Chapter 154

"Swish-."

As the split-type metal door opened, Robert and his brothers walked into the bridge.

Upon entering, they saw over a dozen crew members who had just finished their shift, drinking coffee, sitting at their respective consoles.

A large holographic communications screen appeared in the center of the bridge.

Kaise, dressed in gray captain's attire, stood beside the screen, while the screen showed the OriginalBodies' father, Sui Bian, whom they hadn't seen in a long time.

"Captain." Robert approached the screen, first greeting Kaise, then looking toward Sui Bian on the other end and saying, "Father."

"Hmm." Sui Bian showed no excessive emotion, saying to Robert and his other sons:

"Some trouble has arisen with the weapons I forged for you, so you need to return to Earth as soon as possible and go to the Gebekeli Research Center, then undergo examination there to help the center find the cause of the trouble."

"And you, Father?" Robert asked.

"Depending on the situation, if there's nothing urgent, I'll also make a trip to Gebekeli." Sui Bian said lightly.

But as sons, Robert, John, and the other brothers knew that their father being able to say that also meant he hoped to see them as soon as possible.

It was just that Sui Bian was unwilling to express it.

As for this, the OriginalBodies were accustomed to it.

"Understood, Father." Robert replied to Sui Bian while glancing sideways at Shengjilesi, then continued his report:

"Father, there's still something I need to tell you."

"Oh?" Sui Bian at the other end of the screen, noticing Robert's small gesture, immediately looked toward Shengjilesi and asked:

"What's wrong? Could those intermittent fragmented images be troubling you again, Shengjilesi."

"No, Father, actually…"

Shengjilesi stepped forward, organized his thoughts, and told Sui Bian everything he had seen and witnessed in his mind.

After listening, Sui Bian's demeanor remained calm, he pondered silently for a moment, then said to Shengjilesi:

"It is indeed your DivineBody that has encountered an issue, but for you and the company, it's not bad news, so there's no need for excessive psychological burden."

"Hmm." Shengjilesi nodded.

Captain Kaise. Sui Bian again ordered Kaise, who stood to one side: "From now on, DawnGuardian will enter full battle readiness, coordinating with Hope Vessel and Destroyer Vessel to face any possible incoming hostile alien forces."

Please rest assured, sir. Kaise accepted the order with a solemn expression.

Robert, take your brothers and head to Gebekeli as quickly as possible; I'll arrive shortly.

Yes, Father.

Very good. After saying that, Sui Bian proactively ended the communication.

The holographic screen inside the bridge dissipated.

However, the solemn atmosphere did not dissipate with the screen's disappearance.

Although the crew only caught the gist of the earlier conversation, they realized humanity might very well have to face an alien force.

Although Umbrella had made contact years ago with the alien Blood Iron Clan, those present did not know the specific details of that encounter.

The crew no longer had the cheerful mood of waking up and drinking coffee to greet work; instead, they felt heavy-hearted.

Good heavens! Rus also scratched his head in exclamation: "I never expected Shengjilesi's prophecy this time to be accurate?!"

After all, the father's serious attitude proves this incident might be genuine.

The loud-mouthed Rus still wanted to say something, but seeing Robert's threatening glance, he self-consciously fell silent.

Immediately afterward.

Captain, we'll leave first. Robert, preparing to leave the bridge, said to Kaise.

Alright, I'll have DawnGuardian rush to Middle Eastern airspace, which will save you some time.

Thank you, Captain.

Robert led his brothers out of the bridge.

Soon after.

It was still the hangar area of DawnGuardian.

On the lower deck, the Yuyou carrying ten OriginalBodies started its engines and sealed the hatch at the tail of the cabin.

Three ground crew members were performing a final check on the Yuyou.

Having finished the check, the ground crew immediately ran to a safe distance.

One of them, wearing a red helmet, gave a thumbs-up to the pilot inside the cockpit, then opened the communicator hanging on his shoulder and said something.

Soon.

A massive mechanical arm arrived in the area, unfolded its four-petal gripper, and firmly clamped the standby Yuyou.

Then the mechanical arm transported the Yuyou to a decompression chamber on the left side of the deck, where the internal valve had already been opened.

After unloading the Yuyou, the mechanical arm withdrew, and the internal valve closed.

With a "Qi~!" sound, indicating the valve was sealed and rapid decompression began.

Within ten-odd seconds, the originally bright lights turned dark red, and the external valve at the nose slowly opened.

Once the valve fully opened, the Yuyou retracted its landing gear and entered the decompression chamber, arriving in outer space outside the ship.

Next, the two pilots in the cockpit adjusted their angle and flew into the atmosphere.

At the same time, another aircraft carrying passengers was Sui Bian's Yuyou, currently flying eastward across the North Atlantic.

———————

…

Inside the cabin.

Sui Bian remained seated near the cockpit position, not operating the tablet as usual to handle company affairs or to look up the latest anomalies being monitored and eliminated.

He leaned back in his seat, appearing to be resting with closed eyes, but actually he was recalling his past-life memories to analyze what he would face this time.

Strictly speaking, it is a force that will only be faced after several tens of days.

Just now, the system, which usually had little presence, suddenly issued a mission in his mind:

【Detected the exploration fleet of the "Plunderers" civilization, expected to enter Mars' gravitational sphere in 1440 hours.

After entering Mars' gravitational sphere for 240 hours, that fleet can then reach Earth's near-Earth orbit.

Mission objective: Destroy the exploration fleet of the 'Plunderers' civilization.

Mission reward: 20,000 points.】

With this mission from the system, Sui Bian could now confirm Shengjilesi's prophecy; the deviation is not too great.

Furthermore, since this civilization is called the 'Plunderers' by the system, they must be humanity's enemy.

Sui Bian wanted to, through his past-life memories, try to find any extraterrestrial force related to the 'Plunderers', but there was not a single clue.

Finally, there are the 1440 and 240 mentioned by the system.

Sui Bian conjectured that this exploration fleet might only drop out of jump, warp, and other superluminal travel states upon entering the Solar System's range, then use the ships' conventional speed to explore the Solar System.

Another possibility is that the 'Plunderers' civilization lacks superluminal travel technology, treating their ships as homes and living long-term in the universe, or they have mastered some kind of cryogenic technology, only to be awakened upon reaching the target star system.

Or perhaps…

The beings of the 'Plunderers' civilization possess extremely long lifespans, even being life forms non-carbon-based.

(End of chapter)