Chapter 16: Garbage Star
The adjutant realized that he was actually frightened by a skinny ghost, he couldn’t help but become irritated, raised his hand and slammed the half-open door open with the butt of his rifle and rudely rebuked: “We’re following instructions of the Alliance to search for fugitives! If you don’t cooperate you will be suspected of sheltering them!”
The man shrank and backed away two steps:
”But, but are you not here…”
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the Alliance’s army who broke in directly. His thin body, who had almost no strength due to hunger, suddenly fell to the ground heavily.
The room was small and empty, with almost no place to hide.
After the search, the Alliance soldier turned and wanted to walk out, but was caught by a thin hand on his trousers. He lowered his head and saw the man still holding onto that faint hope, tremblingly asking: “Sir, the selection…”
Seeing the man’s humiliated and humble face, the soldier’s eyes flashed with impatience. He kicked his head fiercely with heavy military boots and shook off the other’s grip: “Get away!”
The sound of commotion was like a stone thrown into the water, and the lifeless gathering area seemed to finally come to life.
All the crooked doors and the dilapidated and dirty curtains were opened from the inside, and countless faces with the equally withered and lifeless expressions looked out from the dark sheds, every pair of muddy eyes flickered with the same desire and hope, staring fixedly at the Alliance’s army standing in the middle of the open space, small whispers spread from every corner:
”It’s the Alliance army, they’re here!”
”Selection, it’s the selection!”
”Please come here and have a look…”
”Come to us!”
Countless voices that grew stronger with their desires converged into a torrent, rushing toward them violently, the malnourished residents could be described as living skeletons, with extremely focused and hungry expressions in their deeply sunken eye sockets. They walked closer in groups and swayed as they surrounded Alliance’s people. Such a scene was like sinking into hell, making their scalp numb, Alliance soldiers suddenly raised their guns nervously and one after another aimed them at the surrounding residents.
Xiao Yi, who was lying behind a trash pile, felt his heart raise to his throat and subconsciously raised his hand to catch Ge Xiu, who had arrived after receiving the news.
His voice was tense, his breath hitched: “Xiao, Xiao Qi, what should we do?”
Ge Xiu pointed his smart brain at the area not far away, while quietly replying:
”Wait.”
Xiao Yi had long been accustomed to trust and obedience to Ge Xiu, gritted their teeth, and laid down again, continuing to observe the empty field where many people gathered.
The most experienced lieutenant in the entire team thought of the recent excessive slave enlistment in the league, and finally realized that the other party was mistaken him for the Alliance Army who came to be selected. Even though he didn’t know exactly how this misunderstanding happened, but the top priority was now to stabilize the opponent.
It’s just that the atmosphere of the confrontation between the two parties was too intense and they were too excited and fervent to listen to them at all, so the adjutant had to bite the bullet and admit:
”Yes, that’s right, we are indeed here for the selection. Please cooperate with our work—”
The residents on the garbage star fell silent for an instant and everyone’s eyes radiated hope. They became extremely obedient and compliant, in fear that their attitude will affect their qualifications for selection later.
Seeing that the scene was finally under control, the adjutant breathed a sigh of relief secretly. He was about to take this opportunity to ask about the traces of the fugitives, but unexpectedly, a horrified voice came from behind him:
”But, but you, didn’t you say that you are hunting down fugitives…?”
The adjutant turned his head and saw that the thin man who got up from the ground some time ago was looking at the Alliance’s army in amazement, with traces of being beaten on his face, his voice trembling slightly as he asked suspiciously.
The adjutant’s heart trembled, an ominous premonition spread from the bottom of his heart.
There was almost no time for him to react. A faint but angry voice sounded from the crowd:
“…hunt the fugitive?!”
”Is it the same as before to capture my child?”
Suppressed voices rang out in the sea of tattered people and those buzzing whispers were like the wind blowing across the field, setting off layers of rippling waves, as if a kind of restless mood was surging faintly, hoarse, faint, whistling and panicking voices sounded from the dark and dirty corners.
At first, it was just a few vague and mixed murmurs, and it was almost impossible to capture clear vocabulary. Later, even the adjutant in the middle protected by the soldiers with guns could hear the gradually raising noise from the crowd.
”My child has never come back since he was captured…”
”My, my brother too!”
”My husband…he, he was also taken away by the Alliance’s army…”
Fear and suspicion were like a deadly plague, spreading wildly in the crowd.
These emotions accumulated rapidly and underwent a qualitative change at an uncontrollable speed. Those panic-stricken tones quickly become frightened and excited, and the low voices turned into clear and loud voices at an extremely alarming speed. Flowing, out-of-control voices sounded from all directions, like unstoppable waves, attacking the isolated and helpless Alliance’s army:
”Yes, it is them!”
”…the same uniform!”
”Dad, after my dad was selected and left he came back and told us that everyone was a liar and he would never leave again. Then the next day someone from the Alliance said he was a fugitive! They took him away!”
”They said my brother was mentally unstable and they want to take him back for treatment, but he was obviously normal!”
One voice after another.
One face next to another face.
Everyone was like a mirror, amplifying the emotions projected on them before releasing them.
The resonance in the crowd spread exponentially in a geometric progression, like a spark falling into the wilderness, almost instantly bursting into a wave of heat.
Numerous filthy and skinny skeletons-like faces were looking straight at the soldiers. The deeply sunken eye sockets were like chilling dark caves, the air was filled with foul and dirty smells and the tight atmosphere seemed to like a bowstring that could be broken any second, all the soldiers subconsciously felt the fear of being threatened and the muzzles that had just been lowered were raised again and aimed at the crowd.
The adjutant perceived a weird atmosphere, as if someone was watching in secret, silently and secretly manipulating everything. This feeling made his hair stand up, and he felt he had to desperately set things back on the right track — he tried to explain to the residents that his troops were not malicious and at the same time tried to tell his soldiers that this group of people raised as pigs and dogs would not actively attack soldiers with live ammunition.
In the next second, a thin figure slammed into the crowd and there seemed to be a faint silver glint in his hand:
”My Louis…”
The soldier closest to her was already tense and he hadn’t waited for her to finish. He pulled the trigger.
The sound of the metal collision was so clear that the crowd fell silent for an instant. The woman with dishevelled and thin hair stared at the person who shot her in daze. The silver metal in her hand fell to the ground with a scream—it was a simple metal picture frame.
The adjutant’s heart trembled.
Oops.
The gunshot was like a spark that instantly ignited a barrel of explosives, causing the people who had never been listening to nonsense furious. The crowd dominated by anger glared at the, and the hostility against them was overwhelming. Gunpowder could almost be smelled in the air.
The adjutant realized that the boat was done, all explanations were of no avail and violent conflict was inevitable. He felt that it was better to start first and decisively ordered:
”Fire to break through!”
But in the next second, all the soldiers around him discovered at the same time that the weapons in their hands all misfired, as silent as useless scrap of iron.
And the people around were even more deeply angered. The anger that had been suppressed for ten or twenty years poured out from their lifeless eyes, directed at the armed men in front of them, engulfing them in extremely violent power, bound to destroy all obstacles in front of them.
The adjutant looked up blankly and the woman who had rushed over just now had been drowned in the crowd.
At this moment, he seemed to finally understand something, and suddenly turned his head to look behind him.
The man has disappeared.
On the trash mountain not far away, Ge Xiu retracted his head, curled up and laughed out of breath: “Hahahahahahahaha, have you seen his expression? Hahahahahahaha!”
Xiao Yi lied down on the dirty ground and it took him a long time to get over it.
…What happened just now? What happened?
After a long time, Ge Xiu reluctantly finally stopped laughing and fished out an ugly machine from his arms:
”Electromagnetic pulses can indiscriminately destroy all high-level energy sources within a kilometer in diameter—— the indestructible stun gun cannot reach its effective energy threshold, but if it is a deadly light energy sub-weapon, it will not be so lucky.”
He showed the black iron box full of pits and bumps to Xiao Yi, raising his eyebrows happily: “Isn’t it pretty?”
Xiao Yi hesitated,
“…” It was a bit ugly.
Ge Xiu didn’t notice Xiao Yi’s indescribable complex expression, but touched the ugly machine with some regrets and sighed:
”It’s a pity that for the usage, I had to reduce its influence radius and the damage it caused is far less from the theoretical one”
Suddenly, Xiao Yi thought of something: “So, you knew from the beginning that their gun could not fire?”
Ge Xiu nodded as a matter of course.
Xiao Yi’s face blushed as he remembered what he had done just now – from just now, he was extremely nervous from body to heart. When he saw the soldier pull the trigger and the adjutant ordered the fire, he pinched his hand with his nails from panic and the sweat oozing from his body almost drenched his clothes. He was ashamed and annoyed and he stammered as he asked:
”Then…you, why, why didn’t you tell me?”
Ge Xiu: “Because your expression is also very funny, hahahahahahaha!”
Xiao Yi was expressionless. He turned his head slowly, glanced at his captain who was laughing without a care for his image and took a deep breath.
Don’t be angry, don’t be angry.
It’s not worth it.
A few figures slipped over from the hidden path on the side. There were six people in total, all dressed in the daily attire of the Garbage Star residents. Obviously, they didn’t gain much weight during the time they lived on the main ship. They looked similar to the other residents on this planet.
The thin man who took the initiative to open the door and the woman who rushed out of the crowd recklessly were all in the queue.
The man proficiently stopped the bleeding from the wound on his face. His face was slightly distorted due to pain, but the flashing light in his eyes was surprisingly bright: “Captain, we have completed the task you explained.”
Ge Xiu nodded happily: “Good job.”
Xiao Yi peeked at him uncontrollably.
The young man’s profile looked a little fuzzy in the chaotic light and there was a careless arc of laughter on his lips, with an unpredictable sense of danger.
He had long known that his former playmate had changed.
Become decisive, wise and cruel.
This time, he followed the other side the whole time, watching Ge Xiu lay out the net step by step. No one knew this action better than him – it seemed that only two people showed up, but it really worked. But it was all thanks to the chess pieces arranged into the crowd that they, the command of Ge Xiu, moved people’s emotions little by little and patiently guide the situation to the direction set early. The whole process was logical, as smooth and exquisite as a masterpiece.
And Ge Xiu, as the creator of the chaos in front of him and the mastermind who started everything, does not seem to be conscious of what he has done.
Although they used to grow up together, the current Xiao Qi always made him feel unspeakable awe and fear of human beings who are always instinctively afraid of dangerous and unknown things.
However, since returning to this planet, Xiao Yi felt that the estrangement and fear in her heart had gradually disappeared invisibly.
——Because no matter how dangerous the situation is, Xiao Qi is always thinking about them and always protecting them.
He thought of the amulet he gave him and smiled.
Ge Xiu threw the iron lump in his arms to Xiao Yi and stood up from the garbage pile contentedly. He patted off the dirt and garbage debris on his body and as if he couldn’t see the chaotic fierce battle in the distance he said to the crew behind him:
”The play is finished, let’s go.”
Xiao Yi was taken aback and stunned, he hugged the strangely-shaped machine in his arms and hurriedly followed Ge Xiu’s footsteps:
”Go? where are we going?”
Ge Xiu looked down at the coordinates displayed on the smart brain and replied without raising his head:
”Of course it is to complete the task. This kind of passionate anger just now comes and goes away quickly, if we don’t make a good use of it now, it will be too late.”
After more than 20 minutes, the group of them stopped by a tall trash mountain, which seemed to be fresh trash that had just been dumped on the planet. There was unpleasant stench and the mosquitoes and flies were hovering above it. It was disgusting and even the crew members who had grown up in this place frowned and raised their hands to cover their mouths and noses.
Ge Xiu transferred the command authority of the Leviathan and touched it twice on the brain.
The huge garbage mountain suddenly moved, and countless fishy and broken garbage debris slipped from the top of the mountain. Everyone heard the familiar buzzing sound, and then the entire garbage mountain collapsed like a mudslide, exposing the corroded underneath. The rusty metal surface of the world – it was the cargo ship that used to sail out of the former Leibert.
Everyone lifted their spirits.
It seems that this is how they will leave the garbage star and return to the main ship.
But what they didn’t expect was that Ge Xiu didn’t let everyone on board, but remotely controlled the cargo ship to lift into the air, slowly sailing to the place where they had come before.
Although everyone was puzzled, no one raised objections.
Because they all know that their captain will always have his own plan.
Ge Xiu still lowered his head and steered the ship on his own. Then he took out the piece of metal flakes given to him by Xiao from his pocket, scanned it with his smart brain and send it to the cargo ship. He looked up at Xiao Yi, showing a bright smile:
”Thank you for your gift.”
What?
Xiao Yi didn’t understand and looked at the boy in front of him with confusion.
Ge Xiu smiled and said: “Don’t worry, you’ll know it later.”
After that, he put the metal piece back into his pocket, turned his head, blinked slyly at the crew behind him and pretending to be mysterious, said:
”All right! Now, a quiz question with a prize, how do you think we leave this planet this time?”
The author has something to say:
Actually added more! ! Can’t imagine it! ! ! ! (wink)
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