Chapter 1274 - 1134: Changing the Guard (Second Update)

Chapter 1274: Chapter 1134: Changing the Guard (Second Update)

The arrangement for monitoring fluctuation points has been set, but the Flower Scorpion has another major mission.

She wants to understand: where are we going, and under extreme circumstances, what kind of trouble might we encounter?

This is a very legitimate requirement — although you have provided ample compensation, we have the right to know the difficulty of the mission.

We cannot accept a mission knowingly leading to death just for the opportunity to observe the fluctuation point, right?

However, the official response is: the mission location is confidential — this is originally the military’s style, not subject to their intervention.

As for what trouble might be encountered, it’s even harder to say. You may take no more than two Armed Merchant Ships with you.

If there is a loss in battle, the military will provide appropriate compensation.

For casualties among personnel, the military can also provide condolence payments, but in that case, the military needs to station an intelligence officer.

Due to information barriers, many groups are extremely averse to intelligence officers, so this is just a suggested option, not a mandatory requirement.

The Flower Scorpion expresses a strong aversion to the mission — nothing is certain, and we’re supposed to accept the task?

Even if you’re trying to deceive us, you can’t do it so insincerely.

The officials contacted the military again and finally obtained a new explanation.

This mission only requires discovering strange people and things and reporting promptly, without necessarily participating in combat.

If you can participate in combat, that’s certainly good, and you can earn corresponding combat rewards. If you find yourself lacking in power, timely withdrawal will not result in accountability.

To the military, these terms are quite sincere, and at least it doesn’t sound like a suicide mission.

However, the premise of the mission leaves people baffled, and the Flower Scorpion dares not make a decision, waiting for the leader’s instruction.

In the main mansion, a group of Divine Sense entities are having a meeting.

Bentley rarely speaks up, "It’s really getting out of hand; I hate dealing with scheming people."

The Paranoid, however, says, "There’s no harm in going to take a look; if we encounter a situation, can we not fight and not flee either?"

Curiously, Mu Yu comes out to dissent this time, "Don’t always rely on near-Earth warp."

"Not far from Qingyuan, there’s a space fluctuation... Have you forgotten the space perturbator?"

Qinghu can’t help but add, "That’s gravitational wave disturbance, space disturbance technology... still immature."

"Hold on," Mu Guang couldn’t contain himself when he heard this, "Are you talking about near-Earth warp?"

"Quiet down, quiet down," Qu Jianlei couldn’t help but express, "The issue now is whether we take the mission!"

"I don’t recommend taking it," Bentley is the first to object, "If you want to observe, at worst, I’ll patrol a few more times."

"We can take it," the Nutrient Injection also expresses, "Think about it; if we encounter enemies, where might they come from?"

As soon as he said this, everyone fell silent because they unanimously agreed that they only have two potential enemies.

After a while, the Paranoid speaks up, "We can take it; I’m quite eager to see the combat power of the Marvels of Heaven and Earth!"

"I agree to take it," Qinghu, who seldom speaks, also says, "If it’s someone from across the breach, there’s a chance for close understanding."

Mu Yu raises a question, "What if it’s not these two possibilities?"

"Then we’re even less afraid," the Paranoid responds boldly, "Across the entire Imperial realm, who has the strength to prevent us from escaping?"

Qinghu quietly adds a sentence, "At worst, we’ll warp again to the depths of space; it’s just a matter of being a bit more prepared."

Space disturbance can’t completely stop warp, but it will cause loss of direction, possibly even entering other spaces or subspace layers.

As long as we’re adequately prepared, at least in the depths of space, we won’t encounter the embarrassment of last time, allowing easy escape.

Mu Guang hasn’t received an answer about near-Earth warp, scratching his head anxiously.

Yet he still supports the main view, "Possibly concerning Marvels of Heaven and Earth or the situation across the breach, I support taking appropriate risks."

Qu Jianlei actually also wants to clarify these two points, and the reward is the close observation of fluctuation points.

As for possible enemies from other forces... deal with them on the spot.

Anyway, he doesn’t believe anyone can cause his team to be wiped out silently.

Thus he expresses, "Old Ben, it seems you are in the minority, so I can only stand with the majority."

"No problem, I didn’t think of enough," Bentley is not the least bit concerned.

He doesn’t care about his face, "Then I’ll leave the Dharma Protector, and you just leave Silver Fir."

Old Ben was never one to dilly-dally; once the others decide, he certainly won’t attempt to obstruct.

Leaving Silver Fir isn’t due to insufficient manpower, but in case the leader and others encounter issues, it’s easier to respond.

No matter if it’s revenge or search, having a clone is always much more convenient.

Upon hearing this, the Paranoid couldn’t help but commend, "Old Ben, I quite like your character."

Upon receiving the decision, the Flower Scorpion straightforwardly informs the other party: we can go, but need two days to prepare.

Besides that, she also requests that all promises be formalized into written documents, in triplicate, each with a seal.

The government is indifferent to this, but the military shows displeasure.

The military can sign agreements with local government officials, but never do so with social groups, let alone individuals.

However, their dissatisfaction was useless, as the government stated, this is the most powerful combat group we could coordinate.

So two days later, Qu Jianlei, along with five Supreme members and Claire, boarded the armed merchant ship provided by the Gustine Clan and took off.

Besides Bentley, Flower Scorpion, Zi Jiu Immortal, and Celestial Sound stayed in the fief.

The merchant ship was a bit old, after all, the Gustine Clan had long left it, only providing it for their employees’ use, but its performance was still acceptable.

Shortly after takeoff, under the command of the City Guard battleship, the merchant ship made contact with military warships — two company-level ones.

The warships’ attitude towards Qu Jianlei and his group was indifferent, showing no reverence, and even wanted to board the armed merchant ship.

Claire straightforwardly rejected their request, "It was agreed long ago, we do not accept stationed intelligence officers."

The other side was silent for about ten seconds, tacitly accepting this response, and then began to set off.

Without jumping, the three starships sailed for nearly ten days before reaching a desolate planet.

This planet was very similar to the one where Qu Jianlei was building a new base, if it wasn’t too cold, it could also become a habitable star.

Its size and density were quite suitable, it had an atmosphere, and even some fragile life forms.

Originally, this was a bridgehead for the Imperial expansion, with several building complexes, but they were later all abandoned.

Yet even now, there is still a stationed military squad here.

Primarily because the planet has a high-powered relay signal tower and some material reserves.

To ordinary interstellar travelers, such a place holds little significance, and passenger starships would not pass through here.

However, for the military and some forces with special needs, the existence of this outpost is still quite necessary.

After the armed merchant ship landed, the two warships had a brief communication with Qu Jianlei’s group.

The gist was that there’s only one operational base on the planet, do you take over all of it or need the cooperation of the stationed squad?

Qu Jianlei straightforwardly chose the latter, already saying no intelligence officers were needed, so why keep the stationed squad?

The squad, consisting of nine people in total, could be seen joyfully boarding the warship for departure.

Garrisoning here really tests one’s nerves.

The stationed squad left behind the base usage instructions, and there weren’t many precautions, it was nearly fully intelligent.

The main control system was linked with other relays, indirectly controlled by the Imperial.

Data such as defense shield strength, energy block usage, weapons and ammunition, as well as daily necessities, were all under control.

No matter what happens here, the Imperial can know quickly, leaving little room for manipulation.

However, the stationed squad also had some private spaces to ensure they weren’t constantly observed by omnipresent surveillance.

This was because of painful lessons learned, as garrisoning here too easily led to psychological issues.

If the garrison had to live under everyone’s watchful eyes, the likelihood of tragedies would greatly increase.

Additionally, numerous observation instruments were set around the planet’s periphery.

Besides orbital satellites, even millions of kilometers away, there were detectors.

In brief, this is a rather intelligent base, apart from lacking heavy weaponry, everything else was fine.

But heavy weaponry was unnecessary, although the energy blocks’ reserves were considerable wealth, there was surveillance anyway.

They took just one day to adapt to all the equipment here.

On the fourth day, a passing starship sought replenishment, judging by the markings it seemed to be part of a military-affiliated sequence.

Yet Claire refused without hesitation, stating that supply equipment had malfunctioned and requesting them to detour.

She wasn’t making decisions on her own but had military authorization.

The other party seemed slightly surprised, asking bluntly what had happened and where the original stationed personnel were.

Claire coldly replied, "Don’t ask questions you shouldn’t, if you have complaints, you can appeal!"

The opposing side seemed to realize something and requested Claire to connect with the command center to verify.

Claire again decisively refused and stated if they continued to pester, all consequences would be at their own risk!

True to form as military-affiliated, the starship seemed to surmise a special military mission was underway and turned to leave.

In comparison, non-military sequence starships were less sensitive.

Seven or eight days later, an interstellar rescue ship passed by, insisting on landing until Claire had to resort to warning shots.

The rescue ship was equipped with a special communication system, capable of complaining about the stationed personnel via the relay station.

Unfortunately, all operations here had been temporarily taken over by the military.

When the message reached the military, their response was, "The military is conducting a great cultivation project, prohibiting any starship from landing."

The rescue ship wasn’t entirely clueless, at least they understood "great cultivation project" was a vague term.

Since the military had special tasks here, they begrudgingly left.

In the blink of an eye, Qu Jianlei and the others had been stationed here for over twenty days, and everything seemed to be going smoothly.

Until the twenty-first day when a military-spec warship mysteriously appeared in space.