Sadly, Shalun Baiwan, the top expert aboard the Steel Crown Prince, truly didn't know this was a life pod.
She was born into a very traditional Kaitai martial noble family, and after displaying extraordinary combat talent and spiritual energy sensitivity from a young age, she sought out famous masters to learn from and diligently cultivated, living her life this way until today.
Although she held the rank of Kaitai Navy Colonel, she had never truly received modern military education, nor had she ever truly understood the status of her flagship.
Her position was Prince Charlen Lionmane's bodyguard, but the one actually performing this job was Colonel Chijia, whose head had already been severed by Yu Lian's laser; she herself, in fact, played the role of the Steel Crown Prince's Assault Team leader.
Servants attended to her daily life, and her only responsibility was always combat, simply combat.
She only needed to know where the enemy was and who the enemy was, and that was enough.
Shalun Baiwan, at least in the first 30 years of her life, believed this to be true.
This fierce female general, who might have gone down in history for her martial prowess if she had been born in the cold weapon era, felt the sense of void as the entire space she was in detached from the ship's hull.
She once again lost her center of gravity and support, feeling as if she had completely lost her weight.
This wasn't difficult to understand.
Because the life pod had completely detached from the ship, it naturally lost the simulated gravity.
However, Shalun Baiwan, whose mind was still stuck in the classical era, felt a bit lost in that instant, then turned to panic, even forgetting to attack.
She completely failed to notice that Yu Lian and she were in a confined space, only a few meters apart, and if she had attacked at that moment, the other party wouldn't have had any power to retaliate.
However, Yu Lian was not prepared to let the other party go; he opened the miniature beehive missile bay on his shoulder, revealing the dangerous red warheads of the remaining eight missiles.
"This, this guy wants to die with me?" Shalun Baiwan was slightly stunned, then became even more terrified.
She was brave, but she wasn't prepared to die here like this.
However, precisely because of this fear, she reacted quickly, regaining control of her body, and hastily crossed her twin swords, parrying and blocking, which was the fourth form, or "Defensive Form," of the Empire Assault Team's swordsmanship.
Who said assault swordsmanship couldn't be defensive?
Spiritual energy, through the rhythm of her swords, formed a halo-like protective membrane around the female Kaitai, completely isolating her from the explosion's shockwave.
What she didn't see was that as she expanded her protective membrane, Yu Lian decisively kicked open the flimsy bulkhead of the life pod.
The air inside the cabin turned into a violent current rushing towards the opening, and only then did Yu Lian release all the missiles, using the airflow and the missiles' thrust to leap into the cold universe.
The imploding missile shockwave blew the life pod into four or five pieces, and also slammed into Baiwan, who was close by.
Although the Kaitai female warrior had her defenses up, she was still shaken to the point of almost fainting on the spot.
Her mind was dizzy, and she could no longer hear the computer alerts about where parts were damaged or where machine performance was compromised.
She was pushed out by the explosive gale, her body, enveloped in the Emblem Machine, completely lost its Balance, and she crashed headfirst towards the colossal object behind her.
That was precisely the Steel Crown Prince Dreadnought.
It should be known that from the moment Yu Lian dragged Baiwan into the life pod until the final missile implosion, only a few seconds had passed, so they hadn't drifted far.
Yu Lian, already floating in space, extended a hand and performed a spiritual energy telekinesis, hooking onto a protrusion on the nearby ship's hull, pulling himself back.
He lightly landed on the Dreadnought's hull, and just as he steadied himself, he saw Baiwan flying back like a kite with a broken string, tumbling endlessly.
"How miserable!" Yu Lian exclaimed, then performed another spiritual energy telekinesis, pulling the other party with a violent tug, slamming her entire body onto the warship's armor not far from him.
Although he knew there was no sound in space, Yu Lian couldn't help but add a "Duang" sound effect for the other party, then couldn't help but suck in a cold breath, wincing.
He empathized, feeling a bit of back pain himself.
Yu Lian didn't immediately advance, but stood dozens of meters away, waiting for a full ten seconds before raising his blaster and grenade launcher for another barrage of indiscriminate fire.
He fired for a full half-minute, until all the shells were expended, until he was sure he saw several beams penetrate the other party's Emblem Machine armor, and a simple yet cold glow began to faintly emerge from her body, only then did he cease fire.
Yu Lian, with a sorrowful expression, made a gesture of remembrance on the spot towards her, then walked over.
Shalun Baiwan was certainly dead, killed by a rookie from the first ring.
Several bullet holes had appeared on her Emblem Machine, and the liquid flowing out, whether oil or blood, instantly froze.
A simple light flowed from the other party's body, began to condense, then slowly floated into mid-air, finally forming a rust-red gem the size of a baby's fist.
It was deep, yet carried a hint of vicissitude and grimness!
"A Gem of Courage? The quality is much better than the Gem of Perception Ina got.
That's good, if I had gotten this thing a month earlier, wouldn't I have already embarked on the path of a Star Ring Sword Master, piercing through nine heavens with one sword?
Would I still need to entangle with this white-haired extra cultivator?" Yu Lian truly didn't know if he was lucky or unlucky.
In any case, the Star Ring had opened a bit more, and he should prepare for the second ring's evolution.
This thing was always useful.
Yu Lian looked at Baiwan's corpse under the Emblem Machine, always feeling that if he patted her again, he might still find many good things.
After all, Shalun Baiwan was also from a prestigious family, who knows, she might have carried some spiritual energy treasures.
However, he thought about it again and decided to abide by the "spiritual energy user Watch Convention" and stop while he was ahead.
As soon as Yu Lian lifted Baiwan's corpse, he received a signal from Colonel Chaimen.
"Warrant Officer! Warrant Officer Yu Lian! Are you alright? Respond if you hear me!"
"Ah... I'm fine."
"That, that's great! The universe spirit blesses us!" Colonel Chaimen let out a long sigh of relief, then said, "Tell Baiwan, we have already won here!
Blackfin has been killed by me, and Crimson Mane, under the pincer attack of Major Nani and me, couldn't hold on and declared surrender!
If she doesn't want to be surrounded by the three of us, she'd best surrender now!"
"This..."
"What, she still wants to fight? That little girl is quite fierce!
You wait, hold on a little longer, we'll be there to support you immediately, where are you now?"
"Dead."
"Huh?"
"Shalun Baiwan is dead.
We won."
"..."
"I'm coming back now."
Twenty minutes later, when the perfectly intact Yu Lian returned carrying a Radiant Knight Armor, the bridge, whether Earthlings or Kaitai, was utterly silent.
They felt as if they were in a surreal, absurd symphony, unable to react at all.
"She was a brave warrior, and I've thought about it, I should still return her remains to you.
Please give her the respect and funeral she deserves!" Yu Lian said.
He took a few steps forward, and the crowd quickly made way for him, allowing him to place the female warrior's body in the center of the bridge.
Colonel Chaimen and Major Nani exchanged glances, speechless.
They had just thought Yu Lian was dreaming, or even that the child might have been knocked out by Baiwan and was talking nonsense, and they were thinking of going to support him.
But now, when they actually saw the scarred Radiant Knight Armor, they began to feel that they were the ones dreaming.
Prince Charlen Lionmane also felt like he was dreaming, of course.
He felt that when he arrived in this star system, it was as if he was in a nightmare from which he could not awaken.
He dug his claws into his muscles, tearing his flesh, and blood had seeped through the bandages.
His face was stiff, and his eyes had almost lost their consciousness.
Is this a nightmare? he asked himself.
Yes, this must be a nightmare! Otherwise, why don't I feel pain?
The Commonwealth assault team members began to cheer, while the Kaitai people seemed to have lost their souls, many even crying aloud.
Wait, why are you crying?
Yes, this must be a nightmare! Otherwise, how could the brave and Dreadnought Kaitai warriors cry!
"Slap!" He finally felt pain, but it was on his face.
It was Blackfin; this scrawny strategist had actually slapped him.
Prince Charlen Lionmane's perception slowly emerged from the numb vortex, and in the next instant, a sudden surge of emotion seemed to condense into an erupting volcano, and in the surging lava, all that churned was sorrow and despair, overwhelming him.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but felt a blood clot stuck in his throat, unable to utter a single word.
"Your Highness, Your Highness! The duel of honor is over, we have lost!" Lieutenant General Blackfin shouted, "Please accept this reality frankly.
So many of us have witnessed all of this, and we must display the Kaitai people's proper spirit and belief!"
"You should tell the truth now." Yu Lian reminded him.
"Yes, we will..." Lieutenant General Blackfin lowered his eyelids and murmured.
Lieutenant Colonel McMillan gestured, and several soldiers activated the recording function on their power armor, preparing to film.
"However, can you grant me a small request?
Young man, you just said you were a Warrant Officer?
An Earth military academy student?"
"I am Yu Lian, a fourth-year student at the Blue Star Commonwealth Central Defense University, graduating this summer." Yu Lian said.
"Yu Lian, I will remember that name.
I believe that from today onwards, all Kaitai people will remember this name." His voice seemed to carry a hint of admiration and appreciation, yet also a subtle threat.
Yu Lian shrugged internally, thinking, I made the entire universe remember me in my previous life.
"So, can you tell me, Warrant Officer?
Why did you fire at me when you rushed in?
You wanted to kill me, didn't you?"
Tsk, although not a spiritual energy user, such insight is truly admirable!
Yu Lian praised him in his heart, but on his lips, he pretended, "Perhaps it's because I thought you were the most handsome person on this bridge, clearly no ordinary individual, and would surely become a major threat to the Commonwealth in the future, so I could only eliminate you first."
To be fair, Yu Lian was speaking the truth.
Osen Blackfin was a Terrabi hybrid, and compared to pure-blooded Kaitai, he resembled a "person" more, closer to human aesthetics.
The other party was stunned, frozen for several seconds, then suddenly burst out laughing: "Ah ha ha ha ha!
That's great, I've lived this long, and it's the first time anyone has called me handsome!
Ah ha ha ha ha!"
Lieutenant General Blackfin laughed heartily, seemingly to the point of tears, and while laughing, he looked at the stunned Charlen Lionmane with complex eyes.
Then, he suddenly stopped laughing and shouted, "Earthlings, do you want the truth?
Then I'll tell you the truth!
I am the mastermind behind this operation!
Prince Charlen was never aware!
He always thought this was an inspection of the United Fleet's exercise.
The subsequent plan to ambush the Outer Rim fleet and capture Gibraltar was entirely our own initiative as junior officers!
Ah ha ha ha, haven't we Kaitai always been like this?
Isn't it perfectly reasonable for young military leaders to overstep their superiors and act on their own accord?"
As soon as these words were uttered, even Yu Lian was stunned on the spot, not to mention everyone else.
"I will give you an explanation! Give all of you an explanation!" Lieutenant General Blackfin's eyes were bloodshot, looking like a madman.
He roared like a wounded lion, as if using his last ounce of strength: "This is just a failure!
All Kaitai warriors, remember today's failure!
Sooner or later, we will reclaim our sacred homeland!"
He turned around, suddenly pulled out a pistol and pressed it against his forehead, facing his dumbfounded liege, and laughed heartily, then, in the other party's bewildered gaze, pulled the trigger.
Charlen Lionmane's vision, in that instant, turned red.