Interstellar Survival: Invasion

Bulu.
When he saw that Bulu was indeed quite flexible, he handed the backpack back to me.

With the inspection done, we entered the tent.
I immediately noticed Maley, who was seated on a massive chair.

”Princess Wind, I ’m glad to see you ’re fine, ” said Maley while standing up, completely ignoring the three of us.

”You guys actually abandoned me back there and didn ’t retreat with me! The empire will hear of this! ” scolded Wind Spirit furiously.

”It was a big misunderstanding.
At the time, we believed you had perished.
When we scanned your corpse—I mean body—among the archers, we found no signs of life.
Only then did we leave, ” Maley hurriedly explained.

’This guy is blatantly lying.
They had probably escaped without searching.
The tranquilizers won ’t remove one ’s signs of life, ’ I thought.

”Even if I were dead, you can ’t just leave my corpse to the enemy! You barbarians really need to be taught a lesson! You think you can conquer the universe after we provide you with a tiny bit of military strength? ” Wind Spirit continued arguing.

”I would not dare.
Princess, no matter how brave I am, I wouldn ’t dare.
I ’ll still be counting on you to take care of our weak community, ” said Maley with a smiling face.

I was somewhat relieved to see the strong grip Wind Spirit had over Maley.
From how oppressive she was behaving, with her protection, Maley probably wouldn ’t dare to do anything to us.
Only after Maley was done coaxing Wind Spirit did he raise his head and look at us with disregard.

”Men, kill these three, ” ordered Maley with an uncaring tone.

Six burly warriors responded loudly and rushed into the tent to take us out.

”Hold! There is a reason you need to keep us alive! ” I roared before looking at Wind Spirit.

Wind Spirit was in the middle of happily eating a large piece of bread given to her by her nanny, so she wasn ’t even paying any attention to us.
Instead, the surrounding barbarians were the ones who were looking at us coldly.

”Many of the barbarian warriors are still alive from the earlier battle with the ambush.
We had attacked with tranquilizers.
There are a lot of survivors, ” I added.

Maley blanked out upon hearing my words.

”What did you do to the unconscious soldiers? ” questioned one of them loudly.

”They are being treated well.
The Wargod soldiers are looking after them.
They will be able to return soon, ” I hurriedly replied.

”Drag them out and kill them, ” ordered Maley coldly.

We grew anxious.

”Chief Maley, you might not care much for what Canyue is offering, but I have something you need, ” Master Crystal suddenly said.

Maley waved his hand, stopping the warriors in their steps.

’I reckon Maley is more concerned about Master Crystal since he looks related to Wind Spirit, ’ I thought.

”From your appearance, you must be from the princess ’s race.
Out of respect for the princess, I ’ll give you one more chance to speak, ” said Maley, confirming my guess.

”Don ’t worry about me.
Do whatever you want, Chief, ” said Wind Spirit, who was actually adding salt to the wound.

Surprisingly, Maley ignored Wind Spirit and continued staring at Master Crystal.

”I heard that your soldiers were cloned with the help of the Sacred Wing race.
Is that true? ” asked Master Crystal.

”Yes.
You ’re quite well-informed, Master.
You look like someone who has been in the empire for a very long time.
You must know the Sacred Wing race well, ” said Maley.

”I wouldn ’t say I know them well, but I am indeed familiar with many of their tricks.
Since ancient times, the Sacred Wing race has been known for their ability to produce controlled armies.
Any army they produce will be fully submissive to them.
These soldiers of yours are probably not really yours, am I right? ” Master Crystal mentioned something crucial.

Maley trembled slightly.
Evidently, that was truly his sore spot.

”Continue, ” Maley said coldly.

”When I arrived, I had observed the outer encirclement and the blockade at the main road.
All of them are unfamiliar warriors.
They must be clones.
Some of the ones around this tent are those we had seen during the ambush.
Clearly, you don ’t fully trust those clones either, Chief, ” said Master Crystal, whose tone was becoming more and more confident.

”They are all barbarians, so they are all my people.
Trust is naturally not an issue.
My army has just returned from a big battle, so they need rest.
It is only natural that I have the well-rested clones do the heavy lifting.
We will be able to better defeat our enemies that way, ” replied Maley confidently.

”No, not at all.
You might not be aware of this, but you and your actual people are in grave danger, Chief, ” said Master Crystal as he shook his head.

”What danger? Explain, ” said Maley as he took a seat.
He was somewhat surprised to see how solemn Master Crystal was.

Initially, Wind Spirit was ignoring the conversation while she ate, but at this point, she also stopped eating.
Although she still had her back to us, she was clearly paying attention now.