Chapter 197
[You've already overpowered me (doge emoji)]
[Finally, it's my turn to say that! @Osotalia Ossotalia Empire, from now on you don't need to pretend to be strong anymore, because your strength has arrived.]
[Your King Su]
[Your Destiny]
[Rejected, it's clearly our dormitory.]
[My goodness! This Boss 1's arrogance and audacity in moving through a massive army like it's nothing is absolutely mesmerizing! I'm completely dizzy, forgetting all my family and friends, unable to work properly, and collapsing to the ground, kicking open my coffin, putting on a suit and tie, looking all presentable, giving a thumbs-up while my nose bleeds!]
[A feast for the senses? That must smell delicious! What kind of family has such a high gluten threshold? Are they crazy?]
Ferguson, who was speaking, did not hear his companions' voices on the Communication Channel. Facing outside the defensive layer, he only had time to see a long and obvious trail behind him. Suddenly, he saw the transparent protective shield on the upper part of the Warship, which had been open, envelop him and his companions on the same Warship.
"!"
Unexpectedly, Ferguson's panicked expression deepened, and he urgently demanded, "Who mishandled the Warship...?"
"Take a closer look at the other Warships!"
Ferguson's words were interrupted by a trembling voice from his companion on the same Warship.
Alerted, and accompanied by the continuous buzzing of Red Level One Alert, Ferguson looked at the other Warships layered upon each other protecting the massive Spaceship in the central area, and was shocked to realize that they were in no different condition from the Warship he was on.
The interior of the spherical structure, which was originally dark and tightly Garrison Sphere by the Spaceship and protected by the outermost layer of light black defense, was now intermittently illuminated by bursts of dazzling red light.
The accident came without warning. Countless soldiers of the Ossotalia Empire saw the same scene reflected in their pupils, their hearts pounding so hard they felt like they would burst out of their chests, and their entire bodies tensed.
"Damn it, what on earth is going on?"
What broke in there?
"The message simply cannot be sent!"
Bang bang bang...
The Optical Brain was unusable, and someone was pounding on the equipment on the Warship: "Why isn't this thing working?"
"Stop! Ahhh!"
The voices of his comrades on the same Warship kept ringing in his ears, and the red lettering of the Level 1 warning kept flashing on the Warship's equipment, amplifying the anxiety of everyone. Ferguson listened to the distinct pounding of his heart in his chest and looked around.
They were making mouth movements, but the Warship's protective shield blocked their view, so it was impossible to hear exactly what they were saying. However, judging from their furrowed brows, the situation was probably not much different from what they were currently experiencing on their own Warship.
He opened his mouth wide, his face contorted in a ferocious grimace, and shouted, kicked, and slapped... Watching the same scene of sudden imprisonment unfold on one Warship after another, Ferguson deeply understood that even though their Warships were very close to each other, this sudden imprisonment, which he couldn't understand how it had happened, had completely cut off their possibility of communicating with the outside world.
Thinking of the oath they swore before His Majesty, risking their lives, and the words McCarthy overheard about planning to act on the sixth day from now, their hands stiffened and unconsciously reached for the Doom473 Virus that each of them carried.
Perhaps this day will come sooner than he imagined; better that way.
He didn't dare tell outsiders that he didn't care about those lofty oaths of loyalty to the empire and willingness to die for it. He volunteered to come so that his family could receive a substantial pension after his glorious sacrifice for the empire, a sum he couldn't earn in decades of normal life.
Knowing that this journey would inevitably lead to his death, every day he spent there, watching himself get closer and closer to death, was agonizing for him.
If it can't be changed, then let it end sooner rather than later...
"Ferguson, what are you doing? Are you crazy?!" Someone on the same Warship saw Ferguson's actions and quickly intervened.
A furious shout rang out, accompanied by the sound of the Virus Vaccine being knocked to the ground from Ferguson's hand.
Ferguson snapped out of his emotional turmoil and realized that he had almost injected himself with the Doom473 Virus without orders from his superiors. He swallowed hard, his body staggering backward as he leaned against the Transparent Wall, gasping for breath.
"Although I don't know the current situation, dying prematurely without orders is a serious violation..."
"Qin Su." A name flashed through Ferguson's muddled mind. He looked up at his companions, his voice urgent, "I know! Although I couldn't see clearly, that was definitely Qin Su, and it could only be Qin Su."
The sheer terror that they found instilled in them was something only Qin Su, whom they had accessed through a VPN on the StarNet, could accomplish effortlessly; he couldn't think of anyone else who could do it.
Upon hearing this name, the soldiers on the same Warship, who had been frantically kicking instruments and banging on the Transparent Walls around the Warship due to panic and tension, stopped in their tracks and turned to look at Ferguson.
The Ossotalia Empire blocks the StarNet, has its own internal network, and openly prohibits circumvention of internet censorship.
In the past, Ferguson wouldn't have dared to reveal this, but now he had nothing to hide. Facing everyone's gaze, based on the evaluation of Qin Su he had seen on the StarNet, Ferguson murmured softly, "If it's Qin Su, perhaps... we don't need to inject the Doom473 Virus."
"You're insane." Ferguson's words were met with a pitying sneer. "Think about your family, Ferguson, think about where they live. Whether they're Qin Su or not means nothing to us; we must die."
Unless there are no more disputes, which is impossible, whether it's the Ossotalia Empire, the Federation, or anything else.
Even if Qin Su doesn't kill them, they can't live. Even if they surrender, the Federation will never truly accept them. They will be imprisoned. The Ossotalia Empire knows they didn't die according to their oath, and their families will suffer even worse fates.
The day the Ossotalia Empire decided to launch this war, they had no choice but to die.
The speaker glanced at the location of the Electronic Eye inside the Warship: "You should be glad they can't hear you now, otherwise you'd be no different from those Prisoners."
Ferguson moved his lips, but ultimately said nothing.
Is the difference between them and Prisoners simply that they have no choice but to endure despair for a longer period of time?
"So what do we do now?" Ferguson asked in a low voice.
"Wait." The person who spoke turned their gaze outside.
Illuminated by a dense mass of red light, they still couldn't make out the location of the central Spaceship, nor did they know what was happening inside.
Even so, they had no choice but to wait for orders; even if McCarthy, who had spearheaded this raid, were to die, they would have no other option.
A Dilemma
[Difficult my foot! The truly innocent ones are the unarmed citizens. Judging from their attitude, they're willing to inject themselves with the Virus and become Zombies to harm others for the sake of their families. Their families' lives matter, but aren't the lives of other people here also important?]
[No solution]
The Importance of World Peace
The Theater Forces arrived at the locations designated by Qin Su as quickly as possible and stood by. Those who did not see Qin Su or receive any new orders from him immediately adjusted their Visual Helmet scopes and stared intently at the encampment of the Ossotalia Empire army, which was emitting a black halo in the distance, trying to find Qin Su's figure.
They didn't see Qin Su, but in the instant they stopped, they saw a faint red light flickering within the sphere that had originally emitted a black halo.
The light was not strong, but flickered in a regular pattern, causing the pale black sphere, which was in a defensive posture, to switch between black and red light in an eerie state.
"What's going on? Why did the lights at the Ossotalia Empire's military base suddenly turn red?"
"I don't know. I've only ever seen red that's almost black before, this is the first time I've seen black that's almost red. It looks like it's about to explode, it's kind of nerve-wracking."
"Speechless. Weren't you guys faster than us and arrived earlier?"
"Arriving early is useless; you'll still be completely clueless."
Listening to the speculation on the Communication Channel, Raymond passionately spoke up, "You guys clearly don't understand our Commander -Commander Chief Commander Qin. This is obviously his masterpiece!"
"... Raymond, can you tell us something that nobody knows?"
They knew, of course, that this was Qin Su's masterpiece, but since they couldn't see inside, they were curious about how Qin Su had done it.
"Yes, aren't you the most valued members of Squad (Class 6) by the Chief Commander? Do you know something we don't? Or did the Commander actually not tell you anything?"
"..."
He wasn't inside, how would he know?
Raymond was speechless, but his mouth still managed to say, "This is a good opportunity for everyone to guess Chief Commander Qin is thinking. Let's cherish it. It would be pointless for me to just say it directly. I look forward to seeing how you all perform."
Everyone: "..."
They suspected Raymond was being stubborn, but they had no proof.
The other students in Class 6), especially the new students from the Fourth Military Academy who had just joined Class 6), kept their eyes down and pretended to be dead.
'They won't reveal that Qin Su hasn't told them anything, and won't let outsiders see that they're not actually that important to Qin Su.'
Xuan Jingcheng glanced at Raymond, who looked guilty in the shadows, and a smile crept onto his lips.
'It seems Qin Su didn't like Class 6 that much either. I knew it; they looked so emotionless, like monsters who had undergone countless transformations from head to toe, devoid of even basic human emotions. How could they possibly care about these ordinary mortals in Class 6?'
'That couldn't be better. When He Muzhi saw Qin Su's true colors, given his Purest Goodness nature, one can only imagine his disappointment in Qin Su.'
Xuan Jingcheng was delighted to notice Qin Su's imperfections in the smallest details.
[Someone has started crawling in the shadows again.]
[Forget about him, don't give him a second glance. Let's focus on King Su. Look at the next page for the update. King Su just zipped through all the obstacles and arrived at McCarthy's old man's Spaceship. This naked fact once again proves to us that our King Su can solve all crises by himself and even bring Class 6) along. Tsk tsk, it's clearly giving them a chance to gain experience.]
[Perhaps, Su Bao deliberately gave Class 6) a chance to shine in front of the world?]
[Wow, I never thought of this angle before, but it might actually be right.]
Upon arriving at its destination, Qin Su, who had temporarily stopped outside the Spaceship at the center of the Spherical Garrison, scanned the barrage of comments. "..."
Besides these reasons, the most important reason is to let them witness this moment and increase their own Life Points.
Nothing is more important than his life.
Qin Su lowered his hand, controlling the arm section of his Combat Suit to cover it again during that brief moment, concealing all exposed skin. His gaze fell on the Spaceship hatch, just a step away, as he peered through the Electronic Eye while simultaneously speaking into the Full-Band Communication: "Move."
"!"
The group, who were chatting incessantly on the Communication Channel, suddenly heard Qin Su's commanding tone, and even though they were far away from Qin Su, they couldn't help but shudder.
'Could it be that Qin Su has been using Full-Band Communication and overheard their conversation?!'
'Damn it, did they say anything they shouldn't have?'
"Yes!"
"Receive!"
Everyone's minds were in turmoil, but they responded quickly, trying to calm themselves down, clear their minds of all thoughts, and focus all their attention on their task.
Despite the eerie red and black light emanating from the Ossotalia Empire's Spherical Garrison above the Visana Town, the teams, adhering to the mindset of "If Qin Su says to act, then he will definitely act," and "If you don't have the guts to resist Qin Su, you can only obey orders," rushed towards their assigned areas in Visana Town without the slightest hesitation after Qin Su gave the order.
Qin Su said they could move, and now the people in the air are probably in the dangerous airspace where the Black and Red Empire is stationed.
They were terrified that if they hesitated even a second, the airspace above the Visana Town, where the Imperial army was stationed, would be blown up by Qin Su without a word.
Behind the hovering Qin Su Warship.
Spreading evenly outwards from the Spaceship, the soldiers on countless concentric Warship of Warships responsible for guarding the central Spaceship stared wide-eyed in disbelief at the end of the narrow Passageway that had been overturned and 'blasted through'.
They had seen the familiar figure on the StarNet in private. Now, standing with their backs to them at the Spaceship's hatch, they ignored those around them and calmly lowered their raised hands.
In the brief moment when Qin Su lowered his hand, his lips, which had been pursed in a cold smile, moved slightly. The Combat Suit that had been detached from Qin Su's arm instantly wrapped around Qin Su's slender fingers.
"!"
In other words... everyone stiffly turned their necks and moved their eyes, looking at the narrow Passageway that had been carved out behind Qin Su and the unbalanced Spaceships flying on both sides.
'In the blink of an eye, Qin Su, with a hand devoid of any Combat Suit offering any defensive or offensive assistance, broke through their painstakingly constructed defenses with his bare hands?!'
'Furthermore, they cut off all contact with the outside world, took control of all their Warships, and imprisoned them there.'
The scene before them shocked the soldiers of the Ossotalia Empire, who were momentarily speechless and stopped moving. Their eyes instinctively followed Qin Su's direction, and they held their breath, listening to the violent thumping of their hearts in their chests due to the tension caused by Qin Su's actions.
Inside the Spaceship.
The Level 1 warning caused McCarthy's trusted guards inside the Spaceship to be suddenly locked behind a loud bang, cutting them off from the outside world and leaving them equally distraught.
The cages marked out at the bottom of the Spaceship could no longer be opened, forcing a halt to the injection of the Doom473 Virus into the Prisoners.
In the brief few seconds it took, Qin Su scanned the interior with Electronic Eyes to determine the situation and, based on McCarthy's current location, decided which doors to open. He then controlled all the Passageway that needed to directly reach McCarthy's location to open instantly, along with the hatch in front of him.
The moment the Ossotalia Empire soldiers, trapped by the Warship, saw Qin Su's raised hand fall completely to his side, the Spaceship hatch in front of Qin Su suddenly opened, and sharp, triangular spikes that gradually increased in size from the center disappeared into the curved perimeter.
Qin Su stepped off the Warship, his foot landing on the floor inside the hatch, and walked through the circular hatch in a very open and unreserved manner.
No one came out to stop them.
No, it should be that the people inside, like them, were temporarily imprisoned in Qin Su's territory.
Despite being surrounded by layers of defense, Qin Su remained as relaxed and at ease as if he were strolling in his own garden; they were powerless to stop him.
Watching Qin Su calmly disappear from sight, everyone felt only one thought: 'We're doomed.'
The soldiers, who felt like every second was an eternity, didn't know how long it took before they regained their voices.
"Qin Su... Damn it, how could we have been drawn from Qin Su's Military Academy? How could we be so unlucky?"
"If I had known Qin Su would be here, I would have hidden on the Spaceship that took Aldrich away a couple of days ago, even if it meant my death."
"Even if Qin Su was selected for the Fourth Military Academy, as a student, he should be in the rear. How did he end up here? Wasn't it said that we had an inside man in Leichakan? Why wasn't there any prior warning?"
The anxiety was amplified, and no one could answer the questions posed.
--
To surprise McCarthy, Qin Su simply locked McCarthy's room, which was also McCarthy's office on the Spaceship, without displaying any "Level 1 Warning" warning.
Through Electronic Eye surveillance, McCarthy was seen drinking and lounging with his legs propped up on his desk, asking his adjutant a question.
"Evan, has that fat bastard Aldrich said anything?"
Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, Evan that the guy named Xuan Jingcheng said Aldrich had been demoted to Leichakan because of Qin Su.
He had heard of Aldrich; that guy was adept at opportunism in the Federation, had won the favor of many Federation officials, and often served them at their beck and call, so he must know a lot of secrets.
If Xuan Jingcheng wasn't lying, Aldrich had worked so hard only to be abandoned by Qin Su, then if he were to reveal something in his current state, it would be of great use to the empire.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have, under these Xuan Jingcheng, not injected Aldrich with the Living Dead Virus when Xuan Aldrich offered him to Evan, but instead contacted his younger brother to send him to the Empire, hoping to secure greater glory for the family in the future.
"No." Evan rubbed his right eyelid, which had been twitching wildly for some reason a minute ago. He checked the Electronic Eye surveillance footage from inside and outside the Spaceship, found nothing unusual, and reassured himself that he was just imagining things. He then reported in detail to McCarthy, "After two days of starvation, Aldrich still refuses to talk about any secrets, vowing to be loyal to the Federation to the death and willing to die gloriously for the Federation."
McCarthy, thinking of Aldrich's physique, clicked his tongue dismissively. "Tell my stupid brother that fatso has too much fat; hunger won't subdue him. Slightly cutting off some fat will help him realize the truth more quickly..."
Step, step, step...
Having traversed numerous Passageways, Qin Su arrived at McCarthy's office. To signal his arrival to McCarthy, he deliberately opened the door a crack before he was even a short distance away.
The gap at the bottom is small and covered by a thick carpet, so the person inside won't notice anything unusual, yet can still hear what's happening outside.
In the quiet, deserted Passageway outside, Qin Su was certain that his footsteps would be unusually loud.
McCarthy hadn't finished speaking when he heard unfamiliar footsteps outside.
[Who could have imagined that Aldrich, thinking he had met Xuan Jingcheng who had suffered the same fate, would empathize with him and open his heart to him, only to wake up one morning to find himself sold into an enemy country by Xuan Jingcheng, facing the danger of having his heart physically ripped out?]
[I didn't expect Aldrich to be so loyal to the Federation. Judging from his previous way of saying one thing to one person and another to someone else, acting like a bully, I thought he was a pushover who'd spill his secrets at the slightest provocation. I was being too cynical.]
[Aldrich: Old Deng, let's see who gets beaten first, you or me?]
[The Boss 1 is outside the door, hehe]
Old Deng opened the door to check the gas.
Stopping himself from finishing his sentence, McCarthy frowned and looked toward the door, his legs, which were propped up on the table, showing no intention of putting them down; he remained relaxed.
Evan also heard footsteps outside. Normally, the hatch is completely sealed once closed, especially since this was McCarthy's office with excellent soundproofing. He quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, I didn't notice anything amiss with the hatch in time. I immediately called..."
McCarthy interrupted Evan, "Go see which brainless family it is..."
Buzz--
Before McCarthy could finish speaking, a muffled thud was heard, and the heavy hatch suddenly and unexpectedly slammed shut upwards without McCarthy or Evan's control.
The office door was wide open, and McCarthy met Qin Su's black eyes, which scrutinized him intensely from head to toe. At the same time, he heard Qin Su's calm and indifferent voice. McCarthy's scalp tingled instantly, his mind went blank, his eyes widened like saucers, and his lips parted slightly.
"Surprise." Qin Su deliberately lowered his tone.
Since McCarthy was sitting with his head tilted upwards, he wasn't raising his chin. However, when he looked at McCarthy, his eyelids drooped slightly, creating an air of 'arrogance' Gaze.