CH 139

We had to retreat in batches with the help of our life pods. Thus, everyone was requested to pack lightly. Before long, we gathered before the bubble gate. With the help of the Akko soldiers, it did not take us long to leave the bubble gate and reach the semi-submerged cavern.

Old Du went ahead to swim through the narrow tunnel where only one person could pass at a time to contact Wuzhou and prepare for our withdrawal. When everything was ready, we all put on our breathing gear and swam through the tunnel according to our agreed order. As an android, Dodo did not need breathing gear and was thus assigned to move around underwater and help the others.

Every time the life pods were filled, they would deliver their passengers to Spacetime. This was a long and tedious process. Zhang Xingxing, Zhang Bao'er, the prince, and I were the last to set off. We would only leave after everyone else had been evacuated.

It had been a long time since I had spent any time with the team leader. I couldn't help but think that the heavens had blessed us for allowing us to stand together again. As we chatted, a sense of bliss enveloped my heart.

Naturally, Zhang Bao'er took the chance to start bragging again. This time, both Zhang Xingxing and I ignored him. Instead, I told her about our pardon, about her promotion to lieutenant colonel, and about our 7th Armored Division. She was greatly pleased by what she heard. That was understandable, as anyone would be happy to be bombarded with a bunch of good news after being trapped underground for so long.

"Captain. That's how we should address you from now on. As the acting captain, I'm relinquishing command to you," I said.

"Without your help in surviving so many disasters, the league would never have pardoned us," said Zhang Xingxing gratefully.

"Everything is back on the right track. We need to end this war as quickly as possible. Next, we'll continue to search for your father," I encouraged her.

After several hours of waiting, all the soldiers had been evacuated. Old Du returned and informed us that it was our turn to retreat. Zhang Xingxing, Zhang Bao'er, and I brought Prince Toruse into the flooded tunnel and returned to our life pod. Soon, we departed the stifling underground palace. I swore to myself that I would never return to this place.

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When the life pod emerged from the water, Spacetime was waiting above us. Two massive mechanical arms descended and lifted us into the cargo bay. I could see that the rain on Akko had reduced in intensity. Without the storm generators, the rain would stop altogether with time.

With the storm acting as our cover, the skies of Akko were surprisingly the safest place for us to take a temporary rest. In the cargo bay, the pod's door opened, revealing two rows of fully armed soldiers. They stood straight in front of the door, welcoming the captain to the ship.

I spoke a few words to Lin Feixue and had four soldiers lead Prince Toruse to a holding cell. The prince would be temporarily kept there. After helping the Akko soldiers settle, everyone gathered in Spacetime's command center. It had been a while since we had last gathered like this, so the voices of joyful conversation filled the room.

I found with astonishment that Dondon and Domo, who were supposed to stay in Fearless outside the planet, had taken the opportunity of the chaos to break through the blockade and enter the planet.

When Dondon and Dodo were reunited, they couldn't stop talking to each other. Meanwhile, Domo was his usual taciturn self. I was able to persuade Baobao to join our crew. After all, I needed a reliable Akko to help us in this war.

Principal Sosse seemed incredibly excited. He spoke with Kelly with great fervor. He must have concluded that we had thoroughly turned against the emperor, so we were now on the same side as him. After half an hour, Zhang Xingxing had Advisor Lin Feixue notify everyone to stop talking.

"Brave warriors, I am happy that we can all meet again. I am grateful to God that all of us are still here. It is most certainly a miracle for all of us to still be alive. However, we cannot stop moving forward. There are more missions we need to complete," said Zhang Xingxing.

"I was entrusted with a mission by King Xido prior to my return to Akko. We need to rescue Prince Toruse and Prince Arude. We are one target away from completing the mission. After rescuing the prince, we, the 7th Armored Division, will need to return to the league's B Army and participate in even larger battles," I said.

Everyone appeared excited to hear about larger battles.

"I intend to appoint Li Canyue deputy commander of the 7th Armored Division and the deputy captain of Spacetime. He will become my assistant in all matters relating to war," said Zhang Xingxing.

Zhang Bao'er clapped passionately when he heard of my promotion. I was very excited as well. After all, I was initially only an acting captain. Now, I was officially appointed deputy captain. Everyone congratulated me. Finally, Old Du stood up.

"Our main issue is the destruction of Goldsteel City. The underground city has been subsequently flooded by the rain. How should we search for Prince Arude?" asked Old Du, bringing us back to the topic at hand.

"I heard from Prince Toruse that the empire has yet to discover Prince Arude's corpse. It means that Prince Arude wasn't in Goldsteel City when the city fell," I said.

"I remember that Prince Gede and Prince Arude once told us to defend Goldsteel City for 72 hours. Prince Gede claimed that he would return with reinforcements after that. Perhaps Prince Gede and Prince Arude are still in Milk City even now and have not headed to Goldsteel City," said Old Du.

"Milk City," that name sent me into deep thought.

"Lin Feixue, do you have any new updates on Milk City?" asked Zhang Xingxing.

"According to my latest intelligence report, the imperial army had not launched a direct assault on Milk City before they had flooded the planet," said Lin Feixue.

"In that case, so long as Prince Arude survived the flood, he has a very high chance of surviving," I said.

"Sigh. I wonder if Milk City has an underground bunker similar to the underground palace and can hide Prince Arude from the flood," muttered Zhang Bao'er.

Baobao suddenly stood up.

"Baobao, do you have anything to tell us?" I said.

"Reporting, superior. I've heard about Milky City in the past. It is a base of operations that Prince Gede had painstakingly developed for many years. I heard that the city proper was actually built within a big cavern," said Baobao.

"I'm aware of the cavern. I was there before. To avoid the harsh temperature of the surface, the prince built the city underground," I said.

"No. What I heard is that Milk City was actually built on a giant mountain named Mount Maiden. Mount Maiden is incredibly tall. The cavern Milk City was built in not only contains an underground portion, but it might even extend above sea level," said Baobao.

Understanding dawned on me. If that was true, Prince Gede and Prince Arude would not have much difficulty surviving the flood. Everyone grew excited at that realization, and hopeful smiles bloomed around the room.

"What is there to be happy about? Fools. Milk City is flooded under the sea. How are we supposed to even go inside the so-called Mount Maiden? Who among you knows of an alternative entrance on its peak?" said Domo, extinguishing the excitement everyone was feeling.

In a way, his words were reasonable. If we couldn't find the entrance to the cavern, it would be very troublesome to carry out our rescue operation. It was too inefficient and risky to go underwater for this mission. Furthermore, we would not be able to rescue too many people at once going that route.

"This senior makes sense. Mount Maiden is a steep peak that is very rarely visited. Because of that, nobody knows if there is an entrance on its peak. Due to dangerous terrain, the peak is a place no life form can easily approach. And because of that, a certain species had turned that place into their lair," said Baobao.

"What sort of creature can climb a peak so steep?" asked Zhang Bao'er in astonishment.

"Not climb. They flew up there. Only Akko's interstellar creatures can establish a foothold there," said Baobao.

"Interstellar creature?" My eyes lit up.

"Canyue, why are you getting all excited?" asked Zhang Xingxing when she noticed my expression.

"Baobao, if we have one of Akko's interstellar creatures, would it be able to show us the way?" I asked Baobao instead of answering Zhang Xingxing.

"An Akko interstellar creature? That's a life form that can never be captured involuntarily. The king had once sent a group of professional hunters to catch one, but the creature had killed itself instead of allowing them to capture it," said Baobao.

"Those creatures are surprisingly resolute," said Zhang Xingxing with shock.

"Baobao, you only need to answer me. If we have an Akko interstellar creature, would it be able to show us the way to the cave on the peak?" I asked.

"The Akko interstellar creatures have a unique characteristic. They will return to their lair every night, and their lair is on the peak itself. If you have one, it will naturally try to fly back," said Baobao confidently.

"The entire Akko is covered in darkness, so it's basically night all the time. Does this mean that all the creatures have returned to their lair?" I asked.

"Yes. I am sure of that. So long as you have one, it will definitely fly back. They have a very long sleep cycle, and they sleep at night. Thus, they don't like to move around at night," said Baobao.

"Haha, you're wrong! I know of an Akko interstellar creature that hasn't returned to its lair," said Zhang Bao'er smugly.

"How is that possible? Where did you see it?" asked Baobao.

"It's on Spacetime itself. I captured it with my strength alone," Zhang Bao'er couldn't resist bragging.

I stopped Zhang Bao'er from continuing to brag and had Lin Feixue tell everyone about our rescue of the interstellar creature. However, the kind Lin Feixue decided to leave out the name of the one who had decided to rescue the creature to not embarrass Zhang Bao'er after all his bragging. The crowd clicked their tongues in wonder upon hearing the story. We had not expected a simple act of kindness to bring such a big return to us.

"Bao'er, it is magical how helpful all the choices you have made are," praised the simple Dondon.

Meanwhile, the others merely smirked silently. Of course, that did not affect Zhang Bao'er from basking in Dondon's praise.

"Xingxing, we don't have much time. War is looming. Let's release the interstellar creature immediately and have it return to Mount Maiden," suggested Kelly.

"Absolutely not. The storm outside is too violent. The creature won't be able to fly back. We need to fly near the mountain itself before releasing it," reminded Old Du, who was as rational as ever.

His suggestion was immediately accepted. Our two ships headed toward Mount Maiden. Domo and Zhang Bao'er did not feel like returning to Fearless, so the simple Dondon and Dodo were sent over with 10 soldiers to pilot the ship.

The two ships braved the torrential rain. After about 15 minutes, Lin Feixue notified us of our arrival. From our laser scans, a hologram of a massive mountain peak appeared before us. To be precise, we were looking at dozens of precipitous peaks, with the peak of Mount Maiden standing aloof at a height hundreds of meters taller than the other peaks. Thus, it looked rather conspicuous.

"Captain, we have arrived at our destination. What is our next step?" asked Lin Feixue.

"Perform an infrared scan on the mountain first. See if we can detect any life signals," said Zhang Xingxing.

Shortly after, the scan results were out. Zhang Xingxing immediately had Lin Feixue show the results on the screen. Lin Feixue hesitated slightly, but he still carried out the order and uploaded the results.