Chapter 536: The Twenty-Second Day of Transmigrating into an Interstellar World

Chapter 536: Day 22 in the Interstellar World

The order to deploy the new warp engine came down quickly. The military might drag their feet on other matters, but when it came to improving combat capability, they moved like a completely different group of people.

On the third day after the contract was signed, the first production line began its conversion; on the seventh day, the first mass-produced engine rolled off the line; on the fifteenth day, the first batch of ships equipped with the new engines completed their shakedown runs.

Then came the real-world testing.

An Yi didn't actually need to go to the front lines himself, and the interstellar side didn't want him going either.

When Cong Tianyue received the "invitation" from the military, her brows knitted so tightly they could trap a fly.

She read the email three times—the first to confirm the contents, the second to confirm the sender, and the third to see if there was any way to decline. Then she looked up at An Yi across the desk: "They want someone to accompany the ships for testing."

An Yi nodded: "I know."

Cong Tianyue tossed the data pad onto the desk with a dull thud.

"What do you mean you know?" she said, her tone carrying obvious displeasure—so thick it practically dripped off her face. "The front lines? That's a battlefield! Not a laboratory! What's a researcher like you doing in a place like that? And you volunteered for it yourself!"

An Yi sat still, sunlight streaming through the window, casting a soft glow over him. His expression remained gentle, a faint smile at the corners of his mouth, as if he were talking about something trivial.

"I developed the engine," he said, his voice calm. "No one understands its performance and potential issues better than I do. If something goes wrong during real combat testing, I can fix it fastest if I'm there."

Cong Tianyue looked at him and had to admit the kid was right.

The new engine's tech was cutting-edge. Although it had passed laboratory tests, simulation tests, and shakedown runs, no one could say for sure what would happen on a real battlefield.

Extreme conditions, extreme maneuvers, unexpected impacts, enemy fire—none of that could be fully replicated in simulations.

If a malfunction occurred during combat, a seasoned mechanic might need several hours to find the problem, but An Yi—he could spot it in a single glance.

Cong Tianyue went quiet for a moment, then sighed.

"Fine," the older woman said, waving a hand in helpless resignation. "Do what you want. It's not like I can tell you what to do anymore."

An Yi curved his lips into a smile: "Thanks, teacher."

Cong Tianyue shot him a glare: "What are you thanking me for? I didn't agree to anything. You insisted on going."

An Yi didn't respond, just smiled.

Cong Tianyue looked at that smile and suddenly felt something she couldn't quite put into words.

So annoying!! Why does he have to smile like that?!

This student was perfect in every way except he was too headstrong. Once he made up his mind, not even a team of oxen could drag him back. And the worst part was, he was always right, so there was no arguing with him.

She shook her head. "Fine, fine. Get out of here."

After all, he'd graduated long ago. With the new engine done, he was a full-fledged researcher now.

An Yi smiled: "Okay."

----------

The next morning, bright and early, An Yi boarded a transport to the Rift Star Sector.

He was accompanied by a dozen-plus engineers and technicians, all sent to the front to deal with technical issues. They wore matching uniforms, carried standard-issue toolboxes, and had varied expressions.

Outside the viewport, the starfield slowly fell away. The blue-green capital planet shrank to a tiny point of light, then vanished into the endless dark.

An Yi leaned back in his seat, staring out the window. This was his first time going to a battlefield since he'd arrived in this world.

He wondered how an interstellar battlefield would compare to one on the ground.

He closed his eyes.

Scenes of war from the original novel surfaced in his mind—fleets from both sides duking it out in the asteroid belt, countless ships blown to pieces under the barrage, countless lives extinguished in an instant.

Explosions bloomed and faded in space. Wreckage drifted in the void—some floating forever, some snagged by the asteroid belt, becoming part of the rocks.

He opened his eyes and continued looking out the window.

Deep space. Beautiful, silent, vast deep space.

The transport arrived at the Rift Star Sector on the fourth day.

As they threaded through the asteroid belt, which stretched tens of thousands of kilometers, An Yi stood at the viewport, watching rocks of all sizes sweep past.

Some were fist-sized; others were dozens of times bigger than the transport. They drifted slowly through space, silent as a herd of behemoths, their surfaces pockmarked with impact craters.

The pilot clearly knew this region well, weaving the ship deftly between the asteroids. Occasionally a rock would brush past the viewport, close enough to make your heart race, close enough to see the grain of its surface.

An Yi watched those rocks pass by. Was An Yi Star this barren and broken too?

Back then, he hadn't been able to see it with his own eyes or touch it with his hands. Now that he could, he couldn't find it anymore. He'd gone back to that world once, only to find centuries had passed. The asteroid that young businessman had bought was long lost to history—no way to tell which one it was now.

The past was beyond reach.

An Yi snapped back to the present and watched the transport clear the belt, until a forward outpost appeared ahead.

Calling it a base was generous; it was basically a giant metal structure bolted to an asteroid. The asteroid was over a hundred klicks long, and the base clung to it like a metal beast.

Its surface was thick with armor plating, bristling with turrets and sensors like an armored hedgehog. Some turrets slowly rotated, as if scanning the area. Sensors blinked faint red, monitoring the surroundings.

The transport eased into the berth, and An Yi walked down the ramp.

The air in the berth was stale, thick with metal and fuel—the smell of weapons, scorching, and spent energy cells. It all blended into a distinct, acrid smell.

People were bustling everywhere.

Soldiers in all kinds of uniforms hurried through the corridors, footsteps echoing off the metal floor. Someone hauled supplies past An Yi, wheels rumbling over the deck.

An Yi watched the wheels for a second, then looked away.

An Yi finished his check-in with the military, then headed straight for the fleet he'd be assigned to.