Picking Up An Alpha On Garbage Star - Chapter 38.2

In a real battle, where both sides fought to the death, attacking mercilessly, even warships would be blown up and dismantled, not leaving anything for the enemy. It was simply impossible to capture many weapons, unless they achieved an overwhelming victory, winning the battle completely before the enemy had time to react.

“I will discuss it with my father,” Xie Yu had been expressing dissatisfaction with the military’s procurement of weapons for a while.

He remembered when he was a child, just in the first year of junior high school, one day his father angrily led a personal guard, piloting small ships and fighters, surrounding the Finance Department. His father, carrying a rocket launcher, kicked open the door of the Finance Department Minister, demanding the Finance Department to stamp approval on the military procurement order.

The military replenished its arsenal every three months. That time, the military reported the inventory to the Finance Department as usual. However, the Finance Department refused to approve it, leading to arguments between the military and the Finance Department. The Finance Department still didn’t approve it and even directly declared the military’s procurement for the quarter canceled.

Half of the commanders in the eight major corps had a hot temper, and Commander Xie was an outstanding figure among them, directly leading people to the Finance Department, displaying an extremely arrogant attitude.

Naturally, Commander Xie’s actions, bold enough to pierce the sky, resulted in him being summoned to the imperial palace. Although the royal family didn’t directly reprimand him, the implication was clear.

Commander Xie, who had carried cannons and raised rifles for the Empire, couldn’t be threatened by a young emperor. The day he left the palace, he started spreading the news, directly blasting the star network in the Central Star Region.

Under public pressure, the Finance Department eventually approved the order, honestly allocating funds to buy military supplies.

Xie Yu had a deep impression of what his father did. At that time, he just felt his father was too cool. Now that he was grown up and leading troops himself, he understood how difficult his father had it.

Weapon manufacturing was controlled by big capital, directly monopolized. If they didn’t have their own arsenal, once the military supplies couldn’t be provided, the main ship would be like a turtle shell.

What they needed was to take the initiative, not passively wait to be attacked.

After the upgrade system program ran its course and could self-upgrade, with issues handled by Li Chengrui, Pei An didn’t need to worry about it anymore. He put his portable light brain back in its place and naturally handed it over to Xie Yu.

“I’ll take you to your accommodation,” Xie Yu said after packing up his laptop. When Zhuge Yue stealthily disappeared, he led Pei An by himself.

The hotel Xie Yu found for temporary stay wasn’t far from the Administrative Headquarters, just a seven to eight-minute walk.

Before Pei An reached the destination, Xie Yu had compared all the suites in the hotel, picking one with the best view, the broadest scope, and the largest window. He wanted to provide the best treatment for Pei An within his capabilities.

“You didn’t bring daily necessities. Shall I accompany you to buy them?” Xie Yu asked after placing Pei An’s portable light brain.

“No need to make a special trip; I can just order online,” Pei An replied. He wasn’t someone with high demands on the quality of life. He was more of a pragmatic person, not bothering to meticulously choose everything. He was action-oriented, and with that, he started browsing the online marketplace through his smart brain.

He didn’t need much—just a few outfits and daily necessities. Clothes were easy; he had a preference for a monotonous style, and with his well-proportioned physique, he didn’t worry about clothes not fitting. For personal hygiene, he added items for washing his face, brushing his teeth, and showering into his shopping cart. Pei An didn’t care about styles; he directly added them to the cart and proceeded to check out.

As for DS009, he might go back for it. At least, before leaving the Moran Star System completely and heading to more expansive star regions, he wouldn’t dispose of anything he left in the Moran Star System.

Except for the sweatshirt hand-drawn by Xie Yu, which he placed in his room on the Liao Yuan, everything else was ordered online and would be delivered by logistics.

While waiting for the delivery, Pei An joined Xie Yu for lunch at the hotel’s restaurant.

Typically, hotels didn’t provide lunch or dinner. If needed, guests could order meals to be delivered to their rooms. Clearly, Xie Yu had spent money to have the hotel supply them with meals.

On their way up and down, Pei An saw many soldiers standing guard and patrolling in the hotel’s elevator and corridors.

When these soldiers saw Xie Yu, they would greet him, and when Xie Yu stopped to respond, he would introduce Pei An to them.

Throughout the process, Xie Yu had only one phrase, “This is the technical consultant I’ve spent a great price to invite. Surnamed Pei, a genuine expert. You all better show some respect.”

Naturally, the people under Xie Yu unquestionably obeyed him. If Xie Yu said a chicken feather was a command, they would agree without hesitation.

“Hello, Mr. Pei!” with an imposing manner and a loud voice.

Pei An: “…”

“No need to call me Mr. Pei,” which sounded more like addressing a white-haired old man.

Xie Yu touched his chin, “How do you guys usually address those in technology?”

“We usually use a simplified ‘General,’ or ‘Engineer So-and-so.'”

“Alright, then you guys can call him General Pei from now on.”

“Yes! General Pei is good!”

Pei An also nodded to them, “Hello.”

However, Pei An didn’t just accept the high position that Xie Yu gave him without reservation. He suggested, “Do you need any equipment upgrades, or do you have damaged weapons that need repairing?”

Although his expertise in information technology was quite average, when it came to repairing weapons with similar principles, he could manage. Many weapons weren’t disposable; repairing and patching up after each battle were common occurrences. If it weren’t for the scarcity of tech personnel willing to endure hardship with the military, each legion wouldn’t be so constrained, scrutinizing and searching all the time.

“If you’re willing to help, I’ll have Lika tally the numbers. It would be nice if we could repair the weapons before finalizing the battle plan,” Xie Yu suggested.

“The restaurant is here, make a turn,” Xie Yu said, pulling the earnestly walking Pei An into the restaurant.

As Xie Yu entered the restaurant, his hand was still holding Pei An’s wrist, and many of his subordinates turned their heads, looking towards the entrance.

Ah… their commander brought someone.

Xie Yu’s palm tingled, and he let go of Pei An, saying, “Let me introduce. This is the weapons technology expert I’ve invited. You can call him General Pei.”

All the people in military uniforms in the restaurant stood up uniformly, saying in unison, “Hello, General Pei!”

Pei An: “…”

He couldn’t just turn around and leave now, could he? How awkward.

Xie Yu raised his hand to signal them to continue eating.

These soldiers sat down in an orderly manner.

A gleam of light flashed in Pei An’s eyes. Indeed, those with lax military discipline like Zuo Jiwen were the minority. After the incident with Zuo Jiwen, Xie Yu had been strictly enforcing discipline in his team. It seemed to be quite effective.

There were quite a few soldiers staying in the hotel, and the hotel’s restaurant couldn’t prepare banquet-style meals for them. Instead, they had dishes cooked by robotic chefs. The restaurant staff only needed to place the ingredients and seasonings in the robot chef’s pot. They didn’t need to worry about anything else; they just waited for the dish to be ready and automatically switched to the warming mode.

It was convenient, but the taste was really mediocre.

As a kitchen killer, Pei An didn’t have high demands for food, so he was quite happy eating these large pot dishes.

Xie Yu was very willing to spend money from his own pocket.

All those who came with him to ML001, whether officers or soldiers, could enjoy a meal. Temporarily bidding farewell to the tasteless nutritional supplements, they could now savor real food. However, serving meals to over 20,000 people did cost quite a bit of money. Every time during such occasions, Xie Yu couldn’t help but feel extremely grateful to have a father who was very good at making money.

Pei An still remembered Xie Yu mentioning that the standard issue for all imperial forces was nutritional supplements. It wasn’t a written rule or a convention but simply a long-standing habit.

When only one person is accustomed to something, any problem will seem glaring. However, when everyone is accustomed to it, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong.

In a group of people accustomed to nutritional supplements, Xie Yu treated his soldiers extraordinarily.

Lika was sent away by Xie Yu to do some work, and now she returned to the hotel, coincidentally joining them for lunch at the restaurant.

Seeing Pei An, Lika was quite excited.

“Mr. Pei! I heard from Zhuge that you upgraded the central control system of the Moonlight. Is that true?” Lika hastily grabbed a meal and sat next to Xie Yu, diagonally across from Pei An, her eyes filled with admiration.

Pei An earnestly explained, “The credit for upgrading the central control system goes to Li Chengrui. I just brought the upgrade program over.”

Xie Yu lightly tapped his chopsticks on the plate and said, “Lika, from now on, when you see Pei An, call him General Pei. Don’t address him as Mr. Pei; it sounds too formal.”

“Oh, I heard about it too,” Lika said with a smiling face. “I believe General Pei will bring us surprises.”

“Good, while you’re at it, tally up the weapons that need repairs and report it to me once you’ve done it,” Xie Yu instructed.

Lika’s eyes widened slowly. How could someone assign tasks during a meal?

Pei An added, “After the operational plan is released, it’s advisable to conduct a comprehensive inspection of the entire weapons system.”

The three captured space pirates, under Zhuge’s methods, revealed a lot of useful information, including the areas where their armed forces frequently operated and the locations of their hideouts in the vicinity of the Moran star system. Xie Yu had held several meetings with Lika and others to discuss the operational plan against the space pirates. The plan was nearly finalized.

Space pirates were like slippery eels; if you didn’t keep an eye on them, you wouldn’t know where they might turn up. In addition, space pirates disturbed local defense forces but dared not confront regular military forces directly. When faced with regular forces, they ran faster than anyone. Therefore, they had to be caught. And once caught, the buttons had to be tightened; otherwise, if space pirates were allowed to wreak havoc in the Lyte Empire’s territory, wouldn’t it be a disgrace for the empire? It might even be mocked by neighboring countries.

The one issuing orders was Pei An, so there was no problem. Lika willingly accepted the task and said, “Rest assured, General Pei. I’ll have the report ready before ten o’clock tomorrow morning.”

Xie Yu: “…” Fine, treat them differently. Anyway, the recipient is Pei An; he doesn’t mind.

Pei An had just arrived at ML001 and immediately immersed himself in work. Lika also didn’t want to dawdle; after finishing her meal, she placed the plate in the recycling area, took her hovercar keys, and left the hotel to continue her busy schedule.

The items Pei An ordered online had just been delivered. As robots couldn’t deliver to the hotel’s residential area, Xie Yu helped Pei An carry them up while Pei An casually carried nothing.

The temperature on ML001 was higher than on DS009, making it a more habitable planet. Therefore, Pei An didn’t buy thick clothes. The thickest one he had was a coat, and he didn’t even need a down jacket.

The hotel had plenty of hangers in the closet, allowing Pei An to hang all his few pieces of clothing.

Xie Yu opened the shampoo and shower gel for Pei An. When Pei An looked at them, the shampoo had a pine scent, while the shower gel had a milk fragrance.

Would Pei An, who could command an entire legion, engage in research, and participate in battles, like the soft and cute scent of milk?

Xie Yu remembered that on DS009, at Pei An’s home, he usually bought very neutral scents.