Vol 14 Chapter 17-1
Gando’s heart raced rapidly. That moment of danger almost forced him into unlocked mode. Death if he doesn’t answer. Death if he lies. And similarly, it will likely be death if he says the truth!
“Someone notified me. That person is Chu Xuan, the one who was promoted to lieutenant colonel. The time was when we were returning to space in the starship.”
Gando said his words slowly. When he got to the last question, he revealed a trap he had been hiding. He mixed up the time that he was notified of the meaning of the hieroglyphs and the time he was notified of the message!
He didn’t know how they identify any lies but what he said was the truth. Though it was truth that was hiding something. The first time Xuan gave him the hieroglyphs was when they were returning from Klendathu. The message on the TV was the second time.
It was a gamble. A play on words for his survival. Pass and he would live. Otherwise, it was death!
The little girl nodded. “Neos, it is the truth but it doesn’t feel like complete.”
Gando smiled. “Of course it isn’t complete. I haven’t said the content of his message. Do you want to know these too?” He turned to Neos on the last line.
Neos took a bite of the chocolate and nodded.
“The message is to reveal all the members aside from our psyche force user. The time is on the last day. This is all I know. I am not lying. As long as you can get me to safety, I will tell you the name of that person.”
Neos looked at the little girl. She nodded quietly to indicate the truth of Gando’s words. He then torn off the package of a bar of chocolate and sat there thinking to himself.
Neos then asked. “When he notified you, was it only yourself or the whole team? This question is important. You have to reply truthfully!”
Gando answered without any delay. “He said it to all of us at the time, not just me, but the whole team was notified.”
The girl nodded again. “Yes, Neos, it’s the truth.”
Gando was thinking to himself as he watched this blonde man devouring chocolate. He didn’t know what Neos was thinking right now but he was led into a wrong path since the beginning of the question. He wouldn’t be able to figure out Xuan’s thoughts. The probability of the rest of team China coming to rescue him would be higher.
Neos’s thoughts indeed went into the wrong path. In his thoughts, since Xuan had told everyone in team China this message so many days in advance, his intention was to increase the survival rate of any members who get caught. Team China was the strongest team so even when one person gets caught, they could rescue him as long as they could find the location. They could also give team Africa a critical attack at the same time. Withholding the psyche force user’s name was the chip to the captured member’s survival.
“If this is the case, there is nothing to be worried.” Neos nodded and turned to the rest of his team. “We will follow our plan. Tie him up with Gundanium alloy. Snow monitor him. We will proceed to our next action. Richard and Hawfor, go meet the military higher ups in the flagship. You have to protect these people in case they make a last desperate effort. Aya and I will head to two starships intended for information networks. Snow keep us connected with Soul Link. Once the higher ups received our report, we will announce throughout the fleet and have the troopers arrest these five people! It will be good if they resist. Any resistance signifies our victory! Haha.”
Today was a lucky day to all the surviving troopers because the military was going to award them for their bravery. Everyone who lived from the expedition would be promoted to an officer after the ceremony. They would lead the newly arrived army of a hundred thousand in this battle. These troopers were the heroes of the federation.
Compared to the thousands of heroes, there were four heroes among the heroes. These four people saved the thousands of troopers from crisis. They saved the pride of the human race. So that people wouldn’t fall into the thought of humans being lesser than bugs. They commanded several thousands of troopers and killed off hundreds of thousands of bugs. Their achievement would get recorded into history. They were going to be awarded medals and and titles and get promoted to colonels and lieutenant colonels to lead the army in the war of revenge.
Troopers everywhere were celebrating. Everyone was excited with the promotion and watched as their heroes become their officers in charge. Many of the troopers had acknowledged their command after the final hours in Klendathu. Everyone believed that they wouldn’t lose as long as these people were in command. Their lives would be guaranteed the most.
“Emergency message! Emergency message!”
Less than an hour before the ceremony, the alarm system rang. All the TVs and screens on the starships changed to that of a blonde young man. He was dressed in an officer’s uniform, handsome and cool, as if he was born a soldier. The young man brought out a piece of paper then said to the screen. “About a month ago, we found several human bodies in an Arachnid planet. Through dissection, we discovered bugs parasitized in the brains of these people. The bugs didn’t destroy the humans’ instincts, memories, nor language ability. They looked just like us but they were slaves under the control of the bugs!”
“According to Arachnid Biologist Dr. Rose’s report, parasite bugs have the special ability to control humans. They would blend themselves into the human world and might even attain a high political and military position, like officers or strategists. Of course, this is only my speculation.”
“However, according to the information we received, there are five people from the expedition who match the traits of Dr. Rose’s report. The bugs deceived us to make us think of them as heroes. It is unfortunate that I have to say this, the four heroes who rose up from this battle and one who was hiding were likely slaves parasitized by bugs. The reason the bugs enacted the plan with such resources and how their achievements were so glorious was because the bugs wanted to enter the core of our society, to attain political influence, then push the human race into an abyss!”
“These five people are Zheng Zha, Chu Xuan, Kampa Lovski, Wang Xia, and Zero. These are their photos. All troopers close to them have the obligation to capture them. We will perform craniotomy on them. If they are actual heroes, we will offer our sincerest apologies. So, the five of you please don’t resist. Otherwise, troopers are allowed to open fire and eliminate the bugs. This is our…”
The screens shook violently then Xuan’s expressionless face appeared on the screen.
“I am Chu Xuan.”
