At the headquarters of the Fourteenth Corps.

On the tarmac next to the headquarters building.

Tang Shi, the nominal commander-in-chief of the combined fleet, was walking down the shuttle that had just docked here with a pale face.

In addition to the large number of well-trained guards standing on the edge of the helipad, there was also Baiquan who was protected by a large number of guards.

Bai Quan was wearing the special uniform of the 14th Legion at this time. Through the collar, one could see that his uniform was covered with bandages.

He stood straight, his face as solid as ice pierced with sharp blades.

When Tang Shi got off the boat and walked towards the headquarters building, he came in front of him.

Bai Quan's voice was hoarse due to his injury and there was a chill in it. He said to Tang Shi word by word: "Are you back? Then let's go."

After he said that, he turned around and didn't take Tang Shi's existence seriously at all.

Tang Shi didn't dare to have any thoughts. The only thing left in his mind was the fear of Bai Quan.

But he still forced himself to ask, "Where to?"

Bai Quan, the supreme commander of the 14th Legion in this star field, paused, walked forward without looking back and said, "My office."

"Now that you are back, follow the proper procedures. You need to report your mission to me."

“You should have learned this.”

Bai Quan's suddenly heavier tone made Tang Shi nervous again. He stammered, "Well...well, yes, I have learned it."

Bai Quan did not delve into whether what Tang Shi said was true.

He continued to speak to Tang Shi like a cold machine: "You need to report whether the mission objectives have been achieved or not, and report the losses, including the loss of spacecraft and the loss of missing and casualties of personnel."

"And what you did during the entire mission."

"You were nominated after I was injured and fell into a coma. You won't let me down, right?"

Baiquan's voice became lower and lower, as if his injury had not yet healed.

However, this deep and hoarse voice was becoming more and more deafening in Tang Shi's ears, making him dare not think about what would happen next.

Bai Quan suddenly turned his head and looked at Tang Shi. The reflection from his lenses made it difficult for Tang Shi to open his eyes.

Tang Shi closed his eyes slightly, then raised his head to look over.

For a moment, he seemed to see his corpse reflected in Bai Quan's sharp eyes.

Tang Shi suddenly felt as if he had fallen into an icy cave, his limbs were so stiff that he didn't know how to walk.

After noticing that Tang Shi's movements had slowed down, the guards around Bai Quan also immediately slowed down their pace.

They used brute force to push away the guards who were protecting Tang Shi, half-carrying him and following Bai Quan.

No one dared to resist.

at the same time.

Zhang Feng, who was on the spaceship behind but had not gotten off, was standing by the porthole of the shuttle.

He was watching everything that was happening outside, while also using the terminal to communicate with other people.

The call was quickly connected, and a generous middle-aged male voice sounded from the terminal: "Speak."

Zhang Feng breathed a sigh of relief after hearing this voice.

As long as the person who gave him additional guidance on the Tang Shi mission before departure answered the phone now, everything would be fine.

However, he did not show any special expression on his face. He just explained the task normally and said, "Lieutenant General, we have returned to the 14th Army Corps base. Tang Shi was taken away by Bai Quan as soon as he got off the boat."

The middle-aged man who was called Lieutenant General by Zhang Feng did not mean to blame Zhang Feng at this time. He said, "This is normal. The news that we have returned in defeat has begun to spread outside."

"Because someone suffered great losses in your mission, he has told Baiquan everything in advance."

Zhang Feng followed the lieutenant general's words and said, "Was it done by Tachyon Technology?"

The lieutenant general paused and said, "Don't worry about it. We just need to take care of ourselves now."

"I know this mission is not your fault, but since it has already happened, we must lie dormant for a while to avoid being completely liquidated."

"We will decline a bit, but we won't collapse completely."

"But I want to know, is there any good news in this whole mission?"

"some."

Zhang Feng sent a video along the encrypted communication line.

The content of the video was the scene in which the Ruler-class ship that remained alone until the end attacked the positioning coordinate signals continuously emitted by the planet where Chen Ming was.

Although this video contains various energy fluctuations from the chaotic battlefield and electronic interference from the Afterglow Fleet.

At the same time, the picture is very blurry because of the last live broadcast of the Ruler-level video via remote signal connection.

However, through the Ruler-class sensors, it can still be seen that the Iron Ore was completely destroyed and the building next to it was hit by the Gauss cannon.

As the Iron Ore exploded and its wreckage scattered, the research institute was completely covered by the flying building debris and the smoke and dust raised by the Gauss cannon falling to the ground.

The sensors of this Ruler-class ship were completely disrupted and cut off, and the ship itself was destroyed.

The video ends here.

The lieutenant general sounded slightly relieved and said, "Okay, this is the only good news right now."

"We can't get Sky Steel back now, but we should at least give it to those who have been cooperating with us."

"Chen Ming's death is the best explanation."

"Okay, let's go help Tang Shi out."

"We will use our connections to delay Baiquan's investigation into the results of this mission. As long as we transfer the people away, Tang Shi will not die."

"He has failed this time. He is totally unworthy of our training."

"Just listen to what others say about Tang Shi in the future, don't believe everything, especially hers."

The lieutenant general's words were suggestive, and Zhang Feng did not dare to respond too much, but just agreed vaguely.

The lieutenant general did not care about this, but comforted Zhang Feng: "I know your difficulties, but some things cannot be changed."

"I see."

"Well, also, remember to come directly to me when you return from the base with your men. I have something to tell you."

Communication disconnected.

The lieutenant general who was communicating with Zhang Feng put down the terminal and looked up at a woman with a frosty face standing next to his office.

The woman was about his age and looked slightly older.

Obviously, this was the person he had just hinted at and whom Zhang Feng didn't want to contact.

Although the lieutenant general mentioned her to others in front of her and his words were not very polite, she did not have any direct opinions about the lieutenant general.

She just asked the lieutenant general: "Are you sure Chen Ming is dead?"

The lieutenant general pushed the terminal on the desk and said, "The video is here."

"If Chen Ming is directly hit by such power, he will be dead. Even if he survives by chance, Yu Hui will definitely not be easy to deal with."

"We launched a rescue operation on this scale. Yu Hui must be very wary of him. There is no way he can come back alive."

The middle-aged woman frowned, copied a copy of the video and left the office.

Her eyes were full of distrust, and she said something at the same time.

"I will confirm whether Chen Ming is dead or not myself."

The lieutenant general looked at her back and shook his head.

A week passed quickly as the combined fleet returned to the 14th Corps' base.

The news of the defeat of the Galo Star Domain in the battle that broke out within the Yuhui Star Domain has spread thoroughly to the pirate space station closest to the star domain border.

Some details about the mission that led to the battle somehow leaked out.

For example, the starting reason of the mission was that the protagonist of this mission, Chen Ming, alone called the Afterglow Fleet to rescue him, and a frigate successfully escaped from the pursuit of the corrupt original star zone military cruiser fleet.

They were also rescued by the newly stationed 14th Legion, Tachyon Technology, Sinda Corporation and the joint forces of the Star Domain Government, and the level of attention was extremely high.

Needless to say, the speed at which information spreads in a place like the Pirate Space Station is extremely fast.

Soon, rumors about Chen Ming spread throughout the entire Galo star field, and even in several neighboring star fields.

Of course, the content of the rumor changed somewhat during the transmission process.

For example, the final failure of the mission and the cause of Chen Ming’s death were not the erroneous command of the commander of the 14th Corps, nor was it that he took the initiative to kill Chen Ming when he was forced to evacuate.

Instead, Chen Ming had been rescued, but a large amount of unexpected support from Yu Hui arrived and attacked the fleet before it could evacuate, resulting in Chen Ming's accidental death.

At the same time, it also ultimately led to the complete failure of the mission.

This statement saved some face for the 14th Corps, and also added some legendary color to Chen Ming's experience.

Because no one knew who spread Chen Ming's ability.

How could a psychic who could control several warships by himself and enhance the performance of the warships in various ways be killed by Yuhui under normal circumstances?

So after hearing such rumors, some people felt that Chen Ming did die accidentally as claimed, while others felt that Chen Ming was tortured greatly in Yu Hui's territory and died of his injuries after being rescued.

Of course, there are also conspiracy theories that someone within the empire thought Chen Ming’s psychic powers were too dangerous so they simply killed him.

However, these statements did not spread due to the deliberate restrictions of public opinion.

Instead, Chen Ming's past experiences were dug up.

The entire process from the mining space station to the pirate space station to the Afterglow Star Field was spread.

The mining space station of Sindar Corporation was inexplicably destroyed, and its share of Sky Steel production that had been embezzled for decades.

They are all stimulating the nerves of people in the relatively peaceful marginal star field of Galo, and focusing people's attention on these places.

I don't know whether it was the company's doing, but they wanted to use public opinion to put pressure on the 14th Legion and make them give out the Sky Steel they deserve.

Or was it done by the 14th Legion themselves, in order to divert the outside world's attention from the failure of their operation and focus all of it on the original star zone military that had been driven away?

But in short, their goal was achieved.

As the rumors gradually spread, their main content basically focused on the corruption of the star zone’s army and the fall of Chen Ming, a rising star of future humanity.

The factory director, who has a close relationship with Chen Ming, had already received the news in advance from the chairman.

It is said that the 14th Corps' mission failed and Chen Ming died.

So much so that before this outrageous rumor spread, the factory manager was forced to have a gloomy face all day long.

It's similar with Old Wu, who goes to the bar every day to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

Of course, in reality, both of them knew the real situation, and they were just pretending to be sad in front of the others who were monitoring them.

Old Wu pretended to be very happy.

After the news spread for a few days, the hype died down.

The former star zone military personnel who had been taken away long ago were tried and the results of the trial were announced.

In addition, Chen Ming, the rising star, completely fell and was no longer known to the public.

The factory manager gradually relaxed and no longer had to keep a straight face every day.

Old Wu was still the same as before, but he was pretending in the front and in the back because he was really sad that he couldn't be a pendulum.

He simply couldn't accept the fact that news about Chen Ming had completely quieted down after just a few days.

However, after all, Chen Ming's abilities have not yet been fully demonstrated to the public, and he just seems to have great potential.

In various aspects, such as spacecraft driving and combat command, there are not many individuals who show potential, but it is not a small number either, and some have died.

But no matter how promising a person is, once dead, he is dead.

No one cares about a dead person.

Even if some big shots in the prosperous star field knew of Chen Ming's existence and knew how capable Chen Ming was, it would be of no use.

The responsibility should be held accountable to the 14th Legion. It has nothing to do with ordinary people, and the news will naturally die down.

And the previous rumors about Chen Ming's psychic powers had only spread to the two surrounding star regions.

From then on, the rumors about Chen Ming were only mentioned occasionally when something related to Yu Hui occurred.

This is actually what Chen Ming wants to see most.

It would be best if everyone forgot about him.

When Chen Ming appears again in the future, some people will not be able to sleep.

Rather, if someone was still thinking about him now, he would not be able to sleep.

If the ability to control the three afterglow galaxies now known.

Either the 14th Legion kept this news strictly confidential and never leaked any information, just to kill Chen Ming and prevent future troubles.

Either the entire empire would take notice of Chen Ming, who was rumored to be a top psychic, or the empire would do its best to bring Chen Ming back.

The Fourteenth Legion might be liquidated, but that would also mean that Chen Ming might not be free for the rest of his life.

No matter what the result is, it's not what he wants to see.

So it's best if others forget about his affairs.

But it looks like this won't happen.

After all, Chen Ming had already learned from Old Wu about the whole story of this turmoil.

Moreover, the few days he stayed in Yuhui were peaceful and calm, and there was no sign that anyone was coming to look for him.

Work in all aspects is now progressing steadily.

The afterglow controlled by Chen Ming also made new progress in the expansion of the afterglow galaxy.

The semi-industrial, semi-military galaxy where Gamma Z had stayed before, located on the border between Yuhui and the Mechanical Clan, has completely fallen into his hands.

The military strength, mainly armed ships, has made great progress, which will definitely play a significant role when Chen Ming leaves the Yuhui Star Region in the future.

As Huihuang said, the date for completion of the artificial spiritual awakening nerve they are preparing is getting closer.

Chen Ming has also begun to let Gamma Z and Brilliance speed up the control of other Afterglow individuals within the range of acceptable risks.

Before the final moment arrives, the more control the better.

The more residual power he has under his command, the more confident he will be when he is exposed.

Even though the number of controlled beings is much larger, it is impossible for them to be able to compete with the entire Yuhui Star Domain in the remaining ten days. However, Chen Ming's goal was not this from the beginning, so it is not a big problem.

in addition.

A few days ago, Chen Ming tried to communicate with Huihuang every day in front of the other Yuhuis, and asked Huihuang for the Lie Stone and Whispering Stone that had been stolen from him before, and also asked for a new exploration ship.

However, after Huihuang asked his superiors, the result was that neither of them would be given.

However, Yuhui was very generous in other technical aspects and gave a lot.

Come to think of it, after all, the spiritual stone might affect their second experiment again.

As for the exploration ship, Yu Hui certainly didn't want to see Chen Ming's spaceship crash into the dome outside again.

On the contrary, as for the technology, even if Chen Ming was allowed to learn freely in these last twenty days, how much could he learn?

Things like technology may seem simple at first, but the more you go in-depth, the more difficult it will become, and the longer it will take to learn.

At least that's the case for serious people and serious afterglow.

As for Chen Ming, he could only say that his spiritual power had made considerable progress after absorbing the spiritual awakening nerves.

His learning efficiency also increased again.

After Chen Ming and Huihuang confirmed it, the learning efficiency had surpassed most of the beta-level afterglow and reached the edge of the alpha-level afterglow.

You should know that each Alpha-class afterglow can be comparable to a top-level computer and has the computing power to control at least an entire galaxy's industry.

It is already a very abnormal thing that Chen Ming can catch up with Yu Hui in the field that Yu Hui is best at as a human.

In addition, Yu Hui gave Hui Huang a lot of authority, even though it was because there was so much to learn.

In the future, Chen Ming can also continue to rely on Huihuang to obtain other technical knowledge that it does not know with its current authority.

Also, Chen Ming had always been able to sense the location of the Falsehood Stone, which was located in the basement of the research institute.

So since there were so many factors that influenced his preferences, he didn't really force it.

When he is ready to leave, he can take it away easily from such a close distance.

So, after Chen Ming’s two requests were rejected in a row, he was apparently appeased by Huihuang’s success.

Although Chen Ming pretended to be in a bad state and no longer helped Yu Hui with anything, he was just a parasite.

But I still work and study normally every day.

In addition, he also found that the working area of ​​the institute was repaired overtime, and the experimental area and research area next to it were also free to use.

However, the Qi Ling Nerve Extractor inside was moved away one night.

The location we moved to is still in the basement of the institute.

Chen Ming didn't care about this. Yu Hui could tinker with the device however he wanted. If he could start it, he would be the loser.

During these few days, Chen Ming not only studied and worked, but also secretly cooperated with Huihuang and Gamma Z to deal with other afterglows.

We are also researching new scientific research projects.

The multi-layer shield he had developed before started to move on its own for some unknown reason, and it could also use his psychic powers.

A frigate-class ship successfully blocked the attack of the cruiser's large weapons.

Although it mainly relies on Chen Ming's psychic power, the shield does work.

Otherwise, the shield of the Iron Ore would have been completely shattered in the first attack. How could there be a second chance to deflect the attack and a third chance to help the research institute and Chen Ming bear the attack?

Therefore, Chen Ming has already seen the importance of the shield, so this research needs to be done.

We must find a way to put the new high-strength shield online, but he is still planning the current research ideas, so it will take some time.

However, the main thing Chen Ming is doing now is to study and learn some additional industrial production technologies related to colonial technology given by Huihuang.

Chen Ming has already discussed his future plans with Huihuang, and Huihuang supports the idea of ​​a colony.

At the same time, Huihuang also knew the effect of Chen Ming's ability.

Therefore, some things that are difficult to move through Chen Ming's spiritual power, and are also difficult for Huihuang to produce personally, and that have more complicated production processes or equipment technologies with longer production processes, are handed over to Chen Ming to learn.

At that time, Chen Ming's manufacturing capabilities, which have not yet played a key role, will come in handy.

It seems that everything is moving in the right direction.

And today is the eighth day since Chen Ming and Yu Hui fell out, and both know what the other must be thinking.

The factory manager called Chen Ming early in the morning using the terminal that Chen Ming had prepared for them, which had complete authority in Chen Ming's hands.

He said that the boss had returned and had sent over an extra terminal that Chen Ming had prepared.

The factory director and the boss have sufficient reasons to meet and they won't say anything to expose Chen Ming.

So Chen Ming contacted the boss directly.

The boss, who was lying behind the counter of the hardware store as usual, noticed that the terminal just delivered by the factory manager started to vibrate.

He showed a little relief on his face, and said directly to the terminal: "Xiao Ming, I just heard that you died a few days ago. Are you still alive?"

"Just lucky. No, it can't be considered lucky. When I was being chased by the military of the star zone, it was a Ruler that blocked me."

"Now I have run to Yuhui's side, but in the end a Ruler came to kill me. This is really not good luck."

The boss obviously didn't expect this strange coincidence.

But after thinking about how Chen Ming was talking to him without any reason, he just smiled and continued, "At least you're still alive, right? And seeing how you're in this state, you should have a way to escape by yourself."

"Well, although my previous plan was ruined by the sneak attack by the Fourteenth Legion, I have already come up with a new plan."

The boss did not ask Chen Ming how he planned to escape, but went straight to the crux of the matter.

"So what are your plans after you get out?"

(End of this chapter)