Chapter 158 Heard the News

"Heard the news about the Garton Star System recently?"

One of the stout Gedora people smiled and opened his mouth. He had a kind and amiable face. This man was named Keton. He was the owner of the place and used to work for the Gedora Investigation Bureau. He was dismissed for dereliction of duty and spent many years in prison. After being released from prison, he moved to the Gaoting colony star and has lived there ever since. The other two were his friends.

"Of course I've heard. The TV talks about disasters happening in many low-level civilizations in the star system every day." The other shook his head.

"It's none of our business. Why are you talking about this? You're not trying to steal a card while I'm not paying attention, are you?"

"Get lost." Keton said unhappily, then lowered his voice and whispered, "Remember what I told you before?"

"Which one?"

"About my deeds when I was still working in the Investigation Bureau."

"Hey, you've bragged about it hundreds of times. We're tired of listening."

Keton grinned. "Do you know that that planet is also on the disaster list? I wonder what it has become over the years. I want to go back and take a look. How about it, want to go together?"

"Are you sure? That planet isn't safe right now."

"The older I get, the more I want to see my past achievements." Keton laughed. "Besides, my old friend has been staying there. He can meet us and be our guide. Moreover, the rescue team is also there. We can pretend to be visitors or volunteer rescuers."

Hearing this, the two people's tones were surprised.

"No way, is he still staying on that native planet? Won't he die of boredom?"

"Silly, his life support pod can connect to the network. I've been in contact with him all the time. He..."

Keton rubbed his hands, a little excited. Just as he was about to continue, the doorbell suddenly rang, ding-dong, ding-dong, incessantly, startling all three of them.

"Who's looking for me so late?"

Keton looked puzzled, muttered, and came to the door. He looked at the surveillance peephole. There were several unfamiliar people outside, wearing combat uniforms with a circular pattern in the center of their chests. He seemed to have seen this symbol somewhere.

Opening the small window on the door, Keton showed his face and cautiously asked, "Who are you looking for?"

The other party glanced at him and asked, "Are you 'Golden Midderland'?"

Strange, how did these people know my online account nickname? Keton felt a little bad and denied it. Just as he was about to close the window, the person outside suddenly raised a laser pistol and aimed it at Keton's forehead through the window.

Keton's whole body stiffened, unable to move. His legs trembled involuntarily. He thought the other party wanted to break in and rob him. Before he could beg for mercy, he heard the other party's next sentence, and a chill of fear rushed to his heart.

"Do you remember Angley?"

"I, I don't... don't know..." Keton's eyes widened, his lips trembling. His panic at this time was completely different from before, as if this name carried a terrifying curse.

The person outside tilted his head. "It doesn't matter if you don't know him. If you don't want to suffer, come with me."

"Go... where?"

"Black Star wants to see you."

...

Several days later.

The Sky Ring mercenary团's spaceship was quietly waiting in the outer space of Hailan Star. Han Xiao drove the Blacklight Submersible, saw the other party from a distance, and docked.

In the cockpit were only Hannes and Bennett. It was their first time riding a spaceship into space. They stared blankly at the scene outside, experiencing this novel experience for the first time. From the ground to outer space, it only took a few seconds. Before they could recover, they had already flown into the universe.

Han Xiao told everyone else to stay on the surface. This trip was just a handover, and there was no need to mobilize people. The Sky Ring's progress was gratifying. Following the clues he had given, they found Angley's friend, who seemed to be named Keton. He seemed to know Angley's details. It took a lot of trouble to bring Keton out.

The spaceship docked, the hatch opened, and several Sky Ring mercenaries escorted Keton to meet Han Xiao and the others. The two sides greeted each other, and Han Xiao looked at Keton. At this time, the Gedora man looked panicked, his eyes full of fear.

"Don't be afraid, I just want you to tell me some information." Han Xiao took out Angley's portrait and said, "You know this person, right?"

Keton shook his head like a rattle.

The Sky Ring mercenary interjected, "I gave him a lie detector test. He's lying."

"You're so scared, you probably know some inside information. Then I'll ask you directly... Are you related to the previous war on Hailan Star?" Han Xiao raised his eyebrows, thinking that he might have caught the culprit.

"No! I've never heard of Hailan Star! You've caught the wrong person!" Keton's teeth chattered. Naturally, the others didn't believe him.

Han Xiao took out a metal chip the size of a fingernail, stuck it on Keton's neck, and then activated it with mechanical force. Keton trembled violently, his eyes rolled back, his body convulsed, he fell to the ground, and he lost control of his bowels.

"Let me introduce it." Han Xiao pointed to the metal chip. "After this little cutie is activated, it will release high-voltage electricity. It's very exciting. If you like this feeling, then never open your mouth and enjoy it slowly."

Electric shock was a violent interrogation. The panel showed Keton's attributes. He was just an ordinary person, not a superhuman.

Keton was like a fish on the shore, constantly jumping from the electric shock. After a few minutes, he burst into tears and begged for mercy, promising to tell everything he knew, only begging not to be tortured.

The others lifted Keton up and placed him on a chair to let him recover. They also put a lie detector on him. Keton's hands and feet were still shaking. He glanced at Han Xiao nervously and began to tell his story.

"I, I used to be a low-level member of the Gedora Investigation Bureau... That was decades ago. At that time, Gedora had just discovered the Hailan Star civilization. As usual, a low-level civilization that was still on the surface was mainly observed, and my job was to observe the development of this new civilization for a long time, and then make an assessment, which was submitted to the War Bureau or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a reference... This job was very easy, but it was also very boring..."

"Get to the point. What does the Hailan Star war have to do with you?" Hannes asked.

Keton's lips trembled, and he said in a low voice, "That, that was what I did. I took advantage of my position to find someone to go to Hailan Star and let him secretly provoke a war..."

"It really has something to do with Gedora!" Hannes was furious, and Bennett on the side also stood up suddenly, his face full of anger.

"How exactly did you do it?" Han Xiao felt a little strange.

Keton repeated it. The general idea was to pretend to be a visitor from a higher civilization, contact some countries privately, make some false promises, or emphasize some theories—in any case, it was easy for the natives to listen to what aliens from a higher civilization said. Then he secretly fanned the flames. During this period, he also encountered some people with ulterior motives, but the disguised envoy had an invisible spaceship and was not afraid at all.

At that time, Hailan Star had just learned that there were advanced civilizations in the interstellar space. It was a time when the worldviews of people all over the world were being impacted, and the global pattern was in chaos. If it evolved naturally, there might be a chance to stabilize again, and the countries would deepen cooperation and enter a new era by peaceful means. This was a rational approach.

But at this juncture, aliens were secretly fueling the flames and exacerbating the contradictions. As long as the spark of war was ignited, it would spread like wildfire. Even countries that did not want to go to war would be swept into the vortex and unable to stay out of it.

In the end, Hailan Star broke out in the great war of the old era, leaving only six countries. The theory of internal friction was the source, but more importantly, the "envoys of advanced civilizations" guided the direction, leading the development of civilization to the path of war. Most of the records of the envoys were destroyed.

Hannes had previously made a guess about this. At this time, he felt that his guess had been verified, and he was extremely angry. Bennett was the same. They were people who had experienced the war, and at this time, they felt a chill in their bones.

The civilization that is now helping Hailan Star was actually the mastermind behind the scenes who plotted against them in the past. Why would an interstellar civilization do this? Was it to annex Hailan Star? Or was it to eliminate potential enemies?!

"What about Angley?" Han Xiao frowned and asked.

"He and I have been friends since childhood. We used to go to the Public Cognition Academy together, but I had excellent grades and was admitted to the academy under the Investigation Bureau. Later, he moved away from his home planet and we didn't see each other for a while, but we still had a good relationship. I asked him to cooperate and let him pretend to be an envoy, while I stayed in my position to cover for him."

Han Xiao was about to nod, but suddenly realized something was wrong. His eyes flashed, and he said in a deep voice, "Why was it Angley who pretended to be an envoy? He's just an ordinary citizen."

He had discovered a suspicious point. If this was done by Gedora, they would definitely send professional personnel. How could they choose Angley? Did Angley have another identity?

...

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