The Almighty Ring

“Hi, it’s been a while,” said Sarila with a seductive smile, exhibiting the best of a Caitian’s femininity.

“Yes. It has been,” said Jiang Fei, suppressing his awkwardness.

The last time he talked to the cat girl was when he first touched the surface of Redstone. His first impression of her had not been good, as she had only glanced at him and treated him like weakling, nothing more than trash to be disposed of in the academy. Hence, the awkwardness.

But now, she was showing a completely different side of herself.

Honestly, Jiang Fei could not help but find her incredibly attractive even though she wasn’t human. Besides her cute, wiggly ears and long, silky tail, the rest of her appearance was just like a human.

That being said, just like surviving the baptism by blood made Jiang Fei capable without remorse, the number of girls on his Earthly home had made him immune to even the deadliest and wiliest femme fatale.

He was ‘trained’ to not stare and gape at even the most beautiful girls. If someone were to measure his pulse right now, it would be as calm as the sea.

“I trust the two of you will get along well. I’ll leave you to catch up. Sarila, please make sure that Jiang Fei is accustomed to all matters regarding the military,” said Alexis as he left the room.

“Miss Sarila, Commander Alexis has appointed me as one of his fleet officers. What do you think I should know first?” asked Jiang Fei straightforwardly.

Jiang Fei was totally oblivious to what Alexis had done and what Sarila was really there for. He genuinely thought that she was there to show him the ropes.

Though she was known in all of Redstone, it would be an overstatement to say that Sarila was second in command. Nevertheless, she was still a powerful enough figure, able to do many things without needing approval from Commander Alexis.

Jiang Fei would never have guessed that Alexis would resort to using the femme fatale strategy to lure him. And even if he had been aware, he wouldn’t have expected Alexis to send someone like Sarila to court him.

“Fei, we’re all equals here. Please, no need for formality or honorifics when you’re with me. I’m… just Sarila.”

As she spoke, Sarila walked towards Jiang Fei and wrapped her hands around him with cat-like grace.

Jiang Fei’s body immediately stiffened the second her skin touched his. From where he stood, Sarila was a girl of high nobility, someone of blue blood who would never even glance at trash like him.

The way she walked and talked was incredibly unsuitable for her image. It was like seeing a cat diving for fish in the sea, it just didn’t seem right!

“Calm down. Just follow my lead, I will show you everything there is to see.”

Sarila latched onto Jiang Fei’s arm like a koala bear clinging to its mother. She tugged him forward with the slightest amount of force, prompting him to follow along. The way she moved, paired with Jiang Fei’s tendency to not treat women harshly, made the two of them look like a longtime couple.

“Miss, where are we going?” asked Jiang Fei, being extremely conscious about the way Sarila was wrapped around his arm.

“To the hangar,” said Sarila as she demonstrated her slight disappointment with how Jiang Fei was behaving around her.

It wasn’t that she actually felt that way, she was merely trying to guilt-trip Jiang Fei.

With whatever power she had as the adopted daughter of Redstone’s ruler, she had sent spies to Earth and China to gather all kinds of information about Jiang Fei. She hadn’t been able to find out much, but she did manage to discover details about his personality and behavior. With that in mind, Sarila was confident that she would be able to manipulate him.

She now knew that Jiang Fei was passive in nature when it came to women. He would never be the first to express his feelings, it would always be the female who made the first move. However, when he did take action, he would take responsibility for everything he did, ensuring that he took good care of the woman he had touched.

Sarila may only be an underage girl by human standards, but she was still a 349-year-old Caitian. How could she fall in love with a 20-year-old life form? Although Jiang Fei was a fine specimen, with his talent for combat arts and decent looks, Sarila was not in love with him. She did like him, but she also had ulterior motives.

First, she had to obey Alexis’ order or her entire planet would be decimated. Second, she had a plan of her own, which was to make Jiang Fei take her in as one of his women.

Sarila had joined the Valsalrian Army to protect her planet and if Jiang Fei took her in, she could rely on his strength and get him to do just that.

Like a sugar baby, Sarila was proactively trying to become Jiang Fei’s consort, concubine, or whatever other term could be used to define her as his property. Unlike the others, she had little to no requirements.

As long as Jiang Fei could fulfill the simple request of protecting her planet, she didn’t mind being his property. Another aspect in which Sarila differed from others was the reason she was doing this. While other girls were trading their self-worth for the chance to indulge in a life of luxury, she was trading herself for the entirety of her species.

As long as Jiang Fei could meet that requirement, Sarila would gladly be his pet or his lover. Nothing else mattered more than the safety of her planet. Truth be told, she had no expectations for love to develop in her relationship with Jiang Fei.

…

Following Sarila, Jiang Fei arrived at the hangar bay where all the ships were docked. Even though the news of Jiang Fei becoming a Fleet Officer had not yet reached the ears of all personnel, Sarila’s presence alone was more than enough to grant him entry to basically anywhere on Redstone.

“This is the command center,” said Sarila, taking Jiang Fei into the central command office of Redstone.

Jiang Fei gasped.

“Talk about size…”

The command center of Redstone was unlike anything he ever thought it would be. Everything that he had learned from books and movies had made Jiang Fei think that all command centers would only be as large as a hall.

The command center he was currently standing in was the combined size of at least four football stadiums. There were just too many personnel moving about, some running while others were zooming through the air on moving platforms. From the looks of it, there were at least ten thousand people working there.

“This is Traffic Control. Here, ships are ordered to sortie, dock, and resupply,” said Sarila as she brought Jiang Fei into a different sector of the command center.

In this sector, there were many detection instruments that detect and organize ships of many kinds.

“How many ships does Commander Alexis control?” asked Jiang Fei.

“Commander Alexis does command a fleet, but it’s not really a proper one as there aren’t enough ships for it to be classified as a fleet. Nevertheless, he has a Hypercruiser, which is his personal cruiser, 7 Battlecruisers, 12 Destroyers, 45 Corvettes, and too many patrol ships to count,” said Sarila, revealing Alexis’ true force.

“What about ground infantry?” asked Jiang Fei.

He knew that Commander Alexis’ true power lies with the command of his G.I.s. Even though he was a Fleet Commander by title, the number of ships and formation was too small and weak compared to other Fleet Commanders of the same rank. His power lies with the soldiers he had under his wing.

“You have a keen eye. Commander Alexis’ fleet might not be up to standard but his infantry is the best in the Valsalrian Army,” said Sarila, praising the might of Alexis’ force.

“Commander Alexis commands a standard oversize corp, with over 45,000 soldiers. There are at least 39,000 soldiers who measure at between 80,000 and 150,000 combat level. The rest are above 200,000 combat level.”

Jiang Fei frowned as he crossed his arms.

“How can such a large fleet have so few soldiers?” said Jiang Fei.

From what he knew about ship architecture, a simple patrol ship could ferry at least a few hundred soldiers. Battlecruisers and Hypercruisers could fit more than tens of thousands soldiers, and still have space to spare for a few thousand more!

“I never said personnel was included. I was only talking about the soldiers. Proper combatants. Anyone with a combat level of less than 80,000 could never pass as a fighter,” said Sarila, giggling away.

“I see…” Jiang Fei hummed.

For better or worse, no one he knew on Earth could even qualify as a fighter based on Redstone’s criteria.