CHAPTER 344: CHAPTER 130: PICKING UP FROM THE AIRPORT

After Chen Ming just finished talking with Brilliant, the high-level members of Dusk also discussed Chen Ming’s planning arrangements.

At the base of the Fourteenth Legion.

On the helipad next to the headquarters building.

Tang Shi, nominally the commander-in-chief of the United Fleet, was walking down from the shuttle boat that had just docked there, his face pale.

Standing beside the helipad, in addition to a considerable number of well-trained guards, was Bai Quan being heavily guarded among them.

At this moment, Bai Quan was wearing the special military uniform of the Fourteenth Legion, and through the collar, one could see bandages wrapped all over under his uniform.

He stood straight, his expression like solid ice pierced by blades.

When Tang Shi disembarked and walked towards the headquarters building, reaching in front of him.

Bai Quan, with a hoarse tone due to injury, said coldly to Tang Shi, word by word: "You’re back? Then let’s go."

After he finished speaking, he directly turned around, completely ignoring Tang Shi’s presence.

Tang Shi didn’t dare to have any thoughts either, his mind was only filled with fear of Bai Quan.

However, he forced himself to ask, "Where to?"

Bai Quan, as the highest-ranking commander of this star realm’s Fourteenth Legion, paused his steps slightly and continued walking forward without looking back, saying: "To my office."

"Since you’re back, let’s follow the procedure, you need to report the mission to me."

"You should have learned about this."

Bai Quan’s sudden emphasis added to Tang Shi’s tension, and he stammered: "Uh... yes, I learned."

Bai Quan didn’t delve into whether Tang Shi’s words were true or not.

He continued speaking coldly, like a machine, to Tang Shi: "You need to report whether the mission objectives were achieved or not, report the losses, including ship losses and personnel missing and casualty losses."

"And what you did throughout the mission."

"You were pushed forward after I was unexpectedly severely injured and fell into a coma, don’t disappoint me, will you?"

Bai Quan’s voice grew increasingly low, seemingly due to unhealed injuries.

However, this low and hoarse voice resonated in Tang Shi’s ears, almost deafening him and making him afraid to think about what might happen next.

Bai Quan suddenly turned to glance at Tang Shi, the reflection off his glasses making it difficult for Tang Shi to keep his eyes open.

When Tang Shi briefly closed his eyes and then looked up again.

He seemed to see his own corpse reflected in Bai Quan’s sharp gaze for a split second.

Tang Shi suddenly felt like he fell into an ice cave, his limbs stiffened and he didn’t know how to walk.

Noticing Tang Shi slowing down, several guards beside Bai Quan immediately slowed their pace.

They forcefully pushed aside the guards protecting Tang Shi, half-lifting him to follow Bai Quan.

No one dared to resist.

At the same time.

Zhang Feng, who hadn’t disembarked from the ship behind, was standing by the porthole of the shuttle boat.

He was watching everything happening outside while also using the terminal to communicate with others.

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

Upon hearing this voice, Zhang Feng slightly relaxed.

As long as it wasn’t the one who gave him additional instructions for Tang Shi’s mission before departure now answering the call, everything was negotiable.

However, he showed no special expressions on the surface, just routinely reporting: "Vice Admiral, we’re now back at the Fourteenth Legion’s base, and Tang Shi was immediately taken away by Bai Quan after disembarking."

The middle-aged man, referred to as Vice Admiral by Zhang Feng, indeed had no intention of blaming Zhang Feng, saying: "That’s normal, word is spreading outside that we were decisively defeated."

"Because someone revealed everything to Bai Quan due to the excessive losses in your mission."

Zhang Feng followed up with the Vice Admiral’s words: "Was it Speed Particle Technology’s doing?"

The Vice Admiral paused and said: "Don’t worry about it, we just need to manage ourselves well now."

"I know this mission wasn’t your fault, but since it has happened, we must lay low for a while to avoid a complete reckoning."

"We’ll experience some decline, but we won’t completely fall."

"But I want to know, was there any good news in this entire mission?"

"Yes, there is."

Zhang Feng sent over a segment of footage through the encrypted communication line.

The content of the footage was the scene of the Ruler Level continuously launching location coordinate signals and attacking the planet where Chen Ming was located.

Although this footage was blurred due to all sorts of residual energy fluctuations from the chaotic battlefield and electronic interference from the Dusk Fleet.

And also because it was the Ruler Level’s last live broadcast via remote signal connection, causing the image to be very unclear.

Through the Ruler Level’s sensors, however, it was still visible that Iron Ore No. was completely destroyed, the neighboring buildings struck by the Gauss Cannon facing the same fate.

As Iron Ore No. exploded, debris scattered, pieces of the building hit the research institute and flew in all directions, and the dust raised by the Gauss Cannon covered everything completely.

The sensor of this Ruler Level was completely interrupted by interference, and it was also destroyed.

The footage ended here.

The Vice Admiral’s tone sounded slightly relieved as he said: "Fine, this counts as the sole piece of good news now."

"Sky Steel can’t be reclaimed now, but at least we should give an explanation to our collaborators."

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

"Alright, go help Tang Shi out."