Egon Stetmann

Although the local wildlife management agency's official website indicated that dangerous large Predator and venomous creatures in the area were kept "under control," Augustus and his men took ample precautions.

In the remote Tyrador III, relic hunters and poachers are far more dangerous than wild beasts and poisonous insects.

It took them more than ten minutes to walk across a relatively flat plateau, past a grove of deciduous trees with a wrecked logging machine parked there, and into a small town made of brick and stone buildings.

This nameless town has a pastoral natural beauty in its layout, with a network of paths crisscrossing the colony houses. The main walls of all the houses are made of irregular colored stones and industrial adhesives, and are decorated with beautiful pebbles taken from the nearby river.

Locals use limestone to build their roofs, making these houses with colorful walls and gray roofs an iconic feature of this town that may have long been forgotten by the Confederacy.

Due to the local hot and humid weather and occasional sudden cold snaps, the locals have built chimneys and fireplaces, and large exhaust fans and solar panels are installed on the roofs of their houses. The sound of the fans spinning is as common as the sound of the wind.

The town's streets are paved with bricks, and on both sides are nurseries enclosed by wooden fences by the residents. Every house is adorned with blooming flowers, including many exotic local flowering plants.

The town is home to approximately five hundred to one thousand residents, each of whom manages at least several dozen acres of farmland or forest. Quarrying is also a significant source of income for the local population. Almost all young people learn how to hunt and deal with the unusually dangerous creatures and treacherous poisonous plants in the area.

Life here was much like that of Korhal IV over a hundred years ago. The initial colonists primarily relied on agriculture, and advanced large machinery and vast reclaimed land provided them with ample food. Generally, the population of a colony would grow rapidly within thirty years, but as far as Augustus knew, the population of this town had remained around one thousand since records began.

The complex, unpredictable, and exceptionally dangerous natural environment is likely the main cause of this problem, with some people reported never to emerge after entering ancient ruins. On the other hand, nearby research laboratories continue to recruit large numbers of locals to work in their science cities nestled among mountains and lakes, leading to a gradual migration of the already small local population to the largest of the smaller cities built around research stations.

In these cities, cutting-edge technology from the core world of the Terran Confederacy has greatly improved the quality of life for humankind. All the cities in Tyrador III are closer to university towns, and most of the residents regard scientific research as their sole occupation.

In contrast, the inhabitants of Tyrador III still lead a relatively primitive life. Far from the hustle and bustle, they are out of sync with the world's progress. Typically, this is a haven for the persecuted or those who simply desire a quiet life, but for the local residents, this tranquil yet mundane existence may well be a form of torment.

Often, the young people from Tyrador III would choose to seek their fortunes in the city. If they possessed academic talent, they might receive offers of employment from the research station.

Augustus's arrival shattered the long-standing tranquility of this remote town. The local residents remained wary of such an outsider, and at first, some even came forward to ask Augustus show his Terran Confederacy citizen ID card and used an ID reader to verify Augustus identity.

The Taradorn System is both a cradle of abundant life and a haven for pirates, smugglers, and wanted criminals. As a result, the people here are quite hostile to outsiders of unknown origin.

To this day, human scientists still cannot explain the strange, strong magnetic fields in parts of the planets in the Taradorn System system, while those who attribute it to the ruins of a lost civilization are accused of being ignorant.

The complex natural environment and the mysterious force field that can significantly disrupt radio signals have made this place a hiding place for those with ulterior motives. The Central Security Bureau of the Terran Confederacy also believes that more than one rebel organization is hiding on the remote Tyrador III and VIII.

Such a judgment might have been mere speculation or a ploy to swindle funding in the past, but now, the greatest enemy of the Terran Confederacy, the Korhal Revolutionary Army, has indeed established operational bases of varying sizes in these three star systems of the Taradorn System.

"This is a nice place, the people are kind and friendly, and there are cute little animals everywhere." After dealing with the town police officer who came to question him, Raynor put away his ID card.

"So, where is that kid named Egon? We went through a lot of trouble to get here," Raynor said.

"It's too hot and humid here, I want to go home," Harnack said dejectedly, smoothing his wet red rooster-like hair and trying to get it standing up again.

From the beginning, after arriving in the Taradorn System, Augustus only said that his intelligence department had discovered a few talented individuals, and then they traveled all the way here.

Everyone knows that the Revolutionary Army Marshal is eager to recruit talented people and appoints them based solely on their abilities. He goes to great lengths to visit those he values, showing them great respect and courtesy. However, the mysterious intelligence department is what everyone else is most concerned about, and even the largest intelligence agency on their side August National Security Committee and the Umojan Republic Intelligence Agency, are completely baffled by it.

Augustus would not tell them that he was simply doing something akin to collecting talent. He was constantly discovering these promising individuals who would shine in the future and making them work for him.

"Let's keep going. There are no house numbers here, but if you ask about Stetmann, all the residents know where he is," Augustus told Raynor and Harnack to calm down.

Augustus led his followers through the entire town and came to a small brick house at the far end. Compared to the other houses in the town, this house was much simpler.

"It's the weekend, he doesn't have to go to school, he should be at home." Augustus walked to the door of the house with two steps and carefully observed the strange numbers, formulas and some simple drawings engraved on the door panel, including some parts and two stick figures, one large and one small.

"Knock knock--" The door was wooden, with a combination lock but no doorbell.

At first, Augustus did not receive a response. He patiently knocked on the door for more than ten seconds until people outside could hear something breaking inside the house.

"Who's knocking?" After a while, the door opened from the inside, and a boy with messy, greasy black hair peeked out from the crack. He looked like he had just woken up, still sleepy-eyed.

"Ah, it's you." Egon Stetmann stared at Augustus's feet, which were clad in field infantry boots, before looking up—he was so short, probably not even five feet tall, that he looked like a dwarf next to the towering Augustus.

Among the Terrans of this age, he was either malnourished leading to stunted growth or suffering from some kind of illness.

"No, it's you guys." He finally realized what was happening when he saw the people standing behind Augustus.

Who are you?

Stetmann's voice was high-pitched and thin, but considering he was still a child who hadn't gone through puberty, it wasn't anything to be surprised about.

"I am Augustus Mengsk, Marshal of the Korhal Revolutionary Army," Augustus said with a smile.

"Hello—is this a self-introduction?" Stetmann wasn't very good at talking to people. "I'm Egon, Egon Stetmann, and my dream is to become the most famous scientist in the field of Tyrador III research. Although you may not believe it, I really am a genius... I'm quite confident in myself."

"Oh," Augustus said with a smile, "I know. I also know you're a genius."

"Oh, thank you. Yes, Augustus Mengsk." Stetman was smug about Augustus's approval.

"I've heard of that name. Two merchants who claimed to be from the Sons of Korhal told me that a man named Augustus Mengsk would be coming to me soon. I spent a long time trying to figure out what this revolution they were talking about was—maybe I didn't really understand it, but that's not a big deal."

"What did they tell you? About my part?" Augustus's voice was quite gentle.

"They say you are the greatest freedom fighter and hero, or a savior and the savior of mankind. But I say such a person cannot exist. That is a saint, not an individual." At this moment, Stetmann noticed that many people were staring at him. He realized that he had never spoken in front of so many people before, and the sudden tension made him feel short of breath.

"Uh--why--that's not what I meant--of course--" Stetmann sadly found himself suddenly stuttering and beginning to ramble uncontrollably.

"Aba aba aba aba--"

"This is terrible," he muttered sadly to himself, trying to find every possible explanation to prove that he wasn't a loser who babbled off when nervous or a mild autistic person who was always lost in his own world when talking; he was just out of sorts today because he ate expired canned pickled fish yesterday.

Yes, that's right.

Stetmann didn't realize he had spoken his thoughts aloud.

"Don't be nervous, relax, child." Augustus Stetmann a gentle smile, "I'll wait patiently for you to finish."

"Believe in yourself, Egon, you can do it."

"Well, I think I should invite you in. It's an old Earth proverb my father taught me, something like 'guests are always welcome.'" Egon opened his door and invited Augustus and the others inside.

"Your father?" Augustus not received any information on this part. In fact, the investigation into Stetmann all pointed to a sad truth.

"I haven't seen him in a long time. I still mention him occasionally. I always remind myself not to mention him again."

Augustus wanted to stroke the boy's head, but hesitated somewhat when he reached for the grease in his hair. Stetmann quickly ran into his bedroom, causing Augustus to miss the opportunity.

The guests had expected Stetmann's house to be somewhat messy, but the reality was much better than they had imagined. Several rickety tables were covered with electronic components, cables, and electronic and integrated circuit boards, among which were silver wheels of unknown purpose.

"What is he doing?" Raynor looked at the parts on the table. "It looks like he picked these things up from somewhere."

"I'm working on some kind of deflection field generator, trying to create a movable plasma shield force field." Stetmann pulled out several packs of cigarettes, tea leaves, and a dusty glass from his bedroom. He was clearly pleased that someone was interested in his research—even though that might not actually be the case.

"So, did you succeed? I remember Rory Swann's engineering team was also working on this thing, but it seems to require Psionics," Augustus.

"Not yet, maybe I haven't used ' Psionics '. What's that?" Stetmann had recovered his confidence from the earlier setback and was relieved that he was speaking so fluently and without mistakes, "But I did manage to fix a few discarded toasters and weather robots, which wasn't an easy task. I had to go through a lot of trouble to find out. Do you want to know how I solved the voltage problem?"

"No, thank you." Augustus took a deep breath.

"We have more important things to do now. You should know why I'm here: we're here to take you away from Tyrador III."

"I know about this." Stetmann was aware of his tendency to speak without thinking, always saying whatever came to mind, but he could never change it. Privately, Stetmann attributed this to the influence of his missing father.

"When are you leaving? I mean, I'm ready. Augustus, I think I should call you sir now. The Sons of Korhal said you'd let me go straight into the laboratory," he said.

"That's right," Augustus. "What I'm giving you is far more than you could have gotten on Tyrador III."

"How did those two Sons of Korhal merchants convince you?"

"Later they gave me ten sacks of rice, each weighing fifty-five pounds, sir," Stetmann said. "And I also wanted to do something for others."

"Of course, they are all wonderful people." Augustus smiled and said, "If you're ready, let's get going."

"I think I need to go check if anything was taken," Stetmann said, walking back to his bedroom. "Can I take the Game I fixed?"

"Of course," Augustus waved his hand. "I never said you couldn't do that."

"Ugh---Little brat, I hate little brats the most." Harnack rolled his eyes. He spoke very softly, unlike his usual loud voice. The experiences of the past few years had taught this impetuous and rude boy Shiloh, a little about human relationships.

Why does he talk so much nonsense?

"You were a kid once too," Raynor retorted to Harnack.

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