Monster Cub Live Stream – CH74

Chapter 74

The tense atmosphere had already spread to every corner of the galaxy.

Not long after posting that Starblog update, Feng Wu arrived at the main hall. “Everything is ready.”

Lin An’an nodded. Just as he stood up, Xia Changluo reached out and grabbed his hand.

Xia Changluo looked at him, his eyes full of unmistakable worry. His lips moved several times, but in the end he only said one thing: “Be careful.”

Lin An’an curved his eyes at him and smiled. “Don’t worry, Big Brother. I’ll bring back good news.”

With that, he did not linger in the main hall any longer and left side by side with Feng Wu.

What Feng Wu meant by “everything is ready” was that the members of the special interception team for the starship carrying the Kailuo Stone had already been selected.

If nothing unexpected happened, these team members would very likely come into close contact with the Kailuo Stone. Because of that, every single one of them was highly capable—and all of them had already made peace with the possibility of death.

Over the past few days, Feng Wu had people quickly manufacture a batch of lightweight combat-ready protective suits, and Lin An’an had taken the time to set up radiation-shielding barriers against Kailuo Stone on all of them.

Feng Wu brought Lin An’an out of the palace and to the First Legion’s base on Capital Star.

The rest of the special team had already gathered at the base’s space station. A massive warship was parked there, and beside it stood soldiers fully geared up and ready to depart.

At the front were none other than Xiong Yingjun and Si Youlin.

Of the First Legion’s four chief and deputy commanders, aside from Mo Dexin, who had remained stationed within the Empire, every one of the others was participating in this Kailuo Stone interception mission.

Xiong Yingjun’s expression was more serious than Lin An’an had ever seen before. He stepped forward and said, “Boss, everyone’s ready.”

Feng Wu nodded and stood together with Lin An’an before the crowd.

The soldiers of the special unit looked at them. In their bright, unwavering eyes, there was not the slightest trace of fear or retreat. Lin An’an’s gaze swept across them one by one, and his heart suddenly tightened with emotion.

This mission was dangerous—extremely, extremely dangerous. Calling it a near-certain death sentence would not be an exaggeration.

These soldiers knew perfectly well how uncertain the road ahead was, and yet for the Empire, they still chose to press forward without hesitation.

Lin An’an heard Feng Wu ask softly beside him, “An’an, are you ready?”

Lin An’an gave a slight nod. “Of course.”

Before departure, it was tradition for Feng Wu to say something to rally everyone’s morale.

But this time, he said only one short sentence: “For the Empire, for the galaxy.”

The moment those words fell, Lin An’an saw the soldiers’ gazes grow even more resolute and bright. “For the Empire, for the galaxy” rang throughout the entire space station.

Thump, thump…

Lin An’an could hear his own heartbeat, strong and forceful, as though some kind of power was surging up from deep inside him, instantly filling his torso and limbs.

This was a kind of power called conviction.

After the call ended, Xiong Yingjun looked toward Lin An’an, wearing the same slightly goofy grin Lin An’an knew so well.

“Your Highness, why don’t you say a few words too?”

Lin An’an smiled as well. “I have no demands for everyone—only one request.” He said, “I ask that all of you protect yourselves, and then… come back alive together, bringing victory home with you.”

On the warship—

Feng Wu, Xiong Yingjun, and Si Youlin were in the command room. Xiong Yingjun sat in the main pilot’s seat, while Si Youlin served as his co-pilot.

Feng Wu and Lin An’an were behind them, carrying out what must have been their who-knew-how-many-th simulation for intercepting the Kailuo Stone.

There were now less than three days left before the five-day deadline the X-System had announced.

If the Kailuo Stone was to be transported from the X-System into the galaxy, the Chaotic Rock Zone was the one unavoidable route.

The Empire and the Federation had already sent many people to guard the area near the Chaotic Rock Zone. Among the star pirates, not only Zhang Yifeng’s organization but many others—as well as numerous unaffiliated pirates—had voluntarily gone there to monitor the situation.

A scene of such unity between all three factions was something extraordinarily rare in the history of the entire galaxy.

While Lin An’an and Feng Wu were running interception simulations, Gu Yubai sent over a message.

There were traces of massive Zerg activity in the Federation’s nearby starfields. Their guess had been right—the X-System really did plan to make the Zerg the main force in attacking the Federation.

“To control that many Zerg at once, the broodmother must be with the people from the X-System, directing them in real time,” Gu Yubai said. “A controlled broodmother is basically a broodmother with human-level thinking added to it. This battle won’t be easy.”

During past Zerg invasions, although the scale was huge and the Zerg numbers were overwhelming, because the broodmother’s intelligence was naturally inferior to that of humans, the Zerg attacks relied more on instinct than strategy.

But now that the X-System had become involved, the Zerg effectively had a commander, making up for their one major weakness.

Gu Yubai’s expression was grave, and the dark circles beneath her eyes revealed just how much pressure she had been under recently.

“But this is also an opportunity,” Lin An’an said. “If the broodmother is in their hands, there definitely won’t be swarms of Zerg clustered around it as guards.”

Gu Yubai nodded. “Exactly. As long as we can locate the broodmother and eliminate it…”

If they could truly kill the broodmother in one stroke, then not just this Zerg war, but the next several decades—or even centuries—would be free of any major Zerg threat, at least until a new broodmother was born.

Feng Wu said, “The broodmother should be on one of their warships.”

“That’s right,” Gu Yubai said. “I’ve already told our soldiers to watch more carefully for the broodmother’s whereabouts. If your people detect it first, please contact me immediately.”

Feng Wu nodded.

The warship carried the special team to the outer edge of the Chaotic Rock Zone.

Lin An’an had known about this region for a long time, but this was his first time seeing its true appearance from such close range.

The reason it was called the Chaotic Rock Zone was because the entire area was densely packed with violent cosmic turbulence. The surrounding debris, space junk, and other matter would be swept up by the storms created by those currents and sucked into the zone, turning into deadly flying projectiles.

Even a mech made from the strongest metal in the galaxy would be shredded like soft flesh if it were pulled into the currents inside the Chaotic Rock Zone.

Back then, some people refused to believe the danger and tried to pass through it. Aside from a tiny handful who turned back in time halfway through, everyone else who entered never came back.

Lin An’an stood in the command room, looking at the Chaotic Rock Zone displayed on the transparent screen ahead.

Even from so far away, he could hear the roaring, crackling, tearing noise made by countless turbulent currents colliding together.

“It’s basically a giant meat grinder,” Lin An’an muttered. “The fact that the people from the X-System managed to find a way through it is honestly kind of impressive.”

“It’s about timing,” Feng Wu said. “Historical records say that every so often, the cosmic turbulence in the Chaotic Rock Zone becomes less violent. It’s called a calm period.”

Lin An’an asked, “How often is ‘every so often’?”

“At least every hundred years,” Feng Wu replied. “A hundred years ago, technology wasn’t advanced enough yet, so this discovery was never fully verified. But looking at things now, it’s clear that during those periods, it really is possible to cross this region and reach the other side.”

“I see.” Lin An’an thought for a moment. “Then how long does that calm period last?”

Feng Wu said, “The records say around five years. The longest lasted nearly six years, and the shortest was about three and a half.”

“Then this time…” Lin An’an did the math. “If the calm period started around the year Alpha first appeared, then it’s already been five years now.”

Feng Wu nodded. “That’s right. At least five and a half years.”

“In that case,” Lin An’an tugged one corner of his mouth upward, though his eyes flashed with coldness, “let’s make sure none of them ever get back.”

Just then, Si Youlin, who had been seated in the co-pilot’s chair, suddenly removed one earbud.

“Boss,” he said grimly. “Team Sixteen has detected traces of what may be a starship inside the Chaotic Rock Zone.”

Lin An’an’s gaze sharpened, and he and Feng Wu stepped forward together to look at the footage sent over by Team Sixteen.

Under the probing beam, the raging Chaotic Rock Zone appeared gray-white, and a streak of crimson flashed by—appearing on the screen for less than a single second.

“It only showed up for one second…” Feng Wu frowned.

“Yes, which is why they can’t confirm whether it’s the target starship.”

“It could be that the ship’s concealment system was damaged by flying rocks and then repaired immediately,” Feng Wu said. “Let’s go. Head to Team Sixteen’s monitoring point.”

They quickly arrived at their destination.

While on the way, Team Sixteen sent repeated updates. The same crimson signal was detected again and again, and on two occasions, there was more than one signal on the screen.

Feng Wu’s guess had been right. Even during a calm period, the Chaotic Rock Zone was still extremely dangerous. The ship carrying the Kailuo Stone was too large. Passing through the zone without taking any damage at all was nearly impossible, and its stealth mode being struck and disrupted during the journey was perfectly normal.

That was exactly how their scanners had managed to catch traces of the X-System.

After the warship reached the monitoring site, Team Sixteen’s captain requested communication. “Commander, should we fire a TUM energy cannon at the target?”

“No. Do not fire,” Feng Wu said without hesitation. “Conceal yourselves and lie in wait. We move only after they leave the Chaotic Rock Zone.”

The other side sounded a little confused, but a soldier’s instinct to obey orders made him respond immediately, “Understood!”

After the communication ended, Lin An’an asked, “Not even going to explain?”

“No need,” Feng Wu said. “They know what they’re supposed to do.”

Lin An’an smiled faintly and looked at the increasingly frequent crimson flashes on the screen.

They could not fire a TUM energy cannon. No—more precisely, they could not launch any attack at all before that ship exited the Chaotic Rock Zone.

If the starship exploded while still inside the zone, the enormous amount of Kailuo Stone aboard would be shredded by the currents and scattered throughout the entire Chaotic Rock Zone.

At that point, the entire zone would become one vast radiation field, and the harm it would cause would be immeasurable.

Staring at that blinking red signal, Lin An’an took a deep breath and said, “Wolf Brother, I’m ready.”

Feng Wu gave a quiet hum. He squeezed Lin An’an’s hand hard once, then quickly let go. “Good.”

They were going to board the starship carrying the Kailuo Stone.

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