Shi Lang only woke up after the ship had come close to the allied forces. He asked, “How long before we arrive back at the command post.”
Quinn replied, “Ten minutes, also, you might not be able to get the rest you are seeking.”
Shi Lang asked, “What happened?”
“Admiral Stevenson has informed us, that the team will be under surveillance from the team of members of the Galactic Council.”, Jenkins said in a calm voice.
Shi Lang asked, “They seem to have arrived very quickly. Do you think, they have a better alternative to traveling through the space?”, he was not worried about anything else.
Nexa asked, “Are you really not worried about anything the Galactic Council may ask?”
Shi Lang shook his head, “The more you worry, the more you speculate, and the more you speculate, the more paranoid you become. Paranoia leads to one thing only, loopholes. I would rather not give any chance to the enemy. Also, I am not giving you all the last command of the mission. When you are interrogated, you will only reply that you were acting on my instructions and if they ask what the instruction was, you say that it was classified and that you need my permission or the president’s direct command to answer them.”
Darcx and Amelia reacted and said, “NO.”
Nexa was surprised by such a reaction. Shi Lang cast a gaze at the two of them and said, “Rebelling?”
Amelia shook her head and said, “Why do you want to shoulder all this on your own? Do you not know what will happen if we shoved all the responsibility on you? What if they imprisoned us under the allegation of not cooperation?”
Shi Lang smiled and asked, “Do you seriously think, this card will work on me? The one they need after hearing your words will be me. Quinn has a special identity and so does Nexa. While Jenkins is the son of the first general, he is just at the rank of a captain. Darcx is a junior operative in the secret divisions. You are a captain, but if you went out confessing stuff, they will imprison you three along with me.
Another thing is, do not reveal that you are my fiancee, if they used you then I will definitely confess everything. You can guess what will happen then.”
They did not know much about the Galactic Council, but Stevenson had given them a few details. The Galactic council will definitely try every means possible to break the people and then use every possible angle against them to convict them, so, the fewer people they have, the less vulnerability factor.
Shi Lang said, “You people need to understand that I have been to Ragnarok, you cannot possibly outdo me in mental toughness or anything. Can you? If you can then please stay stubborn.”
This remark made the people calm down. Quinn said, “We have reached, initiating the docking sequence.”
…
Shi Lang stepped out of the ship first, leading his team with a calm indifferent gaze. The soldiers, by now, were all aware that the young man had killed twenty thousand people on his own and took down the royalty of the enemy forces.
As Shi Lang passed, the people all saluted him in rapt attention. Shi Lang nodded to them all, he could not salute each and every one of them. The command ship was equal to ten normal ships parked together. It carried ten thousand crew members. It was a small city in a sense.
Shi Lang and the team moved and the news of their return spread. They were in the corridor when a message popped up on their communicators. They were all called to the conference room.
Shi Lang and his team did not react unusually. They walked to the conference room, and the soldiers guarding outside saluted them before letting them pass.
Inside the conference room, Shi Lang and the rest spotted Stevenson, and the few generals standing behind him. Shi Lang could tell that the vacant seats were not for him and the team, but for someone else, in this case, the seats belonged to the members of the Galactic council.
Shi Lang did not bother with it and saluted Stevenson and the rest and said, “Mission Accomplished, Sir.”
Following him, the whole team did the same. Stevenson nodded and said, “You all have done a good job but before you can rest, you are needed to cooperate with Barrister Kai-Hushi.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “Sir, Yes, Sir.”
As soon as he replied, a voice sounded in the room, “So, you are captain Ace, responsible for the death of twenty thousand soldiers. Tell me, captain, do you feel happy with your performance?”
Shi Lang turned around and saw a person with blue skin and yellow eyes standing in front of him. The person was as tall as Shi Lang’s shoulder, and he had no hair, not even eyebrows. His teeth were akin to fangs.
Shi Lang replied, “I do not feel anything, Sir. I just did what was necessary to complete the mission.”
The blue person nodded and asked, “What was the mission?”
Shi Lang gazed at Stevenson who nodded. Shi Lang said, “Two days ago, our borders were invaded by the Arcadian fleet, we had received advanced intel, and thus we survived. Then our informant commissioned a task for us, which led to the battle at Arcadia.”
The man nodded and asked, “What was the identity of your informant?”
Shi Lang replied, “The princess of Arcadia.”
The man was surprised by the confidence in his voice and asked, “How did you confirm it?”
Shi Lang pointed at Darcx behind him and said, “My colleague has the ability to determine truth from lies.”
The man gazed at Darcx and said, “I hate my wife.”
Darcx replied, “Lie.”
The man nodded and then he made a few more statements, and Darcx replied whether they were true or false. The man said, “My name is Kai-Hushi, I am the litigation officer from the Galactic Council. It is unfortunate, but you, Captain Ace, along with your team are under investigation from this moment on. Until I have answers to all my queries. Also,”
He took out a few small cubes from his pocket and said, “You may take these. These cubes have a complete collection of the law code of the council. I will give you all a day.”
Shi Lang took the cubes and distributed them among his team. Then he heard the man say, “You all will stay in isolated holding stations for a day, we begin official investigation from tomorrow.”
The Terran did not react and turned around to salute his seniors and walked out of the conference room. He came out of the conference room with his team and found five people dressed in silver suits. They all had distinctive features.
Barrister Kai-Hushi came out of the room following them and said, “This is my team, and they will be watching over your well-being.”
Shi Lang and the others had yet to react when a strong guy grabbed Amelia’s hand. The girl said, “Hands off.”
The man snorted. Shi Lang said, “Barrister Kai-Hushi, I would appreciate it if your men did not try to cross a few lines with my team, or I will personally counter.”
His voice was calm, yet the chill was evident. Barrister Kai-Hushi said, “Meni, do not embarrass us. Unhand the officer.”
Meni said, “Barrister, are you afraid…”
Before he could finish his sentence, a barrel was placed inside his mouth, he was shocked, and wanted to move, when he heard a calm voice, “By the time you grasp my hand, I will squeeze the trigger and your head will splatter around here. My team, and people, are not for you to touch or talk to, also, you seem to be some sort of army, and cannot even respect your seniors. Trash.”
The people did not expect Shi Lang to actually do what he said. Shi Lang was not going to watch his people getting bullied. He turned to Barrister Kai-Hushi and said, “You can add an offense to my charges.”
Kai-Hushi was shocked, and then Shi Lang led his team away leaving the five officers. They did not expect this Terran to be so defiant. Meni wanted to say something when Kai-Hunshi said, “You dared to act without my order. You are really not worthy as he said.”
Kai-Hushi went back to the conference room and he began to discuss things with Stevenson. The guards outside left to perform the guard duty where Shi Lang and the rest were staying. They did not dare to slack anymore. The tension of the situation was too much for them to overlook.
After a few hours, Cara was bought over from Nestia, she did not come alone but came with Zysha. The motive was to talk to Shi Lang and the rest of the Terran team during the trial, they did not want the Galactic council to trap them for the slightest blunder.