Shi Lang passed down the orders and took the team out of the hotel. He did not carry any hot weapons, and his sword rested in his spiritual tattoo. He would use his sword skills to deal with the enemies he would meet today.
The people on his team were Crystal, Raz, and Sparrow. It was a fairly balanced team. Not only his, but all the other teams were reasonably balanced too. Shi Lang’s team was called deck one, and they were responsible for sneaking inside the home planet of the Ikeras, Zatarus.
The planet was occupied by most of the Ikeras officials and the people related to the leading family. Even with all the security, they aimed for this planet to finish the ruling family and destroy their cards.
Shi Lang was one of many at risk here. What if the Ikeras decided to take action against the federation? There was a saying that a lean camel was still taller than a dog. Shi Lang and his team were not fools to believe they could take a giant falling head-on.
Thus, the team discussed and decided to uproot the government and kill the key players involved. Fortunately, the shady deals they made earlier to gather intel gave them ways to infiltrate Zatarus. Every two days, a vessel transports the on-duty officials to their home planet so that they can change shifts with another batch.
This was done to prevent monopoly and provide rest to the people at work. However, this left a massive loophole for people with bad intentions to exploit. The plan was to use this ship to get off the current planet and infiltrate the different worlds.
Ikeras knew how to live frugally. They had assigned one spaceship to pick up all the officials from their postings. Ace division was going to exploit this. They were all masters at converging their presence, and with the help of the tech experts on each team, they could get through the ship security quickly.
Only one team of four people will be left behind to operate and wait for the decided time before commencing the plan’s final phase. Crystal was surprised by this plan as the risk factor was high. They found that the ship would be making four stops after it took off from the planet they were on.
During the meeting, Crystal made this doubt known to the people, and Shi Lang rolled her eyes at her as he replied, “You have forgotten that your skills allow you to hypnotize people and make them do your bidding, right?”
This sentence was enough to sort out all Crystal’s doubts and emphasize that the success of the plan’s first phase depended on her shoulders. She was worried, and Aran showed her the security checks’ results to ease her up. They will only be found when an officer finds them with his eyes.
Following this, Shi Lang and the rest of the people quickly infiltrated the ships. The spaceport needed to be more tightly secured. Most security personnel had been reassigned to the front or Zatarus, leaving room for exploitation.
The ship took off and then headed to the next stop. Shi Lang and the ace division hid in the ship’s vents and storage space. These places were lying inside the ducts when Sparrow said, “Boss, you know what this situation reminds me of?”
Shi Lang replied calmly, “No, what is it?”
Sparrow sighed and said, “I feel like a cockroach hiding in some dark corner.”
Shi Lang chuckled and asked, “Does anyone else feel like an insect in a dark corner?”
The people gave mixed reactions, and Shi Lang said, “Well, a cockroach can survive even a nuclear blast, so you all can survive this mission too. I will meet you after things are settled.”
The people relaxed a lot. They understood that Shi Lang worried about them all returning safely. This was also the reason why Crystal was posted to his team. She was the weakest among the rest of the people.
The ship quickly progressed through the sea of stars, and the first team was deployed before they knew it. After leaving the docking station, the task of further infiltration had a significant risk factor, but the people did not back off.
Shi Lang did not say anything to them and only wished them Godspeed. The second and third deployments were also carried out without any problems. However, the spaceship was thoroughly checked on a space dock during the final drop. The officers on duty even opened the ducts to find out if anything was wrong, but his soul froze when the guy laid eyes on Crystal. The lady whispered something to him, and the person reported for the duct to be clear of any threat.
The ship passed through the dock and entered the atmosphere of the Ikeras home planet, Zatarus. Shi Lang and the rest did not leave the vessel as soon as they were docked inside the spaceport. Instead, they waited for the rest of the passengers to go, and they only came out.
It will do them no good to kill people before they even reach the enemy settlement. So, the four of them moved around quickly and avoided every surveillance.
Shi Lang and the other two waited to fly because the spaceports had all sorts of drone surveillance and sensors covering the area. It took them half an hour to leave the spaceport and find a secluded place before they could relax.
Shi Lang nodded and said, “I know. These two cannot keep up with my pace either. I will bring you along, do not worry. Check the status of all the other teams.”
Raz nodded and communicated with the rest of the teams—the plan’s second began when they reported an okay status.
Shi Lang moved a few meters away from the people and pretended to be mysterious as he controlled the spirit tattoo to open and took out his sword. The crimson sword radiated an unexpected sharpness, making the eyes of the on-lookers sting.
The young man held the sword’s hilt and caressed the blade gently as he said, “Today, you can fight to your heart’s content. But I have a feeling we will meet some big shots.”
The sword trembled, and Crystal gasped in shock. But then, she said, “He did not take this sword out when competing against Tex.”
Raz shook his head and said, “You do not wish him to take it out. That is when he reaps lives.”
Just as they talked, the young general let go of the sword, and the blade levitated in the void horizontally. Shi Lang said, “Get on.”
Then he jumped and stood on the blade. The people were surprised when Shi Lang said, “Stand behind me quickly. I do not have all day long for you guys.”
Raz woke up and awkwardly jumped behind Shi Lang, followed by Sparrow and Crystal. Then he channeled his spiritual energy, and the sword moved forward quickly. As they moved, the height from the ground also increased.
Crystal almost melted in Sparrow’s back when the latter said, “Do not worry. Calm down. Otherwise, we both might fall, and the boss will have us face the enemy alone.”
This threat made the little fox calm down. Finally, after flying on the sword for twenty minutes, they landed atop a cliff. Raz said, “They selected a nice place.”
The cliff provided them with a good view of the estate located in the valley. Sparrow tapped her fingers on the side of her visor and let out a low whistle.
Crystal asked, “What happened?”
Sparrow said, “Our spiritual sense can cover the ground, but the visor allows us to scan many things that we cannot differentiate between. The entire estate has a grade S defense system.”
Crystal shrugged and said, “That was expected, was it not?”
Raz nodded and said, “Yes, but we did not count for the Stellar Defense Unit.”
Crystal was shocked now and asked, “They have an SDU? Are they not afraid of destroying themselves from the impact?”
Sparrow shook her head and said, “That is why I said, use the visor, kiddo. This SDU is not the general one. It is a custom make one.”
Crystal gulped and looked at Shi Lang, who was gazing at the void with an indifferent look. She wanted to ask him a few things but recalled they were on a mission the last time. This indifference was scary. She took half a step back when she found that the black hair had started to glow dimly.
Shi Lang said, “You guys stay here. Your task is to cover me up in an emergency and kill the deserters. You will not leave anyone with a weapon or hostile gaze alive. Do you understand?”
The three people replied, “Sir, yes, sir.”
Then Shi Lang vanished from his spot. The people only heard a loud explosion a second later and said in unison, “Fuck.”