FT DR Chapter 145: The Beta Line is Too Sly

Chapter 145: The Beta Line is Too Sly

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Under the protection of the NTU, the Free Guides were secretly sent to the Alpha Line. Before that, frontline officers of the Legion above the rank of Major had already preliminarily matched intentions with the guides through holographic networks. The guide school specially dispatched a group of experienced administrative personnel to go to the Alpha Line to organize the upcoming meetings and rematching. At the same time, the Federal Marriage Registry also sent someone to resolve their marriage registration issues on-site.

To dispel the influence of Hannibal’s “dictatorial proclamation” on the federal government, the guide volunteer event was very high-profile from the beginning, and almost everyone knew that over a thousand guide volunteers were going to be sent to the front line. To avoid any trouble from the Voyager Army, the NTU secret fleet set off for the Alpha Line on the night of the arrival of the last batch of volunteers. The original plan to escort the guides by the navy fleet was delayed for ten days, aiming to confuse the situation and divert attention.

The Tianzhang Fleet stationed in the Alpha Line was also on high alert. Jin Xuan specifically cleared out a remote fortress to welcome the NTU fleet and sent his most trusted deputy to take charge of everything, while he himself made a big show of organizing the Tianzhang Fleet’s main camp at the front line, the No.1 Fortress, as if they were preparing for battle at any moment, ready to welcome the “guide fleet”.

So, when the navy fleet lazily approached the defense circle of the No.1 Fortress, in fact, all over a thousand guides had already registered their marriages and established firm marks with the sentinel officers they had chosen themselves.

The sentinels who were fortunate enough to receive this benefit were selected from frontline officers above the rank of Major. In other words, after this pairing, almost half of the captains on the front line now had guides. This kind of combat power boost was quite terrifying because the ability of the captain determined the combat power of the warship. It could be said without exaggeration that the strength of the legion guarding the Alpha Line increased by at least ten percent because of these over a thousand guides!

So, when Jin Xuan received the battle report and heard that the “Quadrant” was trying to cross the Beta Line to attack the No.1 Fortress, in an attempt to seize the “upcoming” guides, he felt no worry at all. Instead, he felt an excited sense of “damn, those idiots finally showed up.”

The tumultuous propaganda battle came to a conclusion, with Hannibal and Jin Zhe both ceasing their verbal sparring, revealing their true strengths to each other. The dormant Alpha defensive line reignited the flames of war! “Quadrant” launched a surprise attack on Fortress No.1, and the defenders of “Tianzhu” met them in battle, resulting in a deadlock. Twenty-four hours later, the naval fleet reinforced “Tianzhu,” and “Quadrant” was defeated, pushed back near the Beta line. Consequently, the Far Voyage Empire dispatched the formidable “Scout” fleet to support “Quadrant.”

The four major fleets engaged in fierce aerial combat outside the Alpha line, with neither side gaining the upper hand after three days of bloody battle. Meanwhile, Seiling Military Harbor reported being attacked by Hannibal’s fleet, with the outer defenses breached and twelve space outposts occupied by enemy forces. All fleets had to retreat to defend the central line, tightening their defensive circle.

Jin Xuan made a decisive decision, ordering half of the Fourth Army’s fleet stationed at another pass on the Alpha line to reinforce Fortress No.1. With their reinforcement, the tide of the battle began to turn overwhelmingly in their favor. “Quadrant” and “Scout” kept retreating until they were almost at the edge of the Beta line a week later. Hannibal had to withdraw some fleets attacking Seiling to support the Beta line.

The situation in Seiling eased slightly, and the battle on the Alpha line stabilized. Both sides entered a protracted stalemate. At this point, Jin Xuan had to leave the front line and return to the Dunkirk Federation because Wu Chenghe was nearly six months pregnant and his physical condition had reached its limit, necessitating him return to the rear for childbirth.

In fact, just about a week after the arrival of the guided fleet, Wu Chenghe’s scheduled operation time was approaching, but because of the sudden attack by “Quadrant,” Jin Xuan had to oversee the response, barely holding on. Jin Xuan watched his belly grow day by day, his movements becoming increasingly difficult, feeling extremely anxious. After finally pushing “Quadrant” near the Beta line, he immediately transferred control to the deputy fleet commander, preparing to return to the capital of Dunkirk the next day.

On the last night before leaving Fortress No. 1, Jin Xuan hurried back to the fortress in the middle of the night and finally saw Wu Chenghe. It had been half a month since the war started, and he had been on the warship the whole time; this was the first time he returned to the base. After taking a shower, he knelt on the edge of the bed to massage Wu Chenghe’s swollen legs, tenderly asking, “Does it hurt? Are your feet still swollen?”

“It’s okay.” Men—bearing the late-stage pregnancy was very difficult, especially since this child was quite large. Wu Chenghe hadn’t slept well for several days, always feeling short of breath and experiencing leg cramps. He woke up as soon as Jin Xuan came in.

“Tomorrow we’ll return to the capital and have him taken out!” Jin Xuan lovingly but exasperatedly touched his belly. Perhaps exerting too much force, he annoyed the sleeping little son inside, who promptly kicked him.

“Ah! He’s kicking me!” Jin Xuan jumped up like a naive country bumpkin, lifting Wu Chenghe’s T-shirt to look at his smooth belly. There was a small bulge next to the navel, obviously where the little guy had kicked and hadn’t retracted his leg.

“He’s in a bad mood; don’t provoke him.” Wu Chenghe covered his belly, feeling uncomfortable, and shifted his body slightly. This child’s development was too good. Even when the twins were about to be born, their movements weren’t as obvious. At most, he could feel them himself; others couldn’t touch them at all. Of course, no one would touch his belly back then. The only person with the right to touch him was still locked in the basement.

Thinking of the suffering Jin Xuan had endured back then, Wu Chenghe sighed, holding his hand and gently stroking it under his clothes, saying, “If you want to touch, imagine you’re touching a little kitten or a little squirrel, gently and slowly, so he won’t get angry… He’s a little yellow cat, so you have to stroke with the fur.”

“Oh, okay.” Jin Xuan cautiously touched, a silly smile of surprise appearing on his face. At thirty-one years old, facing his own guide, he still looked foolish, completely unlike the father of two children, more like a rookie dad.

Sure enough, the fetal movements of the little yellow cat became gentle, occasionally pushing up a finger-sized bump on Wu Chenghe’s belly and sliding left and right, as if a mischievous little pea was running around underneath his skin.

“It looks like a pea.” Jin Xuan’s imagination ran wild again. “Let’s call him Little Pea when he’s born, okay?”

“Sure.” Wu Chenghe accepted any down-to-earth name with enthusiasm, nodding in agreement. So the two husbands happily spent a cozy night holding Little Pea and enjoying themselves.

The starship scheduled to return to the capital of Dunkirk was set to depart at seven in the morning. Jin Xuan woke up promptly at five, went for morning exercises, and came back to prepare breakfast for Wu Chenghe. Just as he finished squeezing juice, his right palm suddenly vibrated, indicating an urgent military report from the deputy fleet commander.

“What’s going on?” Jin Xuan stepped out of the bedroom, trying not to wake Wu Chenghe, and asked in a subdued voice. He had already completed the handover procedures yesterday, so it wasn’t something the deputy fleet commander should have contacted him about unless it was a major event.

Indeed, the message from the other end of the communication was unusual, “There’s been a disturbance at the Beta line! General, ‘Quadrant’ suddenly withdrew last night after you left, followed by ‘Scout’! We didn’t dare to cross the Beta line rashly, so we only sent a batch of unmanned drones to investigate. The results…” He paused, as if searching for the right words, before continuing with a slightly trembling voice, “The results showed that many of their people were dying in large numbers!”

“…What did you say?” Jin Xuan was confused about his meaning. “Dying? In large numbers?”

“Yes,” the deputy fleet commander said uneasily, “our drones were shot down by them, but a few managed to transmit footage before crashing. From the footage, it appears that many soldiers stationed inside the Beta defensive line are dying in large numbers, with many bodies being cleared out of the fortress and transported to Gabriel Military Harbor! ‘Quadrant’ and ‘Scout’ probably withdrew hastily because of this!”

Jin Xuan was momentarily surprised, then solemnly asked, “Can you confirm the number of casualties and the cause of death?”

“I don’t know,” the deputy fleet commander said, “I’ve ordered observation posts and probes to conduct further investigations, but we haven’t received any definitive information yet. General, I feel this matter is very suspicious. You’d better stay to oversee the situation.”

Jin Xuan was filled with uncertainty. Incidents of large-scale casualties in interstellar fleets were rare unless there was an outbreak of an extremely virulent virus, but the Zhifu Chain Nebula had been developed for hundreds of years, and humans had a thorough understanding of the radiation and viruses in the area, with mature preventive and treatment drugs. Under normal circumstances, so many deaths wouldn’t suddenly occur.

Has the virus mutated? Was there a mutiny within the Voyager Army? Or did Hannibal come up with another conspiracy? Jin Xuan furrowed his brow, lost in thought. Hannibal was cunning and his tactics varied. From their previous encounters, he had learned this well. Currently, both sides were deadlocked at the Zhifu Chain Nebula defense line. Could it be that Hannibal was instructing frontline soldiers to feign death, creating an illusion of internal chaos to lure them across the defensive line into a trap?

But wouldn’t that be too obvious?

“What’s going on?” Wu Chenghe, who knows when he woke up, came out from the bedroom wearing a bathrobe. “Is there a change in the frontline? Can’t we leave?”

Jin Xuan was at a loss for words, looking at his slightly protruding belly under the bathrobe. He really didn’t want to say anything disappointing, but with such a major event, as the commander of “Tianzhu,” he was reluctant to hand over the fleet to his deputy.

“In fact, staying here for childbirth isn’t a big deal.” Wu Chenghe sensed his hesitation and said softly, “The military has already provided us with an obstetrician. Giving birth isn’t a major surgery, and I know my own body well.”

Jin Xuan was torn, rubbing his forehead in silence. Wu Chenghe approached him, using his thumb to wipe off a small splash of fruit residue from his face, saying, “I don’t want to run back and forth either. Returning to the capital is too far, and deep-sea hibernation is too exhausting. Why don’t we just have the operation at Fortress No. 1? After it’s done, we can have someone take the child back. I’ll rest for ten days and then join you on the front line…”

Jin Xuan felt heartache, embracing him in his arms and saying, “The deputy fleet commander said there’s a disturbance at the Beta line, with the garrison suffering large-scale casualties. I’m not sure what’s going on and I’m afraid it might be Hannibal’s new tactic.”

“Large-scale casualties?” Wu Chenghe was astonished. He had considered all possible accidents, but he never expected the other side to suddenly start losing people. He stood there with his mouth open for a while before asking, “A virus? An infectious disease? Or a radiation leak?”

“I don’t know,” Jin Xuan shook his head with a furrowed brow, “the information from the observation post hasn’t come back yet. All we know is that they’ve transported a large number of soldiers’ bodies back to Gabriel. It doesn’t seem to be an infectious disease, otherwise they should have been disposed of on the spot.”

Wu Chenghe couldn’t stand for long and sat down on a nearby chair after a while, pondering, “Could it be a ploy by Hannibal to sow suspicion, trying to lure you across the Beta line?”

“I have that suspicion too, but don’t you think it’s too obvious?” Jin Xuan said. Wu Chenghe shrugged, “Even an obvious bait can catch fish. Maybe he just wants to use some tricks. Well, whatever the case, let’s wait for the observations from the outpost.”

“But…”

“Stay here. I’ll talk to the flight surgeon and discuss the surgery arrangements,” Wu Chenghe patted his shoulder. “Considering the bigger picture, with such a strange incident happening, I won’t feel at ease even if I return to the capital.”

Jin Xuan felt extremely guilty, holding his hand but unable to speak. Wu Chenghe shook his hand away and said, “Go back to the warship. Remember to keep me informed of the progress at all times. Encountering such a strange incident for the first time, I’m actually a bit excited thinking about it. The truth must be extremely thrilling.”

Seeing him speak so lightly, Jin Xuan knew he didn’t want to worry him, so he could only smile helplessly and say, “Okay, I’ll go back to the warship. You discuss the surgery with the doctor, and let me know as soon as there’s any result.”

After breakfast, the two hurriedly parted ways. Jin Xuan took a shuttle back to the flagship “Tianzhu,” while Wu Chenghe went to the medical room to find his flight surgeon. Neither of them anticipated that Wu Chenghe’s words about the truth being thrilling would turn out to be prophetic!

Because of what happened next, it could indeed only be described as “extremely thrilling.”

Inside the flagship “Tianzhu,” when Jin Xuan entered the command room, the atmosphere was quite solemn. The deputy fleet commander immediately spoke upon seeing him, “General, the observation post’s report has come back! They are indeed experiencing large-scale casualties, with over a thousand people dead already!”

“!” Jin Xuan was truly horrified this time. Over a thousand people was not a small number. What kind of virus could spread so quickly? Or was Hannibal really about to unleash some extraordinary tactic? “Who are the ones dying? The garrison troops? Civilians or sentinels?”

“It’s the Beta line garrison troops. ‘Quadrant’ and ‘Scout’ have been fighting us outside the line, and it seems that this situation hasn’t affected them yet,” the deputy fleet commander said. “According to the observation post’s reconnaissance, it seems that those dying are all sentinels.”

Sentinels? Jin Xuan was even more astonished. Unless there was a mania outbreak, sentinels were virtually immune to any harm. It would be somewhat reasonable if it were ordinary people who were dying, but if it were sentinels… Could it be that a virus specifically targeting sentinels had emerged?

“Now that ‘Quadrant’ and ‘Scout’ have withdrawn, what should we do? Should we take advantage of this and pursue them?” the deputy fleet commander asked.

“No, let’s wait and observe,” Jin Xuan said. “Withdraw all sentinels from the observation post and replace them with ordinary people. Let them be cautious, as there might be some virus circulating internally that is extremely detrimental to sentinels.”

The deputy fleet commander nodded solemnly. “Understood. Should we withdraw as well? If the virus leaks, it would be very disadvantageous for us being so close.”

Jin Xuan hesitated for a moment but ultimately shook his head. “No, let’s wait a little longer.” This was a time that required calmness. They couldn’t act hastily. If Hannibal really had some last resort, and they moved, the enemy’s large-scale fleet might ambush them. That would be troublesome.

“Understood.”

Jin Xuan deployed more observation posts and drones, conducting reconnaissance closer to the area under the Voyager Army’s jurisdiction. For a whole day, all the top commanders of the “Tianzhu” fleet remained in front of the main console, anxiously awaiting news from the front. The observation post sent a battle report every hour, each one leaving them inexplicably alarmed and apprehensive—’Quadrant’ and ‘Scout’ were also experiencing casualties now. Since they withdrew from the Beta line last night, over the past thirty hours, nearly two thousand people had died!

Two thousand people, coupled with the previous casualties among the garrison troops, amounted to over three thousand deaths. Such a high mortality rate was chilling, not to mention that all of them were sentinels!

“Fall back!” Jin Xuan issued a decisive order. “All warships withdraw to the Alpha line. Leave behind the special forces and mecha squads on standby, with sentinels below the rank of captain accompanying the retreat. Regular soldiers, stay.”

“Yes, sir!” The deputy fleet commander accepted the order. Jin Xuan handed over control of the flagship to him, saying, “You’ll temporarily take charge of the fleet. I’ll stay here with the special forces.”

“General!” The deputy fleet commander opposed, “You’re also a sentinel. You should withdraw to the front line with the fleet!”

“No,” Jin Xuan said firmly. “I must find out what’s happening on the other side. If it’s Hannibal’s scheme, I must quickly find out the truth and come up with a countermeasure. If it’s really some kind of virus… I need to understand it even more, or else if it spreads, all of our garrison troops along the line will be in danger!”

The deputy fleet commander didn’t dare to defy his orders and could only accept control. Jin Xuan took a shuttle to the lightweight assault ship of the special forces, escorting the majority of the troops in the retreat. They had thought the enemy might harass them while retreating, but to their surprise, the entire Beta line was eerily silent, with no one coming out at all.

The clouds of unease grew thicker and thicker. Looking at the silent and lifeless Beta line, Jin Xuan felt a chill down his spine for the first time in his life. As he pondered his next move, the captain of the special forces reported, “General, the fleet has safely withdrawn and is stationed in the harbors on both sides of Fortress Prime, along with the navy fleet and the Third Army fleet.”

“Good,” Jin Xuan said, his vigilance undiminished. “Has there been any new information from the observation post?”

“Indeed,” the captain of the special forces said. “The enemy’s deaths are still ongoing, and conservatively estimating, the death toll has reached six thousand.”

Six thousand people, enough to form a medium-sized fleet… Jin Xuan’s spine grew even colder. Compared to fierce enemies, invisible adversaries were even more terrifying. What exactly had happened to the Voyager Army? How could so many people die in less than two days?

At this point, he no longer believed that this was Hannibal’s scheme. Whether it was intuition or deduction, he felt that since Hannibal had initiated a frontal war, he wouldn’t resort to such strange methods to lure the enemy deeper. It didn’t make sense.

They must have encountered an enemy even more formidable than the Federal Legion, or a virus, or… extraterrestrial organisms? Although human understanding of the natural environment in the Zifu Chain Nebula was quite mature, the galaxy was vast, and it was difficult to say whether there were any higher life forms in some unexplored corners that humans had not encountered.

Forty-eight hours later, the news from the frontline observation post became even more dire—casualties at the Beta line were increasing exponentially. Initially, the garrison troops would still collect the bodies of their comrades and send them back to headquarters, but now they completely ignored them. “Quadrant,” “Scout,” including the original garrison troops at the Beta line, and the remnants of the “Capture” fleet… all living beings were desperately evacuating the front line. One starship after another left the harbor, flying towards the Gabriel Military Harbor.

“What should we do now?” Even the experienced captain of the special forces felt a bit bewildered by the eerie situation and asked Jin Xuan, “Should we continue observing here?”

Jin Xuan hadn’t rested for two days, but his dark eyes showed no signs of fatigue. He tapped his fingers on the armrest of the chair, lost in thought for a while, then said, “Send a small team to cross the Beta line and take a look.”

The captain of the special forces took a deep breath, hesitated, and then said, “The report just received from the observation post said that over ten thousand people have died on the other side. If it’s true, the defense must be extremely lax. We must take this risk, or else all the garrison troops at the Alpha line will face even greater danger. So far, the intelligence shows that only sentinels have died, so it should be slightly safer to send a team of ordinary people over. Tell them not to force their way through. If they encounter resistance near the Beta line, they should retreat immediately, and we’ll come up with another plan. If the enemy’s outposts don’t react, then cross over and take a look.”

“Yes!” The captain of the special forces solemnly agreed. He quickly organized a small team consisting entirely of ordinary people and flew a small stealth starship towards the Beta line.

Inside the lightweight assault ship of the special forces, everyone anxiously awaited the news from the team. An hour later, they received a report from the team inside the Beta line, “We have successfully crossed the Beta line and are entering the nearest harbor.”

Has the defense really become so lax? Although the team had entered smoothly, Jin Xuan’s mood didn’t relax in the slightest. Another half an hour passed, and then the team leader’s voice came through, suppressed with fear, “General! They’re all dead. The entire dock is filled with dead people… No, it’s not normal death. It’s like they’re in a vegetative state. Many of the dead bodies are still soft, their hearts are still beating, but there’s no brain activity… We can’t see their consciousness clouds. We don’t know if their quantum beasts are still alive!”

A strange silence fell over the entire cabin. Everyone looked at each other, and after a while, the captain of the special forces hesitantly asked, “What… what is going on?”

“Are there no survivors?” Jin Xuan’s expression was solemn as he asked the team leader, “I mean, truly living survivors, whether they are ordinary people or sentinels.”

“We don’t know yet. We’re now docked at the outermost harbor, and there are no living people here anymore!” the team leader said. “There should still be some deeper inside the defense line. We can detect the energy fluctuations of their starships taking off. They probably haven’t evacuated completely yet. Should we continue to advance?”

Jin Xuan contemplated for a moment and then said, “No, conduct a search here. If you can find any survivors, that would be best. If not, then extract their internal monitoring chips. I want to see what happened in the past fifty hours!”

 

 

 

 

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