Xu Le walked out of the room with his head lowered. He gave instructions to the members of Team 7 who were guarding the exit. He then left the core area through the spaceship's quiet tunnel and went straight to the lower level of the spaceship.
This was the newest second-level spaceship of the Federal Fleet. Because it had not yet entered the battlefield, although this was not its maiden voyage, it still had not been officially named.
The interior of the spaceship was extremely spacious, but the living quarters occupied a limited amount of space. Xu Le circled the gangway three times before he reached the bottom. Stepping on the hard composite floor, he tried his best to take a deep breath before he walked forward.
There were quite a lot of people in the resting area. Other than the members who were on a mission, the rest of Team 7 were drinking and watching TV, killing the boredom of the long journey. The officers on the spaceship who were on duty, as well as the engineers and staff of the Victory Concert performance team, were also gathered here. Although the voices of the people were not loud, it was still lively.
As he walked through the lively crowd, Xu Le deliberately forced a calm expression on his face. It was very unnatural. The others did not notice the difference, but Bai Yulan was the first to react. She stared at Xu Le, who was frowning and forcing a smile, but his eyes were somewhat wandering. She was very surprised. She thought to herself, "You didn't lose your composure like this when you went to kill Macklin alone. You were just upstairs watching the door for a while. How did you end up like this?"
Bai Yulan signaled Xiong Linquan with her eyes. The two of them quietly put down the teacups in their hands and followed behind Xu Le. Xu Le waved his hand and shook his head tiredly, indicating that he was fine and did not need anyone to follow him.
Bai Yulan had no choice but to stop and look at Xu Le who was completely different from usual. Just like that, they walked through the lively resting area and walked towards the quiet warehouse.
After walking for a long time, only the muffled sound of his hard military boots hitting the composite floor could be heard in the quiet interior of the spaceship. Xu Le silently opened an electronic door beside him, walked in, and then quickly closed the door. There was no one else here, so it was absolutely quiet.
Behind him was the laundry room, and hundreds of meters below him was the energy control room of the Federation's warship. Listening to the sound of rolling machinery, splashing water, and the low humming of the crystal engine of the warship below his feet, Xu Le took off his sunglasses and wiped the cold sweat on his forehead. He felt that his legs were somewhat weak.
The national girl's proud acting skills in the arts circle could not fool him. He behaved like a walking corpse, as if he had lost his soul like an idiot. Naturally, it wasn't because of her joke that hurt his self-esteem.
The truth is that the real reason why his legs are weak and he is sweating while leaning against the cold wall of the sundries cabin is because he was in the room earlier … He suddenly thinks of what Li Xiuzhu said in the villa in Qiuming Mountain and Li Xiaotong's weird expression in the autumn wind at the highway intersection. A crazy and absurd idea faintly emerges in his mind.
This blind date … I'm afraid it really isn't a joke by a superstar!
But this matter is too unreasonable. Xu Le stared at the metal junk in front of him in confusion and muttered to himself in disbelief, "Could it be that the Department of Defense is also a professional matchmaking agency?"
…
…
For many days after that, the journey to the West Woods on the warship was peaceful. Under the Glory Of The Charter, even the boorish Interstellar Pirates would not be stupid enough to enter the Federation's star field. Three days later, the warship finished accelerating in the star system and officially entered outer space. Even the low humming of the crystal engine could no longer be heard. The long journey in outer space was only boring silence.
After the staff changed shifts, they would go to the living area to drink a few glasses of wine, play chess, chat, and watch TV and movies to pass the time. In addition to the staff of the performing arts team, the officers and the members of Group 7 were secretly looking forward to whether or not the national girl, who was doted on by thousands of people, would come down the gangway to have fun with them.
After traveling with the legendary Jian Shui'er for more than a month, it would be a pity if they could not see the real face of this superstar with their own eyes. However, to their disappointment, since that day, the nation's girl locked herself in her room. No one knew how she spent her time alone in the bedroom, whether she felt lonely, or whether she was bored looking at the unchanging background of the universe outside the floor-to-ceiling window.
There were very few people who had the authority to enter the core area of the upper layer. Sister Tong and two female assistants were in charge of Jian Shui'er's daily necessities. Other than that, only the three highest-ranking officers of the warship and two or three members of Group 7 were allowed to set foot in that forbidden area.
Xu Le had the authority to go up and ask about the loneliness of the national girl, but of course, he did not dare to go. He could even vaguely guess why Jian Shui'er locked herself in her room.
After passing through the Voidman Space Passage at the edge of the Upper Forest District, the warship entered full speed. The traces left by humans in the universe became fewer and fewer. Other than the monitoring satellites set up by the Bureau of Proclamation in the distant asteroid belt, everything returned to a rather solemn and beautiful primitive state.
Jian Shui'er still did not come downstairs. The expectant crowd could not help but feel a little disappointed, but they were not too angry. After all, this was the national girl among the stars. It was natural for her to keep a certain distance from people like them. Not to mention, in the Federation, this female star had always been known for her mysterious aura.
During these days, Xu Le did not allow himself to be idle. After leaving the security work to Bai Yulan, he was very relieved to wander around the interior of the warship. In fact, it was not accurate to say that he was wandering around, because most of the time, he stayed in the top secret multi-engine control cabin and the warship's control room. He was like a repairman, but also like a curious child, gently touching everywhere, and sometimes even using his nose to sniff.
He carried a bag of buns in one hand and an electronic notebook in the other. He stayed in these important cabins of the Federation's warship for a day and a night. Only when he was tired would he go back to the living quarters to rest.
He carefully studied the structure and details of the Federation's second generation space warship, diligently copying and learning. When he encountered something he didn't understand, he would earnestly consult the mechanics on the warship. He even specially applied for a long-distance interplanetary encrypted communication line from the control room of the warship, so that he could contact Shang Qiu, who was far away in the capital ring, with the information he came in contact with on the warship, requesting her technical support.
The officers on the warship had always maintained a strong sense of vigilance and suspicion towards this outsider who entered and left the restricted area. They did not understand why the captain would issue an order to allow this person to enter and leave the most confidential area. It should be known that the area Xu Le entered and left involved the engines, transmissions, and weapons systems of the Federation space warships. These were the most confidential of secrets. This person was only the head of security at Whitewater Company — why would he have such special authority?
The normal officers did not understand why the captain had given Xu Le this authority. It was because they did not know that Xu Le was originally a lieutenant colonel of the Federation's general assembly base, and also had the level one technical supervisor authority of Nutshell. As an engineer who had made great contributions to the new MX mecha model of the Federation, when he expressed his curiosity about the three major systems of the warship, the captain had no qualms about giving him this authority.
Fortunately, Xu Le spent most of his time in the process of studying, visiting, and researching, other than occasionally asking the mecha operator for advice, he was exceptionally quiet and silent most of the time. He definitely did not disturb the normal operations of the warship, and his face always carried a sincere and amiable smile. As time passed, the officers and soldiers on the warship had also gotten used to the existence of this strange person.
In the database of Professor Shen Yulin at the Husk Institute, Xu Le had once studied a great deal of material science knowledge. In order to wake him up, the Federal Central Computer had once forced many intricate blueprints into his mind. Now, on this long journey aboard the Federation's most advanced warship, it gave Xu Le the perfect opportunity to compare the theoretical knowledge in his mind with practical experience. Of course, he would not miss this opportunity.
The comparison between the multi-engine systems of the space warship and the dual-engine systems of the MX mecha was the focus of his research these past few days. The operating principles and compatibility of the three major systems of the warship were also things he was concerned about.
The reason why he was so obsessed with studying these things was not only because of his professional instincts as an engineer, but also because of the influence of his childhood dreams. Before he was forced to flee Dong Lin, he, who had been regarded as a mecha engineering genius by his uncle, his greatest wish in this life was to become a mecha operator under the command of a female captain of a Weizuo warship. Other than that, he wanted to enter the Nutshell Corporation as an engineer.
The captain of this second-level Federation warship was indeed a lady, but she was already over 40 years old and had a poker face. Speaking of which, in the cabin on the second floor was the most famous girl in the Federation, the purple-haired captain. Although she definitely would not really command a space warship...
Xu Le abruptly came to his senses and quickly rubbed his slightly hot face. He knew that he had been thinking about the wrong things again. In the past few days, he had often been thinking about the wrong things.
A light beeping sound rang out. The soldiers who were monitoring the warship's energy status in the third control room reflexively glanced at the buzzing warning lights. With practiced ease, they temporarily stopped what they were doing, leaned against the wall, and fastened their standing seatbelts.
"B1288 countdown to warp."
…
…
All the visual windows of the space warship were automatically closed by a three-layer composite panel made of polymer materials and manganese potassium alloy. Following the clear electronic female voice's countdown, the normally operating warship suddenly vibrated. This vibration was not strong, but it was more like a massage. No wonder those soldiers were still in the mood to chat about the movie they watched last night while leaning against the wall.
Xu Le felt for the electronic notebook in his pocket and used his fingers to grip the seatbelt in front of his chest. He narrowed his eyes to look at the black composite panel by the window. He had already experienced this type of warp many times, so it was not new to him, and he did not have any thoughts of fear. He was just immensely curious as to what the three-dimensional warp hole outside the warship looked like. If it were not for those high-strength panels covering it, would he be able to see the legendary, most beautiful spontaneous energy ray turbulence with his naked eyes?
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