Hearing the voice, Chu Ningxiang shivered, looking around vigilantly, "What's that noise?"
"A cat's meow."
Chu Ningxiang stood up, holding the box, "How can there be a cat on this spaceship?"
Xiao Xun feigned ignorance, "So you're afraid of cats!"
"Nonsense, this princess fears nothing."
"Meow~ owww~"
Chu Ningxiang hadn't realized the sound was coming from the box, "Annoying, where is that damned noise coming from?"
Xiao Xun walked over and uncovered the box, "This is the gift I'm giving you, do you like it?"
Chu Ningxiang's eyes widened, "A black cat..."
She abruptly threw the box away. The cat seemed particularly attached to her, constantly nudging towards her, "Go away, go away!"
Xiao Xun was also curious. She clearly had a gun in her hand, and the cat was so small and wouldn't bite. Why would they be afraid of cats?
Chu Ningxiang was on the verge of collapse, stepping on the control panel, "Xiao Xun, get this cat away from me quickly."
Xiao Xun crossed his arms, "How can a princess of the dignified Tuoluo tribe be so afraid of a mere cat?"
Chu Ningxiang shouted hoarsely, "Get it away quickly! I don't want to see it."
"Withdraw the pursuit against me, and I'll take the cat away."
"Fine, I'll withdraw, I'll withdraw."
"Withdraw it now!"
Chu Ningxiang shouted, "Guards!"
There were people at the door, but as soon as they heard the cat inside, they dared not enter.
"Quick, guards."
Xiao Xun was amused, "Stop shouting, you can scream until your throat is raw and no one will come in. If you're afraid, why wouldn't they be?"
"Get it away quickly, I swear, as long as you take the cat away, I'll call off the pursuit against you."
Xiao Xun nodded, "Alright, I'll trust you this time."
Unexpectedly, as soon as Xiao Xun approached, the cat actually leaped up, scaring Chu Ningxiang into fainting.
Xiao Xun swiftly caught Chu Ningxiang in his arms and placed her in the command chair.
He picked up the little black cat and gently stroked its head, "Little fellow, you're quite something!"
Chu Ningxiang gradually regained consciousness. The moment she opened her eyes, she looked around with lingering fear.
"Where's the cat?"
Xiao Xun's large face suddenly appeared before Chu Ningxiang, "What, you want to see it again?"
Chu Ningxiang covered her face, "I don't want to see it anymore, I don't want to see it. I promise, I'll withdraw the pursuit against you, but don't scare me with cats anymore."
Xiao Xun nodded, "Sure, but I have a question, and you have to tell me."
"You want to ask me why I'm afraid of cats?"
"Precisely."
"It's no big deal to tell you. In our Tuoluo tribe, black cats have always been messengers of the underworld, guides to the nether realm. Seeing a black cat means one is destined for hell after death."
Xiao Xun looked incredulous, "Your technology is so advanced, yet you still believe in feudal superstitions."
"Who told you it's superstition? Everything I've said is fact."
"No wonder you're so afraid, and you don't dare to shoot it."
"That would be disrespect to a deity."
Xiao Xun smiled, "You're piloting such a large spaceship into our Blue Star, aren't you afraid of our Blue Star's gods punishing you?"
"We are afraid because we truly have gods. Your gods, I've lived here for over ten years and haven't encountered any."
Xiao Xun looked unconvinced, "According to you, you and your gods are quite familiar?"
"Of course, we've eaten together, I've supported him in games, and bought him game consoles."
"If you weren't sitting in a spaceship talking to me about this, I'd truly think you were crazy."
"Gods are beings more powerful than us; we collectively refer to them as gods. If in an entire species, only a very few are more powerful than us, then those few can also be called gods, but not quite so divine."
Xiao Xun pondered, "I think I've heard someone tell me this theory before. It sounds so familiar."
"That means everyone agrees with this viewpoint."
"Then if I'm more powerful than you, I'm also a god."
Chu Ningxiang poked Xiao Xun's chest, "We're comparing entire races. You might be stronger than me, but you might not be as strong as others in our tribe. If you're stronger than everyone in our tribe, then you are naturally a god."
"Then do you listen to what gods say?"
"It depends. For trivial matters, yes. For things that affect our vital interests, no."
Xiao Xun almost couldn't help but laugh, "Your Tuoluo tribe is quite pragmatic. To put it bluntly, it's like 'a twitch in the left eye means fortune, a twitch in the right eye means death,' or 'my fate is mine to control, not heaven's.'"
Chu Ningxiang pondered Xiao Xun's words, "That's the meaning, but why does it sound so strange coming from your mouth?"
"I'm not here for any other reason today than to hope you can evacuate from here."
Chu Ningxiang directly put her hands on her hips and stood up, "On what grounds?"
"Do you know how much effort I put into finding such a planet? Because of this planet, I haven't seen my king and queen for many years."
"Then you stay, and let them leave."
"On what grounds? I'm not as selfish as you are."
"How am I selfish?"
Chu Ningxiang said helplessly, "Fine, you're not selfish, you're magnanimous. I beg you, can you please find somewhere else and stop bothering me? I've been quite busy lately."
"You claim Blue Star is your territory, what are you busy with?"
"Do you think managing a planet is easy? I have to set my own rules and laws, and thinking about these things every day gives me a headache. Those people outside can't be relied upon, and the lawyers I summon are more long-winded than you, and I can't understand a word they say."
Xiao Xun scratched his head, "You don't take good advice, do you?"
Chu Ningxiang thought Xiao Xun was out of options and said with a smile, "If you can, then go ahead!"
Xiao Xun put his hand to his ear, "Listen."
In fact, there was no need to listen; the mothership had already begun to shake slightly.
Chu Ningxiang stood up and looked at the monitor, "What's going on?"
Just then, a Tuoluo person came in to report, "Princess, four giant robots have suddenly landed on the mothership and are causing widespread destruction. Our fighter jets and patrol boats' firepower is ineffective against them."
Chu Ningxiang looked at Xiao Xun, "Did you do this?"
Xiao Xun nodded, "But I must remind you, they are not robots, but Original Humans."
Chu Ningxiang said to her subordinates, "Immediately control their minds."
"Yes!"
The Tuoluo person agreed and went out. Xiao Xun said to Chu Ningxiang, "Don't waste your efforts. If I dared to come, I naturally have a way to deal with you. With their destructive power, you have five minutes to consider, otherwise, you won't be able to leave even if you wanted to!"
"Consider what?"
"Restore everyone to their original state, and then leave this planet."
"What if I don't?"
"Fighting to the bitter end will do you no good."
Outside, the mothership's armor and core facilities were being destroyed by giant high-frequency vibrating particle blades, and the entire mothership began to tilt.
"Xiao Xun, you're crazy! Do you know that if this spaceship falls, everyone below will die."
Xiao Xun said nonchalantly, "If you don't agree, then we'll all perish together."
"You win, I agree to retreat. But this is not over, we'll see."
Seeing that Chu Ningxiang had indeed activated the engines, Xiao Xun took out an earphone-like communication device, "Alright, mission accomplished, we're withdrawing."
"Received!"
Xiao Xun bowed to Chu Ningxiang, "I thank you on behalf of humanity, goodbye!"
With that, he returned to the ground using his spatial ring.
Watching the vast mothership gradually move further away and then perform a spatial jump, disappearing into the boundless horizon.
The people who had regained their senses erupted in enthusiastic cheers. However, the subsequent problem was whether they would return. Since there were Tuoluo people, would there be people from other planets eyeing Blue Star?
This became a hot topic of global discussion. Base No. 1, except for a very few survivors, was completely wiped out, and the entire base needed to be rebuilt. As for Rookie, he was permanently frozen on the Ice Continent.
Xiao Xun, as the primary hero of this operation, was promoted to Strategic Commander at the headquarters of the Gate God Association.
Kensett, as Xiao Xun's direct superior, was also released and reinstated as the President of the Gate God Association. Among the remaining eight seats, Xiao Xun secured one, becoming the sole exception of a non-lizardman entering the Gate God Association headquarters.
This time, when he attended a meeting, a very familiar person appeared in the conference room.
Kensett introduced, "Let me introduce to you, Mr. Stephen, the inventor of the Star Chart system."
Xiao Xun was astonished because Stephen was Ray, whom he had sent here earlier. Ray's appearance here indicated that he was not a human in the traditional sense.
Besides Xiao Xun, everyone else had a cold expression, showing no interest in the middle-aged man before them.
Stephen stood up and greeted everyone, then began to introduce his product, "Today I bring you a fully intelligent artificial combat robot equipped with the Star Chart system."
After speaking, he took out his laptop and began to project it, demonstrating it to everyone.
"This is the A4 series combat robot, my latest research product."
As everyone watched the screen, only Xiao Xun kept his gaze fixed on Stephen.
Stephen introduced, "My robots are mass-producible; all equipment wear and tear can be replaced. They can be as large as eighty meters and as small as one meter, capable of handling various combat scenarios.
Furthermore, they do not require any pilots, thus cannot be controlled by aliens through neural links. Most importantly, their production cost is low, enabling mass production.
There's no heartache if they are damaged, and they don't require significant follow-up maintenance. Their energy comes from internal reactors, and multiple controls use radio technology, making them suitable for long-distance and extraterrestrial combat.
The most important part is their 'heart,' the chip developed by our company, which incorporates many actual combat cases and classic tactical analyses, Commander..."
He looked at Xiao Xun while speaking. Although his expression was blank, Xiao Xun could feel the challenge. "You only need to issue combat orders; there's no need to make combat deployments. It will determine the most suitable combat method based on the actual on-site situation."
Upon hearing this, Xiao Xun recalled the top-secret documents that Cui Zhihao had shown him. It seemed that the other party had been researching this for a long time, and the issues they mentioned were precisely the existing problems of the Original Humans, indicating a strong focus. It appeared that the post about the Cradle Project released from the deep sea might be related to Stephen.
"Do you distinguished officers have any questions regarding our company's product?"
One person glanced at Xiao Xun and then asked Stephen, "Isn't this just a concept product?"
"We have a prototype. As long as everyone agrees, we can start mass production immediately."
Another person asked, "As far as I know, you don't have your own manufacturing plant. How will you produce them?"
"Of course, by leveraging everyone's power to open new production lines. This will not only allow for mass production of the robots you need but also greatly promote employment in various regions. It's a win-win situation, so why not?"
Xiao Xun raised his question, "What if it's controlled by hackers?"
"Please rest assured, I have great confidence in my product. Moreover, its chip and system are from our Star Chart system, which external hackers cannot penetrate."
After everyone had spoken, they looked at Kensett. Kensett looked at Stephen, "Since you have a prototype, please bring it out for a demonstration and let everyone see if its practicality is as good as you say. If it's genuine, then I can consider it."
"Certainly, Commander. I will schedule a grand product launch next week, and I invite all of you to attend."
Kensett stood up, "We are all quite busy, so we won't be attending. Xiao Xun, you are the overall commander; you make the decision on this matter."
Xiao Xun also stood up and called out, "Yes."
After leaving headquarters, Xiao Xun took a plane to the Gate God Association base in Zone 8.
Pang Jiadong greeted him with a smile, with Teng Qiao, still expressionless, behind him.
"May I know the purpose of General Xiao's visit?"
"I remember leaving a few people here when I departed. I need to take them to headquarters."
"Certainly, absolutely. You can take whomever you wish from here."
Xiao Xun ignored him further and took away Su Xiang, who had been demoted to ordinary base staff, the eight imprisoned hackers, and all their experimental results. He also took two Original Humans and their pilots.
On the transport plane, Xiao Xun asked Su Xiang beside him, "Did they do anything to you?"
"It's fine. It just gave me a chance to rest for a couple of days. I was too lazy to manage things anyway. I didn't expect that in less than half a month, you'd be taking me away again."
Xiao Xun smiled, "What, you don't want to go?"
"I'm willing, how could I not be willing!"
Black Shark stood up and looked out the window, asking Xiao Xun beside him, "Dark Commander, where are you taking us?"
"Headquarters."
"From your words, it seems we've become your personal property. Wherever you go, we have to go, with no freedom at all?"
"I said, after we finish your business, you can go wherever you want."
Xiao Xun turned to Da Lanhua and asked, "Your system is very useful, but do you know about Star Chart?"
"Everyone on Blue Star knows. What's wrong?"
"Star Chart has also developed an artificial intelligence system, and it's already been implemented and is in use."
"Haven't heard of it? How is its performance?"
"I haven't seen it either. They are holding a product launch next week, and I plan to take you to see it."
Deep Sea Dweller raised his hand, "Leader, I want to go too."
The two brothers said in unison, "We want to go too."
Xiao Xun looked at Black Shark, "Don't you want to?"
"It's just a broken system! What's there to see?"
Xiao Xun's lips curved slightly, "Alright, besides Da Lanhua, whoever among you can hack into the Star Chart system and successfully implant a virus, I'll take them. How about that?"
Golden Finger clapped, "Fair and reasonable. Without this skill, you shouldn't be in this field."
Xiao Xun looked at Black Shark, "And you?"
"Let's give it a try..."