Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Yi Ye was finally forced onto the shuttle empty-handed. He could only press his tear-streaked face against the window, watching as his beloved board games and thermos, along with their boxes, were carried away.

"Who told you to bring all that stuff?" Kaiser, sitting beside him, glanced at Yi Ye's tearful expression and snorted. "Aren't you being a bit silly? Was it really that hard to hide this stuff better? Why bring such a huge bag? It was obvious you were up to no good."

"Stop it," Yi Ye looked like he was about to cry.

Kaiser's lips twitched. Seeing him so upset, he considered comforting him. But the next moment, Yi Ye leaned over, grabbed Kaiser's hand, and shoved it into his uniform pocket.

Something hard and square.

Kaiser looked up, his face blank: ...

Yi Ye chuckled, "Honestly, I'm pretty sharp."

Deceiving heaven and crossing the sea—our ancestors' wisdom doesn't lie! He'd already strapped four terminals to his body and stashed a deck of cards in his clothes. The ones in the bag? All dummies. Such a slick move—unless Lieutenant Joseph made him strip naked at the Vanguard Legion's gates, no one would ever know!

Kaiser really wanted to curse, but he found himself at a loss for words to describe Yi Ye.

Seriously... that was some next-level sneakiness.

"What about that thermos you mentioned? What, are you on some health kick?"

Yi Ye recalled that he had indeed said that, looking innocent. "I'm not into that health stuff, just messing with him."

Kaiser: "..."

You're something else, alright.

Kaiser rubbed his throbbing temples, already dreading the next few days in the Vanguard Legion.

The year-end assessment runs for 15 days. After the 15 days, temporary instructors and key department heads will evaluate each cadet. Their scores will directly impact their final grades, scholarships, and holiday coursework.

In short, a low score means no holiday fun.

As for Prince Peide, he's not being scored but will act as their senior guide in the Vanguard Legion. However, due to some special circumstances, he'll arrive a few days late, so they'll have to figure things out on their own or ask their temporary instructor, Lieutenant Joseph.

But none of that mattered to Kaiser—he only cared about one thing. How strong is General Lin Pei, the strongest warrior in the empire? Could he one day become as strong as him, no, even stronger?

Even Kaiser, who is used to big scenes, couldn't help but get excited, completely unable to suppress his emotions.

Kaiser's eyes were shining brightly, already imagining fighting General Lin Pei on his first day in the Vanguard Legion. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, unable to calm his emotions, shaking Yi Ye's shoulders, hoping to share this fervor with someone.

Yi Ye couldn't laugh; he was almost dead tired.

Last night, he stayed up all night sewing the deck of cards into his uniform. Now, all he wanted was to sleep whenever he got the chance. But Kaiser was as hyped as a large canine that had drunk fake alcohol, his golden eyes shining, his face full of the fervor of "I'm about to fight the strongest."

Yi Ye sighed tiredly, half-asleep, reaching out to pat his head, like petting a dog. "Good boy, good boy, don't make noise, I need to sleep."

After saying that, he tightened his uniform, turned around, and found a comfortable position to sleep.

Kaiser froze in place, his complexion changing from wheat to peach, and finally red like a cherry.

"You..." he squeezed out a voice, aggrieved. "I'm not a dog... damn it!"

...

Yi Ye woke up just as the shuttle landed.

Lieutenant Joseph handed out the Vanguard Legion uniforms to them in advance. After changing, the two of them stepped out of the changing room one after the other. The Vanguard Legion's military uniforms were uniformly silver-white, with various insignias showing rank on the shoulders and arms. Since they had no rank, their shoulders and arms only had two emblems: the Imperial Honor Military Academy's crest and the Vanguard Legion's symbol, which was the "Gun and Heart" pattern seen on the shuttle's body.

As they stepped off the shuttle, Yi Ye was blinded for a moment by the glaring light and raised his hand to shield his eyes. After gradually adjusting, he looked up.

The Vanguard Legion's base was absolutely stunning. The energy tower stood at the center of the base, adjacent to the command building. The surrounding structures were all silver-blue buildings made from composite alloy materials, radiating a sleek, futuristic vibe. Yi Ye was so engrossed in the sight that he accidentally bumped into something, setting off a series of beeping alarms.

"Unauthorized personnel detected. Warning, warning, warning. Please provide entry clearance within 10 seconds, or you will be fired upon. 10, 9..."

*Snap!* Lieutenant Joseph grabbed the robot by the head and showed it the approved electronic document.

The robot's eyes contracted twice, scanning successfully: "Welcome, Yi Ye, to the Vanguard Legion. Sorry for the trouble. Please do not report me to General Lin Pei." After speaking, a door opened on its abdomen, and it handed out two bottles of water.

"Here, have some water. Beep beep."

Yi Ye chuckled as he took the water. "You even know how to bribe? Lieutenant, your robots are pretty human-like."

"Must be that damn program Anderson lost again," Lieutenant Joseph grumbled. He then turned to them. "This is the logistics team's operational robot. You'll be joining the logistics team later, so it's good to get familiar with it."

"Logistics team? What about General Lin Pei?" Kaiser scowled.

Lieutenant Joseph gave him a dismissive look. "You're just here for a training stint at the Vanguard Legion. There's no need to waste our commander's time. Besides, the commander is currently dealing with the Zerg in another star sector. You probably won't see him during these 15 days."

Kaiser's expression darkened. "This isn't what we agreed on."

"What's the difference? I'm your temporary instructor. Even if the commander were here, it wouldn't be your turn to meet him, you kids." Lieutenant Joseph didn't want to waste more words on them. "As long as you complete all your tasks within these 15 days, I can give you a decent score. Until then, you must follow all my orders."

"You—" Kaiser was about to charge at him but was quickly stopped by Yi Ye.

Yi Ye smiled politely at Joseph. "Thank you for the reminder, Instructor. We'll definitely stay in line!"

Kaiser could only yank his hand away in frustration.

Under Lieutenant Joseph's arrangement, Yi Ye and Kaiser were assigned as logistics soldiers in the Vanguard Legion's Third Company.

The Legion had tens of thousands of troops, dozens of battle groups, and hundreds of companies. Each company typically maintained 400-500 soldiers, with countless squads and classes beneath them. Yi Ye and Kaiser were assigned to a logistics squad of 19 people, living in a large shared dormitory. Since they were new additions, the setup hadn't been adjusted yet, leaving only one empty bed.

Yi Ye: "..."

Kaiser: "..."

Staring at the bed, the two of them looked at each other.

Yi Ye: "How about we share the bed?"

After all, this was a military base, and the beds were only 1.2 meters wide. But Yi Ye was slim and didn't take up much space, so they could probably manage if they squeezed in.

"Are you serious?" Kaiser looked at him suspiciously.

Yi Ye: "Is there a problem?"

He had been roommates with Kaiser for so long and had seen him in just shorts and a tank top. Besides, the Young Master was so focused on fighting that Yi Ye felt it would be perfectly safe even if they were both stripped naked and stuffed into the same room.

That was trust—no need for a single word.

Kaiser hesitated but finally said, "Whatever."

Once they sorted out their sleeping situation, Yi Ye and Kaiser headed to the logistics team's work area. The logistics soldiers were primarily responsible for patrols, food supply, material management, and base equipment maintenance. Since Yi Ye and Kaiser lacked the expertise for equipment maintenance, they were assigned two other crucial tasks:

—Cafeteria food distribution;

——Night patrol.

Yi Ye never expected that he would have the chance to become a mess hall attendant in his lifetime, and suddenly felt a strong sense of duty. He vowed to become the most steady-handed mess hall attendant in the world.

"The mess hall work is simple. Every day at 8, 12, and 18 o'clock, we start serving meals. You need to arrive at the central kitchen two hours early to assist, and then be responsible for serving the soldiers," the old squad leader of the logistics squad, wearing a white mask and gloves, earnestly instructed them. "There's nothing particularly noteworthy about this job, except for one thing: serve smaller portions."

Yi Ye: "..."

His dream was shattered.

The old squad leader: "Don't understand? Be a bit stingy with the portions. We really don't have that much budget every month. You need to know that in today's society, everyone survives on nutritional supplements. Food is just supplementary, and it's very expensive. It takes forever for the higher-ups to approve a budget, so we have to save where we can. Just give them more white rice and eggs."

Yi Ye was dumbfounded by the explanation.

"Forget it, limit the eggs too. One per person, no more. The chickens at the farm have been stressed out recently and can't lay eggs," the squad leader sighed with a heavy heart, his face etched with the hardships of life.

Yi Ye suddenly felt a sense of empathy and patted his shoulder heavily.

Kaiser, watching the two on the verge of a tearful embrace, looked utterly confused.

The first day was mainly about familiarizing themselves with the work process. They were also guided by a veteran from the logistics squad, who looked to be in his forties, wore thick glasses, and had relatively thick hair, but exuded a strong aura of an overworked employee. Upon careful inquiry, Yi Ye learned that he was actually a hundred years old.

Indeed... the world is the same everywhere.

Work until you're old, and stay poor until you're old.

The veteran's name was Steve. Despite his age, he was very efficient. The two quickly got familiar with the specific operational steps, and Yi Ye, holding a small and short spoon, had completely mastered the essence of portioning the food.

After learning how to be a mess hall attendant, they followed another logistics soldier to do patrol duty.

The patrol time starts at 8 PM and lasts until 2 AM when someone comes to relieve them. The main focus is to guard against the Zerg and the base's machinery. The veteran assigned them two walkie-talkies that could directly communicate with the command center, to be used only when anomalies were detected, but they were rarely needed.

The Vanguard Legion's deterrence spans the universe, and there hasn't been a single Zerg attack in nearly fifty years, so it's a relatively easy job, essentially just a night stroll.

"Oh no," as they were walking, the veteran suddenly clutched his stomach and looked at them apologetically, "I suddenly have a stomachache. You guys go ahead with the patrol, I'll go to the bathroom and be right back!"

He handed the flashlight to Kaiser and then ran off, his steps so quick they almost sparked flames. Seeing this, Yi Ye pursed his lips and continued the patrol work, with Kaiser following: "Aren't we waiting for him?"

Yi Ye, with his arms crossed, looked at him with a "you're too naive" expression: "Do you really think his stomach hurts?"

Kaiser: "Isn't it?"

Yi Ye grinned: "Ha, you're so naive."

He took the light from Kaiser's hand and strode forward, "Don't wait for him; let's continue the patrol ourselves."