"Huh? What did you say?" Hewitt's eyes widened, as if he couldn't believe his ears. "You're saying... you're leaving?"

The day after returning to the base from the mission, Sergeant Hewitt received this news.

He had just gotten a strong new member in his squad and was hoping his team could learn from him to improve their overall skills. But he never expected that Yun Yi would be leaving so soon after returning.

"Yes, Sergeant," Yun Yi replied, equally surprised by the order. "Lord Zhao has sent someone to notify me. I’m to report to the 211th Squadron. It seems there’s some battle coming up."

"I see..." Hewitt immediately understood. Someone like Yun Yi, who was a secret weapon for the base, wouldn’t stay in one place for long. To help him grow quickly, he needed to participate in countless battles and become a pillar of the base. "Well, good luck on your journey!"

Yun Yi was taken aback. "You’re addressing me as 'you' now?"

Hewitt laughed. "Of course. With your exceptional abilities, you’ll likely earn a lot of merit in a short time. Next time we meet, I might have to call you 'Lord Yun.'"

Yun Yi fell silent for a moment, his expression turning serious. "Sergeant Hewitt, although we’ve only fought together once and it’s only been a few days, I’ve learned a lot from you during this time. Thank you for your guidance, Sergeant. I won’t forget you."

"Hey, don’t mention it," Hewitt said, somewhat embarrassed. "Well... if you ever run into any problems, feel free to ask me. While I can’t offer much guidance in combat, when it comes to mecha tactics and squad coordination, I’ve been in this for years. I’m not just here for show."

"By the way, could you come and teach our squad some combat skills when you have time?" Hewitt asked, his eyes filled with hope. He knew Yun Yi’s future would be busy, but he couldn’t help but make the request.

"Understood!" Yun Yi saluted without hesitation. "Don’t worry, Sergeant Hewitt. If I have time, I’ll definitely come back to visit everyone."

As Yun Yi walked away, Hewitt clenched his fist and muttered to himself, "Yun Yi, keep it up. Maybe in the near future, the entire empire will rise to glory under your leadership. Of course, I’ll work harder too! I hope I can be of help to you someday."

Three days after joining the 211th Squadron, Yun Yi received his first mission.

In this battle, Yun Yi experienced his first space combat. Despite it being his first time, he achieved impressive results: 17 mecha and 3 warships destroyed.

Next, he participated in a counter-encirclement operation with the Second Fleet. This was Yun Yi’s first large-scale battle. During the mid-phase of the battle, Yun Yi led ten mecha squadrons in a fierce assault into the heart of the government forces’ fleet formation. In a single charge, they shattered the enemy’s formation. Following the Restoration Army commander’s orders, the entire fleet launched a full-scale attack, completely annihilating the government fleet.

In this battle, Yun Yi single-handedly destroyed 11 warships and 42 mecha, far surpassing the second-place achiever.

After this battle, Yun Yi’s name became renowned throughout the Restoration Army. After every battle, countless soldiers would collect his combat footage. His childhood stories were also dug up, with diligence, hard work, and perseverance becoming his trademarks. Everyone was deeply inspired by Yun Yi’s deeds, sparking a new wave of training enthusiasm across the base.

As for the year he had disappeared, the base’s higher-ups claimed he had gone abroad to study mecha combat techniques.

Over the next six months, Yun Yi participated in almost one battle every week.

With such a high frequency of combat, his practical skills improved dramatically. He applied the combat techniques he had learned in real battles, refining and modifying them to better suit his style.

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It was clear that Yun Yi’s progress was remarkable. And he himself enjoyed it immensely. It seemed that if he didn’t fight for a day, he would feel restless and uncomfortable.

During his rest periods, Yun Yi would sometimes study mecha-related knowledge or practice his martial arts. But most of his time was spent teaching the base’s mecha warriors. Under his guidance, most of the combat techniques—except those requiring level six or above in martial arts—were taught to the Restoration Army soldiers.

These soldiers, like him, had only learned basic martial arts and had never had the opportunity to learn combat techniques.

As a result, Yun Yi’s reputation in the base grew even louder. The soldiers who received his teachings, while training hard, never forgot his kindness. Before long, everyone began to respectfully call him "Teacher Yun Yi" and treated him with the courtesy of a master.

Life seemed fulfilling...

However, in places Yun Yi didn’t notice, undercurrents were still at play...

"Have you found out where this Yun Yi came from?"

As the first president of the Iserlohn Democratic Republic, known as the Iron-Fisted Dictator, Mr. Zagu, who held both political and military power, was currently filled with anger. He couldn’t understand how the remnants of the empire, whom he had treated like soft persimmons to be crushed at will, had suddenly produced such a formidable mecha warrior. What he hadn’t anticipated was that this Yun Yi could boost their morale and win several battles in a row. Even his private Seventh Fleet had been crippled in a battle half a year ago. With the Seventh Fleet’s deterrence weakened, those restless elements had started to stir again. Not long ago, they had even caught a family colluding with foreign powers.

And all of this was due to the unexpected rise of that Yun Yi.

Now, the soldiers under his command feared encountering the Red Mane Charger III mecha on the battlefield. Even if the pilot wasn’t Yun Yi, they would be too scared to fight at full strength.

What was worse, at some point, the mecha warriors of the empire’s remnants had all learned one or two combat techniques. When had combat techniques become so commonplace?

"Mr. President... we’re still investigating..."

The director of the Central Intelligence Agency wiped the cold sweat from his face and stammered.

"Investigating? I remember ordering you to start investigating after the Seventh Fleet’s defeat in battle." Zagu suddenly turned around, his cold eyes like sharp blades staring at the intelligence director. "It’s been half a year. What have you found?"

Just as the intelligence director was about to speak, Zagu interrupted him sharply, "Don’t tell me that Yun Yi learned martial arts and mecha combat abroad. Those stories circulating within the Restoration Army are obviously lies. Abroad? Tell me, which country was willing to engage with the empire’s remnants half a year ago? Hmph. In less than half a year, five or six countries have already started contacting them."

That’s how politics worked. When there was no benefit or the benefit was extremely slim, no one was willing to help the Restoration Army for the sake of an illusory goal. But once they saw a glimmer of hope, politicians swarmed like mosquitoes to blood, sending all sorts of cheap supplies to the Restoration Army.

"I’m useless, I’m useless. I’ll definitely discipline my subordinates. I promise we’ll get accurate information soon." The intelligence director, seeing Zagu’s anger, didn’t dare to wipe his sweat and hurriedly made promises.

"Hmph..." Zagu didn’t even look at him, his cold voice ringing out, "If it weren’t for the lack of capable people to fill your position, I’d have sent you to the battlefield long ago. Fine, you can leave now."

The intelligence director immediately breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly left.

Seeing the meeting room door close, Zagu looked at the remaining few people. These were his trusted aides, controlling most of the political, military, and other aspects of the country. They were his core team.

"Mr. President, Shadow Fox has sent a report, seemingly about that Yun Yi," one person respectfully stood up and handed over a tightly sealed intelligence report.

"Oh?" Zagu took the report but didn’t look at it immediately. Instead, he said, "Shadow Fox is our last link within the empire’s remnants. We can’t risk losing it for just any piece of information."

The person immediately replied, "Mr. President, rest assured. This time, we used a top-secret intelligence channel, with only our own people involved. No external forces or individuals interfered. It’s completely secure."

"Hmm..." Zagu nodded, then opened the letter.

After a moment, Zagu finished reading the letter and, after some thought, slowly said, "So that’s how it is..."

Then, he returned to his cold demeanor and issued an uncompromising order, "Immediately send people to arrest all members of the Muhesin family and bring them to the capital planet. I’ll personally interrogate them. Also, investigate those who ambushed the Restoration Army’s 302nd Squadron half a year ago. Find as many as you can and bring them all to me."

After a brief pause, Zagu continued, "One more thing. Tell our people to move faster. Give them a month. They must gain control of those fleets. We don’t have much time left. Tell them that if things don’t go smoothly, I don’t mind them using some... unconventional methods."

"Yes!"

After everyone left, Zagu’s gaze fell on the secret letter, a cold smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.