Chapter 100: Rendezvous
Lin Yuan hastily said goodbye to his mother and sister under the pretext of "having an urgent matter to go back to school for." At 1 a.m., there was no passenger spacecraft coming and going from Planet Rennes and Planet Oman. Caesar simply took Lin Yuan into White Feather's control cabin and the two took White Feather straight to Planet Oman.
Snow and Brian soon reached the coordinates designated by Berg, the two looked at the building in front of them couldn't help but freeze in place— there was not a person in sight in this place, it seemed exceedingly hidden and desolate, the three-story building had stood under both rain and shine to the extent that even the coloring was indistinguishable, even the corners were covered with a sea of large cobwebs. Clearly, this place was uninhabited.
Why did Dad choose this as the rendezvous spot?
Brian checked the coordinates sent by Berg again in doubt and once more confirmed that they were correct. He then turned back to Snow and said: "What is this place, you got any clue?"
After all, Snow grew up on Planet Oman, Brian only asked him just to chance it, but unexpectedly, as soon as his words came out, Snow’s complexion immediately went white and he took a step forward with a complicated expression on his face. Facing the towering metal door that was nearly taken with rust, he softly tapped his right index finger on the fingerprint sensor—
A shocking scene followed suit—
He saw the heavy metal door creak open little by little in front of Snow!
The rusty door let out a wailing shriek when it opened and in the wake of the door opening, a quiet corridor that stretched down into darkness now appeared in front of them. There was not a sliver of light in the corridor. The pitch-black corridor was like the bloody maw of a beast, waiting outstretched as if biding its time to ruthlessly engulf everything inside without a single morsel left behind.
An unwelcoming chill climbed up his spine and Brian immediately took Snow's hand and said in a low voice: "Don't go in first."
Snow kept silent for a moment and then said softly: "…it's alright, I recognize this place. This is Uncle Wald's underground laboratory. Back when I was a kid, it was here… he kept me frozen for five years."
Brian froze, seeing Snow's pale complexion, he immediately gave his hand a tight squeeze, “We should still tread with a bit of caution… I'll walk in front, you follow behind me." Brian pointed to the space button on his wrist and ordered: "Little Blue, turn on the detection system and lead the way."
Little Blue obediently responded: "Got it, Master!"
A blue light shone from the space button on Brian's wrist, illuminating the dark corridor.
Brian held Snow's hand tightly and guided him down the never-ending corridor.
As soon as the two took the first steps in, the door behind them slammed shut. Brian paused, asking Snow in a low voice: "You used to stay here, are there any hidden contraptions in this laboratory that need to be taken note of?"
Brian had heard that when some secret laboratories are invaded by outsiders, the smart control center will automatically enable the hidden contraptions, releasing poisonous gas or detonate the laboratory, thereby destroying the experimental data and within that, annihilating the intruders. He’s never been to this place before, so he naturally has to be all the more on his toes.
Seeing Brian's tense appearance, Snow wasted no time in quietly saying: "Don't worry, this is Uncle Wald's secret laboratory for researching organ transplantation. In the many years following his death, no one has come here. Your dad chose this for our rendezvous, the people coming in for backup should be people of the Undercurrent. Apart from being Uncle Wald’s laboratory, this place is also a stronghold for the members of the Undercurrent Organization residing on Planet Oman."
Only then did Brian nod his head at ease and led Snow forward.
In the quiet space, only the light cast by the mech lights up the area in front of them, everything else is completely dark. The footsteps of the two distinctly echoed back to their ears, forming a tense melody with the rising and falling of their hearts beating…
After walking down the long corridor for a long time, it finally came to an end. Snow used his fingerprint to open the metal door in front of them— surprisingly, the lights in this laboratory were actually lit, the bright incandescent light exposed the laboratory’s inner furnishings clear as day. A large number of testing instruments exude a cold luster under the light, and some human organ models are placed in the surrounding transparent glass display windows.
In the center of the laboratory, there is a transparent cryogenic freezing pod more than one meter long.
Seeing that cryptogenic freezing pod, a sudden stiffness wracked his spine. The memories of being frozen as a child emerged from the depths of his mind. An ice-cold chill gradually rose from the bottom of his feet and spread throughout his whole body, like he had regressed back to those five years of lost consciousness and being drowned in freezing cold nutrient fluid.
Brian noticed his abnormal response and immediately stretched out his arms, gently hugged him close, and spoke in a hushed tone: "Don't be afraid, it's all in the past."
Snow buried his face in Brian ’s warm arms and took a deep breath. Then he raised his head and said: “It ’s alright… I spent five years in this lab when I was a kid, for now, it’s a bit… too hard to adapt, that’s all." Snow took a sweeping glance around the laboratory and changed the topic, "The lights are on, someone should have already been here. Could it be who your dad sent to help us?"
Right at this moment, the door of a partitioned off area in the laboratory was suddenly opened and a young man came out of it— only seeing that the man’s figure was thin, his terribly messy hair seemed to have not been taken care of in a long time, and every article of clothing on his body was also wrinkled, his slovenly appearance looked very dismal… His exceptionally clear and bright eyes, however, stick out like a sore thumb with his disordered style of dress.
Even more ridiculous was that this man seems to be an Omega…
Although due to the injection of inhibitors, his pheromone smelled a lot like Beta, it was also similar to an Omega. Snow could vaguely pick up the Omega scent on his body. Moreover, all of the members of the Undercurrent are Omega, Snow can determine the identity of the other party.
Snow gave him a glance and said: "Hello, is Uncle Berg the one having you meet up with us here?"
When the young man saw the two, he looked distracted before he quickly responded, saying with a light chuckle: "That’s right, you’re Ling Feng’s son, Snow, was it? Didn’t you live in the underground city for a year when you were little? Even seeing you now… I didn't expect you to grow so much."
Snow stared blankly for a moment, and asked in suspicion: "Are you…"
The young man scratched his messy hair and smiled as he said: "I'm Dave."
Only then did Snow recall, in that year when dad took him back to live in the underground city, he did indeed meet an Omega named Dave, he seemed to be a mech making master, very talented in the mech manufacturing field. This person's character was eccentric. He studied mechs from dusk to dawn, where he would often neglect sleep and forget to eat. He also couldn’t be bothered to tidy up his hair, always giving people the misconception of being deranged.
Snow looked at the man in front of him, just as sloppy of an appearance as before, and couldn't help but smile, saying: "Uncle Dave, I remember you."
Dave very happily reached out and touched Snow's hair: "Little Snow, you’re still so obedient after growing up. Is your dad still doing well?"
Snow nodded and said: "He's doing very well."
The two chatted and tossed Brian off to the side. There seems to be a strange intimate Omega on Omega aura, making it so that Brian, who is an Alpha, can't even butt in and can only sourly stand beside him without saying a word.
After a while had gone by, there was another noise outside the door, Caesar and Lin Yuan walked in together.
Brian saw Caesar and hurried over to him and said: "Caesar, my dad suddenly summoned us to meet up with each other. What the hell is going on?"
Caesar whispered: "Have you not seen the news? The news just announced the Marshal's death, but Uncle told us that the Marshal hasn’t died… I don't know the specific circumstances either, he had us rendezvous to make our way over to Naomi Star and find him."
Brian turned back and looked at Snow in surprise. He and Snow really hadn’t seen the news in these past two days. Unexpectedly, in just two short days, the world outside had already gone to hell.
Seeing Lin Yuan's despondent appearance with his head drooping down, Snow rushed over in front of him, holding his hand in distress.
Lin Yuan looked up at his brother and feigned an undisturbed smile as he said: "It's okay, I believe my father must still be alive."
Snow lightly patted Lin Yuan's hand to show comfort.
Caesar looked back at the strange young man and said: "Are you the one Wang Shu sent to meet us?"
Dave nodded and said: "Correct, little prince, my name is Dave. We’ll set off as soon as everyone is gathered."
Lin Yuan wondered aloud: "Who else are we waiting on?"
At this moment, two men walked in one after the other. One of them was a bit rounded, with a gentle smile on his face, and the other looked a bit on the lazy side, but he donned a dark blue, well-ironed, military uniform.
Seeing these two, Lin Yuan's eyes widened in shock: "Master! Uncle Fornt, why are you here?"
It was Dr. Fornt and Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yi who had walked in one behind the other.
Zhou Yi saw Lin Yuan and immediately reached out, firmly rubbing his apprentice's hair, saying with a smile: "Fornt and I received a notice from Berg that the General is now missing and we can't hide it away any longer. "
Lin Yuan said in shock: "General…?"
Fornt explained with a smile: "Xiao Yuan, in fact, Master Zhou Yi and I are both former soldiers of the Dark Night Legion. Back when the General left, he entrusted us with taking care of you on Planet Rennes. Zhou Yi took you as his disciple and trained your body in the martial arts, these were also the General’s instructions."
Lin Yuan: "…………"
No wonder Uncle Fornt and Master Zhou Yi have always been so kind to him, it was as if they were looking after their own sons.
—It turns out that this was set up by Ling Yu.
Thinking of the man who once held himself in his arms and tenderly fed him, Lin Yuan ’s nose suddenly soured— With his dad being a General, he may have been forced to leave his young self for other reasons, but dad never forgot him and even arranged to have such highly trusted subordinates around him to put their hearts and souls into teaching him and taking care of him.
Lin Yuan longed to see his dad for so many years but never even consider that maybe his dad never truly left his side.
Seeing the little guy’s touched appearance, his eyes moistening, Zhou Yi couldn't help but openly smile, patting Lin Yuan's head lightly, and said, "Don't get all touchy-feely now, your dad's whereabouts are currently unknown, we gotta find him pronto."
Lin Yuan froze for a moment, "Missing? Shouldn't there be a go-between connection between you and dad?"
Zhou Yi said helplessly: "It was true that we were in contact before, but now, our connection has been cut off and we don't know where the General is. Prince Berg sent a message to have a rendezvous with you here out of nowhere… We don't know the specific circumstances, let’s talk it over again when we see him."
Lin Yuan hastily nodded, looked back at Dave, saying: "Can we go?"
Dave scratched his head and said: "Everyone is here, so let's get going."
Dave went straight to summoning a large-scale transport mech, which was a work he too personally crafted. Although the offense system is not on the same level as the formidable power of an S-Class mech, the navigation speed and transportation ability of this mech is not too far off than that of an S-Class mech.
Everyone stood in the control cabin. After a moment of silence, Zhou Yi aimed a look at Caesar and asked Lin Yuan, "This is?"
Lin Yuan rushed to give an introduction: "Master, he is the young prince, Caesar."
Zhou Yi oh’d, showing disinterest towards the young prince.
A drop of cold sweat suddenly rolled down Caesar's forehead. Fortunately, Xiao Yuan had learned well, so he didn't directly introduce him as "this is my Alpha". If not, with this Master's frank temper and deft hand, whether or not he will chop Caesar up into bits was up to chance.
After repeatedly going through space jumps, they all finally reached the Isville Galaxy at 10 pm the next day.
Not long ago, the chaos of war at the Naomi Star Space Station on the outermost edge of the Isville Galaxy in ruins. Now, the space station had gone through emergency repairs. Stemming from the fear of the Federation troops making a comeback, the Glory Legion dispatched many soldiers to patrol to and fro, the entire space station was heavily guarded, not even a fly could make its way through.
Dave had the mech stay outside the galaxy and rung up his personal communicator, getting in touch with Berg.
Berg was currently situated at the encampment of the Hydra Legion on Naomi Star, still disguised as a soldier beside Drew, wearing a trim dark green military uniform with a mask on his face.
Seeing everyone in the control cabin, Berg was relieved and said in a quiet voice: "Dave, is everyone here? At 1 in the morning, the patrol staff of the Naomi Star Space Fortress will be replaced. When the moment comes, Drew will think of a way to make a racket over at the space station. You will take the opportunity to pass through the space fortress and fly directly to the coordinates I specified."
Berg sent the position the coordinate to Dave, lowering his voice, he said: "This is the Dark Night Legion’s underground military base on Naomi Star. Please contact me after you arrive."
Dave quickly nodded and said: "Got it, Boss!"
Brian nervously walked in front of the communicator, wanting to ask him something. Berg glanced at his son and said softly: "Don't ask too many questions, I will explain everything to you when the time comes."
He hung up the communicator right after he spoke.
Caesar could not help but wrinkle his brow— it seems that Naomi Star is already under the supervision of the military, and the back and forth communication signals will be filtered by the defense network of the military. The special communication ciphertext Berg and Dave are using is clearly coming through the Undercurrent. The coding skillfully evaded the defense network's interception, it was inconvenient to say much, seemingly because it would be discovered by the military defense network in time.
The Hydra Legion and the Glory Legion are both stationed at Naomi Star… Just what is it that happened here?
This mech made by Dave has the most powerful anti-detection system. Thus, it will be no easy task for the military ’s detection system to sense this mech, while this mech can scan and monitor the scene of the space station, and project the current image to the 3D screen in front of them in real-time.
Everyone was waiting for the arrival of 1:00 a.m. at the border of the Isville Galaxy.
Because of the tense mood, no one said a word, only staring silently at the scene being monitored on the projection screen.
The hour hand finally pointed at 1 o'clock in the morning, and the space station of Naomi Star suddenly burst into a dazzling expanse of fire—
This is it!
Dave immediately piloted the mech and made a long-distance space jump the moment the space station exploded. The strong airflow caused a sudden fit of violent vibrations in the mech's control cabin, everyone inside the control cabin had their brains rattled!
When the shaking stopped, everyone was surprised to find that the mech had actually penetrated the atmosphere and landed on Naomi Star. Moreover, the location where they landed was precisely the coordinate sent by Berg— not a hairsbreadth off!
Brian looked at Dave in shock, completely unable to imagine that this sloppy Omega was so talented in mech piloting…
At this moment, a large crack split open on the landing point’s surface, like a beast with a gaping mouth, swallowing this large-mech mech whole— the time taken from beginning to end did not exceed ten seconds! In just ten short seconds, the ground immediately closed, the surrounding forest was quiet, and occasionally the cries of the wild wolves could be heard as if nothing had happened at all.
Naomi Star, the underground military base.
Everyone's mech was carried by a large lift, set safely down on the ground.
Opening the cabin door, a row of soldiers wearing dark blue military uniforms came into sight, neatly arranged in a row. When everyone came out of the control cabin, a clear voice suddenly yelled out: "Salute!"
With a swish, the uniform military salute made Lin Yuan startled and he hurriedly responded with the most proper military salute of the military school students.
Zhou Yi walked over with a smile, and gave a grinning soldier a bone-crushing hug, then gave him a firm pat on the shoulder.
The man that was also smiling said: "Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yi, it’s been a long time since we last saw each other."
—The former battalion commander of the Dark Night Legion’s Personal Guard Battalion, Lieutenant Colonel Zhou Yi, after leaving for many years, he finally came back to his Dark Night Legion once again.
The Dark Night Legion as it is now is less than one-tenth of the size as it was in the past, and the Personal Guard Battalion has lost even more people. However, every single one out of those who remained is the cream of the crop who are willing to swear their allegiance to Ling Yu to death. Being regarded as brothers, being regarded as his hands and feet.
They have been lying dormant here for many years, finally waiting for the day they can see the light of a new day breaking through the clouds.
Shaking hands with an iron grip with Zhou Yi was Commander Errol, who was highly trusted by Ling Yu and was once the commander of the Dark Night Legion’s Vanguard Battalion.
After saying hello to several friends, Zhou Yi pulled Lin Yuan over and introduced him to the crowd: "This is the General's son, Xiao Yuan."
Having everyone’s gaze projected on Lin Yuan, made Lin Yuan a bit nervous all of a sudden. Errol stepped forward and smiled, saying: "Xiao Yuan, don’t be nervous. Most of us have met you before. Back when you were four years old, I even fed you your snacks."
A group of people laughed, "Xiao Yuan was plump when he was a kid, how come he is so thin when he’s all grown up?"
Someone inquisitively says: "His eyes are really like our General’s."
Someone raised an eyebrow and said: "No kidding, the General's son certainly looks like him."
Lin Yuan, who was surrounded by a group of people, blushed suddenly. Every single one of these high ranking officers in his dad's legion was straight-tempered and didn’t bother with niceties…
Right then, Berg came from another side passage.
Brian saw him and hurriedly went over: "Dad …"
Caesar also greeted him, "Wang Shu, this is all…"
Berg said with a smile: "You guys can come with me, I will explain to you in detail."
Zhou Yi and Fornt went back to reminisce with their old pals from the Dark Night Legion. Dave went to examine mechs. The four youths were taken by Berg to the closed conference room of the underground base.
Only after turning back to close the door, did Berg say: "The reason why I am sure that Marshal Rosen is not dead is that the mech fragments found in the cosmic wormhole by the Hydra Legion do not belong to Black Dragon, but instead, they belong to the Black Dragon's replica body."
Lin Yuan's eyes widened in shock, and a frightful thought lightly clawed its way up from the bottom of his heart: "Replica body? So, when Dad fled from Cepheus, he wasn't piloting Black Dragon’s original body…?"
Berg nodded with a smile. "That’s right, the mech that your dad was piloting when he left was the Black Dragon’s replica. I made it for him myself. I checked all the mech fragments found in the cosmic wormhole and I found something major— it ejected the escape pod before being crushed by the spatial shocks. This is the most crucial dying message set aside for me from the Replica Black Dragon."
—This is also a dying message that only Mr. Aston and Prince Berg who manufactured Black Dragon could understand.
—Finally found in the mech wreckage, that key portion of the missing metal fragments of the escape pod.
—It ejected the escape pod, saving its master.
"According to the description of the Legion of Glory eyewitnesses, there seemed to be two Black Dragon mechs at that time. Apparently your dad was piloting the replica of Black Dragon to save your father. If I infer correctly, they utilized the energy of the two mechs' space jumping at the same time to forcibly break through the cosmic wormhole, this is the only method they could have used to survive the spatial shocks."
"Unfortunately, because of unknown reasons, the replica did not bear the pressure of the spatial shocks. It ejected the escape pod before it was damaged. Since Black Dragon was still alive at that time, saving the escape cabin would be easy as pie for it in that case—"
Berg looked at Lin Yuan and said gently, "We spent a month scouring the whole wormhole and found no signs of damage to Black Dragon, which means that Black Dragon is still alive, Rosen and Ling Yu aren’t dead either."