Chapter 387 Midfield
Duke Gil pushed the door open and walked in.
Mr. Cat was sitting in front of the transparent porthole, staring at the dark sky.
"I heard that your friend is very angry now." Duke Gil said. He found a chair and sat down, but Mr. Cat ignored him.
"Are you really not going to reconcile?"
In the past, when Yan Zhen was mentioned, this cat who liked to put on airs always maintained great patience. But now Duke Jill could sense that it was avoiding him.
For the sake of teamwork, Duke Gil thought it necessary to reconcile the two leading cats of the Zejin team and Yan Zhen. Unfortunately, the cat always changed the subject. It was the same now.
"Look at this planet." Mr. Cat said.
Xiyiqi under the porthole was like a dark water drop, and the surging atmospheric clouds were like a hazy and diffuse halo.
"It's a beautiful planet," said Duke Gil, "but the ruins on it are a real problem."
"The Black Box Society has been on this planet for too long," Mr. Cat said. "We must plan every step carefully."
"Isn't everything now..."
"No." Mr. Cat turned his head and said patiently, "Nothing is absolute. Every time they fight, they learn, draw lessons, and become more cunning next time."
"So we are here now, and their conspiracy is bound to fail," said Duke Gil.
"It will be hard to come by this opportunity again," said Mr. Cat.
Duke Gil sensed the chill in Mr. Cat's tone, "We will not fail," he wanted to say to it, but "it"'s expression was so solemn that his words got stuck in his throat.
Of course we will not fail, Duke Gil said to himself, I will definitely avenge my nephew.
A light landing craft streaked across the starry sky and slowly descended towards Xiyiqi.
Mr. Cat straightened up and whispered, "Let's begin."
The queen thought back to her girlhood, when she was still a princess, innocent and simple, and did not really realize the responsibility of a race.
At that time, she liked to spread her wings and fly among the clouds. The whistling of the air was like the most beautiful music. She fell between the sky and the wind, accelerated, turned, stopped suddenly, glided, and repeatedly broke free from the pull of gravity and rushed upward. She still remembered the screams she exhaled every time she flew, and the clear joy still lingered in her heart. Young people who have not grown up are so ignorant of life and death. Even her mother warned her many times, she never took it to heart.
Until one day she flew to the forbidden area of Xiyiqi - Nocturne Mountain.
The queen looked up. Xiyiqi, her birthplace and home, was hanging high above the sky. It was a strange feeling to look at her home planet from the satellite. It was like a gray pearl emitting a hazy light. The towering Nocturne Mountain was completely invisible to the naked eye.
But the queen's perception was far better than that of ordinary Xiyi people. Even though they were thousands of miles apart, she could still feel the subtle magnetic field changes somewhere on the pearl. That was the Nocturne Mountain where the first queen landed. She still remembered the feeling of accidentally entering Nocturne Mountain when she was young. At that time, she was like being drawn into a hazy phantom scroll. Every cell in her body was clamoring for the chaotic electromagnetic field changes. She seemed to be flying forward, but also like she was retreating, rising and falling. All the directional axes lost their function at that moment.
She seemed to have entered an unknown dimension, and her entire nervous system was uncomfortable with this abnormal feeling. She once thought that she would be lost in this illusion forever. But fortunately, after a final chaotic rampage, she flew away from the forbidden area safely.
Her holy mother, Her Majesty the Queen before her, reprimanded her severely.
She then narrated the strange experience to her mother.
Later her mother told her something, something about Nocturne Mountain.
Long, long ago, long before the advent of the first queen, Xiyiqi was one of the bases of an ancient civilization scattered across the vast universe. Nocturne Mountain was the temple they used to observe the true meaning of the universe. In the past, these ancient pioneers reached an unimaginable technological pinnacle. According to legend, they were omnipotent like gods, able to turn illusion into reality and reality into illusion. Although this group of pioneers had long gone, the first queen received inspiration from the ruins.
"After you inherit the throne, you will have a key. It is the legacy passed down from generation to generation of queens, and it is also the mission of every generation of queens."
"Key? What's that?"
"These are ancient commands left by the forerunners. There are three of them in total. They cannot be modified, replaced, or copied." Mother said, "The key is related to the security procedures of the underground system of Nocturne Mountain."
"Security program? What on earth is inside Nocturne Mountain?" She recalled the strange feeling of flying.
Instead of answering her directly, the mother asked her, "Would you let a newly born larva operate a multi-barreled plasma cannon?"
"That's too dangerous, I certainly won't."
"Compared to the forerunners, the galactic civilization is like a newly born larva. The essence of the security program is protection." The mother said, "My child, you will understand when you ascend the throne."
Her mother's answer was meaningful and ambiguous, and it was not until she became a queen that she understood the meaning of her mother's words.
The relics of the ancient forerunners are beyond the control of modern civilization. The Queen can already infer that the Black Box Society is undoubtedly trying to use the legacy of Nocturne Mountain. When she thinks of this, the cold anger in the Queen's heart cannot be suppressed.
This is reality. In the report submitted by Alsiel, she saw the consciousness of 100,000 extracted Siyiqi people, which represented bloody lives. The black box would weave a dream of happiness with lies, and seduce countless civilians to step into their chess game with deceptive appearances.
Right before my eyes, on my planet, how many years has the Common Happiness Society been active in Xiyiqi? Whenever she thought of this, she was filled with shame and anger. For so many years, I was like a useless person who had lost my senses, allowing them to seduce and harm my people.
This is a disgrace to being a queen.
In fact, the Queen had heard about the Black Box Society hidden in the dark of the Milky Way. She had heard those incredible stories. Some alien countries collapsed overnight, and those alien races were reduced to experimental subjects like livestock, and even fell into genocide in a short period of time. The shadow of the Black Box Society was behind all this. They often patiently planned a target planet for decades or even hundreds of years, just for their so-called experiment, a demonstration of an absurd theory. During this period, there were often tens of billions of innocent people who were deceived by their sweet words and unknowingly embarked on the road of destruction.
Now the Black Box Society has set its sights on her Xi Yiqi. They use the words of escaping the boundaries of illness and death to seduce her poor children who are shrouded in the shadow of the crimson mutation, and instill in her people the nihilistic belief that they can gain immortality by extracting consciousness. With such means, how many of her people have become tools of the Black Box Society?
Why didn’t we discover it earlier?
The Queen questioned herself angrily.
It's because of the crimson mutation.
Because the Xiyiqi people have been tortured by the catastrophe of the Crimson Mutation for too long. The queen knows where the riots and unrests of all sizes come from. For several generations, every Xiyiqi person has lived under the threat of the Crimson Mutation, and her people are in constant fear under the shadow of death. The Saidi people's rejuvenation agent is only a temporary solution. So when the Common Happiness Society appeared as a savior to appease the people's emotions, the queen even felt that she was rescued in time. The Common Happiness Society relieved her pressure. After receiving several investigation reports that were harmless, she has been tacitly appeasing the disorderly expansion of the "psychological treatment institution".
It's my fault as the Queen, she thought sadly.
But my people know nothing about this.
She turned and looked at the industrial facilities in front of her. The Guido Moon under her feet was the industrial center of Xiyiqi, which produced the best thrusters in the entire star field, high-quality combustion aids and by-product chemical fibers. In addition to the lucrative commercial profits, it was also a secret military foundry. Automated heavy machinery and equipment operated day and night, and some workers were busy at the operating table on the platform deck.
"Your Majesty, please look here." The person who spoke to her was a respectful engineering supervisor. She wore a work helmet, and the shell showed a pure steel silver color. "Since we switched to the new plan, the scrap rate has been reduced a lot."
In front of the queen is a circular tubular transparent magnetic field space. The melted liquid is being purified in the pipe. According to the quality, the liquid will be divided into three streams and enter different pipes to generate corresponding materials.
The engineering supervisor spoke incessantly about how much manpower time could be saved by improving efficiency, and of course she did not forget to add a compliment to the Queen at the end of each sentence.
"This is the plan you proposed," said the Queen.
"Yes." The head engineer looked a little nervous.
The queen stared at the screen that popped up in front of her. She looked at the data intently for a while. "I came to check it last time. The degree of defects is indeed lower than last time."
"Do you still remember?" The chief engineer rubbed his hands excitedly.
"When I last visited you, you were an engineer," the queen said. "Your name is Alida."
"Your Majesty, you remember my name." The chief engineer's breathing was a little uneven.
“Excellent people impress wherever they go.”
Alida looked like she was about to faint, "Thank you, Your Majesty!!"
"I look forward to your greater success in the future," the queen said. She always treated her people who loved her so much with high-sounding words and well-formed responses. Alida looked nervous and uneasy, just like every Xiyiqi who had the honor of standing in front of her. But this one looked a little too nervous. Her eyes swept across her chest again.
There is a white silver flower on her chest.
It was given to her by Alsiel.
The queen unconsciously placed her hand on the flower, feeling its delicate touch.
"Alida."
"His Majesty?"
"Do you have any relatives or friends who are unfortunate enough to have the Crimson mutation?"
"Yes." Alida's expression was gloomy. "Three of my larvae were infected with mutations during the same period. They have died. After entering the factory, five colleagues in my department office also left because of mutations."
“……”The queen remained silent.
In past inspections, she rarely asked people about the Crimson Mutation. Even if she didn't want to face it, every day there were still bright red numbers telling her how many people had died today. Even if she didn't go to confirm it with her own eyes, as the mother of the swarm, every time a citizen died due to the Crimson Mutation, she could always feel it, as if a nerve in her body was pulled out, hissing.
Why did the mother of the swarm have to endure such endless pain? But as a queen and a mother, she could only grit her teeth and move forward.
She thought back to her first meeting with Alsiel.
This was a planned trend. The first prince after her accession to the throne was from the Hexagonal Tribe, which would help her balance the complicated political situation in Xiyiqi. This was the script that the previous queen had instructed. Beforehand, she had only seen Alsiel's image and had never had direct contact with him.
So, they met according to the script.
He was completely different from the perfect prince she had imagined, but that didn't matter, her choice of him was just a political consideration.
"Are you ready to be my prince?" she asked him.
He looked at her, and then answered in an unusually firm tone:
"Together, we will lead the Xiyiqi people out of this desperate situation."
At that moment, her heart was filled with surprise. What a big tone, she thought. She thought she would hear a humble answer. But he said, we will lead the Xiyiqi people out of the desperate situation together. He looked simple and ignorant. Yes, only ignorant and bold people would make such a promise. Then she saw his confident eyes, like the sky in the morning of Yemai City, bright, pure and full of vitality.
He held her hand tightly.
This is her first prince.
At present, Alsiel has uncovered the true face of the Common Happiness Society that has been infiltrating Xiyiqi for many years, and now directly pointed out that the Black Box Society is the mastermind behind the Crimson Mutation.
If his speculation is true, it undoubtedly brings hope for saving all Xiyiqi people.
Although this hope is still very slim, and now the entire Xiyiqi has actually been dragged into the quagmire of the Black Box Society's conspiracy, the queen has seen the way forward clearly, and she will not waver or hesitate. She can only fight the Black Box Society to the end, tooth for tooth, and blood for blood.
Xi Yiqi will not become a victim of the sad stories of the Black Box Society.
Together we will lead the Xiyiqi people out of their desperate situation.
Alsher.
She subconsciously touched the little flower on her chest.
"Your Majesty, this is white silvergrass," said Alida.
"Yes."
"When I saw this flower, I remembered the ballad," Alida said. "Then the God of White Light appeared and offered a blessing to the queen. Like a drizzle, the dead were resurrected, and like a raging fire, suffering was eliminated."
A sudden flash of light lit up in the magnetic field outside the operating room, like a falling meteor. A sharp high-frequency buzzing sound swept the entire room. The queen heard a few high-pitched electronic noises coming from her internal communication device, and then fell into an unusual silence.
Alida breathed at her calmly, and all the tension and anxiety just now disappeared, replaced by a vicious calm.
"Your Majesty, for the sake of the White God and Xiyiqi," Alida said, "you will die here."
