I Am a Salted Fish in the Interstellar Era - Chapter 17

Shi Yu couldn’t quite explain why she was so invested, but fighting seemed to make her feel lighter and more at ease. The fatigue pressing on her mental strength slowly vanished as if she was born to fight, possessing an innate instinct for battle.

However, she quickly realized that her sense of ease was an illusion. Once she disembarked from the mecha, she nearly collapsed due to the heavy-headed and light-footed sensation.

Rubbing her temples, Shi Yu was about to sneak away when someone grabbed the back of her clothes. Turning around, she saw the young man who had growled at them earlier standing behind her, holding her collar.

Shi Yu offered a perfunctory smile: “Soldier brother, why are you holding onto me?”

Feng Xiao, who had just finished storing his mecha, came over and twitched the corners of his mouth upon hearing “soldier brother.” He formally asked, “Captain Lin Xie, do you need something?”

Shi Yu’s spirits lifted instantly. Was this young man, who looked to be in his twenties, Captain Lin Xie, currently in charge of coordinating all matters in the shelter?

She straightened up and obediently called him Captain Lin Xie.

Lin Xie released the back of her collar and said, “You three, come with me.”

A huge exclamation mark appeared on Shi Yu’s forehead as she belatedly realized what she had just done.

Damn! Could Lin Xie be planning to recruit her as an enforcer?

She didn’t want that, she refused!

Before she could voice her triple refusal, Shi Yu was dragged along by Lu Dongyan and Feng Xiao, one on each side.

The group arrived at a temporary meeting room set up in the shelter, with Shi Yu unknowingly holding a nutrition fluid, sipping it intermittently. Lu Dongyan and Feng Xiao couldn’t bear to look at her.

Shi Yu didn’t care what they thought. Only after finishing the nutrition fluid did she feel somewhat relieved from the heavy-headed and light-footed sensation.

Lin Xie, seemingly oblivious to her odd noises, took a seat at the head of the table and gestured for them to sit beside him.

As soon as they sat down, Lin Xie asked, “What are your physical and mental strength levels? Have you received professional mecha training?”

Lin Xie, an S-class mecha pilot, had noticed during the battle that these three overly young individuals possessed exceptional judgment and combat abilities that didn’t match their age.

Frankly, the stationed forces on Sea Blue Planet were nothing in their eyes.

The three exchanged glances, harboring their thoughts, and unanimously said, “Our physical and mental strengths are both A-class, and we have undergone systematic training.”

Lin Xie laughed upon hearing their response, tapping his finger on the table, “Do you think I’m blind?”

The three: “…”

Such an unconventional leader, was this how one was supposed to speak?

Shi Yu was the first to clear her throat, “Report, Captain, no!”

Lin Xie: “…”

Lu Dongyan and Feng Xiao secretly gave Shi Yu thumbs up under the table. Whether she had received professional mecha training was debatable, but she definitely had undergone professional training in being argumentative.

“Forget it, I’m not interested in probing into who you all are. Since you’re on Sea Blue Planet, in this shelter, we’re all in the same boat. From now on, you are officially conscripted by the Sea Blue Planet’s stationed forces. Until external reinforcements arrive, it’s your duty and obligation to ensure the safety of the shelter.”

“Con… conscripted?” Shi Yu stuttered.

Damn! She was really going to become an enforcer.

She didn’t want it, she refused, she was just a salted fish.

Lin Xie nodded as a matter of course.

Shi Yu exclaimed in an instant, “Captain, all three of us are minors. Do you want to reconsider?” The Federation’s Minor Protection Law prohibits minors from serving in the military.

Lin Xie stood up, walked behind Shi Yu, and patted her shoulder with a serious tone, “With great power comes great responsibility, regardless of age.”

“Alright, now go back and rest. After resting, report to the training field. I will be there for roll call.”

Shi Yu: “…”

Once again, Shi Yu was dragged out of the meeting room by Lu Dongyan and Feng Xiao. Lin Xie, watching their departure, smiled, “You three little rascals, daring to ignore me last time. Let’s see how I’ll deal with you.”

After his smile faded, his expression became solemn, and he whispered, “Old Shi… you must be in trouble…”

–

With the launch of the new type of signal missile, all planets in the Deep Blue Star System restored communication. However, even though the Thorn Legion sent by Marshal Feng had arrived at the Deep Blue Star System’s main space station, they still couldn’t immediately carry out ground rescues.

The unknown species occupying the high altitudes had much higher combat capabilities than those on the ground, making it impossible for shuttles to withstand their attacks. Therefore, only mecha soldiers could penetrate through, and only SSS-class mechas had the capability to traverse the atmosphere independently.

The Thorn Legion was not entirely composed of SSS-class members like the Judgment Legion. Only one-tenth of the core legion were SSS-class mecha pilots, and with a core legion’s strength being ten thousand people, this meant that the Thorn Legion only had a thousand SSS-class mecha pilots. Spread across seven planets, each planet had fewer than one hundred and fifty pilots.

Apart from these thousand pilots, others had to be transported into the atmosphere using shuttles.

Previously, Feng Zhuo attempted to transport mechas into the atmosphere using shuttles. However, upon entering the atmosphere, the shuttles were fiercely attacked by unknown species, with the leading group of shuttles almost entirely not returning. Left with no choice, Feng Zhuo ordered all shuttles that had not yet entered the atmosphere to return.

The commander of the Thorn Legion, a woman with neatly cut short hair and a decisive manner, established contact with the ground as soon as possible. She quickly grasped the situation on the ground and calculated that over seventy percent of the territory had been occupied by unknown species.

The situation was dire, and now the entire Federation’s attention was focused on the Deep Blue Star System. If they couldn’t promptly rescue the Deep Blue Star System, it would affect the prestige of the Supreme Commander and Marshal Feng.

And then, Feng Zhuo delivered her another extremely troublesome piece of news.

The commander of the Judgment Legion, Xie Yuyan, was on Sea Blue Star, and not long before, Xie Jiangsa had also entered Sea Blue Star.

The First Marshal has always been at odds with Marshal Feng. Now, with both of his sons on Sea Blue Star, he could easily find an excuse to intervene in the matter.

Hai Jingji looked at the simulation sand table transmitted from various shelters in front of her, her fingers lightly tapping on the conference table, drafting a plan in her mind.

At that moment, there was a knock on the door of the conference room.

Hai Jingji granted permission, and Feng Zhuo hurried in from outside, “Commander Hai, Commander Xie requests to communicate with you.”

Feng Zhuo had just finished speaking when the communication channel in the meeting room was connected, and a virtual 3D figure was projected into the room.

The 3D projection, almost identical to a real person, instinctively commanded respect from Feng Zhuo, who saluted the figure that appeared to be a young boy of only seventeen or eighteen.

Hai Jingji did the same.

Xie Yuyan returned the salute and then spoke, “Navy Commander, Commander Feng, I am currently on Sea Blue Star and have a good understanding of the situation here. I will take charge of coordinating all human resources on the surface of Sea Blue Star. Do you have any objections?”

Although he was asking for their opinions, Xie Yuyan’s tone was cool and somewhat imposing, as if to say, ‘I’m asking out of courtesy, it doesn’t matter if you disagree.’

Hai Jingji thought to herself, ‘As expected.’

But the current situation left her no choice but to agree. Xie Yuyan’s capabilities were well known throughout the Federation, and since he had spoken, he must have had a plan in mind.

And with lives at stake, factional disputes had to be set aside for the moment.

Hai Jingji quickly made up her mind, responding, “That would be for the best. Thank you, Commander Xie.”

The young man nodded slightly, about to end the communication when Hai Jingji suddenly said, “Please wait a moment, Commander Xie.”

Xie Yuyan looked up at her, and Hai Jingji immediately pulled up a video from her brain-computer interface. It was a few seconds of footage captured by a satellite around the ring road, showing a silver-blue mecha that was both beautiful and cool.

“Do you know the origin of this mecha?” Hai Jingji asked with narrowed eyes.

Feng Zhuo might not recognize it, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t. Among the mechas developed by the Federation, there was none of this type, and even within the data not publicly disclosed by the Federation, there was no information on this mecha.

Simply put, if this mecha was developed by the Federation, it was of a security level beyond Hai Jingji’s access. If it wasn’t developed by the Federation…

There seemed to be wind on the young man’s side, his silver hair fluttering slightly, his voice as cool as ever: “It’s my [Judgment].”

Everyone in the expeditionary force knew that the chief commander of the Judgment Legion, Xie Yuyan’s mecha, was called [Judgment], but no one had actually seen what [Judgment] looked like. That’s because in all the wars Xie Yuyan had participated in, the outcome was decided before [Judgment] was even deployed.

Hai Jingji’s expression turned to realization upon hearing Xie Yuyan speak seriously, “The [Judgment] is a Federation secret, never deployed in battle before. Its use was a necessity this time. I hope the Navy Commander can delete this video entirely to prevent it from falling into foreign hands for analysis.”