I Married A Degraded Alpha
Chapter 167: It’s a Woman?

Chapter 167: It’s a Woman?

Yuri was at the desk, engrossed in a book, when the clock struck eleven. Just then, the door creaked open, signaling Tuss’s return.

Just like the day before, Tuss headed straight to the shower as soon as he got back. He was out in less than ten minutes.

When he approached, Yuri was greeted by the familiar woody scent that always seemed to bring a sense of calm to her restless heart.

Tuss jumped onto the bed and hugged her, saying, "I’ve applied for a piece of land at the local government office and even found a construction crew. They can start work tomorrow."

Yuri gave a hum of acknowledgment. She was trying to figure out how to explain her plans of learning skills from the technician at the mecha repair department when Tuss spoke again. "Today, I managed to fill several dimensional buttons with sphalerite ore in just an hour. Give me your unused dimensional buttons; I can handle it alone tomorrow."

"Are you sure?" Doubt colored Yuri’s voice.

"I’ve used the mining machine to dig a path directly to the area where the ore is. Then I used Enova to extract the ore. Today it took a bit of time because of the digging. Tomorrow will be quicker, I don’t need to dig, and after all, sphalerite ore is not Blue Keystone." Tuss replied nonchalantly.

Yuri thought about it and had to admit, mining with Enova was faster. So she handed Tuss several dimensional buttons, saying, "I’ve cleared out whatever I could from them. The lev and the unused mecha have been left outside the house. I don’t think anyone would dare steal from here. After patrol tomorrow, I’m going to the mecha repair department to learn mecha repair from a skilled technician."

"Well, you better learn well, then. I’ll be entrusting my mecha to you in the future," Tuss said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"No problem," Yuri yawned. Within a minute, she was asleep.

Tuss looked at her, concern furrowing his brow. Is she too tired recently?

The next morning, Yuri changed her defense line to a slightly more distant location. She spent over an hour speeding to her assigned area.

The region was buzzing with numerous planets, starships, and mecha, more so than other places.

"Pretty lively here," Yuri muttered. She tried to join a nearby public chat channel. In a few seconds, her request was approved.

"Who mentioned a small group of third-level insectoids in this area yesterday?"

"I did. If you don’t believe me, I can send you the footage."

"Where did those insectoids go now?"

"They’re probably still around here. Everyone, look around."

With that, the chatter died down as everyone picked a direction and started searching.

Yuri stayed silent, leisurely starting her own patrol duty.

"Yuri, aren’t you going to help them look?" someone from the livestream room asked.

"No time," Yuri responded.

"The others seem well-equipped. They should be able to handle third-level insectoids. Yuri doesn’t need to bother with them."

"Yuri, are you going to be on patrol duty like this every day?"

"No," Yuri answered quickly, her voice full of anticipation. "Once my troops arrive, they’ll take over the patrol duty."

The livestream room fell silent for a moment.

It took a full three minutes for the chatter to pick back up.

"Actually, patrol duty isn’t so bad. You get to enjoy different views every day."

"Someone has to do the job. If not you, then me. But we can take turns, right?"

"Isn’t it too early to consider patrol shifts, seeing as we haven’t been chosen yet?"

"Better safe than sorry."

"When the time comes, you won’t be lonely if we work in pairs," Yuri joked.

"Yuri, are you really going to stay there for ten years?"

"What’s this about Yuri staying there for ten years?"

"Is there someone who still doesn’t know what happened?"

"Tuss was drugged, and he and Yuri completed a deep mark, so they were assigned to the 458 Defense Line to stay for ten years."

"Wow—"

"No wonder. I was wondering why they suddenly went to the 458 Defense Line."

"Damn, who was that sneaky?"

"It must’ve been those SSS-tier betas. Heard their service to the Alliance was extended from 15 to 20 years. Tough, huh?"

"It’s only five years more, Tuss got ten."

"They’re serving the Alliance for free, Tuss is here as a commander. It’s not the same."

"...."

Yuri watched their banter without saying a word.

Her patrol duty continued. When an urgent distress call came in, she quickly accepted it.

"There’s a level-five insectoid here. Come quick," the caller hurriedly said.

Before Yuri could ask for more specific information, the call ended.

Frowning, Yuri had no choice but to rely on location searching to determine the approximate origin of the call.

Her red-green mecha raced at top speed, giving the livestream viewers another experience of extreme speed, momentarily forgetting the topic they were just discussing.

"Did you manage to get through with the distress call, Number Seven?"

"I only got through to one, I’m still trying."

"Could there be only one soldier on patrol nearby?"

"Check with the outpost."

"Hurry, we can’t hold them off much longer."

Their intel was correct, there was indeed a small group of third-level insectoids nearby. But what they didn’t expect was the presence of a level-five one.

Such a gigantic creature, without a high enough firepower level, would make any soldier take a detour, let alone them.

Several starships and a dozen mechas surrounded the level-five insectoid, bombarding it from afar. As soon as the insectoid got too close, they retreated immediately.

Their speed was fast, but the insectoid was faster. Its long proboscis moved so quickly that they couldn’t even see a blur, and one of the mechas was swallowed whole. With a couple of crunching sounds, there was nothing left.

"Number Nine!"

"You bug, I’m going to fight you."

"Don’t be impulsive, you can’t beat it."

"Even if I can’t, I have to fight. It ate Number Nine!"

"Stop him, don’t let him go to his death."

"Where is that soldier? Number Seven, you didn’t tell him about the level-five insectoid, did you?"

"I did, I did."

"Damn it, the soldier must be too scared to come."

Yuri had not yet arrived when she heard someone cursing her over the public chat channel. Her face cooled as she responded, "Less than five minutes have passed since I received the signal and rushed over."

"Why is it a woman?" The tone carried a note of dissatisfaction and disappointment.

"Boss, shut up, she’s Yuri."

"Boss, be respectful, or you’ll anger everyone."

"Boss, you couldn’t beat her even if there were a hundred of you. You better apologize."

"Yuri, our boss is old-fashioned, he doesn’t use the interstellarnet. He doesn’t know you, forgive the ignorant. Please don’t take it to heart."

"Right, our boss doesn’t use the interstellarnet. If he’s not hunting, he’s drinking. Please don’t take his words to heart. He’s just worried and angry about losing a few friends. He’s not choosing his words carefully."

"Shut up, all of you. She’s just a woman, how tough could she be? We have nothing to fear. Hey, you’re the patrol soldier, right? What’s the firepower level of your mecha? You can’t beat a fifth-level insectoid without a level seven or eight firepower."