Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Chapter 157: Blood Relation

The soldiers from both sides noticed the green-winged mechanical bird. An astonishing scene unfolded. When the bird appeared, the soldiers of both sides stopped their bitter battle and placed their weapons down.

"Canyue, Anxashe is telling us to stop attacking," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Why are they stopping?" I asked doubtfully.

"Anxashe said that the appearance of the green-winged bird signifies that one party had surrendered. According to the rules of Rumble, when one party surrenders, the victorious party must allow the loser to retreat unconditionally," Zhang Bao'er explained.

"Lin Feixue, notify everyone to stop attacking," I shouted.

Everyone stopped attacking. At that moment, I saw the barbarian army withdrawing in an orderly fashion. Just like that, an ambush on 3,000 people by 8,000 people had failed in an incredulous manner.

I saw Chief Maley turn his head to look at me. His eyes were filled with hatred. After roughly 20 minutes, the barbarians finished withdrawing. Over a thousand unconscious barbarians and five hundred Wargod corpses were sprawled all over the ground. It was obvious that the barbarians had suffered a disastrous loss during the ambush.

"Commander Canyue, thank you for your timely appearance. Anxashe already showed me the order from King Carter. Without your help, my squad would have suffered total defeat," said the military leader in white with gratitude.

"Don't worry about it. We merely believed that there were some holes in Commander Gunda's plan, so we took the risk to give it a try," I said.

"I will make a clear report to Commander Gunda and request recognition for your merits!" said the leader in white with the same look of gratitude on his face.

"Commander Luxisi, when we were cleaning the battlefield, we noticed a lot of barbarians who are only unconscious, not dead," reported a soldier.

'So his name is Luxisi,' I thought.

"Commander, those soldiers were hit by our tranquilizing bullets. Thus, we need your help to wake them up and put them under arrest for now. Also, take note to not harm our war prisoners for no reason," said Old Du.

"Don't worry, superiors. I'll take these prisoners back to the base. I can guarantee their safety during the trip back," replied Luxisi.

"Canyue, I just finished a call with Commander Zhang Xingxing. There is still no battle at the base," said Kelly.

"From the map and the time, the enemy army will still need 40 minutes to reach Gunda's base. Remind the commander to be careful. The battle on our side is over. There is no need to send shuttles to pick us up since sending shuttles will only weaken the base's strength. I'll try to think of a way to return and help them," I ordered.

Immediately, I heard some clamor behind me. When I turned around, I saw a group of Wargod soldiers surrounding two people at the barbarian archers' previous hiding spot. Kelly, Old Du, and I hurriedly ran over. We noticed that the two that had been surrounded were Master Crystal and Dondon. Lying on the ground beside them was the Storm who had been rendered unconscious by a tranquilizing bullet.

The Wargod soldiers were following Luxisi's order to gather the unconscious war prisoners, but when they were about to capture the Storm commander, Master Crystal and Dondon resisted. Zhang Bao'er was also there helping them stop the Wargod soldiers.

I walked up to the group. The face of the unconscious Storm could be clearly seen. She basically looked the same as Dondon and Master Crystal in terms of physical appearance, but her claws were pink instead of blue. Furthermore, she had much longer fur than Dondon.

'Can this perhaps be...a female cat?' I thought to myself.

"What is going on here? According to Kenanten laws, all prisoners of war must be transported back to the base and be subjected to court-martial," said Luxisi, who had arrived with us.

"Nobody can take her! She's one of us! She must have been forced into this position," said Master Crystal, giving a rather far-fetched argument.

"She was forced to lead the archers and kill over a hundred of us?" said Luxisi, who was angered by his words.

"Calm down, Commander. I have a suggestion. I intend to go deeper with my squad, pursue the barbarians, and complete Commander Gunda's mission. You can return with your people and recuperate since you're going to be escorting these prisoners back. As for this little cat prisoner, leave her to me," I requested. "I need to interrogate her and use her as a guide."

"You have far from enough people to attack the barbarians. In fact, the position you attack from can very well be the place the barbarians use to break through during the battle," reminded Luxisi.

"Of course, I'll be endlessly grateful if you can lend us 500 warriors for the attack," I voiced my request.

Luxisi sank into thought. He then ordered a young warrior beside him, "Coco, lead your team of 500 Youth Guards and join Superior Canyue on this mission. I'll be escorting these prisoners back."

"Yes!" replied the young soldier called Coco with a look of excitement on his face.

"Also, you can have this little animal. I'll pretend she was killed in battle," said Luxisi as a way to return the favor of us saving them.

Shortly after, Coco and his Youth Guards were assembled.

"Reporting to the superior, there were originally 500 members in the Youth Guards but we lost 45 in the battle. There are only 455 of us left," reported Coco loudly.

"Have your team help Commander Luxisi sweep through the battlefield. We will depart in a short while," I said, pleased with his report.

While everyone else was busy sweeping through the battlefield, I lifted the unconscious Storm and retreated to the edge of the battlefield with the 7th Armored Division. Both Kelly and Lin Feixue were resting and reorganizing with the rest of our people. The 7th Armored Division had suffered one death and the major injuring of four people. Lin Feixue was currently busy dealing with the battle's aftermath.

"Canyue, how long will she take to wake up?" asked Master Crystal.

"The tranquilizing bullets from the cluster laser guns are quite powerful. I reckon she needs more than 12 hours," I replied.

"That's too long. In that case, we'll have to get Old Du to help carry her while we march," said Dondon anxiously.

"This is one of their military leaders. Will it be dangerous to take her with us?" asked Baron Sisse.

"How dangerous can a kitten be?" countered Domo.

"Master, can we go to the side and have a talk?" I asked Master Crystal.

Master Crystal nodded and walked to the side with me. There, we both turned off our communicators.

"Master, what is the goal of the Storm race? Why are your people spread all over the universe?" I went straight to the point.

Master Crystal sank into a long silence.

"Say something, Master." My patience failed me.

"Sigh. This is a promise over a hundred thousand years old," said Master Crystal with a deep sigh.

"Is this a mission Prophet Nommo had given your ancestors?" I tried to get Master Crystal to spill the secret.

"You have seen Venerable Plum. Back then, Crystal had departed suddenly. However, that was also the prophet's arrangement," said Master Crystal.

"Since the prophet is so incredible, he must have also foreseen this conversation today," I said.

My words stunned Master Crystal. I believed that every single event that had happened around me had been under Prophet Nommo's predictions. And all I had experienced so far seemed to only further reinforce that belief.

"In truth, I know very little about the prophet. As for his predictions, I believe some aren't even predictions but events he had witnessed himself," Master Crystal suddenly said.

I was greatly shocked. Had Nommo been watching a time movie about all events relating to us?

"I have a very simple example. The war between the Brightlings and Darklings had happened 150,000 years ago. However, Nommo had attacked the Horsehead Nebula tens of thousands of years ago. There is a gap of 100,000 years between the two events," said Master Crystal.

I came to a certain realization. Coupled with our previous speculation regarding the gap of over 100,000 years between the time of Blue's lost civilizations and the Dogon, I slowly started to believe that a time tunnel had to have been somewhat involved.

"I believe that Nommo had been traveling non-stop through a time tunnel. Because of that, his shadow can be seen in multiple events of different periods in time. It was also through time travel that he had seen the future," Master Crystal speculated, reaching a similar conclusion as me.

"Not only had Nommo traveled the universe, but he had also traveled to different timelines and realities," I concluded.

"Yes, I also believe this," said Master Crystal.

The scene I saw at Jupiter II's core suddenly reappeared in my mind. Through the five-dimensional model, I had witnessed countless variations of numerous events. Nommo must have witnessed something similar as well, resulting in the predictions he had made. Of course, predictions could very well change at any time.

"What is the Storm race's mission? What was Crystal's mission?" I asked.

Master Crystal was about to say something when Kelly suddenly rushed over.

"Canyue, we have three emergency updates. The barbarians have started their assault on the base. There are 10,000 participating in the attack. Luxisi's army is returning at their top speed. The Youth Guards have remained. When do we set off? Also, that cat is awake," said Kelly.

Master Crystal immediately dropped the topic upon hearing that his kind had regained consciousness. He rushed back toward the Storm. I also rushed toward the cat. The eyes of the Storm before me were narrowed; she looked as if she had not yet fully awakened.

"I thought this would take 12 hours? Why is she suddenly awake?" I asked Zhang Bao'er.

"Dondon urged Old Du to inject some stimulant into her to wake her up," said Zhang Bao'er.

"Ridiculous. Can her little heart withstand the pressure? The cat might be ignorant, but why are the two of you messing around as well?" I was furious.

Dondon paled from fright as he constantly stroked his brethren's face.

The sight of that softened my heart. I could understand Dondon's feelings. It was very rare to see one of his own in the universe. He wouldn't have tried his best to stop the Wargod soldiers earlier otherwise.

"We'll have to hope that this cat's physical qualities are good enough to withstand the pressure," I said helplessly.

"Canyue, the battle has begun at the base. The commander and the Wargod garrison only have a few hundred soldiers at their side, yet they need to face 10,000 barbarians. Do we return?" asked Lin Feixue.

"There are only a few hundred of us here. It's pointless for us to return. Also, we don't even have proper transport to bring us back in time. The best way we can help is to attack the enemy base and force them to return," I said.

"In that case, we shouldn't delay. We need to rush to the barbarian base and work alongside the Wargod attackers," said Lin Feixue.

"Am I alive? Are you alive, or are you ghosts?" an unfamiliar voice rang out.

I quickly looked back and saw that the Storm commander from the barbarian army had fully awakened. She was leaning against Dondon's arms and looking at me as she spoke.