Chapter 173 Refugees
Xiaozhen was quite surprised when she learned that the caller was He Zhining.
He never thought that he would receive communication from this future "brother-in-law" who suddenly left here.
Not long ago, after a turmoil with Xiaozhen's cousin An Keke over pregnancy issues, the Lepas man suddenly left in a hurry. He thought he would not be able to see his future brother-in-law again for at least one or two years.
The voice in the speaker was accompanied by a rustling electronic noise, "Xiao Zhen? I didn't expect to meet you here." He Zhining on the screen was as handsome and charming as ever.
"What an unexpected reunion." Xiao Zhen glanced at the screen on the other side, which showed He Zhining's merchant fleet. There were five ships in total, and the largest of them, the Karbela, was towing a damaged wreck. "Your fleet looks a bit..."
He Zhining continued, "You look embarrassed, right?" He smiled self-deprecatingly, "Xiao Zhen, let's meet and talk."
After the call ended, Liu Bei looked at the fleet on the screen and said, "That wreck being towed... looks like it was attacked. And the damage is so severe..."
Guan Yu continued: "I'm afraid few of the original crew members of that ship survived."
At Xiao Zhen's suggestion, Roken 89 immediately retrieved the information and gave a reply, "The civilian transport ship Xinyue No. 3 is registered on Gonda Star. The owner is named Jinashi and has no trade relationship with He Zhining."
It seems that we can only ask He Zhining himself what happened.
The Carbela released a small communications boat.
When boarding the deck of the Zejin, He Zhining brought two entourages, one was a Leutero-sapiens and the other was a Pepero who looked like a mouse. They were both employees of the freight company under He Zhining's name.
This future brother-in-law was still as handsome as he remembered, but he looked quite tired. The two people behind him looked even more tired than him. Xiao Zhen suspected that if she gave them a little hint, these three people would immediately fall to the ground and fall asleep.
"Xiaozhen, where are you from?" He Zhining asked.
"We jumped from the Zangnome Jump Station. We are going to the Thorn System."
Hearing his destination, He Zhining breathed a sigh of relief. Xiao Zhen then asked them what happened.
"Wang Beixing has fallen."
The people on the ship did not exclaim. Wangbeixing is located at the transportation hub of the Milky Way and is a prosperous commercial and tourist planet. There are many possibilities for the word "fall", whether it is an invasion by a powerful anti-federation force, an unfaithful internal rebellion, or something else...
Xiao Zhen asked, "Is it the Izel Alien?"
When this word came out of Xiaozhen's mouth, the faces of everyone present changed.
Ms. Fei frowned, while Liu Bei stared at the console screen intently, pretending not to hear anything. Xiao Zhen saw that the two attendants behind He Zhining were trembling slightly, as if saying this word would immediately bring down the terrible enemy of the Galactic Federation.
The Izer aliens are like a forbidden spell, and just reciting it will disgust the citizens of the Galactic Federation. The Galactic Federation suppresses and blocks all kinds of news about this evil race. The rumors about the Izer aliens in the market are more terrifying than the most twisted and blasphemous secrets. There are even two extreme perceptions of the Izer aliens in the interstellar. Some planets believe that this is sensational fake news fabricated by the government for political purposes, while the civilizations of some planets believe that the Izer aliens are the embodiment of the legendary evil gods. Just saying the term Izer aliens is enough to bring disaster.
There was a dead silence on the deck.
"Izer alien, is there really such a creature? Isn't it fake?" Zhang Fei suddenly said happily.
Gamor burst out laughing.
The two people's singing in unison just eased the atmosphere.
The attendant behind He Zhining snorted, "It would be great if it was fake. I would rather they just had a false alarm."
Xiao Zhen asked: "What's going on over there at Wang Beixing?"
"All contacts with Wangbei Star were cut off. The Star Outpost also lost contact," He Zhining said. "The information was in chaos. At first, people in the surrounding star systems couldn't explain what had happened."
Zhang Fei said: "Every year there are at least five or ten false news reports about Izel aliens occupying a planet."
He Zhining glanced at him and said, "This time it's real."
Zhang Fei looked like he was about to say, "Is there really such a thing as an Izel Alien? Isn't this one of the biggest fake news created by the government?" Guan Yu stepped on him and silenced him.
"Xiao Zhen, if you drive to the Frostproof Star Jump Station, you will see many, many ships. Many, many. They have blocked the port." He Zhining said, "All of them are refugees who have escaped from the planets around Wangbei Star. Nobles, civilians, rich people, poor people, everyone is fleeing."
"Refugees?" Xiao Zhen asked him, "Is your ship one too?"
"Yes, the Bodi star system is not far from Wangbeixing. We have too many citizens who need to be evacuated. Many rich people have their own ships or have already booked their own ships and left. There are a large number of ordinary people on the planet who need ships. All the ships of my trading company are used to evacuate refugees." He Zhining whispered, "But it's still far from enough..."
Ms. Fei said softly, "We didn't hear any news about Wang Beixing along the way."
He Zhining sighed and said, "Because the military completely blocked the news. Even near Wangbeixing, many people didn't know what happened. Some nobles in power began to flee, and the rumors among the people became more and more bizarre. I only found out about the big incident through someone I knew in the military, so I rushed back from Laura to evacuate."
Xiao Zhen pointed at the wrecked ship on the screen and said, "Excuse me, what happened to this ship? Were you attacked?"
He Zhining shook his head and said, "This is not my ship. We encountered a distress signal on the road. This ship is also a refugee transport ship. It was looted once when it was attacked by pirates. The captain was also killed in the battle. When we received the distress signal and approached, there were still some refugee survivors on the ship, so we simply towed it along."
"These pirates are too despicable to attack refugees." Guan Yu muttered. Gamor whispered, "Pirates are better than that Izel alien."
"Xiao Zhen, actually I came here this time to ask you for a favor."
"Please go ahead."
"Can you help me send some refugees to Fogland?" He Zhining looked into Xiao Zhen's eyes and said, "You can ask me to settle their travel expenses."
"Are they all refugees from the Bodi system?"
He Zhining pointed at the wrecked ship and said, "These are the refugees on this ship. Xiaozhen, I am now..."
He wanted to say something else, but Xiao Zhen quickly interrupted him, "How many refugees do you need me to help you send?"
"About 500 to 600 people."
"Okay. I'll help you with that."
He Zhining asked: "Your supplies..."
"Don't worry about that." Xiao Zhen said, "I know the consumption of materials on my ship. Currently, it is enough to support 600 passengers to the Mistland Planet."
"That's great." He Zhining lowered his head, "Thank you, Xiaozhen."
"It's just that I have to go to the Thorn Galaxy first. I need to find someone, so it won't take me long."
"It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter at all." He Zhining said softly, "It's really great that you are willing to give it to me."
Xiaozhen and He Zhining floated on the wrecked ship.
The wreck was riddled with holes, and its gravity system had failed. The air conditioning systems in some rooms had also failed, and cold bodies that had not been processed in time were floating in the rooms. The ground was covered with blood and bullet holes. This was a once busy transport ship, but now it was just a huge, cold grave of scrap metal.
He Zhining brought Xiaozhen to a row of rooms and said, "Look, the survivors on this ship are basically concentrated in these rooms." The doors of the rooms were wide open, and each room was crowded with a group of aliens. They stared worriedly at Xiaozhen and He Zhining as they floated on the shipway.
"An Keke, is she okay?" He Zhining suddenly asked.
"It's fine. Before I left, she called me four times a week and kept asking me about you." Xiao Zhen added, "Zhang Bowen also called me once."
A smile appeared on He Zhining's face . "Keke is still so energetic. I miss her too."
Xiao Zhen's eyes fell on He Zhining's abdomen. This future brother-in-law still had a good figure, tall and strong, and there was no sign of a bulge in his belly. "My cousin is very concerned about you. How are you? After all, you are now..."
"Don't worry. I'm still paying close attention." He Zhining said calmly, "If I can get these refugees to their destination safely, I can take a break."
A baby in the room started crying loudly, and the Homo sapiens mother held the baby and rocked it gently. He Zhining picked up the communicator and asked the employees on the ship to bring some milk powder capsules.
"The refugees were scared all along the way. At first everyone was talking about it, but now they don't even dare to mention that scary creature."
"I understand."
"The refugees on this abandoned ship are from Gonda, a planet surrounding Wangbei. When we got closer to confirm the information, the refugees on my original four ships were protesting. They felt that Gonda was a little close to Wangbei. You know those rumors about..." He Zhining frowned and said the term with difficulty, "That, the terrible rumors about the Izel alien."
"I know."
"People said those terrible things. They said that the evil creatures were like a plague, and you would be infected if you got close to them. Rumors and fears spread on my ship. I wanted to abandon this wreck, but when I saw these survivors, they were just like the refugees on my ship, with children, mothers, the elderly and the sick. They told me what the pirates had done. Their ship was broken and couldn't sail. They had very little food left, and I couldn't just ignore them and abandon them."
"So you're just towing the ship with the Carbella?"
He Zhining nodded. "I towed the ship away. But not long after, the rumors on my ship became more and more exaggerated. They were too scared to accept it even if they didn't let the survivors get on board but just towed them away. My four ships were already short of supplies, and now there are these people. The atmosphere in these four ships is now very tense, and my employees have been divided because of the handling of this wreck. If this continues, the situation will be out of control."
"I understand. I will take these survivors and place them."
"Thank you, Xiaozhen." He Zhining sighed, "Don't they understand? In the eyes of other planets, our Bodi Galaxy is also very close to Wangbeixing, and will also be judged by others' fear. Today's survival of these survivors is our tomorrow."
Xiao Zhen turned around and continued to scan the survivors with his transparent tentacles. Since he was going to take them on his ship, he still needed to be careful. Fear, worry, uneasiness, their consciousness and perception flooded into his brain with a tidal noise. The sensory storm of hundreds of people made Xiao Zhen's brain suddenly burn with pain.
After a howling storm, Xiaozhen grabbed the handle of the boat wall and took a deep breath.
The scan was completed and no abnormalities were found in these people.
"I'll trouble you to send them to Mistland." He Zhining said, "By the way, Mistland is not far from Hopeland. You can go to Hopeland when you have time."
"Hope Township? Oh, I know, that famous independent district."
"Yes, that's right." He Zhining smiled, "The prototype location of the animation I invested in Lola is in Hope Township."
"Prototype?" Xiao Zhen stroked his chin, "Is this animation of yours true?"
"It's a true story, and it has a historical prototype."
"What about Lothar?"
"Lothar is a real person." He Zhining looked at Xiaozhen and said, "The original name of Hopeland was Asa. A thousand years ago, Asa was ruled by the notorious Shizun Company. Millions of deceived workers worked all day long under the brutal oppression of Shizun Company. These workers later launched a resistance movement under the leadership of the hero Lothar and successfully overthrew Shizun Company. After liberating this beautiful and mysterious planet, Asa was renamed Hopeland. Until today, it is still the free homeland dreamed of by countless people in the galaxy."
