I Married A Degraded Alpha
Chapter 161: Their Own Troops

Chapter 161: Their Own Troops

The mecha traversed space for six days and six nights, finally entering the 458 Defense Line on the morning of the seventh day.

"We’ll first report to the local military base here," Tuss said, as he began to search for the base’s location on his navigational system.

Inside the mecha, the temperature was steady, but seeing the vast expanse of icy landscape through the viewport, Yuri couldn’t help but shiver. "So cold... don’t the insectoids hibernate?"

There were many insectoids in the 458 Defense Line.

At her question, Tuss chuckled silently. "Insectoids come in all sorts. There are the slimy ones, armored ones, scaly ones, and the furry ones. These furry insectoids don’t mind the cold at all."

Yuri looked surprised. She realized there was still much she didn’t know.

Tuss pulled up images of the insectoids in the 458 Defense Line on the mecha’s screen. There were white ones, gray ones, red ones... They were diverse in color, but the common feature was that these insectoids were all covered in thick fur.

"They’re kind of cute," Yuri remarked sincerely.

Tuss nodded. "Their fur is in high demand all over the galaxy."

Upon hearing this, Yuri’s eyes lit up. "Is it expensive?"

"Very. A lot of people hunt insectoids here in the 458 Defense Line. They make their living by killing insectoids and selling their bodies, especially their fur," Tuss explained.

There were many in the Alliance who made their astracredits by hunting insectoids. They typically operated in teams. To hunt insectoids, one had to register as a professional bug hunter with the Alliance. Their weapons and equipment had to meet Alliance standards.

Lost in thought, Yuri started considering the possibility of becoming a bug hunter herself.

"Officer Lyao said we’re eligible to recruit new soldiers now," Tuss suddenly mentioned.

Yuri looked confused. "What does that mean?"

"You know Officer Lyao has his own troops, right?" Tuss asked.

Yuri nodded.

Tuss continued, "Once you become a commander, you can have your own troops. From level nine to level one, the number of soldiers you can recruit keeps increasing. I can recruit five hundred soldiers right now, but you can recruit a thousand."

Yuri’s eyes lit up. Then, as a new thought occurred to her, her face fell. "Who’s going to pay these soldiers?"

"Their wages follow the Alliance’s standard. The Alliance and us personally each pay half," Tuss said.

"That works," she replied, relieved. It was a lot less than she had expected.

Upon reaching the military base, they were greeted by a burly middle-aged man named Xiva, a level=seven commander whose rank was higher than theirs.

With eyes as big and bright as copper bells, Xiva looked at Yuri and Tuss curiously. "So you two are Yuri and Tuss. You’re even better looking than in the videos."

Yuri was taken aback, not sure how to respond.

Tuss also fell silent.

"Let’s register your information first, then I’ll show you where you’ll be staying," Xiva called to them.

Yuri and Tuss exchanged a glance, confused about why a seventh level commander like Xiva was handling these things.

Sensing their confusion, Xiva explained, "Not many people want to come to the 458 Defense Line. We’re always short on personnel here. Today, everyone’s gone on patrol, leaving just me. Tomorrow, you two will have to go on patrol as well."

After registering their information, Xiva led Yuri and Tuss to select their accommodation.

"You two are a couple, so staying in a dormitory would be inconvenient. Let’s look at the detached houses over there," Xiva suggested, pointing towards a row of somewhat old two-story houses not far off. "Since not many people come here, there are plenty of vacant houses. Take your time to choose."

Yuri glanced over. All of the houses looked the same from the outside, and she guessed the interiors wouldn’t be much different either. If they were to choose, it would likely be based on a preferred location.

Tuss seemed to have the same idea and whispered in her ear, "Do you want a house near the soldiers’ barracks, or one a bit further away?"

"Neither too near nor too far, maybe three or five houses away," she replied. Too close would be noisy, too far would make it troublesome to find people. A distance of three to five houses, which equated to about 200 meters, seemed just right.

"How about that one?" Tuss pointed to a house for Yuri to see.

Yuri glanced over, didn’t notice anything special, and agreed, "Sounds good."

"That one doesn’t have any occupants on either side," Tuss explained his choice.

Once they had chosen a house, Yuri was about to start cleaning when Tuss brought out two fully charged housekeeping robots from his dimensional button.

"Leave the cleaning to the robots. We’ll go get our uniforms first, then buy some daily necessities. We have to patrol tomorrow, and we may not have time later," Tuss said.

After thinking for a moment, Yuri suggested, "Maybe we should familiarize ourselves with the recruitment process tonight?"

"I’ve already looked into it. We post a recruitment notice on the Military Department’s official website, then the local Military Department screens the applicants. Qualified recruits have to report to us themselves," Tuss explained.

"Let’s post the notice tonight, then," Yuri said, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"Have you thought about how you’re going to support these soldiers? We don’t have a warship, we don’t even have a mecha," Tuss asked. "We have to buy our own mecha and warships, the Alliance only supplies the weapons. I previously bought some stocks in a mecha company, we could buy some from there, but we don’t have a lot of money, so we probably can’t buy many."

"The mecha issue isn’t urgent, we can buy more over time. And we won’t need a warship anytime soon," Yuri responded, although her mind was already considering where to get a batch of insectoids to make a big profit.

That night, after Yuri and Tuss posted their notice on the Military Department’s official website, they sent a communication request to Ender.

"Finally, there you guys are! If you didn’t show up, I’d start thinking you’d been secretly executed," Daleks exclaimed.

Yuri twitched her mouth, "Didn’t we send you messages?"

Ender rolled his eyes. "One message in seven or eight days, do you think that’s enough?"

"We’ll send more next time," Tuss promised, his apology sincere.

"Remember your own words," Ender reminded them. Then his expression turned serious, "It’s my fault, I’ve put both of you in danger."

Tuss shook his head, "It’s not your fault. I was careless."

Yuri waved her hand dismissively, "Let’s forget about that and talk about the present. Tuss and I are now in the 458 Defense Line, about to start our new journey here—"

"You went to the 458—" Daleks started, eyes wide, "Why would you go to that godforsaken place?"

"It’s not as bad as you think, just a little colder, less populated, but we have everything we need here," Yuri reassured. She genuinely didn’t mind; the local markets were well-stocked, and they lacked for nothing.

"Yuri, are you just putting on a brave face?" Daleks looked at her with a mix of pity and concern.

Yuri scoffed, "And how exactly do you see me forcing a smile? Anyway, I forgot to mention. Tuss and I are now rank eight and nine commanders, respectively. We can have our own troops now. A minute ago, we just posted our recruitment ad on the interstellarnet."

Ender: "....."

Daleks: "....."

Thirty seconds later, an excited and envious scream echoed through the entire dormitory building.