Chapter 261: Current Situation Of The Third Pioneer Force
The originally tense atmosphere in the government meeting room now became cheerful due to an email from Director John, even somewhat festive, and Captain Noah’s face also showed a genuine smile from the heart.
At that moment, another new email arrived.
Captain Noah glanced at it, and it turned out to be from Huaken.
He opened the email and scanned it twice, his expression instantly becoming grave.
“Captain Noah, did something happen?”
Ma Chuanhua, whose ability to read expressions had reached its peak, asked urgently.
“It’s not exactly good news.”
Captain Noah did it again, forwarding the email to the other high-level officials.
After the government high-level officials read the email, their expressions also became complicated.
This email omitted Huaken’s overly formal bureaucratic greetings, with only one central idea:
The people in the Eleventh Fleet Pioneer Unit also knew about this matter.
——
Just as the government meeting room was once again at a loss over how to handle this exploration force, on the spaceship of the Third Pioneer Force, Kenny was leading his team members in listening to Li Wei talk about Xiang Chuan.
“Common Era 2022… 2022…”
Kenny took a deep breath, exhaled, repeated three times before finally suppressing the urge to scream.
But the surrounding team members couldn’t care less about that.
“Team Leader Li Wei, is this real?! Is it really the 21st Century?!”
“Team Leader Li Wei, why didn’t you tell us earlier?! If we had known about this, we would definitely have gone with you to the military escort ship to tie her up and bring her over!”
“Common Era 2022, 2022! Right before the Third World War, if this is true, those snobbish guys at the Historical Research Institute will probably have to kneel down and thank us this time!”
“Team Leader Li Wei! Captain! Let’s set a time quickly! Before this girl returns to the main ship, hurry and bring her back to our fleet!”
……
The team members grew more and more excited, more and more outrageous, and before Li Wei could speak, Kenny roared with a darkened face:
“Enough! That’s enough! Just enjoy the fantasy verbally! We have nanomachines on us, let alone kidnapping her onto the ship—if we’re five hundred meters away from that girl… or even a thousand meters, Captain Noah would have someone press their thumb on the nanomachine activation switch.”
Hearing this, the exploration force team members, lost in wild fantasies, finally reluctantly stood at attention.
——It wouldn’t hurt to fantasize a bit in our minds!
The team members silently accused with their eyes.
Kenny directly chose to ignore them, turned to Li Wei, and asked:
“Li Wei, is what that female classmate said credible? Could she be deliberately releasing fake information to interfere with us? Or does she have some other purpose?”
“If it were just targeting us, Classmate Xiang Chuan wouldn’t go so far as to deceive her own club members or classmates too.”
Li Wei recalled the expressions of Chou Manman and Ainuo at the time, thinking that if even these students’ reactions were acted, their acting skills were too good—Li Wei had even considered recommending these students to a few theaters in the Twelfth Fleet when the opportunity arose.
“Then… could she have made it up temporarily for some personal purpose? Like wanting to attract your attention or something.”
Kenny half-jokingly said, and the other team members couldn’t help but hold back their laughter upon hearing this.
This wasn’t him speaking casually; Li Wei was also a very popular handsome guy back in his hometown, and after enlisting, his popularity only increased, captivating all the single girls in the Eleventh Fleet military department.
With such a handsome guy in a blue military uniform suddenly descending before an innocent young girl, Kenny thought she might make up stories just to get the handsome guy’s attention.
“Captain, if word of this gets out, it’ll be rumor-mongering, don’t forget she’s a minor.” Li Wei looked helplessly at his unserious captain, “And she has a noble boy around her age by her side, so she wouldn’t be swayed by looks.”
“Who knows, maybe she likes more mature ones?” Kenny chuckled, “Don’t rush to refuse, I’m seriously considering the feasibility of this method.”
——Have Li Wei “seduce” Xiang Chuan.
This was also a half-baked idea Kenny came up with after hearing Li Wei’s description. No choice, with the exploration force’s movements restricted now, they could only try from other angles.
“Classmate Xiang Chuan… I don’t think she likes my type much; when I sat next to her, she didn’t have any special reaction.”
Li Wei said, recalling the scene when chatting with Xiang Chuan. Her demeanor toward him was too natural—not like an inexperienced high school student, nor like a seasoned young lady from social occasions, more like… chatting with a classmate?
Though this comparison was a bit far-fetched, Li Wei couldn’t find a better metaphor.
Regardless of how Xiang Chuan saw him, she had no interest in him anyway, so Li Wei didn’t think in that direction.
Yet his own captain wanted him to hit on a student girl! Truly a sign of moral decline! Li Wei shook his head and sighed inwardly.
“Hard to say, maybe she says one thing but thinks another.”
As soon as Kenny said this, all the team members, including Li Wei, looked at him with indescribable expressions, as if asking: Captain, why are you so proficient in romance? We remember you’re still single.
“Uh… cough, it’s not me who said it, I saw someone discussing these issues on the Third Fleet’s SNS today and spotted it in the comment section.”
This excuse was too gossipy; even with Kenny’s thick skin, he couldn’t help but turn his face away, temporarily unable to face the team’s disdainful gazes.
——
After a good while, the exploration force’s spaceship finally returned to a normal discussion environment.
“In short, with this thing on us,” Li Wei patted his wrist, “whether escaping the Third Fleet’s sphere of influence or taking away this information turbulence contactee, neither is a wise choice. Rash action could even put all of us, and even the Eleventh Fleet behind us, in irredeemable danger.”
“So what’s your suggestion?” Kenny asked seriously.
“Wait.”
“Wait?” Everyone exchanged glances.
“Yes.” Li Wei nodded, “According to the intelligence we got earlier, the fleet exchange period is only five years away, or even shorter. Even if the Third Fleet is isolated from other fleets online, once the fleet exchange period begins, the Third Fleet will likely contact other fleets, and we can find a way to get out then.”
“But… what if the Third Fleet doesn’t participate in this fleet exchange period?” Kenny frowned,
“Although the Third Fleet has never missed one before, that’s based on them never having an information turbulence contactee. Now that female classmate has caused such huge changes in the Third Fleet in just a few months; I don’t think the Third Fleet would give up this transformation opportunity—they could choose to withdraw, lie low for two thousand years, and make their official debut in the next fleet exchange period.”
Li Wei nodded and said: “That’s what I thought at first. But if that were their intention, they wouldn’t disconnect the space-time network and draft new legislation at this critical moment. New legislation needs practical data support to pass; if the Third Fleet wants the central government to approve this bill more steadily, they should propose it in the next fleet exchange period.”
“But they didn’t; they put it right out in front of their own people.”
As Li Wei spoke, he opened the Third Fleet Agriculture Bureau’s official website, where the Agricultural Products Increased Production Ratio Adjustment Draft was prominently displayed.
“Clearly, they plan to submit it to the central government in this fleet exchange period.”
Kenny stared at the draft on the light screen for a while, then suddenly laughed.
“That’s good; at least we can go back after enduring a few more years, right?” He patted Li Wei’s shoulder, “Think about it, if the Third Fleet plans to wait for the next fleet exchange period to submit it, then our little troop would either have to settle down here or become the next missing exploration force.”
In other words, either the Third Fleet would change their fleet affiliation through some means, forcing Kenny’s Third Pioneer Force to become part of the Third Fleet, or they would be dealt with by the Third Fleet using unsavory methods, turning into cosmic dust.
Either way, it was unacceptable for the team, whose families were all in the Eleventh Fleet.
“In that sense, our current situation seems to be the best.” Li Wei said, looking at the open light screen in front of him, “Next, it depends on how they arrange us. Personally, I’d like to visit the Third Fleet Main Ship; Classmate Xiang Chuan recommended quite a few delicious foods.”
“Hey, I think you’re the one who’s got a thing for that female student, huh? How did you steer the topic back to her?”
“…Captain, seducing minors is illegal; do I seem like someone who breaks the law knowingly?” Li Wei’s gaze toward Kenny cooled a few degrees.
“Who knows, you always have the same expression; maybe you’re secretly passionate… ouch!”
Li Wei, unable to tolerate it anymore, gave his captain an elbow strike, then patted his hands and left the meeting room.
The remaining team members gathered around Kenny, who couldn’t leave the meeting room due to waist pain, and began chattering about the Third Fleet’s food culture.
This commotion lasted until the next day, when Xiang Chuan was forcibly woken up in the student dormitory and went to make breakfast with Class Eight, while the exploration force team members were still full of energy on the spaceship.
