Sorry, Our Captain Is a True All-Rounder

Chapter 95: Chapter 95: Incredible

After learning the full story, everyone fell silent.

The way things were heading was far beyond their control.

It was truly... one surprise after another.

Gu Kaiwen wasn’t paying much attention to their conversation. Right now, he only wanted to know how many people went missing in a single year.

He used his Star Ring to look up how many people had gone missing over the past year.

After reading the official announcement, he was speechless.

’Unbelievable!’

’Absolutely unbelievable!’

’So many people have been abducted, and the Imperial police have done absolutely nothing.’

’The clearance rate was only ten percent. Only seventy thousand people were rescued in a year, a number that was just a fraction of the total taken.’

’Are the powers that be in the Empire just freeloaders?’

’They have no desire to serve the people whatsoever.’

"What’s wrong?" Lin Jingjing asked, seeing the look of shock on his face.

"Why don’t you all take a look?" Gu Kaiwen turned the blue screen in front of him around, maximized it, and then turned off the privacy filter.

The group stared at the official announcement. When they saw that the number of missing persons had reached over a million in a single year, they knew the Empire was rotten to the core.

When Captain Li saw the figure, he was unfazed. In his eyes, that number was practically nothing.

The Empire had many habitable planets, each with a population in the billions.

As a result, human life was the cheapest commodity in the Empire. With today’s advanced technology, robots could replace human labor in many jobs.

Many people from ordinary families struggled their entire lives, just to improve themselves and land a good job.

They were caught in a rat race—for grades, for jobs, for everything.

But in the end, the number of available jobs continued to shrink, and unemployment kept rising.

To earn money for their families, many people with decent spiritual power chose to join a corps and become a soldier.

"They capture this many people every year?" Lin Jingjing asked, her brow furrowed.

Gu Kaiwen quickly scrolled back through the records. He discovered that starting seven years ago, the number of missing persons had suddenly skyrocketed from a few hundred thousand to over a million annually.

That number had held steady each year. In other words, over a period of seven years, those people had abducted nearly eight million people for their experiments.

The number was heartbreaking. How many families were tormented by a single abduction?

How many parents had spent their entire fortunes searching for their children, only to die on the road in their quest?

It seemed like nearly eight million people were taken, but in reality, the number of lives destroyed was far greater.

The group clenched their fists, their faces filled with disgust and indignation.

Captain Li took it all in and offered a word of caution. "There’s no need for that. Human life is the cheapest thing in the Empire. People with low or no spiritual power live difficult lives."

"Getting bullied, getting humiliated—that’s their daily life. The powerful nobles on the Capital Star call these weaklings ’cheap swine.’"

Although, in the last fifty years, the birth rate has plummeted. It seems fewer and fewer people are having children anymore.

At that, Lin Jingjing looked at him and asked, "Captain Li, are you saying you also think it doesn’t matter that they were abducted for experiments?"

The fact that Captain Li could be transferred from B6 Star back to a post on the Capital Star suggested his background wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

As someone from the top of the pyramid, he had truly never witnessed the hardships of the common person. And with such a large population, the abduction of these people could even be seen as lightening the Empire’s burden.

"Mm, not exactly," Captain Li replied. "It’s just that so many people are taken every year that everyone’s gotten used to it."

Hearing this, Lin Jingjing sighed softly. ’This Empire is rotten through and through.’

’Or maybe the population really is so large that losing a million or so is just a way for the higher-ups to lighten their load.’

’But one day, they will pay for what they’ve done.’

’Nearly eight million people in seven years... If they were all used in experiments and turned into mutant beasts...’

Lin Jingjing didn’t dare to imagine what a catastrophe it would be if that "young master" were to unleash these man-made mutant beasts.

"Never underestimate anyone, even someone as insignificant as an ant," Lin Jingjing warned softly. "After all, ordinary people make up eighty percent of this Empire."

"Everyone is equal in the face of disaster. It is only social status that grants the strong respect and a lofty position."

Captain Li hadn’t expected her to say something like that. The way he looked at her changed.

’Such thoughts and ideals... Not bad.’

The conversation ended. Captain Li stood up, and as he looked at them, he added one last reminder. "Be more cautious in front of Chief Bei from now on. People in his position are all incredibly shrewd."

"We understand," Lin Jingjing said, rising to her feet as well.

After Captain Li left, they placed their bowls and chopsticks in the designated area and headed to Shi Feng’s Mecha Manufacturing Room.

Once inside, they shut the door and found places to sit down, their faces etched with worry.

"I have a bad feeling a major disaster is coming," Gu Kaiwen lamented. "Nearly eight million people... if they’re all turned into man-made mutant beasts..."

He thought about the Hammer Beasts in Hong Fei Park. They were already so powerful; would they encounter even stronger ones in the future?

It was too terrifying to even consider.

The group sat in silence, their faces grim, unsure of what to do.

The Empire was even more corrupt on the inside than they had imagined.

They were the lucky ones. Despite their low Spirit Levels, the First Corps had still accepted them, giving the five of them a path to survival.

They were truly lucky.

The less fortunate had probably already become stars in the sky.

Shi Feng sat at a table, tools in hand, and began to tinker with a mecha’s mechanical arm.

The arm was long and massive, taking up more than half of the two-meter-long table.

The remaining space was filled with various tools.

He sat there, following his own blueprints, and began to assemble the parts one by one.

The other four stopped dwelling on it. No matter how upset they were, they couldn’t solve the problem.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Lin Jingjing asked, standing beside him and watching him work.

Shi Feng glanced at Lin Jingjing, then gave her a job to do.

Seeing this, the other three came over to get tasks as well.

They stayed in the Mecha Manufacturing Room, working until late in the evening before heading back.

Lying in bed, Lin Jingjing summoned the small cat from her Spiritual World.

The small, brown-furred cat appeared and immediately began rubbing against Lin Jingjing, meowing incessantly.

Feng He saw the cat, scrambled over, and scooped it up for an intense petting session.

Compared to a big tiger, she much preferred this adorable little kitten.

"Meow, meow~" Feng He buried her face in the kitty’s chest, meowing along with it.

And the little cat simply let her hold and pet it.