Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

Having been snapped at and countered with both a louder voice and solid reasoning, the intelligence department chief rubbed his nose awkwardly and dared not say another word.

Admittedly, he had been out of line earlier. The third-ranking official had made the greatest contribution during the zombie wave, spending almost an entire month stationed on the base walls. The stress had visibly aged him by over a decade, leaving him no time to glance at satellite images.

As for recruiting these young people into their base, it was easier said than done. Those four youngsters roamed the world freely, and they simply didn’t have anyone capable of reining them in.

Today, they finally had the chance to meet and exchange a few words, but it wasn’t the intelligence department’s people who managed it—it was this guy’s subordinate soldiers. Fortunately, the third-ranking official hadn’t realized this point; otherwise, he would have turned it into a joke at the intelligence chief’s expense.

Ruo Manni and Hebrew Adam had no idea that their crisp military salutes had led others to further conclude they were from the army.

A while ago, their base had connected with several other countries that still retained some strength after the apocalypse’s impact. Yet, none of those nations could find any trace of the pair. Even the intelligence chief had no way to uncover their true origins.

Young people with such poise and skill couldn’t possibly come from some insignificant or untrained background.

“Didn’t you send someone to investigate them? Didn’t B City Base yield any useful information?”

“The B City Base commander, Lin Ruihai, is not only a soldier himself but comes from a military family. His father is the head of the weapons factory R&D department, and we discovered that his mother, Su Jiangyue, had some prior interactions with you, Commander,” the intelligence chief said matter-of-factly, though secretly amused.

The third-ranking official’s interest was immediately piqued. “Oh? Let me see!”

Upon examining the information closely, he recognized it instantly and exclaimed in delight, “Isn’t this the instructor I met when I first enlisted? Yes, that’s it—Instructor Su! So, this is her! Back then, we were full of youthful arrogance and didn’t want to be trained by a female soldier. But during sparring, she beat us so badly we didn’t know what hit us. Is this young woman her daughter? No wonder she’s so skilled. She even looks like her. Instructor Su was considered the flower of the army back in the day!”

The third-ranking official clearly didn’t think his youthful arrogance and subsequent defeat were embarrassing. The intelligence chief, much to his disappointment, realized he couldn’t use the story to tease him.

“Lin Ruihai confirmed that this Ruo Manni is indeed his sister. However, Minister Lin and Instructor Su stated that this girl’s background involves something highly confidential. They would never violate their trust by revealing it. Still, they used their own names and lives as guarantees that she would never do anything harmful to our nation. Honestly, knowing what’s at stake, how could they say something so thoughtless?” The intelligence chief was clearly frustrated.

The third-ranking official cast him a sidelong glance. “Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed. That young woman and her companions have extraordinary origins. They’ve made it clear they have no intention of joining our base. Their focus is on staying at B City Base.”

“But young people like that—don’t you want to keep them around?”

“Of course, I do. But if they’re unwilling to reveal their origins, and you insist on digging, they’ll only distance themselves further.”

The contributions of these young people were undeniable and known worldwide. They had shown no interest in fame or fortune; their actions were purely for saving lives. Whether or not their origins were clear had no bearing on how people viewed them.

Even the second-ranking official, known for being the most xenophobic, couldn’t bring himself to reject them. In this era, anyone who dared to criticize young people who had made such significant contributions would only reveal their own bad character.

Meanwhile, Ruo Manni and Hebrew Adam got into their RV and quickly left without interacting with the survivors at the base, as usual.

“The soldiers of this country are truly righteous. They are willing to sacrifice themselves for their people. It’s admirable,” Hebrew Adam couldn’t help but say in Earth’s language.

Ruo Manni nodded in agreement but understood the unspoken part of his sentiment.

In the Gus Empire, soldiers also never retreated on the battlefield and faced death without fear. However, sacrificing themselves to save ordinary civilians wasn’t something every soldier was willing to do. Their military didn’t hold such a principle.

Ruo Manni glanced at Hebrew Adam but chose to remain silent. In the Gus Empire, most military officers came from noble families. Asking them to sacrifice themselves for a handful of commoners was simply out of the question.

In this country, however, there was no distinction between nobility and commoners. Everyone was equal, and the principle of “putting people first” wasn’t just an empty slogan—it was ingrained in their values. While privilege still existed, it wasn’t part of the mainstream, and no one dared openly claim superiority over others.

Back when Ruo Manni was still an Earthling, she had thought her own country had the least gender discrimination against women. While some traditional attitudes persisted, the oppression of women was minimal. In this country, women could confidently and proudly assert that they were “half the sky.”

After a series of delays, Ruo Manni and Hebrew Adam returned to B City Base in mid-September. By then, the hottest days of summer had passed, and the temperature had started to noticeably drop.

Outside the B City Base, the surrounding fields were thriving, with crops growing exceptionally well. A bountiful harvest was just around the corner.

During the global zombie wave, B City Base stood out as a beacon of resilience, suffering no losses and instead achieving remarkable gains. It became a model for self-reliance and independence.

Blessed with an abundance of talent, B City Base initially took the initiative to eliminate most of the zombies in its vicinity. When a distant zombie wave eventually approached, the number of zombies barely reached one million.

To protect the unpolluted, thriving crops from being trampled by the approaching zombies, every able-bodied fighter in B City Base joined the battle. They worked in shifts around the clock, killing zombies as soon as they approached. As a result, the zombie wave at B City Base was nothing more than a small ripple, crushed before it could grow into a larger threat.

Of course, other bases envying B City’s success realized they would need a similarly large group of skilled fighters to replicate it.

Many base leaders couldn’t help but feel bitter, wondering what kind of luck B City had to boast so many skilled combatants. Despite being only a medium-sized base, it had a wealth of talented individuals. The base leader’s strong leadership managed to recruit many civilian experts into the base’s military.

Particularly puzzling to other leaders were the eight extraordinarily skilled foreign young fighters in B City Base. No one knew how the base leader managed to convince them to stay and willingly work for the base.

As the zombie wave subsided, rumors about a group of mysterious experts at B City Base began to spread among the other bases. While some bases grew jealous, others schemed about how to lure these fighters to their side.

But before they could act, news broke that four of the world-famous young fighters, who were known for bypassing bases altogether, had voluntarily entered B City Base.

Those with sharp ears quickly learned that these four young people were actually part of the same group as the eight foreign fighters already at the base.

Among them, the black-haired girl and the blond-haired boy were revealed to be the leaders of this mysterious group of young fighters.

Shortly after, another piece of information spread like wildfire: the black-haired girl was none other than the younger sister of B City Base’s leader.