Joseph was choked up for a moment, almost forgetting that the person in front of him was a college entrance exam candidate.
“Lieutenant Lin, please wait patiently for notification.”
“Yes, sir!”
Lin Xiaohe turned and walked out of the command center, but before she even left the building, she was startled by the clueless young master.
“Bug God! The surprise I prepared for you, do you like it?”
“Hmm?”
“I was the one who suggested using the battlefield footage as promotional material, so the people in the Sixth Ring could witness your mighty and heroic presence!”
Lin Xiaohe encouraged him, “Good job, keep it up!”
It’s easy for a big shot to crush a clown, but if they want to crush a celebrated military ‘Bug God,’ they need to think twice about the consequences.
After sending the clueless young master away, Lin Xiaohe found Darcy: “Sir, is there anything else? If not, I’ll head to the monitoring post.”
Darcy was taken aback by the question. “You’re still going to the post?”
“Reporting, sir, it’s my duty!” Lin Xiaohe replied with a straight face.
In reality, she wanted to go grind some skill points.
Destroying the Empire base had cost her over 100 skill points. Now, with only 50 points left, she was feeling a bit anxious.
“Lieutenant Lin…” Darcy felt a pang of shame.
What a diligent, responsible, humble, and powerful soldier Lin Xiaohe was!
He had misjudged her so deeply.
…
In the Black Sea Desert, the Iron Meteor Raiding Group was fleeing in panic.
The Federation forces were chasing them relentlessly like mad dogs. They had lost the military journalist group and didn’t dare to go to the Empire’s side either.
“Brother Pili, Lao Hei! You were supposed to watch over the military journalist group, why did you run off first?” Someone was the first to voice accusations.
Brother Pili glared, not backing down at all: “If it were you, wouldn’t you run? You’d run faster than anyone.”
“It’s all your fault. If the military journalist group were still in our hands, we could have sought refuge with the Empire. You two are half to blame for this operation’s failure.”
Lao Hei: “Lisa, what do you say?”
The Iron Meteor Raiding Group was divided into many squads. Lisa was the leader of one squad, while Brother Pili and Lao Hei were from another. Because they had encountered problems with their work on the 7th Wasteland Planet, they were temporarily assigned to Lisa’s squad to assist.
Lisa glanced at Lao Hei, then at her own team members, and quickly made up her mind about who to favor.
“Lao Hei, Brother Pili, you both know the situation now. If we keep going like this, we’ll all be wiped out.”
Lao Hei’s eyes darkened. “So?”
Lisa took a deep breath: “Let’s split up and flee. Of course, I’m not that heartless. Remember these coordinates. It’s an area with alien plants, and there’s only one observation post nearby. You can lie low there until the heat dies down.”
Without another word, Lao Hei turned his mech around and left with Brother Pili.
Only after their figures completely disappeared into the vast desert did someone mutter discontentedly: “Such a good hiding spot, why couldn’t we go?”
A cold glint flashed in Lisa’s eyes. “Hmph, what do you know?”
The alien plant area was very dangerous, especially entering the current sensitive period. It could easily be disturbed.
If Lao Hei and his companion went there, they would definitely provoke a stress reaction from the mutated plants. The bigger the commotion they caused, the more they would attract the Federation’s attention and firepower.
That would make it much easier for her group to escape from Moluo Planet.
…
The commander of the Sixth Ring Military Region breathed a huge sigh of relief upon learning that his precious son was safe.
A video call came in, and the person on the other end had a very unpleasant tone: “You actually gave Lin Xiaohe a field promotion to Second Lieutenant?”
The regional commander frowned slightly: “Is there a problem? Her achievements merit the rank of Second Lieutenant.”
The person in the video pressed their lips together tightly, clearly displeased: “I thought that after all these years in the Sixth Ring, you would have learned to read the room a little better.”
“Read fewer CEO novels. That’s just your assumption, no one else’s.”
The other person laughed in anger, his voice dripping with menace: “Are you determined to oppose me?”
The Sixth Ring regional commander lazily sat down, his gaze sweeping over a photo on the table – a man, a woman, and their silly son, all smiling brightly.
“I’m just upholding justice. The last person who threatened me like that ended up dying of anger.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the video call was disconnected.
“What an ill-mannered fellow.” The regional commander leisurely opened his smart device and, on the special admissions assessment form for the Federation Central Military Academy, stamped a large, bold PASS on the page for the Sixth Ring!
After doing this, thinking of his son’s immense admiration for Lin Xiaohe, he also ordered the Military Publicity Department to produce a recruitment advertisement featuring Lin Xiaohe as the protagonist, attempting to turn her into a military star of the Sixth Ring.
The Military Publicity Department received the order and sprang into action immediately.
Lin Xiaohe didn’t need to appear in the recruitment ad herself; after all, the material filmed by the military journalist group was more than enough. Using AI technology, they could easily cut together a passionate, stirring recruitment ad!
Within a day, this recruitment advertisement appeared on the Sixth Ring’s local network and during prime time on various TV stations. It climbed the trending lists at an astonishing speed, creating a wave of sensation throughout the Sixth Ring!
“Oh my god, whose extraordinary kid is this? Only 18 years old, able to pilot a mech and destroy an Empire base!”
“She’s been awarded the rank of Second Lieutenant too, she has a limitless future!”
“I heard she’s a special admit to the Federation Central Military Academy, getting the rank of Second Lieutenant before even enrolling. By the time she graduates, she’ll be at least a Captain!”
“This is what you call someone else’s amazing kid! She must have been gene-edited before birth, she’s just too outstanding!”
“You guessed wrong, she was born on a wasteland planet.”
“How do you know?”
“She was the Clown who was all over the internet a while ago!”
Hengshan Village, 7th Wasteland Planet.
Lin Chiyang was driving a tiller, re-plowing the land.
The diseased Stardust Wheat had to be pulled out, and they needed to dig deep into the soil to remove all the rotten roots, then apply three layers of medicine to prevent contamination of the next season’s crop.
Lin Jingqiu, Grandpa Lin, and Grandma Lin followed behind the tiller, picking up any missed root fragments.
“I wonder how Xiaohe is doing? Is anyone bullying her? And what about Xinbao and the others, will they have trouble adjusting to a new planet?”
Grandma Lin repeated her worries day after day.
Grandpa Lin stuffed the roots into a special bio-bag: “Why don’t we subscribe to TV network? Watching more news might let us catch a glimpse of our Xiaohe.”
The TV network was a bit cheaper than the local internet, and the Lin family could afford it now.
Lin Jingqiu nodded. With her little sister not at home, her heart felt empty, and she often dreamed of Xiaohe crying.
Lin Dad, sitting in his wheelchair and carrying a repair kit, came over.
The tiller was a fifth-hand piece of equipment and always had problems. Lin Dad needed to come check on it.
“Is everything alright?”
Grandma Lin: “Pretty good. Ran into the village head yesterday; he said taxes are going up another ten percent next year.”
Taxes going up again?!
Lin Dad fell silent. If taxes kept rising, growing Stardust Wheat would become a losing business.
Lin Chiyang stopped the vehicle: “I’ll take care of Xiaohe’s tuition fees, I’ll make sure she gets an education! If she doesn’t get into the Central Military Academy this year, she can repeat a year and try for another school next year.”
Truth be told, the Lin family were realistic. They knew Lin Xiaohe was being targeted by some big shot, and her chances of passing the special admission exam were slim.
So, the money Lin Xiaohe had left them was mostly untouched, saved for her to repeat the year if needed.
Lin Jingqiu patted her chest, indicating that she could also help support the family and fund her little sister’s studies.
“Haha, you’re all here?! Perfect, I have some great news to tell you.” The village head walked over with a beaming smile.
“Your Xiaohe has made a great contribution and been awarded the rank of Second Lieutenant!”
