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Chapter 197: T2 Warship!

After typing in some numbers, an elderly man from the Adjudicator Union appeared on the projected screen. This person was the head of the weapons and equipment department in the Adjudicator’s precinct and old man Qin Mang’s good friend, Thuram.

“Uncle Thuram,” greeted Xia Fei with a smile, but for some reason, Thuram had a stern and serious face.

“Where are you?” asked Thuram in a deep voice.

“I’ve reentered the Alliance territory just a few minutes ago.”

“Have you spoken to Qin Mang?”

“Yeah”—Xia Fei nodded—”but I didn’t manage to speak to him directly; I heard that he’s not doing too well. Do you know what’s wrong with him?”

Thuram sighed as he scratched his hairless chin, saying with his eyebrows knitted, “He has residue toxins from a six-winged skylord, and he had a sudden onset a month ago. He’s currently undergoing cell purification treatment, and it doesn’t look too good.”

Xia Fei was shocked. He had read about the six-winged skylord in the Beat Spirit Codex. Apparently, it was a large, and ferocious beast resembling a dragonfly with a stinger on its tail like a scorpion.

The venom of the six-winged skylord was quite special. In the long history of mankind, attempts to make venoms and create anti-venoms had never stopped, and all toxicologists agreed that the six-winged skylord’s toxin was the weirdest across the universe. Anything affected by its venom could die in the next second or, perhaps, ten or one hundred years later.

Nobody could explain the reason for it, but basically there was no predicting the venom of the six-winged skylord. They were just like demons hiding inside their victims’ bodies, watching them ever so closely as they looked for a chance to unleash themselves.

Death had always been terrifying. The worst thing about the six-winged skylord’s venom was that, once affected, one had no idea when they would die. They would always be haunted by the incredible possibility, and many who were mentally weaker and could not endure the mental torment would choose to commit suicide.

After going through Qin Mang’s situation, Thuram then started tapping on his projected screen for who knew what. Xia Fei then said after a few moments of thought, “For some reason, the battalion commander of the training camp, Ye Jingshan, seems not to want me to see him.”

Thuram sneered. “It’s not just Ye Jingshan who doesn’t want you to see him. It’s a good thing, you sought to contact me as soon as you could, or else...”

Xia Fei was shocked. He felt a strong fire growing inside his chest; it was not hard to tell from Thuram’s words that there were many who did not want him to see Qin Mang for one last time, and who knew what they would do to prevent it?

“Who are they?” asked Xia Fei as he tried to suppress his anger.

Thuram finally stopped interacting with the projected screen, then he said after breathing out a sigh of relief, “Alright, I’ve sent someone to pick you up. You should be relatively near Bannon, considering that you came back from the Death Trio Star Region, shouldn’t you?”

Xia Fei took a glance at the map. “It’s not far; just seventeen warps.”

“Alright. There’re strategic weapons stored there belonging to the department. Get there as soon as you can; someone will be waiting for you there.”

Xia Fei knitted his eyebrows. “Won’t I just be wasting my time? I’d rather return to Endaro Star Region directly.”

Thuram let out a hearty laugh and said in an unquestionable tone, “Kid, it’s great that you’re in a hurry to see Qin Mang, but I can guarantee that if you don’t do as I say, there’s no chance you’ll be able to return to Endaro Star Region.”

Xia Fei gritted his teeth. “Understood. I’ll go right to Bannon right away.”

Xia Fei stayed silent after he hung up. He was unprepared for any of this because of how sudden it was.

“What should we do?” asked Phantom.

Xia Fei said in a deep voice, “I was sent to Thuram directly by Qin Mang. From our interaction, there’s nothing suspicious with the guy. At this stage, all I can do is trust him.”

Qin Mang’s real identity was a mystery. Being able to have a disciple like Yawei and a friend like Thuram, his social circle must be quite broad.

Xia Fei and Qin Mang were quite tightly knit, so it was not too out of the ordinary for the elderly curator to want to see him one last time before his death. He had been plenty of help to Xia Fei, after all, so he should pay him a visit no matter what.

However, this was just him meeting an old man and seeing the latter off, so why would Ye Jingshan try everything in his power to stop him, and why would Thuram mysteriously warn him? . What was going on?

“Qin Mang was actually stung by a six-winged skylord,” muttered Phantom with his head hanging.

Xia Fei was stunned, then he asked, “Right, you’re an expert in medicine. Is there anything that can help counter this toxin?”

Phantom shook his head. “It’s a strange toxin; there’s not much I can do.”

Xia Fei sighed. “Will cell purification treatment rid his body of all the toxins?”

“No,” replied Phantom in a deep voice. “Although it can remove most of the toxins, that particular toxin seeps into the marrow from the moment it enters the body. A complete purge would be impossible unless you recreate every single part of the body, which itself is an impossible task. Before the purification can be completed, Qin Mang will be tortured to death.”

“Right, cell cleansing is incredibly painful. Qin Mang must endure incredible pain first,” said Xia Fei.

Phantom stayed silent for a few moments. “I’d like to think about this a bit more. Don’t call for me if there isn’t anything urgent.”

Phantom then returned to his Moore Stone.

Xia Fei redirected the ship’s navigation system to Bannon as he gave Avril a call.

“I’m back,” Xia Fei said with a smile.

Avril bit her lower lip worriedly. “I’ve been so worried; I haven’t heard from you for over a month.”

“I’m fine. The connection to the interplanetary internet was unstable in the Death Trio Star Region, so I couldn’t talk to you. Look: I’m fine, aren’t I?”

Avril shook her head. “No, you look like you’ve lost some weight.”

Xia Fei smiled. He had been keeping his body in good shape; it was just her imagination.

The two of them chatted for a bit. Avril then said with her eyes blinking, “You have to travel through the capital ring if you’re going back to Endaro Star Region; will you come see me?”

“Uhh...” Xia Fei did not know how to respond to Avril’s wish. Qin Mang was waiting for him at death’s door. Xia Fei was already quite unhappy that Thuram had him go to Bannon, so there was no way Xia Fei had time to see Avril.

Noticing Xia Fei’s hesitation, Avril quickly waved dismissively before forcing out a big smile on her face. “I’m joking! How can you afford to be distracted when you have more important things to tend to? Men should focus on their career.”

Xia Fei knew that Avril only said this so he would not feel bad.

“Wait for me; I’ll be there as soon as I can,” said Xia Fei.

“Alright, I trust you.”

After hanging up, Xia Fei felt that Avril had grown more mature and more considerate; her womanly allure had also grown stronger than ever before.

Xia Fei then greeted Andre who was on Earth and learned about Quantum Holdings’ current status. By the time he got through that, Vampire had just arrived at Bannon.

Bannon was one of the most important metropolitan planets at the border of the Alliance-occupied area. It was a prosperous and well-guarded place, with over a million Navy people alone stationed there.

With the customs clearance document from the weapons and equipment department, Xia Fei successfully stopped at the planet. The moment he landed, a hover car from the weapons and equipment department ferried Xia Fei and the others to a villa in the suburbs. All of this seemed to have been arranged by Thuram.

Although it was quite a nice villa, Xia Fei had no desire to stay there. Setting off a day early increased the chances of him seeing Qin Mang. The toxin of the six-winged skylord had triggered long ago, and it was not stopping in its tracks just for Xia Fei.

Time slowly ticked by amid his concerns. In the afternoon of the next day, the people Thuram sent to pick up Xia Fei finally arrived.

“Huh, the third Ling brother, you’re here.” Xia Fei greeted him with a smile. He had no idea that Thuram had sent the third brother Ling Feng here.

“Thuram had me posted nearby for a task. Once I heard that you’re present, I got here as soon as I could,” said Ling Feng.

“Without further ado, let’s set out. Let’s speak on the way,” Xia Fei said anxiously. All he wanted was to get back to Endaro Star Region as soon as he could, unwilling to even delay it by a second.

The hovercar set off at high speeds on the outskirts, heading toward a hilly area.

“Aren’t we going to the spaceport?” Xia Fei questioned.

Ling Feng pointed in front of him. “There’s a spare Union-owned spaceport among these hills; my ship is parked there.”

Xia Fei knitted his eyebrows. “Third Ling brother, how about we take Vampire? Vampire can warp up to sixty thousand lightyears; one hundred twenty percent faster than normal warships.”

Vampire’s maximum warp distance was actually 62.5 thousand lightyears, but because it sustained heavy damage in the Death Trio Star Region, it was unable to reach its peak performance. Even so, Vampire was still faster than normal warships, and to Xia Fei who was busting his head to get back, speed was key.

Ling Feng revealed a mysterious smile. “Brother Xia Fei, if you want to return to the Endaro Star Region in the shortest time possible, my ship is the only choice.”

“Why?” Xia Fei could not understand it. “Vampire has a top-tier Black Mamba 130 engine.”

Ling Feng merely smiled in reply, and all Xia Fei could do was patiently wait.

The car traveled quickly, reaching a valley after navigating the twists and turns of the mountain roads, arriving at a small, secluded spaceport in a valley.

From afar, Xia Fei noticed a ship that stood out. Although it did not look different compared to other ships, he noticed an indescribable aura.

The hovercar stopped right in front of the said ship. After hopping out of the car, Xia Fei inspected the ship closely with his arms crossed. It almost looked as if it was intentionally made to look like a normal warship, though its edge was still faintly visible.

Ling Feng walked in front of Xia Fei and patted him on the shoulder, saying softly, “This is a Gaian Ares-class interceptor.”

“Interceptor?” Xia Fei was stunned. This reminded him of when he was followed by a weird ship when he returned from the Wild Star Region; he could not shake off that ship no matter what he did. Not only was its warping distance no worse than Vampire’s, its cruising speed easily reached an incredible speed of 10000m/s.

“It’s a T2 warship, with a warping distance of over ninety thousand lightyears. You believe me now, right?” Ling Feng said with a smile.