The interior of the airship was extremely hardcore, entirely made of silver-gray alloy.
Several heavily armored officers stood on both sides, their backs perfectly straight. The way they looked at Jiang Lijin was almost a pilgrimage-like gaze, as if they were looking at a living savior who could deliver all sentient beings.
In the spot closest to the window, a large, soft leather sofa had been specially placed, covered with a snow-white plush blanket.
Jiang Lijin thanked them, walked over, and sat down. She turned her head to look at the continuously stretching streams of starlight outside the porthole, saying nothing.
Her back was straight, but her hands resting on her knees unconsciously clenched tight.
She was just an ordinary person after all. In all her three lifetimes combined, she had rarely even seen a fistfight, yet now she was plunging headlong into the front lines of an interstellar war. To say she wasn't afraid would be pure nonsense. Fear is a biological instinct.
The cabin was terrifyingly quiet. The officers exchanged glances, all seeing that this esteemed 3S-grade lady was nervous. But no one dared to speak up to comfort her. If they said the wrong thing and scared her off, making her clamor to turn back to the capital planet, then the commander-in-chief on the front lines could only wait for death.
"Don't be afraid," Xiao Yi's voice rang in her mind, uncharacteristically dropping its usual cheerfulness. "No matter where you go, Xiao Yi will stay by your side."
Jiang Lijin twitched the corner of her lips: "You don't have a choice anyway."
Even so, her tense nerves relaxed a bit.
She let out a long breath, released her clenched fists, stood up, and walked straight toward the leading officer.
"Report the current situation," she got straight to the point.
The major general froze for half a second. He had thought she would need a long time to calm down and had even prepared a contingency plan for crying and fussing. Her crisp, businesslike attitude completely disrupted his rhythm.
"Reporting, Ms. Jiang!" The major general quickly snapped back to attention and brought up an encrypted file. "The commander-in-chief is currently isolated in the A1 Core Area. Due to the intense magnetic storm triggered by his mental energy rampage, most of the medical and technical personnel have been forced to evacuate. At present, only his adjutant remains in the isolation room with him."
Jiang Lijin stared at the data panel on the virtual screen, her brows slightly furrowed.
Something wasn't right.
Once a 3S-grade male entered a berserk state, the destructive power of his indiscriminate attacks was enough to tear apart an entire well-equipped interstellar fleet in an instant. Under this level of energy discharge, leaving an adjutant inside to accompany him?
This completely defied common sense. If the adjutant was of a low grade, he would have been crushed into a puddle of meat paste the moment he came into contact with the rampaging mental energy. If he was of a high grade and could withstand this pressure, it meant the adjutant was not only terrifyingly powerful but also had maxed-out loyalty, even willing to die with him.
But... if Baal died, this adjutant would be the first in line of succession, the most promising person to take over the million-strong army and become the commander-in-chief. Would a man with ambition and power willingly stay in a deadly isolation room?
Something felt off in her mind. But a sudden jolt of the airship interrupted her thoughts. She didn't dwell on it; the most pressing matter right now was to pull Baal's mental domain back to a safe level before he tore the entire frontline base into ruins.
The starship's speed began to decrease drastically. The streams of light outside the window gradually dissipated, replaced by a dark red starfield.
"Preparing for landing, passing by the edge of the C4 combat zone," the pilot reported.
Jiang Lijin instinctively glanced out the window.
The next second, her pupils contracted sharply, and her stomach churned.
"Ugh—" She covered her mouth and bent over, unable to suppress her physiological dry heaves.
The officer next to her grabbed her arm, pressed her back onto the sofa, and handed her a cup of warm water.
"Ms. Jiang, close your eyes. Don't look outside!"
Jiang Lijin took the cup and gulped down three large mouthfuls, barely suppressing the nauseating urge to vomit.
It was too disgusting. In all three of her lifetimes combined, she had never seen such an anti-human creature.
During her time on the Blue Planet, she lived in an orphanage in the south, where those flying, greasy giant cockroaches were the darkest shadow of her entire childhood. But compared to the things floating in space outside, the southern giant cockroaches were practically cute!
In the space outside the window, thickly packed Zerg creatures the size of small shuttles floated about. They had no regular shape, and their torsos were covered with reverse-jointed limbs. The most disgusting part was their heads: huge compound eyes and massive, spirally arranged mouthparts.
At the edge of the combat zone, the Federation's mecha forces were carrying out a slaughter.
Sickly green viscous fluid spewed out, turning into droplets of various sizes in the zero-gravity environment and smearing all over the exterior armor of the airship.
Severed limbs and broken internal organs floated freely in space. There was even a half-squirming Zerg torso that smacked right into the porthole next to Jiang Lijin, leaving a nauseating green smear.
The visual impact was comparable to looking directly at an indescribable ancient god.
"These are low-level worker bugs; they feed solely on instinct," the officer said, handing over a clean towel. "Their bodily fluids are highly corrosive, but the Aegis ship's armor coating is enough to withstand them. Apologies for the fright."
Jiang Lijin wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and forced herself to look away.
"Xiao Yi, you were right," she gritted her teeth in her mind. "This stuff really ruins the appetite. I don't even want to eat breakfast tomorrow."
"Hurry and block your vision, let's not look at them," Xiao Yi said, sounding aggrieved yet heartbroken, and began playing soothing music in Jiang Lijin's mind.
The airship shuttled through the debris-filled space, quickly breaking away from the combat zone and diving toward a grayish-brown planet.
The surface of this planet was barren, covered with massive craters, and showed no signs of life.
"Preparing to land at the Sirius Galaxy frontline base."
Jiang Lijin stared at the bare surface below, her face full of confusion. Apart from sand and rocks, there was nothing down there.
It wasn't until the airship was less than a hundred meters from the ground that a water-like energy barrier rippled open.
The visual deception was lifted, and a massive military base suddenly appeared in view.
This was the Federation military's logistics and supply headquarters. The architectural style was extremely rough; four giant, solid gray hemispherical buildings were closely connected, looking exactly like yurts magnified countless times.
Between each hemisphere, enclosed alloy corridors connected them end to end.
The airship parked steadily on the outermost landing pad.
The cabin door opened, and a scent mixed with engine oil and gunpowder smoke hit her face.
The medical department officer who had sent the message to Jiang Lijin was waiting early at the bottom of the ramp. He didn't make small talk and directly led the way.
"Ms. Jiang, please follow me. Time is extremely tight!"
