When the reborn Pirate Potentate lunged at the stars in howls, the capital city of the Xing Yao Federation was ushering in a new dawn, too.
Although the first morning glow that tore apart the clouds had appeared on the horizon, and some gold and red flames were soaring higher and higher on the horizon, most of the sky was still enshrouded in darkness. The temperature was close to zero, as if the night had been frozen. There was no telling how long it would take for the real brightness to arrive.
For all the high school students in the capital city, especially those who lived in the dorms, it was an unforgettable night for them.
The evacuation for the teenagers had been carried out since yesterday. The children in the kindergartens, the primary school students, and part of the middle school students were evacuated one after another.
However, before the middle school students were completely evacuated to the underground fortress, the evacuation operation was somehow suspended. A lot of the Union Army was dispatched to the high schools, allowing the hot-blooded, restless boys and girls to spend a sleepless night in the forest of guns, cannons, and swords.
Everybody knew that the competition that would decide the fate of the Federation was taking place in the sky, but the information on the space battlefield was still blocked. The announcements of the Federation government were the same, too. They asked the citizens to stay at home or in school, listen to the command of the Union Army and the police, and maintain the basic social order. All the veterans and the Cultivators whose spiritual roots had been awakened were asked to report to the nearest military station or sign up on the Nexus and wait for the next assignment.
As for the outcome of the final battle, none of the children knew yet.
"Fatty, hurry up! Hurry up!"
"Big Head, keep your voice down. You are so clumsy. We wouldn't have brought you here if we had known. Nobody is going to get away if you make a noise!"
"Jump. Why don't you jump now? The three of us are waiting for you down there. If you don't dare jump, why did you insist on coming with us?"
In a remote corner of the No. 29 High School in the capital city, four high school students, three boys and one girl, jumped down from an inconspicuous wall.
The girl seemed to have sprained her ankle when she jumped down. She exclaimed softly, only to be complained about by the three boys again.
After that, the fatty supported the girl, and the four of them tiptoed and sneaked into the city.
The four high school students were all at the most energetic and energetic age. Their parents were also members of the Union Army. They had grown up listening to the battle stories between the Union Army and the Cultivators. They had no doubt that one day, perhaps today, they would inherit their parents' banner and become the new protagonists of a new story.
Fine hairs had just grown out of the boy's lips, and the girl's breasts had just swelled up like inflated balloons last summer. However, they felt that they had already grown up and had the qualifications and strength to do something big, no matter what they wanted to do.
The students had been cooped up in the dormitory for the whole night. They were like a group of chattering chicks locked in an airtight cardboard box. They had long been suffocated. The four of them volunteered to go out and inquire about some of the latest news.
"We are going to the 'Federation Square' in the city center, which is very close to the 'News Center of the Federation'. The latest news will be displayed on the big light beam in the Federation Square as soon as possible."
Pretending to be experienced, the four high school students explained to their classmates, "Besides, even if we cannot find any news in the Federation Square, we will be able to guess what is going on based on the movements and vibe of the Union Army on the street."
Just like that, the four high school students walked out of the dormitory and marched toward the dawn in the middle of the night.
Shouldering the hopes of the entire class, there was also the thrill of violating the school rules and breaking through taboos. The two completely different feelings turned into a fresh and exciting force. It was as if there were eight springs under their feet, making them want to jog all the way.
The capital city right now was entirely different from the street view that they had seen during the day.
Traffic control had been implemented in the sky. There were no more shuttles that were moving day and night. Now and then, military shuttles that looked like iron eagles would rush past.
Temporary fortifications had been established on the street, where a lot of crystal tanks were parked. Construction materials and spiritual puppets large and small were on standby, too. They could be upgraded into semi-permanent fortifications at any moment. It seemed that a street battle was about to take place and that the capital city would not be left for the Immortal Cultivators even if it was razed to the ground.
The glass windows of the skyscrapers that had been glamorous in the past were all blocked by layers of armor. Like rows of wordless tombstones, they were quietly telling the determination of the people of the Federation to fight to the death.
"Look!"
The girl suddenly pointed at something far away and exclaimed.
The boys looked at where she was pointing, only to see that almost a hundred pillars of light that were taller and thicker than the skyscrapers were rising from the skyscrapers in the center of the city.
The ivory pillars of light soared into the sky like barrels that were perpendicular to the ground, piercing through the clouds and into the firmament.
Even the dense clouds could not bear the force of the pillars of light. Tremendous waves were spreading out, as if they would be completely ripped apart in the next second, revealing the blue sky.
"Are they cannons?"
The girl's voice was shivering. She was deeply shocked by the magnificent scene.
"No. It's the defense array of the highest level in the capital city."
The shortest boy of the four, who was wearing round glasses, said, "I heard from my father that such a defense array can open an enormous spiritual shield more than three hundred kilometers in diameter, which is enough to resist the bombardment from beyond the atmosphere … for at least twenty-four hours."
The young men fell silent.
They recalled the panicked rumors from the previous night.
It was said that, once the expedition army of the Imperium of True Human Beings won the space battle, they would appear in the sky of the Heaven's Origin Sector openly.
They would not need to attack the ground at all. It was very likely that they would drag tremendous giant meteoroids over and install the cheapest power units on the bottom of the meteoroids. Then, they would bombard the capital city and the major industrial cities with the meteoroids precisely. There would be no street battles at all. The determination of the people of the Federation would be crushed directly.
"After all … we will win."
The fat guy waved his arms and gnashed his teeth. "If the space is lost, we will retreat to the mountains for guerilla warfare. Ten years, twenty years, fifty years. One day, we will take back the Federation!"
"Exactly!"
The young man who was particularly big-headed said solemnly, "Think about it. It took human beings thirty thousand years to take back the sea of stars. What's a few decades? We … will win!"
The biting coldness crawled into their collars and sleeves, making the four young men shudder hard.
But they did not retreat. Instead, they pressed forward against the cold wind.
Soon, when they passed by a man-made lake, they were surprised to find an old man next to the lake.
The old man was covered in metal from head to toe. Even his face was just a cold mask. He should be a spectral Cultivator who had lost his body in an accident.
He was called an 'old man' because his movements were so rigid that he seemed to be rusted all over and would fall apart at any moment.
When they saw the old man, he was doing something that was quite common but bizarre at this moment — feeding the birds.
There were a lot of birds next to the man-made lake. Somebody often came to feed the birds, too.
However, no one had ever attracted so many birds like this old ghost cultivator. Not only did they appear beside him, they even landed on him. It was as if they had a natural sense of intimacy with him. They were not afraid of this cold mechanical body at all.
"Impressive. How did he do it?"
"Why is someone feeding the birds here in the middle of a war? Who is he exactly?"
"I seem to have seen the old man before. Yes, it's him. He often comes here to feed the birds. I like to memorize the primeval runes next to the man-made lake in the morning. I've seen him a few times before. He seems to be the archivist of some unknown archive in the library nearby.
"But before, his movements were much clumsier. One time, he couldn't get back to his feet after falling for a long time. I had to help him up. Also, there wouldn't have been so many birds landing on him …"
The young men whispered to each other, their curiosity piqued.
They were about to ask the girl who knew the old man to ask him what was going on, when all the birds on the archivist's body flew away and dispersed into the sky in feeble flashes.
"Hahahaha!"
Thunderous laughter burst out of the archivist's metal chest, which shocked all the four young men.
The old man laughed unscrupulously and soul-stirring as if nobody was around. The whole world was filled with his laughter. Even the dark clouds that covered the sky were torn apart by his wild laughter, emitting golden brilliance!
While laughing, the old man's voice and breath gradually weakened.
He had been squatting on the ground to tease the birds. But now, he finally could not support his heavy body anymore and sat on the ground. His enormous head lowered inch by inch.
"Grandpa!"
The girl was anxious. She was the first to rush forward, followed by the three boys, who were about to help the old man up. But the old archivist waved his hands at the children, hinting them not to come close.
"Danger!"
The Archivist spoke very clearly.
Then, balls of black flames gushed out of his metal skull.
The black flames bared their fangs and brandished their claws, struggling desperately, as if some kind of resentment and resentment was being burned furiously and completely annihilated!
As the strength perished, the archivist's last life was gone, too. He was like a burning match that had turned gray and white.
When the girl finally helped the old man to his feet, she only heard him say something weird in the end in a muffled voice. Then, there was not the slightest sound from the floating metal chest anymore.
The boys waved their hands and shouted on the street. Three minutes later, the police and the Union Army finally arrived. Soon after that, the ambulance arrived in time, too.
It was supposed to be a very common case of an old man's sudden death. It was not surprising at all when it happened to a dying spectral Cultivator.
However, when the doctors opened the old man's metal skull and found traces of brain cells inside, things turned weird.
When the police checked the serial number on the old man's artificial body, only to discover that it was an illegal artificial body that had not been officially registered, the case became even trickier.
"You all said that before he died, he said some strange words. What was that?"
Frowning, the police stared at the four panicked, overwhelmed young men and women.
The young men looked at each other in bewilderment. It was a genteel and awkward statement. They could not figure out the meaning of it for the time being.
"Don't be hasty. Let's think about it slowly. Even if you don't understand the meaning, you can still repeat the syllable. It is very important for confirming the identity of the deceased."
Another policewoman spoke in a very friendly but firm tone.
The young men scratched their heads, but they still could not figure it out. Their faces were all blushing.
Right then, flashing roars echoed on the horizon. The rising sun finally broke free from the shackles of darkness after a fierce battle and leaped high.
Cheers and noises were echoing from the center of the city, as if some great news had turned into a boiling storm that was about to sweep across the entire city, the entire planet, and the entire Federation.
The girl bulged her eyes. She finally understood the last sentence that the old man mumbled just now.
"I — I got it. The old man's last words seemed to be …"
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