When I saw the image sent back by the Deep Space Probe, Alaya and I nearly popped our eyes out. She instantly snapped her wings straight, looking like a kite about to take off.
I thought I had seen wrong, so I had the probe move closer for a careful inspection. The result only made things clearer: a long axis over eighty kilometers, silver armor, blue decorative markings, a massive silhouette brimming with oppression, and a prow that looked like a flying coffin from any distance. What else could it be but an Eternal-class Warship made by the Empire? At least I had never seen another civilization design its mothership like a coffin...
But after closer observation, I did discover some differences between this ship and an Eternal-class Warship manufactured by the Empire. Its rear half had an enlarged compartment fitted with numerous crystal cluster arrays, resembling Crow Nest facilities or general-purpose amplification antennas. Other than that, however, it was no different from an ordinary Eternal-class Warship. Before long, the probe found the enormous crusader insignia on the ship's side. That blue crystal emblem could not possibly be mistaken. This warship's Xiling lineage was beyond doubt.
"An Empire ship!" Alaya sprang to her feet, then toppled sideways with her left foot stepping on her right, just as she had rehearsed countless times. Even sprawled on the ground, she kept shouting, "Monarch Brother, it's an Empire ship! Did the Matriarchs find this place?"
My first thought had also been whether Qian Qian and Lin Xue had led a "search-and-rescue team" here. I had the probe act as a relay and sent a communication request to the suddenly appeared Eternal-class vessel, but... the message vanished without a trace. There was no response whatsoever.
Not only was there no response, but moments later