CH 132

"Canyue, take my suit and leave with the king and the duke," said Zhang Xingxing.

I was reluctant to part with her so soon after our reunion, but for the sake of the mission, I had no choice.

"Wait for me. I promise to return quickly this time" I said.

She winked and indicated her trust in me. The four people slated to leave finished their preparations, and we set off immediately. After going through the bubble gate, I walked in front alongside the duke's assistant. It did not take us long to reach the area covered by the red fog.

Everyone advanced carefully, and after roughly 20 minutes, we came to the opening in the gate. I took a look outside and broke out in cold sweat. Countless imperial drones were visible outside the gate.

"Shit. The drones have surrounded the gate," I said.

"Where are our reinforcements? Get them to provide cover immediately," said Duke Yidon.

"Kelly, Kelly, I have reached the gate with Duke Yidon. Where are you?" I called out to my communicator.

"Canyue, we're above the underground entrance, waiting outside the red fog. The imperial drones have surrounded the entrance. With Fearless alone, we won't be able to break through," said Kelly.

"Major Kelly, this is Duke Yidon speaking. Immediately notify Captain Carter to commence the rescue operation. Start the operation within 10 minutes," said Duke Yidon as he snatched my communicator.

"Yes, Duke. I'll notify him immediately," Kelly immediately got to work after receiving her order.

"Xink, work with Canyue and establish a defensive perimeter around the king and me. Do not allow any enemy to get in here," said Duke Yidon to his assistant.

"Yes, Duke." The assistant immediately extended his shield to cover the entire opening.

"Reporting to the duke, I am Captain Carter. The fleet has arrived outside Akko. In five minutes, the rescue operation will begin," Captain Carter's voice came from the communicator.

"Very good. Try to start as soon as possible," replied the duke.

"Carter, the underground entrance is covered by a red toxic fog. You need to enter with your ship. Also, we need 200 morph-capable suits to protect everyone during our retreat. The enemy ground forces are roughly three kilometers away from the fog," said Kelly.

Five minutes later, the operation was about to start. At that time, I suddenly noticed that Zhang Bao'er and Old Du were both still outside the gate.

"Bao'er, can you hear me?" I called out anxiously.

"Yes. We're also aware of the rescue operation. Old Du and I are hiding in a tank outside the gate. We are ready to retreat at any time," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Were you able to find a way to deal with the poison?" I asked.

"No. I tried cleaning it with water, but it didn't work. That Gando's blood is too sticky," said Zhang Bao'er.

As we spoke, intense explosions rang out in the sky. I used my scanner probe to see through the red fog and saw that above the palace and outside the planet's atmosphere were bright explosions. Shortly after, several Zeus-class battleships were inside the atmosphere.

"Duke, Kelly, I have broken through the Southstar Army's defensive line. Prepare for retreat," Carter's voice came.

A few minutes later, one of the Zeus-class battleships managed to break free from the battle and flew toward us. The ground artillery started shooting the battleship. Countless laser beams and artillery shells struck the ship's shield, creating numerous dazzling explosions. A few other battleships entered the atmosphere behind the first battleship, but they were quickly entangled with the imperial forces.

"Duke, Star has managed to break through the blockade. We are heading your way. The rest of the battleships will bring up the rear. We will arrive at the appointed location in roughly five minutes," said Captain Carter.

"Carter, the underground entrance is surrounded by drones," Kelly reminded.

"Canyue, retreat with the duke to a safe position. We'll be launching the electromagnetic missile soon," said Carter.

"Roger," I carried out the command and brought the duke to a corner in the tunnel.

Then, the sounds of a missile whizzing through the air rang out followed by a deafening rumble. The intense electromagnetic waves caused our shields to shake, and the sounds of dropping machines came from outside the gate. I stepped forth to take a look and saw that the electromagnetic missile had scrambled the system of the air defense drones, causing them to drop one after another.

"Canyue, the electromagnetic scrambler will only last for 10 minutes. An unmanned shuttle will be coming for you shortly," said Captain Carter.

Support us at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.

"Roger. We're ready," I said.

Shortly after, the sounds of an approaching unmanned shuttle could be heard from the opening in the gate.

"Duke, Your Majesty, our rescue has arrived. Please board the shuttle," I said.

"Canyue, we saw the shuttle," Zhang Bao'er's voice came from the communicator.

"Board the shuttle and retreat," I ordered.

Assistant Xink and I covered the king and the duke as they boarded the shuttle. The surrounding drones had been temporarily disabled by the electromagnetic missile, whereas the red fog had stopped the enemy ground forces from attacking. This was the best chance for us to escape.

Two figures ran over from the midst of the red fog. They were Zhang Bao'er and Old Du. The moment they arrived, they also boarded the shuttle. After everyone boarded, the shuttle took off toward the battleship Star. The moment it took off, countless artillery shells were fired from the distant tanks and bombarded the area in front of the gate.

"That was a close call. We were only a tiny bit ahead of them," said Zhang Bao'er.

The poison-laden shuttle flew toward Star quickly. At that time, I noticed two imperial Milky Way–class battleships flying toward Star at a rapid speed. Behind them were hundreds of fighter drones. The situation was getting urgent. The shuttle quickly completed the docking procedure with Star. The moment the procedure was completed, the battleship soared into outer space.

"Carter, what's going on? There are still hundreds of people awaiting our rescue," I roared into my communicator.

"Private, my priority is the duke and the king. We will only rescue the others if the situation permits. With the imperial ships surrounding us quickly, we must retreat, or everyone will be put in danger," said Captain Carter.

"You bastard! You tricked us! Go back there and help the others!" I roared.

Zhang Bao'er also roared, "Stop, or I'll blast your ship apart!" 

"Private! Are you disobeying?" Captain Carter roared back.

"Carter, if you don't pull back, don't blame me for going overboard. So what if I'm disobeying? It's not like this is my first time!" I threatened ferociously.

"What do you intend to do?" asked Xink as he aimed his gun at me.

Instantly, three other guns were aimed at Duke Yidon.

"Young man, do you understand the consequences of your actions?" asked Duke Yidon.

"You are the dishonest ones. Stop, or we'll simply die together," I said.

At that moment, the door opened, revealing the docking bridge between the shuttle and the battleship. Carter and about a dozen armed soldiers rushed through the door.

"Private, you are openly revolting. Put down your gun," demanded Carter loudly.

"Captain, I am well aware that everyone here is protected by morph-capable shields. But if you don't return and help the trapped people, I'll activate the nuclear warhead," I said.

"Canyue, what happened?" I suddenly heard Kelly's voice from the communicator.

"Your brother went back on his word and decided to abandon Zhang Xingxing and the others. He is escaping without them," I replied.

No reply came from the communicator.

"Captain, the two Milky Way–class battleships are getting close. We won't be able to retreat in time if we don't do it now," reported an official beside Carter.

The atmosphere turned tense. Only a little spark was needed for the situation to escalate further.

"Private, I can't risk all the lives on an entire battleship to rescue them. We must retreat first before coming up with a different plan. I promise that I won't abandon them. After all, King Xido's son, Prince Toruse, is also down there," said Duke Yidon.

Perhaps the talk about all the lives on the ship had moved me, causing me to glance at Zhang Bao'er and Old Du. They both indicated their support for any decision I made.

"Dondon, come pick us up on Fearless. Carter, help us take off our poisoned suits and detoxify them first. I also need 200 sets of suits and weapons," I made my demand.

"Alright. I agree," said Carter after looking at the duke and receiving a nod.

"Order all the participating ships to pull out of the planet with Star. Have Fearless follow us as we retreat," said Carter.

A few soldiers made use of mechanical arms and morph-capable shields to carefully remove our poisoned suits before taking us to a decontamination chamber. After we were decontaminated, we entered the main body of the battleship Star. About a dozen armed soldiers were waiting. The three of us and Bulu were immediately arrested.

"Carter! What is the meaning of this! Are you going back on your word?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

Captain Carter did not even give us a reply. He merely had the soldiers lock us in the holding cell. From the window, we saw that dozens of imperial battleships were surrounding us.

"Why are they not escaping with a wormhole? What bullshit leadership is this?" said Zhang Bao'er.

"Maybe the imperial battleships are sticking too closely, not giving them enough space to produce a wormhole," said Old Du.

We were locked in a room at the end of the corridor. We looked out the window and saw that the imperial battleships and drones were fiercely encircling and attacking the league battleships.

Under their ferocious assault, a Zeus-class battleship's shield was finally broken. Immediately, countless drones swarmed the battleship like predators upon prey. Without the shield, the Zeus-class battleship was no match for their concentrated attacks. A violent explosion finally erupted in the ship, and countless escape pods shot out. However, even more soldiers were left behind in the burning battleship.

"I reckon there were no less than 200 deaths in that one ship," said Old Du with a sigh.

The exploding battleship created enough space for the other battleships to produce an escape wormhole. After the wormhole was created, all the ships quickly entered it. Star was the last battleship to enter the wormhole. Dozens of imperial fighter drones also managed to enter the wormhole, but they were easily destroyed. Duke Yidon was finally safe.

I sat blankly in the room, thinking about Zhang Xingxing, who was still trapped. To help Duke Yidon, she had even given me her suit. I was filled with regret for agreeing with the plan. Suddenly, a fierce voice came from the corridor.

"Where are the three idiots? I'm going to kill them!" Captain Carter's furious voice rang out.