My Partner was Assigned to me by the Country

Clank…

Clank…

Clank…

The sound made when the energy block moves is somewhat strange, but everyone has become accustomed to the existence of this sound.

In Auston’s office, a small mecha that is 65 centimeters tall is standing in front of a bookshelf that occupies an entire wall. Behind the small mecha is a energy block that is almost as tall as him, and it’s a cube that is less than 1 cubic meter in size. Except for the bottom, which is made of silver metal, the other sides are crystal-like deep blue, emitting a steady blue halo, which is a sign that the power block is running.

There are no spare energy blocks for small mechas on the ship, so they can only use larger ones for Yuan Chu. Thus, the scene of him dragging the energy block back and forth appears.

When Yuan Chu moves a few steps, the energy block connected to him bounces with a clank. The faster Yuan Chu moves, the faster the energy block moves, making it look like a blue little monster chasing after Yuan Chu, but Yuan Chu cannot get rid of it. Coupled with the calm and composed demeanor of Yuan Chu, the scene is somewhat hilarious, making people can’t help but chuckle.

Auston has read all the books on the bookshelf. He has a wide range of interests, so there are all kinds of books in his collection. There are also two novels written by Ryan’s cousin Connor on the bookshelf, which are 90% new, indicating that they were only briefly browsed and soon shelved. Romance books are clearly not Auston’s cup of tea.

Yuan Chu‘s fingers moved, skipping over the novels that had already been read, and landed on a book called ‘Interstellar Exploration – Nothing useful Manual, Just Browse Through It.’ He took out the book and quickly flipped through it in the palm of his hand. However, the 500-page book was flipped through in just two or three minutes, which made the deputy-captain, who was discussing ship affairs with Auston, frown. He didn’t like the big toy’s careless attitude towards books.

He sat down for less than half an hour, and the small mecha had already browsed through an entire row of books on the shelf. To the deputy-captain, this was just a playful side of the small mecha’s programming. His son also had a big toy in the shape of mecha, which often did inexplicable things like digging holes, excavating soil, and swinging back and forth on the door frame. The manual claimed that companion robots would imitate their owners’ behavior, but it was ridiculous because his son would never do any of these meaningless things, just like the general treating books with utmost seriousness.

Yuan Chu’s eyes in front of the bookshelf flickered a few times, and he read a few boring books that added redundant data to the system. Humans’ ability to create useless information was no different from 700 years ago!

However, browsing through these boring books could enhance his understanding of humans, to understand what exactly was going on in their complex brains. So Yuan Chu was willing to waste half an hour to finish reading a row of books. After reading, he sat down next to the bookshelf and connected to the network to absorb a large amount of knowledge. Knowledge updated too quickly compared to hundreds of years ago, it was like a world turned upside down, but he enjoyed the feeling of wandering in it.

In addition, you can also pet ‘cat’ :).

Once again, Da fu, who escaped from Ryan’s palm, pawed its way into the general’s office and became the plaything of Yuan Chu. The poor cat, named Da fu, pitifully licked its paws and felt like its fur was going to be rubbed off. It was going to be the first lion-griffin in the world to be petted bald orz.

Almost everyone on the ship knew that this mutated lion-griffin was brought back by Ryan from B612, and many people saw it when it was brought back. The little beast was afraid of the gentle Ryan but liked to stick to the stern general. It also became a topic of conversation among many people. Some said that the intuition of animals was the most accurate, and it knew that Ryan had a dark heart, so it was afraid of him. Others said that the general and Ryan were semi-publicly together.

Semi public…

The deputy-captain withdrew his gaze and scrolled through the files on the screen and said, “In a few days, we’ll arrive at Dawn Avenue. This is the first time in seven hundred years since the Battle of Dawn that a military force has gone there. What kind of ceremony does the general plan to hold?”

“The highest standard,” Auston replied without hesitation.

The deputy-captain paused, “General, isn’t that too high-profile?”

“Don’t worry about those old guys in the council who talk nonsense, saying that we rushed to present flowers before the National Memorial Ceremony.” Auston showed the screen on his hand to the deputy captain. The screen displayed his conversation with the President, and after flipping through pages, it showed the President’s approval document. “This is the first commemoration in seven hundred years, and it must be conducted with the highest standard. Our actions will not be reported by the media, nor will they be known to the public. We may even be criticized by the council, but we must have a clear conscience. After thirty years of controversy and delay, the National Memorial Ceremony must be held, or it will chill the hearts of our soldiers.”

Qin Feng Anderson, the Emperor, is considered a hero in the hearts of all soldiers, a spiritual pillar that endures to this day. His numerous ideals are not outdated even today.

He is a true hero and should not be forgotten because of politics!

··

On June 16th, 3020 AD in the Interstellar era, a historical day was recorded in the “Mecha Overview”: the Red Coral Starfield was discovered, the artificially synthesized music ‘Romantic Dawn’ spread across households, the panda population on Mother planet Earth reached 2,000 under human intervention and successfully gave birth to triplets, Anderson V, the fifth-generation descendant of Emperor Anderson and a singer, committed suicide by jumping off a building due to depression, Interstellar Cola sold a total of 50 trillion bottles, and the delicious strawberry donut went bankrupt due to the leak of its secret recipe. From this day on, a new event was added to the list of ‘big events’ on this day – 700 years after the end of the Battle of Dawn, for the first time, an army will commemorate the soldiers who died in the battle.

At five o’clock that day, Auston woke up without needing an alarm clock. He swiftly turned over and got out of bed. However, Ryan, who was sleeping beside him, changed from his usual decisiveness, lay on the bed and looked at Auston helplessly, saying, “The ceremony doesn’t start until ten o’clock. It’s still early.”

“I need to do some preparation work first.” Auston’s spirit was somewhat excited because of the impending event.

Ryan buried his face in the pillow, his voice muffled, “Oh.”

Since last night, Auston had been a little overexcited, hidden behind his cold and aloof expression, only noticeable to close ones. For example, the frequency of checking the time increased, the curvature of the mouth when flipping through books increased, the time spent hugging the Da fu increased, and the topic of discussion was nine out of ten times about Qin Feng Anderson, the Emperor.

It is also understandable. After all, today Auston is going to enter the core area of the Dawn War inside the Wielden starfield to pay homage to the fallen soldiers who died in the war.

The exact time when the Zerg first entered the human-inhabited starfield cannot be verified, it may have been thousands of years ago, or within the last millennium. When humans officially clashed with the Zerg, they had already devoured several small asteroids on the border at an extremely fast and brutal pace. Behind the Zerg army were planets with no living beings left and only devastation.

The flames of war ignited, and humans began their long history of fighting against the Zerg.

During the war without mechas, which later became known as the Blood Era in history, humans used their flesh and blood to slow down the advancing steps of the Zergs, exchanging the lives of soldiers for the continuation of human civilization. As times make heroes, countless heroic figures were born in the Blood Era, including fearless soldiers, dedicated scientists, doctors who fought death, and war reporters who reported frontline situations to the public while facing gunfire and Zergs…… Among them, Qin Feng Anderson was undoubtedly the most shining one.

He was born before the Zergs launched a massive invasion. His father was an ordinary soldier, and his mother was an excellent mechanic. Influenced by his parents, he grew up to be an excellent reserve soldier and was sent to the battlefield. After going through countless battles and almost losing his life, he became a popular general. Later, Qin Feng Anderson left the military and entered politics. At the age of 150, he became the president. He buried fallen soldiers, cared for war orphans, encouraged education and research, and advocated recuperation and revitalization….. He also boldly proposed the concept of mechas. Before he turned 200, he successfully created mechas, but at that time, they were more like large robots, and their role on the battlefield was not as useful as the mecha skeletons that were later developed. However, this invention gave humanity hope of defeating the Zergs.

Qin Feng did not give up and continued his research, solving difficult problems such as the neural center and energy reserves. His existence was like a miracle given to humanity by the heavens, allowing humanity, who was in the darkness, to see the hope of dawn.

At the age of 299, Qin Feng had entered his old age. The war with the Zergs had been with him all his life. When the horn of human counterattack sounded, he personally led his army to fight the Zergs. The war line that spread across the entire border was finally compressed into the Wielden Starfield Region.

The darkness before dawn heralds the dawn that is about to come – the Battle of Dawn has arrived.

During the Battle of Dawn, the latest mechas produced by Qin Feng Anderson were deployed, with the most advanced AI implanted. He promised to reveal the name of the mecha to the public after the war. The highest leader of the Central Empire personally led the charge, entering the frontline to confront the Zerg. The Zerg were pushed back, but at a critical moment, the emperor’s food was poisoned, and he chose to self-destruct his mecha to avoid affecting the outcome of the battle and take the Zerg queen down with him.

The massive energy wave caused chaos in the magnetic field around Dawn Avenue, and black holes emerged from the distortion that human beings could not approach for seven hundred years. It was not until thirty years ago that the black hole disappeared quietly, and the disrupted magnetic field returned to calm, allowing humanity to once again glimpse the remnants of the war.

“Emperor Anderson was my goal when I joined the military,” Auston sat on the bed, comforting Ryan. He had indeed neglected Ryan’s feelings in these past few days due to the memorial. “Being able to personally preside over the memorial ceremony for the heroes of the Battle of Dawn is my greatest wish in this life. Sorry, I ignored you.”

Ryan sighed helplessly and got up from bed, hugging Auston. “I just don’t want you to be too tired, after all, your injuries haven’t fully healed.”

“It’s getting better. Blair said it will be completely healed in another month or two.”

Ryan hugged Auston tightly for a moment and then let go. “You go ahead and take care of things. I’m up too.”

“Mhmm.” Auston paused for a moment, then quickly kissed him on the lips while Ryan wasn’t paying attention. “Goodbye~”

Ryan didn’t let him go so easily, he hugged him and deepened the kiss, “Bye~”

Watching Auston leave, Ryan stood at the door for a while before turning around and locking eyes with a pair of emotionless eyes, it was Yuan Chu.

Yuan Chu spoke in a flat voice, “His idol, Emperor Qin Feng Anderson, a man with an iron will and great wisdom.”

“An unmarried man who was obsessed with his career, and now he is an old man with a mix of red face and white hair, a hero in his twilight years. He is unable to judge people clearly, betrayed by others, engaged in wasteful military ventures, obsessed with mecha research that drained the national treasury, stubbornly insisting on his own way…” Ryan’s mouth curled up in a mocking smile. Qin Feng Anderson, the Emperor, had a controversial life. The Empire refrained from holding a public memorial because there were numerous voices of opposition within the country. They claimed that it was because of the Emperor that the nation’s progress was slowed down and that there was a significant loss of population. In any case, there were all sorts of arguments. It’s difficult to forget a beloved beauty, and heroes can be slandered. Living a comfortable life makes it easy to forget the sacrifices of the martyrs..

Ryan walked past Yuan Chu and headed to the bathroom. Soon, his voice came from the bathroom, mixed with the muffled sound of brushing his teeth, “One should learn to enjoy life instead of dedicating themselves to their career, hobbies, and inventions. Being too focused will lead to having no friends and may attract many envious enemies…”

Yuan Chu nodded in agreement with the statement, “Throw yourself into life, and you won’t blush when touching a boy’s hand, or be afraid to say ‘I love you’ to someone you like. Sir, you are absolutely right. I am proud to have a master like you.”

Ryan: “….”

He poked his head out of the bathroom and squinted his eyes to look at Yuan Chu, “Say another word and I’ll deduct your energy block.”

Yuan Chu: “Yes, sir. I promise not to say a word.”

Ryan: “…” It feels even more frustrating this way, doesn’t it?

 At 10 o’clock, the memorial ceremony began and the soldiers who had not left the ship gathered at the mecha training ground, silently waiting for the time to come.

Dong dong dong!

The heavy sound of the bell rang out, and a solemn and quiet atmosphere enveloped the entire venue. The surrounding lights went out, and everyone was immersed in the darkness as if they were in the depths of the universe, or in the mysterious darkness before dawn. In the infinite distance, a faint light appeared, like the rising sun, or like twinkling stars. A huge stone slowly moved away from above their heads. Looking into the distance, one would discover similar stones scattered throughout the space, which were fragments of asteroids.

During the Battle of Dawn, Emperor Qin Feng Anderson piloted his mecha and self-destructed together with the Zerg Queen, causing a shockwave that shattered hundreds of small planets of varying sizes in the Wielden starfield. The resulting debris has been around for tens of thousands of light-years, forming a belt of broken rocks known as the Dawn Avenue. Within the debris belt, one can still see the remains of the Zerg race, mecha wreckage, human remains, and dismembered bodies of various weapons…a glimpse into the brutality of the battle that year.

The intense resistance from the Zerg, coupled with the desperate defense of humanity, resulted in incalculable casualties on both sides. Only a handful of individuals truly walked away from the battlefield. The Battle of Dawn crippled the Zerg, dampening their ferocity. It took two hundred years for these cosmic pirates1 to partially recover, and they began harassing humans once again. However, they would never be able to push humanity to the brink of extinction as before.

Ryan looked around him, still standing on the training ground floor, but feeling like he was on Dawn Avenue. This was achieved through the use of holographic projection technology, allowing all the soldiers on board who couldn’t be there in person to feel like they were there.

“Whoa!”

A brief exclamation came from someone ahead as they witnessed the grotesque movement of a Zerg creature in the live projection.

A slight humming sound cut through the air, and Ryan turned with the others towards the direction of the sound. The black-as-ink Code Zero was the first to enter their field of vision, followed by hundreds of mecha warriors flying over everyone’s heads and into the center of the Dawn Avenue. In the center, there was the shattered body of a Zerg Overlord, impaled by a huge black sword – the sword was a configuration on the mecha of Emperor Anderson, a name that he had not publicly revealed to the world.

Ryan calmly moved his gaze away from the black sword and looked towards the newly arrived team.

After the mecha warriors, came tens of thousands of close combat soldiers wearing mechanical exoskeletons. Ryan saw Derrick, he saw Harriet, and he even saw Fan Lanting. They wore exoskeletons and lightweight space combat suits, which allowed them to maintain balance and fly in zero-gravity environments.

Mighty, tough, and never yielding.

This is a powerful team!

Emperor Anderson will see that even though his trusted partners once divided everything he had for power and status, hundreds of years later, there are still people who persist in defending his dreams.

Fighting for the stability of the empire!

Everyone gathered, and the ceremony officially began with the presentation of wreaths, a moment of silence, and recitation of mourning words…everything proceeded in an orderly manner. The vast universe slowly disappeared before their eyes, and the last thing Ryan saw before it vanished was the black sword in front of the Code Zero.

The use of cold weapons in conjunction with mechas?

Who knows what Qin Feng Anderson was thinking back then.

Ryan closed his eyes in silence.

After the memorial ceremony, the fleet continued its voyage and arrived at Gamma Base, the ground base of the Golden Cross Legion, on August 9th, five days ahead of schedule. As the colossal ship, the Xingtian, docked in the harbor, it signaled the end of the main fleet’s cruising mission. Simultaneously, the two escort ships, Mars and Calcaitié, set sail to begin their stationed duties. Eighteen months later, the Athena and Ares, which had departed alongside the Xingtian, would complete their stationed mission and begin their journey back home.

The first ship’s cruising mission is once every three years, lasting for eighteen months.

The next cruising mission will be in three years.

Carrying a cage and a large backpack, Ryan walked out of the Xingtian ship with the crowd. The military base’s cold and hard architectural style greets his eyes. The last time he was here, he was a new recruit. Now, he’s just a small soldier who has participated in one cruising mission.

“Ryan, we’re going on leave soon. What are your plans?” 

It was the Team Leader Su Ming, who was talking to Ryan. Su Ming is dressed even more extravagantly than Ryan, and his backpack is half his size. It’s filled to the brim with his collection of treasures, and he doesn’t even want to part with them during the break.

Ryan smiled and replied, “I’m going to take the level two exam for mecha engineer first, and then go home after the exam.”

Su Ming’s eyes widened in surprise. “Didn’t you just pass the level one exam? You’re already taking the level two exam so soon?!”

“The level two exam has a lower work time requirement. Once you’ve worked for a year, you can take the exam. I’m going to give it a try.”

Su Ming: “…Um, whenever you say ‘try’, I know you have a 100% chance of success.”

Ryan innocently smiled, “I can’t make any guarantees.”

Su Ming raised his hands in surrender, “You’re different, you’ve already shown your extremely outstanding side, you don’t need to be humble, your modesty will only make your enemies tremble.”

Ryan: “…It doesn’t need to be so exaggerated.”

Su Ming nodded forcefully, “It’s necessary!”

Ryan thought for a moment and said, “Okay.” Words like ‘should,’ ‘probably,’ ‘maybe,’ and “possibly” didn’t need to be mentioned for the second-level exam, he was sure he could pass it!

After waving goodbye to Su Ming, Ryan walked towards his dormitory at the ground base, which was not a privileged single room but a dormitory shared by four people. It was located in Room 1204 of Building 16 in the dormitory area. Ryan pushed the door open and was hit by an indescribable smell of a man coming over his face and he even weirdly sensed a familiar feeling from it.

The other three people in the dormitory were there. One was lying on the bed wearing a camo vest, which was Ryan’s bunkmate. One was standing by the window playing a handheld game with headphones on, making him unable to hear anyone coming in. The other was naked from the waist up, holding a ten-kilogram dumbbell with his biceps bulging out, looking like he could match the waist size of some slender women.

The person lying on the bed and exercising at the same time looked towards the door. The new roommate was a gentle and mild young man, with a good-looking smile. He wasn’t very tall or muscular, but had black hair, brown eyes, and typical East Asian features.

He looked easy to bully, heh heh.

“Hey, shorty, were you assigned to bed number four?”

Ryan walked towards the only vacant bed and sat down, saying, “If no one is sleeping here, then I guess this bed should be mine.”

“Well, be careful then. The guy on the top bunk could accidentally squash you.”

“Joliver, watch your mouth. Don’t be too rude in front of the little guy,” said the brother on the top bunk, lowering his head to look at Ryan. “Who do you report to?”

Ryan looked up at the person and replied, “The Xingtian ship.”

“Wow, you’re on the general’s battleship. Have you seen the general? Do you think he’s really powerful?” The man on the top bunk swung himself down and landed gracefully on the floor. He was over 6’5″ and had a slightly frivolous demeanor. Leaning against the bed with his arms folded, he looked down at Ryan and asked, “Newcomer, what’s your name?”

“Ryan.” Feeling the liveliness of his new roommate, Ryan felt like he had already blended in with the dorm atmosphere. He thought he could open the black cloth that surrounded the cage and let out Da Fu, his pet… but maybe he should wait and ask his roommates if they would mind having a little pet around first?

Ryan lifted a corner of the black cloth covering his pet’s cage, but a little paw immediately grabbed the edge and pulled it down. Da fu let out a grunting noise and refused to show its face.

Ryan: “….” This little guy is becoming more and more willful.

“Ryan!!”

“Ryan!!!”

Two roommates shouted at the same time, their voices getting louder and more excited.

Ryan nodded, “Ryan Smith, member of the Mecha engineering department of the Xingtian battleship.”

His roommates swallowed their saliva with difficulty and their Adam’s apples rolled visibly. It was obvious that they were surprised to find out that their roommate was Ryan! Ryan Smith, who had made a name for himself as a newcomer on the Xingtian battleship, was the winner of the B612 competition and had trampled many mecha warriors and close-combat soldiers underfoot.

Ryan remained calm, without the anger of being treated with contempt at the beginning, nor the joy of making a name for himself on the Xingtian battleship. He lifted the cage in his hand and said, “Do you mind having a little pet? It won’t be long, I’ll take it away after the exam.”

The two roommates nodded obediently. The big guys stood in front of Ryan, as if they were school children receiving education from their teacher.

“Sure.”

“We accept the small pet.”

“D*mn it!” The one who was focused on playing games angrily took off his headphones after losing. He turned around and said, “There’s a new recruit reporting today, and a ship is entering the port. Maybe the fourth bed will have someone to share it with, hehe, let’s mess with him.”

Then he met Ryan’s gentle eyes and heard Ryan say, “Hello, I’m Ryan Smith.”

He looked blankly at his roommates, who were lined up waiting for their snacks, and then at Ryan sitting on the bed. He forced a smile and said, “Oh, what was I saying just now?” Everyone pretends to have collective amnesia and agrees to forget about it, okay?

“You said you wanted to mess with the person on the fourth bed,” Ryan kindly reminded, “Are you still going to do it?”

“Uh, uh, uh, boss, I was wrong.” The guy holding the handheld console could bend and flex, immediately admitting his mistake.

The act of veteran soldiers bullying new recruits had not even begun, but it was already declared bankrupt. Soon, they all started getting along well. Ryan nodded, the dormitory atmosphere was very good, and they must continue to maintain it.

Dinner time came quickly.

“Boss, are you going to have dinner?” asked Joliver, who had developed into a bodybuilder, as he walked by.

” It’s still early, I’ll read a book for a while.”

“Boss, why don’t we bring the food back for you?”

“Then I’ll trouble you, I’ll transfer the money to you.”

“No, no, boss. We won’t take money from you for a meal.” Joliver hurriedly ran out and after a while, he poked his head back in. “Boss, what do you want to eat? Do you have any dietary restrictions?”

“I don’t have any dietary restrictions, just get me whatever you guys are having.” 

“Okay.”

After everyone else had left the dormitory, Ryan, who was reading under the lamp, thought to himself, they really are great roommates, respectful and harmonious.

“Meow,” Da Fu, lying on Ryan’s bed, let out a playful sound, as if laughing along.