In the prisoner of war camp on Infia, Felix finally tasted what they called bread. Once the soft, sweet thing touched his mouth, Felix understood why it bewitched the commonfolk of Shangduohan so much.
Emerald Sea Star had no yeast organisms, and all their food consisted of hard biscuits and flatbreads as staples, naturally lacking the softness of bread. Moreover, Emerald Sea Star wasn't rich in sugar production; it didn't have Earth's sugar beet or sugarcane. The main sources of sugars were grains and a type of tree sugar.
For ordinary civilians, it was rare to taste sweet foods even once in their lifetime. The sugar content in the bread made them feel immense happiness.
The breakfast also featured sausages and scrambled eggs, along with pickled vegetables the people of Shangduohan had never tasted. Although the meat and eggs were rationed, the bread was unlimited, so many prisoners would eat until their stomachs gave out when they first arrived at the camp.
Felix, eating the sausages and scrambled eggs, indeed found them tasty, but couldn't shake off a strange feeling. Being from the upper class," he could differentiate the flavors, which were not unfamiliar to him. The commoners, who had hardly eaten such "noble food," couldn't distinguish what these should taste like.
In fact, the people of Iridium Star had no intention of providing a large amount of fresh meat and eggs; the sausages and eggs were synthetic, created by Atomic Substance Construction devices that manipulated atoms to form various materials. The people of Iridium Star also consumed such food which, nutrition-wise, wasn't much different from naturally grown food.
However, there was always a subtle difference in taste.
Later on, Iridium Star directly used synthetic food to produce exploration and military nutriments, which were eaten under circumstances where it wasn't convenient to supply fresh items.
After finishing his meal in the camp canteen, Felix lined up with other prisoners as Pi Xin told him it was time to start work. Felix hadn't thought that he, a distinguished commander of the Black Flag Fleet, would end up as a laborer.
In another line, he spotted his beloved young man, Jiye, and rushed over excitedly, asking, "My Jiye, are you alright?"
Jiye, equally thrilled to see Felix, replied, "Sir, I am fine."
Pi Xin quickly pulled Felix back to his own line, saying, "I've told you already, Marshal. There are rules in the prisoner of war camp. If any violence occurs, the guards will kill the offenders outright. If you don't follow the line, you will also be treated as a troublemaker and eliminated."
Felix felt a shock in his heart and quickly returned to his line, daring not to look again at his beloved young man.
The supervisor of their group approached, dressed in navy blue uniform. All supervisors in the prisoner of war camps were bionic humans, who were better suited than either Iridium Star people or Earthlings, requiring only a programming update to speak fluent Shangduohan or tribal languages.
In their natural communication with Shangduohan prisoners, they continuously collected and analyzed their language, constantly enriching their database.
The supervisor looked very imposing, and since the people of Shangduohan were generally shorter, he appeared even more robust.
"Listen up. Today you are assigned a new task, many of you are former sailors from the Black Flag Fleet, accustomed to the sea. We've received a new mission to catch fish. The greater the catch, the more advantage you have in competition. When the weekend comes, those with the highest catch will receive rewards!"
Mention of rewards immediately sparked enthusiasm in the group of prisoner laborers.
Pi Xin saw the puzzled look on Felix's face and explained, "The work teams compete against each other. The team that performs the best will place first. They not only get more side dishes and other small items but also earn rewards like vacations and free time, and may even be allowed into the city."
Felix had learned a few things and couldn't help but feel secretly alarmed. Even though they were all war prisoners, the Iridium Star people had enabled the prisoners to cooperate and improved their obedience. The Shangduohan Kingdom's army had never achieved the same level of discipline and obedience in their prisoner labor forces.
Xiao Yu had an insufficient number of bionic humans to handle all the labor. Therefore, the Governor's Mansion on Administrative Star employed residents of Infia and used prisoners for some jobs. The goal was not just to conscript labor, but more crucially, to accustom the people of Emerald Sea Star to the ways of the Iridium Star people and gradually make them subjects of the Empire.
Possessing some small atomic substance construction devices, Xiao Yu had manufactured a batch of not very large nearshore fishing boats. Iridium Star people actually sent unmanned fishing boats to fish, but with the thought of domesticating the locals, therefore the Governor's Mansion packed these unmanned fishing boats with a group of prisoners.
After Felix boarded the boat, he discovered that almost all of his learned navigational skills were useless. They had no idea how the boat operated, yet it moved so fast. Under the Supervisor's command, a group of prisoners spread the nets into the sea, and besides cleaning the deck, there seemed to be nothing much to do.
Pi Xin also laughed at this time, "I thought fishing would be more tiring than street sweeping. Now it seems even more relaxing, although the sun is a bit harsh, the sea breeze feels quite comfortable."
The fishing boat trawled the net slowly on the sea surface, while the Supervisor, holding a telescope, spotted something on the distant sea horizon.
Then, a planetary landing craft whizzed past in the sky, and Felix even shivered involuntarily. That was the thing that had turned his Black Flag Fleet into a pile of wood and debris.
The Supervisor put down the telescope and handed it to Pi Xin, who had gained a little status in the prisoner labor team.
"Look, is that a Miryua ship?"
Pi Xin carefully received the telescope with both hands. Anything from the Iridium Star people was incredibly precious, and he was afraid of damaging it.
Holding the telescope, Pi Xin immediately nodded and said, "Yes, Supervisor, it's flying Miryua's flag and also another flag indicating it's harmless."
Unlike the customs on Earth, people on the Northern Continent of Emerald Sea used striped flags to denote surrender or harmlessness. It is said that it started when people, defeated early on, tore their clothes into strips and hung them as flags, a tradition that has persisted to this day.
Upon hearing this, Felix's mind churned with different thoughts. The Miryua Empire was nominally the suzerain of the kingdoms of the Northern Continent, but in reality, no one obeyed the Emperor of Miryua's commands. Three years ago, Emperor Adrian VII of Miryua died mysteriously, without a designated heir.
The three princes, with the support of the Four Great Kingdoms, waged a war of succession, which nearly swept across the entire Northern Continent.
In the end, with the Four Great Kingdoms at their wits' end, all three princes were killed, and Shangduohan troops took the capital of Miryua, Ekuia. Miryua was divided among the Four Great Kingdoms.
Why would a Miryua ship appear here, at this place, at this moment?