Wheeze deeply resented the Robert Family not just because of past offenses, but also because the spaceplane had suddenly exploded before it was able to get much out of it. If the spaceplane hadn’t exploded, and if they hadn’t discovered this planet, it would have dug out even the energy ore reserves on the spaceplane. They were worth some credits after all. Of course, that wasn’t necessary anymore since there were tons of top-grade energy ores just lying in the ground waiting to be dug out.
So, Wheeze cursed loudly at the exploding spaceplane before returning to the ground. It did not even look at the others as it resumed its mining operation. No one was stupid enough to attract its attention right now as a matter of course.
It wasn’t long before only a handful of enemy robots were still struggling, and the amount of debris falling from the sky had decreased considerably. They also ceased burning far quickly than they normally did planet had an unusual atmospheric composition. The sky quickly regained its dark gray color in just a short time.
Cillin took a moment observe the debris on the ground before shifting his gaze to the struggling robots. Their behavior had not been affected by the departure of the spaceplane at all, meaning that they were both capable of independent behavior and carrying out their master’s orders faithfully. To be honest, ignoring the fact that they were mindless, the robot army definitely deserved to be called one of the best in the entire GAL. They just had the misfortune of running into the one robot-making family that owned a better robot army than them, the Xi Family.
If Xi Kai was the only man behind his robot army, then this battle would’ve been a lot closer than it was. However, the incredible genius, Xi Mu also had a hand in creating the robot army. As a result, the Robert Family had suffered a crushing defeat in the hands of the Xi Family. As if that wasn’t bad enough, things were only going to get worse for the Robert Family when Moon finally shared his secrets with the Xi Family. Although the robot hadn’t said anything about this, Cillin had the feeling that it was only a matter of time before it happened.
Some members of the Free Army had begun cleaning up the battlefield while the rest resumed their mining duties. Since the enemies were dead, they could mine the ores without worry now.
A Free Army soldier walked up to a big pile of ores with his tool with the intention of extracting it when suddenly, a pair of claws wrapped around it. The next moment, the head of a seemingly harmless cat popped out from behind the ore.
Wheeze bared its fangs at the Free Army soldier and hissed as it held the energy ore tightly. After the guy had recovered from his shock, he did not hesitate to escape like the plague was nipping at its heels. Pleased with the Free Army soldier’s abundance of wisdom, Wheeze did not pressure him further and returned to his ores.
A couple of Free Army soldiers exchanged glances with each other before grimacing. Screw it, I’d rather lose some money than provoke a cat that could literally crush a robot between its teeth.
The Free Army thought that Wheeze was just acting territorial—it was standard behavior for a lot of animals after all—but everyone in the Eleventh Squad would have told them it was complete bull if they knew what they were thinking. Wheeze certainly had territorial instincts, but right now it was defending the energy ores not because it was feeling territorial, but because it saw the energy ores as mountains and mountains of fish biscuits through its, well, fish biscuit-tinted lens. In other words, it was defending its food. That was all there is to it!
Aikenseth noticed this and engaged Cillin in a short discussion. They quickly decided the zones they would be mining not just because it would be faster this way, but also to avoid clashing with one another.
The Eleventh Squad got the bigger share of the pie, but the Free Army had zero problems with that. The sky was still full of robots after all. If they pissed off the Eleventh Squad enough to turn on them, it would only end badly for them. So, they resigned themselves to be good boys and girls and focused on reaping the profits they were allowed to thoroughly. The good news was that everyone Aikenseth brought wasn’t just good at fighting, they were also a lot more intelligent than your average Sector V crazy. There was no bad news, so everyone was happy.
Now that the crisis was over, and the Xi Family’s robot army was keeping watch in the sky, Sir Mo deemed it safe enough to walk out and explore the planet a little. While most people’s attention was on the energy ores themselves, he was more interested in learning how the energy ores came to be. Although he wasn’t an expert in this field, he had researched something similar in the past. After a thorough investigation, he had the feeling that the energy ore hadn’t taken form naturally. He believed that someone had applied some sort of technology on the planet’s unique environment and magnetic field to create these energy ores.
He had no idea how they did it as a matter of course, but he definitely noticed artificial traces here and there. They just weren’t obvious due to the passage of time.
After Mo Heng voiced his concerns to Cillin, the young man simply smiled and told him that he didn’t need to look too deeply into it.
Mo Heng sighed. “There would always be unrivaled geniuses no matter the era. It’s just that some were discovered and became famous overnight, and some were not and remained unknown to this day.”
Cillin had never told his master about the Xi Family because it wasn’t the right time. Mo Heng knew that Cillin was hiding something but also pretended to be foolish and play along with the deception. In fact, during his time with the Eleventh Squad, Mo Heng had come to glimpse many, many hidden truths, but pretended he did not notice any of them. This was no different. If Cillin told him he didn’t need to look deep into it, then he would feign ignorance as usual.
Despite the total victory, it wasn’t like the Eleventh Squad and the Free Army had gotten away completely unscathed. Most members of the Eleventh Squad had suffered minor injuries, and Scarlet Wind in particular had hurt his claws quite severely. On the other hand, the Free Army suffered much more damage and even lost a couple of people. This was the best possible outcome though. If the Eleventh Squad wasn’t here, or if they had chosen not to support them during the battle, they would have suffered a lot more casualties at best, or total annihilation at worst. Aikenseth was very grateful for their aid.
On a side note, there were projectors in the underground in the areas where the energy ores were denser. It was why White Night was able to appear as a projection in those places. Right now, the ghostly woman was “walking” with Moon and Sigma, but no one except them knew what they were talking about. Their conversation was literally soundless, spoken in a language that ordinary people could not hear at all.
When the conversation was over, Moon led White Night into their spaceplane. Wheeze followed them after nothing that the zones had been assigned, and it did not need to watch over the energy ores like a hound anymore.
“Your name is White Night?” Wheeze asked the ghostly woman from atop a shelf. As of late, it found itself enjoying looking down on people from a tall place more and more. It gave it a smug sense of superiority.
White Night stared at it instead of answering. She knew that the gray cat was special after the previous battle.
Wheeze’s tail looped on itself as it continued, “You know, I have an acquaintance in the Mist Bodhisattva Empire who’s also called White Night. But unlike you, he’s a guy, and he has black and white eye rims that makes him look like a silly panda. It’s not like the two of you are completely dissimilar though. You both have facial nerve paralysis.”
White Night, Moon: “…”
Do the words “indirect” and “politeness” not exist in this cat’s dictionary?!
Although White Night was always expressionless, Moon knew for a fact that Wheeze’s comment had disturbed her greatly. In fact, White Night wasn’t always called White Night. She had gained that name due to the energy ores and the Genesis Mythos. Her original name was only one word, “White”.
“Don’t take it to heart, White Night. Both GAL and the Mist Bodhisattva Empire are huge. It’s only natural that plenty of people would share the same name,” Sigma hurriedly consoled her.
“White Ghost.”
“What?” Wheeze bent an ear while still staring at the ghostly woman.
“White Night is the name of the energy ore. Please call me ‘White Ghost’ from now on,” White Ghost said.
Moon spun his arms and circled around White Ghost once. “Sure. I’m still going to call you Little White though.”
Moon told Wheeze a little about White Ghost’s history after that. Now that the ghostly woman had been completely released from this planet, she no longer had to guard the energy ores for eternity anymore. Plus, Moon believed that members of the Xi Family should stick together, so of course White Ghost should join him and Sigma.
Wheeze flicked its tail lazily while staring at White Ghost with its round eyes for a while. Finally, it said, “You don’t look like a bad person. Fine. You may join the squad!”
Cary just happened to be walking into the room when he heard Wheeze’s comment. He smirked a little, smacked the gray cat’s head with his extraction tool, then ran like hell before Wheeze could rain hell upon him. He even dropped the tool so he could escape faster.
Wheeze spun around and hissed at Cary as the man vanished around the corner. Its claws were already extended, but it slowly retracted them after deciding that it could just take revenge later. It was going steal everything in Cary’s food cabinet later.
White Ghost watched this scene with an indecipherable look in her eyes. To an outsider, she was just a virtual character that was composed of programs. But in reality, White Ghost possessed her own thoughts just like any other person. Her sentience was what impressed Xi Kai the more than anything.
While smoothening the fur that had been messed up by Cary with its forelimbs, Wheeze suddenly recalled something and asked White Ghost, “Oh right, when did you become Czedow’s girlfriend?”
White Ghost: “…” Who’s Czedow?
White Ghost looked at the two Origin robots. Moon was playing with his finger with his head lowered, and Sigma was looking left and right. She said, “I want to know too.”
