Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

The cosmic warship of Topaz Star, located on the edge of the star system, was surprisingly an advanced model, almost identical in configuration to those of second-tier planets.

It was clear that this was all due to the First Prince’s efforts. In the past few years, the military equipment of Topaz Star had been completely overhauled.

No one needed to be a “prophet” to deduce that Topaz Star would inevitably be the first place the Yunkai aliens would arrive at, given the location of the Yunkai Star System.

To prevent civilian casualties, the military had to block the Yunkai forces in space, and therefore, all anti-invasion wars were primarily focused on space combat.

As far as Ruo Manni knew, in recent years, the Gus Empire’s military budget had allocated even more funds to the starspace equipment of Topaz Star than for second-tier planets.

Unfortunately, the training of starspace mech combatants wasn’t something that could be easily achieved. A qualitative leap required decades of development, and the fact that such a significant change had occurred in just seven or eight years was already the result of the Empire using all of its available methods.

Because they would likely face a fierce battle again in less than a day, once the Topaz Star Starspace Combat Regiment boarded the cosmic warship, apart from the leader, Zhou Yinxing, and Ruo Manni, the rest of the members went to their rooms to rest.

Ruo Manni thought that not long from now, she would be meeting up with the fleet led by Hebrew Adam, and she couldn’t help but feel a little excited. She really wanted to meet him in person.

However, reality was different. Both of them were soldiers on an urgent mission, and they were absolutely not allowed to act privately. Especially since Hebrew Adam was the Commander of the Starspace Combat Regiment, every action of his had to be closely monitored.

The Topaz Star cosmic warship flew for about an hour and a half through space before it met up on time with the Seventh Starspace Combat Regiment, led by Hebrew Adam, at the pre-designated meeting point.

The communication screen on the warship flickered, and Hebrew Adam appeared on it, dressed in his neat military uniform, his gaze firm and resolute.

Although Ruo Manni had seen Hebrew Adam many times in videos, he was always in civilian clothes with a soft gaze.

This was the first time she realized that, dressed in military uniform and with a stern expression, Hebrew Adam was breathtakingly handsome.

Of course, Hebrew Adam saw Ruo Manni on the screen as well. His gaze lingered on her face for two seconds before he turned to Zhou Yinxing and said in a calm voice, “I am Hebrew Adam, Commander of the Seventh Army Starspace Combat Regiment.”

Zhou Yinxing immediately saluted and reported loudly, “Report, Commander, I am Zhou Yinxing, the commander of the Topaz Star Starspace Combat Regiment.”

Seeing this, there were others on Hebrew Adam’s side as well, and Ruo Manni followed the proper procedure, saluting and reporting, “Report, Commander, I am Ruo Manni, the vice-commander of the Topaz Star Starspace Combat Regiment.”

According to the formal protocol, it should have been: “Report, Commander, I am Hua De Manni, the vice-commander of the Topaz Star Starspace Combat Regiment.”

However, the problem was that, whether it was people from Ruo Manni’s side or Hebrew Adam’s side, the vast majority knew that she and Hebrew Adam were engaged. At this moment, everyone was curious about the two of them, and in this context, Ruo Manni felt that introducing herself by name would be too pretentious.

Hebrew Adam’s response to Ruo Manni’s self-introduction was no different from his response to Zhou Yinxing. His instructions were normal, telling them to follow the Seventh Army fleet and to take all orders from the commander.

After giving the orders, Hebrew Adam ended the communication.

Ruo Manni didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary. The reason why they were suddenly formed into a Starspace Combat Regiment was because an unknown species of cosmic creatures had suddenly invaded the Gus Empire.

The Gus Empire had very little knowledge about these cosmic creatures. Apart from knowing roughly the number and size of the creatures, they knew almost nothing else.

They didn’t know whether their weapons would be effective against these creatures or cause fatal damage. They also didn’t know what kind of attacks the creatures might use, whether they could defend against them, or if it would lead to heavy casualties among the mech combatants.

Under this heavy concern, as the commander of the Starspace Combat Regiment, Hebrew Adam couldn’t afford to think about unrelated matters.

However, after the warship had been traveling for about half an hour, Ruo Manni received a private message from Hebrew Adam.

Neither of them had the mood to discuss personal matters. Hebrew Adam’s private message to Ruo Manni was to assign her a task. He asked her to use her psychic abilities to “observe” the incoming cosmic creatures as soon as the battle began, and report any discoveries to him immediately.

This was a mission, not a request, and Ruo Manni solemnly accepted the order.

Still, Ruo Manni took the time to ask Hebrew Adam about the battle plan. They exchanged opinions for a while, but eventually, Hebrew Adam had to end the communication.

Before hanging up, Hebrew Adam couldn’t help but say with a serious expression, “Manni, make sure you protect yourself as much as possible.”

Ruo Manni and Hebrew Adam locked eyes, and she could see the unspoken words in his gaze. As the commander of this operation, Hebrew Adam should have told her to do her best. However, as her lover, he wanted her to protect herself and avoid any harm.

This contradictory, complex mindset was something he couldn’t say out loud, nor should he at this moment, but his concern was overwhelming.

Ruo Manni couldn’t help but feel the same way. There were a thousand words on the tip of her tongue, but all she could say was, “You too.”

After the Topaz Star Starspace Combat Regiment met up with the Seventh Army’s Starspace Combat Regiment, they continued their journey for another five hours before finally reaching the No. 1 Desolate Star.

The commander of the Starspace Combat Regiment was Hebrew Adam, and the vice-commander was an experienced general, a Level 7 early-stage warrior. Thus, the Starspace Combat Regiment had three Level 7 mech combatants in total.

The Seventh Army had several times more Level 6 mech combatants than Topaz Star, totaling over 3,400.

Hebrew Adam had already assigned the formation, so as soon as they arrived, more than a dozen warships spread out in a wing-shaped formation, with the warship carrying Hebrew Adam leading the way.

At this point, according to the latest data, the cosmic creatures were still five hours away from encountering them, which was a full four hours later than previously estimated.

This gave the Starspace Combat Regiment enough time to adjust and prepare.

Four hours later, all twelve warships of the Starspace Combat Regiment received signals from their life detection instruments.

From the screens, it was clear that the newly named “Super Beast” by the Gus Empire resembled the devilfish from Earth’s oceans. In the dark, lightless space, their blackish color made them even more terrifying.

However, the size of the Super Beasts was far greater than that of devilfish, with each one measuring two to three hundred meters long—truly gigantic.

This was a type of cosmic creature humanity had never seen before, and everyone was nervously awaiting the moment of close combat. Thirty minutes before the confrontation, Hebrew Adam had given the order for all warships to prepare. At his command, they would fire powerful laser beams.

In the tense waiting, the Super Beasts entered the range of the powerful laser beams. The main warship of the Starspace Combat Regiment fired the first powerful laser beams.

Twelve laser beams, each with a diameter of one meter, swept through the Super Beast swarm for thirty seconds before suddenly disappearing.

There was no sound in space because there is no air, and these powerful laser beams, which could instantly turn planetary creatures to ash, seemed to have no effect on the Super Beasts. When the beams swept across the front rank of the Super Beasts, it was as if they were merely ordinary light beams. The Super Beasts remained in formation, unaffected.

Everyone’s hearts tightened. This was one of the strongest weapons in their fleet. Laser weapons were also standard equipment for Level 6 Starspace Mechs. If the powerful laser beams couldn’t inflict damage on the Super Beasts, the Mech combatants would have no way to deal with them.

Time passed second by second, and soon a minute had gone by, with the Super Beasts still charging toward them.

As the people were on the verge of despair, they suddenly noticed that the formation of the Super Beasts was slightly off. The Super Beasts in the back pushed through the ones in the front, causing them to scatter to the sides and make way for the ones behind.

Ruo Manni suddenly understood. Although the powerful laser beams hadn’t killed the Super Beasts, they had still caused some damage.

So, even though the life detection instruments showed the Super Beasts were still alive and appeared unharmed on the surface, in reality, they had lost their ability to move due to the severe injuries.

In space, there is no gravity. Even if the Super Beasts were dead, they wouldn’t fall. Without the ability to move, they would simply float in place.

As a result, they blocked the way of the unharmed Super Beasts behind them, and were treated as obstacles that were pushed aside.

As Ruo Manni realized this, thinking about whether to send a private message to Hebrew Adam, she suddenly heard his calm command: “All warships, fire.”

With that order, the twelve warships immediately fired one laser beam after another. The beams cut through the dark space and accurately struck the Super Beasts.

Once the powerful laser beams stopped, Hebrew Adam immediately ordered: “All warships retreat by 30,000 meters.”

All the warships quickly moved back, creating distance between themselves and the Super Beasts. Then they heard Hebrew Adam’s order: “Fire.”

A new round of laser beam attacks began.

However, it was clear that the Super Beasts were intelligent creatures. After the second round of strong laser beam fire, when Hebrew Adam ordered all the warships to retreat another 30,000 meters, the Super Beast swarm, which had originally been in a straight line, began to shift. They quickly expanded and spread out to the sides.

Soon, the Super Beast swarm grew longer than the warship formation, and then it charged toward the warships.

The Super Beasts had spread out, but they only had twelve warships on their side, so the warships’ laser beams could no longer sweep across all the Super Beasts and stop their attack, as they had done before.

Although the front of the Super Beast swarm was suppressed, the beasts on the sides had already charged in, and the warships didn’t have time to create the distance they had before.

“Deploy the Mech Combatants immediately to clear the Super Beasts that weren’t hit by the laser beams,” Hebrew Adam commanded.

With his order, the Mech Combatants, who had been lined up and ready, quickly ejected from the warships.

In space, the Starspace Mechs could take on their largest form, though they were only about ten meters tall. Compared to the two- to three-hundred-meter-long Super Beasts, they were quite small.

Fortunately, without the obstruction of air, the laser swords could extend up to forty meters. The Mechs, in groups of ten, nimbly sliced through the Super Beasts, rendering them immobile.

“This Super Beast shell is extremely tough. If it were another weapon, it would likely be unable to break through its shell,” Zhou Yinxing said, looking at the data sent back from the Mech Combatants’ attacks. He spoke to Ruo Manni.

Ruo Manni was very concerned as she watched the battlefield outside. What kind of attack methods did the Super Beasts have?

She used her telekinesis to “observe” the combat scene, and suddenly noticed that two Mechs from the Topaz Starspace Combat Regiment had completely disappeared. The speed was so fast that Ruo Manni didn’t have time to “see clearly.”

This situation either meant they had been shielded, or the Mechs had been destroyed along with their pilots.

Ruo Manni immediately focused her telekinesis. In the pitch-black space, her telekinesis faced almost no resistance. She had a wide range of telekinetic ability, so her attention wasn’t fully concentrated.

She carefully “looked” at the spots where the two Mechs had disappeared and noticed many small fragments floating in space.

“Captain, Captain, teams 11 and 12 suddenly lost contact,” the team leader of the third squad of the Topaz Starspace Combat Regiment urgently reported over the public channel.

“What’s going on?” Zhou Yinxing had seen his team members disappear on the life detection instrument. After hearing the third squad leader’s urgent report, he quickly asked.

“I don’t know. They suddenly disappeared without sending any signals, and there was no indication of anything unusual before that,” the third squad leader replied.

“Captain Hua De, more than twenty Mech Combatants have mysteriously disappeared on the battlefield. Have you found any cause?” Hebrew Adam asked on the public channel.

Ruo Manni was about to respond when she suddenly “saw” something like gas being emitted from the Super Beast’s mouth, heading toward two members of Team 11.

In a critical moment, Ruo Manni immediately created a protective shield with her telekinesis, surrounding them and then teleporting them 2,000 meters away. Even though Ruo Manni’s telekinetic actions could be completed in an instant, that gas still brushed against her telekinetic shield.

Ruo Manni only felt an extreme coldness in the gas. Just a slight touch drained about ten percent of her mental energy. If she hadn’t quickly withdrawn her telekinesis, she wasn’t sure what would have happened.

Ruo Manni immediately reported to Hebrew Adam over the public channel, “The Super Beasts emit a gas from their mouths, and anything it touches is enveloped in a temperature close to absolute zero.”

Hearing this, Hebrew Adam didn’t ask for proof. He immediately announced the urgent situation to the entire regiment, telling everyone to avoid the Super Beast’s head.

Since Ruo Manni spoke on the public channel, even if Hebrew Adam hadn’t made an official announcement, all members of the Starspace Combat Regiment had already heard it. Before he even gave the order, everyone had already moved away from the Super Beast’s head.

Hebrew Adam switched to the command channel and asked Ruo Manni, “The Mechs that disappeared without a trace—was that the Super Beast’s attack?”

“Two of our teams disappeared. I found debris at their disappearance points,” Ruo Manni explained. “In our 13th squad, some members were attacked. I used my telekinesis to shield them and teleport them away, but the gas swept over us, and my mental energy was depleted by ten percent in an instant.”

Because of this, Ruo Manni was unable to use her telekinesis to control the battlefield and save anyone.

“Keep observing the Super Beast’s attacks. Report immediately if you discover anything new,” Hebrew Adam instructed.

“Yes, Commander,” Ruo Manni responded.

Although Ruo Manni couldn’t control the battlefield and save anyone, if it hadn’t been for her discovering the silent, instantaneous lethal attack of the Super Beasts with her telekinesis, the Starspace Combat Regiment wouldn’t have known how many people could have been lost or how they could detect it.

In the completely dark environment of space, the gas emitted by the Super Beast was undetectable by all human monitoring instruments.