The lizardman spoke calmly, "Because no one is more capable or experienced than you to deal with these people. You can name any terms."
Xiao Xun pondered for a moment, then stood up abruptly. "If this succeeds, I want to be the head of the Gate Gods Association."
To his surprise, the lizardman replied without hesitation, "No problem."
Then, the lizardman said, "To ensure your mission is completed successfully, I've found some helpers for you."
With that, he stood up. "Let's go meet them!"
He led Xiao Xun out of the conference room and into another.
This conference room was much brighter. Four people were seated inside. "Let me introduce everyone," the lizardman said.
Upon Rong the lizardman's entry, all four people stood up. He glanced at Xiao Xun behind him and addressed the four, "From now on, he is your task force commander, Xiao Xun. You four are to obey him unconditionally."
"Yes!"
The lizardman said to Xiao Xun, "These four are named John, Paul, George, and Anna."
Xiao Xun nodded. "Hello."
All four saluted Xiao Xun in unison. "Greetings, Commander."
Rong said to Xiao Xun, "To ensure your successful infiltration of the enemy's spaceship, our boss has pulled out all the stops. This mission must succeed, and failure is not an option."
"Understood!"
The five-person team, equipped with their respective weapons, boarded the space displacement device. Xiao Xun, as the pilot, pressed the activation button.
The small spaceship-like space displacement device lifted off. He then clicked a few times on the thruster control interface, calibrating the flight path.
Next, he pressed the space jump button and noticed the space around the device begin to distort. Green light appeared, starting as a small point and expanding, transforming into a bruise in the black expanse of space. These blemishes continuously swelled and contracted, distorting even the starlight.
A warp rift.
Xiao Xun shut down the space displacement device's engines and began to decelerate to avoid a collision.
"Prepare to maneuver!" Xiao Xun shouted.
After confirming they had fastened their seatbelts, everyone shouted in unison, "Ready!"
Xiao Xun deactivated the space displacement device's thrusters and executed a short directional burst. All team members lunged forward in their seats as the acceleration vanished.
A Turodian frigate appeared a kilometer ahead of the space displacement device, its bow filling the entire display screen.
This slender space displacement device was facing the Turodian frigate, one kilometer away.
The Turodian vessel's fighter launch bays and plasma weapon emitters were clearly visible on the space displacement device's display screen. With such firepower, it could turn this device and everyone inside into dust in the blink of an eye.
At this moment, the Turodian ship had not detected them, perhaps because Xiao Xun had shut down the engines. The enemy vessel drifted like a dead object in the clouds, with no lights, no sound, completely silent.
The space around the Turodian ship churned and split again, and two more Turodian warships appeared.
They also paid no attention to the space displacement device. Was it too small to be worth bothering with? Xiao Xun didn't dwell on it; his good luck seemed to be holding.
He checked the radar display. The enemy mothership was still thirty kilometers away. He activated the engines and began to decelerate. It was unavoidable, otherwise, they would collide with the escort fighters.
"Hold on!"
The sudden impact caused Xiao Xun to sway violently in his seat, but the seatbelt kept him secured.
He noticed that the shield indicator bar was completely depleted and was now slowly recharging. All the instruments and displays in front of the pilot's seat were shattered.
Xiao Xun shook his head, dispelling the dizziness, then stood up and walked towards the rear.
The interior of the space displacement device was a mess. Everything that had been secured had come loose, ammunition boxes were broken, and various equipment floated in the air everywhere.
Xiao Xun felt his feet slowly lifting off the ground, and he exclaimed in surprise, "This isn't outer space, why is there a feeling of weightlessness?"
John explained, "This must be the secret to how alien spaceships can float in the air, an anti-gravity device."
"Is anyone injured?"
"I'm not," John replied.
"Me neither," Paul said. "I mean, no. I'm fine, Commander. Did we crash-land, or did the Turodians hit us?"
Xiao Xun said, "If the Turodians had done this, we wouldn't be talking now. Grab all the gear you can and get outside, quickly!"
John went out first. He scanned the surroundings, confirming there were no Turodian ambushes nearby, before signaling the other two to follow.
Xiao Xun and Paul exited the cabin. In the weightless environment, they clung to the hull, moving towards the front and rear of the ship.
As the five passed the tail of the space displacement device, Xiao Xun couldn't help but frown. The device's engine was destroyed. The rear was completely warped and deformed, with the ship impaled in the mothership at an upward angle.
It was clear that all four had undergone professional aerial training. In this environment, the slightest movement would cause them to spin and lose control.
Various artillery fire had already commenced below. The objective was simple: to cover their group of five.
Xiao Xun took out his binoculars, magnified the view, and saw the remaining two ships launch over a dozen projectiles.
These projectiles were heading directly for everyone. Xiao Xun maxed out the magnification on his binoculars. Those glowing points seemed to be "people" with small thrusters...
These "people" had long heads. Even from such a distance, Xiao Xun could see their piranha-like sharp teeth through their helmets. They strongly resembled the monsters that had wreaked havoc at Base Eight in the video Su Xiang had shown him.
John fired at an approaching monster. A flash of light appeared around its body, deflecting the bullet.
He didn't hesitate, firing four consecutive shots at the monster, all precisely hitting its neck. Its shield flickered, but the last bullet finally penetrated the barrier.
Blue blood flowed from the wound, and it writhed in pain.
The other monsters spotted the five and accelerated towards them.
"Take cover."
Xiao Xun twisted and moved to the other side of the space displacement device.
"Find a way to fight our way in."
"Understood."
Three Turodian spacesuits were torn apart by the team's bullets. They fell one after another. The remaining monsters shrieked and retreated towards the mothership.
Xiao Xun leaned against the space displacement device, carefully firing single shots. In the weightless environment, aiming presented many challenges.
A Turodian leaped from cover, charging at everyone.
Xiao Xun switched his rifle to automatic mode. A continuous stream of bullets pierced its shield, blasting the monster off the mothership.
He then pulled out a plasma grenade, pulled the pin, and threw it.
The plasma grenade flew in a straight trajectory and detonated. A flash of light erupted, spraying blue blood that instantly corroded the outer hull of the mothership.
Xiao Xun crawled towards the bow of the mothership. He poked his head out and saw that the mothership was already swarming with Turodian troops – over a hundred Turodians.
"I've found you a new target," Xiao Xun said to them. "Each of you take two plasma grenades. Aim at them and wait for my command."
John mounted his sniper rifle on the open outer wall of the landing bay and aimed at his target.
The Turodians were gathering around the space displacement device. It made a gesture, ordering the Turodians to search the spaceship.
Xiao Xun yelled, "Fire."