A Core Ship From The Start
Chapter 1425 - 964: Distress Signal

Chapter 1425: Chapter 964: Distress Signal

"I’m going right now, the commander must be waiting for me!"

"Wait, Axelle, calm down a bit!"

When Duanmu Huai took care of Lucius and returned to the bridge, he saw a scene of chaos; Axelle was desperately trying to leave, while the other girls were trying to stop her—with Ogis even going as far as to bind her with silk threads and suspended her in the air.

"What happened? I went out for a fight, and you had one here too?"

Looking at Axelle who was swaying back and forth in midair, Duanmu Huai was utterly bewildered.

"Ah, Uncle! You’re back."

Seeing Duanmu Huai return, Aikute also breathed a sigh of relief.

"We have completely crushed the Chaos Fleet..."

"I’ve seen that, what I’m curious about now is why you have Axelle tied up here?"

Duanmu Huai looked curiously at Axelle swinging back and forth from the ceiling. Since she joined the Tribunal, Lumiere had been heavily relied upon by Duanmu Huai because of her expertise in manipulating the net and electronics. However, Axelle’s power did not have much room to shine within the Tribunal, and so most of the time she was merely responsible for Lumiere’s safety and miscellaneous matters within the Tribunal.

"Here’s the thing, Uncle, after we defeated the Chaos Fleet, I dispatched the Reconnaissance Fleet to search the surroundings..."

Mhm, that’s quite fitting of Aikute’s cowardly and scheming nature.

"And then what?"

"We received a distress signal from one of the planets."

While speaking, Aikute opened the communication device, and then a woman’s voice came through.

"Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is GOTT Commander Erik Pus, if you hear us, please respond, we need support..."

"GOTT... I remember it seems to be the organization Axelle and Lumiere were part of before they fled in refuge."

"That’s right, the Galactic Trade and Tariff Agency, abbreviated as GOTT."

Lumiere nodded, and Duanmu Huai sighed.

"Tsk tsk tsk, your tax bureau here is quite formidable..."

Duanmu Huai remembered Lumiere mentioned they had received several missions from the Galaxy Federation to mediate wars between two planets—Is this really the tax bureau’s job?

Is it in this world, too, that taxes are as inevitable as death?

"Hmm, and then?"

Duanmu Huai sighed and then returned to the matter at hand.

"And then... Miss Axelle wanted to immediately go check on the situation."

"So you tied her up? Why?"

"Because there was no response to the signal, we have already conducted several reverse searches and calls, but there was no answer. We believe that it is merely a mechanized, automatically played distress signal, or it could potentially be a trap. Under such circumstances, we cannot act rashly. I was hoping to wait for you, Uncle, to make a decision, but Miss Axelle couldn’t wait, so Miss Ogis tied her up..."

"Ah..."

Lumiere sighed helplessly beside him.

"Sorry, that’s just how Axelle is..."

"Any other responses?"

"We’re currently investigating, but so far, there are no other findings."

"Then let’s go take a look. We’re idle anyway, and maybe we can find a few survivors to ask what exactly happened in this galaxy. Alright, Ogis, let her down."

"Yes, Master."

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai speak, Ogis nodded and then let go of her right hand. Immediately following was a scream, and then Axelle fell heavily to the ground.

"Ow... that hurts..."

Axelle stood up while rubbing her buttocks and then saw Duanmu Huai approaching her.

"Axelle, you’ve been with the Tribunal for more than a day or two; I hope you remember that the Tribunal has its own rules. I have not given you enough authority yet, so it’s not your place to act on your own, understand? If there’s a next time, it won’t be so simple."

"...Yes..."

"Good, then let’s go take a look over there."

With Duanmu Huai’s order, the Tribunal Fleet immediately set off, and in no time, they arrived at the source of the distress signal, Planet AINEIAS.

"Aikute, what’s the comprehensive scan result?"

"Report: The planetary surface shows high concentrations of radiation signals, and atmospheric exploration indicates traces of multiple large-scale nuclear weapon bombings. This planet has experienced a war that covered the entire planet; it has now completely lost its viability as a habitable world... Miss Lumiere?"

"According to the Bird Divination Tool’s scanning data... Given the current radiation concentration and climate conditions of this planet, the possibility of life existing is very low — perhaps GOTT’s underground command center has not been attacked yet... but that’s just a possibility..."

"It must be so, no doubt!"

Before Miss Lumiere could finish her words, Axelle hurriedly interrupted.

"Our directors are not that easy to kill!"

"Have you locked onto the signal’s origin?"

"Lock-on complete."

With Aikute’s words, the screen flickered a few times, then a tall building appeared onscreen, in a city that had been destroyed by war. The surrounding skyscrapers had suffered attacks, and the radioactive clouds in the sky completely blocked out the sunlight, darkening the entire city.

"That’s GOTT Headquarters..."

Looking at the building before her, still standing tall despite being battered and damaged, Miss Lumiere spoke in a low voice.

"Then let it be so."

Duanmu Huai decisively gave the order.

"Miss Lumiere, Axelle, this place is your old home, you should be very familiar with it, so follow me. Remember to put on the N7 Armor... Ogis, Gavi, Mary, come with me. Ann, Greiya, Lorena, Ellie, Medea, you are tasked with protecting the bridge... Aikute, remember, if any emergency occurs, evacuate immediately without worrying about us; we can use the Teleportation Portal to reach the Soul World."

"But the radiation below interferes with normal communication..."

"I will give orders through the mind link with Audrey."

Duanmu Huai pointed at Audrey, who also gave a slight bow.

"You too, if you make any discoveries, contact me through Audrey, understand?"

"Yes, uncle."

"Very well... Prepare a Night Raven Black Star for me!"

Soon, a Night Raven Black Star Gunship launched from the hangar, passing through the radiation clouds filled with lightning, and headed toward the city below.

"To be honest, I really didn’t expect you to take the field personally."

Sitting in the chair, Axelle looked at Duanmu Huai with some skepticism.

"In our world, high-ranking officials usually delegate such dangerous tasks to their subordinates while they just watch from the back."

"I’m the most experienced, so naturally, I should lead by example," Duanmu Huai said, shrugging his shoulders. He was not the type of commander to plan and strategize from afar. Duanmu Huai never felt he really could. He preferred to take action personally, be on site immediately, as among those present, nobody had more experience dealing with Chaos creations than Duanmu Huai. With just a glance, he would understand what had happened, was happening, and would happen next.

To find those answers, he had to be on the move himself. Otherwise, if he waited for others to report, those inexperienced rookies might overlook critical details, or it might be too late by the time they realized they had walked into a trap.

Duanmu Huai was not a detective skilled at investigation, but the days spent tracking the descendants of the Old Gods in the World of Mary had given him quite some experience. He might not become a Sherlock Holmes or a Conan who could tell stories about others just by looking at them, but at least he was better than those foolish police... well, probably.

Of course, perhaps more importantly, Duanmu Huai actually did not have that many worlds to manage. This is where he differed from The Emperor and Robert Kiriman; Duanmu always defined his Tribunal as more of a "unit organization" rather than a vast force that needed its own territory to support. That’s why most of the time, he didn’t have to worry about other worlds’ fates and could focus solely on his own missions.

After all, building and prospering a world is already quite a hassle; Duanmu Huai had no intention of wasting his time on SimCity.

He much preferred Musou Three Kingdoms.

The Night Raven Black Star landed in front of GOTT Headquarters. The hatch opened, and the howling wind blew directly into their faces. Under the heavy clouds and lightning, they could only vaguely make out the dark shadow of the GOTT Headquarters building, standing there like a tombstone of this world, silent.

"According to the Bird Divination Tool’s scan, that signal originated from here."

Duanmu Huai took out the Bird Divination Tool, glanced at it, and then gripped the War Hammer.

"Alright, let’s go see what’s left here."

Although Duanmu Huai said so, regrettably, it seemed at least nothing was left.

According to Axelle’s description, this building used to be glamorous, but now, it was just a broken shell. Debris littered the floor everywhere. Those overturned cabinets seemed to have been used as cover, yet sadly, it was clear from the outcome that they had not fulfilled their mission. It was evident that this building had once been invaded and then taken over.

So the question arose... Who conquered this High Tower, this city, this planet?

Duanmu Huai carefully examined the trace of weapons and ammunition on the wall. He couldn’t see any high-energy lasers from flashlights, nor any spray from Bomb Guns. Thus, it was clear that this planet had not been attacked by Astarte of the Chaos Legion. Instead, this looked more like a civil war.

"How could this be..."

Miss Lumiere also noticed this, but she couldn’t imagine what had happened.

"Why would a civil war erupt? I don’t understand..."

"Keep moving forward, and maybe we’ll find out the truth," Duanmu Huai said as he raised his head. The searchlight illuminated the footprints inside, and then they followed the tracks, continuing to move forward.