Chapter 45: Their Carefree Conversation, As Expected of…

He tapped his chest with his hand and revealed a smile from the bottom of his heart.

One of the hostages from a vehicle behind was rescued, and someone rolled out from the trunk, shouting loudly, “Captain was taken away by the sand bandits!”

The Patrol Army Captain hurriedly asked, “When did this happen?”

“Just now!”

It was clear that the sand bandits had made a last-minute change to their plan.

Xie Jianxun remembered the information he had pried from the insider.

He found the Patrol Army Captain and told him about it.

After hearing him out, the Patrol Army Captain countered, “They’re so certain that the Insect Clan has occupied the Golden Fruit Forest that they need someone to act as a shield to enter?”

Xie Jianxun recalled for a moment and nodded firmly. “Yes, that’s exactly what they said.”

The Patrol Army Captain pondered. “Taking only one person now means a large group of hostages is no longer useful to them. Indeed, for an escape, a single hostage is enough.”

Basero walked over from there and glanced at the two of them.

His presence among the sand bandits had been very low, so he hadn’t suffered much damage—just a bit too hungry and in urgent need of energy replenishment.

Now, he held a concentrated nutrient agent in his hand and skillfully poured it down his throat.

“Are you discussing ways to rescue Antonio?” Basero placed a hand on Xie Jianxun’s shoulder. “Take me along while you’re at it?”

Xie Jianxun asked curiously, “Mr. Basero, it sounds like you’re quite familiar with Captain Antonio?”

Basero waved his hand. “Old neighbors. You probably didn’t see it, but he was one of the people who helped put out the fire at the inn last time.”

The Patrol Army Captain raised his voice, drawing everyone’s attention.

“Everyone, due to the number of wounded, we’ve decided to send you back to Golden City, while I, my deputy, and the vanguard team go rescue Mr. Antonio.”

The crowd immediately grew noisy, but it quickly calmed down.

A moment later, a timid voice said, “Okay, I really want to go home.”

But someone else said, “What about the Golden Fruit Forest?”

They had set out with dreams and courage, and now they were returning home injured, empty-handed.

The Patrol Army Captain fell silent for a moment. He wasn’t inflexible and understood their feelings.

But the number of wounded… one, two, three, four, five—there were piles of them just by counting casually, all freshly injured by the sand bandits.

It was absolutely impossible for the whole group to set out again.

In the end, he only said, “Those willing to join us in rescuing the hostage may stay. The rest will be sent back.”

As expected, there was no option to continue to the Golden Fruit Forest. Their exploration had ultimately failed.

Many lowered their heads, truly realizing the failure, and remained silent without rebuttal.

The logistics team removed the burst tires and replaced them with new ones.

Now, they could ride the sand bandits’ off-road vehicles to the Patrol Troops stationed outside the Fog Zone and follow them out of the desert.

The Patrol Troops reorganized and, after driving for about ten minutes, also spotted that ship—the massive Federation special-made vessel.

There were winding footprints left by the sand bandits entering the ship cabin by the roadside, confirming they were in the right place.

He slammed on the brakes emergently, summoning everyone to disembark and line up.

But when he turned back, he saw those familiar teenagers and girl still there, veins bulging on their faces under the helmets. “Aren’t minors supposed to return to the city to rest?”

Aisia bravely lifted her head and expressed herself. “I-I’m not leaving! I want to ask my uncle face-to-face!”

Xie Jianxun said, “I-I’m familiar with this terrain, my guardian!”

As he spoke, he pulled One in front of him and gave the Patrol Army Captain a guilty smile. “He’s very familiar with it—like it’s his own home.”

“Right, sir?” He tugged at One’s sleeve again.

The Patrol Army Captain took a deep breath, as if enduring something.

“The situation inside is unknown, and the sand bandits must have ambushes waiting for us. I can’t send a group of kids into such a narrow and dangerous place. If you insist, stay outside.”

“No need. There’s nothing dangerous inside.”

One suddenly spoke up, and everyone looked at it. It merely smiled and lowered its gaze to the human behind it.

Xie Jianxun blinked and met its gaze wordlessly.

“I am the commander of this ship.”

…

The sand bandits jumped out of the vehicle and pushed the hostage down.

They deliberately hid the vehicle in the shadow on the side of the ship, so even if someone passed by nearby, it would be hard to spot.

They all stretched their limbs while anxiously glancing toward the distance.

No sound of Patrol Troops’ vehicles came, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Nir said excitedly, “The boss’s brain is sharp! This way, we’ve shaken them off!”

Jack wasn’t swayed by his empty flattery.

He got out of the vehicle and looked around, suddenly fixing his gaze. He spotted a small breached hole on the side of the ship, as if it had been pierced by some sharp weapon and then torn open.

“This is impossible. How could an interstellar ship’s defenses…”

He couldn’t quite believe it. He walked up for a closer look and found that the defensive coating here was nearly nonexistent, allowing it to be torn so easily.

Unable to find another entrance, they had no choice but to climb in through this hole.

Jack pointed at Antonio and said cautiously, “You go first.”

Antonio said nothing.

Perhaps in his view, he could only wait for a good chance to escape. No words could sway this group of sand bandits.

He nodded, bent one leg, and poked his head in first.

The passage was filled with lingering dust. They clung to the metal handrails on the walls and clumsily found the ventilation duct.

They were occasionally hit in the face by dangling wires, leaving streaks of gray and black.

“You stepped on me!” someone growled angrily from behind.

“It’s all spiderwebs, gross.”

“Who kicked my ass?!”

Jack lost his patience and kicked the person in front hard in the butt, cursing, “Fuck your mother, shut the hell up!”

Only when they finally found a removable ventilation duct grate did they feel relieved and crawl out tumbling.

…

With a beep, the ship’s bottom entrance opened wide for all of them.

As they entered, a synthesized female voice came from overhead.

“New Calendar Year 243, August 14th. Good afternoon, Commander.”

“You’re really… the commander… of this ship?”

The Patrol Army Captain repeated along with his words.

The mechanical puppet didn’t continue speaking but scooped Xie Jianxun out from behind, as if it felt reassured only by holding him.

“I’m twenty-eight this year. During the Insect Clan invasion back then, I was only ten.”

Basero suddenly spoke up from the side. Xie Jianxun noticed that the pretty, intellectual lady hadn’t left either.

She stood behind Basero, arms crossed, eyes on the ground.

Basero gazed at One, as if recalling something.

“But I still remember—a ship full of Federation soldiers arrived at the old site of Golden City. They scouted the Insect Clan’s whereabouts and struck down scattered Insect Clan forces.

“Then the King Insect appeared, forcing us to relocate. Later, it was said that Golden City exploded, burying the King Insect deep inside.”

One nodded slightly. “More or less like that.”

Basero said, “You didn’t leave.”

One’s inorganic blue eyes flickered faintly. “My comrades are buried here, and the Insect Clan wasn’t fully eradicated. Where else could I go?”

At that moment, the Patrol Army Captain faced One directly and saluted it.

He said solemnly, “I was only three then and don’t remember, but the elders all say that your comrades—the mechanical puppet soldiers on the ship—made great contributions.”

…

He was the total commander of a ship, a mechanical puppet.

It had illustrious war achievements and a profound reputation.

The Federation promised that upon its return to the Federation capital star, it would exceptionally award it a Gold Star Medal, which only human generals had received in history.

There was no Bionic Person Rights Act back then, and people viewed bionic persons differently.

Life couldn’t do without these intelligent puppets, but fear lingered.

Issuing a Gold Star Medal was already the highest form of commendation.

But it didn’t go back.

It had been buried for years on an obscure border planet half-detached from the Federation, until the yellow sands and winds unearthed it.

…

One walked at the front, with the others following behind.

Xie Jianxun recalled the pitch-black uniform One had worn at the very beginning and suddenly realized—that was a Federation officer’s uniform.

But now…

He paused half a step and sized up what One was currently wearing.

A simple short-sleeved shirt and long pants, cheap goods that Xie Jianxun had casually bought from a street stall and given it earlier.

Xie Jianxun: “…”

Back then, he thought One looked good in anything, so in a moment of impulse, he bought a few and stuffed them to it. Afterward, One had kept wearing them.

“What are you looking at?”

Xie Jianxun answered subconsciously, “I feel like street stall goods don’t match a total commander… uh.”

Its finger was caught, and he instantly looked up to see the mechanical puppet say innocently, “Ever since the invasion war ended, I’ve been a societal drifter. Where would I still be a total commander?”

“I’d say the quality and taste of the clothes you picked are quite good.”

The two began discussing the quality of street stall clothes as if no one else was there. The people behind followed, somehow wanting to sigh silently.

Mechanical puppet… The Patrol Army Captain finally remembered that transparent energy slot.

He silently processed it for a while, trying not to let his gaze be too obvious as he scanned One’s body.

He hadn’t experienced that war and only knew what the elders said: mechanical puppets were a bit dumb, but loyal and reliable. They executed orders to the very end and were friendly to humans.

A bit dumb…?

Just looking at this mechanical puppet’s daily actions made it nearly indistinguishable from a human.

Could this even be called dumb? Then how smart would the smart ones be?

Its posture was upright, steps neither hurried nor slow. No one knew what this young captain was thinking.

The group walked along the ship’s bottom, seeing no ascending passage.

A moment later, with a slight whoosh of airflow, a side door slowly split open, lowering a dark blue elevator platform that could hold five or six people.

What met their eyes was a full wall of glowing round buttons, neatly arranged from top to bottom, sequentially numbered for different locations.

Xie Jianxun stepped in and was awestruck. “…Whoa!”

He widened his eyes.

One said, “Pick any one?”

Xie Jianxun touched the smooth buttons, which emitted a faint glow. Clearly, the ship still had energy supporting its basic operations—probably stellar energy, he guessed. “Any one works?”

One replied, “Of course, whichever you like.”

The Patrol Army Captain struggled onto the elevator. “Picking any one will take us to the sand bandits?”

One said, “No, picking any one, and I’ll give you a tour.”

It smiled at Xie Jianxun.

Little repairman Xie was tempted but still had some reason, remembering the main task. “Won’t those sand bandits damage the ship?”

“Most of the hull is embedded with self-repairing materials, so no need to worry.” One said lightly and confidently.

Xie Jianxun asked excitedly, “What materials? What are their properties?”

Seeing them about to dive into an enthusiastic discussion.

The Patrol Army Captain: “…Hey… let’s deal with the sand bandits first…”