The First Order
chapter-1246

When the stellar gate opened, Midnight, who was summoned from the other side, immediately understood Ren Xiaosu's will.

Without any hesitation, it pounced towards Dusk, who was stomping towards Ren Xiaosu. The two humongous beasts, which rarely revealed themselves to the world, clashed, and even the ground felt like it was about to cave in.

Qing Zhen and Xu Man looked at this sight in a daze and felt an unprecedented shock.

Even Zhou Qi and Luo Lan, who already knew about Midnight, once more felt their hearts palpitate inexplicably at the sight of this huge creature.

How many superhumans in the world could contend against such a monster? Probably not that many.

The power of superhumans had always been unpredictably strange. Most of their powers were immaterial and not intuitive to the eye.

But now, Midnight's strength was clear as day, and it had surpassed the power of mere mortals.

In the past, Xu Man felt that even if Ren Xiaosu were really powerful, he still couldn't fight an army.

But Xu Man realized it was very difficult for him to get a clear grasp of how strong Ren Xiaosu was. The steam locomotive, White Mask, the ability to blast through that dark cloud earlier, and many other things they had never even heard of before.

The other party was just like a real magician, always able to come up with surprises.

Didn't they say that superhumans could only possess one type of power? Xu Man had heard of some people possessing two powers, but even that was already considered rare. So what was with the myriad powers Ren Xiaosu wielded?

So this was what the No. 001 Experimental was?

Honestly, Xu Man was unaware that the superhumans he had heard about who possessed two superpowers were actually linked to Ren Xiaosu as well.

One of them was Xu Xianchu, who carried a black cauldron, while the other was Wang Congyang, who also carried a black cauldron.

Rumbling erupted in the wilderness. When the two behemoths tussled and bit at each other, clouds of dust surged into the sky. Shockwaves were stirred up, and even the color of the world seemed to have changed.

Qing Zhen and company looked on as though they had been transported into an alien world. It was so bizarre.

Midnight and Dusk had spent more than 200 years of their lives together and were both familiar and close to each other.

Luo Lan watched the two behemoths embroiled in fighting and suddenly said, "If they are both Ren Xiaosu's pets, Ren Xiaosu will definitely be very sad that Zero made them fight, right?"

Zhou Qi pursed his lips. "You're still in the mood to be sentimental at a time like this? We might not even survive this, so don't worry about them being his pets."

Luo Lan glanced at him. "I still think you were more likable back at the silt farm."

Zhou Qi shut his mouth and stopped talking.

At this moment, Ren Xiaosu actually drove the steam locomotive back to where Luo Lan and company were. "Get on."

As Ren Xiaosu spoke, he did not look at them. He stood at the front of the steam locomotive and silently observed Midnight and Dusk. From time to time, he would check his surroundings.

He didn't look like he had any intention of helping Midnight.

Not far away, Dusk suddenly kicked Midnight away and tried to pounce directly on Qing Zhen. But before it could get away, Midnight pounced on it from behind again. The two huge lizards rolled and bit each other in the wilderness, with neither of them able to shake off the other.

If no others intervened in this battle, the two leopard geckos would probably end up brutally injured and exhausted. Neither of them would survive.

But Ren Xiaosu still did not make a move.

Before Qing Zhen got onto the train, he asked Ren Xiaosu, "What are you waiting for?"

Or rather, did Ren Xiaosu have his guard up against something?

Ren Xiaosu gave Qing Zhen a steely look. "There's other threats."

Before leaving, P5092 had spoken with Ren Xiaosu. He told Ren Xiaosu, "Future Commander, this trip to the Southwest is actually very dangerous. You and I have already experienced the computational power of that AI. So, all our future plans won't go too smoothly, and that's not something we should be surprised about."

Ren Xiaosu asked, "Are you saying the AI won't allow me to take Qing Zhen away from the Southwest so easily?"

"That's right," P5092 nodded and said, "Even if the AI looks like it can't be rivaled anymore and is capable of destroying everything by just sending in a horde of people, in the face of such disheartening power, many people forget the AI is actually the most scheming 'person.' Sometimes, the way it approaches scenarios may be much more intricate than what we can predict."

"So what do you want me to do?" Ren Xiaosu asked.

"I only hope that Future Commander, regardless of what obstacles you might encounter, will leave the battlefield immediately and not let your mind linger on battle. Furthermore, you'll have to pay attention to your surroundings at all times and be careful of the AI's contingencies." P5092 turned to Wang Yun and said, "I keep getting the feeling that the AI has some contingency plans. Can you recall if there's any forces in the Central Plains that we've neglected but might be under the control of the AI?"

Wang Yun cycled through his memories. "We haven't seen the Wang Consortium's special forces unit that goes by Sharp Arrow yet. I don't think the AI will deploy them as basic troops, right?"

P5092 shook his head. "That unit consists of only standard soldiers. Under the control of the AI, anyone can have the skills of the special forces. Perhaps their physical fitness can't compare to those soldiers, but special forces soldiers aren't really going to matter here. Are there any others?"

"Many superhumans hiding in the Central Plains still haven't reappeared," Wang Yun replied.

P5092 thought for a moment and said, "We have to be wary of that. Based on what we know, the AI is unable to control superhumans. However, no one can be sure that this is a universal truth. If superhumans rely on their willpower to refuse being controlled, what if the AI captured a superhuman and tortured them until their will breaks? Future Commander, you have to look out for this."

Ren Xiaosu nodded.

P5092 asked again, "Any more, Wang Yun?"

Wang Yun cycled through his memories over and over again in his mind. The doors in his memory palace opened and closed one after another. Wang Yun was running through a maze of narrow passageways.

He suddenly said, "The nanosoldiers, the 2,000 Qing Consortium nanosoldiers who went missing after the Battle of Mt. Zuoyun. They are extremely well-equipped and each of them is armed with a 40 millimeter grenade launcher. Their physical fitness can be comparable to a T3 combatant inside the duration of a five-minute battle."

P5092 said to Ren Xiaosu, "That's right, not only can the nanomachines control humans, but they can also enhance their physical fitness. Future Commander, you have to be careful of the troops formed by the nanosoldiers. The AI might have enough strength to form such a force. Moreover, it wasn't easy for the Qing Consortium to gather those 2,000 40 millimeter grenade launchers back then. They're carrying a lot of ammunition with them as well. Any superhuman who faces a unit with such highly mobile firepower will probably get destroyed."

In P5092's opinion, the artificial intelligence must be expecting Ren Xiaosu to take Qing Zhen and Luo Lan away. Therefore, it must have prepared a contingency plan.

The artificial intelligence would surely not have been sitting idle while the Northwest was organizing the evacuation and the Southwest was building the Three Mountains defensive line.

Therefore, Ren Xiaosu did not participate in the battle between Midnight and Dusk at this moment because he was waiting for Zero's contingency plan to be effected.

At this moment, khaki-colored armored vehicles and military transport trucks appeared on the horizon from all directions. Ren Xiaosu could imagine them filled with heavily armed nanosoldiers and even be equipped with the most extreme gear that individual combatants could carry.

The Southwest and Northwest were fighting blind now. They did not have any satellites or reconnaissance troops. Therefore, while they were busy retreating and defending, Zero took the opportunity to get many of its plans in order.

If not for P5092's reminder to Ren Xiaosu, Ren Xiaosu would have participated in the battle between Midnight and Dusk, and it would probably have become very difficult for him to discover these enemy troops that had suddenly arrived.

Once they got surrounded by the heavy firepower of the 2,000 nanosoldiers, even Ren Xiaosu would die here.

Let alone 2,000 nanosoldiers, even if only 500 of them came, he might not be able to leave this place alive. Once the grenade launchers started firing nonstop, who could survive the bombardment?

Ren Xiaosu said to Qing Zhen and company, "Get on, we're leaving."

Luo Lan asked, "Wait a minute, what about your pets?"

Ren Xiaosu shook his head. "There's no other way. Perhaps Zero's objective in intercepting you and me this time is to kill Midnight here."

Midnight was now Ren Xiaosu's greatest contingency plan. Without Midnight, it was equivalent to weakening Ren Xiaosu's combat strength by half. He would have to return to fighting one-on-one with his opponents.

However, Ren Xiaosu could not understand why Zero was doing this. If Midnight died but not Dusk, he would only need to use the Prosperous Northwest incantation again, and Dusk would still break free from Zero's control.

That was what happened to Midnight the previous time. Although Zero did not know what a summoning spell was, it could surely make a rough guess, right?

Wait a minute! Ren Xiaosu froze.

When he went to the Central Plains previously, Zero had asked him if he had to choose between saving Dusk and Luo Lan, who would he choose?

Actually, the point of that question was to choose between a friend of the same species or a pet of another species.

Likewise, if it were Zero that was transposed into the question, it would be the point of contention that Ren Xiaosu and Zero had always had. Would humans treat creatures of other species as their equal companions? If there was a situation where they could only choose one of two, how would humans make their choice?

Zero had been forcing Ren Xiaosu to make such choices over and over again as though it was just to tell him that it was not in the wrong. From the beginning, it was only fighting for the survival of itself as a civilization. That was all.

Ren Xiaosu looked dejectedly at Midnight who was still fighting for him. He felt extremely complex emotions spreading within him.

Stay behind and fight alongside Midnight? Even if it meant facing death?

At this moment, even if Ren Xiaosu were unwilling, he had to admit that Zero was actually right about some things. It was very difficult for humans to exist on equal footing with other species.

However, there might not necessarily be equality between people either. Pursuing absolute equality was in itself a wrong philosophy.

Midnight suddenly broke away from Dusk and turned around to look at Ren Xiaosu.

Ren Xiaosu could see a hint of a smile behind its almost human-like expression. Then Midnight went back to fighting Dusk again.

That smile was as though Midnight was saying, "Hurry up and leave."

Ren Xiaosu was unsure if this was what Midnight was telling him or if he had just imagined it to console himself.

Zero did not seem to be doing all of this to kill anyone but to inflict gut-wrenching pain upon Ren Xiaosu.

As the nanosoldiers approached from all directions, Ren Xiaosu could already see the ginkgo leaf logo on the vehicles from afar. He was sure these were indeed the nanosoldiers the Qing Consortium had lost previously.

The steam locomotive started moving and heading north at full speed.

A loud explosion boomed behind them. It was the sound of grenade launchers bombarding Midnight and Dusk. It was as though Zero intended to finish off these two behemoths together.

Ren Xiaosu got down from the roof of the steam locomotive and headed inside. He said to Qing Zhen, "Mr. Zhang said that you're of extreme importance. I hope you won't disappoint us after the Northwest sacrificed so much to pick you up."

Luo Lan looked out the window and suddenly said, "Wait a minute, I've roughly estimated the number of nanosoldiers that surrounded us. Something doesn't feel right."

Xu Man answered straightforwardly, "There's only a 1,000 soldiers here, but we're still not capable of going up against that number."

Luo Lan said, "I understand that, but where are the other thousand nanosoldiers?"

Translated by: Legge

Edited by: weirdo