My Partner was Assigned to me by the Country

Kage firmly held onto the edge of the crack with one hand and pulled Sierra, who was struggling constantly, with the other, “Don’t move, Sierra. I’m going to throw you up, don’t move, cough, cough.” He was injured and needed to rest, but seeing Sierra fall into the chasm, he rushed out without a second thought. Fortunately, he caught Sierra.

Sierra cried out, “Hurry up! Move faster! Trash! Why are you so useless?”

Kage gave a wry smile, and the muscles on his arms bulged as he struggled to slowly lift up Sierra with great effort as a buffer. Kage’s facial muscles were twisted, his veins bulged, and his fingers clutching the edge of the crack turned white from the effort, almost embedded in the rock.

“Ah!” He burst with strength, throwing Sierra out and above his head. Kage smiled contentedly and said gently, “Don’t be afraid, Sierra. You can step on my head to get up.”

Sierra shouted in panic, “Why are you so useless? Why don’t you just throw me up there directly?”

Harriet, who came to pull him up, rolled her eyes irritably. “That’s because he’s already exhausted. Sierra, you’re such a messy b*stard, don’t you know that moving around like that will put a lot of pressure on the person trying to save you?”

“You!” Sierra was angry. When did a little soldier dare to talk to him like this!

Harriet snorted, as it was all too familiar to her.

Sierra stepped on Kage’s head and climbed up. In his panic, he even stepped on Kage’s fingers. Those four fingers, which had endured so much, were overwhelmed and couldn’t bear the weight and gave way. Kage closed his eyes calmly and gave up struggling, knowing that he was doomed to die. Suddenly, the fall stopped, and he opened his eyes to see Ryan’s face and he was pulled up by Ryan.

What happened afterwards was like a revolving lantern. Sierra was repeatedly frightened and suffered from high fever after being rescued. He began to talk nonsense, which was a far cry from the image of a great master that he tried to maintain. Kage, who was knocked down by Ryan and injured, rushed out to save Sierra and became even more exhausted. Both of them needed urgent treatment. Auston immediately called for rescue through the rescue satellite, and the rescue arrived within fifteen minutes. Auston also had to leave when this happened.

Although Ryan was reluctant to see Auston leave, he was even more reluctant to let Auston follow him to rough it out. He walked over and handed the Moonlight Rose to Auston, and quickly kissed Auston on the face under the cover of the flower. This shy young man immediately blushed and felt uncomfortable. “Go back and rest well. I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Auston didn’t expect another farewell kiss, and his heart was beating wildly at a loss. He recalled what his parents’ goodbye kiss looked like, but with so many eyes watching in public, he couldn’t kiss back intimately like his mother did. So, he could only hold the rose stiffly in place.

“General, it’s time to go,” the rescue team shouted.

Auston calmly said, “Okay, let’s go.” He took a deep look at Ryan and decided to return the kiss later.

Watching Auston leave with the rescue team until everyone disappeared into the sky, Ryan was sad for a long time.

Fan Lanting bumped Ryan’s shoulder and said excitedly, “Wow, it’s so thrilling. You and the general are actually a couple. Oh, What a divine match this is! One is the youngest general in the empire, commanding an army of millions. The other is a little soldier who climbed up from the kitchen and was looked down upon everywhere. Wow, Connor should write a novel about this, and I’ve even thought of a title, it should be called ‘My Partner was Assigned to me by the Country’.”

Ryan: “…”

Ryan: “I don’t think my cousin would want to use our family as inspiration for a novel. If he does, I’ll post a video of him picking his feet on Star Net.”

Fan Lanting: “!!!!” What did he hear? Please say it again loudly! He trembled as if he had Parkinson’s disease, an illness that had not been fully cured even in the interstellar age. “Who is your cousin?!!”

“Connor Smith.” Ryan found amusement in Fan Lanting’s reaction. “Aunt Peggy is my mother’s older sister.” The two sisters both married men surnamed Smith, but Uncle Smith wasn’t as good as Father Smith. So, after the divorce, his aunt brought his cousin and her sister’s family to live with her.

Fan Lanting clutched his chest and staggered back two steps, looking bewilderedly at the sky, at the ground, and then at Ryan. Suddenly, he let out a loud cry that was loud enough to scare away the rose lizards within a kilometer, “Ah-ah-ah-ah!!!!”

The others: “…”

Fan Lanting: “Ah-ah-ah-ah!!!!”

Derrick, Harriet, and Jack glared at Ryan, who apologized embarrassedly, rubbing his nose. “Sorry, I should have said that after I got back.”

Fan Lanting: “Ah-ah-ah-ah!!!!”

Other than screaming, he couldn’t do anything else. Oh God, thank you so much for letting him decide to sneak up on Ryan, so that he could finally meet Connor’s precious little brother and touch him… He wanted to touch Ryan’s hands, which Connor had touched; he wanted to touch his head, which Connor had touched; he wanted to touch his shoulders, which Connor had touched… sobbing, he felt the presence of Connor through Ryan’s body, and he felt so happy that he thought he could die in happiness.

Ryan took responsibility for the trouble he caused and found himself a big pendant that made him look silly at times. Although the pendant was serious when needed and even allowed him to keep all the “roses” he found for himself, Ryan was not happy.

He was unhappy, so he pinned Fan Lanting to the ground, ready to rub his brain against the ground to calm down.

Fan Lanting laughed and said, “Ryan, when you and your brother fight, do you also press Connor like this? I bet you do. Oh, I have experienced the same thing with Connor, and I am so happy~~~”

Ryan shuddered at the wave of Fan Lanting’s words and let go of him decisively. “Don’t be like this. If you calm down, I can take you to meet my cousin after the cruise ends.” Unable to take it anymore, he decided to sell his cousin.

Fan Lanting lay on the ground, covering his face with both hands and making weird giggling sounds, “Hehehe, hehehe, hehehe…”

Standing on the side, Harriet couldn’t help but feel itchy feet, wanting to kick Fan Lanting and turn him into a star in the sky.

Fortunately, the seventh day of the contest came.

At 7am in B612 time, Ryan and Derrick discussed whether they should finish the task 10 hours ahead of schedule and put the package into the basket. The nearby rose lizards within 6 kilometers of the center had already been captured by them and wouldn’t “refresh” for a short time. According to the several veteran players, the things in their package were definitely enough to pass the competition without further delay.

“Anyway, we’ve already won. Let’s go back,” Harriet was so fed up that she didn’t even want to lift her hand to touch her forehead. It was definitely a big oil field and smoggy place, and looking at her teammates, she said it all. “Going back means we can have a hot shower, hot meals, soft blankets, and constant indoor temperature…”

“Let’s go!” The other four said in unison.

Such a loud voice scared the small team that had worked so hard to come to the center point to death. They had thought they were in first place after sacrificing one of their own to rush here, but they found out that someone had beaten them to it, which was already quite depressing. When they discovered that the team guarding the center point was the Ryan’s team, who had caused quite a stir in the previous matches, their hearts sank even more. The captain of the four-person team immediately looked distressed, as if he had swallowed a Coptis chinensis1.

The few of them looked at each other with almost the same expression, becoming vigilant and making their final desperate struggle. There was absolutely no coward on the Xingtian ship who would lose without a fight!

Ryan smiled at them, and the four-person team stepped back in unison, afraid that the bulldozer might rush over on a whim. In their minds, Ryan was no longer synonymous with thin and small. After updating the vocabulary in their hearts, Ryan was now tagged with bulldozer, demon, devil, smiling tiger, that terrifying mysterious oriental man… anyone who dared to say Ryan was so thin and small that he would fall with just one push, would get their head smashed.

“They’re very nervous.” Fan Lanting poked Harriet’s arm and spoke to her.

Harriet yawned and said, “If I were standing on the opposite side of Ryan, I would be very nervous too.”

Fan Lanting thought about Ryan’s terrifying strength and nodded vigorously. “Yes.” Ryan had achieved such terrifying individual strength through personal training. He must publish a training tutorial and put it online to sell, and the sales volume would exceed a billion in minutes.

They were packing and preparing to put the package into the basket and the group of four people in the distance were observing them carefully.

“Boss, what are they doing? Why aren’t they charging over?”

“Yeah, my muscles are tense and my arms are sore.”

“Not to mention they won’t let go of any badge, but we have quite a few of them.”

“Shut up!” The captain growled, “They have handed in the mission.”

The group of people preparing for a life-and-death battle, “…..” Hey, come back, our posture is getting us tired.

Ryan threw his backpack into the basket first, followed by Derrick and Jack, and the slowest were Fan Lanting and Harriet. As soon as the backpack was placed in the basket, a metal basket dropped from a height of over 200 meters. They didn’t have to climb up anymore because the command center had thoughtfully prepared an “elevator” for them. Although it was a bit crude and lacked safety guarantee, it definitely saves time and effort.

The air currents in the Moon Bay Canyon were chaotic, making it impossible to fly, so they had to use the “elevator.”

The five of them got on the simple makeshift elevator, with Ryan smiling at the sky above Moon Bay, knowing that they would be able to go back soon. The large pendant, Fan Lanting, sat next to him and smiled at the four-person group near the basket. “If you hurry and put your backpacks in the basket, all nine of us can go together.”

The four-person group held their backpacks and sadly realized that the intimidating presence of Ryan and his team was too strong. Even though the others had withdrawn from the competition, they still couldn’t relax. The Captain of the four-person group shook his head and said, “Thanks, we’ll wait. See you on the Xingtian ship.”

“Bye bye!” Fan Lanting waved his hand.

The four-person team looked up as the makeshift elevator ascended, and after a while, one of them said, “Ryan also waved to us. He looks different from the rumors, very gentle.”

“His smiling face is very handsome, not scary at all.”

The Captain said silently, “But he is a master.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, a gentle and smiling master is still a master.

When the team arrived at the ground, they saw the desert in the transition zone, and the icy wind of the Ice grassland carried sand that hit them in the face, warmly welcoming them. They didn’t stay here for long as a rescue plane picked them up and took them to the command center. After gathering nearly 200 people, the airship flew from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere and returned to the Xingtian battleship.

As they looked at the huge steel body of the Xingtian battleship, the soldiers who were battered and injured from the mission didn’t jump up in excitement. They were very happy, but they didn’t even have the strength to be happy. During the battle with the Zerg, they still had a chance to catch their breath, but in the Ice grassland and the Moon Bay, they were constantly being tested.

Wearily boarded the Xingtian ship, they took the elevator, nodded goodbye and left, returning to their respective dormitories, and simply took a quick shower and collapsed on the bed, feeling comfortable.

As for the hot shower and hot meals, they would have to wait until they woke up.

….

The interrogation room on the Xingtian ship is not much different from other places. The silver-grey walls, lacking the embellishment of plants, have become exceptionally cold and hard. Sierra, who has received treatment, has basically recovered his health, but not his spirit. Looking at the man opposite, he felt numbness swept through his whole body.

Seven days have passed, and the competition should have ended. Ryan should have been rewarded. 

It’s ridiculous that jealousy blinded his own eyes, giving Ryan a chance to become famous. Sierra adjusted his posture and sat up straighter in the chair. He thought that if he had another chance, he would not regret entering the Ice grasslands to participate in the competition.

Sierra thought that if he had another chance, he would perfect his plan and kill Ryan before he became famous.

Ryan….

Sierra trembled suddenly. He felt short of breath, and that hand seemed to have returned.

He looked at the expressionless man as he spoke about how he would be dealt with. Sierra suddenly smiled, “I don’t accept what you’re saying. Disrupting the competition order, violating military regulations, attempted murder, instigating others to kill, inciting mass incidents… Ha, why don’t you accuse me of treason! You can’t arbitrarily judge me guilty. Auston, I’m not your subordinate, and I’m not under your control. After the cruise ends, I will let the lawyer talk to you on my own behalf. Until then, I have the right to remain silent.”

Auston looked at him calmly. “There is evidence to support all the charges against you. Even with a lawyer, you won’t be able to deny it. I will submit all the evidence to the arbitration court, and the court will determine if you are guilty. Sierra, we have had a pleasant cooperation for six years. Setting aside personal feelings, we were good colleagues and have many common topics at work. But your evaluation of the Xingtian ship and the military has made me feel cold. Is it so disgusting for you to stay on the Xingtian Ship for six years?”

As the chief engineer of the mecha engineering department, Sierra received no less respect on the Xingtian ship than in the Imperial Research Institute, or even more so. The military is a place that respects the strong, and as long as one has the ability, they can receive admiration and respect from countless people. Sierra enjoyed the admiration of the military, but he looked down on this group of rude soldiers from the bottom of his heart.

Sierra averted his gaze and looked at the cold wall behind Auston. “Auston, I came to the Xingtian ship because of you. Despite being repeatedly hurt by you, my sincere heart towards you has never changed. But you got married! You! Got! Married! You betrayed our promise. You said I would be your exclusive engineer, but you went and got married behind my back, and married that…” 

That despicable man who touched my neck with his hand!

“Sierra, I have always kept my promise. You have always been my exclusive engineer. If it wasn’t for the competition, you would still be in the future. We were good work partners, nothing more.” Auston stood up, towering over Sierra, and caught his dodging eyes, “Ryan is very capable, and you have already experienced it. There’s no point in deceiving yourself.”

Sierra’s emerald eyes briefly lost focus, but quickly returned to their haughty pride. However, the hand that hung below the table twitched nervously, as if it wanted to push away the hand that was grabbing his neck.

The competition had ended, and Ryan had not caused any physical harm to Sierra, but the mental impact still lingered.

Sierra forced himself to calm down. Seeing Auston turn around to leave,the pent-up frustration and anger in his heart finally erupted. He grabbed the cup on the table and threw it at Auston’s back, but Auston dodged to the side.

Sierra stood up, leaning on the table, and shouted, “You obviously showed up, why didn’t you take off your hat and mask, so I could see you? Is this all just a joke to you? Haha, are you satisfied now? Now Are you satisfied!!!”

“But you couldn’t even recognize my voice.” Auston said without looking back, “Ryan recognized me at a glance on the crimson night of the ice grassland.”

Sierra’s face twisted, and he curled his fingers tightly on the table. The demon in his heart made him laugh and he sneered, “I installed something in the neural center of Code Zero. Only I can repair it and only I can remove it. It’s still not too late for you to beg me! Doesn’t Ryan know about the neural center, haha, you can let him do it, hahaha…”

Amid Sierra’s maniacal laughter, Auston walked out without changing his pace.

Outside the interrogation room, seeing the General come out, the deputy greeted him. He had been sitting in the adjacent hearing room, getting more and more panicked as Sierra revealed more and more secrets…. If General Auston didn’t like someone around him, he would be at the top of the hit list. Fortunately, their General had always been a rational and calm person.

Deputy: “Sierra is really hateful. He actually installed something on Code Zero! General, we must sue him and make him remove it.”

Auston: “Sierra is stubborn. He won’t remove it.”

Deputy: “What should we do then?”

“Sierra is too conceited. There is not just one good mecha engineer.” There are many others.

“General, Sierra has used the power of his family. Our evidence sent to the arbitration office will not have much effect.” The deputy was a little worried. This Sierra is too despicable. He tampered with the general’s mecha. If Sierra has malicious intentions…. the consequences could be disastrous.

General Auston returned to his usual indifference, his mouth slightly curved with a gentle and polite smile, giving off an air of approachability, his soft voice was full of majesty and irrefutability, “He is a direct descendant of the Bromfield family, while I am the patriarch of the Auston family. He can use the power available to him, but I have more power at my disposal than him. I have not taken any action against him, but only for the contribution he made to the Xingtian battleship. But even that bit of gratitude has been slowly eroded by him.” If Sierra touches someone he shouldn’t, then don’t blame him for being ruthless!

 The deputy was so startled by the indifference in the general’s words that he didn’t dare to breathe.

The conceited Sierra had forgotten that although he was an external hire for the Xingtian battleship, his position in the Mecha Engineering Association had been transferred to the Golden Crusade. General Auston’s evaluation was crucial, affecting all aspects of his future work and study.

Auston curled up the corners of his mouth. There were certain things he simply didn’t do because doing so would affect many aspects, but he wouldn’t allow anyone to harm the people he cared about.

Translator’s little theatre:

Fan Lanting : I want to touch the hand that Connor touched; I want to touch the head that Connor touched

General Auston : What did you say? 

Fan Lanting : No, nothing (I want to, but I don’t dare to)

General Auston hugging Ryan : (Only I can touch him. No one can harm the person I care about)