The Most Powerful Brain in the Interstellar Space

Chapter 397 Pine and Cypress
They had no idea how much effort Jiang Hui had put into collecting these items, which had nearly depleted his limited military merits. In fact, he had almost been detained for investigation during his most recent promotion due to insufficient military merits.

Military merits for sergeants are divided into basic military merits and rank-limited military merits. The former is a fixed number that is continuously accumulated and calculated from the moment a soldier joins the army. Once a certain number is reached, the soldier can be promoted to a higher rank. Except for certain specific circumstances where merits can be exchanged, it is almost impossible for merits to be reduced.

Limited-time military merits, also known as flexible military merits, can be used flexibly on a regular basis. They can be exchanged for various military supplies at the Military Affairs Department and Experimental Zone, including mechs of various levels. Of course, they can also be exchanged for money, although this is the most wasteful method, but it is convenient for soldiers who need emergency supplies. The military headquarters has been very considerate in this regard.

This demonstrates the difference in reward mechanisms between the two types of military merit. The former is subject to extremely strict regulations, requiring each instance to be signed and reviewed by higher authorities, and adhering to a rigorous set of standards for military merit, which cannot be arbitrarily omitted.

While there are standards for qualifying military merits, they are virtually unlimited. You can earn them as long as you complete specific tasks, and they are not as complicated to obtain as basic military merits because they are not directly related to promotion criteria.

Of course, this doesn't mean it's completely unrelated. For non-commissioned officers above the rank of lieutenant, each promotion requires reaching a certain number of military merits; if they don't, they can make up the difference through quotas. This is benchmarked against the performance evaluation system of the interstellar government, and can be considered a type of promotion threshold.

Jiang Hui's father, Jiang Hui, came from a fairly well-off family with a good environment, and he never had to worry about resources growing up. Although his journey from school to the army wasn't entirely smooth, it was still much better than that of many people from ordinary families, so he didn't have much of a concept of saving money.

Moreover, although he had a wide circle of friends and was very popular, and was generally an optimistic and positive person, he never considered marriage. He focused more on his career, taking on many missions as soon as he joined the military, gaining experience in various places, improving himself, and quickly attracting the attention of some high-ranking officials, and his promotion path was relatively smooth.

Unlike others who accumulate military merits like saving money, he basically used what he needed and generously purchased the military equipment he required.

In his most frenzied year, Jiang Hui used up almost all of his limited military merits to exchange for a complete set of detection equipment, and used it to complete an A+ rated mission, which ultimately led to his promotion to second lieutenant.

He would then exchange and use the military merits to complete various tasks, creating a fairly positive cycle, although his military merit balance was often empty, as if he had been robbed. Although he toned it down considerably after meeting Jiang Yilin and developing a relationship with her, he still had the habit of exchanging for new military equipment, which resulted in him accumulating a large amount of military equipment after serving in the military for over twenty years. These items would be a huge fortune if sold.

Just before his sacrifice, he had exchanged a batch of the latest military equipment at the exchange office, but before he could use it, it all ended up in Jiang Hui's hands. Life is unpredictable, and I don't know what to say.

However, the staff did not know what had happened, and Jiang Hui and the others had no way of knowing either. Only Stark, an old friend, knew a little about it, but he did not want to say it... The group completed this part of the handover in their own thoughts.

Although military equipment is very valuable, the mechs that clearly bear personal markings are more targeted and will naturally be left for the next inspection.

There's also a separate military detector, used for multi-dimensional surveillance of the surroundings. This is extremely expensive and hard to obtain; it's usually a high-value item that officers acquire for the first time by spending a large sum of military funds. Jiang Hui gave this to Jiang Jianghui, so if she later joins the military, she won't need to buy it again. Finally, only the armor ring remains.

Space folding technology in interstellar space is already quite mature. Technologies like space twisting and warp drives are branches of space folding. Currently, almost all mechs in the galaxy use the core space folding technology, which has been around for over seven interstellar ages. The manufacturing technology is very advanced, and accidents are almost impossible.

Jiang Hui's armor ring contains the A-grade mecha, Pine Tree. To accommodate the mecha's own energy, the armor ring must be a level higher, reaching the S-grade craftsmanship. Its hardness and strength are considerable, and only a force one level higher than this can destroy it.

At the suggestion of Jiang Hui's staff, she put on the nail ring.

Jiang Hui, with mixed feelings, slowly fastened the nail ring onto her middle finger, only to find that the ring was custom-made for men and was completely unsuitable for her current hand shape. It was two or three times too big, and the ring would fall off if her hand was tilted slightly.

Can't rings in interstellar space automatically adjust their size? In Jiang Hui's memory, interstellar space, with its advanced space-folding technology, should be able to do that. After all, they even have self-adjusting clothes, so it's impossible that they can't do this with rings.

Jiang Hui tried on several fingers, but even her thumb felt loose and had a large gap. And nothing had happened while she was putting it on, so was this not how it was supposed to be worn? Or was there something wrong with her technique? Jiang Hui's pleading gaze involuntarily turned to Stark, who had remained silent beside her.

“Generally speaking—to ensure the integrity of the mecha's folding mechanism, this type of armor ring rarely uses self-adjusting mechanisms.” He slightly raised his chin, gesturing for Jiang Hui to remove the armor ring from his thumb and re-fasten it to his middle finger: “Relax, mobilize your mental energy as usual, channeling it into the armor ring along the back of your hand… Yes, the matching key for the several locks is your biological NA, which will verify your relationship with Jiang Hui… Then the mecha will automatically activate.”

"Hmm, this sounds pretty complicated, with a lot of technical terms." Jiang Hui said she didn't quite understand, but it seemed like all she needed to do was inject her mental energy.

She was familiar with this. Jiang Hui trusted Stark and had no doubts about him. Without hesitation, she separated a wisp of pure spiritual energy and poured it into the pine-green armor ring.

The moment Jiang Hui's spiritual energy flowed into the ring, the pine-green gemstone glowed slightly. Jiang Hui felt a slight tingling and coolness on her fingertips, followed by a sound like a mechanical door opening.

Jiang Hui, who had been focused on the ring face, suddenly felt her vision brighten, and a mechanical voice sounded in her mind: "Beep beep - Detected the genetic biological NA of the host Jiang Hui (deceased), biological lineage is father and daughter... Now comparing with the system database... Beep beep - New host located, Jiang Hui, 15 years old, female... Beep beep - A-level mecha Pine Tree successfully bound, awaiting registration and reporting."

(End of this chapter)