Akito scanned the wreckage of the Starships around the entire interstellar space station, and she immediately said, “The number of Starship wrecks here is not right!
The Starships I left behind at the main base are not this few!
This is only two-thirds of them; some must have escaped!”
Akito turned to Zhao Chen and pleaded, “Commander, may I borrow your Starship’s electronic communication equipment?”
“You may,” Zhao Chen permitted.
Akito immediately began operating it, and after a series of actions, the Starship’s electronic communication equipment captured a hidden signal.
Within this signal was a piece of information and a coordinate location.
“There are traitors... ***/ ***/ ***”
Zhao Chen looked at the message, then at Akito.
Akito said in surprise, “This is an internal code we set up. Once the main base is attacked, we immediately find a way to evacuate.
We had several evacuation points pre-reserved, and the evacuees would leave a hidden communication code in this area. Through certain means, this communication code would exist here for one week to one month!
Only by using the corresponding channel can these communication codes be received.”
“Could it be left by a traitor?” Zhao Chen asked.
Akito shook her head, “No, see the last symbol in this message? This represents the Vice-Commander of my mercenary group, and also the person I trust most.
Anyone could betray me, but not her.
Moreover, those guys had no need to deceive me. Before this, they must have thought their actions were foolproof.
In fact, if it weren’t for the Commander’s rescue, we wouldn’t have escaped.
So they had no need to go to the trouble of leaving this message.”
After Akito finished speaking, she looked at Zhao Chen with eager eyes.
“Since we’ve come all this way, we must find them, dead or alive, mustn’t we!” Zhao Chen immediately ordered, setting off again according to the coordinates mentioned in the communication.
Before departing, Akito kept staring at the ruins of the interstellar space station. Her expression was solemn, as if she was speaking to those who had sacrificed themselves.
Tens of minutes later, the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser arrived at the second coordinate location.
There was actually an asteroid here.
Although interstellar space is vast, one or two such asteroids can occasionally be encountered.
On the asteroid, several docked Interstellar Warship could be seen, their hulls bearing traces of battle.
These Interstellar Warship immediately entered a state of combat readiness due to the sudden appearance of the T3 Blizzard.
With Zhao Chen’s permission, Akito immediately used public communication to inform the other party of her identity.
The other party’s Interstellar Warship quickly lowered their hostility and immediately initiated a video communication link with Akito.
On the other side was a human female, who looked slightly older than Akito.
“Akito... I’m sorry, I... didn’t guard our base well!” Vice-Commander Sister Pei said with a look of guilt.
“Sister Pei! Tell me the current situation first!” Akito, on the contrary, was very calm.
Although many things had happened along the way, and Akito had been angry and despairing at times, she was always able to adjust her emotions quickly.
This is a very good quality!
Especially in commanding the Starfleet in combat.
“One day ago, our main base was suddenly attacked by an Starfleet.
At the same time, traitors appeared inside our main base. They colluded with these enemy fleets to cause destruction from within and without, leading to our almost instant collapse.
At that time, I could only lead the remaining Interstellar Warship, taking a small number of people, and escaping.
Luckily, we managed to escape successfully and hide here.” After Vice-Commander Sister Pei finished speaking, she looked at Zhao Chen beside Akito with some confusion.
Akito appearing here on an unfamiliar Starship was also something that puzzled her.
Akito then recounted what had happened to her and Zhao Chen’s rescue to Vice-Commander Sister Pei.
“Commander, thank you very much for your help!” Vice-Commander Sister Pei was first very surprised to hear that Akito had also been attacked; then, upon hearing that Zhao Chen had saved Akito, she immediately said gratefully.
Zhao Chen said, “Let’s evacuate quickly now; this is not a place to stay long.
If you don’t mind, you can temporarily take refuge in my interstellar territory.
My interstellar territory usually doesn’t have outsiders visiting because there is no Star Gate.”
Akito and Vice-Commander Sister Pei exchanged glances and both agreed to the suggestion.
Afterward, Akito also learned some detailed loss information from Vice-Commander Sister Pei.
Originally, the main base had nearly five thousand people, five hundred of whom were combat personnel, and the rest were all logistics personnel and slaves rescued by Akito, and so on.
This time, during the attack, only one thousand of the five thousand people managed to escape.
Those few Interstellar Warship were now completely packed with people!
The next step was to prepare to return to the Dragon Owl Territory.
But because Akito and Vice-Commander Sister Pei suggested returning to the main base to search for any valuable items that could be taken away.
After all, that was once their home.
Zhao Chen agreed.
The T3 Blizzard and these Interstellar Warship returned to the interstellar space station.
Zhao Chen and Akito were on the Bridge, watching the shuttle searching through the ruins of the interstellar space station on the screen. They would also collect the bodies of some companions.
They didn’t want to see their companions, after death, still drifting like lonely spirits in the vast universe.
“Let’s go, we’ll get something to eat at the Starship Mess Hall,” Zhao Chen said to Akito.
“I’m not very hungry,” Akito murmured.
Zhao Chen placed his hand on Akito’s shoulder: “I know you’re feeling very bad right now, but humans are made of iron and food is steel; at this time, you must take good care of yourself. This is the greatest tribute to those sacrificed companions!”
Hearing Zhao Chen say this, Akito finally followed Zhao Chen to the Starship Mess Hall.
Because they had to wait for a while, some of the crew members on the T3 Blizzard also got a chance to rest.
Akito was somewhat surprised by the clean and spacious Starship Mess Hall, especially when she saw the abundant food in front of the Half-Beastman crew members.
She couldn’t help but ask, “Is this the food your crew eats?”
“That’s right,” Zhao Chen nodded, using his authority to order a meal for Akito.
When Akito saw the fragrant food in front of her, she was very surprised: “Are these all foods made from natural crops?”
“Hmm, they taste very good,” Zhao Chen said.
Akito took a bite, and her eyes changed slightly. This was truly completely different from those nutritional meals.
“Are you curious about their identities?” Zhao Chen asked, eating and looking at Akito.
Akito hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Zhao Chen had noticed earlier that Akito would occasionally pay attention to the necks, ankles, and wrists of the female crew members who were eating, because those areas had traces left by long-term wearing of shackles, handcuffs, and collars.
“You’re right, they were all slaves once, bought by me, and became my crew members.
If you look at it from the perspective of ‘no buying, no killing,’ perhaps I am also one of those people you ‘hate’,” Zhao Chen said proactively.
Akito was stunned, momentarily unsure how to explain.
“If you can enjoy this kind of treatment, being a slave under Commander is not bad!” interjected a Half-Beastman female crew member from the next seat.
Then she looked at Zhao Chen and stuck out her tongue: “Excuse me, I wasn’t eavesdropping on Commander.
If Commander is angry, you can punish me!”
The surrounding Half-Beastman female crew members, who had all been secretly paying attention to the Commander, cursed inwardly, this little girl actually wanted to sneak a move!
But she was also bold enough to actually dare to flirt with Commander face-to-face!
