Meeting

Chloe awoke from her unconsciousness, still somewhat dazed, likely from the concussion caused by the impact. She struggled to sit up, shook her head, and looked around.

"Where is this?" She was shocked by what she saw. The walls were a mixture of rocks and mud, covered with dark purple, unidentified objects that, upon closer inspection, appeared to be subtly moving. Chloe guessed it might be some kind of plant, but it was incredibly ugly.

The soft, dim light gradually brightened and then dimmed, as if breathing, casting her shadow in and out of sight, creating an eerie and unsettling effect.

She strained to look up at the ceiling, trying to see what was wrong with the light. Was there a power shortage? But the act of looking up seemed to aggravate her wound, causing her to groan involuntarily.

Fortunately, the injuries didn't seem as serious as she had imagined, and the pain was bearable. Instead of the electric lights she had expected, the ceiling appeared to be covered by some kind of luminous stone.

The light was too dim for her to see clearly what kind of stone it was, so Chloe squinted and stared intently.

"Ah!!!!!!"

A scream!

These weren't glowing stones at all; they were densely packed, fingernail-sized insects crawling all over the roof. Each insect had a light-emitting organ on its rear end, and the countless insects seemed to be a single entity, their light-emitting organs lighting up and turning off in unison.

"Is anyone there?" she asked nervously. The scene on the roof was really unfriendly to people with trypophobia. Chloe felt goosebumps all over her body, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

It was even more terrifying when she was alone in the room.

Could it be that damned wounded patrolman? He thinks he can get a promotion and a raise?

Her voice echoed in the small room, but after a while, there was still no reply. She carefully scanned the room and discovered that it had no door.

A chill ran straight to my head.

Chloe mustered all her strength and shouted again at the top of her lungs.

Suddenly, the ugly, dark purple plant wriggled and parted, forming a portal.

"You're awake, Chloe." The sudden appearance of familiar words in the Riken Race language outside the door brought Chloe a sense of relief in this strange place.

A tall, Riken Race walked in from outside, wearing an old-fashioned uniform—a style so outdated it had been obsolete even before she was born. If she weren't a top student majoring in command, excelling in all aspects of education, Intellect, physical fitness, and aesthetics, and fond of reading extracurricular books, she would never have recognized this grandfatherly attire.

However, such things are rare even on the Riken Race Mother Planet, let alone in an alien star system five light-years away. Each expedition member has a limit on their carry-on baggage; what lunatic would bring something like this onto the spaceship?

The young lady almost lost control of her urge to make sarcastic remarks, but given the circumstances, she forced herself to hold back and asked softly, "Who are you? Where is this?"

Actually, she didn't care about the first question; who cares who this nobody is? But since the other person knew her name, she figured she might as well ask.

The newcomer did not answer, but continued to approach her. As he drew closer, Chloe could see him more clearly.

This was a middle-aged Riken Race with a resolute expression on his light blue face. He looked very familiar, but Chloe racked her brains and couldn't remember when she had seen him before.

However, the old-fashioned clothes the visitor wore felt more familiar to her because the closer she was, the more details she could see. The shoulder flowers, the armbands, the badges—the more she looked at them, the more familiar they became.

Finally, it dawned on her why these things looked so familiar. Weren't these the captain's uniforms worn by their warship command predecessor, the first to lead an intergalactic expedition and posthumously awarded the title of hero?

Because of his emphasis on the threat of alien races and the necessity of establishing Expedition Fleet, his life story is widely known, and his captain's uniform has become a rare find. In her captain's manual, there are even several pages dedicated to recording this event.

Looking at that face again now, no wonder it seemed so familiar—wasn't this...? A deeper fear than before surged into my heart.

"You? You're Regi- senpai?!?!" Chloe exclaimed in shock, muttering in terror, "Am I dead? But I remember being dragged away by someone?"

Suddenly, she pinched herself hard.

"Ah!" A scream rang out, showing that Chloe hadn't held back at all, making her already injured body even worse.

"I'm not dead yet? This isn't a dream? I still have a shadow?" Extreme shock caused Chloe to ramble incoherently; it seemed this young lady's mental fortitude was not strong.

Finally, she asked in a tone that was both laughable and exasperated, "Senior? You're still alive? How is that possible?"

"Heh, yeah, it's been over a hundred years. Regi, who left Riken Star over a hundred years ago and has been missing for decades, how could he still be alive?" A self-deprecating voice came from behind.

"I'm dead? That's impossible!" Hearing Regi's words, Chloe's fear was rekindled.

"No, you're not dead. Have the younger generation become so incompetent? I heard you were even a captain?"

Chloe didn't mind the sarcasm in Regi's tone; having received the answer she wanted, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, more questions arose in her mind. She asked curiously, "Senior, so you're still alive? Wasn't the Cat Ear Spaceship attacked at T855? Why are you here at T853? How did you survive all these years? Are there other survivors? Everyone would be so happy to know you're still alive."

Chloe blurted out her questions, which made Regi find it somewhat amusing.

"Didn't I just say? How could Regi still be alive?" Regi said with amusement.

"Huh? Senior, please don't joke around. This isn't funny!" Chloe was a little angry. So what if he was a senior? In this situation, with her injuries, who had the mind to joke with him?

"I'm not joking, Regi is indeed dead." Regi's expression was serious, and his resolute face made his words seem very credible.

"Then who are you?" Seeing Regi's serious expression, which didn't seem like he was joking at all, Chloe's heart, which had just relaxed, jumped again.

"I am Regi."

I have a few words I want to say, but I don't know if I should. Chloe is really angry this time. Isn't this supposed to be enlightenment? If she weren't injured, she would definitely show this senior the new version of fighting techniques that have evolved over a hundred years.

"Senior, it's not a respectable thing to flirt with a junior."

"No, I mean, the Regi you know is dead."

"What do you mean?" Chloe was a little confused.

"I am Regi, but not the Regi you know. The Regi you know is dead, and I am the reborn Regi," Regi explained patiently and earnestly.

Upon hearing this, Chloe instantly thought of many things.

Clones? Robots? And so on—scenes from movies and TV shows flashed through her mind.

Could this guy have been captured by aliens and turned into a complete idiot? If Regi is like that, does that mean I'll be modified too?

Suddenly, she thought of the various suspicious points surrounding the base attack.

Are there people like Regi among the wounded patrolmen? That explains a lot of things.

Those insects are making a fool of the Riken Race.

During their meetings, they spent all their time calling these insects brainless primitive creatures, little did they know that in the end, they themselves would be the clowns.

What would they do if they captured themselves alive?

Chloe stared wide-eyed at Regi in horror.

Regi was somewhat surprised; it seemed this junior wasn't as incompetent as he had initially appeared.

"It seems you've already guessed. I'm pleased." Regi's kind old man's smile made the blue face look quite awkward.

I'm so glad you're here!

Chloe wanted to swear, but she knew that would only anger the enemy, and she would ultimately suffer the consequences.

However, she was now isolated and helpless, and it seemed that it was too late to say anything. This was a racial war, and begging for mercy would only make her lose face and have no other effect.

So, after a long pause, she managed to utter a sentence.

"I will never become a traitor like you."

"Hehe, very good, that's more like what a captain should be like." Regi clapped lightly, his face full of appreciation. But then he changed the subject and said in a very confident tone.

"However, you will. You can never imagine how great he is until you meet him!"

Thank you Lai Yao for the 1000 Qidian Coins reward, and thank you xiaotang246 for the 100 Qidian Coins reward.