Crossbell.

The turmoil of the civil war in the empire did not have any impact on Crossbell. In the past, if such a big thing happened in the empire, the spies of the empire and the republic would have been jumping around in Crossbell, causing all kinds of trouble and making everyone in a state of panic.

But now, Crossbell was so peaceful - even comfortable.

“Haha…”

Standing on the platform outside the house, enjoying the fresh air after the rain, a red-haired man dressed as a tourist sighed.

He is Rector Arandel of the Imperial Intelligence Agency, codenamed "Scarecrow", and this time, he was ordered to come to Crossbell - as a member of the Imperial Intelligence Agency, Rector has only one mission, which is to investigate those mysterious huge warships that appeared in Crossbell and find out where they came from!

This happened before the civil unrest in the empire, but what makes Recter helpless is that he has not been able to complete the task until now.

It's not that Crossbell is keeping a close eye on these mysterious warships. In fact, these warships have been floating outside Crossbell City, just like a metal mountain range across the sky. You can see them clearly if you look up. Not only that, in order to facilitate and meet the viewing needs of tourists, Crossbell City has also built an observation deck on the high platform where the original IBC was located.

As long as Mira is deployed, these warships can be observed from all directions through the telescope...

“…”

Looking at the viewing telescope in front of him, Recter was speechless.

Isn't this a secret weapon? How come you have made it so special? Have you treated it as a tourist attraction? And you have to pay for it?

Crossbell is truly worthy of its reputation as a financial city.

"Big brother, is your time up?"

Just when Recter was speechless, a little girl next to him asked in a baby voice. Looking at the girl, Recter smiled slightly and moved aside.

"We are here, come on."

"Okay, thank you, big brother."

The little girl thanked Recter politely, then walked to the viewing telescope, put in Mira, looked into the telescope, and then suddenly screamed.

"Wow, it's so big and beautiful...!!"

"Ha ha……"

Seeing the little girl's reaction, Rector smiled bitterly again and then sat down on the chair next to him. Looking carefully, he could see that the entire viewing platform was full of people. They were all tourists from various countries. Since Crossbell declared independence, all countries had a strong interest in this mysterious warship that suddenly appeared. Rector had also seen a few of his "kind" among these tourists.

In addition to intelligence personnel from various countries, Recter also saw many scholars and experts in the field of guidance. They had all submitted applications to the Crossbell government hoping to observe the internal structure of the warship, but all were rejected without exception.

So, in desperation, these scholars had to follow the tourists' example and run to the observation deck to watch the warships in order to get some information.

Although Recter didn't quite understand what they were saying, because these people appeared frequently, he was able to summarize some key points.

First of all, from the debate among scholars from various countries, it can be confirmed that this is not a product of the ancient Semlia civilization, because it is different from the ancient civilization relics excavated from all over the Semlia continent. And those mechanics experts also said that the appearance of these warships is obviously man-made, and they are definitely made with very advanced technology.

Not only that, the technology used by this kind of warship is also incredible. At least according to the information that Recte has inquired, no country in the continent of Semlia has such technology so far. The only suspicious thing is the floating city that appeared when the anomaly occurred in Liberl. Although the floating city collapsed at that time, according to the description of Crown Prince Olivet, Fang Zheng took the Goddess's "Treasure of the Sky" from the apostle of the association.

Although afterwards, the Kingdom of Liberl and the Church of the Seven Lights unanimously announced that the Treasure of the Void was handed over to the church for safekeeping, but... who knows if Fang Zheng had gained something from it before that?

After all, no one knows what kind of power the goddess's treasure possesses.

Of course, the best way is to go on board the battleship and investigate in person.

Rector was confident about this. According to his observation, judging from the size of those warships, there should be at least tens of thousands of soldiers inside. It is impossible for so many people to eat, drink, defecate and urinate on the warships. They always have to change shifts and rest. As long as he can find where these people change shifts, maybe he can find a chance to sneak in, then board the warships to search and get more intelligence.

But... Recte had been watching for so many days, but he found out...

These warships are just floating there, with no intention of coming down!

Well, maybe these warships are too big and there is no place to dock. But the crew on them always have to change shifts, right? Recter knows that the supplies needed by the crew on an airship are limited, and these warships are larger in size, so don't they need more supplies?

So Recter also specifically investigated the circulation of food supplies in Crossbell. In his opinion, the food of tens of thousands of people is a huge number, and if there is circulation, it will definitely not be covered up.

However, after Recter investigated, he found out - no!

Nothing at all!

The Crossbell government did not suddenly purchase large amounts of supplies and food, nor did it use military supplies to transport supplies to cover up the inexplicable flow of supplies. Everything was as normal as it could be, as if these warships had never appeared and did not require maintenance or supplies!

How is this possible?

Recter was puzzled. Could such a large warship be operated by only a few people? What a joke! The warship was as big as the Guluo Mountains. How long would it take for one person to walk from one end to the other?

Oh, what should I do next?

All the intelligence that could be investigated secretly was investigated, but no detailed clues about those warships were found.

If I could find anything...

Just as Recter was thinking about how to continue his mission, suddenly, he saw a girl in a white uniform and a beret walking past him. Looking at this cute girl with white hair and red eyes, Recter's eyes lit up, and at this moment, suddenly, a voice sounded from behind him.

"Little Swan."

"Ah, Sister Leander."

Hearing the voice, the girl with white hair and red eyes turned around, and then Recte saw a blonde girl wearing the same style of white uniform walking in front of her.

"It's almost time for the shift change. You remember to patrol the airspace."

"Um."

The white-haired girl nodded.

"From here to Almorica Village, mainly patrolling around."

"That's right. Although the commander is not here at the moment, we still have to do our job well. You can't let your guard down."

"Yes, Sister Leander, I remember."

The two exchanged a few words, then the blonde girl walked away down the street, while the white-haired girl continued walking forward.

But at this moment, Recter's eyes suddenly lit up.

Airspace... Patrolling... Could it be that this girl is one of the crew members on those warships! ?

Yes, that must be it!

Thinking of this, Rector also perked up and followed the white-haired girl, secretly thinking about how to use her to get close to the warship. In Rector's opinion, since the other party was going to the warship, they would naturally take a means of transportation. Then he could follow them in, as long as he could find a secret hiding place... Well, what if the other party's security was tight?

While following the white-haired girl, Rector pretended to be a tourist and thought quickly. However, the white-haired girl in front of him did not realize that someone was following her. Instead, she walked forward while appreciating the surrounding scenery.

There is no other choice but to use force!

Seeing the white-haired girl was about to leave, Rector's eyes turned cold. He finally decided to kidnap her and force her to tell him some information. Although according to Rector's personality, this kind of thing was not in line with his style, but the investigation of those warships was the focus at the moment, and the girl looked very timid and cowardly. I'm afraid that as long as she was scared, she would reveal a lot of information.

Thinking of this, Recter also paid attention. He straightened his tourist shirt that looked like he was wearing from Hawaii, and walked up with a smile.

"Oh, excuse me, Miss, I have something to ask you."

"Ah, hello, what can I do for you?"

The white-haired girl seemed a little nervous when faced with Recter's conversation, but she still responded politely.

"Here's the thing. My friend and I made an appointment to go fishing together. He said he found a management cabin here, but I don't know where it is. I can't find it after I leave the east gate, and the bus said it doesn't go there either. Do you know where that place is?"

As he spoke, Rector took out a map and pretended to ask the white-haired girl for advice. This was his first move. Although Rector hoped to obtain intelligence, he knew that doing so in Crossbell was very risky. After Crossbell became independent, Fang Zheng installed surveillance cameras in Crossbell and the surrounding towns. Over the past few days, many stupid criminals have been caught because of this. Rector certainly would not be stupid enough to leave any clues here. If he could find an excuse to take the girl out of the city, it would be much more convenient.

"Ah, this place is indeed remote. I'll take you there."

Fortunately, the white-haired girl didn't seem to doubt what Recter said. She nodded after taking a look at the map, and Recter put it away with a smile.

"Thank you, dear lady."

"Eh? Hey hey... cute or something, I'm not that cute..."

Faced with Recter's compliment, the white-haired girl's face suddenly turned red, and then she hurriedly turned and walked towards the east gate.

"Let's go, that place is not far from here, it will only take a while to get there."

In this way, under the guidance of the white-haired girl, the two left Crossbell and walked along the street. Rector seemed to be chatting with the girl, but he was actually paying close attention to the surroundings. When he was sure that there was no one around, Rector raised his right hand, rushed forward, and hit the girl's neck!

According to Rector's plan, he only needed to knock the girl unconscious, tie her up and take her to a nearby abandoned hut, then interrogate her, and he should be able to get some clues. But...

“——!!!”

Just when Recter's hand was about to hit the girl, suddenly, a blue barrier made up of dozens of pentagons appeared behind the girl, blocking Recter's attack. The white-haired girl was also startled and hurriedly turned around and stepped back, looking at Recter in surprise.

"You, what are you going to do?"

"cut."

Seeing this scene, Recter gritted his teeth. He didn't expect that even a little girl would be so difficult to deal with!

Thinking of this, Recter decided to go all out. He took out a gun from his arms and aimed at the white-haired girl in front of him.

"Little sister, I'm sorry, I advise you not to move, I just want to ask you something..."

However, Rector did not finish his words, because at this moment he saw the white-haired girl raised her right hand and pointed it at him. Then, a huge cannon thicker than his head appeared out of thin air behind her, and the black muzzle was pointed at him.

Rector: “……???”

He glanced at the guided gun in his hand, and then at the muzzle of the gun opposite that was bigger than his head.

Recter was completely confused.

What is this unfolding?

Am I dreaming?

"boom!!!"

Before Recter could react, the next moment, the black muzzle of the gun in front of him roared and shot out dazzling flames.