Chapter 73
After transcending mortal flesh and spiritual power alike, whether a mechanical being could still be considered human was not something Lin An’an knew, nor did he care to know.
Once he finished saying all that to Xia Yuanhan, he left the detention room together with Feng Wu.
From beginning to end, X Galaxy had only ever had one goal: to seize control of the Galactic System and turn it into their “reserve base” for mechanical experiments.
Lin An’an’s appearance had disrupted their shortcut plan of working through Xia Yuanhan, the Federation’s Council of Elders, and others. But they had not given up. Instead, they were now preparing to take a much cruder route.
The moment he stepped out of the detention room, Lin An’an headed straight for the imperial main hall.
Xia Changluo was currently in the main hall handling state affairs. As a brain-domain evolution ability user, he picked up this sort of work very quickly. In just half a day, he had already sorted through the mess Xia Yuanhan had left behind.
When he saw Lin An’an come in, Xia Changluo lifted his eyes from the light screen. “Ah Lin, aside from Xia Yuanhan and the others’ public trial, we also need to hold Father’s funeral in a few days.”
“No, all of that has to be pushed back.” Lin An’an spoke very fast. “The people from X Galaxy are going to war with us.”
Xia Changluo’s expression changed. “How many of them came through the Rockfall Zone—”
“It’s not the Rockfall Zone. It’s the Zerg.” Lin An’an said. “The Zerg Queen is in their hands, and… they’re preparing to transport a whole starship of Kailuo Stones into the Galactic System for large-scale deployment.”
Lin An’an quickly told Xia Changluo everything he had just learned from Xia Yuanhan.
While Xia Changluo was still processing the news, Lin An’an had already contacted Gu Yubai.
On the screen, Gu Yubai looked grave. “I was just about to contact you. In three days, the people from X Galaxy plan to use the Zerg to launch an attack on the Galactic System.”
“I know. That’s exactly why I’m calling you.” Lin An’an said. “Besides the Zerg, there’s also a full starship of Kailuo Stones.”
Gu Yubai’s expression shifted sharply. “Kailuo Stones? The Kailuo Stones that are the source of Alpha radiation?”
She had only just finished interrogating the Council of Elders, but they had told her nothing about an entire starship of Kailuo Stones.
“That’s right.” Lin An’an nodded. “Their target is the entire Galactic System. The various large and small rogue pirate groups scattered everywhere can be set aside for now. Their targets are too spread out.”
Gu Yubai’s mind moved quickly. “The Federation and the Empire are two large targets. It depends on which one gets the Zerg and which one gets the Kailuo Stones.”
“The Zerg correspond to the Federation. The Kailuo Stones correspond to the Empire.” Lin An’an said.
Gu Yubai frowned slightly. “Are you sure?”
“Most likely.”
“More than a ninety percent chance.” Xia Changluo added. “X Galaxy’s main attack method is Kailuo Stone radiation. Ah Lin, who can treat Kailuo Stone radiation, is the biggest obstacle in their conquest.”
Gu Yubai said, “If that’s the case, then the Kailuo Stones should be deployed in the Federation. After all, the Federation has no one who can treat Kailuo Stone radiation. Their operation would go more smoothly.”
“No, that’s not it.” Lin An’an shook his head. “Their goal isn’t just to deploy the Kailuo Stones and then use that to control the people who develop radiation sickness from them.”
He drew in a deep breath. “One of the reasons they’re transporting so many Kailuo Stones is also to ‘defeat’ me.”
“Defeat you?” Gu Yubai murmured, then instantly understood what he meant.
It was precisely because Lin An’an could treat radiation sickness that the people from X Galaxy were even more likely to deploy the Kailuo Stones in Imperial territory.
They wanted people to realize that even though Lin An’an could treat Kailuo Stone radiation, he still could not stop the speed at which radiation sickness spread through the population.
Once directly exposed to Kailuo Stone radiation, the speed of infection and deterioration was entirely different from usual. With Lin An’an as only one person, there was simply no way he could completely stop it from spreading.
—If they wanted to be truly free from Kailuo Stone radiation, the only option would be submission to them.
That was X Galaxy’s purpose.
Gu Yubai knitted her brows. “Is early evacuation possible? Or emergency shelters? Can they be modified to withstand Kailuo Stone radiation?”
“There isn’t enough time.” Xia Changluo shook his head. “Without knowing their exact targets, we only have five days—or maybe not even five. There’s no way to fully retrofit every air-raid shelter across the entire system in such a short time.”
Lin An’an said softly, “Then we can only intercept them in advance.”
“How do we intercept them? And who’s going to do it?” Xia Changluo’s tone turned sharp. “Those are Kailuo Stones—not soldiers, not Zerg. Even if we blast the transport ship apart with a TUM energy cannon, the Kailuo Stone radiation will still remain. Radiation can’t be killed.”
“Who said radiation can’t be killed?” Lin An’an lifted his eyelids slightly. “I can ‘kill radiation.’”
The Empire and the Federation urgently called a joint online meeting. Apart from the Federation’s leader and the Empire’s two acting rulers, participants also included the top military leaders of both sides.
Neither Gu Yubai nor Xia Changluo made the news about the full starship of Kailuo Stones public. Even if they did, the masses had no means of resisting it. It would only cause unnecessary panic and help X Galaxy achieve their goal even faster.
The contents of the meeting were unknown to anyone except those who attended. But after it ended, both the Federation and the Empire simultaneously entered the highest level of nationwide alert.
Ever since the Zerg had gone quiet a few years ago, neither side had activated the highest alert status again. With the recent upheaval still fresh, people quickly guessed that the ones from X Galaxy were about to make a major move.
Some believed that since X Galaxy and the Galactic System were separated by the Rockfall Zone, and X Galaxy could not send a large number of troops through, there was no way a real war could break out. In their view, the highest alert level was excessive.
That line of thinking was shattered very quickly.
The news of the incoming Zerg attack and the full starship of Kailuo Stones still leaked out.
Though “leaked” might not be the most accurate word, because the ones who spread the news were not those who had attended the military meeting.
—it was the people from X Galaxy themselves.
The Federation and the Empire had tightened online security, but neither had expected that the X Galaxy people hiding among the star pirates would simply reveal themselves openly and spread the news directly.
“The Galactic System will ultimately become something held in X Galaxy’s grasp. Those who surrender to X Galaxy ahead of time will be placed under our protection and spared the upcoming radiation assault.”
This was the declaration X Galaxy issued to the entire Galactic System.
After watching the video, Lin An’an could not help but let out a cold snort. “Spared the radiation assault? Their only way to avoid radiation sickness is probably to use Gata metal to turn people into machine-hybrids, right? That sounds nice on the surface, but their so-called protection is just turning people into ‘puppets.’”
Xia Changluo rubbed at his brow. “We understand that. Other people may not.”
In truth, after the news spread, the whole Galactic System fell into panic. All of StarNet was in chaos.
Xia Changluo and Gu Yubai did have the power to silence discussions of it online, but muting StarNet could not mute people’s thoughts. Panic had ways of spreading beyond the network.
Lin An’an opened StarNet and casually scrolled through the hottest thread.
[Holy shit, did everyone hear X Galaxy’s statement? A Kailuo Stone radiation attack? That means the source of Alpha Syndrome, right? I’m not misunderstanding, am I?]
[That’s the one. A whole starship… I heard the Sin Star fissure incident was because there were Kailuo Stones underground, right? There weren’t even that many then, and the impact was already huge. [worried.jpg]]
[So the sudden highest alert status is because of this?]
[Definitely, right? But does this kind of alert even work against Alpha radiation? Can it really block it?]
[Wasn’t the special treatment already developed? Why is everyone still panicking so much?]
[Because it works too slowly. For people directly infected by radiation, X Galaxy said the fastest cases could die in minutes. How could there possibly be enough time? Even if Prince Xia Lin himself showed up, it wouldn’t matter. He’s only one person. If that many people are infected at the same time, even clone techniques wouldn’t save them.]
[What do we do what do we do what do we do, I’m still young, I don’t want to die yet, sob sob sob—]
[Why talk about dying? Didn’t X Galaxy say surrendering means you get protected? If Xia Lin really can’t do anything, then I’m surrendering. Staying alive is more important than anything.]
[Anyone talking about surrender is stupid. X Galaxy’s way of protecting you is turning you into a machine-man. After that, are you still you? Or even human?]
[Even if I’m not human anymore, I’d still be alive! Isn’t that better than dying?!]
…
The thread was a mess, full of chaos and smoke. Lin An’an read for only a short while before turning off his terminal.
Xia Changluo sighed. “The Federation’s side is the same. We still have internal control within our two countries, so things are somewhat manageable. But I’ve heard that on the star pirate side, some people have already surrendered to X Galaxy.”
“I don’t care whether they surrender or not.” Lin An’an closed his eyes briefly, then suddenly reopened his terminal. “But if we let this mood keep spreading, that definitely won’t work.”
Xia Changluo asked, “What are you planning to do?”
Lin An’an did not answer. Lowering his head slightly, he began typing rapidly across the virtual screen with both hands.
A moment later, Xia Changluo’s terminal chimed with a special notification. He clicked it open and saw that the account Xia Lin, which he had marked for special follow, had just posted a new StarBlog update.
It was extremely short—only three words.
Xia Lin: [I’m here.]
It looked like a sentence with no beginning and no end, yet Xia Changluo found himself calming down in an almost inexplicable way.
He glanced at the comments below it:
[He posted at a time like this—is he responding to X Galaxy’s declaration?]
[I’m a former Sin Star patient who just left Sin Star and is on the way to the transit station. I believe in His Highness Xia Lin. If he could save us once, then he can definitely protect us a second time, a third time… ]
[Exactly! Everyone needs to have faith! Don’t let X Galaxy drive a wedge between us right from the start!]
[I suddenly feel calmer. Since His Highness Xia Lin said this, he must have already thought of a solution, right? [crying cat head.jpg]]
[No matter what, the Empire is still my home! If anyone wants me to betray my own country, not a chance!!!]
[Damn it, I’m all in! This life was given back to me by His Highness Xia Lin! If those bastards really break through, then even if I die I’m taking one of them down with me!]
Xia Changluo closed his eyes. The countless emotions in his heart condensed into a single sigh, and suddenly his eyes stung.
Perhaps… the situation was not quite as hopeless as he had imagined after all.
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