Chapter 1292: Bruised and Battered Mungo

A terrible alarm sounded right at that moment! The alarm noise was actually not that loud, but for some reason, it penetrated really far. The low growl echoed within everyone’s chest, making their chest so stuffy that they felt like vomiting.

“This is…a Level 1 alert alarm?!” Archer turned around in astonishment, not even realising that he had accidentally knocked down the cup of water next to him!

“Why is a Level 1 alarm issued at a time like this? Are the Alliance invading? But there are two major war zones separating us! Maybe the Predators are making a counter attack? But that’s impossible, the warning systems we set up haven’t gone off.”

Sheyan knew exactly what had happened. The incident he caused had come to light. The long absence of the young man from the Arnold family had aroused suspicions, and panic had spread like a plague. He grinned as he looked on at the all the staff who were retreating in a hurry.

The exterior of Alps Base 7 began to rapidly transform. A large amount of exterior armour started enveloping the base. Countless electromagnetic rail guns (EMRG) and large-caliber particle projection cannons emerged from the base’s body like cards that were flipped, forming the most advanced and terrifying joint-firing shooting system in the Empire, the “Stonehenge” formation!

In just a few minutes, this giant base became a powerful metallic monster armed to the teeth!

Sheyan could see from Archer’s workshop that the streets were quickly clearing up. A large number of soldiers marched to the streets and started to impose martial law. The soldiers carried out door-to-door inspection. The operation this time was obviously at an unprecedented scale. The brutal behaviour and wanton actions of the soldiers all illustrated one fact – they were under great pressure.

However, less than twenty minutes later, a Lieutenant came to Archer in a hurry and reported, “Reporting as ordered, sir! We’ve received a signal from 30,000 kilometers away. The A-71 Squadron is requesting for permission to dock on Alps Base 7. They give us 10 minutes to provide them with five docking berths that are adjacent to each other, and the docking berths must be wide enough to support three Pacific-class warships and two Atlantic-class warships!”

Sheyan did not understand the significance of the A-71 Squadron, but everyone within the administrative system knew that any squadron numbering that started with “A” must be related to the royal family. No spaceship squadrons could break this rule. The squadron numbers of the Emperor’s personal fleet (Doomsday) went from A-01 to A-10. Besides that, squadron numbering that started with “S” were exclusively used by the airships of the most mysterious organisation in the Empire, the Big Ben Research Institute.

A-71 was the flagship squadron of the person who was seventh highest in status in the whole Empire!! That is to say, the noble Prince Pombaru had actually come to Alps Base 7 personally!!

Ranking seventh in the royal hierarchy may not sound that impressive, but it must be known that in the absence of a crown prince, ranking seventh was actually something quite remarkable!

The highest ranking nobility was undoubtedly the Emperor, followed by the Emperor’s biological mother who was still alive, Empress Dowager Helefen. The third should be Prince Balesta, who was guarding the three war zones to the west, suppressing the Alliance’s forces. The fourth was probably the shadow Dean of Big Ben Research Institute!

Speaking of the shadow Dean, he was truly a very mysterious person. He was a man without a face, so he was also called the Faceless Man. The reason for this tragedy was because the Faceless Man was once the current Emperor’s strongest rival for the throne. The victor in their rivalry was only decided at the very last moment.

The current Emperor was very magnanimous. He admired the Faceless Man’s brilliance, so he did not order for him to be killed. Instead, the Emperor ordered for his face to be burned with laser as punishment, and let the Faceless Man join Big Ben Research Institute after that.

The Faceless Man took merely fifteen years to become the shadow Dean of the institute with his own efforts. He was already forty years old when his face was wiped away, so he already had a fully mature mind and outlook on life. Therefore, despite the tragedy that befell him, he was not controlled by the desire for revenge, but had instead silently made contributions to the Empire from the institute. Of course, there was also the possibility that the current Emperor was so powerful that the Faceless Man had no choice but to do so.

So, Prince Pombaru was actually third in line to the throne!

If the success rate of the first heir was 50%, then the success rate of the second in line would be 40%, and the success rate of the third in line would be 35%. This probability was not low at all. Furthermore, the Emperor was in good health, and Prince Pombaru’s influence was on the rise. Therefore, if he did not make any major mistakes, his ranking might very well rise higher.

From the projected hologram, three giant Pacific-class warships could be seen traveling quietly through space like giant steel beasts in a triangular formation. Although the cold muzzles of their cannons did not seem threatening at present, the streamlined guiding lights on the body of the cannons kept flashing continuously, indicating that these cannons were definitely not ornamental. In fact, they had the power to destroy planets.

Above and below the Pacific classes was each an Atlantic-class warship escorting them at the same speed. All the warships had a common feature: a simple and lively pattern of a blooming pansy formed from large purple stripes at the front of the ship.

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That was the symbol of the royal family! In this terrifyingly vast interstellar realm spanning hundreds of millions of light-years, the Pansy emblem symbolised submission to the unique authority of the monarchy! All must show respect and bow their heads in front of the emblem!

“Didn’t the royal fleet already arrive four or five hours ago? Why are they only here now?” asked Sheyan in puzzlement.

Archer sighed. “They had some problems when they were crossing a wormhole. This kind of thing has been happening quite frequently lately. It probably has to do with the retaliation from the Predators. They move very stealthily and has not engaged in a direct confrontation with us since the last time….”

Sheyan nodded, and a sinister smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

“I see. For the royal family to arrive at such a crucial time…. Mungo must be feeling like a cat on hot bricks right now!”

***

The veins on Mungo’s temples beat violently, and he could feel a painful headache coming!

Never in his life had he ever been put in such an awkward predicament! He felt unbelievably frustrated and wronged, but with no way to vent his anger!

The Arnold family had a natural psychological advantage when they faced Mungo, because Mungo was someone they nurtured from scratch. If a dog was raised by someone since it was a baby, no matter how fierce the dog usually barked, it could only lower its head with its tail between its legs in front of the master who raised it.

First of all, the direct descendant of the Arnold family, the young man named Arnold Fabian Montsson Lucio, disdained negotiating with Mungo and had let someone under him come instead. To be openly scorned like this made Mungo furious, but he could not lash out.

That was already frustrating enough. But not ten minutes after the talk finished, a young man kicked open the door to his office and demanded him to declare martial law to let the base initiate Level 1 combat preparation at once! He did this in front of many of Mungo’s subordinates! This was no longer simple disrespect. This was spitting on his face and asking him to lick it clean!

But Mungo had no choice but to endure it in silence

Because the person who did this, or rather, the source of this problem, was someone he could not openly offend!

The eldest son of the Arnold family, Arnold Fabian Moncchi Colbert, was indeed qualified to give Mungo an order, and he was not exactly acting beyond his authority. Furthermore, the order was to investigate the strange disappearance of his younger brother, Arnold Fabian Montsson Lucio.

It must be known that factions like the Arnold family, that were so powerful even the Emperor had to be wary of them, had long spread their wings and become monstrous behemoths. They protected their heirs very carefully. For instance, all the heirs had positioning chips planted in their bodies.

When the Arnold family realised that they had lost contact with Arnold Fabian Montsson Lucio for three hours, they immediately activated the positioning system. The result was the worst case scenario…. The positioning system could not locate his signal at all! It could not even locate the signals from his followers!

This would only occur if all the chips had been destroyed. Of course, there was also the slim possibility that the group was in a place that had a strong signal interference, so the signals could not be sent out. However, these positioning chips were high-end products of Big Ben Research Institute. When the Arnold family bought this technology, the institute guaranteed that it had strong anti-jamming capabilities. The credibility of the Big Ben Research Institute was beyond doubt.

While Mungo was feeling extremely agitated, Archer suddenly gave him a call. He brought a message that almost made Mungo’s brain short-circuit.

“Prince Pombaru’s A-71 Royal Squadron has arrived, sir. They’re now 25,000 kilometres away and have asked us to vacate docking berths for them. Because Alps Base 7 is currently under Level 1 combat preparation, we’re unable to carry out this operation. What should we do, sir?”

Mungo’s mind went blank for two whole minutes. His brain seemed to have lost its ability to function. At that instant, the LCD screen in his office suddenly flashed. Not only that, but all the screens in the entire Alps Base 7 flashed as well. There was a strong signal interference.