Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

Ruo Manni had anticipated that Lin Kexin, the original owner of this body, would react differently to her own complicated background. However, she hadn’t expected such an intense response, nearly leading Lin Kexin into a state of mental instability.

But on second thought, it made sense. Ruo Manni had grown up in a loving family. Even when she left that family and was reborn as an orphan in a different world, she didn’t feel unloved because she had always been surrounded by affection.

Lin Kexin, on the other hand, had a very different experience. She grew up without a father, enduring classmates’ ridicule, being called a “bastard” and a “child born out of wedlock.” While Ruo Manni would have found such comments annoying, they wouldn’t have hurt her. For Lin Kexin, however, they were deeply painful.

Although Teresa Du treated Lin Kexin well, her approach was strict and demanding. She wanted Lin Kexin to excel and rise above her circumstances.

Teresa Du’s intentions were good. She believed it was an injustice for a noble daughter of a prestigious family to live as a commoner. Deep down, she didn’t want this child to remain ordinary.

As someone who had once served as Queen Amber’s personal guard, Teresa Du likely understood whether the Queen harbored any ill will toward the child. Forcing Lin Kexin to strive for admission to Xuang Gu First Military Academy was probably Teresa Du’s way of ensuring the Hua De family would eventually discover Lin Kexin’s existence.

Ruo Manni explained to Lin Kexin that while Teresa Du wasn’t her biological mother, she had gone to great lengths to ensure that Lin Kexin could return to the Hua De family in the most dignified way possible.

“Even a biological mother might not do as much. While your early life was indeed tragic, you were fortunate to have two mothers who truly loved you. That’s not too bad, is it?” Ruo Manni said, trying to comfort her.

Under Ruo Manni’s careful words and reasoning, Lin Kexin gradually calmed down. She looked at Ruo Manni and said, “Thank you. I’m truly glad that we have this special bond.”

Ruo Manni reached out and gently patted Lin Kexin on the head. Because of their soul swap, Ruo Manni saw Lin Kexin as a younger sister. And in truth, Ruo Manni was indeed slightly older than Lin Kexin.

“I can feel that your mental strength is very powerful. Now that I’m back, I’ve brought enhancement drugs and top-tier cultivation techniques. If you train diligently over the next fifty years, you’ll have the strength to live happily in any world,” Ruo Manni said.

Lin Kexin nodded. “From now on, I’ll call you sister.”

“You were supposed to call me sister in the first place,” Ruo Manni replied with a smile.

Ruo Manni then told Lin Kexin that Hua Deli had also come to this world and asked if she wanted to acknowledge him. Lin Kexin immediately refused, without even thinking about it. Even for Dean Atchison, who was technically her cousin, Lin Kexin didn’t want to acknowledge him either. Her rejection of Hua Deli, who had taken her identity and status, was extremely strong.

Seeing Lin Kexin’s adamant stance, Ruo Manni naturally respected her decision and planned to warn Hebrew Adam not to reveal anything about this to Hua Deli or Dean Atchison.

Ruo Manni had once thought about why she had so easily accepted Hua Deli without exposing his true identity. It was mostly because Hua Deyu and Lixi Amber had chosen not to expose it, and as a stand-in, Ruo Manni felt it wasn’t her place to meddle. She respected Lixi Amber’s choice.

However, the deeper reason was that Ruo Manni wasn’t the original Ruo Manni. She didn’t have the same deeply rooted feelings of love or hatred and could approach the situation more objectively.

But the real Ruo Manni was different. Seeing Lin Kexin’s strong reaction made it clear just how deeply she resented Hua Deli.

Ruo Manni and Hua Deli had gotten to know each other at the military academy, and in Ruo Manni’s mind, she always considered him as just a classmate and a comrade-in-arms. Given that she was merely a stand-in, she felt no true sibling bond with him.

In contrast, Lin Kexin, who had swapped souls with her, felt like another version of herself. Naturally, Ruo Manni’s heart sided with Lin Kexin.

Lin Kexin didn’t want to acknowledge Hua Deli or return to the interstellar era, and Ruo Manni didn’t rush to persuade her otherwise.

After all, the twelve of them would be staying in this world for fifty years, leaving Lin Kexin plenty of time to change her mind.

Moreover, although the apocalypse had already begun in this world, the crisis here was nowhere near the scale of the Yunkai Star invasion in the interstellar era. Returning to the interstellar era didn’t necessarily guarantee a better chance of survival.

After discussing Lin Kexin’s lineage, the two shifted their focus to the jade pendants they each carried, which had been a source of much confusion. Previously, their minds had been flooded with chaotic information, but now that they had the time, they carefully analyzed it. These pendants seemed crucial to their future actions.

Through their discussion, they realized that the jade pendants they had carried since childhood were not ordinary accessories.

“These two jade pendants are definitely not mundane items; they’re supernatural artifacts. They can trap souls and create portable life spaces. The fact that we swapped souls might be directly linked to these pendants,” Lin Kexin speculated.

“Based on the strange information in our minds, it seems this wasn’t a coincidence, nor are we the only ones affected. Both of our worlds are facing significant crises, which seem to have drawn the attention of some higher power. Let’s call this mysterious force that interfered ‘Heaven’s Will.’ Since both worlds are on the brink of collapse, Heaven’s Will seems to be trying to create variables to increase the chances of survival,” Ruo Manni reasoned.

“That makes sense. In the interstellar era, there’s the crisis of alien invasion, and here we have an apocalyptic disaster,” Lin Kexin agreed.

“But hasn’t this world’s apocalypse already begun? This crisis doesn’t seem severe enough to cause human extinction,” Lin Kexin added after some thought.

Ruo Manni glanced at Lin Kexin and asked, “Did you notice a post about an apocalypse survival guide before the disaster started?”

“No, what’s so special about that post?” Lin Kexin asked.

Ruo Manni opened her light-brain device and shared the post with Lin Kexin for them to review together.

Lin Kexin’s spiritual power level was also likely very high because she scanned through the thousands of words in the post with just a glance.

Frowning deeply, Lin Kexin said, “The predictions in the first half of this post are mostly accurate. If the timeline progresses as described, humanity truly faces an extinction crisis in two or three years. The person who wrote this post must be a reborn individual. If only we had seen it before the apocalypse began, we could have prepared better.”

“I checked the records. This post was taken down less than ten minutes after it was published. Even if you had seen it back then, you might not have believed it,” Ruo Manni said, not feeling regretful.

“The first half has already passed, but humanity’s real test hasn’t even begun. We need to prepare for what’s coming,” Lin Kexin said, thinking about the predicted events. There were still four or five days before the rainy season, so it was important to gather more supplies.

“Later, let’s talk to Brother and Song Changlong to figure out how to gather as many supplies as possible before the rainy season hits,” Lin Kexin said, feeling a bit troubled.

Ruo Manni couldn’t help but notice that Lin Kexin had fully integrated herself into this world.

“Don’t worry. I’ll do my best to help Brother,” Ruo Manni reassured her.

Before arriving at the B City survivor base, Ruo Manni had decided to only intervene when humanity faced life-threatening danger. She had planned to stay out of the internal affairs of the survival base.

But now, Ruo Manni’s perspective had completely changed. The base leader was her brother, and most of her family, along with surviving friends from their old neighborhood, were in this base.

She wasn’t sure about the stance of Hebrew Adam and the others, but Ruo Manni was certain she would do everything in her power to help her brother overcome this crisis.