Chapter 953 History—Of Course, It’s Dark

There is something that we have always known, but no one wants to mention. This matter will only be discussed by Sandora and I under special circumstances, and that is what happened to those crazy fallen apostles after the fall of the old empire. What a sin.

No one wants to watch his former comrade fall from a glorious warrior to a cruel and twisted executioner, especially for the Xiling apostle who regards the destruction of the abyss and glorious fighting as the highest honor in his life. Being controlled by the power of the abyss, Turning to slaughter their former comrades or other warriors fighting against the abyss, this is simply the biggest shame and dirty act they can think of. Therefore, every time they talk about the collapse of the old empire, the last thing Sandora wants to mention is those How many worlds in the same camp have been destroyed by the crazy fallen apostles? Even if those worlds are not part of the huge army led by the empire, they are still enough to be called comrades-in-arms just based on their actions against the abyss. However, after Xiling Apostle became a madman, these "comrades" must be the first batch to suffer.

The old empire had a vast territory and ruled thousands of worlds. These worlds were not necessarily all military zones. There were also a large number of colonial universes, resource worlds, logistics worlds, or simply home worlds of vassal races. The old empire had arranged numerous settlements in these universes. There are endless military depots and cosmic fortresses. In the past, these military depots were a solid line of defense to protect the universe. A world could develop peacefully because of the military depots set up by the empire. No matter how ruthless the iron-blooded empire was in military terms, in the eyes of the civilians of those worlds, at least These military stations are symbols of safe survival.

However, as the catastrophe broke out, the former guardians instantly turned into massacre demons, and the disaster spread from these military stations that had been the Great Steel Wall just a moment ago.

Countless worlds were destroyed by the artillery fire of the fallen apostles. The magnificent country built by the old empire over hundreds of millions of years collapsed at an incredible speed. A large number of vassal races were killed and the galaxy was ignited. The universe has been deleted... Almost all cross-world passages are under the control of the empire. The ordinary races in the universe have almost no possibility of escaping. Even worse, some races with weak individuals have become under the influence of the power of the abyss. Monster, embarking on the path of destroying others and self-destruction. This was a rapid and desperate chain reaction, almost overnight. Everything was turned into ruins under the impact of the abyss, which was broadcast to the entire empire network without time difference. Just like the land that Sandora once ruled, only desolate and twisted space fortresses and broken starships are left in the universe, as well as the descendants of a very small number of vassal races who survived the disaster and almost started over from the primitive people. There are twisted stories passed down through their mouths from generation to generation.

Of course, this storm of destruction destroyed not only the empire. In many worlds close to the empire's ruling areas, the impact of this earth-shattering disaster was almost as much as that within the empire: the fallen apostles who destroyed their own country did not stop. , after they discovered that there was no material world within sight that could be destroyed, they decisively set their sights on other worlds in their memory - those that had not joined the imperial camp. Fight against the Abyss as a third camp or remain neutral in the ordinary world.

Because the great changes that occurred within the empire were so rapid, and the empire itself implemented an extremely strict military blockade on its ruled areas, no one knew what happened in the few days when that unprecedentedly powerful civilization suddenly fell silent, even with the The borders of the imperial area are directly adjacent to each other, and there are even ordinary civilizations that have business dealings with the latter on weekdays. He couldn't imagine what kind of terrible scene was happening on the opposite side of the world passage that suddenly fell silent amidst the noise. When the dark warships of the "Imperial Army" rushed angrily from the void, spraying artillery fire and death on every innocent world that appeared in their sight, all the civilizations that were hit were confused. They simply couldn't understand what was going on. The end of the world came so quickly that many civilizations ushered in the end of the world quickly and painlessly in confusion...

The remaining ones who reacted were powerful advanced civilizations. The void was vast, and the abyss attacked every orderly world indiscriminately. Naturally, it was not limited to the territories of the gods and the Xiling Empire. Of course, the civilizations that fought against the abyss were not just stars. In the two camps of Yuyu and Xiling, many powerful ordinary civilizations are also fighting against the abyss. Civilizations that are qualified to fight against the abyss have at least reached a level that can span the universe and modify the laws of mathematics. This type of civilization faces the sudden sudden change of the empire. Although the attack caused heavy losses immediately, they still persisted and had a chance to breathe.

When the fallen apostles who madly attacked other worlds faced these powerful stragglers, their pace was slightly hindered, which is why the later ghost fleet was born - they all seized the last glimmer of life when the end of the world came from themselves. The survivors of the universe escaped from death.

After all, no matter how powerful the ordinary civilizations of the third camp are, they cannot compare with the behemoth of the Xiling Empire, especially a group of crazy imperial soldiers who have seriously burned out their brains. The powerful defense lines could not hold out for long before they were wiped out. The independent armies of various worlds that hurriedly organized to resist did not resist on the front line for long before they had to start arranging fleets to cover the last survivors of the race to escape from this universe.

This was a great evacuation that happened in many worlds at the same time. Countless void escape fleets were chased by the fallen apostles and escaped from the home universe where the war was spreading and on the verge of collapse. They plunged into the equally dangerous void. These The escape fleet was large in scale, but its number soon decreased sharply. The huge attrition was not only due to the pursuit of the fallen apostles, but more importantly, the danger of the void: the void navigation technology mastered by many civilizations was not mature. The void is a bridge, with the ability to jump into another world, but there is absolutely no heaven-defying technology to survive in the void for a long time. However, the situation at that time was that almost every world they could find had been shrouded in the fire of the fallen apostles, and the battleship No world in the navigation map is safe. No matter where the escape fleet docks, it will only be greeted by imperial warships arriving in a blink of an eye.

And the artillery fire that also arrived in the blink of an eye.

Some of the escape fleets were desperate and jumped into a universe they thought was relatively safe. Most of the fleets that made such a choice were torn to pieces by the empire's hyperspace firepower, while the remaining part remained in the void. Wandering around, when the energy is exhausted, it slowly disintegrates.

In the end, they persisted and were able to maintain themselves in the void for a long time. The number of exiled spaceships that escaped the influence of the fallen apostles was less than 10% of the original number, and almost all the spaceships were seriously damaged.

Parliament tells us this history. She was directly connected to the starship database due to the mutation of her life form. When she told these things, she had almost no emotion, just like telling a story in a straightforward manner.

"It took nearly a thousand years for the escape fleet to temporarily escape the pursuit of the Imperial Army. The survivors were less than one-tenth of the number when they set off. Part of the fleet was no longer sustainable. The large force did not have the extra starships and resources to continue to support them. They could only Most of those who took the risk to jump into the main material world before the starship disintegrated ended up in a desolate universe. Lack of resources and population. There was also no vital basic industry. These laggard but still lucky exiles started over in the new home they found in a hurry. Start their own civilization. They used the remaining void equipment on the battleship to maintain contact with the large troops still on the wandering journey for more than a thousand years. The final records show that many of them have fallen into planetary civilization, and there are Part of them was destroyed by the cosmic environment. The remaining escapees continue to wander in the void, because no one knows how long the imperial army will pursue them. You... they never know what to give up. Facing such an army, no one dares to stop. Step forward. It was after the Yunad people terminated communication with the last batch of straggler starships that they integrated the entire race and formed a parliament. Otherwise, we, who were severely damaged by the Imperial Army when we set out, will also become one of the stragglers.

“After wandering for quite a long time, even the most powerful civilizations have begun to gradually exhaust their resources, and there are fewer and fewer starships that can continue to operate. Although those imperial warships seem to have given up the pursuit, the wandering fleet is about to be swallowed by the void. The once huge starship clusters were integrated again and again, and then only five combined fleets remained. The five top commanders finally discussed and decided to split up. They drifted endlessly to the five 'quadrants' of the void that no one had ever explored before, until When the entire fleet's resources are exhausted, it will leave the void on the spot. What kind of universe it will fall into at that time is completely left to fate. We firmly believe that the void is vast, and there is always a 'quadrant' that is a safe area that the empire cannot find.

"Tens of thousands of years have passed since then. Although the five fleets have separated, we still do everything possible to maintain contact. During this period, our fleet - the Fourth Combined Fleet conducted the largest and most adventurous mission. Reorganization: Abandon all respective battleships and use all remaining resources to support the Toberu starship fleet. The Toberu tribe, or the Toberu advanced insect race, is the civilization with the highest technology and productivity in the fleet. He is also the only life form with the talent of psionic energy. After discovering that the efficiency of the fleet is getting lower and lower, and the ability to continue to develop in the void is zero, the council determined that Toberu is the only one who is not afraid of psionic energy radiation and has mastered the void laboratory. Only the living body of technology can promote the development of the group again. Extend the endurance time of the fleet as much as possible, so the final result, as you can see, is that there is only one kind of spacecraft left in the wandering fleet, and that is the Toberu starship. This is the Fourth Combined Fleet history.”

I was silent for a while and asked in a low voice: "There are still four fleets. They are now..."

In fact, you don't need to ask this question, because the young soldier has revealed the endings of several other fleets before.

"The First, Second, and Third Fleets encountered the Imperial Army and were destroyed." A trace of pain flashed across the council's face, but it quickly calmed down. "The situation of the Fifth Fleet is unknown. In the end, only the Fourth and Fifth Fleets survived. , we were still communicating until six hundred years ago. At that time, they had wandered to extremely remote areas in the void that no one had ever reached. They were in a dense native zone of a large desolate world. The communication between us was intermittent. After maintaining it for more than ten years, we finally lost contact. I don’t know if they still exist. I hope they still survive. The remaining population of the Fifth Fleet is almost twice that of the Fourth Fleet. Maybe they can finally succeed.”

"In other words, within the currently known range of the void, you are the only remaining exiles."

Sandora sighed softly and looked at the parliament with a complicated expression.

The other person nodded silently.

"By the way, I also remembered one thing." I suddenly remembered a detail that I had cared about before. "When I came here just now, I saw some imperial marks and remaining imperial equipment in your fortress. How did this happen? What's going on? Is it the fallen apostle battleship that you captured in the crossfire?"

"No, they are things brought by the 'remnants'." The council shook their heads. "Although the Imperial Army is our mortal enemy, we have to admit that their technology far exceeds that of the United Fleet. In order to survive, we will use what we can to everything, including enemy weapons.”

"Remnants?" My sister couldn't help but repeat the word. "What remnant?"

The council closed its eyes: "It's the former Imperial Familia. When a catastrophe occurs, the Imperial soldiers attack all targets, including their original servants. However, under normal circumstances, the Imperial Familia possess very cutting-edge void navigation technology. These technologies directly Coming from the Empire gave them a higher chance of escape. Many Imperial Families escaped from the Empire's territory. They brought a large amount of technology and warships with them. They joined the United Fleet. At first, a brief battle broke out between us. Then we understood a little bit what happened in the Xiling Empire, and the battle ended and the two sides formed an alliance. The imperial equipment they brought was used to enrich the material warehouse of the combined fleet."

The explanation from the council suddenly made me realize that no wonder traces of the empire can be seen in this planet fortress. It seems that when the catastrophe broke out, not all the vassal races were as unlucky as the natives of the Mobrado world. Some vassal races that were very technologically powerful and had a relatively large number of imperial equipment managed to escape and ascend to heaven, and then they merged with the escape fleet. I think those imperial remnants must have had a very awkward position in the combined fleet in the early days.

My guess was immediately confirmed by the Parliament: Although the descendants of the Empire's survivors are no longer discriminated against in the United Fleet, in those early days, there were conflicts everywhere between the Empire's survivors and the exiles. Mainly stemming from the latter's hatred and fear of the fallen apostles, while the remnants who were once minions of the empire were regarded by them as the devil's spokesperson. This conflict lasted for nearly thousands of years until basically all the first-generation empire remnants and exiles Until all of them left the Hexi, with the efforts of several generations of new citizens, the relationship between the two sides was greatly eased. The survivors of the empire used the void technology they inherited from the empire to greatly extend the endurance time of the combined fleet in the void. The exiles Then try to help the survivors correct their technology trees and reshape their development capabilities - we all know that under the control of the empire's intentional or unintentional technological shackles, the vassal races will basically distort their technology trees. Once they leave the empire, "Blood transfusion", it won't be long before they become a group of primitive people who only know how to press switches on ready-made machine tools.

We already know almost the general situation of the Ghost Fleet. Sandora pondered for a moment and said: "Basically I understand it, so what do you think about our information?"

"The credibility is less than 100%, but it doesn't seem to make much sense whether we believe it or not." The council was as bachelor as ever. She dared to talk about no matter how serious the issue was, just like the narrative. "The current combined fleet cannot respond to the actions of the Imperial Army. No matter how much impact it will have, we can only guarantee an absolute counterattack when you launch an attack."

"In other words, as long as we don't attack you, you won't get into trouble, right?"

Sandora asked with a gentle expression, and immediately received a positive answer from the parliament: "There is no need to hide this issue. The combined fleet does not have the power to actively attack the imperial army."

"Now, what are you going to do in the future?" Miss Lin, who had remained silent, suddenly spoke, "Are you going to continue wandering?"

"If possible, the Fourth United Fleet will continue to wander, and we will continue to drift deep into the void until we have to stop. Of course, that is if you can really let us go."

"I'm afraid I have bad news to tell you," Lilina suddenly jumped over and shouted, "After being silent for many years, the fallen apostles have actually resumed action. The place you are now is The attack range of the fallen apostles - the reason why you are still alive until now is because this is also the monitoring area of ​​the Star Territory Protoss and the territory of the New Empire. In other words, if the exile fleet continues to move forward, once it leaves the Empire and Star Territory With the sight of you, you will immediately be attacked by the fallen apostles - just like the time you left home many years ago."

I have to say that guys with a background in psychology are different. Lilina's mouth can instantly poke scars on others.

The parliament immediately fell into a tangled state. Obviously, logical judgment told her that the credibility of what we group said was relatively high. However, another logical judgment also told her that on matters related to the empire, even 1% Mistakes are also a fatal factor. Even if the credibility of our family in her mind reaches 99.9, the remaining 0.1% untrustworthiness will be enough for her to ponder for a long time. Qianqian is an impatient person. Look, The other party started to calculate again. Momochi had not made up his mind for such a long time, so he immediately started jumping up and down and yelling: "Why are you still wandering? It's so dangerous out there! Our place is quite big, we can live in it for you!"

As the mistress of the empire, Qian Qian is also very arrogant now. She is obviously satisfied with a three-bedroom apartment, but now she dares to give people territories and territories without hesitation!

"The ultimate goal of the exile fleet is to find a stable home," I tried to be affectionate to the council. Although I don't know if the other party's emotional model is still the same as that of ordinary people, anyway, what I said was very sincere, "Although I I dare not say that it is absolutely safe in the territory of the new empire, but at least it is safer than the void. The fallen apostles have indeed become active again. Under such circumstances, they continue to wander, leading so many ghost ships that are aging and cannot even gather the crew. , it would be a real disaster at any time.”

"Emperor of the Xiling Apostle, do you mean to let the combined fleet settle in the territory of your empire?"

There was no expression on the council's face, and they just asked in a very serious tone.

At this time, I also realized that I might have said something rashly. In my opinion, this invitation was nothing. It seemed a bit too sensational for the crew of the exile fleet. If nothing else, after the end of World War II, you let a Jew stay. Try it at the old Nazi's house, and it will be considered a natural phenomenon if whoever knocks out whose brains the next day...

But at this time, I couldn't take it back, so I could only nod my head, hoping that the parliament, the super intelligence of tens of thousands of souls, could think with pure logic. I really couldn't accept this emotionally, but Logically speaking, I really can't find a safer way out than this.

After waiting for a full ten minutes, the parliament seemed to have finally completed her logical calculations. She nodded reluctantly under our expectant eyes, but also added: "I can pass this proposal, but then I will send all the information Broadcast to the entire combined fleet and let them decide their own future." (To be continued)