Half a day later, the shuttle landed with a bang at the Rekart Space Fortress. Before his eyes was a sea of people, all Silver Alliance soldiers. Zhang Xiaobo's anxious heart finally settled a bit as he kept muttering, "Heaven bless, heaven bless, please don't send me to the front lines with this nonsense."
Mr. K gave him a playful nudge, "Let's go."
"Where to?"
"Of course, to meet your old friends. What, don't want to catch up?"
"Huh? Old friends?" The chubby man was taken aback again, but he quickly realized who Mr. K meant. The moment he saw Vladimir, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Hell's Gate, their eyes met, and memories of past events were stirred up once more.
"Hey, you came too, huh? Rare, rare." Vladimir glanced at the chubby man with a faint smile.
"What, you want to fight?" Zhang Xiaobo flared up immediately. Last time, if it weren't for Mirami from the 12 Stars and the Blade Warrior's intense mediation, they almost had a real-life PK showdown. He didn't expect that after so many years, this guy would dare provoke him again.
Vladimir waved both hands in quick surrender, "Whoa, whoa, don't get me wrong, just saying hello."
Huh? This... alright, I'll forgive you. As they say, 'a gentleman doesn't remember the faults of others.' Seeing so many beautiful women around, Chubby Zhang Xiaobo decided to be a gentleman this time.
However, seeing the chubby man in front of them, many pilots from various countries found him quite unfamiliar. Who knew such a person was here? Most members of the 12 Stars were present, and whether in super battles or otherwise, they had interacted with each other to some extent. But as part of the Normandy fleet, Chubby's identity was quite special. Even if they had encountered him before, they didn't recognize him.
Margaret's eyes instantly locked onto Dovir; they could be considered old rivals. To step back, in terms of both age and talent, they had much in common. Among the new generation, the most prominent were Margaret and Dovir. She especially remembered the mecha battle competition where she lost to Dovir, and to her surprise, he was even more handsome in person than in posters.
Dovir obviously noticed Margaret, this genius from Diya known by the ID "Black-clad Loli." He nodded slightly with a smile, as if he had long forgotten the past unpleasantness. In fact, there was no real unpleasantness between them, as both were fighting for the glory of their respective sides and had no personal grudges.
That smile... so natural and fresh. Margaret's pretty face suddenly felt a little hot. Oh, what useless thoughts was she having? Was she getting infatuated?
Clearly, among the crowd present, the most attention-grabbing was undoubtedly Jiu Ling. As a 12 Star general and a top warrior, Jiu Ling's prowess was well known. At least among the people present, few could match her, and even if Raymond came, he wouldn't necessarily gain any advantage over Jiu Ling. Thus, although part of the 12 Stars, Jiu Ling was clearly the most dazzling among them.
Regarding the whispers around her, Jiu Ling turned a blind eye, quite accustomed to it. She crossed her legs in a relaxed manner, lazily reclining on a leather sofa, sipping red wine, while watching people come and go.
A well-mannered man approached to strike up a conversation, only to be instantly turned away, leaving him with a face full of gray. Flirting was the last thing to think about; it was just too annoying.
Seeing this, others who wanted to chat also prudently moved away. But one had to admit, Jiu Ling's wheat-colored skin and sharp gaze indeed made many men shy away. She was like a rose with thorns: her words might seem light and airy, even giving off a slightly frivolous vibe, but seasoned players all understood that such women were the hardest to conquer.
Jiu Ling did take a few more glances at some of the Federation's super warriors, which included Zhang Xiaobo. Perhaps because she had encountered Federation warriors more often, or maybe for some other reason.
"Everyone..."
At this moment, the highest chairman of Rekart entered the hall, and the noisy chatter suddenly quieted down a lot.
The chubby man was still wolfing down meat when Mr. K gave him a pull, "Hey, mind your image, look who's here."
The chairman gave the chubby man a friendly smile, his sharp eyes then swept over everyone present. Raising his voice, he said, "First of all, on behalf of Rekart, I sincerely thank the allies for their friendly support! You are some of the brightest talents of this century. I am honored to meet you in this way. Honestly, I would have preferred to share a drink with you all and talk about my beloved mecha. Of course, when it comes to mecha, I'm no match for you."
The chairman joked half-seriously, continuing, "Unfortunately, my busy schedule and special position don't allow a long stay. There are currently piles of problems, such as what exactly the Extraterrestrial Civilizations' intentions are? I cannot imagine, but Rekart will never back down. They are about to enter the range of our vanguard forces, which is not the outcome I want to see—hopefully, this battle will familiarize you with them, laying the groundwork for any potential future conflicts. Luckily, it's not today, so we can take this opportunity to exchange more ideas. Yes, that's it; I hope I haven't disrupted your dinner."
After finishing his speech, the chairman turned and left. He knew well that these warriors coming here was one thing, but whether they would fight was another. Judging from the velocity of the alien civilization's movement, it would still take some time to reach this planet. Therefore, today's visit was mainly to thank the mobile warriors sent by various countries, to greet them, and fulfill a formal duty.
As for the future, nobody can say for sure, but regardless of it, one thing that Rekart, who is unlucky in this matter, cannot do is back down—backing down would mean losing the Star Domain, backing down would mean losing refuge.
Watching the successive reports from the major Star Domains and the vivid images projected on the Light Screen, the chairman's previously calm demeanor was completely gone, replaced by an indescribable heaviness.
The footage showed a terrestrial planet closest to the Extraterrestrial Civilization. The military dispatched countless large shuttles for personnel transport in a city covered in garbage and chaos.
Crowds crying and shouting were jostling to get inside. Civilians hadn't received detailed news but knew something bad was about to happen here. Civilian networks were offline. Apart from the local intranet, they couldn't send or receive messages, not even Star Domain Broadcasts.
With shuttles landing continuously and then taking off, civilians carrying large bundles with families in tow rushed into the city center by all means imaginable. Apart from their closest relatives, they would not notify anyone, not even friends, because the more people there were, the better chance they had of getting on the next flight. You never knew when or where disaster might strike.
At 2 a.m., law and order had utterly fallen apart in Florenza, a planet in the northern suburbs of Rekart. People were trading their lifetime hard-earned properties for a few bullets. Women were exchanging rides with their bodies. Girls were choosing to ditch their boyfriends using the same means and then telling them they loved them, but they had to survive. They had families to consider. Love couldn't mean everything. Perhaps a better angel awaited them in the future.
Those fortunate enough to walk onto the shuttles secretly rejoiced, dancing and chanting victorious declarations. The joy on their faces sharply contrasted with the mixed crowd on the ground. They even didn't know what they were shouting, for they had no clue what major event had occurred. Only one thing was sure: They were safe.
In neighboring territory Diya, evacuation was proceeding in an orderly manner...
Being a former ally and a near star domain of a friendly nation, geographically and from a future development perspective, the Mardis War Zone should first consider accepting Diya.
But no, precisely speaking, this reminded John of an old incident.
During the twin star landing battle six years ago, the Blaze Legion suffered heavy losses, and how hard did they fight? He never forgot how the legion was utterly defeated, pushed to a dead end. Feng Yi repeatedly requested Diya's support, but reinforcements never came, which infuriated the legion's commander so much that he threw his military cap and smashed the screen.
In the end, the Blaze Legion had to change to a remote route to shake off the pursuing forces from the Saudis.
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