It wasn’t so much that Zoe Pierce was worried about people hitting on her, but rather that she was worried Nathan Lockwood and the others would do sothing crazy that she couldn’t refuse.
She rarely ever truly refused them.
Shoving another bite of food into her mouth, Zoe Pierce pretended to be nonchalant as she glanced at the expressions on their faces.
They were all award-winning actors at this point.
It was as if everything that happened last night had been a hallucination.
"Are the five of us still operating together?" The thought passed through her mind in a flash, and Zoe Pierce shifted the topic back to the mission.
Nathan Lockwood raised his spoon and sipped so soup. "Yeah. No need to split up."
’They hadn’t split up during the last rescue mission, either.’
"We just need to kill Xenobeasts within a certain radius, just like normal," Miles Sherman explained, putting down his chopsticks. "It’s just a standard mission."
’The bait had been set. Now, all they had to do was focus on their own objectives.’
Zoe Pierce had no objections. After a brief exchange of information, she didn’t ask any more questions.
After one final interstellar jump, the Starship arrived in the star system.
Peering out the window, she saw a deep, dark expanse of space where three planets orbited a forest-green one.
The Starship sped toward one of the smaller planets. Zoe Pierce pulled her gaze back inside and touched the safety harness fastened over her body.
No matter how fast the Starship traveled, the stabilization systems kept everything exceptionally smooth inside.
The entire process was much like the last rescue mission.
This ti, however, the Starship was exceptionally crowded.
Zoe Pierce suddenly realized sothing—a problem she had only just noticed.
During the last rescue, a dedicated Starship had been arranged for them, but not this ti.
There were far more eyes on them now.
She was the only Oga in the entire cabin.
It made her stand out even more.
From a distance, Milo Dawson also noticed Zoe Pierce. The person next to him didn’t say anything, rely nudging him with an elbow.
Everyone here preparing for deploynt was from the cha corps.
This ant that once they made landfall on Planet C14, everyone would be boarding their cha.
Zoe Pierce’s presence here had indeed captured most people’s attention.
They were a little curious whether she would be getting into one of her teammate’s cha soon.
After all, while Ogas were now said to be part of the action, in reality, they still used exoskeletons, which lacked the sheer firepower of a cha.
The team formations still involved rendezvousing at designated points.
It was just that Ogas, who had previously been confined to rescue teams, were now assigned to kill so of the less powerful Xenobeasts.
Then they would coordinate with their teams to provide soothing.
This greatly reduced the ti Alphas spent rushing back to a rescue point every day.
Of course, there were still Ogas stationed at the rescue points; even after nearly half a year of implentation, the new system couldn’t completely replace the old model.
Zoe Pierce paid no mind to the others’ stares. Her back was straight, her long hair tied up high for convenience,
revealing the clean line of her profile.
Blinking, she sensed sothing and looked at Chase Shaw and the others sitting beside her.
’What now?’ Her puzzled gaze fell on the n who were also staring at her.
’I haven’t done anything.’
’Why are they still looking at like that?’
The silent cabin offered no reply, save for Aaron Xavier, who was making faces at her.
The next mont, an alert chid.
Everyone began to unbuckle their safety harnesses.
Zoe Pierce pushed her questions aside, skillfully unbuckled her harness, and stood up.
’No one had stopped her yet.’
She let out a long breath and licked her lips.
The deploynt chute for the cha was ready, waiting for squads to be called by number to launch one by one.
To Zoe Pierce’s surprise, they were first.
’For once, she felt a flicker of nervousness.’
’The Military... they aren’t planning to hide it at all.’
’My spiritual power.’
Zoe Pierce walked at the very front, her fingers nervously clutching the cha Space Button that Chase Shaw had given her.
In the quiet atmosphere, Miles Sherman gently patted her shoulder. "It’s okay."
His hand moved from her shoulder to her back, giving her a gentle push forward.
’Clearly, she wasn’t the only one who understood what was happening.’
A silver-gray cha materialized before everyone’s eyes.
The cha’s cockpit hatch opened. The Oga at the front grabbed the entry lever and vaulted into the machine with practiced ease.
Under the stunned gazes of the crowd, the cha’s cockpit hatch sealed shut.
Miles Sherman, Nathan Lockwood, Aaron Xavier, and Chase Shaw boarded their cha one after another.
The five cha strode down the deploynt channel.
Everyone’s eyes were unconsciously glued to the display screen in the cabin, which showed the cha as they launched.
The cha that had just materialized before them was now standing on the outermost edge of the Starship.
Before anyone could even brace themselves, its propulsion system flared to life.
Suddenly, the silver-gray cha shot forward.
Four other cha followed close behind.
The Starship had already begun calling the next squads to board their cha.
But everyone was in an uproar. Even though they knew they were supposed to remain silent in this situation, the cabin erupted.
"No way..."
"Am I seeing things?"
"Uh... an Oga?"
"In a cha...?"
Everyone was muttering to themselves, so even rubbing their eyes in disbelief.
The Alpha who had just nudged Milo Dawson wasn’t muttering, but his mouth hung slightly open as he stared at Milo in utter disbelief.
Once all the cha had finally left the Starship, the private channels for each squad, usually filled with taciturn officers, suddenly lit up with eager chatter.
"Wait, has The Federation already figured out how to let Ogas pilot cha?"
"It’s not impossible. Betas can pilot cha now, after all."
"...I can’t believe it..."
"Whoa, what’s happening? I’m starting to think Zoe Pierce is kinda badass. I must be going crazy."
"The first Oga to pilot a cha... I feel like my brain is about to lt."
"If it were really that simple, the dozens of other Ogas on this Starship would be piloting cha too. She has to be a special case."
"I want to pursue her. Seriously."
"So, does this an Oga spiritual power can be used for both soothing and piloting a cha now?"
"..."
A flurry of similar ssages flooded the various channels.
Zoe Pierce and her team were on the channel as well.
"Why suddenly reveal her spiritual power to the public?" Wielding a Longsword, Aaron Xavier pushed his Light cha to its limits, effortlessly slicing down a flying B-level Xenobeast.
No one had ntioned this was going to happen.
They had only realized it themselves when they were all in the waiting area.
Nathan Lockwood replied, "With this many people, it was bound to be exposed sooner or later."
You could say that rather than letting absurd rumors spread, The Military had them launch first to send a clear ssage to everyone.
The Military knew and had no intention of hiding it.
It was bait, yes, but it was also a chance for Zoe Pierce to prove herself.
She couldn’t spend her whole life sneaking around. She’d cooperated with plenty of examinations, but they had yielded no progress for a long ti.
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