Yu Lian knew that this big, chubby man, who appeared simple and reserved on the outside, was actually a proud person deep down, at least when it came to his specialties and hobbies.
The friends he valued must also be experts of the same caliber.
Calculating this, Tamir and Bai Ziya, mentioned by Aisen Franchi, were most likely the future artillery designer Tamir Dunbar and the insane master of improvised weapons, Bai Ziya.
By the way, the latter was also a member of the Bai family from New Divine Province, a true scion of a prominent family.
And by the way, he should also be a spiritual energy user, and a very rare type at that—a generalist spiritual energy user, either “Wisdom” or “Prosperity.”
So, this was truly a buy-one-get-two-free deal!
If either of them joined, not only would he have a Chief Engineer, but even a Chief Armaments Officer.
After bidding farewell to Aisen, Yu Lian, having tasted the sweetness of success, didn't even return to the academy this time, rushing non-stop towards the vast and mysterious continent of Africa.
He had decided that he must fill all important positions with SRs!
Thus, during the two-hour journey, he prepared two identical letters, sending them separately to Tangfeng Flight Academy in New Chang'an and Dandolo Ship Academy in New Rome.
In the letters, he left his contact information, sincerely stating his intentions, and hoped the schools would help him contact two recent graduates, giving them the attached private appendix.
And in the private message, Yu Lian used a lot of enthusiastic and inflammatory words, which would surely pump up young people in their early twenties who hadn't fully graduated from their chuunibyou phase.
The two SR crew members he wanted were Li Baolu, the future ace pilot of Earth, the famous “Eagle of Advance,” who could lead the ship's flight formation.
The latter was named Jean Cook, an elite captain in later generations on par with Anne, who could serve as a second helmsman or a Navigator.
In any case, on a ship, having good pilots was always a good thing.
Additionally, he made a call to the busy girls, explaining the situation: “So, the new Chief Engineer will be in place soon, and it looks like he can bring two more technical experts.
Tell Daina not to mind.”
“She won’t mind at all; she’s been wanting to push the Chief Engineer job onto someone else for ages!” Zhi Xia said with a laugh.
“Then, let Daina and Lilia start familiarizing themselves with the ship type with the officially joined crew members, and they can start training on the simulator.
As for armaments, we’ll start organizing that after Aisen and his companions arrive.
We still have half a year, so there’s enough time!”
“Yu Lian, only five months left…” Liu Li said helplessly.
“Yes, and we still need simulator training, and at least three actual shipboard trainings.
Our time is quite tight,” Zhi Xia said.
“So, you need to find enough people quickly.”
“Captain, Navigator, Communications Officer, Gunnery Officer, Armaments Officer… hmm, it seems almost complete.”
“You’re still missing a Commando Leader!” Zhi Xia exclaimed.
“Yes, that’s quite important…” Liu Li also nodded in agreement.
Yu Lian looked up at the sky, wanting to twitch his face to express his disdain, but ultimately gave up.
“Ah, Yu Lian, you’re not going to do it yourself, are you? You’re already serving as the Navigator!” Zhi Xia quickly reminded him.
“Although we shouldn't be involved in warp jumps across star systems, spatial recognition is still necessary.”
“Don’t worry, I’m almost in Africa.
I was already planning to recruit people from Tiannan Armored Corps Academy.”
Liu Li paused slightly, then said, “Hmm? Oh… then Yu Lian needs to hurry.
I heard that Mr. Wien and his group also departed yesterday, and their destination is also Tiannan Armored Corps Academy.”
Sitting on the light wheel 2000, Yu Lian sighed, looking at the vast and mysterious continent of Africa, thinking that life truly held surprises everywhere, and indeed, once there was a connection, people would meet again no matter where they were.
Of course, for the Lionheart Society members, it might feel like a haunting presence.
…In fact, in this historical timeline, Africa still retained its vast and mysterious appearance from the previous life, but it was actually quite well-developed.
The main modern urban areas were concentrated along the Mediterranean coast in the north, the Ivory Coast in the west, and near the Cape of Good Hope in the south.
However, the vast expanses of wilderness and jungle in the middle of the continent were largely preserved in their natural state.
During the Empire's colonial era, some great aristocratic estates, based on their interests, even built super-large ecological preservation chains, and also introduced some other herds from alien planets, making this lively continent even more boisterous.
You guessed it right, that great aristocrat was none other than the ever-Present, all-purpose tool, Count Salwen.
With so many almost uncultivated virgin (meow) lands, and deserts, basins, canyons, and jungles all Present, it was naturally a perfect training ground for the Marine Corps.
The most famous Tiannan Armored Corps Academy on Earth was naturally located on this continent, right in the center of the Congo Basin.
There was also a small city called “Tiannan City” here, with only about 100,000 people, making it the only inland African city in this historical timeline.
Furthermore, it wasn't that the Armored Corps Academy was located in this small city, but rather the opposite.
Although it was called Tiannan “Armored Corps” Academy, it certainly didn't just train tank operators.
In fact, it was a comprehensive military institution encompassing a series of disciplines such as gunnery, logistics management, land combat command, electronic communications, military engineering, and more.
It was also the largest military academy in the entire Commonwealth.
Of course, since it wasn't built in space, most subjects were indeed focused on land combat, and the only one related to space combat was probably boarding combat courses.
Called an academy, it actually included the university department, the “Elite Bureaucrat Group,” which produced officers, the specialized college, the “Professional Group,” which produced only non-commissioned officers, and the vocational technical school, the “Non-Professional Group,” which produced only excavator operators or ordinary soldiers.
Counting this way, students and teachers combined totaled nearly 100,000 people.
To provide various services for these 100,000 people, business opportunities naturally arose, leading to immigration.
Tiannan Small City thus came into being.
…In short, this so-called Armored Corps Academy was certainly not short of muscle-bound war maniacs who were enthusiastic about operating various exoskeletons to hack people, and even less short of talents for boarding combat.
Yu Lian just thought for a moment and came up with several candidates.
Of course, as a transmigrator, he was also a deeply entrenched firepower and kiting enthusiast, but Yu Lian also had to admit that the overall situation of space battleships currently was indeed that shields were stronger than spears.
Before a revolutionary breakthrough in high-power main cannon technology—not X, but anyway—boarding combat still held significant tactical meaning.
Yu Lian pondered his tactics for dealing with Wien.
If he truly adopted a maniacal kiting strategy, it was indeed possible to wear down the opponent, but any operational error in doing so would trigger a severe chain reaction.
Additionally, one point had to be considered—this exercise was, after all, a performance match, and the audience wanted to watch an hour or so of ship dogfights, bombardments, and final charges and bites, but they weren't willing to watch a prolonged battle.
Even if Yu Lian and Wien didn't cooperate, the exercise organizers would definitely guide the situation in that direction, as they needed to keep the important figures in the stands entertained.
In summary, commando boarding and such were highly likely to occur.
Therefore, the position of Commando Leader had to be carefully chosen.
A lion leading sheep would surely defeat sheep leading a lion.
Tiannan Armored Corps Academy was not short of excellent candidates, but since he had come, he naturally had to choose the best one.
After Yu Lian reported his name and explained his purpose at the main gate, the automatic security robot directly granted him passage.
“You are the second group of guests from Central Defense University today,” the security robot said in a pre-recorded sweet female voice.
“Have a pleasant day.”
“Second group? How long ago did the first group arrive?” Yu Lian asked.
The gatekeeper and etiquette robot, shaped like a plump sphere, sat upright, looking like an “I know nothing, I’m just a robot” expression, its equally spherical eyes flickering: “Have a pleasant day! Oh, Tiannan Armored Corps Academy covers a vast area with complete facilities; just the restaurants alone number…”
Yu Lian gave the gatekeeper robot a deep look, turned and left, casually grabbing a free shared glider from the roadside.
Anyway, he had been to this “Armored Corps Academy,” which was almost as large as an entire city, in his previous life, so he knew where his destination was.
Yu Lian spent nearly ten minutes, finally following the campus road to a large square building marked CA4-7, which represented the training ground for the 4th year, 7th class of the Land Combat Command department.
He saw several hovercars already parked outside the building, inwardly cursed, and quickly ran inside.
Then, he saw the tall and robust Horatio Wien shaking hands with a man who was half a head taller than him.
Beside Wien were two familiar faces: Autumn Mountain Yawata and Deng Zhengqing.
As for the very tall man, his skin was a greyish-black, unlike that of Earthlings, resembling granite.
His face was as square as steel, and his features appeared somewhat coarser.
This man was named Meng Jiao; he had a very East Asian name, but he was a Vino Highlander, a type of alien subhuman, belonging to one of the Blue Star Commonwealth’s minority ethnic groups.
“Don’t worry, since you are Zhengqing’s friend, you are naturally my, Meng Jiao’s, friend.
For this exercise, I am willing to serve you like a dog or horse!” He shook Wien’s hand, his words carrying an ancient charm.
After a pause, he laughed again: “To be honest, I originally hoped to join the other side.
Their captain is a hero of the Xiwei Star System, and I really wanted to learn from him.
However, being his opponent seems to make it easier to learn from him!”
“No, no, no, if we become teammates, we can spar every day!” Yu Lian said loudly.
Everyone looked at Yu Lian, who had just entered the gate.
Autumn Mountain Yawata’s expression was a bit strange, Deng Zhengqing was surprised, and Horatio Wien, with visible speed, switched to a look of smugness and pride on his face.
“Hmph, you’re late!
Now, Meng Jiao is my man!”
“…Can you not put it so disgustingly?
Besides, you haven’t signed a contract,” Yu Lian said.
“Meng Jiao, I’ve heard of your great name for a long time, and I’m here to invite you too.
Come to us; the captain is amiable, and the crew is interesting.
And aren’t you a Han Hai Sword inheritor?
Perfect, we have many companions here who enjoy martial arts, so there will be plenty of opportunities for exchange and sparring.
Oh, by the way, there are also many kind and beautiful girls; everyone can at least add each other as friends.”
When it came to the previous “exchange and sparring” opportunities, Meng Jiao had no reaction, but as soon as beautiful girls were mentioned, he immediately showed a hint of interest, which made Wien beside him jump with alarm.
However, he was, after all, a traditional martial artist with strong principles.
After nearly half a minute of internal struggle, he still shook his head vigorously, with an expression like he had given up a hundred million.
“Uh, so, you must be Yu Lian, right?
I have long admired your great name and always held you in high esteem.
I am even more grateful for your regard… However, I have already promised Wien, and I also have Zhengqing’s recommendation, so I can only apologize for this.”
Meng Jiao solemnly bowed to Yu Lian in apology, and his demeanor instantly became out of place with this world again.