Stars See Me [Interstellar] | Chapter 24 | The Planetary Sea | Novela.app

Excellent. A freshman currently enrolled in a military academy had given his heartfelt advice. As the words fell, Valen laughed. "Just what I had in mind!" he said. At that moment, the heavy sword of 'Imperial Blade' swung down toward his head. The golden-haired youth, who had been employing hit-and-run tactics until now, suddenly threw up his arm! *Clang—!!!!* Amidst the screech of clashing metal, a phantom of armguards flickered into existence. It took only a single breath to transition from a blurred afterimage to complete materialization. Valen’s fingers tapped in rapid succession; during the QTE phase that tested split-second reactions, 'Starstream' steadily withstood the strike. Then, a suit of pitch-black armor accented with gold quietly emerged. Its matte shell absorbed the light, adorned with custom-made fine gold filigree and a snow-white mantle that fluttered amidst the starlight. On the split-screen to the side, the comment section refreshed at a speed that instantly broke the scale. With a single glance, Lei Ting could tell that it was a 'Specialized Single-Soldier Superpower Mech' with a 100% synchronization rate. Every superpower mech pilot who met the piloting standards could only operate standardized physical mechs during the early stages of their career training. Later, with the assistance of mechanics and the development of their own abilities, they would modify that armor toward a suitable specialization until it became one of a kind. Through subsequent high-intensity combat, their superpowers would slowly fuse with it. Eventually, they could achieve extraordinary feats: from repairing damaged armor instantly with their own power, to ultimately summoning a materialized mech phantom without needing a physical unit at all. As long as the superpower synchronization was high enough, the superpower mech and its integrated weapon systems would grow alongside their master, changing according to their master’s will. This process had emerged during the Second Galactic War. At that time, the superpowers of the Orionids were generally weak, and they could only fuse with a few armor components at most. However, through technological development and superpower evolution in the years since, the Orionids had borrowed and absorbed the abilities and technologies of various alien enemies. Currently, they had pushed this technology to an extremely refined state. This was why organized superpower mech combat units could exist. Incidentally, during class, a teacher had once complained that the Star-Net always described this process as "Life-bound Mechs" or "Man-Machine Unity," wondering if it was because certain miraculous novels from Ancient Earth were still circulating today. Lei Ting had not yet piloted a machine himself, let alone imagined what this state of 'Man-Machine Unity' felt like. He had only seen relevant data in the videos accompanying his textbook files; at the time, two or three hundred students had been collectively captivated, and they remained so to this day. Lei Ting had looked up a lot of information back then. After reading it all, he had assumed he wouldn't have the chance to witness its power until the superpower mech training courses began. But now, in a game, he was seeing a set of superpower armor that had fully synchronized with its pilot. The moment it was summoned, 'Starstream' slashed across the chest and abdomen of 'Imperial Blade.' As the opponent's health bar took a massive hit, he soared into the air, trailing a wake of galactic light. His blade swung down heavily, unleashing a white arc of light! *Schwing!* Not far away, the mycelium ball that had just re-rooted and was weaving a defensive perimeter was sliced clean in half. Simultaneously, 'Dragon Slayer' stumbled: "..." The two clumps of 'Chemister' that had fallen to the ground remained silent for a moment before writhing and beginning to divide— Lei Ting didn't pay much attention to the rest of the battle. His external terminal emitted a faint *beep-beep*. An internal network communication request appeared before his eyes. The person submitting the request was Lucas. His photo appeared before Lei Ting: a handsome golden-haired youth wearing a blue-light neck ring, smiling at the camera as if making eye contact with Lei Ting from inches away. The black-haired youth paused for a moment, subconsciously glancing at 'Starstream' on the light screen. The vigorous and handsome golden-haired man was now completely concealed beneath the pitch-black armor, having just severed 'Imperial Blade's' arm with a single strike. In the next second, the golden blood on that slender blade quietly transformed into hazy starlight. He swung the blade in a horizontal sweep; it even carried 'Imperial Blade's' powerful influence over earth and stone. While scattering half the 'Grotto' avatars, it also created a series of sharp, straight, square stone obelisks that erupted from the arena floor. 'Dragon Slayer,' who had just leaped to smash down with her axe, nearly collided with the tip of an obelisk. Her momentum stalled, and she kicked off the flat surface of the stone pillar to lunge again, only to find her prey had already vanished. Watching the light screen where Valen’s perspective appeared behind her, Lei Ting took a sip from his water cup and silently stood up to walk toward the shop door. Leaving the shop would trigger an automatic AI announcement. To avoid disturbing the players who were openly "petting the interstellar sperm whale," he answered the call right there in the shop. Lucas Kang’s face appeared on the screen instantly. He smiled and greeted Lei Ting: "Hey, have you seen the forums?" "The forums?" The other party was an Omega, so he certainly wasn't talking about the Alpha student forum. And the public student forum seemed to have been nearly taken down by someone from the Information Engineering Department earlier... With some confusion, Lei Ting opened the large public forum that everyone on the 'Sol' internal network could access. At a glance, he saw that most users were discussing the 'Stargate.' It seemed many people were excited to witness a Stargate transit with their own eyes. "The Stargate?" he asked back. "Yeah!" Lucas nodded and laughed brightly. "They say it's this evening. Want to go watch together?" Lei Ting thought about it and realized he was indeed curious. "Sure," he nodded. "Time and place?" "5:30 PM, meet at the north entrance of the Central Plaza." Lucas clearly hadn't decided this on a whim; the young master answered more decisively than when he was spending money. "A lot of people should be coming. Some are already moving their chairs over." After agreeing on the time and place, Lei Ting hung up and checked the time: 12:00 PM. ... Just to invite him to watch a Stargate transit, he called this early? Lei Ting sighed, shaking his head to tell himself not to be narcissistic. But if he wasn't being narcissistic... then he’d better find an opportunity to politely decline the other party soon. Then, just as he was about to return to Valen’s side, another communication request arrived. This time it was the group of neighbors and friends led by Sandro and Susanna, inviting him to watch the Stargate transit. The time was also set for 5:30 PM, and the location was also the north entrance of the Central Plaza. It was likely because the student dormitory area was located on the north side of the Central Plaza. Lei Ting didn't directly accept the invitation this time. Instead, he told them he would be there, but perhaps not alone. This caused Sandro’s expression to turn gleeful as he prepared to start gossiping, but Susanna, beside him, shoved him down just as he opened his mouth: "No problem!" After hanging up, Lei Ting didn't rush back to his seat. He watched his terminal and waited for a few seconds. Sure enough, more invitations flooded in one after another from acquaintances and people he barely knew, all for the same thing. After answering over a dozen calls without pause, though he hadn't lost his patience, he felt it was becoming a waste of time. Ultimately, he changed his communication signature on the school network to '5:30 PM Plaza North Gate' and unceremoniously muted his external terminal. But before he could close the screen and projection, a new call came in. Lei Ting stared at the ID label 'Academy Logistics Chief.' After a moment, he silently answered. "Hello, hello, can you hear me, Double S?" The Logistics Chief seemed to be in a good mood. "It seems you're quite popular, hahahahaha... Cough, no, I mean, tomorrow is your first machine test. Remember to come early! Hanging up now!" *Click.* He was a man of his word and actually hung up. Lei Ting: "..." Lei Ting: "?" Lei Ting, who hadn't managed to say a single word, stared silently at his terminal screen, speechless. After a long while, he sighed—fine, at least it was good news, he thought. And... to be honest, he had truly never imagined that one day his academic life would be associated with terms like 'Stargate transit' and 'machine test.' It was a case of an unsophisticated Earthling being utterly shocked. "...Pfft." The sound of someone failing to stifle a laugh came from close by. The black-haired youth turned his head, only to find Valen playing his game while withdrawing his sidelong glance and the mischievous smile at the corner of his mouth. "..." He silently returned to his chair, looking at the light screen as if he hadn't heard a thing. At this moment, amidst the surging stars, the half-health 'Starstream' was falling backward through the air. Two backlit figures full of power raised their weapons to strike. A massive fungal mass spread its mycelium tentacles across the sky behind them, and countless ghostly phantoms swept forth from within— *Zing!* A prompt sounded. The ultimate finishing skill, commonly known as the 'Ultimate,' was fully charged. Valen’s thumbs moved slightly. 'Starstream' suddenly spun, erupting with a white light that wasn't blinding but was certainly eye-catching, flying into the dark canopy of the arena! "Alright," Valen exhaled easily. "It's decided." Then he took his hands off the sensory controls, stood up, and stretched. The hem of his shirt pulled up, faintly revealing the belt cinched around his waist and the work tools attached to it. Lei Ting looked up at those miscellaneous small items, his beautiful back tightened by the shirt, and those arms with smooth muscle lines... ...And then politely looked away. Given that this interstellar society was completely free regarding sexual orientation—where A and B, or O and O, could normally date and marry—he felt it best to be mindful of such things. After a further, comfortable stretch, Valen relaxed his arms. The two of them looked together at the CG playing on the light screen—it was a space where stars flickered and flowed, showing the final video clip left by 'Starstream' in the official records. "Even... Evenheller!" The person recording ran hurriedly toward the golden-haired youth's back. Their voice, processed through distortion, made it impossible to tell their gender or age. "Do you really have to go?!" The youth, wearing a neat uniform and adjusting his armguards, turned around in front of a light special-ops ship. He gave the newcomer a gentle, reassuring smile. "Someone has to go," he said. The image, flickering with electromagnetic interference, vanished. 'Starstream,' having soared into the heavens, turned around. From above the black sky, he looked toward the vast sea of stars that followed him. —Hero Unit 【'Starstream' Evenheller Kang】, Ultimate Skill 【Planetary Sea】, successfully unleashed! The stars across the sky flickered. The black-armored warrior transformed into a streak of light and descended from the heavens, crashing heavily into the arena! Following the path of his descent, a meteor shower fell upon the enemies below. The light of the stars poured down like a river breaching its banks. Amidst the screen-shaking effects, stardust and silver-white mist surged in all directions. White starlight continued to fall from the sky one after another, each impact a spectacular explosion. *—BOOM!!!!!!!!* Under this powerful area-of-effect attack, the enemies' already depleted health bars vanished completely. The dark canopy dissipated. Even with the volume turned down, the deafening cheers rang out. Valen, who had been watching the screen in silence, snapped out of it. He squinted for a moment at the shimmering crowd of users in the spectator stands. A moment later, he controlled 'Half-life,' now stripped of the 'Starstream' phantom. Following his habit of many years, he waved to the stands and struck a few poses before teleporting back to his registered residence and logging off at light speed. Far away in the Capital System, Angye silently squeezed a cup in his hand: "..." The heavy, low pressure in the room made the other occupants wisely maintain their silence. Only Falin asked softly: "...Shall we continue with the next stage of testing?" "..." Angye glanced at the man wordlessly, sighed, and placed the cup—which he had nearly crushed—steadily back on the table. "No need," he said. "With a style that flamboyant, perhaps we've found the wrong person again... Besides, he is currently working on the 'Sol.' The Federation still needs the 'Principal' to exist; we cannot provoke her further." "Speaking of the Principal," Falin’s voice grew even quieter, "regarding what the Principal mentioned before... perhaps we need to give her an answer." "..." Angye rubbed his brow. "Speak louder, I'm not that terrifying. Also, tell her that they will return soon, and they will be carrying some gifts. Ask her not to refuse. At least, don't refuse on behalf of the 'Double S'." He paused for a moment, then added: "Also... have people search for those who are harming children. I suspect they are related to the 'Devourers.' "If definitive evidence is found and leads are extracted, kill them on the spot." *** Glossary: