Across every deck of the missile cruiser Orion, the ship command's broadcast echoed through the corridors, cafeteria, bars, restrooms, and above every crew member's head.
"...Good evening, crew of the missile cruiser Orion. I am Zhao Tianhe, your captain."
"I apologize for disturbing your rest at this hour, but I ask that you give me ten minutes and listen patiently to this broadcast."
"I believe you have all noticed that our ship encountered an unprecedented situation upon entering the hyperspace corridor and, for unknown reasons, came to a stop within a rift in space-time..."
"To escape our current predicament, and for the future of human civilization..."
"We must unite!"
In the broadcast, Orion's captain, Zhao Tianhe, candidly explained what had happened to all crew members aboard the ship and outlined the battle plan jointly formulated by Departments One, Three, and Five.
The operation was codenamed "Daybreak."
They would disguise themselves as the corpses of allied forces, remain silent in the deep-sea-like expanse of outer space to deceive the observers, and pass through two centuries of historical darkness beyond everyone's sight until their timeline overlapped with that child from the Wasteland Era of 215.
The broadcast personally delivered by Zhao Tianhe caused quite a stir aboard the cruiser.
Not only had the identity of the young man named Ye Shi as a "time traveler" received official recognition, but they had also learned through the broadcast about what had happened to Gemini.
Without knowing it, they had become the executioners who killed their allies...
In the cafeteria on the lower deck, a group of red-faced, thick-necked crew members were arguing loudly.
A bearded man slammed his fist hard onto the table and roared without concealing his anger.
"This is absurd... We fired neutron torpedoes at them just because we suspected them?!"