Chapter 974: Arranged Clearly (Revised)

Chapter 974: Everything Arranged to Perfection (Revised)

The fleet did not approach rashly. Maintaining stealth, it deployed a micro orbital reconnaissance satellite, letting it drift slowly toward the planet's outer space, continuously scanning the surface.

Inside the cabin, a virtual screen displayed the satellite's feed. The surface was dotted with numerous cities, yet the streets were desolate and empty. Trash littered the roads, a stark testament to the hasty evacuation of the civilian populace.

"This colony world seems to have been abandoned." Nilo swiped his finger across the virtual screen, scanning one deserted city after another.

"Check the life-signature detectors," the squad leader said, jerking his chin toward the console.

Nilo acknowledged with a hum, switching to the orbital satellite's control interface and swiftly configuring it. The device was a product of the Legion; though he hadn't built it himself, it was simple enough to operate.

This reconnaissance unit comprised roughly two thousand Legionnaires, the vast majority being Class C Supers. Only the commander was Class B, while Nilo was the strongest among them besides the commander. He was also the unit's finest Mechanic, entrusted with operating nearly all the mechanical apparatuses the squad carried.

Soon, the scan results appeared on the screen. Life-signature dots on the surface were sparse, most densely clustered in the wilds and belonging entirely to beasts. Within the cities, only a scattered handful of intelligent life-signatures flickered here and there.

Mia's eyes lit up. "There are still people in the cities!"

"Probably civilians who refused to evacuate," Nilo said, breathing a sigh of relief. One of their mission objectives was to capture as many Kunzu civilians as possible and bring them back for intelligence interrogation.

"Kid, confirm the armed forces on this planet. If everything's clear, we'll descend," the captain ordered.

Nilo nodded and ran another scan.

Everyone stared at the screen, awaiting the results. Yet at that very moment, within the quantum network invisible to all, a long-ambushed set of data silently intercepted the information stream transmitted by the satellite, covertly tampering with the intelligence displayed before their eyes.

"Hmm... no enemy ships in the vicinity, and no abnormal reactions from the surface military bases. It seems the enemy has completely abandoned this colony world, not even leaving a garrison behind," Nilo said, glancing at the screen and reading out the scan results.

The captain chuckled. "Then it'll be a breeze. The commander has given the order. Everyone, attention, we're going in."

The fleet moved swiftly. Most of the warships plunged into the atmosphere, beginning their descent toward the cities, while only three vessels, including the commander's flagship, remained in outer space as a reserve.

Meanwhile, a medium-sized Kunzu fleet was stationed and resting in a floating military base high above the colony world. Comprising over a hundred ships, the base maintained its camouflage, activating reflective panels to blend seamlessly with the surroundings, rendering it virtually invisible.

Numerous operators bustled about in the main control room of the floating base. A radar operator suddenly caught a flash of an anomalous atmospheric disturbance on his screen, but upon looking closer, the signal vanished, showing all clear.

"Did I see things?" the Kunzu operator muttered in confusion, ordering the radar to sweep once more.

The results came back. Not only was the atmosphere perfectly clear, but the radar also failed to detect Nilo and his team, who were descending in plain sight.

"Must have been a false alarm," the operator murmured, shifting his gaze away.

The reconnaissance squad hadn't spotted the military base, and the base hadn't seen the squad. Though mere inches apart, they were blind to each other, temporarily rendered sightless.

The mastermind behind it all was none other than Han Xiao's mechanical army, hidden aboard the reconnaissance squad's ship, using virtual technology to directly falsify the scan results for both sides.

—The situation had fallen completely into Technician Han's script.

...

Before long, the ships landed smoothly in the city. The various combat squads geared up and disembarked, standing amidst the desolate and barren streets.

"Come on, let's assign the tasks."

The squad leaders held a brief meeting, ultimately dividing all squads into three groups. One group would stay behind to guard the ships against unforeseen contingencies; another would capture the remaining civilians in the city and gather intelligence; while the rest would scatter to search for nearby special facilities, such as various factories and power plants. On the outskirts of the city lay an abandoned military base.

With their duties confirmed, the squads set off in different directions. Nilo and Mia's squad was tasked with exploring the derelict military base on the outskirts. They boarded a ground vehicle together—a heavily armed hovercraft.

Inside the cabin, members of both combat squads remained silent. Nilo looked around, coughed lightly, stood up, and shuffled over to plop down next to Mia.

Mia, who was maintaining her blade, glanced up at him before returning to her weapon, her tone casual. "What are you sitting over here for?"

"Just to chat," Nilo said, scratching his cheek. "We've been so busy fighting lately, we haven't really talked."

"What's there to chat about?" Mia rolled her eyes, replying irritably. "I barely get enough sleep every day. Do you think I'm like you and don't need rest?"

Nilo was speechless for a moment, then thought and said, "Actually, I can teach you how to fight off fatigue. I'm quite experienced in that area."

"A martial artist like me needs you to teach me that?" Mia laughed in disbelief.

Nilo said earnestly, "As a martial artist, you need to learn this even more. Mechanics don't rely much on physical stamina, but you're different. Without stamina, a martial artist's combat power drops severely. I'm worried you might run into danger."

"You do care about me," Mia said, casting a sidelong glance at Nilo.

"I told you, I'd protect you," Nilo said with a grin.

"Hmph, stop smiling. You look stupid when you smile."

Mia snorted and turned her head away. A few seconds later, she turned back, asking in a deliberately casual tone, "So, how do you practice this anti-fatigue thing you mentioned?"

Nilo rubbed the bridge of his nose and said seriously, "First, you have to break the habit of sleeping. Keep your brain running at high speed even when you're exhausted. The beginning is the hardest part. I've been through it, so I have the experience to help you. Whenever you feel sleepy, just come find me."

Mia nodded, then suddenly felt something was off.

"Come find you when I'm sleepy? Are you hitting on me?!"

A surge of embarrassment and annoyance welled up in her heart. Mia punched Nilo hard in the chest armor, producing a dull, resounding thud.

"Huh? Did I say something wrong?" Nilo was completely bewildered. The armor was thick enough; he didn't feel a thing.

Just as Mia was about to say something else, she suddenly realized that everyone in the cabin was staring at them. Their gazes held a mix of amusement, gratification, envy, and jealousy, as if watching a young couple flirt.

A blush suddenly bloomed across her cheeks. Mia shot Nilo a fierce glare, then lowered her head in embarrassment, saying nothing more. She vigorously polished her blade, the whetstone seemingly about to strike sparks from the steel.

Nilo scratched his head, wanting to strike up a conversation again, but caught the squad leader sitting diagonally across from him making faces and secretly using sign language. The leader formed a loose fist with one hand and poked a finger from his other hand into the hollow of the fist twice—the universal interstellar gesture, its meaning unmistakable:

—Kid, stop dawdling. When it's time to score, you score.

"You old pervert..." Nilo couldn't help but mutter at the sight.

Just then, the detection radars of everyone in the cabin simultaneously picked up an anomaly.

"Beep beep, two anomalous energy sources detected."

Everyone immediately dropped their smiles and checked the radars. Two new signals had suddenly appeared on the screen: one pointing to the underground depths of the military base, and the other pointing to the distant wilderness far away.

"Weird, how didn't we detect this earlier? Is this thing broken?" the deputy captain tapped the radar, looking puzzled.

"Regardless, we have to go take a look."

The captain glanced over and said to Mia's squad, "Looks like we'll have to split up. Once we reach the military base, drop our squad off first, then you guys go check out the anomalous signal in the wilderness."

With the plan finalized, the hovercraft soon arrived at the perimeter of the military base. Nilo's squad disembarked entirely, watching as Mia and her squad drove off into the distance, the two parting ways once again.

"Kid, stop staring. Time to work."

Seeing Nilo staring in the direction the vehicle had left, the captain reached over and snapped his fingers near Nilo's ear, bringing his attention back.

Nilo collected himself and fell in step with the squad, somewhat distracted.

For some reason, a sudden wave of unease had washed over him just a moment ago.

Burdened by these thoughts, Nilo followed the squad into the military base, found the abandoned elevator, and descended into the labyrinthine underground facility to investigate the "anomalous signal" shown on the radar.

...

"Alert! Unknown targets detected!"

Over ten minutes later, the Kunzu floating base in the sky suddenly regained its sight, cured of its years-long cataracts, and abruptly spotted the reconnaissance ships that had landed on the surface.

The garrison personnel of the entire base were startled and scrambled into action.

The intelligence was quickly delivered to the base commander. In his office, the commander's eyes widened in a mix of shock and fury.

"When did this enemy force land? How did we not detect them earlier? Have you been derelict in your duty?!"

The head of the radar department defended himself, "The radar showed absolutely no reaction! The enemy scouts must have used more advanced stealth equipment to evade our detection!"

"Terrifying! If they have this kind of technology, they could have already succeeded in a sneak attack on this base!" The base commander shuddered in retrospective fear, then flew into a rage. "Sneaking in like thieves—do they think we don't even exist?!"

"Commander, think about it. The enemy possesses such capabilities, yet instead of launching a sneak attack on us, they land on the surface. Why is that?"

Hearing this, a flash of realization crossed the base commander's eyes. He slammed his hand on the table and bellowed,

"I get it now! They know we're here, yet they don't attack. That means their forces are critically depleted; they wouldn't be confident in wiping us out even with a surprise strike! To ignore us and brazenly gather intelligence right under our noses—such arrogance! They must pay for this!"

Pausing briefly, the base commander abruptly rose to his feet and barked, "Order the fleet to deploy, surround the enemy, and don't let a single one escape!"

"Commander, try to take them alive. High Command wants the espers for research; this is a golden opportunity," the adjutant beside him reminded.

The base commander's eyes lit up with immense delight, and he quickly replied, "Right, right, right! I almost forgot. High Command wants the espers. This bunch is practically delivering merit right to our doorstep. Capture them alive and bring them back to report our success!"

...

Deep underground in the abandoned military base, Nilo's squad was exploring the subterranean facility. Power had long been severed, plunging the area into pitch darkness and profound silence. The men could only hear each other's breathing and footsteps echoing through the desolate corridors, evoking a distinctly eerie sensation.

Nilo released several small mechanical scout bees. Emitting intense beams of light, they led the way, illuminating the subterranean base.

Without power, all the base's security doors had failed, leaving brute force as the only option. A few shots from a high-energy thermal cannon could melt the sealed metal doors into glowing red slag, clearing a path without hindrance.

After following the squad for a while, Nilo's intuition grew increasingly strong, and he couldn't help but speak up.

"Captain, I have a bad feeling about this."

"What kind of bad feeling?" the captain asked, turning his head.

"I can't put my finger on it. It's just a gut feeling."

"I see..." The captain frowned and made a hand gesture. "Then take a few men and follow behind to guard our rear. The rest of us will go check out the anomalous signal."

With that, the captain picked a few teammates to follow Nilo, then led the others forward.

Nilo waited in place for a moment until the captain's puzzled voice finally came through the comms channel.

"We've reached the source of the anomalous signal, but there's absolutely nothing here."

Nilo's heart skipped a beat. He hastily opened the shared field of vision and saw the scene from the captain's perspective: a starkly empty warehouse, devoid of even a speck of dust.

Yet the signal marked by the radar was right here; the altitude and distance matched perfectly. They hadn't taken a wrong turn.

"Is it a radar false alarm?" Nilo swallowed hard. "Or could it be..."

BOOM!!

Before he could fully process the thought, the next instant, a violent tremor erupted with explosive force!

"Alert! High-energy strike detected! Take cover immediately!"

RUMBLE—

The roar of artillery fire rang in their ears as the vaulted ceiling and support pillars of the underground base suddenly collapsed!

The base's structure disintegrated in an instant. The floors of every level shattered one after another, turning the depths below into a pitch-black abyss leading to the even deeper subterranean levels.

Nilo barely had time to activate his shield to protect himself before the shockwave of the explosion blasted him away. He smashed through the corridor wall, his body plunging and falling downward.

Shouts of alarm from his teammates echoed through the comms channel, but he had no time to attend to them. Struggling to save himself, his mind was filled with nothing but sheer shock.

How could they be suddenly ambushed?!

They had clearly confirmed that this planet had no garrison forces!

At this moment, Nilo could think of no other explanation. In his eyes, there was only one possibility.

"Damn it, this colony world is a trap! The enemy must have deliberately hidden elsewhere and jumped in to strike. We've fallen into their snare!"

The thought had barely finished forming when Nilo hit the bottom, crashing heavily onto the ground.

BANG!!

The impact carved a human-shaped crater into the floor, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

"Hiss!" The tremendous recoil sent violent shudders through his body, forcing a muffled groan from his lips.

Before he could even stand up, a massive cascade of rubble and metal crashed down after him, suddenly expanding in his field of vision!

Nilo's heart turned cold. Gritting his teeth, he crossed his arms and flared his shield to shield himself.

BANG BANG BANG!

Countless pieces of debris rained down, filling every inch of Nilo's vision and burying him completely.

...

Meanwhile, in the abandoned city not far away, the Kunder fleet, having belatedly and fiercely launched its assault, was already exchanging fire with the other combat squads left behind to guard the ships. Energy crisscrossed the sky, piercing through one deserted building after another.

RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE—

A multitude of buildings collapsed, and the air grew thick with dust and smoke.

Hovering above the abandoned military base were several Kunder warships. Their cannons were fully deployed, unleashing a torrent of energy shells in a relentless bombardment of the facility.

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Only after the entire base was blasted into ruins did the warships cease their attack and retract their cannons.

The hatch slid open with a hiss. Squad after squad of Kunder armored soldiers leaped from the cabins, landing with successive thuds. Adjusting their stances, they formed up and marched toward the underground base, weapons raised.

The life signs of Nilo and his team were exposed on the Kunder radar. The soldiers' objective was to capture this isolated squad of espers alive, leaving them without the protection of a fleet.

"Excellent! The operation is going smoothly!"

At this moment, in the command room of the floating base, the Kunder base commander smiled with deep satisfaction.

Little did he know that a highly invisible mechanical force was hovering right outside the window, silently watching him.