The first day Opal returned to the Grip of Light was a cloudy day, with light rain, and New Phoenix shrouded in a dark cloud. Allen led the government officials to wait on the central apron in person and unloaded the signal device.
The Meteorite Emperor and government are unified, and all government affairs are carried out by the military logistics department. The senior civilians are directly under the command of the generals of the four major legions. Walking beside Allen, the Opal is only one hundred and forty centimeters now, and Allen had to bow his head slightly when talking to him.
"The teacher asked me to cooperate with you." Opal said: "Win the upcoming battle."
Allen said: "With you supervising the battle on behalf of His Majesty, the morale of the entire army will be unprecedentedly high. I will go and show you the army list later."
Opal said: "No need, I will trust whoever you trust, when will the combat deployment meeting start?"
Allen said: "His Majesty sent a communication from the Nemesis, let us prepare now, and the preliminary estimate will be to hold an all-star defense operation meeting in three days."
Opal nodded and said, "I'll stay in New Phoenix for this time."
Allen gave Opal a communicator and said, "If you have any developments, please feel free to contact me."
Opal patted Allen's arm and said with a smile: "Then we will take care of each other in the days to come, comrade-in-arms."
Allen smiled and said, "Please take care of me."
Opal was in a good mood. He returned to the top floor of the Meteorite Palace and stood by the fountain overlooking the entire city of New Phoenix. Under the rainy sky, everything was in order, and the whole city was thriving.
Assisting the Grip of Light to defend against the Republic's attack did not violate the mission given to him by Rector, but he did not know when Recht would take the initiative to contact him—the Dragon Ray was now in the space not far from Iszur.
Perhaps not even Rector could have imagined that the empire that Cororin had built had reached such a scale. Opal couldn't help thinking that once the purpose of his mission was achieved, what would Recter do with the empire after destroying Cororin
You are his only heir. Recht's voice resounded in his mind: Everything can only be left to you.
Opal immediately became nervous, looked up at the sky, the thick clouds dissipated, and a few beams of light were cast towards New Phoenix behind the clouds, illuminating the whole city full of vitality, and the ground after the rain was refracting the sun under the scorching sun.
There was a flash of light in the blue sky behind the dark clouds.
Opal: Teacher? where are you
Rector's voice was clearer than ever: I'm just outside the Iszur system, and Cororin didn't come back with you. What's his plan
Opal walked to the fountain and sat down, and replied: He said he planned to go to the base of the carina and steal the food back. Where is the food
After a brief silence, Rickett said: "Sure enough, I have thrown myself into the net. It is more direct than I thought. Ledgerson has used his power in the carina to set up a net to wait for him.
Opal: Will he die
Rector: No, I promise you won't.
Opal breathed a sigh of relief, the haze that had been pressing in his heart for a long time disappeared, and said: Thank you, teacher.
Rector: Ledgerson will ask the Pope to put him in the prison of the Holy See, and you can visit him later if you have time.
Opal was silent for a while and asked: How long will he be locked up
Rector: Maybe forever, we're going to let him reflect in the Church of the Stars until he changes himself. Does he have any other plans besides Carina? I think he should have left behind, and now we can't make the slightest mistake, we must take every step and be careful.
Opal: Yes, he guessed it was in Ledgerson's hands, otherwise it would be in yours. If there is no gluttony in Ledgerson, he will prepare to divide his troops in the war, and divide two aircraft carriers to attack the silver-gray galaxy, so that Tifeng will fight, and you will also support them. He wants to lead you to the Republic. On the site, use the environment to contain you, and then get gluttonous...
Rector: He's so arrogant, I don't believe he can beat Tifeng.
Opal: Ithone also said it was a risky move.
Opal didn't say anything else, Rector said again: The Republic is about to invade Iszur, what are your plans
Opal asked: I don't know, he asked me to stay here to help Allen deploy ground defense, what should I do
Rector: Then you stay on the Rotary Grip and hold him steady.
Opal hummed, and Recht said: After he is imprisoned, you will become the next king of the Meteorite Empire. This is also arranged by Ledgerson, and the burden will be placed on you.
Opal: "… "
Lecter: I suggest that you disband this system and place it under the regime of the Republic or Empire. If you don't want to maintain the current situation, I will take you away, let Iszur fend for itself, and then everything will come to an end.
Opal: Let me think about it.
Rector: Our mission is coming to an end, and Cororin may be captured at the base of the carina. Otherwise, he will end his imperial career in the silver-gray system, and the sanctuary of the stars will remember everything you have done.
Opal didn't answer. He wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to say it. After a long time, he asked: Why did he attack the silver-gray galaxy
Rector: Because it's the hometown of Cullens, Levi, Simmons and Tifeng, Tifeng will definitely play.
Opal looked up at the sky, and Recht said: Stay here, Opal, and tell me your choice after the war is over. I got a trip to Carina and was prepared.
Opal nodded, then realized that Lecter couldn't see his movements, and the connection between the two had been cut off when he tried to speak again.
He lay by the fountain for a while, thinking of many things, thinking of Raymond, thinking of Azeroth, thinking of the dead gray wolf, the comrades and brothers of the once mercenary country are very far away from him, only a vague silhouette, but he still remembered.
He got up and ran into the palace and into the gallery. Cororin might not come back, so he had to hurry up and do his own business.
He opened the information retrieval device and typed in the vast ocean of images: Replicant technology.
A large line of characters flashed on the light screen: The search content was not found.
Opal entered again: Ivory Tower II Proving Ground.
The result is still: Search content not found.
Opal frowned slightly, Ke Luo Lin did not keep any information about this? Are you afraid that Rickett will find out? But he is now the king of meteors, so even if he secretly develops replicants, no one will be able to track him down, right
Perhaps he is afraid that the development of replicant technology will cause unanimous boycott by all the members of the Covenant, causing the Empire and the Republic to join forces to attack him? It is possible.
Opal gave up the idea of finding out about making Raymond's technology, and planned to wait until it was all over before asking him.
If Recht succeeds, then he will arrest Cororin in the Holy See, what should he do next
After so much, Opal can't bring up too much passion for adventure and the future. Maybe Coroline will be very angry because of his betrayal... But he is mentally prepared. He was still very grateful to Recht, after all, he didn't put him in a dilemma, which might be the best way to kill Coroline.
To accompany him outside the prison of the Holy See? Atonement with him? At that time, many questions that can't be asked now can be asked, including the already sacrificed Raymond... If possible, can Ledgerson lose his memory about Raymond to Cororin? So that means Raymond is resurrected? But Raymond used to be Cororin, but with more memories of Raymond, who is it
His thoughts were in a mess, and he sat in the palace for a while, and then realized that this was not the time to think about it, so he went out for a walk.
He went into Corinthian's room and planned to find a set of clothes to wear. When he opened the closet, he found that it was full of new clothes made for him. Eleven, twelve... until eighteen.
Opal was silent for a moment, then took out a set and put it on. It was similar in shape to Coroline's royal robe—a black mid-coat with a knee-length coat, buttons fastened from the neckline to the hem, and black trousers.
Simple robe style, Opal looks in the mirror, like a miniature version of Cororin, his hair is a bit long, call a domestic service robot, cut his hair very short and energetic, and return to Meteor after lunch Building, enter New Phoenix.
All the soldiers he saw along the way were saluting him, Opal nodded to them, went to the lobby on the first floor, found someone and asked: "When I arrived at the Grip of Rotation on the first day, a soldier sent me a new one. Phoenix…”
The civilian called up the record of the day and said, "Lieutenant Robin, who belongs to the Meteorite Legion's Capital Guard Corps, the 208th Team of the 71st Army, let him come here immediately."
Opal said: "No need, where is he?"
Civilian officials reviewed the records and said: "His unit is in charge of the West Sixth Sector and is on duty in the Andechios Mountains."
Opal asked for the address and said, "Give me a hover car, I plan to go out for a walk."
The hover car was waiting outside the Meteorite Building. Opal got into the car alone, threw the big sword in front of the car, and drove around the city. This is the first time he has truly integrated into this place after arriving at the Grip of Rotation Light, and began to feel it. The country that Cororin built.
New Phoenix is so different from what he imagined, it feels like a remake of a place... Fiery Star.
"Have some coffee?" the owner of the beverage shop asked, "Little boy, this car doesn't look like your own. Where did you get it?"
Opal smiled, got out of the car and entered the garden drink shop. He saw a soldier chatting and drinking tea with a handsome young man. When the two saw him, the officer sat in his seat and bowed slightly.
The boy smiled and asked the officer, who was supposed to be asking who he was, but the officer laughed and teased him. Opal ordered a cup of coffee and looked at the road outside. It had just rained, the road was wet, and the air was full of freshness.
"Is it spring now?" Opal said. "Why isn't there a robot waiter here?"
"Most of the new Phoenix is human service." The boss said: "Are you out of town?"
Opal smiled and said, "I just stayed in school for too long and just came out to get some air."
"This is local coffee." Another woman next door said, "It tastes good. If you like it, you can bring some back for your parents to try."
Opal said politely: "Thank you, but I don't have parents, only teachers."
The people in the garden restaurant looked at him and laughed.
After Opal finished drinking the coffee, he took out his card to check out, and bought a packet of coffee powder by the way. The boss said, "Today is a good day, I wish you a happy day!"
"Thank you." Opal left with a smile and walked on the road. The clothing store was on sale. He went in and took a look around. He felt that the people here are very leisurely and comfortable. Almost all men have a military temperament. They walk and talk. Decisive, succinct, and not sloppy.
There are no towering buildings in the Chiyan Galaxy, nor high-tech buildings like the source of floodlight. The technological penetration of New Phoenix is just right. The central military and administrative districts have laid light tracks. However, when they reach the outer cities, the height of the light tracks will be lowered and changed to Urban railway, docking with the ground. The people are also warm and clean in retro style. The cleaning robots are decorated in the shape of large and clumsy capsules, and there are still fallen leaves under the roadside fence.
The tallest building in the entire commercial street has only four floors, with canvas sheds erected, neatly lined flower pots outside, fragrant soil inside and full of flowers.
Opal almost thought the flowers were fake, until he got closer to see that they were hyacinths.
"Do you want seeds?" the young boss in an apron asked kindly.
Opal waved his hand hurriedly, and the boss said again: "Bring some bread, Emperor often buys cakes for his lover here, where do you want to play?"
Opal went into the store to buy a cake, and the boss asked him while wrapping a paper bag, "Are you here to visit relatives?"
Opal said, "Well, sort of."
The boss asked, "Your brother is serving?"
Opal smiled and said, "My... uncle."
The boss said: "You can go to the military welfare center to play atomic pool with the soldiers. There are many activities during the holidays."
Opal nodded in thanks, and came out and passed a music school. He stood outside and looked inside. The security robot beeped, and a girl said, "Want to come in and listen?"
Opal couldn't be busy, he felt like a strange alien on this planet, and it didn't fit in with its atmosphere. Occasionally, there were young men on the side of the road who walked over with a smile and saw something funny. Laughing together, then whistling at the young girl.
A handsome non-commissioned officer with a military cap was waiting for the bus at the corner of the street, hugging his beloved girl, and the two kissed the bridge of their noses affectionately.
"I'm off to work," the sergeant said.
"Come back soon." The girl smiled.
Opal drove the car and asked, "Where are you going? Will I give you a ride?"
"Thank you!" The non-commissioned officer said with a smile: "Southwest Seventh District. Are you stopping by?"
Opal said: "I have a lot of time, and I came out for a stroll."
The girl waved to them, and the non-commissioned officer got into the car, sighed, and said, "This is the car of the Capital Guard. We are our own people. Is your father or brother serving in the Central Army?"
Opal set the route, the non-commissioned officer selected his office, Opal smiled and said: "Forget it, he works in the Meteor Building, and he has no time to accompany me recently, so let me drive his car."
The non-commissioned officer put on his military cap, put it on his shoulder, rolled the car window, felt the warm spring breeze, and said, "Which agency? Is it a civilian?"
Opal said: "I don't know either, he... works on the top of the building, a very high place, hehe."
The non-commissioned officer said happily: "It must be a high-ranking official. When I go back, I can boast that I know the relatives of the high-ranking official. What's the name?"
Opal said: "Coroline."
Sergeant: "..."
Opal: "… "
Sergeant: "Hahahaha-"
Opal: "Hey hey hey, just kidding."
The non-commissioned officer smiled to himself: "Interesting."
When the car arrived, the non-commissioned officer pushed open the door and got out of the car, and said, "Go north and you will find the Serian River. You are here to visit family, right? How many days will you be in New Phoenix?"
Opal said: "It should be a long time."
The non-commissioned officer came over, entered the code on his communicator, and said, "I have a day off on Thursdays and Fridays. You can come and play with me if you have nothing to do. When you go to Unit 17, you can find Gran, and I will take you to rowing."
Opal said: "Definitely."
Opal bids farewell to Nagrand, locates again, and drives to the sixth area of the southwest. The grip of the light is divided by latitude and longitude. The equator is divided into north and south. The meridian running through the Meteor Building is west to east. Areas are divided, everything is in order.
There is a rolling mountain range. Opal drove the car into the mountain and found that there are many villages along the way. There are many antennas and iron towers erected on the turquoise mountains. There is an outpost in front of the mountain. The other party was startled and saluted him.
"You are welcome to come and inspect, Your Highness." The sentinel said politely, "Now call the person in charge for you."
"No, you don't have to look for the person in charge." Opal read his inner thoughts and said, "Where is Robin? I'll go see him."
The sentinel gave the location, and Opal drove the car into the valley. A ribbon-like river flows in the valley and flows out of the valley to irrigate the vegetation on the entire plain. There are several factories in the mountains, and the sound of the ramming hammer can be heard far away. Come on, not knowing what's in production, his maglev vehicle lands outside a massive base platform where an officer stands, speaking to his crew.
Many soldiers looked up at the maglev vehicle that landed in the sky, and Robin said, "Everyone take your place!"
The soldiers went back to the cave one after another. Opal removed the car window and said with a smile, "Robin!"
Robin looked a little surprised, and it took a while to recognize Opal, and said with a smile, "Why are you so small?"
Opal scratched his head and said, "It's a long story. I'm on vacation today. I'll stop by and see you. What are you doing?"
Forty-five black mechas flew out of the military base, erupted flames, rushed to the bottom of the canyon, and landed one after another.
Robin raised his hand and said to the communication commander, "You only have ten minutes."
The mecha scattered into the canyon and started to run. Robin explained to Opal: "Ground combat training, what good things did you bring me?"
Opal gave him the bread and coffee powder. Robin went to get the marching stove. The two of them boiled water and brewed coffee on a high place. Robin said, "Have you joined New Phoenix? There were so many things to ask last time. That phantom..."
Opal smiled and said, "Yes, I am now studying with His Majesty Cororin."
Robin's eyes were full of admiration and envy, and he shook his head and sighed.
Opal said: "He is not on the planet now, so he took time out to play."
Robin said sternly: "It's not a good habit to skip class."
Both of them laughed. Opal told Robin about the general events of these days. Robin was a little stunned and said, "Unexpectedly, being able to study with His Majesty is the dream of many people all their lives."
"Yeah." Opal smiled and said, "I'm lucky, I think the teacher treats me very well."
"He's a very conscientious man and he's great," Robin said.
Opal wanted to know what Cororin looked like in the eyes of other people. He was curious: "Is he not strict with you? In fact, before I came to the Grip of Rotation, I always thought he was a very dark person. "
Robin smiled and said: "He can only do this to his enemies, but what about his subordinates and allies? We all entrusted our lives to him and are ready to sacrifice for him at any time. The welfare of the empire is very good."
Opal nodded, the recruits came back, and Robin said again: "It is impossible to be kind to the enemy, because kindness to the enemy is equal to cruelty to one's own people."
Opal said: "But his means to Lie Xing are too... hey."
Robin said: "That group of mercenaries meddled with their own business and killed Black Eagle first."
Opal shivered involuntarily.
When the soldiers came back, Robin got up to give lectures, analyzed the mistakes of his mech team one by one, and assigned them a new training program. This time, it was two hours. Come and sit down and continue drinking coffee.
"Can you drive a mecha?" Opal changed his question.
Robin said: "Of course, my mecha training is the highest score among the 2,000 operators in the entire team. Would you like to try my mecha?"
Opal said, "Am I too small?"
Robin just remembered, then smiled and comforted: "Your Majesty must have prepared a suitable mecha for you. I heard that he grabbed one from Lie Xing last time..."
Opal thought of Nolan's phoenix and said, "Have you seen it?"
Robin said: "No."
Opal frowned and said, "Where is it, do you know?"
Robin thought for a while and said, "It is said that the military base in Changhai lacks energy and cannot be operated. Haven't you been there?"
Opal said: "No." He vaguely deduced something - the space under the Cororin Throne is not a phoenix, which means that there is one more possibility for the existence of Raymond's laboratory.
Opal said: "What does it look like? Can you take me to see it?"
Robin said, "I don't have enough permissions to get in and out. Do you like mechas?"
Opal said: "It's okay, the teacher didn't teach me this..."
Robin took the initiative: "I'll take you to play."
Robin turned on the remote control, and the warehouse door slowly opened. Inside was his mecha, which was beautifully designed, with the captain's logo on the steel arm.
Opal said: "It's beautiful."
Robin said: "This kind of mecha is developed by us. Its strength is higher than that of the photon 3700 and the Republic's Galaxy U7, but its short-term explosive power is higher than that of them, so when facing the enemy, it needs to be resolved quickly."
Opal said: "The endurance is not good, right?"
Robin snorted and said, "The Ministry of Science and Technology is developing new refueling tanks. They are on another planet. My father is the research institute."
Robin took off his army coat, wearing only his shirt, and turned into the cockpit with the opal in his arms, and the sensor lock shackled them together.
Robin put on the information sight and activated the mecha. Opal shouted excitedly. When he raised his hand, Robin followed. The two controlled the mecha to run in the canyon, then turned on the propeller and flew to the plain.
Opal was as happy as an unrestrained child every time he touched the mecha. Robin took him to play for a while, gathered his team members, and started fighting.
More than 40 meteor mechas took turns to go into battle, and Opal said: "Give the control to me."
His body was close to Robin, and he moved with Robin, like a gust of wind passing through the mecha team. The meteorite mecha is very fast. Opal has operated the Photon 3700 and is not very suitable.
"You did a good job!" Robin said in surprise: "You really haven't learned it?"
Opal smiled and said, "I just learned from you."
Robin laughed, his chest rising and falling with his breathing, and said, "How did you do it? Can you judge your opponent's behavior?"
"It's purely instinct." Opal said, "I can probably guess a little."
The mecha team opened the hatches one after another, Robin came out covered in sweat, the sun was setting, and the canyon was full of red light.
"Take a rest, now go to the base to rest for ten minutes and prepare for dinner." Robin said: "Start from here after dinner, walk through the canyon, and arrive at the barracks before ten o'clock. Stand at attention and disband on the spot!"
The soldiers stood at attention, saluted, and disbanded.
Robin carried his coat and took the opal to dinner. The soldiers rested for a while and then lined up on the edge of the canyon after dinner. The vice-captain led them for a night run along the Serian River out of the plain.
Opal's mind was full of the scene of the soldier leaving the mecha, and he vaguely remembered the vigorous battle in the Battle of Fierce Star. At that time, there was such a mecha soldier in every mecha.
They may be like the sergeant named Gran, or they may be like Robin, with his teammates fighting bloody battles to fulfill Corrin's ideals.
"Actually, I don't like war." Opal, carrying a big sword, jumped off the rocks in the canyon with Robin and left by another way.
Robin smiled and said, "His Majesty also said that the ideal situation is that everyone does not fight, and each has his own way. Unfortunately, that is impossible."
Opal said: "Why? I think everyone does not interfere with each other, and the universe is peaceful, isn't it good?"
Robin said: "He said that war is always inevitable, and after everything is over, everyone will get their due home, including himself with bloody hands..."
Opal was startled.
"I don't know what kind of society you are envisioning, but I think what he said... It's a bit ominous, forget it, maybe you can change some of your majesty's views, I'd rather he was just joking, come, go here side."
"What about him? What kind of society does he want to build?" Opal asked.
Robin took Opal off the stone and smiled: "You don't know the name of our unit? The Meteor Legion, the Meteor Empire. He wants to extinguish all the stars, create more Iszur, and make all the humans in the universe. Living around artificial stars."
Opal frowned and said, "Why? Extinguish all the stars?!"
Robin said: "Scientists say he is the real lunatic, but my dad really likes his ideals. Many people don't understand it, and he doesn't bother to explain it to people."
Opal said: "If he wants to annex empires and republics... I believe this, but extinguish all the stars..."
Robin said: "My dad is from the Institute of Science, and he said that there is no need to do this, just extinguish the nearby giant stars that may affect Iszur."
Opal said: "Why, isn't this very good now?"
Robin said: "My father said that stars are the only threat to mankind, they are the source of all mutation and destruction, and it is impossible to predict its mood..."
Opal said: "It won't have emotions, after all, stars are not alive, and they won't be because of feelings and preferences..."
Robin said: "This is just a metaphor, just like we say that bad weather is God's fire, a star can burn all life on the planet by suddenly accelerating a 1% thermonuclear reaction. Has this happened? Archaeologists speculate that there were other human civilizations before us, all died due to a stellar radiation. At least where we live is the safest, because Iszur is made by humans star, it won't change too drastically."
Opal suddenly remembered one thing, stars also have souls.
"The stars are indeed alive." Opal said.
"That's what the Holy See of the Stars said." Robin said: "They feel that stars are the true creators, because they provide the conditions for the initial production of life - light and heat."
He turned on the maglev car, let the Opal in, and galloped downstream in the current.
The city lights in the distance are flickering, Opal and Robin gallop to New Phoenix, and the villages on the ground are full of lights. The hover car stopped outside the barracks in Maisui Village, and Opal's communicator rang.
"This is the headquarters of the New Phoenix Capital Defense Forces. Major General Allen has requested to speak with you." The secret voice said.
Opal: "What's the matter? Allen."
Allen: "Lieutenant General Andore is back. I wonder if you would like to meet him."
Opal: "Oh sure, anytime."
Allen told the secret road beside him: "Now go and arrange for them."
Opal: "Anything else?"
Allen: "There are several Mineral Planet agents from the Milky Way, as well as a high-ranking officer from Water Blue Star who would like to meet with His Majesty and are waiting."
Opal thought about it for a while. Coroline said that when he was away, the Meteorite Empire was fully represented by him, but Opal has not contacted these yet. What needs to be done? He pondered for a moment, and suddenly realized one thing. In the entire empire, only he and Coroline can read minds, which means that he doesn't need to do anything. He only needs to summon the visitors and read their hearts. , understand their purpose, and put forward a request for cooperation.
"Let the visitors wait in the sky garden." Opal said, "I will meet them in person."
Robin opened the door and said, "Government?"
"I have to go back first." Opal nodded and said, "Handle diplomatic affairs for the teacher."
Robin smiled and clapped his hands, and said, "Come and play when you have time."
Opal reluctantly said: "It may not be possible to take a vacation until the end of the war."
"We will win." Robin said, "Goodbye."
Opal and Robin parted and drove to New Phoenix.