Just as Long Yuxue finished explaining, she turned to leave—only for Gu You to call out, "Commander, where am I supposed to eat?"
Long Yuxue replied, "The canteen. Didn't I just mention that?"
Gu You gave a bitter smile. "Nope, you didn't!"
Long Yuxue said, "Don't you know the rule? New recruits don't get food."
"What?" Gu You stared at her in disbelief. A military unit like this... didn't feed its soldiers?
Wasn't the Blood God Legion basically semi-official by now? Shouldn't the Federation be supplying them with full resources?
Long Yuxue answered coolly, "Here, everything must be earned. That includes meals. You can't eat at the canteen without paying in military merits. But new recruits are allowed to take loans, which will be deducted from their future contributions."
Gu You's lips twitched. 'What a bizarre system!'
"Commander, can I borrow from you then?" he asked tentatively.
"You can. Monthly interest is ten percent," Long Yuxue said plainly.
Gu You was speechless. 'That's steep!' But still, just because he couldn't pay now didn't mean he couldn't later. Plus, he was curious to see what the food was like in the Blood God Legion. "Alright, then I'll borrow a little for now."
"Follow me. It's dinner time anyway."
The two walked out of the barracks. Sure enough, the canteen wasn't far. As Gu You stepped inside behind Long Yuxue, he saw more people than he had since arriving.
The canteen was massive—thousands of square meters. At a glance, there were at least two thousand people eating inside, with even more coming in constantly.
There were over a dozen serving windows, each marked simply with a number: one, two, three, four, and so on.
Long Yuxue explained, "The smaller the number, the more expensive the food—but also the more nutritious and beneficial for your body."
Gu You thought, 'This is just like the ranking system in academies. Back there it was Grade A, B, and C meals. Here it's just numbers.'
Long Yuxue led him to Window 6, where they got in line. Gu You also noticed that the lower-numbered windows had fewer people. One, two, and three had no lines at all, and barely anyone was collecting food from them.
Inside the canteen, there were many officers. Gu You didn't spot any privates. As for himself, he hadn't even changed into his uniform yet, but with Long Yuxue by his side, no one was checking his identity.
He was definitely curious about the food at the first few windows, but with an empty wallet, he had no choice.
While queuing, Gu You asked softly, "Commander, does our legion need blacksmiths?"
Long Yuxue glanced at him. "Of course. Mecha repairs and such need them. Why? Are you one?"
Gu You nodded. "Yes, I'm a blacksmith. Can blacksmithing earn me military merit?"
"It can, but the amount is low."
"Low, huh..." Gu You muttered under his breath.
Long Yuxue glanced at him. "Worried you won't have anything to eat? Didn't I already lend you some? Just repay me once you earn your merits."
Gu You didn't explain. He wasn't about to admit he just wanted to eat well. He simply nodded.
"Yuxue!" A pleasant voice called out just then. Gu You turned toward the sound instinctively.
A female officer with a ponytail walked over, dressed in a crisp officer's uniform that highlighted her sharp, commanding presence. Her rank showed she was a captain. In terms of looks, she was just as attractive as Long Yuxue, but her facial features were softer. Her large eyes sparkled with mischief.
"Qiyue," Long Yuxue greeted her with a rare smile.
Jiang Qiyue's gaze quickly landed on Gu You. "Civilian clothes? He's new? And quite handsome!"
Long Yuxue nodded. "He arrived today. Passed the assessment. I brought him here to eat."
Jiang Qiyue grinned. "You're too nice—loaning money again, aren't you? Let me tell you, you keep breaking the rules like this and people will start complaining. Everyone else charges 100% monthly interest. You lent at 30% last time. If it weren't for you, those guys would've stopped long ago."
'What?! 100% interest?!' Gu You's eyes widened. And she said 30%? But didn't Long Yuxue only charge him 10%? Still, he was smart enough not to speak up now.
Long Yuxue cast a sideways glance at him, a faint blush rising on her cheeks. "New recruits have it tough. We all went through that. If I can help, I will."
'Damn, she's into me…' Gu You thought. 'Now I can't even protest!'
'And what's with all these women having such high ranks? What are the men doing around here?!'
Internally, Gu You was struggling to process it all.
Jiang Qiyue turned toward him, her tone playful. "Hey, handsome. I'm Jiang Qiyue. What's your name?"
"Gu You," he replied with a polite smile.
When she saw his smile and those deep, unusual blue eyes, Jiang Qiyue was momentarily stunned. 'He's so handsome…'
The Blood God Legion definitely had the highest concentration of good-looking men, and she'd seen many of them. But compared to this guy, all others seemed a tier below. With her picky standards, she couldn't find a single flaw in him. That had never happened before.
Tilting her head, she looked at Long Yuxue. "Interesting. What were his assessment results?"
"I don't know," Long Yuxue replied calmly.
Jiang Qiyue blinked. "Didn't you handle his assessment? You brought him here to eat, right? How could you not know?"
Long Yuxue said, "His results need to be evaluated by higher-ups. I can't give a score."
Jiang Qiyue was stunned. "That serious?"
Long Yuxue added, "He's even stronger than you think."
Just as Jiang Qiyue was about to say something else, a deep, booming voice rang out behind them.
"I don't believe it."
The three turned to see a tall, burly male officer standing behind them. He bore some resemblance to Jiang Qiyue, with a strong build—just slightly shorter than Gu You—but extremely muscular, especially his arms, which looked almost inhuman.
"Brother!" Jiang Qiyue exclaimed and eagerly latched onto his arm like a child.
Gu You noticed the man's rank—Lieutenant Colonel.
'Finally, a man who actually looks like he belongs here.'
Long Yuxue gave a slight nod toward him. "What is it you don't believe?"
The lieutenant colonel's gaze...
(End of Chapter)
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