by <unknown>
He had a rough plan of what to do next. The situation was not pleasant. The reinforcement was just DarkStar’s first step, they would soon be limiting their movement areas, surrounding them, bombarding the area, and so on, forcing them to change the route. Han Xiao pondered and pondered, and eventually, he realized that in order for them to last two days, there was only one workable way—spread out.
DarkStar’s target was all the mercenaries, and two spaceships were only two targets. However, if they spread out in an undetectable environment, every mercenary would be a target. Although there would definitely be unlucky ones that might be sacrificed, it would also make DarkStar spend more time searching. After all, wishing to save everyone was not realistic.
“Let’s do as you say.” Goa trusted Han Xiao a lot.
Han Xiao changed the direction of the spaceship and looked forward. Very soon, a very long gap in earth appeared on the horizon, like the gray colored earth opening its mouth, black as an abyss. From far away, it looked like just a small gap, and only when they got closer did they realize that it was tens of meters wide.
Hu!
The Sky Ring spaceship dived straight into the gap, and darkness filled their vision.
The detector sketched out the terrain in the darkness. About two to three hundred meters down, numerous caves appeared on both sides. Han Xiao chose a cave and flew in. Inside was an underground space, leading to somewhere far away.
There was a very large space under the ground of this planet. It had complex tunnels and was filled with storage stones. It had been undisturbed for countless years, and now, its first guest had arrived.
The Blades spaceship did the same, and the hovering ship fleet followed behind. Unavoidably, their speed decreased. Flying in this kind of environment required a very high reaction speed, plus space was limited, so the formation of the hovering ships had to turn into a long snake shape. Due to space restraints, ninety percent of the fighter ships were blocked by their teammates in front and unable to fire. The attack faced by the Blades and Sky Ring spaceships significantly lessened.
The two ships flew underground just in time, escaping from DarkStar’s plan to surround them on the surface.
The Purple Gold spaceship was still on the surface, and it arrived at the pickup location.
Cerleni sent a communication request to the channel that they had received the message from.
“Holy Stone Third Formation please come in. I have arrived at the pickup location. Where are the receiving units?”
He repeated that again and again, but Holy Stone did not reply and kept silent. His expression gradually changed, and he started to sweat all over.
The Purple Gold spaceship did not dare stop. It circled around the pickup location like a headless fly. When the DarkStar reinforcements came from all directions, Cerleni ‘s face turned pale. Only then did he realize that there was no one there to pick them up. Black Star was right. He had lost the gamble.
Boom boom boom!
Bullets rained down!
Not long after, the Purple Gold spaceship crashed onto the ground covered in smoke. The gate opened, and the mercenaries inside sprinted out in all directions. However, the DarkStar warriors landed from the fighter ships hovering in the sky and surrounded them. There was nowhere to run.
The struggle of Cerleni and the others did not make any impact, so they were captured easily and escorted onto the spaceship to be sent to the mothership.
Everyone in the two ships that were descending underground saw what happened to Purple Gold. Seeing that their friends that had once fought alongside them were in such a dire situation, everyone was grieving.
If not for Han Xiao standing his ground, they would have ended up the same way.
The mercenaries looked at Han Xiao with even more trust in their eyes.
“I did tell them…” Han Xiao sighed.
Cerleni had been willing to take the gamble, and there was nothing Han Xiao could do about it; he could not have taken over the control of Purple Gold spaceship.
However, from a purely pros and cons perspective, this would give them more time. With at least some result, DarkStar would be a little less in a hurry.
…
Inside Stream Light, the scene of Purple Gold’s spaceship crashing was being played on the screen. Shivate shook his head and said, “Too bad only one ship was captured.”
He was indeed the one that gave the order to send that message. It was to mislead the mercenaries and make it easier for DarkStar to capture them, but it was not because he wanted to help DarkStar. In his eyes, these mercenaries would definitely not be able to escape, and them getting captured was just a matter of time. He only sped up this process. The earlier the mercenaries got captured, the sooner DarkStar would leave.
The armies of Holy Stone and Black Raven were holding their position, and these mercenaries’ meaningless struggle was wasting their time, leaving these two civilizations with no choice but to stay there and monitor the situation. This increased their workload and brought along risks. Shivate just wanted DarkStar to go away as soon as possible. Giving out that order was purely for his own benefit.
Furthermore, this could not be considered as interfering, so it was not really counted as helping DarkStar. He had just sent a message—it was not a big deal.
Regarding what plan DarkStar had, he simply did not care. DarkStar had no business with them. No matter what they were up to, Godora would be the only one suffering from it. Holy Stone had no obligation to help Godora get rid of their enemies, and Shivate did not want to stir up a mess.
Sadly, not all the mercenaries were tricked.
“Commander, the target has gone underground. We’re unable to see a direct image.”
“Continue to hold your position.” Shivate shook his head.
They would not be able to see what was going on once these mercenaries enter underground. All they could do was wait.
…
Inside the dark underground, beams of light flashed past. These were all spaceships flying at a high speed.
Boom!
Lasers hit the stone walls and caused a partial rockfall. Quite a number of stones landed on Sky Ring spaceship’s shield before being shattered by the spaceships dashing through.
The pursuit underground lasted for a few hours. As space was limited, larger sized fighter ships could not enter. DarkStar could only use the hovering ships to hunt.
The underground space was filled with twists and turns, and it was pitch black. The blurry images from the detector were the only thing that they could depend on to dodge the obstacles. Han Xiao was highly focused and did not bump into anything, but the hovering ships behind him were gradually making more and more mistakes. From time to time, fighter ships crashed into the wall, the pillars, and other things. The contrast was very obvious. The pursuing spaceships gradually lost sight of Han Xiao’s backlight.
The Blades spaceship, on the other hand, was not as lucky. They were still being chased tightly. Porter’s skill was hard to look at, and the Blades mercenaries almost wished to change ship.
Coincidentally, the Sky Ring people had the same thought.
“Can’t see the hovering ships, there are only sounds. They’re still chasing.” Han Xiao looked behind and said, “After chasing for a few hours, DarkStar’s patience should be reaching its limit.”
“We’re… reaching… our… limits too…”
Herlous was almost prostrated, unable to finish a full sentence without pauses.
He could be considered as being in a good state since at least he could talk. Beside him, the Sky Ring mercenaries lay flat down on the ground like dead pigs. Their eyes were out of focus, streams of white bubbles flew out of their mouths, and their hands and legs were shaking. The ice used to fix their legs had already shattered.
Just as Han Xiao was about to say something, the underground space started to tremble violently!
Boom!
Sounds of explosions came from all dire
ctions!
“This is… a bombardment?” Goa said.
“Most likely, DarkStar has started to bombard the surface, hoping to trigger a chain reaction and cause the underground space to collapse, forcing us back to the surface. Like chasing mice out of their cave. Then, they’ll surround us on the surface, and we’ll have nowhere to run,” Han Xiao said calmly. He had expected this to happen, so he could stay calm when it happened.
“Is there nothing we can do‽” Goa did not want to give up.
“We’ve stalled for many hours with the spaceship. It’s already the limit.”
Han Xiao inhaled deeply and said slowly, “We have to abandon ship.”
The people were shocked. The spaceship was the only thing that they could depend on. If they abandoned the spaceship, it would mean they have lost the mobility, and they would really become fish in a barrel.
Chapter 397. Arrival of the Fleet |
The people immediately disagreed. How were they going to escape without a spaceship?
“It was never possible to break through DarkStar’s army in a spaceship,” Han Xiao explained. “The chance to escape has always been close to zero. We only had one choice from the start—stall for time and wait for backup. Abandoning ship and losing ability is obviously disadvantageous, but it will also decrease DarkStar’s efficiency.
“Without spaceships, we will be fish in a barrel to DarkStar, and their alertness will further be decreased. Once we spread out underground, DarkStar will stop bombarding the surface. Because without protection from the spaceship, we will be buried alive if the underground space collapses. What they want is the… ahem, what they want is to capture us alive. Therefore, they’ll most probably use the hovering ships and send out troops to search slowly.”
This was a risky plan, and the mercenaries exchanged nervous looks.
Although the plan did make sense, the risk of abandoning the spaceship made them hesitant.
“Are you absolutely confident about this?” Goa could not help but voice her doubt.
“What do you think?” Han Xiao shook his head. How could he be one hundred percent confident in this kind of situation? If he was, it would not be called a risky plan.
Staying in the spaceships looked safe, but their chances would be almost negligible. Abandoning the spaceships looked desperate, but it could squeeze out more time and stall them longer.
The bombardment continued, and time waited for no man. Goa and Porter discussed a little, then finally clenched their teeth and agreed with carrying out the plan to abandon the spaceships.
“So,” Goa asked, “what is the plan?”
“The plan is…” Han Xiao explained in detail.
…
Boom!
In the sky, dozens of DarkStar bombardment fleets were in a neat formation, dropping bombs down on the surface. Mushroom clouds rose up one after another. Heated wind from the explosions stirred up dust and sand all over the sky, creating countless craters filled with cracks like spider nets.
In the command room of the DarkStar mothership, Sarota was staring at the image of the surface, and his fingers were tapping the table continuously. His impatience was clearly expressed through these small movements.
Since the spaceships escaped underground, a few hours had passed, and they still had yet to make any progress. His patience had run out, so he decided to send out bombardment ships to destroy the planet surface, causing the underground space to collapse and forcing the targets to get out of the twisted narrow underground and come back to the open surface.
He also sent out many medium intercepting ships to form encirclements. As soon as the mercenaries’ spaceships appeared on the surface, there would be no more chasing and running—they would be able to capture the spaceships immediately.
“Commander, the interrogation is completed. These captured mercenaries have never seen the Secret Message Bead before. We searched their clothes and inside their bodies as well, and they don’t have it,” an officer said. These captives were Cerleni and the others.
“At least the range is smaller.” Sarota nodded.
Therefore, the last two ships were the most suspicious.
At this time, the Sky Ring spaceship appeared on the image from the hovering ship fleet. The hovering ships had almost lost them, but now, they were catching up. The Sky Ring spaceship’s speed had become much slower, and it even bumped into walls from time to time.
Bang!
Lasers hit the spaceship’s shield. It was as if the Sky Ring spaceship had changed its pilot. There were no more dazzling dodges, and it looked very clumsy.
Almost all attacks landed on the target.
The shield shattered in no time.
Boom!
Lasers fired at the tail of the spaceship, unleashing a trail of flames and smoke!
Sky Ring spaceship’s accelerator broke and lost its power. It glided forward and shattered about a dozen stone pillars before crashing into the stone wall, stirring up thick smoke.
The hovering ships surrounded the spaceship, but the Sky Ring spaceship was silent. A few units of DarkStar warriors jumped out of the hovering ships and blasted the gate open with their guns, only to see that there was only darkness inside the spaceship. The DarkStar warriors rushed in, but there was no one inside. A warrior headed to the pilot seat and checked system, then quickly reported the situation to their superior.
“Report. There’s no one in the spaceship. It was the spaceship system’s autopilot.”
Sarota slammed his hands heavily on the table, and with rage in his eyes, he said, “They’ve abandoned ship!”
On the other side, the Blades spaceship did the same and jumped out of the spaceship in different batches. As they did not get out of sight of the enemies like Han Xiao, the image of them jumping out was directly seen by the chasing ships. However, the mercenaries did not care about that. They landed and spread out on their own.
“Abandon ship… Seems like it’s to stall for more time. Tsk, they still have hope for reinforcements.” Sarota sneered. “They have some guts to gamble like this…”
Then, he loudly ordered, “Stop the bombardment. Hovering ships, split up and search for vital signs. Send out ground troops to continue to pursue.”
Sarota looked to the side and said, “Ember, you’ll lead the ground troops.”
Ember nodded and left the command room.
Hundreds of egg-shaped airdrop cabins were ejected from the mothership, falling toward the ground. Inside were all DarkStar Supers, including Ember.
Sarota could see through Han Xiao’s plan, but he still did as Han Xiao expected because DarkStar’s target was indeed to capture everyone alive. From how he saw it, this was what the mercenaries were gambling on—there was nothing that he could do about it.
The target did not have a spaceship anymore, so Sarota was not worried. If they were hunters chasing after prey earlier, now they were just catching them in a ring—there was no need to worry about anyone escaping.
…
This time, in a hard-to-find corner underground, a silver-white metal sphere was parked quietly. Inside the metal sphere was a sophisticated cockpit, where Han Xiao and a few others were.
This was a transporting tool that Han Xiao had been building—[Portable Sphere Fortress].
On the outside, it was just a metal sphere, but its structure inside was complicated. It could travel in both sea and land as well as air. The sphere was made up of many layers. The most outside silver layer were both the armor and the mobility device to move on land, as the sphere was suitable for rolling movements and was able to change direction and speed easily. When it rolled, only the outside layer would move. The inside pilot cabin had an individual structure and was separated from the outside layer, so it would not spin as well. The real-time image of the outside was played on the large curve inside the pilot cabin.
When traveling through complex terrain, four mechanical pedipalps could be extended out of its body for crawling purpo
ses. Furthermore, the sphere was also equipped with thrusters, balance wings, and turbines. It could fly at relatively low heights and move in the oceans. It was a multifunctional transport tool.
In his previous life, the players had called this the ‘Car Ball’. Han Xiao had built it while he was on Floating Dragon Island. He had placed it in the spaceship, and now that they abandoned the spaceship, it was time to use it.
The plan was to spread out, so the ones in the Car Ball at this time was only Herlous, Aroshia, the three brothers of Volga, Frenzied Sword, and Maple Moon.
“The bombardment has stopped.” Han Xiao was sitting at the controlling seat, his eyes sparkled.
The underground terrain did not tremble anymore, which meant that DarkStar had stopped the bombardment as expected, which made him feel relieved. From now on, DarkStar will send out ground troops to carry out the search and start a game of cat and mouse. The mercenaries have all spread out, so there’ll definitely be some people that’ll get caught. Hope we can stall for longer…
The Car Ball rolled backward and disappeared in the dark and twisted underground tunnel.
Darkness was mercenaries’ cover, which made the search more difficult.
There were two to three hundred people in the two spaceships. Now that they had all spread out, the number of targets that DarkStar had to capture changed from two to hundreds. The hovering ships split up as well, slowly searching every corner with their cone-shaped blue searchlights.
Not long after, the ground troops led by Ember arrived underground and started their thorough search. The sound of footsteps echoed in the underground space.
