Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

On Hblpow, a barren planet 50 million kilometers outside of Topaz Star, a silver-gray level-eight mecha descended from space, leading ten other mechas into the human base on the desolate world.

Crown Prince Xiahai Adam lightly leapt down from the silver-gray mecha. Even after two days and nights of training in space, there was no trace of fatigue on his face—his posture remained upright, his demeanor calm and composed.

But his personal guards didn’t fare so well; each of them showed varying degrees of exhaustion.

The group walked through a passage and entered the Gus Empire Allied Forces’ camp.

Lieutenant Colonel Giampiero Pinzi, the Crown Prince’s adjutant, immediately stepped forward and saluted. “Your Highness, Colonel Hua De has sent an urgent file.”

The Crown Prince glanced at Giampiero Pinzi. He had originally planned to head straight to his quarters for some sleep, but after a brief pause, he changed direction and walked toward the office.

The two entered the office one after the other. After Xiahai Adam activated the signal-blocking program, Giampiero Pinzi transmitted several documents to him. “Your Highness, these are confidential materials sent by Colonel Hua De.”

Xiahai Adam opened the files and reviewed them one by one. After going through them, he sent a reply to Hua Deqi, and the two discussed the matter via video call for more than half an hour before ending the conversation.

Then came a video call with King Adam.

Both Princes, Xiahai Adam and Hebrew Adam, were not currently in the Gus Empire, so King Adam was handling affairs on his own. He was adept at managing political matters, but as military affairs had been left to his eldest son for over a decade, he still needed to consult Xiahai Adam on certain details to avoid any conflict with his son’s directives.

This discussion lasted another half hour.

Adjutant Giampiero Pinzi stood to the side, quickly noting down the key points discussed between Xiahai Adam and the two high-ranking figures. He would be responsible for following up on the subsequent resolution process.

If a result was reached—or if the issue couldn’t be resolved within the expected timeframe—he would report back to Xiahai Adam.

“Your Highness, according to the previously drafted regulations, the star-mecha regiments sent by various countries to the Gumera Starfield Allied Forces should be in place the day after tomorrow. However, from the side of the Vera Federation, Konrad Logan has claimed that due to scheduling issues, their arrival will be delayed by a few days,” Giampiero Pinzi stated in an even tone. “But based on our information, the Vera Federation’s allied star regiment is only a day’s journey away from here.”

Giampiero Pinzi’s voice sounded calm and emotionless, but his eyes betrayed his inner frustration—he was clearly upset.

This Konrad Logan, supposedly the most outstanding young major general of the Vera Federation, was nothing more than a schemer who enjoyed playing petty tricks to make things difficult for their Crown Prince.

But for some reason, His Highness the Crown Prince remained extremely patient with Major General Konrad Logan, always treating him like a junior no matter how much he provoked him.

Sometimes, Giampiero Pinzi even felt as if His Highness had fallen under some strange spell cast by Konrad Logan.

Fortunately, Konrad Logan only enjoyed making things difficult for Prince Xiahai Adam—toward the other generals of the Gus Empire, he still carried himself with the demeanor of a skilled officer and had never made any mistakes in official matters.

Even so, Giampiero Pinzi still felt indignant. Since Konrad Logan lacked the ability to surpass their Prince Xiahai Adam and become the Commander-in-Chief of the Gumera Starfield Allied Forces, he should’ve just behaved and followed orders. After all, what they were doing was of great importance—cooperation was essential. Why constantly target His Highness, always trying to cause trouble for him?

Just like now—the Vera Federation’s troops were clearly almost here, yet he deliberately sent a message claiming a delay, putting His Highness in a difficult position. It wasn’t that the situation couldn’t be handled—it was that such blatant, petty games placed His Highness in a dilemma, whether to respond or ignore it, either way being a trap.

And yet Xiahai Adam wasn’t angry at all—not in the slightest. In fact, if Konrad Logan didn’t stir up something, he’d probably find it strange. That man had always held a strong dissatisfaction toward him.

“Tell them, if they don’t arrive on time, they will be dealt with according to Article 121 of the Allied Forces’ military regulations,” Xiahai Adam said calmly, standing up to finally get some proper rest.

“Yes, Your Highness,” Giampiero Pinzi replied.

Thankfully, their royal highness had the foresight to have regulations established at the founding of the Allied Forces. Since the Vera Federation liked to stir trouble, they didn’t need to argue—just penalize them by the book.

Giampiero Pinzi believed that, no matter how much Konrad Logan acted up, he wouldn’t go so far as to incur a massive fine on behalf of the Vela Federation. What a ridiculous man, Pinzi thought with some contempt.

Returning to his room, Xiahai Adam finally allowed the fatigue to show on his face.

After eating a little, he didn’t go straight to sleep. Instead, he pulled up the Vera Federation’s leadership files and focused on the section for psychics, staring at one particular image for a long time before forcing himself to close the terminal and lie down.

A day later, the five-thousand-strong star-mecha regiment from the Vera Federation—previously claimed to be delayed—arrived on time at the barren Hblpow planet. Leading them was none other than the brown-haired man, Konrad Logan.

Konrad Logan was the son of the current president of the Vera Federation and the youngest of the Federation’s current level-eight mecha warriors. He had achieved that rank in his early sixties. Before Xiahai Adam appeared, he had been widely recognized as the most outstanding talent in the Gumera Starfield.

But it was the rise of Xiahai Adam that had stolen his title as the number one genius of the starfield—and taken his spot as the most admired man as well.

Now, even the position of Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces had been taken from him, forcing him into second place again and again—and potentially losing even more to this rival. How could Konrad Logan not be jealous of Xiahai Adam?

Of course, in private, Konrad Logan pulled all sorts of petty tricks, but in public, he still managed to maintain a basic level of decorum.

When greeted personally by Xiahai Adam, Konrad Logan still had the grace to shake hands and exchange a few insincere pleasantries to express his “gratitude.”

Standing at the front of the formation, Avril Logan watched her father once again act willfully toward Crown Prince Xiahai Adam and couldn’t help but feel emotionally exhausted.

Her father was over sixty years older than the prince, yet acted like a petty youth—resenting someone simply for being more capable and more attractive. As her grandfather used to say, her father had been spoiled by her grandmother, staying spoiled and stubborn even into old age.

They were clearly already en route to Hblpow and didn’t actually intend to disobey military orders, yet her father still had his adjutant contact the prince’s adjutant with claims of a likely delay.

As Konrad Logan’s daughter, Avril Logan found her father’s behavior almost terrifying. She couldn’t even imagine what her mother might’ve said to him before departure.

Her mother, a passive precognitive psychic, might’ve sensed something again—yet neither parent was telling her anything, only looking at her with that strange expression in their eyes.

Now, with Prince Xiahai Adam, as Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Forces, giving her father great respect by personally greeting him and not mentioning the disruptive message, her father still wouldn’t take the opportunity to gracefully step back. He kept posturing and playing games, and Avril Logan really just wanted to…