I Am a Salted Fish in the Interstellar Era - Chapter 28 (Part 1)

Xie Jiangsa’s sudden arrival and departure left Shi Yu scrambling to speak, but it was too late. Straightening up, she awkwardly touched her nose and guiltily said, “He might have misunderstood something?”

 

She was just bluffing, trying to scare Little Beauty into revealing more. But now, with things turning out this way, she was too embarrassed to continue questioning.

 

Xie Yuyan adjusted the collar of his military uniform, giving Shi Yu an extremely indifferent glance: “For now, just remember what I’ve told you. When you can fully pilot the Lancezell, I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

 

Xie Yuyan then left, his hand constantly on his collar. Watching his gesture, Shi Yu felt a bit of a toothache.

 

She hadn’t meant to scare him just now; it was just a little scare, partly to get back at him for last time’s needle incident, not expecting Xie Jiangsa to suddenly enter.

 

Hmm, did her prank just now undermine Little Beauty’s dignity in front of his subordinates? After all, he was the passive one.

 

But… why was Little Beauty wearing a military uniform and the same black collar he had on the first time she saw him? Quite strange.

 

Shi Yu wanted to ask, but now didn’t seem the right time.

 

Pretending to be profound, Shi Yu coughed lightly twice, knowing that if Little Beauty didn’t want to say anything, he wouldn’t tell her.

 

As he left, Shi Yu placed her hands behind her head and glanced at the ceiling, regretting her eagerness to come over. Knowing she wouldn’t get anything out of him today, she might as well have stayed in her room, playing dead for a bit longer.

 

Walking out of the conference room leisurely, Shi Yu was pulled aside by Lu Dongyan at a crossroads in the corridor. Three young men cornered her, squinting their eyes and pressing her: “What were you doing with Commander Xie just now?”

 

They had been waiting here after leaving the conference room. Soon after, they saw Xie Jiangsa come over. They wanted to stop him, but he walked too fast and entered the conference room, only to stagger out less than five seconds later, a profound smile on his face.

 

Curiosity burned within the three of them, but they dared not ask, choosing instead to wait.

 

Soon, Xie Yuyan came out, adjusting his collar with a strange expression. The trio didn’t dare to ask him either, continuing their stakeout.

 

Then Shi Yu came out, the most relaxed among the three who had left the conference room. Considering her usual behavior, the trio’s gossip fire blazed even brighter.

 

Shi Yu pushed Lu Dongyan’s face away: “Why do you kids care so much? Let’s go get the mechas.”

 

Shi Yu saying she was going to get a mecha was unprecedented. The three exchanged looks, deeply feeling she must have been greatly stimulated or received some great benefit, squinting their eyes momentarily.

 

Shi Yu didn’t care about their little schemes, dutifully reporting to the registration desk, then collecting her mecha with her number. This time, she received an S-class mecha, which surprised her. After asking the staff, they only mentioned it was arranged by Major General Xie Jiangsa. Shi Yu obediently acknowledged and wore the mecha ring.

 

Feng Xiao and Lu Dongyan didn’t collect new mechas. Although they could operate unfamiliar mechas, they weren’t as comfortable. They had previously hesitated to use them, harboring little schemes, but now, at the commander’s office and with the increasing number and strength of the Insectoids on Sea Blue Star, they couldn’t afford to be picky. Unlike Shi Yu, piloting an A-class mecha, they couldn’t impress the Insectoids.

 

As for Luo Xiaci, he lacked combat power and didn’t feel the need for another mecha. His advantage lay in gathering and processing information and making the best judgments, essentially serving a support role, akin to Xie Yuyan.

 

Even without ever piloting a mecha in battle, he could still be the core of the Judgment Corps.

 

Luo Xiaci aimed to become a commander.

 

This shelter was the largest on Sea Blue Star, housing nearly all key figures. After Xie Yuyan took over, he immediately implemented a series of management regulations, organizing everyone’s roles and responsibilities, unlike the previous headless chaos.

 

After obtaining her mecha, the four were assigned to the combat team.

 

Shi Yu then realized this shelter was both the safest and the most dangerous place.

 

Due to its size and significance as a target, the shelter had faced thirteen attacks in a month, averaging an attack every two-plus days.

 

However, the Insectoids’ attacks were unpredictable, possibly retreating only to attack again an hour later, or leaving the shelter alone for days.

 

Shi Yu was concerned that the ‘Insectoid Attractor’ might invite more Insectoid attacks, but since Little Beauty dared to leave the ‘Attractor’ behind, he wouldn’t joke with his and everyone else’s lives.

 

Shi Yu then pushed these concerns aside.

 

She began adapting to the new mecha. As for the A-class mecha she had initially, she returned it to the shelter upon receiving the S-class mecha.

 

Perhaps because of her previous

 

experience, Shi Yu took only a few minutes to almost completely adapt to the S-class mecha. Truth be told, the performance of the S-class mecha was incomparable to that of the A-class.

 

Speaking of weapons, the A-class mecha had only a poor greatsword and some ineffective bullets. In contrast, the S-class mecha Shi Yu now had came with a standard greatsword and bullets, plus a shield. The shield was lightweight, its material unknown. According to the weapon description, it could withstand attacks from SS-class mechas.

 

Shi Yu was not accustomed to using shields; her attacks were always aggressive and direct, preferring to counter attacks with her own strikes rather than defend passively with a shield. She found the shield cumbersome and after trying it, planned to have it replaced with a knife or sword by the maintenance personnel along with her mecha suit.

 

Shi Yu had a subtle feeling, as if she was born with the ability to pilot mechas, intuitively knowing how to maximize their power without much thought.

 

This feeling was indescribable, and even when Lu Dongyan and the others gave her looks that said ‘you are a human-shaped combat weapon,’ she could only scratch her head and attribute it to talent.

 

After getting used to the mecha, she tried to slip back to laze around unnoticed. But before she could reach the door, she saw a woman in military uniform with ear-length hair standing by the door, holding a whip, exuding a subtle deterrence.

 

Shi Yu instinctively felt that if she dared to sneak away, the woman would not hesitate to lash out, so she pretended to have had no such intention and moved back before the woman’s gaze swept over.

 

Lu Dongyan and the others, having known her for a long time, could not help but stifle their laughter at her action.

 

Shi Yu’s attempt to slack off was thwarted.

 

Soon, she was informed by Luo Xiaci, who had somehow heard about her plans.

 

The shelter’s rules were strict, detailing the daily wake-up times for combat personnel, the amount of training to be completed, which combat unit was assigned to missions, and which was on patrol duty. Civilians with combat capability joining the combat teams received no special treatment; everything was managed uniformly.

 

Feng Xiao obviously knew this, and after Luo Xiaci’s explanation to Shi Yu, he straightened up and commented that such control and execution were not something ordinary people could achieve, indirectly praising Xie Yuyan.

 

Lu Dongyan agreed, nodding along, while Luo Xiaci appeared thoughtful each time he heard this, leading Shi Yu to label him as a fanboy of Xie Yuyan.

 

In the morning, Shi Yu struggled to get up for a mission to retrieve airdrops.

 

Yes, retrieve airdrops.

 

Currently, Sea Blue Star was incapable of production, with most of its surface occupied by the insect race, and resources depleting daily. Without replenishment, the surface defenses would eventually fail.

 

The space station discovered that the insect race had low sensitivity to objects like missiles without living beings.

 

After repeated tests, the space station confirmed that while it was impossible to send people in large numbers, it was feasible to airdrop supplies.

 

With the skies controlled by the insect race, the space station couldn’t deliver supplies directly to each shelter but could send resources to less defended areas via dummy missiles to Sea Blue Star, to be retrieved by shelter personnel.

 

This method was risky but the only viable option.

 

The team was led by the woman with the whip from the previous day, dressed in a blue and white military uniform, looking majestic from afar. She was an SS-class mecha pilot, her weapon a long whip.

 

Shi Yu, who had been slacking off and training, felt guilty upon seeing her, always trying to lower her presence.

 

Combat units were grouped in tens, with those who had worked together on missions allowed to form their own teams, while the rest were assigned randomly.

 

Shi Yu waited for the group assignment, noticing the unfriendly gazes from six people, causing her to question their intentions.

 

Soon, she realized their animosity wasn’t just towards her but also towards Lu Dongyan.

 

She quietly poked Lu Dongyan’s side and whispered, “What did you do? Why are they looking at you like that?”

 

Lu Dongyan, with a speechless look towards Shi Yu’s obliviousness, deepened his understanding of her ‘unaware of worldly affairs, solely focused on her salted fish dreams’: “Don’t you know? They’re students from Nord High School.”

 

Nord High School was the rival of Volker High School, each year competing in college entrance rates.

 

However, Nord was an elite school, only admitting wealthy students, while Volker had no such barriers, accepting anyone who met the grade requirements and even government-placed impoverished students like Shi Yu.

 

Nord students looked down on Volker, and most Volker students disliked Nord students. Any standardized test would see the two schools compete fiercely.

 

While both schools had their wins and losses in exams, Nord traditionally outperformed Volker in military academy entrance rates.

 

But this year, Lu Dongyan, with SSS-class physical and mental abilities, emerged, overshadowing Nord’s two SS-class students. Nord felt slighted, especially since Lu Dongyan rejected offers from top schools to stay at Volker.

 

Being rejected by someone for something you desperately want is a frustrating experience.

 

Wolke Middle School thus could hold its head high in front of Nord Middle School. Lu Dongyan was somewhat aware of this rivalry but didn’t pay much attention to it. He wasn’t interested in these matters, preferring to spend his time training if possible.

 

Shi Yu, either sleeping or dozing off in class, wouldn’t bother to inquire about such things, let alone be aware of the competition between the two schools.

 

Now, hearing Lu Dongyan’s explanation, Shi Yu had an epiphany.

 

When she was in high school, her school and another also competed fiercely over college admission rates, though it was never mentioned openly, but there was always a rivalry behind the scenes.

 

Whichever school had a higher admission rate or more students accepted into prestigious universities would proudly display banners.

 

The two of them whispered not so quietly, and their conversation was fully heard by the other six people.

 

Feng Xiao and Luo Xiaci looked at the six people with extremely dark faces, then at Shi Yu and Lu Dongyan, who seemed to think they were speaking quietly, wiped their faces, and turned away, pretending they hadn’t heard anything.

 

However, the mission had to be carried out. Even if there had been rivalries before, now everyone needed to work together for the sake of the shelter and for the planet Sea Blue.

 

After listening to Lu Dongyan’s explanation, Shi Yu clapped her hands and approached the six people: “Our team needs a leader. Who wants to be it?”

 

They hadn’t expected Shi Yu to come forward proactively, the notorious slacker from Wolke Middle School, seemingly not very bright.

 

The faces of the six from Nord Middle School were oddly colored, but soon one of them stepped forward and said, “None of you wants to be the leader?”

 

Li Wensheng, influenced by his school’s atmosphere and always viewing students from Volker Middle School as hypothetical enemies, wasn’t about to lose his clarity at a critical moment, though his words were just for formality.

 

He didn’t wait for an answer and immediately said, “Since none of you want to, I’ll do it. I hope you will follow orders later and not act recklessly.”

 

He had previously served as a class monitor, planning many activities with teachers, and aimed to become a commander in the future. Thus, after the insect invasion began, he quickly stepped forward to help.

 

Before Shi Yu and the others arrived, his group had already completed at least five missions, all executed excellently. Despite facing dangers, they always managed to overcome the attacking insects with his judgment and leadership, safely returning to the shelter with the main forces.

 

Li Wensheng was somewhat proud internally, confident that his impressive record here would secure him a spot in one of the top military academies after leaving Sea Blue.

 

Since he volunteered, Shi Yu had no objections, and neither did anyone else behind her.

 

So, Shi Yu patted Li Wensheng on the shoulder heavily: “Then we’re all counting on you, brother.”

 

Somehow, Li Wensheng felt inexplicably elated, just about to say something pretentious when the assembly whistle sounded.

 

No time for idle chat. After quickly resolving the rivalry between the two schools, the team of ten quickly assembled. No more words were needed; everything had been said before. After a headcount, everyone left the shelter in their mechas.

 

They needed to reach the supply drop-off point as quickly as possible, to retrieve as much of the supplies as possible before the insects could destroy them.

 

The route had been planned to avoid areas overrun by insects as much as possible, but with most of the surface now infested, complete avoidance was virtually impossible.

 

The encounter with the swarm was not accidental; many flying insect species were active, though they were fewer in number compared to those living on the ground.

 

Now, they were blocked by a group of shell-like insects, large and red with huge round black spots on their backs. The number of black spots varied among the insects, their translucent yet stiff wings vibrating in the air, creating strong winds with just a light flap.

 

With these shell insects in the way, a fight was inevitable.

 

The female Major named Wen Ruoyan immediately issued orders to counter the shell insects, with different combat units tackling varying numbers of them.

 

Shi Yu’s team also quickly sprang into action, and Li Wensheng promptly distributed a guide on these shell insects.

 

“These are five-star beetles. Their level can be determined by the black dots on their backs. A single dot signifies B-level combat capability, two dots A-level, and so on!”

 

There were about a hundred of these five-star beetles, including three with five dots. In the team, only Lu Dongyan and Feng Xiao piloted SSS-grade mechas, but neither was suited for close combat, which likely put them at a disadvantage against the five-star beetles.

 

Wen Ruoyan was aware of their existence and knew that their mechas were SSS-rated, yet she did not pull them out, considering them too young and the risk too great to face off against the SSS-rated five-star ladybugs.

 

She was as steady as Mount Tai, often able to overwhelm with numbers when quality was insufficient. Although she piloted an SS-rated mecha, her rich combat experience allowed her to directly restrain one of the SSS-rated five-star beetles with her whip.

 

Two teams composed entirely of Sea Blue Star’s garrison also deployed to suppress the remaining two SSS-rated beetles.

 

After a brief reminder, Li Wensheng added, “You four newcomers, stay alert on the side and watch how we exterminate the Bug Tribe. Understand, before joining the battle?”

 

Li Wensheng had led newcomers more than once, always earning their astonished and admiring looks after each battle, which greatly satisfied his vanity, despite his young age.

 

Shi Yu was about to draw the large sword carried on the back of her mecha when Li Wensheng spoke, pausing her actions as he had already arranged for his five teammates to engage.

 

They indeed had great synergy. Once the battle began, Shi Yu quickly noticed that among them, one piloted an SS-rated mecha while the others operated S-rated mechas. As for Li Wensheng, who hadn’t made a move yet, his mecha’s rating was unclear.

 

Their coordinated effort first restrained the one to five-star beetles, then two of them defended against the remaining five-star beetle, with Li Wensheng collaborating with the other two to eliminate it.