CH 148

"What secret army do you have? Why are you keeping it secret even now?" asked Zhang Bao'er, clearly showing his displeasure.

"The Kingdom of Akko and the Kingdom of Kenante are strategic allies. We can request help from them," said Prince Arude.

"What? How can that be counted as your army? It's completely different!" said Domo in astonishment.

"At this point, we can't give up on any help we can get," Prince Arude insisted.

"Kenante? Are you referring to the Wargod race?" asked Master Crystal.

"Wargod race? The warrior with the ox head we saw previously?" I asked in excitement.

"Yes, them. But they're actually a race of small numbers. Thus, their actual strength is questionable," reminded Master Crystal.

"We will know if they can help by taking a trip to Kenante. If their army is truly weak, we can just not go to the Horsehead Nebula," suggested Prince Toruse.

"Expecting Kenante to dispatch their army to help us against the empire? That's unrealistic. Their old king, Carter, is extremely conservative and risk aversive. I once sent someone to secretly contact him, but he refused my call for help," said Principal Sosse.

"King Carter has an agreement with my royal father that each party must help the other during war. Nobody is allowed to do nothing as the other party perishes," said Prince Toruse confidently.

"Young man, any sort of agreement can be broken at any time. An agreement is only as valid as the benefits it provides," said Principal Sosse with a lecturing tone.

"This is not actually your army, anyway. We'll let Commander Zhang Xingxing decide," said Prince Toruse, ignoring the principal's advice.

At that, everyone's gaze focused on Zhang Xingxing. I could see her sinking into deep thought.

"I heard that the Kingdom of Kenante is located on Planet Rumble of the Orion Constellation's Alnitak System. It is said that the planet is actually very far from the system's three stars. I reckon it has an extremely cold climate. We can only land with our morph-capable shields active," said Master Crystal.

"No, Planet Rumble has a unique internal ecosystem. The heat from its core can spread all over the planet. Furthermore, the planet can create its own source of light. It is a magical and beautiful planet," said Principal Sosse.

Even the seemingly all-knowing Master Crystal was actually unaware of that. He was speechless, so he decided to shut his mouth. Perhaps Zhang Xingxing was affected by what Principal Sosse had said about benefits, but she finally reached a decision after a while.

"I believe we won't waste too much time paying Kenante a visit first. Alnitak is located to the left of the Horsehead Nebula. If there is a chance that we can deal great damage to the empire, I am willing to give it a try. If Kenante is unwilling or incapable of helping, we can give up on that plan and rush to the B Army instead," said Zhang Xingxing.

Unsurprisingly, Zhang Xingxing reached the same decision as me. In fact, the few of us were actually becoming excited at the mere thought of meeting a member of the fabled Wargod race again.

"Lin Feixue, get Planet Rumble's coordinates from the database and establish a wormhole connection. We will be moving fast," Zhang Xingxing commanded.

With the command, Lin Feixue immediately searched for the coordinates of Alnitak. Then, Spacetime started the wormhole creation process. In a short while, a massive wormhole tunnel appeared amid Akko's storm.

"Activate the leap procedure. Sergeant Lando, the acting pilot, will take charge of Fearless and follow Spacetime into the wormhole tunnel," commanded Lin Feixue.

And thus, Spacetime and Fearless entered the wormhole one after another in accordance with Lin Feixue's command. After roughly 10 minutes of wormhole travel, the 7th Armored Division arrived within the area of the Alnitak System. Far ahead of us, the blue Alnitak Aa was visible.

Alnitak Aa was a blue supergiant star, with higher temperatures and quality than the sun of our very own Solar System. It was roughly 1,260 lightyears away from Blue. A certain country on Blue had categorized three systems in the Orion Constellation as the three stars of fortune, prosperity, and longevity. Of the three, Alnitak Aa was the embodiment of longevity.

Planet Rumble, which housed the Kingdom of Kenante, was very far from Alnitak Aa at roughly 0.3 lightyears away. Thus, from where we were, the star that was 60 times larger than Blue's sun looked no bigger than a table tennis ball from our perspective. Its two companion stars were completely overshadowed by its radiance.

Due to the distance, the star's energy was unable to reach the planet, which would usually result in an extremely cold planet. Because of that, all of us were rather looking forward to seeing the beautiful planet described by Principal Sosse. At that time, I noticed Zhang Bao'er and Old Du looking out the window behind the command center. I walked toward them.

"Why are the two of you daydreaming here?" I asked.

"Canyue, look at the spot ahead of us and to the right, the spot with an expanse of red. That is the Horsehead Nebula. Perhaps the answer to all our questions will be found there," said Zhang Bao'er.

I looked at where he was pointing and saw a wide expanse of dark red and black colors. Amid the darkness, numerous red and blue dots flickered, as though countless new lives and energy sources were being born. The secrets of the universe's origin could very well be unveiled there.

"We will try to finish our trip at Kenante as quickly as possible and get help from them. Then, we will be able to go straight to the Horsehead Nebula," I said to the two encouragingly.

At that time, the ship's alarm blazed. We turned around and saw that a blue planet had appeared before the ship. All of us were amazed to see that the planet was filled with blue oceans and dry lands of equal proportions. The dry lands were covered with green vegetation, looking vibrant and full of life.

"This planet is too beautiful. No wonder it can give birth to valiant warriors like the Wargod race," exclaimed Zhang Xingxing.

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"Captain, do we land immediately or try to notify them of our arrival first?" asked Lin Feixue.

"The proper etiquette would be sending words to them and making it clear that we are here as envoys of their ally, Akko," said Zhang Xingxing.

"There is no need for that," said Principal Sosse.

"Why? Do they know us?" asked Zhang Xingxing doubtfully.

"Look at the space outside the planet. Are there any ships or space stations around?" asked Principal Sosse.

We finally noticed that the outer space around the planet was completely devoid of any machines.

"What is going on with this kingdom? They don't even have an electronic communication system? How can they remain a powerful race with this level of technology?" asked Old Du in astonishment.

Surprisingly, none of the people in our group familiar with Kenante responded to the question.

"Do not look down on the Wargod race. They won't be known as the Wargod race for no reason," said Domo after a long while.

"In that case, we'll land directly. Lin Feixue, look for a landing spot," commanded Zhang Xingxing.

Lin Feixue did as told and arranged for both ships to approach the planet. After going through the regular atmospheric entry process, we entered the planet's sky. A loud sound of a drum suddenly rang out in all our ears.

"What's that sound? Is that the war drum of the Wargods? Did they misunderstand that we were here to invade?" asked Zhang Bao'er as he immediately turned alert.

"Soldier, your imagination is too rich. Just how strong does one need to be to make such a loud sound with a drum? The sound came from the planet's core. That's the sound the core makes when it transmits its energy and light waves outward. The light waves carry the core's energy and bring illumination to the planet. This is also why the planet is known as Planet Rumble," said Principal Sosse.

"That's magical. But can the people living here withstand the loud noise and the energy radiation from the core?" asked Zhang Bao'er.

"The ability to withstand such an environment is naturally the precondition to becoming a Wargod," said Principal Sosse.

The loud rumble would appear every 15 minutes. In such an environment, the two ships landed in the middle of a large grassland.

"The temperature outside the ship is 30 degrees Celsius, the atmospheric pressure is 1 atmosphere, and the air is 65 percent oxygen. No poisonous gas is detected in the air. The environment is very favorable for us. We can go out without additional procedures," said Lin Feixue.

"Open the door. Bao'er, Canyue, Old Du, and Dodo will be the first group to step outside and scout the environment. Everyone else will wait for more data before leaving the ship," ordered Zhang Xingxing.

The four of us moved immediately and turned on our morph-capable shields. Lin Feixue opened the door leading into the airlock. The four of us walked through the airlock and arrived at the surface of the planet. Even with my morph-capable shield on, I could still feel the gentle breeze in the air.

We had landed in a massive prairie that extended as far as the eye can see. Different from the grasslands on Blue, the grass here was surprisingly neat and tidy with uniform heights, as though they had been recently tended to. This was quite a peculiar sight. Looking at the blue sky and white clouds, the lush green around me, and the comfortable breeze in the air, I almost felt like I had returned to Blue.

"This place is too beautiful. I feel like removing my shield and breathing in the air here," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Negative. We have just arrived, and we don't know the planet well enough. We can't easily remove our protection," I warned sternly.

Zhang Bao'er was unhappy, but he did not dare to disobey a direct order. The four of us probed our surroundings while moving ahead together. The soil below us was sturdy and robust. Stepping on the ground gave one the sensation of stability and dependability. The grass on the ground was completely quiet and calm, unlike the grasslands on Blue, which were infested with tiny insects.

"This place is too quiet. I can't detect any lifeforms," said Zhang Bao'er.

Suddenly, the sound of air ripping apart came from behind us.

"Incoming!" I quickly roared.

A loud "thud" sounded. Then, we saw something that made all of us freeze. An arrow, which was still trembling, had stabbed into Dodo's iron head.