Yago Sevitaleone woke up from his sleep.

Nowadays, a long restful sleep has become a luxury for him. He hadn't slept well since the renovation was completed. This was true on Nostramo, and even more so after leaving it to board the Nightfall for Terra.

Training, meditation, studying, sparring. His life was occupied by these things. While Sevita did find a way for himself to enjoy them, he would rather get a good night's sleep if he could really take a break.

That's why he was so angry when he was woken up.

"Is there an end?!" He stood up, shook his fist into the aisle outside the door, and shouted. "Can't I enjoy a little quiet rest?!"

Someone outside the door answered him in a sneering voice: "Who told you to sleep without closing the door, Sevita?" ”

"Just because I don't close the door doesn't mean you can wake me up!" Sevita's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I see you're itching, Nuang."

Kasati Nuang sneered and threw a battle dagger over, and Sevita tilted her head slightly, caught it with her left hand, and returned it with more force.

Not to be outdone, Nuang reached out to catch it, drew another dagger and threw it at him, and just like that, they began a dangerous throwing game - Saivita asked a question as she mentally captured Casati Nuang.

"Is it so exciting for you to return to Nostramo? Why is everyone running in the aisles? ”

"Are you dazed, Sevita?" Kasati Nuang raised his chin mockingly, while pinching the spine of a short knife with his fingers. He spun his wrist and threw the knife back at a tricky angle.

"Today is the selection day for new blood. You won't forget, will you? ”

"Of course not." Sevita calmly lied, he slept too soundly yesterday after returning from his daily patrols. "How could I possibly forget such a thing? What about Shen? Don't tell me your captain has arrived at the venue to pick someone. ”

"Of course he's already here, and he's not like some people who get lazy when they get back to their hometown," Nuon chuckled, raising both hands and catching the dagger in his hand.

They swirled between his fingers a few times as if they were alive before they were sheathed. This is Shen's technique, and Shen's technique comes directly from Karil Lohals.

Sevita looked at Nuang's ostentatious display with disdain, pursed her lips without envy at all, and pulled a shirt from his bedside and put it on.

It took him two minutes to find another suitable coat, followed by heavy synthetic leather boots. Little by little, he got himself dressed neatly, and he didn't even forget to comb his hair back.

Nuang frowned, his fingers resting on the short knife at his waist again.

He whispered, "It was a mistake for me to stop and talk to you."

"Oh, please, don't do that, brother." Sevita smirked as she walked over to him, holding out her hand around Nuang's neck, and they began to walk down the aisle. "Haven't we always gotten along well? You should stop and wait, too. ”

"Come on, I'd love to beat you up in training."

"It's a pity you can't."

"How do you know I can't do it?"

"Because you just can't do it — okay, stop talking, okay. Let's hurry to the venue. ”

Eleven minutes later, they trampled through the escaping mist and ran to the training ground of the 'lair', where many people had already gathered.

Most of the recruits mingled with the veterans, while others chose to stay in the corner and watch what was happening below. Sevita watched for a moment, and soon found Shen in the crowd.

He leaned against the railing, and even had a data tablet in his hand.

Sevita involuntarily rolled her eyes.

"You'd better not make a fuss about my captain." Casati Nuang warned. "There's a limit to my patience, Sevita."

"What do I have to say to be considered a big talk?" Sevita asked, squinting. Although he was still fighting with Nuang, the movements of his feet were not slow at all, and he soon walked to Shen's side.

The latter was not surprised by his arrival, but he was not very enthusiastic either. Shen just glanced at him, then continued to lower his head and write and draw on the data board.

"Anyone?" Sevita asked.

"Yes." Shen lowered his head and said. "But I'm not going to share it with you."

"What?" Shocked, Sevita reached out and snatched Shen's datapad.

He flipped through it and sighed in an aria from Nostramo: "How can you do that, Shen?" How can you do that? ”

“.”

Shen silently shook his head, a silver light flashed in the air, and a short knife with a batwing gauntlet was placed on Sevita's neck.

Shen then stretched out his left hand and retrieved his datapad from Sevita's hand. Sevita raised her hands in the air, her eyes still moving with the tablet.

He's memorized many names, but he wants to remember more. Shen reluctantly withdrew the short knife, and it eerily disappeared between his wrists.

"It doesn't make sense for you to remember their names now, Sevita." Shen said. "The company will pick the first batch of new blood."

"Why? Why didn't we join the company back then? ”

"The first batch of experiments is always going to be more restrictive." Shen said expressionlessly. "Besides, fighting as a hunting squad is indeed more in line with my heart. And you"

He glanced Sevita up and down and said nothing, just shook his head again. This single action made the expression of the First Reserve dangerous, and Sevita took a deep breath and turned to leave.

He spent a few more minutes wandering through the crowd and responding to the greetings the recruits had given him—some genuinely greeting, others gesturing to him. Sevita responded to the former with a smile and the latter with more complex gestures.

After dealing with them, Sevita finally found the person he wanted to see in a corner.

"Siani!" Sevita shouted a greeting.

The person he called by name rolled his eyes in the most obvious way.

"It's Instructor Siani." He took the trouble to correct.

"Hey, does that make a difference? Aren't I all greeting you? ”

Siani sneered and silently assumed an attacking stance. Sevita had expected to dodge his first three jabs, only to be knocked to the canvas by a sinister kick.

Siani didn't let him go, as the Terrans restrained his movement with their arms and began to suffocate Sevita little by little.

"I'm greetings too." Siani whispered in his ear. "Learn to adapt, boy."

Sevita gritted her teeth in oblivion and began silently searching for the little oxygen left in her lungs. After a few seconds, he straightened up as best he could and fell backwards heavily.

A violent collision sounded, and the people around them glanced at it habitually, and then looked away. With a low sigh, Siani threw a punch under Sevita's left rib plate before letting him go.

Half a minute later, they were standing together in neat clothes.

"Can you stop attacking me next time?" Sevita grumbled with grinning. "I just came to you to ask something, why do you want to give back to me with boxing and joint skills?"

"Because you bastard kid has no respect for me at all." Siani said, rubbing his back, reaching out and poking Sevita in the forehead. "Now, tell me, what do you want to ask?"

"What new blood is the First Company going to absorb?" Sevita asked tentatively.

"You're finally crazy?" Siani looked at him in amazement, and then suddenly began to speak at length.

"That's great news, our number one trouble is finally out of our minds – oh no, it's probably not good news either. Jaelziño will be sad about this, his few breaks are about to be squeezed again. Terra, are you alright, Sevita? Can you still do arithmetic problems? How many chainsaws is a chainsaw plus a chainsaw? ”

“.”

"Why don't you speak?"

"I'll just ask, isn't that okay?" Sevita spread her hands and complained. "Could it be that you can't even tell me the number of people? Company Commander Van Cleve gave a death order on this matter? ”

"The company commander didn't say anything." Siani replied with a smile.

"Then why don't you reveal a little bit to me?" Sevita probed again. "You're not going to lose anything by that, aren't you?"

"Don't even think about it, boy"

Siani smiled low and gestured to him, "You might as well observe for yourself what good seedlings are down there." In a few minutes, the selection will begin. ”

Sevita sighed helplessly.

——

Conrad Coetzes felt his stomach twitch a little, and he rubbed it, thinking that it was because the sand eel he had just eaten was not completely inactive.

These delicious and terrifying creatures can't be fully roasted if they want to be delicious, and if you don't roast them completely, they trigger instinctive muscle activity in your stomach.

In other words, a long-dead sand eel is rolling in Koz's stomach.

He knew that he should eat sand eel jerky, he thought silently, and at the same time slid the data board.

The new document with the Mecha logo was revealed, and Coates continued to slide his finger and flipped through it twice, his expression immediately becoming serious.

There is no personal identification on the document, and the only identifiable coat of arms is a white skull wrapped in scarlet twelve-tooth gears.

This means that this document is from Mars, from the core world of the Mechanics.

It's finally here? Unsurprisingly, the Lord of the Night narrowed his eyes and put down the datapad for the time being, not continuing to read. Those few swipes were enough for him to get enough information, and Mars mentions three things in this document.

First, they have a fleet 'fully loaded with weapons and equipment' heading towards Nostramo.

Second, they want to make 'any kind' of a deal with Nostramo.

Third, if they could, they wanted to acquire a planet next to Nostramo and transform it into a Foundry World to provide Nostramo with a service that would 'last until the end of time' on the spot.

The words used in these three messages are brief, but they reveal more than enough. The sincerity that Mars offers is by no means insignificant.

"I thought you weren't short of adamantite," Coates muttered.

A mechanical priest can provide some services to Nostramo in his personal name, but Mars, the birthplace of mechism, has been slow to do so, even though Nightfall has passed through Mars several times without sending half a message.

The incident itself was quite paradoxical, and Coates almost thought that Mars was not bad at all for pure gold, and that he could not look down on this production of Nostramo.

Now it seems that they are probably just holding their back to make a big one.

That's fine. Coetzes thought. There are only benefits and no disadvantages for Nostramo to cooperate in full force, but what are the disadvantages of working with the Mechon?

Are there more red-robed mechanical geeks on Nostramo, or are there more channels for local jobs to directly enlist in the factories and cathars of the Mechanic Cult? These two things don't sound like bad things at all

The Lord of the Night happily tapped his fingers on the table and stood up satisfied.

He smiled and opened the door, and proceeded from the fast-moving device inside the 'lair' to a training room that was closed to the public, and even went into a stealth state before entering the room.

At this moment, there are eight people here engaged in a real sword duel. They weren't one-on-one, they were all together. You don't need me to tell if it's going to be pretty, Conrad Coetzes sighed, and the good mood that had just been gained for a short time quickly faded.

He quietly walked into the darkness against the wall, trying to find a better angle to observe the battle situation of the company commanders, but met another person in the dark.

"How long have you been here, Carlil?" The Lord of the Night asked in a low voice like a whisper.

"What do you think?" The instructor of the Eighth Regiment replied without squinting.

"I'll ask the question first!" Coetzes said with a slight annoyance. "Why did you start answering questions with questions again?"

"Shhh Carlil said. "They're going to have to decide the winner very soon."

What he said was true, there were only two people left standing in the ring. They were Van Cleef, the commander of the 1st Company, and Anrek Barbatos, the company of the 8th Company.

The two company commanders fought fiercely together, without the slightest concession. The chainsaw sword in his hand roared constantly, and the monomolecular saw blade roared endlessly. They looked almost evenly matched, and the fight didn't end until Van Cleeff tripped Enrique with his right leg.

"You're fucking cheating!" Anrique Barbatos lay on the ground and roared. "What about the pure sword fight that you said you said?!"

"I won." Van Cleve said briskly. "What else do you have to say, loser?"

"I wish you all the best!"

"Oh, I'm a two-pronged bet." Van Cleef smiled rarely. "I think the original is either ten or twelve years old, how can I lose?"

In the darkness, Conrad Coetzes slowly turned his head and glanced at Carlil.

The latter nodded at him without changing his face, and spoke softly: "You know why I'm waiting here now, right?" ”

"No way, the original is at least sixteen years old!" Phil Zaloster, who was lying on the ground, shouted. "You idiots who think he's young, and you, Van Cleef, you two-headed wallgrass, you're all going to lose!"

Fell's words caused a ripple, and the company commanders began to quickly contradict each other. The people who had fallen earlier also got up from the ground, most of them had a few less important wounds on their bodies, the bleeding had long since stopped, but they still made the scene look a little scary.

The argument quickly turned into an opportunity for another battle to begin – in fact, if it weren't for a sudden sound in the ring, they would probably have actually had a second sword fight.

"I'm five years old." Conrad Coetzes said with a smile.

There was silence in the ring for a moment, and suddenly there was a uniform suffocating sound. In the darkness, Carlil quietly looked away, stifling laughter.

This chapter is 4.5k, and there is one more chapter.

(End of chapter)