"Sit up!"
Tian Xiao jolted awake from a nightmare.
The moment the star beast's claw pierced through his combat suit, a sharp pain spread swiftly throughout his body, blood gushing out, and the painful images still vivid in his mind.
He wiped his forehead with his hand, his palm soaked with cold sweat.
His heart was still racing, as if the deathly fear from the dream was still lingering around him, the giant bodies of the star beasts and their fierce claws wrapping around him like merciless chains.The entire battalion, equipped with C-level standard combat power, with soldiers whose abilities reached the peak of individual combat—yet they were still annihilated by the star beasts.
In that dream, he watched as familiar yet distant figures were ruthlessly torn apart by the star beasts, and Tian Xiao couldn't help but gasp in horror, suddenly throwing off the blanket.
The nano-material blanket was light yet warm, but he still felt a chill spread from within his body.
As he got out of bed, the temperature around him quickly dropped, and a calm mechanical voice echoed in his ear:"Master, body temperature has dropped. Please take care of your protection."
Tian Xiao furrowed his brows slightly.
In his memory, the chip was supposed to regulate the temperature automatically to prevent conditions like colds or fever due to temperature fluctuations. However, he had long disabled this basic function.This was strange.
He turned his head and looked around. The environment was both unfamiliar and familiar.He was no longer on the battlefield surrounded by star beasts. Instead, he was in a quiet, safe space.This place…
A spacious 100-meter living room, the floor gleaming, the windows spotless. The most striking feature was the 21-meter-long, 3-meter-high alloy mining aircraft, painted with the H-3 logo and numbered 3377.At this moment, it lay like a well-behaved dog, quietly nestled by the large windows, gazing out at the stars.
Tian Xiao immediately recognized the aircraft: "H3 Mining Aircraft, number 3377… Isn't this the one assigned to me after graduation by Feiying Company, a subsidiary of Yunzhong Group? I'm now…"
He paused, a word flashed in his mind—Rebirth.
He remembered that after graduation, he had indeed worked at a subsidiary of Yunzhong Group for six months, and back then, he had used this very 3377 H3 mining aircraft.
At that moment, his face appeared on the smooth wall in front of him—his own face.Though it looked slightly younger, the sharpness and confusion in his eyes were unmistakable.
"How did I end up here?" he muttered, "I should be dead…"
"Qinglong, report the time!"
Tian Xiao cleared his throat and issued the command."Qinglong" was the name he had given to his intelligent chip, his loyal assistant for the past twenty-seven years. It had accompanied him through countless moments, taking care of his daily needs and providing computational assistance during combat, study, and life.It was the continuation of the "smartphone" technology from centuries ago.
A clear voice responded: "New Calendar Year 777, July 7th, 7:10 AM.""Self-diagnostics complete. Chip name: Qinglong, model H2, processing 3.7 units per second, with a full energy load of 1,000 units."
Tian Xiao furrowed his brows.
The H1 model was for minors, while the H2 model was the basic chip for adults.Qinglong's status had clearly reverted to the version from three years ago.
This meant—he had been reborn back to this moment, the New Calendar Year 777, July 7th.
Tian Xiao took a deep breath, standing in front of the window, staring at the stars. The faint light of distant stars slowly formed invisible star charts in his vision.
"Near the Pegasus Galaxy…" he murmured, "Yes, this is my first deployment site with Yunzhong Group. My current identity is a newly hired miner."
His gaze shifted outside the window. A brightly lit base city spread out before him.Every building was arranged neatly, like pieces of a puzzle.The base was originally designed to house ten thousand people, but in order to cut costs, the higher-ups of the group had made a series of calculations and decided to halve the population while increasing the miners' share of profits.This not only boosted the miners' morale but also significantly reduced the base's expenses.
Tian Xiao frowned slightly. His thoughts wandered, but he quickly refocused: "Concentrate!"He took a deep breath, organizing the chaotic memories in his mind.
Memories from the past three years surged like a tidal wave. He remembered that his time as a miner in the company was not long.After a failed transport mission, the security team suffered significant casualties, and Tian Xiao was selected to join the security team, where he worked with semi-combat H6 aircraft, transitioning from a miner to a semi-combat member.
He then traveled with the company's fleet, moving across dozens of planets, escorting excavation teams and eliminating star beasts and insectoids, gaining valuable combat experience in the process.Due to his outstanding performance, he was eventually recruited into the Earth's Heavenly Army and became a soldier.Amid the threat of the insectoids and star tribes, his team achieved great success, earning a place within the Heavenly Army.
Tian Xiao's gaze grew cold.He knew that his comrades, who had perished under the claws of the star beasts, were now alive—perhaps it was the chance given by his rebirth.
"Qinglong," Tian Xiao's voice became firm and resolute, "Display the current area map, retrieve the past seven days of work logs, and pull up the progress of the company's tasks on this planet."
"Yes."Though Qinglong's processing power was average, its speed in retrieving data was impressive. Almost instantly, all the information Tian Xiao needed was projected onto the wall.
Tian Xiao carefully examined the projection.He knew that mastering the memories of the next three years would be a tremendous advantage.If he could make good use of these resources, he could quickly improve his chip's processing power, unlock more permissions, and prepare in advance for the invasion of the insectoids and star tribes, helping the Earth Heavenly Army to be better prepared.