The Almighty Ring

Jiang Fei’s head had been throbbing since the day Jiang Fei knew that Straz was one of the unknowns. Problems after problems kept on piling up, making the headache worse. After returning home, Jiang Fei lied down on his bed, trying to take a nap to soothe the throbbing headache. The more information he received, the more complicated the situation became. Instead of solving one problem, it split into a million more branches. No matter how hard Jiang Fei tried to piece everything together, it raised more questions than it answered. It was almost as if something was missing in between. It was impossible to connect the dots when the lines were all jumbled up!

“0542, have you consolidated the data you acquired from the unknown’s base?” Jiang Fei asked.

“Yes.”

“Where are they from?”

“There is no information of their origins in the databank,” said 0542.

“Argh… Give me a summary of what you have gathered.”

Jiang Fei was informed that the amount of data 0542 collected from yesterday was staggering. Jiang Fei alone would never be able to read it all in his entire lifetime!

“The factory that we have infiltrated yesterday was a smelting factory. The unknowns were using that base as a processing center to create an advanced permutation of metal alloy that they were going to use to build the hull of the ship.”

“So, it’s true then. They are building a ship.”

“Correct. To be precise, they are building Braveheart from scratch.”

Jiang Fei got to his feet the moment he heard that statement.

“They are building Braveheart?! Where and how did they get the schematics for that?”

Braveheart was the culmination of all scientific research of planet Namek. It was the brainchild of the entire planet itself! It was impossible for someone to just stumble across the blueprint of the ship and even if they did, there was another hurdle for them to actually understand it!

Jiang Fei had the blueprints as it was built into the computer of the Bridge. Even if he had them, without 0542 to translate and assist in construction, Jiang Fei would never able to rebuild Braveheart, even if he was assisted by all the bright minds on Earth!

Even though Jiang Fei was educated a little about Namekian’s technology, it was just the basics. Like one plus one equals two. Jumping straight into reading the blueprints was akin to having a primary level student to help Stephen Hawkings understand the Theory of General Relativity.

The real question was, how did an unknown organization acquire the blueprints for Braveheart? Not only did they acquire it, without a doubt, but they had also even started the manufacturing process! What did that mean?

“0542, are you certain that all of the original crew members died?” Jiang Fei asked again.

“Affirmative! All seven crew members of Braveheart had been found. Even though someone managed to acquire their missing limbs, all seven members of Braveheart had perished.”

“It’s… It’s hard to believe, even when you say it like that. Show me the footage of their last surviving moments,” said Jiang Fei.

0542 projected footage onto the wall. Pictures and video recordings of their last moments were broadcasted to Jiang Fei. When all the videos ended, 0542 even showed the dead remains of all seven Braveheart original crew members. Jiang Fei recognized a few of the dead bodies as he had seen them when he had entered the bridge the first time. Jiang Fei did not really pay attention to them as looting the ship was more important than mourning for dead aliens.

It had been 7,000 years since they were alive. Their eerie remains were completely dried up. All of their dead bodies were stored safely in the Transport Shuttle.

“Alright. I want all their remains cremated and disposed of,” said Jiang Fei. Even though he was certain that all seven crew members were dead, Jiang Fei could not shake the feeling that something was off.

“Very well,” said 0542.

Jiang Fei laid down on his bed, resuming his attempt to take a nap. Every time when he was almost drifting off, the sense of insecurity sent a wave of guilt to his body, jerking him awake.

“Just how are they…” said Jiang Fei to himself.

Just when he wanted to give one last attempt to sleep, someone knocked on his door. Usually, Jiang Fei was able to sense when someone was standing outside his door. Unfortunately, he was too preoccupied with his thoughts that he failed to notice Han Tianyu was waiting for him for some time.

“Come in, brother Yu!” said Jiang Fei.

“Get up! Something’s happened!” Han Tianyu exclaimed when he was finally allowed in.

“What’s wrong?” Jiang Fei flipped himself up from the bed.

“I’ve just received a distress call!”

“From which sect?” said Jiang Fei immediately. Anything that had to do with Han Tianyu was related to Martial Artist Alliance. If there was someone asking for help, it should be them.

During the previous attack on martial artists, Ariel had destroyed a lot of Androids that belonged to the military. Due to the severe loss of troops, the military was not able to launch a full-scale attack on martial artists. As such, Han Tianyu had organized several infiltration teams to save the remaining sects that were still stuck in China.

This distress call should be from those sects that could no longer fend off the military.

“See… I thought so too. But when I played it, it was General Fan!”

“Huh?! Why would the enemies ask for help? Did the alliance retaliate?” Jiang Fei asked. If the military was asking for help, it would only mean the Level 5 masters of the respective sects had started to make a move. General Han was probably trying to contact Jiang Fei to be the middleman, probably to request a parley.

“… Just watch the video. This one was for you anyway…” said Han Tianyu, not confirming nor denying Jiang Fei’s suggestion. He passed a small laptop to Jiang Fei to watch the footage.

“Jiang Fei, I sincerely hope that this video could reach you just in time. You are our only hope. The last hope for humanity!” said Fan Yao in the video. He looked extremely exhausted, as if he had not been sleeping well.

“I do not have much time. So… here goes…” Fan Yao made a long sigh before he continued. “The Supreme Android Project is compromised. We have lost control of the system. The machines are taking over. Everyone… is being forced… to… I hope… you… sent… help… military… compromised…” the footage gradually turned into static before it was cut off abruptly.

“When did you receive this?” Jiang Fei asked.

“About an hour ago.”

“Right. There’s still time. I’ll be heading out,” said Jiang Fei as he made his way to the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Han Tianyu barked as he held Jiang Fei by his arm.

“I’m going to see General Fan.”

Even though he had borne little enmity towards the Chinese military and its government, having Androids to turn against their creator was not something Jiang Fei could turn a blind eye.

“Calm down, hothead!” said Han Tianyu.

“Why? I could still make it there and save him!”

“Fool! Look at the footage again! See when did he record it!”

Jiang Fei obediently replayed the footage and checked the timestamp. Jiang Fei had goosebumps when he read it. It was recorded several months ago.

Jiang Fei was stumped. The rebellion was not recent! It started for almost half a year ago! That would mean… during the second Japan war, with the Mutants! The military was already compromised then!