Chapter 19 The Gamble

"If the Holy Stone border army wants to meet us, they will definitely clash with DarkStar, but look up, the DarkStar mothership is still floating there, not deploying any defensive fleet. And this is a sensitive border. Holy Stone and Black Crow should have come long ago. This shows that DarkStar has reached some kind of agreement with them. Think about it from their perspective, this is located on the border, the authority to handle things is inherently ambiguous, they didn't even accept the case of the Silver Spirits being kidnapped, so why would they suddenly want to help us? It feels untrustworthy."

Han Xiao paused and said, "But it is also possible that Holy Stone has not compromised with DarkStar and really wants to protect us, but... the odds are not high."

He didn't say the main reason: the task requires surviving for two days to get the lowest rating, and only half an hour has passed. It is unlikely that support will arrive so quickly. His intuition told him that the Holy Stone's message was problematic.

Many people were thoughtful, but couldn't help but hold onto a fluke, their faces hesitant.

At this moment, a divergence appeared. Faserleni said in a deep voice, "I am willing to believe this message. Holy Stone has no need to deceive us. This may be the only opportunity. I have decided to go to the rendezvous point. What do you say?"

"I'm not going." Han Xiao shook his head decisively and looked at Goya. Goya hesitated for a while before nodding in agreement. Although some mercenaries on the ship had objections, they had to suppress their inner contradictions in view of the situation.

Pott hesitated for a while, but finally refused, choosing to listen to Han Xiao's opinion.

Faserleni frowned, "Good luck to you all."

With that, the Purple-Gold spaceship suddenly deviated from its course and headed towards the rendezvous point, quickly disappearing from sight, parting ways.

Han Xiao breathed out and said in a deep voice, "DarkStar reinforcements will arrive soon, and our area of activity will become smaller and smaller. Continuing to stay on the surface will only make the situation worse. We must go underground. The detector recorded all the terrain we just passed and found several fault valleys and ground fissures. There is a lot of space beneath the surface of this planet, and the environment is complex, with many obstacles. The limited space is our restriction, but also the pursuers' restriction. Moreover, the soil can isolate direct detection from the mothership, providing us with a layer of cover..."

He had a rough guess about the subsequent situation. The situation was not optimistic. Reinforcements were only DarkStar's first step. Next, there would be restricted areas, forming encirclements, and carpet bombing, forcing them to change their routes, etc. After thinking about it, Han Xiao believed there was only one feasible way to persist for two days: break up into smaller groups.

DarkStar's target was all the mercenaries. Two spaceships were two targets, but if they were dispersed in a way that could not be detected, every mercenary would be a target. This would definitely lead to unfortunate casualties, but it would also increase DarkStar's search time, since trying to save everyone was unrealistic.

"Do as you say." Goya trusted him very much.

Han Xiao steered the spaceship, staring intently ahead. Soon, a long ground fissure valley appeared at the end of his vision, as if the gray earth had opened its mouth, pitch black like an abyss. From a distance, it was just a crack, but as he flew closer, he realized that the width of the fissure was as much as several dozen meters.

Whoosh—

The Sky Ring spaceship swooped down and flew into the fissure, the view turning pitch black.

The detector outlined the terrain in the darkness. After flying down two or three hundred meters, many caves appeared on both sides of the valley. He found a suitable cave and flew into it. Inside was an underground space, leading to the distance.

There was a huge space underground on this planet, with complex passages crisscrossing, covered with jagged rocks and traces of weathering. It had been silent for countless years, welcoming visitors for the first time.

The Blade spaceship followed suit, and the Floating Fleets also chased down, the speed inevitably decreasing. Flying in this complex environment required extremely high reaction speed, and the space was limited. The Floating Fleets had to form a long snake formation. Restricted by the space, nearly 90% of the warships in the team were blocked by their teammates in front, unable to fire. The intensity of attacks on the two ships immediately dropped to a lower level.

The two ships flew into the underground in time, escaping the surface encirclement that DarkStar was preparing to implement.

The Purple-Gold spaceship was still lingering on the surface, arriving at the rendezvous point with some close calls along the way.

Faserleni initiated a communication request to the channel that released the rendezvous message.

"Holy Stone Third Detachment, please answer. I have arrived at the rendezvous point. Where is the support unit?"

He repeated it again and again, but the Holy Stone side no longer responded, remaining silent and unresponsive. His face gradually changed, and he was covered in sweat.

The Purple-Gold spaceship dared not stop, circling around the rendezvous point like a headless fly, until DarkStar's reinforcements surrounded them from all directions. Faserleni turned pale, realizing that there was no support at all. Black Star was right, and he had lost his gamble.

Bang bang bang!

Rain of bullets flew!

Before long, the Purple-Gold spaceship crashed to the ground, smoking. The hatch opened, and the mercenaries inside fled outwards, but warships hovered in the sky, and DarkStar soldiers landed on the ground, encircling them. There was no way to escape.

The struggles of Faserleni and others did not cause any ripples and were easily subdued, escorted onto the spaceship and sent back to the mothership.

Everyone on the two ships traveling underground witnessed the encounter of the Purple-Gold mercenaries. The fate of friends who had fought together was uncertain, and everyone couldn't help but feel a sense of shared sorrow.

If Han Xiao hadn't insisted on his own opinion, their fate would have been the same.

The mercenaries looked at Han Xiao with even more trust.

"I warned them..." Han Xiao said helplessly.

Faserleni was willing to gamble, and there was nothing he could do. He couldn't jump onto the Purple-Gold spaceship and take control.

But from a benefit point of view, this could buy them some time. DarkStar had gained something, and their urgency would decrease somewhat.

...

On the Streaming Light, the screen showed the scene of the Purple-Gold spaceship crashing. Xiwa Di shook his head, "Only one ship was captured, what a pity."

The rendezvous message was issued by his subordinates at his direction in order to mislead the mercenaries, so they reveal a vulnerability, so that DarkStar could capture them easily. But he didn't want to help DarkStar. Xiwa Di felt that these mercenaries could definitely not escape, and being captured was only a matter of time. He was just accelerating the process. The sooner the mercenaries were captured, the sooner DarkStar could leave.

The Holy Stone and Black Crow army groups were waiting here. These mercenaries were making futile struggles, also wasting their time, forcing the armies of the two civilizations to continue staying here to monitor them, increasing their workload and bringing risks. Xiwa Di just wanted DarkStar to get lost as soon as possible. Implementing such a decision was entirely out of his own interests.

Moreover, this move did not officially interfere and did not count as truly helping DarkStar. It was just sending a message, which was harmless.

As for what DarkStar's plans were, he really didn't care. DarkStar and they were like water and oil, not interfering with each other. No matter what conspiracy they carried out, only Godora would suffer. Holy Stone had no obligation to help Godora eliminate its enemies, and Xiwa Di didn't want to cause any more trouble.

It was a pity that the mercenaries did not all fall for it.

"Report, commander, the target has entered the underground, and we cannot observe direct images."

"Continue to stand by." Xiwa Di shook his head.

Once they entered the underground, they couldn't see the specific images. All they could do was wait.

...

In the dark underground space, beams of light flashed, all from high-speed spaceships and warships.

Rumble!

The rock walls were hit by lasers, causing partial collapses. Many stones hit the shields of the Sky Ring spaceship, making dull sounds, and were crushed into stone powder by the high-speed passing spaceship.

The underground chase lasted for several hours. Due to the limited space, larger warships could not enter, and DarkStar could only use Floating Fleets to chase.

The underground space was extremely winding and pitch black. They could only rely on the vague images from the detector to avoid obstacles. Han Xiao concentrated highly and did not crash along the way. The Floating Fleets behind him made more and more mistakes. Warships crashed into rock walls, stone pillars, or stone beams from time to time. Gravel splashed, and explosions were endless. The contrast was obvious. The pursuing troops gradually could not see Han Xiao's taillights and were left far behind.

The Blade spaceship was not so lucky. It was still entangled by the pursuing troops, making people feel terrified. Pott's operation made people uncomfortable. The Blade mercenaries wished they could change ships.

Coincidentally, the people of Sky Ring thought so too.

"I can't see the Floating Fleets, I can only hear the sound. They are still chasing." Han Xiao glanced at the rear view and said, "After dragging for several hours, DarkStar's patience is almost at its limit."

"We... are almost... at our limit..."

Melos was almost exhausted and could only finish a complete sentence intermittently.

His condition was considered good, at least he could still speak. Beside him, the Sky Ring mercenaries lay on the ground like dead pigs, their eyes blank, and white foam kept pouring out of the corners of their mouths. Their hands and feet twitched from time to time. The ground was full of ice residue... well, the ice that had been used to freeze their legs to fix them had been shattered.

Just as Han Xiao was about to say something, the underground space shook violently!

Rumble—

Explosions came from all directions. For a time, it was like the earth was shaking!

"This is... bombing?" Goya mustered her spirits, her tone slightly changed.

"Yes, it should be like this. DarkStar is starting to bomb the surface, wanting to cause a chain reaction, causing the underground space to collapse, thereby forcing us back to the surface, like driving mice out of their holes. When the surface encirclement closes, we will have nowhere to escape."

Han Xiao's tone was calm. He had speculated about such a development and could remain calm when it happened.

"Is there no way out?!" Goya looked unwilling.

"Using the spaceship to drag for several hours is already the limit."

Taking a deep breath, Han Xiao slowly said, "Abandon ship."

Everyone's expressions changed drastically. The spaceship was their only support. If they abandoned ship, it would mean completely losing mobility and truly becoming turtles in a jar.