Counterfeit Hero

Tian Xingjian left the lower detention cabin with a dejected look. He walked wearily into the hover elevator.

The metallic door of the elevator closed, isolating the dark detention cabin corridor outside.

In the enormous elevator, the lights were blindingly bright. The floor numbers on the screen changed silently. Except for the almost inaudible sound of the counterforce suspension device as the elevator ascended, there was no other noise.

The entire world was terrifyingly quiet!

Fatty sighed silently and pressed the emergency stop button. The elevator immediately responded to the command and came to a halt.

He slowly sat down on the cold floor of the elevator, staring blankly at the tightly shut elevator doors.

Just a moment ago, as Barbarossa candidly revealed the hidden treasure, a Leray soldier rushed into the detention cabin, completely shattering his joy with a piece of news.

The Saleria Federation withdrew from the war! Full retreat in the Bermuda Star System, Leray retreats to the Central Star System!

Even though he had already anticipated everything happening to this neighboring country, when the news was confirmed, Fatty still felt a profound despair!

Outside the closed elevator doors, it must be chaotic by now. These Leray compatriots who had just survived the pursuit of the Western Alliance Fleet must be feeling utterly anxious and uneasy at this moment.

What about back home? What has the war situation deteriorated into? Are those fickle politicians jumping out to try to lead Leray down another path? What are the stressed-out Hamilton, Mihailovich, and teacher Russell doing right now? Sitting in smoke-filled conference rooms or submitting emergency reports to the Fei Alliance Joint Army Supreme Command?

Thoughts kept swirling and scattering in his mind, making his head feel like it was about to explode.

From the day Gazalin invaded Leray, this country, which had enjoyed three hundred years of peace, has been driven by invisible hands to rush along the path of war. For the honor and freedom of this country, to avoid being conquered, batches of Leray youth are fighting bloodily on the battlefield.

And this struggle, in hindsight, seems so futile.

This war imposed upon the Leray people, after three years, has finally come to an end.

Leray’s enemy is no longer the Gazalin people on Miloke Planet, but Jiepeng, Desic, Suss, and these gigantic entities of Binart! In the future, perhaps even Saleria!

After three years of repeated near-death experiences, this is the rotten, decaying situation we have ended up with.

Fatty curled up in the corner of the elevator, took out a piece of paper, and drew a deduction symbol on it, but he couldn’t figure it out next. A sense of weak helplessness overwhelmed him at that moment, leaving him gasping for breath.

What else can I do?

***************************************

Helen mounted the camera onto the tripod and switched on the power source.

The shots for the camera had been preset. As the red light flickered, several lenses began filming.

This was the third day at this pirate base. The same place, the same shots. Helen would stand in this position every morning at ten o’clock, filming for half an hour, and then go to the dock to shoot another set of scenes.

This is a lonely battlefield record.

All the footage faithfully documented the fragments of their escape… In this cold, dark steel base, a group of soldiers far from their homeland were preparing for a difficult return.

”What would going back achieve?”

Helen bit her lip gently, staring blankly at the lifeless base hall in the lens.

In this secret base, there was no access to external communications… To avoid exposure, civil networks, military communication relays, and navigation communications were all unavailable. The only means of obtaining outside information was through two electronic escort ships sent out daily following pirate protocols.

Today, one of the escort ships that had pretended to be a passenger ship on a passenger channel to gather information brought back shocking news… The Saleria Federation withdrew from the war.

Upon hearing this news, everyone was dumbfounded. What followed was even harder to accept… The main star Rodbia of the Bermuda Star System was abandoned for strategic reasons. Millions of troops retreated under the desperate coverage of the fleet.

The Jiepeng Army has almost entirely occupied Rodbia, and the Western Alliance Fleet has blocked all routes, including the outer corridors.

That meant the road home was completely cut off!

Everyone couldn’t understand.

Saleria, this federal country, close to the Leray Federation, their strongest support, and the only passage to the Chuckna Republic. At this moment, its withdrawal was a heavy blow to Leray...

How could they just exit like that? How is that different from surrender? The war fire was only burning within Leray’s borders, and Saleria had only committed a few mixed fleets and some supplies in this war!

What do the spineless politicians of this spineless country think they can get from the Western Alliance?

The wide base hall was an elliptical metal structure. It was located beneath the first layer of the giant transport ship on the surface.

In the center of the hall was a metal statue of a one-eyed pirate. This stocky pirate held a curved blade in his hand, his face grim, staring resolutely ahead. Around his pedestal were several rows of power arrays. Thick pipes, half-exposed on the ground, provided energy to the surrounding cabins, environmental balance, and life support systems.