Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

After exiting the hot post about herself being the future second princess consort of the Gus Empire, Ruo Manni searched the Vera Federation’s hot forum and felt relieved to find no other similar posts.

She then paid closer attention to the post that shared the Gus Empire’s black-red post. Within just a few minutes of reading the gossip, the post about the aliens had actually risen two positions.

This indicated that over one hundred million people had clicked on the post in that brief time.

The subsequent posts were also related to the alien incident, and Ruo Manni could see the click data skyrocketing.

From the looks of it, the alien event was still in its early stages of gaining traction in the Vera Federation.

At this rate, Ruo Manni estimated that in less than two hours, the Vera Federation’s hot forum would be inundated with alien-related posts, just like in the Gus Empire.

At that point, the gossip posts about her would be pushed down and lost in the sea of posts, and then no one would remember them.

After exiting the Vera Federation’s hot forum, Ruo Manni entered the national hot forum of the Lanxiang Alliance.

The hot posts about aliens in this country had started gaining traction even earlier than in the Vera Federation, with the most popular alien post already ranking fifth in hot topics, and it was predicted to overwhelm the forum in less than an hour.

The Lanxiang Alliance could be considered the third strongest nation in the Gumera Star Region, but its overall national strength was only about one-tenth that of the Gus Empire.

The gap between the Lanxiang Alliance and the Gus Empire and Vera Federation was too large. Within these two powerful countries, the Lanxiang Alliance had little influence, while its citizens closely monitored the political movements of the Gus Empire and Vera Federation.

Politically, the two major powers were evenly matched, which gave the Lanxiang Alliance a favorable position. However, in recent years, the Lanxiang Alliance had clearly leaned towards the Gus Empire, becoming one of its allies.

This was different from the novel, where the political systems of the two countries were quite similar, and the Lanxiang Alliance leaned somewhat towards the Vera Federation. After the outbreak of interstellar war, they completely sided with the Vera Federation.

On the Lanxiang Alliance’s hot forum, Ruo Manni also saw gossip posts about her and Hebrew Adam, and it was currently the hottest post.

The post featured photos from after the competition, capturing the moment when she and Hebrew Adam celebrated their teammates’ victory with a high five.

This celebratory gesture was popular among the elite class; everyone had done it with each other. Ruo Manni had never considered that such a moment could appear ambiguous under the camera.

In the first photo, Hebrew Adam was almost a head taller than her, so to give him a high five, she had to tilt her head back and raise her hands. Hebrew Adam slightly leaned down to accommodate her, and the expression on his face was indescribable… The poster commented that it showed a look of indulgence.

In the second photo, after the high five, she was smiling brightly, looking very happy. Although the photo was a bit blurry, her radiant smile and the cute dimples on her cheeks were charming.

However, Hebrew Adam was not smiling; he was staring at her with a somewhat dazed expression. The poster said he was entranced by her smile.

Ruo Manni could explain the video as a matter of perspective or suggest that the poster was overthinking and fabricating details. However, these two photos forced her to confront a certain possibility.

Hebrew Adam’s sudden, dazed gaze was something she felt she had seen several times in the past few days. Before returning to the Imperial Capital, she had never noticed him looking at her that way. Now, realizing that there was something indescribably different in his gaze, she couldn’t understand why and had planned to ask him about it later.

Yet from a third-party perspective, others might perceive it as an infatuated stare. Ruo Manni felt that this was impossible, but with the photos as evidence, she found herself confused about why things had turned out this way.

She then checked the hot forums of other countries and found that unless it was news about aliens dominating the headlines, there were still plenty of gossip posts circulating.

There was another related post featuring a photo of Ruo Manni and Dean Atchison looking very close as they talked, with Hebrew Adam watching them from the side, which the poster labeled as a jealous gaze.

The expression was so obvious that it left Ruo Manni flustered. How could she face Hebrew Adam calmly after this?

Taking a deep breath, she was extremely grateful that the alien posts were exploding at this moment. For a long time, everyone’s attention would shift to this matter, leaving little room for gossip.

Ruo Manni felt it was best not to continue reading to avoid further emotional turmoil. She figured that by tomorrow, aside from alien news, all unrelated stories would likely vanish.

She could only hope her friends hadn’t visited foreign forums like she had to see these rumors. If they brought it up, it would be incredibly awkward.

Wanting some peace, Ruo Manni exited the forum.

Ruo Manni was unaware that her friends were much more in the loop than she was; they had known about the situation for several days.

The rumors about her and Hebrew Adam had already started to fade in enthusiasm. A few days ago, they had been all the rage on foreign forums, creating quite a stir.

Since Ruo Manni wasn’t fond of gossip, she usually only checked news forums in the Gus Empire, so she had no idea that this was happening.

Her friends understood her personality and figured she wouldn’t be aware of the rumors circulating among foreigners. Plus, with Hua Deli and Dean Atchison’s disapproving looks and warnings, no one had informed her.

Moreover, when Hebrew Adam saw the rumors, her friends clearly noticed his expression shift to one of cold seriousness, revealing an unsettling, suppressed emotion.

They didn’t know how Hebrew Adam felt about it, but they all sensed it wasn’t a matter he took lightly or with happiness.

Uncertain about Hebrew Adam’s feelings, they had to be cautious when discussing the matter in his absence, let alone gossiping in front of him.

After all, Hebrew Adam was the second prince. With his cultivation far surpassing his peers, he exuded an imposing royal presence that commanded respect.

For most of the elite class, Hebrew Adam was no longer the same as before; he was now the second prince of the Gus Empire, and they didn’t dare speak casually in his presence.

However, Ruo Manni, Hua Deli, and Dean Atchison seemed to feel differently, maintaining their previous attitudes toward Hebrew Adam.

The others in the elite class clearly sensed that Hebrew Adam treated the three of them differently, often unconsciously tempering his imposing demeanor in their presence.

Thus, for the three of them, he was still the same Hebrew Adam as before.