Support From Motherland

Steward Cangming, who oversaw national affairs and the people's livelihoods, was a renowned conservative who favored a cautious approach.

Until they had an overwhelming advantage over the enemy, he still advocated keeping a low profile and building up their strength.

An intense discussion was underway when, without warning, a piercing air-raid siren tore through the peace above Changle Palace!

"Woo-woo-woo-!"

The people in the meeting all shot to their feet and stared outside the hall in shock.

Was this madness? What place was this?

Rainbows spanned ten thousand miles above Changle, while a thousand years of golden spears rose from Weiyang!

This was the royal capital of six dynasties on Eastern Xia soil, the spiritual totem of the dragon people, the center of a civilization passed down for ten thousand years!

Inscriptions on the Nine Cauldrons forged a realm of ten thousand miles that would endure forever; great waves and the east wind shook heaven and earth, echoing through eight thousand years. A superpower in Blue Star's first tier, one of the top three permanent members, flew banners that covered the sky and snapped in the wind.

Who would dare launch a surprise attack here?

The air-raid siren grew shriller and more piercing with every wail. By the time the elders hurried out of Linhua Hall and stood beneath its eaves, loyal Feathered Forest Guard troops were converging on them from every direction at an almost frantic pace.

The young captain of the Feathered Forest Guard had bloodshot eyes as he shouted himself hoarse:

"Unidentified object detected! It's diving straight at Yongning Hall from outer space at high speed!"

At that moment, the capital garrison's command center was in an uproar.

Military radar had long since picked up the uninvited visitor. It had circled above Eastern Xia in outer space for over ten minutes, moving at a ghostly speed of nearly Mach 6.

Its abnormal trajectory had instantly triggered a Heaven-level alert, and Eastern Xia State's integrated surveillance platform had locked onto it.

Preliminary calculations showed that the object was only a dozen or so cubic centimeters in volume, a result that eased some of the tension in the command center.

It was too small to look like a fully formed lethal weapon, and more like satellite debris or a micrometeorite.

But its flight path was far too suspicious, so the military had no choice but to keep a close watch.

Then, in the very next second, the tiny blip suddenly made a right-angle turn in space, accelerated sharply, and cut straight toward the surface from beyond the Kármán line!

The radar supercomputer instantly predicted its trajectory: it was heading straight for the capital of Xia State.

The maneuver defied all convention, and its resistance to the forces involved defied common sense and physics. The Eastern Xia capital's imperial guard immediately sounded the alarm.

"Emergency authorization! Fire! Fire! Saturation interception!!!"

When the grand councilors looked up at the sky, Torrent missiles from the capital imperial guard corps' air-defense base were already streaking into the clouds one after another, trailing blazing plumes!

Under the order for saturation interception, every combat-ready short- and medium-range air-defense missile in the imperial guard's air-defense force was launched, filling the sky with a web of crisscrossing arrows.

Aircraft on combat standby took off one after another, accelerating furiously as if their lives depended on it. Within seconds of taking to the air, they left brilliant Mach rings in their wake.

Without needing to lock on, the fighters fired their air-to-air missiles in succession, using the early-warning radar system to guide them toward the designated target.

Then, on the radar screens, the tiny blip made an incredible sharp turn and effortlessly slipped through the lethal encirclement of the first wave of Torrent missiles!

A signal came through the headset that the "enemy" had broken through the interception fire. The Feathered Forest Guard captain in charge of defending Yongning Hall nearly burst his eyes with alarm. "Quick! Escort them out!!"

Donghuang Tianshu still did not fully understand what was happening, but from the scene, the grand councilor could guess the general situation.

Donghuang Tianshu pushed aside the Feathered Forest Guard who had come to offer support, commanding respect without anger. "Why hide? If we can't defend against an attack like this, no matter how vast Xia State is, where could we hide?"

"I'll stand right here. I'm not going anywhere. I want to see what this thing is!"

From the Kármán line to the ground, it took only a little over twenty seconds. Even including the despair-inducing evasive maneuvers, only half a minute had passed.

In the blink of an eye, the unidentified object had bypassed all the interception fire and was plunging straight toward the ground.

Every imperial guard commander who saw it felt as though they had fallen into an ice cave. Only the loyal Feathered Forest Guard troops rushed forward, surrounding the grand councilors and trying to use their bodies to block the unknown impact.

A white rainbow pierced the sun! A streak of fire tore through the air!

The unidentified object, whose terminal velocity had exceeded Mach 15, was about to strike the glazed golden roof of Weiyang Palace. As the grand councilors and Feathered Forest Guard troops watched with wide eyes, it hovered in midair in complete defiance of physics, then drifted unsteadily to the ground.

Before anyone could recover, the little cylinder gave a soft click. Several slender metal limbs extended like the arms and legs of a stick figure. It clumsily smacked against the ground and let out a loud, urgent cry.

It spoke Eastern Xia's language with perfect clarity.

"Mom, help!"

"..."

More than ten minutes later.

Several grand councilors of Eastern Xia's central dynasty had, for once, abandoned all dignity. Like a group of curious old children, they huddled head to head and squatted before the inconspicuous little thing, examining it closely from every angle.

It was not that the Feathered Forest Guard had failed to do their utmost. More than a dozen tough men had used every trick they knew to chase, surround, and intercept it, yet they could not even touch a single "metal hair" on it.

Every time, it dodged and darted through the smallest openings, persistently making for the Eastern Xia grand councilors and shouting "Help!"

"Everyone, move aside!"

The Feathered Forest Guard troops formed a circle as though facing a formidable enemy, glaring at it with more than a dozen guns aimed forward.

The little thing hopped up to the grand councilors and turned left and right. Finally, it seemed to settle on Donghuang Tianshu. With a click, it opened the round cover on its chest and spat out a sheet of dark yellow paper.

The paper floated into the air and unfolded on its own. It even turned itself so the writing faced Donghuang Tianshu. The very first line was written in Xia State's script:

"Dear Motherland, I am your child, stranded in another world!"

The letter's contents were not complicated. After briefly explaining his situation, Chen Mo humbly begged the Eastern Xia State citizen who received the letter to pass it on to the government as soon as possible. He then begged the Eastern Xia government to give him a little support.

Just a little would do! Even a handgun!

The latter half of the letter recorded detailed instructions for using the all-important "beacon."

After swiftly reading the letter, the grand councilors exchanged glances.

Twelve seconds later, Xia State's Changle Palace was sealed off under heavy security. Entry was permitted, but no one was allowed out.

At one minute and nine seconds, after radar confirmed that all the anti-air missiles that had lost their targets had fallen into uninhabited areas, the capital lifted the air-raid alert. At the same time, everyone involved surrendered their communication devices and entered temporary isolation.

At three minutes and fifty seconds, a special advisory group was brought directly into Changle Palace by car. They were to answer questions put to them at random by one of the grand councilors.

The first question was a math problem: multiplying three-digit numbers.

The second was a question and answer: an Eastern Xia State citizen lost in the Amazon Rainforest needed support, and they were to propose a loadout of supplies under a certain weight limit.

The questions that followed grew stranger and stranger, and the rules were exceedingly strict. Each answer had to be handed in as soon as it was finished, as though they were racing an invisible clock.

At twelve minutes and forty seconds, the first batch of designated supplies, packed by the military's logistics headquarters, was secretly transported along a dedicated route to Yongning Hall deep within Changle Palace. At the same time, several transport helicopters were flying toward the military helipad closest to Changle Palace.

At twenty-six minutes, at a university in Ping'an City, Nanjiang Province, three thousand kilometers away, several solemn-looking middle-aged people carrying State Security Bureau credentials knocked on the door of the university president's office, accompanied by criminal investigators from the municipal bureau.

"We're investigating a classified case and need to review some students' records. Please cooperate!"

Although the security personnel did not know what they were looking for, they nevertheless recorded every file conscientiously.

The security division chief leading them selected documents at random and occasionally asked a few questions.

"How did these former faculty and staff members perform while they worked here? Why did they leave?"

"Why were applications submitted to discontinue these majors?"

"Was there any bid-rigging in last year's router procurement process?"

"Hmm? A student here went missing after saving someone, is that right? Tell me about him."

At forty-four minutes, the teleportation beacon placed inside Yongning Hall emitted a hazy white light.

Behind a hastily erected bulletproof glass partition, the grand councilors held their breath and watched the miraculous scene with their own eyes: the altar beacon, no bigger than an apple, swallowed a package the size of a medium suitcase amid a rising cloud of smoke.

The little stick figure's arms folded gently inward, returning it to its original silent cylindrical form. It moved no more.

The heart-stopping upheaval had finally come to an end.

The grand councilors looked up. The stars were hidden by the sun's rosy light, and they did not know which star's faint glimmer connected them to the other world that bore the cry for help from a child far from home.

"Stop looking!" Steward Cangming clapped his hands, drawing everyone's thoughts back to reality. His voice carried a trace of helplessness.

"We'd better hurry and think about how to handle international public opinion after a commotion this big."

Chapter 4: Support From Motherland

Prolonged, excessive use of his mental power had given Chen Mo a terrible headache.

The pain was indescribable, unbearable.

It was as though someone had sawed open his skull, pried the crack apart by hand, then sprinkled Sichuan peppercorns, mustard, salt, and fennel inside... and stirred it with a stick.

Although biology said the brain had no pain receptors, Chen Mo still thought that would hurt terribly.

After resting for he did not know how long, Chen Mo finally began to recover.

He sensed the altar's response.

The summoning worked! I've got backing now, so I can't keep risking my life like this!

He pulled a small handful of fluorite from the broken cabinet, which had nothing left but its door and bottom panel, and tossed it all into the old lampstand. By its light, Chen Mo opened the mystery box.

No, he was eagerly receiving the newbie gift pack Motherland had sent him.

A sheet of paper was attached in a conspicuous spot on top of the package.

Chen Mo slowly unfolded it. It was a handwritten letter, and the very first sentence read: "Hello, Comrade Chen Mo!"

A warm current surged through Chen Mo's heart.

He called me comrade!

The letter was short, written in elegant, slightly hurried running script. Between the lines, the writer's excitement seemed almost visible.

"We have read your letter. Thank you for placing your trust in the motherland!

"Alone so far from home, separated by who knows how many thousands of miles, remember that protecting yourself must be your first priority. Keep yourself safe so you can be of use in the future.

"The supplies were sent in haste and may not cover everything. We hope they can be of some help to you.

"There are three attachments. The first is an inventory and instructions for use. Please read them carefully and familiarize yourself with their operation.

"The second contains some suggestions based on the problems you described. They are for reference only; you must still adapt to circumstances as they arise.

"The third contains procedures for comparison experiments that can measure the gravitational constant, atmospheric density, and other parameters of the world you are in. An attached table lists weapon specifications under different conditions. Please consult it and use the weapons with caution.

"Please remember, whatever difficulties you encounter, you must keep going. Eastern Xia's more than one billion compatriots will always be your steadfast support!