Leto.

Out of caution, Xia Zhiyang has turned off the automatic driving system of the suspension car and learned to drive manually. Passing by the Sky Diamond Square, he couldn't help but slow down and look far away.

Not long ago, there was an event called "Defending the Statue" in this square. Countless people gathered together to oppose the rebels' demolition of the sculpture group standing in a corner of the square.

Only those who have made great contributions to the alliance are qualified to build statues there.

The protest lasted for three days, and countless people died at the hands of the rebels. More and more people joined the protest team, as if to protect the last bit of faith in their hearts.

As a result, the rebels stopped damaging the statues, but still chopped off the head of the statue of former Alliance Admiral Lu Jun to vent their anger, and then closed the entire square, not allowing anyone to enter.

The famous fountain show in the Central Administrative District never appeared again, and the entire square was like a dried-up spring, pale and dilapidated.

Xia Zhiyang sometimes wondered if humans had thought about today when they left the earth, opened the first interstellar map, and named this square "Diamond of the Sky" with hope and pride. The

exquisite relief will be stained with the blood of compatriots.

On second thought, each generation is responsible for its own affairs, and people more than two hundred years ago would never care about the present. Just like he couldn't control what would happen to the alliance in the future if they lost this war.

No, there would be no alliance if they lost.

He exhaled lightly, feeling as if he had become decadent along with the silence of this planet.

He was only twenty years old.

After parking the hovercraft at the destination, Xia Zhiyang walked on the deserted street, pulling his collar involuntarily. He had grown a little taller than this time last year, and the slim grey windbreaker made him look taller than before, with more distinct facial features.

In the private room, Chen Mingxuan was concentrating on playing games, and when he saw Xia Zhiyang coming in, he put the game terminal aside.

After Xia Zhiyang sat down, he habitually looked around. Seeing a surveillance camera in a hidden corner, he calmly activated the device in his personal terminal and released interference waves.

After chatting about the weather and asking about uncles and aunts, they suddenly ran out of things to talk about.

Staring at the coffee cup in front of him, Xia Zhiyang's eyes were a little empty. In the past, he always played with Chen Mingxuan, doing homework together, playing games together, riding a limited edition suspension car each, and letting each other go after sleeping in class...

Although we haven't seen each other for many days, why don't we have anything to say? Maybe it's because we are unfamiliar with each other?

Chen Mingxuan looked around to make sure there was no one around. He lowered his voice and said hesitantly: "I heard from my mother that you have been doing some bad things recently."

Xia Zhiyang raised his eyes.

Chen Mingxuan was stunned.

It hadn't been long since they last met, but the feeling his brother gave him was... different. He even saw a bit of sharpness and a subtle warning in his eyes.

Although he wasn't sure what the warning was.

After crushing the bag of sugar that came with the coffee, Chen Mingxuan found it difficult to say what he had prepared. He took some time to reorganize his words: "It's very dangerous, those people outside," he omitted the word, shrank his fingers, and fear appeared in his eyes, "those people will shoot and kill, and they will be punished collectively! Once discovered, you will die miserably in a place where no one knows!"

Xia Zhiyang nodded: "I know." He smiled, "Sorry to make you worry."

Seeing his own smile through the glass wall made him feel a little like going back to the time when he was in Turan.

The other party's expression and reaction did not meet his expectations. Chen Mingxuan suddenly did not know how to persuade him: "You are only 20 years old, studying in Turan, and you will live for many years... No matter who is in power, it does not make much difference to us, right? You can still do business and make money. Why do you have to do those not-so-good things?"

Some of these words were his own thoughts, and some were heard from his elders.

He did not know whether he was persuading Xia Zhiyang or constantly convincing himself.

Xia Zhiyang's smile faded, and after he finished speaking, he was silent for a while before speaking: "I respect your ideas."

When Chen Mingxuan heard this, he subconsciously wanted to get the game terminal to avoid the next conversation.

"But at this moment, on the front line countless light years away, the expeditionary force should be fighting the rebels, and many people have died or are facing death." Xia Zhiyang's expression and tone were very serious.

Chen Mingxuan turned away and replied in a low voice: "The military has their own interests."

Xia Zhiyang felt a little cold.

He thought that he might not have worn enough clothes when he went out and overestimated the temperature today.

But a flame of fire came out in his heart, dispelling this coldness.

He heard himself say, "I respect your choice and understand what you mean."

"I am happy that you are worried that I will be in danger, but I also want to tell you that, yes, I am only twenty years old, I have money, I can live without worries for food and clothing, and I can live for many years, but living in fear like a dog, is it living? Nodding and bowing to the rebels, kneeling on the ground waiting for them to reward me with a bone if they are happy, and a bullet if they are unhappy? Should I be grateful?"

"I have money, but what about those who have no money? Should they be treated as non-human beings, waiting for the rebels to step on them or chop them with a knife, and use their dignity and blood to exchange for a drop of nutrient to barely fill their stomachs?"

Xia Zhiyang felt that even his bones were warming up, and his eyes seemed to be burning with fire: "Chen Mingxuan, think carefully about what you said! What do you mean by 'the military has their own interests'? Who the hell is idle and has nothing to do, rushing to the front with weapons, fighting for their lives for fun, huh? Are you bored after eating? Do you think you are... Can you live long?

If the rebels had not already stabbed your house with knives, and the bandits had entered the capital star and pointed their guns at your relatives, the professors who had taught you, and the people you had had coffee with in a store, turning everyone into puppets without freedom and thoughts, who would be willing to risk their lives? Tell me, who is willing! "

Panting, the veins on his neck bulged, Xia Zhiyang's eyes were red, and it was unclear whether it was anger or sadness and grief that overflowed from them.

Chen Mingxuan stared at him, his lips moved, but he didn't say a word.

After a few seconds of silence, Xia Zhiyang calmed himself down. He clenched and unclenched his fists and said coldly, "For now... let's not meet. Maybe because we are good brothers, I will implicate you one day."

His throat was dry, "I understand you, but don't persuade me. Anyway, even if I die in the next second, I will not regret anything I have done before."

Leaving the whole cup of coffee untouched, Xia Zhiyang took two steps outside and stopped at the table: "I am afraid of death, but I don't want to live."

Coming out of the coffee shop, people on the street were expressionless and in a hurry. Xia Zhiyang's eyes swept across the buildings that were no different from before, put his hands in his pockets, and looked up at the sky.

There was news that there would be a big battle on the front line, and he didn't know what the situation was.

He picked up the hat on his coat and put it on, took a deep breath, and silently said in his heart -

I hope the alliance will be invincible.

Across the vast galaxy, at the front line of the Southern Cross Region, Mei Jielin was yelling in the communication channel: "Long Xiyun! Send a laser cannon to cover me. God knows how the other side can tell which destroyer I am on. My armor is about to be penetrated. I must change one quickly!"

On the battlefield, Long Xiyun usually had a faint expression and tone, no matter he had the upper hand or was suppressed, and Mei Jielin often questioned whether all his facial nerves were paralyzed.

He waited for Metierin to finish howling, then gave orders and glanced at Metierin's position on the radar map: "Got it, I've dispatched two laser cannons to cover you, no need to thank me."

"Very generous!" The bloodstains and clumped princess cut on Metierin's face made her look unsightly, but it did not affect her joy at all, "Wait for me to change to a destroyer, and then continue to fight guerrilla warfare with them!"

Just as Metierin was captured by the Dingyuan, Hesse, the commander of the 12th Army of the rebels, was sitting on the main ship. He was tall and strong, with a fierce look on his face, and he slowly stroked a gorgeously decorated dagger: "Waste! Can't even kill Metierin!"

His adjutant was respectful on the surface, but he was complaining in his heart, a Metierin? He was the famous captain of the expeditionary force! He was only a colonel in the expeditionary force. If he was in another place, he would have been in charge of the defense of a large star field.

If he could be killed easily, how could the previous legions be beaten to pieces? The dozens of assassinations against her in the past would not have failed.

But he did not dare to rebuke his superior: "Indeed, these people are incompetent."

Hesse did not respond, but just looked at the battle situation, thinking about something.

The adjutant knew why Hesse was so anxious.

The Allied Forces had already pushed them out as the vanguard, and if the 12th Legion failed to achieve any outstanding achievements, such as killing Metierin or Long Xiyun, then nearly half of the sacrifices would be meaningless -

even if the expeditionary corps was destroyed here, they would not get much benefit after the war.

Moreover, there was Helena from the 5th Legion, who relied on the favor of two wise men and never knew how to write the word polite. She contributed the least, but stretched her hand the longest to grab the credit, and she had to try her best to protect him from death, otherwise the wrath of the wise man would descend, and there would be no so-called "leniency".

At this time, someone reported: "Report! The detection system shows that a high-energy body is approaching rapidly! It is suspected to be the expeditionary support fleet, including no less than three main ships!"

Ever since the battle that killed Cyclops and Black Jack, the rebels no longer trusted the images sent back by "Clairvoyance" and were forced to switch to analyzing the environmental data sent back, which was slow and not very accurate.

At this time, Mei Jie Lin was hit by dense laser cannons on the right wing, and a gun platform was melted. She cursed: "Come two people to cover me! If I get hit by two more cannons at the same position, I will die directly in the cosmic rays!" She

cursed again, "A medium-sized ship bullies a destroyer of mine, bullying the small with the big, how shameless?"

She completely forgot that before this, she bullied the big with the small, and led the destroyer sequence to bite the medium-sized ship and even the main ship.

As soon as the voice fell, two high-energy particle cannons with terrifying strong light passed through the battle circle, like a long sword, engulfing three medium-sized ships and several small ships in a row.

Just like Moses split the sea, it directly used powerful firepower to clear a large area of ​​the star field.

Mei Jielin's muscles suddenly felt sore. She leaned back and took a two-second breath during the break: "Finally here. Two high-energy particle cannons were fired on the stage. As expected, she is a commander and has no shortage of money!"

Long Xiyun listened to her howling all the way and said: "You can take part in the military's performances in the future. It's a one-person talk show and you can carry the whole show by yourself."

The support came. Mei Jielin was in a good mood and rolled her eyes slightly: "My appearance fee is very expensive!"

In the command room, Lu Fenghan knocked on the table with his knuckles: "Except for the Fifth Army, everyone else is here. Mei Jielin, take your people aboard the Chanyuan and be in charge of the remnants of the Twelfth Army. The Tenth Army The regiment has many heavy ships and insufficient mobility. Du Shang leads the attack ship sequence to fight guerrilla warfare, and Long Xiyun cooperates. "Wein, the Ninth Army is handed over to you." Du

Shang asked: "Commander, are you going to block the Fifth Army at the jump channel?"

Lu Fenghan said as a matter of course: "We are here now." The upper right corner of the virtual star map shows the monitoring of the nearby jump channel by "Catching Wind". "Before the Fifth Army arrives, I will cooperate with Wei Yin."

The time for assigning tasks is short. In the eyes of the rebels, the expeditionary force has shown a very strong offensive since entering the battlefield, without the concept of "defense" at all. The starships are grim, revealing a chilling spirit.

The 10th Army was now the target of the expeditionary destroyers. Its commander, Vasiliev, sneered in the communication channel: "Hesse, are you holding back by these insects that can be crushed to death with one kick?"

The two had been at odds for a long time and never missed any opportunity to mock each other.

Hesse said with a cold expression: "Metierin is changeable and hard to deal with, but in the end, it is one person who gives the orders. I advise you to be more careful. Dushan is a general of the expeditionary force and his actions are bold and aggressive. Long Xiyun is as cunning as a fox and has a keen judgment of fighter planes. These two people are joining forces to besiege you, so don't lose your life if you are not careful!"

Vasilyev's appearance still shows the characteristics of the European race, with light blonde hair tied into a bun, a high nose, a somewhat mean look, and a beard.

He was disdainful of Hesse's words: "Only the weak will feel afraid!"

At this moment, almost everyone on both ends of the communication channel shouted at the same time:

"Gone, disappeared!"

"Gone!"

Vasiliev frowned: "What are you yelling about?"

His eyes were fixed on the screen outside the ship, and he saw that a team of expeditionary destroyers had become birds under the gun. Just as the muzzle was raised, the destroyer fleet suddenly disappeared, and suddenly appeared behind the rebels within three seconds!

The identities of the two parties were immediately exchanged, the dying bird turned into a hunting rifle, the laser cannon swept across in an instant, and the muzzles broke

at the same time! Vasiliev couldn't control his expression for a while.

Impossible!

But, he saw it with his own eyes!

In those few seconds, the entire destroyer fleet of the expeditionary force disappeared, and even the radar detectors had a brief blank!

No -

Vasilyev immediately ordered: "Analyze immediately!"

"It's not a trick!" The person who reported swallowed hard, his breath trembling, "It really disappeared! Just a few seconds ago, it really disappeared! The energy signal cannot be captured! The entire destroyer 'passed' through our starship!"

Before he finished speaking, someone else said in horror: "It disappeared! Another destroyer fleet disappeared!"

For a moment, there was a cry of surprise!

Until someone suddenly said, "We are the ones favored by God, aren't we?"

- We are favored by God, so why can the enemy expeditionary force have such a "miracle"?

Vasilyev cursed them in his heart, "idiots!"

These people were placed in incubators for centralized cultivation from the embryo stage. Soon after they were "born", they were separated and raised, and then sent to the army after they grew up. Their brains were filled with "piety" and "God".

A group of idiots who were mass-produced.

Vasiliev asked Hesse, "Was there no news before?"

Hesse was playing with a dagger inlaid with gems: "What do you think?" He said meaningfully, "The enemy's technology has advanced by leaps and bounds when we don't know about it. Once it bears fruit, it will be a disaster for us."

Vasiliev said disgustedly, "And these idiots."

Brainwashing and instilling theocracy and the absolute power of God can indeed prevent these people from betraying. But once something impacts their beliefs, it will only take a moment for the military to lose morale.

"I have already started to see idiots who directly avoid fighting because of fear." Hesse snorted, "But his god will not protect him, and now he has been blown to pieces by the expeditionary force."

After the particle inverter was officially put into the battlefield, it quickly proved its usefulness.

The expeditionary force's destroyer fleet seemed to be an untraceable shadow in space, coming and going unpredictably.

One second it was far away, and the next second, it was instantly embedded in the center of the rebel fleet, taking advantage of the fact that no one could react, and immediately opened fire, destroying several small and medium-sized ships in a blink of an eye, and from time to time it could accurately and severely damage the power system of the enemy's main ship!

It already had the characteristics of extremely strong maneuverability, and now it was even more terrifying -

almost relying on this strange trace alone, it was enough to psychologically collapse the enemy.

On the other side, on the command ship, Long Xiyun spoke in the communication channel: "After the particle inverter was activated, many rebels began to retreat, but soon resumed the attack."

Weiyin continued: "The rebels are just a few tricks. Now they must have issued a death order. Whoever dares to retreat will be killed for treason, and the whole group will be punished. Even if some people are afraid, they will not dare to retreat."

Lu Fenghan listened to the series of orders flying out of their mouths, and he still had the mind to chat without connecting the next sentence - the spirit of insisting on chattering was very "commendable".

Qi Yan stood beside Lu Fenghan, holding hands under the table. He reminded him, "The particle inverter consumes a lot of energy and cannot be used indefinitely."

He paused, and suddenly thought, "General, the particle inverter and the Starship central control system are not yet fully compatible. I just had an idea."

He wanted to sit back on his sofa.

Lu Fenghan, however, held Qi Yan's wrist with his backhand and ordered Po Jun, "Move the sofa over here."

In less than ten seconds, rollers fell from the bottom of the sofa and moved to the side of Lu Fenghan as required.

Qi Yan had no choice but to sit down next to Lu Fenghan.

He called up the virtual screen and began to think about how to embed the data stream of the particle inverter into the central control system.

From the corner of his eye, he found that Qi Yan was leaning against the sofa with his long legs bent. Lu Fenghan always felt that his hands were a little empty.

When Qi Yan noticed Lu Fenghan's hand on his knee, he didn't move, nor did he raise his eyelids. He just said "hmm" softly, with the ending tone rising, which was a questioning tone.

It was also a laissez-faire attitude.

So next, Lu Fenghan looked serious, constantly making judgments and issuing orders based on the situation of the battle. Under the conference table, his palm was on Qi Yan's knee, rubbing and kneading it with a heat that could not be ignored

. The most sensitive touch of the whole body was concentrated under Lu Fenghan's palm. Qi Yan's breathing trembled because of the itch. He wanted to speak, but he didn't want to interrupt Lu Fenghan who was talking, so he just bit his lower lip and held it back.

Such intimate and seemingly meaningful little movements made him restless.

Qi Yan tried his best to concentrate his mind and focus on the dense data stream in front of him.

Not long after, a reconnaissance ship reported: "The Fifth Army has appeared!"

Po Jun also reminded: "The leap channel monitored by 'Catch the Wind' has a high-density heat signal, and there is a 91% chance that it is the Fifth Army of the rebels!"

Lu Fenghan ordered: "Wein, the Ninth Army is in your hands. Mei Jielin, you lead a main ship and follow me."

"Yes!" Mei Jielin handed over the matter in his hands to his deputy in two seconds, turned the bow, and followed Lu Fenghan.

She had no self-awareness of her own mumbling: "Commander, although the Fifth Army Group has the latest equipment, its combat power is really not good enough. It would be fine if Helena could listen to the advice of her think tanks, but on the battlefield, she likes to give orders excitedly based on her intuition. I think in this kind of fight, commander, it is enough for you to fight alone. There is really no need to bring me along. The combat personnel configuration exceeds the standard."

She almost said, "You think too highly of Helena, Commander!"

After saying that, she realized something was wrong -

she could figure it out, so how could Lu Fenghan not think of it?

"Commander, what tricky plan have you come up with?"

Lu Fenghan gave him a look that said "You still have some intelligence": "Let's test first to see if the illegitimate daughter of the former wise man of the Fifth Army is an important person."

Mei Jielin understood immediately and her smile widened: "What if she is?"

"If she is really important enough that Vasiliev, Hesse and the other three would care about her, then," Lu Fenghan narrowed his eyes slightly, his facial features were unruly and bold, "they are not the only ones who can surround a point and attack its reinforcements."

The expeditionary force set up a large net at the location that the enemy's Fifth Army must pass through after leaving the migration passage. Lu Fenghan was the hand holding the large net, just waiting for the prey to arrive.

During this brief interval, Lu Fenghan turned to Qi Yan who was sitting next to him. The other person's calm eyes calmed all his emotions.

Qi Yan's straight and delicate nose was coated with a layer of light by the virtual screen, and countless characters were reflected in his eyes. Lu Fenghan suddenly asked: "There is a war outside, aren't you afraid?"

Qi Yan paused his fingers that were tapping the characters, raised his eyes, and met Lu Fenghan's gaze. He understood that the other party was asking him why he could concentrate on sorting out the procedures and not be afraid when there was a war outside the command ship.

The communication channels were all open. Qi Yan did not speak, but wrote a sentence on the virtual screen seriously.

After writing, he looked at Lu Fenghan with clear eyebrows and eyes.

Lu Fenghan read these words several times.

The emotions in his heart poured out like a gate.

He couldn't help but grab the spherical camera suspended in the air, and then pinched Qi Yan's chin with his fingers and kissed his cool lips.

The words Qi Yan wrote were:

"It's safe to be with the general."