Both sides had been in a tense standoff since the beginning. Not only did it not show any signs of easing up, it became even more tense due to the intrusion of another unidentified young soldier. Of course, speaking of a standoff, it actually seemed to be one-sided by the other party. We didn't have any intention of attacking, but … the other party obviously didn't think so.
The alien that seemed to have evolved from an insect was called Tolulu. Judging from his (now I can be sure to use "him") speed of sound and the psionic blades installed on his forelimbs, he was a melee fighter, while the young soldier with the gun was obviously a long-range fighter. The two of them might be a combat team or something. They were already prepared and both had an expression of facing death calmly — — I mean the nameless young soldier's face looked like he was facing death calmly. As for Tolulu's expression … Well, his expression was like an isosceles triangle.
"Can you put down your weapon first? We don't like it when someone points this thing at us," I pointed at the strange-looking rifle in the young soldier's hand and said helplessly.
I pointed at the strange-looking rifle in the young soldier's hand and said helplessly. However, the moment I opened my mouth, the other party took my action as a signal to start the battle. He subconsciously activated his weapon and a bright blue light instantly hit me … The energy shield in front of me didn't even break through. Then, the other party shouted in shock, "Ah?"
I looked at the almost undetectable ripples on the energy shield in front of me and rolled my eyes at the young soldier. "Someone like you will be grounded for an average of seven days a week in my army. Use your brain before you shoot!"
"What kind of new trick is this?" The young soldier ignored my words. Instead, he tilted his head slightly and looked at Tolulu with a puzzled expression. He was still holding his weapon tightly in his hand. "Why are they different from the Empire soldiers I heard about in school? They are also different from the guys I have encountered before. "
"They are very fierce. I don't know. The things in school might be outdated. The Empire soldiers usually don't talk nonsense. Language communication is really troublesome. I have already asked for backup. Don't let your guard down." Tolulu answered a bunch of random things and continued to point his light blade in our direction.
Sandora and I looked at each other and saw the same message in each other's eyes. They might be two stubborn people.
However, even if the other party was stubborn, I still planned to get some information out of him. Thus, I showed a rather friendly smile and tried to get closer to him. "Then, you know who we are, right?"
… As soon as I said this, I felt that my intelligence might be a little closer to Dingdang's. No matter how I looked at it, Dingdang viewed the Empire like a snake or a scorpion, yet I actually took the initiative to mention this topic.
"Hmph, of course." The young soldier didn't shoot again but his fingers were white from holding onto his weapon. His body was obviously trembling. This was definitely not caused by excitement. However, even so, the other party didn't seem to back down or surrender. He didn't even manage to hurt a single hair of the target. With such a huge difference in strength, anyone with a discerning eye could see it. It was really impressive that he was still holding onto his weapon in such a situation. "You are from the Empire, the Xiling Empire … The most dangerous enemy, the invader and destroyer. Wherever you go, not even a blade of grass will grow and the people will be plunged into misery and suffering. That's what the school taught! That's what you do! You are going to party again today, right! "
Sandora's expression suddenly turned ugly. However, it was only for a moment. Soon, she returned to her cold expression. She looked at the young soldier and asked coldly, "I'm really curious about what your school taught about 'our' glorious achievements."
"Do you even need to ask? You know it better than anyone else." The young soldier was unexpectedly easy to get information out of me. This might have something to do with his age. He looked like he was still at the age where he would jump out of the dormitory at midnight to surf the internet. Children in this state were the most likely to tell you all their secrets with a determined look. "You destroyed the Toberu civilization, scorched the Phecda galaxy, and slaughtered hundreds of billions of Yonad people. You also destroyed the Ossa Empire, the Human Federation, and the Star Core 77 World Alliance! Then, you chased after us for so many years! You attacked the fleet non-stop! You killed group after group, and now, you finally decided to attack the last fleet, right? Pfft! Homicidal maniacs! We will die standing! And we will definitely drag you down with us! "
"It was the work of the Fallen Apostle …" Sandora's expression was still as cold as an iceberg, but she said softly through the mental link. Her voice was heavy, and there was an almost undisguised sorrow in it. "I should have thought of this earlier …"
"The countries that he mentioned, how many do you know?"
I didn't have much hope in this question. I only mentioned it to divert Sandora's attention. I didn't expect her to really nod slightly. "A small number of them have come into contact with us. During the era of the old Empire … They were once a powerful civilization that fought against the Abyss. As the Empire's territory continued to expand, they gradually came into close contact with us. They were the last batch of Abyss rebels at the end of the old Empire who had yet to join the frontline led by the Empire. Although I don't have much of an impression of the other few countries, I think it should be similar … After the old Empire was controlled by the Abyss, they actually became the first batch of sacrifices …"
"Now, you can't do anything about it. It's irreversible."
I interrupted Sandora's reminiscence. We can talk about these things later. Then, I looked up at the young soldier. "Bring us to see your leader. I want to see the highest commander of your fleet."
I could already tell that this young soldier and his alien comrade named Tolulu were probably the most ordinary of patrols. The things they knew were definitely limited. Furthermore, they were two stubborn fools. I couldn't get any more information from them. So, I decided to get in contact with their superior as soon as possible. If I could speak directly with the commander of the Ghost Fleet, everything would be much easier to solve.
But just as I expected, the young soldier firmly refused without hesitation. "Unless you kill me! Otherwise, don't even think about passing through this gate! "
In fact, I really wanted to tell this child that Liliana alone had at least twenty ways to get through the gate he was guarding without any resistance. But, I felt that it wouldn't be too serious to say it here, so I didn't say it.
The young soldier didn't have the intention to step aside. No one was surprised. Sandora just frowned slightly. Then, she suddenly released her powerful spiritual power. This power swept through the surrounding metal walls and spread all the way to the core of the planet. As we were already at the bottom of the planet fortress's' layer ', the energy disturbance from the starship was negligible. Sandora's will instantly filled the entire planet. If she wanted to, it wouldn't be difficult for her to control the entire fortress. But, she just wanted to say a few words.
I didn't know what Sandora said. Anyway, the young soldier in front of me quickly looked at what looked like a communicator on his chest in surprise. After muttering a few words to the superior on the other side of the communicator, he looked at me in shock. "You … You must have played some tricks just now!"
"You don't have to worry about that. Anyway, we can go in now, right?"
Sandora's hair was still fluttering with golden particles. She quietly looked at the young soldier and asked calmly.
The young soldier hesitated for a moment and nodded reluctantly. "Alright, I will open the passage below."
Under the young soldier's lead, everyone passed through the temporarily closed gate. Below the gate was a vertical wide shaft. The cold wind in the shaft had also stopped. I really wanted to ask what was the matter with the constantly blowing wind, but the young soldier obviously had no interest in chatting. In fact, he didn't even want to keep a distance of ten meters from us. He and the Alien Mantis named Tolulu (no mistake about it) each rode a hovercraft and led the way twenty to thirty meters in front of us. They flew as fast as lightning as though they were trying to shake off the pursuers behind them. Perhaps that was what the young soldier was thinking. For a group of refugees who had been chased by the Empire for god knows how many years, the feeling of being followed by the Shiring Apostles must be terrible.
"What's your name?"
I sped up and ran to the young soldier and asked loudly. The young soldier didn't expect the person behind him to do that. He exclaimed in surprise and almost fell off the hovercraft. I quickly helped him to stabilize his direction. Using the tone of an elder lecturing a junior, I said, "Kid, speeding is good for you. Don't you have traffic laws?"
The young soldier looked at me in horror for a few seconds. He lowered his head and mumbled, "Jin."
Then, he sped up and ran in front of me again.
It took me a while to figure out that "Jin" might be his name. This child spoke very simply. Of course, the name his parents gave him was also very concise. Anyway, if he was a writer, he would definitely not like to use this name. It was too disadvantageous for him to get a full-time job. So, Sasaki Kojiro was more popular. At the very least, he had to be called Ouyang Qingsong.
Soon, we came to the end of the shaft that looked like a hood. It felt good to have our feet on the ground. In front of us was something that finally didn't look like a piece of meat. It was an alloy gate in the style of the Empire. There was even a cross indentation on the gate!
Obviously, the indentation used to be inlaid with a set of crystals. But now, the crystals that were used as the military emblem had been removed. Even the remaining indentation was scratched messily. It was as if someone had drawn it with a thick brush. Looking at the scratches, I could almost imagine how the person who did this must have clenched his teeth.
The young soldier snorted coldly and didn't say a word as he noticed our eyes sweeping over the notch. However, when he took out his identification card and was about to open the door, he hesitated for a while. Obviously, the idea of leading a group of 'vicious soldiers of the Empire' into his home was too unimaginable to him.
But his hesitation didn't last long. Because before he used his identification card, the metal gate automatically opened. The person in charge had probably received a direct order to let us in.
Everyone was very curious about the scene in front of them. In this strange planet fortress, there were many strange and dazzling scenes, so much so that we were guessing how many more strange things were in front of us, such as a continuous series of nests and so on. Thus, before the door was completely opened, everyone rushed in, and then … exclaimed one after another.
"Is this … is this a city?"
Qian Qian was running at the very front. It couldn't be helped. If this girl really wanted to be the first, you wouldn't be able to catch up to her even if you started from the Jurassic period. Seeing the large number of lights below her, she immediately lost her composure.
After passing through the gate, I thought that I would see a large number of war factories floating in the air, or a huge corridor inside the ship, or some other huge military facilities, but I didn't expect that what appeared in front of me was actually another land and sky.
We were standing on a wide alloy platform that was suspended in midair. It was connected to the metal dome above by a metal pillar that was dozens of meters in diameter. This metal pillar was obviously the shaft that everyone had passed through earlier. Looking around from the platform, we could see a dark gray sky above us. Stars were twinkling in the sky. Those were the lights on the inner walls of the starship. A few thousand meters below our feet was a land that was illuminated by lights. We could see densely packed buildings and orderly streets. All kinds of transportation vehicles flowed between the buildings.
Looking into the distance, we could see huge alloy pillars that reached the sky every few meters. They were like the pillars that supported the sky in myths, connecting the ground and the "sky." The huge gray alloy pillars had bright spots of light flowing on them. Every light spot was a strange-looking aircraft. They seemed to be maintaining the huge pillars that supported the outer shell of the starship. All of this was shrouded in a gloomy light. The entire world seemed to be in an endless polar night.
This was a world that was covered by a metal dome, the Twilight World!
The scene before us was shocking. If you weren't there yourself, you would never be able to imagine what a planet that was covered by a metal dome that was thousands of kilometers thick looked like. It was such a magnificent scene, but it was also such a desolate scene. I didn't know how long the people of this world had lived in such an environment, but the heavy depression and desolation that came from the entire world was enough to move me. I was silent for a moment. Tilting my head slightly, I looked at the young soldier who was watching us anxiously. "Jin."
"What now?" he asked impatiently.
"… Nothing. Bring us to see your leader."
"The spaceship in front is here to pick you up, but Tolulu and I should really follow you."
Kim checked his weapons and brought his insect comrades to the edge of the platform. A short, fat spaceship stopped in front of him. I noticed that this spaceship with a special mission didn't have a frigate. It was strange at first, but I soon understood. If you were using this spaceship to pick us up, you wouldn't have to use a frigate.
The small transport ship didn't look big, but it was spacious inside. It seemed that this thing also used some kind of space expansion technology, but it was more or less different from the space expansion technology of the Empire. It still felt a little strange inside the spaceship. Other than us, there were some soldiers in the transport ship. Some of these soldiers were humans, but some were insect-like lifeforms like Tolulu. There were also some that I had never seen before. They were from another race.
Obviously, the composition of this group of refugees was more complicated than we had imagined. I really didn't know how many races it was made up of. Based on the current situation, perhaps such a ghost fleet would bring us moral pressure that was no less than the thousands of races in the civilization community. Every one of them had a history of blood and tears, and this history of blood and tears had to be paid for by the Empire.
As the transport ship flew to its destination, I could feel every soldier around us casting vigilant and fearful gazes at us. Of course, there was also a deep-seated hatred in their gazes. It was obviously uncomfortable to be shrouded in such emotions, but fortunately, everyone maintained their calm, which saved us a lot of trouble. Once again, I began to thank Lin Xue for her prophecy. Otherwise, we might have already had a violent incident …
The spaceship flew quietly in the dusky twilight for more than ten minutes. Finally, it landed in a … place that we didn't recognize. An unusually tall and thin female officer received us on the landing platform. The young soldier and Tolulu were ordered to wait near the landing platform. The few of us followed the female officer into a building made of alloy. This building still looked like a lump of curled up flesh. The only information I received along the way was that this design style was the creation of Tolulu's people — the Toberu tribe. Those alien lifeforms that looked like evolved insects possessed amazing super technology. They were the true backbone of the ghost fleet.
Everyone followed the female military officer who was leading the way as they walked around the huge metal fortress. The complex tunnels inside were like an ant's nest, making them dizzy. Finally, we arrived at a huge hexagonal hall. The female officer who led us here nodded at us stiffly. "This is the parliament. Wait here."
After saying that, she immediately turned around and left as if she was escaping.
"It seems like we're not very welcome."
Liliana laughed dryly. I thought to myself, Isn't that obvious? According to the information that the young soldier had divulged, after the collapse of the old Empire, that bunch of crazy apostles had caused quite a lot of trouble for these fugitives. Even now, they were still hunting them down. Those who didn't know would definitely confuse the new Empire with the fallen apostles. If it wasn't for the fact that we didn't fire the cannons first, and the ghost fleet had chosen to escape instead of fighting to the death, both sides would probably be fighting each other now. In such a situation, do you still expect to be warmly welcomed?
Actually, when Sandora and I came in, our expectations were even worse than this …
"Where's the parliament that person mentioned earlier?" The big sister asked curiously as she looked around. This hall was huge, at least the size of an indoor stadium. The surrounding walls weren't made of the usual grayish-black alloy, but ordinary white, which made the entire space seem very bright. I felt much more comfortable in such an environment. However, other than the brightness, I didn't see anyone in the hall, nor did I see any communication devices. It was a completely empty room. I couldn't help but wonder what the female officer was talking about.
After waiting for a few minutes, we started guessing if the other party intended to starve us to death in here. Of course, that was impossible. Sandora had the ability and courage to eat a path out of this place. However, just as we were about to lose our patience, the lights in the hall suddenly dimmed. Then, many light spots appeared in the air around us. These light spots gathered faster and faster in the center of the hall, gradually forming a human figure …
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