The Witch's Taste

Chapter 391 Collective suicide note
Everyone continued to investigate for a while, until the federal fleet suddenly launched an attack.

The light spear of high-energy particles tore open the space, spanned an extremely long distance, and shot toward the top of Chen Ziang's head. Since the light spear was surrounded by plasma flow, the killing range would undoubtedly affect his upper body.

"Be careful!" Xia Zili only had time to shout, because the speed of these light spears was no different from the speed of light, and they had already passed over everyone's heads before she finished speaking.

Then it disappeared.

Chen Ziang was still frightened.Just now, his inspiration suddenly realized that something was wrong, and he subconsciously activated [Void Sacrifice]... At this critical moment, he saved his life and sent all the deadly plasma flow around him into the void.

"Let's go!" Tsukigomi Suzuna also reacted, quickly wrapped the shadow around Chen Zi'ang and disappeared.

Everyone quickly rushed back to the Forever, and then held urgent discussions in the bridge lounge.

"What on earth was that just now?" Xia Zili asked in fear.

Theoretically speaking, such a long distance at that time was completely beyond the detection range of the federal fleet.What's more, the four of them are all flesh and blood, not metal, and their mass is small. How can they be detected?
"It seems to be weapon debugging." Tsukimiya Suzuna guessed.

After the maintenance and debugging of ship-based weapons is completed, test firing is required in accordance with military regulations to ensure that they operate without hindrance.But considering the market price of energy, every time a gun is fired it is equivalent to burning a large amount of money, so many fleets will not do this last step of debugging at all.

However, this time there were God's Punishment ships in the opposing fleet. As we all know, those who play religion are never short of money, so the test firing according to regulations is not an accident.

only……

The universe is so big, but it just shoots in our direction?Is this too much of a coincidence?
"It's probably not a coincidence." Chen Zi'ang said slowly, "My inspiration alerted the police at that time, so I had time to use my power to save my life, otherwise I would definitely die in the plasma flow around the light spear."

Since it causes an inspiration alarm, there must be some mysterious force at work.

In other words, the weapon debugging and test firing were normal, but due to the interference and deflection of some mysterious force, the launch direction was "exactly" pointed at Chen Ziang's position.

Even witches who are well-informed in the mysterious world can't help but feel a bit chilly in their hearts with this method.

Seems like some kind of curse.

However, there are so many types of curses and their principles are so complex that even witches find it difficult to identify and crack them.In addition, the federal fleet is approaching now, and there is no time to investigate the curse.

"Time is running out, I'm going to lead the team." Xia Qingyu said lightly before turning around and leaving.

"Wait a moment." Chen Ziang said quickly, "Let's go together."

I don’t know why, but the uneasy feeling in my heart is getting stronger and stronger.

------------

Xia Qingyu announced on the starship human military channel that she would form a fleet to fight against the federal pursuers, and emphasized that this was to "buy enough time for the Forever."

Of course, this is just a euphemism. After all, you can't openly tell the soldiers, "We are going to send you on a death mission."

However, if they do not explain that they are "performing a high-risk mission," the soldiers are not mentally prepared and will be more likely to collapse when they are under tremendous pressure later.

Therefore, it is necessary to use clever rhetoric to let more people understand the importance of this battle.

But Xia Qingyu did not show off too much, but simply pointed out a cruel fact to everyone:

If the number of dispatched fleets is insufficient, it will not be able to block the pursuit of the federal fleet, and then everyone will die in the end, whether it is you or your family members - only by fighting hard can you have a chance of survival.

She gave a speech on the channel, while Chen Ziang and Zili Suzuna confirmed the reactions of junior officers and soldiers.

Fortunately, most people's reactions were calm, and few showed expressions of fear or even timidity.

There may be some capitulationists with bad brains among the civilians, but the military's perception is generally much more normal. After all, those who are abnormal cannot join the army... Everyone has actually realized for a long time that this situation and the Federation are no longer dead. There is no end, even if they are defeated and surrender, they will most likely be killed. The elves will never abide by any contract that treats prisoners of war preferentially, so it is better to fight with them.

Chen Ziang had to admit that the military's current general mentality of being silent and daring to fight was indeed beyond his expectation.

From Takamagahara to Aegelaos, from the disembarkation faction to the capitulation faction, he has seen too many idiots with serious cognitive defects that have forced them to seek death. It is impossible to persuade them to come back or save them. He couldn't move and could only watch them die... so much so that he almost lost faith in people's hearts.

But thinking about it from another perspective, as those stupid human individuals and groups gradually go extinct, why haven't the starship humans themselves been repeatedly refined and refined?
Those who retreated in panic died, those who rushed out of the team died, and those who stopped to rest also died. No matter how fearful the future was, the remaining people could only hold together and grope forward in the darkness, because they themselves had been " Fully screened" passed.

Chen Ziang recovered his thoughts and heard Xia Qingyu announce the selection rules for the participating teams.

First of all, today is the age of starships. The crew must act collectively with the ship. It is impossible for only half of the people on the ship to go and the other half to not go... Then how can the ship move?
Therefore, nearly half of the ships must be dispatched to form a rear fleet to intercept.

Secondly, each crew member needs to fill out a form online and choose "register" or "not register". If not, they need to fill in the reason.

The senior management will decide whether to add the ship to the fleet based on the number of registered crew members on each ship.

This is also quite strange.Because according to the military practices of various countries, orders from superiors are treated as dead orders. If you are told to go, you have to go. How can you be given a choice?

Of course, soldiers can also choose to desert, so there are gendarmerie and military courts... In short, the army is a violent machine, both externally and internally. Violence is a tool to maintain the upper and lower structures, and it never advocates democracy.

Xia Qingyu's approach is probably based on the current situation of military morale being available.

Finally, and most importantly, since the Federation fleet is coming here from the edge of the galaxy, everyone only has 10 minutes to fill out the form.

This point is easy to understand: don't give soldiers a chance to think.The longer time goes by, the more people decide to back down.

But now we really don’t have much time.

Ten minutes later, the statistical results came out quickly: the number of soldiers who actively signed up to stay after the break actually accounted for more than 10% of the total.

Even if some people may "suspect that this is a gift" and deliberately choose "I want to sign up", there is no way to explain such a high registration rate.

Chen Ziang randomly selected a few non-registration forms and clicked on them. The reasons here were much more normal: most of them claimed that they had elderly people or newborn children to take care of at home, so they wanted to stay near the Forever.

However, many of them said that "if they are transferred by their superiors, they will obey the orders of the troops."

In any case, since people are given the opportunity to "not sign up" and "fill in the reasons", there is no reason to blame them for being "greedy for life and afraid of death."

After sealing the statistical results, Chen Ziang asked Xia Qingyu:

"So what are you going to do?"

"I have already chosen." Xia Qingyu threw a list on the table, which was full of ship numbers that were left behind.

"What are the rules for this selection?" Chen Ziang picked up the list and quickly read through it.

"Choose randomly." Xia Qingyu replied.

"Random selection?" Chen Ziang frowned and asked, "Then why do you let them sign up on their own?"

Xia Qingyu fell silent.After a long time, just when Chen Ziang thought she was not going to answer, he heard Xia Qingyu say quietly:

"Because everyone should see their true heart clearly before they die."

"I hope they all have that opportunity."

She picked up the list and left.Chen Ziang looked at her leaving figure and suddenly had the urge to stop her.

But she gave up in the end because she always felt that something was not right about her current state... Speaking of which, was there not even a single venomous word in the conversation just now?

After being in a daze for a while, Chen Ziang noticed something shining on the sofa where she was sitting.

It was a key that fell between the cracks of the sofa.

After taking out the key, Chen Ziang left the bridge lounge and saw Xia Zili and Tsukinomiya Suzuna talking to each other at the door.

"Where's Qingyu?" He glanced around the bridge.

"Sister went to the Instant Fleet." Xia Zili replied.

In this case, it is impossible to call the person back, so let's wait until she comes back and then return it to her.

Chen Ziang looked at the bridge screen again. After the break, the fleet had completed charging preparations and was slowly separating from the remaining fleet, sailing in the direction where the federal fleet was chasing them.

At the same time, the Forever and the remaining escort fleet also began to speed up towards the other end of the galaxy, gradually entering a sub-light speed cruising state.

The two fleets separated from each other in the dark space.

One rushes to death without hesitation, while the other flies silently toward hope.

It wasn't until the Forever sailed out of the gravitational range of the galaxy that the engineering team in the engine room reported that the space stability was back on track and the jump could be made at any time.

Obviously, the rear fleet led by Xia Qingyu dragged the federal fleet in place, giving them a precious opportunity to escape from the space anchor.

"Prepare to jump." Tsukinomiya Suzuna was about to issue an order when she suddenly heard Chen Ziang shouting:

"Wait a moment!"

He stared at the screen in surprise, which showed that he had received the data packet sent by the fleet after the disconnection. Judging from the time, it was estimated that they were sent 20 minutes after each other.

The correspondent made a preliminary unpacking of it, and then stared blankly at the screen.

"What's written on it?" Seeing that she still didn't respond, Xia Zili went over to confirm.

"Yes..." the correspondent hesitated, "it seems to be a suicide note written by all the officers and soldiers of the Duanhou fleet."

The Forever and the escort fleet quickly entered the jump state. After all, they could not waste the time that their compatriots had fought for them.

During the jump, the communications team began to completely unpack the data packets, and finally counted 13 suicide notes, each of which could correspond to an active officer and soldier of the Instantaneous fleet.

"Put..." Chen Zi'ang said calmly while trying to suppress his emotions, "preliminarily classify and file these suicide notes according to the ships they belong to, and then...send them to their families."

"Okay." Yuki Izumo nodded and said, "I'll make arrangements with Kahana."

Now that Xia Qingyu is away, she is in charge of the military side, while Tianshangyuan Hehua and Song Mingyuan have to deal with it on the civil affairs side.

The little girl was already crying profusely. It was not until Izuku Yuuki helped her leave the bridge that she sobbed and said:
"I...my cousin is also in there. He filled out the registration without telling his family. His suicide note...can you print it out and let me deliver it?"

"Then why didn't you tell us?" Yuki Izumo asked calmly, "If he is your relative, he can get special immunity."

"Because... I don't know." Tianshangyuan and Hua were silent for a while, "He told me that someone must go."

"...Yes." Yuki Izumo was stunned for a moment, then nodded and said, "Someone has to go."

"Whether you are a high-level person or a civilian, it is actually the same."

In the bridge, everyone looked at the large number of suicide notes on the screen and felt a little sad and speechless for a while.

"I understand what sister means." Xia Zili murmured, "She wants to use these suicide notes to convince the empire to prove that we starship humans have completely reborn and are completely different from our former identity as Gaotian people."

"What you mean is," Chen Zi'ang was silent for a moment and then said, "You want to prove to the empire that we are worthy of being accepted, right?"

"Haha, that's true." Suzuna Tsukimiya said coldly, "There are so many people who are willing to sacrifice themselves in exchange for the survival of the race. Such tenacious starship humans, even if they don't go to the empire, can't we stay on the edge? Does the sector survive?”

"Suzuna..." Chen Ziang whispered.

"Sorry, senior." Tsukimiya Suzuna wiped the corners of her eyes, "I just feel sad for them. When a person is forced to use his own death to prove that he is worthy of living, isn't it very ridiculous? Something about that?”

"You are wrong." Someone suddenly said next to him, "To be precise, they used their own deaths to prove that you are worthy of living."

Everyone turned around in surprise, only to realize that the person who made the noise was Izumo Yuuki who had just returned to the bridge.

"What do you mean?" Tsukimiya Suzuna said with a frown, a little confused about the "you" in her words.

But she was just confused for a few seconds, and she quickly reacted, and the expression on her face quickly turned into rage:
"So...it's you! You are the empire's spy ambush on the Forever!"

"No." Yuuki Izumo categorically rejected this point, "I am indeed an agent arranged by the empire, but my responsibility has only been one from beginning to end, and that is to protect His Highness Xia Qingyu, and His Highness is also aware of this matter. Recently. The person who assassinated Chen Ziang was another special agent team, which is completely opposite to my department and agency, and I couldn't get their intelligence."

"Do you think we will believe you when you say this?" Tsukimiya Suzuna said coldly, the shadow spread quickly from her feet, binding Yuuki Izumo's body tightly, "It doesn't matter, wait for me to pry Open your brain and you will know what is in your heart."

"Although I don't intend to resist, you don't have to do this." Yuki Izumo faced death threats, but his expression remained unmoved. He just said, "Just now, the mission of that special agent team has failed. They The collective chose to commit suicide.”

"What?" Chen Ziang asked with a frown.

"That is, they will no longer try to assassinate you." Yuuki Izumo replied, "This is the conclusion. As for how to make you accept this conclusion, I believe that His Highness's suicide note will give you a complete explanation, Chen Ziang."

"What suicide note?" Chen Zi'ang was slightly startled.

Then he quickly turned to the computer screen next to him and quickly opened the last file.

In the folder with the initials "XZ" at the beginning, he finally found the suicide note document whose name was registered as "Xia Qingyu". It was mixed with the suicide notes of other ordinary officers and soldiers without any special markings.

　Although I think those who would give up would have given up long ago after seeing this, but seeing as there are still book friends chasing after me, I think I still have to give you a reassurance: I don’t like to write about “permanent regret”. I stick to the style, so I won’t write it to death, but I still need to clean it up, otherwise I will really become a villain.Xia Qingyu's character design was decided upon at the beginning of the book. It's not some random deus ex machina that suddenly broke out in the later stage. Of course, I don't have the confidence to say that it will be well written...

　　
　
(End of this chapter)