“The enemies have very likely infiltrated our command system. All of you are experienced, so I don’t have to emphasize the consequences of that. Therefore, the war is already over. I can’t possibly follow their orders anymore. The only thing we can do now is save ourselves. The hand signs I made earlier were a special code that very few people know. I told the captains to cut off all external connections. From now on, we have only ourselves to rely on.”
Everyone was completely stunned by these words and could not process this much information shortly. Their minds went blank.
The aide-de-camp clenched his teeth and said, “Sir, what we’re doing is making us deserters!”
Oliert was not insulted or furious at all. He calmly glanced at him and said, “This is a war that we’re destined to lose. No matter what you think, I will not send my troops to the battlefield to die. Deserters? Now, we might be… the last survivors of the Kunde Race.’
“Then, where should we go?”
“As far away from here as possible.”
Oliert looked outside the porthole into the depths of the galaxy.
…
“I think that there might be a problem with the route we’re taking.”
Inside an extremely narrow room on a spaceship, a few members of the Kunde Race in ordinary clothes gathered around.
This was one of the spaceships of the migrant fleet; everyone on board was civilians. Most people on the ship felt uneasy and lost about the future. The atmosphere was depressing.
Due to the high population, many civilians had to squeeze in one room on all the spaceships. Those in this room happened to be blood-related brothers.
“Big brother, what did you discover?” a short brother asked.
The buff and muscular elder brother among these brothers said with a deep voice, “I have a friend who’s a crew member on the guiding ship. He told me a piece of inside information. According to the schedule, the fleet should have arrived on one planet for a short rest. However, we did not come across any planets yesterday, and the fleet has been moving nonstop.”
“Could it be that they’ve changed the plan? How about asking your friend again?”
“I’ve been unable to contact him,” the elder brother said. “I think there’s something wrong.”
“Bro, could you be too sensitive? If something happened, the people above would have notified us.”
“I have a very bad feeling about this. I can’t quite describe it.” The elder brother shook his head.
“Hey, what’s the point of thinking so much. It’s not like we can do anything about it. Let’s just follow the arrangements of the fleet,” one of the brothers said casually.
This time, the youngest brother suddenly said, “Big brother is right. There’s something wrong with the route the fleet is taking. We’re going right back in the direction we came from.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Don’t speak nonsense. How did you realize that?”
The youngest brother pointed at the porthole, and everyone looked over. On it was a simple drawing of circles, from small ones to larger ones. This time, a planet outside the porthole had perfectly aligned with the circle in the middle.
Seeing this, the expression on everyone’s face changed.
Having lived in one room, they kept no secrets from each other. Some time ago, a planet had appeared outside the porthole, so the youngest brother had drawn the outline of the planet on the porthole, and he had been doing the same thing every day. The size of the circle changed every day from smaller to larger, then to smaller again, which represented how far away they were.
At this time, this planet’s outline perfectly aligned with the drawing from a few days ago, and everyone knew what this meant.
“I’ll go ask about it!”
Seeing this, the elder brother could no longer sit still. The rest hastily followed behind him.
They quickly passed by the crowded cabin that looked like a refugee camp, came to the middle cabin, found a few soldiers, and explained the situation.
“There’s something wrong with the route?” A soldier picked his ears and said impatiently, “That’s not something for you to worry about. What are you being so concerned for?”
“It’s true. I can show you the evidence. I…”
“Alright, alright.” This soldier waved his hand. “The guide ship has the star map. If we really have deviated from the route, it will definitely be adjusted immediately. Just go back and wait.”
Speechless, the elder brother had no choice but to lead the rest of his brothers back to their room and wait.
However, three days passed, and they looked at the drawing on the porthole every day, only to realize that the fleet was still going back in the direction they had come from. The route was not adjusted at all.
The elder brother tried to contact his friend who had given him the inside information every day and only was able to do so on the third day. However, his friend’s reply made him even more disheartened.
“We’ve deviated from the route? No, no, no, our star map shows that the route we’re taking is completely accurate… We didn’t run into the supply planet I spoke of? Oh, that’s an error made in the long-range observation, so the star map was a little inaccurate. I have already reflected this to those above, and our star map has been updated, so there’s no problem now… What drawings? Hmm, you guys are probably mistaken. That’s a new planet, not the one we saw earlier. Anyhow, the navigator here shows we have been advancing all this time.”
After turning off the communicator with a grave expression, the elder brother stayed silent for quite some time.
Suddenly, as if he finally had the resolve to make a decision, he said, “Do you trust me or the people above?”
The brothers exchanged looks with hesitation.
The youngest brother could not help but ask, “What do you want to do?”
“My bad feeling has become stronger and stronger. There’s definitely something wrong with this. Maybe the people above are sending us into the pit of fire.” The elder brother lowered his voice. “I don’t want to stay on the spaceship anymore. I’m planning to steal supplies and a lifesaving cabin for us to escape.”
“Have you lost your mind‽” Appalled, one of the brothers said, “That’s suicide! The fleet will definitely capture us. Even if we succeed, the supplies we steal will run out sooner or later. What are we going to do when we have no food and no fuel? Also, do you have a star map? Without a star map, how are we going to escape?”
“I can obtain the star map and the authorization for the lifesaving cabin from my friend. As for supplies… the medium lifesaving cabin has a full set of facilities. As long as we arrive on that planet, we can use the devices to refill the fuel, which will last us many years. Food-wise, we will need greenhouse incubators, crop seeds, and nutrition fluid makers, which can all be obtained on this ship. When the crops are being produced, we can rest in the cryogenic chambers,” the elder brother said quietly. “I’ve been thinking about an alternate plan for the past three days. This was not a sudden decision.”
The others still shook their heads.
Leaving the main fleet of their people to survive in the unknown universe with just a few of them?
This plan was too crazy to think about it!
“I’m going with you.” This time, the youngest brother stepped forward and shrugged. “You know me. I don’t like to be restricted by rules. Since we’ve left our home, I’m not planning to continue living a peaceful lifestyle of following what everyone else does. I want to explore the vast universe myself. You can say I like adventures, or you can say I love to seek excitement. No matter what, count me in.”
The elder brother nodded, looked at his other brothers, and said, “I know you all have concerns. The universe is way too big. With just a few of us, we will be facing the deepest loneliness and fears. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong in the end, but I’m not willing to sit and wait passively. I won’t force ev
eryone to go with me.”
The second oldest brother hesitated for a while before saying, “Bro, I’ll go with you, too. You’re the person I trust the most. I trust your judgment.”
Seeing two of them making up their minds, more people were shaken.
One of the brothers shook his head with resignation and said, “Sigh, alright, let’s do it. From the moment we left our home, I already considered myself to be dead. What’s the worst that can happen with being more adventurous? We’re brothers; we can’t separate from each other.
These brothers had grown up together and were used to sticking together. After some hesitation, in the end, all of them agreed to the eldest brother’s plan. The amazing thing was after they had made up their mind, the hesitation and unease disappeared, replaced by incomparable excitement and anticipation.
“Big bro, I have a suggestion. We should at least bring one woman, right?”
Everyone burst out laughing. The heavy atmosphere disappeared, and the room was filled with a joyous spirit.
“That’s right. Not just one, we should bring a few more.”
“Haha, we might become a stray civilization in the future.”
…
For the days to come, these brothers used their own network and connections to quietly prepare for their plan. As the migration spaceships had a large number of daily supplies, they were able to find what they needed easily. The only question was—how were they going to obtain those supplies?
With courage, money, connections, and a little bit of luck, they used several methods to obtain most of the supplies they needed.
Very soon, the day to execute the plan came. It went smoother than they could have ever imagined. According to the intelligence they collected, they secretly entered the ejection point of lifesaving cabins and stepped into a medium lifesaving cabin. They then turned off the artificial intelligence core and switched it to manual control mode.
The eldest brother’s hand stopped above the eject button but did not press it instantly.
“Have you guys made up your mind? As soon as I press this button, there’s no going back. If we’re captured, we’ll become prisoners.”
“We’re not much different from prisoners now. We’re more like manual labor to the people above. It’s just that we’re given a different name as population resources. I have been wanting to get rid of this identity for a long time,” the youngest brother said with a carefree smile.
“Nonsense.” The eldest brother shook his head and chuckled before pressing hard on the button.
Whoosh!
The lifesaving cabin suddenly descended and was shot into the cosmic space.
As they left the spaceship, they subconsciously looked outside the porthole and were stunned.
What they saw was many lifesaving cabins also being shot out like fireworks from other spaceships of the migration fleet before leaving in different directions.
…
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
On the other side of the Kunde Race territory border, the core fleet that the Kunde Race command department was in came out from the stargate. They turned around and dismantled this stargate used for retreat.
“Alright, we have arrived at the target area. According to the coded order sent before, the surviving fleet will be gathering here.”
Inside the command department, the upper echelons of the Kunde Race gathered and browsed the message that they had received from the other fleets before they cut away their network connection.
“The Scorched Earth Team has sent their report. The psionic bombs in various places have been detonated successfully, and the plan is complete. The other fleets have also sent the report that they’re retreating toward the location we have designated. Hoo, the situation is still manageable.”
The Kunde Race leader heaved a sigh of relief.
Seeing this, everyone else was also feeling slightly better.
Things were finally going according to their plan.
As they were worried about their information being leaked, command did not dare maintain a long-term network connection. Therefore, they had given up live communication and did not even dare transmit orders the ordinary way, worrying that it would be intercepted by the enemies. The orders were all in special codes.
However, before they could catch their breath, the alarm suddenly rang!
“Attention, attention! Unknown large fleet discovered ahead!”
Everyone was stunned.
“How have we met a fleet here‽ Is there an ambush‽”
“See if it’s the enemies!”
The various upper echelons quickly executed the order. Within just a few seconds, the report came from the fleet captain.
“Everyone, we have already confirmed it. They’re not enemies but our own fleet.”
The upper echelons were immediately relieved. They almost had a heart attack.
“Phew, that scared me.”
“It should be teams who have received the order to rendezvous here arriving in advance, even quicker than us.”
At this time, the fleet captain spoke again with a weird tone.
“Guys, you have misunderstood me. They’re not our armed fleet but the migration fleet we sent away a long time ago. For some reason, they have all returned!”
The entire place became dead silent.
The upper echelons were stunned for a second before freaking out!
Chapter 980 - Settlemen
“Didn’t I get them to leave already? Why’d they appear here? Who asked them to come back‽”
The Kunde Race leader jumped up and flew into a rage.
The other upper echelons could only longer sit still and were filled with trepidation. The situation had already evolved out of their control.
The civilian fleet was the final hope of their Kunde Race and their weakness. They dared to wage a war in their homeland because they had sent all the members of their race away. Upon seeing the members of their race return, the upper echelons were flustered.
Buzz!
Right at this moment, a holographic screen appeared in the middle of the conference table, and a figure dressed in a military uniform appeared before them.
Everyone’s gaze was attracted by the figure, and they were in shock.
This figure cleared his throat and slowly said, “Let me introduce myself. I am Tarrokov, the Crimson Dynasty Marshal. I am the one fighting all of you.”
Upon seeing this scene, everyone present understood what was going on.
They originally thought that the enemy was only tapping into their communication channels, but it seemed as though it was not as simple as an intelligence leak. The enemy was actually able to initiate a call and probably controlled all of their networks.
This was the worst-case scenario, and everyone blanked out.
Tarrokov’s gaze swept past everyone present as he calmly said, “All of your intelligence has been grasped by my side, and we have already cut off all your communication with the outside world. All the intelligence reports that you have received during this period were forged by us. In truth, less than ten percent of your troops are still alive. They are as good as wiped out.
“Do not have any more fantasies. Your Scorched Earth plan has been seen through by us, and we completed our final attack a few days ago. You no longer have the strength to fight back.”
These words crushed the belief of all the upper echelons present, and they slouched back in their chairs in a daze.
“You, you…” The Kunde Race leader began trembling.
Tarrokov did not even blink. “On behalf of the Crimson Dynasty, I am initiating a final negotiation with all of you. Our long-distance psionic weapons have already locked onto your civilian fleets. I give all of you five minutes to consider. If you choose to fight back, your race will be wiped out. If you attempt to contact your civilian fleet, your race will be wiped out. If you cut off from the quantum network, your race will be wiped out. If you do not g
ive us a reply in five minutes, your race will be wiped out. I will promise not to open fire if you choose to surrender and disarm yourselves.”
He spoke as though he was only going out for grocery shopping. Wiping out an entire race was something that an experienced commander like him had no qualms about doing.
The words were extremely bloody in the ears of the Kunde Race upper echelons.
The dynasty had secretly recalled these civilian fleets to dissolve the enemy’s battle intent. When the survival of their entire race was at stake, the enemy would definitely collapse. The dynasty had plenty of experience in this regard.
Compared to the exploration era, the three Universal Civilizations no longer massacred civilians. If not, they would not have given the other party a choice.
After saying those words, Tarrokov’s figure disappeared, and a countdown timer was shown on the screen.
“We’re finished!”
“We shouldn’t have started a war back then! Look what we’ve done!”
Upon seeing the timer countdown, many of the upper echelons fell into despair.
Many of them present had already considered such a scenario but still held onto a trace of hope in their hearts before this.
The upper echelons in the conference room had already lost their cool, and the conference room fell into chaos. The Kunde Race leader then said, “We no longer have any hope. Let’s surrender.”
“Now you know how to surrender? What were you doing before this‽” All the usually respectful upper echelons started cursing. “If it wasn’t for your stupidity and brashness, would we have fallen to such a state‽”
“That’s right! If we didn’t choose to fight but escape instead, we wouldn’t have been reduced to such a state!”
“That’s right. It is all thanks to your mistake! You are a sinner of our race!”
Looking at these upper echelons who usually fawned over him venting their anger, the Kunde Race leader let out a self-mocking laugh.
The Legendary Mechanic c1-1385 Page 669
