Age of Cosmic Exploration

Yang Yun Si flung his arm out of frustration. He looked at the time recorded on the second generation space armor from his small dash. His maximum speed was only 200 plus meters per second. This was already considered fast among Black Star Troopers, but this was a standard mixing both S-grade and non-S-grade troopers!

It was common knowledge that Homo Evolutis could be delineated into different levels. S-grade Homo Evolutis had access to special powers, like the Whisperer, Thinker, Perceptor, and the like. The rest were non-S-grade Homo Evolutis. They did not have any power, but they were definitely still Homo Evolutis.

There was a great difference between the two types of Homo Evolutis in combat as well. In general, when both were using the same equipment and weapons, one S-grade Homo Evolutis could rival ten non-S grade Homo Evolutis. And Yun Si’s speed could only be considered a middle-low tier among the S-grade Homo Evolutis!

This was a blow to Yun Si’s pride. He originally looked down on the Hope’s military system. After all, those soldiers were consisted of a bunch of civilian refugees that escaped from Earth, while the military from the Noah One was hand-picked from authentic military elites. This was a point of pride for Yun Si, and naturally he had a sense of arrogance about it.

However, he was taught a harsh lesson when he joined the Black Star Troopers and was exposed to the crazy training of the troopers. After participating in the internal sparring among Black Star Troopers and the recent military exercise, he was given the shock of his life. Not only him, even the elites from Blue Berets were stunned to realize that the most elite forces on the Hope were not the Black Star Troopers but the people from the group originally called the Black Star Unit. These people were greater than them on everything!

"They are members from the Black Star Unit; I’m surprised we stumbled across them in space... Alright, you may not know this, but in the world of special forces, the Black Star Unit represented the peak! There were only a few other legendary special forces that could be their rival, and none of these units would let themselves be known to us or the public and would not accept the order to join the Noah One, because they were their countries’ most powerful personal private units, therefore... Now you understand? It is not that we are too weak, but they are too strong!"

Fine, Yun Si surrendered to the immense power of the Black Star Unit led by Yao Yuan, but could he accept the fact that he was worse than Black Star Troopers who were originally normal civilians?

His pride... would never allow it!

Therefore, even though the day’s training was over, he still did not remove his space armor and continued his training at the field to familiarize his body to the space armor to increase his speed and reaction time.

Suddenly, a symbol lit up within his space helmet. He frowned but still used his gaze to look at the symbol for several seconds. Then a female voice drifted into his ears, "I’m sorry... but is this Mr. Yang Yun Si?"

Yun Si was startled, then he realized the date that day. He immediately apologized, "I am sorry, so sorry. This is Miss Xiu Yue Xuan, right? I’m running late, please wait for me a moment, I will be there in soon... Definitely in ten minutes."

"Okay..."

The girl answered softly before ending the conservation. Yun Si did not dawdle and immediately rushed to the weapon storage to shed his space armor. At the same time, he hailed from the duty center a hovercraft and rushed to a hotel on the Hope’s third floor. Of course, he was still late in the end... He arrived only about twenty minutes later, as he was caught in a traffic jam caused by a minor accident.

Therefore, when he arrived at the hotel and saw the girl in flower-print dress sitting at the table with her head lowered, he apologized profusely, "I’m so sorry, Miss Xiu Yue Xuan. I was too distracted by my training and was caught in a traffic jam... In any case, I am really sorry for making you wait for me."

The sweet girl stood up in a flustered manner. "No, I was too early and you are not really late... Mr. Yang must have many things to do as a Black Star Trooper, right? I am sorry for taking such a valuable slot of your time..."

Yun Si laughed and said directly, "I should apologize since I am late. Also, referring to each other like this sounds weird. If you don’t mind, why don’t you call me Brother Yang... You haven’t ordered, right? Server, can you bring us the menu?"

As the night progressed, the initial awkwardness slowly dispersed.

The girl’s name was Xiu Yue Xuan, currently studying at the Hope’s public university. She was only eighteen and was one of the survivors from the Noah One. She was one of the people rescued by Yun Si. When he literally lifted her off her feet due to her sprained ankle and placed her in the transport shuttle, this young and charming soldier had found his way into her heart.

In the year they started their new lives on the Hope, they separated from each other. However, the Hope was not that big to begin with, so with Yue Xuan making the first move, they finally conciliated. Their relationship began by her thanking him. That day, she asked him out for dinner to officially thank him for saving her life.

This hotel was one of the high class places on the Hope. The main chef there was once a famed chef back on Earth. His specialty was chinese cuisine, but the hotel also attracted many chefs who specialized in other cuisines. This fusion-style establishment slowly became one of the most famous private eateries on the Hope.

Of course, this meant that the price tags there were not cheap. It could be called expensive, not a place where normal, working-class civilians would visit daily. Yue Xuan was still a student and relied on government’s monthly allowance, so this place was indeed a bit out of her price range.

Yun Si had naturally thought about that, so he said that he would be paying that day. He did not feel pressured and ordered some food he liked and helped Yue Xuan order some after getting her opinion. Then, as they waited for the food to be served, they started chatting.

There wasn’t much to chat about since, strictly speaking, they came from completely different worlds. One was a student girl who loved to watch internet dramas or read manga, while the other was a soldier, a Black Star Trooper, and a vice-leader for one of the Trooper Units. Yue Xuan was soft-spoken and shy, meaning most topics were initiated by Yun Si. Therefore, as the night progressed, the topic of conversation slowly moved towards weapons, military exercises, and the Black Star Troopers.

Of course, Yun Si was a qualified soldier who knew about the confidential clause, so he knew his limits. However, the weapons for Black Star Troopers, space armors, and military exercises, these were not part of the clause and he had a great time talking about them.

However, he sighed with frustration when he talked about his experience with the space armor. He was disappointed he was not on the same level as the other S-grade Homo Evolutis. Be it from the data or actual fights, his standard was just acceptable. Compared to those other troopers who were originally civilians... he was like an amateur.

Yun Si gulped down a shot of alcohol and munched on another piece of spicy chicken before adding, "Perhaps I am really a second-rate soldier and I will never surpass those real soldiers..."

There was great sadness in Yun Si’s voice, but Yue Xuan was in a curious state. She felt like some voices were drifting into her ears; however, she could not hear them clearly. It was as if... she was merely the mouth piece for the messages that were drifting into her ears.

"No, that is not true, it is not that you cannot surpass them, but the space armor... Yes, the uniformity of the space armor limited your power. Everyone has their own physical conditions, height, muscle mass, habitual tempo, the size of gait, these are different for each person, and the space armor’s uniformity has limited the maximum potential of each trooper. Of course, you can use long term training to familiarize yourself with the setup of the armor. In other words, you are lacking experience... or upgrade the space armor, like the Chancellor’s red armor, a suit of armor perfectly suited for you, then your real power will be unleashed..."

This series of words shocked Yun Si, who was complaining. Yue Xuan, after finishing her speech, half collapsed on her chair like she had made a hundred laps around the restaurant. Both of them looked at each other and there was shock apparent in each other’s eyes.

The information about the demarcation of Homo Evolutis suddenly cropped up in Yun Si’s mind and he remembered that the type of Homo Evolutis most suitable for combat were Preceptors and Seekers, while its complete opposite was the rarest Homo Evolutis type... the Whisperer!

This type of Homo Evolutis who would contribute nothing on the battlefield had the most significant contribution to human society. This type of Homo Evolutis was extremely rare on the Hope, the most famous was naturally the Hope’s brain on weapon technology. In fact, both the space armor and Space Combat Jet were the children of her mind...

But now, there was another Whisperer sitting across from him!

A Whisperer who was also focused on weapons technology!