He felt extremely dizzy, his vision blurred, and he could feel nothing but pain all over his body. All he could hear was an ominous ringing in his eardrums, and more irritating noise and clamor.
However, Yu Lian felt a little happy.
After all, his last memory was of a very bad moment—he didn't know why he had awakened, but his eyes glowed like stars, and from his monstrous maw spewed gamma ray bursts that could tear even Titan dreadnoughts to shreds.
With his perception of this power as a high-level spiritual energy user, and his decades of experience traversing the Galaxy, he could conclude:
"No hope! He's dead! Wait for the next life!"
However, the eternal oblivion he expected did not come, which was certainly worth celebrating with champagne.
So, did those two kids pull me out? For mere smugglers to be able to escape the Star Dragon King's maw with this great hero, that's enough for them to brag about until the next century, isn't it?
Alright! When I recover, I'll teach you whatever you want to learn, and I won't hide anything you want to know.
"He's already useless, we really should…" a male voice said urgently.
I take back what I said, smugglers are indeed smugglers!
"Three comrades have already died today! Officer!"
Ah, yes, this is the cultivation a smuggler with ideals, aspirations, and integrity should have… Uh, wait, this sounds like a rather young female voice? This great hero doesn't remember there being pretty girls on your ship.
Because the girl's voice was very pleasant, with a hint of sharpness amidst its crispness, and it was to Yu Lian's taste, so he concluded she must be a pretty girl.
"But his power armor is already useless, and given the current situation… are you going to make us drag him back step by step?" The voice that was ready to abandon him earlier was now tinged with exasperation.
"I thought that wasn't a question, Officer!" The (in Yu Lian's opinion) pretty girl stood her ground.
"Watch your attitude, Sergeant Major Xi Lika!"
At this point, even Yu Lian, whose head was spinning and whose judgment was less than a tenth of its usual sharpness, felt that something was amiss.
Officer? Sergeant Major?
He hadn't dealt with military organizations for at least five or six years. Yu Lian was also certain that if a legitimate military organization truly encountered him, they would either be grief-stricken or overjoyed, but never with this attitude.
Perhaps eager to clarify the current situation, he felt his eyelids weren't as heavy anymore and managed to open his eyes. The first thing that caught his eye was an endless expanse of golden sandstone. High temperatures drove the dust-filled air to form a visually distorting haze on the horizon. Above that was a cerulean sky, and two suns, one blue and one red, like the eyes of gods.
As the saying goes, "A lone wisp of smoke in the vast desert, straight and winding; a setting sun over the long river, a pair of circles!"
"Isn't this Tatooine… Uh, I'm so boring to keep using this old joke for decades!" Yu Lian felt sad for his bad taste, and then in half a second, he confirmed that he should be on New Yumen Star, which was the earliest colonized planet developed by Earthlings in the Andromeda Galaxy.
He was too familiar with every grain of sand and soil here.
New Yumen… it was like his second home in his second life, but that was also the name before Earthlings lost this planet.
"On New Yumen, we've only been outsiders for a few years! Don't you understand? We ourselves are in crisis!" The person Sergeant Major Xi Lika called "Officer" shouted again.
So your conversation is so anachronistic! What do you mean, just a few years? Isn't it the 884th year of the Galaxy Common Era now? Humanity has lost this "Andromeda's Yellow Jade Jewel" for almost half a century!
It had also long been renamed "Iron King's Domain" by its new masters, a very tasteless Kaitai name.
"They're here!" A third voice rang out, tinged with panic.
Yu Lian could hear hurried, heavy breathing, the friction of mechanical skeletons, the click of bullets being chambered, and the roar of power axes and chainswords. It must be said that all of this made him feel very anachronistic, so he didn't feel any tension at all, only as if he were in an absurd farce.
He propped himself up—this action alone exhausted him—and quickly assessed his situation.
Yu Lian told himself that even if it felt anachronistic, even if every bone seemed to ache, he had to immediately grasp the current situation. This was a quality a "Free Knight," a Seven Rings spiritual energy user, a ranger with the most (infamous) reputation (far and wide) in the entire Universe, must possess.
He was now lying on a motorized stretcher. Within a ten-meter radius, there were a dozen armed personnel, hurriedly lining up. It was clear they were exhausted, and some were even trembling, but at least they hadn't fled, which was commendable courage. However…
"They're standing too close, and there's no sense of layered fire distribution. This is early infantry tactics not reformed by General Patton. It's just that the technology tree in our parallel Universe is crooked, otherwise, they wouldn't have such tactical literacy even in the space age." Yu Lian shook his head and sighed.
"...Warrant Officer, you're awake?" Yu Lian heard Sergeant Major Xi Lika's voice, and then saw her face leaning close.
It would be too unrealistic to expect a fragrant breeze from a girl wrapped in power armor stained with blood and dust, her face also covered in grime and fatigue.
Of course, even though she was travel-worn, there was no sign of disarray; beneath a neat short golden hair was a well-defined face and a pair of fiery red eyes that no (normal) Earthlings could possess.
Full of vitality yet sharp and imposing, she was indeed a heroic beauty.
Sergeant Major Xi Lika… Red eyes! No, this can't be right?
Yu Lian felt that he should know her, but only from news and videos.
And, she would never be this young…
“Don’t worry, Commonwealth soldiers will never abandon their comrades!” she said formally, her movements meticulous as she checked her rifle.
Commonwealth early… Uh, miss, why are you wearing an AS-40 external power exoskeleton that only pirates and black (meow) gangs use, and holding a C10 kinetic rifle that has been out of production for almost 30 years? Is this a costume drama?
Although Yu Lian really wanted to say that, as a free ranger who had roamed most of the Universe, he naturally understood that this was not a play.
These people were truly nervous, scared, and gritting their teeth, preparing to deal with something.
“It’s too open here, we can’t stay and fight! Lieutenant Mondeson!” The “officer” who initially wanted to abandon him was still chattering, but his target had changed to a middle-aged man also wearing an old model external power exoskeleton.
Lieutenant Mondeson seemed to hesitate for a moment, but still gritted his teeth and said, “We’ll completely defeat them right here! Get back to your position, Second Lieutenant!”
His tone was very firm, only overly firm, which made it seem a bit deliberate.
The argument between the two officers stopped there, not because the Second Lieutenant didn’t want to continue, but because in their line of sight, the Rolling smoke and dust were getting closer and closer.
So close that they could smell the stench with their noses.
They, of course, also didn’t notice that Yu Lian, having woken up, had already scrutinized them from head to toe.
The rank insignia on the shoulder pads were orange-backed, belonging to the extraterrestrial colonial star garrison security forces, which were even inferior to the “Marine Corps apes.” They were commonly known as “garrison squad cannon fodder.” As the name implies, they were naturally at the very bottom of the military’s internal pecking order.
The rank insignias were silver swallow patterns with one star, and without a star, indeed a Lieutenant and a Second Lieutenant.
As for the Sergeant Major beside him, her insignia was a reddish-brown thick bar with crossed swords, and she was indeed a Sergeant Major.
These were indeed the rank insignia of the Commonwealth army.
However, that broken country wasn't already… Yu Lian looked again at the Sergeant Major, who had a solemn expression, especially lingering on her heroic and beautiful face for a couple of glances, and vaguely guessed the current situation.
What is this? A second playthrough?
“Fire!” Lieutenant Mondeson roared.
Dozens of kinetic rifles flashed with electromagnetic halos, and with dull thuds, hundreds of steel nail bullets were instantly shot into the smoke and dust.
Immediately, accompanied by tragic and ferocious wails and the splashing, flying dismembered limbs of creatures resembling both insects and beasts, a thicker, more nauseating fog of Fishy smell and blood Qi condensed, spreading forward with even greater madness.
Clearly, the barrage from the kinetic rifles could not make them retreat.
“What in the world are these things?!” a large black man with a Sergeant’s rank cursed through gritted teeth.
A Sergeant, even more robust than him, gritted his teeth and remained silent, continuing to fire his rifle with one hand, while the other was already gripping the power axe at his waist.
He was the strongest and tallest in the entire team, not wearing an external power exoskeleton, yet he was noticeably taller than the Sergeant Major and the annoying Second Lieutenant who were wearing them.
However, even this giant, who could seemingly strangle a bear with his wrist, showed clear signs of tension.
If they were truly “naturally” bred beasts, they would not charge to their deaths through a hail of bullets.
This phenomenon, beyond everyone's common sense, represented the unknown, and naturally brought panic.
“Howl! Roar!” Alien monsters, resembling large hyenas but with insect-like claws extending from their ribs, lunged out of the smoke and dust, revealing their ferocity and exuding a chilling aura.
At first glance, there were hundreds of them, and who knew how many more were hidden by the smoke and dust.
Mixed among the large “hyena” packs were also large armored “cobras” that stood upright, instantly exceeding two meters, also brandishing sharp claws like mantises.
They were indeed terrifying, clearly emotionless predators, and their numbers, in swarms, were so vast that they didn't seem like carnivores.
The thick carapaces covering their bodies, capable of withstanding bullets, made one wonder what they had evolved for.
Everyone was terrified, gritting their teeth and persevering! But Yu Lian only felt humiliated, so humiliated that he was almost on the verge of tears.
Help me up! Bring me my Atomic Light Spear, Storm Blaster, and Dawn Sword! No matter what, this hero has fought the Aether Dragon for three hundred rounds! I've even beaten your queen more than once!
And now I'm being ridden over by a bunch of the lowest-level Zerglings and Hydralisks, what kind of behavior is this?