Chapter 1165 The End of the Empire
The sky was orange, the sun was about to set, and the heat made it difficult to breathe.
The mountains and hills were filled with farmland. The crops here were blue, and they looked like layers of waves in the sea.
Lu Zhou originally thought that this experience would be the same as last time, where he would be bombarded by bullets. However, he was in a peaceful setting.
But this peacefulness soon disappeared.
The mountains in the distance seemed to have been cut in half by some kind of terrifying force, exposing the rocks underneath.
Obviously, an extremely tragic battle happened here.
“It’s magnificent, isn’t it?” A Calanian man said to Lu Zhou, “Mr. Long, I heard you’re from the Faraway Star.”
Lu Zhou nodded and spoke.
“Yes, General Reinhardt.”
Unlike last time, when Lu Zhou spoke, a bunch of strange memories flooded into his brain. He remembered that he was a soldier from the Faraway Star. He joined the rebel army and became a soldier under General Reinhardt.
I can’t believe this.
Reinhardt… actually set off a revolution to overthrow the Empire fifty years after the Oracle incident?
However, it seemed like they weren’t in a great situation.
At least for now, they were probably on the defensive side, injured from the previous round of battle.
“I’m sorry I destroyed your hometown. I remember that mountain was one of the ten most spectacular places of the Empire. It was called the Gate of Twilight?”
Suddenly, an army officer walked over.
“General, the Empire army has sent us a request.”
Reinhardt went silent for a while before speaking.
“a.s.semble all level 5 and above officers in the staff room. I have important things to discuss with them.”
“Okay.”
The army officer walked away.
Reinhardt turned to look at Long, which was Lu Zhou’s character. Reinhardt’s finger pointed toward the shooting stars in the sky.
“See that arc of light?”
Lu Zhou raised his head and looked at the direction he was pointing.
Before he could speak, Reinhardt smiled and spoke.
“That’s the Empire Speed Lances, isn’t it amazing?”
Lu Zhou: “…”
“A few centuries ago, we eliminated most of the weapons that ended the last war, but it took less than five years for the Empire fleet to rearm themselves.
“War really is a biological instinct. It seems that the Empire has never changed… We underestimated the council.”
Reinhardt shook his head with a self-deprecating smile on his face.
Although these weapons would do little against the natural disaster that was depicted in the Oracle, at least the Empire was no longer a sheep, waiting to get killed.
Even if they were sheep…
At least they were sheep that had guns and armors.
“Come with me, Long.
“For every second we waste, a brave soldier sacrifices himself for our cause. In order to make use of their sacrifice and to give us a little hope for the future, I need to make some preparations. Will you give me some courage?”
Lu Zhou didn’t know what to answer.
“… You already have enough courage, General.”
“Really?” General Reinhardt thought of the past and smiled as he said, “Maybe so.”
…
All of them soon arrived in the staff room.
Reinhardt placed his hand on the conference table as he looked at the officers around the table.
“Gentlemen, we are losing this war.”
The room was silent.
Lu Zhou noticed that some people held their breath.
“I am not afraid of failure. Death is just a return to the embrace of the universe’s spirit. Sacrifice is a soldier’s greatest glory. My senior officer once told me this, albeit I’m sure he is very disappointed in me right now.”
General Reinhardt grinned and looked at the officers around the conference table. He spoke.
“I am not afraid of failure, but I don’t want all of our efforts to go to waste.
“Worst comes to worst, we have to leave something meaningful behind.”
The staff room was silent for a long time.
Finally, an officer broke this silence.
“But General, what can we leave behind?”
“Leave behind a fire, or hope.” Reinhardt walked in front of a holographic panel, reached out his hand, and waved. He switched the combat map to the star map of the entire galaxy system.
He looked at the galaxy, and his index finger pointed toward the center of the galaxy.
“In Professor Lane’s notes, he calculated the trajectory of the quark star. We know where they are going. If hope is there, we should go there.”
The revolutionary army officer had a bitter expression on his face as he said, “No one can stop the Empire fleet. They’ll check every s.p.a.cecraft for signs of life. They’ll even destroy the entire planet if necessary. Besides, we don’t have a s.p.a.cecraft that can sail to 500 light-years away without replenishment. We’re at least ten thousand light-years from the center of the solar system…”
“But we have to try!”
Reinhardt had a look of determination on his face as he said in a confident manner, “Copy my memory into the computer, turn my body into a specimen.
“If our civilization survives in the end, that would be great.
“But if not, we have to leave something behind to prove that this great civilization once existed!”
The second half of his speech was somewhat tragic.
Halfway through the meeting, the Empire fleet had already begun bombing the surface of the planet. The high-temperature plasma melted the rocks, burning the surface. Chemical weapons, which were useless in s.p.a.ce, were unimaginably powerful against atmospheric planets.
The ground and orbital combat units of the revolutionary army were slowly defeated.
Inside the underground bunker, Reinhardt saved his memory into a computer. He entered a s.p.a.cecraft flight route and activated the intelligent cruise AI.
Finally, he ended his life with a needle that contained a lethal virus. His body was going to be sent to the center of the galaxy.
Lu Zhou watched everything unfold in front of him. He held his breath.
Even though the ten thousand light-years journey did not happen in front of his eyes, him being able to access this memory meant the s.p.a.cecraft must have reached the center of the galaxy.
Everything about the old universe was destroyed, but this memory still pa.s.sed down and was observed by him inside a new universe.
What really shocked him was not the calmness of the Calanians during the battle, but rather something General Reinhardt did before boarding the escape s.h.i.+p.
He saw General Reinhardt take off his broken battery necklace, prayed for a while, then placed it back around his neck.
Lu Zhou recognized that battery!
That battery was what powered his weapon in the Void Memory b!
This battery was broken by a bullet during the battle!
He didn’t expect Reinhardt to wear this battery as a necklace.
The broken battery, the old s.p.a.cecraft, even the mentally r.e.t.a.r.ded s.h.i.+p AI…
Lu Zhou thought back to the gifts he received from the Void. He felt his heartbeat moving quickly.
The gifts he received from the Void came from the wreckage of the Calan Empire…
He might have finally discovered the origin of Xiao Ai…