2197 Trapped Tiger
…
This was a clean and peaceful suite.
The wool carpet that was paved on the entire floor not only boasted a fine effect of noise absorption, heat blockage, and moisture removal, but it also had the amazing function of massaging the acupoints and reducing exhaustion. When one set foot on them, they would immediately feel that the bottom of their foot was cool and comfortable.
The invaluable manual carpet as well as the myriad of furniture carefully made by masters were indicative enough of the level of the suite.
Looking out through the giant window that was on the opposite side of the velvet bed, one would be able to see a blue ocean with glittering waves on the surface, which looked like billions of swimming silver fish. Countless Heavenly Wing Birds were soaring free at will under the azure sky like clouds, leaving graceful curves behind them.
The Heavenly Wing Birds were a rare type of bird that could only be found in the Empyreal Terminus Sector, the capital of the Imperium. Their wings were so broad that they were almost a hundred meters long when they were fully outstretched. When such birds swooped, they would raise the magnificent sounds that were similar to tsunamis. So, they had been considered as a symbol of the royal family.
Illuminated by the sun, the ocean was reflecting the silver color in thousands of different hues and shades, which was also the unique view of the “Secret Silver Ocean”, a scenic spot in the capital.
If one were to take a deep breath, they could even smell the unique wind of the Secret Silver Ocean that was a mixture of the metal scent and the smell of fish. It was truly refreshing.
Everything implied that the building where the suite was at was located near the Secret Silver Ocean in the capital.
However, if the “giant window” was truly opened, one would find that it was just a vivid, enormous light beam.
Even the so-called “unique scent of the Secret Silver Ocean” was only slowly released by a synthetical air generator hidden at a corner of the ceiling.
In fact, whether or not the ocean was seen, there was not a single window in the entire suite.
However hard one might try to focus their soul and pierce outward, it wouldn’t be long before they hit the metal walls that seemed to be endless.
The iron walls that had been specially processed proved the true purpose of the suite underneath the elegant and peaceful appearance.
No matter how extravagantly it was decorated, how refreshing the ambiance was, and how respectful the servants who brought food and cater to other needs every morning and evening were, it was just a prison cell.
The “guest” in the suite, an old man who was as short as a monkey, and who had so many deep wrinkles on his face that his eyes were deeply buried in them, had long realized his situation.
But still, he stood before the light beam that had been disguised into a window and “looked afar” to appreciate the view of the Secret Silver Ocean of the capital as he enjoyed the fresh air brought by the “sea wind”.
In such a way, he maintained the keenness of his brain.
After a rest of ten minutes, the old man returned to the desk next to the “window”.
Out of reverence, or fear of his identity, his capturers did not take away his Cosmos Rings.
However, the very special interference arrays deployed in the suite had seriously jammed his Cosmos Rings and his soul, making it impossible for him to retrieve his crystal processors and crystal suits or to deliver a single telepathic thought to the outside world.
He could only work with an old crystal processor provided by his capturers—the special investigation committee.
The crystal processor had been blocked. It could not send any data to the outside world and could only receive the data from a few designated nodes on the Spiritual Nexus.
Also, the old man had no doubt that every word he wrote on the crystal processor would be seen by his capturers immediately.
Even so, after calming down and considering for a moment, he still wrote on from where he stopped earlier.
“… In the boundless sea of stars, the blockage of passes, mountains, and rivers that were commonly seen in the continent wars in ancient times is no more. Once the space gates are established or controlled, the attackers may choose the time and location of their attacks free at will.
“Thanks to their configuration, the modern deep-sky fleets boast a particularly remarkable self-sufficient ability. They can fight independently in space for dozens of years without relying on any planet. Once they attack a planet and plunder tremendous resources from it, the duration can be significantly lengthened.
“Therefore, the universal wars are wars where an attack is greatly accentuated. To maintain the existence and deterrence of the deep-sky fleets is the primary concern. In short, the defense is absolutely meaningless, conquering more habitable planets and resources planets that have been greatly sabotaged is meaningless, and the people on the surface of the planet and the resources buried deeply below the ground that cannot be readily collected and made use of are meaningless!
“When there are people, there will be territory; where there are no people, there will be no territory. The current strategy of the Covenant Alliance is to give away its territory to preserve its available forces. Despite the consecutive triumphs our army has achieved in the past ten years, the main-force fleets of the Imperium have never been greatly weakened and stricken. Our enemy can make a comeback at any moment!
“As long as they deal a heavy blow on our main-force fleets, the dozens of newly-recovered fleets and the thousands of logistics points that have to be protected by troops will immediately become the burdens of our army.
“If our army intends to divide the troops in the next two or three massive battles to protect the newly-recovered worlds and the logistics points, it will be very easy for the main-force fleets of the Covenant Alliance to attack and conquer us separately. We will lose the initiative of the battle, and the situation of the war will be completely reversed.
“Therefore, in the overall strategy for the next phase, we should not ease our wariness or even fantasize that the enemy will surrender. Nor should we care about the gains and losses of a planet or a Sector. Instead, we should maintain the pressure and harassment on the central worlds of the Covenant Alliance while we search for the main forces of the Covenant Alliance actively for a decisive battle.
“Only a complete victory in the decisive battle will mark a brand-new phase of the war.
“If things do not go well in the decisive battle, we should abandon the ten or so newly-recovered Sectors without any hesitation and retreat the defense line to ‘Shenying-Guhe’ to avoid the possibility of a total annihilation…”
The old man was silent for a long time like a statue as he approached this part. He erased “total annihilation” but wrote it again. Repeating the process for almost five times, he still kept the stunning conclusion there.
Although in such a weird atmosphere, the conclusion might be a proof that he was affecting the morale of the army, he still did not change!
Door knocks echoed from outside in a seemingly respectful way.
The old man saved the paragraph he just wrote and opened the door expressionlessly.
It was just like before. Outside of the suite was a dark metal pathway that led to an unknown place. The pathway seemed to have been surrounded by billions of tons of metals, and it was impossible to send a single telepathic thought through them.
He had sensed more than twenty fully-armed crystal suits within ten meters from him. When their attack rune arrays were activated, they would rain a storm of firepower on the enemy at any moment.
There was no telling how many more people were hiding in the darkness.
His servants and guards were all gone.
A new female soldier brought food to him. In every meal, or whenever he needed anything, it would always be a new female soldier who showed up. They were equally courteous, respectful, and humble before him, and naturally, none of them answered any questions that he asked.
However, the female soldier this time brought a new piece of message. The “vetting meeting” would begin an hour after the meal.
It came as somewhat a surprise for the old man because he had never heard the name “vetting meeting” before.
He was supposed to go to the special investigation committee in the capital to assist the investigation of the incident of the Blood Oath Alliance. He even planned to go to the Council of Elders and give a magnificent speech to the five hundred elders on the current situation in the frontline and the underlying threats below the ostensible peace. It was exactly because his capturers promised so that he left his fleet, his officers, and his soldiers.
But right now…
Held in custody in such a creepy, gloomy, and heavily-guarded prison first and forced to attend “vetting meeting” later?
Even though the old man had billions of tons of confusion and fury in his chest, he did not show any of it in his tranquil eyes.
He was not one of the so-called “experts” who had entered the Nascent Soul Stage and even the Divinity Transformation Stage comfortably based on astronomical resources in their own manors and who had a weak and barren mind despite their enormous strength.
He was an iron-blooded soldier whetted in the storm of bullets and cannonballs in the past two hundred years. Steel and fire had saturated his bones.
The temperature of the blowing wind was in the minus-a-hundred-degree zone in the Bitter Silence Sector, the magma in the Red Lotus Sector that erupted to thousands of meters high any moment, the thousands of kinds of fatal venoms in the infinite jungles of the Green Devil Sector, the terrifying alien species in the Broken Bones Space Zone… The most dreadful enemies had shaped him in the life-and-death battles together, transforming him from an unknown, delusional guy, who was often mocked by others to be a fool, into the “God of War” today!
Compared to the ferocious enemies he encountered in the past, the scheme of the special investigation committee, if there was ever one, was nothing but a gentle breeze in a summer afternoon.
As per his habit of the past hundred years, he finished the meal quickly with the speed of a soldier in three minutes, before he exercised for ten minutes to facilitate digestion and ensure every drop of food had been transformed into energy. Then, he sat down again and continued to write the article entitled “Strategies In the Next Phase Against the Enemy”.
The imprisonment, the harsh environment, and the unexpected “vetting meeting” did not seem to have any influence on the old general.
Half an hour later, he had basically established the framework of his article. However, without the touch up of his secretary, some of the sentences were still somewhat too crude.
Respectful door knocks echoed from outside again.
However, Lei Chenghu did not rise and open the door this time, because it suddenly occurred to him that the scoundrels who had come in the name of “vetting meeting” were not worthy enough to waste one second of his time.
As he expected, after three minutes of silence, the door was opened from outside without a sound, and three human-shaped spiritual puppets stepped in rigidly and stopped before him like dead people.
Shua! Shua! Shua!
Light and shadow flashed on the surface of the three human-shaped spiritual puppets, covering a vivid virtual membrane of light on them and manifesting three Immortal Cultivators who were wearing feigned smiles.
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