(Starting off the month by asking for votes and subscriptions. Look, I didn’t forget this month~~)
The core area of the refuge is actually located at the center of this circular city, but it’s not above ground; it’s underground. The outer ring of this ecological system resembles a vast doughnut, where city residents live. Inside, it’s supported and interconnected by countless massive tal beams, converging towards a circular tal platform about a kiloter in diater. This tal platform is actually the top of a fully enclosed armored hood, with the core area located beneath it. When the transporter we were on approached the platform, a huge hexagonal gap opened on its surface, revealing the location of the so-called core area to for the first ti.
The civilization within this refuge seems to have a particular fondness for two geotric shapes: hexagons and cylinders. Along the way, we saw many buildings and facilities with these shapes, which must be considered their unique feature.
Inside the refuge, there is a landing platform, and after landing on the platform, we followed Anu Lili and left the transporter, proceeding down a corridor resembling the alloy halls of a starship, towards the depths of the core area. Along the way, we frequently encountered ard mbers of the Resistance Organization. These mbers differed significantly from the immature and less self-assured young man we encountered earlier; the disparity could be compared to the difference in impression between an Ace Army and a Temporary Mobilized Soldier.
The Resistance Organization warriors we t along the way seed very familiar with Anu Lili, with many stopping to greet her, and Anu Lili responding to all with a smile. Based on this, I inferred that Anu Lili must hold so rank within the Resistance Organization; she may not be a high-level cadre given her external position, but undoubtedly has a special status and reputation. From the young patrolman’s words earlier, I’d gathered a critical piece of information: Anu Lili voluntarily subjected herself to reverse modification, becoming a victim of the nerve agent again, so that the organization could develop an antidote to it. In addition to caring for her younger brother, another major reason she operated above ground was to collect her body’s post-exposure data. Such a dedicated female warrior (I reckoned I could now address Anu Lili as such) was undoubtedly respected within the Resistance Organization.
"The compatriots here have rich mission experiences. Most patroln carrying out tasks from the Earth Core Base to the surface are dispatched from the core area. This is where the organization’s elite forces are most concentrated," Anu Lili explained as we walked, "You will soon et the ntor, but...how should I put it? You might be surprised, but please believe that he is the leader of the Resistance Organization – the preserver of the final ember for humanity. There are many insider stories, and the ntor has never confided them to anyone, yet everyone here trusts him unconditionally. I hope you can give him the sa trust."
Anu Lili’s forewarnings piqued my curiosity imnsely. The image of the ntor instantly evolved in my mind from a stern and solemn old man to one with three heads and six arms – a symptom of spending too much ti with Qianqian, whose speculations I couldn’t begin to imagine. Likely seven dots on the chest were inevitable...
"On another note, why don’t you bring your younger brother to the base too?" Lilina showed no interest in matters related to the resistance leader, suddenly rembering sothing else, "Even though the conditions at the base appear less than ideal, they’re surely safer than on the surface, no? Wouldn’t bringing Anuza over be a blessing? Aren’t you allowed to bring family while enlisting?"
Sandora sighed quietly, erasing the latter part of Lilina’s sentence from Anu Lili’s consciousness.
"That’s impossible," Anu Lili shook her head, "Anuza only possesses a normal immunity to the nerve poison. He cannot count, nor can he undergo knowledge reformation. Predestined to remain intellectually stunted, even if his mind achieves liberation, he is dood to only live as a muddled primitive human. Such individuals hold no value at the base, so I can’t bring him here. Resources at the base are extrely tight, with each person receiving rations according to distribution. Even the infants’ rations are eked out collectively, and the project to expand the refuge remains incomplete, so there’s absolutely no room for non-contributors. We know about many ordinary immune individuals on the surface, but we can’t help them or let them know about the existence of a free organization; all this is to prevent the organization from being exposed."
"So that’s why, when you learned we were immune, you only ntioned the existence of the nerve agent without any indication of this organization," Miss Lin glanced at Anu Lili, "Because ordinary immune individuals aren’t eligible to join the organization. Rather than accommodate another mouth that only knows to eat, you opt to let them fend for themselves?"
"Regrettably, that’s the case," Anu Lili nodded decisively, "In fact, Anuza is fortunate; he has a sister who’s in the know. Though I can’t divulge anything about the organization to him, at least I know how to protect a naturally immune individual. After becoming a mber of the organization, I chose to stay on the surface, partly for the mission and partly to protect Anuza. Even without talent, he is my brother; though muddleheaded, if he can live safely to the end of his days... I guess that’s acceptable too..."
"I have a sister too," I couldn’t help but blurt out, "Although we’re not blood-related, I believe she’s the best sister in the world. You have her shadow... Perhaps every good sister is like this?"
Anu Lili looked at in astonishnt: "You have a sister back ho? Didn’t she escape with you?"
: "..." Oh, darn, I forgot about that...
Seeing my pleading gaze, Sandora sighed again, nearly driven insane by our group’s constant complications. As a mobile humanoid brainwashing machine, she shifted Anu Lili’s attention while venting over our spiritual connection: "Can’t you guys say a little less? Can’t you say a little less? We’re performing a covert operation, not leisurely mountaineering – this kind of mission can’t hear anything outside what the target already knows, otherwise it’ll obstruct the operation..."
Sullen and silent, the Queen reprimanded us into submission.
Amid this brief silence, we finally reached our destination: a room that looked no different from an ordinary cabin. This was where the leader conducted his work.
"I’ve already reported your situation. Soon, I’ll leave you to converse alone; it’s customary for the ntor to et special guests this way." Anu Lili’s voice instinctively dropped as she spoke in front of the ntor’s door, indicating the respect she held for the leader inside, "Additionally, I must return to the surface shortly. It’s been over four hours now; Anuza is likely thinking I went out to collect herbs. That’s how I’ve explained it before, but I can’t be away for too long. And, one last reminder: try not to be too startled by the ntor."
Hmm, had she not ntioned it, I almost forgot about the sudden departure from the surface...
Once Anu Lili opened the door for us and greeted the person inside, she used space transmission right there to return to the surface. Our curiosity led us into the alloy cabin, where we found scant furnishing; holographic displays showing complex data covered the walls – indicative of the refuge’s operational status, given the view of magma flows outside. In the center stood a long hexagonal, silver-gray table with so office equipnt. Seated in a high-backed chair behind the table was the Resistance Organization leader.
An elderly man, youth long gone, with a head full of well-grood silver hair and a face lined with wrinkles yet retaining the resolute determination from his younger days. His body appeared slightly hunchbacked as it sank into the chair but still carried so vigor. His skin tone was darker, lacking the unhealthy paleness of lifelong indoor residents. He seed like an aged general; even in twilight years, the sharp, heightened aura of a military man was unmistakable,
His eyes were unique, set deep with a dim blue luminescent quality instead of ordinary white around the pupils.
He was a lowa, a pure-blooded lowa, a soldier.
The sudden surge of information was overwhelming, leaving montarily unsure of how to react. The old man’s eyes gave everything away, revealing an exclusive racial trait of the lowa people. From head to toe, he didn’t resemble any native of this planet. Indeed, the top leader of this secret organization resisting the lowa "gods" was blatantly a true lowa! Additionally, he possessed an unmistakable military deanor!
Compared to my instant dazed response, there was another person on scene who reacted violently: Pandora. She walked briskly towards the old lowa soldier without saying a word, her body filled with an intense killing aura I had only seen her release on the battlefield. Sandora reacted imdiately, enclosing the entire room with a protection shield. Almost simultaneously, Pandora had already reached the large table, instantly removed her illusion disguise, then leapt up and slamd her fist down on the table with a low roar: "Tulazo!!!"
Pandora, not good with words, under such intense emotional impact, managed to squeeze out only the other party’s na, yet three words were already enough to overflow with killing intent.
The alloy-made table suffered a punch far surpassing the impact of a cannonball and, with a violent tearing sound, directly shattered into scattered fragnts. The old man behind the table, at the mont Pandora removed her disguise, his expression was almost as stiff as stone, making no response at all. After the tabletop shattered, he was blown several ters away by the shockwave, only sliding down after hitting the wall, his front already a crimson ss, with broken tal fragnts embedded into his body. However, the lowa man had evidently undergone enhanced modifications; being hit by what was practically an explosive kinetic bomb at close range, he didn’t die, and could still clearly say to Pandora: "...General!!"
"Pandora, calm down for a mont," I finally reacted. I stepped forward and forcibly pulled back Pandora, who was about to explode with energy and go into berserker mode. It was very obvious that the identity of this lowa man in front of us wasn’t just peculiar—Pandora actually recognized him! This indicated that he was a high-ranking figure in the servant army of the past! From this, Pandora’s current mood could be felt: the soldiers she had once led (though they were cannon fodder), after betraying the Empire, turned around and destroyed her old ho, killing God knows how many Imperial soldiers still in dormant facilities. Now, this familiar face appeared so openly in front of her, even with Pandora’s usual calm and silence, she couldn’t suppress the impulse to annihilate him—Xyrin Apostles aren’t devoid of emotions either. "I think there might be sothing fishy in this situation, don’t rush to act—Lilina, go heal him, Qianqian, repair this place."
Qianqian snapped her fingers, and under the influence of ti partial reversal, everything in the room instantly returned to its original state—as for the various logical paradoxes produced in this process, we won’t discuss them; it’s always been a rather hard-to-understand mystery for , even Qianqian herself couldn’t explain it clearly. Lilina stepped forward and picked up the forr Imperial servant army leader called "Tulazo" by Pandora, solemnly saying: "For the sake of urgency, I’ll skip the formalities above and below—be healed, you lost lamb..."
The lowa elder nad Tulazo was healed of his injuries but remained in that state of bewildernt following intense psychological impact, being almost pressed into the chair like a puppet by Lilina. To be honest, the psychological impact I felt wasn’t small either; I had imagined a lot before, but how could the top leader of this resistance organization... turn out to be a lowa person?
Previously when Anu Lili left, she repeatedly urged us to remain calm, now I finally understand why: the leader of the resistance organization was unmistakably this old man in front of us. Anu Lili herself knew how extraordinary it was for a lowa person to lead the resistance organization, so she was afraid of scaring us but also wanted to leave a surprise for everyone...
Though the surprise was gone, the one truly shocked was still the "ntor" across from us.
"Have you caught your breath yet?" I gave the old man across a few minutes to catch his breath, calming down a bit, seeing his gaze finally clearing up, I stepped forward and tapped the table: this action made him tense, but the soldier’s discipline worked sowhat as he didn’t lose composure—of course, it’s also possible that he still hadn’t reacted. "Once you catch your breath, answer a few of our questions."
"Is this reality, or an illusion...?" The elderly lowa soldier surveyed his surroundings, "Could it be that Barrian finally discovered this place and is watching my predicant through these ans?"
Pandora had already cald down, and lightly said: "Barrian has also betrayed."
"Don’t dwell on whether this is a dream," I sensed that this old man in front of us must be hiding a monuntal secret, "Everything you see is real—we’ve returned, and incidentally surrounded your entire territory with an army, two Emperors leading the charge, your presence is unprecedented and magnificent."
Tulazo looked over with a rather bewildered expression, probably because my way of speaking was not quite like other Xyrin Apostles, secondly... he probably doesn’t recognize , after all, lowa people don’t have the convenient identity recognition system of Xyrin Apostles, so he’s likely very confused about the identity of this person who looks unlike a Xyrin Apostle at all.
"Returned... returned..." Tulazo pondered for a few seconds in confusion, unexpectedly muttering to himself with a peculiar smile, "Finally returned... hehe... this day has inevitably co, you were bound to return sooner or later, should’ve realized... you have never truly been destroyed... good, good, you’ve returned... then here, it ends as well... Extermination Order... should have been issued already, right? When did you decide to execute it?"
I noticed that this old man really understands the rules of the Empire, upon seeing Pandora, he directly associated her with the Extermination Order. Perhaps his understanding of the Old Empire is deeper than mine, so there’s no need for secrecy with him, thus I nodded: "You guessed correctly. You know how the Empire deals with traitors. However... to be honest, I’m a bit confused right now. Normally, we would bomb over with the fleet imdiately upon finding your whereabouts, but under the Prophet’s guidance, we found this planet, and the things happening here are perplexing—what exactly are you up to?"
Speaking of which, I couldn’t help but glance at Miss Lin, many things finally connected now. Before our departure, Lin Xue requested us not to rashly launch a general attack, saying that there was an extraordinary truth hidden in this world, perhaps she couldn’t see everything accurately, but she surely sensed "it should be done like this." Now it seems the Prophet’s hint was correct, and one of the key points lies in this old man in front of us. His appearance might affect our initial assumptions about the lowa people.
"Prophet..." Tulazo saw Lin Xue, and of course also saw Qianqian who was digging at the wall, his eyes opened wide, "General Vanna... General Reiji!! You all had already... I witnessed you all..."
"Right, let show you another person," I suddenly got the urge for mischief, took out my data terminal, and connected to the Capital World link, "Sis, co out and see soone."
A holographic projection appeared above the data terminal, and Big Sister was shown in the projection, wearing an apron, holding a spatula in one hand and a dish in the other, she turned to look at the cara while multitasking: "Ah Jun? I’m cooking right now... the fox is whining to have at. Are things going smoothly over there? Have you infiltrated successfully?"
Tulazo, who was originally barely able to sit steadily in the chair, widened his eyes, swiftly sliding under the table: "Your Majesty!!"
Lilina once again pulled the old man onto the chair, and Big Sister curiously looked at him: "Who’s this old man... huh? A lowa person? Why does he seem... sowhat familiar..."
Due to second rupture and rebirth damage, Big Sister didn’t truly recover her old mories, so she simply felt a bit of familiarity towards Tulazo instinctively, but couldn’t recall who he was.
The complexion of the forr traitorous and now peculiarly acting servant army leader beca ashen, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets, he couldn’t stop staring at Big Sister, struggling to divert his gaze but couldn’t act due to shock, like watching a raging beast, Big Sister couldn’t help but frown: "Am I that scary?"
Tulazo, as if sleepwalking, subconsciously nodded, which imdiately darkened Big Sister’s face...
I chuckled from the side: it seems placing Big Sister’s image here will make Tulazo decisively cooperate... (To be continued. If you like this piece of work, welco to visit Qidian (qidian) to cast recomndation votes, monthly votes, your support is my greatest motivation.)
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