Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

Since he could remember, Hua Deli had always seen his mother as distant and indifferent towards him and his father. He had never witnessed her so visibly distressed, with tears streaming down her face, nor had he seen his father looking so regretful.

The conflict between his parents seemed to have erupted suddenly, leading to their argument in the living room, during which Hua Deli had overheard a vague comment.

When they noticed him, his mother stopped speaking and went into a room, with his father following her in a state of agitation. Hua Deli was left alone in the living room, feeling as though he had been forgotten.

Recalling the unclear words he had heard and seeing how much the young Ruo Manni resembled his mother, along with the many jokes about him and Ruo Manni being like twin siblings…

Hua Deli couldn’t help but entertain a wild guess in his mind.

If this is true, then…

Seeing Hua Deli staring blankly at Ruo Manni, Hebrew Adam frowned slightly. His cousin was already engaged; it was inappropriate for him to look at another girl like that.

Hebrew Adam had heard that Hua Deli and Ruo Manni resembled each other as a married couple, but he hadn’t paid much attention to it before. Now, observing the similarities in their black hair, black eyes, and somewhat similar facial features, as well as their similar cool demeanor, he felt a sudden unease.

It’s more appropriate to describe resembling boys and girls as siblings rather than a married couple. Calling them husband and wife is simply absurd.

Hebrew Adam took a couple of steps forward to block Hua Deli’s gaze, deciding to keep these two apart in the future. He didn’t want his cousin to make any mistakes in his thoughts.

Hebrew Adam’s sudden action made Ruo Manni look up in confusion, wondering what was going on.

Hebrew Adam said calmly, “You have a good eye. Several places in the guild residence need manual adjustments. I’m a bit troubled, so I’ll leave them all to you. Just do it according to your own preferences.”

“Alright, no problem.” As long as the tasks assigned by Hebrew Adam were reasonable, Ruo Manni wouldn’t refuse. She began setting things up quietly.

Hua Deli reconfirmed that Ruo Manni had clearly defined her role. She was Hebrew Adam’s subordinate, and whenever Hebrew Adam asked her to do something, she acted as if she was following orders.

When they first met, Hua Deli had suspected that Ruo Manni was just putting on an act. But now, he was convinced that she was genuinely trying to maintain an appropriate distance from Hebrew Adam.

Growing up with Hebrew Adam, Hua Deli had seen more of the ambitious glints in the eyes of noble ladies when they encountered the second prince, especially after Hebrew Adam changed. Those noble ladies often lost their noble demeanor in their pursuit of ambition, and some of their actions could be quite uncomfortable to witness.

However, Ruo Manni had never shown such ambition. From the beginning, her attitude was clear: Hebrew Adam was just her classmate and her team leader, nothing more.

During training and exercises, Ruo Manni was very cooperative with Hebrew Adam. But once they were in a private setting, she would revert to her usual calm demeanor.

In fact, aside from her special relationship with Dean Atchison, Ruo Manni treated everyone similarly. Even though she became particularly close to Mina due to their shared gender and background during the island’s special training, she returned to her usual reserved self once back at school, showing no intention of maintaining that close friendship.

Among the twelve people, Hua Deli felt that Ruo Manni maintained a kind of respectful distance from him. In the three months they had been classmates, they had spoken fewer than ten sentences to each other.

Initially, Hua Deli thought Ruo Manni was calculating and had ulterior motives. After all, he had seen this kind of thing often: commoner women who could get close to noble students often hoped to become their “loved ones” as a way to marry into a wealthy family.

However, he knew that many times, noble students couldn’t even control their own marriages. Unless they had the ability to achieve their desires on their own, they often had to choose partners from their own social class to maintain their status.

After learning more about certain matters, Hua Deli began to suspect that Ruo Manni never intended to integrate with them. Instead, she seemed to be keeping a deliberate distance, maintaining a polite demeanor, and planning to separate easily in the future.

“Senior members of the guild can apply for personal rooms, which cost just one gold coin per month. Would you like one?” Hebrew Adam asked Ruo Manni.

Ruo Manni also reviewed the relevant information. “This benefit is really good; of course, I want it.”

Such a straightforward and especially cost-saving privilege is not something a fool would refuse, and Ruo Manni is no fool.

“What position would you like to take? How about the vice president? There are two vice president positions; you and Hua Deli can take them,” Hebrew Adam continued.

“Alright,” Ruo Manni said. Being a vice president is fine even if she can’t be the president.

Hebrew Adam said no more and made the arrangements on the screen.

Hua Deli glanced at his good cousin. It seemed like his opinions didn’t matter, as if he wasn’t even present. The titles were assigned without asking for his input.

The tall, handsome boy and the slim, delicate girl stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. The sunlight streaming in enveloped them in a soft glow. They occasionally exchanged a few words, speaking in a soft tone, and then each focused on their own tasks. They didn’t appear particularly close, yet Hua Deli had a distinct feeling of being superfluous.

Lately, why does he keep feeling like he’s unnecessary? Hua Deli suddenly missed Mina, believing that in her eyes, he would never be seen as unnecessary.

“What level is your Mecha Manufacturing skill now?” Hebrew Adam continued to ask.

“Last month, I passed the Level 3 Mecha Manufacturing certification at school and received the badge,” Ruo Manni replied.

Hebrew Adam and Hua Deli looked at Ruo Manni in surprise. They hadn’t expected that she had already achieved Level 3 Mecha Manufacturing certification while only taking it as a secondary skill.

This level was comparable to a third-year Mecha Manufacturing student, and she was only taking it as a secondary skill, with her main focus being the time-consuming Mech Combat discipline.

Hebrew Adam looked at Ruo Manni in surprise: “No wonder you wanted to major in Mech Manufacturing before.”

Since entering Xuan Gu’s First Military Academy, Ruo Manni had been reluctant to discuss such topics. She doubted that these people hadn’t thoroughly investigated her background.

However, honestly speaking, she felt that her previous self couldn’t match up to her current abilities in mech manufacturing. Her past experience and the sense of connection she felt every time she handled mech parts deeply immersed her, making her imagination feel like it was on overdrive.

“Starting from level 10, players can wear equipment, and the best equipment in War Realm is mechs. How many mech parts did you get from the upgrade rewards while completing missions before?” Hebrew Adam asked his two teammates.

“I only have a head, left arm, and right leg parts,” Ruo Manni said.

Hebrew Adam and Hua Deli both looked at her with faces full of frustration.