As a result, the audience saw that two of the most powerful Senior Mecha Masters in the Federation actually competed in cooking skills in a side show of the Mecha Contest.

The culinary skills of the two of them looked really good and it was obvious that they were skilled.

They changed out of their mecha suits into tight-fitting T-shirts that were both light and thin, which showed their bulging muscles, and then they put on aprons, tsk tsk.

Compared to the mecha competition, this was another type of excitement.

Arthur said, “For my lover, I have learned more than a hundred recipes from Ancient Earth. I will make some of his favorites today.”

Saying this, he cut vegetables on the chopping board,

Gan Hui said, “I learned to make this dessert when I was 8 years old to give to my wife. I also make it every year on our wedding anniversary to reminisce about our childhood.”

Saying this, he consistently beat an egg flour mixture with an egg beater.

“These vegetables were planted by my lover.”

“This knife is part of a fancy kitchenware set my wife gave me when we got married.”

“Look, the little flower I carved for my lover is exquisite, isn’t it?”

“Not as cute as the little rabbits I made. Hehe.”

“You have the ability to make two bunnies for every child.”

“If you make a flower for every child, I will.”

The two people quarreled like this was a sword fight, refusing to budge.

At this time, Yan Xueshan and Ulysses came in with two teams of children, dressed in standard orphanage uniforms, either with suspender pants or skirts. This was a very cute style, like two rows of little chickens.

Yan Xueshan entered the door and asked, “Is the meal ready? The children are hungry. I’m hungry, too.”

 Ulysses asked, “What are you two arguing about?”

Both of them shut up instantly and said in unison, “Nothing, nothing.”

They hurriedly continued cooking.

The two of them took the children to the lobby and seated them in order.

After living in the orphanage for so many years, coming back to the orphanage gave Yan Xueshan a familiar feeling.

The children asked, “When will the meal be ready?”

Yan Xueshan kindly said, “It should take a while.”

Ulysses enthusiastically said, “Let’s play games with the children as we wait.”

Yan Xueshan said with great experience, “It will be a mess.” He thought about it and said, “Why don’t we sing?”

Ulysses was surprised by his suggestion. “Singing? You like singing?”

Yan Xueshan said, “I don’t sing much, but everyone around me loves to sing and I like listening to them.”

His parents used to sing to him. His adoptive father loved to sing, and the elder sister of the orphanage also sang to him.

He happened to see an old grand piano sitting in the lobby, presumably donated by someone else so he sat down and played a few keys, trying out tunes.

Sometimes he had to thank his mental disorder, because his brain injury gave him a stronger-than-normal memory, so he remembered even a piece of music he had heard in his childhood.

The children all looked at this uncle curiously, and some even called him Big Brother because he looked young and beautiful.

Although this uncle seems a little cold, he wasn’t difficult to get along with.

He didn’t have a smile on his face, but he wasn’t mean to the children either. He also didn’t treat children as immature and ignorant creatures, listened patiently to everyone’s words, and was never perfunctory.

The children gathered around him like little happy fledglings, talking in milky, chattering voices.

The audience noticed that there was an explanation on the side that these orphans were both from the Federation and the Empire, but when they were all mixed together like this no one could tell.

Children were children, and as human children, there was no difference between the Federation and the Empire. They were equally pure, naive and innocent.

 When the unfamiliar and pure music flowed out from Yan Xueshan’s fingertips, Ulysses couldn’t help but smile. Arthur also heard it from the kitchen, and looked up and bragged, “This is my lover playing the piano, isn’t it nice? Did you not expect him to know how to play the piano?”

No one taught Yan Xueshan, he just missed the Elder Sister who was the caregiver in the orphanage, so he learned how to play the piano. Naturally, he only knew how to play two or three pieces like this.

So many years have passed, but he didn’t know where she was or how she was doing.

The tune was a nursery rhyme handed down from the Ancient Earth:

Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white, clean and bright
You look happy to meet me

Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow, forever
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever

Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white, clean and bright
You look happy to meet me

Blossom of snow, may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow, forever
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever

Yan Xueshan’s voice was like the stream melting from the snowy mountains, clear and slightly cool, transparent and clean, without any deep feelings, but rather holy and elongated.

The first child sang along, followed by the second and the third, until all the children began to softly follow him.

The children’s voices were so tender and clear that they seemed to be able to cleanse the hearts and minds of people from the gloom of the war.

Who hasn’t heard this nursery rhyme in the arms of their parents in childhood? Or have you never sung sweet nursery rhymes with friends?

Hometown, hometown.

After singing four or five songs together, the meal was finally ready. The children ate very well.

Arthur also sat down to eat. He and Gan Hui fought for a long time, and when they finally served the carefully cooked food, their dishes were exchanged by their partners, saying that they wanted to try something new.

Yan Xueshan said in a matter-of-fact way, “Gan Hui’s cooking is delicious.”

Ulysses complimented, “I didn’t expect Arthur to be so good at cooking, though he came from an outstanding background and had help.”

“He has a great talent for cooking.” Yan Xueshan said. “The one who can’t cook in our family is me, who comes from a poor background.”

Ulysses: “Hahahahahahaha.”

Arthur watched the children eating, and at first he was still laughing and smiling as he spoke, but suddenly he seemed to remember something and he stopped smiling.

Yan Xueshan asked him what happened.

Arthur smiled again, shook his head, and said, “I didn’t have a chance to cook a meal for Eugene back then, but luckily he still called me Brother.”

For this trip to the orphanage Arthur didn’t shout slogans to the point of almost working on homework. The whole process was either cooking or playing the piano and singing live.

It was cozy and warm, until the end of the next two first-round matches.

According to statistics, more than 20 million interstellar pirates had returned to their hometowns. They weren’t vicious people, but poor people who were driven to that point by the troubled times. The Federation operated calmly, incorporating them with the people and managing them in an orderly manner.

 

The third match:

 Ulysses vs Klitsch

According to the pre-match survey, 65% of the people were more optimistic about Klitsch, thinking that he would win.

As a result, the match was beyond the audience’s expectations. Klitsch was in poor condition and the match was won by Ulysses.

With this result, Yan Xueshan commented that it wasn’t surprising.

Klitsch was very sensitive and delicate at heart. He was a Master Sergeant with a lot of ups and downs, but because he had talent to cover it, no matter how bad he was feeling he was still much better than ordinary people.

If he was in an excellent state, even Yan Xueshan wouldn’t be able to snipe him.

Klitsch’s data was very strong. When he was in good condition, his peak data was even higher than Yan Xueshan. Even so, he had thin skin which was an obvious weakness, with poor stamina and simple tactics. In the late stage it was enough to start counter attacking him and his attack power would drop sharply.

His own physique was ordinary and he seemed to have some kind of aristocratic genetic disease passed down in his bloodline. Every time he went to the battlefield, it seemed to burn his life force and several times after a battle he would be sent to the emergency room.

Which was why he needed a partner that would compliment him.

Yan Xueshan had observed his match with his partner Zhi Shu and to be honest, he felt that Zhi Shu was very suitable for Klitsch. As a Melee Master Sergeant, Zhi Shu’s style was very calm and steady, unlike Arthur who would suddenly go crazy out of nowhere.

However, the public said they had a bad relationship.

Yet, during Klitsch’s match, Zhi Shu showed up halfway through, watched the match closely, and only left after the match was over.

Yan Xueshan didn’t understand what these two people were doing, but thought about it for a moment. With such a competitive spirit, Klitsch would probably end up in a bad mood over his loss.

In the end, Klitsch didn’t. He seemed to be in a daze, troubled by something. He shook hands with Ulysses calmly, thanking her before silently logging off.

The fourth match:

Zhi Shu vs Lan Sha

As mentioned earlier, Zhi Shu was a very stable melee fighter with a solid foundation.

Lan Sha was not like her brother. She wanted to get off work early to watch the excitement, and continued to fight to see if she could advance to the next round. Although she didn’t win, she had a good time.

After each round of the competition, Arthur would interrupt with a small advertisement for recruitment and charity.

He also brought a few established former members of interstellar pirates and sent them on Star Network TV.

Some went back to rebuild their hometowns, worked to build their own house while some surrendered to the government for their crimes. After paying fines, there were some social labor punishments, but after an initial assessment, he even brought some people to his command.

In short, every day he would tempt people to abandon the dark side and turn to light.

The Art of War stated:

To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.

Everything went smoothly.

In this way, Yan Xueshan, Arthur, Zhi Shu and Ulysses advanced to finals.

The semi-final draw resulted in matches between Yan Xueshan vs. Zhi Shu and Arthur vs Ulysses.

Zhi Shu was the person that had the lowest level of friendship with Yan Xueshan among the several S-rank Master Sergeants, neither liking or disliking him.

In Yan Xueshan’s impression, the number of words spoken to him could be counted on one hand. It was when Klitsch wanted to apply as a double sniper partner with him that Zhi Shu took the initiative to come to him once, without any prelude of pleasantries to ask him straightforwardly, “Will you approve Klitsch’s application?”

Yan Xueshan said, “No. I work very well with my partner Arthur.”

Zhi Shu then pondered for a moment and said coldly and sparingly, “Well. Thanks.”

For this match, Yan Xueshan drew Klitsch’s sniper mecha.

As soon as Yan Xueshan saw it, he felt his heart heat up with a rare joy.

He had been coveting the Houyi piloted by Klitsch for a long time and finally he had the opportunity to pilot it!

Zhi Shu’s choice was the same as last time, he didn’t switch to another mecha and still piloted his own.

Yan Xueshan originally expected to have a hearty battle, but the result was, Zhi Shu’s condition seemed to be out of tune just like his partner Klitsch’s in the previous match, letting Yan Xueshan easily gain victory.

The match was over.

When the scene changed to Arthur personally interviewing Pirates with a new live interview, a chat invitation appeared in front of Yan Xueshan.

Opening it he saw it was from Zhi Shu.

Yan Xueshan answered: “What’s the matter?”

Zhi Shu: “I want to ask you something.”

 Yan Xueshan: “Oh, you can ask.”

Zhi Shu: “The day we all gathered, did you say something to Klitsch?”

Yan Xueshan’s heart skipped a beat.

He remembered. He believed the lie Arthur told him and repeated it to Klitsch. Did something go wrong?

Didn’t Arthur say that he had already debunked the rumor with Klitsch?

 Yan Xueshan was an honest person so he admitted: Yes, I told him some method I thought could improve your cohesion rate.

No sound came from Zhi Shu.

It wasn’t clear what had happened.

Neither pursued nor rebuked.

It was so quiet that Yan Xueshan thought the communication had been disconnected. He took a look to make sure it hadn’t, and said, “If there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up first.”

Zhi Shu sounded like he was hit by a stick, squeaked, “Thank you.”

 It was an incoherent reply.

Yan Xueshan: “?”

Zhi Shu spoke again. “Happy wedding.”

Yan Xueshan: “?”

He then added, “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I wish you and Arthur a happy wedding. I’ve forgotten to congratulate you.”

Yan Xueshan was just about to say thank you when Zhi Shu hung up the call on his own.

Yan Xueshan: “???”

How confusing.

Then Yan Xueshan turned around and told Arthur about it.

 

Edited by: Antiope1

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