The military base.
It was a massive monolithic structure, seven hundred meters high and occupying 280 square kilometers. Looking down from above, it resembled a giant metal disc resting on the ground.
When Lananfu reached Gate 28, he saw that many others had the same idea; a dense crowd of what must have been several million people had gathered. But they were all waiting outside obediently. Lananfu felt almost utterly hopeless.
However, when he pushed through the crowd and reached the entrance, he was overjoyed. He recognized the guard.
"Gatai, it's you!"
He approached.
The man called Gatai turned and, upon seeing him, immediately called out his name.
"Lananfu!"
"You actually haven't left yet!"
He was genuinely surprised. He remembered Lananfu as a very shrewd, and somewhat devious, individual; shouldn't someone like that have been gone at the start of the war?
Lananfu sighed.
"Don't get me started. I was assigned to secure the shelters, and by the time I got out, everyone had already fled."
"What's your status?"
The interior of the military base was vast, and the number of soldiers was equally large. Those soldiers couldn't all be left here to die, could they? That would be too heartless.
"Three groups have already left."
"You want to come along?"
Gatai saw through Lananfu's intent with a single glance. Lananfu didn't even blush; he nodded directly.
"Who wouldn't want to leave? These people coming here..."
He glanced at the people crouching at the entrance behind him and saw they were all watching him.
"Those people are just being placated; there's no way they're getting in. After all, with so many of them, how many ships would they take up?"
Gatai looked at Lananfu, and Lananfu looked back at Gatai.
Lananfu's heart skipped a beat, and he said, "I still have some assets in Catani. Before I was reassigned here 4,000 years ago, I spent time there and invested in a small company; it's still active."
"If I can get back, I'll transfer all the shares of that company to you. It's worth a few dozen million."
Gatai's gaze finally shifted, but it moved to the other guards. Lananfu immediately felt a pang of regret in his heart.
"All of it, for all of you!"
"I also have land shares; I'll give those to you as well. We can sign the contract first."
After all, he was tens of thousands of years old and had been part of the system for a long time; he had some savings. But this time, he was being cleaned out. Still, being alive was all that mattered. Wasn't there a saying? As long as you live long enough, anything is possible.
After he signed the contract, a gap indeed appeared in the protective shield, and Gatai pulled him in immediately.
The next second, hundreds of people surged forward, only to slam into the energy shield.
They screamed: "Why did he get in and not us?"
"Let us in! You just don't want us to enter, you want us to die!"
"I'll pay! I have money! One hundred million!"
"I'll be your slave later—just let me leave, I'll do anything!"
It was total chaos outside. Millions of people were in a frenzy, hammering wildly at the energy shield. Some were even wearing glistening mechs; each punch likely packed hundreds of millions of tons of force, enough to level a small mountain. But against the energy shield, they didn't even cause a ripple.
Lananfu looked at the various faces outside, feeling incredibly fortunate. If it hadn't been for his connections, he wouldn't have made it in.
Soon, his relief turned into schadenfreude. Many of those people outside were usually far above him in status, yet now they were out there wailing, weren't they?
But Gatai didn't linger; he pulled Lananfu into the base, had him change clothes, and then confirmed a seat on a ship for him.
"I'll find you later."
Then he returned to his post. He was active duty, after all.
Lananfu noticed that within the military base, there was no panic. Everything was orderly, and no one's face showed any sign of fear. This put him at ease. He followed the directions Gatai had given him, spending over a dozen hours before finally reaching the military Starport.
People were lining up in an orderly fashion to board the ships; he, standing alone, was an anomaly.
An officer nearby saw him approaching and barked, "Which unit?"
Lananfu produced his new identity. The officer glanced at the ID and understood the situation. "Go to Squad Seven!"
He pointed toward a squad about to board a ship; Lananfu felt a surge of joy, saluted the officer, and used his memories from his time in the service to jog into formation.
The others in the squad looked at him with curiosity, but no one said a word.
After entering the ship, it was very crowded inside. This was because, before the enemy's arrival was anticipated, many ships had already been diverted from the military bases.
Lananfu was squeezed into a corner; everyone had about 5 square meters of space to move, but given his massive frame, standing around 6 meters tall, he still felt rather uncomfortable.
Another dozen hours later, a gentle acceleration acted upon his body; he knew the ship was moving and had already left the Star City. Military ship acceleration was fast, tens of kilometers per second; after just a few seconds, he was likely already in deep space.
He connected to the ship's network, allowing him to see outside. Indeed, they had already distanced themselves from the Star City; looking back, it appeared no larger than a bowl.
Not long after, he suddenly saw the dense mass of matter from the space around the Star City falling toward the planet's surface; it seemed the Star City had lost something vital.
Then, a laser beam from afar arrived once more, actually piercing directly through the clouds and atmosphere, blasting a massive hole into the Star City. That area contained several plazas; in Lananfu's memory, there were at least twenty shelters there. The people inside were likely all dead.
But he was certain this was just a normal strike; the main assault would likely follow soon. Sure enough, a few hours later, the attack arrived.
Those lasers could only be seen the moment they struck the Star City. By the time he observed it, the Star City was riddled with holes. Under the influence of gravity and other forces, the Star City began to break apart.
Those guards like Gatai probably didn't make it out. Lananfu felt a brief moment of grief for them. Dying while being so dutiful; in the face of a great catastrophe, running away first was indeed the best policy.
But very soon, he felt happy again. After all, he no longer needed to hand over his money. Thinking of this, he even started humming a little tune.
He only hummed for a short while before sensing the mood around him was off. He might lack a conscience, but that didn't mean the others did too.
Especially in the military, where disciplined management and living and eating together for hundreds or even thousands of years forged bonds deeper than family. If not for that, Gatai wouldn't have let him in. Consequently, Lananfu's attitude had really soured the mood for these soldiers.
Lananfu started feeling like his future was looking pretty dark; having offended so many people, he figured his life ahead wouldn't be very pleasant.
He was filled with worry, but those left behind on the Star City didn't even have the chance to be worried. Everything was gone. Another 20 billion lives had vanished.
Even those who had reached the void and were now drifting through space had no future to look forward to. There were no benevolent conventions in the Star Nations; other ships would sooner fire a cannon at them than open a hatch to let them in. Solitude and darkness would define their existence.
As for defecting to Rusty? That was even more impossible!
...
"The Feuae star system is a lost cause; we're heading for another system."
"Aren't there still a few Star Cities left?"
"How can just those few Star Cities stand against an assault from tens of thousands of enemy ships? Besides, even if they could be defended, nobody is actually going to do it. It's only two or three hundred billion lives; they'll just be written off."
On the ship, even the most disciplined military couldn't remain silent forever. Once the ship cleared the stellar core region, the soldiers began to talk, their expressions finally showing a hint of relief.
Only Lananfu remained isolated. He was usually good at maneuvering through social situations, but right now, things were incredibly awkward.
"As long as we pull through, it's fine."
"At this point, they shouldn't follow us, right? They still have things to deal with back in the star system."
They were technically still within the star system, but in these unfamiliar sectors, it was really no different from the deep void.
Just as he was looking for a place to lean back and sleep, he saw several people rushing past him with urgent looks on their faces.
They didn't give him even a single glance, but Lananfu found it very strange. Since they had already escaped the danger, why were their expressions still so grim?
"Wait... did something happen inside the ship?"
Lananfu's curiosity was piqued, and he followed them, pretending as though nothing were out of the ordinary.
Leaving the most crowded area, they reached a corridor where the soldiers entered a room.
He didn't follow them inside, choosing instead to stand off to the side.
This was a ship, not some small shack; standing at the door meant he had no way of hearing what was happening within.
After about twenty minutes, he finally saw the occupants emerge, now wearing different sets of clothes.
The group headed directly in one specific direction, and Lananfu continued to tail them.
He watched as they swiped into the cockpit. The door didn't close, and Lananfu heard a sharp reprimand from inside: "Who are you?"
Then, the voice cut out abruptly with a muffled CHOKE!
Lananfu peeked his head in, only to see blood splattered everywhere.
He was horrified. "They're hijacking the ship!"
At that moment, he realized that the previous room was likely a server room containing the DataNode.
Even with the crew dead, the entire ship showed no reaction; the DataNode must have already been breached.
As he was lost in thought, his body was suddenly brushed. He spun around quickly and saw a person.
However, his first reaction wasn't fear, but joy. "So it's one of our own!"
The person who had bumped into him walked toward the cockpit, and Lananfu followed with a nonchalant expression. "You didn't even tell me about a plan like this. But isn't it a bit early to be hijacking the ship?"
The other party shot back a blunt retort: "Who knew you'd even make it onto the ship?"
From their voices, the two seemed quite close. It made sense; they had known each other for over 16,000 years.
"This plan was just a spur-of-the-moment thing; we couldn't just let a ship like this fly away."
Lananfu chuckled. "Classic you."
"Fishing in troubled waters... why didn't I think of that?"
He felt a twinge of regret. Bringing back such a feat might have been exactly what he needed to escape this misery. After all, that person always measured individual value in terms of wealth.
"Watch and learn. Your skills aren't quite there yet, in fact, you've regressed. Don't forget who you are."
The other walked to the pilot's seat, switched to manual control, and changed the destination to the edge of the Abandnda Sector.
"Fine, I'll take you back this time. Let you get a taste of how things used to be."
Lananfu didn't hear his words.
He was staring at the space outside, where a ship in the distance was moving in the same direction they had come from.
Shocked, he said: "How many ships are you planning to bring back?"
The other laughed. "All of them, of course!"
"You've been stuck in your little corner, so you didn't know. We actually received word about the Rusty fleet coming long ago. I've been preparing for this for nearly 200 years."
Lananfu's entire body shook. "Two hundred years? At that time, the Rusty fleet..."
"I think you can guess the rest."
"The boss wants to make a killing here. We lost quite a few ships during our previous border war with Glolo; bringing these back should offset some of those losses."
Lananfu muttered to himself: "The boss is insane!"
"Daring to do something like this."
"And what about those people back there, Kim Tae Yi? Are you planning to bring them back too?"
The one behind them was, of course, Hua'a.
Lananfu had once been a member of the space pirates. Leveraging Hua'a's influence within Glolo, many space pirates had infiltrated the Star Nation. Lananfu was actually quite high-ranking; otherwise, he wouldn't even have known Hua'a's true identity.
Kim Tae Yi said as if it were obvious: "Of course."
"These are ready-made 'traitors.' Even if only 1% of them are cowards, we'll still end up with some good prospects."
"In a way, I'm being a saint. If Glolo can't hold out this time, I've basically saved their lives. They'll likely stay quiet and obedient within our organization. They're professional soldiers, after all—every single one has hundreds or thousands of years of training. They'll be much more useful than green recruits."
While Luna ate the meat, Hua'a refused to let even a scrap of leftover soup go to waste. It was perfectly in character for him.
Lananfu found Kim Tae Yi's words somewhat absurd.
"Just because of a single Rusty? Glolo is a high-tier Star Nation."
"And by the looks of it, the boss doesn't seem to have any intention of helping that Luna person."
He didn't think much of Glolo's chances, and honestly, neither did Kim Tae Yi.
"These are the boss's orders; how can you or I second-guess his intentions?"
"Our fleet is gathered over at Japayes. If Glolo shows signs of collapsing, or if their fleet over there is redeployed, that will be our moment."
"What about you, Lananfu? Do you want in on this too?"
Lananfu shook his head glumly.
"Isn't being alive enough? Why would I go to a place like that?"
"Since the boss has decided, I'll go outside and check on those soldiers. Some of them might be able to read the star charts and realize we've changed course."
"Do you have a plan to keep them stable?"
Kim Tae Yi had some contingency plans, but he felt they were unnecessary now.
"Isn't that your specialty?"
Lananfu cursed internally; this guy wanted him to do free labor so he could claim all the credit for himself later.
Kim Tae Yi, knowing Lananfu's greedy nature, added: "I'll make sure to put in a good word for you when we get back and share some of the credit. Does our friendship really come down to bickering over these small details?"
Lananfu remained silent. Having known each other for so long, they were well-acquainted with each other's characters. Kim Tae Yi's words were nonsense; he was the last person one should trust.
But Lananfu had no better options. He could only say: "Fine, I'll go take a look!"
With that, he left.
Kim Tae Yi watched him leave without a word, though he felt a bit suspicious. Why was Lananfu here? Was it a coincidence? He had specifically reassigned him to the shelters, thinking he would die; finding him here was indeed strange.
Little did he know, Lananfu's expression was just as dark as he walked away.
"That guy threw me into the fire, and he thinks I don't know it."
"But luckily, I chose the 'righteous path' early on. I knew this would happen, so I arranged things with Gatai."
He had befriended Gatai intentionally, and the two had many shared interests. Gatai was a greedy man; once the Star City was attacked, Lananfu knew that if he could just get in touch with him, he could enter the base and then escape.
Otherwise, how could a lowly security captain have made it all the way onto a ship?
"Still, I need to find an opportunity to get this information out."
"The CEO's intention seems to be exposing Hua'a's identity. That old man always acts like he has everything under control, with zero regard for our lives. This time, I'll make his fat jowls tremble!"
He chuckled to himself and walked into the ship's interior. Seeing the groups of people talking, he didn't hide; he walked right up to a group and sat down, appearing as if he wanted to join their conversation.
The soldiers huddled together shot him hostile looks. Lananfu was tall, and his previous words had been spoken in the silence of the room, heard clearly by the hundred thousand or so people in the area.
"You're not welcome here!"
If they weren't on a ship, their fists would have already landed on him. Lananfu had no doubt about that.
But he focused on one person in the group.
"Yenai, not bad."
Yenai looked at Lananfu with curiosity. "How do you know my name?"
Lananfu knew, of course. He had many names on his lists, and he hadn't wasted a single moment while he was here—how else could he have become part of the space pirates' inner circle? Hua'a didn't care about seniority, only capability.
"Of course I know. You're the young master of the Kristeans family, even if you're ranked 193,872nd in your generation."
"I also know your father got you this job, making you come here instead of letting you retire in your Manean star system."
"He was hoping you'd achieve something. He's quite the good father; you don't see that often in this era."
Yenai was shocked that Lananfu knew so much detail. Those few sentences felt as if Lananfu had picked his pockets clean.
The surrounding soldiers listened to this exchange, confused, but seeing that Yenai wasn't angry, they realized Lananfu had likely hit the mark. They hadn't even known these things themselves; how did Lananfu know?
Before they could ask, Lananfu introduced himself.
"I'm Dyne 763."
Upon hearing this, Yenai looked like he had an epiphany. He had been placed into a special department by his father to investigate certain matters in the Feuae star system. Two thousand years had passed with no progress, though he had developed many sub-leads.
And his direct superior who communicated with him was Dyne 763.
"What are you doing here..."
Yenai glanced warily at the people around him; the closeness from a moment ago was gone, replaced by a look of strangeness and suspicion.
Seeing this, Lananfu waved his hand and said: "No need for secrecy. The Feuae star system is being destroyed; whatever truth you were looking for, whether it was a person or an object, is likely dead."
"And later, we'll probably die too."
Yenai couldn't stay still after hearing this. "What do you mean?"
Lananfu sighed. "I apologize for my earlier loose tongue; I triggered your displeasure."
After apologizing to the surrounding soldiers, he continued: "Actually, I report directly to Tacauo."
The expressions of the soldiers changed again. Tacauo was a unit that reported directly to Naminko, specialized in investigating all major events within the Star Nation. They had dreamed of joining such an organization, but they'd never even met a member of Tacauo, let alone joined.
Whether this was a good or bad thing remained to be seen. Rumor had it that those who met Tacauo agents were usually those who had committed many crimes.
The soldiers had mixed reactions; some were skeptical. Why would a Tacauo agent say those things earlier, and why were they revealing their identity now?
Lananfu continued with a sorrowful expression: "I said those things to get the attention of another group. My mission was to get close to them."
"They are members of the Xcaglan pirates, who have been active in the Feuae star system for a long time and have infiltrated deeply."
"I was just about to catch them when this happened. I thought I'd never see them again, but then I spotted them when boarding this ship. I said those things to get their attention, so they would initiate contact."
"I followed them when they left, and sure enough, I learned of their plot. They're working from the inside out, intending to seize control of the entire ship and divert our course."
"If you don't believe me, look at the space outside; it's definitely not our original route."
"And don't bother using your mechs' processing power to check; the DataNode has been sabotaged, so your mech's data won't be accurate."
The others hurriedly looked out at the space.
With the ship's DataNode compromised, the soldiers' mechs, which were mostly terminals rather than independent processors, wouldn't show the correct data. This was why Kim Tae Yi wasn't worried about the soldiers rioting.
However, as soldiers, identifying interstellar orientation was a basic skill, even if many didn't take it seriously since everything was so convenient in this era. The soldiers looked and indeed saw the course had deviated, making them believe Lananfu's words a bit more.
"So what do we do now?" Yenai asked.
"That depends on you!"
Lananfu flashed a smile at Yenai and, before the other could react, grabbed him and bellowed:
"Everyone, quiet!"
His voice was so loud that the entire hold fell silent. Before the soldiers could get angry, he looked at Yenai and said: "This is the young master of the Kristeans family, and also a Tacauo investigator. He has an important discovery to share with you."
Yenai received a script from Lananfu and began to read.
"Hello everyone, I am from the Kristeans family."
As he spoke, he cut his skin, and a mixture of yellow, white, and blue blood flowed out.
"This is enough to prove my identity."
In the Star Nation, every family wanted to be unique, so they created specific genetic bloodlines and forbade others from replicating them.
After preliminarily proving his identity, Yenai's expression became serious.
"We are facing a catastrophe. This ship has been seized by the Xcaglan pirates!"
Yenai's words sent the soldiers into a frenzy.
They all looked toward the ship's cockpit, but without X-ray vision, they obviously couldn't see anything. However, there were cameras everywhere, and their every move was likely being watched.
No one questioned whether Yenai was telling the truth; first, he had proven his identity, and second, there was no benefit for him to lie now. A crowd immediately started rushing toward the cockpit.
This was exactly the result Lananfu wanted. If he had spoken, it would have been harder to gain their immediate trust, and might have even backfired. Kim Tae Yi was surely watching, and he could have used that backlash against Lananfu.
As many people headed for the cockpit, Kim Tae Yi's expression within was equally dark.
"What is that guy trying to do?"
"If the boss finds out he's ruining things, he won't be able to handle the fallout!"
For now, Kim Tae Yi wasn't thinking about Lananfu betraying them; he only thought Lananfu was jealous of the massive profits he stood to gain, or perhaps Lananfu knew about his attempt to kill him back in the Star City.
But he wasn't overly panicked. He controlled the ship and had sealed the doors. Even if the soldiers were all wearing mechs, they couldn't break through. How much energy could a single human body store?
Still, he couldn't be careless. The ship's interior relied on the material's strength for defense, and any material had a fatigue point. Since this flight would take over a hundred years, the doors could eventually be breached.
"Tell the other ships to send reinforcements to suppress these soldiers." Kim Tae Yi wouldn't put himself in such danger; he called for help.
And in the surveillance, he saw Lananfu heading in a specific direction.
Kim Tae Yi was initially confused, but his face quickly soured.
That was the location of the DataNode.
"Seal the DataNode door!"
He gave the order. When Lananfu reached the door, he could only stand there staring helplessly. Kim Tae Yi relaxed considerably and sat back in a chair.
"Let's see what you do next."
"I should have killed you back then."
In truth, he and Lananfu didn't have any major conflicts; his desire to kill him was purely driven by self-interest. Lananfu was also a veteran member and couldn't stay a guard forever. Someone had told him that the higher-ups were thinking of promoting Lananfu, which meant Kim Tae Yi might have to step aside.
Over the years, he had used his position to do many things he shouldn't have, and the people above were already displeased with him, using this as an opportunity to pressure him. So he had thought to prevent Lananfu from boarding a ship, leaving him to die on Feuae, then no one could say anything.
He just hadn't expected the guy to be so lucky, managing to escape even under those circumstances.
In the footage, Lananfu remained motionless, as if dazed.
An hour passed like this.
Kim Tae Yi started feeling that something was wrong.
Someone in the cockpit asked uncertainly, "Do you hear that? Is there a sound outside?"
Kim Tae Yi listened carefully; sure enough, there was. He looked at the door. Theoretically, those doors shouldn't let any sound through.
Before he could react, the door burst open. A swarming crowd rushed in, staring furiously at the people inside the cockpit.
"How did you..."
Before Kim Tae Yi could finish his question, Lananfu, hidden in the crowd, pointed at him and yelled: "He's the mastermind! Not only is he hijacking the ship now, but he was also the head of Xcaglan on Feuae, and who knows how many of our Star Nation's heroes he's secretly murdered!"
"You..."
Kim Tae Yi was livid; the guy talked as if he were completely innocent.
As he was about to expose Lananfu, Lananfu fired a laser, striking him directly in the head. His brain short-circuited for several seconds, and when he came to, he found himself surrounded. Fists and feet rained down upon him, each blow delivered with crushing force. It didn't take long before he was beaten to a pulp.
In the cockpit, Lananfu saw the incensed crowd and pulled Yenai over. "We need to transmit this information to the higher-ups immediately; they need to know the situation here."
"Over the years, I've gathered a lot of data on Kim Tae Yi. You must have come across some of it before, right?"
When Yenai saw Kim Tae Yi earlier, he had been shocked; during one mission, he had infiltrated a branch of Fenton Games Company and seen Kim Tae Yi there.
This, naturally, had been arranged by Lananfu.
Lananfu continued: "Kim Tae Yi is actually one of Fenton Games' people, and the boss behind him, or rather, the boss behind the Xcaglan pirates, is Hua'a!"
This was a bombshell; Yenai's face went completely blank. Even though he had suspected as much, he still found it hard to believe. Hua'a was the wealthiest man in the Glolo Star Nation.
Not only that, the Kristeans family had actually risen to prominence thanks to Fenton Games and was one of its shareholders. If Hua'a was the boss of the Xcaglan pirates, then their family...
Lananfu saw his expression and knew what he was thinking.
"Don't worry. Hua'a is the only one in the entire Fenton Games Company involved in this. Your family isn't part of it."
"After all, treason is a major crime; Hua'a isn't capable of convincing everyone else. Anyone with a brain knows which side to be on."
Yenai's mind immediately began to race.
That made sense.
Glolo was a high-tier Star Nation; what were the Xcaglan pirates compared to that? It was like a tiny, newly-formed studio trying to poach employees from a multi-billion dollar public corporation, while also threatening their lives.
Anyone would know the risk wasn't worth it.
How immense would the temptation have to be for someone to go through with that?
He immediately spoke up, "I understand. I'll send the information out right now."
Watching Yenai take action, Lananfu showed a look of gratification.
The years of maneuvering had finally paid off. Yenai had been specifically groomed by him from early on for the sole purpose of distancing himself from the messiest affairs.
He had no desire to step into the spotlight because he wasn't truly a man of the Star Nations.
In reality, he had been a double agent, providing intelligence to both Xcaglan and Glolo, though never anything involving high-level secrets; that was the only way to ensure his continued survival.
But that changed several centuries ago when a certain person found him.
That person didn't even promise him anything; they simply gave him tasks, and he performed them all like a loyal dog.
It was entirely voluntary on his part.
Because he knew that the individual he was facing was more powerful and terrifying than any side he had ever served. To be assigned a mission was his stroke of luck.
He still vividly remembered the scene that day, the eyes of that woman called Luna. They pierced through everything; none of his schemes could escape her gaze. It wasn't just his current thoughts, but his past and future as well.
In that moment, he truly understood for the first time just how terrifying the word "fear" could be.