Declaration: What I'm writing is a fantasy novel with a touch of sci-fi, so I hope everyone can accept everything I describe. Well, it's not too heavy, but there are some plot elements involved.
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The main battleship dispatched a retrieval team to bring the twelve captives back.
Marshal Hong laughed heartily during the video conference: "These Japanese monkeys are exactly as described in the intel. The moment you mention Bushidō, they forget all about operational secrecy protocols. Hmm, I like this kid Long Feng. I'm placing an order for him."
A two-star marshal said icily: "Is that so? My special assault force needs someone with a flexible mind like him. He belongs to me."
Marshal Hong said through gritted teeth: "Old Lin, my rank is higher than yours. How dare you compete with me?"
Two other three-star marshals immediately challenged him: "Old Hong, our ranks aren't lower than yours, are they?"
Just as another round of chaos was about to erupt, Chairman Zhao finally spoke: "Enough. None of you should have any ideas about them—I've already made arrangements. If they can successfully become members of the Dragon Force, none of you will get them. You'd better pray now that they fail the final test. Otherwise, their destination has already been decided."
The room immediately fell silent. The marshals looked like rain-soaked ducks, weakly closing their mouths one after another.
March 15, 2505, 12:40
The search operation had been ongoing for over two days.
Long Feng strode at the front of the formation, pulling up Xiao Wei who had been chasing from behind but stumbled and nearly fell. He asked coldly: "You said you couldn't receive signals inside the attack tank. We've been walking for two days now—why is there still no signal?"
With short hair and resolute, beautiful features, Xiao Wei jerked her head up indignantly: "How should I know? The signal generator might have been damaged by particle flow, burned up during atmospheric entry, or taken by aliens as a collectible. You people, all cold and detached, are just like those robots behind us. We don't owe you anything…" Her voice was full of grievance.
The twenty-three Special A1 members remained silent, quietly heading toward a possible crash site ahead. Long Ao approached Xiao Wei with a grin, flatteringly saying: "Colonel Xiao, they're just kids, you know? Monsters from military academies always have some attitude. I'm different—handsome, mature, loyal, and honest. I would never hurt a beauty's feelings like they do." He reached out to support her.
Qi Ling quickly stepped forward, slapping away Long Ao's outstretched hand, and said with a chuckle: "Sorry, if they're monsters, you're just trash. We're here to search for the data spacecraft, not on a picnic."
Long Ao shrugged his shoulders with extreme displeasure, spreading his hands. That brilliantly gleaming, peculiarly shaped small sword suddenly transformed into a beam of white crystal light, enveloping his figure. His entire body turned into a white rainbow about five meters long and forty centimeters thick, hovering roughly fifty meters above the ground as it shot forward.
Long Feng and the others were only slightly stunned for a moment before continuing forward as usual.
The drivers of the assault tanks, the crew in the main control cabins of the two warships, and a large number of high-ranking officers were all utterly shocked. The military channels were filled with exclamations like, "My God, what is that?" and "Hey, this, this…
After a long while, the commotion finally settled down. Chairman Zhao said slowly, "Delete the video footage from just now immediately. All witnesses today, note: this is a top-level military secret, classified AAA. You are strictly forbidden to leak any information for the rest of your lives."
Major General Zhong asked, his voice trembling slightly, "Chairman, that… that doesn't seem like a personal aircraft, and there's no energy reading at all."
Chairman Zhao nodded repeatedly, "I know. That was… well, just remember, you saw nothing today."
Opening a separate communication channel, Marshal Long said with a displeased expression, "Long Ao's behavior this time was completely meaningless. I request a change of cooperation personnel." Chairman Zhao shook his head: "The Long family is only assisting us out of obligation; I have no right to make demands of them. Long Ao is the most outstanding disciple of this generation of the Long family, though sometimes he can be, well, a bit muddle-headed. Regardless, you should cooperate with him properly."
Marshal Long couldn't help but ask, "What exactly is that thing?"
Chairman Zhao remained silent for a long while before slowly saying, "I was also told this when I met with the current head of the Long family. Have you read the novels written by a man named Huanzhu Louzhu from the 1940s? Later, ask Nuwa to retrieve them for you—you'll probably understand what it is then. Aside from the Long family members, including you now, only six people know the specific details." Marshal Long nodded silently.
Chairman Zhao said with a light laugh, "I think these young people are all quite good. I have other matters to attend to, so you'll be in charge of the mission from here on." Marshal Long nodded gently, and Chairman Zhao's image had already vanished.
March 15, 2505, 12:59
The streak of white light that Long Ao had transformed into suddenly veered several times in mid-air before shooting back at high speed. As he landed, the small short sword, still glowing, circled him twice before vanishing into his hand.
Long Ao shouted loudly, "Hey, come take a look. Is that the pile of scrap metal? It seems completely smashed beyond recognition. It's about fifteen hundred meters ahead, just over that hill."
Xiao Wei and Qi Ling exchanged a glance and ran in the direction Long Ao had indicated. However, the ground was rugged and covered with large pebbles, and their physical stamina was not particularly strong. After stumbling for over twenty meters, they suddenly felt lighter—Long Feng and Long Bao had picked them up and slung them over their shoulders. Ignoring the two women's protests, they sprinted forward swiftly.
Standing atop the hill, everyone took a few slow breaths. About a hundred meters ahead lay the wreckage of a small spacecraft, scattered in a broken heap on the ground. It was only then that the signal receiver in Xiao Wei's hand emitted a faint beeping sound.
The search team quickly approached the small spacecraft. Xiao Wei and Qi Ling stared blankly at the data module of the ship, which had been crushed into a tangled mass of scrap metal.
Long Ao shrugged his shoulders, and that small sword swiftly transformed into a foot-long streak of white light shooting out. It sliced through the super-hard alloy as if cutting through tofu, revealing a hole large enough for a person to pass through—about two meters high and over a meter wide.
Long Yu and Long Huo gently stepped inside, then worked together to carry out a sealed silver metal cylinder. Through a transparent glass window, one could see some fine crystals emitting a soft white glow. Xiao Wei instinctively said, "That's it, the super energy crystal."
Long Feng nodded and said, "Well then, our mission is complete, we can head back." Xiao Wei nodded, "Yes, it's time to return to the base."
Long Ao asked with a concerned expression, "Haven't you collected the environmental samples yet?"
Qi Ling gave him a strange look, "Our collectors have been automatically gathering samples along the way, didn't you notice?"
Long Feng ordered the attack tank overhead to land and casually asked, "All this for just some powder?" Xiao Wei widened her eyes, "Powder? This is super energy crystal collected from the depths of the galaxy… We'll soon—" She suddenly closed her mouth, shook her head, and said, "This is a matter for our Science Academy. You just enjoy the results; there's no need to explain it to you."
Long Feng and the others nodded and said, "Understood."
The attack tank roared into the air, heading straight for the Chen Tang.
Long Feng asked Major General Zhong via the intercom, "Major General Zhong, is that cargo ship still there?" Major General Zhong grunted in affirmation, "Still there. There's been no activity. We've jammed all its signals—it can't contact the outside world. It's probably still waiting for the members of the Black Chrysanthemum force it deployed."
Long Feng commanded, "Destroy it. Wipe it out completely. Use the anti-matter cannon to annihilate it entirely."
Major General Zhong murmured a few acknowledgments and said, "Understood, preparing to fire immediately."
As Long Feng and the others entered the fighter bay of the Chen Tang, a slender, black-coated missile detached gently from the missile rack that had emerged from the ship's hull. A long, pale blue particle stream shot out from its rear, propelling it straight toward the cargo ship. Simultaneously, two hundred heavy fighters swiftly returned to the carrier.
The missile gradually accelerated to half the speed of light and struck the four-kilometer-long cargo ship. A blinding white-hot light burst silently into the surrounding void, and the cargo ship's signal vanished.
March 15, 2505, 21:30
The Chen Tang hung quietly in the atmosphere of the Sagittarius Arm's Planet Four, waiting for the Supreme Academy's shuttle to pick up the two researchers and that silver storage box. Since the Chen Tang was heading to the space near Sagittarius Arm's Planet One to track down a pirate ship, Long Feng and the others happened to catch a ride back with it.
In the officers' mess of the Chen Tang, Long Feng stared coldly at Long Ao, who was downing glass after glass of premium red wine across the table.
After a long while, Long Ao chuckled darkly and said, "Alright, kid, out with it. I know you've got questions. Otherwise, you wouldn't be buying me drinks. Damn, even with the officers' 70% discount, it's still 270 bucks a bottle. I've had three bottles of yours, so ask away—I'll tell you whatever you want to know."
Long Feng nodded, picked up Long Ao's gleaming small sword from the table, and asked directly, "What is this?"
Long Ao gave a very accurate answer: "A dagger."
Long Feng slowly weighed the small sword in his hand, channeled a trace of his energy into it, and said in surprise, "It's absorbing my internal energy."
Long Ao hastily snatched it back, whispering mysteriously: "This thing… your cultivation isn't sufficient yet, so it hasn't been taught to you. Actually, our family couldn't do this before, but suddenly gained the ability five hundred years ago. Hehe… to put it simply, it's about using your own energy to decompose the sword into basic particles, allowing it to be stored within the body like energy. Just like this." A faint white light emerged from his palm, and the small sword vanished.
Long Ao let out a triumphant drunken hiccup and said: "When in use, it actually exists in a state between solid and energy form, controlled by one's own energy. The deeper your internal strength and the stronger your thought-force, the greater the remote control distance, the more items you can manipulate, the greater the power, and the longer the radiance."
Long Feng frowned deeply and asked puzzledly: "What about when you fly? Your entire body disappears."
Long Ao glanced around; the nearest officers were still over ten meters away. He said softly: "If your sword body can be energyized, so can your physical body. My body can currently achieve about 40% particle transformation. The outermost layer consists of energy particles decomposed from the sword, enveloping my body and controlled by thought-force for flight. You should be able to remotely move small objects now, right?" Long Feng nodded, closed his eyes, and suddenly a wine bottle on the bar twenty meters away fell to the ground and shattered.
Long Ao nodded with satisfaction and said: "That's the principle, but it requires extremely powerful internal energy as support. My internal strength is nearly a hundred times stronger than yours, but don't be discouraged—my mental force isn't much stronger than yours. This means you have greater potential for development. As long as your internal energy can reach or surpass my level… Because our development paths differ: we have always focused on training our internal strength, while you deliberately emphasized brain development. The old folks discovered this issue a hundred years ago, but they never found a solution."
Long Feng was baffled by his incoherent explanation. After quickly analyzing his words, he carefully articulated, word by word: "You mean the primary control still lies in psychic sensory ability?"
Long Ao nodded: "But without basic energy intensity, you can't particle-transform these materials. Heard from those old guys that some weapons are naturally forged with high-energy infused substances, making them particularly easy to particle-transform. Damn, that so-called super energy crystal - if I could get like fifty or a hundred jin to forge into weapons, big brother here would be invincible under heaven."
Long Feng looked at his flushed face, shook his head firmly, pulled out his crystal card from his pocket, swiped it through the card reader on the table, then helped up the nearly drunk Long Ao—who was beginning to babble about chasing all the beautiful women in the world—and slowly walked out of the officers' exclusive dining hall.