"Clang!"
The rusty iron fence door was slammed shut, the green light gradually faded away, and the surrounding area fell into darkness again.
Fortunately, a little starlight can still shine through the gaps between the ship's planks, so it's not hard to see.
Chen Xing looked around. This was a cell located inside the cabin, with the deck above his head and starlight falling from the gaps.
The wights squatted on the ground, motionless.
Chen Xing occupied one of the corners, next to the hull of the ship, and could see the starlight outside through the hole the size of a fist.
Just like sitting by the window on a train, at least you can see the scenery outside, so that the journey will not be too boring.
But in fact, what should be boring will still be boring, and you will always get tired of looking at the same starlight, but looking at the starlight in a daze is better than looking at the rotting corpse in a daze.
After a while, a distant horn sounded from above, and the ship's hull shook a few times and moved slowly.
The ship has sailed and we have finally embarked on our journey!
Is the end of the starry sky the shipwreck cemetery that Shad Sinclair mentioned?
And what kind of ship will he get?
[Literature Hall fo] Chen Xing couldn't help but think about it, whether it was a battleship with thousands of guns firing, or a cruiser crossing the seven seas, or an aircraft carrier that dominated the sea, or even a star battleship that conquered the universe...
In fact, it doesn’t matter what it is, but it must be majestic and imposing enough.
A philosopher once said that a man's romance is like a giant ship and cannon. He didn't agree with it at first, until the day he saw the deep-sea warship.
The majestic bow of the ship sailed out of the void, thousands of cannons raised their heads to the sky, the huge hull blocked the clouds and the sun, and the majestic momentum made people's blood boil, as if there was nothing in the world that could stop it.
The starlight in the hole suddenly dimmed. Chen Xing was pulled back from his thoughts and looked outside subconsciously.
Large white shadows were floating from outside, as thin as gauze and dreamlike.
Taking a closer look, they turned out to be jellyfish. They vary in size from as small as a dandelion to as large as a beluga whale. The umbrella opened and retracted, cruising along with the hull.
Low-level spirits.
This is introduced in the book. The life mark of low-level spirits is very weak and cannot form a stable spiritual energy aggregate, and will gradually degenerate into the shape of a jellyfish.
As the spiritual energy decays, the size will become smaller and smaller, and finally merge into the endless void, and the remaining life marks will also disappear.
Maybe this is what people call, the soul is gone.
Theoretically, the emperor-level powerhouse is a pure spiritual energy aggregate that has escaped from the confinement of the carbon-based life body, turned into a pupa, and transformed into a butterfly. From then on, it roams the universe and is immortal.
Suddenly, the accompanying low-level spirits seemed to be frightened and fled away.
Chen Xing pressed half of his face against the hole, looking around hard to see what it was. .
A huge object slowly flew into sight, blocking all the starlight.
That thing is so big that you can't see the whole thing. You can only see pits and pits, like the cortex on the surface of the moon.
In my memory, I seem to have seen this kind of thing, but I can't remember it for a while.
Chen Xing opened his eyes even wider, trying to remember what it was.
At this moment, a huge eye suddenly opened on the gray cortex. Bright red and translucent, like blood crystal. Then a second, slightly smaller one, and then an even smaller one.
From big to small, a row of eyes opened.
The dark red eyes rolled and looked at Chen Xing.
In an instant, an electric current seemed to pass through his body, and Chen Xing froze.
"Woo..."
A sharp whistle sounded, and countless holes appeared on the skin, so densely packed that it made one's scalp numb.
Immediately afterwards, tiny black shadows emerged from the surface, forming a dark cloud in the blink of an eye.
Steam Corpse Kun!
Chen Xing's scalp was numb. Was it because of him that he alerted the other party?
"Buzz buzz buzz buzz!"
The next moment, the sound of membrane wings beating was overwhelming, sweeping towards the ghost ship.
Chen Xing quickly looked around, looking for a place to hide. He has personally experienced the power of the Steam Corpse Kun. According to the current situation, he is afraid that it will be torn into pieces by locusts in an instant.
"Boom!"
There was a dull sound of cannon overhead, the whole ship shook violently, and the carrion swayed and rolled around.
Chen Xing immediately stuck to the board of the ship, trying to see clearly what was happening outside.
The cannonball exploded into a green ball of light on the steam corpse Kun, and large areas of rotten flesh and blood splattered out. Corpse Kun seemed to have been severely injured, letting out a huge whine, slowly turning around and escaping from the ghost ship.
The swarms of migratory locusts also turned around and submerged themselves into Shikun's body.
Chen Xing wiped his sweat and found out it was just a false alarm. This ghost ship is powerful enough, even beings of Shikun's level can be easily repelled. But it's not surprising. If you can sail in a place like this, it would have been destroyed long ago if you didn't have two brushes.
Because of Shi Kun's incident, Chen Xing changed his position to the inside. Curiosity killed the cat. This time I encountered Shikun, but next time I won’t know what it is. The undercurrent of time and space is full of dangers, and any ancient and powerful existence may appear, which may not be something the ghost ship can deal with.
While Chen Xing was huddled in the corner, going on a long and boring journey, Lin Shiyuan led the staff team to Dada Town.
After arranging his men, he immediately rushed into the headquarters and asked Xiang Caidie for questioning.
"I am Lin Shiyuan, Chief of Staff of the Expeditionary Force, Deputy Commander Xiang. Please answer my two questions."
Lin Shiyuan had a business-like expression on his face. The chief of staff is the third-ranking figure in the army and has the right to know important military information.
"First, may I ask where the Supreme Commander is now and why he has been out of contact for so many days?"
"Second, when the Four Nations Alliance forces are pressing on the border and reinforcements are unknown, why not choose to retreat?"
Xiang Caidi did not answer Lin Shiyuan's question, but took him into an abandoned mine.
After walking through a dark and damp road, the two came to a passage with multiple iron doors.
A kerosene lamp hung on the stone wall, the light was dim. Xiang Caidi took off one of the lamps and came to an iron door. There was a small window on the iron door, which was welded shut with iron bars. Xiang Caidi held the kerosene lamp to the window and signaled Lin Shiyuan to come over.
Lin Shiyuan didn't know why, but she still craned her neck to look in. In the dim light of the kerosene lamp, a man covered in bruises was shackled and hanging in the air, his head hung low, dying.
"Meng Hongzhen, captain of the 1st Battalion of the 4th Infantry Brigade."
After Xiang Caidi's introduction, she walked to the next iron door. Lin Shiyuan looked in and saw a man hanging there as well.
"Squadron Leader George Gallagher, 2nd Squadron, 1st Battalion, 7th Armored Brigade."
Xiang Caidi and Lin Shiyuan continued to look. There were more than a dozen cells containing people, and they were all officers of the expeditionary force.
"They all received a large amount of money in their accounts to assassinate the supreme commander of the expeditionary force."
Lin Shiyuan couldn't help but frowned, "Who is in charge?"
"The other party hid it very well and left no clues. The payment account is in the Western Continent. With our current capabilities, there is no way to trace it." At this point, Xiang Caidi sighed, "To be honest, I have already I don’t know who to believe anymore.”
She looked a little lonely and seemed confused about the future.
Lin Shiyuan was silent for a while and said, "Then why did you bring me here?"
"You could have stayed in a safe place, but you still came here. This is enough to prove your loyalty." Xiang Caidi looked into the other person's eyes and replied.
"It seems that I was almost included in the list of traitors." Lin Shiyuan said with a slight smile.
"Please forgive me for my special means in a special period. Even now, I still think it is necessary." Xiang Caidi said seriously.
"I agree." Lin Shiyuan nodded and then added, "If it were me, I might go even further than you."
"Our supreme commander is communicating with the undercurrent of time and space, and I am sorry that I cannot meet with you for the time being." Xiang Caidi nodded and said. Although she chose to believe Lin Shiyuan, she still did not tell the truth on the most core issue. Instead of communicating with the undercurrent of time and space normally, Chen Xing fell into a coma for unknown reasons. There is a huge difference between the two. The former is controllable and can be separated at any time, while the latter is uncontrollable and cannot take the initiative to leave.
The enemies lurking in the dark are really terrifying. They possess huge power and wealth, as well as powerful intelligence capabilities. Those who instigate rebellion against them are precise and precise.
What she didn't know was that the mastermind behind this incident was Lacey Maris, who was using the intelligence agency of the Red Dragon Principality. The authority of the royal family and the financial resources of the treasury were naturally not something that a mere group of armies could resist.
"Okay, I understand." Lin Shiyuan nodded and replied.
After listening to Xiang Caidi's words, he probably understood in his heart. Although Xiang Caidi deliberately concealed something, his rhetoric was too crude, and anyone with a little bit of brain would understand it after thinking about it.
If something hadn't happened to Chen Xing, with the other party's cautious style, he would have withdrawn long ago when he saw so many troops surrounding him. How could he still stay here and put the entire army in danger?
But there's no need to say anything about this, just understand it in your heart.
After a while, the two returned to the combat command room.
"Given the current situation, what does the Chief of Staff think we should do?" Xiang Caidi asked.
Lin Shiyuan thought for a while and said, "The best strategy is to run, the middle strategy is to drag, and the worst strategy is to defend."
"How to delay?" Xiang Caidi asked.
If she could run, she would have run away with the team, so the best strategy was meaningless. If it is a defense, everyone knows it, and it is meaningless, so only the strategy of "drag" has the value of asking.
Lin Shiyuan did not answer this question directly, but asked, "There should be many refugees in the six towns we occupied, right?"
"Yes." Xiang Caidi nodded.
"Control them and don't let them leave at will. When attacked, the Silver Claw Principality will use the rat weapon." Lin Shiyuan said.
"Do they care about the lives of the refugees?" Xiang Caidi asked. Refugees have no human rights and will not be held legally responsible no matter how many die.
"No, they will care..." Lin Shiyuan paused, "If someone makes a big publicity."
Xiang Caidi understood immediately. Although she is not smart, she is not stupid either. She still knows how to weigh the pros and cons.
Although refugees do not have human rights and there is no legal responsibility for killing them, this is only at the individual level, not the national level.
No country dares to openly massacre refugees, and even most of the time, it must show a friendly and tolerant attitude towards them.
Quite simply, refugees are also productive forces. If there were no refugees, who would do the dirty work at the bottom? Who will live in those marginal areas with harsh environments?
Generally speaking, every country has about 30% of the refugee population, and some countries even have 40% or even higher. Only special places like Ice Blue City and River Bird Principality have a higher number of refugees. It will be less than ten percent, but it is not nothing.
At the same time, new citizens will be born among the refugees, and new refugees will be born among the citizens. Exchange fresh blood with each other and promote productivity.
Therefore, even if the Silver Claw Principality does not care about the refugees in these six towns, it must still consider the pressure brought by public opinion.
One of the reasons why refugees are called refugees is because the population is highly mobile and can move around the world. If a country is not friendly to them, they just need to find another place to survive. There is no need to stay there and be slaughtered.
"But wouldn't it be too cruel to do this?" Xiang Caidi hesitated.
Using innocent refugees as a shield was a bit obscene, and she subconsciously resisted it. And their ideal is to establish a mercenary country. If they don't even have the most basic humanitarianism, they may sink before they reach the other side of their dream.
"In order to achieve the goal, some necessary sacrifices are unavoidable." Lin Shiyuan said, "But don't worry, only a small number of them will be harmed. Once things get big, Silver Claw will ask for negotiations with Red Dragon .”
"In this way, the purpose of delay is achieved."
