I Am a Salted Fish in the Interstellar Era - Chapter 31

The news of Xie Yuyan being injured and unconscious spread through the shelter like a tornado. Fortunately, Xie Jiangsa promptly ordered that the information not be leaked.

 

At first, Shi Yu found it strange that the news of Xie Yuyan’s injury and unconsciousness spread so easily. Later, she learned that many people had seen Xie Yuyan being ambushed in the rest room. He was shot and bled on the spot.

 

The person who shot Xie Yuyan was a bodyguard of Gu Mingzhan. After injuring Xie Yuyan, the bodyguard immediately fled in an adaptive exoskeleton. Xie Jiangsa chased after him, leading to the situation where Shi Yu and four others helped capture him.

 

Everyone instinctively looked at Gu Qianqian, then heard rumors that Gu Mingzhan had been detained and no one except Xie Jiangsa could see him.

 

Gu Qianqian was extremely worried and wanted to see Gu Mingzhan but received a communication from him first, saying he was just undergoing routine investigation and nothing was wrong.

 

Gu Qianqian had to calm down. If Gu Mingzhan really was a suspect, he couldn’t be freely wandering outside; he would have been detained as well.

 

Soon, Xie Jiangsa announced that Xie Yuyan was not seriously harmed and urged everyone not to panic, also restraining them from spreading rumors. Yet, the news of Xie Yuyan’s injury still reached other shelters.

 

In the evening, Xie Yuyan participated in the meetings held by various shelters as usual. Despite looking a bit pale, he seemed fine, and seeing him, everyone at the meeting breathed a sigh of relief.

 

The space station’s Hai Jingji also heard about it and personally communicated with Xie Yuyan, only to be rebuffed coldly, unable to probe any information and left fuming. Afterwards, she swore that if she ever initiated communication with Xie Yuyan again, she would be a fool.

 

Shi Yu glanced at Xie Yuyan from afar, feeling that something was off but couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

 

At night, after patrolling around the shelter and waiting to change shifts, Feng Xiao suddenly remembered something and blurted out, “Oh no.”

 

Shi Yu and the others were drawn by his reaction, seeing him rapidly typing on the virtual keyboard of his brain-computer interface.

 

Quickly, Feng Xiao pushed the virtual screen in front of Shi Yu: “Do you remember the group of small spiders you asked me to track last time?”

 

Shi Yu nodded, then her eyes lit up: “Have they shown any unusual activity?”

 

“I suddenly remembered today and checked. They split into two groups, one staying at the headquarters of Sea Blue Express and the other heading towards our shelter. I meant to tell you about this, but then the alarm went off during the day, and the news about Xie being attacked surfaced, so I forgot.”

 

Feng Xiao pointed to two dense clusters of red dots on the virtual screen: “This group is still wandering near the headquarters of Sea Blue Express. I guess they might still be collecting crystals from the bodies of the insect race.”

 

“This group is already very close to our shelter. Given their speed, they won’t take half a day to arrive. What do you think they are coming to our shelter for?”

 

The others knew about the butterfly specimens, but besides those, Feng Xiao could not think of anything else that would attract these spiders, nor could he detect if other insects were coming with them.

 

Normally, if there was a large-scale movement of the insect race, the space station’s orbital satellites would notice and promptly provide intelligence warnings to the shelters on the surface. However, up to now, the shelter has not issued any alert messages.

 

Given the complex situation on Sea Blue Star, even if the orbital satellites were functioning normally, they might not be able to monitor everything on the surface. Feng Xiao was worried

 

about potential oversights by the satellites that could prevent them from providing accurate intelligence.

 

Previously, the attacks of the insect race were repelled by several members of the Judgment Corps, filling everyone in the shelter with confidence. At such times, people tend to become complacent, believing the insect race couldn’t threaten the shelter.

 

But if the insect race launched an attack regardless of the cost, even the formidable members of the Judgment Corps, being few in number, would get tired and could die.

 

With this thought, everyone’s faces turned grim.

 

Xiao Feng immediately retracted the virtual screen and whispered, “No matter what their purpose is, we need to inform Commander Xie about this immediately. The sooner we prepare, the better.”

 

As Xiao Feng was about to connect with Xie Yuyan, the brain-computer interface waited for half a minute without receiving a response, causing him to frown.

 

Shi Yu decisively grabbed his arm, saying, “The shift change is here. Since we can’t get through on the brain-computer, let’s go find someone in person.”

 

They probably wouldn’t be asleep so early, right? But considering they were attacked and injured today, it’s possible they went to bed early.

 

Wen Ruoyan came over with the shift change crew and saw five people huddled together, murmuring among themselves. Her eyebrows furrowed, ready to speak, but Shi Yu immediately waved at her with a beaming smile: “Lieutenant Colonel Wen, you’re here!”

 

With the adage that one does not slap a smiling face, Wen Ruoyan felt embarrassed to scold them for slacking off. She softened her expression and solemnly said, “Take your patrols seriously. You all should be more careful next time.”

 

Shi Yu obediently nodded, then dragged Xiao Feng along: “Lieutenant Colonel Wen, we have something important to attend to, so we’ll be leaving first. Thank you for your hard work on the patrol!”

 

The others quickly followed Shi Yu’s lead in buttering up Wen Ruoyan, who laughed and called them little rascals before starting the next round of patrols.

 

Over these days, she had noticed that although Shi Yu seemed unreliable and only interested in slacking off all day, she definitely made sure to complete her responsibilities thoroughly before taking her leisure.

 

Shi Yu didn’t go to find Xie Yuyan. During the meeting earlier, he was surrounded by layers of people, and with the attack that occurred today, dragging Xiao Feng over might just get them detained.

 

She pulled Xiao Feng to find Xie Jiangsa.

 

Xie Jiangsa was training at the training ground every night. Since Shi Yu arrived at this shelter, she noticed his unbreakable routine, though it was uncertain if he would be there today. They decided to look for him first.

 

Before they even reached the training ground, they ran into Xie Jiangsa on the way.

 

Shi Yu’s eyes lit up, and they blocked his path.

 

Shi Yu waved her hand and said, “What a coincidence, Major General Xie.”

 

Blocking someone’s path so boldly yet claiming it to be a coincidence, Xie Jiangsa turned off his brain-computer, crossed his arms, and leaned against the wall: “What do you want from me? Don’t ask what you shouldn’t.”

 

Better to block the way first to prevent these little rascals from poking around.

 

Shi Yu, feeling somewhat inferior to his thick-skinned approach, flashed a bright smile and said obediently, “We won’t ask what we shouldn’t. We discovered something and couldn’t go to Commander Xie, so we had to come to you.”

 

Xie Jiangsa raised an eyebrow, and Shi Yu added, “Can we find a quiet place with no one around?”

 

After scanning their faces to ensure they weren’t joking or looking for an excuse, Xie Jiangsa stood up straight and said, “Follow me.”

 

Soon, the five of them followed Xie Jiangsa into the conference room where they had last met with him.

 

“Speak, what’s the matter?” Xie Jiangsa, leaning on the conference table, his demeanor wild and unrestrained.

 

Xiao Feng immediately pulled up the virtual screen and shared their findings with Xie Jiangsa. The relaxed expression on Xie Jiangsa’s face disappeared, and he opened his brain-computer, saying to Xiao Feng, “Send me all your tracking information, including how you tracked them.”

 

Xiao Feng quickly transferred the data, and they saw Xie Jiangsa’s slender fingers rapidly moving over a virtual keyboard. Shortly after, several virtual screens popped out from his brain-computer, showing real-time monitoring of those locations by orbital satellites.

 

Shi Yu leaned in and soon saw a group of palm-sized spiders extracting energy crystals from the bodies of dead insectoids, an extremely disgusting scene causing intense discomfort. She glanced over the location’s coordinates and realized it was near the Sea Blue Express headquarters.

 

She then looked at another group of spiders, their eight legs rolling crazily as they moved forward at high speed, apparently heading towards the shelter from what could be seen on the brain-computer screen.

 

Other virtual screens displayed scenes of insectoid activity around the shelter, showing no intention of heading towards the shelter.

 

What do those spiders want?

 

Shi Yu rested her chin on her hand, puzzled, but just then, the group of spiders that had been running non-stop suddenly stopped.

 

They raised their forelimbs, and their abdominal teeth continuously snapped together. Although the sound of their teeth snapping

 

couldn’t be heard through the virtual screen, Shi Yu could almost recall the hair-raising crackling sound from before.

“What’s going on? Why did they suddenly stop?” Gu Qianqian couldn’t help but ask out loud.

 

After asking, he realized it was a pointless question. No one in the conference room knew what the insect race was thinking, let alone why they suddenly stopped.

 

However, in just a moment, the spiders put their forelimbs on the ground, closed their abdomens, then flipped over and headed in a different direction.

 

“Could we have been wrong? They’re not coming for the shelter?” Lu Dongyan couldn’t help but speak out as well.

 

Shi Yu, stroking her chin, looked at the red dots changing direction on the virtual screen. She stretched out her hand and measured on the screen, suddenly asking, “Where does this direction lead?”

 

Everyone followed the direction she was pointing, and just as Xie Jiangsa was about to zoom in on the virtual screen to check the location, Gu Qianqian had already said, “If they keep heading this way, they should pass by the exhibition hall of my house.”

 

As he said this, Xie Jiangsa’s expression suddenly changed, his oddity too apparent, and without paying special attention, several people noticed it.

 

At that moment, no one spoke. Xie Jiangsa, leaning on the table, was silent for a long time before suddenly raising his head and saying, “You guys go out, Shi Yu stays.”

 

At this point, no one was in the mood to argue about his ‘I have a secret to discuss with someone, and you’re not allowed to listen’ expression. The four obediently left the conference room, each with their own thoughts.

 

Shi Yu, suddenly left behind, immediately had a huge question mark over her head but then heard Xie Jiangsa suddenly laugh, “Can you do me a favor?”

 

Just a moment ago, he had an odd expression, but now he was able to laugh. Shi Yu quickly waved her hands, “I still have to train, I—”

 

“The next thing will be more thrilling and exciting than training. I think you’ll be interested.”

 

Shi Yu’s alarm bells went off, “I’m not interested!”

 

Could she say she regretted coming here? Hearing Xie Jiangsa’s words, she knew what was coming would be troublesome.

 

“Really not interested?” Xie Jiangsa squinted his eyes, quickly crossing his arms, “Yuyan is not in the shelter right now. Guess where he went?”

 

Shi Yu’s eyes widened in shock.

 

“Don’t trick me. He was at the meeting half an hour ago, I saw it with my own eyes.”

 

Little Beauty can barely walk a few steps without panting, how could Xie Jiangsa leave when he’s still here—

 

Shi Yu’s thought was cut off halfway when a thought struck her like lightning. She remembered someone passing by her after today’s training, carrying the same scent as Little Beauty.

 

Xie Jiangsa, observing her expression, dangerously narrowed his eyes, “You know?”

 

“He actually told you such things!” Xie Jiangsa was furiously indignant.

 

“No, he—”

 

“What about him? If you don’t go, I’ll strangle you right now!”

 

Xie Jiangsa suddenly lost his temper, catching Shi Yu off guard. She opened her mouth trying to explain, “No, it’s me—”

 

“Alright, now that you’ve admitted it, how dare you not go? Do you think the men of the Xie family can be easily flirted with? I turned a blind eye to the last incident; you took advantage of him, and now you want to abandon him after causing trouble, let me tell you, if you don’t go, I’ll clean house for him right now!”

 

“Not like that…” Shi Yu weakly argued, but ultimately, under Xie Jiangsa’s furious gaze, she closed her eyes and resignedly said, “I’ll go…”

 

Xie Jiangsa’s expression immediately cleared up, and he smiled, then added Shi Yu’s terminal number, while also disdainfully commenting, “Your brain-computer interface is so crappy.”

 

After expressing his disdain, he seriously said, “Since he trusts you, I trust you too. If I could leave the shelter, I wouldn’t bother you. You’d better catch up with him as quickly as possible; I’m really worried about him being alone. If you encounter danger, come back immediately. If he doesn’t listen to you, knock him out and bring him back.”

 

Xie Jiangsa was serious, and only then did Shi Yu realize he had been pretending all along, rolling her eyes at him.

 

Ignoring her eye roll, he continued, “You can’t let others notice when you leave. I know your Lancezell has a particle virtualization feature; activate it and enter stealth mode. The mecha’s speed will double its usual pace.”

 

Shi Yu had heard the name Lancezell not for the first time. Both Little Beauty and Xie Jiangsa had referred to him as the “War God.”

 

But now, she clearly didn’t have time to ponder why Little Beauty and Xie Jiangsa would call Lancezell the “War God.”

 

After listening to his instructions, Shi Yu suddenly frowned, “Why don’t you let the Judgment Legion go?”

 

In terms of combat ability, even if she were piloting the “War God,” she would be no match for the members of the Judgment Legion; was it really reliable to send her?

 

Xie Jiangsa gave her a meaningful look, “Some things are not as simple as they appear. Today’s ambush on Yan wasn’t staged by us. Many people want him dead.”

 

This was almost an admission.

 

Shi Yu pursed her lips, recalling the last time Little Beauty took her away alone, and a guess suddenly formed in her mind.

 

Perhaps Little Beauty not only wanted to prevent those people from taking her life but also intended to avoid them and go to the headquarters of Sea Blue Express themselves.

 

Shi Yu muttered, “This role of Commander Xie is really not interesting.”

 

Having no one to trust by his side, even doubting if his subordinates harbored ulterior motives.

 

Something flashed quickly in Xie Jiangsa’s eyes, which Shi Yu didn’t catch in time. Suddenly, he handed her something, “This is a mimic exoskeleton. Once bound, you can use it. I’ll issue an emergency mission later. Follow the team out, then quietly leave without letting others know.”

 

Shi Yu nodded, holding the mimic exoskeleton ring, not even surprised that such a wonderful thing had come into her possession.

 

Before leaving, Shi Yu hid all signs of oddity on her face and stuffed the mimic exoskeleton into her spatial bag. Feng Xiao and others gathered around, said nothing, and all returned to the rest room together.

 

As soon as Shi Yu sat on the bed, she was bombarded with messages from everyone.

 

Feng Xiao was the first to bombard her, “What did Major General Xie say to you?”

 

Lu Dongyan followed closely, “What exactly happened?”

 

Gu Qianqian was scratching his heart and lungs in anxiety, “Tell us, tell us quickly!”

 

Luo Xiaci also added, “I’m a bit curious too.”

 

Shi Yu was overwhelmed by their questions and mysteriously said, “You’ll know soon.”

 

After that, she turned off the communicator, fell onto the bed, and took out the mimic exoskeleton ring Xie Jiangsa had given her.

 

–

 

In the conference room, Xie Jiangsa sat with a cold expression. He opened Xie Yuyan’s communicator interface, sent over the findings of the few of them, and then typed a line.

 

[Brother Xie: It’s too dangerous. It’s better for you to come back. We can think this through more carefully.]

 

He waited for five minutes without a response, his fingers tapping densely on the table. After about six minutes, the communication window finally showed some activity.

 

[Xie Yuyan: It’ll be alright.]

 

Seeing these dry  words, Xie Jiangsa immediately stood up from his chair, wishing he could drag out his past self who had agreed to this decision and give him a good beating.

 

Xie Jiangsa rubbed his forehead and angrily sent another message.

 

[Brother Xie: Do you think you’re a savior?]

 

It took a while before he received a reply, one word that infuriated Xie Jiangsa even more.

 

[Xie Yuyan: Sorry.]

 

Xie Jiangsa, in a rare loss of control, kicked the corner of the table, then sent another barrage of words.

 

[Brother Xie: We agreed to keep in touch with me at all times. You better not be fooling me, or you’ll see what happens when you come back. Alright, I won’t waste words with you, there’s something here. Take care of yourself.]

 

Xie Jiangsa angrily shut off the communication, only to turn around and discover that the location information for himself and Xie Yuyan had somehow been turned off.

 

He was nearly beside himself with anger.

 

Good grief, his earlier remark must have reminded him to turn off the location, right?

 

Xie Jiangsa huffed loudly, knowing well that Xie Yuyan never listened to him. Well, he couldn’t blame him for pulling the rug out from under him this time.

 

Otherwise, he might really think he could mess around without any consequences.

 

–

 

Shi Yu and others received the task to reinforce another shelter. This wasn’t the first time for such a mission, nor the first time it was carried out at night, and almost nobody noticed anything amiss.

 

Feng Xiao and a few others, recalling Shi Yu’s recent remark “You’ll know in a bit,” immediately linked the two matters together. They wanted to grab her for a clear explanation, but just as they boarded their mechas, turning their heads for just a moment, Shi Yu was gone!

 

The ones left behind couldn’t help but swear in unison, soon after receiving a communication from Shi Yu: “Dear friends, cover for me, don’t let the Major find out.”

 

Just then, Feng Xiao received a communication from Li Wensheng: “Feng Xiao, where’s Shi Yu?”

 

Feng Xiao, brazen-faced, told a bold lie: “She seemed a bit overworked today, you know how girls have those days when they don’t feel well. She had already asked the Major for leave before the mission. Don’t tell anyone, she’s concerned about her reputation.”

 

Li Wensheng immediately showed an understanding expression, then assured with a pat on his chest, “Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone.”

 

So, it turns out, even someone as formidable as Shi Yu could see a sharp decline in combat effectiveness when feeling unwell.

 

After ending the communication with Li Wensheng and unable to help himself, Feng Xiao closed his eyes in resignation.

 

He swore that once Shi Yu returned, he would give her a piece of his mind.

 

Shi Yu sneezed heavily, silently apologizing in her heart. Once the mecha flew far away, she switched to the “War God,” activating the mecha’s particle virtualization feature for stealth mode as Xie Jiangsa had instructed. Indeed, the mecha’s speed increased significantly, and her body could handle it.

 

So, there was such a useful skill. The “War God” was really unreliable for not providing a beginner’s guide or anything.

 

She received the message from Xie Jiangsa, furiously saying that Xie Yuyan had turned off his location, feeling an inexplicable sense of understanding.

 

While piloting her mecha at high speed, she bantered with Xie Jiangsa, stating her demand for at least two hundred little puddings upon her return, not concerned with how Xie Jiangsa would procure them.

 

Xie Jiangsa immediately sent her a string of ellipses.

 

–

 

The sky was pitch black, but the space station was always bright. Since Sea Blue Planet had no natural satellites, the space station somewhat played the role of the moon.

 

Xie Yuyan glanced at the sky, then stepped down from the hover car, standing atop a ruined skyscraper.

 

His figure was slender and slim, the evening breeze fluttering the hem of his dark red military uniform and caressing his silver hair. His uniform rustled, and his hair floated gracefully. If any outsider were present, they would surely feel as if a deity favored by the heavens had descended.

 

A virtual screen popped up in front of Xie Yuyan’s right eye, quickly locking onto a distant, skewed yet uncollapsed building, which to the naked eye appeared as a mere dot. Then, zooming in infinitely, the scene before him became vividly clear.

 

Behind the building, a massive black hole had been torn open, completely covering the building and blending almost seamlessly into the night, yet endlessly spewing bugs from within.

 

Orbital satellites could capture the surface conditions but failed to detect the holes torn open by the bug race. Before the beautiful butterfly invaded the shelter where Shi Yu had been, the space station didn’t even know the bug race reached the Deep Blue Star System by tearing holes through beautiful butterflies.

 

As he had expected, Xie Yuyan lowered his gaze.

 

He touched the base of his right index finger, where the bare skin suddenly shimmered. A silver ring appeared, followed by a silver-blue mecha materializing under the ‘moonlight.’

 

If Shi Yu were here, she would be astonished to find this mecha almost identical to her “War God.”

 

It was “Judgment,” the mecha that had struck fear into numerous invading federations yet had never appeared before.