When the fight between Zheng and the two strongest members of team Africa were going on in the flagship, Xuan, Zero, and Lan took the shuttle to the starship team Africa was originally in. Messages of soldiers dying in massive numbers were sent out from the ship. Cause of death unknown. The large part of the starship was classified as restricted zones.
Xuan said to the other two. “Eighty percent chance due to magical items or abilities because scientific weapons will likely damage themselves first. Even if they have defensive items, what about Gando? We still haven’t received notification of his death, so he should be alive in this starship. Lan?”
Lan seemed her mind was somewhere else. She was using the psyche scan ability. After Xuan’s shout, Lan was confused for a moment then said. “Yes. A place within this ship is masked.”
Xuan shook his head. “Zero, have we been notified of killing their members yet?”
Zero shook his head. “No, only the destruction of two starships.”
“Is that so? That means Zheng really wants to save Gando.” Xuan frowned and adjusted his glasses.
Lan and Zero made an eye contact. Lan asked “What do you mean? Why does the lack of notification mean he really wants to save Gando? It shouldn’t be strange that he wants to do so.”
Xuan said. “If the other team quickly received notification of member deaths, once, twice, three times, what would those who are still alive think? They could only run and feel despair. We won’t allow them to surrender. And they know it. The most likely thing they will do is kill the hostage. That hostage is likely Gando.”
“Of course, Zheng has been through so many battles. He’s a qualified warrior. He knows what’s important. When he learned of the person with a self created ability, he might want to observe it. Lan, keep Kampa, WangXia, and Zheng connected. Contact them immediately if something happens. Zero, protect Lan and give me fire support. I am the main force of this fight.”
Zero and Lan nodded. They looked out the window of the shuttle. Eight starships were battling each other far away. The stray missiles hit the ships nearby. More and more starships were forced to join this chaotic battle. Since the high ranking officers were killed by Hawfor and Xuan disappeared from his position, the commanding system of the fleet was in a disorder. Both sides believed they were right but the lack of a conclusion ignited gun fights even within the starships.
When Xuan entered the starship, the majority of troopers were in a panic state. Most shuttles and transporting ships were used to get away, with many more troopers waiting by the shuttles area. Once Xuan’s group got off the shuttle, a dozen troopers swarmed up. Everyone wanted to get in first that they didn’t even take a look at the three who just got off.
Xuan and Zero knocked them away without mercy. The rest of the troopers immediately raised their guns instinctively. When the veterans recognized the three of them, they yelled at the newcomers then saluted at Xuan.
“What happened? Have you forgotten you are a trooper? All squad leaders and sergeants listen. Shoot on spot anyone who doesn’t follow orders. Now, you tell me what happened here.” Xuan said these words then pointed at a sergeant.
The sergeant was obviously one of the veterans from Klendathu. He gave a salutation and said. “Sir. A lot of large bees appeared inside the ship, about two to three times larger than normal bees. Troopers that get stung would feel hot then faint. Multiple stings at the same time would kill them with poison. Our weapons have no effect on these bees. The high ranking officers in this ship are parasitized by bugs given these strange bees.”
“Bees?” Xuan and the other two frowned. They recognized what these bees represent, a magic ability. Furthermore, this was a large AOE ability. Its ranking should be rather high.
Lan finally saw the light and said. “No wonder. I saw tiny amounts of psyche force flying around during the scan. I thought their psyche force user was trying to misdirect me. So those are the bees. The bees don’t seem to have a physical body, so they are formed by the ability. Psyche force bees? Truly marvelous.”
“If they are formed by psyche force,” Xuan said calmly. “Try to attack them with psyche whip. If I remember correctly, psyche whip specializes against other psyche force users.”
Lan nodded. She closed his eyes and walked forward. Xuan said to the sergeant. “Guard this area and send some troopers to search for survivors within the ship, but don’t get close to the center where the bees are. We will take care of them.” Xuan followed Lan to the center of the ship.
Psyche whip was extremely effective against these bees of two thumbs big. They were formed by pure psyche force and looked translucent during their attacks. The numbers were huge. They wouldn’t have been able to get near the center area to team Africa without psyche whip.
As they were heading forward, Lan frowned and said to Xuan. “Their psyche force user contacted me. They said they want to get in contact with someone who can make decisions. But Zheng is still fighting. I am afraid of disturbing him. Let me connect her mind with yours.”
Xuan snapped his fingers and said to Zero. “Kill anyone who attempts to come close before our negotiation is over, including troopers. Lan, tell Kampa and WangXia to command their starships to aim at this ship, but not at any critical spots. I will determine the time of fire.”
Lan and Kampa nodded. Xuan closed his eyes to meet the other mind. It was a young woman’s voice. “Hello, are you a member of high position in team China? I am a member of team Africa. The person in charge in our team is dead. Our leader is fighting with your leader. So I will be the one conducting this negotiation.”
“Negotiation? What a joke.” Xuan said with a sneer. “Don’t kid me, unless you consider surrender a negotiation. Don’t act like you have the upper hand with a hostage. We don’t have rune word stones but our score is at positive one point. One or two deaths won’t matter much. Do you want to test the truth of my words?”
The girl didn’t get angered by his words but sighed instead. “I think you are right. Yes, we lost. This is a surrender instead of negotiation. We are willing to surrender but I want you to understand that we aren’t powerless. It’s just that…”
“The person who can gather your powers together is dead.” Xuan interrupted her. “You said the person in charge is dead. Your leader is still fighting. We only killed one person in the beginning. Which means no other people from your team died in our hands since the battle. There should be someone who make plans for your team. Is he dead?”
She sighed. “Yes. He’s dead. Otherwise, his wisdom can lead us on. Even if we are to die, we won’t give you such an easy victory. Do you accept our request? We hand you back the hostage, one unlocked member and one not unlocked as reparation. You will let the rest of go in exchange. We will take care of these two members do you don’t have to worry about any schemes…”
“Impossible!” Xuan said with a cold smile. “I will repeat this once more. Don’t kid me. I won’t worry about the hostage getting killed. I don’t even care about the points and rewards from the few of you. Do you think I will accept any threats?” He contacted Kampa and WangXia through Soul Link. Ten seconds later, the whole starship was trembling violently.
“This is your last warning. Surrender unconditionally within five minutes or we will destroy this ship along with you and the hostage. I am not joking.” Xuan adjusted his glasses and said apathetically.
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