Chapter 1606: Welcome Back, Mates!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Hao Ren had once thought about asking Salaman to remove Star Cluster X’s divine blockade so that he could more easily maneuver around in the galaxy. But then, after some careful thought, he knew this was impossible. Even though the revolt of the festered inside the sacred land had bypassed the divine blockade, it did not mean that this blockade was unnecessary. Hidden dangers were lurking outside Star Cluster X, and no one knew how many unknown threats the Mad Lord had left behind. The Guardian Legion was already strained in dealing with the festered army. Naturally, it was impossible to remove the divine blockade outside the galaxy.
Having the extra ‘security passes’ was good enough.
The Petrachelys had arrived back in the forward base on the home planet of the Executors. Its arrival was a reminder to the lollygaggers that vacation was over.
In the base, everyone assembled in the square. Hao Ren and Vivian announced the good news of ‘the end of the ban.’ The first one to jump up in joy was Lily, expectedly. “Long live! Mr. Landlord. We can finally get to have fun and not hole up in this goddamn place!”
But something was not right here; supposedly, the husky was enjoying her stay here. After the base expanded into the forest, and Zorm took over the ‘security duty’ in the wilderness, the planet had become a safe place, and people did not have to hole up in the small forward base all day long. Even Rollie had gotten the permission to roam around outside. All the more so when it came to Lily. When she was not going hunting and fishing, she would be chasing the native beasts in the forest. When she felt like it, she would go to the snowfield on the other side of the planet playing the game of survival. To a husky like Lily, it was a paradise on the earth.
But her edgy look now seemed as if she had been staying in the cage for the past two months.
“Is this necessary?” Hao Ren looked up and down at Lily. “Rollie and Y’lisabet have told me that you have had fun every day. Are you not happy with it?”
Lily said with her arms akimbo, “Hunting, fishing, plucking bird nest and all those stuff are not as interesting as fighting the monsters in the universe! Do not forget that I am Mr. Landlord’s Number 1 guardian. I am losing my sense of existence after being absent from the actions for so long.”
Hao Ren was like what the heck?
Did the maiden just make herself a self-appointed guardian of him?
“We have read the news from the battlefront,” Y’zaks said after the initial excitement of everyone subsided. He was the most principled one among them. “I cannot believe that you two have found the ‘control system’ that the goddess of creation has left for the future and solved the mystery of the divine oscillating network. The truth of this galaxy really knocks my socks off.”
“Uncle Ren, you might not see my papa’s expression at the time,” said the little girl, Y’lisabet, who danced around Hao Ren. “He said that he had never thought that a person could come up with such an elaborate plan just to kill herself!”
“It is a god, by the way.” Y’zaks corrected his daughter. “And I was not shocked over the goddess killing herself, about which I had known when I learned about the truth of the deicidal war. What amazes me is the incredible Weaves of Destiny; it is fascinating to see the mystery of how the universe works.”
“Mystery my foot. The super admin of the universe is standing right here.” Lily pointed at Vivian. “After all the hoo-ha, it turns out that ‘poverty’ is the fundamental law of the universe of the Plane of Dreams! No wonder the life of the races in the world is hard— Ouch!”
Vivian smashed Lily with a Lightning Ball, instantly turning her into a Chow Chow. “I still cannot believe what has happened even until now. But I also cannot deny what has happened. We must now find a way to get our hands on the Amantir crystal. It does not matter whether I would sit on the throne in the future, we must get the crystal because it is related to the secret of the final resting place of the goddess of creation. Hao Ren and I need helps from you all.”
Y’zaks, Y’lisabet, Nangong Wuyue, Nangong Sanba, and Lily, who was scrambling to smooth down her hair and tail, fell into silence and looked at each other with a smile.
“That’s more like it!” Y’zaks rubbed his fists, raring to go. “We are not here for vacation.”
Even Nangong Wuyue, who was always scared stiff when there was a situation, nodded eagerly. Meanwhile, Rollie who listened on started to scratch her head. “Big Boss Cat, are they dried fish in that place called Amantir?”
Rollie had no clue about what everyone was discussing. The cat acknowledged her intellectual limits and chose another way to understand the purpose of this trip.
Hao Ren glanced at her and said, “There is no dried fish there. But if you behave well, I will buy you ten pounds of dried fish.”
Rollie’s eyes brightened up. “Meow, meow, meow!”
A few hours later.
After sizing up the guys in front of him, Salaman turned to Hao Ren and asked curiously, “Are they all of your subordinates?”
“Not subordinates; they are my friends who have been with me through ups and downs.” Hao Ren smiled as he introduced them one by one. “You do not have to doubt their ability. The weakest among them have also gotten the divine blessing, and most importantly, they have been following me to various bizarre, mysterious realms and alien worlds. Their experience in special ops is more than what your regular soldiers have had.”
Hao Ren’s voice was full of confidence. His little buddies might have their individual, quirky problems, but he had not the slightest doubt of their ability. Even Nangong Sanba was not that bad in terms of combat strength; he was only comparatively weak among the bunch of demons and monsters in the house. It might not be the case during the early days when everyone was a rookie. But over the years, after eating and drinking at the straight goddess’ place and sharing with Hao Ren his “year-end bonus”, they were now strong like a bull.
They ate those divine things, for which people could go to war, for lunch.
Of course, Hao Ren knew that he must not be overconfident as his opponent was no less powerful. Although the goddess of creation did not have a diploma, she was a true god. Her bodyguards—the guardian giants, were superior to most mortal races. Now, the Mad Lord had infected some of these guardians, turning them into terrible killing machines.
Hao Ren and his little buddies might have no problem dealing with a small group of festered monsters, but when it came to combating the defense forces of Amantir, it was like kicking against the pricks. Keeping in mind that this book had still a long way to go before ending, Hao Ren decided to discuss with Salaman to find a better way to send them to Amantir discreetly.
“Multi-racial and multi abilities; I am more and more curious about you, the Observer. You seem to have a badass team,” Salaman said, coming back to the topic of Amantir. “It is tough to send even people as inconspicuous as you guys to Amantir. Those freaks have surveillance stations and defense firepower in the orbit to compensate for the lack of combat power after the loss of the doomsday weapons. What’s more, there are many anti-air guns on the surface. Those things will shoot down anything that does not belong to the festered army coming closer to Amantir.”
“How about infiltration by disguising as returning festered forces?” Y’zaks asked. He membered the successful infiltration of the lunar base of the Executors not long ago. At that time, they seized an Executor spacecraft and faked an ID to pass through the checkpoints. “We have many corpses of the festered, by which we can piece together to form a damage-looking hybrid spacecraft. The enemy might not be able to tell the difference.”
“We have thought of that earlier, but the idea has been rejected.” Salaman shook his head. “The festered still retain their mind network. The lower-ranked individuals among them might have lost most of their thinking ability, but their superiors can still monitor the lower-level units through the mind network. I am afraid that the mind network would detect all of you who disguise as ones of them.”
Nangong Sanba thought for a moment. “Can we hack this mind network?”
“It is challenging, if not impossible. I advise you not to even try because it is not just a matter of how difficult it is.” Salaman still shook his head. “After the power of the Mad Lord infected those freaks, their mind network has also mutated and is filled with elements of madness, blasphemy, and dangers. No rational creatures can decipher the mind in the network. All you got would be garbled data, and possibly causing the spread of the festered contaminant and alerting the superior units of the mind network.”
Hao Ren’s original idea was to sneak into Amantir using a disguise. But now, it seemed that things were not that easy.
They brainstormed for almost two hours and came out fruitless. There were over a dozen suggestions, many of which they had discussed in detail but were later discarded because the plans were full of fatal flaws.
There might be only one chance to sneak into Amantir. Once the festered knew that the enemy was targeting the Amantir crystal, they would never give the enemy a second chance. So, they must come up with a program that worked and was safe, where it might not be flawless but at least controllable. Even if their action failed, it must not alert the festered too much.
They also had to consider their evacuation plan.
Lily was the first to lose patience in the extended discussion. She slammed her tail against the back of the chair on which Nangong Wuyue sat. “Argh! It looks like there is no way to get into Amantir without getting caught. We might as well crash Agodal into Amantir. Maybe we can find the crystal from the debris after that.”
Vivian instantly sneered at the husky. “Your idea is no better—”
“Wait a minute!” Hao Ren’s heart skipped a beat. Before Vivian finished, he interrupted. “Lily’s idea is a wakeup call.”