Chapter Five: The Celestial Clan?

Chapter Five: The Celestial Race?

“What’s wrong? You look like you’re feeling down.” Hearing Rose’s concern from behind, Yunyang composed himself and replied, “It’s nothing, I just… miss my parents a bit. I might never see them again, and it makes me sad.”

“Sorry. But you’ll see them again—you have to stay optimistic. Once we drive the aliens off Earth, you’ll be able to see them. Isn’t that right?”

Rose misinterpreted the sorrow in Yunyang’s words, but there was nothing to explain—the outcome was much the same regardless.

Shaking off his melancholy, Yunyang spoke up, “We’re at the camp now. Where should we go?”

Rose hadn’t planned to take him to the conference tent—after all, it was full of officers and secrecy was required. But remembering Yunyang’s special ability, she made up her mind.

“Let’s go to the tent at the very center. Let our portable warehouse meet the people in charge.”

“Alright,” Yunyang replied, then fell silent, quietly steering the vehicle toward the center of the camp.

It didn’t take long—they soon arrived at the heart of the camp, which was not large. After parking, he followed Rose toward the tent.

A soldier stood guard at the entrance. He saluted Rose, who returned it, and Yunyang, following behind, hastily offered a not-so-standard salute as well.

“Rose, who’s this?” the guard asked, extending an arm to block their way.

“Oh, this is Yunyang—our future warehouse. Don’t worry, he’s one of us,” Rose replied.

“In that case, please come in.”

As they spoke, two more soldiers emerged from the tent, chatting about supplies as they passed by.

Once Rose entered, one of the departing soldiers whispered with admiration, “Look, that’s one of the Black Armored Warriors from the Super Soldier Company.”

Catching that, Yunyang stepped inside as well.

Within the tent sat four burly soldiers in camouflage. Upon seeing Rose, they all stood and greeted her. Then, noticing Yunyang behind her, one of them, in a regional-accented Mandarin, teased, “Rose, you sure know how to pick them—went out and brought back a boyfriend.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ve brought plenty of people back before; they can’t all have been my boyfriends, right?” Rose replied with unruffled ease.

“That’s not the same. None of the others got to come to headquarters. And look at this one—pretty face, fair skin, but not nearly sturdy enough. Needs a bit of training.”

The soldier kept up the banter.

Yunyang felt a little awkward. Fair-skinned and not sturdy enough? Might as well just call him a pretty boy.

“Alright, enough joking. Let’s get to business. Yunyang, don’t mind these guys—they’re always like this,” Rose said quickly, trying to spare him embarrassment.

“No worries, I’m not exactly built like a tank. I could use some training,” Yunyang replied cheerfully—he was not so petty as to mind good-natured teasing, especially from soldiers he respected so much.

After all, they were just ordinary people, nothing like the super warriors of the Super Soldier Company. A single bullet could kill them, but they fought on without complaint, facing astronomical casualties to resist the alien invaders, never retreating an inch. No one could help but respect those who defended their homeland, not even their enemies.

“Yes, yes, let’s get to the point,” the other three chimed in, eager to move the conversation along.

Seeing everyone had settled down, one of the soldiers stepped forward. “We’re discussing tomorrow’s route. This place is too close to Great Gorge City—it’s not safe.”

Rose nodded and added, “Kangkang, I’ve gathered a lot of food in my tent—cola, instant noodles, that sort of thing. Find someone to distribute it.”

“Alright. Did you see any other units on the way in?” Kangkang asked.

“Yes, plenty. But there’s no way to organize—communications are completely down.”

“Don’t worry. If there’s no comms, we fight without comms. Come, sit and talk.”

The group invited them to sit, and once settled, the complaints began.

“We can’t just keep retreating forever,” one of the soldiers—the first to tease Rose—spoke up again. “Rose, do you think we can fight our way back?”

“You’re asking me?”

“Well, you’re from the Super Soldier Company. You ought to know more than us, right?”

“If—if we could get communications back up across the army, the aliens might not be as tough to deal with as they seem.”

Rose’s tone softened, trying to raise their spirits. After all, courage alone couldn’t bridge the technological gap.

“Maybe if we think hard enough, we’ll come up with a way to save the world!”

With that, the group launched into spirited, wild discussions, their ideas soaring. Listening to the cacophony of dialects and accents from across the country, Yunyang couldn’t help but think his image of serious military meetings was being shattered. These guys were quite the characters.

While the debate raged, Kangkang turned to Rose. “So, Rose, who is this exactly? If you brought him here, he can’t really be your boyfriend, can he?”

“Of course not. This is Yunyang—he has a special ability that could help us. I wanted to discuss with you all how best to use it,” Rose explained quickly.

“Oh? What kind of ability? Is it powerful? Could he shoot down that big cross above Great Gorge City?” Kangkang asked, eyes alight with hope.

“Er, probably not. My ability is not offensive. I just have a space where I can store a lot of things—as for taking out spaceships, I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Yunyang replied, a bit embarrassed.

“I see. Still, that’s good. If you can carry supplies, we’ll free up a lot of vehicles. Tomorrow we’ll load food and ammo into your space, and the civilians will have more vehicles. We’ll be able to move much faster.”

Kangkang looked disappointed, but also relieved. After all, if just anyone could take down an alien ship, what use would there be for ordinary soldiers?

Just then, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air—clearly not fireworks, but a signal flare.

Before anyone could react, the guard burst into the tent, not even pausing to look at the others. He addressed Rose directly. “Rose! There’s a signal flare from the direction of the Seventh Company.”

Rose stepped outside, instructing, “A flare means there are civilians. I’ll go ahead. You all get ready for rescue.”

She was about to mount her bike when Yunyang called out, “Rose, wait! I have something for you.”

“What is it?” Rose’s tone was anxious—she was clearly worried for those in trouble.

Without further explanation, Yunyang removed the watch from his wrist. “Take this. It’s special—if you focus, it can emit a stasis field. I hope it helps.”

Rose paused, looked at him deeply, then accepted the watch and strapped it on. “Alright.”

Without another word, she sped toward the signal flare.

Once she was gone, Yunyang watched as the soldiers sprang into action. In less than five minutes, they were all assembled, boarding troop transports and heading for the front—leaving only a minimal guard behind.

Unsure what to do, Yunyang returned to the tent, retrieved instant noodles and utensils from his virtual space (don’t ask where the bowls came from—he didn’t know himself), and began to eat.

He chatted absently with Xiao Yi, his AI, until she suddenly said something that nearly made him drop his noodles.

“Master, why do you have so many pictures of Sister Rose? They’re a bit different… It’s like they weren’t taken with a camera.”

“Uh… Kids shouldn’t ask about things they don’t understand. Just delete them. Don’t mention it again, you hear?”

Yunyang felt a pang of worry—would his AI ever let these things slip?

Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he exclaimed, “Wait—I changed my mind! Don’t delete them!”

“Okay, okay, Master, I haven’t deleted them yet,” Xiao Yi replied, quietly restoring the photos from the ‘recently deleted’ folder. She breathed a sigh of relief—thank goodness they could be recovered.

After that, she fell silent, pondering her future with a master so fickle. Unable to come up with a good plan, she decided to simply do whatever he said and keep a low profile. Surely, a perfectly obedient and adorable AI wouldn’t be abandoned.

Having sorted that out, she went back to browsing the photo album, soon discovering many images of beautiful, winged women. The more she looked, the more she liked them, until she decided she wanted to make a figurine for herself—an actual, life-sized one. It would be stunning.

With a pitifully sweet tone, she pleaded, “Master, can I ask you for something?”

Yunyang almost melted at her coyness, though he’d never admit it. He replied coolly, “What is it? Let’s hear it first.”

“I want modeling clay, putty, steel wire, an X-Acto knife, and… a whole list of other things.” Xiao Yi rattled off her requests, too many for Yunyang to remember, so he simply reassured her.

“Alright, alright, you got it. But that’s a lot, and I can’t get them all right now. When I have the chance or come across them, I’ll collect them for you, okay?”

“Okay! Master, you’re the best!” Xiao Yi replied, her voice soft and full of childish affection.

Yunyang was left with a giant question mark in his mind. What on earth did this little girl want all that for? Was she actually going to make a figurine? Did she even have that skill?

He pondered for a while but couldn’t figure it out, and didn’t bother to ask. Choosing an empty tent, he lay down. After the dangers at the gas station and a whole day on the move, exhaustion overtook him—he decided to get some sleep first.