Chapter 1: Joining The Interstellar Fleet

As of late, the Blue resistance was becoming more and more intense. Just today, an unmanned haulage vehicle was detonated outside the school. The massive explosion collapsed the school gate. To avoid anything untoward from happening, I left school and returned home early. While I was getting ready for dinner, Father returned. He sat on the sofa and started sighing.

Curious, I asked, "Father, what's going on?"

"Sigh. The Gliesens are up to something again." With a sigh, Father continued, "The iron extraction activity on Blue is high, but the yield is low. At first, the Gliesens thought that the low yield was due to depletion from excessive mining, resulting in a drop in the quality of the mines."  

"That should be the case. From how much they have been mining, all the good mines should have been depleted already," I replied.

"Yeah. Because of the depletion, the Gliesens have discovered many planets with our Hans telescopes. They exhausted a large amount of energy visiting these planets, hoping to find one rich in iron, but not one of these planets was of use," said Father.

"What can they do? Just keep searching. What's the big deal? There's still a lot of planets out there," I said.

"Recently, the Blue resistance is getting more and more active. The league suspects that the mines on Blue are perfectly fine but that some of the mined iron has been instead supplied to the resistance, resulting in a drop of yield for the Gliesens."

"How does that relate to interstellar mining?"

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"According to the league, the resistance's brainwashing results in an increased amount of interstellar travel, causing a wastage of energy. Thus, the league intends to send a batch of Bluelings to the mines outside the planet. In short, they are separating the Bluelings and banishing them outside of Blue to slave away," said Father.

"Can't we choose not to go?"

"If one refuses, one might lose one's job and income. The entire family might starve to death," replied Father.

The more I listened, the more indignant I felt. Looking at my distressed father, I felt bad as well. Such injustice was not a recent affair. However, there was nothing I could do about it. I was long tired of such a life. The combination of my longing for stellar exploration and the resistance's slogan of overthrowing the Gliesens with alien technology was causing me to become more and more restless. I was itching to leave the planet and take a look at the wide universe.

After dinner, I went to visit my childhood friend, Zhang Bao'er. We had agreed to watch the latest propaganda video of the resistance together. Zhang Bao'er lived in a villa. His father was the pilot commander of an interstellar transport ship, a middle-ranking officer in the army. His position granted him a high income, and regardless of the era, the rich had always lived a good life. Zhang Bao'er had the attic of the villa all for himself. That was the location of our gathering.

"Bao'er, I'm here."

"Canyue, come. Let's get started," replied my good friend Zhang Bao'er while lounging lazily on a sofa.

The propaganda video started playing on the screen:

The people of Blue are magnificent. After 20 years of hardship, we have managed to grasp some Gliesen technology while working for them.

The Gliesens are still keeping their core technologies secret, so we have no way of obtaining those technologies for now. However, Bluelings are now very familiar with the usage of morph-capable armors and the piloting of sublight speed spaceships.

But to win the war, we need energy. Thus, the resistance greatly encourages all Bluelings to participate in interstellar exploration and mining, gathering sources and knowledge of energy in the process.

"Not this again. It's the same catchphrase being repeated over and over. It's getting boring watching this thing every single day," I complained.

"I agree, Canyue. Here, let me show you something good," said Zhang Bao'er.

He then played a different video on the screen. It was a promotional video of the league, describing that apart from Blue, the league had also set up mining operations on Mars.

The video explained that Mercury would be the league's next target. At present, the exploration teams had landed and built several bases of operations. They were in the process of deploying Bluelings to work the newly established mines. As a planet with a metallic core, Mercury was rich in metal. In fact, the metallic core made up for about 3/4 of Mercury's mass.

"The working condition on Mercury is too vile. The length of day and night is too long, and the temperature difference between the two is too big. My father told me that the league is preparing to send Bluelings over there," I said.

"Yeah. How hateful. Such injustice is the biggest reason for the resistance to keep existing," said Zhang Bao'er. 

The video continued: 

To solve the league's lack of resources, the interstellar fleet is planning to recruit a new batch of explorers. We intend to explore more new planets to search for new sources of energy.

"Canyue, you've always dreamed of exploring the universe, right? This is your chance!" said Zhang Bao'er.

I grew excited as well. "But only the elites get to join the energy exploration teams. I don't even have enough funds for the download of required knowledge."

"This is a secret, but for this recruitment, one must be 20 or above. Also, one can first download the required knowledge and pay later with their salary. Both of us meet the requirements. It's getting boring wasting our days doing nothing here on Blue. My father has already bribed the relevant officials. He wants me to try joining."

"That's too good to be true. Download first and pay later?" I asked in astonishment.

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"Yes. Recently, several exploration teams have gone missing while exploring extreme environments. Thus, the league needs to offer special benefits to attract more recruits," replied Zhang Bao'er.

I punched Zhang Bao'er in excitement, but in a wink, I was disheartened again.

"What is it this time?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"With such generous benefits, the competition must be stiff. I'm afraid someone without any connection like me won't be able to secure a spot," I said.

"Leave it to me! I'll have my father grease some wheels. He has a good relationship with a Gliesen duke. I'll tell my father about this," offered Zhang Bao'er as he slapped his chest repeatedly.

Nevertheless, this decision to leave home was still too sudden. I started hesitating.

"This is a good opportunity. I heard that they're recruiting those at the appropriate age with sufficient knowledge in astronomy. Both of us fit the bill. Come on, it's 2090! It's very important to find a suitable job nowadays! If we missed out and waited a year or two before applying, the fleet would be well outside the Milky Way already," said Zhang Bao'er with great fervor when he noted my hesitance.  

In truth, the offer was extremely attractive. I knew that for someone like him with a father serving as a league official, he enjoyed a great advantage in fleet recruitments. Furthermore, Bao'er's father knew a Gliesen duke, so he was basically guaranteed a spot.

"But interstellar exploration means leaving home for an extended period of time. Sigh, perhaps this is how my life is meant to be," I muttered to myself.

"So are you in or not?" asked Bao'er.

"Yes!" I replied with a sense of finality. I could no longer hold my desire to leave the planet.

We acted on our plan immediately. The next day, the two of us arrived at the interstellar fleet's registration counter. It was quite surprising how popular Bao'er was. As we walked through the fleet's headquarters, he constantly encountered uncles and aunties he knew.

"Yo, Bao'er, here to inherit your father's career?" teased the uncles and aunties.

With the help of the uncles and aunties, we were able to sign up with no trouble. Bao'er's father intended to have his son earn some merits in the fleet, and he also hoped to have me in the fleet so that the two of us could look after each other. Thus, my application was approved. Just like that, I achieved my dream of becoming an interstellar explorer. On that same night, I informed Father of my acceptance. He sank into a long silence.

Finally, he said, "I'm leaving for Mercury for work as well. Your mother will be staying home alone. I hope you can keep in frequent contact with home after leaving. Be careful out there. If you're tired of working, come back and reunite with the family. I hope you can really achieve your dreams. Don't worry. Go do what you want."

Sigh, what a model father, I thought to myself.

After winning my family's support, I decided to put my all into this endeavor and create a miracle out of it. Bao'er and I arrived at the interstellar fleet's new recruit camp in high spirits. We were assigned to a squad of five. Surprisingly, there was a Gliesen in the squad.

The Gliesen was born on Blue. He was called Dudal Homlu, a rather mouthful name. His father was a duke. Although he was younger than us, due to his height of two meters, we all called him Old Du. We might not like Gliesens much, but we needed to follow our orders.

The first law of the fleet stated that disobedience of military command would be considered a grave offense punishable by banishment outside the Milky Way. One would be forever banned from returning to Blue.

The other two members of our group were Xiaoming, the computer expert, and Xigua, the bodybuilding fanatic. Together, the five of us received the fleet's intensive training.

The training would last a year. It was the year 2090, and piloting was made extremely simple through computer-aided piloting. Thus, the training wasn't too complicated. During the training, we learned geology, astronomy, mathematics, flying mechanics, aerodynamics, rocket science, electronic computation, inertial system, navigation technology, control skills, and so on.

Additionally, we also needed to keep our bodies in shape, engage in interstellar travel planning, and attend lessons on surviving unique environments. More importantly, apart from physical and practical training, all other knowledge was downloaded directly into our brains.

That was the knowledge download technology I had been looking forward to. With the help of this technology, learning was greatly accelerated. However, it was also an extremely expensive process. Fortunately, our training was fully sponsored by the fleet. After our training, we only needed to work the debt off.

After a year, all five of us completed our basic knowledge and physical fitness training. During that period of time, we even went on training missions to the moon and Mars several times.

While enjoying our time at the bar and attracting girls in our handsome interstellar fleet uniforms, a mission came. It was the year 2091. To surpass the current limitations of interstellar survival, the league greatly needed more living spaces inside and outside the Milky Way. But to explore, more fuel and resources were required. And thus, our squad was assigned our first mission. We were to report our attendance at the Saturn Fleet.

Even more exciting was the fact that our exploration target was Jupiter II, a celestial body covered in ice. Bluelings had never landed on Jupiter II because they were afraid of destroying its ecosystem with bacteria or germs native to Blue. With the help of the Gliesens, it was now possible to conduct work on Jupiter II in a completely sterile environment.

Proof had emerged that the red substance on the surface of Jupiter II could be iron. The reddish gleam it gave off from the sunlight seemed to further support that theory. New developments in technology had made underwater mining feasible. So long as the Fe element was present, the league would be able to extract it successfully. Truly, technology was the bringer of the future.

Just like that, the five of us reported to the Saturn Fleet. The captain of the vessel was a woman. She was Madam Angela, a Blueling. Unlike her gentle namesake, she was a practical and experienced captain.

We were deployed to different positions. Fortunately, Bao'er, Old Du, and I were deployed to the exploration squad. Those in this position might even have the chance to set foot on Jupiter II itself. We were so excited we stayed awake the entire night.

On the 29th of April, 2091, after the ship named Saturn finished resupplying, we set off toward Jupiter II for the very first exploration mission on Jupiter II. This was also the first mission for me, Bao'er, and Old Du.

Everything was filled with mystery, excitement, and the unknown. A majority of Saturn's personnel were Gliesens. This was a mission where numerous parties were brought together, cooperating to explore the secrets of Jupiter II. Each personnel was supplied with the latest morph-capable equipment, ensuring the safety of all personnel involved.

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