Counterfeit Hero

After a bout of incoherent speech, Clayton suddenly had a sense of foreboding. His heart slowly sank, and his voice became quieter and quieter... On the virtual screen, the fleet commander of the Northern Alliance, whom he had been close with and referred to as a brother, wore a bitter smile on his face.

”Clayton...” Yibu slowly said: ”I’ve just received word that the Northern Alliance has been defeated. Now, those in control of Mars and the Northern Alliance are the bandit army from Puluo Town that I once mocked in front of you! I’m currently ordered to lead the fleet and station in the designated airspace, awaiting reception by the bandit army fleet. I’m afraid I can’t be of much help to you now.”

”The Northern Alliance defeated?” Clayton’s mind went blank: ”That Leray person?”

”Yes!” Yibu sighed, ”It’s not that I don’t want to help you, it’s just... You should surrender.”

”Surrender?!” Yibu was completely dumbfounded.

”To be honest, I’ve heard from friends in other fleets of the Northern Alliance...” Yibu said with a wry smile: ”The Demon’s Eye fleet was once defeated by this fleet. Furthermore, the space stations and Freedom Docks they’ve plundered recently mostly haven’t been completely wiped out, except for some space stations controlled by the Suss and Jiepeng people... I don’t need to explain their identities any further, right?”

”This is the fleet of the bandit army from Puluo Town?” Clayton was unsteady on his feet: ”Leray people’s?”

”They haven’t admitted it!” Yibu said with a wry smile: ”Although your Rifle Association isn’t kind to Leray people, at least you haven’t allowed those Suss and Jiepeng people to commit massacres, maintaining some order. With the Leray people in your space station, you should be able to preserve your life. Keep in mind, those space stations where Leray people were slaughtered were almost completely annihilated!”

”Boom” A loud noise erupted, and outside the window, the battle-hardened Ragged Fleet had started firing at the space station’s port airlock. The fragments of the airlock, torn apart by the energy bullets, scattered in all directions in the starry sky.

”Send me a signal,” Clayton abruptly turned around: ”Request a conversation with the opposing fleet commander.”

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

106 Space Station, slum area.

Gu Xin let a ragged cylindrical rest capsule to a couple who had just arrived here. He chose a spot against the wall on the street and sat down. His wife snuggled tightly against him, tiredly resting her head on his shoulder. Their daughter, cuddled in his arms, was already asleep. The little three-year-old girl had smooth hair and long eyelashes, but due to lack of food, her originally rosy cheeks had become much thinner.

Gu Xin looked back. The couple who had taken over his rest capsule—the woman had already settled into it, while the man, in his forties, nodded gratefully at him.

Gu Xin waved his hand. He wasn’t some overly kind person, but he gave up the rest capsule because the woman was pregnant. Perhaps due to fright, her face was pale when they arrived, causing concern. In this world, if Leray people don’t help each other, how can life go on?

Lightly brushing aside the hair that fell over his daughter’s eyes, Gu Xin quietly watched the street he had been on for almost twenty days.

The street was already overcrowded. Perhaps because everyone had received the same news, all the Leray people in this enormous space station had gathered here. Now, some people sat quietly by the roadside, some wandered through the crowd, trying to find a spot, while others clustered together, discussing various topics.

”Boom!” Another explosion sounded in the distance.

The space station shook with the sound of the explosion.

”Is that our people?” His wife Frey’s voice trembled slightly.

”Yeah!” Gu Xin nodded vigorously. He turned his head away, to prevent his hesitant expression from being seen by his wife. In fact, he was not sure about his wife’s question.

More than a month ago, Gu Xin, with his wife and daughter, boarded a ship leaving Leray.

After twenty fraught days of travel, the ship finally arrived at the 106 Space Station on Mars Free Channel.

When the ship entered the space station port, Gu Xin let out a long sigh of relief. The narrow and oppressive ship cabin had nearly driven him mad. He thought that at the space station, he could finally rest and then continue his family’s hopeful journey.

But who could have known that this stop would become a nightmare?

Prices here are a hundred times higher than during the war in Leray, the gentlest form of robbery. Then came blatant robbery, kidnapping, extortion, and trafficking... There was no place for Leray people to reason. Those Rifle Association guards turned a blind eye to the bullying of Leray people, while the Suss, Jiepeng, and Desic people acted brazenly.

As far as Gu Xin knew, several Leray families who boarded the ship with him had ended up destroyed—either the women were abducted and raped or the men were robbed and killed.

If he hadn’t found the slum area where Leray people gathered, banded together to fight back, if not for stabbing a Suss person trying to rape his wife when no Rifle Association guards were around, if it weren’t for the many Mars people who hated the arrogance of the Suss and Jiepeng people, Gu Xin didn’t know if he could still be sitting here.

In the twenty days in the space station, he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep. Every day, he was on edge, prepared to fight at any moment. Not just him, but every Leray person on this street was the same.

The money is gone, the jewelry and anything that can be sold have been depleted. Facing days of drinking a cup of water and eating a small piece of black bread, everyone heard the news that their own Leray fleet would soon attack the 106 Space Station.

If it weren’t for that big-headed guy being a Leray person, if it weren’t for him mentioning the Federation Hero Tian Xingjian, Gu Xin wouldn’t even dare to believe such news even one percent.

A destroyer adrift in the Free World conquers a pirate base and forms a powerful fleet in the Freedom Channel?

Over a hundred people upset the Mars Free Port, unite all the proud Mars Sect Mecha Knights, defeat the Northern Commerce Alliance, and control the Mars Planet?

Isn’t that nonsense!

But the protagonist of this mythical story, as unbelievable as a fairy tale, is Tian Xingjian, that Fatty!

Which Leray person doesn’t know that Fatty?

He is the Leray Hero who repeatedly performs miracles, the one who made my blood boil when I watched his battle records and reports.

The explosions continued, and the shaking of the space station became more intense.

Looking at the people on the street, those pairs of eyes filled with hope, Gu Xin’s heart also grew fervent along with the shaking of the space station. Perhaps that big-headed Leray person was telling the truth!

”Zzz....”

The system’s overhead broadcast emitted a harsh noise.

The slum area became silent. People gradually stood up, casting uncertain glances at the high dome. The entire street fell into a dead silence.

A moment later, Clayton’s voice came from the system broadcast: ”I am Clayton, the leader of the Rifle Association, and I declare the unconditional surrender of the Rifle Association, accepting guidance from Colonel Tian Xingjian of the bandit army from Puluo Town. From this moment, 106 Space Station belongs to the Mars Faction Mutual Assistance Alliance...Repeating...”

On the street, men and women, young and old—every Leray person looked at each other. A second later, the entire slum area erupted in jubilation.

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. (To be continued. For more chapters, please visit www.qidian.com, support the author, support legitimate reading!)