Chapter 9

Chapter 9

The two men standing at the entrance of the repair shop, clad in military uniforms and standing ramrod straight, drew frequent attention from passersby in a place like Screw Street.

The adjutant knocked on the door, his gaze still hesitant as he looked at Liang Deng. "Colonel, are you sure you want to recruit here? The owner of the parts shop already said he’s a slacker living off his family. That thruster was just assembled from blueprints they left him—he hardly sounds like a technician, does he?"

His tone clearly suggested he thought his colonel had been driven mad by the heavy recruitment quotas.

Liang Deng countered with a question, "Does it matter if he’s a slacker or a technician?"

The adjutant was taken aback. "...Doesn’t it?"

"Shallow," Liang Deng slowly wagged his index finger. "The only thing that matters now is that he’s caught my interest. You’ve seen the internal mechanism of that thruster—trust me, this family is no ordinary bunch. Right now, I just want to know everything about this person."

The adjutant fell silent.

He was beginning to suspect the colonel had been reading too many overbearing CEO novels due to stress.

"Why hasn’t the door opened yet? Is no one here?" Liang Deng waited a moment but saw no movement. Just as he was about to step forward and knock again, the roll-up door was lifted halfway open from the inside.

He stooped down to look inside and found himself eye to eye with Bai Luming, who was also leaning forward to peer out.

Liang Deng flashed what he hoped was his friendliest smile. "Hello there."

Bai Luming immediately noticed the distinctive military uniform the other wore. "...Ah, hello."

As he spoke, he glanced sideways at He Yilan out of the corner of his eye and saw that the other showed no intention of avoiding the two officers. He immediately understood.

It seemed his earlier speculation was correct—the people who had been chasing He Yilan must have been from within Zhong Sheng Machinery and had no direct connection to the Imperial military.

"Sorry, I was busy just now. Kept you waiting."

Bai Luming gave a strong upward push, and the roll-up door screeched open completely.

"No problem, no problem." Liang Deng smiled as he stepped inside, waving a hand to disperse the dust stirred up by the door. Only after entering did he notice there was another person inside.

His gaze shifted between the two men in the shop, and he inadvertently caught sight of He Yilan’s slightly reddened wrist. Recalling Bai Luming’s earlier comment about being "busy," he cleared his throat softly. "Which one of you is Lu Ming?"

"That’s me." Bai Luming glanced at the rank insignia on Liang Deng’s shoulder. "Colonel, what brings you here?"

He had faintly heard some of the shouting from inside earlier. The word "recruitment" had been particularly jarring, enough to give him some idea of their purpose, but he still held onto the slim hope that it was just a misunderstanding.

Unfortunately, the heavens clearly weren’t listening to Bai Luming’s prayers. Before he could even finish his question, the adjutant stepped forward and shoved a stack of recruitment materials into his hands. "Hello, we’re from the Garrison Recruitment Office. These are our promotional materials. Our military district’s recruitment benefits have been upgraded again, with fully enhanced preferential policies. If you’re interested, take a look. Trust me, this year is the year to enlist—you won’t regret it!"

Bai Luming stared at the sudden pile of materials in his hands, feeling his heart sink.

After a long silence, he asked sincerely, "How did you find me here?"

It was strange. He’d been living idly at Old Lu’s place for years, and in the past two years, he’d never seen the Recruitment Office come knocking with such enthusiasm.

Had the young labor force on this desolate planet finally been exhausted? Or had he somehow unintentionally caught their attention? Tell him, and he’d change it immediately!

"Because of this." Liang Deng took something out of his backpack, answering Bai Luming’s question. "When I was buying parts, I spotted it right away. The shop owner said you assembled it, so I asked for your address and came to find you as soon as I had time."

The thruster in front of him was unmistakably familiar. Bai Luming was speechless. "Just because of this?"

Liang Deng was thrilled. "Isn’t that enough? The structure inside is incredibly clever. Even though it only uses the cheapest basic parts, it doesn’t compromise the functionality of the components at all. The person who invented this assembly method is a genius!"

"..." Bai Luming hadn’t expected that a thruster he’d casually assembled to make ends meet would end up attracting the military’s attention.

Someone chuckled softly not far away.

Though it was brief, Bai Luming caught it clearly.

He turned and saw He Yilan standing slightly behind him.

Since the two officers had entered, this man had been watching the scene unfold with detached amusement.

And he seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit.

Truly detached from the situation.

Bai Luming raised an eyebrow slightly and met Liang Deng’s earnest gaze. He gestured for him to follow his direction. "Colonel, over here."

He pointed toward the nearby table. "If you’re interested in this thing, we have more here."

Following Bai Luming’s guidance, Liang Deng spotted two identical thrusters on the table nearby.

Bai Luming displayed ample enthusiasm. "Let me introduce you. This is Yi Lan (He Yilan). These two thrusters were assembled by him personally. His technical skills are far superior to mine—exceptionally, exceptionally skilled!"

He Yilan fell silent.

As soon as Bai Luming started speaking, He Yilan had a vague idea of what he was up to. He watched helplessly as Bai Luming performed a perfect diversion, successfully shifting the two officers’ attention onto him.

He hadn’t even finished watching the show before being dragged onto the stage himself.

"Did you assemble all these?"

Finding one promising candidate after another, Liang Deng’s joy was evident. "Then, would you be interested..."

"Not interested."

Before Liang Deng could finish, He Yilan gave a concise reply.

He glanced sideways at the smile on Bai Luming’s face. "I’m just working at this shop. These thrusters were assembled according to blueprints drawn by the boss. For technical questions, you’ll need to ask our boss."

With a casual tone, He Yilan unhesitatingly deflected the question back.

Liang Deng’s attention shifted back to Bai Luming. "You drew the blueprints? So you invented this assembly method?!"

"How could it be me? Old Lu taught me all this." Bai Luming had no intention of claiming credit for the technical patent. "The original blueprints were accidentally damaged, so I just redrew them."

"Then your memory must be incredible to remember such complex blueprints!" Liang Deng’s gaze at Bai Luming now held a determined resolve. "Comrade Lu Ming, on behalf of the Military District Recruitment Department, I formally invite you to enlist. You must..."

Bai Luming didn’t need to think twice. "I refuse."

Having been rejected twice in a row, Liang Deng was stunned. "Why?"

As far as he knew, enlisting should be a rare and excellent opportunity for people in the lower city.

But the people he’d encountered today weren’t reacting as he’d expected—both of them were unwilling?

Under Liang Deng’s gaze, Bai Luming replied, "Military life is too exhausting."

A long silence followed.

The answer was so straightforward that Liang Deng’s prepared grand speeches were rendered useless.

He opened his mouth, closed it, and after a few attempts, asked stubbornly, "Don’t you want to experience the glory of being a soldier at all?"

Bai Luming replied without hesitation: "No, I don't."

Hard pass. Already been there, done that.

Liang Deng was completely thrown off.

He glanced back at his adjutant and caught the same helplessness in his eyes.

Clearing his throat, Liang Deng carefully adjusted his sales pitch: "Lu Ming, I don’t think you fully understand our new recruitment policies. Unlike the past two years, starting this year, more than 30 new enlistment benefits have been rolled out. Just making it onto the military district’s reserve list means not only you, but all your family members, can enjoy unprecedented exclusive benefits. Really, enlisting's a sure thing—no risk, all reward. And if I recommend you, you can go straight into the Mecha Department after joining. I guarantee…"

The sales pitch went in Bai Luming’s right ear and unfiltered out the left. He stared speechlessly at the man’s moving lips and found his mind wandering.

Had he been away too long? Since when did military recruitment sound like a door-to-door sales scam?

Liang Deng had this pitch down cold, having delivered it countless times with smooth expertise. Normally, the other party would be eagerly agreeing by the halfway point. But this time, even after he’d talked until he was blue in the face, there was no response at all.

When he looked up, he saw Bai Luming gazing at the ceiling, lost in thought.

Liang Deng cleared his throat softly: "Comrade Lu Ming?"

Bai Luming seemed to snap back to attention: "Oh, right, Colonel, I heard all that."

Liang Deng: "Then…"

Bai Luming: "The benefits sound great, but I have no other family. I’m the last one standing."

Liang Deng: "Well…"

Bai Luming: "So sorry, but I choose the repair shop."

Liang Deng and the adjutant: "…"

After a moment of silence, they turned to look at the other person in the shop.

He Yilan: "I follow my boss."

*Double kill!*

The world was quiet, no wind, but Liang Deng felt completely thrown for a loop.

He’d been so confident about this trip—never imagined he’d strike out completely before even getting started.

"Maybe if you think about other needs…" After some thought, Liang Deng decided to change his approach and was about to continue persuading when the communicator in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

He pulled it out—it was a meeting notice from the fortress.

Perfect timing!

Liang Deng scribbled his number on a piece of paper: "Something’s come up, I need to head back. Keep these recruitment materials and look them over. I’m Colonel Liang Deng from the Garrison Mecha Department. If you change your mind, you can come find me anytime."

Seeing Bai Luming about to refuse again, he added: "When I get a chance, I’ll come back again."

Liang Deng stood up to leave, and the adjutant quickly followed. Before going, the adjutant couldn’t help glancing back: "Colonel, since they’re unwilling, maybe… we should keep looking? There might be other better candidates?"

Liang Deng’s stubborn streak kicked in: "No, I trust my judgment! I’ve almost never been wrong before. When I set my sights on someone, I must have them!"

Their voices faded into the distance. Because their arrival had made such a scene, even after they left, passersby and neighbors still were peeking and whispering curiously into the repair shop, whispering about what had happened.

Bai Luming’s gaze withdrew from the empty doorway. He tossed the heavy stack of materials onto the table and shot a glance at the person beside him: "Did you enjoy the show?"

"Yeah, pretty entertaining." He Yilan picked up a flyer, scanned it, skimmed the eye-catching benefit policies, and said sincerely, "Actually, the deal's really quite good. It’s just…"

He slowly looked up, his seemingly casual gaze hiding a subtle scrutiny: "You seem really against getting too involved with the military. Why is that?"

Bai Luming didn’t avoid He Yilan’s probing at all. He stretched his arms lazily, his tone just as lazy as his movements: "Because a lot of guys in the military are bastards, same as some people."