Chapter 405

Inside the display case, there was a hunting bow resembling gilded plating, intricate engravings, and blessed with Spiritual Energy; also a spear tip shaped like a hollowed teardrop, and the spear blade still emitted a cyan-blue gleam, the Spear of Merit; as well as a silver-bladed Moon Silver Blade capable of inflicting severe harm on demons, etc.

Walking slowly on the red carpet, Shengjilesi browsed his treasured collection.

Soon, he opened two of the display cases, took out the hunting bow and attached it to his waist, then firmly gripped the spear shaft similarly gilded, took the Spear of Merit, and immediately turned and left the artifact room resembling a temple.

He arrived at the outside square.

At this moment, gathered here were three hundred Holy Blood Guard wearing dedicated Terminator armor painted gold-red, helmets fitted with fearsome visages, holding their respective weapons, reflecting a cold light under the illumination of the artificial star.

Glancing at the most elite, most experienced veterans of his own legion, Shengjilesi said nothing more, merely raising his right-hand Spear of Merit and issuing a command with a slightly raised voice:

"Follow me to capture the enemy OriginalBody alive."

Having said that, only a 'swish' sound and a flash of dazzling blue light were heard, and Shengjilesi promptly activated the teleportation device on his armor.

"Swish! Swish!"

Likewise, the three hundred Holy Blood Guard, without further words, all activated their teleportation and vanished from the square.

At this moment.

Within the space region on the far side of the First Planet, the fleet group led by the Clearers' homeworld (Gladiator) was orderly and efficient in destroying and annihilating traitor warships other than the Alpha Legion.

Although it seemed Angelong followed his brother Shengjilesi's advice, in fact, before Angelong learned of Shengjilesi's suggestion, the entire Alpha Legion had already broken free of near-Earth orbit and 'fled' into the atmosphere of the First Planet.

To avoid the fleet's firepower possibly shattering the planet by accident, Angelong then called off the strike against the Alpha Legion.

Inside the Gladiator's control room.

Standing beside the control console, Angelong had his arms crossed over his chest armor, gazing at the holographic screen and holographic star map.

At the same time, he was also contemplating.

Since he and his Clearers Legion had secured the occupied region, left a considerable number of UNSC fleets to garrison, and waited for Robert to send the reserves of Universe 02 to the occupied area, he then jointly with Shengjilesi encircled and suppressed the Alpha Legion and traitor remnants near the vortex Space Gate.

After a relatively lengthy exchange of blows, Angelong discovered that Alpha was indeed as his father had said…

"I can't figure out what they are actually thinking."

On the surface, the traitor remnants, after being unified by Alpha, had coalesced into a formidable fighting force capable of posing a serious threat to the logistics planet of their main universe expeditionary force.

If he were to command this traitor remnant force, Angelong would choose to split it into three to six small warship groups, then dispatch those groups either as feints or to harass.

When a logistics planet under attack by small warship groups sends out a distress signal, drawing the expeditionary force's and defenders' attention, Angelong would lead the remnant's main force to swiftly plunder and seize the true target planet.

After all, no matter how large the gathered remnant's scale, it remains a remnant, incapable of directly confronting the expeditionary force's fleet, so adopting guerrilla tactics is the best choice.

However, A'erfa Ruisi and Oumiga, the two of them, actually chose to launch a total assault against the Clearers and Holy Blood Angels?

That posture seemed not like they were encircling and suppressing, but rather like the opposite side was wiping them out in reverse.

Finally, the situation was clear: the remnants were defeated in one battle, after which Alpha continued to gather the traitors and flee to this barren star system.

However, with Shengjilesi's advice and reminder, after contacting various details, Angelong realized that Alpha's actions were not 'clueless' or 'inexplicable'; with a bolder hypothesis, in fact Alpha's goal from beginning to end was solely to assist the expeditionary force in eradicating all traitors at once.

It sounds implausible, but isn't reality actually leaning toward that outcome?

Without Alpha's 'assistance,' trying to wipe out all the traitors scattered across the vast universe would be unimaginably difficult.

More importantly, when the traitor remnants fled to this barren star system, they exhibited a brief but extremely strong Spiritual Energy reaction, which enabled him and Shengjilesi to track them easily.

Could Alpha be loyalist?

Thinking this, Angelong couldn't help but slightly frown.

Moreover, seeing the real-time battle situation displayed on the holographic screen, it showed the Holy Blood Angels' 1st, 2nd, and 3rd battalions executing an airdrop procedure, and Angelong also sensed that Shengjilesi and the Holy Blood Guard had completed their teleportation.

Thus he ended his silence and issued the command: "Notify the commanders of the 3rd through 12th battalions, have them lead their brothers and auxiliary forces to airdrop onto the surface and deal with the traitors fleeing aboard abandoned warships."

"When facing the Alpha Legion's Astartes, if they show willingness to cooperate, then capture them as much as possible."

"Yes!" a unanimous response echoed inside the control room.

"Sir." At that moment, a Clearers likewise stationed beside the control console, responsible for adjusting the holographic screen and star map and for relaying information to the battalion headquarters, asked: "What if they are unwilling to cooperate?"

"Unwilling?" Angelong immediately replied: "If unwilling, they can be shot on the spot, or one may choose to cripple their limbs, adopting forcible capture measures."

Although Angelong also agreed with Shengjilesi's view, speculating that Alpha and that pair of twin OriginalBody were very likely loyalists hidden within the Human Empire, yet out of concern for his subordinates' safety, he still leaned toward and approved the hardline measures.

"Yes."

Having received the answer, the Clearers were no longer confused and, incidentally, conveyed Angelong's intent to each battalion headquarters.

———————

…

Inside the atmosphere of the First Planet, on the sun-facing side, the sky continued to stage 'fireballs' and 'meteors' due to the lingering warship wreckage.

Meanwhile, one warship squadron belonging to the Alpha Legion maintained a hover at an altitude of kilometers above the sea surface, with a warship nearly thirty-five kilometers long being especially conspicuous, possibly the legion's flagship.

The northern shore of the ocean is that lush, humid and scorching rainforest where twenty Alpha legionnaires who conducted a sneak attack without helmets, horned helmets, etc., the Howlers.

At this moment.

Thousands of transport craft and transport planes departed from the legion's flagship and fleet, skimming low over the sea surface and above the rainforest, to meet up with the Alpha legionnaires who had already landed on the surface prior to the defectors, together with the Howlers, Devourers, and other traitors.

But a large transport craft with only a few escort fighters following did not carry out the so-called rendezvous mission; instead it flew straight across the entire rainforest and finally arrived at an open plain.

Upon reaching the plain, the escort fighters chose to turn back, leaving only that large transport craft which lowered its altitude and hovered.

The hatch opened.

A group of veterans and legion guards equipped with exquisite ceramite armor and Terminator gear, accompanied by the two OriginalBody of 'them' leaving the cabin, arrived at the plain currently undergoing the scorching stage of a red dwarf star.

Only see these two OriginalBody whose elevation is not much higher than Alpha's, wearing identical scale armor, helmets also bearing a nine-headed serpent decoration, holding completely similar war spears; just looking at this, it is impossible to tell which is A'erfa Ruisi and which is Oumiga.

Frankly, perhaps even 'they' themselves cannot tell them apart, after all they regard themselves as two bodies sharing one soul.

After the twin OriginalBody led 'their' veterans and guards out of the cabin, they did not even disperse or maintain vigilance, just standing still in place.

Next, more and more transport planes and flying craft arrived here, unloading more Alpha legionnaires; soon the gathered total exceeded three thousand.

Three thousand…

This already counts as one-quarter of the Astartes possessed by the Alpha Legion.

Sounds few, but during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, the Alpha Legion altogether possessed only over three thousand Astartes.

It is mainly because the Alpha specializes in covert, hidden, and divisive operations, so they value quality over quantity and do not seek overwhelming numbers to crush the enemy.

Only after the establishment of the New Human Empire did the Alpha Legion, under the arrangement of the two twin OriginalBodies, begin to expand its forces, with veterans training the newcomers throughout to ensure the legion's quality and combat strength would not decline.

In fact, the three thousand Alphas gathered on this plain are precisely the veterans who participated in the entire rebellion; as for why the twin OriginalBodies transferred these veterans here, that remains unknown.

Moreover, the two OriginalBodies raised their spears high and actively released a Spiritual Energy that was utterly harmless yet extremely intense.

It seemed as if they were deliberately exposing their position.

Indeed!

Swish! Swish!

Accompanied by a burst of blue radiance and sound, Shengjilesi and his Sacred Blood Guard, who had already reached the surface, sensed the Spiritual Energy released by the twin OriginalBodies and were thus teleported to this grassland.

The two sides faced off…

No, it should be said that only the Sacred Blood Guard, upon completing the teleportation, immediately dispersed and took up high alert, whereas the Alphas remained motionless, showing no combat intent whatsoever.

?

Even though they were battle-hardened veterans, the Sacred Blood Guard could not fathom what the Alphas were thinking.

Shengjilesi was no different.

He first lightly shook his right hand, which tightly gripped the Spear of Completed Merit, signaling the guard not to relax; he then stepped forward slowly, walking and looking at the twin OriginalBody standing at the front, and loudly declared, "Put down your weapons and surrender!"

After his words fell, the only response Shengjilesi received was silence; seeing this, he had no choice but to stop and continue staring at the twin OriginalBody, pondering whether to adopt the "Human Stick Captive Method" established by Angelong.

Although Shengjilesi was unwilling to kill, he had never refused to do so before.

I had thought the other side would remain silent and he would resort to force to break the atmosphere, but unexpectedly, either Alpha Rees or the twin OriginalBody of Omega spoke up:

"Of course, my brother, as long as you meet one of our demands, we and the entire Alpha Legion will naturally surrender, avoiding unnecessary conflict."

"Oh?" Shengjilesi exclaimed in confusion, then his face showed curiosity; in reality, he was preparing to hurl the Spear of Completed Merit with all his strength, and asked, "What demand?"

"It's simple." Another twin OriginalBody stepped forward, gripping his spear with both hands, assuming a defensive stance, and said, "As long as you can defeat us."

"That's right." The one who spoke first also stepped to the left, coordinating with his twin brother to assume formation.

"Hahaha! Good!" Upon hearing this, Shengjilesi couldn't help but burst out laughing, and he readily agreed.

Both sides began to approach slowly,

Approaching…

At the moment when the distance between them fell under ten meters, all three OriginalBodies mustered their strength and leapt.

Boom!

On tiptoe, they flipped, causing three shallow pits to appear in the ground, with dirt scattering in all directions.

Clang!!

Clang!!

The spears clashed, producing an extremely piercing metallic ring.

It was still a blur too fast to catch.

It was still a fierce clash that shook the heavens and earth.

From Shengjilesi's perspective, the twin OriginalBodies coordinated seamlessly, launching pincer attacks from front and back or left and right.

Even though such pincer attacks could easily be dodged by him, the twin OriginalBodies, though appearing no different from the Alphas, possessed reaction speed, attack range, and physical strength that were in no way inferior to any rebel OriginalBody.

One against two.

Although this seemed somewhat difficult, he was Shengjilesi, an Umbrella OriginalBody who often vied with John for the top spot in solo combat; thus this challenge meant little to him, especially since Alpha Rees and Omega were not the type of OriginalBodies built for frontal assaults.

Only saw Shengjilesi sidestep to the left to dodge a thrust, then he took the shaft of the Spear of Completed Merit as a staff and swung it fiercely at the twin OriginalBody who had lunged at him.

The speed was such that even the two twin OriginalBodies could not perceive it.

With a "Thud!", the twin OriginalBody who had thrust at Shengjilesi was flung away.

In a brief moment, one was "taken out"; now only one twin OriginalBody remained, trying to contend with Shengjilesi.

But even fighting two against one was taxing, let alone one against one—how could he possibly win?

With overwhelming superiority in height, build, speed, and strength, Shengjilesi seized the opportunity, freed his left hand, gripped the front of the spear shaft, and with a powerful yank wrested the spear from the last twin OriginalBody, disarming him.

Immediately thereafter, Shengjilesi, unsatisfied with that, after seizing the opponent's spear, followed up with a right spinning kick.

Thud!!

As the dull sound rang out again, the last twin OriginalBody was also kicked away by Shengjilesi.

The outcome was decided.

It was a complete one-sided victory for Shengjilesi.

Moreover, this victory should be the first relatively "fair" duel between OriginalBodies since the autonomous cosmic humans launched their expedition.

After all, Shengjilesi was unable to, like his brothers, "fight without honor"…

Actually, it was just a matter of timing; had the twin OriginalBodies not proposed the duel on the condition that the Alpha Legion would surrender, he might have, like John, simply hurled the Spear of Completed Merit directly.

Gazing at the fallen Alpha Rees and Omega on the ground, Shengjilesi was just about to approach and question them when a sudden turn of events interrupted him.

And this turn of events was none other than the over three thousand Alphas who had been watching from the sidelines; upon seeing their twin OriginalBodies defeated, they each raised their burst-arrow guns and aimed the barrels at "their" heads…

Rat-tat! Rat-tat!

(End of Chapter)