Chapter 256: Tempered Steel Cockroach

Leaving the Punishment Ship.

Arriving at the lobby of Hub Station, Shirley followed tourists and returning colonists, boarding a sightseeing elevator together, preparing to descend to Ordega's surface.

Gabriel and the new recruits will remain on the Punishment Ship.

Although many pictures, videos, and forums about Astate circulate online, it is also impossible for them to openly appear in public places.

Inside the elevator.

Comfortable single seats arranged in an "O" shape, facing large sealed windows with good visibility.

Shirley placed her luggage in the rack beside the seat, then fastened her seatbelt and sat down, waiting for the elevator to fill.

About half a minute passed.

The elevator doors closed, and the broadcast came with a standardized female voice reminder:

"The elevator is about to start; please do not wander around arbitrarily. If you need anything, please consult the staff responsible for this elevator. Thank you for your cooperation."

As soon as the voice fell,

Shirley first felt a slight vibration, then a dropping sensation like riding a roller coaster, and finally a noticeable weightlessness.

Without the seatbelt and rack, Shirley and her suitcase would surely fly uncontrollably around with the other passengers in the elevator.

The view outside the sealed window shifted from the metal bulkhead inside Hub Station to the deep space of the universe and the natural scenery on Harvest Star's surface.

The cause of the weightlessness is that the elevator has left Hub Station, which has artificial gravity, and is now in an orbital trajectory tens of thousands of meters above.

The elevator descended rapidly, and the hills, lakes, and forests on the surface became increasingly clear.

Descending to around ten thousand meters, the deep-space view disappeared, and the elevator was now moving between cloud layers.

At kilometers, it began to decelerate.

The broadcast again issued a reminder, indicating that passengers could unfasten their seatbelts and move appropriately inside the elevator to view the outside scenery.

Standing by the window, Shirley looked down and saw a golden wheat field and livestock farms outside the city, feeling only that her body and mind had relaxed.

This kind of feeling cannot be brought by a ship alone.

Not long after, the elevator entered a ground‑level hall, opened its doors, and let Shirley and the other passengers disembark.

Arriving at the hall.

There was a male passenger who seemed afraid of heights, his hands braced against the wall, his legs trembling uncontrollably, and he complained to his friends nearby, extremely displeased:

"I told you all, I can't ride the sightseeing elevator! Why won't you listen?! Huh?!"

In his complaint, there was even a faint sobbing tone.

His friends laughed and comforted him; one friend even slapped his shoulder and said heartily:

"Don't feel bad! I'll cover your food, clothing, lodging, and travel for these two days—how about that?"

"Really? Then I'm fine; my brothers will vouch for me—don't think you can go back on your word."

"Wait! So you were faking it?!"

"Hahaha!"

On the other side.

A boy with a backpack said to his mother, still wanting more:

"Mom~! The sightseeing elevator is more fun than a roller coaster—I want to ride it again next time!"

Meanwhile, the mother with a gentle smile lightly stroked the boy's short hair and replied, "Okay, Mom will take you."

Amid the crowd, Shirley, covertly observing her surroundings, couldn't help but feel moved by the present peace.

She pulled her suitcase out of the hall and noticed a black SUV parked at the curb that looked out of place among the private cars and private flying craft.

Seeing this, Shirley walked straight toward the SUV.

Approaching.

The doors of the driver and front passenger opened, and two young staff members in dark work pants and short sleeves, wearing sunglasses, stepped out.

One quickly stepped forward, took Shirley's suitcase, and placed it in the SUV's trunk.

The other wanted to raise his hand to salute Shirley, but she refused with a slight shake of her head; he then changed it to extending his right hand, saying respectfully:

"Director BoKen, welcome to Harvest Star; it is an honor to have a legend like you lead us."

"I don't deserve the title of legend; being able to come to Harvest Star is my honor."

Shirley reached out and shook hands with him.

After releasing his hand, she opened the rear door and continued, "Let's go; first take me to meet my colleagues."

"All right, Director BoKen."

The three then got in the car, started the engine, left the curb, and drove through the capital Ordega.

Sitting in the back seat, Shirley admired the street‑side architecture outside the window, and in a daze felt as if she had returned to 1990s Raccoon City.

Except the architectural style is more novel, the roadside features many holographic signs or advertisements, aerial trains and flying craft, and so on—civilian technology far surpassing that of the 1990s.

She admired it for a moment.

Shirley asked, "Did you two just graduate from Minos?"

"Yes, we graduated half a year ago."

"Moreover, we are from the same cohort and were both assigned to Harvest Star."

The two staff members replied.

"Okay, I understand."

After Shirley finished speaking, she continued to look out the window in silence.

Ordega, with a population of just over four hundred thousand, is not large; within ten or so minutes, the three arrived at a three‑story building disguised as a courier company.

Then Shirley followed the two staff members into the meeting room on the third floor.

More than thirty intelligence officers in various casual attire were already seated here, waiting for Shirley for a while.

Shirley walked to the front, introduced herself to the group of intelligence officers, and recounted some of her personal experiences, especially the point that hailing rides is important for gathering intelligence.

After all, Shirley is considered a disciple taken out by Leon.

Moreover, after personal practice, the feasibility of gathering intelligence by hailing rides proved quite good, so Shirley also helped her mentor Leon share this with the new intelligence officers.

At the end of her talk, Shirley set the next work focus on whether ancient relics exist on Harvest Star.

——————

…

More than two months later.

Earth Atlantic Time: August 11, 2072.

Harvest Star, Northern Hemisphere.

On the west shore of a freshwater lake in a dense forest, an open area hosts a vessel with its tail hatch opened, providing strong illumination, belonging to Umbrella's Fisher IV.

At this moment, the area seemed just to have entered night, and the local clock read 19:17.

More than ten armed security personnel, equipped with black‑painted simple power armor, wielding modified gauss and pulse firearms, were scattered around the lake shore on guard.

On the low‑hill rock wall on the west shore, six technicians dressed in white jumpsuits, equipped with Mechanical exoskeletons, were using portable devices to conduct on‑site inspection and analysis.

Not far behind the technicians were three intelligence officers who had ended their camouflage, dressed in black suits with red‑and‑white umbrella buttons on the collars.

The one in the middle was Shirley.

"Supervisor BoKen."

An intelligence officer holding a dedicated mobile phone, looking at the data displayed on the screen, reported to Shirley, who was staring at the rock wall:

"The metal structure we see before us was discovered half an hour ago by a father‑son pair with the surname Mi Xie Er; the father, Corporal Mi Xie Er, is an active soldier of the UNSC Army.

According to the corporal's account, he took his child into the deep forest during a holiday, planning a five‑day camping and hunting trip.

It wasn't until the Mi Xie Er father and son set up camp by the lake and night fell that they discovered the metal structure embedded in the rock wall.

Because he is an active soldier, Corporal Mi Xie Er chose to report the matter to his unit, which allowed us to learn of it immediately."

Saying that, the intelligence officer looked up forward.

It was seen that the object the technicians were inspecting was a corner of a metal installation exposed on the outside of the rock wall.

Its dark‑gray surface and orderly fissures leaking blue light, in detail and style, matched the Metal Relic found on the Meiruiens colony.

If it weren't night, which made the blue light from the fissures obvious, it would be extremely difficult to observe that a non‑artificial metal installation was embedded within the rock wall.

Thus, the Mi Xie Er father and son, who had set up their tent early, only discovered the rock wall's anomaly after the sun disappeared.

After hearing the brief report, Shirley said, "Transfer the Mi Xie Er father and son to the nearest town, then perform standard memory modification on them."

"Understood, Supervisor." the intelligence officer nodded.

"What does the Company say?"

Hearing the question, the intelligence officer continued the report:

"The Company dispatched the head of the Archaeology Department Lao La Ke Laofu and her team to Harvest Star to assist the investigation. Before they arrive, the Company hopes we conduct excavation work first."

"Kelaofu?"

Shirley didn't know Lao well, only having seen her a few times at the annual meeting.

But she knew the other was skilled at analyzing ancient relics; otherwise she wouldn't have held the head of the Archaeology Department for over thirty years.

She then said, "Notify the Engineering Department and have them allocate some personnel to assist our excavation.

Also contact the HellParatrooper Combat Company on Punishment and the Tutmos Recruit Platoon, inform them that threats may exist in the relic, and request fire support if necessary."

"Affirmative." The intelligence officer used the dedicated mobile phone to transmit Shirley's orders.

!

But soon, the latest notice displayed on the phone screen caused the intelligence officer's expression to change abruptly, and he said to Shirley in a low voice:

"Supervisor BoKen, Harvest Star has entered emergency status. The Company needs all armed personnel on Harvest Star to assist civilians into underground air‑defense facilities and prepare for war."

"War?" Shirley was startled.

But she didn't linger and ordered, "Suspend operations, evacuate civilians immediately!"

———————

…

As Shirley and the others finished the relic investigation, all towns on Harvest Star sounded the air‑raid alarms.

People crowded on the streets, though some were panicked, the great majority kept order, obeyed evacuation rules, and entered the air‑defense facilities in an orderly manner.

The magistrates also cooperated with the UNSC Army and Ke Li Ge, stationing in each town's defensive works, preparing for ground combat.

The hub station above the capital Oldga.

More than ten cargo ships, cruise liners, and civilian vessels packed with people departed the external port of the hub station.

And without waiting to adjust the bow angle, they opened the jump portal, entered Rift Space, and fled toward the colonial system guarded by Umbrella's legion or the UNSC fleet.

As Harvest Star's only warship, Punishment also left the hub station's port, but "she" did not, and could never choose to evacuate.

Punishment, with its back to the star, used conventional cruising speed to gradually drift away from Harvest Star.

On the bridge.

Around the central console stood Gabriel, the lieutenant commanding the HellParatrooper Combat Company, a captain responsible for three UNSC Marine Corps companies, and the captain of Punishment, Mi Lan Da Ma Cha.

Affiliated with Umbrella, because Harvest Star required a small‑scale live‑fire exercise, the lieutenant who led the paratroopers to temporarily station on Punishment was equipped with power armor that was a fully upgraded dedicated TPS.

Even the UNSC captain wore simple power armor similar to the armed security units.

Its sealed nature and life‑support system allowed the captain to operate in vacuum, high radiation, low temperature, and other harsh environments.

And Gabriel, being an Astate, had power armor as standard issue.

However, Gabriel's power armor was not the Thor Hammer series, but a heavier, rugged "Ceramic Steel Armor".

Just as its name suggests.

The powered‑armor shell of this model is made of ceramic steel; without relying on an energy shield, its defense even surpasses that of the early Thunder Hammer I and II.

Although it looks extremely cumbersome, in fact the ceramic‑steel armor's internal electronic muscle bundles can achieve full synchronization with the wearer, greatly enhancing the wearer's reaction speed and strength.

However, as mentioned before, "without relying on an energy shield," the ceramic‑steel armor itself lacks the ability to generate an energy shield.

The main problem is the prohibitive cost of the shield‑generation device, as well as its extremely high maintenance and upkeep expenses.

To use another analogy,

Umbrella's latest Thunder Hammer is the Mark V, and the cost of ten Mark V units is enough to build a Kingfisher‑class light cruiser.

Since the successful study of the G gland, more than sixty years have passed, and the current total of Astate has already exceeded one hundred thousand, reaching a scale of one hundred fifty thousand.

Of these, thirty thousand are still under‑age recruits, and seventy thousand belong to the ten legions as regular members.

The remaining fifty thousand are reservists like Gabriel, who for now will not accompany the legions in action.

A full one hundred fifty thousand…

Excluding the under‑age recruits and the few special units such as Grey Knights, Umbrella still has 120,000 adult Astate.

Even with abundant funds and resources, the current Umbrella cannot outfit every Astate with the Thunder Hammer series powered armor.

After all, the process of producing a set of Thunder Hammer and nano‑suit is extremely time‑consuming and laborious.

Thus the ceramic‑steel armor emerged as a transitional product, becoming the standard equipment for reservists before they are promoted to full legion members.

Once reservists are promoted and reach adulthood, and newly enlisted adult recruits who have just entered the reserves can continue to reuse the ceramic‑steel armor.

Finally.

Among the four, only Miranda, whose appearance is coldly beautiful with short brown hair, is not wearing the so‑called powered armor, only a plain gray navy uniform.

At this moment, the central console displays a three‑dimensional star map of Harvest Star.

And at the edge of the console, three unidentified vessels marked with yellow dots are rapidly approaching Harvest Star.

Miranda looks at the three yellow dots and, in a deep voice to the three senior officers present, says:

"Everyone, one minute ago we detected three unidentified vessels emerging from Rift Space at a distance of four hundred thousand kilometers from Harvest Star.

We estimate that in fifteen minutes this ship will meet them head‑on, and here is the image captured by this ship."

Miranda continues, pulling up the holographic image of those three unidentified vessels.

They appear as two small and one large, with a smooth exterior, narrow heads and tails, but a very wide middle.

And the two smaller vessels each have two slender angled wings beneath the bow, like insect antennae, resembling a gigantic space cockroach.

(End of chapter)