by <unknown>
Commander Class armor was on a different level compared to Enlistee Class armor and NCO Class armor. The latter two were standard equipment, but Commander Class armor was the highest tier equipment and on the same level as elite equipment and the Supers’ equipment. The materials needed to produce one set of Commander Class armor could be used to produce a few hundred sets of Enlistee Class armor.
The loss of Commander Class armor technology meant that the downfall of this civilization was inevitable. If they still had the technology for Commander Class armor, then they could employ that equipment to fight off dangerous beasts, and the threat of the Catastrophe would decrease.
Boom!
The ground shook violently, and the two armored soldiers got knocked to the side. Neville saw something behind Han Xiao and shouted, “Move!”
An Underground Crustacean Beast that was the size of a bull knocked the soldiers into the air and charged directly at Han Xiao. There were a lot of Underground Beasts, and this type tended to charge at their target. Their defensive status was high with their dark armor that was as hard as steel. It could block off machine gun bullets, so it was an extremely difficult creature to deal with.
Han Xiao turned around and took out a golden ball from his pocket. The ball expanded into the Wrath of Garrett, and without delay, he activated Flaming Will on top of some critical damage skills while triggering true damage at the same time.
A bright light beam shot through the air and directly penetrated the armor of the beast. Only a burn mark was left on the body of the beast.
The defense troops needed to use more than ten seconds to take down the beast, but Han Xiao did it in one attack. With its momentum, the corpse slowly slid next to Han Xiao’s feet while leaking a gluey liquid.
“Don’t be so surprised. I am stronger than you all.” Han Xiao withdrew his weapon and continued with his repairs as if nothing had happened.
“… I forgot.” Neville’s mouth was wide open. He had thought that Han Xiao was just a logistics worker without any combat power, and he just remembered that Han Xiao was a Super.
Within a few minutes, Han Xiao put down his tools and said, “It’s fixed.”
The armor worked again. Neville stood up, double checked that the armor was fixed, and ran straight back to the battlefield, yelling at his troops for leaving their posts.
Even though they were being yelled at, the soldiers did not complain. They were actually happy that they had been able to save their boss’s life.
Neville stopped scolding the soldiers and focused on the battle. He continued to yell and command his troops.
Just as Han Xiao was prepared to move to the next repair point, a sharp alarm rang from the base. Han Xiao stopped his steps and looked around.
Level two warning. The Catastrophe is now in the middle stage.
A mysterious cold atmosphere spread, and a group of black shadows flew out of the forest. They were covered in black fog and flew across the field a few meters above the ground. They easily avoided the minefield and dodged the majority of the ranged attacks with their agile movements.
A bright light soon showed the appearance of these creatures. They had dark gray flesh without any hair. They were at least three or four meters tall and did not have any facial features. They had two antennae on their head to sense the environment. Four long claws extended from their body, and they had strong beast legs and a pair of dark bat wings. In addition, there were three whip-like tails filled with spikes.
“The Night Moth!” Han Xiao recognized this beast from the initial briefing. The appearance of these beasts meant that the Catastrophe had moved past the first stage and reached the middle stage. With the first stage being so threatening, and the later stages being at least a dozen times more dangerous, the deaths and damage would clearly intensify.
The retreat order was sent through the earphone. “All maintenance staff, fall back to the fifth defense line and enter the base!”
Han Xiao naturally followed the order and headed back to the metal base. The doors and windows were locked tight, and no exit could be found. It was the required safety measures, so the staff could only watch the battle outside through the window.
Pa!
Suddenly, the defense lines all turned on powerful full-beam headlights and pointed them to the sky. The dark night became as bright as day. The approaching Night Moths screeched as the light shone on them, and they lost all sense of direction as they collided with one another, rolling on the ground as if they were drunk. Then, quite a number of Night Moths landed on the minefield and exploded into pieces.
A Night Moth’s antennae were sensitive to light, so they could only move in the dark.
The Sunils had prepared specific plans for certain types of beasts. After reaching the middle stage of the Catastrophe, the mission was not as simple as just shooting bullets. Now, the troops had to use specific tactics to deal with certain beasts. The tactics had been obtained from all the blood shed of previous Catastrophes, and they would surely reduce the damage.
In the end, there were also a lot of enemies that were hard to handle. The toxic bugs were an example. Those things were the sign of the final stage.
Every single Night Moth was on the same level as a class D super. They were very agile, and their tails could easily penetrate armor. Because of that, a lot of turrets were destroyed, and the defense troops and mercenaries were in a predicament. The number of deaths kept on increasing.
…
The intense battle dragged on until dawn. The remaining Night Moth finally backed off, and the battle reached a temporary peaceful stage. At least a few thousand soldiers had died in the span of a single night. It was the deadliest battle so far.
Countless corpses had been put into corpse bags and sent to the backline. Many family members of the soldiers lived in the city. Their glorified sacrifice was not only because of their pride but also for their families. Their corpses would all be identified by the families, and the night was filled with painful wails echoing from the city.
The soldiers that had still been well and alive the night before turned into corpses in a few hours. The morale of the base hit rock-bottom. The soldiers were exhausted after last night. They could not even take off their armor in case of an emergency attack, so they scattered and sat on the ground, staring into the sky without thinking of anything.
Hearing the cries of the families, the soldiers realized that they could be one of those corpses in the next few days.
In such an atmosphere, the mercenaries could only stay quiet and prepare their equipment.
This scene reminded Han Xiao of Planet Aquamarine. No matter where one traveled in the universe, the suffering that war brought was the same.
Suddenly, there was some movement on the side. A large group of scouts had returned to the base. They were well respected by the Sunils. A lot of soldiers stared at them, and some saluted out of respect.
The scouts had a logical schedule. There would always be troops to replace the team for them to come back and rest. The players were the troops that had been sent out to replace this team.
Han Xiao recalled a conversation with Lerden. Lerden had mentioned that there were two strong soldiers who had reached class B. They were working as mercenaries in the galaxy, and every year, they would earn large sum of money. They were the idols of the entire civilization.
The leader of the returning scouts was one of those two—Fernas.
All the high officials from the military showed up and welcome the returning troops.
Fernas waved his hand and said, “We have lost a lot of brothers. We brought back as many corpses as we could.”
The crowd spread out and put down twenty or so corpse bags on the ground. They were all Sunil Supers. Fumay was also one of them.
Han Xiao looked around and did not see Lerden’s corpse. He looked into the crowd and saw that Lerden was still standing in the team. Although he had lost another leg and two arms, at least he was still alive.
“They are all heroes,” the military officials said. “We will take care of the rest.”
“I hope so,” Fernas replied.
The Sunil Supers all looked at the corpses at their friends and showed sorrowful expressions.
The atmosphere dropped another notch.
Han Xiao kept on observing the expressions of the Supers, and he found out that one group, including Lerden, only showed a despairing expression and mourned for the loss.
As for the other group, other than sadness, they also showed rage and anger.
Chapter 344. Meeting the Liar Again (1) |
The returning team split up to rest, while Lerden was jumping on one leg, planning to find the ‘doctor’ to repair him. Han Xiao whistled, signaling for Lerden to go over.
“It’s you, can’t believe you’re still alive.” Lerden hopped in front of Han Xiao.
“I should be the one saying that.” Han Xiao looked at his broken limbs.
“Met a bit of danger, almost died,” Lerden said like it was nothing.
Although he was not very close to Han Xiao, he felt a little bit more relieved when he saw someone whom he considered a friend to still be alive.
Han Xiao raised the toolbox in his hand and said, “Seems like you need a very skilled Mechanic.”
“Is it free this time?” Lerden raised an eyebrow.
Han Xiao thought and said, “Get me a drink, in the same bar as last time.”
It was currently the break period of the Catastrophe; there was time to rest. The commanders had allowed Han Xiao into the city seeing that Black Star Mercenary Group had actively taken on the job of scouting.
Lerden had a backup implanted arm, so Han Xiao repaired and connected it very quickly. Originally, only Lerden’s right arm had still been made of flesh, but it was now broken, bound, and left alone. His expression was calm—he did not care about losing the only part of flesh that he had left.
The two entered the city and came to Herlous’ bar as Han Xiao had requested. There was quite a number of customers that day—all of them were civilians from nearby. The soldiers were bathing in blood and fighting outside the city, and most civilians hid in their home or in the official emergency evacuation areas. There were also some that chose to use alcohol to get rid of their terror. Ninety percent of the shops in the entire city were closed during the Catastrophe, but Herlous’ bar opened as usual, so the place was a little noisy.
Walking up to the bar counter, Han Xiao said, “Two glasses of your signature drink.”
Lerden immediately raise his hand and cut in. “Just one glass.”
Drunk, Herlous raised his head, and after seeing Han Xiao’s face, his expression changed. “You again!”
He remembered Han Xiao, a weird guy that came to find his brother’s old notebook out of nowhere who seemed to also know his secret.
“What do you want again?”
Han Xiao smiled and said, “Just here for a drink.”
Herlous stared at Han Xiao for some time then unwillingly took out a bottle of alcohol. Han Xiao did not speak to him again, just drinking and chatting with Lerden casually. Herlous saw this and kept his doubt. He turned away to attend to other customers while eavesdropping on the conversation between Han Xiao and Lerden.
Han Xiao looked at Lerden’s broken arm and said, “Don’t you feel pain?”
Lerden shook his head and said, “When I went through the implant operation, I told the doctor to cut off my nerves, so that injuries will not affect my combat ability.”
“You’re an Esper, so implants will weaken your power. Why did you do it?”
“It’s fine to be weaker,” Lerden said calmly. “I can live longer this way—a dead man is of no use.”
“To choose implants to live longer, and to actively execute the most dangerous mission, your love for your race really is strong.” Han Xiao’s eyes sparkled. “No one is born a hero; the supers of Sunil seemed to be too selfless. You guys must have your reasons, how about tell them to me? I’m quite curious.”
Lerden kept silent for a while. His expression became nostalgic, and the look in his eyes started to change a little. It was like he could hardly keep his calm when he thought about the past. He said slowly, “Just like every other Sunil, I once had a complete family. My father was strict, my mother was kind and warm, and I had two younger sisters. When DarkStar attacked, I was still a kid. Even now, I can still remember the laser cannons descending from the sky, thick like waterfalls, turning the largest buildings in the city centers into ash in an instant. We joined the evacuating crowd, and the military protected us. They knew clearly that staying behind meant death, but they still prioritized guarding us and sending us away.
“Unfortunately, my parents could not board Godora’s rescue spaceship. They died halfway there; a beam of laser turned my parents into ashes. I was just a kid in despair, and the only thing that I knew was how to cry. I followed the other refugees numbly. Every day, the army gave the refugees very little food. I was starving so much that I could not control myself at all. After I took the food, I hid more than half of the portion, only giving a little bit to my sisters. I just wanted to live at that time; I did not know how to think of anything else. Then… my two younger sisters starved to death.”
Lerden paused then said in a very low voice, “I can still vividly remember their expression, their bony palms grabbing my clothes as they stared right into my eyes, like they were telling me how hungry they were, but they had no energy to talk. Those two pairs of eyes filled with despair cut right into my heart. My brain was blank, and a few seconds felt like centuries. When their arms slipped down without strength, only then did I dare take deep breaths. I was completely petrified. I couldn’t believe what I had done. If I had shared the food with my sisters, even if I would be hungrier, at least we all could have lived, but I knew nothing back then—I only thought about having filling meals, I felt that if I ate less, I would be starved to death the next day…
“I followed the crowd up the rescuing ship numbly, not knowing where to go. There were many kids like me who lost their families back then; they were all given to veterans with a disability to raise. A group of kids and I were given to a veteran, too. From then on, we lived with him. He raised us and taught us how to fight. He was a rough, impatient man, but a good man and a good soldier. Many of us Supers were orphans that were raised by the race back then.
“As time passed, I gradually took that veteran as my foster father, but I always had a grudge in my heart. I felt my past was too dark; I felt I was an evil man. If I told my foster father, would he chase me away? One day, on impulse, I told him about my younger sisters’ death, and he gave me a serious scolding… but not because of my selfishness. He scolded me that if I had the heart to think about the past, I should be spending that time to train. He said that the race was on the verge of being wiped out, and there was no time to be held back by the past. Even if I was a criminal of countless sins, as long as I held the gun to protect our race, then I had only one identity—a soldier. No one would care about my past, only what I can do…”
Han Xiao touched his chin and asked, “What happened to that old veteran?”
“The first time the Catastrophe came, although the disabled soldiers could have been protected, he actively requested to go into the battlefield, where he died. Afterward, I heard that he belonged to the team that protected my group of refugees; I even once received food from him…” Lerden shook his head. “I owe everything to the race; therefore, I contribute everything I am able to.”
“So, your contributions are to return favors?” Han Xiao turned around and looked at Herlous, who was leaning over, eavesdropping. The man was expressionless, and he turned around and walked away impatiently as if he had absolutely no interest in this kind of conversation.
“Not entirely. It’s also for the continuation of my race.” After telling the nostalgic story, the sadness from losing comrades earlier was washed away a little. Lerden wanted to
know more about Han Xiao as well, so he changed the subject. “Let’s not talk about me, let’s talk about you. You…”
This time, Han Xiao suddenly stood up and cut him off. “Pardon me, I have a private matter to settle. I need to leave for a while.”
Lerden was speechless. Shouldn’t friends share such stories? Why is he running away after listening just to my experience? I feel I’ve been taken advantage of.
Han Xiao walked to the side, found Herlous, and said, “I want to talk to you privately.”
Herlous suddenly became cautious. “What do you really want?”
Han Xiao was direct this time. “I know many things about you, such as your strength, what your older brother left for you, and other stuff. Maybe you will be interested to hear about Sunil’s future.”
Future‽
This word made Herlous very surprised, and he became even more unsure of Han Xiao’s goal. “Who are you?”
“I’m a Foreseer, or you can call me… a Prophet.”
Han Xiao gave a weird smile.
The reason for him to come into contact with Herlous multiple times was because he knew Herlous’ hidden identity—he was the main character of the Sunils!
Chapter 345. Meeting the Liar Again (2) |
“Foreseer?” Herlous’ face was filled with doubt. A stranger had suddenly appeared out of nowhere to find him and said that he could foresee the future. He had never experienced something like this. What the hell is this?
Herlous’ first reaction was to not believe him. “Since you can see the future, do you know what I will eat tomorrow morning?”
“It’s okay if you don’t believe my identity; you just need to listen. Time will prove if what I say is true.”
Han Xiao ignored Herlous’ mocking and started his performance. He purposed acted mysterious and said with a voice only two of them could hear, “Contradictions have already appeared. Not long now, the guardians of your race will split up, and Planet Sunil’s revitalizing dream will forever be shattered. The Catastrophe will finish all of your resources and hope; the only path left will be to look for help and become a subsidiary of an advanced civilization. Your people will spread to live in different cities, gradually losing your independence, relying on the strong, then slowing losing your heritage and spirit. Your past will become your words, recorded into the history books of the other higher civilizations. Your children will only come to know of the history of your race through words. Your race will be another withered race in the broad universe…”