Chapter 2: My Brothers and Sisters

“Report to the commander, our team lacks units capable of dealing remote physical damage.”
“Hmm, I understand. With a shortage of personnel, don’t expect any reinforcements for now. Even if there are only four of us, we’ll still have to fight.”
“Commander, could we recruit outstanding officers from the eighth batch of trial officers to strengthen our team?”
“Well… each batch has its own arrangements. I’m just following orders and don’t have the authority to transfer personnel.”
“Then, to ensure combat effectiveness, could we be given additional supplies?”

Reyno narrowed his eyes at Neo, thinking, “Kid, this is probably the real goal—you’re really good at bargaining! How did you end up in such a foolish situation, fighting head-on against those man-eating badgers?”
“I can give you an application form, but whether it’ll be approved…”
“Thank you, commander, for your concern!” Neo expressed sincere gratitude.

Reyno smirked and glanced at the rest of the odd bunch, thinking, “At least when it comes to asking for supplies, you’ve got a great captain.”

Yes, a captain—not just a team leader. The 745 Combat Team of the Celestial Temple: 7 denotes the batch number, and 45 is the team number. This means that across the Aemera continent, Neo and his teammates belong to 44 other teams from the same batch. Teams 1–15 are in Ode, 15–30 in Kales, and 31–45 in Frey, corresponding to Sun, Moon, and Star. Neo’s team is from the seventh batch and ranks lowest.

The Celestial Temple provides officers, while the three major factions supply soldiers—this is a close partnership. Moreover, the Celestial Combat Teams are enhanced versions, commanding 656 combatants plus 6 Chosen Ones, totaling 727 people. Including support troops, their size is nearly equal to that of an ordinary squadron (951 people).

Before heading to military units to lead troops, the six officers of Team 745 had three days to get to know each other—originally seven days, but with wars raging everywhere and many places in need of combat support, things were streamlined.

Looking at his colleagues who would be together for a long time, Neo’s first thought was, “The descendants of the Heavenly Veins really don’t care about quality—there are all kinds of ‘excellent’ types!”

Actually, he was a bit mistaken. After all, only so few people could be gathered across the entire Aemera continent—these people were truly precious. No wonder, even before any action began, Team 745 already had a very distinctive team name—Circus. Think about it: a little girl, two bulls, a pony, a wolf, and a dwarf— isn’t that the classic lineup for a circus act?

“Damn it, who came up with this stupid nickname? I’m gonna show him the power of my fist!” The minotaur Zankin Stonehoof rolled up his sleeves, clearly a bit hot-tempered.

Neo was speechless. A support mage, known as a Armored Spellcaster or Victory Commander, could bring a series of beneficial buffs to the entire team while also casting group-weakening spells on enemies. The gap between the two became immediately apparent. Support mages usually operated from behind the lines or at high altitudes, and since they were intelligent spellcasters, they often served as captains.

In fact, from Star 731 to Star 745, the leaders of the 9 teams were all support mages from the Od Aetherian Temple. Each class had relevant learning materials, combining practice with theory—mainly involving combat and classes. The support mages had far more courses on tactics, troop formations, camp layouts, etc., than the other five classes. In short, they were the real commanders, while the others were future branch leaders—such as the Battle Mage Corps, Scout Recon Corps, Assault Main Force Corps, Remote Support Corps, Heavy Assault Corps, and the healing support corps led by the support mages themselves.

Casters ranked second as team leaders—equally intelligent and able to oversee the overall situation, constantly monitoring changes. Then came archers, followed by shadow assassins at the bottom, and guardians in fourth place. They were the typical type who would charge ahead first, shouting, “Brothers, follow me!” It was all about brute force, almost overwhelming those who relied on mindless tactics. Of course, it was better than being reckless. But if the leader got injured—or worse, fell, covered in blood and possibly dead—everyone would scatter and run away! Shadow assassin leaders were even more eerie; they would suddenly appear and say, “Fight like this!” But when you went up to check, things seemed to have changed suddenly. Where was the leader? Why hadn’t they returned? Turns out, in some ditch, the leader was pierced by numerous arrows, with dog bite marks on their ankles.

“Calm down! Calm down! Brother Zanjin, why did you choose the support mage class? I think guardianship or recklessness would be perfect for you.”

Zanjin walked back, panting heavily, and grunted, “I’m the smartest and strongest in our village!”

“Oh? How many then?”

“62 standard units!” Zanjin said proudly, head held high.

“…” What could Neo say? After spending a few days in the Elemental Tower Library reading various books and using the method taught by Nancy to test his mental strength, he found that even adding a zero after 62 and a one before it still left him 180 units short. 1,800+ standard units—Nancy still called that mindless. According to her, before reaching level six shaman, he needed to raise his mental strength to over 2,500—this was the minimum. What even was 62?

“Pfft!” Korkar Blackmane, the centaur beside him, laughed.

“Kid, why are you laughing?” Zanjin frowned and slammed the table, causing pens, ink, candlesticks, and water cups to shake and dance. Neo was quick enough to steady the ink bottle and water cup.

“What’s there to laugh about? I’m laughing at your pitifully low mental strength! You know what? Even if you added a one before that number, you’re still 11 units behind me!” Korkar said proudly.

“…” Neo turned to look at the caster in their team and thought, “You’re just a spellcaster with low power—what’s there to be proud of at 173? Cast a shield spell, shoot an ice arrow, then go meditate?”

After counting on his fingers for a while, Zanjin stared at Korkar with admiration, “Brother, you’re amazing! I admire you!”

“Pfft!” Valrug the Rhino-man spat out the drink he had been gulping down. Wiping his mouth with his furry arm, he said, “What’s there to brag about with a little mental power? It’s skill and tactics that matter. Let me show you my stealth technique!” With that, Valrug stood up abruptly, crouched down, moving forward on the tips of his hooves with one hand in front and the other behind, eerily silent. The floor creaked under his weight—creak! creak…

At that moment, Carnito Gear, who had remained solemn the whole time, spoke up. “What lies ahead is a life-or-death struggle. Whether it’s monsters attacking caravans or villages, demons lurking in nests, or agents of darkness, none of them are easy to deal with. Although we’ve awakened the power of the Heavenly Veins, our abilities can still be described as ‘immature.’ I suggest everyone take this seriously and think carefully about our strengths and weaknesses. Otherwise, not to mention fighting, even those soldiers won’t believe in us.”

Neo nodded silently. Though Carnito was acting like a wise man by standing on the table, what he said made some sense. Then, Carnito changed his tone and continued, “As for me, my choice is quite wise—defense! Armor, a large shield, and a weapon—combined, they form an invincible force. No one can truly hurt me. I’m already invincible! Hahaha…”

Following Carnito’s description, Neo imagined a steel ball rolling around before being kicked away. He turned his head away silently, thinking, “If we were having a big soccer match with the enemy, you might just be good enough! At least you wouldn’t get punctured from having too many feet! Uh… it’s not very safe either!”

The only one who remained silent was Mad Mary Jane. She sat curled up in a corner of the room, arms wrapped around her legs, head buried near her thighs, occasionally stealing glances at the group. Against the backdrop of the mercenaries’ boisterous boasting, she looked like a poor little creature who had just been abandoned.

“Depression? Autism?” Neo sighed softly. He glanced at Mary’s thin arms and then at the bladeless, ultra-heavy sword nearby—two meters long, two palms wide, and two fingers thick. He sighed again. “Even if those arms were made of steel fibers, they wouldn’t be strong enough to swing such a large sword.” Neo even doubted whether Mary could carry such a weapon weighing over 100 kilograms.

After the initial discussion, Neo said, “Everyone, I intend to become the captain of Star 745. Do you have any objections?”

His sharp gaze swept over each of them. Zanjin, Korkal, and Valrug all chose silence. Mary shook her head silently. Carnito muttered, “You can take down two man-eating badgers by yourself. Of course, we have no objections…”

“Very well. Then I give the order now.” Neo looked at them. “Go free, but make sure to take care of your luggage. We’re leaving in two days and won’t be back for a long time. Leaving anything behind would be a loss.”

“Oh!”

“Yay!” Zanjin and the others cheered. Valrug suggested, “Come on, let’s go get a drink. The sour fruit wine at the Umbrella Bar in Shelter Valley is great!” …

Nio left the small meeting room and returned to his room to pack his armor. He took the revised design drawings he had made the previous night along with the approved list of additional supplies, loaded the armor onto a vehicle, and headed to the armory. It was still the same familiar receptionist, but this time he had to involve the dwarf craftsmen in modifying Nio’s armor, as some parts required high technical skills, and the receptionist wasn’t sure if the craftsmen could handle them. The craftsmen said there were a few parts they truly couldn’t complete. In fact, these didn’t seem too difficult to Nio, who understood that with such a short time frame and excessive demands, it would be hard to achieve everything, so he decided to discuss possible compromises. Nio was determined not to get involved personally; Simon couldn’t possibly be a master blacksmith. As long as the dwarf craftsmen could solve the problems, a slightly lower quality wouldn’t matter. As armor for protection, thickness was its characteristic, but it was also difficult for one person to wear. Nio wanted to address the latter issue and modify the former. According to his vision, with the help of a dressing tool (a type of combined tool), the armor should allow the wearer to put it on and take it off by themselves. This meant many modifications were needed. Nio chose a shoulder-and-chest integrated armor set, which provided excellent protection for the upper body. Half of the skull could be seen from behind, and it resembled a life jacket worn over the head. The downside was that, to maintain shoulder mobility, the shoulder plates couldn’t be heavy and bulky, resulting in weak joints at the shoulders—resistant to vertical slashes but not to thrusts. The same issue existed at the thigh roots; Nio refused to use skirt armor and opted for high leg armor that went straight up the legs, along with a small crotch and hip armor integrated at the waist—basically iron shorts with a leather base. These joints thus required careful protection. Another modification was the uneven design of the armor, with uniform small cross-shaped protrusions added. It was as if the armor had been crafted using his shield as a template. Due to the tight schedule, there was no time for molding, so these protrusions were riveted onto the armor, then reheated and hammered into place one by one. By the time the armor was complete, its smoothness and luster were ruined, giving it a toadskin-like appearance that looked strange. The dwarf craftsmen called it the ugliest armor, but Nio was satisfied. He said, “Natural matte finish, no reflection—this is good.” On his second visit to the armory, the person in charge had changed. Nio showed his receipt, and the supplier was quick to hand over the item, no matter how strange it might be. With a quick stamp, it was recorded in the exit log as: “1 Siege Spider!” The Siege Spider was a mechanical construct that resembled a long-legged spider, though without a prominent belly. At the base of its eight legs was an almost oval-shaped unit, which was actually divided into a front and rear section—the rear being the structural component and the front the carrying frame. It was a simple frame that could fit about 12 ordinary adults inside, making it a seemingly fragile yet massive device. The first time Nio entered the armory, he set his eyes on this powerful weapon. In his own words, “Now I have the scaffolding for the circus.”

He indeed planned to do just that. This thing had eight legs, each with three segments; it could stand upright as a pyramid or be laid flat as a large frame. It could move without being restricted by terrain and could even climb cliffs. When used for setting up camp, its carrying frame could serve as a watchtower, and during movement, it could function as a cargo box—far better than using any kind of mount. The only drawback was that it consumed energy, requiring a matching energy collector, and it needed regular inspection and maintenance.

Golems and construct puppets—products of disciplines such as magic arrays, alchemy, and physical mechanics—were not something Neo intended to invest effort in developing or learning to create. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t do it. He had Nancy, and his execution skills were quite good. Whatever Nancy said, he would do. For a mechanically complex construct, he could still get it to function properly and make improvements.

Neo had already made up his mind. Whether Karnito had the skills or not, he would assign the task of maintaining and modifying the siege spiders to him. Given his surname, which referred to the Dandorith dwarves, and the fact that the Dandorith clan, closely aligned with one of the three major factions—specifically Frey’s realm—had a strong affinity for human technology and had made significant advancements in pulleys, clockwork gears, and electric power systems, the Dandorith dwarves were even more skilled than Frey’s scientists.

Sure enough, when Neo brought back a pile of siege spider parts to base on Planet 745, Karnito crossed his arms and frowned, saying, “Hey! How did you get this thing out of the warehouse? Is this the extra supplies you managed to secure? I never thought becoming a guardian would mean dealing with all these metal parts—what a curse!”

Neo didn’t say much to Karnito. He went into the small meeting room, swept aside all the cups, plates, wine bottles, half-eaten bread, and leg meat on the large table, then took out a roll of blueprints from behind him and unfolded it to draw revised sketches. The modification plan mainly consisted of two parts. First, adding a complete set of magic array systems to comprehensively enhance the siege spiders. Neo didn’t intend for them to charge into battle; their primary roles were carrying loads and serving as the external framework for the camp. Thus, the goal of the modification was to make this seemingly delicate creature possess strength and power far beyond its appearance, and the magic array systems were the main means to achieve this.

The other key method was mechanical modification. As a magic-powered mechanical construct, mechanical components were essential. The rear half of the siege spider’s oval body was actually a complex machine. To ordinary people, it must have seemed mysterious, with numerous mechanical parts and glowing magic arrays inside, leaving very little space—seemingly making it impossible to fit any missing parts back in. But in reality, it was a product of Aemera’s unique science: magic arrays combined with mechanics. As for the magic arrays, they all came from tradition; scientists only knew their functions without delving into their workings. The mechanics, on the other hand, were still in a relatively primitive stage and were actually far less complex than they appeared.

But neither magic arrays nor machinery were anything Neo could understand. However, Nancy did understand—she even dismissed their design after seeing the siege spiders through Neo’s eyes. All Neo had to do was draw out the modification blueprints given by Nancy and apply them accurately, and that would be enough.

“Hey! I didn’t expect you to be an expert in constructives with such powerful magic array skills,” said Canito, returning to the small meeting room after observing the siege spiders for a while. He stepped onto the table, looked at the blueprints for a while, then couldn’t hold back his excitement and suggested, “How about you handle the magic arrays while I take care of the mechanical modifications?”

Neo didn’t rush to reply and continued drawing. When he reached the mechanical part, Canito’s big eyes gradually lit up, his whole body started trembling, and he began scratching his sparse hair. Eventually, it became as if he was holding in a bowel movement while watching an opera—too excited to leave, gritting his teeth, struggling to breathe, forcing himself not to defecate on the spot. It was extremely funny.

When the final stroke was skillfully drawn without Neo needing to think, Canito finally exploded. Excitedly, he shrieked in a high-pitched voice, “A genius! A genius! Simon, you’re a genius! The top research institutes are where you belong. Even a slight shock to your brain on the battlefield would be a loss to the entire civilized world…”

Neo smiled and interrupted Canito’s praise, saying, “I’ll leave the mechanical part to you!”

“Yay!” Canito cheered excitedly again.

“However…”

Canito’s joy vanished instantly as he stared at Neo.

“This is top-secret. It must not be leaked. If it somehow gets out…” Neo pointed at the blueprints, “you’ll have to take full responsibility.”

“That can’t be! These are world-class contributions. Such an honor…” Canito suddenly seemed to have an epiphany and changed his tone, saying, “I understand! Protection! This is the best protection for scholars who are truly dedicated to research rather than socializing. Don’t worry, master. It’s an honor for me to share even a little of your burden.”

“Call me Simon, or Captain,” Neo corrected.

“Right, you’re right! ‘Captain’ is a great cover name!”

“…” Conquering Canito completely with the modification blueprints was beyond Neo’s expectations. But it was fine. In fact, Neo thought it would be more appropriate to turn Canito’s words back on him: “The battlefield really isn’t a place for you. With your obsession for machinery, if I don’t give you some parts to work with, it would be a loss for the entire Star 745.”

Over the next two days, Neo and Canito were extremely busy. Canito was busy gathering the parts needed for the modifications, which naturally required frequent visits to the supply depot and interruptions to the dwarf blacksmiths. Neo, on the other hand, had to address the auxiliary equipment for the siege spiders. The modified siege spiders consumed three times more energy than before, and a box of energy crystals was no longer sufficient—what was needed was a portable self-energy compression and filling device. Undoubtedly, such products on the market were extremely expensive; even if Star 745 were auctioned at double its value, it wouldn’t be worth it. Neo had to find ways to gather as many manufacturing materials as possible, and for the more expensive ones, he would have to solve it himself. He had managed to scrounge quite a bit from Gusby, amassing a small fortune, which he saw as a worthwhile investment in this device—money well spent.

No matter how hard they worked, it was impossible to complete the modifications of the siege spiders in just two days. So when the time allotted for Star 745 to adjust ended and they headed to the barracks, the siege spiders, still just a pile of parts, could only be transported away by two large carts.

Before leaving, Neo’s direct superior asked, “Simon, has Star 745 completed its adjustment task?”

“Yes!” Neo replied loudly.

“Was it done at the Umbrella Bar? Three days of drunkenness, six fights, Valrug sitting on a drunkard and forcing him to defecate in his pants—was that how you completed the adjustment?”

“Reporting to you, sir, considering it unrealistic to truly complete the adjustment in just three days, Star 745 adopted flexible methods—tailoring approaches and grouping them for adjustment. Korkal Blackmane, Valrug Wildhorn, and Zankin Rockhoof were in one group, while Simon Windrunner, Canito Gear, and Mary Jane were in another. The adjustment was a success! That’s all!”

Reyno nodded. “I’m giving you an extra task. Besides team adjustment, you also need to polish things up—we’re almost at the corner of the city wall.”

“Yes! I promise to work hard to complete the task!” Then Neo smiled and said, “Thank you, sir, for your care.” Zankin, Valrug, and the others also looked at Reyno with enthusiasm.

Reyno waved his hand, as if shooing flies, to bid farewell to Star 745.

The troops Star 745 was to take were at Barracks 4 in the Refuge Valley. The local authorities treated the officers assigned by the Celestial Temple fairly, but everyone knew that elite troops were essential for survival and success. Most of the good soldiers trained by various training units had already been selected by the local forces, and the less good ones had been picked by Star 743 and Star 744. With unrest everywhere—needing more troops or replenishing losses—there weren’t many left for Star 745 to choose from. It took gathering troops from four barracks to get just over two hundred. Who were these people? Misfits, those with poor physical conditions, personality flaws, or those who had recovered from injuries but weren’t accepted by their original units. In short, a bunch of scum. Even among such scum, Neo’s attempt to take them all failed—everything had to follow the rules. If you arrived late, you could only blame yourself.

“Alright! Those of you who don’t want to go to the front line, step forward!” Nio stood on the wooden platform in the courtyard, holding a magical microphone and addressing the over 200 people below.
Whoa! The soldiers, who had previously been casual and of mixed dispositions, stepped forward in good order this time, causing a loud noise.
“Very good. There aren’t many opportunities left. Are there any others?”
Following Nio’s words, a few more stepped forward, leaving less than 30 who hadn’t moved.
Nio nodded. “I must admit that some people are born for the battlefield—only there can their true value be shown. Others place military honor above everything; they fear no hardships and are true warriors. Let’s give them a round of applause!”
Clap, clap… Great, with over 20 willing to sacrifice themselves, we’ll have 20 fewer spots here. Fine, let’s applaud these fools!
“Those who wish to fight, please step forward and stand at the front on the right side of the line!”
Standing on the right meant being highlighted among the group—a sign of honor. About 20 people stepped forward, some with stern expressions, some arrogant, some filled with sorrow. Nio paid them little attention and continued to the others below, “Not wanting to go to the front line doesn’t mean being afraid of death. Maybe some are tied up with other matters and thus can’t go. So, this time, those who are afraid, step forward!”
Even though Nio had explained, the sound of stepping forward was still quite orderly and loud. It seemed there were only about 10 truly fearless soldiers, and a few of those weren’t truly fearless but just slow to react. One by one… eventually, the number of fearless soldiers dropped to 9.
“Very good. I believe these are also true men. Once their personal issues are resolved, they can easily become fierce warriors on the battlefield. Let’s give them applause too. Please stand in the right-side line.”
That brought the total of true men and good soldiers to 36.
“Next, I want to say that these outstanding soldiers on the right have great opportunities to defend their homeland and achieve success in peaceful times. These opportunities will come soon, but not today. So, you may leave now.” Nio turned to the remaining people and said, “Let’s give them a round of applause to see them off!”
This time, almost no one applauded. Damn it, it turned out to be a trick! Those who wanted to fight or weren’t afraid of death weren’t even allowed! This was really terrible!
Nio didn’t mind the lack of applause. Smiling, he said to the people below, “Let’s continue selecting talents. The first requirement is having cooking skills—step forward if you can cook well.”
The soldiers below were puzzled. Many wondered, “Is he speaking seriously or sarcastically this time? Infantry is a role that doesn’t require fighting on the front line. Should we step forward?”
Only a few dozen stepped forward gradually.

“Very good. I’m someone who loves delicious food; I can’t live a day without it. Moreover, I think the front-line soldiers fight hard and risk their lives, so they deserve hot and tasty meals when they return. That’s why I plan to inspect it personally. In a moment, the master chefs will perform on site, and the judges for the food will be me, Mr. Kanito from Danzorais, Miss Mary Jane from a noble family, and Kokar, the vegan black-maned sorcerer. Those chefs who fail will have to join the first combat unit.”

Whoa! More than 40 out of the 50 people stepped back, while the rest seemed confident in their skills.

Nio told them to stand on the right side and continued, “Second item: logistics and transportation. Those who think they have skills in driving vehicles or transporting goods may step forward. We’ll also conduct a test, and those who fail will be sent straight to the first combat unit.”

This time, less than 20 people stepped forward. In Nio’s view, this was rather sensible.

Next were those with skills in medical care and mechanical repair and manufacturing. After selection, only about a hundred people remained. All of them had gloomy expressions, knowing that the Junior Desolate Sky Combat Team would recruit 66 soldiers, and the combatants would likely be chosen from among them.

“This isn’t fair. Non-combatants should be recruited from second-level military units,” someone protested.

“It’s fair. You’re all qualified graduates with formal military training. The military offers you high salaries and corresponding benefits. Fighting is your mission, and being assigned other tasks is an honor. If you have no skills and don’t want to go to the front line, are you expecting the country to support you?”

For the final 22 combatants, Nio personally inspected each one, often saying, “I order you to look at me!”

This was actually a test conducted by Nancy, who evaluated these people’s physical traits and strength attributes. Even warriors who had reached level 3 were rare here, let alone those who had broken through to level 5. But for Nio, planting the seeds of strength in these people wasn’t difficult. He had reaped a great deal during the Night of Earthquake and Blood Battle, with two types of strength reserves being the most abundant.

One type was the worst kind of strength, which Nancy named “Blank Sheet.” This kind of strength produced the most featureless combat energy. It only provided a slight, overall improvement in physical fitness—no focus, no specificity, and low growth potential, which is why it was called Blank Sheet Combat Energy.

The other type was Chaos, which was commonly found in the monsters that were killed. It could be seen as the other extreme of Blank Sheet—Blank Sheet had nothing, while Chaos had everything, but again, with low growth potential.

Low-level combat energy also has its advantages. It has two main benefits: first, its broad spectrum means that almost no body can resist it—everyone can use it. Second, it grows rapidly. The stronger and more precious the combat energy, the slower its growth, but the better its effects. Whiteboard energy and Chaos energy are the exact opposite—very quickly, it can exceed level 5 or even level 10. The worst level 5 and the most pathetic level 10, but they still serve a purpose: they allow for growth through these “threshold changes.” For example, a warrior with level 10 Whiteboard energy, no matter how terrible, is still an energy concentrator, not an attribute user. Even if my Whiteboard energy is mediocre, with level 2 energy activation skills, I should still be able to hold my own against someone with level 1 energy skills. This is all about leveraging the advantage of higher levels.

That’s exactly the kind of level advantage Neo wants—to quickly form a small but powerful team. As for Whiteboard Sword Saints or Chaos Holy Lands, he never even considered them. While a level 20 threshold can be overcome with enough energy, the difference between quantitative accumulation and qualitative change is enormous. Neo only needs level 5 attribute users and level 10 energy concentrators—that’s elite. Such soldiers are already not much inferior to Victor’s Claw Wolf soldiers.

First, select people who are more suitable for these two types of energy. There are many such people—easily enough to pick out over 70 from 100+. Then, choose those who are larger and look better—muscular ones are always better than thin and frail ones. At the very least, they should have a large frame and some foundation, so that with proper training to increase muscle mass, they can keep up with the others.

After that, it’s not complicated—just a competition of skills. 1 platoon of firefighters, 1 platoon of medics, 1 platoon of logistics soldiers, 1 platoon of technicians, and 2 platoons of warriors. The initial lineup of Star 745 has the lowest overall rank, with 72 members in total, none belonging to second-level military units.

The recruitment process and team structure of Star 745 soon appeared in written form onRenault’s desk. After reading it,Renault scratched his head. “Non-combatants giving up armor? Daggers plus magic-powered pistols? Combatants switching from heavy leather armor to plate armor? Weapons changing from swords to long curved knives (resembling yatagans)? This team really knows how to mess around. What are they trying to achieve? Thinking they’ll get preferential treatment when assigned tasks?”

In fact, Star 745 did indeed get preferential treatment in their first battle. The higher-ups were well aware of what kind of people their officers were—bad soldiers multiplied into a whole bunch of bad leaders. Sending Star 745 straight into battle against monsters would be suicide. Although Star 745, aside from their captain, was a bunch of trash from top to bottom, in these extraordinary times, the higher-ups still hoped that through some training, Star 745 could at least handle low-level tasks like guarding. After all, they were far superior to ordinary people—even among militia, they could be considered outstanding. Maybe…