She giggled, "Darlings, itâs your turn now, donât let them run away."
The door to the control room slowly opened.
They slipped into the control room, but those three were long gone.
Seeing the soldiers slumped in the corner, they turned back to ask Su Xiaocai, "Big Sister, should we chase them? They seem to be heading for the escape ship."
Su Xiaocai laughed; she had already hacked the control room, so stopping the escape ship was easy.
However, had the three really escaped to the escape ship?
Su Xiaocai raised her gun and fired at the people on the ground. Three shots rang out, and the three who had been pretending to be dead cried out, clutching their hands.
The pain made them unable to hold their weapons.
"No more pretending to be dead." Su Xiaocai squatted down and flaunted her secret weapon, the nail gun, in front of them.
It was used by construction workers for renovations.
As long as you donât shoot the heart or blow the head off, hitting a person wonât kill them, just cause pain.
The unconscious wouldnât feel a thing.
Only those awake would react.
Su Xiaocai smiled brightly, "Iâm best at spot-the-difference games." The three of them clutched their weapons, afraid she wouldnât figure them out.
She squatted down and from close range gave each of their knees another shot.
The three screamed, the vast control room echoed with their heart-wrenching cries.
Su Xiaocai pressed her fingertip against the nail lodged in a knee.
Their pain amplified, rendering them immobile, unable to endure.
"Does it hurt?" Su Xiaocai said coldly, "The parents of those dead children, their hearts hurt even more."
Ten youngsters not yet part of society became sacrifices because someone wanted to start a war.
The students playing Star Thieves glanced inevitably at the corpses outside the door.
Dying on the battlefield, you could say they died well.
But being killed by their own, what is that?
Torturing them was right, they were trash.
Their minds spun rapidly, firmly believing Su Xiaocai should punish those three harshly.
"Scum like you deserve to die."
"Spying is a capital crime anyway, feel some pain before you go."
Su Xiaocai didnât continue; a few more actions and she would become a psychopath. Better to wait for Colonel Bai to handle them.
...
At the training ground, Ji Heng successfully reached the control room. When he took off his helmet, having done a lot of mental preparation, classmates ready to fight to the death almost cried.
"Senior Brother Ji, youâre finally here to save us."
"Was it Senior Sister Xue who found you?"
"Great, finally rescued. How did Senior Brother Ji get in? I heard from two classmates there are Star Thieves outside, are you okay?"
"Can we get out now?"
Ji Heng said, "Itâs not over yet, donât go out for now, letâs wait for Colonel Bai."
"Saved, thank heavens. I canât believe Senior Sister Xue brought help so quickly."
"Which Senior Sister Xue? Xue Huiyi?" Hu Ping inquisitively smiled, "Did Xue Huiyi leave?"
"Yes, she managed to sneak out. Didnât she inform you? How did you get here so fast?" said a student, wiping away tears.
"We didnât meet her, we came from Huangyang Star. That Star Thief Ship outside is also ours," Hu Ping sought to dissociate the rescue mission from Xue Huiyi, "While on Huangyang Star, we learned of your distress and knowing Colonel Bai couldnât arrive timely, we volunteered to delay the battleshipâs speed and came with the instructor to save you."
Not a word about Xue Huiyi, but each line slyly insinuating about her.
They came to save people first, nullifying Xue Huiyiâs efforts.
No matter what Xue Huiyi planned, Hu Ping didnât want her to succeed.
Xue Huiyiâs close friend couldnât stand Hu Pingâs jabbering and spoke up for Xue Huiyi, "Huiyi did go to find help, you canât deny her contribution."
"Oh, I didnât deny she went to get help, I just said she didnât come to us. Didnât know she sought help otherwise."
Credit always goes to the pioneers.
Hu Ping was thoroughly enjoying himself.
Supporters of Xue Huiyi were very angry; they had already lost two people, pitiful enough, and Hu Ping was rubbing salt in the wound.
"The senior is already dead, what more do you want?"
"Hmm?" Hu Pingâs befuddled look seemed mocking to the Xue supporters.
Two fists flew toward Hu Pingâs face.
Hu Ping was prepared, shoving and swinging his arms, throwing the two to the ground.
He knew how antagonistic he came across; thanks to Su Xiaocaiâs training, his confidence was soaring.
His agility increased by more than a level, close to instructor caliber.
The two on the ground couldnât believe it, thinking Hu Ping cheated, wanting to retaliate, but Ji Heng stopped them, "Cause more trouble and you can do it outside."
His words were directed at the Xue supporters.
Instigating conflict and internal strife was characteristic of Xue Huiyiâs faction.
Ji Heng didnât have a good impression of the Xue supporters at the academy.
"Hmph, scumbag." Although Xueâs supporters hated Ji Heng, they dared not act up further, quietly staying aside.
Soon, Colonel Bai arrived for the handover.
Colonel Bai looked visibly older, from the reports Su Xiaocai gave him.
Thirteen students in total had died.
Other peopleâs children had been entrusted to him for training; not only had he failed the duties of a coach, but heâd also been distracted by other issues.
Upon hearing that other bases also encountered problems, with numerous student casualties, he felt even more burdened.
The enemy exploited his care for subordinates to weaken military strength.
Guilt nearly overwhelmed his mental world, turning his hair white overnight.
Colonel Bai took over the battleship, seeing the dismembered bodies, he issued orders nonchalantly.
Su Xiaocai and the others stayed inside the control room to avoid adding trouble.
With nothing else to do, everyone became the object of Su Xiaocaiâs observation.
Wu Qingqing asked, "Master, are you watching Colonel Bai? Whatâs so interesting, learning to give orders like him?"
Su Xiaocai replied, "Kids know nothing, read more, use your imagination less."
After issuing all orders, Colonel Bai sat quietly in the command seat, lost in thought.
Su Xiaocai pondered for a moment, then approached with a cup of water.
"Instructor Bai, would you like some water?"
Colonel Bai said, "Thank you," and fell silent again.
Su Xiaocai handed him five magazines about the 022 Mechanical Planet: "We should be thanking you. Can I have a few autographs for our team? We really admire you."
Colonel Bai casually signed a few names, then, feeling something familiar, looked up at Su Xiaocai, "Did you take these from the battleship?"
"As a key figure in the Huangyang Star Insect Man War, getting some magazines is no big deal, right?" Su Xiaocai laughed, "Is Colonel Bai really that stingy?"
"Iâll tell you, when we get back, Iâll even praise your great achievements on my account. If someone interviews you here, remember to answer well; I have over ten billion fans, donât say anything bad about me, preferably donât even mention me, I want to stay low-key." Su Xiaocai left with the signed magazines, smiling.
Colonel Bai felt the command seat grow a little chilly.
Given the current battle status, the 022 Mechanical Starâs response was quite timely; its reputation would surely rise further.
Ahem, heâd see how others responded in interviews, should a reporter actually visit, he needed to know how to handle it.
Colonel Bai felt inexplicably better, remembering he had to report student deaths to Vice Admiral Bai.
He sighed, eventually facing reality. Sadness was useless; only delivering a stronger blow to the Insect Men would avenge the fallen.
The information reached Vice Admiral Bai, who didnât blame him but instructed, "Just ensure the students are safely returned."
Colonel Bai responded, "Understood."
All battleships headed back to the base.
Su Xiaocai said goodbye to Fan Li, saying she needed sleep.
She rushed back to her room, took a shower, and threw herself onto the bed to catch up on sleep.
She had a great sleep, with no one interrogating or bothering her.
Midway, she dreamed she turned into a piglet, inspected over and over.
It seemed someone was weighing her to check if she was fat enough.
But, she controlled the dreamâs direction; being so slim, she would definitely never become a fat pig, far from slaughter.
Not sure how long she slept before waking, Su Xiaocai remembered some dream fragments, finding it outrageous how she could dream of her own execution.