The majestic and theologically adorned gigantic battleship was bathed in starlight, with red energy veins flickering and pulsating between the armor strips and the shield devices.
Erin imdiately jumped up from the co-pilot seat (by the way, she had sohow clumsily buckled the seatbelt, which turned out to be incapable of restraining her), staring wide-eyed at the black and red battleship that erged from the concealing force field, almost right in front of the shuttle: "Holy crap! These zealots really plan on pulling a double-cross?!"
Yu Sheng was also startled by the sudden appearance of the ship, but he was noticeably more composed than the jittery little puppet, rely frowning slightly: "But seriously, using sothing like this to cut off a delivery seems a bit overkill—our shuttle isn't even as big as one of its missile launchers."
"Makes sense, let's just observe for now," Luo's voice also ca through the communicator, "They haven't shown any signs of firing, and just now they opened their identification signal as agreed… Let's just follow the script for now."
Just at that mont, the shuttle's system alert rang out, interrupting Luo and Yu Sheng's conversation: "External communication detected."
"They're calling us, mute yourself." Yu Sheng quickly said, then switched his conversation with Luo to another channel and connected the communication from the large battleship.
After so brief static, an external signal connection prompt projection appeared on the shuttle's control panel, followed by the voice of a middle-aged man: "…Are you the delivery person sent by 'Old Qiao'?"
"Uh, yes," Yu Sheng was montarily taken aback, then quickly got into character, glancing at the little puppet beside him with the corner of his eye, "But it's not 'we', it's just ."
While Yu Sheng was speaking, Erin had climbed back onto her seat and imdiately tilted her head and rolled her eyes, pretending to play dead.
Even though both sides were using pure audio communication and there was no need for her to fake being dead—the little thing felt it suited the atmosphere.
There was a two or three-second silence from the battleship's communication before a voice, obviously carrying shock and confusion, replied: "You only sent one person?!"
Yu Sheng hadn't figured out how to respond yet, but the other side continued talking to themselves, sounding as if they were conversing with soone beside them: "He actually just sent one pilot, in a shuttle with shields thinner than paper, to transport this critically important 'catalyst'…"
Another very indistinct voice ca through the communicator, seemingly from soone sitting nearby: "That ignorant… completely unaware of… the danger…"
Yu Sheng caught bits and pieces of this exchange, instantly understanding why they brought such a "big guy" to et him; he relaxed imdiately—it wasn't a double-cross, they were just nervous…
But then he frowned—
This Hidden Monastery contact treating the Angel Catalyst like a dire threat, could it be because their region has already started "disturbance" with angels? Is that "Shadowless Skeleton" already active, or showing signs of awakening?
This thought barely ford in his mind when the voice of that middle-aged man ca through the communicator again: "We need to verify the condition of the 'catalyst' first."
"How to verify?" Yu Sheng followed the prompt.
"You eject the cargo box into space, and we'll dispatch a shuttle to retrieve it—if the catalyst is intact, the deal is done, just that simple, the Hidden Monastery won't renege."
Yu Sheng frowned.
Actually, he didn't care if they reneged (Luo might care a bit), nor did he care about the honesty of those zealots, whether they'd just grab and run; in fact, he wouldn't even mind a black-hearted shot—the main thing was to get the "Angel Catalyst" onto their ship and out of here, the process didn't matter.
If anything, it'd be better if they just snatched the catalyst and ran, as even the most cautious person would find it hard to be suspicious of their own plunder, sparing Yu Sheng a lot of trouble.
But the other side proposed an inspection process that seed quite unfair.
…Unfair conditions, agreeing too quickly on their part seems suspicious.
After hesitating for a mont, Yu Sheng finally spoke: "What if you grab it and run or insist it's a fake?"
The other side was silent for two seconds, the middle-aged voice sounded displeased: "This is a 'Dark Star' class missile cruiser, one of the most powerful battleships of the Dark teor Domain, and I am a devout believer practicing the Path of Venerate Saint—do you think we're the sordid pirates drifting about the grey routes?"
Yu Sheng raised his eyebrows.
To be honest, when these cultists speak righteously, they really have an aura that makes it seem as if even they believe it, which is quite impressive.
A fleeting impression ca and went, a bold idea brewing in Yu Sheng's mind, he quickly adjusted his tone, speaking formally and rigidly: "I request to dock in your hangar—this is just a lightly ard shuttle, docking in the hangar ans you have full control, I only ask to watch your 'inspection' process."
Then he deliberately paused for a second before continuing: "The 'cargo' is special, highly valuable, I need to report back."
Having said this, he sighed in relief—his reaction should be fine, whether or not the other side agrees didn't matter anymore.
Monts later, the other side agreed.
It seems that in the eyes of the commander of the "Dark Star" cruiser, a small shuttle's request for temporary docking in the hangar was no big deal, especially since the reason for docking was solid—a clone pilot needing to report back, an already agreed upon transaction, and a mission that should avoid any unexpected incidents; clearly, nobody wants to provoke unforeseen trouble with such a thorny assignnt dispatched from above.
The side of the bow of the "Dark Star" cruiser opened a small hangar gate, guiding lights suddenly appearing in space, forming a long holographic projection.
Yu Sheng handed over the subsequent controls entirely to the automatic piloting system.
The towering steel hull rolled forward like a towering wall, gradually blocking the distant, distorted starlight outside the porthole. The continuous lights in the hangar tunnel ahead flickered uncertainly, resembling a deep throat lined with sharp teeth.
Yu Sheng looked up, seeing the hangar gate of the interstellar battleship receding slowly outside the porthole. The small shuttle seed like an inconspicuous little insect in front of this giant beast—and then, the little insect was swallowed into the belly of this massive fish.
Erin deftly crawled into the storage box under the seat, only her small head visible through the seat's gaps, looking at Yu Sheng: "Hey, hey, this thing feels like the hangar in our family's ship!"
"Nonsense, our ship was looted from the Hidden Monastery..."
Yu Sheng rolled his eyes, but Erin couldn't see it—because by this ti he had already put on the pilot helt.
He also donned the complete Black Spot Soldier uniform.
A slight vibration echoed, guiding the shuttle into the hangar, where it was directed to a resting force field. Stasis beams suspended and lowered the craft, followed by an ascending platform locking it firmly in place.
Yu Sheng noticed a crowd gathered outside on the platform—priests in white robes, short-robed believers looking like technicians, brass knights wielding force field heavy swords tall and hollow, and soldiers in power armor, holding rifles.
There were even two devices resembling tactical walking machines stationed on nearby high platforms, their heavy particle cannons pointed in this direction. Beside each walking machine stood two priests in gray robes, casually swinging their brass incense burners while chanting verses.
Projecting a bewilderingly diverse scene—practicality is crucial for frontline troops.
The shuttle's cargo hold opened, and the hefty cargo container, twice the height of a person, slid out along the tracks. The container's anti-gravity device activated, gently floating it to a designated spot where the container doors unlocked.
"Hide here," Yu Sheng prepared to disembark, glancing back at the little puppet peeping through the seat gap before leaving, hesitating slightly then asked, "By the way, do I have an ominous foreboding of blood?"
Scarlet eyes under the seat sparkled brightly: "Nope, but you could stab yourself with a little knife."
"...Tch, these cultists are certainly disciplined."
Yu Sheng muttered, turning away from the cockpit, disembarking from the shuttle.
Several church soldiers holding rifles eyed him, then flanking him as "escorts" to the cargo container.
The container door was already open, and the "Angel Catalyst" inside was illuminated by the lights within the container, the irregular black "crystal stone" exuding an eerie shine, catching everyone's view.
The Hidden Monastery priests were evidently tense, and the technicians they brought were on high alert.
Before approaching the container, they each lit the incense they carried, used to soothe the chanical Soul, then started muttering prayers. They even appeared to pray to soone for a while before inching towards the "stone," excavated from the Silent Guard Mine, dyed in the Special Service Bureau's lab, soaked with Yu Sheng's blood and a fragnt of the World Bridge shadow.
Yu Sheng, helted, watched the scene, grinning so broadly his teeth showed, barely suppressing his laughter.
A nearby church soldier glanced over: "Why are you shaking?"
suppressing his laughter, Yu Sheng struggled to keep his tone serious: "I'm tense."
"...Who the hell isn't tense, on this deadly mission," another soldier murmured softly.
"Shush—" The third soldier promptly reminded.
The rails in the container unlocked, causing the force field box and a host of accompanying monitoring and suppression devices to slide out of the container, as technicians equipped with various instrunts approached, beginning their work around the "Angel Catalyst."
Yu Sheng couldn't comprehend this identification process at all.
But there were those on "scene" who understood.
Luo's voice ca over the helt headset—she was monitoring the situation via encrypted signals and the shuttle's various perception modules: "They are examining the spatial fluctuations and psychic waves around the 'catalyst'... That equipnt is a modified version of those from Black Stone Station... That's all my technology! It's all mine!"
The voice of the second-rate scientist sounded like she was grinding her teeth, deeply agitated.
Yu Sheng casually replied: "No worries, once the Hidden Monastery wraps this up, I'll bring you so local specialties back."
"Alright."
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