Snatching Personnel

Andrew played dumb for so long, and in the end, he still made his move, tsk. Linsuo Meilin shook his head in disdain. He's practically at death's door, but he has to drag a few people down with him before he goes?

Under Yude Meilin's management, the Federation had planted too many agents within the Empire over the past few decades. Xu Chengbi was their most carefully cultivated target—they'd poured immense manpower, resources, and effort into turning a general into a traitor.

Of course, Xu Chengbi's discovery was inevitable, but they hadn't expected Andrew to move this quickly and decisively this time.

At least they'd already gotten what they needed from Xu Chengbi...

Those poor bastards under Ulifes—all their glory will end at Andrew's hands. I wonder what Caesar would think if he saw the current state of things. There was genuine pity in Yude Meilin's tone. He then asked, "How is Qi Ke?"

Hmph, he failed again this time. His leg was ruined when he came out, and he had to get a mechanical prosthetic. Linsuo Meilin frowned slightly. He's always been useless. Why keep giving him chances?

A flicker of regret passed through Yude Meilin's eyes. At least he performed quite impressively in the league.

You said it yourself—the league is just a game for kids to play around in. Linsuo Meilin suddenly thought of something amusing. It's a good thing we didn't steal the spotlight this year. Let's see what kind of mess Jia Tu and his idiot son can stir up in the league...

This CEO of the Sky Network had put considerable effort into paving the royal road for his son's future in the Federation Military Department.

In previous years, his private overtures to the Federation had left Linsuo Meilin uncertain about his intentions. But the moment Jia Xianglan appeared this year, he instantly understood Jia Tu's plan.

He only found it laughable.

Yude Meilin had always been dissatisfied with the Sky Network's proactive expansion into the Empire's market back in the day—that act of submission. He wanted the Sky Network out of the Empire.

Now that Jia Tu was jumping out to court death, repeatedly crossing the Empire's bottom line, their Merlin Family only needed to sit back and reap the rewards in the end. Why not?

Have Qi Ke go do his work once the mechanical prosthetic is installed. Send him to Duanmeng; Duanmeng will take him in, for the sake of the Merlin name. Yude Meilin rubbed his temples. As for the Xu Chengbi matter, you just keep an eye on it. By the way, where's Chen Dao?

Linduo took him out to play. Linsuo Meilin replied. He's still the same as always—thinks about playing all day, no worries at all.

Good, good. Yude Meilin sighed and nodded. I'm tired. You may leave.

Linsuo Meilin bowed, then left, gently closing the door behind him.

—

At the Imperial Military, a staff member who had been wrestling with simulation room data passed out on the spot upon hearing his colleague's report: "Xu Lingqu cleared the most dangerous space driving route in 30 minutes!"

A medical robot forcibly revived him and brought him to the Imperial Starship Military Base, where he tremblingly made his way before Vice Admiral Victoria, the current commander of the Imperial starships.

Vice Admiral Victoria was thirty-two years old but looked very young. With her long purple hair and civilian clothes, walking down the street she gave the first impression of a stylish, trendy girl still in high school—not an Imperial vice admiral.

Her eyes sparkled with excitement as she looked at the staff member. "So? Can we watch the replay of those data runs now? Can you confirm those records are also Xu Lingqu's?"

The staff member shook his head and stammered in response: "No."

Vice Admiral Victoria's expression shifted to disappointment. It had already been five hours since the competition ended.

The video of the 30-minute clear had already become the most-viewed video on the Sky Network this year, and the office of the Starship Commander in the Starship Military Base had contributed quite a number of those views.

They had been studying nonstop how Xu Lingqu had pulled it off.

The first time they watched her clear it, everyone thought: isn't this just charging ahead with brute force? They all rushed into the simulation room to try it themselves—and died within three minutes. The longest anyone lasted was under ten minutes, and they were still much slower than Xu Lingqu.

Vice Admiral Victoria directly began dissecting every single move Xu Lingqu made.

"Look here. Her Wanderer executes a micro-adjustment, shifting 6 centimeters to the right, ensuring a perfect near-miss with that larger piece of debris. If you think that's just a coincidence, look at this next part." Victoria zoomed in on the footage. "On the same path, she chose to destroy the asteroid behind rather than the one in front because she was absolutely certain she could thread through the two asteroids ahead without taking any damage..."

At first glance, it looked like a simple blaze-through where anyone with a gun could do it. But upon closer examination, it was packed with an incredible amount of terrifying micro-manipulation.

In other words, in this 30-minute clear, there was absolutely no luck involved—everything was under Xu Lingqu's control.

"When I was studying this damn route before, I fell for those damn Merlins' nonsense and studied their routes. When I cleared it in three hours and fifty minutes, I was ecstatic."

The Meilin family's internal techniques were never shared with the outside world. To be able to study it to this level just from watching recordings, Victoria was already a true starship genius.

"Thinking about it now, it's strange—why was I so superstitious about them? But as for Xu Lingqu's route... she's a genius, but she must have died countless times. Yet she never once doubted herself." Victoria shook her head. What moved her most wasn't Xu Lingqu's extraordinary skill or stunning talent.

It was the courage and ferocity with which Xu Lingqu drove her starship straight into that asteroid field.

"She's really tough on herself, that little commander. So different from her adoptive father—of course, she's the real deal." Victoria chuckled lightly and looked at her adjutant. "Let's go snatch her up right now!"

The adjutant paused for a moment. "They're still in the middle of the league, though. No need to rush, right?"

"Still competing, huh? Then I'll wait until she's done." Victoria nodded, surprisingly patient. She'd been in a great mood lately.

Emperor Andrew had made swift, decisive moves against those disgusting old hands in the military, and every morning she woke up to new news, she'd clap and cheer: "Serves them right, serves them right."

"She also seems to be participating in the mech arena," the adjutant suddenly remarked.

Victoria's head snapped up warily. "Her mental power is B-rank, right? She can't be cooking up something new in the arena, can she? Those mech pilots think they're above everyone else—if she pulls something off, I won't be able to snatch her from them!"

"It's B-rank..." The adjutant scratched his head. "Probably not..."

After all, mental power was that important to mech piloting.

The two exchanged a glance.

"The moment the arena ends, we snatch her up!"