While Holy Keisha and the others were crossing the depths of space toward Earth,
the army of Shi Hao, ruler of the Taotie Civilization,
had already passed through the Great Wormhole Bridge Carl had left behind while traveling through the galaxy twenty thousand years ago.
They had arrived near Pluto.
Hundreds of spaceships, each one or two kilometers long, floated in formation in the space near Pluto.
Suddenly,
on the outer deck of a five-kilometer-long Celestial Battleship,
stood a group of Taotie Commanders—large blue-and-white mechas with mechanical wings on their backs.
It was worth noting that the enormous battleship was made entirely of black metal and had a sci-fi design.
Its lines were sharp and angular.
Just looking at it gave the impression that it could plow through the depths of space without slowing down.
Its overall shape was even similar to that of a giant whale in Earth's oceans.
The battleship's enormous bow was like a small island.
Around it,
there were fifty cross-shaped flagship vessels, much like those used by the Taotie Vanguard.
They were spread across the space within a five-hundred-kilometer radius,
arrayed like stars around the moon.
"King Shi Hao, the Vanguard forces led by Xiong Lu and Feng Lei fell just ahead. I've already sent a salvage team to search for useful intelligence."
On the deck at the head of the enormous battleship,
the pureblood Taotie Commanders were reporting to a towering ruler.
The ruler was named Shi Hao.
Though enormous and also a blue-and-white mecha,
he was not a pureblood Taotie.
He was a mechanical Taotie, granted the blessing of death by Death God Carl.
Before he became a Taotie,
he had been a martial arts master who spent years fighting in wars.
"Order all fleets to enter level-one combat readiness.
"According to the messages Feng Lei and the others sent back,
"the Super Seminary's powerful fighters must be lying in wait near Pluto."
Shi Hao gave the order.
"Reporting to King Shi Hao: including the Giant Wolf Civilization's contingent, we have five hundred warships in total. They're all running deep-space scans. Unless the Super Seminary has reached the level of antimatter technology, they won't escape our detection if they're hiding nearby."
The one reporting was Tian Lei,
a pureblood biological Taotie
and a senior staff officer in Shi Hao's army.
He specialized in planning special operations.
"King Shi Hao, now that we've reached the Chiwu Star System, why not let me take a small squad to Earth and negotiate with Demon Queen Morgana? After all, we'll need her to deal with the Super Seminary's gods."
The speaker was Di Huo,
also a pureblood biological Taotie.
He was in charge of diplomacy for Shi Hao's army,
a silver-tongued negotiator skilled at dealing with other civilizations.
Shi Hao asked,
"Morgana claims to be the strongest Demon Queen in the universe.
"According to the intelligence Xiong Lu and the others sent back,
"she's been completely uncooperative with our operations.
"Will negotiating do any good?"
Di Huo replied, "We can recognize her as Queen. We could even offer her a King. If we can talk her into fighting the Super Seminary, conquering a mere Pre-Nuclear Civilization would take less than three days."
At that,
Shi Hao nodded.
Then,
a small Taotie fleet shut down all its communications and flew silently toward Earth.
On Earth,
since Xiong Bing Lian had gained Sun Wukong as a member,
Ge Xiaolun and the others had begun training aboard the Giant Gorge.
It was worth noting that
with Lena's help,
Ge Xiaolun had unlocked the Galaxy Power Gene Lock in his body and sprouted a pair of black wings.
Now he spent every day training to fly, hoping to become an aerial combat unit.
Lena had hinted to Du Qiangwei several times
that she should fall in love with Ge Xiaolun
to activate his wings.
But Du Qiangwei didn't like Ge Xiaolun.
And ever since coming aboard the Giant Gorge,
aside from her daily training, she liked to shut herself in her cabin and sleep.
This gave Lena a real headache.
Inside the Giant Gorge's command room,
were Lena, Goku, Du Ka'ao, Lian Feng, and Old Huang (an observer sent by the Supreme Command to Xiong Bing Lian as its representative).
Lian Feng said, "We've run blood tests and psychological evaluations on Qiangwei. All her indicators are normal."
Du Ka'ao said, "Ever since she came aboard the Giant Gorge, the girl's been obsessed with sleeping. It's really strange."
Lena said, "I wanted her to teach Ge Xiaolun how to use his wings, but things are like this now. It's so frustrating. Ge Xiaolun's still over there trying to take off every day."
Old Huang said, "Lena, why don't you teach Xiaolun?"
Lena said, "No, no. Let's not."
Old Huang sighed and shook his head.
Every one of these kids was like this.
How were they supposed to protect Huaxia?
Old Huang turned toward Sun Wukong and asked,
"Goku, you're Earth's God of War. Got any ideas?"
Sun Wukong wore Dark Alloy Armor in a deep black shade.
It had a modern sci-fi style, but retained the pair of phoenix-feather plumes from the armor in the mythological stories.
"Me? If you ask me, we could go find that Ye Yang.
"You've all been talking about him lately.
"He's strong, and he's a Shenhe Gene warrior, isn't he?
"And I've noticed that whenever his name comes up,
"your daughter Qiangwei seems to act a little strange."
Sun Wukong spoke calmly.
His gaze settled on Old Du, Du Ka'ao, at the head of the conference table.
Hearing this,
Du Ka'ao looked rather surprised.
He met Wukong's gaze.
Was he telling him that his daughter had been acting so strangely because she was lovesick? And that she liked Ye Yang?
Du Ka'ao furrowed his brow.
He said gravely,
"Morgana made contact with Ye Yang,
"and according to the intelligence Lena got from the Angels,
"on the night Ye Yang was abducted,
"he escaped Morgana's control,
"and somehow appeared near Pluto.
"Ye Yang defeated the Taotie Vanguard near Pluto all by himself.
"With the Angels, the invasion by the Taotie Army,
"and Morgana's Demon Civilization yet to come,
"he holds the same extremely important strategic position and role as Wukong and Xiong Bing Lian.
"I gave up on him before because Morgana had abducted him.
"Now, it really does make sense to approach him directly."
When Du Ka'ao finished,
he gave Lian Feng a meaningful look.
Lian Feng immediately reported,
"Ye Yang currently lives in Huang Village, on the outskirts of Tianhe City.
"Three Angels once descended there,
"and they seem to have fought a fierce battle with Ye Yang.
"The area within ten kilometers of Huang Village was blasted into ruins by lightning,
"but his home was protected by wormhole energy,
"and the house was left unharmed.
"He should still be living there."
After Lian Feng's report,
Du Ka'ao and Old Huang exchanged a glance.
They both understood what the other was thinking.
At once,
Du Ka'ao stood and ordered,
"All members of Xiong Bing Lian, board the Dawn No. 3 Fighter Jet and head to Huang Village immediately. Make contact with Ye Yang. Your objectives are to determine whether he's under the control of an extraterrestrial force and recruit him into Xiong Bing Lian to serve the country."
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