Picking Up An Alpha On Garbage Star - Chapter 67

With so many soldiers, wouldn’t it be a problem to spare a few hundred?

“The military?” Ayegud feigned ignorance, “You need to ask the military about that. I’m just an administrative officer. How would I know about military matters?”

Xie Yu: Don’t prompt me, I’m planning how to mess with you.

Not only was Austin displeased, but the entire relief team also had a sour look. They were supposed to arrive in style, representing the empire with grandeur—walking the red carpet, flanked by military ranks providing protection and welcoming them, surrounded by flowers, and accompanied by media coverage, showcasing their best side to the press.

But none of that happened!

The administrative officer who came to greet them was even wearing old clothes!

“Well then, Your Highness, shall I take you to the hotel?” Ayegud asked.

“No need. We’ll go directly to the military base. The relief work is urgent,” Austin replied.

Ayegud nodded repeatedly and made a “please” gesture: “In that case, Your Highness, please board the spaceship now.”

Austin: “???”

“You’re not sending us?” If they could go on their own, why would they need to walk from here?

“Huh?” Ayegud scratched his head in confusion. “Your Highness, please don’t joke. How can I casually enter a military area? What if the defense system shoots me down? Where would I go to cry?”

Did he really think he could play the big shot here like in Central Star? In this place, no matter how impressive you are, you’ll be put in your place!

Austin felt choked, extremely uncomfortable.

Their spaceship definitely couldn’t get past—it would be shot down by the defense system as soon as it approached. But Ayegud was as uncooperative as ever. The situation could only be described with one word: awkward.

“Contact the military and let them know that the relief team from Central Star represents the empire and should be prepared to welcome us,” Austin David cursed Ayegud internally for being useless. He had clearly informed Ayegud about the relief team’s visit days in advance, but Ayegud had failed to prepare for it. Such a useless administrative officer should be removed by the parliament!

In fact, coordinating was not the problem. The issue was how to handle the situation once they were received.

Ayegud suddenly realized: “Oh, right! Your Highness’s status is so distinguished that you shouldn’t handle the coordination yourself. I’ll take care of it.”

Austin David’s already limited patience was almost exhausted by Ayegud.

“Fine. I’ll contact the secretary of the Independent Military Affairs Office and notify you immediately when there’s news,” Ayegud asked symbolically.

Austin took a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

“First, take us to the hotel.” There was no time to wait for messages from a secretary department. Austin would not wait at the spaceport for a reply.

Ayegud mumbled “Okay, okay” and rolled his eyes as he turned around, thinking that they were not as capable as they seemed.

In the end, Ayegud still sent the relief team to the hotel.

A five-star hotel is very expensive, isn’t it? Having to pay from the finances of the Galaxy system made Ayegud feel heartache.

He pulled out his smart brain and messaged Pei An: Make sure to get as much money as possible from these people! The hotel they’re staying in is ridiculously expensive!

Pei An replied: Don’t worry.

This time, he was determined to act as Pei Skinner. Even if the relief team was a group of tight-fisted individuals, he would still extract some money from them.

Ayegud continued to poke at his smart brain: Secretary Pei, when do you plan to let the relief team through?

Pei An replied: The relief team has traveled a long way and must be tired. It would be better for them to rest a bit and come over once they’re refreshed.

The main concern was that if they were in bad spirits, they might die of anger. Pei An did not want to be responsible for collecting their bodies.

After receiving the list of the relief team members from Xie Ao, Pei An saw that apart from the leading Seventh Prince Austin, the rest were from old noble families of the Lyte Empire, such as the Mondrei family and Juliana’s family. In short, they were all extremely, extremely, extremely wealthy.

For Pei An, the relief team was just an ATM that had come from Central Star. With the new military equipment production line lacking funds and the huge losses from the recent battle needing to be replenished, Pei An was confident that with these ATMs sending money, the expenses would be covered soon.

Indeed, money was the top priority in current work.

Although the public had also donated a lot of money, the military was so vast that even daily expenses amounted to a huge sum. Since taking office as the Secretary of the Independent Military, Pei An had never planned to make the army live on nutritional supplements and fight with their heads strapped to their belts. He was not that shameless, so the savings he accumulated through the Star Organization were quickly spent. Desperate, he had even auctioned off several luxury items made from stardust stones, which brought in several billion.

Pei An had not touched the public donations for military living expenses. These funds were used for military equipment, medical care, and post-war reconstruction of the Comet system.

The rebel army was a bunch of thieves. During the months they occupied the Comet system, they looted countless properties and sent them to their leaders. Many wealthy people in the Comet system had their properties plundered.

In just a few months, the Comet system suffered direct and indirect losses exceeding one hundred billion.

One hundred billion—what a concept! The population of the Lyte Empire was only two hundred billion.

Once, Pei An viewed money as dirt, but now he had turned into someone who liked dragons because dragons were said to be very good at making money.

Such was the tears brought by the helplessness of life.

Their dire situation was largely due to the inaction of the royal family and the parliament. As long as their interests were not directly harmed, they could comfortably watch from the sidelines.

Since the relief team insisted on coming, it was their misfortune.

After discussing with Ayegud, Pei An smiled at the officers seated below: “Let’s reiterate today’s theme: how to politely ask for money.”

Gu Fan clicked his tongue three times and poked Xie Yu: “Your Pei An is really a talent.”

Xie Yu raised an eyebrow proudly: “Thank you for the compliment.”

Gu Fan sneered: “Look at you.”

Xie Yu: With my excellent partner, do you have one?

To some extent, Xie Yu inherited the essence of his father’s love for flaunting his partners.

Austin paced impatiently in the hotel. His initial suggestion to form a consolation team was merely to polish his resume and gain more public support. To this end, he included many family members in the team. However, what kind of treatment did they receive when they arrived at the Galleon System? It was practically an insult to his status!

What is Xie Yu? Just the son of a commander. His father is the Emperor of the Lyte Empire; he is a prince! How dare Xie Yu treat him with such disregard?

And what about the so-called Secretary-General of the Independent Military Affairs Office? What a joke! The empire has not officially recognized the legitimacy of this position. What is he? An unnamed commoner who has to go through the secretariat to contact him?

The more Austin thought about it, the angrier he became, smashing the decorations in his hotel room.

If Alex knew about Austin’s lack of manners, he would definitely have the hotel remove all the decorations from Austin’s room! Damn it! The Galleon System’s finances are suffering!

But smashing things didn’t help; no one cared to listen to him, not even Alex, who was nominally responsible for the reception and had quickly left after dropping the consolation team off at the hotel.

Goodbye!

Besides the furious Austin, there were also the nobles who gathered together, speaking in a manner that was extremely inappropriate for their attire. Julianna led the way with the harshest words, showing no signs of being a refined lady.

Apart from the Mondrei family’s representative, Kauff Mondrei, no one in the consolation team could maintain their composure.

Kauff Mondrei was different. He came with the head of the family’s mission. The head had told him that the Secretary-General of the Independent Military Affairs Office, Pei An, was actually the legitimate young master An Mondrei from the Mondrei family. However, he seemed unwilling to acknowledge his father, so someone needed to persuade him to return to the family.

“As long as he returns to the Mondrei family, everything in the Mondrei family will be his: wealth, power, all of it,” said Clovis Mondrei.

Kauff Mondrei thought that the young master was extremely ungrateful. The head had publicly acknowledged his identity on the star net, yet he claimed not to know the family. It was clear that he had been wandering outside without receiving a good education and didn’t know what kind of people he had been mingling with.

Nevertheless, he was still the Mondrei family’s young master, and the family’s glory should rightfully belong to him, which Kauff agreed with.

However, he did not think about how powerful Pei An, as the Secretary-General of the Independent Military Affairs Office, was. Not insignificant.

As for wealth… didn’t someone go through a great deal of trouble to deliver it?

Kauff was deeply valued and trusted by Clovis, which meant his thought process was somewhat abnormal. If Pei An knew, he would definitely grab Kauff and give him a good thrashing.

His earliest teacher was a Chinese scientist. He attended good schools from elementary school, went to a top defense university, and was surrounded by top-notch experts. If Pei An knew that Kauff had said he hadn’t received a good education, Pei An would grab Kauff and make him apologize toward the ancient Earth.

The consolation team, though anxious, couldn’t find Alex. To soothe his wounded heart from the day, Alex had gone to a cozy bar to drink a couple of sparkling waters and eat some delicious soufflé, before slowly making his way to the hotel.

“Your Highness, the secretariat has given the go-ahead, and they’ve also sent someone to greet us. Let’s set off!”

After all, they could rest on the spaceship. Alex sincerely believed that after spending so many days on the spaceship, staying one more night wouldn’t matter!

As for the operations center, once they arrived, it would be the best place they could stay.

The operations center had no place for them to enjoy.

Alex: Yay!

The military representative was Ye Xiuzhe. He seemed completely harmless, but he could easily infuriate the consolation team.

Ye Xiuzhe cheerfully guided Austin and the others onto their designated spaceship and boarded a small vessel himself.

“Slow down, make it eight star hours,” Ye Xiuzhe patted his subordinate, “Let’s leave our esteemed guests to hang out in space for a bit.”

After eight hours, the operations center would welcome the first rays of the sun, and it would fully operationalize. Until then, the consolation team’s friends should avoid disturbing everyone’s rest. Even upon arrival at the operations center, they would still have to wait, as both commanders were very busy, and the Secretary-General, who managed the affairs office, was even busier with the recent surge in work and couldn’t be easily disturbed.

Ye Xiuzhe hummed a tune, found an empty seat, and leisurely closed his eyes. Perfectly, he would sleep for eight hours.

Being able to sleep for eight hours without any worries was a luxurious thing.

The consolation team was kept waiting for another eight star hours. No one on the spaceship knew when they would reach their destination, always thinking they were about to arrive, but they never did. So during these eight hours, no one slept.

The entire consolation team endured more than ten hours without sleep. After the spaceship docked, many were on the verge of breaking down. They were nobles who required at least eight star hours of sleep daily! They had never gone so long without sleep!

Even their lofty demeanor was worn down by lack of rest.

In contrast, Ye Xiuzhe had a great sleep during those eight hours.

Many blamed Alex, since he was the one who had them leave the hotel in the middle of the night and travel to the operations center. The lack of rest was all Alex’s fault!

Alex: “???” It was you who didn’t sleep, don’t blame me.

Ye Xiuzhe led the listless members of the consolation team from the spaceport. For soldiers, the distance of two kilometers was short, but for the exhausted consolation team members, especially the ladies like Julianna still wearing high heels… it was quite painful.

Julianna couldn’t stand the grievance: “Why wasn’t a car sent to pick us up? I don’t want to walk anymore!”

Ye Xiuzhe turned around with a polite smile: “I’m very sorry. This is a military spaceport and is reserved for the main ships, so no parking is allowed here. The car to pick you up is parked in the parking lot outside. Please follow me.”

With that, Ye Xiuzhe turned back and continued on his way.

Not being able to endure a mere two kilometers and still wanting to challenge the commanders?

Simple limbs don’t necessarily mean developed minds.

The two-kilometer journey exhausted the pampered nobles, and when they saw that the vehicle waiting for them was a bus that could accommodate all of them instead of a luxury car, they were even more distressed.

Ye Xiuzhe stood straight outside the bus door, raising his arm: “Please, get on the bus.”

Even Austin couldn’t tolerate it anymore: “Are you deliberately neglecting us?”

Ye Xiuzhe was surprised: “Why does Your Highness the Prince think that?”

Austin was furious: “You’re using this bus to receive us?”

Ye Xiuzhe pretended to be confused: “What’s wrong with this bus? It’s new, so it shouldn’t have any issues.”

Austin: “……It’s maddening.”

Ye Xiuzhe noticed Austin’s agitation and smirked slightly. “Well, look who’s in this situation now.”

“We are a consolation team representing the Empire. Your reception standards are clearly insulting us!” Austin said bluntly.

Oh, you’re right. We are indeed treating you like this, with a feather as a token of authority.

Ye Xiuzhe feigned realization. Just as Austin was about to say something like “If you correct your attitude, we’ll overlook it,” Ye Xiuzhe poured cold water on him.

“But, Your Highness, this is the front line, not the Central Star,” Ye Xiuzhe said calmly.

“The front line doesn’t have luxury vehicles, only various military vehicles. This bus is the least bumpy one we could find. If you don’t want to ride the bus, I can arrange a military pickup truck for you.”

This place was a temporary setup. Pei An always believed in spending money where it was needed, so only the airport roads were paved, while the roads outside were dusty.

But this is the daily life of the Independent Military.

What’s there to be dissatisfied about?

Austin was left speechless, unable to say a word, and finally boarded the bus with a face the color of pork liver.

Once the prince was on the bus, naturally, the others had no choice but to follow, unless they truly wanted to experience a military pickup truck in their expensive clothes.

The calmest person among them was Kauff Mondrei. He was in the best physical condition and was the only one who still seemed alive among the wilted nobles. He remained calm throughout, unlike others who were fuming, and Ye Xiuzhe kept a discreet eye on him.

But no one expected Kauff Mondrei to be thinking about how bad the living conditions must be in this environment, considering how desolate their young master from the Mondrei family looked.

With Pei An holding more than one resource planet: “???”

With Alex providing accommodation and services: “???”

The person who suffered the most from the consolation team’s trip to the Galleon System was probably Alex.

The bus, escorted by a few soldiers, wobbled towards the operations center. At this time, no one at the operations center would pay attention to them. It was early morning, time for everyone to wake up, wash, and have breakfast—who would care about them?

However, to avoid being too excessive while luring them to the Canghai System, Ye Xiuzhe took them to the operations center’s cafeteria for breakfast.

They had never eaten in such a rudimentary cafeteria. Even when they were in the best private schools, the food was prepared by chefs and offered many choices. This cafeteria had pitifully few options, and the food looked unappetizing.

Ye Xiuzhe didn’t care if the nobles ate or not. He took his own breakfast and, surprised, asked them, “Aren’t you going to get breakfast?”

Julianna’s breakfast had to be served with delicate tableware and look good, otherwise, she wouldn’t eat it. Seeing the cafeteria’s breakfast, she had no desire to eat.

“You’re eating this?” Austin frowned and asked.

“What’s wrong with it?” A soldier who came to the cafeteria saw these elegantly dressed people and said unkindly, “Before joining the Independent Military, ordinary soldiers without ranks or positions could only drink nutritional supplements. Three meals a day, all nutritional supplements.”

At least Secretary Pei An was good, finding ways to improve their food, and they were somewhat aware that this expense was covered by the Secretary, not military funds.

Austin said seriously, “Which unit were you in before? Tell me, and I’ll take care of it for you.”

The soldier looked at Austin as if he were crazy: “All the military in the Empire is like this. What can you do about it?”

A companion elbowed him: “Let’s go, don’t waste time with these people. Finish your meal and get back to work.”

The soldier, chewing on a meat bun, left with his companion and found a place to sit and eat.

Austin hesitantly asked, “Is what he said true?”

Ye Xiuzhe nonchalantly replied, “Isn’t it?”

Why has the Lyte Empire’s military remained silent? One reason is the external enemies, and another is that the army is under the command of the eight major group armies, not because of good welfare benefits in the Lyte Empire.

“Hurry up and get breakfast. Don’t disrupt others’ meals,” Ye Xiuzhe said lightly.

However, he was more worried that the soldiers might not be able to resist beating these well-dressed people.

These people should only die on the battlefield, justifiably. Getting beaten to death would be more troublesome.