Chapter 797 Inter-Star Field Stargate
The Central Galaxy was many Star Fields from the Shattered Star Ring. There were also many desolate universe belts in between. The distance was extremely far. Back then, even though EsG.o.d’s subordinates had taken an extremely fast high-grade s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p, it had still taken them years to cross this distance in hyperdrive. Without hyperdrive, it would probably have taken billions of years.
The first stop of the fleet was the Inter-Star Field Stargate Station that the Crimson Dynasty had built in the Shattered Star Ring.
Inter-Star Field Stargates could tremendously reduce the traveling time. It was the one and only way to safely and quickly travel between Star Fields. This did not include natural wormholes.
The further the distance reduced by the stargate, the more difficult it would be for the coordinates to be accurate, and it would be easy to deviate from the target. An Inter-Star Field Stargate was a technology barrier; even Star Cl.u.s.ter civilizations could not build them. Civilizations stronger than Star Cl.u.s.ter civilizations had this technology, but the three Universal Civilizations had made a rule to forbid any other civilization except them from building Inter-Star Field Stargates. Therefore, all the Inter-Star Field Stargates used to travel between the Star Fields came from the three civilizations. They were divided into military and citizen use.
Han Xiao and the others planned to borrow the military path, which was quicker and more convenient. As a high-level ally of the dynasty, of course, he had the right to.
“I have notified the troops at the stargate station,” Zoel said in the communicator. “Once you identify yourself, they will let you pa.s.s and help you activate the military stargate. When you arrive at the Constellation Corridor, the dynasty’s troops would be waiting there for you.”
The Central Galaxy was the general name of the mother Star Fields of the three civilizations. They formed the central area of the universe. These three Star Fields were the Federation of Light’s Abyss of Stars, the Arcane Church’s Silver Arm, and the Crimson Dynasty’s Constellation Corridor.
The Crimson Dynasty’s military stargate in the Shattered Star Ring was located in a Star Cl.u.s.ter at the edge. Leaving from the Black Star Army, it would take about more than half a month to reach even with the stargates of the Star Cl.u.s.ter civilizations along the way and hyperdrive.
Han Xiao stayed within the long-distance fleet and communicated with Teny and the other dynasty elites on the way. With his ident.i.ty and position, as well as the fact that they would meet each other every day given they were on the same s.h.i.+p, most people became familiar with Han Xiao.
Only Teny maintained an indifferent att.i.tude—he was naturally suspicious, and keeping his alert up was a habit.
However, Han Xiao knew his personality rather well. If he used his personality to get close to him, it would have the opposite effect and make him even more cautious. Furthermore, as a Beyond Grade A, he would not lower his pride and fawn over a dynasty colonel. Therefore, Han Xiao treated all equally and did not look for Teny to speak privately.
According to Teny’s personality, Han Xiao decided to stay put and wait. As Teny was also a Mechanic, he would likely go to him and ask for a lesson. After all, they were both on the dynasty’s side; getting to know Han Xiao was the best way to learn. Although Han Xiao did not know where Teny’s alertness came from, it did not seem like there was a need for him to give up an opportunity like this.
About ten days after setting off, Teny finally knocked on his door.
…
“You want to learn about my machinery technology?”
Inside the room, Han Xiao told Phillip to control the domestic robots to send two calming light green vegetable drinks onto the table. He looked at Teny and his deputy, Corbus, who sat opposite him.
Teny nodded slowly and did not touch the drink on the table. “Not really learn. I just want to exchange some knowledge with you.”
As he had a request to make on this trip, he would not give an unfriendly face. He let go of a part of his caution and used a sincere att.i.tude.
To him, this was nothing to be ashamed of. No matter what he would achieve in the future, for now, he was just a dynasty colonel. His position and ident.i.ty were miles away from Han Xiao.
Han Xiao was delighted within but did not show it at all. He tapped the table and said, despite knowing the answer, “I only know you’re a Mechanic, but I have never heard about what branch you focus on.”
“Pure Mechanic, Armed Branch. I crossed the Grade A barrier two years ago and became a Calamity Grade,” Teny said.
“Hmm, although I’m not of the Armed Branch, I can still teach you some experience.” Han Xiao smiled.
“That’s exactly my request.” Teny nodded.
Every Beyond Grade A Mechanics had a specialty. Some had special styles; some had unique technology. With Teny’s current level, he rarely had the chance to come into contact with any Beyond Grade As. Since Black Star was there, he did not want to give up on the opportunity to learn things from him.
Back when he knew that he was going there, he had already thought of this. After observing Han Xiao for a few days, he had finally decided to make a move.
Han Xiao chatted with him about technology for many hours, and Teny felt he had benefitted a lot from it.
“Let’s end here for today.” Han Xiao stopped and smiled. He then deliberately pointed at his temple and said, “I just transmitted some theory information into your communicator. Some is my experience; some are theories I’ve collected. Take a look.”
Teny heard and nodded. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Han Xiao waved his hand, suppressed his grin, and acted casual. “There’s nothing much to do on the way anyway. If you have anything you want to ask, you can come to me again.”
“Okay.” Teny squeezed out a smile and gave an even better att.i.tude. After all, he now owed Han Xiao a little.
Han Xiao knew to not continue and expressed his intention of sending the guests away. Teny bowed and left the room. His footsteps were much lighter.
After watching Teny leave, only then did Han Xiao started to shake his head and laugh with satisfaction. With this opportunity, their relations.h.i.+p would have chance to grow. Teny’s Favorability was close to ‘Friendly’.
With this ident.i.ty of mine, making friends with high-cla.s.s people is much easier than before.
If it were a player who wanted to get close to Teny, they would have almost no way to do so. For him, however, it was different. Teny had yet to achieve what he achieved in his previous life, so his position now was higher than Teny’s. Furthermore, he was the dynasty’s ally. With so many factors, even though Teny seemed cautious, he still came right to Han Xiao’s doorstep.
With Han Xiao’s current position and ident.i.ty, farming character Favorability was much easier for him compared to the players.
…
In the next ten or so days, Teny went to consult Han Xiao every two days. Their relations.h.i.+p gradually improved, and they slowly turned into friends. This future marshal of the dynasty was treating himself as the student when he was with Han Xiao.
Of course, due to ident.i.ty reasons, it was impossible for him to really become Han Xiao’s student. However, Beyond Grade As had zero obligation to teach their experience to anyone. Han Xiao being so generous was doing him quite a huge favor. Despite being suspicious, Teny was not someone that could not differentiate the good from the bad. With this in his mind, of course, he would not distance himself from Han Xiao.
Also, every time Teny came, he would bring Corbus along. Han Xiao had some knowledge about this person as well—he was very loyal to Teny, and Teny treated his subordinates well, which gave this guy quite a lot of extra benefits.
Han Xiao felt that he could do something about Corbus. Like chasing a girl, bribing her best friend was a shortcut. Of course, he could not bribe Teny’s loyal subordinates, but if he did a great favor for Corbus, Teny might have even more grat.i.tude for him given how Teny had taken care of Corbus.
More than half a month pa.s.sed. The fleet finally arrived at the dynasty’s military stargate station at the Shattered Star Ring.
In the dark universe, a hexagonal stargate hovered. Thick s.p.a.ce energy flew inside the gate, forming a deep blue vortex. Around it was the dynasty’s heavy universe fortresses with garrisoned troops. Unlike the citizen-use station, no s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p could enter or leave the stargate there—this was only for the dynasty’s troops to use.
As the fleet approached, this stargate expanded in their sights. When getting close, the edges of this stargate seemed to extend to the end of one’s sights. It was enormous and marvelous.
“Warning! Warning! Psionic Annihilation Beam aim lock detected!”
The artificial intelligence on the main s.h.i.+p that Han Xiao was in alerted them. The people were not surprised. They knew that they would be locked on by the guarding troops as soon as they entered a certain distance around the military stargate.
The artificial intelligence received a message from the guarding troops. “Stop advancing, report your ident.i.ty.”
“Black Star.” Han Xiao validated his ident.i.ty.
After a while, he finally received a confirmation message of his ident.i.ty. The guarding troops removed the annihilation beam’s aim lock and signaled for the fleet to advance.
This time, the main fleet received a communication request from the guarding troops. After picking up, a person that seemed to be the commander appeared on the screen and said with an expressionless face, “Your Excellency Black Star, Envoy Zoel has told us to set your course in advance. This stargate teleportation will be in direct mode.
“The target is Crimson Ring Star Zone 8, the dynasty’s territory. There will be a team of troops there sent by the mother planet to receive you. They will open a flight path and bring you guys for hyperjump. Only then will you be able to pa.s.s through the Psionic Belt outside the mother planet and arrive on the dynasty’s mother planet.”
Han Xiao nodded.
All the Universal Civilizations had powerful weapons to prepare for the day if one of them went mad and used super-long range Primordial Psionic Energy cannons to instantly shatter their mother planet. Therefore, all the Universal Civilizations’ mother planets were equipped with all kinds of top-notch defensive measures.
Then, this commander looked at Teny, who was on the side, squeezing out what looked like a smile from his seemingly paralyzed face. “Teny, it’s been a long time.”
“It’s you.” Teny’s expression was a little odd. “Why are you here guarding the stargate?”
“This is an order from above.” This commander shook his head. A hint of bitterness appeared in his eyes but was immediately suppressed.
This command and Teny were graduates from the same year of the dynasty’s ‘Journey’ high-level military school. They knew each other, and both of their results were outstanding. They were supposed to have bright futures, but Teny did not expect him to be sent to guard the stargate.
Guarding the stargate was not a good job, especially military stargates. There was close to zero chance of achieving something remarkable, and they would be held responsible if anything went wrong. However, to keep the stargates safe, elite troops had to be stationed there. Therefore, those stationed at the stargates were either sent there randomly or unlucky ones who were marginalized during faction conflicts. No one would ask to be stationed there.
Teny understood that this friend of his had clearly suffered due to faction conflicts. He shook his head with resignation. “All the best then. Anyway, you’ll be sent away in a few years. Take it as an opportunity to train your soldiers.”
The transfer period of the stargate guarding troops was not long, usually around six to ten years. The dynasty would also not waste elite troops on stargates all the time.
After chatting for a little, this commander finally ended the communication. This time, the fleet was about to enter the stargate as well.
An extremely strong attraction force came from the other side of the stargate, wanting to drag all of them in like a black hole.
The fleet entered the stargate, and the world outside the porthole became bright.
The inside of the stargate path was filled with violent s.p.a.ce energy but was restricted by the stargate’s technology, creating a stable path.
The s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p almost felt stationary. The people inside could not feel the speed of the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p’s advance at all, as if the fleet had stopped moving in the stargate.
However, in an instant, the s.h.i.+p trembled. The s.p.a.ce energy around disappeared, and the scenery outside the porthole became the black universe filled with diamond-like star lights once again.
The stargate that had previously been in front of them was now behind the fleet.
The fortresses around were stationed differently as well. The troops stationed there were more than ten times larger in quant.i.ty compared to the previous one.
A special fleet waited before them. The appearance of the s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p was special. It seemed to be a very uncommon s.p.a.ces.h.i.+p model.
Beep beep!
This time, every quantum network device received an area announcement made by this special fleet.
“Welcome to the Central Galaxy, Your Excellency Black Star.”