Chapter 409 Stage Is Set.

Shi Lang had taken off from the position he landed after some rest. He sensed some movement in the west and was heading there. It could be the ground support units alerted by the left-over enemy that had come to search for him.

A few miles ahead, Shi Lang spotted a convoy of lev bikes. The gear indicated that the speculation was correct. Shi Lang looked at them from the skies and said, "Such a helpful enemy. God bless them all."

Shi Lang shook his head and appeared before the lev bike closest to him. One guy controlled the bike, while the second passenger controlled the weapon to attack the target.

The sudden appearance shocked the two people, and the pilot applied breaks following his reflex. Shi Lang had a sunny smile on his face without taking the shock of the prey into account. He asked, "Where is the ground control station?"

However, before the person could answer, other units discovered Shi Lang and fired their phaser guns at him without holding back. This would have worked on anyone but Shi Lang. The young man flickered from one spot to the other and left corpses in his wake.

The shocked pilot and gunman watched the scene unfold, chills running down their spines. Even if they had been involved in killings and shady things, this was the first time they had witnessed someone this cruel.

Shi Lang ripped the spinal cord of an enemy with his bare hands. This was shocking enough for the people. They wanted to run and scream, but the fear of being targeted by this Terran was so intimidating that their bodies did not listen to their minds.

By the time Shi Lang finished dealing with the rest of the assailants, the gunman had died from fright. The Young General approached the stunned pilot and asked, "Where is the ground control station located?"

The pilot did not dare to delay and pointed a finger in a direction. Shi Lang followed the finger and spread out his spiritual sense. He frowned, then looking at the pilot with a cold gaze, he said, "Fine, I will do it myself."

He placed a hand on top of the assailant's skull and performed a soul search on him. The information he extracted described that the ground control station was underground and the high-security measures they had equipped the place with.

Shi Lang looked at the listless man in his grasp and said, "Thank you for your cooperation."

Then he operated the enemy's communicator and sent a message to his team. The enemy had access to galactic communication, but someone with an unregistered communicator could not use it. After sending the message, Shi Lang left the person to die on the ground as he moved toward the ground control station.

…

Jill was freaking out about Shi Lang when she received a message on her communicator. After reading the message, she slumped in the command chair and said, "Sonic, hold the position. We will wait for the boss to instruct us."

Sparrow asked in a surprised tone, "Boss has been located?"

Jill told them about the message, and the atmosphere relaxed a lot. Then, crystal thought about something and asked, "Why did we target this place?"

Jill smiled and said, "Aran, are you done?"

The man smiled and said, "Yes, captain, I am done."

Crystal was surprised, and Aran said, "The communications are all under control. I picked up a signal a few moments ago, but it dropped before I could determine anything significant. But from now, all that they want to say, we can hear it with ease."

Sparrow sighed and said, "I am not a good officer to relay the plans. Look at Crystal. I made her look like a doofus."

The squad chuckled and continued to listen in and assess the situation. But, unfortunately, the messages from this planetary communication unit were directed to the Ikeras high command, and now with the intervention of the Ace Division, this communication was barred and manipulated for their convenience.

…

Shi Lang moved through the void at high speed and reached where the ground control station. Quickly he found at least ten phaser canons were locked onto him.

The young man took out his handgun and then rushed out to destroy the defense system to infiltrate the station. The young man acted quickly and located the canons. Then, he shot phaser beams at the cannons while dodging the incoming beams.

…

Inside the control station, the operatives were relaying the status outside to their captain. Then, finally, an operative said, "Captain, the invader has taken down the western cannon too."

The captain frowned hard and said, "This is the fourth canon. We cannot wait inside like rats in a hole. Prepare the mech suits. I will lead the squad myself."

The operative was surprised, but then he nodded and followed the command. The captain looked at the screen where a figure was flickering from one spot to the other. The captain did not understand how this person was so fast, but he was a soldier despite the hesitations and doubts in his mind. So, the captain has decided to take action.

A few moments later, the mech squad was ready and came out of the station. The captain said, "Go spread out in teams of two. Our priority is to defend the remaining cannons until the backup arrives."

The people accepted the command and spread through the woods surrounding the station entrance. The cannon units were covered by artificial topography created by the Ikeras, making it difficult for the enemy to locate and act against them.

Shi Lang was not a typical enemy. This guy was utterly overpowering the logical mindset of the captain and the soldiers. The operatives could track his speed by the monitoring sensors they had spread throughout the forest. However, when they saw this young man traveling at unheard-of speeds, they thought this enemy was a sophisticated, highly efficient war robot.

The operative in charge of the station said, "Captain, this thing is likely to be a war robot."

…

In the warship outside the atmosphere, when Sparrow and the rest heard this, they shook their heads, and Sonic said, "Okay, they are dead.

The rest of the people nodded, and Crystal asked, "I wonder how Boss would react if he found that the people had dubbed him a war robot."

…

Shi Lang did not know that his team was having fun at his expense or would have been told to run until they fainted. The young man stopped and moved to the side as he approached a cannon unit. The phaser beam shot at him missed its target.

The young man sighed and said, "Here, I thought it would be fast."

Shi Lang did not wait for long and moved forward faster than before. His blurry figure vanished from the sensors. The man in charge said, "Show me the thermal imaging now."

The junior controlled the display and found an orange flash moving around fast. The guy on the console was surprised, and he said, "Sir, this invader is a living being. This is not the temperature of a war robot."

The officers were shocked, but by the time they could recover, Shi Lang had reached the first team of Mechs.

…

There were ten mechs. They were divided into five teams of two, and Shi Lang had just met the first. These guys were using the big machines, and the congested plantation around them needed to allow more room for maneuvering. However, Shi Lang was in paradise, and using his agility, the core of the mechs was destroyed before the enemy even had the time to process what happened.

Shi Lang came out with a different mindset than sparing anyone. He was out to deal with the Ikeras and did not mind killing the entire race if he had to.

…

After twenty minutes, Sonic said, "We are receiving a communication request from the planet."

Jill nodded, and the request was accepted. Then, from the other side, Shi Lang's voice sounded, "Get down here and initiate phase two."

Jill replied, "Sir, yes, sir."

Then she cast a gaze at Sonic and then at Aran. The latter nodded and said, "I have sent an encrypted message to X. He will forward it to the Federation."

Jill nodded, and then the ship descended through the atmosphere. Aran, in the meantime, passed a message stating that Shi Lang died under the attack from the Ikeras ground control on Zelio after he suffered severe injuries in the explosion of his space vessel.

This same message was sent to the headquarters of the Strike force. The people involved in the plan were aware of what was happening, but those who knew nothing were surprised and then found something even more shocking: the demise of a new captain.

They all found that Harley had submitted a petition, which accused the Ikeras of killing a bright and upright strike force officer. So the stage was set, and the play commenced as soon as the galactic council was to pass down the order.