After punching through the First Star Ring’s defense line, Lin Xiaohe strode through the void.
She hadn’t chosen to return to the Hummingbird yet.
A woman of her word, she meant what she said. She had promised to clear a path for the Hummingbird, and she would pave a smooth road for it.
Inside the Hummingbird, Thunder Brother generously handed everyone a tube of blueberry-flavored nutrient solution. “Let’s raise a toast to Lin Xiaohe—all-powerful, incomparably mighty, the one who has left a bold and indelible mark on Federation history!”
With that, he gulped down the entire tube with satisfying glugs.
Black Brother sat stunned in the pilot’s chair. On the display, Lin Xiaohe’s fiery red armored figure moved like a swiftly traveling asteroid.
How could a human walk in a vacuum?
How could a physical body become this powerful?
He reached out and pinched his own cheek hard. The sharp pain traveled through his nerves straight to his brain.
It confirmed that everything that had just happened was no dream—it was absolutely real.
His gaze blazed hot, as if ignited by sunlight, brimming with irrepressible joy and excitement.
“Brother, we’ve really latched onto a major powerhouse!”
Man, just a while ago, he’d been agonizing over how to explain to the Iron Meteorite Raider Leader that the two brothers wanted to leave the crew and join Lin Xiaohe.
Now? Was that even a problem anymore?
Even if you gave the Iron Meteorite Raiders 800 times more courage, they wouldn’t dare come looking for trouble with Lin Xiaohe.
Dare to snatch people from Lin Xiaohe? They’d have to be tired of living!
Thunder Brother looked drunk, his grin stretching from ear to ear, letting out silly giggles.
Life had its ups and downs and ups—and he, Thunder Brother, had finally risen up!
To have such a glorious moment in this lifetime, even if he had to wander the cosmos for the rest of his days, he would have no regrets.
Beside him, Papa Lin sat in his wheelchair, gazing at the fiery red armored figure who had torn through the First Star Ring Space Fleet. Yet, his eyes were filled with deep, profound pain.
Lin Chiyang walked over and asked softly, “Dad, what’s a symbiotic battle armor?”
Papa Lin’s eyes turned bloodshot. His hand tightened on the wheelchair armrest, and he forced an explanation from his throat.
“Originally, this was a mecha concept that only existed in theory. It’s the ultimate single-soldier combat system, deeply integrating biotechnology and cutting-edge mechanical engineering. Its core lies in the ‘symbiotic implantation.'”
“It means symbiosis, parasitism, and even forced fusion at the genetic level. Starlight Life once recruited volunteers across the Federation for this project.”
“Test subjects had to undergo brutal neurosurgery, implanting neural bases into their spinal cords and cerebral cortexes. During implantation, the living nerve bundles inside the mecha would pierce and entwine around the subject’s neural bases, achieving a direct mental link.”
“The mecha’s energy core not only consumes conventional energy but also draws upon the subject’s adrenaline, bioelectricity, and even cellular lifespan as fuel for explosive combat.”
Just hearing this much, Lin Chiyang couldn’t take it anymore. “What on earth did the Security Bureau do to my little sister?!”
Although his sister was incredibly strong, she wasn’t someone who sought suffering for no reason.
Xinbao and the others were all very obedient to her. She had absolutely no need to fuse them into her symbiotic battle armor.
To create a symbiotic battle armor like hers, wouldn’t they have had to shatter every bone in her body, or even…
Lin Chiyang couldn’t bear to think further. His little sister must have endured unimaginable suffering, her very life threatened, to be reborn like a phoenix from the flames.
“We’re never coming back to the Federation again. Even if they beg us on their knees, we won’t return!”
Everyone nodded in unison. Absolutely!
As the Hummingbird skimmed the boundary of the Second Star Ring, Lin Xiaohe didn’t dare relax for a single moment.
She was prepared for battle, but to her surprise, the expected enemy never appeared.
At the Second Star Ring Military District.
The Commander refused to answer calls from the Federal Government. He tugged at his hair in frustration and instructed his aide, “No matter who comes looking for me, tell them I’m not here.”
The aide said helplessly, “The Federal Government and the Assembly are all looking for you. If you keep ignoring their calls, they might make things difficult for our budget next year.”
The Commander glared at him, exasperated by his failure to grasp the bigger picture. “Choose the lesser of two evils. We can bicker with them over budget reports, but there’s no need for senseless sacrifice. The First Star Ring’s space fleet has been decimated. Why should we rush into this mess?”
“Lin Xiaohe isn’t the Empire, and she isn’t an alien. Why should we fight her to the death? What’s the point?”
The aide thought the same.
As for losing face by getting beaten up by Lin Xiaohe, the Second Star Ring military couldn’t care less.
Anyway, the Federal Government and the Security Bureau were there to take the brunt. Everyone was losing face together, so what was there to fear?
The Third Star Ring military shared the exact same sentiment.
The only difference was that the Third Star Ring Commander didn’t dare refuse to answer the calls.
He agreed readily on the phone, but the reality was that by the time the Hummingbird entered Third Star Ring territory—and even refueled and resupplied on an extremely remote planet—the Third Star Ring’s military warships still hadn’t set out from port.
To quote a Federal Government official’s complaint, the Third Star Ring military’s reaction speed couldn’t even match that of an old lady with bound feet.
The reactions of these two Star Ring militaries did not provoke protests from the populace. A strange, tacit consensus formed between the public and the officials: no discussion of the matter, no reaction, no public statements.
On the Starnet, one thread had the highest view count but not a single comment.
The thread’s content simply tracked the Hummingbird’s movements, lagging about five days behind the actual events.
Based on the thread’s information, Wesley deduced that their Party Leader still had about half a month before leaving the Third Star Ring.
He stood up, walked to the bed, and lay down on the soft anti-gravity mattress.
He touched the two badges pinned to his chest—one was his family crest, the other the Star Grain Party badge.
After about ten minutes, he called Melina. “Mom, I’m going to chase the starlight and my faith now.”
Melina’s eyelid twitched, her lashes trembling slightly.
This was a scenario she had anticipated, but now that it was actually happening, her eyes couldn’t help but sting with unshed tears.
She suppressed the lump in her throat and said calmly, “Alright. The Star Grain Party has already been deregistered. I pulled some strings to get the deposit transferred into the corporate account. Through a series of cross-domain transfers, the funds are currently dispersed among 13,000 private accounts.”
“Mom!” Wesley looked at Melina in astonishment.
His stunned expression made Melina chuckle. “Oh, you. You’re still so young. From now on, when you do things, learn to think three steps ahead. When Lin Xiaohe caused trouble in court, I told you to deregister the Star Grain Party. I started pulling strings back then.”
“80 billion star coins can do a lot. I’ve signed letters of intent with many suppliers. You can handle the payments and take receipt of the goods. I’ll send you the supply report shortly. Look it over and see if anything needs to be added.”
Melina’s loving gaze lingered on Wesley’s face, reluctant to let go. She had so many things to tell her beloved son.
“Lin Xiaohe is someone who values loyalty. Obey her well. A strong leader is never short of followers. If you want a place by her side, you must leverage your strengths and find your proper niche.”
“From my observations, Lin Xiaohe dislikes tedious administrative tasks, but that’s precisely your forte.”
Melina paused. She wanted to pour all the experience and lessons from the first half of her life into her child in one go.
But people rarely learn from being told a hundred times. They learn instantly when experience teaches them once.
The path ahead, ultimately, was for her child to walk on his own.
“Wesley, go. I will wait for the day you tread upon starlight, follow your faith, and return to the Federation!”
