Chapter 427: Thousand Stars Journey: 'At This Moment, Under the Same Starry Sky' (Part 1)

Absolute Zone Zero.

"This… this many mechs!"

In the laboratory of Baiqi Heavy Industry, Gelisi's head was about to emit white smoke; her slender fingers flew wildly on the tablet, trying to magnify the appearance details of the three mechs that had just appeared.

"Ahhh—! This joint transmission structure!" Her breathing became rapid, and her cheeks began to flush abnormally, "This mech is equipped with hydraulic dampers; I heard its beautiful sound… and there's a honeycomb-style composite armor layer! It's literally the perfect fusion of mechanical aesthetics and violence aesthetics! How wild, I love it——!"

Kelieda helplessly held her forehead: "Ah, older sister is starting again……"

"And that larger one! I really want to tear open its outer armor to hear the sound of its structure unfolding…… ah, how fresh and lovely it is……"

"Older sister, just stop thinking about it; these mechs seem to have the same function as the Defense Force's, they're all military mechs. When you have free time to study these mechs…… they might already come in droves to attack."

"But there's something strange." Antong asked from the side, "Even the Defense Force is cooperating with the Huaisita Society, gradually launching research into unmanned remote mechs. Yet these mechs clearly have more advanced, cutting‑edge technology—why use a human pilot?"

If a mech is damaged, it means the pilot is in danger, possibly even killed. Building a mech only costs money, but cultivating a pilot with rich combat experience is far harder.

"Cough cough, there's another possibility." Gelisi, gradually calming from her frenzy, cleared her throat, "Perhaps these mechs themselves carry some kind of biological adaptation system…… in short, they can temporarily boost the mech's performance by burning the pilot's life."

"This… this is basically murder, isn't it?" Kelieda sucked in a breath of cold air.

"If they're definitely military mechs, then destroying the target and completing the mission would surely be top priority." Gelisi switched to a more serious expression, "And little one, have you noticed that whether it's Liuying or that bespectacled younger sister, they're both very young, apparently…… not even adults. What kind of military organization would drag underage pilots onto the battlefield to fight?"

"This……"

"I suspect this military organization has run into a pilot shortage, so it had no choice but to conscript teenagers. What they face must be a war so brutal it's unimaginable."

——

"Hey, you……"

As the tall mech expressed surprise, Liuying nearby had also disengaged her transformation, gently descending from the flames: "As I thought, Gelamo Military Regulation Article 4: without permission, leaving the cockpit is strictly prohibited."

The girl beside her pushed up her red glasses, a sly smile tugging at the corner of her mouth: "This way, we'll be discovered soon. Although we'll be punished……"

"There's nothing we can do about it."

Liuying smiled faintly, her attention drawn to the fireflies dancing nearby. She turned her face and, together with the girl beside her, gazed at these tiny lives lightly dancing in the darkness.

"How many times have you done this?"

Her voice was so soft it almost merged with the night's insect chirps. She lightly lifted her fingertip, and a firefly happened to rest on her index finger, its faint glow illuminating her snow‑white combat uniform.

"Huh?"

"Like this, leaving the cockpit."

Liuying slightly lifted her face; the night breeze stirred her silver‑white hair. The girl beside her also quietly raised her head, and both of their eyes reflected the same brilliant star river.

Countless fireflies drifted through the night sky like divine stardust scattered by the gods. Their points of light merged with the Milky Way, making it momentarily impossible to tell which were heavenly stars and which were earthly fireflies.

Suddenly, a scarlet trail streaked across the night sky; a fiery meteor slammed into the ground, and amid the smoke and dust, a brand‑new mech slowly rose to its feet.

"Gelamo Military Regulation Article 2: maintain vigilance; Article 4: strictly prohibit leaving the cockpit."

It lifted its head to look at the few people before it: "……You don't want to live, do you?"

——

Attack on Titan.

Inside a small restaurant in the Leibeiou Containment Zone, gazing at the newly appeared handsome mech on the skyline, Jiabi unconsciously gulped down a mouthful of soda.

"What the heck…" she pursed her lips, "What on earth is Gelamo? Its regulations are even stricter than Malai's military camp—even leaving the cockpit is regulated, which is just too broad."

"Jiabi." Pik beside her suddenly slammed the table sternly.

The girl instinctively clapped a hand over her mouth, warily scanning the surroundings; only after confirming there were no military police nearby did she slowly relax her grip: "Sorry, I'll pay attention next time."

Fa'erk across the table stared up at the skyline, brow furrowed: "I just saw that, aside from Liuying, the girl with the red glasses also showed a similar crack when disengaging her mech—undoubtedly entropy loss syndrome…… Could it be that all these pilots suffer from this incurable condition?"

Pik nodded: "I'm afraid Gelamo specifically selects children with fatal illnesses to be mech pilots—after all, their lives are already short, so they can undertake dangerous missions without any burden."

"How terrible Gelamo is……" Jiabi lowered her voice.

"It's indeed terrible, though Malai also——"

Mid‑sentence, Pik suddenly realized her slip of the tongue and quickly cut herself off.

"'What about Malai?' Jiabi looked at Pik with a puzzled expression."

Pik frowned, unsure whether she should reveal the truth to a child like Jiabi.

The Malai military she had always trusted was actually more brutal than Gelamo; if the latter merely sent fatally ill children to the battlefield, at least they'd have a mech to protect themselves. But Malai turns countless ordinary Aierdiya people into pure Titans, claiming it's for war when it's no different from slaughter.

"Nothing… Jiabi." Pik let out a soft sigh, smiling as she rubbed Jiabi's head, "No matter what battlefield you head to in the future, remember to protect yourself first—living well is more important than anything."

——

None of them showed any frightened expression; on the contrary, Liuying even felt a hint of envious admiration: "The Firefly‑V Type, that's the Imperial Guard's model… so cool."

The mech beside her also disengaged its transformation; after a flash of flame, a white‑haired youth stood with one hand on his hip, speaking calmly: "Ah, another lone one……"

The bespectacled girl issued an invitation: "You can't contact headquarters either, right? This is a rare chance—want to join us?"

"No, I'll just pretend I didn't see it."