I Am a Salted Fish in the Interstellar Era - Chapter 28 (Part 2)
They successfully disposed of two beetles, achieving impressive results.
Shi Yu, touching her chin, was about to wield her large sword when Li Wensheng offered another piece of advice, “Remember, don’t be reckless. It’s safest to deal with the Bug Tribe one by one.”
Shi Yu nodded seriously in response, “Okay.”
Then, she charged into the beetle swarm with her two large swords, leaving Li Wensheng dumbfounded. Reacting, he immediately said, “Did you even listen to what I just said?”
“I told you to deal with them one by one, not to take on ten at a time. Come back here and don’t disrupt our combat rhythm, or else we won’t be able to control the situation and we—”
He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes widening at the scene before him.
The mecha that plunged into the dozen five-star beetles wielded a large sword in each hand, striking at the beetles’ weakest points, slicing off their hardest forelimbs as easily as cutting vegetables.
The beetles’ transparent wings vibrated, attempting to whip up a whirlwind but were hit by sniper bullets, electric arcs paralyzing them briefly before a cannonball from nowhere blasted them apart.
It turned out Lu Dongyan had already found a sniper position quietly, and Feng Xiao was ready with a heavy cannon for support. The three complemented each other, with Luo Xiaci quickly calculating the beetles’ vulnerabilities, allowing Shi Yu to strike decisively with her swords.
Li Wensheng was left speechless. In just a few minutes, the Bug Tribe they were responsible for was decimated by Shi Yu and her team, the scene brutally efficient.
Stunned, Li Wensheng failed to notice a five-star beetle approaching him. Shi Yu, seeing this, casually threw her large sword to knock down the beetle, then opened her mic, “Brother! What are you spacing out for on the battlefield?”
She was on the public channel, and her words echoed across the skies.
Caught in battle, those who heard her were momentarily startled, giving the Bug Tribe an opportunity. Some were injured, others snapped back to reality, realizing their lapse and, flushed with embarrassment, fiercely attacked the Bug Tribe.
Wen Ruoyan’s whip was formidable. Even fighting against higher-rated bugs, she held her ground with her rich combat experience and the mecha’s whip, eventually finding an opportunity to take down an SSS-rated five-star beetle.
Right after her battle ended, she heard Shi Yu’s words, followed by someone opening their mic, “Is it Y1121?”
The person sounded excited. Shi Yu’s code being called out made her worry her comment had disrupted the battle. She immediately silenced her mic.
After no response to his question, the person asked again, “Is it Y1121?”
With no reply, Shi Yu, feeling guilty, grabbed her large sword, aiming to eliminate more bugs to make up for her mistake.
The person, not receiving an answer, sighed in disappointment but soon spotted a mecha fighting in Y1121’s style. Upon confirming its code, he was thrilled.
He unhesitatingly activated his mecha’s full emulation mode, broadcasting the battle live without hindering his combat, capturing every moment perfectly.
–
Recently, a group of peculiar individuals emerged on the Star
Network, calling themselves Y fans, attempting to follow every person on Sea Blue Star.
In the Star Network’s Y1121 topic, a fan named SweetSweetSweet checked in for the day and browsed, hoping to find something interesting but prepared to log off disappointed.
Just then, a fan named ‘Y1121 is Awesome’ shouted in the topic, “Quick! Brothers and sisters, Y God is providing supplies, room number ZY92770, it’s already started!”
The star chat was in chaos, everyone shouting loudly and rushing to the live broadcast room ZY92770. When they saw the mecha with the code Y1121 wielding a large knife and chopping down the insectoids, swiftly killing them, the barrage of comments flowed endlessly.
?I’m the Best Cha Cha: Truly God Y, that familiar operation, I could recognize it even with my eyes closed, God Y is awesome!?
?Heard Y1121 is incredible: Didn’t they say she was piloting an A-grade mecha last time? How come it’s an S-grade now??
?My child is already starving: Hold up, the one who heard! Anyone with a brain can see that God Y’s mental strength and physical level are not just A-grade, okay? It’s only normal for her to pilot an S-grade mecha now?
?Lulalulalulalula: Wasn’t there talk about her being part of the Judgment Legion? Shouldn’t she at least be SSS-grade??
?Go Sea Blue Star: No way, no way? There’s really someone who thinks she’s from the Judgment Legion? Have you guys checked if she matches any of the big shots from the Judgment Legion??
?Point of the Sword: She really isn’t from the Judgment Legion?
?Someone’s always dreaming tonight: Big Boss Jian is here! Big Boss Jian and Y1121 are from the same shelter, he must know who she is!?
Su Jianxing watched the live broadcast of the S-grade mecha making the insectoids’ scalp tingle, pulled up the battle scenes of Y1121 he had filmed before, and other battle videos collected from the Star Network.
After suspecting Shi Yu might be Y1121, he watched these videos countless times, certain that Shi Yu was not from the Judgment Legion.
As everyone knows, the youngest core member of the Judgment Legion, Xie Yuyan, is now twenty-six years old. Even those who joined later are all adults.
Su Jianxing himself admired the Judgment Legion, even being an openly declared fan. However, seeing Y1121 being labeled as part of the Judgment Legion, he felt a sense of frustration.
Why must someone impressive necessarily be associated with the Judgment Legion or any other formidable group? Can’t she be a pearl polished from the plain sand within a clamshell?
Carrying this frustration, Su Jianxing watched the ongoing live battle, opened his smart brain, and started writing an article.
Since the insectoid invasion of Sea Blue Star, he had been writing about the planet’s current situation every day.
After Sea Blue Star restored communications, he published all those articles on the Star Network. Being a professional war correspondent with many fans, these articles allowed people from outside worlds to fully understand the situation on Sea Blue Star, and his fanbase grew significantly.
He accidentally revealed in an article which shelter he was in, and some talented Star Friend discovered he and Y1121 were in the same shelter. After this news spread, a bunch of Y fans came asking him what kind of person Y1121 is and how she is doing now.
Su Jianxing responded to them all, yet revealed no information about Shi Yu.
Using his scarce rest time, he earnestly wrote this article titled “Grain of Sand.”
Shi Yu was unaware she had made it onto the Star Network again. The group of five-star beetles was taken care of by all squads within twenty minutes. After a brief reorganization, everyone immediately headed to the drop site. As expected, the space station had begun dropping supplies, and they needed to hurry before the supplies could be damaged by the insectoids.
After putting away her large knife, Shi Yu sneakily hid her mecha’s code. She remembered someone had accurately called out Y1121; she couldn’t let others know she was Y1121.
Even though it was like hiding her head but exposing her tail, Shi Yu did it anyway.
Lu Dongyan and the other two turned a blind eye, partly not having the heart to tell her that in the shelter, anyone with a bit of authority could easily pull up all her registered information and discover she is Y1121.
But seeing her enjoying herself, the three chose to keep silent.
Following the team, Shi Yu suddenly noticed Li Wensheng approaching her. This time, she cleverly didn’t open the mic but connected to his communication channel, then sent over a question mark.
The other side quickly sent back a question mark, and Shi Yu sent another question mark back.
?Li Wensheng: Are you Y1121??
Just three words made Shi Yu cautious, and the probing tone of the other side instinctively made her feel that admitting she was Y1121 would lead to endless trouble.
Shi Yu changed her expression and typed one word back.
?Dreaming of Being a Salted Fish: No.?
?Li Wensheng: ??
?Li Wensheng: How could it not be? I just heard someone calling you.?
Shi Yu calmly typed on the keyboard.
?Dreaming of Being a Salted Fish: It really isn’t.?
She even added a period to make it more formal.
?Dreaming of Being a Salted Fish: Why are you asking about Y1121??
She tried to probe for military intelligence.
Li Wensheng’s cheeks reddened with excitement when he read her message.
Every adolescent prone to fantasies always had a soft spot for those who seemed overly impressive. Y1121 had attracted numerous such adolescents with a single phrase.
Li Wensheng was among them.
On Sea Blue Star, he could truly appreciate the thrill of defeating swarms of bugs.
Li Wensheng patted his warm cheeks, feeling a bit petulant. He didn’t want to admit he was a fan of Y1121 and sent a message to Shi Yu trying to seem nonchalant.
?Li Wensheng: Nothing much, just someone who’s been trending on StarNet recently.?
Shi Yu acknowledged with an “Oh,” realizing that Y1121 really wasn’t her. Her old computer couldn’t even access StarNet, let alone be trending there. That was something celebrities experienced, not her.
Dreaming of Being a Salted Fish: Then it’s definitely not me.
Li Wensheng found this message a bit strange, as if Shi Yu was Y1121 but now suddenly wasn’t.
However, Shi Yu’s next message quickly diverted his attention.
?Dreaming of Being a Salted Fish: Bro, I just saved your life. Do you have any pudding or other sweets? I’ve been feeling bitter lately and need some sugar…?
Li Wensheng blinked, thanked her, and rummaged through his space bag.
?Li Wensheng: I have a box of lollipops I bought for my sister, do you want it??
?Dreaming of Being a Salted Fish: Absolutely! Good brother, I’ll come get it from you when we’re back!?
Securing a box of lollipops, Shi Yu happily took out a small pudding and started eating.
Without the three pudding-gobbling monsters, Lu Dongyan and the others, around, it was blissful. She could enjoy the treat all by herself!
The journey continued smoothly. Y1121 didn’t cause any disturbances, mainly because no one responded, and those who knew of Y1121 – mostly young people who liked surfing StarNet – quickly reprimanded the person who had spoken out, and no one dared to stir trouble at this time.
The group arrived at their destination. The space station’s supplies were still being projected, five minutes from reaching the surface.
Shi Yu scanned the area with the radar on her mecha and found many bug corpses on the ground, dead for over an hour, clearly killed by a mecha. However, the person who killed them was no longer there.
Shi Yu guessed it might have been someone from a shelter passing through earlier.
Waiting always seemed particularly long. Bored, Shi Yu started counting the number of palm-sized spider projections on the simulation sand table. One, two, three, she was almost falling asleep counting.
Trying to stay alert, Shi Yu propped her eyelids open with her fingers. Suddenly, she noticed something without needing her fingers to keep her eyes wide.
The palm-sized spiders projected on the simulation sand table seemed to be carrying something.
Upon closer inspection, Shi Yu took out an energy power crystal from her space bag and compared it. It was exactly the same.
Not all palm-sized spiders were carrying energy power crystals, only a few in the group. Shi Yu zoomed in on their previous locations on the simulation sand table, right where the dead black leeches were.
Shi Yu activated the radar’s detection feature, but the S-class mecha she was piloting couldn’t detect what was inside the black leeches, and she couldn’t deploy the “War God” mecha right now.
Shi Yu thought for a moment and enlarged the image of a black leech’s corpse. Indeed, she saw a large hole gnawed out by spiders on its head, full of sharp teeth. Despite feeling disgusted, she zoomed in further but didn’t find the energy power crystal inside.
After checking several black leech corpses, she found their heads were hollowed out, and the energy power crystals inside were missing.
Shi Yu propped her chin, curious about where those spiders had taken the energy power crystals.
The energy power crystals could charge the “War God,” and since the insect race’s bodies contained energy power crystals, this must be the source of their formidable combat power…
Thinking this, Shi Yu connected with Feng Xiao’s communication.
[Dreaming of Being a Salted Fish: Little doctor, do you have any tracking missiles, the very small kind that can remain hidden and undetected?]
Feng Xiao, who was quite bored, raised an eyebrow upon seeing Shi Yu’s message.
[Feng Xiao: Yes, what do you need them for?]
Shi Yu straightforwardly shared her findings with Feng Xiao and asked him to launch a small tracking missile to follow those spiders.
Feng Xiao, quick-witted as always, found it odd but took advantage of the distraction and his mecha’s high performance to stealthily launch a tracking missile at the group of small spiders. The substance inside the missile dispersed and adhered to many of the spiders.
The spiders seemed startled and became alert, their abdominal sharp teeth clicking. After a moment of silence, they relaxed again and continued forward, carrying a few energy power crystals.
Seeing this, Shi Yu sent Feng Xiao a thumbs-up.
Inside Feng Xiao’s cockpit, many red dots immediately appeared on the virtual screen in front of him, representing the small spiders marked by his tracking missile. Zooming in on the dots, each spider was clearly visible.
As long as these spiders were within the range of Sea Blue Star and did not go to a location where signals were blocked, he could track their movements.
Soon, supplies projected from the space station entered the atmosphere. The insect race in the high altitude, disturbed by the missile, followed it down.
The entire team was on the highest alert. Wen Ruoyan ordered each squad to collect the supplies immediately. All actions were to be completed within three minutes. Once the time was up, regardless of whether all supplies were collected, Wen Ruoyan ordered a retreat.
Shi Yu felt the sky darken as something vast approached from above.
At that moment, Wen Ruoyan activated the highest level of alarm and shouted for everyone to move.
A huge insect race, blocking the sun, dove down from the sky.
It resembled both an insect and an eagle, with a bulging abdomen characteristic of insects, but its wings were covered in dense feathers. The whooshing sound of its wings could stir up a gale.
It had six legs, with the two lowest ones being fierce and sharp. When it fiercely clawed down, a mecha’s head was directly cracked open, such terrifying combat power made everyone who noticed it hold their breath.
Everyone knew that even within the same combat level, there are differences in strength. The SSS-level five-star beetles they encountered before couldn’t compare to this SSS-level insect.
Upon seeing this insect, Wen Ruoyan knew the situation was bad. This type of insect, named Claw Eagle, was the strongest combatant discovered so far. Previous rescues sent by the Sea Blue Star space station were all annihilated by Claw Eagle swarms, leaving none behind.
It had been a month since the insect invasion began, and never had Claw Eagles descended from high altitude to the ground. This time, Wen Ruoyan couldn’t even guarantee that she could escape alone.
Overwhelmed by boundless fear, several more mechas were crushed by the Claw Eagles.
Shi Yu also felt a heavy pressure, even foreseeing that driving the “War God,” she might not be able to defeat this Claw Eagle.
Wen Ruoyan made a decisive command: “Leave now, go as far as you can, and make sure to bring the supplies back to the shelter!”
Today’s supply retrieval wasn’t only their team, but according to predictions, their team was supposed to be the least dangerous.
However, the situation had completely reversed, and this terrifyingly large Claw Eagle could lead to their total annihilation!
Wen Ruoyan, wielding a long whip, prepared to face it head-on.
Just then, her radar detector picked up several heat sources plummeting from the sky at a speed that set the heart racing.