Interstellar Survival: Invasion

After an unknown amount of time, I slowly woke up. However, my eyes were still seeing nothing but darkness. The back of my head was aching. A few minutes later, my eyes slowly adjusted to my environment. I realized that I had been locked in a prison cell.

"Canyue, Canyue, are you fine?" I heard Zhang Bao'er's voice.

I finally saw that I had been locked alone in a small cell. Inside the opposite cell was Zhang Bao'er, who was busy calling out to me. The jail we were in was circular, with all the cells forming a circle. Our equipment had been removed and piled at the center of the circle. Two ox-headed warriors were standing guard. They did not seem to care that we were talking to each other.

"Bao'er, I'm fine. Is everyone here? Was anyone hurt?" I asked. I could see that Old Du was locked in the cell beside Zhang Bao'er's.

"Canyue, everyone is fine. The Wargods are too strong. We weren't their match and were all captured," came Zhang Xingxing's voice from a cell to my side.

"Fortunately, Canyue had ordered us to fight with non-fatal rounds, so not much enmity had arisen from the fight. Thus, we were all locked here after being captured," said Baron Sisse.

"Where's Lin Feixue and Skyhawk?" I asked.

"Superior, I'm here." Surprisingly, Lin Feixue was the one who replied to me. He had been captured as well.

"Aren't you on Skyhawk? Why are you here?" I asked in disbelief.

"The Wargods surrounded Skyhawk with their mechanical birds. Even their divine bird was part of the encirclement. They informed me that everyone else has been captured. To ensure your safety, Dondon, Wind Spirit, and I decided to surrender after a short discussion," replied Lin Feixue helplessly.

"Why did you even bother consulting the two little pets?" said Zhang Bao'er. Domo vehemently agreed with that point of view.

"What are you saying? This princess had surrendered to ensure your safety. You dare run your mouth against me?" scolded Wind Spirit, who was never one with a good temper.

The situation was rather odd. No matter how much noise we made, the Wargod guards were fully ignoring us. I could not understand what King Carter was thinking. My head was still aching as well. I thus decided to shut my eyes and grab more rest. Slowly, I drifted into sleep. After an indeterminate amount of time, I felt an itch on my face. Still in a daze, I reached out to my face with my hand, and I felt a worm.

I was shocked awake as I grabbed the worm and tossed it to the ground. Only then did I notice that it was a big green worm. A plate could be seen on the floor, and the green worms served on the plate were crawling everywhere. That was probably meant to be my dinner.

I could hear snores all around me. Clearly, everyone else was also sleeping. I could see that even the two Wargod guards were snoring loudly in their seats. Exhaustion had successfully sent everyone to sleep.

I gathered all the green worms onto the plate before covering the plate with a lid. This was not the kind of food I could stomach. After dealing with the worms, I sat on the floor and started blanking out.

I might be without my freedom, but it was also a rare moment where I could truly enjoy some peace and silence. As I sat on the floor, scenes of everything that had happened since I joined the army appeared in my mind like a movie. My emotions turned complicated as I recalled my past.

Suddenly, I noticed some new movement in the jail, as though an object was wiggling around. Before long, a round object crawled out of the pile of weapons before strutting toward me.

"Bulu. This fellow will always appear during critical moments." I was overjoyed to see Bulu.

It did not take Bulu long to reach my cell. With its soft body, it squeezed through the bars and entered. Just as I was about to lift Bulu from the ground, I saw a hand reaching over from the cell beside me.

The sight of that hand greatly frightened me. It wasn't the hand of my companions. Rather, it was the hand of a Wargod. However, it was also an aged hand, unlike Anxashe's firm hand. Thus, I concluded that I wasn't looking at Anxashe's hand.

I hurriedly lifted Bulu and walked to the hand before whispering, "Who are you?"

The hand did not move, and nobody replied to my question. The atmosphere felt rather eerie. Suddenly, Bulu's body shone, and I felt an intense urge to reach out to that hand. When I extended my hand, the Wargod hand grabbed my palm. Then, the vision before me turned white. By the time I regained consciousness again, I was on a large prairie. The air was fresh, and with the gentle breeze in the air, I felt incredibly comfortable.

"Our guest is finally here. I wonder if this environment is to your liking," a familiar voice rang out behind me.

When I turned around, I saw that the speaker was actually King Carter. However, the aggressive look previously on his face was nowhere to be seen. Instead, he looked rather genial.

Standing beside King Carter was someone who looked exactly the same as me. Without a doubt, that was Bulu's handiwork. Standing beside Bulu was a little bee.

"Don't tell me you're..." I pointed at the little bee, speechless.

"Yes, I'm your grandpa, Ant," said the fiend of Pluto.

I was aware that the fiend had named itself Ant, and that manner of speaking was indeed consistent with its character.

"Esteemed King Carter, why did you capture all of us?" I asked. I knew that we were all within an illusory land crafted by Bulu.

"I have nothing to do with it. The projection you saw wasn't me. That's a fake king created by the Divine Empire," replied King Carter.

"I don't understand. If that's a fake person, why didn't you show up personally?" I asked.

"Why are you so stupid? This old man is clearly under the emperor's control. What you see is merely a projection," said the fiend.

I was hit by a realization. When King Carter nodded in affirmation, I finally confirmed that what the fiend said was the truth.

"Emperor Fille had actually imprisoned you? So was that hand yours?" I asked.

"Young man, I need to thank the high-level individuals around you. They have created this chance for us to meet. My days are numbered, but fate seems to have led you to Kenante at this moment. The fate of all Wargods is now in your hands," said King Carter earnestly.

"Don't say that, Your Majesty. A single Wargod soldier is enough to take me down. I am definitely not capable of shouldering such a burden," I hurriedly said.

"A truly capable warrior does not rely on personal strength. He relies on wisdom to unite his people and protect his homeland. Unifying a group of warriors is far more difficult than fighting on a battlefield," said the king.

"But Your Majesty, I'm only a soldier. What can I possibly do to help?" I said helplessly.

"Kenante has stopped progressing technologically for too long. In recent years, I had made the shortsighted decision of isolating the kingdom to deal with the rebels. That was how Kenante had slowly fallen to such a state. My spirit is going to join the totem soon. Thus, I hope to have a suitable successor that will rescue Kenante and its people," said King Carter.

"What? You can’t be thinking of—" I was astonished, and I didn't even dare to finish my guess.

"The old ox-head is basically telling you to be the new king. Why are you being so hesitant? That's not how a hero should act," said the fiend with contempt.

"No, absolutely not. Kenante is a kingdom of Wargods. I am an outsider. How can I take that position? Your Majesty, you can let your child inherit your position. I will do my best to help them," I refused firmly.

"Princess Gehadina has been reduced to Emperor Fille's hostage. I don't even know if she's still alive. I can't hand the fate of my people over to someone who's not even around," said King Carter.

"Canyue, the Interstellar League is in an extremely bad position. Assistance from the Wargod race would be extremely valuable for them. Also, you can take this chance to free Kenante from imperial control," persuaded Bulu.

Bulu's persuasion caused me to hesitate. I did not care much for the throne, but I cared deeply about the people of Blue.

"But we're all locked in prison. Emperor Fille has the Wargods under control through the fake King Carter. How should I even lead them?" I said.

"Don't worry about that. As long as you agree to inherit my position, I will pass on the highest rank of authority to you. With this authority, you only need to get in touch with the divine bird. It is an ancient god in charge of protecting Rumble. It can help you build a reputation and regain control over the kingdom," said King Carter.

"Highest authority? Both of us are locked in here. How are you supposed to pass it on to me?" I asked doubtfully.

King Carter merely smiled. Instead of answering my question, he said, "Young man, the future belongs to you, the responsibility of upholding the future belongs to you, and the task of ensuring the continuation of life is also on your shoulders."

Then, King Carter's body dissipated into green smoke and slowly soared into the sky.

"The old king is dead," remarked the fiend indifferently.

Bulu and I both knelt down on one knee before offering our respects to the green smoke in the air. I understood that the green smoke was the king's spirit. He was a great king who loved his people, someone deserving of all our respect.

"Esteemed King Carter, do not worry. The moment peace is restored, I will pass on the throne to Princess Gehadina. I will also do my best to rescue her from the empire," I promised to the deceased king's spirit.