing them by skill level for training. This move didn’t come as a surprise to them.

Still, those observers quietly hoped that the soldiers of the First and Second Companies might resist Miss Ruo Manni’s authority and cause a stir.

Yet, after watching for more than ten days, they realized that the entire Mecha Battalion had become deeply engrossed in their training, to the point where few soldiers even emerged during rest days. The observers found no opportunity to instigate any conflicts.

As expected, the two regiment leaders of the stationed battalion immediately learned of the two Mecha Battalion commanders’ meeting with Miss Ruo Manni. Being the highest-ranking officers in the battalion, they had their sources everywhere.

Upon hearing this news, or more accurately, from the moment they learned that the vice-captain of the Third Company in the Mecha Battalion had been promoted, they had anticipated that such changes might happen.

Although they were regiment commanders, they had no power to stop the two battalion commanders from “promoting” a company commander to become the chief instructor, as long as no soldiers in the Mecha Battalion raised a collective protest. This was within the military regulations.

“If someone from the First or Second Company gets promoted, the Mecha Battalion will completely fall under Miss Ruo Manni’s control,” the deputy regiment commander said with worry.

This might not even be the worst outcome. If, under Miss Ruo Manni’s leadership, more soldiers in the Mecha Battalion kept breaking through their limits, the soldiers in the other two battalions might be motivated as well. At that point, the two regiment commanders feared they would be sidelined.

The regiment commander also feared this worst-case scenario and was troubled: “Do you have any way to stop this?”

The deputy regiment commander was speechless. Miss Ruo Manni had a powerful background, a high cultivation level, and skilled experts around her. In the military camp, they couldn’t interfere.

Moreover, the earlier attempt to have Miss Ruo Manni assassinated had failed. She was unharmed, while the dark market assassins they had hired were nearly all destroyed. Half of the people involved in the dark market were either killed or imprisoned.

While both were worried about the consequences of their previous dealings with the dark market being exposed, neither had the energy to stir up trouble.

As the saying goes, “What you fear most will come,” and in less than ten days of training, four soldiers from the three companies in the Mecha Battalion had advanced from the late stage of Level 4 to Level 5.

The atmosphere in the Mecha Battalion grew even more intense. Whether it was day or night, soldiers could be seen diligently training in the Third Company’s training grounds. Because there were too many soldiers and the training equipment was limited, Ruo Manni had divided them into three groups for training.

Now that Ruo Manni had returned to the female dormitory building, she was sure to be met with adoring looks and sincere salutes from the female soldiers.

Hebrew Adam was more aware of the changes in Ruo Manni’s situation than she was herself. He had secretly arranged for two bodyguards around her, whose main task was to discreetly monitor and filter out any potential threats or individuals who might harbor hostility toward Ruo Manni. As a result, he knew that in the past half month, the number of people in the First Regiment with ill intentions toward Miss Ruo Manni had greatly diminished.

Especially in the Mecha Battalion, aside from the few who were still undercover, the vast majority now had a favorable opinion of Ruo Manni. This not only made her much safer but also allowed her plans to proceed smoothly.

The change that pleased Hebrew Adam the most was that after Ruo Manni had successfully consolidated control over the Mecha Battalion, her safety within the military camp had been greatly enhanced. Now, unless there was something particularly urgent, she could enter the combat zone at will and no longer had to wait for her ten-day rest period before daring to enter.

Although Hebrew Adam himself was very busy, they were still able to meet every three or four days in the war zone.

Even though, aside from kissing, no other intimate gestures were allowed, and they had to endure the sweet torment of restrained affection, Hebrew Adam was more than willing to accept it.

Moreover, in order to advance their cultivation as quickly as possible, they refrained from being too affectionate. Most of their time in the war zone was spent on sparring practice, which gave Hebrew Adam a strange sense of satisfaction. It made him feel as though they were still partners in training, constantly together as they had been before.