Yu Lian and his companions continued through the canyon for a while. The narrow passage suddenly opened up, just as he'd said it would, into a relatively spacious area about half the size of a soccer field. However, the rock walls on either side slanted inward as they rose, meeting overhead to form a narrow strip of open sky. It was as if someone had carved out a reception hall in the middle of the mountains.
It was probably around four in the morning.
"Four hours' rest," Yu Lian ordered.
The soldiers finally breathed a sigh of relief. Even though it was already this late, they'd been through several battles, and now they found themselves unable to sleep. One after another, they took out their field rations. It was the most peaceful and proper meal they'd had in the last twelve hours.
Nurse Belinda carefully carried over the late-night snack she'd made with such care—really just a simple sandwich, with at most two extra slices of luncheon meat—and brought it over to Yu Lian. He was fiddling with a few large sausages... no, improvised bioelectric batteries. Without even looking up, he took the sandwich and stuffed it into his mouth in two or three bites.
The little nurse stood to one side, looking crestfallen. She didn't leave until Ina (and Uncle Carl) came over and sat down beside Yu Lian, at which point she looked even more dejected.
As Yu Lian chewed his greasy, under-salted sandwich, he thought that even in the space age, military field rations still couldn't hold a candle to the instant-heat mapo tofu and spicy chicken from back home. Then he opened one of the tightly sealed "large sausages" and poured in a handful of steel ball bearings he'd prepared earlier.
"So, this turns the bioelectric battery into an electromagnetic bomb? Like the one you made in the mountains?" Carl asked. He'd apparently heard from the others what Yu Lian had done there.
"If I pour in thermite powder and iron oxide, it'll become a high-temperature incendiary bomb. So I'm making two of each," Yu Lian replied.
The old mechanic didn't know much about weapons chemistry, but even he knew that although the modifications sounded simple, carrying them out would really test the operator's skill, especially without any precision instruments. Yet from the way Yu Lian worked, with a fluency that made no sense, he'd clearly done this many times already.
"Are all moon people monsters?" Uncle Carl marveled.
"Moon people aren't monsters. Commander Yu Lian is just a special case. The elite bureaucratic group's top students only learn to eat wrapped in feather blankets like Imperial nobles. He's the only exception I've come across so far," Ina said.
"Well, some of my classmates were quite talented..." After all, they were the famous 830 Party! They were the last batch of great generals to emerge after the Lunar Military Academy was founded. On one hand, the turbulent age that was about to begin had given them a stage on which to make history. On the other, they really were all gifted, as though all the pride, courage, and wisdom of the entire Commonwealth—all of Earth's people—had been concentrated in that class.
And yet, even so...
At the thought, Yu Lian felt a little wistful. He quickly lowered his head, then heard Ina say, "I also attended a six-month military academy course. It wasn't as prestigious as the Lunar Military Academy, but it was a proper higher education institution, in the ground assault program. They definitely didn't teach us any of this. So I'm even more curious about what you did outside the academy."
Anyone who made a name for themselves had to be exceptional! That kind of perceptiveness was beyond what ordinary people could manage.
Yu Lian couldn't see her, but he could feel her gaze, so bright it made him uneasy. As he continued tinkering with the bombs, he said casually, "Want to learn? I'll teach you!"
It was like teaching Teacher Liu to sell bootleg videos, teaching the Ming Cult Leader to run a restaurant, or teaching an Ikun to sing, dance, rap, and play basketball. Anyone who knew that kind of satisfaction knew what it was like.
"I'd rather learn how you figured out where those two burrowing bugs were. Can you sense them by putting your hand on the ground? You hadn't awakened yet then, had you? Do ordinary Sensitives have senses that strong? I thought my own senses were pretty sharp."
Yu Lian paused and looked up at her.
"I know I'm a Sensitive. I've known for a year," Ina said calmly.
This time, it was old Carl who was surprised. He'd clearly only just found out, too.
"Hey, wait... Ina, then why are you still..."
Why were you still stuck in this godforsaken place? She was a psionic, after all. The Commonwealth had only just begun following the Empire and the Alliance's example, building its own psionic training groups and special forces. They weren't only accepting the Awakened; they'd welcome Sensitives with any level of aptitude. Especially someone like Ina, a frontline noncommissioned officer with combat experience. If she applied, she'd probably be transferred back to Earth within a month, promoted from NCO to officer in an instant, and rise through the ranks no slower than any academy graduate.
After all, the graduates were only "elite bureaucrats," while psionics were superhumans! What civilization didn't worship superhumans? Especially superhumans officially on the payroll!
Uncle Carl's startled reaction drew everyone's attention. Dr. Banks thought something had happened and hurried over, bringing the others with him.
"It's fine. I just told everyone I've been a Sensitive for a long time. I just never said anything," Ina said evenly.
Then Uncle Carl's shock spread through the group like some contagion, more infectious than the plague bugs of the future. In an instant, it had taken hold of everyone.
"I like New Jade Gate, even though the sandstorms are fierce, the wilderness is full of beasts and bandits, and the latest shows and movies arrive six months later than they do in the Galactic Core. But I grew up here, after all. I've never been to Earth in my life. I hear it's so bustling that I'm afraid I'd get lost," Ina said with a shrug.
"There are plenty of little places there with a lot of warmth, like my hometown," Yu Lian murmured.
"B-but, Sergeant, it's Earth!" the nurse said, looking heartbroken. If Ina hadn't had such a strong reputation in the military, she might have been tempted to crack open her head and take a look inside.
Dr. Banks stared at Ina, then at Yu Lian, as if trying to figure out what psionics had in common in terms of appearance. But there was something odd about his gaze, as though he were trying to spot some glittering gold shining from the two of them.
Corporal Youyou whistled. "I heard psionics get over a million a year in allowances! And they're even given a 150-square-meter apartment in Pearl City or Big Apple City."
"Over a million..." Baka, the bear-man sergeant, was astonished. His small eyes began to gleam.
"Girl, I really wish you understood what you were giving up." Even steady old Carl looked full of regret.
Everyone really couldn't understand Ina's choice. They all looked as if she'd passed up a fortune.
"My old factory was bought out by a consortium from the Alliance. I still have some skills, but a troublemaker like me, who led the workers in protests against the buyout, obviously wouldn't be allowed to stay. But I have a wife and children to support. I had to find somewhere I could earn a living. Then I saw the Governor's Office's recruitment ad. Someone like me could get sergeant's pay and a technical allowance, so I gritted my teeth and came here."
Uncle Carl's meaning was clear. If it weren't for the money, he'd never have come to New Jade Gate.
"Me? Hey, studying medicine costs a lot. My family spent all their savings on me, but I still couldn't afford one of those famous medical schools. I don't have any relatives who are renowned doctors or hospital directors, so I could only work at a small hospital in some remote place, where the pay was terrible. But... I have a little brother! He's much smarter than me. He's been a great student since he was little. I persuaded my parents to send him to the Empire to study, then I boarded a ship bound for New Jade Gate," Dr. Banks said.
"Me, hehehe, I was never any good at school! And if I'd kept hanging around my neighborhood, I'd have ended up working as muscle for the gangsters or selling drugs. I've always thought I could be a great rapper! Wait, buddy, why are you looking at me like that? I really am good... Listen, yo, yo, yo—uh, fine, fine. No one's going to make me famous if they don't promote me. But my family's got my mom, four little brothers, and three little sisters. I had to do something, right? So I boarded the ship," Youyou said.
"My hometown farm went bankrupt. I have a daughter, and she's not very healthy. She needs an injection of gene repair fluid every month. If I serve in New Jade Gate, the garrison command can provide her with an apartment in Tulong, plus free medical care every month," the bear-man sergeant said.
The garrison didn't offer benefits that good. They just wanted to get their hands on you—no, wait, your natural strength! Yu Lian thought.
But come to think of it, why was this starting to sound like a complaints convention? Maybe, before making it his little goal to go home, he should set himself one more little goal?
"Um, Commander, what's it like to be a psionic?" the nurse asked suddenly, blinking.
"What, do you want to become a psionic too?"
"Hehehe, who wouldn't? Everyone says psionics are heaven's chosen, successors to the Enlighteners, chosen by the spirit of the universe! They're the guides destined to lead all civilizations to ascension."
That long string of parallel phrases really didn't suit your character. Yu Lian put on a stern face. "Do you even understand what you just said?"
"Not really, hehehe..." The little nurse stuck out her tongue. "But it must be amazing... hehehe."
"If I said I don't actually like being psionic very much, would that sound pretentious?" Yu Lian asked.
"Extremely pretentious!" Ina declared.
And then Yu Lian realized that everyone was looking at him with the sort of expression reserved for someone who'd say, "I regret nothing but starting Alibaba," or "My family is just average." He was overcome by a wave of sorrow.
You bunch of uneducated illiterates really did get zero marks in reading comprehension and logic. Enjoying the experience of being psionic and not liking psionics were two completely different things.
Before you continue