Chapter 63: Truly a Farewell Dinner

The garrison really wasn't a promising unit, and obviously, most people didn't seem to have much patriotic sentiment toward the Commonwealth either. Case in point: the moment Baca thought about the new life awaiting him in the Alliance, his bear-like eyes began to gleam.

Dr. Banks had also acquired a substantial sum of money and began eagerly considering whether he could bring his whole family to immigrate to the Alliance. However, the thought of the exorbitant tuition fees for his younger brother studying abroad in the Empire instantly deflated his enthusiasm.

"I, I suppose I can only stay behind after all. Or perhaps I should speak with the commander and ask Commander Bonaparte to transfer me back to the city as well. Commander Yulian certainly seems easy to talk to." Weighing his words, the doctor was about to speak when he felt a figure wedge directly between himself and Uncle Karl, followed by a heavy *thud* as a large, full mug of beer was slammed onto the table.

The doctor looked closely and was surprised to see it was the young nurse, Belinda.

Gone was her usual clumsy and timid demeanor; her face was flushed, she was panting heavily, and her eyes were widened well beyond their normal size. Though she was smiling, the smile struck the doctor as somewhat perilous. Under normal circumstances, he would have reached out with his large, fan-like hand to pull her away, but at that moment, Dr. Banks had a nagging feeling that if he did, the nurse might very well crack that thick glass mug right over his head.

Everyone at the table turned to look at Miss Belinda, whose appearance and figure were thoroughly ordinary, but whose imposing aura at that moment was anything but.

"C-Commander... I... Ugh, glug, glug, glug, glug!" The young nurse downed half the beer in her mug and continued, "Commander Yulian, I, I've earned money!"

"Yes, I know," Yulian smiled.

"I, I even have a military medic's service record now!"

"Indeed, you worked hard." Yulian kept smiling.

"I can go back to my hometown and find a decent private hospital to work in! I'll also have a huge dowry! I'll definitely be able to find a good man!"

"Oh, that's wonderful. Congratulations, I wish you happiness!"

The young nurse's lips twitched. She then chugged the rest of the beer in the mug and said loudly, "Commander, actually, I, I, I'm actually..."

"Commander! I've thought about it, I want to go to the Alliance too!" A big Black man, roughly twice the size of the young nurse, squeezed his way over. His voice was booming, his face flushed with intoxication and a goofy grin, and honestly, he was quite ugly.

"Oh, what made you decide that?" Yulian kept smiling as he looked at Uyou's ugly face, which directly occupied half of his field of vision.

"I've figured it out. The money I got this time is enough to buy my mom a house back home and pay little Will's college tuition. Out of all my seven younger siblings, he's the only one with any aptitude for studying! Even after that, there will be a little left over, which is enough to get to the Alliance. My music—nobody appreciates my music around here, but the Alliance might!"

"Go for it! You have to persist in your dreams, otherwise you're just a salted fish!" Yulian nodded. In truth, he genuinely thought the big Black man sang pretty well and played the guitar decently. Though not conventionally handsome, with a little grooming, he might even have some stage presence. It was definitely worth a shot.

Of course, whether he would make it big depended entirely on personal luck.

"Hehehe, since the commander thinks highly of it, I'm bound to succeed. Hey, brother, looks like we'll be traveling together." Uyou threw an arm around Baca's shoulder.

"Yeah, th-that's great!" Baca was genuinely happy. Anyone willing to travel with him made him happy.

***

Following this little interlude, the young nurse abruptly realized that the courage she had mustered with such difficulty had once again vanished into thin air. Stunned for a long moment, grief welled up within her, and she burst into tears with a loud wail.

Everyone scrambled to comfort her, though most were simply gloating and making a ruckus. Far from dampening the mood, the nurse's weeping added a layer of comedic depth to the gathering.

Yulian remained completely oblivious to the fact that he was the instigator, sitting off to the side and happily enjoying the spectacle like a spectator eating melon seeds.

"She likes you," Ina said.

"I know," Yulian replied. But so what? Is a person like me even qualified to talk about romance?

It was definitely not because Miss Belinda was ordinary in looks, figure, and temperament. Truly!

"Hoh, men..." Ina smiled sarcastically.

What did I do wrong? I didn't even flirt with her. Pity that a man struggles to be left alone—why was he getting dissed for this too?

Yulian decided to change the subject: "Right now, you're a Sentinel. Even though you awakened through the Perception Gem and lean more toward the yin-side 'Star-Hunter' path, you should still put your effort in that direction. Keep in mind that the first ring of every astrolabe has two path branches."

"Oh my, changing the subject, just like that. Why don't we talk about your relationship with Commander Bonaparte instead? Did you reject poor little Belinda because of her?"

"And for a Sentinel's astrolabe, the yin side points to the 'Star-Hunter,' while the yang side points to the 'Judgment.' Do you understand yin and yang? The Imperials call it 'Light and Dark,' and the Alliance calls it 'Positive and Negative,' but I think neither is as fitting as our Earthlings' yin and yang. That's the gist of it anyway."

"Or perhaps, did you actually take a fancy to that Alliance young lady? Otherwise, why else would you keep wearing the pendant she gave you? But she's still a child!"

"I've already explained 'Star-Hunter'; the peak of the path is the 'Star-Falling Envoy,' who can shoot down the stars. On the other hand, the yang-side 'Judgment' reinforces incantations, spiritual strikes, and faction adjudication—the Law-Enforcer. You can think of it as some sort of adjudicative divine priest. The highest realm I currently know of is the eighth-ring 'Deep-Space Warden.' See, it sounds completely mismatched with your vibe."

Ina finally gave up on gossip and seriously considered Yulian's advice. "Yes, indeed, being an archer suits me better. Heh, actually, I played a Wood Elf archer in *Gaebria Online* too."

"You play *Gaebria Online* too? Which server?"

"..."

"Oh, I forgot that New Yumen doesn't have access to the Nebula Network... Could it be a private server? Doesn't that mean waiting at least half a year for version updates? And there are no events whatsoever?"

"..."

"S-Sorry."

"......Commander."

"What?"

"I suddenly remembered that Commander Bonaparte actually invited me too. She also said she wouldn't be staying in New Yumen for long, but wherever she goes to assume her post, she hopes to bring me along."

Just when did the two of you get so close?

"So?"

"Hehehe, I've decided to say yes. I just wanted to let you know."

So why did you need to let me know? Yulian, who had lived through three lifetimes, who had once roamed across galaxies, and who was an elite graduate of the Central Defense University, failed to figure out the answer to this question until the party ended.

Early the next morning, Yulian arrived at the Governor's Mansion to wait. The staff there didn't give him a hard time; instead, they politely and properly ushered him to a sofa outside the Governor's office and poured him a cup of coffee.

"The Acting Governor has a short speech to deliver. Rest assured, it's not the formal inauguration address, so it won't take long. Just wait a moment." The intellectual and capable-looking secretary shot Yulian a covert wink before swaying gracefully away.

Yulian curled his lip. Sure enough, tucked underneath the coffee saucer was a small slip of paper with a communication ID written on it.

The other party's looks were roughly 1.5 times that of the young nurse, but her age was also 1.5 times his, and her makeup was too heavy with intent far too obvious—she simply wasn't Yulian's cup of tea. He was debating tossing the paper into the trash when he heard a cheer erupt from outside, sounding like a rolling wave of sound.

The cheers and applause lasted for nearly a minute before gradually subsiding, and shortly after, Yulian heard the councilman's voice.

"Thank you for your trust and affection. Until the next election begins, I will serve as Acting Governor, until I hand over this glorious post to the next governor legitimately chosen by your ballots. Now, I shall execute my first task as Acting Governor: I will allocate one hundred million Blue Star Coins for the relief and compensation of the citizens pouring into Toulon!"

Cheers and applause erupted once more.

*"What is one hundred million even going to accomplish?"* Yulian thought.

Of course, amidst such a passionate atmosphere, very few people were actually capable of pondering such a question.

A psion's senses are naturally extremely sharp, and he could hear every single word of the councilman's—now Acting Governor's—passionate speech. He could also picture that gentleman's spirited, triumphant demeanor at that moment.

Compared to the short, plump Governor Yamadera, Councilor Jiang was indeed dashing, handsome, and debonair; it was only natural that he was popular.

Regardless, he was truly at the peak of his life right now, and the kind-hearted Yulian decided to let him stay happy just a little longer.