Do You Have Someone Here Named Carl?

Invited to Angel City, Shen Jun was certainly not foolish enough to go there alone. He could not guess Keisha's intentions. Perhaps the Protoss and angels might not share the same stance in the future, but given Keisha's character, she disdained schemes and trickery. Still, Shen Jun had been steeped in conspiracy theories for nearly twenty years, so there was no way he would casually put himself in danger.

"Alarak, Gaius, I'm giving you a long vacation..."

There was no need to mention Gao JianGuo. He solidly possessed the strength of a Third Generation God Body. In the centuries since the Form War ended, the angels' development had indeed advanced by leaps and bounds. Aside from Keisha herself, several high-ranking angels such as He Xi and Liang Bing had successively upgraded to Third Generation God Bodies, while Second Generation Angels had begun evolving in batches. Yet in terms of combat power alone, no angel besides Keisha could currently threaten Alarak.

Though Gaius was a technological officer and his technological expertise was generally inferior to Kerasul's, he was still Tal'darim. While his combat ability was weaker than that of a standard Protoss warrior, taking on a hundred or so Kerasuls by himself should not have been difficult. The scholars of Angel City naturally would not have been his opponents either—though that referred to technological standards, not fighting ability...

Liang Bing's trip to Aiur had taken over a month, and naturally, returning would take over a month as well.

By coincidence, the Protoss had recently been visited by Zeratul in a lifeless star system less than five thousand light-years from the Angel Nebula. He had even established a Time-Space Navigation Route there. That was already out of respect for Angel Civilization; otherwise, Zeratul had actually wanted to build it within fifty light-years of the Angel Nebula...

But five thousand light-years was not far to the Protoss. Activating continuous warp travel would take no more than around ten days.

The Blood Throne was the Tal'darim's mothership and Alarak's personal flagship. Unlike an ordinary mothership, the Blood Throne was slightly smaller, though still larger than a standard carrier. And aside from its main cannon, it had twice as many secondary gun emplacements as a mothership!

Tal'darim war technology always pursued lethality above all else. Excessive firepower discharge could easily place immense strain on a vessel's hull, leaving Tal'darim warships somewhat lacking in overall defense. Of course, that was only compared with the Protoss themselves. In the Known Universe, it was absolutely a top-tier flagship.

Thus, while Liang Bing was still traveling through the Great Wormhole Bridge, Alarak and Gaius had already piloted the Blood Throne into the Angel Nebula.

Meanwhile, a strange scene was unfolding in Angel City.

"Have you made up your mind, Carl?"

Inside an Independent Laboratory at the Super God Academy Branch, Keisha stared directly at the young man across from her.

The young man wore a long robe and a hood, dressed like a mage cosplayer. His entire body was concealed, with only his delicate face and a few strands of golden hair exposed.

Carl's expression was calm. No one could see through his thoughts as he merely shook his head faintly.

"I'm sorry, Queen Keisha. Liang Bing has been of great help to my research, and I still hope she can remain here to assist me. Only here can Liang Bing make the fullest use of her abilities, rather than returning to become the Left-Wing Guardian and a warrior who frequently goes out to carry out missions."

"Carl, you know perfectly well what the Holy Left-Wing Guardian truly means. You should also know what Liang Bing means to me, and to the angels!"

Keisha's expression darkened with displeasure.

Carl remained as placid as still water, and the atmosphere in the laboratory suddenly became strange.

Though Merlot Star was now the capital of Angel Civilization, it was not the angels' original homeworld. During the long war in which the female angels rebelled against Hua Ye, the angels' homeworld had been utterly destroyed. Keisha felt no attachment to that old land and moved Angel Civilization to Merlot, rebuilding Angel City.

Merlot was not a naturally formed planet, so it had no star system. It was merely a solitary planet located at the center of the Angel Nebula, powered by the entire Angel Nebula. In other words, Merlot had no normal alternation between day and night; it was a planet without night.

Rather amusingly, because of Keisha's Justice Order's profound respect for the natural laws of the universe, the angels had specially developed certain technologies to give Merlot a nighttime.

The instant the Blood Throne entered Merlot Star's vicinity, it immediately alerted the angels.

"Who goes there? How dare you intrude upon Merlot Heavenly Court!"

Countless angel girls flapping white wings emerged from every direction. Not one of them was ugly; there was not even a single one with merely average looks. Every female angel was practically the most beautiful God River Body, more beautiful than the most stunning women anyone had ever seen.

Unfortunately, Gao JianGuo did not care one bit about the aesthetics of God River Bodies. Sometimes, he could not even tell what distinguished these humanoid creatures from one another. Even Ji'Nara looked better than them!

"I am Alarak, Highlord of the Tal'darim... Oh, right. With your impoverished breadth of knowledge, you probably do not know what Tal'darim means."

Alarak replied to the angels in his uniquely magnetic voice. "We are Protoss. You should know that much, at least... If I remember correctly, your Queen seemed to say Angel City would be open to the Protoss for a hundred years. Was that false?"

He spoke punchable words in a punchable tone, yet there was no real reason to strike him. That was Gao JianGuo for you!

The angel girls exchanged looks. Keisha had indeed issued that order, but Liang Bing, who had gone to deliver the message, had not yet returned—while the Protoss had arrived first...

Did they have to be this fast?!

And more importantly, if they had come so quickly, why had they not brought Liang Bing with them?

Something was off. Far too suspicious!

Queen Keisha had said that if they encountered Protoss and did not understand something, they should ask He Xi. So the angel girl leading the group began contacting He Xi.

"Heavenly Based King, an unfamiliar warship has appeared in the skies outside Merlot. The people aboard claim that one of them is Alarak, some kind of... Tal'darim lord. He also says he is a Protoss."

The moment He Xi heard it, she thought, Damn it, why did this guy have to be the one who came? Of all people Shen Jun could have sent, why Alarak?

What was this supposed to mean?

Was he really here for academic exchange, rather than to declare war on the angels?

"...It's genuine. Do not stop him... Queen Keisha is very busy right now. Lead him to the Angel Temple. I will receive him there."

He Xi was troubled. Who knew the Protoss would act so quickly? And Keisha had chosen today to confront Carl. It was not something that reflected well on them, so He Xi could only claim that Keisha was occupied with important matters.

Given Alarak's vile personality, if he found that He Xi rather than Keisha herself was receiving him, who knew what he would say? He Xi was worried she might end up fighting Alarak again, but the most infuriating part was that she could not beat him...

Yet after a long while, Alarak still had not appeared at the Angel Temple. He Xi began to feel that something was wrong.

"Go see what's happening. Why haven't they brought him here yet?"

The angel guard at her side accepted the order and left. Before long, she returned.

"Heavenly Based King, according to one of the sisters, there was another Protoss accompanying Alarak. They first asked where the Super God Academy was located in Heavenly City, then asked, 'Do you have someone here named Carl?' After that, they headed straight for the Super God Academy!"