Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Upon noticing the Sacred Wing official's expression, I pressed, "Looks like you know Wind Spirit. Or maybe it's Master Wind you know?" 

"Don't bother. I won't tell you anything," the official finally said, his voice laced with arrogance.

"Kid, look around you before you speak if you don't want to suffer any pain. This place is so noisy that even if you start screaming, nobody will help you," said Zhang Bao'er.

The Sacred Wing official snapped, "Don't insult me by referring to me as a kid. This one is called Temo," 

"Temo, Domo, hehe, the Jidos are really funny with their names. Must they have a 'mo' in every single name?" Zhang Bao'er sneered.

Fury covered Temo's face upon hearing Zhang Bao'er's mention of Jidos.

"Do not mistake our noble blood for the lowly peasants known as Jidos. That is the biggest insult to us Sacred Wings," said Temo furiously.

His words piqued my interest. From his words, it was clear the relationship between the Sacred Wing race and the Jido race ran deeper than I thought.

Dodo went straight to the point."Don't get so sidetracked. Tell me, what are you building here? Also, how do we leave?" 

"Trying to get information from me, fatty? Don't even dream of it. I won't tell you anything even if you kill me," said Temo with complete disdain on his face.

This Sacred Wing official was surprisingly stubborn, and our interrogation was stuck in a deadlock.

"Canyue, I'll cut off his left hand first. We'll see if he remains stubborn after that," said Anxashe as he stood up with his blade.

I knew Anxashe was merely posturing to scare Temo, but since he had accidentally killed someone in the warehouse, I did not want to take the risk. In any case, it wouldn't be right to torture during an interrogation. Thus, I refused his request.

Temo's head was still raised high. He seemed to have no fear of death. Suddenly, Old Du stood up, walked over, and whispered into my ear. My eyes lit up when I heard his suggestion. I immediately nodded, giving him my approval.

With my permission, Old Du walked up to Temo, took off his own helmet, and played a video on it. In the video, Domo's face could be clearly seen. Disgust covered Temo's face upon seeing Domo in the video. The sight of Domo's unceasing bickering with Zhang Bao'er in the video caused his expression to turn even uglier. After seeing Temo's reaction, Old Du stopped playing the video.

"Temo, what you saw is the fiercest warrior among us. He is a Jido, and his name is Domo. He is currently heading over from the warehouse across from here. If you don't answer our questions, we will have no choice but to have Domo personally interrogate you," said Old Du, threatening Temo with a lie.

"Dodo, the last group is going to enter the workshop now," reported a Wargod soldier. That was quite a pleasant coincidence.

That threat seemed to have worked on Temo.

"No. Don't let the filthy peasant do something like that to me. That is the biggest insult to our noble bloodline. I would rather die than be subjected to that!" said Temo. Worry was apparent on his face.

"If you're willing to work with us and tell me something about this workshop, I won't make things difficult for you. I'll even send the Jido on a mission somewhere else," said Old Du.

I could see beads of sweat forming on Temo's forehead. I could almost feel the mental struggle going on in his mind.

"Alright. Send that fellow away, and I'll work with you," said Temo. It seemed that his disgust toward Jidos was at an even higher level than we had guessed.

Old Du then signaled Zhang Bao'er with his eyes. Zhang Bao'er immediately understood Old Du's meaning.

"Hey, Domo isn't with your group, right? If not, tell him to keep waiting," Zhang Bao'er talked to the communicator.

"He's not here—" 

Zhang Bao'er cut the communication at that.

'Zhang Bao'er is quite a crafty one, it seems,' I praised inwardly.

"We have fulfilled our promise. You can answer our questions now, right?" asked Old Du.

"Sigh." Temo helplessly sighed and asked, "What exactly do you want to know?"

"Nothing too complicated. What is the weapon outside? What is its purpose?" Old Du went straight to the question we cared most about.

"It's better if you don't know. You will only shatter your own confidence after getting the answer you want," said Temo. He was still unwilling to give us the information we wanted.

"Don't you worry about that. What have we not seen before? We've even seen a moon turning into an animal before. Nothing can shock us. Just tell us," said Old Du firmly, dispelling any excuse Temo could have for avoiding the question.

Once again, Temo sank into an intense mental struggle. Ultimately, his disgust over Jidos prevailed over his unwillingness to leak any information.

"It is a superweapon, a part of a super robot. This robot specializes in moving planets and altering their trajectory," said Temo, revealing an extremely shocking piece of information.

"Moving planets? Are you kidding? With the size of the thing outside, it won't be able to move an entire planet," said Zhang Bao'er in disbelief.

"Hmph. I told you the truth would frighten you yet you refuse to believe me. What you saw is merely a small part of the superweapon," Temo derided.

"A small part? How small?" I pressed on, trying to get a clearer answer.

"About 1/10000 of the superweapon. For the past five years, this planet has been focused on this superweapon. All the other workshops are also here for the purpose of manufacturing its various parts," said Temo.

"You mean there are about 10,000 workshops dedicated to manufacturing the different parts of this superweapon on this planet?" asked Old Du.

"Yes. From the information I have and the work I have performed for the past few years, this entire planet is currently focused on the production of this superweapon," answered Temo confidently.

I asked, "When will the weapon be completed?" 

"According to the plan, it should finish in about 500 Betelgeuse days," said Temo.

Everyone sank into silence, utterly stunned by the prowess displayed by Emperor Fille.

"I still find this fellow hard to believe. A single robot can move an entire planet? What is that robot? Superman?" said Zhang Bao'er.

"That is still possible. Archimedes of Blue once said this: 'Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world.' So long as they find the correct lever and fulcrum, they can move even planets," said Dodo, showing their support for Temo.

"Hehe, that is a principle of a backward civilization like yours. This super robot does not require a fulcrum to move a planet," said Temo, completely disregarding Dodo's support.

"In that case, how would it accomplish altering the trajectory of a planet without touching it?" asked Dodo.

"Can you tell me what makes a black hole float? Why can it devour stars without any external source of power? What is the origin of a black hole's power?" questioned Temo instead of answering.

This novel is available on bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

"Th-that..." those questions had gone beyond the scope of Dodo's database, so they were unable to answer.

"The super robot draws its power from the core of a star. Planets are nothing but toys for it. It possesses the strength of the Creator. It is a mighty feat of engineering that can not be defied. It is a level of existence beyond a star-level civilization," said Temo as excitement filled his eyes.

"Planet-level civilization, star-level civilization. Is this how civilizations are graded on Eternal?" asked Dodo like a child thirsty for knowledge.

"Is there a civilization on Eternal?" Temo asked a question that we couldn’t understand.

'Looks like Emperor Fille has obtained a supremely high level of technology from the Horsehead Nebula that we can hardly match. This is too terrifying of an opponent,' I thought.

"Canyue, this weapon is too scary. If this fellow is telling the truth, wouldn't it be able to easily move any planets to any appointed position? All living beings on the chosen planets will be completely at their mercy," said Zhang Bao'er anxiously.

"Yes. We must destroy this monster," said Old Du.

I was about to voice my agreement when Dodo asked a different question.

They asked, "This planet is here to manufacture the superweapon known as the planet transporter. Since there are 27 planets here, what are the other planets doing? Is there anything even more shocking than the planet transporter?"

Temo stared deeply at Dodo's iron head before saying, "Is a superweapon not enough to shatter your confidence? Are you trying to be further insulted by your inferiority?"

"You bastard, just spit it out already. I'm not afraid of all the stuff you're capable of pulling. I am the bane of your emperor!" said Zhang Bao'er furiously.

"Why would I care if you're the emperor's bane? The Sacred Wing race only cares about contributing our wisdom to the grandest and greatest of technologies in the universe," replied Temo, giving an answer that caused me to be astonished.

Temo's disregard for the emperor gave me some hope that we could cooperate.

"Respected Scientist Temo, if possible, can you tell us about the other 26 planets? If you really don't want to, I won't force you. As promised earlier, we will be happy with learning about this workshop," I said.

Temo blanked out slightly upon hearing my words, but a few seconds later, his eyes flickered. It seemed he was really going to tell me something.

Sarje, who had been sent out to receive the final group of soldiers coming over from the warehouse, suddenly warned, "Shit! The beast patrols are here! They seem to have discovered Temo's disappearance!"