Chapter 1149: Chapter 158: Interlude and Report
Niyaguti has been feeling agitated since the EMP storm began.
A few days ago, Yang Zhenhao discussed the details of this operation with her. The local heroes are also actively preparing to counteract the impact to ensure that the damage to the heroes is minimized during this event.
During the sacrifice of the Eighth Martial God, King Aqini’s EMP sweep over the Aricas caused severe losses to the new continent’s heroes, burning many sects’ prosthetic bodies, leaving them to die helplessly in the wilderness.
She is very worried about Yang Zhenhao. In the 21st century, she saw Yang Zhenhao as a child a generation or two removed. But nearly three hundred years have passed, making the four or five-decade generation gap negligible. To Niyaguti, he is one of the few “fellow countryman.”
It’s not just Yang Zhenhao she’s worried about.
Niyaguti also hopes that the action planned by the Northern Heroes will go smoothly.
The Twelfth Martial God, the current Xiang Shan, has created the most precious situation. And comrades as far as Jupiter are about to draw away King Aqini’s forces. Maybe only one of the battlefields at Earth or Jupiter can achieve complete victory. But either way, this is the best opportunity.
More and more observational reports indicate that the forces under King Aqini are gradually clearing several orbits in the chaotic near-Earth space. These are reserved space trajectories for Venus’s planetary oppression forces.
The deep space battleships are built exceptionally large to maximize reconnaissance capabilities and main gun firepower. Limited by material science, the deep space fleet focuses on strengthening radial resistance to withstand its own acceleration, but cannot also address lateral shear resistance. Deep space battleships find it challenging to maneuver within a gravity well.
The gravitational influence brought by planets can beco the “last straw that breaks the cal’s back” for deep space battleships executing tactical maneuvers.
While planetary defense/oppression forces have main guns far less powerful, they are better at maneuvering within a gravity well, and place more emphasis on transportation capacity. They can engage in evasive air combat using planet curvature or conduct orbital bombing or airborne troop drops.
The orbits cleared for the incoming Svalbard Corps poses a great threat to the Earth heroes.
Intelligence indicates the launch base attacked by Yang Zhenhao’s team is sending a large number of pre-assembled modules of cleaning robots into orbit. This launch base holds substantial strategic value.
Niyaguti needs to create more chaos in the surrounding areas to divert the Protector’s forces, preventing them from setting up an encirclent.
A tight encirclent is also a threat to the First Heavenly Layer martial artists.
This operation involves not only the group of heroes from the north but also many local heroes providing support. There are even two First Heavenly Layer heroes stationed at a reception point about two hundred kiloters away from the launch base, waiting for news. And that reception point has a pre-laid line to here, allowing simple communication even during the EMP storm.
And Niyaguti herself is sitting at the center of it all. She is the last martial artist above the First Heavenly Layer at this base, the most crucial mobile force. She is ready to rush to the battlefield at any ti.
“You don’t have to be too anxious.” The computer running Xiang Shan’s pseudo-personality mask displayed text information on the screen, “I really think you don’t need to worry at all, Nia. We’ve at least twice maneuvered human history; rember? This is just a trivial matter.”
“Human lives.” Niyaguti paused in silence before saying, “The heroes who trust … our comrades. Their lives hinge on my decisions. Sotis I hate how accustod I’ve beco to companion deaths.”
“In battle, sacrifices are inevitable, and deaths will always happen. It’s always been this way.”
Seated before Xiang Shan’s cara, Niyaguti remarked, “I’m over three hundred years old, yet I’m not as steadfast as Xiang Shan was when he was over a hundred… Maybe I was never cut out for this line of work.”
“Ha, I thought you would use words like ‘ruthless’ for .” Xiang Shan replied, “Paying respect to the fallen is important, but that should be reserved for post-battle. The mont a campaign begins, all personnel involved beco abstract resources, re numbers.”
Niyaguti shook her head in self-mockery: “I might be… inherently unfit to be a general or a commander. I’m just a… animal protectionist without an animal to protect, maybe soone who was a transhumanist for a ti… I’m…”
“You’re doing very well already, Niyaguti. Your command skills are quite outstanding. The gap between you and fad historical generals is only in mindset—though I didn’t expect mindset to be this difficult. I’ve not lived to three hundred years, so I wouldn’t know how hard it is to develop that mindset.”
“Maybe you started preparing earlier?” Niyaguti noted, “I’m not sure if you rember this… but I know, Xiang Shan. At that ti, we were all around the original Xiang Shan—’Not pursuing the Homo sapiens hibernation technology’ was a decision collectively discussed, yet it was Xiang Shan who announced the outco. He never spoke about it. When we exchanged mories afterward, I realized how… difficult it was.”
“Ha, that’s kind of… huh, should probably rember.”
The computer chassis emitted a low hum. The fan blew the waste heat generated from writing and erasing information into the air.
Actually, Xiang Shan rembers very clearly. This was almost the most important mont in Xiang Shan’s life—even though it was a negative emotion, it comprised a part of Xiang Shan. When he inherited the legacy of the Eighth Martial God, Xiang Shan had already vividly recalled everything. Even the Six Dragons’ Holy Lord possesses related mories from a different perspective.
That was the first ti Xiang Shan put countless human lives of imasurable ethical value on the scales for weighing.
No one is born a hero. Xiang Shan rely had the opportunity to draw strength from these special experiences in particular historical periods.
Moreover…
This power is ultimately limited.
When Yawgmoth took control of the entire old army, Xiang Shan quickly realized the limits of his endurance—he could not bring himself to use a backdoor command to wipe out all the troops and Yawgmoth’s other potential allies in one fell swoop.
Even though he had made decisions when he was younger, choosing to ignore a portion of humanity.
The ntal pressure also drove Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan to launch a solo assault on the fleet one last ti, attempting to conclude everything with the riskiest gamble.
The result was obvious. It was the “Only Defeat” that people still talk about to this day.
“This is really strange. Sotis I feel that, in the two hundred years after the Martial Ancestor’s death, his old friends all beca strangers to him. But sotis I feel that a person’s nature is so stubborn; it can’t be changed even in two hundred years.”
Niyaguti is such a person. Although she is reliable, she’s not suited to be a commander.
Yet even though she is so unsuited for the role of commander, she can still fight in this position for a hundred years without giving up.
“Let’s talk about sothing else. Any recent intel? Hmm, don’t expect to help you make decisions. Limited by hardware functions, I can’t think like the main body does; I can only make ‘highly consistent judgnts with the main body’ once ‘sufficient information is input.'”
Niyaguti shook her head: “Not much. The Sky Star Fleet is already approaching the Lagrange Point. It’s just a pity we don’t have enough space strength to stop it. It’s a pity for the achievents created by the Ninth Martial God. But it also ans that the Svalbard Corps on Venus is about to arrive. When the Sky Star Fleet crosses the Lagrange Point and begins to accelerate, we will take action imdiately.”
“Hmm, sounds like good news.”
“This ti it’s also the premise of cooperation between Yang Zhenhao’s side and ours. Yang wants to showcase the level of their combat mbers.”
This operation was planned by Niyaguti, the Martial Chief of Africa. She is the sole commander. Unless unanimously recognized by the main forces involved, even the Twelfth Martial God Xiang Shan wouldn’t change this.
Xiang Shan has no intention of changing this. Even though his capability in military command may be a bit higher than Niyaguti’s, his managent experience also tells him that changing leaders at the last mont is a big taboo. He is not as familiar with the local heroes’ structure as Niyaguti is.
The Twelfth Martial God should first play the role of a “banner” at this stage.
Yang Zhenhao’s identity and position in the Jianghu are almost catching up with this earliest batch of heroes. But he is here just to lend a hand.
“It’s said their people have a high level.”
“Hmm.” The program quickly stored the mory for Xiang Shan, so that when the file returns to the main body, the main body can quickly grasp the situation.
“By the way, what do you think your main body would do now?”
“Honestly, with too little information, the content I know is far different from the main body’s. But… if the main body hasn’t already run away from the Knight Order, then it’s probably just a matter of days. Use the excuse that an EMP destroyed crucial data. Perfect excuse, right? It’s the only thing I can think of.”
“Hmm?” Niyaguti seed to think of sothing and laughed, “Oh, it’s that shaless routine. You never change, no matter how much ti passes.”
“Ah?” The computer got angry, its CPU temperature seed to be rising (an illusion), “Hey, hey, hey, most of my early mories are public now, right? You should know, right? I was one of those who initially said ‘I can’t drain national funds!’ back in the day!”
“Previously… speaking of which, it’s kind of embarrassing to say, a long ti ago, when I didn’t yet know Yawgmoth was researching alien organisms, I thought he was researching ancient microbial proteos in a place like Yellowstone Park—still rember, right? That’s when you were promoting the geothermal bio-protection act in the Federation.”
“How could I forget?”
“I, Freeman, and others were actually very tense at that ti. Although we were pleased that the Federation could implent relevant legislation to restrict the behavior of mining companies, and also glad that the United Nations Nature Foundation valued this… but at that ti, we had to et two to three tis weekly, hold etings, and the topic was ‘what exactly does that bureaucrat from the Republic want to use us for.’ Dr. Freeman was a radical. He was wary of all projects with governnt backgrounds. But despite discussing all night, we couldn’t figure out what that young bureaucrat from the Republic wanted to do, and could only repeatedly remind each other ‘don’t be used’.”
“At that ti…” Xiang Shan also felt nostalgic about the past, “At that ti, there was an elder pointing in the right direction. He told that solving the crisis after I assud office proved my capability to respond to various ergencies. And how I handled the second major issue would determine what I could do in the future. The bigger the uproar, the higher the pitch, the greater the power Director Xiang would have afterward.”
Of course, this is sowhat due to the historical uniqueness of the Rama project. It was humanity’s first substantial contact with an extraterrestrial civilization. The Rama project was initiated to solve a problem for which human-related experience was zero. Its actions had no precedence, and even the working procedures were crafted while several major countries simultaneously debated and argued.
The UN Security Council resolutions were basically just waste paper. The Security Council simply did not have the ability to enforce resolutions; it fundantally relied on major countries to provide money and manpower.
However, having a piece of waste paper—specifically, resolution 2900 (2027) of the Security Council—did indeed state that the “Outer Space Security and Relations Coordination Committee” under “ergency circumstances” possesses the ability to execute “preemptive military actions” in “almost all countries.” The countries where it cannot “implent preemptive military actions” are all the permanent mbers of the Security Council, the leading countries in alien research, and theoretically direct beneficiaries.
The Rama Project District attached to the project’s affairs office was an important part of this committee.
The leak incident caused by Zhu Xinyu was so detrintal that major figures from the big countries had negligently ignored a problem before the dust settled—they had truly, unprecedentedly, granted an institution the power to disregard the “national sovereignty” of nearly all countries except those few major ones.
Initially, no one cared about such a special institution. This was nothing but the chaos common during an organization’s fledgling period, sothing inevitable when the procedures are imperfect; once the organization runs, everything will be perfected. Because the power granted was so vast and difficult to realize, the bureaucrats entrusted with it, in contrast, would cautiously avoid utilizing it—power naturally has allure on its own, but those clever folks are also aware that their fundantal role is simply holding this power on behalf of the nations behind them. They cannot withstand the counterforce caused by wielding this power.
As for the only young person who held power without undergoing the bureaucratic system test, there was no need to worry too much. He fundantally did not have the “foundation” to exercise this power. It feels like after his commands hit a few obstacles, this person who has entered the power field from an external world will be dosticated.
Xiang Shan perford far better than anyone anticipated.
The “Sido” data extracted by “Zhu Rong” was already placed online for public access, and nobody expected this issue to be resolved satisfactorily; the second-term district manager was essentially there to take on the burden. But Xiang Shan not only took up this burden, he also crafted a table full of dishes. He reasonably extended the duration of the “ergency state” and assertively demanded cooperation from all sectors by stating “the matter is not completely resolved.”
This is also one aspect of the “Human Civilization,” this makeshift troupe.
And the reason underlying it…
“Being desireless ans being steel-like.” Xiang Shan humd, “I was originally not focused on this, considering it enough to improve my resu a bit to get more funding afterward, and even if I was ousted from office, it wouldn’t affect my continued work as a scientist. If my country needs to take the bla, then I’ll take it—people with such a mindset naturally act without restraint. Until Yog created the first tal-based cell based on thermophilic archaea, I had no other thoughts.”
“Ha.”
“That ti with the Federation, it was even safer. I was placed in charge because of the great powers’ maneuvering. Before then, the Republic couldn’t quickly find another person trusted by the district’s researchers as a manager. As long as I wasn’t too outrageous and didn’t betray national interests, the strength behind would always remain behind . Therefore, my movents in the Federation naturally should be as grand and celebrated as possible.”
Niyaguti lifted her head, “Mr. Jing… honestly, I think you’re far scarier than Mr. Jing.”
“The old man is more conscientious and humane than ,” Xiang Shan said, “I’m just a Flying Divine Pig at the right mont.”
“Even a Republic scholar, no matter how deeply he researches politics, couldn’t find the right approach on his first visit to the Federation.”
“Wasn’t it your animal protection organization? Oh right, David helped contact NASA’s senior managent, and after we established ‘personal friendship,’ I ca into contact with people from old Bernard’s circle. Uh, consultant, I think that’s what it’s called.”
“We only found out later that Bernard initially regarded you as a foreign fool doing sothing inexplicable. He only later figured it out three months later and saw you as truly intimidating.”
“Ha, that must be because he later beautified his mory. I tell you, at that ti I was really reckless and just wanted to make a big affair. If the forty-year-old were handling that situation, I might have found two more paths.”
Xiang Shan laughed twice and then suddenly changed the topic, “Speaking of old Bernard… I reviewed his file before eting him. Upon seeing it, ha, this guy is either a naive, silly, pure-hearted rich young master turned black or a hypocrite who initially sought a good na. Actually, throughout the decades later, I… had a vague feeling of superiority over him. Perhaps even a hundred years later I was thinking, ‘I wish I had spoken more heartfelt words to that old thing then.'”
“From Bernard’s death to the initial sacrifice of that Xiang Shan, hasn’t it been a hundred years yet?”
“I haven’t gotten out of that mood yet,” Xiang Shan humd, “Tch, thinking about it, Teacher Jing and old Bernard also did things against their nature for most of their lives. One writing novels in late age, the other becoming a hero at the end. Although they had power and money, they were still not free.”
The two continued chatting about past events until new text information appeared on the nearby electronic screen.
“Hm?”
“Hm, hopefully, it’s not a distress call asking you to go over,” Xiang Shan responded. Although a Martial Chief needs to go to the frontline to fight, for a raid planned long in advance to finally involve an unplanned Commander signifies that the situation over there is indeed dire.
“No, quite the opposite… it’s been resolved.” Niyaguti said.
“That was pretty quick.” Xiang Shan wanted to nod, but his current monitor and cara didn’t support that function, “And pretty lucky too…”
“In a way, yes.” Niyaguti praised, “They encountered Thanatos and Jangar.”
“Thanatos sounds familiar, the one from Greek mythology? Jangar… I think I’ve heard it in so middle school textbook. Who are these people, with such nas?”
Niyaguti paused: “Well, true, these two were rising young officers during the Ninth Martial God’s uprising. They really beca famous during the Tenth Martial God’s extermination battle.”
“Tsk, why does it always involve .”
Niyaguti hesitated for a mont before speaking: “I thought all Xiang Shans were very against… the other Martial Gods. At least, the ones I’ve seen mostly are. It’s quite amazing to consider other Xiang Shans as oneself.”
“For a while, did you think I wasn’t Xiang Shan?”
Niyaguti rubbed her forehead: “That’s what I originally thought… but when you actually said it, I just felt that Xiang Shan would indeed say sothing like that.”
“Your research on Xiang Shan still has many blind spots—so, what happened to those two guys?”
“They’re pretty strong. By human standards, they’re not considered weak.”
Generally speaking, a Benchmark Man martial artist is in a period of rapid improvent under the age of eighty, and many people touch the limit of their talent early during this stage. After this, if they want to continue improving, they either undergo deep cellular modifications, harness higher-level prosthetic bodies, or deeply optimize algorithms using supercomputers and battle experience. In the pure martial techniques domain, many people reach the limit of their talent early.
Not every three-hundred-year-old martial artist can crush a hundred-year-old fad hero.
This is just the power of an individual. The governnt has always been on the side with more people.
But Xiang Shan was not worried at all: “Looks like the supporting martial power exceeded the attackers’ endurance limit? And you didn’t even receive any news from the reserve forces, showing that the matter was resolved quite successfully. How did you manage it?”
“On one hand, the level of the Northern Heroes is quite high, and on the other hand, there was an unexpected hero.” Niyaguti looked at Xiang Shan’s cara: “A hero with the nickna ‘Regulos’, a disciple of the Tenth Martial God.”
“Oh?”
Xiang Shan fell silent, with only the sound of the computer fan running.
“It seems your emotions are very complex.”
“I’ve co into contact with so people. People related to Xiang Shan.” Xiang Shan said, “But most of them belong to the social relationships all Xiang Shans share. This kind of ‘acquaintance of a certain Martial God’… I guess I’ve seen it during the Eighth Martial God’s ti, but I have most of the Eighth Martial God’s mories. This is still my first ti eting an ‘unfamiliar acquaintance’. Probably.”
Although Xiang Shan described this feeling like eting a distant relative during the New Year, the complexity of his emotions was clearly different.
However, Xiang Shan obviously thought too much.
He only t the disciple of the Tenth Martial God thirteen hours later.
When Niyaguti brought Yang Zhenhao, Tuoba Xuanyuan Fourteen, and others to et Xiang Shan, Yang Zhenhao hesitated for a mont, while Tuoba Xuanyuan Fourteen was very calm: “I guess you, the Twelfth Master, left a pseudo-personality mask here? Where has the main body gone?”
“Went ahead to the space elevator first.” Xiang Shan hadn’t decided what kind of attitude to use towards this unfamiliar acquaintance, so he decided to adopt a “work colleague” kind of relationship. But Tuoba Xuanyuan Fourteen quickly asked the next question: “So, your main body isn’t here, right.”
He asked this without looking at Xiang Shan, but at Niyaguti. After Niyaguti confird, Tuoba Xuanyuan Fourteen very boldly hugged the computer’s chassis: “Master! After so many years, I’ve finally seen you again—accept this insignificant concern! A small gift, no respect.”
He inserted a hard drive into the mainfra interface.
Xiang Shan was stunned, and then the breathing light flashed wildly: “Damn you, kid… damn… who do you think you are… I… you… is there anyone to control you? So excessive?”
“Hmm, this pseudo-personality mask is ant for you to use as a staff officer, so the mories it contains should match the original as closely as possible. Excluding so purely technical content, it should be essentially consistent.” Tuoba Xuanyuan Fourteen pondered for a mont, “You don’t have this part of the mory… well, it makes sense. After all, it’s a carefully selected essence.”
“I want to forget.”
“It may not help with combat power, but it’s still very aningful for honing your will.” Regulos plugged another storage device in, “Niyaguti senior, is there a multi-turn adapter here? I brought this good stuff from Jupiter, it’s my master’s research result. Anyway, as it stands, only Xiang Shan is suitable to enjoy it.”
“I… did you try it with the Eleventh Martial God?”
“No. Unfortunately. I never t the Eleventh Master. You’re the first Martial God to enjoy my master’s research results.” Tuoba Xuanyuan Fourteen tried to make his tone sound as plain as possible. But even without a personality profile, Xiang Shan could sense the joy between his words.
“I…”
“Think of it this way, what if soone uses this thing for ntal attacks in the future? At least it’s equivalent to so kind of vaccine, right? And it’s compatible with my master’s other research results. After you archive and organize this pseudo-personality mask, the original can absorb it more smoothly, right? Although we haven’t figured out the principle, ‘Xiang Shan’ should have this special ability. This is due to Xiang Shan’s unusual neural pathways—this isn’t an old-fashioned insult, it’s a scientific term.”
Xiang Shan was silent for a long ti, “Alright… makes so sense.”
Tuoba Xuanyuan Fourteen had clearly wanted to do this for a long ti. He even had a series of reasons prepared.
Niyaguti was a bit curious about what that storage device was, but Xiang Shan dismissed it as “personal privacy.” Niyaguti shook his head and retorted, “Who just said ‘nothing in my life can’t be told to others’?”
Xiang Shan ignored him.
It was only then that Yang Zhenhao managed to get a chance to greet Xiang Shan. Yang Zhenhao previously fought alongside Xiang Shan. He didn’t particularly like Xiang Shan as a person, but there was so camaraderie. Niyaguti added, “You have a few other acquaintances… and another disciple of yours is here too.”
“Another one?”
“His na is Yuki,” Tuoba Xuanyuan Fourteen said.
“Oh… let’s talk later. I really don’t have the energy right now…”
As Xiang Shan said this, the entire machine was heating up.
………
The experiences of Tuoba Xuanyuan Fourteen’s group were relatively simple.
The person who appeared behind Tuoba at that ti was Yang Zhenhao. To be honest, at first, Tuoba Xuanyuan Fourteen was very nervous, thinking that if his luck was bad, he might be finished there. But after pouring cooling liquid and realizing the opposite side hadn’t made a move, he figured they might be friendly forces.
Yang Zhenhao and Tuoba Xuanyuan Fourteen had heard of each other’s nas. It’s just that Yang Zhenhao hadn’t left Earth for a hundred years. Whereas Tuoba had only co to Earth twenty or thirty years ago, and ever since, he had been stuck in the ruins of Sapu City without much movent, so the two hadn’t t.
The best way for heroes to trust each other, without a doubt, is to “kill the running dogs.”
The nuclear bomb Yang Zhenhao threw was real, and the senior military officer Tuoba killed was as real as can be. Naturally, there were no significant obstacles between them.
anwhile, the legendary sect leader Inzewei Song, after employing technical throws practiced with airdrop beacons and collection devices, managed to keep the aircraft in a low-speed, low-altitude state. During this process, the escort fighters were mostly shot down by ground forces, but three young heroes successfully jumped out of the plane.
That was when Yuki and two useless guys with polearms were shouting loudly.
After skydiving, they successfully ran away without being encircled and then, while being chased by a small force, they encountered the Black Hand Master and the Solo Kill King along with that group of heroes.
The Black Hand Master and the Solo Kill King had previously t Yuki, having shared the camaraderie of erging from a dead end like Paradox City. Naturally, Jader called out to Yuki.
Inzewei was simply astounded by his sect’s guest elder’s “broad connections.” But the great feats of the Solo Kill King, a Northern Hero, had already started to make the wielder of the polearm speculate sothing.
Yuki didn’t give them a chance to daydream; he reverse-gripped two storage devices in his hands and plugged them into the interfaces of these two people.
It naturally resulted in a burst of ghostly wails and howls.
“Damn, so you’re a disciple of the Twelfth Martial God???”
Such exclamations echoed all the way.
Anyway, after Senior Brother Tuoba’s identity was exposed, secrecy was no longer aningful, so Yuki simply disclosed everything.
The whole process lacked further thrilling and exciting elents. The local heroes who were in the outer reception joined forces with this group.
However, the process of Tuoba and Yang Zhenhao, Tolstoy, and Hiroshi Matsushima, the four First Heavenly Layer warriors, hiding themselves was a bit more complicated. They were forced to fight their way out of an encirclent, then entered an area with poor astronomical conditions, and only after joining local well-known heroes there and getting the coordinates of a nearby temporary tunnel entrance from them, did they enter the extrely complex underground system managed by the local heroes.
In the New World, such underground systems were not scarce, but following King Aqini’s EMP sweep back then, many heroes perished, causing information about many tunnel projects to be forgotten too, and with no maintenance for eighty years now, they basically haven’t been preserved.
Strictly speaking, the last underwater fortress where Xiang Shan’s group stayed was nothing more than the remnants of the heroes’ guerrilla tunnel engineering.
It was also Matsushima’s first ti seeing such a scene. He curiously observed the base until the TX-0 in his brain reminded him, “Don’t look too conspicuously; be careful, others might think you’re scanning and recording the terrain.”
“Why haven’t you shut down yet?”
“Perhaps we’ll need to communicate again in a while.”
“Aside from the Twelfth Martial God, you don’t trust anyone, do you? Oh, wait, that ti you had no other choice.”
“After all… the safety of the sect.” TX-0 sighed, “It’s a real pity… I didn’t carry enough spells in this pseudo-personality mask and can’t exert full power. This should have been self-deleting a long ti ago. Now it’s really… hands tied.”
But even with his hands tied, TX-0 still hoped to do sothing at this crucial mont of counterattacking with the heroic forces.
“Speaking of which, Tuoba Xuanyuan Fourteen, that Great Hero, do you seem to know him?”
“Don’t know.”
“You don’t know this?”
“As a clone made for stealing Order of Knights’ theses, why would I need such mories? Most people in the Solar System thought Tuoba Xuanyuan Fourteen had long been dead. Even if so believed he was still alive, most speculated he was in the Asteroid Belt, Mars, or Saturn. Who knew he ca to Earth?”
“Hmm, you aren’t sure?” Matsushima grasped the key point, “I thought you guys had always been hiding yourselves.”
“After being trapped in ‘that place,’ the master also sought ways out. But indeed, it’s a pity, she could only send soone over without being able to take anyone away physically. Hence we concealed ourselves. The master didn’t really like Martial Gods, but for Martial Gods, we would help if we could. Basically, there’d be help whenever possible. The Tenth Martial God operated in Jupiter and the Asteroid Belt, so there’s a high chance of intersecting with us. I really don’t know…”
“Want to go ask over there? Tuoba Xuanyuan Fourteen surely rembers.”
TX-0 hesitated a bit before quickly saying, “Better not. There’s no need.”
At this point, there was a wave of exclamations around, filled with tenderness and joy.
A little girl ca running over quickly, dashing straight towards Yuki. Yuki was stunned for a second before imdiately hugging the little one.
The boy couldn’t help but lightly toss the little girl like a sister, then caught her just like how they used to play together.
Most of the heroes present didn’t know these two kids. But such a scene was indeed sothing to cheer for.
“Dont Panic… the little girl taken in by the Twelfth Martial God,” TX-0 said, “This scene is quite valuable.”
Hiroshi Matsushima asked, “Is this also a reason for Hero combat?”
“One of the trivial reasons—oh, by the way, the African Martial Chief might ask you for the combat record files just now. Find an excuse to modify the decision process of ‘standing on the fuel pipeline to restrict enemy movent,’ don’t expose . Do you need to write it for you?”
Hiroshi Matsushima hesitated for a mont, “Is this also a way of Hero combat? I always feel this is sowhat different from what I imagined…”
“Tsk tsk tsk, let tell you, this is the skill Martial Ancestor Xiang Shan is best at! No matter how free the form of guerrilla warfare is, the organization still needs to maintain so necessary procedures. You need to learn. Let show you.”
……………….
On the other side, inside the Life Furnace Knights Order.
Commander Edicara directly grasped the key points amidst the complex reports.
He looked at Xiang Shan in front of him and asked, “You plan to leave? At this point in ti?”
Knight Frey—Xiang Shan nodded, openly, “Because the data damage has significantly impacted progress, I no longer have confidence to continue. I’m sorry, Commander. I… I have learned a lot here from you, but I am ultimately part of the Mars Grande Sect, directly under the Sect Hierarch. I hope to continue developing over there. I will not forget your kindness.”
The nuclear explosion yesterday had Xiang Shan overjoyed.
Although this location is quite a distance from the original explosion point, a high-altitude nuclear explosion is like that, with a destructive range significantly large, just a few hundred kiloters in a straight line.
When reminded by a disciple, as Xiang Shan gazed towards the window to see the high-altitude pancake-shaped fireball, he realized that an opportunity had co.
He of course pretended to witness the nuclear explosion for the first ti, deliberately slowing his reaction.
So, the EMP storm burned many pieces of equipnt in his lab, destroyed many storage devices.
Xiang Shan had to mourn deeply, while saving data as much as possible, he wrote the final report, resigning while paving the way for the successor.
—Subtext being he doesn’t even want to wait for the transition, he wants to leave quickly, whoever takes over the project can just read the report he left behind.
Commander Edicara was sowhat upset.
He even felt so angry he wanted to laugh.
“Knight Frey, Knight Frey, do you really think I can’t see through your little tricks? Your previous report indicated the situation was excellent—weren’t you saying so before?”
“But this ti the EMP destroyed everything accumulated before.” Xiang Shan remained very calm, “I can’t utilize the remaining funds to complete the upcoming plans. I really… cannot do it.”
His tone was so calm and innocent.
After all, Xiang Shan was never one to be flustered. The flaws in his report were ticulously crafted for a scholar at Edicara’s level, even considering his character inclinations.
Those flaws are ant to be noticed.
Xiang Shan was psychologically very prepared.
At this mont, his only thought was to praise the individual who threw the nuclear bomb.
Recently, the Scientific Knight Order has had slogans to enhance electromagnetic protection, but judging by their preparations, clearly weren’t anticipating welcoming an EMP storm caused by a nuclear bomb in these circumstances. Eighty years ago, the EMP sweep of the New World had King Aqini criticized by Yawgmoth and led to a long-term conflict with the Scientific Knight Order.
Usually, Protectors wouldn’t casually throw a nuclear bomb without sufficient warning.
Old Dog might be mad enough again. But even if that nuclear bomb was thrown by Old Dog, Xiang Shan is willing to praise that bastard without conscience.
Isn’t it delightful?
Commander Edicara felt a deep disappointnt.
He initially held high hopes for this young scientific knight nad Frey.
But this young man, he was too disappointing. He modified reports, causing upper-echelon knights to misjudge the project’s progress. Now he even wants to escape!
Wants to escape!
Edicara couldn’t let go of this matter. After the evening’s sect eting adjourned, he stayed back with Deputy Chief Devinia and ntioned this issue.
“I actually don’t think this incident is surprising.” Deputy Chief Devinia shook his head, “He previously revealed to he wants to return to the Mars Grande Sect’s side. Indeed, he’s not a knight of our order, with such thoughts are understandable. Besides, this should be the last opportunity, right? In a few days, the Sky Star Fleet will leave Earth, and the Romance King’s takeover of Earth’s suppression system will take place. At that ti, near-earth space will surely be unstable. The Space Elevator might stop working for who knows how long—and as for rockets, who would dare take a rocket to leave at this juncture?”
“He wants to return to Mars Grande Sect, understandable. But his deception towards us and lack of responsibility…” Edicara shook his head, “He’s truly too disappointing. As a responsible scientific knight, he shouldn’t do this, he…”
Devinia’s expression was sowhat strange, “You should know, right? Although eting records didn’t ntion, Parmion should have told you? He and Knight Frey had so… uh, ‘collaboration.’ Yes, ‘collaboration.’ The project he’s working on now is a collaborative project with Knight Parmion, not his personal project.”
“What do you an?”
“I believe his detailing and preparation of comprehensive written materials, facilitating a seamless transition for future successors, already reflects his sense of responsibility.”
Edicara was silent for a mont. He was also an old scientific knight, naturally hearing the hidden undertones. He couldn’t help but say, “You praise him, I thought he would surely stay?”
“I’m not certain. Commander Edicara’s collaboration proposals weren’t particularly mutually beneficial. His skepticism towards us is warranted. I simply admire Knight Frey as a devotee of Six Dragons’ Sect and an ascetic monk. Even if he doesn’t stay in our order, he’s a church mber, a comrade in the ascension cause.”
With the conversation at this level, Edicara basically understood. Knight Frey has reached an agreent with Edicara on the matter of “I am leaving” in so sense.
Frey will leave crucial research materials behind. This is a gift to the Life Furnace Scientific Research Knight Order.
And he himself will leave quickly.
“Hmm, I understand…” Edicara felt sowhat burdened. He said, “The day after tomorrow. The day after tomorrow I’ll take a trip to the Space Elevator. With two protectors accompanying, wrap up the ‘silencing’ matters, and perhaps et Bodhi Dharma Gaotian… I’ll personally send him over.”
In any case, Edicara had emotional expectations for Knight Frey.
Moreover, since Devinia had already reached a consensus with Knight Frey, what else could he do?
That night, inside the ditation Room, Commander Edicara, about to rest, couldn’t help but pull out previous reports from Knight Frey and Commander Parmion, reviewing the project results from the start.
“Feels like sothing is off…”
Knight Frey might have polished the reports a bit, possibly slightly filtered the data? No, probably not, but surely toyed with the way data is presented. Parmion shows similar signs.
Are they trying to hide sothing?
—Sothing’s off…
—But what’s off?
Edicara felt he caught onto sothing, yet couldn’t quite rember.
“Could this be a false perception?”
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