Universe King

A strange silence fell.

Reynolds did not speak.

Hill did not speak either.

They just looked at each other in silence.

After a while, Reynolds said, 'You know, Mr Hill, what you're saying amounts to an accusation.'

'It seems to me that I'm just stating a fact.' Hill replied with a smile, 'Before I came, I looked up the personnel allocation on the Aphrodite. Captain Reynolds, there are 46 crew members with ranks above yours. These include 4 colonels, 12 lieutenant colonels and 30 majors. They are distributed in various positions to carry out their respective missions. Apart from the commander of the mech corps, most of them work on the ship. And yet they are all dead.'

Reno replied, 'As I said in my report, everyone was in an emergency meeting discussing how to deal with the pursuit of the gods and spirits. A god or spirit energy cannon fired at that time, hitting the meeting room directly and killing everyone. I didn't attend the meeting because I didn't have enough rank, and I was able to survive.'

'Yes. I even went to the Aphrodite and looked, and the meeting room was indeed destroyed.'

'It's quite efficient of you to have done so much in less than 24 hours since arriving on Earth from the Abydos.'

'I will take that as a compliment and ask for a promotion, although they will most likely not care.' Hill replied, 'Let's get back to the topic at hand. Although the conference room has been completely electrolysed, I noticed that the location of the conference room is actually not next to the starship. It is located in the middle of the starship, and there are at least twelve separation compartments between it and the starship deck. In fact, the design of the starship took into account the possibility of being hit by a cannon during a meeting, resulting in the annihilation of the entire crew, and therefore the conference room was heavily protected in the design. So may I ask, in this case, how did the gods make their energy cannon hit the conference room?

Reno replied, 'I admire your diligence, but what you're talking about are just paper data. In reality, the design of the Abydos still has some flaws.'

'Oh?' Russell Hill was intrigued.

Reno continued, 'These flaws are mainly in the life support system. Since the life support system is the key to ensuring the survival of the crew on board, it must be located in every corner of the ship. Although there are a large number of separation compartments between the conference room and the hull of the fleet, the life support system penetrates all these barriers, resulting in a direct line between the conference room and the hull of the fleet. If the Protoss energy cannon attacks here and the energy shield happens to be insufficiently protective, the overflowing energy will follow the life support system directly into the conference room, killing everyone there.'

Hill's eyes narrowed: 'That means they have to be very accurate.'

'Yes.'

'What do you think the chances of something like this happening are?'

Reynolds thought for a moment and shrugged: 'About one in a hundred million, I'd say.'

Hill laughed: "It seems their luck wasn't very good, but yours was obviously very good.'

Reynolds replied: "Believe it or not, Investigator Hill, I've never seen it as luck. Captain Jerome was an excellent captain, and his departure saddens me.'

'Maybe, who knows,' said Hill leisurely. "Every villain looks like a good guy until proven otherwise, don't you think?'

Reynolds didn't say anything.

The questioning continued for a while.

Hill kept asking questions.

His questions were tricky and sharp, as if the man sitting in front of him wasn't a mech commander and temporary captain of the Abydos, but a prisoner being interrogated.

Reynolds" expression remained calm.

He accepted the interrogation as if it were nothing out of the ordinary, answering all the questions just right.

But this obviously did not satisfy Hill.

He said, 'I noticed that in your file, I can't find any information about you before you became a mechanic. Can you tell me why?'

Reno spread his hands: "Maybe because there is nothing to record.'

'It could also have been deleted, right?" Hill said, 'I don't know why someone would delete your past file, but I believe that sometimes it is not that difficult to find history.'

'That's your business,' said Reno, shrugging.

Hill laughed: "Okay, that's enough for today, I hope I haven't bothered you too much.'

Reno raised his glass: "Can I drink now?'

'I don't want to report to my superior with a mouthful of wine, it would reduce the accuracy of my report in the officer's mind,' Hill replied with a smile.

'In that case, forget it, I don't want my good intentions to turn into a conspiracy,' said Reno, putting down his glass.

Hill got up to say goodbye to Renault, who accompanied him to the door.

Standing there, about to leave, Hill suddenly turned back and said, 'By the way, Commander Renault, I don't think I've ever asked you how you know how to fly a starship, have I?'

Renault nodded.

'So can I ask now?'

Renault thought for a moment and replied, 'In a dream.'

'In a dream?'

'Yes, in a dream. A beautiful dream full of fantasy and hope...'

...

After the orientation meeting, Renault returned to the dormitory and had a good night's sleep.

In his dream, he dreamed of himself piloting a starship through the starry sea, with the girl named Claire standing beside him.

Waking up in the morning, Renault reported to the starship command department as required.

The Alpha Military Academy has eight branches: the Ship Branch, the Mecha Branch, the Communications Branch, the Planetary Geology Branch, the Engineering Branch, the Weapons Branch, the Power and Energy Branch, and the Ship Command Branch. Each branch has various departments.

The Alpha Military Academy is world-famous for its ability to train outstanding captains, so the Ship Branch is the most popular branch at the Academy. The first department in the Ship Branch is the Ship Command Department, which is also the most difficult to enter.

Every year, the Starship Command Department of the Naval Branch only admits 600 students. Even among these 600 students, most will eventually be eliminated, and usually only 100 or so will be able to obtain a graduation certificate.

When Renle came here, there were already a few students sitting sparsely in the classroom.

When they saw Renle, most of them waved at him friendly. Most of them had received help from Renle in the drag race last night, and they also had a favorable impression of him. Of course, there were also some people who obviously did not appreciate it as much.

Reno noticed one such gaze fall on him, one with a strong sense of rivalry.

It belonged to a guy with strong muscles, a shaved head, and what looked like the kind of brawny build that would be more at home at the Mecha Academy.

As Reno walked past him, he said, 'You won yesterday, but I'll win back. Remember my name, I'm Palone Sifide, and I'll be your biggest rival among the command students!'

Reno didn't say anything, and found a seat in the back row.

'Hey, how are you doing? Renault, right? I'm Boor, Philly Boor, from the Great Horned Star. Thanks a lot for yesterday.' The neighbour reached over and extended an arm. The owner of the arm was a young man with freckles.

'You're welcome,' said Renault, shaking his hand.

Then more people came over and shook his hand, and Renault quickly got to know most of the cadets in the class.

The young man with the flaxen hair who looked a little green and shy was called Aden, a genius of the arts from the planet Monida.

The tall, slender blond guy with a pair of long legs that made girls scream and a pretty face was Hanks, from the planet Boshe, and had a deep knowledge of cosmology, being able to recite the vast majority of galaxies in the Milky Way like he knew them personally.

Li Zonghan, with black hair and black eyes, comes from Longhua Star and is good at intelligence gathering and analysis.

There is also the plump and white Kaofuren, who is good at hacking light brain programs.

As for Sifield, as Renault guessed, he is good at fighting. What really surprised him was that this guy came from the Devil's Triangle Star System. You have to know that it is a place where star pirates run rampant. Philip Ball is good at spectrum analysis.

'So what about you?' someone asked Renault, "what are you good at?'

Renault thought for a moment, shook his head and said, "I was admitted through the entrance exam, and I didn't receive any training in this area before, so I don't think I'm good at anything. If I had to say, being able to drive an old car could be considered a specialty.'

Everyone laughed.

Someone said, 'That won't do, Renault. As a captain, you and I are both people who will become captains in the future. As a captain, you must have some outstanding skills to keep the people below you in line.'

'Really? I don't think so,' a voice suddenly sounded outside.

A gray-haired old man was standing in the doorway, dressed in a sharp general's uniform. He looked at the group of cadets with a kind face and a benevolent smile, and said, 'You are here to learn how to become a captain. Your future is to manage various departments such as communications, mecha, flight, and energy, not to become them! Therefore, mastery of a particular field is not the standard for becoming an excellent captain. An excellent overview of the big picture, keen insight, excellent management skills, a solid professional foundation, and a little courage are the most important qualities needed to become an excellent captain.'

The trainees were stunned by his words, and it took a while for someone to react: 'May I ask your name...'

The old man replied, 'My name is Marshall, the dean of the Alpha Military Academy. I have always personally been in charge of the Star Ship Command Department.'