Lan Li beckoned to the twin youths, preparing to return, when his comm unit suddenly chimed. The message was from an Elder in the legion. "Report, Vice Commander. Chen Yin senses the Commander has returned."

Lan Li raised an eyebrow slightly. Chen Yin said?

That girl, Chen Yin, was always an oddity. She disliked grooming, disliked dressing up, shunned socializing, and even disliked speaking. Whenever someone needed to ask her something, she would only stare silently with her pale-red irises. However, everyone in the legion knew that if she did speak, her words were almost always correct.

He mused, "Yin Yin’s premonition is reliable. Disperse all idle personnel; report immediately if there is any news of the Commander. You take Yin Yin with you."

The Elder was silent for a second, then weakly replied, "Yin Yin has already left."

Lan Li’s smile instantly turned a little cold. "When did she leave, and with whom?"

The Elder’s tone grew even weaker. "She left alone, in the C-2584 mining vessel. I feared something might happen, so I am tracking her."

Lan Li was usually gentle and refined, demanding elegance in every movement. But at that moment, he suppressed an overwhelming urge to crush the comm unit’s holographic screen! They were all running wild!

Chen Yin’s favorite pastime was taking a mining ship out to the asteroid belt, rising early and returning late, even letting her mining drones work through the night. She was such a good and sensible girl. And yet, this very girl had suddenly run off to find An Junlie!

It was sheer madness!

The Angel Domain wasn't territory governed by the Interstellar Federation, nor was it safe. The Angel Domain was sovereign territory developed by the Angel Legion, granting them dominion. Internally, within the legion, safety was assured; but the border regions were rife with conflict. Crossing the border, even Lan Li himself couldn't guarantee his own safety.

Her running off alone was like a little lamb straying into the primeval forest, ready to be devoured by any lurking predator at any moment.

Chen Yin was usually so sensible; she wouldn't do something so reckless unless the situation was exceptionally dire. Lan Li became even more certain her premonition was accurate. He contained his anger, resuming his mask-like smile, and commanded, "Send a few people to follow her, just to ensure she stays safe."

Hanging up, he complained under his breath, "One after another, they refuse to let me rest easy."

Aixbent, one of the twins, saw his expression, exchanged a knowing glance with his sibling, and jumped onto his mech, activating it. They knew that when he displayed that expression, someone was definitely going to suffer.

They had fallen into his hands too many times; thinking about it brought tears to their eyes.

Chen Yin, the girl they were just discussing, was attempting something she had never dared before, following intuition on her way to find An Junlie!

As soon as she reached the border, Chen Yin felt eyes tracking her, like hungry wolves poised to strike in the dark. Fear gripped her heart. Her mining vessel had minimal offensive capabilities, and its cruising speed was only 92m/s—escape was impossible. The only thing she could do was deploy all her light combat drones to circle the mining ship defensively, preparing for an attack.

"Mining vessel ahead, halt immediately, or don't blame us if our artillery shows no mercy!" A rough male voice suddenly transmitted via the audio transmitter into her ears.

Her fear intensified. She frantically tried to start the jump drive, but before she could engage, the mining vessel shuddered violently. She looked up to see that the other party was using cruise missiles!

What should she do? Chen Yin was so anxious she was near tears.

She flailed at the light-screen touchpad, unsure what to open. She had never been taught combat; her hands trembled, and she couldn't recall any self-preservation methods. All the combat techniques Aixbent had taught her seemed to have vanished from memory.

"Boom!" With a loud crash, another cruise missile struck the stern of her mining ship.

Chen Yin was so terrified she nearly screamed. Would she die here? She hadn't even seen the Commander yet.

She frantically mashed the button to command the drones to attack, huddled in the cockpit, closed her eyes, and dared not move.

Boom! Another shell slammed into the mining ship.

Chen Yin's body jolted violently. Clutching her eyes in terror, she whimpered, "Wuwu… Commander, Vice Commander, please hurry and save Yin Yin… Commander, Aixbent…"

The bombardment continued.

Though she didn't know the thickness of the mining ship's armor, she knew the drones' firepower was no match for these faction ships. If this continued, she would inevitably become space debris…

Chen Yin closed her eyes in despair.

Suddenly, the cannon fire ceased. Instead, a deep voice resonated from ahead, transmitted via parallel sound waves, carrying a chill: "Who is bullying a member of my Angel Legion?"

Chen Yin could scarcely believe her ears. She snapped her head up and saw, parked beside her mining ship, a nickel-colored mech. It was unmistakably An Junlie’s mech!

Commander! He was back!

Those who had tried to take advantage of the situation never expected that by casually attacking a mere mining ship, they would run into An Junlie—a nightmarish voice they had heard once and would never forget, echoing in their dreams night after night.

"Isn't An Junlie dead? Could that be a fake?" the vice-captain of the faction ship whispered.

"Idiot! Even if it's a clone, what difference does it make from the real thing?" the captain cursed angrily. "Don't linger, flee now!"

"But he's alone…" The vice-captain hadn't finished before the captain shot him a glare. "Did you not see? He’s in a mech; there must be a carrier ship following behind. By then, it’ll be too late!"

Gathering his nerve, he shouted, "We didn't know it was your legion's mining vessel, forgive us, forgive us." As he spoke, he activated the jump drive and fled instantly.

An Junlie knew they were making excuses. All Angel Legion mechs and ships bore the legion's insignia in conspicuous places; there was no way they couldn't have seen it.

However, it was fortunate they fled. Otherwise, facing a faction ship with a mech that had just endured a long journey would surely be courting death.

He turned his head and transmitted sound waves through the legion's internal comm system, asking Chen Yin, "Yin Yin, why did you run out here?"

Chen Yin remained in a state of high excitement and took a long moment to respond to An Junlie's words.

The Commander was talking to her!

From fear to shock, and then to sheer joy, two red spots bloomed on Chen Yin's cheeks. Too shy to look directly at An Junlie’s mech, she haphazardly piloted her ship and fled!

An Junlie watched the mining ship zip past him inexplicably. After a moment of stupefaction, the fatigue on his face slowly became apparent. He had just been relieved that he’d encountered a mining ship—one large enough to house his mech in its cargo bay so he could ride it back to the legion.

Clearly, that was no longer possible.

An Junlie looked at his energy reserves, down to 4%, rubbed his forehead, and sighed helplessly.

Just then, a sapphire-blue mech sliced across the sky ahead like a shooting star, rapidly descending before him.

Lan Li?

Besides him, who else would use such a flashy color!

Before the smile could fully reach An Junlie's lips, the sapphire-blue mech crashed into his embrace, crying out, "Commander, I missed you so much!"

After reading the genesis of the dispute between the Fia Family and the Angel Legion Tribunal, and then reviewing the proceedings, Ziye’s loathing for the Fia Family deepened another level. For a brief moment, she strongly considered telling An Junlie that she offered her full support—though, it was only a thought.

In reality, she simply closed the page and pretended not to have seen it. Yet, her mind refused to obey; the entire morning was consumed by thoughts of the Angel Legion. She couldn't focus on her work, and even a doodle she made subconsciously on the light screen accidentally formed an angel with wings.

Little Bean Sprout noticed her distraction, leaned over, and burst into laughter, pointing at her sketch. "That thing with wings isn't an angel, it's a bird-man."

Ziye bristled in mock anger, "Are you saying my drawing is ugly?"

Little Bean Sprout rolled on the desk, laughing hysterically, "Using the word 'ugly' is being too generous!"

Ziye looked at her doodle and suddenly let out a giggle. Because she had to admit, 'bird-man' was probably generous enough.

The worries in her heart scattered with the laughter. Ziye wiped her face, forcing herself back into a work mindset. "Send me the blueprints for the Warrior-type. We'll study those today."

It had to be said, the Warrior-type was a classic for a reason; it possessed distinct merits. Ziye analyzed the structural diagrams piece by piece and discovered the Warrior-type had vast potential for modification. Upward, it could be outfitted with high performance and configuration for combat use; downward, it could be assembled into an economical and practical mech.

Ziye then focused her attention on the engine.

Speaking of engines, one couldn't overlook Little Bean Sprout's god-tier scanning technology.

A standard scan could only identify what was in the hangar bay. A more advanced scan could map out every component in a mech. A deeper level of scanning, like Little Bean Sprout's, could meticulously map the detail of every single part.

Therefore, Ziye effortlessly acquired the engine structure of the Warrior-type.

The Warrior-type engine was an upgradeable model, capable of being updated periodically as needs evolved, allowing it to maintain contemporary performance.

However, when she truly began her study, she discovered she lacked sufficient material—or rather, understanding. While she grasped the innermost structure, her current ability wasn't enough to perceive the mech's overall performance from the blueprints, or its most critical element: combat power!

To truly understand a mech, one needed not only to comprehend the blueprints, the metals, and the manufacturing processes, but also the philosophy, the assembly, and the performance metrics—only then could one be an excellent technician.

Ziye studied for a long time, unable to grasp the essence of the Warrior-type. Feeling dejected, she tossed the blueprints aside and lay flat on the floor, staring blankly. The floor was covered with a thick carpet, and she usually walked on it barefoot, thankfully keeping it clean.

But she had forgotten about the home's all-purpose robot, F431.

F431 saw her lying there and automatically assumed she wanted to sleep. With great thoughtfulness, it walked in front of her, extended one arm under her back and the other under the bend of her knees, and lifted her up in a princess carry… RS