A dozen or so soldiers carrying loaded weapons approached Xi Yan and gave him a crisp military salute.
"Salute the Marshal!"
"This is your personal guard. They will be responsible for your safety," Beta's voice sounded from Xi Yan's Wristband. "They are also your diehard loyalists, the core personnel the Former Marshal left you."
"Excellent. Loyalty!"
Xi Yan struck his left chest with his right fist.
"Yu Shuo, captain of your personal guard, reporting! My respects, Marshal Xi Yan!"
A tall, lean soldier stepped up to him and saluted.
Xi Yan had little recollection of him, but judging by his manner, they had known each other for a long time.
He was part of the personal guard, after all.
"Good morning."
Xi Yan instinctively extended his hand for a handshake. Guard Captain Yu Shuo took it without hesitation and shook it twice.
Then Yu Shuo pulled Xi Yan close, leaned toward his ear, and whispered, "Young Marshal, your father personally appointed me captain of your guard. You can trust me completely."
Xi Yan's gaze sharpened. "Of course I know that."
"Mr. Yu Shuo's identity checks out. He was indeed one of Marshal Xi Lie's personal soldiers."
Beta had naturally heard him, or rather, Yu Shuo had never intended to hide it from Beta. "Not just Mr. Yu Shuo, either. Many others are trusted personnel left behind by the Former Marshal, and they are absolutely loyal to you."
"Thank you. I swear I won't let you down."
Xi Yan spoke softly.
Yu Shuo wore tactical goggles and a mask that obscured his face, making his expression impossible to read, but he seemed pleased.
"Now that you've taken over as Marshal, there are things I need to make clear beforehand," Yu Shuo said. "Anything inconvenient for you to do yourself can be left to us. That's what we're here for."
"Mm." Xi Yan nodded calmly.
This was good news. He was not alone. The Former Marshal had left him considerable resources to help him stand against the military faction led by Shoigu and Gerasimov.
They chatted happily, leaving the scene looking like this: Xi Yan stood in the center, with Guard Captain Yu Shuo close beside him, surrounded by twenty tall, imposing soldiers, all carrying guns that looked incredibly cool.
Only then did Xi Yan get a proper look at the building he had been in. It was a conical high-rise, with no other building taller than a hundred meters within several hundred meters of it, ensuring an unobstructed view.
Over a dozen hectares of open ground surrounded the Administration Building, packed with small private spacecraft. Their streamlined shapes and gleaming hulls left Xi Yan barely knowing where to look.
When he used to play Stellaris, he could only see planets from the outside and views of their star systems, never the detailed interiors of colonies. Now he was getting his fill of science fiction.
A sudden thought struck Xi Yan: If this scene could be put into a game, should it be called The Sims: Grand Stellaris Auto of EVE?
After they waited for a while, a silver spacecraft several dozen meters long flew in from the distance and landed on the open ground.
Yu Shuo immediately introduced it to Xi Yan. "This is your personal spacecraft, Marshal. It carries a Fission Reactor, the latest Ion Thruster, and an Afterburner. Although it can't travel faster than light, its speed within a star system exceeds that of the three FTL Corvettes docked at the Stellar Base."
"Good, good, good!"
Xi Yan said "good" three times in succession and went forward to stroke the spacecraft's gleaming silver hull, unable to tear himself away.
So damn cool! I'm going to fly her around the Ring World for a couple of glorious laps!
They boarded the spacecraft. Its cabin could easily accommodate the entire personal guard, and Xi Yan was naturally given the copilot's seat at the very front, where he could enjoy an almost panoramic view.
Yu Shuo piloted the craft while Xi Yan watched his movements closely, secretly learning how to fly it.
AI was highly advanced in this era. Most piloting tasks could be simplified by AI into four-key WASD controls, but professional pilots preferred more complex, precise methods.
The spacecraft swiftly rose into the air, and five smaller craft followed behind it. They had gun barrels mounted outside and appeared to be small sub-light corvettes, each bearing the triangular emblem of the Interstellar Human Military Junta.
Xi Yan glanced at them, then looked away.
As a Stellaris player, he had nothing but contempt for ships that couldn't travel faster than light.
Ordinary small warships could not accommodate a tier-one Hyperdrive capable of faster-than-light travel. Only large ships could achieve it, and Corvettes were the baseline for large warships.
Corvettes, Torpedo Ships, Destroyers, Cruisers, Battleships, Titans, and the Colossus-Xi Yan's empire currently had only Corvette technology.
Xi Yan thought even less of those little warships that weren't even up to Corvette standards.
They were practically little space fishing boats!
What kind of space warship couldn't travel faster than light?
The theme song of Stellaris was "Faster than light," which meant "beyond the speed of light."
Whenever the music played, Xi Yan thought of that vast universe, countless alien species, relics of ancient times, world-changing technologies, and the apocalyptic calamities that could destroy everything. Every time, it moved him beyond words.
Those who could not surpass the speed of light were merely pathetic primitives in Stellaris.
Fortunately, the Interstellar Human Military Junta was not among them.
Travel between star systems naturally required determining the coordinates of both systems, then setting the spacecraft's course.
But in the universe of Stellaris, star systems were separated by distances and obstacles that were difficult to cross. There might be a stretch of anomalous space that left anyone entering it lost, or some inexplicable substance blocking the way.
The fleet of Marshal Xi Lie, the predecessor of the Interstellar Human Military Junta, had strayed off course and crossed between star systems outside the Hyperlanes. The fact that it had suffered no accident was an extraordinary stroke of luck.
In short, star systems in Stellaris were not like those in a normal universe, which could be entered and exited freely. Each had only a handful of entrances and exits, with designated routes leading to specific other systems.
Marked on the Starmap, these stable routes between star systems were called "Hyperlanes." Using faster-than-light engines, ships could cross the vast empty stretches between systems and swiftly fly from one to another.
However, within a star system, faster-than-light technology was affected by the star's gravity and could not achieve its normal speed. Thus, all ships in the Sea of Stars traveled through star systems at safe sub-light speeds rather than exceeding the speed of light.
(At any rate, that was how the game explained it, and the real universe he had transmigrated into worked the same way.)
With faster-than-light travel and Hyperlanes, the journey between star systems could be shortened to a mere ten days. Sub-light travel was another matter: most of the time spent on a space voyage actually went into covering a short distance within a star system.
Crossing dozens of light-years took only ten days, but traveling through a star system took about half a month. (LOL)
"So, Marshal Xi Yan, have you decided how to win General Ning Zhiyuan's support?" Beta asked him softly aboard the spacecraft.
"If you need us, the personal guard will carry out your orders unconditionally, Marshal." Yu Shuo saluted.
"Don't worry. Of course I'm going to have a nice, reasonable talk with him." Xi Yan smiled brightly, his slender fingers lightly tapping the black pistol inside his pocket.
Human technology was already quite advanced, but entering space still required a spacesuit. Fortunately, the newer suits were light enough not to interfere with normal movement.
Xi Yan reluctantly put one on, covering his "imperial robes."
By then, the spacecraft had broken through the artificial atmosphere of the Cybrex Alpha Ring World and entered space.
A vibrant cosmic panorama slowly unfolded, and countless stars opened their eyes to them.
Tens of thousands of years ago, they had cast out their brilliant radiance. Even if they had already vanished, every beam of light still blossomed across the boundless Sea of Stars, shining into the curious eyes of young humans ten thousand years later.
Even if guidance had long since shattered, please ascend to the throne of the Sea of Stars. (Just kidding.)
Xi Yan reached out, as if trying to grasp the dazzling Galactic Core countless light-years away.
"The Aetherophasic Engine, cosmogenesis; countless stars, gathered into my embrace!"
Xi Yan spoke softly.
"Hm? What did you say?" Beta asked.
"Nothing. Just a few topics about peace and friendship."
Xi Yan smiled faintly.
Before you continue