Chapter 295

Chapter 295

The Star Alliance wasted no time, delivering most of the gear they'd promised by the next day.

The new mother ship landed directly in the base, and many supplies were transported via the central planet's logistics chain. Early morning, convoys of transport bots were buzzing around the base.

From the second floor of their place, Ye Mo could see them even from way off.

At first, Ye Mo just glanced over as he passed, then he stopped and watched, even hopping up on the railing to get a better view.

Lakeley was still tailing Ye Mo. He'd been taking it easy lately, not handling anything, not streaming, just sticking with Ye Mo. "This gear could probably kit out at least half the crew."

That thing last time must've really pissed Grath off.

They stood there watching for a bit until Adelaide came by.

As Adelaide walked past, he made a deliberate noise, and Ye Mo turned.

Adelaide strolled over to Ye Mo.

Ye Mo crouched on the railing so Adelaide could get to him.

Adelaide's hands were empty—unusual, since he usually carried a tray or something. He stopped next to Ye Mo, standing upright.

"Morning, Adelaide."

Theodore dutifully followed Ye Mo's lead. "Good morning, Mr. Adelaide."

Lakeley threw in a greeting too.

"Morning, you two."

Lakeley waved his hand earnestly next to Ye Mo. "Nope, it's three, but I'll let it slide."

Adelaide looked off into the distance, then back at Ye Mo, his voice gentle. "Young Highness, wanna go check it out? The Corps' young folks are over there too, all hyped up. The training area's been open since early morning, and there's already a long line of eager kids waiting to try the new stuff."

"Arnold and the others said this morning they had stuff to do. Are they over there too?"

"Well, the Highnesses are in the training area too, but probably for a different reason. They're figuring out the schedule order."

"Schedule? I don't know anything about that. Nobody told me."

"I'm not totally sure either, Young Highness. If you head over now, you might catch the Highnesses sorting it out live."

Ye Mo decided fast. "Okay, Adelaide. Wait for me—I'll come back and let you know."

"I'd appreciate that a lot."

Adelaide put his hand on Ye Mo's back, patting it a few times, like he was stroking a sturdy young horse he'd raised himself. "Go ahead, Young Highness."

Adelaide rarely did stuff like that; he always stuck to etiquette, even stricter than an etiquette teacher.

Ye Mo hummed in response. "I'll be right back to tell you. Theodore, let's go."

"Okay."

Then he jumped off the railing, landed lightly, and dashed off that way.

Lakeley sighed, gave up, and closed his eyes before jumping down too. Flying devices weren't allowed in the base, but since he wouldn't die on the Star Net, he'd already set his pain sensitivity to the lowest. But he kept randomly disconnecting these past few days, though it didn't happen anywhere else.

Adelaide watched Ye Mo's back. "The Young Highness is getting livelier by the day."

After a beat, he spoke up. "You sure you don't need a robot body prepped for you, Theodore? The Star Alliance has super realistic human-like models—flexible, multi-functional. Must get lonely staying here every day."

"Thanks a lot, but I don't need it, Mr. Adelaide. Just a little bit is fine."

It had already found its path.

"But I'm really glad you care, Mr. Adelaide."

Theodore liked Adelaide because Adelaide treated it like a person.

Adelaide replied, "Thanks. I'm glad to hear that too."

...

When Ye Mo got to the center of the training area, the main light screen showed several rows of reservation info, all for test slots.

Normally, the training area could easily fit the whole corps and then some; only tests needed more space, but tests were rare.

Not many people were here now; most were probably in the testing fields.

A few people in Grath uniforms stood at the manual counter, looking bummed. "Is there seriously no way? Give the Second Corps a test field, or our Corps Commander's gonna kill me."

The person on duty wasn't budging and pointed at the rows on the light screen. "Go work it out with someone else yourself."

Theodore linked directly to Ye Mo's gear and checked the info. "Cyril, Arnold, and the rest are in Field 1."

Ye Mo hummed, then stepped closer. "You can use my training field today. I'm not using it."

The Graths' training area was set aside, often used for testing new swords' compatibility. Considering the lethality, the field size was always sufficient for testing.

Several people didn't notice Ye Mo until he spoke.

They immediately straightened up, saluting. "Prince Cyril!"

"It's fine. It's not urgent anyway; waiting won't kill us. Everyone's just itching to get a first look. Our reservation is scheduled for tomorrow; we're just here to try our luck."

"If we really took over the Young Highness's training field, our Corps Commander would actually kill us."

"We can just tag along with other corps. I heard Commander Gu's corps reserved many training fields early on. Truly a benchmark among Corps Commanders—well-informed. We'll just have our Corps Commander snatch a few."

Before Ye Mo could say anything, the group quickly waved goodbye and left.

The person on duty smiled at Ye Mo. "It's fine, Young Highness. They're just fooling around."

"Are you looking for the other Highnesses? Please, follow me."

The duty officer stood up and led Ye Mo to Field 1.

When they reached the door, faint sounds could be heard even from outside the field.

The staff cautiously retreated a fair distance, then looked at Ye Mo. Ye Mo tentatively stepped back as well.

The staff member coughed. "The Highnesses are probably sparring inside. We'd better be cautious."

Only Lakeley didn't move; after all, you can't really die in the Starnet.

To restrict information leaks, no special items are allowed in the training base. If the door isn't opened, they can't see the inside, and to enter, they have to wait for the door to open.

The staff member opened the door as they spoke.

The door had just slid open a crack when a gust of wind from a blade rushed out from inside.

Then came a roar, and the door had a deep dent punched into it.

Lakeley instinctively stepped back a few paces, quickly hiding behind Ye Mo, peeking out from a distance.

Even in the holographic world, to stop any funny business, they couldn't come within a meter of the staff.

Theodore glanced at him, wondering whether to kick Lakeley out.

The door hadn't fully opened yet.

Adrian's voice came first: "Deenlie, stop breaking things! Those are expensive to replace!"

Before Deenlie could say anything, Herli spoke up: "This isn't ours, so if we need replacements, the Star Alliance should handle it. Bad quality—what's that got to do with us?" Herli had damaged just as much as Deenlie.

"Oh, is that so? Then it's fine."

The door opened completely.

Lakeley's eyes widened.

Inside the training room, the ground was full of potholes, and the walls were a mess. The memory metal slowly repaired the interior.

Several Grath members were scattered around the training room.

Baide, crouched like a big cat on a stopped training mech, stared straight over.

For a moment, Lakeley felt like he was being looked at directly.

Baide said, "Theodore."

That was the last thing Lakeley heard before he disconnected.

It took Lakeley a while to sit up from the nutrient pod, his eyes full of disbelief. He naturally didn't think this was just another accident like before.

These days, Lakeley had roughly learned that Theodore was the Intelligence of the Grath base, but Theodore only acted as a butler, helping Adelaide with things in the living area—like baking bread—and didn't interfere elsewhere.

He opened his light-brain and pulled up the feedback he'd sent to the Star Alliance after being forced offline earlier. Lakeley scrolled down and stopped. A new reply to his report had come in, identical to before: "Due to the blocked star zone, signal instability might occur. We didn't detect any anomalies this time. Please check your home equipment carefully."

Lakeley got suspicious again. "Maybe it's just a coincidence?"

How could an AI get past the Star Alliance's central star? And how could anyone see him in the holo-world? Besides, wouldn't that be too miserable? Lakeley thought about all the operations people did in the central star's holo instances during resource battles—wouldn't that keep him up?

On the other side, Ye Mo sharply looked behind him, then turned back.

Arnold had already walked over. "Cyril, what are you doing here? Getting lonely? I said we should've left a few people to hang with you."

"I came to see what you're all doing."

Arnold led Ye Mo in, looking super proud. "We're discussing the duty roster. I'm in Herli's group—we'll go next time. Deenlie and the others will go work another day."

Beside them, Deenlie tightened his grip on his sword hilt, glaring at Arnold.

Arnold ignored him and pulled Ye Mo along. "We've still got a few days to play. Didn't you get enough last time? Let's go again today."

Ye Mo whispered, "Deenlie and Adrian look kinda pissed."

"That doesn't change a thing."

Even so, Arnold still pulled Ye Mo a couple of steps toward Herli.

Adrian was already eager. "Arnold, let go of Cyril." He was in the same group as Deenlie and Jacob.

Arnold draped his arm around Ye Mo and carefully backed up behind Herli. "No."

Herli graciously raised a hand to block them.

Baide interrupted them. "Alright, alright. The results are out. No need to crowd around here."

He said in the channel, "Who's gonna go find Secretary-General Lin? Have him block holo-world access from our base. Just make up some excuse—he'll say yes, won't he?"

Deenlie was the first to answer Baide. "Let Arnold handle it."

Adrian also chimed in. "I agree."

Arnold spun around to glare at Deenlie.

Ye Mo worriedly stepped in front of Arnold to separate them. "Alright, Baide said the results are out. No fighting."

Elia looked worried. "When will Cyril be able to join the channel?"

Herli also became serious. "We need to supplement him. Malnutrition will cause developmental delays."

Jacob looked sincerely at Ye Mo. "But Cyril eats plenty."

Deenlie and Adrian temporarily set aside their differences and joined the discussion. "Should we get some bug crystals?"

"No, maybe it's a lack of psychic support from Big Brother. He didn't have any Grath relatives around during his growth period."

"Should we check again?"

Even Baide was staring at Ye Mo.

Ye Mo looked from one to another, confused. "What's wrong?"

Everyone was staring at him.

Author's Note:

They want to take you to the hospital—run! (loudspeaker emoji)