"Have you heard the news about the Garton Star System lately?"
One of the portly Goddora spoke with a smile, his face a friendly, ordinary Volkswagen. This man Keton, the landlord of the place. He used to work for the Goddora Investigation Bureau, but was dismissed for dereliction of duty and served many years in prison. After his release, he moved to the Gauting Colony Planet and has lived there ever since. The other two were his friends.
"Of course I've heard it. They talk about disasters happening to many low-level civilizations in the galaxy on TV every day." Another person shook their head.
"This has nothing to do with us. Why are you bringing this up? You're not thinking of stealing a card when I'm not looking, are you?"
"Get lost," Keton said irritably, then lowered his voice and whispered, "Remember what I told you?"
Which one?
"These are stories from when I was still working at the Investigation Bureau."
"Hey, you've been bragging about this hundreds of times, we're sick of it."
Keton chuckled. "You know, that planet was also on the disaster list. I wonder what it's become over the years. I want to go back and take a look. What do you say, want to come along?"
"Are you sure? That planet isn't safe right now."
"The older you get, the more you want to see what you've accomplished," Keton laughed. "Besides, old friends are still there; they can guide us. And the relief teams are there too; we can pretend to be visitors or volunteer relief workers."
The two looked surprised upon hearing this.
"No way, he's still stuck on that native planet? Doesn't he get bored to death?"
"Idiot, his life support pod has internet access. I've been in contact with him the whole time, he..."
Keton rubbed his hands together, somewhat excited, and was about to continue speaking when the doorbell suddenly rang, ringing incessantly, startling all three of them.
"Who could be looking for me so late?"
Keton looked puzzled and muttered as he walked to the front door. He looked through the peephole and saw several unfamiliar people outside, dressed in combat uniforms with a circular pattern on their chests that he seemed to have seen somewhere before.
Keton opened the small window in the door, peeked out, and cautiously asked, "Who are you looking for?"
The other person sized them up and asked, "Are you ' Golden Midetlan '?"
Strange, how did these people know my online account nickname? Keton felt something was wrong and denied it. Just as he was about to close the window, the person outside suddenly raised a laser pistol and pointed it at Keton's forehead through the window.
Keton froze, too afraid to move, his legs trembling uncontrollably. He thought the other person was going to break in and rob him. Before he could even beg for mercy, he heard the other person's next words, and a chill of fear rushed into his heart.
Do you still remember Angley?
"I... I don't... I don't know him..." Keton's eyes widened, his lips trembling. His panic was completely different from before, as if the name was under a spell of fear.
The person outside tilted their head. "It's okay if you don't know me. If you don't want to suffer, come with me."
"Where... where are you going?"
Black Star wants to see you.
Several days later.
The Sky Ring Mercenary Group's spaceship waited quietly in the outer space of Planet Aquamarine. Han Xiao, piloting the Blacklight Stealth, spotted them from afar and approached to dock.
Only Hannes and Bennett were in the cockpit. It was their first time traveling in a spaceship into space. They stared in awe at the scenery outside, experiencing this novelty for the first time. From the ground to outer space, it only took a few seconds, and before they could even come to their senses, they were flying into space.
Han Xiao told everyone else to stay on the surface. This trip was just a handover and didn't need to be a big deal. The progress on Sky Ring was encouraging. Following the clues he had given them, they found Angley's friend, who seemed to be named Keton. He seemed to know Angley's background. It took some effort to bring Keton out.
The spaceship docked, the hatch opened, and several Sky Ring mercenaries escorted Keton to meet with Han Xiao and his two companions. After exchanging greetings, Han Xiao looked at Keton, who was Goddora man with a panicked expression and eyes full of fear.
"Don't be afraid, I just want you to tell me some information." Han Xiao took out Angley's portrait and said, "You know this person, right?"
Keton shook his head repeatedly, like a rattle-drum.
The Sky Ring mercenary interjected, "I tested him for lying; he's faking it."
"You seem so scared, you probably know something inside. Let me ask you directly... Are you involved in the past wars on Planet Aquamarine?" Han Xiao raised an eyebrow, realizing he might have caught the real culprit.
"No! I've never heard of Planet Aquamarine! You've arrested the wrong person!" Keton's teeth chattered, and naturally, no one believed him.
Han Xiao took out a metal piece the size of a fingernail, stuck it to Keton's neck, and then activated it with Mechanical Force. Keton's whole body trembled violently, his eyes rolled back, his whole body shook, and he collapsed to the ground convulsing uncontrollably, losing control of his bladder and bowels.
"Let me introduce it," Han Xiao pointed to the metal plate, "This little cutie, once activated, will release a high voltage, it's really powerful. If you like this feeling, then never say a word, just enjoy it slowly."
Electrotherapy is a form of violent interrogation. The panel shows that Keton's attributes are just those of an ordinary person, not a superhuman.
Like a fish out of water, Keton thrashed about after being electrocuted. After a few minutes, he begged for mercy, tears streaming down his face, promising to reveal all the information he knew in exchange for being spared torture.
The group helped Keton up and placed him on a chair to catch his breath. They then put a lie detector on him. Keton's hands and feet were still trembling. He glanced guiltily at Han Xiao and began to tell his story.
"I... I used to be a low-level member of the Goddora Investigation Bureau... That was decades ago. At that time, Goddora had just discovered the civilization of Planet Aquamarine. A low-level civilization still on the surface primarily engaged in observation, and my job was to observe the development of this new civilization over a long period, then make assessments and submit them as reference opinions to the War Bureau or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs... This job was easy, but also very boring..."
"Get to the point, what exactly is your connection to the war on Planet Aquamarine?" Hannes pressed.
Keton's lips trembled as he whispered, "That... that was me. I used my position to send someone to Planet Aquamarine and have him secretly instigate a war..."
"It really is related to Goddora!" Hannes roared in anger, Bennett, standing beside him, also stood up abruptly, his face full of rage.
"How exactly was it done?" Han Xiao found it a bit strange.
Keton recounted the story, which involved posing as visitors from an advanced civilization, making private contacts with various countries, making false promises, or emphasizing theories—in any case, the words of advanced alien civilizations were easily accepted by native civilizations. Then, they secretly stirred up trouble. During this time, they encountered people with ulterior motives, but the disguised envoys had invisible spaceships and were not afraid at all.
At that time, Planet Aquamarine had just learned of the existence of advanced civilizations in interstellar space. It was a critical moment when the worldviews of people around the world were being challenged, and the global landscape was in chaos. If things had continued to evolve naturally, there might have been a chance for things to stabilize again, and countries would have deepened their cooperation and entered a new era through peaceful means. This was the rational approach.
But at this critical juncture, aliens are secretly stirring up trouble and exacerbating the conflict. Once the flames of war are ignited, they will spread like wildfire, drawing even countries that do not want to go to war into the vortex, making it impossible for them to remain uninvolved.
Finally, the ancient war broke out on Planet Aquamarine, leaving only Six Nations. The theory of internal strife was the root cause, but more importantly, the "envoys of advanced civilizations" guided the development of civilizations towards war. Most of the envoys' records were destroyed.
Hannes had suspected this before, and now he felt that his guess had been confirmed, and he was furious. Bennett the same way; they were both veterans of the war, and now they felt a chill run down their spines.
The civilization now aiding Planet Aquamarine was the mastermind behind their past schemes. Why would an interstellar civilization do this? Is it to annex Planet Aquamarine? Or is it eliminating a potential enemy?!
"What about Angley?" Han Xiao asked, frowning.
"We've been friends since childhood. We used to study together at the Academy of Public Cognition, but I had better grades and got into an academy under the Investigation Bureau. Later, he moved away from his home planet, and we didn't see each other for a while, but our relationship remained good. So I asked him to cooperate, to pretend to be an envoy, while I stayed at my post to cover for him."
Han Xiao was about to nod when he suddenly realized something was wrong. His eyes flashed, and he said in a deep voice, "Why is it Angley who is impersonating the envoy? He's just an ordinary citizen."
He noticed something suspicious. If Goddora had done this, she would have sent a professional; why would she have chosen Angley? Did Angley have another identity?