The audience dispersed as the hastily started combat match concluded. The second round of Ji Xinghe vs. Han Li ended with Ji Xinghe's overwhelming victory, just as Han Li had previously crushed Ji Xinghe while both were in their battle suits.Thirty-four-year-old Major Han Li, a Federation special mech warrior, defeated sixty-five-year-old Ji Xinghe, a corporal-level mechanic, while both were suited in their respective Federation mechs. No one took that fight seriously.However, in the hand-to-hand combat, sixty-five-year-old Ji Xinghe defeating thirty-four-year-old Han Li was a spectacle that everyone would relish. It wasn’t just about the change in the outcome but the unexpected nature of it."I'm fine, Uncle Ji. Are you okay?" Han Li asked with concern, constantly rubbing his right fist, arm, and the parts of his body that had been repeatedly slammed to the ground."I'm fine. I've done a lot of manual labor, so I have thick calluses on my hands," Ji Xinghe said, showing his hands c
Walking through the metal-lined corridors of the underground base, Ji Xinghe felt a bit nervous. It wasn't the unfamiliar environment that bothered him, nor was it the uncertainty of how to greet his granddaughter. It was because he hadn’t yet decided on her formal name.A person shouldn't only have a nickname; they need a proper name too, because everyone grows up eventually, and his granddaughter would grow up safe and sound.Base 6, like other Federation bases on alien planets, had a complex interior structure. It could be described as a city beneath the surface, but it wasn't as simple as a city sinking into the ground. Building a city-sized area underground on an alien planet required unimaginable manpower and resources. Even with advanced engineering robots and high-speed local networks allowing remote operations, the construction sites were chosen after countless theoretical validations. They were often located in areas with natural underground spaces, which still required sign
"Hello" and "Hello" sounded less like a conversation between a grandfather and granddaughter meeting for the first time and more like an exchange between two unrelated adults. In fact, if it weren’t for the girl’s mother unexpectedly getting cancer at a very advanced and incurable stage, Ji Xinghe might never have met this little girl or known he had a granddaughter.Before Ji Chenxing's sacrifice, the girl's mother hadn't spoken up because she was worried about Ji Chenxing's future. After Ji Chenxing's death, she kept silent to protect his reputation. The little girl should have been dependent on her mother, but her mother didn’t have the life span to make that possible, leaving the girl with only her own life. She became Ji Xinghe's life.You know, if you hadn’t come along, I would have come to this planet anyway, but I would certainly have died here. Now I don't want to die, and I'm very afraid of dying because if I die, there will be no one left to take care of you.Ji Xinghe coul
After buying the chocolate, they didn't sell it. The delivery speed of the intelligent robots at Base Six was very fast, and ten chocolates were delivered to Xin Xin's room, the room her mother left for her.The room was very small, like a hotel studio apartment, with just ten square meters. Inside, there was only a single bed, a table, a chair, and a wardrobe, without any other furniture or appliances.Looking at the clumsy shape of the delivery robot, Ji Xinghe felt regret. If the Federation's robot technology and artificial intelligence technology could be improved by another level, then perhaps humans wouldn't need to pilot mechs in battle; remote piloting would suffice.But Ji Xinghe knew this was a luxury. The ever-changing battle conditions and the complex environment of the alien planet made communication on the surface battlefield very difficult. Often, even human-to-human communication was affected, let alone remotely piloting mechs or battle robots.Inside the mechs and bat
"Old Ji sent a message; he wants us to go to the restaurant. He's treating us to a meal."Upon seeing the message notification on his wristband-like portable smart terminal, Shen Mu couldn't wait to start the navigation. Su He, who was beside him, also saw Ji Xinghe's message about the treat on his wristband.Treating guests to a meal was a tradition in Longzhou, but it was a rare luxury on an alien planet. As a war correspondent, Su He had been to alien planets multiple times, making him more aware of this than Shen Mu, who went to a research institute for further studies right after graduating from school and only came to the alien planet after acquiring a wealth of knowledge."Don't rush. Do you know how expensive it is to treat someone to a meal here?" Su He tapped on his wristband screen to send a message to Ji Xinghe while saying, "I'll try to talk him out of it. Here on the alien planet, we don't need to make a big deal out of it. We can just get a portion of food each at the c
Fortunately, Shen Mu was with them; otherwise, the four of them wouldn’t have been able to enter the mecha zone. Since it wasn’t mealtime yet, they decided to go see the mechas. However, each area within the base had its own access permissions, and those without the necessary permissions couldn't enter.Xin Xin, being too young, didn't understand why, and Ji Xinghe and Shen Mu only knew the rules without knowing the reasons. Only Su He, a war correspondent on his second visit to the alien planet, knew the details.“There used to be no access restrictions. Back then, the base wasn’t as big, and people could go wherever they wanted. The living space was so small that confining people too much would drive them crazy. But…”Su He glanced at Xin Xin, lowering his voice and speaking faster, “But people still went crazy. The pressure to survive here is immense, not just the pressure of living. Sometimes the front lines couldn't hold, and the Imperial forces could breach the base at any time.
"I really didn't cheat."Ji Xinghe, being a Glory King in the game Stellar Glory, naturally knew what cheating meant. Although he was sixty-five years old and felt somewhat out of touch with the times, he was actually able to keep up.Shen Mu's finger stopped at the profession information for a fitter. After clicking on it, there were four categories: Ordinary Fitter, Maintenance Fitter, Tool Fitter, and Fitter.The first three were normal fitter job types, and the skill levels were classified as Junior, Intermediate, Advanced, Technician, and Senior Technician. Ji Xinghe had all three fitter job types at the highest level, Senior Technician.But these three certificates, which Shen Mu thought ordinary people couldn't obtain in a lifetime, weren't what Ji Xinghe found the hardest to obtain, nor were they what shocked Shen Mu the most."Fitter? Level Eight?" Shen Mu looked at Ji Xinghe in disbelief. "Old Ji, if you didn't cheat, then you must have made this up when filling out your per
On the ground in the Mech Zone, there were clear markings, so Ji Xinghe and his group easily found Section 109. All work areas were divided into sections, with a total of 150 sections spread across a 50,000-square-meter area.As they approached, someone called out to them."What are you doing here?"Unlike the severe and official tone of the Colonel, the mech technicians' words were much more casual."Hey? This guy looks pretty old.""Stop staring and get back to work.""Oh."Only one young man reluctantly stepped forward to stop Ji Xinghe and his group, while the others continued their tasks without paying much attention. In fact, they didn't care about many things, like Ji Xinghe and Han Li's fight. No one in this mech zone had gone to watch, and it hadn’t been long enough for the news to spread. Otherwise, some people might have come out of curiosity."Hello, I saw you need a machinist." Ji Xinghe displayed his Level 8 Machinist certification on his wrist screen. "I'm here to apply