Rong Heng and his party arrived at planet b3024 in the evening. The main battleship was still hovering outside planet b3024, and the party landed on a transport ship.
The landing of the huge transport ship caused a commotion. Mori led his men to disperse the crowd before starting to load and unload the equipment on the transport ship.
Rong Heng and Hector took the three cubs straight to the repair shop.
Ruan Shiqing, who received the news in advance, waited, and the "Glory" landed in front of him. The cubs rushed down one by one and rushed into their father's arms. Ruan Shiqing patted their heads one by one and asked 09 to take them to the backyard to play, while looking at Rong Heng and Hector who came down one step behind.
His expression was slightly solemn. He led the two into the yard and pointed at the huge Zerg corpses: "They are all here."
The two of them went forward to take a closer look. All of these Zergs were dead, either with their abdomens blown open or their heads exploded. Almost all of them were killed with one or two shots. The people who did it had pretty good aim.
Hector didn't know the details yet, so he said in an admiring tone, "Who did it? These Zerg scouts are much more flexible than those clumsy combat soldiers who only know how to rush forward."
"09 and I killed him." Ruan Shiqing nodded at the armored walker that stopped on the other side. "It's a newly developed weapon. It's good to use it for training."
When Hector walked in, he noticed the huge armored walker, but he had never seen such a strange machine before, so he thought it was a device that Ruan Shiqing had bought from somewhere.
I didn't expect it to be a newly developed weapon.
If the timing was not right, he would have been eager to try it out.
"Are you not hurt?" Rong Heng lowered his eyes and looked at him.
In fact, he wanted to act more gentle, but His Royal Highness had never been gentle to anyone since he was a child, and the education he received since childhood taught him only toughness and iron-bloodedness.
So much so that even when you care about others, you seem stiff.
After he said it, he felt a little regretful.
It should be a little milder.
Ruan Shiqing didn't mind, and said jokingly: "Mr. Rong doesn't believe in my skills anymore. Although I definitely can't deal with the Zerg in terms of physical fitness, I still have brains and weapons. I won't get hurt if I deal with it."
"That's not what I meant." Rong Heng pursed his lips slightly, looking slightly annoyed: "Of course I believe you."
But when you start to like someone, it doesn't mean you can stop worrying about his safety just because you believe in his ability.
"I understand what Mr. Rong means." Ruan Shiqing curved his eyes at him: "I'm fine."
Only then did Rong Heng relax his brows.
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the topic returned to the Zerg. Ruan Shiqing asked curiously, "Hector just said this is a scout among the Zerg?"
Rong Heng nodded and explained to him, "The social structure of the Zerg is similar to that of bees. The queen leads the entire colony, and the males with strong reproductive ability are responsible for mating with the queen. The Zerg without reproductive ability serve as workers, responsible for defending the nest, finding food, caring for eggs, and feeding larvae. During these years of war, I have gradually deepened my understanding of the Zerg, and divided these workers into combat soldiers, scouts, and logistics soldiers according to different divisions of labor."
"These relatively small and agile Zerg are called scouts. Most of the time, they are responsible for gathering intelligence and are the vanguard of the Zerg. Whenever the Zerg launches an attack, they will definitely send out scouts to explore the battlefield situation."
Ruan Shiqing became more and more worried: "Then these Zerg scouts came to B3024 to explore the way? There will be a large Zerg force behind them? But why did it appear on B3024?"
His questions came one after another, but Rong Heng was unable to give a definite answer at the moment.
"It's possible." Rong Heng looked at the pile of Zerg corpses solemnly, and said in a dry voice: "In fact, in recent years, I have found that these Zerg have become smarter and smarter. Many of their behaviors can no longer be predicted according to previous behavioral patterns."
Therefore, even he couldn't guess what the purpose of these Zerg scouts appearing on the planet BB3024 was.
"We can only strengthen our defenses." Rong Heng finally said, "As for how these Zerg crossed the frontline area, I will send someone to investigate the situation as soon as possible."
Ruan Shiqing became more and more worried: "If it's just a small wave of Zerg, it's not enough evidence, but if, as you said, the Zerg force is still behind, then given the situation of B3024, it can't withstand the attack of a large number of Zerg."
"I will transfer a group of people to be stationed on planet B3024. They are all elite soldiers fighting against the Zerg on the front line." Rong Heng said seriously: "We can defend the front line, and we can also defend planet B3024."
His mind was calm and he did not waver in the slightest even when facing unknown dangers.
Ruan Shiqing was inspired by him, put aside his worries, and nodded, saying, "Then I will dissect these Zergs as soon as possible to see if I can find their weaknesses and develop more effective weapons against them."
"You don't have to feel so stressed." Rong Heng looked at him, his expression softening unconsciously: "Protecting the empire and the people is what a soldier should do. You have helped me a lot."
“It’s just what we can do.”
Ruan Shiqing came back, and his heavy heart was relieved. He asked, "Why didn't Xueqiu come back?"
"He... is still undergoing special training." When talking about Snowball with Ruan Shiqing, Rong Heng always felt guilty and short of breath.
But I couldn't help asking, "You seem to like him?"
"Well, Snowball is very likable." Ruan Shiqing did not hide his love for Snowball, even his eyebrows were dyed red: "Mr. Rong should like him too, right? Otherwise, he would not be so strict with him. The deeper the love, the more severe the criticism."
The deeper the love, the more severe the criticism.
Rong Heng was in a trance for a moment, and couldn't help thinking about his extremely strict mother. Since he was born, it was his mother who taught him. He never went to school for a day. From astronomy and geography to economic history, from fighting skills to military strategy, his mother taught him personally.
When he was young, he would sometimes envy other cubs for having a gentle mother who was not so strict and would hold the cub in her arms and comfort it gently when it cried.
But when he grew up, he gradually came to agree with his mother's approach.
"Yes." He nodded slightly, and couldn't help but say: "In comparison, Mr. Ruan is a little too doting on the cub."
Look at the backyard, three little guys are peeking around and trying to eavesdrop, which is really outrageous.
The cubs who inherited the blood of the ancient race were different from ordinary races. They were born with stronger bodies, smarter minds, and more powerful strength. Growing up step by step was the choice of ordinary races, but their path was destined to be extraordinary from the moment they were born.
The powerful force in the body is a double-edged sword. He should learn how to control and use it as soon as possible.
Ruan Shiqing also understood this truth, but he was not a native of this world after all, and he had no deep understanding of the power and glory of the four ancient clans. In his view, these cubs were just cubs.
He may become strong in the future, but he should also have a healthy and happy childhood.
But what Rong Sheng said was not wrong. The cub had a special status, so instead of protecting him under his own wings, it would be better to teach him how to fly.
Ruan Shiqing looked solemn, clasped his hands together and said, "But I can't be hard-hearted towards him. Can you please teach him more? When you train Snowball, just take him with you. In return, I can give you 20% of the factory's profits."
The man between a teenager and a young man, half a head shorter than him. When he put his hands together and made a serious request, he had to slightly raise his head, and his dark eyes looked at him steadily, full of trust.
Rong Heng's heart was burned. He turned away unconsciously, avoiding the other person's gaze: "We are friends, no need to be so polite."
After a pause, he added stiffly: "I will teach him well."
"Thank you very much." Ruan Shiqing gently invited him to stay for dinner.
Rong Heng secretly clenched his fists and almost agreed. But in the end, he still refused: "There are still some things that have not been dealt with. Hector and I have to go first."
"Then let's do it next time." Ruan Shiqing understood his busyness and watched him and Hector leave.
After quickly boarding the "Glory", Rong Heng let out a breath, said to Hector, "Let's go to Fita Manor", and hurried into the rest cabin.
Hector stared at his tense jaw and asked curiously, "Weren't you chatting happily just now? Why did you change your face so suddenly?"
Rong Heng locked himself in the rest cabin and raised his hand to press his heart.
The heartbeat under my palm was fast and hot.
When he closed his eyes, he could see the other person's hands clasped together, looking at him with trust, asking for help.
Leaning back against the cabin wall, he murmured in a low voice: "Noah, I like this planet more and more..."
And I am also falling more and more in love with someone on this planet.
When "Rong Guang" arrived at Fita Manor, Rong Heng had finally sorted out his emotions and expressions.
Mori had just returned from the factory. When he saw the two, he asked anxiously, "Are you sure they are Zerg?"
Rong Heng nodded and walked straight in: "Go in and talk."
The three of them sat down in the small conference room. Mori muttered to himself, "It turned out to be the Zerg. How did it bypass the defense line?"
"Compared to this, the more urgent matter at the moment is whether we should contact the military, right?" Hector put away his usual carelessness and said solemnly, "If we notify the military, they will definitely send someone to investigate, and then everything we have prepared here will be exposed to the public, and it will all be in vain."
But if the military is not informed, it would be tantamount to playing with the defense line of the entire empire.
Rong Heng was not as optimistic as he thought: "Do you think that if you report it to the military, someone will really take care of it? This is not Sikkim, it's just a remote garbage planet."
Compared to Hector's trust in the military, Rong Heng saw more dark sides: "We have people in the inner city. I have just confirmed that the inner city officials reported the news of the Zerg appearing on planet b30224 this morning. But after learning that the accident site was just a remote garbage planet, the first order issued was to block the news."
Hector and Mori looked stunned: "How could it be..."
"It's just a garbage planet. Those people won't care." Rong Heng said sneerily, "What they care more about is what kind of shock it will cause once the news of the Zerg appearing in the Central Region spreads. Moreover, the people on planet b30224 are all black households who are not allowed to see the light of day. Once officials come to investigate, the media will surely flock to it. When the truth that these garbage planets are full of gray people is exposed to the public, the impact will be no less than the appearance of Zerg in the Central Region."
Since the completion of the first generation energy center, it has been under the banner of environmental protection and human rights.
Of course, in the beginning, the energy center was indeed established to improve the living standards of the people of the empire. It is such a harmful thing to concentrate the garbage and waste from the prosperous planets on the barren planets and convert the garbage into new energy through the energy center.
In order to thank the troops and workers stationed on the garbage planet for their sacrifices, the government even spent a huge amount of money to build a prosperous city around the energy center and allowed the workers to be stationed there with their families.
But after a long period of development, institutional decay, capital injection, and expanding selfish desires, the existence of the energy center has long changed.
The Garbage Planet is gradually filled with gray people and is full of violence and crime.
In this decadent and declining empire, human rights are nothing more than a slogan used to attack political opponents and for political showmanship.
Human rights exist only in visible places. As for the invisible corners, who would care about them
Once these ugly truths are exposed, the masks that the capitalists have worked so hard to create will be torn off, and it may even cause a shock to the upper echelons of the entire empire.
That's why Rong Heng was certain that not only would the higher-ups not send anyone to investigate, but they would also keep the news strictly sealed.
"Then we can only rely on ourselves." Hector spread his hands: "The scouts have been sent out. I don't think those Zerg will just come and take a look around so easily."
"I have sent a message to Dares, asking him to bring his elite troops to B3024 as soon as possible. The safety of B3024 is not a problem." Rong Heng knocked on the table: "The more urgent problem is that we must find out the channel through which it sneaked into B3024 as soon as possible."
The journey from the front-line area to the b3024 planet is long, and this group of Zerg must make several jumps before they can arrive successfully.
"I'll have someone investigate this matter." Rong Heng leaned forward and looked at Hector: "After Dares arrives, it will be inconvenient for me to show up. Remember to ask Mori for the disguise capsule."
"There are so many troubles one after another." Hector curled his lips and muttered, "I always feel like I'm on a pirate ship."
He was a brigadier general, but there came a day when he had to wear a disguise capsule before he could see people.
"If you don't want to, you can go to Ota to find Galan by yourself." Rong Heng glanced at him lightly.
"Ok, I'll shut up." Hector raised his hands in surrender and made a gesture of zipping his mouth.
Although there are only a few habitable planets under the jurisdiction of the Ota Region, there are countless other planets. Garland always likes to find some remote and uninhabited planets for experiments. Who knows where he will hide this time. If he really relies on himself, he really can't find it.
Rong Heng was slightly satisfied and returned to his room alone.
After returning to the room, he did not rest, but called Lucien.
"Your Highness." Lucien's virtual image appeared in the room.
"Are there any abnormal situations in the area near the front line?" Rong Heng asked.
Lucien thought for a moment and shook his head: "I haven't received any news. But what happened?"
Rong Heng pondered for a while, and told him about the Zerg found in the Central District: "These two Zerg scouts, I suspect they somehow evaded the surveillance of the front line and were able to cross the defense line. Check if anyone has had any dealings with the frontline district recently."
Just now he had a guess that he hadn't said, which was that there might be a traitor inside the empire.
Since the Zerg already possesses intelligence, it is not surprising that they can cooperate with humans.
However, this guess was too shocking, so he didn't say it in front of Hector and Mori.
"There is contact with the frontline region..." Lucien stroked his chin and thought for a while, then said, "There is indeed one. A few days ago, news came from the Star of Sjarlan that the leader of the Mermaid Tribe brought back a shipload of Zerg corpses from Melches, allegedly for some experiment... But as far as I know, the Mermaid Tribe had no experimental projects on Zerg before."
Rong Heng pondered for a moment, looked him over, and said half-truthfully, "Lucien, your information network is more well-informed than I thought."
Lucien bowed slightly and said, "The Elders' Council has been waiting for six years, and we must do our best for Your Highness."
Rong Heng seemed to just mention it casually, skipping the topic and said, "Then I'll trouble you to send someone to Melchers to investigate."
"As you command." Lucien agreed, bowed once again, and then cut off the communication.
After seeing off Mr. Rong and Hector, Ruan Shiqing went to the backyard to see the cub.
The three cubs, who had just returned home, curiously surrounded the young cub sitting on the small chair.
The green-haired cub placed his hands on his knees, his head lowered, and the tentacles on his forehead swayed slightly.
The little fox stretched out his finger and gently poked the other's arm. "What's your name? Are you the new brother?"
The little dragon cub stared at the tentacles on the other's forehead in amazement: "You have horns too." He touched the short and thick dragon horns on his forehead and lowered his head to show them to the other: "I have one too!"
He even leaned forward and tried to bump into the other person.
The little mermaid gently pulled him and gestured, "Don't scare him."
The little dragon then gave up with regret.
"What are you doing?" Ruan Shiqing stood in the backyard passage, looking at him.
"dad!"
The three cubs gathered around his legs. The little dragon cub hugged his legs and looked up and asked, "Is that the new brother? Why is he ignoring me?"
The little fox wagged its big tail happily: "I'm going to be a big sister!"
"He hasn't learned to speak yet." Ruan Shiqing hesitated. There were so many little brats to explain.
During the days they spent together, he was sure that the cub could make sounds, but he didn't seem to be able to speak, and could only utter some unclear syllables occasionally.
The little mermaid was also very curious, and typed into the communicator: [What is his name? Where is he from?]
"It found its way home on its own. As for the name..." Ruan Shiqing realized belatedly that he had actually forgotten to name the cub: "I haven't remembered to name it yet."
He walked up to the cub who was looking up at him, squatted down and asked, "Did you originally have a name? If not, can I give you one?"
The cub stared at him for a long moment before nodding slowly.
Ruan Shiqing touched his head, thought for a while, touched the tentacles on his forehead, and said, "Let's call him Ruan Jiao? In ancient human language, Jiao and Jiao are homophones."
He slowed down and read the cub's name again: "Ruan... Jiao."
The cub looked at him, opened his mouth like him, and uttered unclear syllables. Although the words were very vague, Ruan Shiqing could hear that he missed "Ruan Jiao".
After only being able to utter unclear syllables twice in a row, the cub closed its mouth dejectedly, and its antennae drooped, swaying slightly.
Patting the cub's head, Ruan Shiqing said gently, "Don't be in a hurry, take your time."
…
The cubs accepted well the fact that there was a new cub in the family, especially the little dragon and the little fox, who felt like they had been promoted to a higher level and loved their new brother very much.
The two kids surrounded Ruan Jiao, one teaching him to say "brother" and the other teaching him to say "sister", like a competition. Ruan Jiao sat upright on a chair, looking at one and then the other, trying to imitate them, but the pronunciation was really strange, and no one knew whether he was learning "brother" or "sister".
But the two cubs still enjoy it.
Usually at this time, the little mermaid would sit not far from him, holding a thick book. After turning a few pages, she would turn her head to look at the playful cubs, with a cheerful smile on her face. With someone to keep her company, even the boring study became full of fun.
The only problem my little one is facing right now is sleeping.
Except for Snowball, the other three cubs all slept in the living room. In their eyes, Snowball was the eldest brother, and he had been sleeping with his father before he came, so there was no comparison between them.
But now little Ruan Jiao has occupied his father's big bed and stubbornly refuses to go to sleep by himself.
The little dragon cub patted his little pillow and was the first to protest: "Heri wants to sleep with Daddy too!"
"Nota wants one too!" The little fox also hugged the pillow.
Even the little mermaid in the pond raised her hands and let out a full-throated “Ah!”
The little cub hasn't slept with his father for a long time.
The cubs, fueled by a desire to compete with each other, held their pillows and squeezed onto their father's big bed.
That is to say, when Ruan Shiqing was buying furniture, he specially bought a bed that was big enough, otherwise it would probably not be able to accommodate four little ones.
Ruan Shiqing was in the middle, with the little mermaid sleeping on his left and Ruan Jiao lying on his right, with the little fox and the little dragon cub curled around his neck, and he was unable to move.
He turned off the light helplessly and said, "Are you satisfied now? Go to sleep quickly."
The satisfied little cub then fell asleep next to his father.