Chapter 102: Officer?

Yang Bo followed the current preparing to search below. Occasionally, he would surface for a look and saw an escape pod in the distance. Beside it stood someone wearing an Alliance military energy suit.

“Hey!” Yang Bo originally didn’t plan to care but thought this person might be with the Fleet stationed on this planet and know the terrain. So, he surfaced again, this time pretending to be a Drone Fighter mechanic from his fleet. His energy suit was altered and even had a unique serial number.

“Oh, sorry, officer.” The person in the military energy suit turned around. To Yang Bo’s surprise, it was a woman. She held a laser gun in her hand, and thhe suit definitely wasn’t for mere soldiers. He had never seen even elite soldiers playing around with laser guns in his games, and now here it was, likely high-end equipment. In fact, he never saw any of the soldiers with a laser gun back on the warshipp either.

Yang Bo regretted speaking. If he knew it was a woman, he wouldn’t have bothered calling out. Better to just walk away and leave it.

“You’re a Drone Fighter mechanic?” The woman squinted at Yang Bo, finding him difficult to read. She found it strange that she couldn’t see through this soldier, who wore a sergeant’s energy suit, so she asked coldly.

Yang Bo asked in surprise, “How did you know, officer?”

“Every soldier’s serial number holds meaning. It contains your fleet number, your warship’s number, and your job role, even down to the specific unit you belong to. Most people just don’t know.” The woman’s body shape wasn’t discernible because the suit was pretty loose, but it was clear enough she was female, with long hair, though her face was obscured by her suit’s helmet.

“So, officer, who are you? Are you with the fleet on this planet?” Hearing that, Yang Bo climbed out of the water and asked.

The woman looked up at the sky and nodded, “Yes, I am with the planet’s fleet. What’s going on with your warship?”

The woman was intrigued because, just before ejecting, she noticed the Jin Gang-class warship stopped, as if some parts of its modules were damaged.

“Don’t even get me started. The Red Earl’s extremist organization appeared out of nowhere, crazily wrecking the inside of the warship. I still don’t even know how I ended up ejected. To make matters worse, no one’s come to rescue me. Is the officer waiting for rescue here?” Yang Bo wasn’t entirely sure what had happened, though it likely had to do with the Red Earl.

Yang Bo tried to get closer to the woman to see if she knew the terrain well enough, planning to head toward the mountains and check on Iron Bull later.

“The Red Earl? How’s that possible?” The woman responded doubtfully upon hearing that.

“Officer, one question. Which direction leads to the mountains?” Yang Bo quickly asked his own question, preparing to leave right after. Since the woman had a laser gun, there shouldn’t bee too much trouble.

“What are you going to the mountains for? There are plenty of dangerous places over there.”

“The main thing right now is to find another escape pod. The transmitter on mine is broken. Fighter jets won’t find us unless the Mutants’ ground offensive is driven off first—only then will the jets have time to search for us.” The woman explained in detail.

“This grass is way too tall, making it impossible to see anything. It’s easier to spot things in the mountains.” Yang Bo was getting ready to make his escape.

“And who made these escape pods? The quality is horrid. There’s no way I’m not filing a complaint when I get back.”

“My pod hadn’t even landed yet when I saw Mutants coming right at me from the distance. I ran immediately. Otherwise, I’d have just sat and waited at the pod.” Yang Bo offered an explanation to make his story more plausible.

The woman nodded and said, “It was smart of you to leave early. The Mutants tend to clear out anyone in the escape pods first, and they’ll ruin those pods too.”

“What kind of place is this, anyway? Why have we never heard of it before?” Yang Bo asked curiously.

“Not the sort of thing you’re supposed to know.” The woman’s response left Yang Bo speechless. This damn Alliance imposes way too many information blocks on the lower ranks.

“Alright then, I’m leaving. Officer, take care.” Yang Bo turned and left right after hearing that. If they didn’t want to talk, fine; he’d just go brush off some electric eels by himself.

“Wait! I’m going with you. I’ve got a laser gun. Your rank is too llow. If you run into Mutants, it’ll be dangerous.” The woman’s words almost made Yang Bo trip. The Mutants running into me would be dangerous—for them!

“I’m not strong enough, officer. I don’t want to slow you down. It’d be better if we went separately. Increases survival chances.” Yang Bo said this, even though he thought of the woman as nothing but a burden.

“Follow orders, sergeant.” Unexpectedly, the woman said that in reply.

Yang Bo suddenly panicked. He had no idea how the Alliance military worked on the inside, nor did he know if this officer could even order him around or if she was from his own fleet. Plus, her rank wasn’t obvious from her appearance.

“Yes, ma’am.” Yang Bo answered quickly, though he felt doubtful.

The woman’s suit had some kind of display on it that she was looking at as they walked. Yang Bo followed behind.

The two trudged along the river in silence. In the distance, they could see fighter jets roaring by. Beams of laser fire rained down from the sky as a massive warship fired out beam after beam.

“It’s a fierce battle.” Yang Bo muttered, scrunching his neck. Good thing he didn’t head that way, otherwise they’d have run into a horde of Mutants.

“Something’s off with the officer, isn’t it?” Yang Bo kept following behind. He noticed the woman was moving in a winding, erratic path.

“The navigation seems broken.” The officer’s voice was a bit low.

Yang Bo felt exasperated. He simply asked directly, “Officer, which way is the mountain?”

“That way.” The officer pointed off in the distance.

“What’s that intense battle over there?” Yang Bo asked while leading the way toward the mountains.

“That’s Outpost 15.” The officer only gave a few words before going silent again.

Yang Bo felt frustrated. Come on, just say something. But judging by the location of Outpost 15, Outpost 16 shouldn’t be far. Maybe Iron Bull would be there.

Never mind. If I run into any other crew members along the way, I’ll ditch this officer and make myself scarce.

Leave?

Not a chance. Not until I max out Invisibility and Electric Power Control. After maxing them out, then I’ll leave. The Alliance seems to have the upper hand anyway. I’ve already been wiped out twice while playing this game.

“Officer, keep up! We need to move quickly through this grassland, it’s blocking our visibility.” Yang Bo was ready to move fast. The whole time, as he talked, he had been using Sonic Detection and noticed some signs of Mutants behind them.