Chapter Eight: Embark on the Journey

Gazing once more at this blue planet, Liu Shaoyu thought to himself, “It seems I’ll be gone for a long time this time.” At heart, Liu Shaoyu was not a man prone to indecision. Each of his transfers had come suddenly, and by now he had grown accustomed to this rhythm. Perhaps everyone was in a rush, yet it was a strange irony that those who now possessed longer lives than ever before grew all the more miserly with their time. Maybe it was because the universe was simply too vast—so vast that a mere few centuries of life was still not enough.

Accompanying Liu Shaoyu to the Galactic Stargate Military Base were not only their Young Dragon Squad but also the Salamander Squad, who had recently faced off in the simulation matches, as well as the Red Devil Squad from the Russian Federation. Though other regimes existed in name only, each self-defense force still boasted its share of military prodigies. These squads were the cream of the crop, meticulously selected from their respective nations’ guard units.

“Commencing jump. Now entering jump mode,” announced the artificial intelligence of the military transport ship, whose main axis stretched a kilometer in length.

In the void of space, the diminutive transport ship suddenly spat red tongues of flame from its rear thrusters, which soon shifted to a seamless blaze of blue light. The ship’s hull was then enveloped by a ripple of white energy, and in the next instant, it vanished from the universe.

Jump travel was tedious—nothing to see but the starry rivers of space and the shimmering energy barriers left in the wake of faster-than-light movement.

Soon, a ship materialized beside a small asteroid near the edge of the Milky Way, by the Galactic Stargate—a B-class military transport carrying Liu Shaoyu and his companions.

This asteroid was home to the Seventh Fleet’s Galactic Stargate Military Base. Lurking in orbit was a colossal metallic behemoth—the fleet’s naval workshop, an immense space fortress.

The port was crammed with starships of every size, coming and going in perfect order. Never before had they seen so many vessels at once; all their eyes shone with excitement.

“Look! A Nuwa-class carrier!” came the excited voice of Li Tao, the female soldier piloting the Peach Mech, from the Young Dragon Squad’s compartment.

She was stunned by the sight of a massive starship. The vessel’s prow was round, splitting into two enormous, streamlined decks above and below. Its tail was a blazing inferno, within which lay a gigantic main thruster, surrounded by numerous auxiliary engines.

“The Nuwa-class strategic carrier—a forty-kilometer main axis, equipped with the Federation’s most advanced propulsion system and double-layered shielded alloy armor. The ship boasts seven thousand independent anti-air combat modules, the new Zeus targeting system, and four Celestial-grade particle cannons. There’s also…”

“Alright, Scribe, enough showing off. Who here doesn’t know how advanced the Nuwa-class is? It’s the pride of the Federation—even our Seventh Army only has three Nuwa fleets,” interrupted a tall, thin man with sharply defined features and thick, black brows like arrows. He truly was tall—over two meters and thirteen centimeters. Thanks to the Human Completion Project, Earth’s average human height had long since reached one meter eighty-five, but heights like his were still rare.

The one called “Scribe” was the squad’s communications officer. His penchant for showing off had earned him that nickname, and his original name also left many questioning his gender.

Shu Shiwen—a name as gentle as that of a girl.

“Monkey, don’t pick on Scribe. Why don’t you tell us all the Nuwa’s specs yourself?” Li Tao arched a brow at the tall one, who was none other than the pilot of the Fire Control Mech.

“Fine, fine, I’m not arguing with you lovebirds,” Monkey replied, waving his hands and turning to gaze out the window.

Monkey’s surrender drew laughter from the squad. It wasn’t that he couldn’t argue with Tao, but rather that a wise man knows not to quarrel with a woman—if Tao could truly be called one.

In the distance, the Stargate emitted faint, transparent ripples. Against the backdrop of the nebula, the pitch-black universe took on a deep blue hue, and the lifeless black of the Stargate stood out starkly as it swallowed and released fleets. As the only Stargate in this sector, it was the sole passage connecting the Milky Way to the Rashan System.

The Stargate, an essential tool for traversing the vastness between distant star systems, was constructed around artificial wormholes, using resonance properties discovered in binary code.

In the beginning, Stargate development was excruciatingly slow. The first Asmotan to research and build a Stargate encountered a limitation: each time a wormhole was created, a new ship had to be built to enter the new wormhole before another could pass through. Reconnecting two Stargates could take days or even months, so ship traffic was sluggish. Later, Stargates were improved to remain open for longer periods—now, a wormhole could stay open for years before needing a restart. The first Stargate could only connect and control one wormhole at a time, but now several can be operated concurrently, linking multiple Stargates at once.

Through the Stargate, they could jump to the outermost star system of Rashan or to the battlefield itself—the Frontier Tower System.

What was once a commercial route had become a vital military hub. Every Federation mining company trade ship was now escorted by a combat fleet, each led by a strike cruiser at least ten kilometers long, to ensure safe passage through the perilous Frontier Tower System and on to the next Stargate.

Liu Shaoyu’s assignment was to join one such escort fleet, protecting the Earth United Mining Company’s convoys.

Since most trade ships were cargo vessels and Federation law forbade private companies from fielding large warships, the sheer size of the transports made them slow. The escorts could only creep along at their pace, which made the endless journey through the stars unbearably dull for these young, spirited soldiers.

The Seventh Fleet Galactic Stargate Base

A month had passed since their arrival, and Liu Shaoyu and his team had yet to be assigned to escort duty. Instead, the military base and mining company put them through joint training to familiarize them with escort procedures—a routine so monotonous that most soldiers dozed off during lessons. Thanks to their enhanced brain development, they could absorb knowledge even in their sleep.

Though tedious, this training was indispensable for an escort squad. Military instructors interspersed the lessons with simulation battles, which made the days pass quickly enough.

Unsurprisingly, the Young Dragon Squad distinguished themselves in these simulated battles, earning top marks and a rapid rise in their evaluations. Their reputation soon soared among the reserve fleets, while the long-suppressed Salamander Squad, hoping to shed their former disgrace, found themselves once again overshadowed by the Young Dragon Squad.

“Captain Liu Shaoyu, upon receiving this notice, assemble your team at port F3E7,” rang the artificial intelligence voice from his personal computer.

Liu Shaoyu, previously nodding off, snapped to attention.

“Young Dragon Squad—assemble at F3E7 in five minutes!”

“Yeah!” came their jubilant reply.

At last, the moment had arrived. From this day forward, these eleven young soldiers would officially step onto the battlefield. What awaited them next?