Chapter 409: Two Forces
*Whoos.h.!.+*
With Duabi and the others...o...b..ard, the Ladybird-cla.s.s light cruiser sped off into s.p.a.ce, heading toward the deep-s.p.a.ce outpost.
This time, the number of insectoids Uti had a.s.signed to him was rather paltry. Aside from him and the one-armed Laresh, only Yadan was combat capable. Even the guards he had accompanying them did not number over twenty. Though Mingjing was a disciple of High Priest Ryun and should have decent cultivation, she was ultimately a human and of a very young age at that, so Duabi was not particularly at ease having her around.
Uti’s explanation toward this operation was to prioritize discretion. There was a very high possibility that the enemy had managed to infiltrate the insectoids’ internal network, so even the military network might not be too secure; as such, by ensuring that this hunting squad remained few, they could better reduce the chances of information getting leaked.
Uti of course had his reasons for reaching such a judgment to their current situation, given that the confirmation of Kerosi’s death was proof that Xia Fei indeed had means to obtain internal information. Since Kerosi was stationed in a secret deep-s.p.a.ce outpost, Xia Fei having located him and having successfully infiltrated the base meant only two possibilities.
The first was that there was a spy among the insectoids, and this individual held quite a high position, with access to military secrets like the deep-s.p.a.ce outpost. The second was that Xia Fei had managed to bypa.s.s the military network’s encryptions.
No matter which it was, this problem was enough to give Duabi a headache. It was extremely frightening to have someone hidden, secretly watching their every move. Just the thought that every decision they made would be known to the enemy got him breaking in a cold sweat.
Yadan stood behind everyone, lazily leaning against the wall. The corners of his lips were always curled in this slight smile, giving off a very sinister aura.
Duabi slightly furrowed his brows. Among the Seven Champions, the one he could not see through was this sneering tiger, Yadan. Were it not for Uti’s specific instructions, Duabi would be unwilling to go out on a mission with such a sinister character. This insectoid was always standing in a corner, observing everyone around him, a slight smile plastered on his face. It was impossible to know just what Yadan was contemplating.
In any case, Dubai’s hunting squad was filled with very strange and suspicious characters. There was the human Mingjing and the ever-smiling Yadan, all aboard this light cruiser which hardly had any combat strength to speak of.
…
As the wars.h.i.+p pa.s.sed through a temporary wormhole, a huge and strange structure floating in the dead silence of s.p.a.ce appeared beyond. The lights were lit but not to a glaring level; several spotlights were also constantly flas.h.i.+ng.
Duabi gave Mingjing a salute as he asked, “Are we going to board now? Should we scan the interior of the deep-s.p.a.ce outpost first?”
Mingjing did not give any answer and merely shut her eyes. Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly as if she was unleas.h.i.+ng some mysterious ability.
Soon, Mingjing opened her eyes, evidently somewhat tried, and wrote a sentence on her electronic tablet before handing it over to Duabi.
“I’ve already scanned the place. There are only seventeen half-alive bodies in the outpost, with no enemies around. Let’s board the outpost.
Dubai was quite surprised. Being able to probe the outpost from a distance was already a very astonis.h.i.+ng feat, not to mention the fact that the time she took doing so was less than what it would take for a radar system to do so. It looked like the Mental Trace ability was nothing as simply as searching but ought to provide auxiliary functions like scanning. It was apparent that the cultivation of High Priest Ryun’s disciple was not low, though what exactly did Mingjing mean by half-alive bodies?
Duabi waved his hand and ordered the wars.h.i.+p to connect to the deep-s.p.a.ce outpost’s boarding module in preparation for their boarding.
He furtively glanced at the calm Mingjing from his peripheral view and thought to himself, ‘Though this isn’t a comprehensive squad, at least we have Mingjing, or perhaps am I just over-worrying for nothing?’
The sealed door opened as a thick scent of blood came filling his nostrils!
The corridors here had traces of blood left everywhere. Every few steps, there would be a new corpse sprawled messily across the path, and by the looks of how they died, each was a.s.sa.s.sinated without even knowing what happened. All were holding onto equipment and weapons, some even having mouths stuffed with half-eaten food, dying terrible deaths.
The honest and loyal Laresh, who lacked any guile to speak of, walked in front of the squad. He would sigh and frown every time he saw a corpse, seemingly very pained at the sight before him. Duabi followed right after, with Mingjing right behind him, while Yadan was actually farther to the rear.
Duabi would often glance backward to see the composed Mingjing, not at all looking at the corpses around them. She was a mental-type ability user, so she probably had no need to sift through the corpse to learn the information she needed, but it was obvious that Mingjing was no fan of the strong stench of blood; she was using a white handkerchief to cover her nose as she looked straight ahead.
Yadan’s movement was even more suspicious. He had intentionally kept his distance from the others in front of him, and while no one was not paying any attention to him, he would be turning over the bodies manually, muttering to himself something the entire time without making a sound. When someone turned to look at Yadan, he would look right back casually, that slight smile still smeared over his face.
*Psss.h.!.+*
The sealed door to the command center suddenly opened, and a dozen or so lucky surviving soldiers all collapsed on their knees, with some crying as they narrated their experience, while others were silently sobbing without saying a word.
It was apparent that they had all been scared stiff. There was this indescribably mental pressure having the darkness of s.p.a.ce all around them, and after Xia Fei’s visit, practically all these soldiers were tethering on the edge of mental collapse.
A surviving soldier was sprawled on the floor, his two wet eyes staring up at the ceiling, a huge b.l.o.o.d.y wound on his body. Though he had been bandaged, fresh blood was still flowing out, pooling on the floor.
“Ah!” Duabi exclaimed. This insectoid was probably what Mingjing meant by a half-alive body, but what Duabi had thought of was not that simple. This was obviously a mistake! This was the first time Xia Fei had not managed to kill someone after he struck!
In the past, no one had been able to escape with their lives intact after being attacked in past ambushes, so could the human warrior have been injured? Was that the reason why such a mistake had appeared now?
With that thought in mind, he quickly asked, “Just how did this happen here?”
The quartermaster of the deep-s.p.a.ce outpost approached Duabi. He was the one who held the highest post among all the survivors.
“He’s a guard stationed in the storage room. He accidentally knocked over a storage container filled with canned goods when the enemy attacked, which is why he’s in his current state of catatonia right now.”
Duabi knitted his eyebrows together as he felt depressed once more. Looks like the sure-kill record Xia Fei held would persist longer. No one that took a cut from the human warrior had managed to hold onto their lives after.
Turning around, Duabi suddenly noticed that both Yadan and Mingjing were gone!
“Where are they?”
“Madam Mingjing went looking for the enemy’s Mental Trace, while Yadan followed her,” the one-armed Laresh answered.
Duabi mulled this new information and called Laresh over to his side, instructing him, “Mingjing is High Priest Ryun’s disciple. None of us can afford to take the risk if anything happens to her. Best if you go over and watch her a bit. I can handle this here myself.”
Laresh nodded dutifully and ran after the pair without another word.
Duabi was not really worried about Mingjing. What he was uneasy of was still the sneering tiger Yadan. For some reason, Duabi simply could not trust him, always getting the feeling that he was hiding some unspeakable objective.
The head of the commander of this deep-s.p.a.ce outpost had been chopped off and neatly placed on the captain’s chair. It ran perfectly in line with Xia Fei’s modus operandi, so he instructed his men to put Kerosi’s head away as he began to question all the surviving soldiers.
…
About an hour later, the four core members of the hunting squad gathered in that commander center.
Laresh was the first to ask. “Guildmaster, how did your question of the survivors go? Was there a spy among the soldiers?”
The moment the already terrified soldiers heard what Laresh said, all of them began trembling even more greatly. An outpost with over two thousand insectoids stationed all died. Though they were still alive, it was easy for them to have wild speculations about their fates. The insectoids lived in a fairly savage society, so as long as these high-level individuals found them suspicious, killing them was no more difficult than raising a finger. There would not even be a need for a military court to convene.
Duabi shook his head. “These insectoids were all working in relatively secluded corners of the outpost, which was how they managed to escape death. The enemy infiltrated via the ventilation system, directly slaying his way to the command center, thereafter severing Kerosi’s head.
“As far as puzzlement goes, there’s really something I can’t understand. Look there.”
Duabi pulled out the security monitor system and showed it to the three. “This human warrior immediately entered the command center upon getting into the outpost, which meant he already had a relatively decent understanding of this deep-s.p.a.ce outpost. After killing Kerosi, he did not waste a second of time and began ma.s.sacring all the living warriors, turning this outpost into a cemetery in just under two minutes.
“Still”—Duabi deepened his voice to emphasize this next part—”logically speaking, he needed only another minute and he could’ve located the surviving warriors and killed them all, but he came to an abrupt stop.”
The video turned into that of a long and dark corridor. Everyone saw a flash of lightning come by at such speed, then all of a sudden! Xia Fei came to a halt and furrowed his eyebrows. It was as if he heard something call for him, and he quickly went back the way he had come, stopping his hunt for the remaining surviving soldiers.
Everyone found what had happened to be inconceivable; Xia Fei was a speed ability user, and he even had a map of the deep-s.p.a.ce outpost. He could have completed a perfect slaughter of the place had he spent another minute to do so, rendering the entire outpost lifeless. Why then did he restrain himself from doing so at the very last minute? Could someone have secretly been reporting to him, such that he ultimately decided to give up on the search?
An awkward silence ensued as none of them could make sense of the reason behind the human’s action.
Duabi sighed as he asked Mingjing, “Madam, did you manage to find any mental remnants the enemy left behind?”
Mingjing nodded, writing her response as she handed it to Duabi. “I found some, but they’re very weak. That means he did not use too great an amount of mental energy in his attack. It’s not enough. I need to collect more before I can locate him.”
Duabi was somewhat disappointed, but he also felt somewhat fortunate. In his mind, Xia Fei was a horrific existence that he had no intention of becoming an enemy to, unless it was his last resort.
Suddenly, Duabi, Laresh and Yadan’s communication devices, which were strapped around their wrists, all beeped.
“The human struck again!”
“He’s slain the retired elder Hami!”
Laresh and Duabi gasped, while Yadan seemed completely unperturbed.
Duabi called, “Let’s go to where the esteemed elder Hami’s hideaway is and take a look. Madam Mingjing still needs more clues, so we’re leaving this to the internal department.”
On their way out of the command center, Yadan still took the rear. Duabi inadvertently turned back, only to find Yadan cleaning his dagger, which had been stained with fresh blood!
“You killed them all?!” Duabi exclaimed in his shock.
Yadan shrugged casually, that same smile still fixed on his face.
…
At around the same time Duabi was informed of Hami’s murder, somewhere not too far away from that deep-s.p.a.ce outpost, a Golden Beetle-cla.s.s frigate’s...o...b..ard alert let loose an ear-piercing klaxxon.
The screen was promptly turned on, and displayed was the Consort Qingyan’s father, Qingliu.
“Retired elder Hami’s dead, and it’s by that human warrior’s hands again. I’ve already sent you all the coordinates. You must locate that young man before Duabi and his crew do! Is that understood?”
*Whoos.h.!.+*
The screen switched off, and that Golden Beetle-cla.s.s frigate quietly set off. Meanwhile, Duabi’s Ladybird-cla.s.s cruiser departed moments after on their journey to locate Xia Fei.
Two forces, two different objectives, and both were heading for Xia Fei.