Some people's lives are always filled with all sorts of inexplicable quirks.

For example, for Teacher Robin, going out without makeup is like going out without clothes - it's not something he can do in front of people.

And for Colonel Yang Ning, speaking from the heart is like being naked in public - it's not something he can let people hear.

In short, Teacher Robin has no face to show, and Colonel Yang Ning has no words to say.

Yang Ning, like an elementary school counselor, used the same old spiel he usually uses to dismiss new recruits under his command. Focusing on encouragement, with praise and approval as the basic points, he gave an upbeat evaluation of Fu Luo.

Afterwards, he strolled off leisurely, as if he were an idle leader who had just inspected the mental state of his young comrades, with one hand in his pocket and the other behind his back.

Fu Luo stared blankly at his retreating figure. She felt that she might be overthinking things, but for some reason, she always felt that she could hear a hint of subtle sarcasm in Colonel Yang's long speech, especially the line "very strong sense of purpose, I think if you were on a warship, you would definitely be a very good gunner."

She followed her first instinct and, as if possessed, called out to Yang Ning, who had already walked a dozen steps away.

"Colonel!" Fu Luo chased after him.

Yang Ning stopped in his tracks. He was very particular about how he treated people. When he saw someone, he would always smile first, and no matter who he was talking to, he would always face their face. Therefore, he patiently turned his head and said, "Hmm?"

"I..." Fu Luo hesitated for a moment, and then, as if a certain circuit had been connected, she spoke quickly, "I'm sorry, I was wrong."

Yang Ning was stunned for a moment and didn't respond.

Fu Luo continued on her own, "When I discovered the problem with the robot, I should have sounded the alarm immediately. I shouldn't have acted on my own without fully assessing the situation, nearly causing a panic and almost injuring the target."

Yang Ning's eyebrows couldn't help but raise up.

Fu Luo maintained a ramrod-straight posture and continued, "I didn't make enough predictions about the situation, only focusing on getting closer, without considering the operating principles of small robots, and nearly let the assassin escape... In short, this matter was handled very poorly, I apologize to the superior officer."

The warm smile on Yang Ning's face gradually disappeared. He stood there silently listening, his dark gaze as sharp as a dim and sharp spike. The slight gloominess between his brows only highlighted his overwhelming presence, surpassing even the black-faced Yama, Major General Cao from the Third Department, whom Fu Luo had encountered before and who never smiled.

However, Fu Luo felt less apprehensive. This kind of expressionless face, as if someone owed him a million dollars, was what she was familiar with. During her growth, at least more than half of the instructors and teachers at the military academy each academic year were of this type. Over time, Fu Luo had become accustomed to being abused.

When Yang Ning's face fell, she actually felt that the other party was listening to what she was saying.

However, after a long silence, Yang Ning still did not indicate anything.

The weather was nice that day, the night sky like a curtain. Through the windows of the hall, one could glimpse the Milky Way outside like a ribbon. Yang Ning's gaze seemed to be empty, passing straight through Fu Luo and falling thoughtfully into the vast night sky.

After a long time, he finally nodded slightly.

This time, Yang Ning did not falsely and sincerely praise anything, nor did he make any comments on Fu Luo's words. He responded lightly, indicating that he had heard, and then turned and left with an indifferent expression.

Today's events would soon cause a sensation throughout the country, the Asian Alliance, and even the entire United Nations. Once the situation became turbulent, space would no longer be the "workplace" that young and inexperienced military academy students dreamed of, with a bit of heroic romanticism.

Yang Ning lowered his head slightly, the corners of his lips as thin as a line revealing a hint of a helpless smile.

"Born at the wrong time, little girl." He thought to himself as he passed General Yang, who was still standing in the hall. The gazes of the father and son intersected briefly in the air, then quickly parted.

Yang Ning said in a low voice, "I'm going to the Second Department's ground command center."

There was not a hint of a smile on General Yang's old and hard face, as if the person standing in front of him was not his son, but just an ordinary subordinate.

"Handle things properly, I don't need to teach you." He reminded casually.

Yang Ning lightly clicked his heels and responded in a low voice, "Yes."

For Fu Luo, the day had been somewhat chaotic... especially since she hadn't eaten her fill.

When she got home, Fu Xiaoxin's door was closed, and there were faint voices coming from inside, but the content was unclear.

Fu Xiaoxin herself was so carefree that she could support a boat. She was never particular about the little things in life, and was too lazy to close the door even when going to the bathroom at home. She never thought to avoid anything when doing anything.

Once she thought to close the door to make a phone call, it meant that she had encountered something very important.

Fu Luo hesitated for a moment, then didn't disturb her. She silently returned to her own room, took off her stiff clothes, folded them neatly, and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

She didn't sleep for long, because after only half the night, Fu Luo was woken up by hunger.

Passing through the cloakroom, Fu Luo inadvertently glanced at herself in the mirror and suddenly remembered what Teacher Robin had said at the banquet. She couldn't help but stop and take a closer look.

"Am I fat?" She asked herself in confusion, and then within three seconds, answered herself, "Nonsense."

With this realization, Fu Luo had no psychological barriers as she slipped into the kitchen, pulled up the menu selection for the household robot, started it up, and instructed it to stir-fry two hot dishes for her.

She had the robot put the two dishes into a pot lid-sized stainless steel plate, half of each, and also heated up a steamed bun. She then took it back to her room and devoured it.

The robot's cooking was always the same "pinky swear, a hundred years unchanged" flavor. Fortunately, Fu Luo was someone who didn't pay much attention to quality of life, and her only requirement for food was "as long as it's edible".

She had eaten half of the steamed bun when she saw her phone, which she had casually tossed to the side. The screen had already automatically gone into standby mode, displaying low power. She had been busy all day and hadn't noticed. Fu Luo, with the steamed bun in her mouth, turned on the solar energy storage device on the table and connected her phone to it. The familiar boot-up music sounded, followed by a mailbox notification.

Fu Luo mumbled a voice command, "Check messages."

The phone made a "ding" sound, and a mechanical female voice said word by word, "Message source, Asshole Ye, time, 20 hours ago, please select audio or silent."

Fu Luo: "Audio."

Ye Wenlin's voice came out of the phone that had just received a command and beeped again: "This senior brother's leaving. Please take care of my wife for me... although she may not necessarily wait for me."

Suddenly, Fu Luo's chopsticks that were flying stopped.

The smartphone asked in a flat mechanical voice: "Do you want to reply?"

Fu Luo was stunned for a moment: "Yes."

Smartphone: "Please enter the reply content."

What should she reply? Fu Luo's mind went blank. After a long time, she heard the phone's unhurried voice: "Timeout, please re-enter."

Fu Luo: "...Oh."

Smartphone: "The reply content is 'Oh', do you confirm?"

Fu Luo suddenly deflated, her usually spear-like spine seemed to bend with her drooping head. She gently poked the dish with her chopsticks, instantly losing her appetite.

The phone urged again tactlessly: "Do you confirm?"

"Confirm, confirm." Fu Luo put down her half-eaten midnight snack, trying hard to ignore the layers of sourness welling up in her heart, and laughed at herself.

Then she sat there woodenly for a while, sniffled, stood up, and cleaned up the unfinished food, planning to take it away.

Passing by the cloakroom again, Fu Luo couldn't help but stop in front of the mirror once more.

The person in the mirror seemed a bit unfamiliar. She felt like she had overdrawn a whole year's worth of mirror time today.

Extra short hair, extra wide shoulders, extra flat chest... with some steamed bun crumbs at the corner of her mouth.

"With this appearance," she wiped the corner of her mouth, feeling a bit desolate, "I'm not skinny."

The next day, the assassination of the American Alliance's Space Forces Commander was downplayed in unison by major mainstream media, as if it was just a clumsy personal act by a thug.

The thrilling scene was glossed over even more. The female anchor only briefly mentioned at the end: "The thug was shot dead on the spot, and his specific identity is still under investigation."

Fu Luo ate breakfast as usual and was about to go to Robin's place. But before she left, Fu Xiaoxin uncharacteristically reminded her: "Be sensible at Uncle Robin's, help him more, and be obedient."

Unusually, she didn't yell in Fu Luo's ear. For some reason, Fu Luo felt she seemed a bit unsettled.

It seemed everyone was unsettled.

As Fu Luo walked, she contacted Ye Wenlin's girlfriend and briefly conveyed Senior Brother Ye's "entrusting his wife" behavior, adding at the end: "Let me know if you need anything, don't stand on ceremony."

She had met that girl a few times. The impression was that she was a quiet and shy girl, very likable.

After a while, Fu Luo received a reply. The other party thanked her and added a cute smiley face.

Sitting in the single-person flying vehicle, heading towards the office building where Robin's studio was located along the aerial third ring, after reading that reply, Fu Luo began to whistle a lively little tune in an attempt to cover up.

Robin, holding a cup of coffee, walked into his office. On the way, he happened to see several of his young employees standing in a circle, with Fu Luo in the middle, squatting on the ground, studying a slightly malfunctioning office robot with a very serious and careful attitude.

Her hair seemed to have grown a bit longer, no longer looking so much like a hedgehog. Many of the upright hair strands had fallen down, making her hair texture seem not as hard as imagined, looking much more obedient than before.

With her eyes lowered, her nimble and powerful fingers flipped open every component on the robot's back to check, as if to match them one by one with what she had seen in books and online.

Robin couldn't help but stop in his tracks, recalling the moment last night when she cleanly severed the robotic hand.

He suddenly felt an irrepressible discomfort in his heart.

"I seem to be aiding a tyrant," Robin thought silently.

Fu Luo was like a young, free and energetic little lion, while he himself, with a smiling face, was going up to deceive her sympathy, and then using the hand hidden behind to pull out her claws and teeth.

...All in the name of doing it for her own good.

Robin hesitated for a long time, finally sighing silently, concealing the excess expression on his face, and said in a slightly raised voice, "Fu Luo, come with me for a moment."