Landing, Betrayal (Part 2)

Grand Rhine gritted his teeth and sneered, "Last time, I was piloting a small patrol boat from the Danube Company. It was only fifteen meters long, a tiny thing that didn't dare get close to this planet. This time!" Grand Rhine chuckled a few times, rubbing his hands together as he asked Gu Xiechen for permission, "Deputy Commander, shall we do it?"

"Do it!" Gu Xiechen decisively ordered, "There are no man-made objects in orbit around the planet. Even if there are natives, their technological strength won't be very high. All ships, activate your shields at full power and charge in at maximum speed." The smallest fast assault ships they brought this time were forty-five meters long. The near-supersonic winds were dangerous, but they wouldn't pose too much of a threat. As long as they proceeded with caution, they could easily break through to the planet's surface.

With the largest transport ship leading the way, the small fleet charged into the planet's atmosphere at top speed. The transport ship's massive hull and powerful engines shielded them from the gale, and the fleet entered the calm atmosphere below the ten-kilometer-thick storm layer without incident.

External sensors on the ships fed back data like a tidal wave, and countless numbers flashed across the command bridge's holographic display.

Everyone stared at the data on the display, stunned.

Gravity, atmospheric composition, humidity, temperature – all the data was nearly perfect. This was a planet ideally suited for human habitation.

Impatiently, Gu Xiechen ordered the release of dozens of unmanned reconnaissance drones. A few minutes later, the images sent back by the drones showed that the planet's vegetation had a 97% similarity to Earth's. The animals on the ground were also 95% identical to species currently or formerly present on Earth. In one drone's footage, a group of giant pandas with distinct black and white markings could be seen lazily munching on bamboo in a grove!

The small fleet slowly descended. The roar of the plasma engines disturbed the animals in the dense primeval forest below. Large groups of gibbons shrieked and fled from the treetops, while a flock of vibrantly colored birds of paradise, their two-meter-long tail feathers trailing behind them, chirped and formed a colorful cloud several miles wide, slowly rising into the sky and drifting towards a distant range of high mountains.

"My god!" Grand Rhine screamed, "This planet is priceless! My god, one-tenth of this planet will be ours! Oh my god!"

Gu Xiechen also felt a surge of blood rush to his head. He shouted, "Land quickly! Let the first echelon land. All fighters, disembark with me. All ships, hover in the air on alert. If there are no anomalies in half an hour, all ships will land simultaneously." Gu Xiechen couldn't contain his excitement. As long as he could control this planet, he would soon possess the absolute strength to confront Gu Juechen head-on!

The Hellhound heavy patrol vessel crushed several hundred-meter-tall giant trees as it landed. Before the heatwave from its plasma engines had even subsided, the patrol vessel's hatch slowly opened, and a heavy gangway descended. Gu Xiechen, fully armed, led the experts of the Seventh Regiment, including Grand Rhine, onto the planet's surface.

Beneath their feet was soft, decaying soil. When Gu Xiechen's combat boots stepped on the rich earth, it actually 'squeaked' and oozed black mud. This was incredibly fertile land!

Cheers of surprise erupted from the personal computer in Gu Xiechen's hand: "Deputy Commander, the data from a drone ahead shows a strong energy reaction! There's a giant Zakra Crystal vein ahead!"

Gu Xiechen, Grand Rhine, and everyone who heard the news felt their hearts pound as if struck by heavy hammers. A giant Zakra Crystal vein? There were plenty of rare metal ores in the universe, but Zakra Energy Crystal veins were not abundant. Many veins yielded only a few hundred cubic meters of Zakra Crystals. A so-called giant Zakra Crystal vein contained at least ten thousand cubic meters of Zakra Energy Crystals. The Earth Federation's official price was one hundred million per cubic meter of Zakra Crystal, meaning ten thousand cubic meters was worth one trillion!

"We're rich!" Grand Rhine inhaled deeply, entranced.

Gu Xiechen leaped onto the trunk of a large tree. He gazed out at the boundless jungle, also taking a deep, entranced breath. "We're damn rich!"

One trillion. The Hell Angels Mercenary Group's hundreds of thousands of mercenaries could each receive ten million, enough for a lifetime of decadent living. This was the allure of interstellar development: immense risk brought immense rewards. This planet undoubtedly presented an opportunity for the Hell Angels Mercenary Group to rise. The Hell Angels Mercenary Group was destined to become a significant power in the Federation.

"What a shame!" Grand Rhine looked up, smiling at Gu Xiechen, who stood on a branch dozens of meters away. "Mr. Gu Xiechen, you have no share in the profits from this planet!"

"Hmm?" Gu Xiechen turned his head in surprise. Grand Rhine knew his real name? But... how was that possible?

Grand Rhine raised his right hand to the sky, clenched his fist tightly, and slammed it downwards.

The heavy patrol boats, light patrol boats, and fast assault boats brought by Grand Rhine simultaneously opened fire. Their launch tubes were filled with ultra-high-speed armor-piercing missiles. Nearly a hundred high-speed missiles pierced the armor of one of Gu Xiechen's patrol boats and three transport ships almost simultaneously.

The patrol boat and transport ships hovering in the air were torn to shreds without any resistance. Along with them, Gu Xiechen's mercenary soldiers and all his heavy equipment were destroyed.

Inside the Hellhound heavy patrol vessel, which had already landed, desperate screams echoed. Two deputy officers who disagreed with Grand Rhine's actions launched a surprise attack, instantly killing all the mercenaries in the command cabin. They activated the Hellhound's internal defense system, sealing off soldiers in other compartments.

Large fireballs and metal fragments rained down from the sky. Following them were twelve fast assault boats, entirely black except for a golden unicorn painted on their sterns, and six giant transport ships, each five hundred meters long.

"Grand Rhine!" Gu Xiechen's head spun, and he glared at Grand Rhine, roaring furiously.

Grand Rhine looked at Gu Xiechen with a sinister smile and sneered, "Don't blame me. I'm not a traitor! I've been with the Sacred Unicorn for a long time! This time, Mr. Gu Xiechen, you have no chance. On this newly discovered alien planet, you won't have any chance at all! Surrender obediently, my orders are to capture you alive!"

"Go to hell!" Gu Xiechen fled into the dense forest like the wind. He moved like a ghost, using tree branches for leverage, and disappeared into the boundless jungle in an instant. As he ran, he continuously discarded all his weapons and equipment, which had tracking devices from the Hell Angels Mercenary Group that Grand Rhine could use to find him.

"Damn Grand Rhine, damn Sacred Unicorn!" Gu Xiechen cursed angrily as he fled. He heard footsteps behind him, but their agility was clearly no match for Gu Xiechen's. Gu Xiechen moved like a gale through the forest, quickly escaping for over ten kilometers and leaving the pursuers far behind.

This was a trap, undoubtedly a trap set by Grand Rhine and the Sacred Unicorn. But this extremely costly trap seemed to be aimed solely at Gu Xiechen. Why?

After discarding all his equipment and watching two small ground-attack aircraft fly rapidly overhead, Gu Xiechen, who hadn't fled very far, turned and ran back towards where he had come from.

At the landing site, a makeshift camp enclosed by armor plates was already taking shape. A silver-haired Siren, clad in a silver robe, stood in the center of the camp, furiously berating Grand Rhine.

"You idiot, you let Gu Xiechen escape with such a good opportunity? You're useless!"

"Catch him, deploy your men and catch him! Otherwise, how am I supposed to negotiate with those people from the Gu Group?"

"This is our Sacred Unicorn's chance, our chance to rise! But without the armaments provided by the Gu Group, how can we hold this planet? Do you know how much capital it takes to develop a planet? Without the low-priced armaments from those fools at the Gu Group, we'll go bankrupt before the Sacred Unicorn can even swallow this planet!"

"Idiot, useless, fool! With such a good opportunity, so many warships, so many people, couldn't you use your brain? You just watched him escape?"

So that's how it is! Gu Xiechen's teeth itched with hatred. He silently climbed onto the nearest large tree and slowly broke off a straight branch.

With a few gentle tears from the Snow Soul Divine Claw, the one-and-a-half-meter-long branch was fashioned into a sharp throwing spear by Gu Xiechen.

Slowly gathering all his Gang Qi, Gu Xiechen infused a stream of Snow Soul Divine Gang into the throwing spear. A thin layer of ice coated the spear, making this hastily made javelin even sharper and stronger. Glancing at Grand Rhine out of the corner of his eye, Gu Xiechen swung his arm and hurled the spear fiercely at Grand Rhine, then turned and fled without even watching the result of his throw.

The Siren was furiously cursing Grand Rhine when suddenly Grand Rhine's eyes widened, and the tip of a pale, chilling spear emerged from his forehead. The biting cold sealed Grand Rhine's blood flow, and there wasn't a single drop of blood on the spear tip. The Siren stared at the slowly falling Grand Rhine in a daze for a long time. It wasn't until a full thirty seconds later that he suddenly came to his senses and transformed into a silver light, diving into the dense forest.

By then, Gu Xiechen had long since disappeared.

The Siren trembled with rage, hovering high in the air, he shouted sternly, "Send out three reinforced battalions! All Innate-level fighters, lead the way! Capture that guy alive... no, kill him!"

The Siren narrowed his eyes and said coldly, "Capture him alive? That seems impossible! But his head is worth a lot of money!"

Nearly three thousand elite mercenaries from the three reinforced battalions, led by nine fighters, rushed out of the camp. The experienced mercenaries quickly followed the faint traces Gu Xiechen had left in the jungle.

On this alien planet, Gu Xiechen would face an army alone.

Reinforcements from the Hell Angels Mercenary Group would arrive in at least seven days, and they still didn't know the exact location of the wormhole.

This was a desperate situation, a death trap.

Comrades, this week is about to end. Will next week bring more highlights...

Please throw your recommendation votes... (To be continued)