Interstellar Survival: Invasion

"What do you have in mind?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"Bao'er, look at the Sacred Wing official at the registration counter. From my observations, he is unguarded and is working alone. Won't we know everything after capturing and questioning him?" suggested Old Du.

We hurriedly crowded around the ventilation cover to look at the official in question. The official was sitting alone behind a round table at the entrance to the room with piles of ores. There was not a single guard around him.

"There is a small path behind the left pile that can lead to his back. We can use that path to sneak up on him," suggested Old Du.

"Old Du, you'll watch our backs. I'll sneak over with Canyue and capture him. We can't let Anxashe go for this. He hits too hard," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Wait. Look at his left hand. Beside it, there's a gun leaning against the table," said Old Du.

I hurriedly used my laser probe to further observe. Sure enough, there was a raygun resting beside the official.

"Canyue, four Wargods are heading toward the workshop. Be ready to receive them," Dodo's voice rang out from the communicator.

"If we're making a move, we better make it quick. We'll capture this fellow before the second group arrives," I ordered decisively.

"Old Du, watch our backs. Canyue and I will go," Zhang Bao'er repeated his request.

With a nod from Old Du, Zhang Bao'er and I opened the ventilation cover and moved out of the pipe. Zhang Bao'er took the lead with his laser gun raised. I followed closely behind him and acted as his cover.

The loud noise inside the workshop had acted as the perfect cover for the noises we made when moving. Before we realized it, we were already behind the Sacred Wing official. The official was focused on working on some numbers, completely unaware that someone was behind him.

After looking around and confirming that there were no guards, I signaled Zhang Bao'er with my eyes. Our excellent teamwork was displayed as he immediately understood my meaning. Both of us rushed forth at once. Zhang Bao'er quickly covered the official's mouth with his hand to prevent the official from calling for help while I pressed my gun against the official's skull.

"Stop resisting, or I'll pull the trigger," I said as I kicked away the raygun resting against the table.

Fear filled the official's eyes when he saw us. He had probably not expected to encounter an enemy here.

"Argh! Bastard, you dare to bite me?" Zhang Bao'er suddenly cursed and struck the official's neck, instantly knocking the official unconscious.

"Damn it, fatty! What are you doing?" I asked in agitation.

"He bit me! I reacted instinctively!" said Zhang Bao'er with the expression of someone who had been wronged. I could clearly see the bite mark on his palm.

"We're lucky this fellow is still alive," I said in relief after bending down and checking that the official was still breathing.

At that time, the laborers arrived with the second group of our soldiers. They all appeared surprised to see the Sacred Wing official and us, but the laborers did not stay for long. After opening the crates and releasing the soldiers, they left for the third group.

"What should we do now? Do we dig in or hide inside the pipe?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"Canyue, you guys should return to the pipe with the captive. Anxashe found a nice spot in here," said Old Du.

"Follow Old Du's suggestion. We'll retreat," I ordered.

Zhang Bao'er lifted the unconscious official, preparing to walk back to the pipe.

"Bao'er, will we alert the patrol if we leave this place empty like this?" I asked after glancing at the empty registration counter.

"It's not like we have a better choice. Look at these Wargods. Every single one of them is a big guy. None of them is fit to impersonate this little fellow," said Zhang Bao'er helplessly.

"Sigh, it would be great if Domo were here," I muttered before leading everyone back to the ventilation duct.

At that point, Dodo had notified us that Sarje and the chainless laborer were prepared to sneak over in the third group.

"Old Du, where's the nice spot you mentioned?" I asked the moment we were back in the pipe.

"Come with me," said Anxashe before moving away.

After we traveled about 50 meters inside the pipe, a large room appeared before us. There were several ventilation covers lining the walls of the room, but the room itself was empty. It looked like a place previously used to house some large installations.

"We can finally stand straight again. It's torture having to bend over all the time in the pipe," said Zhang Bao'er as he leaped out of the ventilation duct.

"Canyue, look at this big guy," said Anxashe. He was crouched beside one of the ventilation covers looking outside.

Hearing Anxashe's words, we rushed over curiously before looking out of the cover as well.

A part of a giant object appeared before our eyes. The gigantic object we saw looked like a leg, and it was big enough to fill an entire room. The leg was decorated with numerous spikes, and electrical currents could be seen constantly running along the spikes. Numerous flying devices were moving all around it, either transporting other objects or performing maintenance work.

"My god. What monster is this? Is this the leg of a robot or a monster? How can it be so big? How big will the robot itself be?" said Zhang Bao'er whose mouth was agape with shock.

"This looks like the leg of an armed robot. I wonder how the robot looks in its entirety," I said. I was just as shocked as Zhang Bao'er.

"We'll know after waking that fellow up and asking him," suggested Zhang Bao'er.

That was a good idea to quickly get our answer. We turned around, but surprisingly, the Sacred Wing official had vanished.

"Shit! That fellow had awakened and fled while we were looking at the super weapon outside," said Zhang Bao'er anxiously.

"We can't allow him to escape, or all of us will be exposed," I said. I had barely finished my words when Anxashe shot forth like an arrow.

All of us were anxious. This concerned the life and death of our entire group. This served as a harsh lesson that we could never afford to be careless. Some chaotic noises rang out ahead of us. Shortly after, Anxashe returned with the Sacred Wing official in tow. Dodo and the others were following behind him.

"Good thing we arrived in time. We encountered this fleeing fellow and captured him immediately," said Sarje smugly.

"Nicely done. You saved all of us," I praised. A proud smile appeared on Sarje's face.

We returned to the big room and formed a circle around the Sacred Wing official. Anxashe stepped forth and removed the hood covering the official's head. Unsurprisingly, the official had the face of a Jido. It also seemed like most Jidos looked almost the same.

Zhang Bao'er impatiently questioned the Jido, "Answer me. What weapons are you building in this base? Tell the truth, or you'll regret it."

The official shot Zhang Bao'er a cold look and didn't say anything. He looked like he would rather die than speak.

"You bastard. You're still trying to act unyielding? Let me teach you a good lesson, invader," threatened Zhang Bao'er.

However, our captive had a look of disdain on his face and showed no fear. If this was a psychological game they were playing, he was firmly holding the upper hand over Zhang Bao'er. This time, Zhang Bao'er did not erupt in temper like usual. In any case, we didn't have experience in interrogating captives. With that, Zhang Bao'er's plan failed.

"Anxashe, give this a try," said Zhang Bao'er, finally deciding to throw the responsibility onto Anxashe's lap after some thought.

Hearing his name, Anxashe drew his dagger and stepped forth.

"Anxashe, wait. Let me try," Dodo suddenly said.

"Dodo, are you sure you can do it? You're a droid," asked Zhang Bao'er.

Dodo ignored Zhang Bao'er's worthless words and said to the official, "Hello. I'm Dodo from the Interstellar League. We wish to learn something, and I hope you can assist us with it."

Unfortunately, the captive still refused to answer. An awkward silence descended.

Becoming impatient, Zhang Bao'er said, "Stop wasting time with him. Anxashe, just go give him a beating. Let's see if he can keep his mouth shut after that."

"Shut up! Let Dodo talk to him." I stopped Zhang Bao'er.

Looking at the official who was stubbornly keeping his mouth shut, Dodo skewed their head to the side, seemingly deep in thought.

"Do you know Wind Spirit?" Dodo suddenly asked.

The official's eyes flickered at the mention of Wind Spirit's name, but the look quickly disappeared.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.