"If the Holy Stone Border Army wanted to come to our aid, a conflict with DarkStar would inevitably break out. But look up, the DarkStar mothership is still floating there, without deploying any defensive fleet. This is a sensitive border area, and the Holy Stone and Black Raven couldn't have been so slow to arrive. It's clear that DarkStar has reached some kind of agreement with them. Put yourself in their shoes; this is a border area where the authority to handle matters is already ambiguous. They didn't even handle the kidnapping of the Silver Spirit People. It seems unbelievable that they suddenly want to help us."
Han Xiao paused for a moment, then said, "But it's also possible that the Holy Stone didn't compromise with DarkStar and genuinely wants to protect us, but... the chances of that are slim."
He didn't mention the main reason: the mission required holding out for two days to receive the minimum evaluation, and it had only been half an hour. It shouldn't be possible for support to arrive so quickly. His intuition told him that there was something wrong with the information about the Holy Stone.
Many people seemed thoughtful, but couldn't help but harbor a glimmer of hope, their faces showing hesitation.
At this point, a disagreement arose. Fasereni said in a deep voice, "I'm willing to believe this news. The Holy Stone has no reason to deceive us. This may be our only chance. I've decided to go to the rendezvous point. What do you say?"
"I'm not going." Han Xiao shook his head decisively and looked at Goya. Goya hesitated for a while before nodding and reaching a consensus. Although some mercenaries on the ship had objections, they had no choice but to suppress their inner conflicts upon seeing this.
After hesitating for a while, Porter also refused and chose to follow Han Xiao's advice.
Fasereni frowned. "Good luck to you."
Having said that, the Purple Gold spaceship suddenly veered off course, headed towards the rendezvous point, and quickly disappeared from sight, parting ways.
Han Xiao exhaled and said in a deep voice, "DarkStar reinforcements will arrive soon. Our operational area will become increasingly smaller. Continuing to linger on the surface will only worsen the situation. We must go underground. The probes have recorded all the terrain we just passed through and found several fractured canyons and fissures. There is a vast space beneath the surface of this planet, and the environment is complex with numerous obstacles. Limited space is a limitation for us, and also for our pursuers. Moreover, the land can isolate us from direct detection by the mothership, providing us with a layer of cover..."
He had a general idea of what would happen next, and the situation was not optimistic. Reinforcements were only the first step for DarkStar. Next, there would be restricted areas, forming an encirclement, as well as overwhelming bombardment, forcing them to change their routes, and so on. After much deliberation, Han Xiao realized that there was only one feasible way to hold out for two days—to break up the group into smaller units.
DarkStar's target is all mercenaries. The two ships are two targets, but if they are separated without being detected, every mercenary will be a target. This will inevitably result in some unfortunate casualties, but it will also increase DarkStar's search time and cost. After all, it is unrealistic to try to save everyone.
"I'll do as you say." Goya trusted him completely.
Han Xiao steered the flying and Tu Shu ship around, keeping his eyes fixed on the front. Soon, a long, deep crevice appeared at the edge of his vision, like the gray earth opening its mouth, dark as an abyss. From a distance, it looked like just a crack, but as he flew closer, he realized that the crevice was tens of meters wide.
call--
The Sky Ring spaceship swooped down and flew into the crevice in the earth, plunging the view into complete darkness.
The probe outlined the terrain in the darkness and flew down two or three hundred meters. Many caves appeared on both sides of the rift valley. He found one cave and flew inside. Inside was an underground space that led to the distance.
Beneath this planet lies a vast space, a labyrinth of passages, jagged rocks, and signs of weathering. Silent for countless years, it welcomes visitors for the first time.
The Blades ship followed suit, and the floating fleet also gave chase. Their speed inevitably decreased. Flying in this complex environment required extremely high reaction speed, and with limited space, the floating fleet's formation had to become a long snake. Due to space constraints, nearly 90% of the warships in the formation were blocked by their teammates in front and could not fire. The attack intensity on the two ships immediately dropped to a lower level.
The two ships managed to fly underground in time, escaping the surface encirclement that DarkStar was preparing to implement.
The Purple Gold spaceship remained on the ground, and after a series of close calls, arrived at the rendezvous point.
Fasereni initiated a communication request to the channel that had posted the pick-up message.
"Holy Stone Third Squadron, please respond. I have arrived at the rendezvous point. Where are the rendezvous troops?"
He repeated himself again and again, but the Holy Stone remained silent and did not respond. His expression gradually changed, and he became so anxious that he was covered in sweat.
The Purple Gold spaceship dared not stop, circling the rendezvous point like a headless fly, until DarkStar's reinforcements surrounded it from all sides. Fasereni turned pale and realized that there was no rendezvous at all. Black Star was right; he had lost his gamble.
Bang bang bang!
Bullets flew everywhere!
Before long, the Purple Gold spaceship crashed to the ground, smoking. The hatch opened, and the mercenaries inside ran out. However, warships hovered in the sky, and DarkStar warriors landed on the ground, surrounding them. There was no way to escape.
Fasereni and the others' struggles were in vain; they were easily subdued, escorted onto the spaceship, and sent back to the mothership.
The crew of the two ships traveling underground witnessed the entire ordeal of the Purple Gold Mercenaries. The fate of their comrades-in-arms was uncertain, and everyone felt a deep sense of shared sorrow.
If Han Xiao hadn't insisted on his opinion, they would have ended up the same way.
The mercenaries looked at Han Xiao with even greater trust.
"I already warned them..." Han Xiao said helplessly.
Fasereni was willing to gamble, and there was nothing he could do about it; he couldn't just jump onto the Purple Gold Spaceship and take control.
However, from a profit perspective, this can buy them some time. Once DarkStar has made a gain, the urgency will decrease somewhat.
On the Streamer, the screen displayed footage of the Purple Gold spaceship crashing. Sivadi shook his head. "Only one ship was captured. What a pity."
The message about the rendezvous was issued by his subordinates at his behest, intended to mislead the mercenaries and make them reveal their weaknesses, thus facilitating DarkStar's capture. However, he did not intend to help DarkStar. Sivadi believed that these mercenaries were bound to be captured sooner or later, and he was simply accelerating the process. The sooner the mercenaries were captured, the sooner DarkStar could leave.
The Holy Stone and Black Raven armies are waiting here. These mercenaries are making a futile struggle, wasting their time and forcing the armies of the two great civilizations to remain here to monitor them, increasing their workload and bringing risks. Sivadi just wants DarkStar to get out of here as soon as possible, and his decision is entirely based on his own interests.
Moreover, this action did not constitute formal intervention and could not be considered a genuine help to DarkStar; it merely sent a message, which was harmless.
As for what DarkStar's plans are, he really doesn't care. DarkStar keeps to himself and doesn't interfere with them. No matter what kind of conspiracy they carry out, only Goddora will suffer. Holy Stone has no obligation to help Goddora eliminate enemies, Sivadi doesn't want to cause any more trouble.
Unfortunately, not all the mercenaries fell for the trick.
"Commander, the target has gone underground; we can no longer observe it directly."
"Stay on standby." Sivadi shook his head.
Once they entered the underground area, they could no longer see any specific images; all they could do was wait.
In the pitch-black underground space, flashes of light could be seen, all from spaceships and warships traveling at high speeds.
Rumble!
The rock face was hit by the laser, causing a partial collapse. Many rocks hit the shield of the Sky Ring spaceship with a thud, and were pulverized by the high-speed passing spaceship.
The underground chase lasted for several hours. Due to limited space, larger warships could not enter, so DarkStar could only use floating ships to pursue them.
The underground space was extremely winding and pitch black, and Han Xiao could only rely on the blurry images from the detectors to avoid obstacles. He remained highly focused and did not crash into anything along the way, while the floating ships behind him made more and more mistakes. Every now and then, the warships crashed into rock walls, stone pillars, or stone beams, sending debris flying and creating a constant rumbling sound. The contrast was stark, and the pursuing forces gradually lost sight of Han Xiao's taillights and were left far behind.
The Blades ship wasn't so lucky; it was still being harassed by the pursuing forces, a nerve-wracking situation. Porter's maneuvering was painful to watch, and the Blades mercenaries wished they could switch ships.
Coincidentally, the people at Sky Ring thought the same thing.
"We can't see the floating ships, we can only hear their sounds. They're still chasing us." Han Xiao glanced at the background and said, "After several hours, DarkStar's patience is almost at its limit."
"We're... pretty much... at our limit..."
Melos was nearly exhausted and could only manage to utter a complete sentence in broken sentences.
His condition was relatively good; at least he could still speak. Beside him, the Sky Ring mercenaries lay on the ground like dead pigs, their eyes lifeless, white foam constantly bubbling from the corners of their mouths, their limbs twitching occasionally, and ice shards scattered all over the ground... Well, the solid ice used to hold their legs in place had been shattered.
Just as Han Xiao was about to say something, the underground space suddenly shook violently!
Rumble--
Explosions came from all directions, and for a moment, it was as if the earth was shaking!
"This is... a bombing?" Goya forced himself to stay alert, his tone slightly changing.
"Yes, that should be it. DarkStar has started bombarding the surface, trying to trigger a chain reaction that will cause the underground space to collapse, forcing us back to the surface, like driving rats out of their burrows. Once the surface encirclement is complete, we'll have nowhere to escape."
Han Xiao spoke calmly; he had anticipated such a development, which allowed him to remain composed when it actually happened.
"Is there no other way?!" Goya looked unwilling.
"We've been towing them with the spaceship for several hours; that's already the limit."
Taking a deep breath, Han Xiao slowly said, "Let's abandon ship."
Everyone was shocked. The spaceship was their only means of survival. Abandoning it would mean losing all mobility and becoming sitting ducks.