Yun Yi leaned against the wall, feeling somewhat frustrated, ignoring the Restoration Army mecha warriors who were pointing and whispering about him. Though they were about ten meters away, they probably thought their conversation wouldn't be overheard. However, Yun Yi, who had just reached level eight in martial arts and had his body enhanced by his family heirloom necklace, could hear every word clearly.

"Hey, Yves, what do you think that kid's background is?"

"How should I know? He’s so young but already has the rank of major, yet he’s here acting like a regular soldier. I think he’s got a screw loose," a bearded sergeant said, glancing at Yun Yi with a sneer. Seeing no reaction, he spat on the ground.

"I don’t know if he’s got a screw loose, but I know I’m suffering more than any of you," said a middle-aged sergeant major, his face full of frustration. "Why did this guy have to end up under my command? Me, a sergeant major, leading a squad of seven or eight soldiers is one thing, but having a major among them? It’s ridiculous."

He continued, his voice tinged with resentment, "How did he even get promoted to major at such a young age? He’s barely out of diapers. And our captain, Captain Chen Kuang, is only a major himself. How am I supposed to manage someone with the same rank as the captain? It’s madness..."

"Hey, Hewitt, stop complaining. I think this kid is probably the offspring of some high-ranking Restoration Army official, here to get some experience. He won’t stick around for long. But during combat, you’d better be careful. Don’t let this kid get killed, or we’ll all be in deep trouble."

Listening to their conversation, Yun Yi felt a headache coming on.

After breaking through to level eight, Yun Yi had immediately informed Zhao Xuanxin, who had taken a keen interest in him. Delighted, Zhao Xuanxin had promptly notified the relevant departments to promote Yun Yi to the rank of major.

However, Zhao Xuanxin believed that although Yun Yi had reached level eight, he had almost no combat experience with the Restoration Army and needed to be sent out for training.

At the time, Yun Yi had agreed with this assessment. However, he hadn’t expected that, despite returning to his roots as a mecha infantryman, Zhao Xuanxin would assign him, a major, to serve under a sergeant major, effectively making him a common soldier.

Well, a common soldier it is. After all, these people are his comrades. He’d just have to prove himself on the battlefield. Glancing at the soldiers who kept turning to look at him, Yun Yi smiled at them and walked away, leaving them staring at his retreating figure in confusion.

The ship slowly left the base, accompanied by several other warships. It seemed this mission was just a small-scale operation.

"Ding dong..."

"Come in!" Hearing the doorbell, Yun Yi was puzzled. He didn’t know many people on this ship. Who could it be? Nonetheless, he shut down his computer, ending his study session.

When he left the base, he had bought himself a personal computer and started gathering information on mecha. Fortunately, with Zhao Xuanxin’s help, he had obtained a wealth of classified mecha data that was inaccessible to the average person.

The door opened, revealing a somewhat elderly-looking middle-aged man. From his rank insignia, Yun Yi immediately recognized him as Captain Chen Kuang of the ship.

Yun Yi saluted and asked, "Captain Chen, what brings you here?"

"Ha ha," Chen Kuang laughed, casually taking off his military cap and hanging it on the wall, as if he were at home. "I came to see the young hero that Lord Zhao recommended."

Yun Yi scratched his head sheepishly. "What young hero... I’m just an ordinary soldier."

Chen Kuang examined the young man before him, his steady demeanor earning his approval. "Don’t play dumb with me. Although everything about you is classified, Lord Zhao personally told me about you before this mission. Congratulations on reaching level eight in martial arts. I’m envious of your talent..."

"It’s nothing. I’m just more diligent than others..."

Chen Kuang nodded. "True, martial arts training requires perseverance. Sigh, I’ve got too much on my plate here and can’t focus on my training. I’ve only just broken through to level five."

"Oh, by the way," Chen Kuang continued before Yun Yi could respond, "I came here for two reasons. First, I wanted to see what you look like. Now that I’ve seen you, I’m satisfied. Second, I’m here to brief you on our mission."

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Yun Yi’s interest was immediately piqued. "Are we going to ambush an enemy fleet?"

"A fleet?" Chen Kuang chuckled. "With just these seven or eight ships of ours? That wouldn’t be an ambush—it’d be suicide."

Yun Yi blushed. Although he had made some progress in mecha and martial arts, he was still a novice in strategy and tactics. "So what’s our mission?"

"Well, our main objective is to disrupt the enemy’s supply lines," Chen Kuang said, activating a holographic star map on the wall and linking it to his wrist computer.

"See here," he pointed, "according to intelligence from our operatives within the government forces, a convoy carrying a large amount of energy blocks will pass through this area in three days. Our job is to eliminate their escort ships and capture the transport vessels."

"Wow, pirates!" Yun Yi exclaimed in excitement. In every boy’s dream, the image of a space pirate with a hooked nose, an eye patch, a cane, and a parrot on his shoulder was a source of fascination. The idea of roaming freely and bravely through space, robbing the rich to help the poor, punishing corrupt officials, and upholding justice—these legends were the stuff of youthful dreams.

Chen Kuang looked at Yun Yi’s expression with suspicion and shook his head. "This isn’t piracy. It’s a common tactic in war—disrupting the enemy’s supply lines to strike them from the side. Although, some hostile nations, unable to openly sabotage each other’s supply lines due to public opinion, disguise parts of their military as pirates. So, in a way, you could say we’re pirates... but it’s not quite the same."

Chen Kuang gave a self-deprecating laugh. As a former noble of the empire, he had once harbored a deep hatred for pirates. But after all these years, being called a pirate by this young man didn’t anger him as he might have expected.

The glory of the empire was long gone... and what he was doing now wasn’t much different from piracy. The only difference was that pirates lived for themselves, while he, Chen Kuang, had dedicated everything to the Restoration Army’s cause.

After Chen Kuang left, Yun Yi was still buzzing with excitement. The idea of posing as pirates and taking down government forces was thrilling. He immediately stopped studying mecha and focused on analyzing the star maps Chen Kuang had provided.

"Hey, kid, are you ready? We’re about to move out."

The voice of his squad leader, Hewitt, came through the mecha’s communication system, tinged with concern. Yun Yi smiled. What could go wrong with such a simple preparation? Still, he replied, "All set, thanks for the concern, Sergeant."

"Good. Double-check everything when you have a moment. I estimate we’ll be launching in about ten minutes." After ending the call with Yun Yi, Hewitt sighed heavily. He had originally planned to keep Yun Yi off the battlefield during combat. But the orders from the captain were clear: Yun Yi had to be included in every mission.

This left Hewitt feeling deeply frustrated.

Meanwhile, Yun Yi watched the battle between the ships with great interest through his mecha’s computer.

For the past three days, he had been fantasizing about how to raid these ships, even though it wasn’t his responsibility. Two days ago, the Restoration Army fleet had arrived at the designated location, hiding in a nearby asteroid belt. This area was far from any wormholes and relatively remote, so the route had always been quiet. Neither pirates nor the Restoration Army often appeared here, and the government fleet had grown complacent, failing to conduct necessary scans of the asteroid belt, as it would slow down their overall speed.

This gave the Restoration Army the perfect opportunity. As soon as the enemy entered firing range, accurate artillery fire erupted from the asteroid belt. In just one volley, nearly half of the eight escort ships were destroyed—three were obliterated instantly, two were severely damaged, and only three sustained minor injuries.

After the initial salvo, the Restoration Army fleet began recharging their main cannons while emerging from the asteroid belt, firing their secondary cannons and catching the government fleet off guard.

In less than ten minutes, the government ships were all destroyed without even deploying their mecha, while the Restoration Army suffered only minor damage. Soon, the fifty transport ships were surrounded by the Restoration Army.

Such a beautifully executed operation filled Yun Yi with admiration for Chen Kuang’s command skills.

After the battle, the Restoration Army attempted to persuade the transport ships to surrender. However, only five agreed, shutting down their engines and awaiting further instructions.

This usually indicated that there was still an official on one of the ships who could control the self-destruct mechanism. Although the cargo on these ships belonged to the government forces, the crew members were from foreign transport or security companies. Whether they self-destructed or not, as long as they surrendered, the Restoration Army wouldn’t harm them. People could surrender, but the cargo couldn’t be left for the enemy.

At this point, mecha warriors had to be dispatched to seize control of the transport ships before they could self-destruct.

"Alright, boys, it’s our turn," Hewitt’s excited voice came through the communication system. Yun Yi immediately started his engine. After being launched from the ship, Yun Yi knew that although he had studied mecha combat, this was his first real space battle. Instead of rushing ahead to show off, he stayed close behind Hewitt, the experienced veteran.

Hewitt glanced at the positions of the mecha on his screen and nodded in satisfaction. Before the launch, he had been worried that Yun Yi would rush ahead to steal the spotlight, which would have completely disrupted the squad’s formation.

Under Hewitt’s leadership, Yun Yi’s squad quickly approached a massive transport ship.

Compared to warships, transport ships were inferior in speed, armor, and firepower, but they were much larger in size—a single transport ship could be bigger than four warships combined.

After carefully scanning the transport ship, Yun Yi soon found what appeared to be an access point to an internal corridor. Wielding his alloy longsword, he began cutting through the hull.

Seeing Yun Yi locate the spot so quickly, Hewitt nodded in approval. With his experience, he could have found the right spot immediately, but it was surprising that a rookie like Yun Yi could do it too.

In less than five minutes, Yun Yi had cut a hole large enough for a mecha to enter. Inside, he found one of the ship’s main corridors. With no enemies in sight, Yun Yi activated his mecha and headed for the ship’s command center.

Typically, a transport ship would have a crew of 20 to 50 people, living near the command center, which was also where the escape pods were located.