The rotation period of the Phantom Star is approximately twenty-eight natural hours.
The mountainous area where Lu Ning's team landed was in summer, and the days were longer, but no matter how long the day was, there would always be sunset.
A huge shadow blocked about a quarter of the sky. Of course, people in the interstellar era rarely have the phobia of giant stars. They just marvel when they see it.
Lu Ning went directly from the repaired elevator to the ground floor. At this time, several team members were sitting outside the outpost. Yang Hao was sitting far away from others and sulking. The remaining recorders, bayonets, and spades The four of them, Tie Mei, were gathering together and chatting.
"team leader."
Tie Mei was the first to notice Lu Ning's arrival, and immediately stood up. Lu Ning pressed her hand and asked him to sit back: "No need to salute, it is rest time now, and we are not a formal army."
The others looked at each other, then moved their bayonets to the side: "Captain, do you want to sit down?"
"Okay, what are you doing here?"
"Chat and look at the stars." Recorder replied, "I do this every time I land on a certain planet."
"Why?"
"Because the stars seen on each planet are different." Recorder raised his head, "I have heard that some planets still have constellations, but in fact, if you change the stars, your sky will be different. It will be completely different, and those former constellations can no longer be found, isn’t it interesting?”
"People have liked to study the arrangement of stars since ancient times. This is just a means to facilitate inductive division. It is essentially the same as how we use coordinates to delineate the universe now." Bayonet said, "But it is indeed easy to disillusion some ancient illusions."
"I'm quite concerned about that auxiliary star." Spade pointed at the slowly moving stars in the sky, "The volume of Tianmu One is about one-seventh of that of the Phantom Star, but this level of difference is not significant in astronomy. It is impossible to cause interference, but it can form such a weird planetary system. If we have the opportunity, we should make a geological calculation of Tianmu Yiye."
"We don't have that much time now." Lu Ning smiled, "When the outpost is restored, we have to take the next step."
"Tell me about it, captain." Spades immediately began to climb along the pole.
"The first is the regional biological hazard investigation work. The previous record spider silk has told me, but the data from twenty-six years ago is no longer trustworthy for the phantom beasts with mutant characteristics. We need to update the database. After excluding surrounding areas After the threat, we need to use the map recorded in the database to head to the outposts that marked our location to see if we can find survivors elsewhere, or recover some information, and try to understand the specific situation that happened that year. Report to the ship."
"Sounds like a lot of things." Recorder turned back, "Do we have a vacation?"
"...No. Take your time to rest. In addition, after that, we will investigate the entire Phantom Star. If the situation here is better than expected, then the alliance may send the next group of people to take over the research and continue to investigate the Phantom Star. Development work, after all, habitable planets are not particularly common in the universe. Oh, in order to achieve this, we have to find a key point, which is Outpost 1 and its internal builders. Judging from the information collected previously , Outpost 1 is obviously the strongest, and if there is any precious information, it is also with them."
"Captain, please introduce to us the people at Outpost 1. People like us don't know how many powerful characters the military hides." Spades said.
"It's okay. You all know that Lu Tongyun is a soldier, and the other two are Pang Xu and Zheng Heng." Lu Ning opened his terminal first, "Well... Pang Xu, although you learned about his life before joining the army from Longmai. , but this person is actually more powerful. He studied for five years at a scientific research institute specially set up by the military, and then graduated and joined a star system-level combat force. Within three years, he was awarded the title of Obtained the position of deputy commander, but in a battle between us and the Black Hawk Alliance, he made a serious mistake no less than the one when Black Hawk destroyed the home planet. He installed his own cannons on three fleet motherships. The latest weapon invented, you may have heard of the name - neutron flow sweeper."
"Did he invent that thing!?" The three people except the bayonet all jumped up. These three people all had some war background and knew a lot of things from the past, so they overreacted like this.
"Then...what is that?" Bayonet was a little confused.
"You can think of it as a planetary annihilation weapon." Lu Ning said, "It is a destructive weapon that uses high-speed neutrons to indiscriminately destroy planets at the atomic level. The military has encrypted most of the data. Even I don't know about it. How to accelerate the injection of neutrons, but there is no doubt that this weapon defeated the two Black Hawk fleets and the target planets they were fighting for, because the nuclear reaction caused by the neutron impact turned that place into a cosmic fireworks. Perhaps you will not be blamed for annihilating the enemy, but destroying resource planets is also dereliction of duty. Pang Xu realized this and took the initiative to resign. It happened that the Magic Star was discovered by the observatory at that time. The military did not want to waste his genius. Principles sent him here."
"That weapon sounds terrifying," Bayonet whispered.
"Because among the current defense measures, there are very few defense methods against uncharged high-speed particles, and ordinary warships have no corresponding measures. Even the Canglong Alliance and the inventor Pang Xu couldn't control the power of this weapon. Fortunately last time, it was just Destroyed a planet with one shot, and attached two fleets. If you accidentally hit a star, you know what would happen." Lu Ning shook his head, "But you also heard it, because they were a fleet against each other. On the opposite side, Pang Xu’s plan is considered a Jedi counterattack, and we cannot judge his character just because he invented this weapon.”
"I no longer believe in his character." Spades shrugged, "What about Zheng Heng? I've never heard of him before."
"According to Xu Zhenxing's records, Zheng Heng is the commander-in-chief of Outpost No. 1. Even Lu Tongyun probably has to obey his orders. Many of his intelligence materials are top secret, but we can also infer something from his resume. First of all, Zheng Heng is here. Previously, the subordinate unit was the 'Heavenly Soldiers'."
This time, even Spades and Tiemei didn't know: "We have never heard of such a force in the Canglong Alliance."
"Oh, that's because you are not qualified to see them at all." Recorder said, "I have seen a heavenly soldier who is indeed strong. Even without the space-style destruction armor, his strength is still beyond our reach."
"I won't elaborate on the specific situation. All you need to know is that this unit belongs to the alliance's all- battlefield adaptable arms and has the capability of individual combat against ships..."
"Captain, say it again." Tiemei shook his head, "I seem to have heard some strange descriptions."
"Individual combat against ships, you heard that right." Lu Ning repeated, "I don't know Zheng Heng's specific position among the Heavenly Soldiers, but since he is a formal soldier of the army, he has the capabilities needed by this army."
"What does such a powerful alliance want from us? Can't we just send a team of heavenly soldiers to turn the Magic Star upside down?" Spades was a little frustrated.
"The number of heavenly soldiers is probably not as large as you think... Moreover, didn't the captain say that? Zheng Heng is a heavenly soldier. Since all the heavenly soldiers have fallen here, the alliance will definitely not dispatch all the elite troops directly due to the caution of the alliance. Coming to such a special place can only be the second choice for us." Bayonet said slowly, "Then Captain, apart from Zheng Heng, is there anyone else in the entire advance team who needs attention?"
"Well, the bayonet did realize the key. In fact, there were three heavenly soldiers sent by the advance team. The two people besides Zheng Heng were named Gu Mingchuang and Feng Manting. The disappearance of the three heavenly soldiers forced the military to pay attention, but I think If they didn’t die in the surprise attack, their subsequent survival would not be stressful.”
"Ah, it sounds like everyone who is so powerful is nowhere to be seen, so we have a bleak future." Spade spread his hands, "Since there are heavenly soldiers, are there any heavenly generals, captain?"
"That has nothing to do with this." Lu Ning flicked the terminal, "I tell you this to make you vigilant. The changes that time can make to people are not something we can predict. There has been no news for so long. We must deal with these. Maintain a skeptical attitude towards powerful targets. There are many scientists in the advance team, leaders with convincing authority, powerful soldiers and skilled technicians. In fact, if something goes wrong with some of these people, I would rather them It would be better if they were all dead."
"Where's Luo Qing?" Bayonet asked.
"He is an excellent biological researcher, but he is definitely not the target of special attention. You have all passed several tests before coming here, which is enough to prove your excellence. However, in the interstellar era, similar outstanding people emerge in endlessly. I would like to advise you. Don't rely on your own abilities." Lu Ning said this and glanced at the sheep hair in the distance.
"...You don't have to beat around the bush to convince me, Captain." Yang Hao sighed, "I admit, I thought before that the outpost was restored and the search and rescue mission came to an end. Our basically smooth trip also made me feel... we After the weapons are updated, they cannot be compared to those of those a generation ago. We are very strong."
"Blind arrogance can kill you, and if you are a soldier, you won't think that way."
"It sounds like we even need support from other outposts." Yang Hao said, "Captain, you exaggerate them so much that I feel like we have become smaller."
"If it can make you more vigilant, I am happy to do so. Although it has been decades, the army's weapon replacement speed is not as fast as expected, and the gap is not that big. As far as killing is concerned, the Iron Eyebrow Hand The isolated cutting knife inside doesn’t require much more effort than an ordinary sharp blade.”
"Captain, don't you think about armor?" Spade tugged on his spacesuit.
"If we encounter humans here, they will all be among our own people." Lu Ning knocked on his helmet, "No one will be stupid enough to stab your body with a weapon that cannot break your defense. Everyone will look for the most deadly weapon. Start with the parts. Don't tell me that you, a mercenary, don't even understand this."
"How can we be so armed from head to toe...Half of us will die from cosmic radiation sickness alone." Spades muttered.
"Captain, I have a question." Bayonet even raised his hand, then immediately retracted it.
"Just ask."
"Do you think this mission is at the planetary level, the planetary system level, or... the star system level?"
Lu Ning couldn't judge. The way the distribution center released the tasks made it difficult for her to find predictive information.
"I can't give an accurate answer right now, so we have to be prepared for any possibility."
"Well……"
"Did you find anything? Bayonet?"
"It's just random thoughts."
"Tell me about it, your random thoughts are always useful." Spade said with a smile.
Lu Ning also nodded to her encouragingly.
"Actually, before taking a break, I also read some logs in the central control room. After all, I can't understand the more advanced things. In the logs, orders issued by Outpost No. 1 to various outposts appeared many times, and each outpost It was almost always executed unconditionally, and it looked as if Outpost No. 1 was the leader. But from the simple information we read before departure, the advance team clearly stated that each outpost would be an independent establishment after its completion, and they would be interconnected with each other. There is no affiliation.”
"Mu Qiang." Recorder said, "Especially in a place far away from civilization, Outpost No. 1, which has the upper hand in both wisdom and force, certainly has the right to speak out. This is normal."
"No, this is what puzzles me the most." Bayonet said.
Everyone was paying attention, and even Yang Hao quietly came nearby to listen.
"I just think...it's weird." Bayonet realized that everyone was listening, and started gesturing with his hands in a panic, "The outpost obeys the fixed template construction, and the functionality is the same. For Outpost No. 1 , I understand that they are able to study nearby biology, geology and other subjects on a large scale based on their strength, but why can they be so confident to guide the research of other outposts? I don’t see anything about fantasy in the log file* *The description of the exchange, since such an exchange has never occurred on No. 48, shows that the outposts are indeed conducting research on the surrounding area as independent research individuals, then the outpost No. 1 can at most make some corrections to the information submitted by others. opinions, but what I saw was another situation - 'asking for advice' and 'guidance', some guidance on the research process."
"...Girl, this discovery is no small matter." Yang Hao spoke.
"This is exactly the doubt I discovered from another angle." Lu Ning said, "The No. 1 outpost, which is highly trusted and the focus of all the fantasy star outposts, has not recorded its location in the map stored in the database."
"Captain? Why are you talking about this now?" Tie Mei asked in surprise.
"I remember I said we were going to 'find' Outpost 1."
