Chapter Fourteen: Return to Earth

"Prepare for atmospheric entry, disengaging thrusters," the voice of the starship's AI resonated throughout the ship.

A sudden sensation of gravity tugged at everyone's hearts.

Back so soon? Liu Shaoyu thought to himself.

"Correcting course, synchronizing docking data, starting engines." After piercing through the atmosphere, the ship's engines roared to life again. By now, this vessel was no longer the Young Dragon. It was just an ordinary shuttle.

The shuttle cruised above the continent. Through the windows, the outline of the land was visible. The craft descended vertically onto the landing pad. A squad of clone soldiers, clad in the uniforms of the Huaxia Army, jogged over in quick steps.

"Major Liu Shaoyu, welcome back to Earth. We've been ordered to take custody of the prisoners."

Because of the standard-issue helmets worn by all army personnel, Liu Shaoyu could not see the clone soldier’s face.

The Federation maintained strict control over clones. Even before clones began to serve in large numbers, the Clone Protection Act had been enacted. Presently, clones were utilized solely within military ranks. Their birth, education, and training all took place under the military’s watchful eye. Ordinary citizens never came into contact with clones, much less saw what they looked like.

To Liu Shaoyu, all clones looked the same. Only during combat operations would army officers lead clone legions aboard the fleet, and their deployment was managed entirely by a secret branch of the Federation. In other words, the space fleet was responsible only for space warfare—planetary assaults were handled independently by army officers commanding clone legions.

"Thank you for your service." Liu Shaoyu returned the salute and handed over the prisoners.

"Well, the mission’s complete. You all now have three months' leave. Report back at the spaceport in three months. Dismissed!" With the handover done, Liu Shaoyu announced to the Young Dragon squad.

Only Liu Shaoyu and the Luo brothers weren't from the capital; the Luo brothers hailed from the Qilu Military District, born into a family of soldiers. For this leave, the two planned to return home before regrouping.

Now only Liu Shaoyu was left, feeling a bit lost. He wondered if his place in the underground city of the Jinling Military District was still there. Because his military registration had transferred with him to the Seventh Fleet, his household registration moved with the fleet as well, and all interstellar fleet personnel were registered in the Central Military District.

Additionally, with his recent promotion to field-grade officer, he was now eligible to apply for a family residence in the outskirts of the military district. On a planet where land was as precious as gold, owning a detached house here was equivalent to being able to buy vast estates on colonial worlds—a sign of immense wealth. Only the truly powerful or wealthy still owned homes on Earth.

Of course, his old place in the underground city had only been a tiny staff dormitory—not even worth calling a proper home.

Thinking of this, Liu Shaoyu regretted having dismissed all his teammates at once. He wasn’t familiar with the capital’s layout at all...

After submitting his application to the Republic Federation Database, Liu Shaoyu could only wait in the spaceport lounge for a reply.

The Republic Federation Database was a high-level artificial intelligence, constructed from advanced nanotechnology and bio-neural processors, boasting the highest computational power of its era across the universe. It monitored all Federation-controlled star systems and, through a network of sensors, projected holographic radar coverage without dead zones. Maintenance was handled by a mysterious department.

This made combat within Federation territory almost like cheating. The drawback was that sensors had to be planted first.

Every year, about three-fifths of both clone and human army corps perished in sensor-deployment missions.

"Application approved. Please confirm." The personal computer’s voice interrupted his thoughts. Liu Shaoyu opened the holo-screen.

He hadn't even had a chance to look at his new address when another communication request popped up. Seeing the name, Liu Shaoyu’s surprised face quickly softened into a smile.

"Qingyi, what is it?" The woman who appeared onscreen was Shen Qingyi.

"I’m guessing our Major Liu is worried about not finding his way home?" Shen Qingyi flashed a playful grin through the screen.

If the other members of Young Dragon saw this, their jaws would have dropped to the floor. No one would have ever imagined that this usually aloof beauty had such a charming, girlish side.

"Very funny! As if I couldn’t find my way," Liu Shaoyu nearly blushed at having his embarrassment exposed, but he refused to admit defeat.

"Of course, of course. How could our Major Liu ever get lost?" Qingyi teased, but didn’t press the point, though her tone suggested she didn’t quite believe him.

"But I bet you don’t want to walk there alone. I’m outside—let me give you a lift." With that, she ended the call.

Liu Shaoyu often wondered why everyone he knew had the habit of abruptly ending calls. Still, having a ride was better than waiting for the military shuttle, so he got up and left the spaceport.

A red sports car gleamed like a jewel—a strikingly vintage design, though unlike old cars, it had no wheels. As early as 2070, hover technology had been implemented in transport. By now, anti-gravity drives enabled precise, directional flight.

This new anti-gravity system could quickly and efficiently convert energy via solar panels on the car’s body, making emissions a thing of the past—environmentally friendly in every sense.

Leaning against the car, Shen Qingyi had let her long black hair down. She’d changed out of her uniform into casual attire: a black t-shirt, black jeans, and exaggerated sunglasses.

Thanks to the Human Completion Initiative, the average height of Earth’s women was now around 1.7 meters. At 1.8 meters, Shen Qingyi’s figure was strikingly attractive.

In uniform, it was hard to tell, but out of it, she was unexpectedly beautiful. Liu Shaoyu nearly whistled.

"Get in." Seeing Liu Shaoyu emerge from the terminal, Shen Qingyi opened the driver’s door and slipped into the seat.

Liu Shaoyu hurried to the car, opened the door, and got in as well.

"Nice car," he said, trying to mask his awkwardness. But it really was impressive.

Though the car looked old-fashioned, its ruby-red exterior was genuine, mirror-finished gemstone. Such minerals were long gone from Earth, only imported in small amounts from distant star systems by space trade fleets. Even owning a single piece of this gem as a ring was the height of status in the capital.

Now, the entire car was coated in it. This wasn’t just driving—a fortune was speeding down the road.

"My brother’s car. I stole it," Shen Qingyi replied offhandedly, entering Liu Shaoyu’s newly assigned address into the system.

Modern vehicles, like starships, featured full autopilot. Some even lacked steering wheels. This retro model, complete with a wheel, existed only for those with money to burn.

"I’ll take a shortcut," Shen Qingyi said with a slight frown after seeing Liu Shaoyu’s assigned residence. Growing up in the capital, she knew the area—and found it distasteful.

His new home was on the far outskirts of the Yan Capital Military District. With the rise of artificial continents, the wealthy and powerful migrated to lavish, well-equipped man-made islands. The original continent was repurposed into military bases, its cities fading into desolation. Human destruction of the environment rendered much of the original land uninhabitable.

Since most government funding was funneled into building the space fleet, ecological restoration on the old continents was virtually ignored. The environmental protection department simply gave up, claiming nature should be left to restore itself. Oddly, this did result in a greener Earth.

Liu Shaoyu’s apartment lay at the boundary between human activity and unmanaged wilderness.

As Shen Qingyi spoke, she floored the accelerator, sending the ruby-red classic car soaring into the sky.

This was, after all, a military airspace. Liu Shaoyu couldn’t help but worry about being shot down by his own orbital cannons and hastily buckled his seatbelt.

As the saying goes: when the lone rider charges, the beauty smiles; when the sports car speeds, all bets are off...