Chapter 367: Predicament
9:15 a.m. Venal time, three hours after the insectoids arrived in the Alliance’s core region.
Black Abyss, at the central command of its coalition army.
The Alliance Military’s sudden intervention caused the Black Abyss coalition to gain back all the territories it had lost, and the front line was pushed all the way into the heartland of Terminus. The opposing army scattered like fleeing rats, and the capture of Terminus and the Evil Gulfstream was only a matter of time.
The warlords of Black Abyss were naturally ecstatic. As allies of the Alliance, they stood to benefit greatly from the seizure of the two other star regions.
After being suppressed in the early stages of the war, the warlords of Black Abyss finally saw some hope. Territory, men, and wealth were close at hand.
At this crucial moment, the attack of the insectoids ruined their war plans. A few minutes ago, Yawei and the others learned that the fleets dispatched by the Alliance were already packing up and preparing to withdraw from the Death Tri-region.
Without the military’s support, the balance of war would once more tip in favor of the other star regions. This was not what they wanted to see at all.
Yawei held his head and deeply pondered on what to do, and the other warlord representatives of Black Abyss similarly had their brows knitted in worry.
At this moment, the video screen turned on.
“The military’s special signal!” Yawei looked at the display on the screen.
The hearts of the others tightened. They had no idea what the military was coming to them for at a time like this. Yawei hastily opened the communication device and stood respectfully.
“Tai!” When all of them saw that tough face on the screen, they could not help but be shocked. This big boss of the military was giving them a personal call!
On the screen, Tai did nothing, seemingly waiting for something.
It was several minutes until Tai began speaking. “Alright. It seems that basically all the bosses of the Death Tri-region are here. This is a temporary open channel call. I have a few matters to announce.
“First, the military’s fleets will be returning to Alliance territory in twenty-four hours. As for the reason, I am sure all of you know.
“Second, I will give all of you two choices: You may continue to fight there or immediately return to the Alliance with your fleets.
“If you choose the latter, I will take this into account in the future and spare your lives. If you choose the former, then my apologies, but once I’m done with those insects, you will be the first to die, and I’ll see to it that none of you survives!”
Tai’s words were like nails that hammered the hearts of these local tyrants, who normally loved abusing their power. It seemed that he was entirely seriously and was not trying to crack some joke.
In truth, Tai could not be blamed for such extreme words. With such a major foe threatening the Pan-human Alliance, it was extremely inappropriate for the Death Tri-region to be part of the Alliance, yet still be caught up in internal strife. It was often said that, to deal with external threats, one must pacify internal threats. Just because Tai did not have the time to handle these troublemaking warlords did not mean that he would let them be.
“All of you had best believe me; I’ve never been known as one to lie!”
Not waiting for any sort of explanation from the Black Abyss warlords, Tai turned the screen off. The warlords were speechless, but Yawei, after laughing a little, began to walk off.
“General Yawei, what are you doing? We should discuss some countermeasures first.”
“Countermeasures?” Yawei turned to them. “Discuss what countermeasures? Countermeasures against the military?
“Regardless of what you plan to do, I’m going to pack up and get back to the Alliance. Don’t forget that I, Yawei, have always been a soldier, first and foremost.”
…
No additional actions were needed. With one phone call, Tai had all the warlords of the Death Tri-region scared silly. Although Tai had not promised that he would not execute the rebelling warlords, he had clearly stated that if they did not return to the Alliance to take part in the war, he would exterminate the lot of them.
Thus, though the warlords of the Death Tri-region were not happy, they still put down their arms and headed back to the Alliance to answer the call of the military.
Xia Fei was unaware that the Terminus Star Region, which he had dreamed of taking, was about to become his—as long as he could survive, that was…
…
Twelve hours after the insectoids had invaded the Alliance territory, in a distant and unknown region of s.p.a.ce, Xia Fei slowly clambered up from the floor.
His head was dizzy, like someone who was suffering from a hangover.
“Where are we?” Xia Fei rubbed his eyes and looked out the window questioningly.
“I don’t know?” replied Phantom helplessly.
“How long have I been unconscious? What happened in that period? Why don’t I remember anything?”
Xia Fei asked a series of questions, but Phantom could only shake his head. “You should be counting your blessings. The wormhole showed signs of collapsing, and your seventh brain region is completely opened, so it’s extremely sensitive to external stimuli. Normally, it’s a good thing, for this will make your senses sharper and allow you to react quickly to subtle s.h.i.+fts in your surroundings.
“Unfortunately, when the surrounding environment is too complex, the flaws of having a completely opened seventh brain region come out. The wormhole was collapsing while sending out inexplicably disruptive electric waves. Your brain received too many of these waves, causing you to fall unconscious. You only just woke up.”
Xia Fei went to the restroom and washed his face. He felt like his stomach was on fire, so he drank a large amount of icy-cold tap water.
“How long was I unconscious?”
“Around twelve hours.”
“What!” Xia Fei was flabbergasted. “That long? How long did it take to get through the wormhole?”
“Also almost twelve hours.”
Xia Fei was utterly dumbfounded. Normally, due to the restrictions of a s.h.i.+p’s power system, a wormhole erected for an impromptu jump would not last particularly long, so it would only take a few minutes to traverse. However, this time, he had taken almost twelve hours to traverse a wormhole. This was just too absurd and completely unheard of!
“You’re sure that it was twelve hours?”
“Very sure.”
Xia Fei hastily went to the command deck and opened up the s.h.i.+p’s self-a.s.sessment and radar systems in hopes of finding his current location and inspecting the damage to the s.h.i.+p.
“Begin self-a.s.sessment! Radar system, attempt to connect with the nearest signal. I need to know where we are.” Xia Fei frowned as he sternly issued these orders.
…
Half an hour later, Xia Fei dejectedly sat in the captain’s chair and lit himself a cigarette.
The situation was even worse than he had imagined. The other systems of the s.h.i.+p were fine, but damage to the radar system was fatal.
For some reason, the interference created by the wormhole seemed to have a particular fondness for the Black Bat radar, only destroying this most advanced radar system.
“Is it serious?” Phantom asked.
“Very. The communications system’s receiving circuit has been completely burned, leaving only the sending circuit usable. The scanning system has also been completely destroyed, as is the positioning system. It can be said that the radar system has been completely ruined.” Xia Fei continued in a disappointed tone. “The Black Bat radar’s design was modified too much compared to the original. Perhaps this is what made it so much less durable and caused its destruction.”
Phantom tried to comfort Xia Fei. “At least, you’re still alive. How many people in this universe can escape alive when surrounded by tens of thousands of s.h.i.+ps, and how many people can say that they’re able to emerge from a collapsing wormhole? Besides that, the Black Bat radar isn’t completely unusable. At the very least, you can send information to the Alliance. In this way, Avril can know that you’re still alive.”
Xia Fei bitterly laughed. “The ability to send data is only theoretical, and I can’t guarantee anything. Besides, I don’t even know where I am. What can Avril even do with the information that I’m alive? Should I make her wait for the rest of her life?”
Phantom fell silent. This was just how Xia Fei was. He did not care one bit about people he was not concerned with, but for those people that he was concerned about, he could give up everything. Phantom had spent many years with him, but he still could not understand how he had managed to develop such an extreme personality.
Suddenly, Xia Fei stood up and firmly said, “All of this is the fault of the insectoids. If possible, I’ll kill all of those contemptible bugs. I need to get back as soon as possible. The capital is in danger, and I have no idea how Avril is doing.”
“But we don’t even know where we are. How are we going to get back?”
This was truly a very serious problem. The stars outside the window were bright and strange. Xia Fei had been stranded out in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.
It had to be understood that there was no concept of east, west, south, and north in the universe. Unless Xia Fei knew the coordinates of the Pan-human Alliance, no matter what direction he went, it would be the wrong direction.
Xia Fei also had no means of alleviating his concerns over Avril. He wanted nothing more than to fly back right now.
“Activate the backup radar and prepare for a random jump!” Xia Fei sternly ordered.
…
Xia Fei randomly jumped around the universe, hoping to find a way back. This method was undoubtedly madness, no different from seeking a needle in a haystack.
While Xia Fei was immersed in this predicament, in the capital ring, the greatest migration in human history was unfolding.
It was not just the capital; all the people within the surrounding ten million lightyears were all fleeing. Large numbers of s.h.i.+ps were flooding into the capital, picking up the people and moving out goods.
Be it the military, the Ministry of Interior, or the Adjudicator Union, any s.h.i.+p capable of flight and jumping was being recruited for the effort. Time was life, and the number of permanent residents in the capital exceeded a hundred billion. Only an immense transportation effort could complete this uncompletable mission in a short time.
An Amarr Abaddon-cla.s.s battles.h.i.+p slowly parked outside the Half Moon Hill Mansion. Originally, private wars.h.i.+ps were not allowed to approach the capital, but without enemies approaching, such rules had been tossed aside.
Pang Xing calmly presided over the Jian family’s move. Standing next to him was a handsome young man wearing a captain’s uniform. In fact, Xia Fei was somewhat familiar with this person. He had once escorted Xia Fei back from the Wild Star Region and was the Starlink Corporation’s number one fleet commander, Jensen.
“The old master is very magnanimous, even taking these employees and bodyguards with the family,” Jensen said with a smile.
Pang Xing replied, “These people have all worked in the Jian family for many years. Even if they didn’t achieve much merit, they still put in the hard work. And besides, such a large s.h.i.+p has so much s.p.a.ce that adding in a few people isn’t a big deal.”
Jensen smiled and asked, “Butler Pang, why haven’t I seen the young lady?”
Pang Xing replied, “The young lady went to Xia Fei’s house to pack a few things. She will be back soon.”
“Oh,” Jensen nodded, hesitantly asking, “but didn’t I hear that Xia Fei died?”
Pang Xing coldly smiled and patted Jensen on the shoulder. “I will warn you again that, though it’s not that you can’t say such things in front of the young lady, you must prepare yourself to be sacked if you do. Don’t think I don’t understand what you’re thinking. The youngest fleet commander of Starlink Corporation—a genius mind, but you’re still very lacking compared to Xia Fei. Let alone the fact that Xia Fei’s death hasn’t been confirmed yet, even if he is dead, the young lady won’t favor you.”
Jensen felt Pang Xing’s hand on his shoulder getting heavier and heavier, his shoulder bones beginning to groan.
“Butler Pang, don’t take it seriously! I was just joking.” Jensen hastily begged for mercy.
…
Thirty-two hours later.
The Impaler slowly emerged from the wormhole. Xia Fei nervously used the radar to seek any worthwhile landmarks or life signals.
“There’s a signal! Look! Though it’s clearly not human, at least we’re not in some uninhabited region of s.p.a.ce!” Phantom excitedly said.
Xia Fei pursed his lips. “Not human? This doesn’t seem to be a good sign.”