Chapter 76: Moves from All Sides

Suddenly, Li Longfang spoke up, “Desen, let me go as well. I’m certain I can help.”

Zhang Desen looked at Li Longfang and replied, “Longfang, this time is different. You might not be able to use your abilities.”

Li Longfang insisted, “No, Desen. One more person means more strength. I can do it.”

Zhang Desen said, “Alright, to be honest, walking in space is nothing like walking on the ground. If you use ground methods recklessly, trouble may arise.”

Li Longfang protested, “Impossible. It's just walking with two legs. How delicate can it be?”

Zhang Desen explained, “No, it's not so simple. You haven’t trained for space walks. And this time, to avoid affecting the plasma stealth device, I won’t activate the artificial gravity. That means there’s no gravity inside the ship. Moving around will be tricky…”

Unexpectedly, Li Longfang knelt down and said, “I truly can’t rest easy. The master ordered me to protect the young lord. No matter how great the trouble, I will overcome it…”

The others chimed in, mostly agreeing that one more person meant more help.

Finally, seeing this, Zhang Desen pulled Li Longfang up and said, “Fine, we’ll go to space together. But this time, you must not leave the ship. You can only stay inside, understand?”

“Yes!”

Meanwhile, most of the Terran forces had withdrawn to the Prairie Base, for Yuri Gotne had decided to use the grasslands as their foundation, formally leading his nation to gradually return to the surface and plan their journey to space.

Of course, Yuri Gotne still needed to personally visit the Coastal Base to arrange for the transport of supplies to the Prairie Base and to comprehensively seal off unnecessary parts, so that when they regained control of the region, everything would be ready.

After completing all the preparations at the Coastal Base, Yuri Gotne decided to have Kaba Dur visit Chancellor Qian immediately. He believed that, even if Qian Junior had escaped their control thanks to the Gomars of Sirius, as long as the stakes were made clear, there might still be a way to make use of Chancellor Qian and his associates.

Thus, Kaba Dur was tasked to make initial contact. Upon receiving the mission, he wasted no time, leading a dozen Terran soldiers aboard a small patrol ship and set off once again to visit Chancellor Qian. After all, in Yuri Gotne’s eyes, Chancellor Qian still had his uses—their cooperation might even continue, perhaps escalate.

Kaba Dur’s ship landed once more at Chancellor Qian’s government in Xidu. Upon noticing the arrival of the Terran ship, Chancellor Qian immediately ordered his household guards to ready the weapons brought back by Qian Junior from the Gomars of Sirius, waiting with a cold smile for Kaba Dur’s landing.

When Chancellor Qian personally led his guards and Qian Junior to surround the Terran patrol boat, the ship’s hatch opened as usual, and Kaba Dur, with his team, descended from the vessel. Seeing Chancellor Qian and Qian Junior sitting together, drinking with cold smiles as they greeted them, Kaba Dur laughed and said:

“Chancellor Qian, we meet again. I didn’t tell you before, but I am Kaba Dur, director of intelligence for the Empire of Allme. I come by order of our great leader, Yuri Gotne, to visit you once more. Tell me, is this how your lordship receives guests?”

Chancellor Qian replied angrily, “Hmph, you fiends! Before, you threatened me by controlling my son’s fate. Now, you come to my house without invitation—how can you call yourselves guests?”

Kaba Dur said, “Chancellor Qian, do you believe we have nothing to discuss—”

Before Kaba Dur could finish, Chancellor Qian smashed his cup and shouted, “You shameless fiends! You used sorcery to bind my son, gaining your momentary triumph. But now, Heaven has blessed us and the True God has descended. The divine power of the God of Gondor broke your spell, granting us many magical artifacts to subdue you monsters. Yet you dare to boast? If you are bold enough, come and test your magic!”

With a wave of his hand, the guards wielded the advanced weapons supplied by the Gomars of Sirius, pressing closer to Kaba Dur and his party.

In response, Kaba Dur’s escort raised their standard issue weapons from the Empire of Allme—thermal radiation ray guns—aiming at Chancellor Qian’s guards.

Despite the tense situation, Kaba Dur laughed calmly at Chancellor Qian, “Chancellor Qian, you are truly foolish. Have you considered whether they are truly trustworthy? If they turn against you one day, can you counter them? Are you certain these gods of Gondor are genuinely helping you, without any hidden dangers?”

At this, Chancellor Qian’s longstanding worries were stirred. Indeed, as a veteran of official circles, he knew well the ways of intrigue. Suddenly, he realized he knew little about these gods of Gondor, and fell into deep contemplation.

Kaba Dur waited patiently, unhurried, for Chancellor Qian’s decision. Soon, Chancellor Qian asked, “What is your purpose in coming tonight?”

Kaba Dur smiled, “Nothing much. I come by order of our leader, to visit you and discuss some matters.”

Chancellor Qian thought for a moment and said, “Fine. Your escort stays here. Only you may enter the main hall with me. No weapons allowed.”

Kaba Dur agreed, “Alright.”

Qian Junior was about to speak but was immediately stopped by Chancellor Qian.

…

A few days later, at the Liu family branch in Dali City, Zhang Desen and his team had finished their preparations. He planned to launch a rescue pod directly from Dali to space, unaware that the Terrans were upgrading their cooperation with Chancellor Qian.

He was ready to depart, but had some final instructions to give, so he gathered everyone to make arrangements, uncertain what he might encounter in space—a matter of real importance.

Based on the intelligence Zhang Desen had received at the Mountain Base, the Terrans’ colossal spherical satellite had a diameter of 120 kilometers, orbiting about 190,000 kilometers above Earth—exactly halfway between Earth and the Moon, a geostationary satellite.

To Zhang Desen’s surprise, this satellite performed nearly all functions: communications, surveillance, navigation, and more. This explained its vast size.

But for Zhang Desen, this was no bad thing. The intelligence showed that, with no rivals in space, the ancient Terrans had not installed any defensive systems on the satellite.

For ease of maintenance, they had even built repair corridors inside the satellite for ships. This would be of great help to Zhang Desen. When he learned this, he secretly admired how interconnected the Terran satellite was.

Now, everyone had gathered together, and Zhang Desen began his address:

“Comrades, this operation is crucial. Only by obtaining firsthand intelligence can we outpace the enemy and achieve our strategic goals.

Although we’ve succeeded so far, you must have seen how powerful the enemy is. Overcoming this enormous gap remains a challenge. We must have eyes and ears everywhere.

Thankfully, we have the perfect target—the giant satellite in the sky. If we install our data collection device there, the enemy’s movements will not escape our notice. What do you all think?”

Zhao Chengming replied, “I believe it’s feasible. Though I’ve never quite understood what satellites are or why they hover in the sky, as long as we can track the enemy’s movements, we can remain undefeated.”

“Indeed, indeed…” the others echoed.

Zhang Desen continued, “Everyone should intensify their training to be ready for battle at any moment. This journey to space—if nothing unexpected happens, I’ll return quickly…”

Beside him, Zhou Yongli said anxiously, “No, Young Lord will definitely return safely…”

Zhang Desen interrupted him, “Don’t be so agitated. When I mention unexpected events, I mean we might encounter Terran repair crews and have to hide for a few extra days. Nothing to worry about.”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Despite lingering questions, the team accepted their task: to guard the business branch, monitor developments, and stay in contact with Zhang Desen via the communicator left on the ground, keeping him informed of all events.

Then, Zhang Desen and Li Longfang went to the temporary launch site to familiarize themselves with the environment, preparing to activate the rescue ship, journey into space, and install the data collection device with absolute precision.

Zhang Desen also planned to launch the ship at night.

Night was chosen mainly to avoid causing a stir—after all, humanity in this universe was still in the era of cold weapons. If too many saw a ship take off, it would cause an enormous uproar, which was undesirable.

Of course, the so-called temporary launch site was nothing more than a flat stretch of ground, barely comparable to a makeshift helicopter landing pad.

Given that humanity here was in the cold weapon era, expectations could not be too high. Fortunately, the advanced spaceship and two rescue boats Zhang Desen brought from his original universe were so sophisticated that they could fly in the sky, space, or even underwater using their own power. As long as there was flat ground, takeoff and landing were easy—a great convenience for their current circumstances.