981 Interrogation and Wish
All the divisions were gathered to form a massive fleet to escort all the Kunde Race spaceships over to Planet Lighthouse.
The dynasty’s fleet was in the periphery with the thousands of Kunde Race spaceships surrounded.
Their weapons had already been disarmed, and the energy cores were restricted to only allow the spaceships to fly. The entire fleet had lost the ability to fight back and was under the control of the dynasty. The spaceships of the Kunde Race fleet had already been transformed into a prison.
The main flagship of the Kunde Race fleet was the most heavily modified with the cabins of the spaceship being modified into jail rooms.
The command room was taken over by the dynasty soldiers, and two projections appeared in the command room. They were Tarrokov and Han Xiao.
“Paying our respects to the chief commander.”
The moment both of them came online, the sound of the soldiers greeting their commander could be heard.
Tarrokov had already given notice of his visit, and the soldiers were waiting for him.
The various commanders of the different divisions were there with their aide-de-camps in the form of a long distance projection.
“It has been tough on everyone.” Tarrokov smiled with a friendly attitude.
These young elite commanders would be the future stars of the dynasty, and Tarrokov was truly gratified at the sight of the talents before him.
As Han Xiao looked at the commanders present, he could not help but be slightly startled.
Woah, they’re all bigshots!
A group of future commanders and bigshots were standing before him as though it was an inspection parade.
Because he knew the future identities of these commanders, Han Xiao found the scene to be a memorable one and almost wanted to take a picture of it.
“Your Excellency Black Star, you’re also here.” Teny was also within the group, and he greeted Han Xiao with a smile on his face.
“We meet again.” Han Xiao nodded, and upon seeing the other commanders look over, he said, “I congratulate all of you for winning the war. Having such talented commanders is the honor of the dynasty.”
The effect of an AOE flattery was not too bad at all!
Even though he was only an ally of the dynasty, his status exceeded these young elites who had yet to reach the height of their careers.
Everyone liked to listen to nice words, and everyone revealed a smile upon hearing Black Star’s praise.
“Your Excellency Black Star was the true cornerstone of our victory by providing key intelligence.”
“We only performed some manual labor. Your Excellency Black Star’s contribution is the main reason for us winning the war.”
Some of the commanders present immediately responded politely. Of course, there were a few commanders who did not say a thing but only nodded with respect.
Han Xiao replied with a smile, but his gaze was suddenly fixed on Gaud.
“Eh, you are...”
Han Xiao squinted and realized that he did not recognize the person before him.
Upon seeing that, Gaud smiled and took the initiative to say, “I have long heard of your great name, Your Excellency Black Star.”
“This is Gaud, one of the Supers that the dynasty is grooming. I heard that he survived a Primordial Psionic Energy explosion and is extremely outstanding.” Tarrokov laughed and made the introduction.
“Hello Gaud.”
Han Xiao then continued greeting the other commanders while secretly entering the quantum network to check on Gaud’s records.
Checking a person’s background was something that he was used to doing.
With his current status, checking the information of some commanders would not be a problem.
The next moment, Gaud’s resume appeared before him, and the resume seemed extremely simple without a problem.
However, when he wanted to view more detailed information, a notification popped up and warned him about a lack of clearance.
“I can’t see it? It seems like they truly place great importance on him.”
Han Xiao would not bother breaking through the firewall of the dynasty for no good reason to invoke their dissatisfaction.
Tarrokov said that Gaud was a Super that the dynasty was grooming. The dynasty would only groom two different kinds of Supers—those with a special ability or superior potential. This fellow was only a Calamity Grade Super at most, and since he was able to survive in the Primordial Psionic Energy explosion, he should belong to the first group.
In his previous life, the Great Mechanic Han belonged to the Crimson Dynasty faction and was extremely familiar with the various bigshots of the dynasty. If Gaud was truly a Super groomed by the dynasty, he should have some impression of the other party.
However, he could be sure that he had never heard of such a character before, and he did not have any memory of Gaud. There was not such a character in his previous life.
Has the storyline been changed again? Han Xiao thought to himself. I wonder where this new guy came from.
Although he was in doubt, he did not find the matter too strange.
After doing so many things, he should have already caused the butterfly effect, and it would not be strange for a few new characters to show up.
Not to mention the others, even the current manager of the Germinal Financial Group, Iapetus, was a leek that he had dug up.
Upon looking at Han Xiao’s suave appearance, Gaud’s lips curled up slightly.
“Your Excellency Black Star, perhaps we may become comrades in the future.”
Han Xiao snapped out of his thoughts. “Are we not comrades now?”
“Ah, you understand what I mean,” Gaud said with a calm smile.
“... How ambitious, I shall wait for you then.” Han Xiao raised his brows.
Does he mean that he will become a Beyond Grade A like me? This fellow is pretty confident.
He then committed Gaud to his memory before shifting his gaze away.
After chatting with the others casually, he brought out his universal ‘I will treat you to a meal next time’ ending phrase, and the various commanders went offline.
Only Han Xiao and Tarrokov were left behind, and they continued to patrol the entire spaceship under the guide of the soldiers.
The Kunde Race civilians were all held in the same place while the upper echelons were locked up separately. Han Xiao first patrolled the civilian region with Tarrokov.
It was just like a refugee camp.
Countless Kunde Race civilians were gathered together with fear and unease in their eyes.
Before the start of the war, many of them were unwilling to leave and felt that the enemy was only imaginary.
But now, the civilians were filled with fear in their hearts. They were like prey awaiting the descent of the butcher’s knife.
Before this, they were the race ruling over the entire Star Cluster. However, they were now reduced to captives.
After patrolling the civilian district, both of them went to the district where the upper echelons were locked up. They stood outside the interrogation room of the Kunde Race leader and looked at the other party through the window.
Although he was already a captive, the Kunde Race leader still stood up straight and maintained his cool. His eyes were currently shut in meditation.
“I will just listen by the side when you are interrogating him,” Han Xiao said to Tarrokov.
The main interrogator was Tarrokov; he was only there to watch. Besides, the Kunde Race leader probably would not recognize him.
Tarrokov then nodded and said to the soldier beside him, “Open the door.”
...
In the interrogation room, the Kunde Race leader was seated down and trying his best to sit up straight.
He was not as calm as he looked, but he needed to maintain his cool. In his eyes, he was the final representative of the Kunde Race.
Swoosh!
The door opened, and the Kunde Race leader opened his eyes to watch two figures walk in.
One of them was the military commander Tarrokov, whom he had seen before, and the other was extremely foreign to him. He was dressed in a black windbreaker and looked like a bigshot.
“This is the second time that we have met,” Tarrokov said with a poker face. “Our party has already fulfilled our side of the promise and didn’t massacre your race. You now have to tell me everything that you know, including your thoughts and logic when deciding to attack us, the reason for your attack, and everything related to this attack. Remember that your answer will determine our attitude toward how we choose to deal with you. You’d better not hide anything, or the one to regret it definitely won’t be me.”
Virtual Technology could steal information for them, but they would not be able to understand the other party’s thought process through it. This was the main point of their interrogation today.
The Kunde Race leader knew that it was only a matter of time before he was interrogated and did not dare hide anything. At the same time, he did not have any intention of hiding anything and said everything that he knew with a heavy heart.
Upon hearing the other party narrate his story, Tarrokov typed out a report. From time to time, Han Xiao looked over and saw a few negative terms such as ‘xenophobic ideology’, ‘native arrogance’, ‘vengeful culture’, and ‘unsuitable for living together’.
These aren’t good terms... Han Xiao blinked.
This interrogation report would definitely affect the decision of the dynasty, and these words were dangerous.
After a while, the Kunde Race leader finally finished what he had to say.
“Your existence would take away our room for growth, and we are thus willing to find a new homeland that won’t be disturbed. We aren’t willing to live together with all of you as it will only limit our growth and development.”
Upon hearing that, Tarrokov nodded and said without hiding anything, “You are right. We will never allow you to rise up.”
None of them were saints, and the Crimson Dynasty did not explore the Flickering World so that they can live harmoniously with the natives. They were not planning to let the natives develop and only planned to give them some space to survive.
For most of the natives, it was not a bad thing. The three Universal Civilizations would educate them, and they would receive advanced technological knowledge. However, to the Kunde Race, which had a certain scale, it was a calamity.
The three Universal Civilizations were not interested in having more civilizations eyeing their positions and would definitely restrict their growth.
The Crimson Dynasty did not hate the actions of the Kunde Race. After all, that gave them the best excuse to subdue the other party with military might.
“However,” Tarrokov added, “I think that you understand that the spaceship wreckage that you obtained was provided by one of our competitors. They were only making use of you to deal with us.
“They armed you with technology to strengthen your military but fed you false information about the dynasty. They did not tell you the strength of the Crimson Dynasty, which made you think that you had the strength to retaliate.
“The spaceship wreckage was like a poisonous fruit. The technological skill was the sweetness of the fruit that hid a deadly poison.
“As such, all of you thought that the psionic energy, hyperdrive, stargate technology that you received would fill up the gap between both parties. You thought that you had received the weapons that we had. However, the truth is that our weapons are generations ahead of the ones that you received.
“You have already seen the outcome. We had the chance to live together. Although you would have lost the opportunity to develop, you would have retained your independence. At times, losing something may not be a bad choice.”
Upon hearing that, the Kunde Race leader shook his head and said, “Doing nothing as we watch our road to development get blocked isn’t the style of the Kunde Race. We would rather take a gamble.”
“Well said. A civilization without ambition has no future. I can understand your actions.” Tarrokov nodded with agreement before saying, “However, your only mistake was that you chose the wrong opponent.”
The Kunde Race leader then lowered his head.
He did not regret his choice, but he was still filled with hatred.
However, he did not hate the Crimson Dynasty the most but the masterminds who had made use of them!
They were the true people who had caused their destruction!
“Alright, we shall stop here today. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Tarrokov then stood up and was prepared to leave the interrogation room.
“Wait a moment!” the Kunde Race leader suddenly said. “You guys won’t wipe us out but plan to rear us, right?”
“There is such a possibility. However, we will not follow your actions and limit your intelligence. We will only educate your race with our culture.”
The Kunde Race nodded with understanding and took a deep breath. “So... I will have to die for sure, right?”
Tarrokov paused for a moment and chose not to hide the truth. “You will become the target for your race to vent their anger and go down as a lesson in history. You will be the best tool.”
Han Xiao shook his head upon hearing that.
These people liked to speak in riddles. Thankfully, he understood what they said.
If the dynasty wanted to educate the Kunde Race, they needed to choose a puppet leader. However, this puppet leader definitely would not be the current leader.
This Kunde Race leader would be treated as a puppet to put on a show.
The end of this show would definitely end in his execution.
“I understand. There needs to be someone to shoulder the blame, and I don’t mind leaving behind a name of shame.” The Kunde Race leader was already prepared to die. “I can work together with all of you to put on a show, but I have two requests... Don’t look at me like that. I know that I do not have the right to bargain, but I can only say these words to you. You can just treat it as a wish of mine.”
“... then please speak.”
“First, we have already surrendered, and it won’t matter if you kill me. I hope that you will take care of my race and not kill anyone else. Second...” The body of the Kunde Race leader suddenly began trembling, and he said with a malevolent voice, “I want the people who made use of us to pay the price!”
Tarrokov then walked out as though he did not hear anything.
Upon seeing that, the Kunde Race leader lowered his head silently.
He knew that the other party would not accept his request, but this might be the last time he could say such words.
Right at this moment, a black figure suddenly appeared in front of him.
The Kunde Race leader looked up, and it was the black figure who had not said a word since he entered.
The words he heard then shocked him.
“I agree to your request.”
The Kunde Race leader was shocked.
Tarrokov paused and looked back with a puzzled look.
Han Xiao continued with a calm expression.
“I will write a petition to the dynasty for the members of your race to be placed in my territory. As for making the masterminds pay, it isn’t a difficult matter.”
He would not do this if there were no benefits for him. When the Kunde Race leader said his final wish, a new mission had popped up on his interface.
Upon seeing the Mission Requirements and reward, he decided that he had to accept this mission!
“Who are you‽”
Upon hearing that, the Kunde Race leader finally could not help but ask about Han Xiao’s identity.
“You can call me Black Star. As for who I am... you just need to know one thing.”
Han Xiao smiled.
“I am someone who can get rid of your entire race single-handedly.”