"Welco to Wutun."
Just as interstellar world Shen Yu was taking in the environnt of outer space, a voice suddenly tapped straight into everyone’s communication systems.
This kind of connection ant military command authority.
And this person was indeed the supre commander of the entire Wutun base.
"I am the supre commander of Wutun. My na is classified, my appearance is classified, and of course, even this voice is fake." The commander’s synthetic voice sounded gruff, almost blending in with the harsh environnt. "Let tell you about the first thing you’ll encounter after arriving at Wutun: from the mont you step out of the wormhole, you are already on the battlefield. That’s right, all of Wutun—everywhere—is a war zone! Rookies, maybe hiding just around you, a Void Spirit is right now mocking you, thinking about new ways to tornt you!"
Words like these, as expected, sparked more than a little unrest.
The new recruits, who had been bursting with excitent, started showing clear signs of panic.
So even began to steer clear of the people around them, consciously keeping their distance.
Until the supre commander’s voice ca again: "But, hey, don’t worry too much. Ever since we figured out how to kill them, those Void Spirits have beco much more behaved, hahaha! They have no clue whether among the new arrivals there might be so carrying weapons that can spot and eliminate them."
The tension and terror that had just seized the recruits began to ease a little.
But before they could fully relax, another ssage ca through.
"Of course, there will always be so Void Spirits who’re tired of hiding, who can’t stand to see us get cocky. All the new recruits gathering together, what a golden opportunity! There’s never been an arrival without an ambush, not ever!"
Intersellar world Shen Yu could only roll his eyes as he felt the wave of anxiety ripple again through the recruits.
He was certain—the supre commander was doing it on purpose.
From the start, he was just stirring up the rookies’ emotions, over and over?
Shen Yu tapped into the Goddess of Hope to pull up information on this commander.
Na: Xiu’Er. The number of cybernetic augntations in his body was very low, all by personal request. Outwardly, he actually looked pretty young and fresh-faced. The rough voice was absolutely an artificial disguise.
But his record was enough to make anyone pause.
He’d been stationed here for ten years.
That’s right, one of the earliest soldiers to hold the line here—a batch with survival odds less than one in a hundred. At the very start, he had survived, back then, just as another rookie.
Once, he’d been directly struck by a Void Spirit tic attack, and his mind had nearly collapsed entirely.
But he toughed it out.
This wasn’t unheard of in all Human Civilization’s war history, but the odds were slim—less than one in one hundred thousand.
And most people who made it through ended up deeply traumatized.
But Xiu’Er was different.
Not only did he not break—not a trace of lingering trauma—instead, his mind grew stronger, step by step, clawing his way through a hopeless war, until now, becoming Wutun Wormhole’s seventy-third supre commander in ten years.
"A mind of steel, war records that shine." Shen Yu couldn’t help but sigh.
And now, this commander whose résumé was enough to make anyone shiver, spoke up again: "Nervous? No need. Honestly, there’s no need. Let teach you the secret to surviving Wutun: from this mont, treat every minute and every second of your life as a gift from fate. Be prepared to die at any ti, then get used to it, ignore it, learn to live with it. You’ll soon realize that war isn’t a big deal—it’s just enjoying life in a new location. I’ve been here ten years; you can do it too."
When the ten years was ntioned, a wave of astonished chatter rippled through the new recruits.
Even if they never heard of Wutun before, once they prepped for deploynt, stories of the battlefield at grinder always caught up.
Hearing "ten years" out of nowhere—yeah, that left an impression.
Shen Yu wasn’t planning to hang around any longer.
He’d already spotted the veterans assigned to welco the greenhorns. All of them had huge grins, not even a hint of soone wading through the cruelest battlefields, and that smirk—definitely a touch of mischief, like they’d spotted so fun new toys.
The warriors stationed here—maybe just as Xiu’Er said—had long since beco numb to death, learned to ignore it.
But Shen Yu was here to change all that!
"Send your coordinates—I’ll teleport over directly." Shen Yu didn’t even bother wasting ti on the trek.
Guided by the Goddess of Hope, he quickly arrived in an empty sector.
He burned so Gray Mist, as usual.
The destination was another deserted spot.
But at the next corner, he saw a bunch of soldiers huddled together, playing a ga that’s survived all these centuries of interstellar civilization.
—cards.
Obviously, it wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill poker. This was all projection-based, with flashy animations—a real entertainnt ga.
Hundreds of years of history, constantly improved, now with gaplay more fun than ever.
Xiu’Er, the supre commander himself, was right there in the crowd, blending in perfectly—no different than any other grunt.
Or, maybe, in here, he was just another grunt.
No one could imagine: spending every day together—playing cards, running missions—and Xiu’Er was actually commander of the entire Wutun sector.
Right then, Xiu’Er suddenly glanced up from the crowd, locking eyes with Shen Yu.
Shen Yu knew at once—the Goddess of Hope had signaled him.
"You guys keep playing, my friend is here," Xiu’Er said with a laugh, patting the shoulders of two nearby soldiers and heading over to Shen Yu.
Laughter rang out from behind them.
"Pretty sure he’s not from our sector."
"Don’t go spreading mitics around."
"Xiu’Er, if you die, leave all your cards, okay?"
"Bullshit! Xiu’Er’s cards are mine—I’ve been waiting forever for those."
"What the hell are you arguing about? If Xiu’Er dies, is there anyone left in our sector? All the cards go to the next sector anyway!"
"Speaking of which, that previous sector—everyone died and they still didn’t leave us their cards! Outrageous! And they called themselves our brother sector? So brotherhood, huh."
"..."
Shen Yu listened to all the raucous laughter, watching them joke about death without a care—he felt sothing he’d never experienced before.
"They’re not always like this," Xiu’Er said, coming up to Shen Yu, smiling. "It’s just that everyone’s fired up lately. You know why—because of those rumors about killing Void Spirits."
"Is the news about retaking Wutun still classified?" Shen Yu asked.
Xiu’Er was caught off guard.
But before he could respond, Shen Yu explained: "Don’t stress. No Void Spirits around, and no one else can overhear this conversation."
Xiu’Er glanced back, confirming that nobody nearby was paying attention.
At this range, normally you’d hear everything.
"The Wutun recapture op isn’t sothing a researcher would usually know about. Looks like the Goddess of Hope kept you in the dark." Xiu’Er studied Shen Yu. "From my brief, you’re deeply involved with anti–Void Spirit tech R&D, and you pack advanced combat skills. You’re at the front to docunt weapon performance and test new tech. Just be careful what you say—don’t give away key data by accident. Our brains aren’t exactly secure."
It was obvious—he was curious, but he had zero intention of prying.
Even with the casual language and laid-back deanor, you could tell—it wasn’t completely relaxed.
Shen Yu glanced again at the warriors, laughter echoing behind him, and suddenly asked: "When you first learned we were planning a counteroffensive, how did you feel?"
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