I Am a Salted Fish in the Interstellar Era - Chapter 22
Shi Yu could clearly feel that the atmosphere in the shelter had changed. Even though everyone was holding on to hope, the Thorn Legion had been unable to enter the atmosphere of Sea Blue Star for a long time, turning the so-called rescue into a worthless promise.
After the unknown species occupied the city, they invaded the shelters aggressively. After communication on Sea Blue Star was restored, incomplete statistics showed that over a hundred shelters had been destroyed, all within less than half a month since the invasion began. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Sea Blue Star would be completely occupied by the unknown species.
Xie Yuyan’s speech, lasting less than a minute, acted like a shot of adrenaline, invigorating all the anxious citizens of Sea Blue Star.
Curiously, Shi Yu nudged Lu Dongyan’s right waist with her elbow: “What’s the Judgment Legion? Why is everyone so energized as if they’ve been injected with chicken blood?”
Shi Yu had not known about the Thorn Legion until Lu Dongyan enlightened her.
The Expeditionary Army is a general term for the legions stationed at the borders or involved in foreign wars, among which the Sequence Legions, led by the seven Marshals, are the core force of the Expeditionary Army, permanently stationed at the borders. They would not easily leave unless facing threats that endanger the safety of the entire Federation.
The Thorn Legion, belonging to the Sixth Marshal, Feng Cen, is one of the legions under his command. Its strength is not the top in the Expeditionary Army but can certainly be considered formidable.
Lu Dongyan adjusted his glasses: “Didn’t I tell you about the Judgment Legion last time?”
Shi Yu nodded, her eyes blinking curiously, while Feng Xiao couldn’t help but share his knowledge: “The Judgment Legion is the most unique legion of the Expeditionary Army, independent of the seven Marshals and the President.”
“Who do they obey then?” Shi Yu inquired further.
“The deployment of the Judgment Legion must be decided by a joint discussion among the seven Marshals and the President.”
Shi Yu then learned that the entire Judgment Legion consisted of only ten thousand members, with a core formation of just a hundred people. Yet, these one hundred individuals had been enough to strike fear into the nations that once invaded the Federation.
Ten years ago, Marshal Xie Liqin, against numerous objections, established the Judgment Legion. His second son, Xie Yuyan, was appointed as the chief commander and the leader of the legion. Five of the seven Marshals opposed, while the President remained neutral.
At that time, the sixteen-year-old Xie Yuyan, without uttering a word, led the then hundred-member Judgment Legion in a direct assault on the Lierweya Fortress, occupied by the Toyas Republic for ninety years. In just three hours, the defensive lines set by the Toyas Republic at the Lierweya Fortress were completely shattered, and their highest commander was captured.
This battle shocked the entire universe, and the name “Judgment Legion” was listed as a high-alert entity by the militaries of hundreds of countries.
The Judgment Legion rose rapidly like a thunderbolt, silencing the previously dissenting Marshals.
Xie Yuyan’s name, along with the formidable rise of the Judgment Legion, was placed on the research tables of various powers. However, everyone found that information about Xie Liqin’s son was scarce, with only a name and a few photos circulating, leaving his birth date and upbringing a mystery.
In the following ten years, the Judgment Legion, in coordination with the Expeditionary Army, successively reclaimed territories lost during the Lierweya battle, gradually restoring the Federation’s influence in the universe to its former status.
Unapologetically, Xie Yuyan, who had reclaimed vast territories, had become a spiritual leader for many citizens of the Federation.
Shi Yu’s mouth hung open for a long while before she could close it.
She had little concept of the Federation’s structure, but a minimized map of the Federation was always present in the upper right corner of everyone’s brain-computer interface. Out of boredom, she had studied it, astonished by the universe’s vastness and mystery, and had even zoomed in on Lierweya on the Day of Mourning to observe it more closely.
Was this Little Beauty really that powerful?
Suddenly recalling how he used to pant after running just a few steps, Shi Yu felt a weird sense of disillusionment.
As Lu Dongyan continued to praise Xie Yuyan’s glorious deeds, Shi Yu suddenly realized something, a huge exclamation mark popping up in her mind: “So, he’s twenty-six years old this year?”
Her exclamation was indeed abrupt.
Lu Dongyan stopped and frowned at her: “Is there something wrong with that?”
Shi Yu, touching her chin and chuckling twice, said: “He looks so young…”
He appeared to be only seventeen or eighteen.
Such an unusual focus made Feng Xiao roll his eyes at her. After doing so, he suddenly realized what he had done and mentally reminded himself to stay away from Shi Yu in the future, lest he catch the habit of rolling his eyes from her.
In the following days, the headquarters of Sea Blue Star issued one directive after another, immediately initiating the integration of shelters.
Small-scale shelters were utterly incapable of withstanding attacks from unknown species. After thorough communication between the surface of Sea Blue Star and the space stations, the headquarters devised evacuation routes, consolidating the shelters into a unified defense to concentrate forces. While repelling the invasion of unknown species, they organized teams to counterattack.
The unknown species were finally named by the Deep Blue Star System Research Institute — the Zerg.
The shelter where Shi Yu was located also received a retreat notice.
The disturbances caused by Shi Yu’s previous two reckless actions were inexplicably linked to the Judgment Legion by some, leading to a well-reasoned article appearing on the Star Network. It suggested that Y1121’s ‘arrogance’ must be due to her having sufficient confidence.
What was this confidence? Of course, it was her own strength and the support of Commander Xie.
The comment section debated whether she was a member of the Judgment Legion.
Many found the article convincing.
Others thought she was not, knowing that every member of the Judgment Legion was a mecha ace, driving SSS-grade mechas but with combat capabilities far beyond ordinary SSS-grade pilots.
Moreover, every mecha of the Judgment Legion was custom-made. It made no sense to abandon a perfectly good SSS-grade mecha for a battered A-grade one.
Shi Yu’s brain-computer interface was so poor that accessing the Star Network was excruciatingly slow. Over time, she grew disinterested in checking the Star Network for news, only occasionally paying attention to major federal events and whether federal subsidies and benefits had improved. Thus, she was completely unaware of the heated discussions about her on the Star Network.
With the departure from the shelter scheduled for tomorrow, everyone was busy packing. Shi Yu, biting on a tube of nutrient solution, went to pick up her mecha, which had been under repair for three days. On her return, she heard people whispering in argument.
“I really saw it! There was a butterfly here, incredibly beautiful, looking like a pretty little person from afar. Its wings were cyan-blue, shimmering with phosphorescent powder as it flew, and it glowed. It was truly beautiful.”
Two girls were leaning over a window, one pointing at a blooming flower outside, continually peering out as if searching for the butterfly she mentioned.
The other girl, after looking for a long while without success, couldn’t help saying, “Are you sure you weren’t seeing things? How could there be a butterfly here?”
“No, I really saw it, and it was very, very beautiful. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have specifically asked you to come see it.” The girl seemed anxious for not finding the butterfly, but despite her efforts, she couldn’t spot it again.
“Forget it, we’re leaving tomorrow. We should go back and rest well. I’m really afraid of encountering the Zerg during the evacuation… People like me, who can’t pilot a mecha, will definitely be cannon fodder…”
Hearing this, the girl gave up on mentioning the butterfly and reluctantly left the window. The two walked away.
After finishing her nutrient solution, Shi Yu casually looked out the window, not expecting much. To her surprise, a butterfly really did fly by.
Just as the girl had described, its wings were cyan-blue, seemingly aglow, with black and white stripes adorning the tips of its wings, making it extremely beautiful as it gently flapped its wings.
Shi Yu couldn’t help but take a closer look, feeling as if she had seen such a beautiful butterfly before. After a moment’s thought, she remembered the exhibition hall that Gu Qianqian had taken her to, which also had a very beautiful butterfly specimen. That was where she had met the Little Beauty.
“Shi Yu, what are you doing leaning over there?”
Lu Dongyan’s voice came from behind. Shi Yu immediately grimaced, her entire face scrunching up, then obediently turned around: “How come you’re here?”
“Said you were going to pick up your mecha and it’s been half an hour. Your efficiency is really high. The captain was assigning tasks, and seeing you hadn’t returned for so long, he sent me out to find you.”
Shi Yu swore, this time she wasn’t intentionally slacking off.
She followed Lu Dongyan to leave, and the exceptionally beautiful butterfly outside had disappeared without a trace at some point.
Shi Yu was brought back to the team by Lu Dongyan and, unsurprisingly, received everyone’s attention.
She thickened her skin as if she saw nothing and obediently stood in line. Gu Qianqian quietly poked her shoulder, giving a thumbs up and whispered, “Yu, you’re kind of awesome.”
Shi Yu couldn’t figure out the meaning of “awesome” as mentioned by him, just as Lin Xie coughed loudly, prompting them to stand properly.
Knowing that Shi Yu was drafted by the shelter and that Gu Mingzhan had also escaped life-threatening danger, Gu Qianqian volunteered to contribute, successfully blending into the group of three, turning it into a quartet.
Lin Xie passionately assigned tasks to everyone to ensure the safe evacuation planned for the next day. Gu Qianqian, unusually attentive, suddenly noticed a butterfly landing on Shi Yu’s shoulder. He was about to brush it off when a sharp knife suddenly appeared beneath the butterfly’s wings, thrusting directly at Gu Qianqian!