Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

“Mentor Fang can’t come here; she’s sorry she can’t see you off before you leave. When you have a moment, send her a message—this is what she prepared for you,” Captain Lin said as he placed a bracelet on Ruo Manni’s wrist.

The silver bracelet with light green patterns surprised Ruo Manni. It was a ten-cubic space bracelet filled with food and nutritional supplements.

“This is a preservation space; the food inside can last for at least six months. Mentor Fang put a lot of ready-to-eat items in there, personally made for you. Once you arrive at the military academy, you need to take care of yourself. Whether during special training or military training, neither the military nor the school will provide food. Once you finish what you have, you need to replenish your supplies. Nutritional supplements can only serve as a temporary fix; long-term use can be harmful to your health,” Captain Lin instructed.

Ruo Manni knew that preservation space devices were significantly more expensive than regular ones, not to mention the cost of all that food, which required considerable thought and effort.

“Thank you, Uncle Lin and Mentor,” Ruo Manni said, her gratitude truly beyond words.

Captain Lin sensed her thoughts, smiled, and gently patted her head. “You did well. I believe your mother would be proud of you. You need to work even harder from now on. When you have the chance, come back and visit us. If you face any difficulties, let us know. Remember, both I and Mentor Fang are like your adoptive parents, and Shanke is very fond of you as a sister.”

After Teresa Du went missing, Mentor Fang occasionally invited Ruo Manni to stay at her home. The original owner had a good relationship with Captain Lin’s seven-year-old son, Lin Shanke, and they were like real siblings.

“I will become an excellent mecha warrior and mecha engineer as soon as possible, and then serve under you,” Ruo Manni said, giving Captain Lin a proper military salute. This was her most sincere intention.

Captain Lin smiled and said, “Good, we’ll be waiting for you.”

Though Captain Lin’s tone was welcoming, Ruo Manni felt he didn’t truly believe her.

After some thought, Ruo Manni understood that Captain Lin viewed her as just a young girl, someone whose childish nature might lead her to change her mind and want to stay in the Central Star Domain in the future. Thus, he didn’t take her words too seriously.

Even on a fringe planet, spaceships cannot land directly on the surface. Captain Lin and Officer George brought Ruo Manni to wait at the outer space station of Topaz Star.

Standing at the observation window of the space station, Ruo Manni gazed at the stars twinkling in the dark universe, feeling somewhat dazed. Though the era might be different, and possibly even the time and space, the universe remained the same.

After a moment of reverie, she heard Captain Lin call out, “Ruo Manni, let’s go inside the space station.”

Half an hour later, a silver spaceship arrived at the docking bridge of the space station, with a long passage covering the ship’s door.

A military officer, about the same age as Captain Lin, stepped out of the spaceship and his gaze fell on Captain Lin.

“Lin Changfeng, it’s you.”

“Dudley, long time no see. This is your instructor, Manni.”

Manni immediately gave a proper military salute. “Hello, Instructor. I am Ruo Manni.”

The instructor, Dudley, did not treat Manni lightly due to his status; he returned her salute seriously before telling Captain Lin, “The student seems good. You’ve done well as her guardian.”

Dudley and Captain Lin had some past acquaintance, but they hadn’t been in contact for over ten years, making them feel somewhat unfamiliar with each other, and they exchanged only a few casual words.

“I wonder what she will experience on this journey. Gaining the prince’s attention is not something to take lightly,” Captain Lin sighed as he watched the departing spaceship.

“Although Miss Ruo Manni looks delicate on the outside, the fact that she endured the effects of the second-generation gene-enhancement drug proves her strong character. Very few people can compare to her,” Officer George said, displaying less concern.

He believed that a resilient person like Ruo Manni, with excellent cultivation potential and high emotional intelligence, would thrive no matter where she went.

Previously, Officer George had worried about Ruo Manni’s well-being because she was so outstanding yet came from a fringe planet, lacking protection in the capital star.

Now that she had the prince’s protection, those worries faded. He was filled with hope, looking forward to the day she would soar to great heights.

“Captain, who is that Dudley?” George asked on the way back.

“We were once comrades, but after just over a month together, our regiment faced issues. I went to Topaz Star, while he went to the Xuan Gu Military Academy as an instructor. He’s likely one of the new instructors for the mecha combat department there.”

“How could a seventh-level warrior be content teaching at a military academy?” George questioned, sensing there was more to the story.

Even in the central star region, a warrior of such high rank could easily attain the rank of captain.

“He was heavily injured back then and was deemed to have stagnated in his cultivation for several years. You know I took a precious elixir from Teresa Du that accidentally repaired my damaged genes, allowing me to recover.”

“And Dudley?”

“He was already a sixth-level warrior back then and has since advanced to seventh level. He must have had some fortuitous opportunity. His ability to remain peacefully as an instructor at the Xuan Gu Military Academy likely stems from that opportunity,” Captain Lin sighed.

However, it was Dudley who came to pick up Ruo Manni, which undoubtedly relieved Captain Lin.

Though their friendship had been brief, and they had lost contact after their regiment’s troubles, they were still familiar faces, comrades in arms. Now that they were both part of the same faction, Captain Lin felt assured that Dudley would look out for Ruo Manni without needing any additional request.

The fact that Captain Lin and Instructor Dudley had once been comrades made Ruo Manni feel fortunate. In the interstellar era, connections mattered, and it gave her a sense of warmth.

The spaceship wasn’t large, and the escort only had twenty soldiers, yet Ruo Manni still received a suite of over a hundred square meters. The suite included a private training room, allowing her to cultivate freely during the two-day journey.

Instructor Dudley treated Ruo Manni well, but he wasn’t very talkative. After explaining the ship’s rules, he encouraged her to ask him any questions about her training and then left her to her own devices.

Ruo Manni found this very comfortable. In her suite, she spent her days either training or studying mecha crafting, and at night, she could enter the war realm to take on tasks. Her days felt fulfilling.

Perhaps under the halo of the prince’s protection, Ruo Manni’s journey went exceptionally smoothly without any disturbances.

Five days later, the spaceship arrived safely over the capital star. In the space station, Instructor Dudley took Ruo Manni to switch to a hovercar, which quietly descended in the dead of night to an open area in front of a building.