The branch director watched in despair as the Close Range Attack Ship had already appeared above the building. The damage caused by the Mutants was thorough. He was not a technician, so there was no way for him to effect repairs quickly.
The gun chamber of the Close Range Attack Ship had opened, and its triple-barreled cannon was already extending outward.
From the mothership in the Star Sea, Qiao Shengyi watched over his city with a heavy heart. If they fired, even though the residents had been evacuated, the surrounding dozens of blocks would be instantly reduced to rubble—a loss of several hundred billion Starshield!
Aviloya suddenly took a deep breath and asked, "General Kloya, are you certain all my people are dead?"
Kloya, without turning his head, replied, "Completely certain!"
He emphasized again, "Director-General, I hope you haven’t forgotten that I am cleaning up the mess your incompetent subordinates created! They brought this chaos upon themselves and deservedly so!"
"My fleet costs about 1.6 billion Starshield to mobilize. The military expects the Bureau of Mystic Security to pick up the tab!"
After that, Kloya paid no further attention to Aviloya and ordered with a steady, ruthless demeanor, "I am Confederation Major General Kloya Antlis, and I authorize the bombardment!"
But at that moment, an item on Aviloya’s body moved slightly. Her beautiful eyes narrowed as she suddenly commanded, "Kloya, cease the order!"
Kloya was furious. Were his words just now spoken in vain?
He did not respond, acting as if he hadn’t heard. On the planet’s surface, the Antelope No. had started charging its main cannon.
Aviloya shouted again, "Major General Kloya, I have evidence that there are still people alive inside the building! Cease the bombardment immediately!"
Qiao Shengyi was overjoyed. "There are people still alive? General, quickly cease the order..."
But Kloya ignored them completely. A cold glint flashed in Aviloya’s eyes, and a huge sword appeared out of thin air, pressing against Kloya’s neck!
Kloya’s guards raised their guns without hesitation. But before they could fire, their metal weapons twisted under some mysterious force field, entangling their hands and turning into handcuffs that trapped them!
The guards yelled, "Aviloya is rebelling..."
Warriors outside the flagship’s command room were about to charge in, with dozens of individual Mecha among them.
Aviloya suddenly turned her head. Without receiving any orders, the doors of various compartments were automatically CLANGING shut.
Kloya glared at her. "Aviloya, what are you doing!"
With her sleek chin slightly raised, Aviloya pressed the huge sword closer to Kloya’s neck. "Stopping you from massacring our compatriots!"
Kloya spoke through clenched teeth, "That’s slander! There are no survivors inside the branch building. I checked with an infrared life detector!"
Aviloya took out an old and mysterious-looking small box. "This is the master control hub for all of the Bureau’s generators, which we in the Bureau of Mystic Security call ’The Source of Mystery.’ This master hub has a supermaterial connection with each generator, unlike any wireless connection we are familiar with today. I used this to shut down the generators inside the branch building. But just now, someone reactivated them! There are still living people inside the building!"
Kloya’s face twisted. "I don’t believe you!"
Aviloya didn’t explain further. Seeing that the Antelope No. had nearly finished charging its main cannon, she said, "Stop your order immediately, or I will kill you and take over the entire fleet!"
The great sword pressed down again, easily leaving a trail of blood on Kloya’s neck.
Kloya gasped for air, his eyes filled with rage and madness. Aviloya, unfazed, met his gaze directly. Her eyes, which had enchanted all men of the Star Sea, held nothing but resolve.
Ji Canghai’s face turned pale as he asked, "Is that enough?"
Chen Gu sat next to the generator and asked back, "Do you have any other methods?"
Ji Canghai racked his brains, but finally, he shook his head dejectedly. "No."
In front of them, an unstable image flickered on a projection screen connected to the shattered console. It was a live feed of the Close Range Attack Ship outside the building.
The Antelope No. had completed charging. The light inside its main cannon grew brighter and brighter.
Ji Canghai sighed heavily and slumped to the ground. "It’s over. We’re going to die in such a frustrating way!"
Inside the flagship, under Aviloya’s unwavering gaze, Kloya finally softened and said, "Cease fire."
The commander of the Antelope No. quickly asked, "General, did you just order a cease-fire?"
"Yes, cease fire. Deploy ground attack fighters, monitor the entire building. We must not be careless!"
"Yes, sir! Order received!"
Aviloya quietly breathed a sigh of relief and then immediately gave an order, "Qing Ruyan, take the Enforcers and investigate."
"Yes!" a clear response came through the communication.
Aviloya added another instruction, "Be careful. Extremely careful."
She hadn’t sent Professionals to attempt entry from outside the building because it was too dangerous. They could easily be ambushed and contaminated by the Mutants, resulting in severe losses.
But now, she decided to take a risk. The people inside the building seemed to want to send some kind of message to the outside world.
The branch director had closed his eyes, preparing for death. But after a long wait with no sound, he opened them again. He looked up; the Antelope No.’s main cannon had retracted.
Then, a section on the side of the warship opened up like a honeycomb, and a swarm of fighter jets flew out.
The branch director was overjoyed. "HA HA, HA HA HA..."
Underground, Chen Gu kicked Ji Canghai. "It’s okay now."
Ji Canghai jerked, then looked at the projection screen and laughed aloud. "They received our signal! HA HA HA! We don’t have to die! We don’t have to die! This is great!"
He sprang up and hugged Chen Gu forcefully. Chen Gu pushed him away in disgust, but Ji Canghai, undeterred, kept saying, "You’re so smart to have thought of this! Otherwise, we’d definitely be dead..."
Chen Gu, however, was not optimistic at all. "The Mutants might have already reached the Energy Field by now. If we can’t get the message out quickly, an even greater disaster will occur. The people in the Energy Field won’t be as lucky as we are."
The two of them took the elevator and rushed to meet the branch director.
When the three survivors met, there was no time for rejoicing. Chen Gu explained the situation to the branch director, who furrowed his brow. "This is tough. The communication system is in almost as bad shape as the control system. Without a specialist, it would take us days to fix it. What should we do?"
Then Chen Gu suddenly slapped his forehead. "I’ve got it!"
The branch director and Ji Canghai stared at him wide-eyed. Is he some kind of genius? they thought. First, he came up with using the generator to send a signal, and now, for such a huge problem, he gets an idea just by slapping his forehead? He doesn’t even need to sit and ponder deeply?
Chen Gu pointed behind them to the window Ji Canghai had shattered. "Get me a piece of paper and a pen."
When they turned around, they saw a young girl floating outside the window. She was dressed in a stylish school uniform with two large pigtails and regarded them with a cool expression.