Counterfeit Hero

”Colonel!” An aide briskly entered the meeting room and reported, ”President Su Kezhou of the Longxing Association and Chief of Staff Cheng Zhixuan wish to meet you.”

The meeting room fell silent. Fatty slowly moved his backside onto the chair.

After capturing Selwal at the Central City Northern Alliance base, Fatty hadn’t formally met with the Longxing Association. All correspondence and cooperation discussions between the two parties were handled by the Elder Council of the Mutual Assistance Alliance led by Geoffrey. Fatty played a trick here, besides delaying the announcement of the Northern Alliance’s surrender by a few hours, he was certain that the Longxing Association, with its background in Chuckna and the Fei Alliance, wouldn’t publicly turn against him.

It’s precisely this point that gave the bandit army the opportunity to act shamelessly, profiting greatly before the Longxing Association could react. And now that the Longxing Association requested a meeting, it’s clear that some things need to be clarified. This also means the golden period of the bandit army’s shameless profiteering is over.

”Hmm...” Fatty pondered for a moment, then said to the aide, ”Tell them I have a stomachache.”

The elders of the Sect Mutual Aid Alliance present exchanged smiles. This officer’s personality is somewhat twisted, yet when it comes to war and playing tricks, he’s quite the hand. This type of personality is least likely to suffer losses. If such a person is an enemy, they can indeed be a headache. But if they’re the leader of your group, they’re a treasure.

Everyone present who was an elder of the Mutual Assistance Alliance was once a sect master of a major faction. They were no strangers to scheming. Their eyes, sharp and discerning, fear no one in this world, but the worst are those who fear neither shame nor death. Fatty is a standout among them.

”Colonel, President Su says he carries the instructions from the Fei Alliance Command Center and a message from Admiral Bernadotte.” The aide whispered.

”Oh?” Fatty stood up abruptly.

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The Zhilu Star System, located seven jumps away from the Mars Free Star System on an A-grade route, possesses routes leading to main channels and contains nine various space jump points. It connects to many important routes of the Mars Free Channel. Space Station 106 is situated on the outer orbit of one of the brown planets in this Constant Star System.

From space, Space Station 106 appears extremely small. Compared to the brown planet it orbits, it resembles a butterfly fluttering beside an elephant. Yet when you get closer, everyone who arrives here can’t help but marvel at its vastness. Calling it a space station doesn’t do it justice; it’s more like a city, only constructed in space.

An old spaceship, outside the beacon lights, ended its warp and slowly headed towards this gyroscopic steel city floating in space. The light of the Constant Star, shining on the ship’s bow, cast a golden glow over the old passenger ship. Ahead, two other ships had already arrived and were moving in the same direction. A blue light flashed by, and behind them, another cargo ship ended its warp, revealing its bulging form like a big belly fish.

”See, that’s Space Station 106.” In the old ship’s cabin, everyone stood by the port side window to view the space station. A slightly balding middle-aged man pointed at the enormous station outside, introducing it to his companions: ”I’ve traveled far and seen countless space stations, I’ve seen Space Fortresses too, and Space Station 106 ranks among the top twenty! However...”

The middle-aged man sat back on the bunk dejectedly: ”This isn’t a place where we can linger; even a cup of water costs ten Fei Yuan and you have no choice but to pay.”

”The crew says...” His companion, a young guy, fresh-faced and naive, said, ”If we’re lucky, we can leave after staying here for just one day.”

”One day?” The middle-aged man scoffed: ”That might be true in peacetime, but now, the main channel is filled with Suss warships. If we want to reach Chuckna, we must navigate a long section of the main channel. Once discovered, the Suss people can kill us all with a single shot. Without reliable intelligence, the captain won’t set sail; we might be stuck here for a month!”

The two fretted and discussed how to scrimp and save at Space Station 106 to survive this uncertain waiting period. Around them, the cabin was packed with people, all wearing the same expression. Families usually saw the men hanging their heads low, while women held their children, worriedly watching the men puffing away at cigarettes. Singles sat restlessly, looking around nervously, their eyes full of helplessness and panic.

The spaceship entered the port of Space Station 106, its black steel corridor opening like the jaws of a monster, swallowing the ship. The light of the Constant Star was blocked outside, darkening the entire spaceship.

Shadows spread across the cabin, inching over like water across the passengers, including the girl whom all the men would occasionally sneak glances at—a girl as gentle and serene as water—Meiduo.

”Inspection, line up for customs.”

In the dim and crude port hall, disembarking passengers formed winding queues under the rough prodding of security guards. This hall was one of five entrance halls where, besides Meiduo’s ship, passengers from several other ships were also entering customs.