Chapter 00059: New Recruits are Cannon Fodder
# New Recruits are Cannon Fodder
Chapter 59
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 59: New Recruits are Cannon Fodder
Every new recruit received a mission token, and Lan Xiaobu also obtained his. The mission token was white, with the mission score written as zero.
After the tokens were distributed, Xiong Jinli continued, "This time, the Star Expedition Army has lowered the recruitment criteria, but judging from the recruitment situation, the results are not ideal. This time, we aimed to recruit five thousand, but we only managed to enlist about two thousand three hundred. Because there are so few new recruits, your tasks are even heavier. I will now announce the new recruit mission."
The more than two thousand new recruits fell silent, each holding their breath to listen to Xiong Jinli's words. Everyone knew that whether they could survive and whether they could live better in the future depended on this new recruit mission.
In general, missions that are likely to lead to death are assigned to new recruits; this is a tradition of the Star Expedition Army.
Xiong Jinli's tone became serious, "I believe everyone knows that chiselite is our strategic resource and is crucial to the development of a technological planet. Our True Promise Star is not a chiselite-producing planet, so much of our chiselite comes from outer space."
Upon hearing about chiselite, Lan Xiaobu paid even closer attention. Initially, he had planned to buy some chiselite after learning he possessed purple gold. Now, after hearing Xiong Jinli's words, Lan Xiaobu understood that purchasing chiselite was out of the question. Since it was a strategic resource of True Promise Star, a mere junior lieutenant commander like him shouldn't even think about it. If he acted carelessly, it might raise suspicions about his motives for purchasing chiselite.
"Three years ago, a meteorite fell into the Hundred Mo Star System, located between True Promise Star and Giant Foothill Star. This meteorite contained rich chiselite, and Giant Foothill Star wanted to monopolize it, but we, True Promise Star, will never allow that..."
At this point, the new recruits below already understood what was happening; a war was about to break out, and it was against a two-star technological civilization planet.
Although everyone knew that as new recruits, they had to experience war, the thought of fighting against a two-star technological civilization planet still sent shivers down many spines.
Everyone was clear that the number of deaths after this war would definitely not be just half; it was very likely that eighty percent of the new recruits would lose their lives among the stars.
No one spoke; the air was exceptionally silent.
Lan Xiaobu sighed in his heart; this was simply a rhythm leading to death. Regardless of whether the Star Expedition Army won or lost, this group of new recruits were cannon fodder. In a battle among the stars, once the battle shuttle was hit, it was a dead end. Everyone was just a mortal, relying on the air inside the shuttle to survive; once the shuttle was struck, there were no living conditions in space, making escape impossible.
He began to understand why the Star Expedition Army recruited these new recruits from various planets; these new recruits could come from outer space, clearly bringing their own battle shuttles. The Star Expedition Army was sending these new recruits, who came with battle shuttles, to be cannon fodder, and they wouldn’t even need to deploy their own shuttles. It was evident how shrewd their calculations were.
Lan Xiaobu also did not want to participate in such a battle with slim chances of survival. Although his Kunlun was a product of a five-star technological civilization, it still required fuel. Without chiselite, he wouldn't even be able to attack once he entered the battlefield. Moreover, he was extremely averse to risking his own life and well-being for others.
Xiong Jinli continued, "This starry sky battle is very important, so the rewards are also very generous. Soldiers who return can choose to retire, and upon retirement, they will at least be local officials. For those unwilling to retire, they will be promoted to two-star junior lieutenant commanders based on military merit. The mission points are also incredibly rich, allowing you to exchange for whatever you need anywhere."
The crowd remained silent; none of them were fools. The more generous the rewards, the fewer people would return. Such empty promises were truly worthless. Yet everyone was aware that since they had come here, there was no room for resistance.
Xiong Jinli clearly did not care about the thoughts of the new recruits; he continued, "In addition to the starry sky battle against Giant Foothill Star, there is another task for the new recruits, which is to go to Tianluo Star for selection..."
"Ah..." A Xu exclaimed in surprise, and then said softly, "Tianluo Star is a level-five technological civilization planet, the most developed planet in our Hundred Mo Star System."
"To think they are sending us new recruits to a level-five technological civilization planet for selection, I wonder what kind of selection it is?" Ke'er rubbed his hands, his eyes filled with excitement.
A Xu glanced at Ke'er, "You are thinking too much. We are not going to participate in the selection; if we are chosen, it might just be to protect and provide logistics for the selected candidates."
"....." Ke'er was left speechless by A Xu's words, swallowing his excitement. After this task was announced, Lan Xiaobu clearly felt the surrounding voices of discussion increasing. In Lan Xiaobu's view, most people should want to participate in this task. Although this task was also dangerous, it seemed much safer than engaging in a direct confrontation with the battle shuttles of Giant Foothill Star on the battlefield.
"There will be five participants in this selection, all of whom are the elite among the elite of our True Promise Star, so no mistakes are allowed. Your mission is to protect these five individuals and ensure that nothing happens to them. This protection team will select one hundred people, and the mission points for those who return will also be incredibly rich."
As Xiong Jinli said this, he scanned the crowd and pointed to an empty space on the right, "New recruits who are willing to participate in the second task, please step forward as a team."
To Lan Xiaobu's surprise, several minutes passed, and not a single team stepped forward to take on the second task. Was the second task, which was merely a protection mission, even more dangerous than the first?
Lan Xiaobu asked in confusion, "A Xu, why has no one gone to take on the second task so far? Isn't a protection mission safer?"
A Xu shook her head, "It's not that. Blue Asia Star also participated in such selections before; the casualties among the protection teams were heavy, and I still don't know how many returned. So choosing the first task has a fifty percent chance of survival, while the chances of surviving the second task are much lower. But if no one steps forward in a while, the Marquis will directly call names."
"Is calling names random, or is there some rule to it?" Lan Xiaobu quickly inquired.
"It’s based on the scores from the first round of the technological knowledge assessment; they usually choose recruits with excellent technological knowledge for protection..."
Before A Xu could finish her sentence, Lan Xiaobu immediately said, "Peacekeeping Squad, listen to my command; we choose the second task."
After speaking, Lan Xiaobu was the first to walk to the right side. When A Xu and the others saw Lan Xiaobu go over, they hurriedly followed.
Whether it was A Xu, Qin Yue, or Ke'er and Ding He, they all understood why Lan Xiaobu wanted to choose the second task. The first round of technological assessment scores for their group were all quite high; even the lowest, Ding He, had fifty points. If no one chose the second task later, they would also be selected based on the technological scores from the first round of assessment. Since that was the case, it was better to come over voluntarily.
For Lan Xiaobu, this was indeed one reason. In fact, even without this reason, he would still choose the task of escorting the elite of True Promise Star to Tianluo Star for selection.
Tianluo Star was a level-five technological civilization planet, and in such a place, he would undoubtedly gain more technological knowledge. Based on his understanding during this time, neither level-two technological civilization planets nor level-three technological civilization planets could solve the problem of air pollution on Earth.
Whether or not he could return to Earth, he had to first understand how to restore the blue skies and white clouds to Earth. Otherwise, what would be the meaning of his return?
In addition to this reason, there was a second reason. The Muscle-Tendon Altering Sutra he cultivated could only reach the Innate Realm at most, meaning that once he reached the Innate Realm, he would no longer have any cultivation methods. According to Lan Xiaobu's thoughts, going beyond the Innate Realm might belong to the realm of cultivation.
Although technological civilization planets suppressed cultivation, from the fact that Li An went out alone to search for cultivation techniques, Lan Xiaobu knew that those who suppressed cultivation were hypocrites. If they could find cultivation techniques, they would probably cultivate more actively than anyone else. Because they couldn't find cultivation techniques, they suppressed others' cultivation, likely out of fear that someone might find the true cultivation techniques and actually succeed.
The reason Lan Xiaobu did not inquire about any cultivation-related questions while on True Promise Star was that there was simply no soil for cultivation here. The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi was so sparse that even martial arts were the most basic means; let alone cultivation. The only area where this place surpassed Earth was in the rapid development of technological civilization. In Lan Xiaobu's view, this rapid development was likely just some leftover technological knowledge from advanced civilization planets that was handed down for these lower-level civilization planets to develop.
Seeing Lan Xiaobu take the initiative to come forward, Xiong Jinli nodded in satisfaction. New recruits should have the awareness of new recruits, and it was commendable for them to take the initiative to step forward.
Some of those with slightly higher first-round test scores, upon seeing Lan Xiaobu and others step forward, hesitated for a moment before also walking out of the crowd to the right.
This further pleased Xiong Jinli; since it was a protection team, it required the awareness of someone like Lan Xiaobu to take the lead.
(Today's update ends here, friends, good night!)
(End of chapter)